In Baoshan County, when Liu Ze saw the contents of the Japanese message, he was speechless.
The people of the 3rd division were scared just like that?
This surprised Liu Ze.
Early that morning, the retreating troops quietly left Baoshan County.
Liu Ze already knew the Japanese's nature, so he led the retreating troops and headed straight for the bridgehead.
Along the way, the Japanese kept their distance. In the end, the remaining soldiers in Baoshan County passed through the pontoon bridge without any hindrance and entered the north bank of the river controlled by the Chinese army.
Qiu Qingquan, who was driving the truck, asked Liu Ze, who was sitting in the passenger seat, curiously,""Why didn't this Japanese stop us?”
"Maybe they didn't notice us retreating!”
Liu Ze said lightly.
Qiu Qing Quan shrugged his shoulders and didn't ask any more questions. They had successfully crossed the river. The people on the north bank of the river had already had an army ready to receive them.
Now, the welcome had turned into a welcome.
Without waiting for them to settle down, Liu Ze was invited to the command post of the Songhu Battle in Jiangbei.
Liu Ze, who was also wearing a ghillie suit, was dressed differently from everyone else. He attracted a lot of attention along the way in the huge camp.
At the same time, news of Liu Ze's identity also spread. As he walked, people would occasionally stand at attention and salute him. Everyone who looked at him had a deep admiration in their eyes.
When the guards outside the headquarters saw Liu Ze walking over in his recognizable attire, they immediately shouted into the headquarters,"Major General Liu Ze has arrived!"
Before Liu Ze could get close, a middle-aged man in military uniform walked out of the command center. The military rank on his collar was general. This person was the commander of the Beijing-Shanghai garrison, Zhang Zhizhong, and also the commander of the Songhu Battle.
Without waiting for Liu Ze to salute him, Zhang Zhizhong laughed out loud and went forward. He held Liu Ze's hand and said,""Brother Liu, I finally get to see you. Your name is like thunder in my ears. You beat the hell out of the Japanese in Shanghai. You can fight hundreds of thousands of troops alone.”
Liu Ze actually admired Zhang Zhizhong's national integrity and righteousness. He wanted to salute such a war hero to show respect, but his enthusiasm made Liu Ze feel a little helpless for a moment.
"Commander-in-chief Zhang, you have defeated the Wei Han. Protecting the family and killing the enemy is the duty of soldiers of our generation.”
Zhang Zhizhong pulled Liu Ze into the GCH and said,"Brother Liu, if you think highly of me, you can call me Big Brother Zhang in the future. Don't call me Commander-in-chief.”
At this point, Zhang Zhizhong sighed slightly and said,""Since the start of the war, four armies have almost been wiped out. If it weren't for you stirring up trouble in Shanghai, we wouldn't have been able to move the important industrial facilities and resources around Shanghai according to the plan.”
Without waiting for Liu Ze to speak, Zhang Zhizhong, who had pulled him to sit down, continued,"It's all thanks to your support to the battlefields in the rear. All the troops across the theater of operations should appreciate your help.”
Liu Ze was helpless against Zhang Zhizhong's politeness. He could only interrupt when Zhang Zhizhong paused,""Brother Zhang, I'm here with top-secret information.”
When Zhang Zhizhong heard this, his expression immediately became serious. He said,"Brother, please speak!"
"According to the information I received, the Japanese are secretly building a 10th army. The 10th army will be landing at the Golden Mountain Guards in the near future. Their strategic goal is to cut off the retreat of all our troops on the battlefield.”
Hearing Liu Ze's top-secret information, Zhang Zhizhong's expression became more and more serious. He asked,"Brother, is the information reliable?"
"The intelligence is completely reliable. The devils will soon land on the Golden Mountain Guards.”Liu Ze said confidently.
This wasn't a judgment made by Liu Ze based on his understanding of history. The Japanese were really planning to land at Jinshan Guard. The recently intercepted Japanese messages also pointed to the landing of Jinshan Guard.
This time was much earlier than in history, and the size of the 10th army was much larger than before.
Not only did it include the main 6th Regiment, 18th Regiment, 114th Regiment, but it also included the complete 5th Regiment and 16th Regiment that had been transferred over from Huabei.
In addition to the two Heavy Artillery Exploration Groups that were originally planned to land in Shanghai, the two independent Mountain Artillery Exploration Groups and the two reserve infantry exploration groups, the total number of soldiers exceeded 200,000.
At the same time, the Japanese Navy would also send out a portion of their main forces to cover the landing of the troops.
This would be the largest landing operation launched by the Japanese since the start of the war.
200,000 soldiers, four artillery regiments, and a large number of tanks.
Therefore, when Zhang Zhizhong heard Liu Ze's detailed description of the Japanese's landing plan and the size of their forces, his face turned rather ugly.
"Brother, have you reported this matter to the chairman?”Zhang Zhizhong asked anxiously.
"Right now, the old man is only thinking about the mediation of the Western countries. From the moment he rejected General Baili's battle plan, the Battle of Songhu was a war dedicated to politics.
The old man hoped that the western countries would see China's determination to resist and step forward to mediate and let the Japanese withdraw from North China. After all, the western countries had been suppressing the Japanese's interests in China. The old man thought that these western countries would still stand by his side.
However, the old man didn't think about it. The current western countries were all focused on the German Empire in Europe. They were simply unable to interfere with the current Far East affairs. It was impossible for the outcome that the old man wanted to see to happen.
On the contrary, the western countries would adopt a policy of appeasement under the pressure of Fusang and tacitly approve of the Japanese's invasion of us.
"Thus, we can't gamble our hundreds of thousands of troops on a meaningless political game.
That's why I'm here to look for Old Brother Zhang. We have to make the old man recognize the reality. We can't fall for the Japanese's delaying tactic and let the hundreds of thousands of troops fall into prison.”
Zhang Zhizhong frowned and said," But the chairman has just given the order to retreat to Jinling."”
Liu Ze nodded and said," I already know about this, but that's the problem. The Japanese have also learned of our order to withdraw their troops. They are now secretly contacting the western countries in order to trick the old man into believing that the mediation between the countries will soon come to an end.
Once the old man fell for it, with his personality, he would definitely cancel the previous order to retreat and order the troops to hold their positions while waiting for the outcome of the mediation between the countries.
Such a sudden change in order would cause the already exhausted soldiers at the front line to see the hope of retreating from the battlefield and reorganizing. This would immediately be destroyed. This would be a huge blow to morale, and there might even be signs of the troops fleeing.”
To soldiers, war was usually sustained by one breath. If this breath was gone, it was not surprising that they would be defeated.
As a general, Zhang Zhizhong had been in the military for more than 20 years. How could he not understand this principle?
Upon hearing Liu Ze's words, he immediately realized the seriousness of the matter.
If the Japanese succeeded, the hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers on the battlefield would be in danger.
The evacuation of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, including the evacuation of large amounts of firearms and supplies, was not a simple matter.
It would take at least half a month. The order to retreat had already been sent to every unit. Every soldier knew that they had to retreat and prepare to fight the Japanese around Jinling.
If they suddenly changed the order, the morale of the troops would definitely fall.
Most importantly, if the Japanese succeeded in their plot and surrounded them from the Golden Mountain Guards, then these hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be like turtles in a jar.
Zhang Zhizhong understood the seriousness of the matter, and cold sweat immediately flowed down his forehead.
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