At the same time, in the Chongqing High Command.

A major staff officer hurriedly walked in and reported to Liu Sheng: "Director, the former enemy headquarters in Xiaogan is in an emergency, the 74th Army has broken through the defense line of Minji Town of the Japanese army!" Positive towards Xiaogan! ”

As soon as he heard this, the entire battle hall suddenly burst into thunder.

"Great, as soon as Minji Town breaks through, the Japanese army's outer defense line will collapse!"

"Now there are only two ways for this old devil to go!"

"It's not, either we're fighting a chaotic battle with Xiaogan, or we're breaking through from Xiaogan again!"

"But whether it is disrupting the battle in Xiaogan or breaking through again, it is not a good thing for the Japanese army!"

"The Japanese army is now exhausted, and if it disrupts the battle, it is looking for death, but if it breaks through from Xiaogan again, I am afraid it will also be a dead end, and now it is no better than when it broke through from Wuhan two days ago!"

In the midst of the discussion of the senior staff, several senior generals gathered in front of President Chang.

At this point, the Xiaogan siege and annihilation battle can be said to be the overall situation, and it is impossible for the Japanese army to make any waves!

Chen Shi said: "Principal, this time our army was able to break through the outer defense line of the Japanese army so quickly, and the 74th Army can be said to have made great contributions, especially Qiu Weida's 306th Regiment, which has the greatest credit!" ”

He Yingpei also echoed: "Yes, if Qiu Weida hadn't taken the lead in leading the 306th Regiment to launch a general attack on Minji Town, and then led the regiments of the 74th Army to launch a general attack on Minji Town, the rest of the Gui Army and the Northwest Army are probably still waiting and watching until now, if this is the case, we are afraid that we will miss the opportunity!" ”

Xu Yongsheng said: "Therefore, in this Xiaogan siege and annihilation battle, Qiu Weida should take the first credit!" ”

"In my opinion, it's not just Xiaogan's siege and annihilation!" Principal Chang waved his hand and said, "In the entire Wuhan Battle, the 74th Army, especially Qiu Weida's 306th Regiment, should be credited!" ”

Hearing this, He Yingpei, Chen Shi and others were silent.

It is reasonable to give the 74th Army and Qiu Weida the first credit for the Battle of Xiaogan, but the entire Wuhan Battle should also be given to the 74th Army and Qiu Weida, which is a bit excessive!

After all, the Battle of Wuhan is not only the siege and annihilation of Xiaogan, but also the defense of Wuhan!

No matter how great the credit of the 74th Army is, can it still be compared with Zhu Liangcheng's 367th Brigade?

No matter how great Qiu Weida's credit is, can it be greater than Zhu Liangcheng, Zhong Yi, and Sun Liren?

If it weren't for Zhu Liangcheng, Zhong Yi, and Sun Liren's desperate defense in Hankou and Hanyang, which dragged down and dragged to death the second army of Dongjiu Palace, would there be today's counteroffensive? Obviously impossible!

But no one will say this, but only in their hearts.

Principal Chang had obviously made up his mind, and then continued: "Immediately send a telegram to the whole country and even the whole world through the Central News Agency, saying that in the battle of Xiaogan, our 74th Army has made a decisive breakthrough, and the second army of the East Kyuregong Twist is about to be destroyed!" Our army is about to win the battle of Wuhan! ”

"Yes!" Liu Sheng complimented and turned around.

……

Nanjing, Central China Front Headquarters.

A radio was placed on the large table of the commander of the Central China Front, Shunroku Hatata, and what was playing on the radio was the evening broadcast of the China Central News Agency.

A translator is on hand to translate on the spot.

"This afternoon, the 74th Army of the First Corps of our Ninth Theater of Operations led the way to Minji Town, and immediately launched a general attack on the enemy in front of it, and after two hours of fierce fighting, successfully defeated the Japanese army in Minji Town.

"In this battle, the officers and men of our 74th Army fought bravely......"

Hearing this, Shunroku Hata didn't want to listen any more and motioned to turn off the radio.

Shozo Kawabe, chief of staff of the Central China Front, immediately stepped forward and turned off the radio.

As soon as the radio was turned off, the office was immediately quiet, and the pin drop could be heard.

After a long time, Okamura Ningji sighed lightly and said, "Your Excellency, General, it's a big trouble now!" ”

"yes." Kawabe Shozo also nodded and said, "Now in front of the second army, there are only two choices, either stay in Xiaogan and fight a chaotic battle with the Zhina army, or break through from Xiaogan again!" ”

"I'm afraid there's only one choice." Okamura Ningji shook his head and said, "Staying in Xiaogan to disrupt the battle with the Chinese army can only be a dead end, because the second army has just experienced the vicious battle in Wuhan, and the imperial soldiers are sleepy and tired, and they have no physical strength at all, and the Chinese army is not only full of physical strength, but the key number is dozens of times that of the imperial army!" ”

"But breaking through again from Xiaogan, I'm afraid I'm not optimistic." Kawabe Shozo frowned and said, "Now is not as good as when we broke through from Wuhan, when we broke through from Wuhan, the closest branch army to the second army was a hundred miles away, but now, the branch army that swooped over from three directions has been completely entangled with the second army." ”

"yes." Shunroku Hata also said, "If you can't get rid of the chasing soldiers, I'm afraid that it will be more than lucky!" ”

"It's certain that there will be more luck and less luck, but at least there is a glimmer of life!" Okamura Ningji said, "But if you stay in Xiaogan and fight against the Shina army, then your life will be cut off, and you will definitely die!" ”

After a pause, Okamura Ningji said again: "Your Excellency, the Battle of Wuhan can be defeated, and you can win it back later!" Even if the second army is completely annihilated, there is no big problem, it is nothing more than that the face of the imperial army is not good-looking, but His Royal Highness Tokurenomiya Tsukihiko cannot have any accidents, because this is related to the face of the royal family, the face of the empire! ”

"Soga!" Kawabe Shozo said thoughtfully, "His Royal Highness Hatohiko of Asaka Palace has already had an accident on the battlefield of China, if His Royal Highness Hatohiko of Dongkure Palace has an accident again, then the royal family will really lose face and become the laughing stock of the world!" ”

Shunroku Hata was awe-inspiring when he heard this, this matter really has to be taken seriously!

At that moment, Shunroku Hata said: "If the Second Army breaks through from Xiaogan again, in which direction should it break through?" ”

As he spoke, Shunroku Hahata had already walked to the large map attached to the wall, and Shozo Kawabe and Ninji Okamura also walked over and stood in front of the large map.

Okamura Ninji pointed to the map and said: "The west and south of Xiaogan are the Rotten River, and it is too late to build a pontoon bridge in a hurry, so it is definitely not possible to break through to the west or south, and the Chinese army is swarming from the north, southeast and east, so breaking through in three directions will collide with the Chinese army, and it is not good!" ”

"Then you can only break through to the northeast!" "Before the 3rd Corps and the 4th Corps of the Zhina Army formed an encirclement, they broke out from Yunwu Mountain and Yangjiao Mountain in the northeast of Xiaogan, and then turned north to Xinyang to meet the 15th Division going south along the Pinghan Railway." ”