"Guangzhou has fallen~"

The secretary's words surprised everyone at the meeting, especially Lu Zuofu, whose face became particularly pale.

Guangzhou fell yesterday afternoon. Because it was too sudden and the communication was not smooth, the government only knew it at night, and it was the middle of the night when it reached Yichang.

"Guangzhou has fallen?"

"How is this possible?"

"No, it must be misinformation. We have 60,000 horses, how can we fall all at once? ”

“……”

There was a lot of discussion in the meeting, and they couldn't believe it was true. These high-level officials understood in their hearts what the fall of Guangzhou meant for the Battle of Wuhan.

The fall of Guangzhou shocked the Chinese people. This means that China's last port city has fallen to the enemy; This means that the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway is in the middle section; This means that China does not receive any foreign aid, and China can only rely on its own industry to be self-sufficient; This means that the defense of Wuhan has lost its strategic significance.

Guangzhou fell, Lu Zuofu's pressure doubled, and the whole person was stunned. The essence of the country's industry gathers in Yichang, and if these industrial materials are not transported back to the rear in time, China will be finished.

"It's true."

At this time, Zhao Hongfei suddenly said: "The 18th and 104th Divisions of the Japanese Army have already set off from Penghu, Taiwan and landed in Daya Bay. This was a week ago, didn't you get the news? ”

A high-level said: "But, this is too fast. ”

Zhao Hongfei was speechless, and he didn't want to bother to speak, could he not be happy to retreat without a fight.

He said to Lu Zuofu, who was pondering: "Mr. Lu, the fall of Guangzhou is a true thing. Wuhan has lost its strategic significance, and in less than three days Wuhan will be abandoned. But these are not issues that we should consider, and our task is to make every effort to rescue materials and personnel and keep China's last hope. Mr. Lu, I hope you can cheer up. ”

Lu Zuofu relieved himself and began to cheer up: "Zhao Hongfei is right, the top priority is to go all out to rush the transportation and keep our last hope." ”

At this time, Zhao Hongfei not only wanted to rush the luck, but also Lu Zuofu's safety. China's industrial lifeline is tied to Yichang, and the key to rushing is people's livelihood shipping, and the soul of people's livelihood shipping is Lu Zuofu. How could the Japanese agents do nothing, and let Lu Zuofu transport important industrial materials back to the rear.

The Japanese army of 70,000 troops attacked Guangzhou, and the chairman of the committee was also greatly shocked. What he never expected was that the Japanese army still had extra troops to divide its troops in Guangzhou.

In addition to being shocked, the chairman of the committee was extremely angry, such an important port city, the national army did not resist, and easily surrendered it to the enemy. Later battle reports showed that the Japanese army only lost more than 170 people, not even a squadron, which is simply a historical shame!

In mid-October 1938, the Japanese troops landed in Daya Bay in three ways, and then captured Huizhou, Boluo, and Zengcheng, and went straight to Guangzhou, where the defenders abandoned the city and Guangzhou fell.

Who is to blame for the fall of Guangzhou!?

This time, the Japanese army easily captured Guangzhou with little losses. Their battle report shows that its combat strength is about 70,000, and a total of 173 are killed and 493 are wounded.

(PS: There is moisture, but not much.) War casualty data are the least credible. The number of kills will be exaggerated, and the self's casualties will be reduced. ）

Compared with the Kuomintang troops in other places, the Guangdong troops were generally better equipped, with a considerable number of artillery, armor, and tank units cooperating, and a relatively sufficient number of light weapons for continuous fire. However, before the war, six divisions and several supplementary regiments were sent north to participate in the Battle of Wuhan, and at this time about 60,000 troops remained in Guangdong.

However, these 60,000 troops failed to play effectively in the face of the Japanese attack, but suffered heavy losses. According to the figures released by the Japanese side, a total of 2,371 rifles, 214 light and heavy machine guns, 134 artillery pieces, 21 combat vehicles and light armored vehicles, 151 automobiles, and 1,340 prisoners were captured by the Chinese army in this battle.

There were many reasons for the crushing defeat of the Chinese side in this battle. In addition to objective reasons such as poor weapons and equipment, insufficient combat technology, etc., there are four main subjective reasons:

First, the highest military authorities of the Kuomintang misjudged the enemy's situation and believed that the Japanese army would not attack South China on a large scale in the short term, so it sent a large number of elites north to participate in the Battle of Wuhan, which seriously weakened the defense of South China.

Second, before the war, the military and political authorities in Guangdong were paralyzed and careless and neglected to take precautions, and the officers and men in the forward positions did not enter a state of combat readiness at all, and some even had fun in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and other places, so that they were caught off guard and passively beaten under the sudden attack of the Japanese army.

Third, the local military and political authorities in Guangdong did not give effective command and took improper measures, and various departments could not closely coordinate with each other and support each other, but instead did not cooperate with each other and their liaison failed. Many units fought alone on the battlefield and were crushed by the Japanese on each side.

Fourth, espionage and traitor activities have caused great harm. Before the Japanese troops landed, they cut off the telephone lines in various counties, sabotaged our communications equipment, and received the landing of a large number of enemy troops. Therefore, after the landing of the Japanese army, the news was cut off.

After the Japanese army invaded and occupied Guangzhou, they once again engaged in banditry work. Murder, arson, adultery, and plunder.

The most hated thing is the traitors, who lead the devil soldiers to do evil everywhere, mutilate their compatriots, and plunder everywhere. The fire burned in the business district alone for five days and five nights, and half of Guangzhou's bustling district was in ruins.

Immediately, the Japanese army quickly strengthened its control over Guangzhou, and the "Chinese controlled China" used traitors to rebuild the ruling order in Guangzhou, so that it could colonize and plunder, and use it as a base for further aggression against China.

In Guangzhou and nearby counties and towns, the devils also arrested women everywhere and sent them to the front line to serve as "military prostitutes", with more than 2,000 people.

"Yu Han has no plan, Wu Tie lost the city, and he once raised no spectrum

At that time, a ballad appeared among the people to satirize Yu Hanmou, commander of the 12th Group Army, Wu Tiecheng, a high-ranking official in Guangdong, and Zeng Yangfu, mayor of Guangzhou.

Hearing the bad news, the Chinese people were all indignant. And the fall of Wuhan has also entered the countdown.

"It must be strict!"

The chairman of the committee is already furious to the extreme. The consequences of the loss of Guangzhou were far-reaching, as it announced that China's shipping lines were completely blocked by the Japanese army and foreign aid was completely eliminated. In desperation, there was the later Yunnan-Burma Highway.

However, no matter how angry, helpless, and severely punished the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee was, it was to no avail. Now that I think about it, the stranded materials in Yichang have become even more important. If you lose, you can't fight anymore.

Immediately, the chairman asked, "How is the situation in Yichang?" ”

Chen Cheng on the side replied: "Lu Zuofu began to rush with all his might, but the difficulties were still very great. ”

"He promised me that he would bring all the supplies back to the rear and not a single machine part would be left to the Japanese. Let's hope he will deliver on his promise, that's our last hope. ”

As he spoke, the chairman of the committee instructed: "Order Dai Li, Black Tiger to do their best to protect Mr. Lu's life." ”

Chen Cheng nodded and said, "I understand." I have to report to the commission. ”

"What's the matter?"

Chen Cheng replied: "The falcon also goes to Yichang." The committee knew that Shao Fei and Mr. Lu had a close relationship, and Lu Zuofu asked the military to ask Shao Fei to be in charge of public security and transportation in Yichang, and the military commission had already approved it. However, on the day he took office, Shao Fei shot and killed the former head of the security regiment. ”

The chairman of the committee looked at him and asked, "What the hell is going on?" Shao Fei I've seen that he wouldn't shoot a regiment commander for no reason. ”

Chen Cheng said: "On the day of his inauguration, Shao Fei found that the head of the regiment was prostituting in his office, and he was killed without saying a word. Shao Fei was really reckless in doing so, and even if he was wrong, he should be handed over to the Military Commission for execution. Shoot an officer of the same rank, do ......"

"Extraordinary times, very handled. Such people should be shot, not held accountable. Let the death of the head of the regiment take the officials of Yichang as a warning. Don't report about Shao Fei, although his identity is special, I trust him. ”

The chairman of the committee directly interrupted Chen Cheng's words, and now the top priority is to withdraw the materials as soon as possible and keep the lifeblood of China's industry.

Wuhan is about to fall, and there is one more thing that the chairman of the NPC National Committee has to do, that is, to burn down some important facilities such as factories in Wuhan, and absolutely not leave it to the Japanese. This is the "scorched earth policy" advocated by the chairman.

(End of chapter)