Wuhan is located in central China, via the Yangtze River waterway. eastward to Nanjing, Shanghai; It can reach Chongqing and Chengdu in the west. The railway can pass Henan, Hunan and Guangzhou, and is known as the "thoroughfare of nine provinces".

After the fall of Shanghai and Nanjing, a large number of materials were moved to the rear of the Southwest University. Wuhan has also become a transit point for people and materials. At the same time, the Nationalist Government also set up most of the organs and the military command center of the whole country in Wuhan, which also became the political, economic and military center at that time.

In view of the important position of Wuhan, the Japanese General Staff Headquarters believed that as long as they occupied Wuhan and Guangzhou, they would be able to dominate China. Therefore, in January, the Japanese army launched the "Battle of Xuzhou". Through the Central Plains, take Wuhan directly. The purpose is to turn the national status of the national government into a local government.

However, the Japanese army's wishful thinking failed because of the "Huayuankou embankment", and they had no choice but to change their battle plan and attack Wuhan along the Yangtze River.

More and more materials and personnel were gathered in Wuhan, and Lu Zuofu felt pressure. The national army was determined to fight to the death and gathered 1.1 million troops, and now that morale is high and the people's anti-Japanese enthusiasm is unprecedentedly high, who would think about retreating? But Lu Zuofu has been thinking about it lately, because Shao Fei told him that Wuhan would fall in October.

In the living room of the Lu Mansion, Lu Zuofu had a sad face, but the other two people were happy.

"Your father and daughter are reconciled, and you don't have to stick together every day, right?"

Those two were Liu Tiancheng and Liu Ying. Before Shao Fei left, he hoped that Liu Ying would reconcile with his father, and maybe there would not be many opportunities to meet again in the future. Liu Ying agreed to Shao Fei and fulfilled his filial piety as a child before Shao Fei took him away.

"Envious, hehe." Liu Tiancheng was full of relief and said, "As long as my daughter is by my side, I can do without anything."

Lu Zuofu asked: "Shao Fei just went to the front line, aren't you worried?"

Liu Ying replied: "The battlefield is the stage of soldiers, and I can't stop it." is saying that he is the god of war, and no one has killed him. ”

At this moment, a family member led an officer in. After the officer saluted, he said, "The chairman has invited Boss Lu to the mansion for a while, and the car is waiting outside."

"You know, I just wanted to meet the chairman. ，”

Lu Zuofu got up and followed the guard officer out of the Lu Mansion.

When he arrived at the Wuhan residence of the chairman of the committee, the guard officer told Lu Zuofu that the leader was holding a military combat meeting and asked him to wait for a while.

The military operations meeting on 19 June was extremely important for the entire Battle of Wuhan. The troops from all walks of life arrived one after another, and the general deployment was basically completed, with Chen Cheng and Li Zongren guarding the north and south banks of the Yangtze River respectively. The content of the meeting was precise deployment and, most importantly, operational ideology and guidelines.

"To exchange small victories for big victories, to exchange space for time, the Battle of Xuzhou is a typical example. Although the defense of Tengxian County failed, it greatly consumed the living strength of the Japanese army, and the victory of Linyi led to the great victory of Taierzhuang...... The same should be true for the defense of Wuhan this time, to extend the battle line to other provinces, to take advantage of the favorable terrain to block the attack, and to destroy the enemy's living forces......"

Bai Chongxi, deputy chief of the general staff of the Nationalist Army, put forward his own operational policy.

"Space for time" was proposed by the chairman of the committee before, and now Bai Chongxi proposed it again, and all the generals at the meeting agreed. This is also the only effective plan, they can't bring the flames of war to Wuhan, because Wuhan has gathered too many people and materials.

Xue Yue expressed his approval and said, "Japan is a small country, and strategic materials are extremely scarce. As long as this battle consumes a large amount of their vital strength, the entire anti-Japanese situation will undergo a qualitative change. Our First Army is confident that it will fight this battle well. ”

When the chairman saw Xue Yue, he remembered the Battle of Lanfeng and the 14th Division of Tufeiyuan Xianji, so he asked Cheng Qian: "What is the situation in Henan now?"

Cheng Qian replied: "People from all business circles have responded and are willing to support the victims, and the Propaganda Department has also called on the whole people to help the disaster area. However, there are too many victims, estimated to be more than 3 million, and the situation is not very optimistic. ”

Cheng Qian didn't understand what the chairman meant, he asked about Tu Feiyuan, but Cheng Qian reported the disaster.

The chairman sighed and said: "Do your best, but there must be no corruption!" Once discovered, take care of it on the spot! Don't be vindictive, people are watching us all the time, just waiting for us to make mistakes, and then make a big fuss. ”

"Rest assured."

"What about the 14th Division of Tufeiyuan?"

Cheng Qian replied: "It's not just the 14th Division of the Japanese Army. As soon as the flood passed, tens of thousands of Japanese troops in Henan were trapped on isolated islands and were actively rescued. We also found enemy air forces throwing supplies, but most of them fell into the water and were swept away by the river. It seems that they are very embarrassed. ”

Only then did the chairman of the committee leak a hint of relief. Towards the end of the meeting, the chairman found that the commander of the Thirtieth Army, Luján, had not spoken.

The committee has always wanted to win over Lu Han, so he asked kindly: "General Lu, do you have any opinions on letting the 30th Group Army be used as a reserve force?" If you have something to say, we can discuss it. ”

Lu Han replied: "No, most of the 30th Army, except for the 184th Division, is a new recruit, and it should be a reserve force." Thank you for your concern, and I will order the troops to train as soon as possible. ”

"Good. The Yunnan Army is the strength of the country, and the 182nd and 183rd Divisions of the 60th Army fought in Taierzhuang and paid a heavy price. ”

The chairman only mentioned the 182nd and 183rd Divisions, but did not mention Zhang Chong's 184th Division's bloody Yuwangshan, which seemed to give Lu Han a hint not to get too close to the Communist Party.

The meeting ended and unanimously adopted the north and south of the Yangtze River as the main line of defense.

It was not a wise choice for the Japanese army to go north along the Yangtze River, with the Dabie Mountains in the north and Poyang Lake in the south.

To the north is the Yellow Flood Area, which is guarded by famous generals such as Sun Lianzhong, Song Xilian, Zhang Zizhong, Hu Zongnan, and Yu Xuezhong. Therefore, we can only go north along the Yangtze River, and the price is heavy.

When the chairman returned to the official residence, he found Lu Zuofu waiting in the study, so he apologized: "I'm sorry for making Boss Lu wait for a long time."

Lu Zuofu hurriedly got up, hugged his fists and said, "Don't dare." The chairman of the committee is concerned about the major affairs of the country, and the nobles are busy. ”

"Hehe, Mr. Lu, please take a seat."

The chairman of the committee changed his words and asked Lu Zuofu to sit down, and he himself sat on the main seat.

"Mr. Lu, what do you think of this battle to defend Wuhan?"

"I am a businessman, and I dare not talk about state affairs. If the chairman of the committee has any potential, it is incumbent on him to do so. ”

The chairman waved his hand, his expression was very easy-going, and said, "It's too modest." At the time of the Battle of Songhu, thanks to your shipping company, most of Shanghai's capital was transported to the rear, and you were meritorious to the country. Mr. Lu's patriotic feelings were greatly admired by Jiang. ”

Chairman Chiang was not saying polite words, he admired Lu Zuofu from the bottom of his heart. Everything Lu Zuofu does is sincerely for the country.

(The Kuomintang was defeated and left Taiwan, and the chairman ordered He Yingqin and Yan Xishan to invite Lu Zuofu to Taiwan several times, but Lu Zuofu still stayed for the country and retained huge assets.) ）

Lu Zuofu bowed his head and said: "I'm ashamed, my family was poor since I was a child, and I have nothing. Later, when I established a shipping company and named Minsheng, I was telling myself that everything I had belonged to this country. ”

Lu Zuofu learned from Shao Fei that Wuhan would sooner or later fall into the hands of the Japanese, so he suggested that the chairman of the committee transfer some unimportant materials and personnel first to slim down Wuhan.

The chairman of the committee gladly accepted Lu Zuofu's suggestion and asked his Minsheng Shipping to be fully responsible for the evacuation of materials and personnel.

(PS: In 52, Lu Zuofu committed suicide.) The suicide note is only two lines of words: I will rely on my children for my future life. The badges were returned to the Southwest Administrative Council, the furniture was returned to the company, and the shares were handed over to the state. cough~ A generation of shipping tycoons, even the furniture is borrowed, you can imagine how honest and self-disciplined this person is. ）

(End of chapter)