Time moves forward without stopping.

On the front line, the Japanese army was like a bamboo, in addition to the 100,000 troops under the command of Terauchi Shouichi who drove straight into the hinterland of Hubei, and at the same time, there were more than 100,000 people in the five elite divisions of the 11th Army led by Okamura Ninji, attacking from both sides, mobilizing nearly 1,000 fighter sorties, and also using the Yangtze River to quickly throw troops into the surrounding areas, with a total strength of more than 300,000 troops.

The Battle of Wuhan slowly kicked off in the summer of 1938.

In terms of **, the work of defending Wuhan has been in full swing since before the fall of Nanjing.

The great victory in the Battle of Zhongmu was followed by a rapid defeat, which made Chairman Chiang quite angry, and on the one hand he began the work of moving the capital from Wuhan to Chongqing, and on the other hand, he was determined to fight the Japanese army in Wuhan to save some face for himself.

In mid-July, the Ninth Theater was newly formed, with Commander Chen Cheng.

At the same time, it was decided to use the troops of the Fifth Theater and the Ninth Theater to organize layers of defense with a total of 14 group armies and 50 armies with a strength of more than one million, and at the same time more than 200 sorties of combat planes and more than 30 warships, using Poyang Lake and the Dabie Mountains as barriers, with the intention of defending Wuhan to the death.

Among them, Chen Cheng, commander of the Ninth Theater, subdued the 27th Army to be responsible for operations on the south bank of the Yangtze River, Xue Yue, who had just returned from the defeat in Zhengzhou, led the First Corps to garrison the Nanxun line, with Poyang Lake as the core and Nanchang as the base to block the Japanese army and prevent the Japanese army from attacking Nanchang and outflanking Wuhan, and Zhang Fakui's headquarters of the Second Corps was stationed on the Ruichang line of Jiujiang, Yueyang and Xianning in the west.

Tang Enbo, who suffered heavy casualties in the Zhongmu front, was still reused, and he was ready to respond at any time between the key points, which made many people wonder why Tang Enbo could still be reused after repeated defeats.

The commander of the Fifth Theater was Bai Chongxi, who commanded the 23rd Army to be responsible for the Jiangbei operation, the Fourth Army Li Pinxian's unit used the Dabie Mountain Range on the north bank of the Yangtze River to contain the enemy army, so as to prevent the Japanese army from repairing the plank road and secretly attacking Wuhan by taking shortcuts, Liao Lei's headquarters of the 21st Group Army was the Central Corps, blocking the enemy advancing westward in the mountains around Taihu Lake and Qianshan, and Sun Lianzhong of the Third Corps was forced to control the northern part of Dabie Mountain and between the Huai River to prevent the enemy from attacking the northern part of Wuhan in a roundabout way, and Han Deqin of the 24th Group Army was conducting guerrilla attacks behind enemy lines. Wait for the opportunity to cut off the supply lines of the Japanese army.

The headquarters of Wang Zhangxu of the 29th Group Army is the second-line reserve corps, which can check and fill in the gaps at any time and supplement the first-line battlefield.

At the same time, the first theater was stationed in the area from Zhengzhou to Xinyang on the Pinghan Railway to prevent the Japanese army from moving south in North China, and the third theater was in Wuhu and Anqing in Anhui Province to prevent the Japanese army from using the railway to make a detour to the Wuchang area.

This time, the Nationalist Government absorbed the experience of Zhongmu's great victory, and finally did not blindly intend to defend to the death, but put on an offensive posture on the periphery, and at the same time used the strategic pattern of positional defense and guerrilla warfare as a supplement, intending to wage a protracted war and drag down the Japanese army.

It can be said that for the sake of the battle of Wuhan, Chairman Chiang made all his best efforts and put on a desperate posture, and with more than one million troops waiting for work, Chairman Chiang believed that this battle would definitely be able to restore the hearts and minds of the people and the army that had been lost before.

"Gentlemen, the hope and future of the nation and the future of the party-state are all tied to this battle!"

In the war room, more than 100 senior generals stood solemnly, Chairman Jiang clenched his fists and shouted: "In this battle, the Japanese army is attacking with heavy troops, intending to defeat our Chinese nation in one fell swoop, and we Chinese nation soldiers must not compromise with the Japanese army, for the sake of the nation and the party and the state, I hope that you can fight to the end and let the damned invaders know that we are not easy to bully ...... Chinese."

"We will fight to the end, serve the nation, serve the party and the state, and be loyal to the chairman......"

Many generals roared in unison, their eyes were majestic and their faces were resolute, and they all expressed their belief that they would never give in.

Looking at these generals, Chairman Jiang nodded with satisfaction, he fully believed that this time, he would definitely let the little devil come and go!

"Chairman of the Committee, Yan'an has sent a telegram, requesting that the strength of the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army be used to cooperate with our troops in the battle, strive to inflict heavy losses on the Japanese army, and reproduce the glorious achievements of the First Battle of Zhongmu!" A staff officer reported in a low voice.

Chairman Jiang's face turned cold when he heard this, and he said in his heart that these people saw that they might win a big victory by deploying heavy troops in Wuhan, so they wanted to come and compete with me? Have you forgotten that the Yellow River burst a while ago and poured a cold gun on someone's back? If you don't remember, I'll remember someone very clearly!

"Thank you for the kindness of Yan'an, they are all my brother troops of the Chinese nation, and they are still connected to the tendons if they break their bones - but they are not comparable to coordinated operations, after all, Wuhan is the capital of our national government, and if our capital has to rely on outsiders to help garrison, I am afraid that we will be criticized if we say it!" Chairman Jiang said lightly.

The staff officers took the order and left, and many generals also left the military headquarters in unison and rushed to the front line to prepare for combat missions.

But Xue Yue, Cheng Qian, Shang Zhen and others stayed, and said guiltily with a salute: "Chairman, if you don't hold Zhengzhou, your subordinates are incompetent!" ”

"Generals, don't say that!"

Chairman Jiang said: "You can't be blamed for this matter, you will not shirk someone's responsibility, and you will not shirk someone-but, the main thing is that the Japanese army is too cunning, and Jiang is also guilty of their evil...... Don't talk about the previous things, you guys, I don't worry, this battle, fight well! ”

"Thank you, Chairman......"

Everyone thanked them and hesitated for a moment before saying: "Actually, the subordinates stayed, on the one hand, to apologize to the chairman, and on the other hand, they also wanted to make a request to the chairman!" ”

"Say it, as long as it can be beneficial to the Battle of Wuhan, you can say it's okay!" Chairman Jiang said with a heroic wave of his hand.

"I hope that Chairman Jiang can consider transferring Lu Yuan back to participate in the work of the War Department!"

Xue Yue, Cheng Qian and the others looked at Chairman Jiang and said sincerely: "I know that Lu Yuan is unruly, but he has real skills on the battlefield, although now we have an absolute advantage in combat preparation and strength, but if Lu Yuan can participate in it, our strategic plan for the Battle of Wuhan will definitely have a greater certainty......

"Humph!"

Before he finished speaking, Chairman Jiang already snorted coldly, and said with a blue face: "Generals, do your own thing, I, Jiang, have followed Mr. Sun from the beginning of the Northern Expedition to the present, how to fight the war, I use you to teach me, let alone others to teach me!" ”

A few people touched a soft nail, and they knew that it was useless to talk more, so they could only retreat.

"Hmph, I don't believe that without this damn long way, and these Jiang people can't win this battle!"

Chairman Jiang snorted, and said in his heart that he had been preparing for this battle for more than a year, and if he couldn't win the battle again, Lao Tzu wouldn't believe it!