Unexpectedly, at this time, Shen Gang took out a report and said: "Commander, I learned that Zhang Xun's Eighth Division was coming to Zhenjiang before I came, so I made relevant modifications to the battle plan on the way here, please take a look!" ”

Chen Jingyun took the report and looked at it, and after half a quarter of an hour, he looked up and said, "Are you really sure?" ”

Shen Gang said: "There is definitely no grasp of ten percent, but there is still a grasp of six or seven percent!" ”

Chen Jingyun's fingers tapped on the table again, pondering, considering, after a while, he stood up, took a deep breath and said, "Since this is the case, then let it go!" ”

"The war in southern Jiangsu must be changed, and it is not a way to continue like this!" Now the situation in southern Jiangsu is very unfavorable to the national army, a third division of Cao Kun is already difficult enough for the direction of Zhenjiang, and now there is another eighth division, whether this Zhenjiang can be held is a question, and after Zhenjiang can not be defended, it will be announced that the national army's strategy in southern Jiangsu has collapsed on all fronts.

"After the plan is finalized, I will personally go to the guard division for mobilization!" Chen Jingyun was already planning to fight hard, preparing to send the last reserve guard division of the National Army to the front line to fight.

Shen Gang also showed perseverance at this time: "Commander, rest assured, I, Shen Gang, will do my best to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan, if I fail, I, Shen Gang, will cut myself to repay the commander's wrong love!" ”

After hearing this, Chen Jingyun said: "Don't learn to say, 'My own set, talk about self-cutting every day.'" ”

"In this battle, if we lose, we will retreat to the mountainous area of southern Zhejiang, and we will make a comeback in a few years!" Chen Jingyun didn't want to put too much psychological pressure on Shen Gang's subordinates, in the face of this big war, it would be no good if he forced his subordinates to collapse.

"Have a good night's rest, and we'll have a meeting tomorrow to discuss it again!"

The next time, Chen Jingyun and Shen Gang and many senior generals of the Nationalist Army held a military meeting, which was attended by a group of old people, such as Feng Qin, Liang Xunqin, Chen Yi, Lin Chengkun and others.

"Let everyone come this time, mainly to talk about Shen Gang's battle plan!" Chen Jingyun made a start, and then said to Shen Gang: "You tell everyone about your plan first!" ”

Shen Gang stood up and said, "Yes!" Then he turned around and walked to the large military map hanging on the wall and began to explain: "According to the current arrangement of our army, although the first and fourth divisions in the Zhenjiang area have a lot of troops, but under the huge pressure of the third division of the Beiyang Army and the eighth division of Zhang Xun, which has arrived one after another, the defense will become extremely difficult, and it is only a matter of time before Zhenjiang is lost for a long time. In order to alleviate the predicament of our army, I have formulated the following plan......"

Shen Gang's explanation was a little detailed, and after this passage was finished, he spoke for more than half an hour, and as soon as he finished speaking, some people immediately objected: "Such a plan is too aggressive, if it is implemented according to Shen Gang's plan, in case of an accident, our army will not only lose Zhenjiang, but also Shanghai, Lishui and even the entire southern Jiangsu region will be lost." ”

Feng Qin also said in a deep voice: "Although the situation of our army is more difficult now, it is far from the point of fighting to the death, and now increasing the support and supply in the direction of Zhenjiang may not be impossible to defend!" ”

Chen Yi said: "I think it is feasible, if this plan can be implemented smoothly, not only can we save our army in one fell swoop, but also inflict heavy damage on the enemy, if it goes well, maybe it can completely recapture Nanjing, so I think this risk is worth taking!" ”

At this time, Lin Chengkun also spoke: "If the navy can cooperate smoothly, this matter should be seventy or eighty percent certain!" ”

As soon as Lin Chengkun said this, everyone turned their attention to Sa Zhenbing, who had just returned to Shanghai yesterday, and Sa Zhenbing did not answer immediately, but glanced at Chen Jingyun before saying in a deep voice: "The navy will definitely do its best to ensure the smooth operation, and I will personally lead the fleet to cover the guard division westward into Nanjing." But ......"

After Sa Zhenbing said this, everyone frowned, not knowing what Sa Zhenbing was going to say next, and a few people were worried that Sa Zhenbing would say something bad.

Sa Zhenbing continued: "However, now that the ships of the fleet have participated in the battle for many consecutive days, the ammunition reserves are insufficient, and some ships are not in good condition because of disrepair, so I hope that the plan can be delayed for two days, and then we will act after our navy rests and replenishes ammunition!" ”

Chen Jingyun looked at Shen Gang at this time, and Shen Gang pondered for a moment and said, "It's okay to postpone it for two days, but if you have two more days, Zhenjiang is afraid that if you face more pressure!" ”

When he heard this, Chen Jingyun said: "Since this is the case, then it has been decided to come down and tell all divisions to get ready!" ”

After the military meeting broke up, Chen Yi limped to Shen Gang's side: "Brother Shen, I don't know if you can tell me the truth, how sure you are of the success of this plan!" ”

Shen Gang saw that there was no one else next to him, so he took a deep breath and said, "Forty percent, no more than fifty percent at most." ”

Hearing Shen Gang say this, Chen Yi also gasped, you must know that what Shen Gang said before was seventy or eighty percent sure, but now he said that there is no more than half of the chance of success: "Alas, Brother Shen, you are gambling on the future of our national army!" ”

Shen Gang said disapprerovingly: "The war was originally a gamble, and now you know our situation, the morale in the army is low, and the defeat of Zhenjiang some time ago made the generals of our army full of pessimism, when I went to the first division, none of the officers of the first division maintained an optimistic attitude, and even Xu Jingqing suggested to me to consider the strategy after the loss of Zhenjiang." If this continues, it will be a matter of time before our army is defeated. Now our Nationalist Army only needs a victory, a big victory, to restore the morale and confidence of the Nationalist Army, and to restore the trust of the people in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in us. ”

"Don't say that I am only half sure, even if it is only thirty percent, I will not hesitate to propose this battle plan to the commander!"

Chen Yi said: "Do you think that with the cooperation of the navy, the guard division can really capture Nanjing?" So as to completely cut off the supply lines of the Beiyang Army? And to be able to hold out in Nanjing, blocking the Beiyang Army, which may urgently go south for reinforcements from Shandong or Zhili Jingshi? ”

Shen Gang said: "The capture of Nanjing is not a big problem, now the fifth division of the Beiyang Second Army is in Lishui, the third division and the eighth division are in Zhenjiang, there is a regiment of the eighth division on the other side of Zhenjiang, and there is only one regiment left behind in Nanjing at most, and it is not a problem to rely on the combat effectiveness of the guard division to quickly take it. ”

Like the battle plan formulated by Shen Gang in the past, the battle plan formulated by Shen Gang this time is also very simple, that is, to continue to maintain a defensive posture in the direction of Zhenjiang and Lishui, and then transfer Chen Jingyun's guard division to cross the Yangtze River from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and then quickly advance along the river to Nanjing with the cooperation of naval ships, and quickly defeat Zhang Xun's Eighth Division along the way and arrive in Nanjing.

The Jinpu line is the lifeline of Feng Guozhang's Second Army, once the north bank of Nanjing is captured by the Nationalist Army, coupled with the artillery support of the navy, the Nationalist Army will be able to completely cut off the life supply line of the Second Army, once the logistics are cut off, Feng Guozhang has only two choices, one is to continue to stay on the south bank of the Yangtze River in Lishui and Zhenjiang and the Nationalist Army to hold on to and wait for urgent reinforcements in the direction of Shandong and Jingshi. The other is to take the initiative to transfer some troops from Zhenjiang and Lishui to counterattack the north bank of Nanjing. Due to the existence of the Yangtze River and the navy, it is very difficult for Feng Guozhang to counterattack the north bank of Nanjing across the bank, and it is impossible to do it if the troops are too small.

Of course, this is only the most ideal state, and it is also possible that the Seventh Division of the Beiyang Army in Shandong quickly moved south, and then under the attack of Feng Guozhang on the south bank, the guard division was wiped out cleanly on the north bank of Nanjing.

If according to the plan of Feng Qin and others, then the next step is to reinforce the guard division in the direction of Zhenjiang, and transfer the seventh division from the direction of Lishui to occupy the logistics line of the third and eighth divisions in the Jurong area to threaten the attack on Zhenjiang, and finally gather the strength of the four divisions and Cao Kun's third division and Zhang Xun's eighth division to conduct a decisive battle, and decide the outcome of the battle. However, in this case, the risk is also very high, and if the 7th Division is not good, it will be defeated by Zhang Xun's 8th Division, Cao Kun's 3rd Division, and Jin Yunpeng's 5th Division. Even if they can win the war, then it is unlikely that they will completely annihilate Cao Kun's third division and Zhang Xun's eighth division, and the most likely surname is that they retreated to Nanjing, and finally Feng Guozhang's three divisions are retracted in Nanjing, they still occupy the initiative strategically, which is very unfavorable for the national army.

Relatively speaking, although Shen Gang's plan is dangerous, if it can succeed, it will be possible to capture Nanjing, not only can it inflict heavy damage on the Beiyang Army, but it can even lay the foundation for the victory of the war in southern Jiangsu in one fell swoop.

In any case, Chen Jingyun had already decided to implement Shen Gang's plan, and on 8 November, Chen Jingyun held an open large-scale military parade in Shanghai, with the participation of a regiment of the Fourth Division and the guard division, although Chen Jingyun personally went to the guard division's barracks to summon officers above the rank of colonel in the guard division to encourage the morale of the officers.

That night, under the leadership of Lin Chengkun and Yu Ruofei, the whole guard division quietly boarded the transport ship of the Navy and the transport ship of the Pacific Company, accompanied by a special staff group specially dispatched by the headquarters, and more than ten operational staff officers of the headquarters were used to give advice to Lin Chengkun and Yu Ruofei.

On the same day, after several days of prospering, Zhang Xun finally arrived in Zhenjiang.