latelenovela Chapter 907 Jinling's Punishment
Chapter 907 Jinling's Punishment
In response to the 72nd Army's retreat after a bloody battle in Tianjin, the order of the Nanjing National Government soon reached Li Shaoyi. Nanjing did not allow Li Shaoyi to retreat and required Li Shaoyi to continue mobilizing the northern army to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army in North China.
"These guys, apart from giving blind orders, really don't know what they can do. How many devils have we killed in Tianjin during this period? How many devils have the people of the Nanjing National Government killed? They don't see how much we have lost. They just touch our lips and let us continue the bloody battle in Tianjin. If this battle was so easy, I would have fought in the devil's home by now."
In response to the telegram sent from Jinling, Zhao Tiezhu directly took a group of bullets and threw them into the oil barrel next to him. When the temperature dropped at night, the soldiers cut open one side of the oil barrel and threw some wood and other things into it, so that they could get some hot water at night.
"Those bureaucrats have always been like this. If it were the central army in Tianjin right now, do you think they would issue such an order? Their way of doing things has always been to let the local warlords die while the central army conserves its strength and cleans up the mess at the end. Their tactics have long been seen through. Fortunately, the people and scholars in the north are on our side."
Li Shaoyi took out several newspapers from the back, all of which were large newspapers in the north. They reported the situation on the Tianjin battlefield truthfully. As a local warlord, the 72nd Army had eliminated nearly 200,000 Japanese troops in this battle. In fact, it was more than 200,000, but some people in the newspaper did not exaggerate the number for the sake of caution, and only reported some that could be confirmed.
The people in the north were very satisfied with the results of the 72nd Army. We killed 200,000 Japanese troops at the cost of tens of thousands of people. This has never happened in history. What's more, what is left in Tianjin now? It used to be the most important commercial city in the north, but now it is just a pile of ruins. After the Japanese occupied here, if they wanted to rebuild Tianjin, the money alone would be no small amount. As for looting some useful things, if you think those broken bricks and tiles are useful, then this thing may be the only thing you can grab.
"Report to the Marshal, the Jinling Military and Political Department is calling."
Just as Zhao Tiezhu was about to speak, the telecom operator next to him pulled the phone over to him.
Li Shaoyi was too lazy to talk nonsense with the people in Jinling, so he just covered his face with his hat, indicating that he wanted to sleep. The telecom operator looked at Zhao Tiezhu with some embarrassment and said, "You are the highest commander on the scene now, so you have to answer this call. We soldiers can't talk to the minister over there."
"Sir, I am the commander of the 4th Infantry Division of the 72nd Army..."
Zhao Tiezhu took the phone helplessly. Although he didn't know who was on the other end of the line, it was always a good idea to introduce yourself first. It was also a kind of respect for your superiors.
"Where's your Commander Li? I'm from the Military and Political Department."
Minister He felt unhappy when he heard that it was not Li Shaoyi. After returning from Tianjin, the rift between the two had become quite big. He also knew that the order issued by the Nanjing National Government this time was deliberately made by some people in the upper echelons of the National Government. It was really disheartening that they were messing around with such things at this time, but he was in this position and had to supervise the order, so he had to make this call.
"Report to the commander, our commander is leading the army in a sniper war in the rear. After the Japanese army learned of our retreat, they increased their strength by two divisions. Currently, the total number of Japanese troops in Tianjin has reached 200,000 again."
Zhao Tiezhu said calmly, "How many Japanese troops are there? Your Nationalist government is capable of figuring it out. From the initial 200,000 to the current 200,000, it sounds like there's no difference, but the Japanese have lost more than 200,000 men in the meantime. Moreover, during our retreat, we can still gain some more results."
Minister He frowned when he heard that the Japanese army had added two more divisions. He was familiar with the fierceness of the battle in Tianjin. Minister He had been on the scene for a while. He had fought wars all his life, but had never seen a war of such intensity. After returning to Nanjing, his attention to Tianjin did not decrease. He even left his adjutant in Li Shaoyi's army. That was his relative and he would never lie about the battle situation. The war in Tianjin was definitely the most difficult war the National Government had ever fought, and even the most intense war in the history of the entire Dragon Country.
When the war just started, some people within the Nanjing National Government even opened champagne. They believed that warlords like Li Shaoyi never obeyed the orders of the Nanjing National Government. This time, they could let the Japanese teach them a lesson. After their main forces were defeated, they would know what tone to use when speaking to the Nanjing National Government.
Unexpectedly, the longer the defense of Tianjin lasted, the 72nd Army showed no sign of retreating. Instead, the Japanese casualties grew heavier, which frightened those within the Nanjing National Government.
Many patriots do not understand their own thought processes. When the enemy's army suffers heavy losses, they become worried. When our army suffers small losses, they become unhappy. In their opinion, internal conflicts are much more serious than external conflicts.
If the 72nd Army has the ability to deal with 200,000 Japanese troops, then the elite central army of the current National Government will definitely not be a match for the 72nd Army. If Li Shaoyi leads his troops south one day, it will be a nightmare for the entire National Government.
So when Li Shaoyi was about to retreat, many people advised the old man, "Doesn't Li Shaoyi usually fight the Japanese? He always wants to be at the forefront. Now is the best opportunity. How can you retreat with your men?"
The top leaders of the Nationalist government were also deeply wary of the combat effectiveness of the 72nd Army. They also lost a large number of excellent troops in Tianjin this time, but the troops in the rear had been trained again. Only by letting them continue to fight the Japanese would they not have time to fight a civil war.
So the result of their discussion was to let the 72nd Army continue to stay in Tianjin without any support.
Minister He did not continue talking, nor was he willing to continue talking to an infantry division commander. In his opinion, this was a cheap thing, so he hung up the phone and went through the normal procedures to ask the 72nd Army whether it had received the telegram.