At this time, Gu Shutong was still staying in Wuhan.
Gu Shutong was awakened from his sleep. When he looked up, he saw the guard captain standing in front of his bed with a solemn expression. As soon as he saw the guard captain's face, Gu Shutong immediately knew that something was wrong.
Gu Shutong immediately turned over and sat up, asking at the same time: "What happened?"
"That's right." Guard Captain Sun Changhe said in a deep voice, "Luo Feng has just issued a message to compatriots across the country in the name of all the officers and soldiers of the Central Anhui Advance Brigade."
"What did you say? A letter to compatriots all over the country?!"
When Gu Shutong heard this, his heart suddenly trembled. Damn it, what the hell is Luo Feng doing
What kind of bullshit did you, a little major general and brigade commander, publish to compatriots across the country? Are you qualified
"Where's that proclamation?" Gu Shutong hurriedly put on his military uniform and asked without even bothering to button the buttons, "Bring that proclamation over quickly so I can take a look."
Gu Shutong was eager to see this announcement, because he was slightly worried. He was worried that Luo Feng would put forward some unacceptable conditions in this announcement, and even directly force the National Government to have an abortion. Then it would be over. Chairman Chiang may not do anything to Luo Feng, a young brigade commander, but he will definitely settle the score with him afterwards.
Sun Changhe said: "The announcement was followed by a list of all the officers and soldiers of the Central Anhui Advance Brigade, so it is still being sent out, but I have had people copy the first few paragraphs." As he spoke, Sun Changhe took out a piece of letter paper from his coat pocket and handed the copied proclamation to Gu Shutong.
Gu Shutong read it in a hurry and was so angry that he tore the letter into pieces.
What Gu Shutong was most worried about happened. In the announcement, Luo Feng's intention to claim credit for all the officers and soldiers of the Central Anhui Advancing Brigade was clearly revealed. Moreover, there was a faint hint of threat in it. Gu Shutong believed that if If the theater commander and headquarters cannot respond, the Central Anhui Advancing Brigade will most likely passively avoid fighting.
At this juncture, if Wanzhong advances into the brigade to avoid fighting, then why fight
Do you still want to encircle and annihilate the Japanese groups trapped in Fuyang and Mengcheng heading north? Dream on!
"This Luo Feng, this Luo Feng, he really knows how to pick the right time, he really knows how to pick the right time to reach out!" Gu Shutong's nose was almost crooked with anger, and he roared, "He is forcing the uterus, he is forcing the uterus. !”
As a grassroots officer with military background, Sun Changhe had a different view.
"Chief, I have something to say, I don't know whether I should say it because of my humble position." Sun Changhe carefully considered his words.
Gu Shutong still valued Sun Changhe very highly, not only because Sun Changhe was cautious and low-key, but also because Sun Changhe had saved his life on the battlefield.
At that moment, Gu Shutong said, "Say."
Sun Changhe said: "General, after Feidong fell and the four detachments of the New Fourth Army gave way to Chaoxian County, the situation in Feicheng was already very critical. As a newly formed force, the Central Anhui Advance Brigade suddenly faced such a situation, and it was bound to be a disaster. People's hearts are floating and the morale of the military is wavering. Although Brigadier Luo's move is suspected of forcing the palace, it is more to stabilize the morale of the military."
By this time, Gu Shutong had calmed down and nodded to Sun Changhe to continue.
Sun Changhe added: "If the commander-in-chief can follow the trend and provide guarantees to all the officers and soldiers of the Central Anhui Advance Brigade, guarantee that their families will receive pensions after they are killed in action, guarantee that their wives, children, and children will be supported, and guarantee that their names will be engraved on If the Monument of Heroes and Martyrs can be admired and remembered by future generations, then, I think, this army will surely unleash unprecedented combat effectiveness, and the Battle of Feicheng will be promising!"
Gu Shutong silently thought about it calmly and realized that what Sun Changhe said was not unreasonable.
Giving guarantees to all the officers and soldiers of the Wanzhong Advance Brigade to deal with the aftermath is actually the same as "a big reward will lead to brave men". The only difference is that it is a bit vulgar to use heavy rewards to encourage officers and soldiers to kill the enemy, but to use the aftermath to motivate them. When officers and soldiers fight bravely to kill the enemy, not only the style is much higher, but the effect will be more ideal.
But Gu Shutong always felt uncomfortable in his heart.
Such a high-profile matter should have been brought up by him, the commander-in-chief of the war zone, rather than by a small brigade commander below and used it to force him into the palace! If Luo Feng was sensible, he could send a secret message first, and then let him, the commander-in-chief of the theater, make a speech or announcement. This is the right way.
Gu Shutong's anger here had just subsided, and Wan Xiangyun hurried over there again.
"General, I heard that Luo Feng published a letter to compatriots across the country. This made the committee very angry!" Wan Xiangyun shouted anxiously as soon as he entered the door, "Xu Rui must have done this, Luo Feng Jue has no such intention, Xu Rui must have instigated this matter, Xu Rui clearly wants to use this matter to force him into the palace, we can never agree to it!"
Gu Shutong was concerned about something else, and asked urgently: "Lao Wan, what did you just say, does the committee know about it?"
"Does the commissioner know?" Wan Xiangyun said, "I knew it right away. I just went to the commissioner's official residence, and the captain of the bodyguard Wang said privately that after the commissioner saw this article, he was so angry that his teacup was full. It fell! Oh, by the way, the committee has ordered a meeting with all the military and political officials, and I am here to inform you."
"Let's go, go quickly." Gu Shutong sighed, "I might be criticized again this time."
However, it turned out that Gu Shutong was overly worried. By the time Gu Shutong and Wan Xiangyun arrived at Chairman Chiang Kai-shek's residence, all the party, government and military officials of the Nationalist Government had gathered together to discuss the announcement issued by the Central Anhui Advance Brigade. After writing a letter to compatriots across the country, the opinions at the meeting were divided into two completely different groups.
One group of opinions, headed by Minister of Military and Political Affairs He Yingqin, advocated a firm rejection. He Yingqin's reason was that if the Wanchong Advancing Brigade's push for imperialism was tolerated this time, would other troops follow suit? If troops across the country follow suit and press for the central government, how can we fight this battle
The other group of opinions, led by Bai Chongxi, Minister of Military Training and Deputy Chief of General Staff, advocated following the trend. Bai Chongxi believed that not only should the request of the Wanchong Advance Brigade not be rejected, but the headquarters should also include the statement of the Wanchong Advance Brigade. On this basis, we will publish another message to our compatriots across the country to provide assurances to all the soldiers in the army to deal with the aftermath! So that he no longer has to worry about anything!
However, He Yingqin then pointed out that it is easy to talk about ensuring the aftermath, but it is extremely difficult to put it into practice. After the fall of Shanghai, the national tax revenue dropped to 60%, and the National Government could no longer guarantee even basic military expenditures, and could only rely on continuous Printing legal currency to drink poison to quench thirst, where can you get the money to distribute pensions
And this matter cannot be just talked about, it must be implemented. Otherwise, even if the media in China and Western countries do not expose you, the media in Japan will not miss such an opportunity. Once the matter is exposed, , the morale of the frontline troops will inevitably suffer heavy losses, so there is no need to fight this war of resistance.
Faced with He Yingqin's doubts, Zhou Gong, who was stationed in Wuhan during the Communist Party of China, suggested that the Anhui Advancing Brigade's letter to compatriots across the country could be used as an opportunity to let media organizations in Wuhan, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Kunming and other places follow up. Carry out momentum building, fully mobilize the people of the country, and donate money and materials to the frontline troops.
In the end, Chairman Chiang Kai-shek made the final decision. We must use this incident to carry out nationwide publicity. We must make the momentum bigger, not only to deal with the aftermath of the Central Anhui Advance Brigade, but also to deal with the aftermath of the more than one million officers and soldiers on the Xuzhou front. Once things are done well, all officers and soldiers can safely step onto the battlefield and fight to the death with little Japan!
After Chairman Chiang gave the instructions, various departments immediately began to take action.
The first to take action was the Confidential Office of the General Headquarters. More than a dozen civilian secretaries from the Confidential Office gathered together and began to prepare a speech draft. They wanted to get there before dawn and before the Central Radio Station started broadcasting for the day. Prepare the draft of Chairman Chiang's speech. At six o'clock in the morning, Chairman Chiang will give a nationwide radio speech.
(Dividing line)
Shitou was awakened from his sleep by a suppressed cry. He turned around and saw a six-pound recruit who had just joined the army for less than half a month, lying on the towel blanket. From his shoulders that kept shaking, you could tell that he must be Crying.
"Liu Jin, are you homesick again?" Shitou reached out and patted Liu Jin on the shoulder, and Liu Jin stopped crying immediately.
Liujin turned over and faced Shitou. Although it was in the dark, Shitou could clearly see that Liujin's eyes were red and there were tears on his face. He had obviously cried just now.
It's not new at all for recruit Danzi to hide under the covers and cry secretly in the middle of the night.
Veterans are not born veterans, they all come from recruits. When Shitou first joined the army, he happened to catch up with the Shanghai Anti-Japanese War on 128. When he saw the corpses being carried off the front line one by one, Shitou collapsed at that time. Holding their squad leader's lap and crying, they refused to go to the battlefield even to the death.
In the end, his squad leader forced him to go to the battlefield with a bayonet.
At the end of the battle, only nine of their more than 100 people were killed. In order to save Shitou, the old squad leader was stabbed through the stomach by a Japanese officer. However, the Japanese officer was also bitten to death by the stone, with his real teeth. Shitou was stunned at that time. He had a gun in his hand but didn't know how to use it. He opened his mouth and bit it in desperation.
After that, Shitou never cried again.
"Platoon leader, I'm afraid." Liu Jin said.
"Don't be afraid, you will be a veteran after one battle."
"Platoon leader, I heard that the 1st regiment was beaten badly by the Japanese in Feidong. Only a hundred people from one regiment came back?"
"There are no immortals in a war? Don't think about this all day long. Let me tell you, on the battlefield, the more you fear death, the faster you will die. The less you fear death, the more bullets will evade you."
"Platoon leader, I'm still afraid. I'm going to die. What will my mother do?"
Shitou was silent because he couldn't answer the question of six pounds.
In fact, even Shitou himself had the same question. If he died in the battle, what would happen to his parents who had been sick for a long time at home? And who will support the younger brothers and sisters? (To be continued.)