kingnovel Chapter 901 Overall View
Chapter 901 Overall View
Tianjin Railway Station
When they just occupied the train station, Chu Shenyun was still a battalion commander. Now, after so many days of fighting, this guy has become a regimental commander, and the troops under his command have been replaced one after another.
Although he was promoted, he was not in a good mood. Not even one-third of the money he brought from the north was left, and most of it had been withdrawn.
When the war just started, we had not anticipated that it would be so intense. Now we understand that the Japanese's capabilities in Tianjin are far greater than those in the north. If we are not careful, the number of losses will rise sharply. There are many places in urban street fighting that tanks cannot reach.
When I first arrived at the train station, the surrounding buildings were basically intact, but now, except for the clock tower of the train station, all the surrounding buildings are dilapidated. The originally four-story building now only has one and a half floors left, which is quite rare. There is construction waste everywhere.
Among the ruins, there are still more than a thousand soldiers fighting.
"Reporting to the regimental commander, the 3rd Regiment in the southwest and the 2nd Battalion in the north have received the order to retreat. They have just contacted us. My regiment will be responsible for covering their retreat."
Since Li Shaoyi has decided to retreat, there is no need to continue to persist here. A war of attrition is definitely not what we want.
"Of course, the elite troops must be saved for last. The Third Regiment and the Second Battalion are full of new recruits. If we rely on them to stay for a while, who knows how much trouble will arise. Tell my brothers to hold off for a while. A batch of new armored vehicles has been delivered. We need to hold off two Japanese infantry companies and cover our retreat. Another 25 tons of explosives have also been delivered. Blow up the entire train station before you leave."
Captain Cui glanced back and saw several trucks parked there, all loaded with explosives. More than 30 engineers were also ready, waiting for Captain Cui's order and ready to bury the explosives at any time.
"I feel really bad. So many of our brothers have sacrificed their lives here. I thought we could continue to fight, at least to prevent the Japanese from getting past us. Now look, they are retreating in the end. I don't know what the Marshal is thinking."
The brothers below were confused about this, which was normal. They hadn't suffered a major defeat. Although they had suffered heavy losses during this period, the main forces of each unit were still intact. If they could transport a batch of new soldiers from the rear, they would definitely be able to hold out for another two weeks. What could the main force of the Japanese army do? Take the east side of the train station for example. There was no telling how many main forces of the Japanese army had arrived. Their numbers had changed several times. Could any of them even take a single step forward?
"You know nothing, kid. All you can see is the area around the train station. We've built so many strong fortifications here that we have the current situation. But the whole of Tianjin may not be like this. The other troops only have some temporary fortifications. How can you expect them to fight the Japanese head-on? What's more, our commander-in-chief sees the whole picture, not just Tianjin."
After all, Captain Cui is the superior and he has deep faith in Li Shaoyi's strategic vision. Now the city of Tianjin has entered a state of anxiety. We cannot completely eliminate the Japanese. If we continue to consume them, all our mobile forces may be pulled here. When the Japanese start a war somewhere else, we may not be able to withdraw people. This is the most fatal thing.
"Captain, from what you're saying, do we really need to go fight somewhere else? Shouldn't we slowly retreat to Peking from here, then gather most of our forces and launch a counterattack in North China?"
In the minds of many people below, they have absolute confidence in the Chahar base. We retreat from Tianjin to the northwest, and every step of retreat will inflict heavy damage on the devils. By the time we reach Chahar, the 200,000 or so Japanese soldiers will be almost wiped out. By then, if we strike back and surprise attack them, will there still be any Japanese soldiers alive?
"Or you don't have a global perspective. If the Japanese put all their forces in Tianjin, our strategy will be fine. But what if the Japanese start a war from somewhere else, for example, if their army starts a war from Pujiang, can you still fight according to this method?"
Captain Cui did not blame his soldiers. Before joining the army, these people could not even write their own names, and could only see the part in front of them. If he tried to explain the overall view to them, it would be a bit difficult to explain.
"What does Pujiang have to do with us? We were doing well in North China. If it weren't for the Nationalist government's idiotic plans, would Tianjin be in such a mess now? They should have asked the 29th Army to move to another location. Our 72nd Army is stationed in North China. With over 200,000 men, I really don't believe the Japanese could have advanced even a single step."
Ordinary soldiers have simple minds and cannot think about the power struggles at the top. In their view, the Pujiang incident has nothing to do with us, and we can just let the National Government deal with it. They can deal with the troubles they have caused themselves, and we still have to take care of the affairs in the north. Anyway, Pujiang is not our territory, so we can just destroy it and that's it.
"Don't blame me for criticizing you. I always told you to think big, but you haven't really developed that. Our country's industrial strength is inherently weak, and the war will be fought on your industrial strength. There are still some factories around Pujiang, which is also the most prosperous part of our country's economy. If it were to fall completely there, how would we fight this war? Even if all the armed personnel of our 72nd Army were added together, could they stand against the entire Japanese?"
Captain Cui knew that the perspectives of his men could not change in a day or two, so whenever he encountered such a thing, he would explain the overall concept to them. Pujiang was the economic leader of the entire Dragon Country and the main source of financial resources for the National Government. If a war really broke out there, the importance of the war would be greater than that in the north.
"So can we go to Pujiang to fight?"
A machine gunner said while cleaning his machine gun that at least eighty Japanese soldiers had died in his hands in the past few days. When he was doing machine gun training in the rear, he always felt like he was cutting his own flesh. This thing fired a volley of bullets and half of his wife was gone. Today, when he arrived at the battlefield, he realized that the training was not in vain at all, and all these skills were used on the Japanese soldiers.