Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Chapter 743 Changsha’s Defense Mistake

In the combat plan formulated by Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, the attack of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army on Changsha was divided into three routes. One route was to attack towards Taohua Mountain and Yuelu Mountain west of Changsha, one route was to attack towards Laodao River north of Changsha, and one route was to attack directly towards the south of Changsha from the east. It was required that the three attacking forces begin to encircle Changsha on June 17.

On June 15, the offensive forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army occupied Changsha's outer defense positions of Shimapu, Shiziwan, Amiling, and Jinpenling. Then the offensive forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army continued to advance to Yangjiashan, Zuojiatang, and Meizishan.

At this time, there were differences of opinion between Zhang Deneng, commander of the Fourth Army of the Chinese government, and Zhao Zili, chief of staff of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, on how to defend Changsha.

According to the deployment of Commander Xue, commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, the 90th Division of the Fourth Army of the Chinese government was responsible for defending Yuelu Mountain, the 59th Division and the 102nd Division were responsible for defending Changsha City, and artillery commander Wang Ruoqing led an artillery brigade to garrison Yuelu Mountain and was responsible for assisting the defense of Changsha City.

However, Zhao Zili, chief of staff of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government, believed that the deployment of Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government was not appropriate. He proposed to deploy two divisions of the Fourth Army of the Chinese Government in Yuelu Mountain.

Chief of Staff Zhao Zili of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government believed that the reason why the troops of the New 22nd Army were able to defend the city of Changsha during the Third Battle of Changsha was not only due to the brave resistance of the officers and soldiers of the New 22nd Army, but also due to the contribution of the artillery brigade on Yuelu Mountain.

But during the third Changsha Campaign, the 73rd Army of the Chinese government was stationed at Yuelu Mountain, which was capable of defending Yuelu Mountain. But this time, Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, only arranged one division of troops to defend Yuelu Mountain.

With such a thin defensive force, once the offensive force of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army learned the lesson of the failure of the Third Battle of Changsha and did not attack Changsha City first but attacked Yuelu Mountain first, then the strength of one division would be unable to defend against the attack of the offensive force of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army.

If Yuelu Mountain was lost, the defenders in Changsha City would lose their most advantageous artillery support and would not be able to defend Changsha City.

It should be said that the opinion of Chief of Staff Zhao Zili of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government was correct, but this correct deployment opinion of Chief of Staff Zhao Zili of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government was rejected by Commander Zhang of the Fourth Army of the Chinese Government. The reason was very simple, because the deployment of Changsha City was arranged by Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government.

This is also because, after the Third Battle of Changsha, Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, became more proud, conceited and unwilling to listen to other people's opinions, which was a very important reason for the failure of the Fourth Battle of Changsha.

Indeed, these problems of Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government, were much better when Wu Yizi was the chief of staff of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government. Because Chief of Staff Wu Yizi of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government at that time was able to coordinate the relationship between him and Commander Xue better, Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government, was able to listen to him. Therefore, the two of them had peace during their cooperation.

However, after Chief of Staff Zhao Zili of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government arrived, he no longer had the same treatment as the former Chief of Staff and Commander Xue in peaceful communication.

Because Chief of Staff Zhao Zili of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government previously served as the Chief of Staff of the Ninth War Zone. At that time, Chief of Staff Zhao Zili was also valued by Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government. Commander Xue even regarded Chief of Staff Zhao Zili as a junior.

At that time, the two were far apart in terms of military position, status, and power. In other words, Zhao Zili posed no threat to Commander Xue. After Zhao Zili became the chief of staff of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government, his status immediately improved, and he already had the ability and conditions to compete with Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government. Therefore, Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government, looked down on this younger generation, Chief of Staff Zhao Zili, and ignored his opinions.

Then, there is another aspect. After the Third Battle of Changsha, Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, enjoyed growing international and domestic reputation, which aroused some suspicion among the highest levels of the government. This also caused the top level of the Chinese government to take advantage of the issue to dismiss the former chief of staff Wu Yizi of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government and replace him with Zhao Ziling as chief of staff, which meant planting a nail next to Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government.

As the chief of staff of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, Zhao Zili did not raise any objections to the Military General Staff when the Military General Staff gave the Ninth War Zone Command of the Chinese government a very unreasonable battle deployment plan. He also remained silent when Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government proposed to modify the battle plan. This could not help but make Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government unhappy.

In fact, every item in the combat plan issued by the Military Affairs Department hit the weak spot of Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government. It not only made it impossible for Commander Xue to command the operations according to his own intentions, but also put the Fourth Army of the Chinese Government, the basic force on which Commander Xue relied to gain a foothold in the Ninth War Zone, in danger in Changsha City.

It can be said that if there were no people who knew the deployment of the Chinese government's Ninth War Zone troops well and gave advice, the Military Affairs Department would probably not be able to formulate such a combat plan. Commander Xue of the Chinese government's Ninth War Zone also very much suspected that Chief of Staff Zhao Zili of the Chinese government's Ninth War Zone was the drafter of this combat plan issued by the Military Affairs Department. Therefore, Commander Xue of the Chinese government's Ninth War Zone did not trust Chief of Staff Zhao Zili of the Chinese government's Ninth War Zone at all.

Moreover, due to the strong personality of Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, Commander Xue was unable to argue with Chief of Staff Zhao Zili of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government on the issue of how to defend Changsha City.

In the end, Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government had to reject the correct suggestion of Chief of Staff Zhao Zili of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government in a "powerful and domineering" way.