The 74th Army was in Wuxian (Suzhou), and Wujiang held on until 16th of the 16th of the 11th month.

It was not until the 9th Japanese Army and the outpost troops of the 11th Division appeared outside Wu County that the 74th Army received an order from the War Zone Chief's Office to turn towards Wujin. After retreating to Wujin, he was ordered to warn him to the north of Wujin until the south bank of the Yangtze River to continue to cover the retreat of the army. After Wujin held on for three days, he retreated to Danyang, and then took great strides and took a short rest in Chunhua Town.

At this time, the Nanjing Garrison Command had already been established, and Tang Shengzhi had already taken office. The 74th Army number had already appeared on the establishment table of the Nanjing Garrison Command. However, the 74th Army officers and soldiers who had just retreated to Chunhua Town did not know about this. They were still full of hope to retreat to the rear like other troops for rest.

When Wang Yaowu and Feng Shengfa brought all the brigades and above leaders of the 51st Division and 58th Division to the 74th Army headquarters for a meeting, the most discussed people were where to retreat to make up for it?

The Battle of Shanghai was the first battle after the 74th Army formed an army. It fought with the Japanese invaders for 85 days and nights in Shanghai and during the retreat, killing and wounding more than 4,000 Japanese soldiers. The record was brilliant, but at the same time, the 74th Army itself paid an extremely heavy price. The entire army suffered a total of more than 10,000 casualties, of which more than 4,000 were killed or killed.

The 51st Division and the 58th Division were all injured, and the losses of weapons and equipment were still second. The key was that after the veterans suffered a large number of casualties, the newly added men had never even touched the gun, which caused a serious decline in combat effectiveness. Moreover, the 74th Army had no time to stop and take a breath until now. The officers and soldiers of the army were exhausted both physically and mentally, and they were really unable to fight again.

Like Ji Hongru, the commander of the 301st Regiment of the 51st Division, Zhang Lingfu, the commander of the 305th Regiment, Qiu Weida, and the commander of the 306th Regiment, they are even considering how to strengthen the training of men to restore their combat effectiveness as soon as possible. Wang Yaowu, Feng Shengfa, Zhou Zhidao, Li Tianxia, ​​and He Lingxiao, and several brigade commanders gathered together and were also discussing where the troops would go to fix them.

In this atmosphere, the commander of the 74th Army, Yu Jishi, came back after the meeting at Tang Shengzhi's official residence.

Seeing Yu Jishi walking into the conference room door, his face was solemn, and there was still a hint of worry between his eyebrows. The commanders, brigade commanders and regiment commanders present suddenly paused in his heart. Has the situation changed?

The speculation of the public was soon confirmed. Yu Jishi informed everyone of the latest orders from the Nanjing Command. The 74th Army had been transferred from the Third War Zone to the Nanjing Garrison Command and would participate in the upcoming Nanjing Defense War and be responsible for defending the defense line between Dasheng Pass, Niushou Mountain, Fangshan and Chunhua Town.

There was a long silence in the conference room, and everyone pursed their lips and refused to say anything.

This is actually a ventilator rather than a discussion meeting. Yu Jishi only needs to convey the latest orders from the Nanjing Command to the officers attending the meeting to announce the meeting. However, Yu Jishi also knew that if the division, brigade, and regiment commanders could not understand it, let alone expect the grassroots officers and the big-headed soldiers to obey the orders.

Grassroots officers and ordinary soldiers would definitely think this way. Why can other troops retreat from the battlefield of Songhu? Why can other troops retreat to Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Anhui for rest? The 74th Army has to stay in Nanjing to continue fighting the Japanese invaders for a desperate battle? Although the 74th Army has not just formed a short time ago, no matter what, it is a serious German division. No matter how it is, it is not a turn to be cannon fodder?

Yu Jishi knew better that if all officers and soldiers of the army could not be determined to live and die with Nanjing, the morale and fighting spirit of the troops would become a big problem. With the equipment and fatigue of the 74th Army at this time, it would be very likely to collapse on the battlefield. If the entire Nanjing defense line collapsed from the 74th Army first, Yu Jishi would become a national sinner.

Yu Jishi first turned his eyes to Wang Yaowu and said, "Brother Zuomin, please express your opinion."

Wang Yaowu sighed in his heart, but he said seriously: "As a soldier of the Party and the country, he should take obeying orders as his duty. Since this is the will of the leader, there is nothing to say. Our 51st Division firmly accepts the orders of the public."

Yu Jishi turned his attention to Feng Shengfa again, and Feng Shengfa immediately stood up and said, "All the officers and soldiers of our 58th Division also firmly obey the will of the leader and swear to live and persevere with the capital.

Both the commanders of the 74th Army expressed their opinions, and even if the matter was settled.

Yu Jishi was relieved, but couldn't help but sigh. After the Battle of Songhu, the 74th Army was already injured. When the Nanjing Defense Battle was over, how many people could the 74th Army remain? The number should be cancelled, right? If the number is not cancelled, the army will basically be rebuilt, and it has nothing to do with the old 74th Army.

As soon as the military meeting ended, Yu Jishi did not leave everyone for dinner. The divisions, brigades, and regiment commanders hurried back to the army. As soon as Feng Shengfa returned to the 58th Division headquarters, he sent his own guards to call Xu Shijiu. Feng Shengfa knew that Xu Shijiu was flexible and was also good at doing ideological work in the army, so he wanted to discuss countermeasures with him.

However, the guards did not find Xu Shijiu, which made Feng Shengfa very angry.

Xu Shijiu was indeed not in the 58th Division headquarters. He wanted to improve the food for the officers and soldiers of the 19th Brigade, so he took out more than 200 yuan of legal tender from the salary he had just received to buy four live pigs. At this time, due to the large amount of money printing in the National Government, the actual purchasing power of legal tender had declined seriously. The pork had increased from two cents per catty in the 24th year of the Republic of China (1935) to more than one yuan per catty per catty. Xu Shijiu took out most of his salary and only bought less than 400 kilograms of hair pigs.

Xu Shijiu borrowed a log from his fellow villager's house and asked Heixiao to tie the four pigs to his limbs and carry them back to the base. Heixiaozi was the silly man Xu Shijiu collected in the Kunshan shelter station. The one who was beaten by a few Gui Jun little men. Because his body was covered with long and black fluff, it looked like a black bear, everyone gave him the nickname "Black Blind".

Heixiao is very fed and has a lot of energy, and she is like playing with four pigs.

Xu Shijiu followed the steeper Black Shaman, thinking about taking the remaining 100 yuan of French currency to buy three or four hundred kilograms of vermicelli in the vegetable market. Tonight, he ate pork stewed vermicelli for his brothers. Suddenly, a harsh "die" sound suddenly sounded behind him. He hurriedly avoided the roadside, and the car window that passed by suddenly shook down.

"Ajiu?"

"Old Zhu?"

Xu Shijiu didn't expect to meet Zhu Xia in Chunhua Town.

Zhu Xia with the 61st Division retreated to Jurong County, southeast of Nanjing two days ago. At this time, the 61st Division of Zhongsong had been transferred from Huang Jie's 8th Army to the 17th Corps of Hu Zongnan.

The legion is a temporary combat unit, between the army and the army. The reason why such a temporary combat unit was set up was entirely to take care of some veteran commanders. After the outbreak of the Battle of Songhu, more than a dozen troops were formed one after another. Many division commanders, such as Yu Jishi, Wang Jingjiu, Sun Yuanliang, and Song Xilian, all became commanders.

Then, it would not be appropriate for veteran commanders like Hu Zongnan, Tang Enbo, and Luo Zhuoying to continue to be military commanders. However, if they were appointed as the commander-in-chief of the group army, there would not be so many positions to arrange, so Chairman Jiang set up a legion between the group army and the army, and several veteran commanders became army commanders one after another.

Hu Zongnan's 17th Army was actually the old foundation of the 1st Army. Due to Hu Zongnan's rigid thinking and completely unacceptable to modern three-dimensional combat in land, sea and air, he often launched group charges on the Japanese army in broad daylight, resulting in the troops being completely exposed to the bombing of Japanese naval artillery groups and bomber groups, with heavy casualties and extremely heavy casualties.

When the Battle of Songhu was over, although the 1st Army performed mediocrely, the casualties were greater than those of the 74th Army. Chairman Jiang still cared for the chief student. The 17th Army was not only able to evacuate from the battlefield of Songhu, but after retreating to Jurong County, both military supplies and new recruits were given priority.

Even the 61st Division of Zhong Song, who was temporarily in charge of the command sequence of the 17th Legion, benefited from it. Zhu Xia met Xu Shijiu when he passed by Chunhua Town after receiving military supplies from Nanjing.

When old friends meet, they will naturally sigh.

Zhu Xia asked, "Ajiu, how did you do in the 5th Division 8?"

Xu Shijiu said: "What else can you do? You have retreated to Nanjing."

Zhu Xia suddenly looked slightly depressed when he heard this, and sighed: "Yes, the eighty-five elite troops fought bloody battles for more than 80 days and nights, and finally they were defeated. Not only did they lose Shanghai, but even Nanjing is almost impossible to save. The situation you were most worried about at the beginning was unfortunately real. Looking back now, it is inevitable that it is a pity to sigh."

Zhu Xia's words were inspired. When the incident at Hongqiao Airport just happened, Xu Shijiu expressed his concern, worried that Chairman Jiang would choose to fight the Japanese army in the suburbs of Shanghai. In this way, the Kuomintang army would suffer a decisive failure. Not only will Shanghai not be able to save it, but Nanjing will also be lost. Unexpectedly, it will be a slander.

Xu Shijiu sighed and said in a faint tone: "Whether you win or lose, the Battle of Songhu is over, but I am worried that Chairman Jiang will not learn from it, and will make a second decisive mistake in the future. In that case, the entire situation of the War of Resistance will become extremely difficult."

"The second decisive mistake? What's the mistake?" Zhu Xia was shocked.

Xu Shijiu looked back at the city of Nanjing in the vast rain and mist in the northwest and said, "I am worried that someone Jiang will leave behind heavy troops to defend Nanjing."

Zhu Xia's face suddenly became a little strange, and he said, "Ajiu, your worries have become a fact. Chairman Jiang has ordered the establishment of the Nanjing Garrison Command, including the Central Military Academy Teaching Corps, the 66th Army, the 71st Army, the 72nd Army, the 78th Army, the 83rd Army, and your 74th Army have been transferred from the Third War Zone to the Nanjing Garrison Command. The 2nd Army will also come to Nanjing to participate in the war soon."
Chapter completed!