Shortly after the Wanjialing victory, Xue Yue's 1st Corps was ordered to give up De'an and retreat to Nanchang, Shangfu and Gao'an, and be responsible for protecting the security of the flanks of Changsha. The Okamura Yasuji 1st Army consumed a huge amount of effort in the fierce battles in the previous few months and temporarily lost the ability to continue the attack. The Battle of Wuhan was officially over.

During the Battle of Wuhan, although the Japanese achieved military occupation of Wuhan camps and caused great losses to the national army, the strategic goal of forcing the National Government to surrender was not achieved. After giving up the military, the National Government did not admit defeat, but continued to declare high-profile that it insisted on the War of Resistance, and was in a state of being burned with the Japanese.

Of course, there is something that must be said. The Sino-Japanese War has been outbreaking for more than a year. If we count from the September 18th Incident, the state of war between China and Japan has even lasted for seven years, and millions of Chinese military and civilians have died. But what is hard to understand is that the National Government has not officially declared war on Japan.

No one knows why Chairman Jiang did not declare war. This is a historical unsolved case.

After giving up Wuhan, the National Government did not compromise and continued to play a role in the accompaniment Chongqing, leading the national military and civilian war. Moreover, local warlords such as Yan Xishan, Long Yun, and Li Zongren did not stand up to challenge Chiang Kai-shek's authority. Therefore, Japan's attempt to demote the National Government to local governments, which in turn led to China's split in the fourth and fifth year was also lost.

However, little Japan has not gained nothing. The biggest gain of little Japan is Wang Jingwei

Wang Jingwei, who had sacrificed his life to assassinate others back then, has now completely faded into a politician. Wang Jingwei has been suppressed by Chairman Chiang within the National Government. Although he has a good seniority, his abilities in all aspects are far inferior to Chairman Chiang. Several times he defeated Chiang ended in failure. In order to show his ambitions, Wang Jingwei finally fell into the arms of Japan.

Wang Jingwei's ability in all aspects was not as good as Chairman Jiang, but his qualifications were there, and he was still very influential at that time.

With the card of Wang Jingwei, Japan's strategy of using China to control China has a basis for implementation. In addition, after the Wuhan Battle, Japan's domestic economic situation further deteriorated, the entire national economy was on the verge of collapse, and the fiscal situation could no longer support large-scale battles like the Wuhan Battle.

On the other hand, the war of resistance behind enemy lines led by the Communist Party gradually posed a threat to the Japanese occupied areas.

Although it was less than a year before the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army advanced into the enemy's backbone, the speed of the Communist Party's formation was extremely astonishing. In less than a year, the Eighth Route Army had grown from 30,000 to 100,000. If militias were included, the number of guerrillas was greater, and the New Fourth Army also grew from thousands to tens of thousands.

Although the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army had poor equipment and very scattered armed forces, the maximum number of troops that could be concentrated in each battle was only three or five hundred. When it was too small, one or two people even fired cold guns, which was extremely limited in killing Japanese Japanese. If you could kill more than a dozen Japanese soldiers in one battle, you would be considered a great victory.

But the problem is, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army dare to take the initiative

Why do the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army frequently take the initiative? The mainstream view is that the Communist Party’s anti-Japanese propositions are more active and proactive. In fact, it is not entirely true. The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army take the initiative to attack are actually due to survival pressure, because they are not like the National Army, which provides military supplies for the National Government. The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army have to solve all their weapons and rations on their own. You cannot go to the Kuomintang-controlled area to compete with the National Army, so you can only go deep into the enemy-occupied area and rob from small Japan.

This reality created a cycle effect. The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army had to go deep into the enemy-occupied area to seize food from Japan. Naturally, the more people, the more guns the better. So the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army began to attack the Japanese transportation convoy for a moment, and at the same time tried hard to absorb local armed forces and even bandits. But if you have more people and more guns, the pressure on supply will be greater. So the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army tried hard to expand their territory. The result was that the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army expanded like a snowball plate, and the area and population of the base area increased wildly in geometric ranges.

By the time the battle in Wuhan was over, the Eighth Route Army could be seen everywhere in North China, and the entire central China was also covered with New Fourth Army guerrillas. What made the Japanese base camp worried was that the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army guerrillas were like hungry wolves wandering around the grassland, making the Japanese and puppet troops unable to defend themselves.

The original intention of Japan to occupy North China and the vast areas of central China was to build this occupied area into a war base for the Japanese army, providing the Japanese government with a steady stream of supplies and military sources. When the vast Japanese-occupied area could continuously transfusion blood to the Japanese army, the Japanese government could truly challenge the strong enemies such as the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union.

However, now, the Japanese occupations in North China and Central China have transfusions to the Japanese army, and the Japanese garrison troops responsible for guarding the vast Japanese-occupied areas are still losing blood. If the frontal war is not ended as soon as possible and the troops are mobilized to carry out large-scale public security battles, the situation in the occupied areas will further deteriorate. At that time, the entire occupied area will become a big quagmire, causing the Japanese army to deal with it.

Therefore, after the end of the Wuhan Battle, the Japanese base camp gave up the strategy of mainly military offensives and political surrenders, and instead used military offensives as the supplement and political support as the main. The one who lured surrendered was of course Chairman Chiang, but now Japan no longer had fantasies about Chairman Chiang, and instead began to support Wang Jingwei to fight Chairman Chiang.

As a result, the Sino-Japanese War also entered a stalemate from the strategic offensive of Japan.

(Split Line)

In the early morning, the Poyang Lake was pitch black, and the bitter north wind blew the reeds by the lake, making this war-torn fish and rice town even more bleak.

A small boat slowly sailed out of the reed marsh with the slight sound of oars and leaned towards the dock by the lake.

Gao Shenxing jumped gently onto the pier, then put his hands together and listened to the wild ducks in front of him. More than a dozen figures soon appeared in the darkness opposite. The man walking in front was picking up two box cannons in his hand, and the nose was opened. Who wasn't Xu Shijiu? Behind Xu Shijiu were more than a dozen remaining soldiers from the 19th Brigade.

Xu Shijiu left the garrison overnight with a dozen remaining soldiers. When he left the city, he lied that he was carrying out top-secret missions. The person guarding the city gate was a platoon leader of the Dean Security Corps. At this time, under the publicity of various media, the image of the 74th Army being able to fight tough battles has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The platoon leader of the Dean Security Corps heard that the 74th Army was going out, and he was released without even asking questions.

After leaving De'an, Xu Shijiu led a dozen remaining soldiers to the north and was the Kuomintang-controlled area from De'an to the south. Although it was relatively safe, it might be discovered and captured by the Kuomintang army. From De'an to the north, it was a Japanese-occupied area. Although it was dangerous, there was no risk of being captured by the Kuomintang army and shot. Xu Shijiu would rather die in battle than be arrested and executed as a deserter.

Fortunately, the entire De'an area is full of mountains and ridges. Although Japan blocked several major transportation routes, it was impossible to block the mountains and valleys. In addition, it was already in the harsh winter season, and snakes and insects in the mountains had already disappeared. Therefore, after more than ten consecutive days of difficult trek, Xu Shijiu finally led a dozen remaining soldiers to the Qinglong Bay Ferry near Xingzi.

Before the arrival of the Japanese army, most of the people of Xingzi escaped or hid in the deep mountains and forests. Only a very small number of older people or gentry who had unrealistic fantasies about Japan remained. These gentry were really unable to give up the big big business that they had finally saved. They thought that the little Japanese would not be killed, so they stayed.

Okamura Yasuji and Ishihara Kanir are known as one of the only two strategists in Japanese history. There is no reason for this. At least when it comes to the Chinese people in the occupied areas, Okamura Yasuji's eyes are much deeper than other Japanese generals. After occupying Jiujiang, Hoshiko, and Ruichang prefectures, Okamura Yasuji did not start a large-scale killing, but quickly won over the local gentry left behind, and established dozens of maintenance meetings of all sizes, which did a good job in China and Japan.

Seeing that the Japanese did not kill people, the people who hid in the mountains and forests also plucked up the courage to go home. Many people who had already fled to the Kuomintang-controlled area heard the news, helped the elderly and the children back home. Okamura Yasuji did not make things difficult for those who returned to their homes. Okamura Yasuji knew very well that people's favor would directly determine whether Japan could rule China for a long time.
Chapter completed!