Shi Xianggong Temple, 58th Division Division Headquarters.

As Xu Shijiu finished speaking, He Lingxiao, the commander of the 172nd Brigade, asked: "The situation in Luodian has improved, but the situation in the Battle of Shanghai has worsened. How do you say this?"

The commander of the 174th Brigade, Wu Jiguang and several commanders, also nodded gently, and had this question in their hearts.

Feng Shengfa heard Xu Shijiu's implication and said thoughtfully: "Are you worried that the reversal of the situation in Luodian will lead to strategic misjudgment from the senior government officials, so he chose to fight the Japanese army in the suburbs of Shanghai?"

Xu Shijiu smiled bitterly: "Master, it's not because he is worried, but definitely!"

Before today, there may be different voices among the senior officials of the State Government, and Chairman Jiang may not be firm in his determination. However, when the news that Qiu Weida's delegation had severely defeated the Japanese army in Gu's house came back to Nanjing, the different voices among the senior officials of the State Government will definitely be weakened, and Chairman Jiang must also make up his mind.

Feng Shengfa nodded and said, "I know your worries, and I will truthfully reflect to the upward peak. However, the decision at the strategic level cannot be controlled by you and I. The current task of our 58th Division is to guard the defense line of Shi Xianggong Temple. What are your good suggestions on this?"

He Lingxiao, Wu Jiguang and several commanders all looked at each other when they heard this.

To be honest, the senior officers of the 58th Division had a great resistance to Feng Shengfa, the new division commander who suddenly appeared, especially the deputy division commander Zhang Jingming, who was even more resentful. However, Feng Shengfa was transferred from the 88th Division at least, and the name of the 88th Division was placed there. Although they were not convinced, they did not dare to put it on their faces.

However, they had no scruples about Xu Shijiu, the miscellaneous captain from the Shanghai Security Corporation. Feng Shengfa saw this level clearly, so he wanted to use this military meeting to show his skills to shock the 58th Division's arrogant soldiers and generals, which would also help him quickly integrate the morale of the army.

With the eyes of everyone disdain or surprise, Xu Shijiu said calmly: "The suburbs of Shanghai are full of open plain terrain, and it is difficult to find a few hills with an elevation of 20 meters. Moreover, the groundwater level in the Songhu area is high, so it is impossible to build solid fortifications. The Japanese army has the advantage of sea and air, and the artillery support firepower is also overwhelming. Therefore, if our army just keeps on its own, it will definitely not be able to defend."

Wu Jiguang, the commander of the 174th Brigade, said coldly: "You can't defend the enemy. Do you still want to attack?"

"That's right, it's attack. German military strategist Clausewitz said in "On War" that only offense is the best defense." Xu Shijiu replied without hesitation, "If you just defend to the death and be beaten passively, no matter how broad the defense depth is, it will be gradually eroded by the enemy. Only by combining the attack can you better defense."

"Attack? It's ridiculous!" He Lingxiao, the commander of the 172nd Brigade, sneered, "Faced with the artillery and naval and air force with absolutely superior Japanese troops, do you let us take the initiative to attack? How to attack? Let the soldiers use rifles to fight bayonets with Japanese cannons and tanks? I really don't know if you should say you are arrogant or ignorant?"

"He Luzhao, please listen to the humble one's words first." Xu Shijiu continued, "Indeed, the Japanese army does have absolute advantages in artillery and naval and air force. If our army actively attacks the Japanese army in broad daylight, it is indeed no different from suicide, but what if our army chooses to attack the Japanese army at night?"

"Attack tonight?" Feng Shengfa nodded slightly after hearing this.

"Tonight?" He Lingxiao and Wu Jiguang looked at each other, thinking about something.

"Yes, it's evening!" Xu Shijiu said with his fingers, "At night, the Japanese navy and air force has basically become a decoration, and the Japanese cannons can no longer point where they are like during the day. Our army can use the cover of night to fully approach the Japanese army, and then launch a raid and launch a hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese army."

"Hand-hand combat?" Zhong Xuedong, the commander of the 347th Regiment, frowned, "Can hand-hand combat defeat the Japanese army?"

"Yes!" Xu Shijiu said with a key point, "Although the little Japanese are well-trained and strong, they are not afraid of death, no matter how they do, they are all new recruits who have never seen blood. The officers and soldiers of our 58th Division are almost all veterans. When fighting hand-to-hand combat, the little Japanese can't get any advantage. Regarding this, the 306th Regiment has proven at Gu Jiazhai."

In addition to being able to defend Gu Jiazhai, the 306th Regiment was not only used properly, but also an important reason was that the Japanese army could not fight against the veterans of the 306th Regiment in hand-to-hand combat. In actual combat, the Japanese army could easily break into the depth of the 306th Regiment's position every time, but were always defeated because they could not stop the 306th Regiment's decisive counterattack.

Feng Shengfa said: "What you mean is to use the night to catch the enemy and kill the enemy, expand the depth of defense as much as possible, and then wait for the Japanese army to attack during the day, use the positions seized at night to delay the Japanese army as much as possible, and wait for the next day and night to regain the position, and then continue such night attacks and defenses, forming a tug-of-war with the Japanese army?"

Xu Shijiu said: "This is called attack instead of defense."

Feng Shengfa looked around everyone and said, "What do you think?"

He Lingxiao, Wu Jiguang and others didn't say anything, but they looked down on Xu Shijiu in their hearts. Although this guy was just a security captain, he still had some tactical vision and was very clear about explaining tactics. Of course, he was just talking about it on paper. As for whether this tactic is really effective, he still had to know after fighting.

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Lion Fortress, the headquarters of the 11th Division of the Japanese Army.

Matsui Ishione walked to the battle map with his short legs, looked around and said, "You must be puzzled. Why do I want to give me a reward if the 44th Infantry Regiment is not effective in combat?"

Kazuki Kazuki was ashamed of shame, while the other Japanese generals nodded.

Matsui Ishigen paused and continued: "Looking at this score, from a tactical perspective, the 44th Infantry Regiment attacked Gu Zhai with its superior forces and superior equipment. Not only did it make progress, but it also killed more than a thousand soldiers. It was a crushing defeat. However, from a strategic perspective, the crushing defeat of the 44th Infantry Regiment allowed the Chinese army opposite Luodian to stabilize the defense line. What is particularly rare is that the 44th Infantry Regiment has already tried his best in Gu Zhai, not a pretend defeat. This is likely to induce the Chinese government to make a strategic misjudgment and choose to fight the empire in the suburbs of Shanghai."

The senior Japanese generals present suddenly realized.

However, the Yamashita Sowu still said with some concern: "Genius General, luring the Chinese government to make a strategic misjudgment and putting heavy troops into the battlefield of Songhu to fight the imperial army in a decisive battle. This is indeed conducive to the imperial army's firepower advantages and sea and air advantages. However, with only two divisions, is the force too thin?"

The worry of the Yamashita Sowu is not unreasonable. With his absolute superior firepower and sea and air superiority, the Japanese army has only two divisions of troops, but it is already invincible. However, if we want to completely defeat or even wipe out dozens of elite Chinese divisions, the strength of the two divisions is far from enough.

"Don't worry about Yamamuro-san." Matsui Ishien waved his hand and smiled, "I have sent a call to the base camp and requested that the country send five permanent divisions to Shanghai to completely eliminate the main force of the Chinese government army and force the Chinese government to surrender."

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When Matsui Ishione was looking forward to a quick end to the Battle of Shanghai and forcing the National Government to surrender to Japan, his telegram had already been placed on the table of Ishihara Kanir, the first Minister of the Army Headquarters.

Due to Japan's narrow territory and deep-rooted thinking, strategists have rarely appeared throughout history. Even after the Meiji Restoration, there were no decent strategists. Ishihara Kanji and Okamura Yasuji are undoubtedly the aliens. These two old devils can definitely be regarded as unparalleled strategic masters in Japanese history.

The Liutiao Lake incident that led to the split from the National Government of the four eastern provinces was planned by Kanir Ishihara. Later, Seishiro Sakagaki was the superior of Kanir Ishihara at that time, and his military rank was higher than Ishihara. However, in the planning of the Liutiao Lake incident, Sakagaki completely obeyed Ishihara Kanir Ishihara from beginning to end.

However, the reason why Ishihara Kanir was able to join the ranks of strategic masters was because of the "The Final War" that evolved from Clausewitz's "The Discussion on War" and the concept of "Manchuria and Mongolian lifeline" proposed based on "The Discussion on War". A set of theories and concepts almost became the military guiding ideology of Japan at that time.

After reading the telegram from Matsui Ishigen asking for more troops, Ishihara Kanir signed with a big stroke. The 9th Division, the 13th Division, the 18th Division, the 101st Division and the 114th Division began to mobilize urgently. In addition, the Chongteng Detachment stationed in Taiwan, the pseudo Jing'an First Brigade, the pseudo Li Chunshan Brigade, and the pseudo Yuzhishan Brigade also began to gather and standby.

However, on the first batch of assistance lists issued by Ishihara Kanir, there were only three divisions of the 9th, 13th and 101st. The senior leaders of the General Staff Headquarters were puzzled and asked Ishihara Kanir why he didn't put the five divisions and three brigades in the Shanghai battlefield together, instead of going in batches? Isn't the tactic of adding fuel to military strategists?

Ishihara Kanir just smiled at this and did not explain too much.

The senior staff member who raised the question did not know that the reason why Ishihara Kan'er decided to put reinforcements into the Shanghai battlefield was to create an illusion that the Battle of Shanghai might become a stalemate for the senior management of the State Government. After the National Government invested all the main forces on the Songhu battlefield, it would then invest enough troops to provide a fatal blow.
Chapter completed!