Chapter 906 905 [The Fall of Poland and the Victory of Changsha]

The result of Germany's blitzkrieg against Poland left everyone stunned.

Poland is generally regarded as one of the countries with the strongest military power in Europe. At the beginning of its restoration, it fought a "Soviet-Polish War", forcing Lenin to cede Western Ukraine and Western Belarus to Poland and pay Poland 30 million Financial compensation in rubles.

When encountering the German invasion, Poland's total military strength was 1 million, which seemed to be no worse than Germany's 1.6 million army.

According to the expectations of Britain and France, Poland can sustain it for at least two or three months, and it will take a long time to kill even 1 million pigs. As a result, the Polish troops were completely stunned by the Germans before they had time to deploy their forces. They were the first to learn what "blitzkrieg" meant.

In just one week, the main force of the Polish army was basically divided and surrounded, and all that was left was to see how the German army would clean up the mess.

The Soviet Union also participated in the partition of Poland, but they claimed to be recovering sovereign territory. This goes back to the "Soviet-Polish War" we mentioned earlier. Poland considered it to be its homeland, and the Soviet Union also considered it to be the legacy of the Russian Empire.

The Soviet Union lost the last time and lost its territory to Poland, but this time it got it back easily.

As for whose territory it is, it has long been unclear. Today is yours, tomorrow is mine. This has been the case for hundreds of years, and that land has never stopped.

Poland may seem innocent and pitiful, but this country is not a fuel-efficient country either.

At the end of World War I, Poland's three sovereign states—Germany, Austria, and Russia—were all defeated, and Poland successfully recovered. Lenin recognized Poland's independence despite internal and external troubles and promised to return Polish territory. However, the Polish government was ambitious and took the initiative to provoke a war with the Soviet Union in an attempt to establish a Greater Polish Empire that would control the entire territory of Ukraine and the Baltic Sea coast.

I won’t talk about the territorial dispute between Poland and Germany because it’s hard to explain. Just six months ago, when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, Poland not only did not help resist, but instead took advantage of the situation and occupied the Cesin area of ​​the Czech Republic.

This kind of adding insult to injury is very hateful, so when Germany invaded Poland, the Czechoslovak servant army that was attached to Germany was very heroic - I call you a knife in the back!

On the other side of the battlefield, when the Soviet army attacked Poland, local people also led the way and helped in various ways, as if they were ushering in the long-awaited liberation. From an ethnic perspective, many Poles here do not consider themselves Poles at all. They belong to Ukrainians and Belarusians.

Even without the Soviet invasion, locals frequently rebelled, and the Polish government adopted brutal repressive measures from beginning to end.

In this way, the Soviet Union took back its homeland from the Tsarist Russia era, and Germany occupied other parts of Poland. The Soviet Union and Germany worked together in a tacit understanding to carve up Poland.

Britain and France obviously did not learn Poland's lessons from the Blitzkrieg. They still dreamed of war between the Soviet Union and Germany after the partition of Poland. However, nothing happened. Germany and the Soviet Union seemed to have a harmonious relationship, and they simply did not follow the script written by Britain and France.

What is Hitler doing?

Half a month after occupying Poland, Hitler issued a secret order to attack France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. But obviously the time was not yet ripe. These secret orders were made by the head of state after the victory. After calming down, Hitler decided to capture Denmark and Norway first to ensure that Germany had a strategic maritime base and a supply of Swedish iron ore.

It was under this international situation that the first Battle of Changsha ended.

In the roundabout battle that lasted for half a month, both sides had victories and defeats, but neither achieved the expected goals. Xue Yue's combat strategy was actually well formulated, but due to the disadvantages of equipment and the poor execution of some units, the Japanese army always allowed the Japanese army to break through the encirclement at critical moments.

Not only that, the Japanese troops who broke out of the siege gathered around Changsha.

Chang Kaishen obviously had no confidence in holding Changsha. He issued instructions to Xue Yue: "If the enemy's movement to capture Changsha has been exposed, then instead of making a strong resistance in front of the Changsha battle, our army should abandon Changsha first and confront the enemy at the beginning." When the enemy's foothold in Changsha is uncertain, they will launch a fatal blow immediately. If the counterattack plan can be carefully laid out and used properly, the greatest victory will surely be achieved."

These are obviously all lies. Chiang Kai-shek's real idea is to abandon Changsha to preserve his strength, fearing that the troops in the Ninth Theater will be wiped out in one battle.

Xue Yue formulated the "Heavenly Furnace Strategy" to lure the Japanese army to the outskirts of Changsha to counter-encirclement, and then wait for an opportunity to engage in a decisive battle with the invading enemy forces.

The two talked on the phone almost every day, but they couldn't convince anyone. In the end, Chiang Kai-shek simply stopped answering the phone. In desperation, Xue Yue had no choice but to call Soong Meiling and asked Soong Meiling to convey her determination to defend Changsha.

Lao Jiang suddenly panicked and quickly called Xue Yue and asked him to find a suitable time to abandon Changsha. As a result, this time it was Xue Yue's turn not to answer the phone. Chiang Kai-shek was so anxious that he could only send Bai Chongxi to Changsha to convey the order, but Xue Yue still disobeyed and disrespected the order.

I heard that Chiang Kai-shek was so angry that he slammed the table in Chongqing. He said boldly: "If you don't obey the order and withdraw the Miluo garrison immediately, you will be responsible for the losses in the area south of the Yangtze River in the future!"

Xue Yue couldn't resist, so he could only order a retreat and give up the Miluo River defense line. The Japanese army took the opportunity to advance straight in.

Old Chiang Kai-shek thought that Xue Yue had obeyed the order, but unexpectedly, Xue Yue disobeyed the order again and resolutely defended Changsha. Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to send Bai Chongxi to persuade him again, this time with Chen Cheng, but Bai and Chen couldn't persuade him even after talking about it.

Lao Jiang finally stopped objecting, and with the mentality of a gambler, he asked Xue Yue to give it a try, maybe he could win.

The area between Laodao River and Liuyang River is a natural pocket array. Xue Yue described this pocket as a heavenly furnace. He wanted to throw the Japanese soldiers into the furnace to make elixirs. This is the origin of the name "Heavenly Furnace Tactics".

Okamura Neiji led a large force into the pocket, and suddenly felt that every step was difficult. Not only did the Chinese defenders fight bravely, but the local people also burst out with strong patriotic enthusiasm. Not to mention all major transportation routes were destroyed, and even the rare flat land was dug up by the people. When it rained heavily, the ground was muddy, and the Japanese tanks, trucks, artillery, motorcycles... were lying down one after another.

What a slap, there was no fierce battle between the two sides, and Okamura Neiji decisively ordered the entire army to retreat.

Xue Yue couldn't believe this situation, thinking that the Japanese army had some conspiracy, and ordered all ministries to follow and pursue them, but not to start a fierce battle without authorization. It was not until three days after the Japanese army retreated that Xue Yue was sure that this was true, and immediately asked all troops to pursue the pursuit with all their strength.

But it was too late. The main force of the Japanese army had already withdrawn from the pocket formation, and the Chinese defenders only chased down a small number of remnants.

The first Battle of Changsha ended with this. China claimed more than 40,000 casualties of its own and more than 30,000 Japanese casualties; Japan claimed 3,600 casualties of its own and more than 48,000 casualties of the Chinese army.

Regardless of the actual casualty figures, it was clear that China was victorious, the entire army was inspired, and the people were jubilant.

Fortunately, Xue Yue always insisted on disobeying orders, otherwise Changsha would have been lost.

It cannot be said that Chang Kaishen is too brainless. In fact, the entire senior military leadership is arguing, and even Bai Chongxi advocates abandoning the defense of Changsha. In fact, the senior generals had no confidence in the previous battles. They had been frightened by the Japanese invaders. No one expected that they could hold Changsha and hold it for several years.