Chapter Seventy-One: The Xuzhou Strategy

With a single sentence, the room erupted into an uproar. Every face was alight with excitement, their emotions barely contained. They had prepared and waited far too long for this moment; at last, it had finally arrived!

"Commander, did headquarters say where our battlefield will be?" Wang Yachuan asked eagerly.

"Headquarters sent word that our Independent Brigade is to hold Dingyuan and stop the Japanese forces advancing north along the southern end of the Jinpu Railway," Chen Qingzhi replied with a smile.

"What?" Wang Yachuan's mouth fell open in surprise, and he asked anxiously, "Why are we being sent to the south? Our Independent Brigade is large, well-manned, and excellently equipped—why not assign us to the north? The main battlefield is up north; what's there to fight for in the south?"

He had assumed their mission would be in the north, since that was the main focus of the current battle. The south was little more than a peripheral front in the Xuzhou Campaign. The other regimental commanders, though not as outspoken as Wang Yachuan, began to voice their own doubts.

"What is headquarters thinking, sending our brigade south? Isn't that a waste?"

Equipped with superior weaponry, including an artillery regiment—a rarity even among the elite divisions of the Central Army—the Independent Brigade was, by all logic, meant for the northern main line, where their firepower would not go to waste. This new order, however, left everyone restless and full of complaints.

To be honest, most units would be glad to be posted somewhere less critical—that meant fewer casualties. But the Independent Brigade was different: being sent to a less intense battlefield only made them grumble. If their superiors knew, they might well be both amused and exasperated.

In truth, there was reasoning behind headquarters' decision. In their eyes, the Independent Brigade was a newly expanded unit, made up largely of fresh recruits, and thus unlikely to have much combat strength. Unaware of the brigade’s current state of equipment and morale, they assigned it to the southern front.

Chen Qingzhi understood this, so he harbored no objection to the assignment. No matter where they were sent, it was still war, still a fight against the Japanese. As long as they could strike a heavy blow, it made little difference which front they were on. What’s more, being in the south brought some advantages: at least they wouldn’t be the target of concentrated Japanese fire.

After all, Chen Qingzhi’s open telegram had already marked the brigade as a thorn in the enemy’s side. In the Xuzhou Campaign, had they been posted to the north, the Japanese might have singled them out. If the enemy deployed a major force against them, the brigade might have been crushed before achieving anything.

In light of this, Chen Qingzhi raised his hand to quell the discussion. "A battle is a battle, no matter where it’s fought! Do you think you can’t fight well in the south?"

"If headquarters wants us to build defensive positions in Dingyuan, then that’s what we’ll do. What’s the point of complaining? Or do you intend to disobey orders on the battlefield?" He cast a stern glance at Wang Yachuan, who immediately shrank back, and the rest fell silent as well.

After surveying the gathered officers, Chen Qingzhi stepped to the wall, drew back the curtain, and revealed the operational map pinned there. He spoke:

"This Xuzhou Campaign will see tens of thousands of troops engaged on both sides in the early stages, and we can expect that both sides will keep sending more men into the fray."

"In a campaign of this scale, our Independent Brigade, though numbering over eight thousand, cannot expect to emerge unscathed. In fact, if we’re not careful, we risk total annihilation."

"Therefore, every one of you must remain vigilant! Tread as if on thin ice, act with unwavering determination! Do you understand?"

Everyone nodded, their faces grave and sober. They might have grumbled a moment before, but they understood the gravity of the campaign.

They all knew that, in an engagement of this magnitude, their little brigade was but a drop in the ocean. Carelessness could mean their destruction—a fate they did not seek. They wanted to kill the enemy, not die in vain.

Consequently, a heavy mood settled over them all.

Seeing their somber faces, Chen Qingzhi suddenly smiled and raised his voice: "Though the Japanese come at us with overwhelming force, they have a fatal flaw! If we seize the opportunity, our Independent Brigade can deal them a severe blow!"

"Commander, what have you noticed?" the others asked at once.

"Exactly!" Chen Qingzhi nodded, picked up the pointer, and tapped the operational map, drawing a circle around the five provinces surrounding Xuzhou. "Look here!"

"Although the Japanese have massed their forces to attack Xuzhou, they are advancing from two directions: the North China Army and the Central China Army."

"The Central China Army is advancing up the southern section of the Jinpu Railway, aiming to push north from the Yangtze River toward Chuxian, then continue along the Chi River, Dingyuan, and Linhuai Pass, directly threatening Xuzhou. Meanwhile, the northern force intends to sweep south from Shandong, along the northern Jinpu line through Yishui, Linyi, Jining, Heze, and Juxian, encircling and pressing south toward Tengxian and Lincheng, then on to Taierzhuang to seize Xuzhou!"

"Their strategy is straightforward, and their objective is clear!"

"Our Fifth War Zone has deployed its defensive line along the Huai and Kuai rivers to block the Japanese advance from the south with heavy forces. In the north, because Han Fuqu abandoned Shandong, the Yellow River line was lost, so we must concentrate our forces around Tengxian and Lincheng. As a result, our deployment has split the Japanese into two separate groups."

"These two Japanese armies hope to annihilate our main force at Xuzhou and then link their North and Central China Armies, but for now, they still operate separately!"

"From a military standpoint, gentlemen, you all know that such a strategy is deeply flawed. The only reason the Japanese don’t care is because of their superior equipment."

"But this gives us an opportunity!"

"If we can hold back the Japanese in the south, then swing north and mass our forces against the northern Japanese, victory in the Xuzhou Campaign is not beyond reach!" Chen Qingzhi concluded with conviction.