In fact, Mr. Ueda had his own reasons for not pursuing responsibility.
One is if Shimomoto Kumiya is held accountable, should Vice Admiral Nomura Koshizaburo be held accountable as the former commander? And Vice Admiral Nomura belongs to the navy, so the contradiction between the army and the navy will intensify and even affect the next offensive plan.
Second, the failure of his predecessor just highlighted his own extraordinaryness. The purpose of Ueda coming to Songhu battlefield was to establish immortal merits and not to argue. The old Japanese is almost 60 years old. He is not very satisfied with the two gold stars on his epaulette. He wants to use the Songhu War to turn it into three stars, so that his future will have a new sky.
The third reason is that although the Ninth Division is one of the most elite permanent divisions of the Japanese army, its current strength is only more than 22,000 people. It is still unable to break through the dozens of kilometers of Chinese army's defense line. It is necessary to mobilize the strength of the Shanghai Marine Corps and the 24th Mixed Brigade, then it is necessary to eliminate their ideological burden and at the same time boost their morale.
Seeing his affirmation and comfort, Ueda cheered up Shimomoto Kumiya and several naval officers, nodded with satisfaction, and then began to deploy a new combat plan.
Ueda's combat plan did not have any new ideas. With less than 40,000 Japanese troops, it was impossible to attack across the entire front. Therefore, his deployment did not go against the expectations of Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek of the 19th Route Army, and he still adopted a central breakthrough. According to the tactics, attacks were launched at Yunzaobang and Jiangwan, and some troops were also sent from other directions to conduct feint attacks to contain the Chinese army facing them.
Finally, Ueda pointed at the map and said to Shimomoto Kumiya: "Shimomoto-kun, I will use the 7th Infantry Regiment as your left wing to attack the enemies on the north bank of Yunzohama. I will use the 19th and 35th Infantry Regiments as your right wing to attack. The enemy on the front line of Jiangwan.
And your mixed 24th brigade will become the central assault force on the south bank of Yunzaobang. I will assign the engineer wing, two field artillery brigades and a tank squadron to you, and you will serve as the commander of the central assault group. "
Having said this, Ueda Kenkichi paused, looked at Shimomoto Xiongya meaningfully and said: "Shimomoto-kun, there is an old saying in China, 'Get up wherever you fall.' I hope you will succeed in this battle." Zhong Neng can avenge his past humiliation and once again prove the bravery of the 24th Brigade."
Shimomoto Xiongya stood up immediately as if he had been beaten to death, and said to Ueda: "Hey! Thank you Commander for your trust. I will live up to your trust."
Ueda pointed his baton directly at a big red mark on the map and said: "As long as we capture this place, we will win this war."
Xia Yuan Xiong Mi looked at the bright red word "Temple Travel" on the map, and his eyes suddenly showed a fierce light.
…
It was early morning on February 22. In Jinjiazhai Village on the south bank of Yunzaobang, the position of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division of the National Army was filled with smoke. The commander of the 3rd Battalion looked solemn and was looking forward with a telescope.
Since the Japanese army launched its attack in the early morning of the 20th, the Japanese army first used dozens of aircraft to bombard the Yunzaobang position defended by our 88th Division in turn, and then used dozens of artillery fire to cover the charge of more than 2,000 infantrymen. As soon as the battle began, Entering the heat.
The Japanese attacks were like a tide, repelling one wave after another. The officers and soldiers of the 88th Division fought bravely. The two sides engaged in countless hand-to-hand combats, and the forward positions changed hands many times. However, due to the continuous bombing by Japanese aircraft and artillery, the first-line positions in Yunzaobang were basically destroyed. The 88th Division adopted the strategy of resisting layer by layer at the headquarters and constantly weakening the Japanese offensive, and retreated to the second-line positions to continue resisting.
The Japanese engineers followed closely the pace of the infantry's attacks. Once they occupied a place, they began to destroy farmland and fill in ravines, with the intention of building a temporary road leading to the temple and opening up attack channels for their tanks and armored vehicles.
We must know that the terrain of Yunzaobang is intertwined with water networks, which is not conducive to the mechanized operations of the Japanese army. Only temporary roads can be built so that those tanks and armored vehicles can drive to the front line and join the battle.
By the night of the 21st, the 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division, which was the forefront, had retreated to the third line of defense, which was Jinjiazhai Village, less than 10 kilometers away from the temple. Moreover, after two days of unprecedented ferocious attacks by the Japanese army, the 262nd Brigade also suffered heavy losses. The brigade's strength of more than 6,000 men has been reduced by nearly one-third.
Among them, the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment, which had been at the forefront and fought with the Japanese for two days and two nights, suffered more than half of its casualties.
Now, the commander of the 3rd Battalion looked at the busy figure of the Japanese army looming in the distance in the morning fog. He knew that the Japanese engineers had finally built the road to the front, so they would definitely be attacked by Japanese tanks behind them. This was what he was most worried about. .
Before the Japanese army had even used tanks and armored vehicles, it had forced the Chinese army back nearly ten kilometers. Today, it seems that they are going to use tanks to attack.
The commander of the 3rd Battalion frowned, thinking about how to deal with it. There was a mortar battalion from the division attached to his rear position, but he knew the effect of mortars on tanks. It was a lucky break.
"In the end, we have to rely on the death squads to use explosive bags to blow it up." The 3rd Battalion Commander thought this way, feeling a heavy pain in his heart. How many brothers had fallen on the battlefield, and now he could only use the flesh and blood of the brothers again. Fight hand-to-hand with Japanese tanks.
"You hot little devil!" the 3rd Battalion Commander cursed in his mind.
At this time, he saw the regiment staff leading a few soldiers in strange costumes into his bunker. The regiment staff said: "Battle Commander Zhao, these are some brothers from the Shanxi Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army of the Central Party Headquarters. They are here to support you in dealing with the enemy." A little devil’s tank.”
"What? Tanking?"
Battalion Commander Zhao was very suspicious when he heard this. He looked up and down at the four soldiers in front of him who were wearing floral military uniforms, hooded helmets, and combat boots - oh no, they were officers, one lieutenant and three second lieutenants. It looks like the equipment is pretty good. He could see at a glance the benefits of this kind of clothing, which had a camouflage effect.
When his eyes moved to the weapons they were carrying, he noticed that the corner of his eye twitched. The two tall lieutenants each carried a weapon on their backs that he didn't know whether to call a cannon or a gun. It was a thick tube. The long gun body, which looks heavy and thick, is wrapped in coarse cloth. Moreover, each of the four people has three guns, one long and one short, and a bulging backpack on his back. The total of these equipment may not be less than fifty or sixty pounds. It seems that they are not struggling at all, as if they are playing.
What surprised Battalion Commander Zhao even more was that all four of them exuded an iron-blooded and fierce temperament. This is a temperament that can only be acquired by fighting on the battlefield for a long time. People who are not veteran soldiers cannot feel it at all.
Battalion Commander Zhao realized that these officers were probably not ordinary people.
