When a red sun rose, the gunfire in the city gradually subsided. Lieutenant General Inaba chose to commit suicide before the soldiers rushed into the division headquarters;
The Mountain Division's attack on the mall achieved great success, annihilating the 106th Division Headquarters and a brigade of security forces, killing more than 3,100 Japs, seizing a large amount of weapons, equipment and supplies, and cutting off the Japs' retreat in southern Henan.
After occupying the mall, the Mountain Division shifted to defense on the spot, cutting off the connection between southern Henan and northern Anhui, leaving the Japanese in southern Henan alone.
The Japanese troops who were blocking the 78th Group Army in Luoshan were demoralized when they learned that the mall was lost and the division headquarters was taken away;
The main force of the 78th Group Army took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack. The New Fifth Division attacked from the front, the New Sixth Division detoured from the left, and the First Division separated the 106th Division from the 39th Division from the right.
Hundreds of artillery pieces from the artillery brigade bombarded the Japanese, causing them to cry and howl. The entire brigade and squadron of Japanese were covered in artillery fire. They had never seen such fierce artillery fire and suffered heavy casualties.
Before the infantry could blow the charge horn, the Japanese troops were completely defeated. The charge horn of the 78th Group Army sounded, and tens of thousands of soldiers rushed towards the Japanese troops in overwhelming numbers;
The defeated Japanese soldiers could no longer organize resistance and collapsed all the way towards the mall.
The 78th Group Army also chased the Japanese all the way and drove them toward the mall. Their corpses were spread on the ground along the way.
Knowing that there were mountain divisions poking their pockets in the direction of the mall, the main force of the 78th Army did not let go of the pursuit, but pushed forward steadily, not giving the Japanese any opportunity to take advantage.
It took the 78th Group Army two days to drive the remaining Japanese troops to the mall;
Just when the Japanese troops ran out of strength and thought they were saved, they were greeted by a rain of bullets...
The Japanese army collapsed completely. Some people directly chose to commit suicide, and some launched a suicidal attack with guns, and then were easily killed by dense bullets;
Some chose to surrender, but unfortunately what awaited them were sharp bayonets. They never took prisoners, and neither did the 78th Army. This is retribution!
It’s not that I won’t report it, the time has not yet come!
After another day of fighting, the Japanese in southern Henan were wiped out. The miserable 106th Division was once again wiped out by the Chinese. At the same time, more than 8,000 people from the 39th Division were also wiped out.
At the Eleventh Army Headquarters, Commander Yokoyama Isamu was anxiously waiting for news from the front line. He had not slept a wink for two days and two nights.
It has been two days since I received any news from the 106th Division, and I couldn’t contact them through radio calls. More than 20,000 troops seemed to have disappeared from the world;
He had an ominous premonition that something might have happened to the 106th Division...
At this moment, Chief of Staff Kinoshita Isamu walked in in a hurry, his face gloomy. Yokoyama Isamu's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt like the world was spinning. This was not a good thing.
He suppressed the discomfort in his chest and spoke as calmly as possible:
"Kinoshita-kun, tell me, I can bear it!"
"Hey, Commander, after multiple verifications by the flight team and the intelligence department, the 106th Division and the 39th Division have been annihilated by the Chinese 78th Group Army in southern Henan;
Nearly 30,000 imperial troops, including Lieutenant General Inaba, were destroyed, and all of southern Henan fell into the hands of the 78th Group Army. "
"puff!"
Yokoyama Isamu spat out a mouthful of dog blood, which hit Major General Kinoshita in the face. A fishy smell rushed directly to the bottom of his nose, and he was so disgusted that he almost vomited it out.
After a long time, Yokoyama Yuma recovered from the huge blow and said loudly:
"Quickly!
Order other troops to alternately cover the withdrawal from the Dabie Mountains, ending the winter offensive! "
Kinoshita said very reluctantly:
"Your Majesty Commander, the Imperial Army still has——"
Kinoshita was stopped by Yokoyama Isamu, and he said coldly:
“The Eleventh Army’s opponent is not just the 78th Group Army. Once the news of the annihilation of the 106th Division is announced, our old rival Xue Boling will not wait patiently;
They will take advantage of our bloody battle with the 78th Group Army to use all their main forces. At that time, the imperial army will be attacked from both sides, and the consequences will be disastrous. "
Kinoshita was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat after being reminded by the commander. He was almost blinded by hatred and ignored the tiger boy beside him;
There are hundreds of thousands of Central Army elites in the hands of the tiger boy, and he also wants to eat people. When the two tigers pounce on the 11th Army, they may really kill all the bones and blood.
Kinoshita Yuu bowed to Yokoyama Yuuichi and said with great shame:
"Your Excellency, Commander, is still seeing things profoundly. Kinoshita has learned a lesson. I will notify each division immediately and order them to alternately cover the withdrawal from the Dabie Mountains, withdraw to the defense zone, and switch to defense on the spot."
Yokoyama Isamu's face finally looked better. He knew his mistakes could be corrected, and there was no way he could do anything good. He no longer pressured Chief of Staff Kinoshita, but added:
"Kinoshita-kun, when you retreat, you must travel lightly. Those prisoners of war you capture must be released on the spot, and the captured supplies must only be carried lightly."
"Your Excellency, Commander, do you need to let go of the prisoners? That's nearly 20,000 people, and you're giving the 78th Army a free advantage?"
"Kinoshita-kun, how can you say that your release was in vain? This is to reduce the burden of retreat, and it is also a show of goodwill to the 78th Army. If we kill all these 20,000 prisoners, do you think the 78th Army will easily allow us to withdraw from the Dabie Mountains? ?
At that time, it will be a fight to the death. It will do no good to the 11th Army to corner the Chinese people for the sake of the 20,000 captured men.
The 11th Army can no longer withstand huge losses, otherwise we will have to retreat to Jiangcheng in Central China.
Remember, release prisoners of war with a high profile, let reporters take photos, and let the whole world know that our imperial army is kind to prisoners of war! "
Kinoshita Isamu finally knew why he was only the chief of staff, while Yokoyama Isamu was the army commander. The gap in structure meant that he could bend and stretch, and if he was not good at military, he would play the political card.
At the 78th Army Headquarters, the similarities and differences between the Japs could not be hidden from their eyes, not to mention that the Japs wanted to let them know that Zhao Sihu could not understand the Japs' behavior.
"Old Chu, when did the Japanese start fasting? They released more than 20,000 prisoners of war before retreating. Before, they would definitely kill them before retreating. Is this Hengshan Yong so upright?"
Chu Dapeng said disdainfully:
"When did the Japanese have any humanity? He is doing this just to give us a good deal in the hope that we will stop chasing them. This is money to buy the road!"
Although Chu Dapeng still cannot understand Hengshan Yong's behavior from a political perspective, he understands human nature as he comes from a low level;
When the Japanese retreated, they couldn't take away the 20,000 prisoners. Killing them all would definitely anger the Chinese people, so they simply let them go in a high-profile way, which would still make them famous and sell out to the 78th Group Army. This is the world.
Zhao Sihu is also a ghost. After Chu Dapeng reminded him, he also figured out the truth behind it. There is no shortage of smart people in this world.
"Lao Chu, what about this favor that we accepted from them?"
"Old Zhao, of course I accept it. If you don't accept it this time, the Japanese will kill you directly next time.
We still have to encourage the Japanese to behave according to the rules. We can allow each division to advance normally and just force the Japanese out of the Dabie Mountains without hunting them down. "
Zhao Sihu nodded in agreement. With 20,000 prisoners, it was not impossible to let the Japanese retreat comfortably.
