Xinjing, Kwantung Army Headquarters
Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Kasahara hurriedly walked into Umezu Yoshijiro's office and said directly:
"Your Excellency, Commander, the Eighth Route Army is gathering troops and supplies, and they are about to take action!"
Umezu Yoshijiro jumped up from his chair in an instant. After more than two months of leisurely life, he almost forgot about this incident.
The human spirit is like a spring. If you relax it for too long, it will be difficult to tighten it again. Chu Xiong's strategy is a bit like boiling a frog in warm water. He ignored them for more than two months;
Not only did Umezu Yoshijiro relax, but the divisions also slacked off a lot. How many people could stay in a state of high alert for more than 2 months?
Umezu Meijiro cursed and asked:
"Baga Yalu, has the intelligence department obtained the combat deployment of the Eighth Route Army?"
Kasahara shook his head and said:
"The Eighth Route Army has always done a good job in keeping secrets. Unlike the Chinese government forces, our intelligence personnel cannot enter their inner circle at all;
Based on the amount of supplies they mobilized and other information, it can be roughly estimated that the number of troops used by the Eighth Route Army this time will not be less than 150,000, or even more!
The target should be Qiqihar! "
The old ghost Meijin touched his apricot beard and said:
"Yo Xi, the work of 150,000 troops is such a big deal. Chu Xiong really doesn't take any action, and when he does, it's a thunderous strike!
He was preparing for a decisive battle with the imperial army. He immediately notified the brigade commander and above to gather at the headquarters to discuss a response plan! "
Ice City, the enemy's outer position, groups of Japanese came out of the bunker and lay lazily on the position to bask in the sun;
The cold winter had just gone, and the May sun was warming my body. I had been crying wolf for more than two months, and the Japanese had already lost their energy.
There is only one garrison of the C-level division in Bingcheng, which is not the focus of the Japanese defense;
The Japanese placed a regiment on the northern perimeter, and all other troops retreated into the city.
The north and east sides of Bingcheng have been surrounded by the Eighth Route Army. To the east is Qiqihar, and to the south is Xinjing City.
The Kwantung Army has a strong 27th Army in Qiqihar. There are about 120,000 troops around Xinjing, all of which are heavily defended. Only Bingcheng has only one 57th Division, and the three cities happen to form an acute triangle.
The 27th Army was originally used to defend against the main force of the Eighth Route Army coming from the direction of the grassland. They did not expect that Chu Xiong would divide his troops into two groups, build plank roads openly, and secretly attack Chencang;
The 101st Column was used to contain the Japanese 27th Army at Qiqihar, while the 50,000-strong armored column used a roundabout tactic to capture Khabarovsk.
Then it entered the hinterland of North Manchuria and East Manchuria from the north, causing the north and east gates of Xinjing to be wide open, and Qiqihar in the west lost its role.
Now the Japanese could only appeal to the Ice City to the north to block the Eighth Route Army's attack. Xinjing was actually exposed to the Eighth Route Army's attack and could cut off Xinjing's connection with Goryeo at any time.
There are still hundreds of thousands of Japs in Goryeo. If you are willing, you can send reinforcements from the mainland via Goryeo to support Xinjing and just cross the Yalu River Bridge.
The 57th Division is a Class C division formed from the left-behind troops of the 8th Division. It has been in the Kwantung Army's battle sequence since its formation. It has not experienced any large-scale battles and has average combat effectiveness.
It has jurisdiction over the 52nd Infantry Regiment (Hirosaki), the 117th (Akita), the 132nd Infantry Regiment (Yamazene), and the 57th Regiment of Search, Field Artillery, Engineers, and Baggage Regiments. Including the division and regiment headquarters, the total strength is about 18,000, which is more than the C The level divisions have much more troops;
It was the 52nd Regiment that defended the northern periphery. They relied on the city gate and built three arc-shaped defense lines outside the city. There were more than 200 large and small bunkers. There were communication trenches between the bunkers. The positions were covered with Barbed wire and landmines resemble a giant hedgehog.
Yamazaki Koichi, the captain on duty, also ran out of the headquarters to bask in the sun. He was seen sitting on an ammunition box, holding a photo in his hand, which showed him with his wife and daughter;
It has been three years since he came to Manzhou. He misses his family very much. When he has nothing to do, he will take it out and look at it, acting as if he has family.
"Yamazaki-kun, are you thinking about your family again?"
Yamazaki knew from the voice that it was his good friend, Major Yanagawa, who was here to take over his shift.
"Mr. Yanagawa, you can rest a little longer. It has been more than two months and the Eighth Route Army has not been seen.
I heard that the Eighth Route Army was very powerful, and I wanted to learn from it! "
Yanagawa was not as optimistic as Yamazaki. He shook his head and said:
"Yamazaki-kun, Chuxiong is known as the Tiger of China. I heard a classmate from the headquarters say that his troops are very powerful. If possible, I hope they will never show up, so that we can comfortably bask in the sun every day."
"Yanagawa-kun, this is not your style. In the past, you used to shout every day that you would open up new territories for His Majesty and establish eternal merits. How long have you been doing this? How are your ambitions?"
"Yamazaki-kun, at this moment and at that moment, the Eighth Route Army not only occupied the entire North China, but also invaded Manchuria——"
Yanagawa's face suddenly turned ugly. He was really afraid of whatever he wanted! He heard the sound of shells breaking through the air.
"Enemy attack!"
Just as Yanagawa fell down, a group of artillery shells flew from the sky, covering the Japanese position. Yanagawa watched as several bunkers were lifted into the sky, and he could vaguely see the broken limbs thrown into the sky.
"Bagaya Road, heavy cannons! The Eighth Route Army has a group of heavy cannons!"
This discovery made him completely desperate. He had originally hoped that these strong bunkers could block the Eighth Route Army's attack, but he did not expect that the Eighth Route Army actually had a cannon group, so he was asking for blessings.
I have to say that the Yanagawa kid was quite professional. The self-propelled artillery brigade of the armored column was firing at them a few kilometers away;
Hundreds of self-propelled artillery were lined up in three rows, their thick muzzles pointed at the Bingcheng Japs' bunkers, and they were calling their names.
The power of the 120mm heavy cannon is so terrifying that once it hits it, it will create a large crater with a diameter of more than ten meters, leaving almost no survivors within a radius of 30 meters;
The so-called solid bunkers of the Japanese were blown away with one shot, and the Japanese hiding inside were blown into parts.
All defense facilities such as barbed wire fences and traffic trenches were destroyed, and landmines were detonated.
One round of artillery fire consisted of more than 100 heavy artillery shells, which almost covered the Japanese defense area, killing groups of Japanese soldiers and leveling bunkers and fortifications.
Yanagawa opened his mouth to slow down the damage caused by the shock wave, and his eardrums were almost blown through;
The Eighth Route Army's artillery fire came one after another, as if the shells were free of charge. His friend Major Yamazaki no longer had the arrogance before, his eyes were dull, and the photos in his hands did not know where to fly.
The two of them were very lucky, not a single cannonball fell around them, otherwise they would have gone to report to Amaterasu;
They were unlucky, because as commanders, they could only watch their troops being blown to pieces by artillery fire, and there was nothing they could do. This was also a torture for them.
"Bagaya Road, is it still over?"
