Kong Xu was still in the mood to make sarcastic remarks, and his opponent, Hara Morijiro, commander of the 27th Army, was about to cry;
The Ninth Division, for which he had high hopes, was crippled by the Eighth Route Army in just one day;
Two of the three lines of defense were breached, leaving only the last core line of defense;
The Ninth Division, which is fully equipped on the battlefield, has 4 infantry regiments plus artillery, supply, engineering, and search regiments. There are a total of 8 regiments of first-class draft horse divisions, with a total number of more than 25,000 people. There are not enough to retreat to the core position. 8,000 people, more than half of whom are wounded;
Several regiments were all crippled, and even if they were all reduced together, they could not make up three regiments.
The Twelfth Division also suffered heavy losses. Under the three-dimensional attack of the Eighth Route Army, it had suffered more than half of its casualties. If it were not for the fact that it was dark and inconvenient for mechanized troops to fight, the Japanese would not be able to hold their last position.
Within the headquarters of the 27th Army, a few old Japanese soldiers were like a group of defeated roosters. Just one day of fighting had destroyed their self-confidence, and the losses were too great.
"Your Excellency, Commander, the Eighth Route Army's offensive is too fierce. This battle cannot be fought. We must change our tactics!
In just one day, the imperial army lost 30,000 elite troops, and the flying team also lost all its troops. Only the tank brigade and the 71st Division remained hidden in the city and suffered no losses;
I suggest that all troops be withdrawn into the city and engage in street fighting with the Eighth Route Army in the city!
There are still tens of thousands of Chinese people in the city. The Eighth Route Army's planes and heavy artillery will not dare to bomb the city. The worst is that Qiqihar will be destroyed. "
Lieutenant General Numata of the 12th Division said viciously, and the others chose to remain silent in response and did not answer his words.
Hara Shoujiro coughed slightly and said:
"Gentlemen, the Eighth Route Army will not stop attacking just because we want to fight in the streets. If they all withdraw into the city, the 27th Army will never have a chance to break out;
There is no point in dying with Qiqihar, but it will anger Chu Xiong!
Chu Xiong is a man who always keeps his word and is extremely ferocious. We can serve His Majesty and fight with every soldier;
Have you considered bringing your family into the mix? "
Hara Shoujiro silenced the others. They were all high-ranking military officers with a huge family behind them, not the stupid young men in the army.
When the war reaches this point, any senior military officer with a little foresight can see that the defeat of Tiaopanji will be inevitable sooner or later;
Chu Xiong is now the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. No one can guarantee whether the expeditionary force will be defeated.
Chu Xiong had already made harsh words. Anyone who dared to drag Chinese people to be buried with him would have his family buried with Chinese people. No one dared to take this risk again.
Lieutenant General Numata originally wanted to say a few harsh words, but he swallowed them again as he thought of his lovely grandson at home.
Seeing that everyone had returned to their senses, Hara Shoujiro said:
"Gentlemen, if you want to fight in the streets with the Eighth Route Army, you can!
Drive away the Chinese people in the city to prevent them from getting in the way;
We all have to be loyal to His Majesty, but tens of thousands of warriors have done their best and it is not a crime of war.
They are still young, leave them a way out! "
Everyone else was silent. All 30,000 elite soldiers were killed in one day, and less than one-tenth of the Eighth Route Army was wiped out. In fact, there was no need to fight such a war. As commanders, they still had to think about the soldiers below.
If all the young and strong people die, the chicken will never be able to stand up again, and there will always be some blood left for the nation.
When a new morning sun rose, the Japanese drove all the Chinese people out of the city, and then all the main force withdrew into the city. They were going to fight the Eighth Route Army in street battles!
The Eighth Route Army surrounded Qiqihar City from four directions. Li Qing did not rush to launch an attack, but took a political offensive:
"All the Japs in the city, listen up. Our commander Li Qing has said:
If you want to fight in the streets, we, the Eighth Route Army, will accompany you to the end!
Since you did not kidnap the people in the city, we respect you as warriors. During the battle, we allowed you to surrender and treated you as prisoners of war;
After serving five years of hard labor in China, you will be released to go home and reunite with your relatives when the war is over!
We in the Eighth Route Army keep our word and give you one day to consider. If you are willing to surrender, we will accept it;
If you are not convinced, we can have a fight! "
Unexpectedly, Hara Morijiro was also a bachelor and gave the Japanese in the city a chance to choose. Those who were willing to serve the emperor would stay in the city and fight to the death with the Eighth Route Army.
Those who did not want to fight were allowed to leave the city and surrender to the Eighth Route Army. This was absolutely unique among Japanese commanders.
There were still many die-hard elements among the Japs. After a day of political propaganda by the Eighth Route Army, only more than 3,000 people surrendered in the end. The other Japs chose to fight to the death with the Eighth Route Army.
Li Qing kept his promise and gave these more than 3,000 Japanese prisoners of war treatment. The Far Eastern homeland recovered after the war needed to be developed, and these Japanese soldiers were the best laborers.
After a day of adjustment, the Eighth Route Army launched a general attack on Qiqihar City. It was still bombarded by planes and artillery, which reduced the entire city to rubble. The Japanese who were hiding in the city and preparing for street fighting suffered heavy casualties.
The Eighth Route Army would rather build another city after the war than let the soldiers and the Japanese fight in the city street by street. That would cause too many casualties, and talents are the most precious;
Anyway, with the "George Plan", it is better to spend more time rebuilding a new city than to sacrifice thousands of soldiers.
The Japanese still underestimated the Eighth Route Army's firepower. The Eighth Route Army's tactics were very simple, just bomb, bomb, bomb!
Bombers, Wei Shen cannons, cannons, and even Wei Yixiao cannons, just endless bombardment;
After bombing once, they bombed again, until all the houses in the city were turned into rubble.
After three days of indiscriminate bombing, more than 40,000 ghosts hiding in the city experienced the longest 72 hours. Countless ghosts were buried in the rubble. Even the ghost commander Hara Morijiro did not know whether he was killed in the bombing. How many people were there.
When the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire stopped, the last order he issued was to destroy all regiment flags, and then sent a farewell message to the Kwantung Army Headquarters in Xinjing;
After that, I sat there quietly alone, waiting for the Eighth Route Army's final blow!
Loud military bugles sounded all around, and the shouts of the Eighth Route Army came from all directions;
The sound of gunfire resounded throughout the city. This was the death struggle of the remaining Japanese soldiers. This group of Japanese soldiers were indeed stubborn, and the Eighth Route Army had no choice but to turn them into stubborn corpses.
A die-hard Japs are good Japs!
In the final general offensive, the Eighth Route Army invested nearly 100,000 men, half of whom were newly formed garrison brigades. Li Qing wanted them to adapt to the war. He started with a downwind battle and trained his troops with the remaining Japanese soldiers in the city.
Since the firepower was in place, most of the Japanese were dead or injured, and the buildings used for street fighting were also blown into ruins. Therefore, the resistance of the remaining Japanese enemies was not fierce, which was just suitable for training troops.
The Eighth Route Army advanced very quickly, and it took only three days to reach the vicinity of the Japanese headquarters in the city;
"It's time to end it, go to hell, Yuren!"
After speaking, Lieutenant General Hara Morijiro ended his life with a pistol, while Lieutenant General Numata chose to commit seppuku.
Lieutenant General Banishi Ichiro chose to surrender. He was the second Japanese Lieutenant General to surrender. In the end, more than 4,000 Japanese soldiers chose to surrender. All other Japanese soldiers were annihilated and Qiqiha Er was recovered.
The newly formed 27th Army of the Japanese Army consisted of more than 80,000 people. Except for more than 7,000 people who surrendered, all the other Japanese soldiers turned into hardened corpses.
