While Zhang Tianhai was still thinking about how to use the terrain and situation near Jiujiang to block the enemy's westward advance, the main force of the Second Army of the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Force was already marching westward under the leadership of its commander, King Higashino Minuhiko. , starting from Luzhou (i.e. Hefei), heading straight for the Dabie Mountains.
The troops of the Japanese Second Army are quite strong. It has the absolute main force of four divisions under its command, plus about half a division of troops directly under the military headquarters, which is already a full four and a half divisions.
A total of 120,000 troops marched from Luzhou in a mighty way, as if they were trying to forcefully break a line of defense from the Dabie Mountains.
On the outskirts of Hefei, Emperor Showa's uncle, Prince Higashino Higashihiko, was riding a horse, looking high-spirited.
Indeed, the Japanese army expanded the scale of the war of aggression against China, which also brought them a lot of trouble - in order to expand their troops, they even recycled the guns of the military school instructors in order to use them in the war. On the newly expanded division.
However, the difficulties encountered in the country seem to have nothing to do with King Higashino Nomonuhiko. His goal is to lead a well-equipped and war-minded army of 120,000 troops to make contributions on the front line and open a way to capture Wuhan. The royal road!
As for the difficulties encountered in the country, that is not something that King Higashino Higashikata should consider, that is something that the domestic politicians should consider!
"Long live the Emperor! Won the victory!!!" King Higashikanomiya Minuhiko, who was riding on the horse, suddenly pulled out the samurai sword from his waist and shouted to the sky.
After these Japanese soldiers saw that their commander was also so full of fighting spirit, they couldn't help but started to scream.
But these slogans gradually converged into a burst of slogans, and then they began to be chanted.
The general content of the slogans is probably only those contents such as "Long live the Emperor", "Ten Thousand Victories" and "Long-term military fortune".
On this endless plain, there was a strong sense of war.
King Higashikata Minuhiko was riding on his horse like this, his slightly narrowed eyes filled with murderous intent.
According to the Japanese army's combat deployment, one group of Japanese troops originally captured Zhengzhou and then went south along Pinghan Road, while the other group attacked along both sides of the Yangtze River, attacking Wuhan in a pincer shape.
But later, the Nationalist Government troops opened up the Huayuankou levee, causing the flood to burst. Hundreds of thousands of North China's main troops were trapped in the Kaifeng area. In addition, logistical supplies and the like were immediately cut off.
Therefore, under this situation, the Japanese army had no choice but to give up their plan to go south along Pinghan Road, and instead attacked Wuhan from the north and south sides of the Yangtze River.
The Second Army led by King Higashikata Minuhiko was the main force of the Japanese army on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
The four divisions of this Japanese army led by King Higashikaru Miyaminuhiko are Fujita Susumu's 3rd Division, Shinohata Yoshio's 10th Division, and Ogisu Rihei's 13th Division. , Fujie Keisuke's 16th Division, and some independent artillery units for support. The scale of the troops is huge!
By the way, I forgot to mention that the reason why the division commander of the 10th Division became Yoshio Shinohata was not because the original division commander Isotani Rensuke was incompetent and rushed to Taierzhuang on the North China battlefield. If this were not the case, it would not necessarily be Yoshio Shinohata's turn to be the leader of this division.
Therefore, it is precisely because of the strong troops and horses at this stage that King Higashikata Minuhiko has unlimited confidence in this battle.
What's more, the current strength of the Japanese army is indeed at its peak.
However, what Prince Higashikata Minuhiko never expected was that a change thousands of miles away would slowly change his destiny.
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To the north, a Soviet force quietly occupied Zhanggufeng and Shacaofeng.
Zhanggufeng, also known as Daoshan, is called "Zhaozernaya" in Russian, which means the highland on the other side of the lake. It is currently located on the Sino-Russian border 1.5 kilometers north of Fangchuan Village, Jingxin Town, with an altitude of 155.1 meters.
To the east and north of the mountain are Changchi (called Hasan Lake in Russia) and Poshet Plain, to the northwest it is connected to Shacao Peak, to the southwest it faces 141.2 Highland, to the south is Fangchuan Village, and about 2.5 kilometers southeast are Zhong and Zhong. The junction of Russia and North Korea.
Shacaofeng is located in China 2 kilometers northwest of Zhanggu Peak, with an altitude of 77.1 meters. It is 1.2 kilometers away from Shacaofeng Paozi to the Sino-Russian border in the east. There is an earth-shaped monument 3.5 kilometers southeast of the peak.
To put it bluntly, this is a key location on the Sino-Soviet border.
Whoever occupies this place will be able to take the initiative in the war.
Of course, the Soviet army occupied Zhanggufeng and Shacaofeng. This is no longer a dispute between China and the Soviet Union, but a dispute between the puppet Manchukuo, the Japanese army and the Soviet army.
The sudden military action of the Soviet army put the Japanese army into passive position.
Interestingly, the Kwantung Army had begun preparations for war against the Soviet Union since February of this year, and proposed that the war expenses should be spent from China's incident expenses. Prior to this, the staff officer Qian Zhengxin and others were ordered to inspect the site, and at the same time report their strong opinions to the base camp and the North Korean army.
Under this situation, the sudden dispatch of the Soviet army immediately affected the hearts of the entire Kwantung Army - they believed that this was a "provocative action" by the Soviet army, and that the Soviet army wanted to test their strength.
Regarding this action, two factions of opinions immediately emerged in the Japanese military base camp.
The primary group of opinions is naturally led by the radicals. The radical leaders believe that facing this provocation by the Soviet army is the time to show the strength of the "Imperial Army", and what they want is for the Soviet army to attack them. The Japanese troops were "frightened" by the news.
For example, Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro also agreed with the radicals' opinions.
And if there are supporters, there will naturally be opponents.
The opposition is a group of big guys headed by the navy, especially the naval officers headed by Vice-Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku who are the most vocal in their opposition.
The Army believed that their successive victories in the North China battlefield and even the Central China battlefield were due to their powerful military force. Since they could show such strong combat power in the North China battlefield, then the battle against the Soviet Union , and must be able to win with restraint.
The Navy disagreed. They believed that the Army was "playing with fire"!
Why does the Japanese Navy say that the Army is playing with fire? The reason is that the Navy believes that the Hankou landing operation requires a large number of warships to escort weapons and soldiers, so it must avoid playing dangerous games with its opponents.
If Japan and the Soviet Union start fighting on Zhang Gufeng's side, it will definitely affect the battle between the base camp and Hankou. If it becomes a large-scale war, troops will have to be mobilized from the Central China battlefield or even the North China battlefield at any time for support. of.
In this process of mobilizing support, a large number of warships and frontline strategies will inevitably be involved.
Yes, this is the opinion of the conservatives led by the Japanese Navy.
However, in response to the Navy's views, the Japanese Army put forward a new point of view. They believed that ""In such a narrow area, it is impossible to dispatch a large number of troops, so it will not lead to a large-scale war. Even if the entire division is destroyed, it doesn't matter. This is a great opportunity to show Japan's strength to the Soviet Union. "
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PS: The first update is here!
The second update will be sent before two o'clock!
