Chapter 256: Grilled eel (Thank you for subscribing and Honghua!)
Yasuda and others were injured and captured, which marked the bankruptcy of the Japanese emperor's "assassination" strategy. However, the National Defense Force did not announce to the public that Yasuda and others infiltrated China because of "assassination". Instead, they announced the whereabouts of these Japanese ronin.
After China committed inhumane crimes, they were publicly executed. Such people cannot be taken as prisoners, and Wu Aihua is not willing to keep them.
"How did you discover our whereabouts?" After the situation was over, Yasuda Yasushi expressed his doubts.
"We have an old saying in China that those who do evil will be punished by themselves! If you don't want others to know, you have to do nothing yourself!" said Kong Wu, who was in charge of the interrogation.
"What a great country! It's such a great country. It has such philosophical and wise words." Yasuda Yasushi said with emotion. However, no matter how much he lamented, he could not save his life.
"You and Yasuda, one is pretending to be crazy and the other is acting stupid. Do you understand?" Wu Aihua commented after hearing Kong Wu's report.
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On the morning of February 21, 1938, Wang Mingzhang, commander of the 122nd Division of the National Army, withdrew his remaining troops to Lincheng. For the 22nd Army, this battle was a particularly glorious defeat.
At the same time in the morning, the three main army groups of the East China Field Army of the National Defense Forces all arrived in Anji, Deqing, and Yuhang areas north of Hangzhou.
The first order issued by Xia Zhongqing, the head of the field department, was to assemble the engineering battalions of each division of the three major group armies and build a front-line airport in the suburbs of Deqing within 24 hours.
After each unit arrived at the designated position, it immediately entered a state of recovery and rest, and commanders above the wild division division gathered at the temporary headquarters to hold a pre-war meeting.
The meeting was chaired by Yu Hanmou, deputy commander of the East China Field Army. It was a round table meeting with no rostrum, but the main commanders sat opposite each other.
Wu Aihua did not attend this meeting. For the National Defense Force to develop and grow, it must establish the authority of its officers. Besides, Wu Aihua also had his own mission when he came to the front line of the Yangtze River Delta. When the meeting was held, he was no longer in Deqing.
The first item of the meeting was the enemy situation report. Hu Wen, deputy director of the General Intelligence Department of the National Defense Forces and director of the East China Field Army Intelligence Department, explained the current enemy situation.
Hu Wen and Hu Bin are brothers, and together with Zhang Quan, they are cousins. They are from Henan. The three of them are the first three soldiers in Wu Aihua's hands. During Wu Aihua's first attack on Changting Zhenru Town and Zhou Ruan's "Shovel Communist Regiment"
Three migrant workers rescued during the incident.
After more than three years, the three brothers, who are ordinary farmers, are now the backbone of the National Defense Forces. Hu Wen himself is the deputy director of the General Intelligence Department, Hu Bin is the commander of the 033 Division, the 3rd Division of the 3rd Group Army, and Zhuang Xizhen
His subordinates are generals; and Zhang Quan has also grown into a general and is currently the commander of the 094th Division. The 9th Group Army is being formed under Liu Xianghui.
Who would have thought that three long-term workers three years ago would become three generals three years later? Such a miracle can only be created by the National Defense Forces.
Hu Wen calmed down his excitement for a while, and then began to report the enemy's situation.
"Comrades, commanders and comrades: After being attacked by our army's Operation Storm Thunder, the Japanese Army's East China Front suffered great damage, with losses totaling more than 26,000 soldiers, more than 220,000 tons of ships, more than 60,000 tons of baggage, and more than 60,000 tons of ammunition.
More than 20,000 tons, as well as a large amount of other materials, basically paralyzed the combat capabilities of the Japanese Army's East China Front.
Starting from New Year's Day in 1938, the Japanese army has been supplemented one after another. Among them, the enemy's 32nd Division, which was annihilated by the cooperation between our army and the National Army's reorganized 11th Division, has been fully staffed and is undergoing training in Jiading. It is estimated that it will be put into operation in another month.
war; the guns, ammunition, baggage, including aircraft, ships, etc. lost by other combat units are being replenished one after another. According to reports from our intelligence personnel in Shanghai, the Japanese army has replenished more than 20,000 tons per day in the past week.
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At present, the vast area starting from Nantong Rugao in the north, Jiaxing in the south, Changxing in Huzhou in the west, and Nanhui in Shanghai in the east includes the 4th Army, 10th Army, 11th Army of the Japanese East China Front, the Japanese Third Flying Group, and the Japanese Army in China
The fleet has six units including the East China Squadron and the Japanese Marine Corps. Among them, the strength of the Japanese Marine Corps has grown rapidly recently and has reached more than 50,000 people in two divisions. The total strength of the Japanese army's sea, land and air forces gathered in the above areas has reached 55
Thousands of people.
The various divisions of the Japanese army are distributed as follows:
On the south road, the 117th Division of the Japanese 10th Army is stationed in the Changxing, Huzhou, and Jiaxing areas, directly blocking the advance of our army. Just yesterday, the Japanese 107th Division moved to Jiaxing to set up defenses.
The other units of the Japanese 10th Army are located as follows: the 10th Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade, the 10th Independent Armored Brigade and the Japanese 3rd Division of the 10th Army are located in Minhang, Fengxian and Nanhui areas. Two of the independent brigades and the 10th Independent Brigade are located in the area.
The military headquarters is stationed in Minhang; the 18th Division is stationed in Songjiang, and the 38th Division is stationed in the area along the south bank of the Suzhou River, serving as a reserve force for the entire army.
The middle road is the Japanese 11th Army. Currently, the 11th Army headquarters and two directly affiliated independent brigades are stationed in Qingpu Town. The 6th Division is stationed in Suzhou, the 12th Division is stationed in Changshu, and the 115th Division is stationed in Kunshan and Taicang.
, the 23rd Division was stationed in Wujiang, and the 32nd Division was reorganized in Jiading.
The North Road is the Japanese 4th Army. The 4th Army Headquarters and its main force, the 14th Division, withdrew from Nantong, the 103rd Division was stationed in Rugao, the 116th Division was stationed in Tongzhou, and the 29th Division and the 37th Division were divided into
Stationed in Haimen and Startup and other places.
Other Japanese military units were mainly concentrated in urban Shanghai and along the Huangpu River.
The Japanese East China Front has a total of 550,000 troops, huddled in the Yangtze River Delta region, with dense troops and powerful heavy firepower, making it easy to support each other. The maximum distance between divisions is less than 30 kilometers, and the maximum distance between brigades is less than 15 kilometers.
The maximum distance between them was even less than 5 kilometers, and the average distance between each brigade of the Japanese army was only 7 kilometers."
"Comrades, chiefs and comrades, this is the current enemy situation. In addition, the Intelligence Department will report the latest enemy situation progress to all combat units at any time for the staff and decision-making of each combat unit." After Hu Wen finished speaking, he sat down.
"Let's discuss how to fight this battle?" Yu Hanmou prompted.
How to fight this battle? It can be seen from the briefing just now that the enemy is almost connected. As long as one regiment is attacked, the other regiment can catch up in 10 minutes; even if the division-level support force is
The Japanese army could arrive within an hour.
"Well, this battle is not easy to fight. The Japanese troops are too dense. They are like spider webs and hedgehogs. If you hit one place, other places will swoop in." Shen Chao, chief of staff of the 4th Group Army, said helplessly. Shen Chao,
Previously, in the era of the three major armies, the artillery brigade commanders were directly under the command. Considering the importance of artillery in modern warfare, some of the chief officers of each artillery unit at that time became the chiefs of staff of each unit.
"Haha, what's so hard to fight? Previously, the boss of Wuhan University had mentioned this situation in his lectures. It can be used to encircle the point for reinforcements, to bloom in the center, to cut through the mess with a sharp knife," said the staff officer of the 2nd Group Army.
Li Changchun always liked to compete with Shen Chao, but he was opposed to it from the beginning.
"What do I think? The enemy seems strong, but our army is weak? The Japanese have heavy artillery, but our heavy artillery is no less than his; the Japanese have tanks, and the National Defense Force's Warring States troops are more numerous and more solid than him; the Japanese have
Airplanes, can we only fly kites? Perhaps the only advantage of the Japanese is the navy. When approaching the coast or river bank, we must be prepared to prevent the threat of Japanese aircraft guns." Gao Zilong, deputy commander of the 4th Group Army, analyzed from the perspective of comparing ourselves with the enemy.
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Gao Zilong was very excited about this battle. Because Army Commander Yu Hanmou also served as the deputy commander of the field army, he would have less time to take care of the 4th Army, and Gao Zilong could show off his talents.
"The tactic of encircling a point for reinforcements is good, I agree. The reason is to remove the enemy from the permanent fortifications and eliminate the enemy on the move." 022 Division Commander Huang Renhuan looked at several leaders at the meeting and then said slowly. Huang Renhuan, formerly of Guangdong
The commander of the 1st Independent Division of the Army, one of Chen Jitang's closest confidants.
"This battle is the first large-scale decisive battle between our National Defense Forces and the Japanese army. The scale of the two armies determines that to win this war, we must seriously think about and implement Commander-in-Chief Wu's words to strategically despise the enemy.
In terms of tactics, we must pay attention to the enemy's thoughts. We must have both upright frontal decisive battles and strange and changeable means of surprise attacks. We must focus on good and supplement with surprise. We must have both good and complete, and a combination of good and strange is the way to use troops.
Dao is the way to win." Seeing that everyone was stuck on a certain tactic, Zhang Binxian reminded him aloud.
After Zhang Binxian spoke, Commander-in-Chief of the East China Field Army Xia Zhongqing spoke up and said, "Before the expedition, Commander-in-Chief Wu and a few of us made some simple analysis of this war. At that time, Commander-in-Chief Wu once asked us whether we were fighting a certain
If the enemy resists, what should we do? If the enemy is weak and flees, what should we do? The enemy flees and we chase. This is the principle, but what should we do if the enemy ambush us? What should we do if the enemy's reinforcements harass us along the way?
Pursue forward, what is the situation ahead, does the enemy have a trap? Will our army go deep alone? Commander-in-Chief Wu asked at least twenty reasons why. Think about it, how can we solve these problems?"
"Commander Xia said it well. Generally speaking, our commanders have a good understanding of their own troops and have practiced various tactics many times. However, where are the enemy's weaknesses? What will happen to the enemy after we launch a campaign?
Contingency? We must think carefully about these." Chief of Staff Jiang Baili also inspired.
"Commander, Chief of Staff, just tell us how to fight. The Chief of Staff also said just now that we division commanders may be good at tactics, but we are much different strategically." Huang Zhiwen, commander of the 044th Division, said.
Huang Zhiwen, former commander of the 8th Division of the 3rd Army of the Guangdong Army.
"Haha, you guys have no choice. Then let me tell you, in fact, this is also the tactic mentioned by Commander-in-Chief Wu. Note that it is a tactic and not a strategy. This tactic is called 'burning eels.'" Xia Zhongqing said at the end.