A round of bombing fell, followed by striding Red Army soldiers charging forward with tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
It was exactly the same situation as not long ago.
The Japanese army, whose tactical mobility relied entirely on two legs, did not have time to send reinforcements to the position that had just been bombed, so they watched helplessly as the Russians who came all the way swept away the remaining soldiers and captured the position.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander! We can't continue like this. If we continue like this, we will lose the second position soon! It's time to make a decision!"
"."
Easier said than done.
A "decision" can be made easily with just a touch of lips, but it is very difficult for military officers to make decisions.
"So Watanabe-kun, how do you think we should make a "decision" now?"
"Ah? This"
The chief of staff just made a suggestion "casually", but he didn't expect that the division commander would just turn his foot and kick the ball back to him intact.
The Russians had not yet penetrated the second position, and the rear of the second position was still busy with a large number of Japanese troops moving forward for reinforcements.
"Since the Russians can even make up for yesterday's huge ammunition consumption and continue to bombard today. Why do you think that the Russians can't even supply the same level of shelling ammunition just now?"
The division commander holding a telescope pointed in the direction of the battlefield, but the chief of staff looked in the direction of the finger with a confused look on his face.
"."
"Why do you think this is, Watanabe-kun?"
This kind of scary ghost story may be unknown to the top soldiers below, but when you reach the level of the division chief of staff, you have not only heard about it, but also know the details very well.
After being reminded by the head of the division, the chief of staff, who was not stupid but had not realized this, suddenly became smart.
"."
Yes, there is still a reserve force. The last standby infantry regiment placed on the third line of position is, if it is really effective, it is not impossible to send it out.
"Besides, I believe you haven't forgotten about the Morishima Troupe, have you?"
But after thinking about it again, I still didn't want to admit the frustrating fact that I could only hold my nose and act like a shrinking bastard, so I blurted out an unwilling answer.
"."
"But they didn't. They didn't do anything. It was like giving their artillery a holiday. There was no long-range direct artillery fire."
".Why."
The chief of staff had no other choice but to use his brain quickly. After thinking for a while, he hurriedly gave the answer.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I'm sorry for my stupidity, but I don't see any problem with the direction of your finger. On the contrary, I think our soldiers should be allowed to cross this distance immediately and support the second position immediately."
"."
"They can clearly do something, such as preparing artillery fire in advance to cover our third position as they did not long ago. At least they can disrupt the gathering of reinforcements at our offensive starting position and provide guarantee for them to conquer the position."
"So this is what they want to achieve, to expose us to greater artillery fire damage in an unobstructed open area. The losses caused by this will be much higher than withstanding artillery fire on the position."
"The Russians clearly have devastating heavy artillery firepower. From the time they stopped covering the area with artillery fire, it was time to replenish the ammunition and move the shooting positions."
On the road leading from the third position to the second position, that is, the buffer zone between positions, there is nothing but an unobstructed view of the flat land, and not even a shadow of a Russian can be seen.
Not to mention our own soldiers.
Morishima Kuronai and his main regiment were wiped out by Russian artillery fire from across the river before they even touched the hair of the Russians on the march.
"The tactical mobility of our troops is far less than that of the Russians. The time it takes to cross the buffer zone of the position is the Russian fighter planes. And once the Russian heavy artillery barrage strikes, the reinforcements will immediately fall into a situation where they are unable to advance or retreat. In the case of the Russians
Under such devastating bombardment, it will be impossible to even withdraw the troops."
"Once the reinforcements left their starting positions to support them, the Russians aimed at the artillery cluster in the buffer zone between the two positions in advance and were bound to open fire suddenly."
I wanted to think that making decisions is not your job as a military officer? But then I thought about it, it seems that my chief of staff who makes suggestions is also involved.
Answered questions.
The division commander, who was lamenting in his heart, had no other choice but to once again point to the seemingly plain and empty position in front of him and slowly speak to the chief of staff.
"Of course the Russians have the ability to continue firing. I even dare to conclude that they did not fire a single artillery shell on the third position and allowed us to assemble reinforcements at will on the starting position. This is a conspiracy in itself."
"Tell me, Watanabe-kun, what can you see on the road from the third position to the second position?"
"Then let me ask you again, the Russian artillery fire just now is indeed unprecedentedly fierce, but do you think this artillery fire is as fierce as the artillery fire on the first day of the war yesterday?"
"Perhaps their ammunition consumption is too high, Your Excellency, Division Commander. It takes a long time to replenish such a huge amount of ammunition. It is very likely that the Russians are preparing to transport ammunition for their next artillery fire."
My relationship was bombarded by Russian heavy artillery and I haven’t learned a lesson yet. It was bombarded to the point where my pig’s brain almost exploded. Logically speaking, I should know the pain no matter what, but why do I still not reflect at all after suffering a loss? As a staff officer
I was stunned for a long time, unable to see through the situation in front of me.
As the division commander said, the Russian's destructive artillery fire was absolutely fatal to the Japanese army in any marching state without the protection of existing positions and fortification bunkers.
Being choked by the division commander's question, he was speechless for a moment and could not speak. The division commander who saw this scene immediately continued.
But the division commander, whose eyes were uncertain and looking at the scorched earth battlefield ahead through his telescope, obviously didn't think so.
"I think reinforcements should be sent to the second position immediately, Your Excellency, Division Commander. Don't we still have reserves on hand? Let's ask the 113th Division to help us send reinforcements. At least the position must be stabilized to prevent the Russians from continuing to advance.
pace."
"Don't you care? Why is there still no movement from the Russian artillery?"
The German army, which was barely mechanized, could at least run and escape from artillery bombing areas that were not so precise these days.
But what about the Japanese army? What can they do to escape? Can they use two legs to reach the lethality radius of heavy grenades? They wouldn’t do this even if they wanted to die, wouldn’t they?
Knowing that this was the case but still unwilling to do so, the chief of staff blurted out those words that were so angry that they could almost kill someone.
"Are we just going to watch the defeat? Your Excellency, the division commander!"