The Japanese artillery fire once again poured fiercely towards the Chinese position.
Under Xiaoxi Zaijian's almost crazy request, even the 150MM heavy artillery began to blast the left and right flanks of Tongguan.
However, the Chinese soldiers who received the military order still chose to walk out of the tunnel and shoot at the retreating Japanese troops with rifles and machine guns.
The Japanese infantry howled under the hail of bullets and became silent under the equally desperate artillery fire from their own side and the Chinese side.
The sound of gunfire on the battlefield lasted from early morning to dusk, until the last Japanese platoon disappeared on the river.
The second wave of offensive that had been prepared by the Third Division did not happen after all, because all the Japanese soldiers from the low-ranking soldiers to Susumu Fujita knew that it was unnecessary.
The Chinese used a tactic of "letting the dogs into the pit". Of the more than 4,200 infantrymen who landed in the first batch, less than 600 were able to board the ship and return. The remaining 3,600 or so were all lying in front of the Chinese positions.
.
And the Chinese left-wing position, which was personally commanded by Colonel Konishi Hayami, was even more miserable!
Two and a half infantry brigades were invested, but only 160 people were able to return, and most of the heavy machine guns and all infantry artillery were lost.
Because the cunning Chinese can allow you to easily carry a 200 kilogram infantry gun off the ship, but they will not watch you carry the artillery onto the ship again.
In order to lift the heavy cannon body and walk on the river beach, it was like putting a stupid label of "Come and shoot me!" on the forehead. Each artillery squad suffered heavy casualties, which was no less than that of the infantry in a state of death charge.
Perhaps the only thing that makes the Japanese commanders thankful is that they don’t have to worry too much about medicines!
There were almost no seriously wounded Japanese soldiers who were able to return to Fenglingdu. Under the fierce firepower of both the enemy and us, which was almost indiscriminate in their attacks, losing mobility was equal to death.
Therefore, after completely losing the strength of an infantry regiment, the Third Division also lost a serious colonel commander.
Before they even reached the river bank, the news that Xiaoxi saw that the colonel had performed a caesarean section to apologize to the empire was conveyed to the headquarters of the 3rd Division.
Susumu Fujita rarely became furious, but waved his hand to indicate that he understood, and sat alone in the innermost room of the unlit field headquarters.
Perhaps only the two glaring major general brigade commanders knew what their division commander was doing.
Susumu Fujita needs to be calm enough!
He needed to use a calm enough mind to persuade his boss Shiro Itagaki to temporarily give up the tactic of storming Tongguan.
Facts have proven that the Chinese on the opposite side not only have fortifications that are strong enough to withstand heavy artillery and heavy aerial bombs, but also have ferocious enough firepower. More importantly, their fighting will is firm, which is far from what they have in the Southeast and North China battlefields.
It is beyond the reach of the Chinese infantry division that is on the verge of collapse.
Two consecutive infantry regiments suffered catastrophe, and the reality of turning a Category A division into a mixed brigade made Susumu Fujita's thoughts return to nearly a year ago.
If Jinling Yuhuatai is not stationed with an infantry brigade with less than 4,000 Chinese, but an infantry division with more than 10,000 people, an infantry division with a steady stream of logistics, can his third division capture that hill?
The answer is obvious, he can't capture it, just like today.
With the strength the Chinese have shown today, unless they have the courage to overwhelm the entire Third Division plus an infantry brigade of the Fifth Division specially transferred by Army Commander Itagaki Shiro, he has no confidence in victory.
But is that possible?
Even if Tongguan is conquered and the third division's vitality is severely damaged, no one can recover within a year or two. Does the glory of conquering China have to do with Fujita Jin's goal?
The moment Konishi Hayami stabbed the katana into her belly, it must have been very painful!
Susumu Fujita, who was sitting alone in the darkness, suddenly felt a slight chill all over his body. This man from a well-born family must not want to die, but if he didn't die, who would bear the responsibility for this defeat? This time Xiaoxi met early, and there will be another next time
Who takes the initiative to apologize and die?
Those two major general brigade commanders outside the door? Or the division chief of staff who has always lowered his eyebrows and obeyed?
Susumu Fujita's eyelids drooped, maybe they all felt a little uncontrollable excitement deep in their hearts now!
They couldn't even think about the position of division leader, but with so many positions suddenly available, they didn't know how many of their confidants could be placed.
"Your Excellency, Commander of the Mute Itagaki Army," Susumu Fujita's somewhat obscure and old voice finally came out from the dark room.
"Baga! Incompetent! Extremely incompetent!" A bald man holding the message from Susumu Fujita was like a leopard suffering from mania, pacing back and forth in the headquarters with his hands behind his back, constantly swearing in his mouth.
The words of the deputy chief who proposed to separate from the North China Front Army and form the Westward March Corps a few months ago are still ringing in my ears: "To form the Westward March Corps, General Shanshan Yuan is unable to change the situation on the battlefield in North China. The imperial financial resources are already stretched. In order to force China to move forward as soon as possible,
Surrendering, entering Guanzhong from the west and advancing into southwest China is inevitable.
Itagaki-kun, you are a strong general of the empire. If you make some progress in this strategy, the empire may form the Southwest Front Army in less than a year, and Itagaki-kun should be the best choice."
The commander of the front army, with the rank of general, will become one of the top figures in the Imperial Army Ministry. What he can decide will no longer be just the fate of tens or hundreds of thousands of people, but perhaps the fate of a country or nation.
.
For a soldier, who can resist this temptation?
But today Susumu Fujita told him that it was impossible to do anything, so we brothers should withdraw!
Just tell me, who could endure it?
As long as Itagaki Shiro had a sword that could be used to kill generals, he might as well use his backhand to chop off the head of Susumu Fujita who dared to say such a thing.
It's a pity that even as cruel as Shiro Itagaki, he still has enough sense to know that not only can he not do anything to Susumu Fujita, he even needs to be appeased and win over.
Standing behind Susumu Fujita is a powerful prince, whose cronies are spread throughout the Imperial Army.
Okamura Koji, who was leaning against his thigh, was now like an engine installed under his butt. In just 3 years, he had been promoted from the deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army to the commander of the Eleventh Army. Even if Wanjialing was defeated so badly,
The corpse of the lieutenant general commander of the 106th Division was returned to the Empire at great cost, and he was only verbally reprimanded by the base camp. He was already a notable faction in the Imperial Army.
Looking at the casualty figures reported by the Third Division, the manic patient forced himself to calm down and stood in front of the map of Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces for half an hour. Finally, he said in a cold voice: "Instruct the commanders of each division to postpone crossing the river.
Attack by force and arrive at our legion headquarters within two days to hold a military meeting!"
...........
The Japanese army suspended the attack across the board, and the Third Division was as if its mother had died. However, the Chinese side was not too happy either.
In order to completely kill the Japanese troops on the river beach, each brigade and regiment sent the soldiers into the trenches under artillery fire. They also suffered heavy casualties under the Japanese artillery fire.
According to statistics in the evening alone, the 28th Division suffered more than 900 casualties, and the Sichuan Army's new regiment suffered more than 300 casualties!
And this is not as simple as the Japanese statistics. Those who failed to return by boat can basically be regarded as battle damage. Many seriously injured people do not know whether they will survive the next three days. The list of the dead may be released in a few days.
will rise significantly.
For this reason, Deputy Chief of Staff Tang, who issued this military order, was boycotted by several regiment commanders at the post-war summary meeting, believing that it was completely unnecessary to let the soldiers shoot under artillery fire, which ultimately led to excessive casualties.
Brigadier Hu Da stood firmly on Tang Dao's side, angrily scolded several regimental commanders for being short-sighted, and said on the spot that he had strongly initiated this military order, and if he wanted to settle accounts afterwards, then he should settle his own accounts.
However, Tang Dao did not argue too much. Instead, with a calm expression, he wanted to resign on the spot as deputy chief of staff of the defense zone at a high-level military meeting that only regiment-level officers could attend.
This time, all the officers of the 28th Division were stunned.
They did this somewhat out of consideration for Xiao Jiujiu!
Everyone knows that the annihilation of more than 3,000 Japanese invaders in this battle can definitely be regarded as a glorious victory. Not to mention that the entire army suffered casualties of more than a thousand, even three times more would have been worthwhile.
The purpose of this is really not to determine Deputy Chief of Staff Tang's command errors, but to slightly weaken his merits.
On the one hand, it is to grab battle merit, but on the other hand, it comes from instructions from a higher level. This is the territory of the tenth war zone. How can someone from the second war zone steal the show?
However, for everyone in the 28th Division, they never thought that Deputy Chief of Staff Tang would suddenly give up his job.
How many fools can get to the level of colonel commander? Including Commander Fan and Commander Dong who allowed their commanders to fire on Deputy Chief of Staff Tang. They all know that Tang Dao really deserves the credit for this battle.
great.
Without the tunnel battle he suggested, just the morning round of bombing by Japanese fighter planes would have caused more casualties than before. Moreover, the three strikes he completed on the battlefield by improvising, each hit hit the Japanese army's pain point. It was simply
It's so perfect that it can be written into textbooks.
Tang Dao suddenly wanted to resign and the whole group was about to leave. How could everyone in the 28th Division not be panicked?
Some people and things only become more precious when they are lost. This is almost the essence of human nature. Although this feeling makes a group of middle-aged uncles who are more than ten years older than Tang Dao feel burning in their faces, but there is nothing
It doesn't stop them from thinking of a solution quickly.
It's easy to pick it up and put it down, and it's obvious that these old fritters are playing with it.
"Deputy Chief of Staff Tang, please do not be arrogant. This is just an internal meeting in our defense zone. I have announced earlier that the minutes of the meeting will not be kept. We are all a family, and as a family, it is inevitable that the horse's spoon will touch the pot." Mr. Dong.
Slightly embarrassed, he quickly comforted the 'stunned' man in front of him.
"The two officers and colleagues have misunderstood. Tang Dao's move was not motivated by emotion." Tang Dao shook his head slightly.
Then, Tang Dao left his seat and walked directly to the map with piercing eyes: "After this battle, the Japanese Third Division has suffered more than 5,000 casualties. Even if they still have the intention to attack our Tongguan position again, they still have to
It takes ten days to replenish enough troops, and these ten days are enough for the 28th Division to build more and denser tunnels.
The theater headquarters mobilized an independent infantry brigade a few days ago. The strength of the Tongguan Defense Zone has increased to 80,000. As long as it does not make fatal mistakes, the Third Division will not be able to deploy two infantry regiments or even more.
We can break through the frontal position of our 28th Division from the front.
This kind of defensive battle is the most test of the determination and will of both the enemy and ourselves. Our army could fight a five-for-one battle that day, let alone this one-for-three or even four-for-four battle. As for the Japanese army,
We will not give our army such a chance.
Therefore, if nothing unexpected happens, the large-scale anti-landing operations in the Tongguan Defense Zone have basically come to an end, and the Japanese army should focus more on harassing the river coastline.
If I stay in Tongguan, it won't be of much use. Maybe I will spend more time dragging the two officers or Brigadier Hu to drink with me. With my drinking capacity, I'm afraid."
Having said this, a deep smile appeared on Tang Dao's face.
The six regiment commanders, two brigade commanders, plus the corps commander and division commander who were qualified to sit at the conference table collectively turned red.
Tang Jiutan really doesn't show off. In terms of combat level, some of you here may be dissatisfied and want to fight, but when it comes to drinking, no one dares to say that they can compete with Tang Tuanzuo.
That was when Tang Dao returned victoriously from the other side of the river, blowing up a 280MM heavy artillery battery and four 150MM heavy artillery. The record had been confirmed by spies lurking in Pingbeicheng. The theater headquarters had promised that after the war, at least two army lieutenant generals would be
A first-class Baoding Medal. If that person is in a good mood, the Blue Sky Medal is not impossible. The overjoyed Commander Fan personally made the request and invited Tang Dao. In addition, he called a division commander, two brigade commanders, and six regiment commanders.
As companions, they were all powerful military officers of the 28th Division, which gave Tang Dao a great deal of respect.
Tang Dao went to the banquet alone and faced the 10 generals of the 28th Division. No matter who came to toast, the wine was always dry. To be precise, the wine was dry. The most famous Xifeng wine in Shaanxi Province was like boiled water.
At first, the generals of the 28th Division were a little conservative, always feeling that it was not good to fight 10 against 1. However, seeing how bold and unrestrained Tang Dao was, the officers, who drank less than a kilogram, took turns to challenge him.
Good guy, as soon as the dishes were served, I drank up two jars of 10 kilograms of white wine. Then I drank to the point where I drank a total of 6 jars of 30 kilograms.
All the officers of the 28th Division, including Commander Fan Da, were helped back by the orderly soldiers. Some of them were a little drunk and were even carried back on stretchers. They were absolutely wiped out, and some of them drank at least ten kilograms of liquor.
Tang Tuanzuo can also ride a horse by himself.
No matter what happened to Tang Dao afterwards, at least he went back alone. In this wine shop battle, Tang Dao won the victory!
And Tang Dao's excellent wine bar style of "If you want to drink, I'll accompany you, no matter how much!" makes people no longer even think about giving it another try.
Wine barrels are no longer enough to describe it; only wine tanks fit the unique temperament of Tang Tuanzuo.
Therefore, when Tang Dao used this to 'threaten' everyone in the 28th Division, Fan and Dong instantly felt chills in their chests. If this guy really wants to drink like this every day, it's better to let him go. Otherwise, it won't take more than three or five days. I'm afraid.
Tang Dao will be both an army commander and a regiment leader.
Because everyone present at the meeting would be drunk.
"Of course, Tang Dao rushed back to the second war zone. Not only was the crisis at Tongguan resolved, but the Japanese army saw that they had hit a wall at our Yellow River defense line. They might turn their guns and gather heavy troops for a battle in southern Shanxi.
." The smile on Tang Dao's face gradually faded, he picked up the baton on the table and pointed at Zhongtiao Mountain on the map.
"The Japanese Army's Westward Advance Corps has three divisions on our Yellow River defense line. Not counting the heavy losses suffered by the Third Division, there are still two divisions that maintain their strength, especially the Fifth Division under its commander Shiro Itagaki, which has a strength of 50,000.
Not to mention, its combat power is the best among the Japanese invaders of China.
If they see that the strategy of forcibly crossing the Yellow River will cause too much damage, they decide to first eliminate our garrison in Zhongtiao Mountain in southern Shanxi and completely eliminate their worries, and then gather the main force of the Japanese North China Front Army to attack our Yellow River defense line. By then, you can think about the consequences.
.”
After saying this, the faces of the generals of the 28th Division suddenly became extremely ugly.
A Japanese westward marching corps has caused a lot of panic in the Tenth Theater. If a Japanese North China Front Army is added, not all, but only a few divisions with 100,000 people, then the hundreds of thousands of troops and defense lines deployed along the Yellow River will not be enough.
It will fall apart in an instant.
"The tenth war zone and the second war zone are closely guarding each other. If one side is breached, the other side will be destroyed immediately." Tang Dao spread his hands. "So, I have to rush back to join the war and do my meager strength."
"Since Commander Tang has already said this, how can we keep guests?" Commander Fan, who had not spoken much, sighed slightly.
"When will you and the brothers from the Sichuan Army's new regiment leave? I can arrange a farewell banquet for the brothers. The 28th Division is poorer, but there is still some food and wine."
"Then there's no need to bother the two officers, we'll leave tonight! I've already sent a message to our Second Theater Command." Tang Dao shook his head slightly.
"Are you in such a hurry?" Commander Fan was surprised by Tang Dao's efficiency.
"Yes, in order to avoid being bombed by Japanese planes during the day, our unit must arrive 30 miles away from the Tongguan battlefield when the sun rises tomorrow. The 28th Division must also be prepared for air defense. The Japanese army will definitely retaliate tomorrow.
Shelling and bombing.”
"Soldiers are valuable and quick, so it's up to you. Commander Dong and I will go to see the brothers off in person. The people in Guanzhong will not forget the feeling of the new Sichuan Army troops rushing thousands of miles to help, and neither will our 28th Division. If the brothers were disrespectful in the past,
, I apologize to you on their behalf." Commander Fan stood up and said seriously and solemnly.
"Sir, your words are serious!" Tang Dao waved his hand quickly. "Our regiment's wounded soldiers and those who died in battle, please take care of them properly, sir."
"Commander Tang, please rest assured. After the wounded soldiers recover, I will respect their wishes. Whether they are willing to stay and fight with our 28th Division, or return to your command, Commander Tang. Although I cannot guarantee that every person who died will be
A person has a coffin, but it can still be done if he is wrapped in white cloth and his name and serial number are written on the tombstone." Dong Zhao also stood up and assured.
...........
12pm!
The snow particles in the sky have turned into snowflakes, falling in large tracts.
More than 4,000 officers and soldiers of the Sichuan Army's new regiment stood upright in the mountain col, looking excitedly at the two lieutenant generals, four major generals and at least eight army colonels in front of them.
That was a high-ranking official they had never seen before, standing in front of them in groups.
But what excites them even more is what comes next.
"Thank you to the brothers of the Sichuan Army for their support from thousands of miles away. All the officers and soldiers of the 28th Division have nothing to repay. It is up to us to salute the brothers here." After Commander Fan finished speaking loudly, he opened his tongue and let out a loud roar: "28
Master, salute!"
Whether they were lieutenant general, major general or colonel, they all saluted a group of new recruits.
More than 4,000 new recruits, whose faces were still stained with gunpowder smoke, were collectively stunned.
"Everyone has it, return the favor!" Tang Dao's voice sounded.
The recruits hurriedly raised their right hands, and due to extreme astonishment, they were sparse and not even at all.
But no one blames them and no one laughs at them. This is the glory they deserve for fighting bravely.
Tang Dao also accepted this favor. In this era, not everyone can put down their arrogance like this to a group of farmers who have just put down their hoes.
"Let's go!" Lu Sanjiang, who was at the front, roared.
Is it true that all general-level officers gave us military salutes? Just because we fought with the Japanese and did not disgrace Sichuan Province.
Whether they were doubtful or proud, the soldiers who were no longer new recruits held their heads high and walked past a group of high-ranking officials who were watching them.
An unprecedented sense of pride and satisfaction flowed throughout my body, and even the snowflakes falling on my face and shoulders no longer seemed so cold.
