Although Ma Chunsheng had just been transferred to the center line as acting commander, before the transfer, the headquarters had kept him informed of the overall battle situation, so he still had a clear understanding of the entire battle situation. He had never been able to figure out why. Under the extremely favorable situation, the headquarters set the main attack direction of Chen Hanzhang's troops to the west to encircle and annihilate the 51st Division.
You must know that in terms of combat effectiveness and equipment, the 51st Division cannot compare with the 7th and 28th Divisions. Even in terms of military strength, the 51st Division, which has only more than 10,000 people, cannot compare with the 51st Division. Compare this to the two Japanese divisions, the 7th and 28th, which had more than 20,000 troops including assigned troops.
As long as these two Japanese divisions are encircled and annihilated, the Japanese army north of Xinjing will no longer have the strength to defend Xinjing. Xinjing, which has only one division to defend, means that a ripe apple will be placed in front of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, and the victory will Xinjing will be a great encouragement to the entire Northeast Anti-Japanese War and even to the National Anti-Japanese War.
Moreover, capturing Xinjing not only has extremely high political significance, but also has great military significance. By capturing Xinjing, the Kwantung Army's railway lines in central Northeast China will also be completely cut off, and the entire Kwantung Army will also be completely cut off. It will be divided into two parts, east and west, that cannot be connected. Once this pattern is formed, it will be a great improvement and promotion for the future development of the Northeast War situation.
In Ma Chunsheng's view, concentrate on Chen Hanzhang, his own, and Wang Xiaoming's three columns and nine divisions plus the support of the attached armored units, artillery units, and aviation units to solve the Japanese army cluster north of Xinjing, including the 20 troops responsible for the defense of Xinjing. The Ninth Division will certainly have to pay some price, but there will definitely not be too many problems.
After taking Xinjing and solving the heavy Japanese troop cluster around Xinjing, and after the Kwantung Army was actually divided into two large pieces that could not be connected from east to west, they concentrated their forces to launch an attack to the west, encircling and annihilating the Japanese troops deployed in the west of Xing'an. Wouldn’t it be more certain that the 23rd and 51st divisions of Hung Yen South Province and Rehe Province would be more confident?
In this way, not only can we obtain more military victories, but it will also be a great political victory. It will also annihilate the heavy Japanese troop cluster deployed north of Xinjing. After seizing Xinjing, the Anti-Japanese Alliance can always Going south to threaten the Japanese army in South Manchuria, the most important industrial base in Manchuria, and capturing Xinjing means that the door to the entire South Manchuria has been opened to the Anti-Alliance.
It’s no wonder that Ma Chunsheng has such a big appetite. Ma Chunsheng would never have thought this way before the start of last summer’s battle. However, during last summer’s battle and the subsequent autumn offensive, the Anti-Japanese Alliance had almost equal strength. , devouring the battle results of several Japanese divisions in one go, which greatly enlarged the appetite of Ma Chunsheng and those senior generals at the column level.
Especially after defeating the 7th and 28th Divisions in front of them, there will be basically no heavy Japanese troops in the north of Xinjing. It is almost impossible to defend Xinjing with the 29th Division alone, and it is almost impossible to encircle and annihilate Xinjing in one fell swoop. In Ma Chunsheng's opinion, the two divisions of the Japanese army are not impossible, especially when the Anti-Japanese Alliance still has a considerable advantage in equipment. It is quite certain that they can eat these two divisions in one go. .
Faced with Ma Chunsheng's doubts, Yang Zhen shook his head and said: "Old Ma, what you said is that as early as when we formulated the battle plan for this battle, Lao Guo and I had considered taking Xinjing. The political and military interests are indeed great for us."
"Once we capture Xinjing, it will mean the complete failure of the Japanese rule in the Northeast. This will not only be a great encouragement to the people of the Northeast, but also a considerable encouragement to the determination of the people across the country to resist the war, and it can also be a great encouragement to some international People, show our combat effectiveness, and the political benefits of capturing Xinjing are even far greater than the military benefits for us."
"But don't underestimate the importance that the Kwantung Army and even the top brass of the Japanese army attach to Xinjing. What we can see can also be seen by the Japanese army. You must know that the senior operational staff officers of the Japanese Army General Staff Headquarters and the Kwantung Army, although they are big In terms of strategy, I am a bit fussy, and even a little careless about my head, but my focus on analyzing and judging a battle is still extremely accurate."
"The Japanese army has long expected these situations. The main force of the Japanese army is currently deployed on both sides of the Zhongchang Railway, and the hedgehog-shaped defensive posture formed around Xinjing with the strength of four divisions is to take advantage of us. The army captured Xinjing in order to obtain more political benefits, so the main force of our army was contained and consumed little by little on the defense around Xinjing."
"Don't just focus on the Japanese army north of Xinjing. Take a longer-term view. After all, we are fighting a modern industrial country with a complete mobilization system. The entire mobilization system of the Japanese army is incomparable to us. , its sufficient number of reserve troops is far beyond what we can compare with."
"At present, the reserve potential of the entire base area has basically been excavated, and our follow-up combat capabilities are still quite limited. However, the Japanese army can rely on a complete national defense mobilization system and a modern industrial system to continuously provide reinforcements. and additional soldiers and additional equipment."
"In last year's battle, we caused such huge losses to the Japanese army, but in less than a year, the lost divisions had been roughly repaired. If it were us, it would be almost impossible to do this. It is so huge. We can't replenish the losses even if we try to sell them."
"Northern Manchuria is vast and sparsely populated, and its population base is not only incomparable to that within the Pass, but is also quite limited compared to Southern Manchuria. Once we suffer too many casualties in this battle and are injured, the Japanese army will continue to send reinforcements. In front of us, even if you take Xinjing, it will be difficult to hold it."
"The current turtle-shaped defense posture of the Japanese army is to rely on the support of various fortifications built on various current defensive positions to drain our blood bit by bit and weaken our continuous combat capabilities. We do not have the Nationalist Government troops in the pass. With such confidence, even if hundreds of thousands of casualties were suffered in a battle, it would be a bit of a stretch, but it would not damage the foundation."
"And the so-called injury does not mean that the troops have been completely broken, but only refers to the loss of veterans. Relying on the strong population base in the pass, this number of casualties can be replenished in a short time. Although the quality has declined, it is not unacceptable."
"If we could not bear this kind of casualty figures, I am afraid that the entire army would have completely lost its combat effectiveness in one battle, and it could even be said that it would kill them. Moreover, judging from the current number of reserve soldiers in the base area, we would not be able to To make up for such huge casualties."
"When the time comes, not to mention Xinjing, even Harbin, and even our old base area will not be able to defend it. If you don't have soldiers, how can you defend such a vast base area? No matter how advanced your weapons and equipment are, there will still be people to operate them. Go use it. Without people, there will be nothing."
"Our situation this year is not as good as last year. Last year we rescued a large number of laborers from various fortresses of the Japanese army, which can be used as reserve soldiers. But this year, the little devils have long been prepared to prevent our attack, and all the young and strong men from the frontier counties have been taken away. Forced relocation to the south of Xinjing.”
Moreover, almost all the fortresses it built on the Manchu-Soviet border have been captured by our army. It is almost impossible for us to replenish our troops by rescuing laborers. Isn't it just for the purpose of airlifting troops from the pass at such a high cost? Will it solve the problem of our severe shortage of soldiers?"
"After the battle last summer, according to the situation at that time, it was not impossible for us to go straight to Xinjing. However, why we finally chose to stop all wars and take a comprehensive rest. In addition to the fatigue of the troops from continuous operations, the most fundamental reason was not the inability of the Japanese army. If we continue to fight, we can no longer fight."
"If it weren't for the fact that the Japanese army had not completed full mobilization last year and was even more stunned by the huge casualties in last year's battle, it would have used the modern means of transportation at its disposal to quickly mobilize new troops from within the Pass, North Korea, and even domestic countries to counterattack. At that time, we would have It would be nice if the remaining 100,000 troops are not driven back to the deep mountains and forests."
"After more than three months of fighting, nearly half of the troops have been injured, missing, and have fled. However, replacement troops have been delayed in arriving. The troops can no longer attack. Even the troops defending the newly liberated areas are quite tight. This In this case, if we capture Xinjing and find troops to defend, once the Japanese army reacts and mobilizes heavy troops to counterattack, the situation we will face will be extremely bad."
"The Kwantung Army has penetrated the Northeast for decades and has fully ruled the Northeast for several years. They also have a good understanding of the population and resources of Northern Manchuria. Let me say it again, the Japanese combat staff are not idiots. They know us very well. Where is the weakness?"
"They concentrated the heavy troops of several divisions on both sides of the Zhonglong Railway, and used all their forces to concentrate on defense. The entire defensive position was interlocked with each other. This tactic did not give us a chance to defeat each one, but also made our army in addition to the west Outside the lines, it is difficult to find opportunities to separate their interconnectedness.”
"Now the Kwantung Army has gathered several elite divisions together. Their strategic intention is to let us fight them face to face in order to capture Xinjing, using the deep and multi-layered defenses they have built in advance. Blocking the position will drain our vitality bit by bit."
"If we predict correctly, this Xinjing, and the divisions deployed by the Guandong Army around Xinjing, are a bait set by them for us, and as long as we want to capture Xinjing, this bait will be clearly known If there is a ghost, we can only bite the bullet and swallow it."
"Once our strength is exhausted and the attack speed drops like last year, it will be time for them to counterattack. The Japanese army still controls the railway lines in South Manchuria. They can mobilize large forces from the Korean army, the pass, and even the mainland for rapid reinforcements at any time. "
"At that time, we will be in a situation where we have no troops to defend and our combat forces have been basically exhausted, and we will not be able to compete with the newly arrived combat forces of the Japanese army. At that time, you can only watch helplessly as we pay a heavy price to capture the city.