As early as the end of last year's battle, the Kwantung Army, in view of the fact that during the battle, the small anti-alliance force going south carried out large-scale sabotage actions on the railway line, its main means of transportation, causing the Japanese army's rear supply lines to be paralyzed many times, and the original puppet Manchukuo Once the railway police fought with the Anti-Japanese Alliance, they either ran away without a fight, or they simply killed the Japanese police officers without firing a shot and then surrendered with their guns, which was already unusable.
The original railway police force, which was mainly composed of Japanese officers, was reorganized on a large scale. Even though the soldiers were pure Japanese, they accounted for a quarter of the railway police force to undertake the task of guarding along the railway line, which was regarded as the lifeline of the Kwantung Army. After all, the Kwantung Army was currently Transportation is still mainly based on railways. Once the railway is interrupted, it means that the lifeline of the Kwantung Army is cut off.
Last year, several railway lines that were lifelines during the war were completely paralyzed by small anti-alliance forces, which caused the Kwantung Army to suffer a lot. Since the regular divisions were unable to deploy too many troops, these railway security forces were completely taken over by the Kwantung Army. Pushed to the front line, that is to say, whether these police protection units are reliable or not, for the Kwantung Army, is related to whether the lifeline is safe.
The Kwantung Army transferred all the so-called Manchu officers from this railway police force. Some of them were unreliable and even secretly executed. Most of the officers were replaced by Japanese officers, and a small number were selected. Consider North Koreans to be loyal and reliable.
All the so-called Manchu soldiers among the soldiers were also transferred out, and were replaced by Koreans recruited in North Korea, supplemented by a small number of so-called local soldiers mobilized in the Northeast as the backbone. In the eyes of the Japanese, nearly half of the country had been ruled by the empire. The Koreans in the 19th century were far more reliable than the Manchurians.
Coupled with the fact that veterans are the backbone, the Kwantung Army believes that the combat effectiveness of this current police force is not only much stronger than before, but most importantly, its reliability is also much higher, so this current police force is Although the establishment is still in the puppet Manchu army, in fact, from top to bottom, there is no so-called Manchurian person, and there are even few people who can speak Manchurian fluently.
At the same time, in order to ensure the safety of the railway system that was its lifeline in wartime, the Kwantung Army not only overhauled the so-called railway police force, which was actually a light garrison force, but also greatly expanded its organization and equipment. On top of that, a lot of light and heavy machine guns, grenades, and mortars were added, and the firepower was greatly enhanced compared to the original.
In the current railway police force, in addition to the Type 38 rifles and Taisho 11 light machine guns, each squadron is also equipped with Type 92 heavy machine guns and grenades. In order to strengthen these railway police The convoy was highly mobile and equipped with a large number of cavalry squadrons. The Kwantung Army even equipped each of their squadrons with several trucks despite the insufficient number of trucks.
Taolaizhao is an important strategic point north of Xinjing on the China-Changchun Railway. The Songhua River Railway Bridge within it is the main artery of the Kwantung Army's wartime traffic. Once something unexpected happens to the Taolaizhao Railway Bridge, it will mean that the entire north-south traffic artery of the Kwantung Army The Zhongchang Railway will be completely disrupted, and by then the urgently needed supplies for the divisions north of Xinjing will also be disrupted.
The Kwantung Army attaches great importance to the safety of medium- and long-term railway lines, especially railway bridges. Although the main force has not been mobilized to guard the line due to the tense situation, it is less than 20 kilometers long from Sancha River to Taolaizhao. Within the scope, a regiment of the so-called railway police force was concentrated, scattered at several key points along the Taolaizhao to Sanchahe railway.
Although several squadrons were annihilated on the Sancha River line, the main force of the regiment, most of the troops, are still distributed on the railway line south of the Sancha River to Dehui. Only on the two sides of the Songhua River Railway Bridge in Taolaizhao In addition to some anti-aircraft artillery on the sides, only the bridgeheads on both sides were defended by a squadron.
In order to provide reinforcements to the north of the Songhua River at any time, an armored train was placed in Dehui south of Taolaizhao so that when necessary, dangerous areas could be quickly reinforced. The Jilin Brigade Commander of the Railway Guard Army, Ma Huxiong, was there in person. The commander on board this armored train.
The various railway lines north of Xinjing are guarded by the Kwantung Army. From the perspective of the Kwantung Army, the other side wants to do the same as last year, taking advantage of the fact that the main force of the Kwantung Army is fighting fiercely at the front to send small groups of troops to attack them. It is simply impossible to harass our own railway lines.
A large number of replaced railway police forces deployed along the railway line, using various fortifications built earlier along the railway line, can effectively fight against the attacks of small groups of anti-union forces. As long as each stronghold can delay their harassment and sabotage operations, Other surrounding troops can quickly provide reinforcements.
But what they didn't expect was that this time the Anti-Japanese Alliance came not with a small force, but with an entire reinforced regiment, carrying light direct sights that could effectively deal with the large number of reinforced concrete fortifications they built along the railway lines. A reinforced regiment of artillery.
Although the method used by the Kwantung Army Headquarters to maintain the safety of railway lines cannot be said to have been completely unsuccessful, it did not play the role they hoped to achieve. Although the railway guard troops that had been replaced were better than those originally composed of Manchus, The old troops are much more reliable and completely capable in battle, but the opponent's firepower has also been greatly improved compared to last year.
Moreover, no matter how you say these guys who served as police chiefs or deputy chiefs in Japan, Korea, and various parts of Manchuria, or retired non-commissioned officers and became officers, they were not regular soldiers after all. Officers are much more tenacious, but compared with the real Japanese army, they are still far behind.
Relying on favorable fortifications, these people will bring certain troubles to the current Anti-Japanese Alliance. However, if the turtle shells they rely on for survival are smashed, their will to resist will drop quickly, especially those who are currently dragging their feet. It is almost impossible to get Japanese commanders from the irregular Japanese army who have raised a family and value their lives very much to get them to fight to the death.
The actual performance of these people on the battlefield is not as good as those Korean officers who want to have a better future, as well as those Manchu officials who are traitors of the Anti-Japanese Alliance and have too much blood debt who know that they have no chance of survival in the hands of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. , the tenacity to resist on the battlefield.
The first and third battalions led by Cao Hui, who set out from Xin'an, encountered a squadron of the Puppet Manchukuo Army Railway Police Corps stationed here as soon as they arrived in Xinyuan. The combat effectiveness of the troops was not very attractive. The battalion commander who did not yet know that the Puppet Manchukuo railway police force in front of him was already very different from the original one, immediately felt that something was wrong.
These puppet troops, who had a lot of contact with the police system when they were fighting guerrillas, are now not only equipped far better than the average puppet Manchukuo army, but their combat effectiveness is even better than most of the puppet Manchukuo troops they have fought against. You know, These railway police forces are not regular puppet Manchukuo troops, but belong to the police system.
Most of the time, they maintain railway safety rather than directly participate in battles. Although there are many times when they participate in the Anti-Japanese Alliance's campaigns, most of the time they mainly ensure the safety of railway lines and prevent the Anti-Japanese Alliance from attacking the railway. harassment and destruction.
When fighting guerrillas, the commander of a battalion who had fought against them many times knew that although the combat effectiveness of these people was not weak, it was still inferior to that of the regular puppet Manchukuo army. Compared with the forest police, they were quite inferior, but today, the performance of these Puppet Manchukuo railway police forces somewhat surprised him.
Especially after fighting guerrillas in the Northeast for so many years, this was the first time he saw the Puppet Manchukuo police force equipped with so many machine guns, and even a large number of heavy machine guns and mortars. You know, according to the situation in front of him, The weapons configuration of these puppet Manchukuo policemen is almost the same as that of the regular divisions of the Kwantung Army.
The first battalion commander was surprised by the tenacity and combat effectiveness of this Puppet Manchukuo police squadron in the battle, as well as the equipment that was not inferior to that of the Japanese army. However, he was surprised, but he must not hesitate to take action and eliminate the enemy as soon as possible. The squadron of the Puppet Manchukuo Railway Guards in front of him was what he must do immediately to open the way south for the entire army.
Originally, he wanted to show weakness and lure these guys out of the bunker group and eliminate them in the field battle. After all, attacking fortresses was time-consuming and could easily cause heavy casualties. He was unwilling to engage in fortified battles unless it was absolutely necessary. In the field battles, he was confident. One of his companies, let alone a squadron, would basically have no problem dealing with these puppet Manchukuo police forces.
It's just that although these railway police forces are well-equipped and consider themselves well-trained, they are also somewhat self-aware. They know that they are no match for the Anti-Japanese Alliance in the field, and the one they are leading is transferred from a Japanese police chief in Xinjing. The squadron leader who came over was also very smart and knew that he would definitely be at a disadvantage if he didn't have to calculate the strength of his troops.
This guy was very cunning. He didn't care about the fact that there weren't many opponents who came to attack. He eliminated this group of enemies without hesitation. He couldn't contact them in the direction of the Sancha River. He found that they should still be beyond the Sancha River at this time. Bei's resistance force actually hit him right under his nose, and he was keenly aware that the Sancha River was probably lost.
He believed that since the Sancha River was lost, the anti-Japanese troops heading south were definitely not as small as they were in front of him. Xinyuan was very close to the Sancha River. It was not like he had not heard the sound of gunfire last night. Although he was not a regular soldier, But he was not stupid. The sound of gunfire that rang out along the Sancha River yesterday meant that the Anti-Japanese Alliance had a large number of troops besieging Sancha River. Therefore, he was not fooled by the illusion shown by the first battalion commander.
Moreover, he was well aware of the real capabilities of these guys under his command. After all, they were not regular Japanese troops. Although these railway police were well-equipped, their ferocious spirit was far from that of the Japanese field divisions. In the field battle, They were definitely no match for them, so after a brief head-on contact with the Anti-Japanese Alliance, they huddled in various bunkers beside the railway line without showing their heads, and just fired and fired artillery as hard as they could.
At the moment, the squadron leader has one thought in his mind: "I won't go out even if I'm beaten to death. If you have the ability, come in. Anyway, if you want to go south, you can't get around Xinyuan. You don't have artillery, and Xinyuan is the only way to go south." Earth, if you want to open up new sources of strong fortifications, just dream.”