After the deployment was completed, looking at the southern foothills of the Xing'an Mountains at night, Lieutenant General Kunizaki Noboru's unspeakable sense of depression not only did not disappear, but instead there was a vague premonition in his heart. Kunizaki Noboru felt that the seventh The division, no, it should be said that the Kwantung Army's counterattack was basically in their plan.
The number of heavy artillery shells and bombs that fell on his head today were definitely not hastily mobilized. Without premeditation, no one would have been able to mobilize so many heavy artillery shells and bombers in a hurry. And what he encountered today would probably not be the same. It is the 7th Division that can be enjoyed alone.
All the divisions participating in this counteroffensive operation, one by one, I am afraid they can all take turns. According to the firepower situation of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, how much price will the Kwantung Army have to pay to achieve its goal? A special incendiary bomb, It is enough to make a squadron become a god. One 155 howitzer shell can kill an area of nearly hundreds of square meters.
To say that all of this was not premeditated is simply impossible. These heavy artillery shells that fell on my head could not be heard at all. If the terrain of Alhorqin Banner were not hills and low mountains, the enemy would be reduced. Given the lethality of the military's heavy weapons, the 7th Division would probably have to pay more than that in one afternoon.
Thinking of the intelligence issued by the Kwantung Army Headquarters before this battle, Lieutenant General Noboru Kunisaki could only shake his head and be speechless. The enemy secretly mobilized so many heavy artillery and bombers to the Linxi battlefield. The Kwantung Army intelligence, which has always claimed to have a keen sense of smell, The Kwantung Army actually knew nothing and had such a weak grasp of the enemy's intelligence. Can the Kwantung Army really succeed in counterattacking this time?
After a battle, intelligence, especially information on the enemy's strength, equipment, and deployment, is the first choice and the basis for ensuring victory in the battle. Lag or even failure in intelligence indicates that the battle will not be successful. Fighting actually means half the battle is lost.
If you insist on fighting, even if you barely win, the price you pay will be extremely staggering, because intelligence is the eyesight of the entire army's operations. Without the support of reliable intelligence, you will be blind and deaf on the battlefield. Without the support of reliable intelligence, the outcome of this battle may be difficult to meet the requirements of the Kwantung Army Headquarters.
Facing the mountains under the night sky in front of him, he turned his head and looked at the young officers who were busy around him at the moment. Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki shook his head and sighed inaudibly. After this battle, can the Seventh Division avoid the same fate? Even he himself could not explain clearly the fate of the entire army that the Second Division encountered that year.
In order to reduce casualties as much as possible, Lieutenant General Kunizaki Noboru gave all the troops of the 7th Division the order to march as a group. However, after receiving his order, although it was not at the division combat meeting, at this moment The three captains scattered in different locations shook their heads and said nothing. In fact, they did not agree very much.
Although their encounters during the day made it clear to them that the division commander's intention was to reduce unnecessary losses as much as possible, just looking at the thick night, the three company captains all shook their heads and said nothing. Once the enemy took advantage of A sneak attack at night, how can the dispersed troops respond to the attack?
It is true that the order from the division headquarters is that the distance between the marches of each group should not exceed five kilometers. But if it is in a plain area, these five kilometers are naturally not a problem. Once there is a problem in any direction, with the Japanese army's ability to force the march, reinforcements will be sent from any direction. We arrived in as little as an hour.
But this is on the hilly and low-mountainous terrain of Wangshan. Even if it is only five kilometers, it cannot be reached in the shortest time. This does not include the enemy's night attack troops and possible blocking troops. Under this situation, if blocking is added, there will be too much time. Under this kind of terrain, blocking positions can be found without deliberately choosing them.
And who knows if there are any anti-Union troops ambushing in this dark hilly area, gathering around for reinforcements, but their best tactic is that even though the three captains of the regiment are in a difficult situation, they also know the orders of the division commander. This was to ensure the combat effectiveness of the 7th Division as much as possible, and at the insistence of Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki, after a brief hesitation, the order of the division commander was followed.
Kunizaki's move was indeed beyond the expectations of Wang Deyao, the deputy commander of the Second Division who was transferred from Du Kaishan just before this battle and was responsible for commanding the battle in the Aruhorqin Banner. However, for this situation, he was not at ease and followed the requirements of his superiors. Wang Deyao, who took advantage of the terrain to fight back, is still very optimistic about the outcome.
Wang Deyao fought extremely well in the Battle of Shuangcheng last year. He was also mature and prudent, and his adaptability was extremely strong. You must know that on the battlefield of Shuangcheng last year, not everyone could Those who persevere are not able to hold their positions simply by fighting hard.
Although as the deputy division commander, he has not had many opportunities to act alone in this battle so far, Wang Guangyu still understands his abilities. Wang Guangyu believes that with his abilities, it is temporarily impossible to recruit suitable candidates for the roundabout troops. , it is appropriate to be responsible for the battle command at a very critical position in Aruhorqin Banner.
Therefore, before this battle, when choosing to defend the Aru Horqin Banner, which was very critical, but also stood alone and became a battlefield direction alone, Wang Guangyu specifically asked Yang Zhen to serve as the deputy division commander of the Second Division. He was transferred here to take charge of commanding the battle at Alukorqin Banner, originally to bring into play his abilities in defensive battles.
It's just that Wang Guangyu didn't expect that this guy is indeed good at defensive warfare, but it doesn't mean that he can only fight defensive warfare, or that he is only willing to fight this kind of tactics. In fact, as the youngest division-level military cadre in the army, Wang Deyao He was more interested in attacking, which was the opposite of his expertise. His desire to attack was not much less than that of other division-level cadres of the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
The 7th Division was adjusting its marching deployment at this moment. In Wang Deyao's eyes, instead of seeing it as a threat, it actually exposed him to a rare fighter opportunity. It took less than ten minutes after receiving the report of the 7th Division's change of deployment. , Wang Deyao decided to take advantage of the loopholes caused by the adjustment and deployment of the Seventh Division to find fighter opportunities, and give the Seventh Division an unforgettable night life tonight.
Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki, who was overwhelmed by the losses during the day, adjusted his deployment and changed the marching sequence. This was indeed a huge failure in the Kwantung Army's all-out counterattack. Although Noboru Kunisaki adjusted his deployment, , with the Japanese's always meticulous thinking, they made as appropriate arrangements as possible, but because of the different execution abilities of his three wing captains, it was actually full of loopholes.
To be precise, as a top student at the Japanese Army University, after the Sino-Japanese War broke out, he once served as the commander of the 9th Brigade of the 5th Division and commanded the Kunisaki Detachment based on the 9th Brigade to participate in the Songhu Campaign. During the battle, he invaded Nanjing and participated in the Nanjing Massacre.
After the Battle of Nanjing, he commanded this army to participate in the Battle of Xuzhou intact. In the Battle of Taierzhuang, he was severely defeated by the National Army's Fifth Theater. This deployment by Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki, who had experienced hundreds of battles, cannot be said to be true. It is an absolute mistake, and it is more in line with the situation that the 7th Division is currently facing.
In a situation where the enemy has an absolute advantage in ground and air firepower, but the ground combat troops are quite weak, his deployment cannot be said to be a mistake, because in his view, even if the opponent's combat effectiveness is strong, , but the Seventh Division, as a veteran division of the Japanese army, will never be weaker than its opponents in combat effectiveness.
The enemy's troops in Alukorqin Banner are insufficient, so we march in brigades. Once the enemy makes any move, the various units can quickly support each other. However, the distance between the marching infantry brigades is less than five kilometers, and the enemy's own troops are insufficient. Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for them to find a suitable opportunity to sneak attack on them.
Even if it is possible to use the cover of night for a sneak attack, the five-kilometer distance is enough for our troops to carry out rapid rescue in a very short time, because although the enemy has an advantage in ground and air firepower, the 7th Division has the overall advantage. However, they hold a firm advantage in terms of military strength.
The battle on the ground will ultimately be resolved by infantry. No matter how many heavy artillery there are or how many planes are dispatched, matters on the ground still need to rely on infantry. If the planes can also come down to carry out attack and defensive operations, then it is still possible. What do you want the infantry to do?
Therefore, in the view of Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki, no matter what the enemy commander's plan is, their biggest weakness will always be that their troops are far smaller than the 7th Division. In this case, they must not only stop the 7th Division It is simply impossible to advance the regiment and find opportunities to sneak attack on oneself.
For the 7th Division, the biggest opponent at the moment is not the enemy's pitiful ground troops, but the threat from their heavy artillery and aviation forces that have seized air supremacy over the entire battlefield. During the advancement of the troops, it is true that they are too concentrated It is difficult for the enemy to find an opportunity for a sneak attack, but if a bomb falls, the number of casualties will be quite high.
According to my own arrangement of troops, it is completely the most appropriate under the current situation. It is completely in a favorable position of being able to advance and attack, and being able to retreat and defend. Although the enemy has the advantage of air and long-range artillery, However, it was unable to cause too many casualties to the relatively dispersed 7th Division.
Even if they encounter enemy resistance when advancing, although the strength of a brigade may not break through the enemy's position, at least they will not be inactive. It can even be said that according to the Japanese army's usual combat effectiveness, the strength of a brigade is It is not impossible to break through the positions defended by an enemy battalion or even a regiment in one fell swoop.
Kunizaki Noboru believes that no matter how powerful the Anti-Alliance's combat effectiveness is, considering the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army, it is not a big problem for one infantry brigade to deal with one of its infantry battalions, whether in attack or defense. Although the Kwantung Army faced the Anti-Alliance, At present, we are basically losing one battle after another, but Lieutenant General Noboru Kunisaki is still quite confident about the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Army.
In his opinion, even if an enemy force with a certain advantage in strength encounters a surprise attack, the strength of a brigade can completely sustain until reinforcements arrive, because Kunizaki Noboru believes that during defense, judging from the consistent combat effectiveness of the Japanese army, a brigade's strength can be maintained positions, even a regiment of the Anti-Japanese Alliance may not be able to break through their defenses in the short term.
The enemy army only has two regiments in the entire Aruhorqin Banner. If they want to concentrate their forces and encircle and annihilate one of their infantry brigade at night, then unless they don't want the entire Aruhorqin Banner, the most they can do is Just harassing me in the dark.
At the same time, spreading the marching sequence as far as possible can completely avoid the enemy's superior ground and air firepower. Therefore, Lieutenant General Kunizaki Noboru thinks that this deployment is a matter of killing two birds with one stone. In reality, Lieutenant General Kunisaki Noboru This deployment cannot be said to be an absolute mistake.