Faced with Kunisaki Noboru's accusation, Tomita Naoaki was speechless, and he didn't know how to explain that after the Anti-Japanese Alliance sneak attack on the 28th Regiment last night, he advocated taking advantage of the empty frontline troops of Bala Chirud to attack nearby
He made a U-turn and broke through the front line of Bala Chirud and inserted the right flag of Bahrain to prevent the division from continuing to be attacked by the superior ground and air firepower of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, and it was he who suffered in vain casualties.
Under the situation of being unable to attack for a long time, he adopted latent tactics and attacked east and west to break through the stone table to open a breakthrough. After the breakthrough was opened, he insisted on investing a large number of troops and advocated all-out efforts to penetrate deeply into the Bala Chirud line and completely tear it apart.
It was he who broke through his entire defense line.
After the large-caliber artillery gradually fell silent in the second half of the night, no matter how critical the situation was, the only ones who supported the operation were some mountain artillery and mortars. It was you who insisted that the enemy's large-caliber artillery shells had been almost exhausted. It was your own strength.
His persistence pushed the 7th Division completely into the abyss.
The results that were progressing smoothly before have now become like this. The breakthrough in the direction of the stone table has achieved results, but in the end it has turned into a flash in the pan. Not only has it failed to completely defeat Bala Qirud as he judged,
The front-line anti-Union defenders themselves were devoured with almost no bones left.
If according to the request of the division commander, when the 28th Regiment was attacked, the main force of the 26th Regiment should be concentrated to the north for reinforcements, and the 28th Regiment could cooperate with the 28th Regiment to overwhelm the defenders' forces invested in the night attack.
Then take advantage of the emptiness in the middle of the enemy's army to break through to the north with all your strength.
Even if he could not achieve much results, he would not be reduced to such a situation. It was precisely because of his persistence that the division commander made concessions. Of course, the division commander did not necessarily have this intention at the beginning, but no matter
Did the division commander also have this intention? But after all, he carried it out at his own insistence. The battle turned out like this, and he, the instigator, really couldn't explain it to his superiors.
From last night to now, facing the garrison of only one regiment, the 7th Division suffered more than 5,000 casualties. This did not include the losses of the 28th Regiment. The more than 5,000 people were
What a number, if added to the casualties and losses in yesterday's daytime air raid, it means that both regiments were completely wiped out.
This casualty ratio has directly caught up with the Battle of 203 Highlands in the Russo-Japanese War, which almost wiped out the entire 7th Division. Judging from the comparison of the actual number of troops participating in the battle, it can even be said to be more serious. Since that war
After that, in all the battles that the 7th Division participated in, this was the first time such a casualty ratio had ever occurred. No matter what happened now, the 7th Division must give a satisfactory explanation to the base camp.
After a long silence, under the aggressive gaze of Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki, Colonel Tomita Naoaki gritted his teeth and said: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, the responsibility for the 7th Division's huge losses this time lies entirely with me, and I will never let the division do anything."
It's difficult for you, Tuan. I will give an explanation to the base camp, the Kwantung Army, and all the fallen soldiers of the Seventh Division."
After looking at Colonel Tomita Naoaki who remained silent once again after saying that he would give an explanation, Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki, who knew what the explanation he was talking about, was also speechless. Is it really necessary to force a division?
Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff, do you commit seppuku? Is it true that he, the chief of staff of the division, can only be responsible for the current war situation?
Lieutenant General Noboru Kunisaki knew very well that Naoaki Tomita had an unshirkable responsibility for causing such losses to the Seventh Division, but as the division commander, he did not have no responsibility. He was the division commander, and ultimately The decision-making power was in his own hands. After Tomita Naoaki proposed a new combat plan based on changes in the enemy's situation, he did not firmly oppose it.
In fact, Lieutenant General Kunizaki Noboru knew why he did not object, because starting from crossing the Siramulun River, the progress of the Seventh Division was not smooth. In the battle of the Siramulun River, the Seventh Division was lost. More than half of the artillery was deployed, and then there was an entire day and night of indiscriminate bombardment with almost no gaps.
The own Seventh Division suffered heavy losses in the bombing and artillery shelling with almost no pause, especially the accuracy of the carpet bombing of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. Its accuracy made the Seventh Division almost unbelievable, because even the Japanese Army has always led The Army Air Force, which is proud of itself, cannot currently achieve this accuracy. Almost all bombs fall around the various marching columns of the Japanese army.
Ever since they crossed the Siramulun River, especially after experiencing a whole day and night of hellish journey, Kunizaki Noboru's 7th Division has been in the enemy's path since it crossed the Siramulun River. The feeling of operating in a trap, even in Noboru Kunizaki's opinion, if it continues like this, the 7th Division will not be able to wait for the target designated by the army, and will be exhausted bit by bit.
This enemy sneak attack may be an opportunity to change the destiny of the 7th Division. If you try your best, it may have an unexpected effect. At least it will make real contact with the enemy and make the enemy's aviation bombing He wouldn't be so shameless, and it was precisely because of this feeling that he agreed to Tomita Naoaki's suggestion.
Taking advantage of the fact that half of the defenders' forces were detached to attack the 28th Regiment in a detour, the weak defensive force was further weakened, and the original plan was changed to turn around and attack the Bala Qirud line south, directly inserting into the right side of Bahrain. Qi quickly entered the flank of Linxi's battlefield because he did not want to continue crawling in the firepower network constructed by the enemy and he had almost no power to fight back.
However, Lieutenant General Noboru Kunisaki did not expect that things would end like this. He first deployed the Hailitu front line, preparing to ambush the 28th Regiment when it retreated, trying to eliminate half of its two infantry brigades. It was two hours until the sound of gunfire and gunfire in Zagastanor completely subsided, and he did not wait for his opponent to enter his ambush circle.
Not only did it not play the role it should have, but it actually wasted a lot of troops, affecting the troop input on the line from Aohan Yingzi to Bala Qirude, causing the situation that although Zhangjiayingzi, the commanding heights of the defenders' defense line, was captured, However, they have been unable to break through the entire defensive line of defense.
By the time the troops of the two brigades were transferred back from Hairitu, the most favorable opportunity in the entire offensive and defensive battle to break through the enemy's defense line had passed. Fortunately, when the two brigades rushed back, they could be used as follow-up troops. Invest it in the direction of Stone Table and use it as a follow-up force for the latent troops after tearing through the enemy's defense line.
In order to free up the rest of the troops, strengthen the frontal offensive of Bala Chirud, strive for frontal attacks and flank assaults, and establish the victory in one fell swoop. However, after finally waiting for a gap to be opened in the direction of the stone table, although it was intercepted by artillery fire, it took a certain amount of effort. price.
However, with no hesitation in investing, they finally opened a hole and penetrated deep into the defenders' defense line. However, they did not expect that the heavy artillery troops of the defenders, which had been gradually silent before, suddenly opened fire, causing the entire strategic plan of the 7th Division to fail. Said, and paid such a heavy price in casualties.
According to the report of the senior staff officer of the division who was supervising the battle at the front, from Balaqirude to Zhangjiayingzi, from Shizuizi to Sumoyantala, the enemy's artillery shells formed several fire nets, sweeping back and forth across the entire battlefield. Extremely violent and accurate, artillery fire that had never been seen since the establishment of the 7th Division tightly blocked the stone table breach.
The stone table breach was violently blasted by the enemy's artillery fire. It did not calm down until the enemy's shelling stopped. The wall of fire that could be seen with the naked eye, no matter after entering the depth of the enemy's army, faced with the unfavorable situation and wanted to withdraw. Combat troops, or troops trying to connect outside the wall of fire, will be shattered into pieces as long as they touch this wall of fire.
When the enemy artillery fire subsided, the entire Stone Table breach was covered with the corpses of Imperial soldiers who had been blown into parts by enemy artillery shells. South of the Stone Table, in the depth of the enemy's army, the corpses of Empire soldiers who died in battle continued to stretch. To the strength of eyesight.
The only surviving mid-level officer among the mid-level officers who participated in the war, the senior combat staff officer used three consecutive words to describe the outcome of the battle: "too tragic". When reporting, his tone was trembling. This tone was unkind to these always arrogant combatants. As for the staff officer, this was the first time that Noboru Kunizaki heard about it, so one can imagine the terrifying scene.
What Kunisaki Noboru didn't expect was that the enemy commander would be so calm that he could break through and insert the troops in depth, and he had already hit the troops under his command, but he still did not use the hidden large-caliber artillery. Some of them At that time, Noboru Kunisaki really wanted to see what kind of person his opponent was.
To be able to use the few resources at hand to trap himself and the entire 7th Division one after another in such a short period of time, while he still has his own chief of staff, is still stupid. After getting into the trap, the entire 7th Division could be said to have been crippled.
This time, not only the division chief of staff Tomita Naoaki, who insisted on changing the direction of the main attack, could not take the blame, but also himself, the division commander, could not escape the blame. What was even more annoying was that he didn't know what to do next. At this time, they turned around and headed north to continue executing the army commander's orders. The Seventh Division no longer had that strength.
The 7th Division, which continued to put pressure on the front line of Balaqirud and suffered heavy losses, was really unsustainable. The most important thing was that the commanding heights of Zhangjiayingzi, previously controlled by the 7th Division, had been taken over by the Anti-Japanese Alliance. Taking it back, although losing Zhangjiayingzi, will not determine the final fate of the 7th Division.
However, the loss of the artillery deployed at the commanding heights of Zhangjiayingzi is nothing short of making things worse for the current Seventh Division. After Zhangjiayingzi was lost, the entire Seventh Division's artillery only had five 92 infantry guns, plus One Type 41 mountain gun and one Type 94 mountain gun, one Type 38 modified field gun, and two Type 97 81mm mortars.
These artillery pieces are the only remaining artillery pieces after the artillery wing of the Seventh Division plus all the attached artillery units. What makes matters worse is that the total number of shells of these remaining artillery pieces is less than 100 rounds. The entire division cannot Counting the 28th Regiment, there are currently only nine heavy machine guns left in all two regiments combined. With this intensity of firepower, the fight cannot continue no matter what.
What worries Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki the most is that, except for the 28th Regiment, which has lost contact and has sent people to search for it but has not been able to find it, all the fighting power of the entire division is left.
There are a little more than 3,000 men, and this is the result of including all non-direct combat units such as baggage troops and engineers.
Faced with the current embarrassing situation, Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki couldn't help but shed tears. Just yesterday, even though the artillery losses were serious, his 7th Division was at least a fully organized and fully reorganized division.
But now he clearly knows that his 7th Division is completely disabled.