Seeing Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki's unnatural expression after hearing what he said, Tomita Naoshiro gritted his teeth and said: "Either concentrate the remaining troops and suppress them all to one of Bala Qirude or Aohan Yingzi. To put it in Chinese terms, it means to fight with all your might, throw away all worries, concentrate all your strength on the attack, and take a complete gamble."
"If we win, we can give an explanation to the Tokyo Base Camp and the Kwantung Army. If we lose all of them, we don't have to think about how to explain to the Tokyo Base Camp or the Kwantung Army. At least we can save our ancestors of the Seventh Division. , the illustrious military power created in all previous wars.”
Lieutenant General Noboru Kunisaki nodded to Naoaki Tomita's idea, then shook his head and said: "Tomita-kun, when the main force of the division was still there, we once had a rare opportunity, but in the end we still failed because of The enemy's calculations, and suffered a defeat in the eyes."
"Now we have only 3,000 combat-effective troops available. The basic combat troops have been exhausted. The rest are currently scattered between Aohan Yingzi and Baichengzi. Moreover, the sky has completely brightened, and the enemy can Give full play to its absolute firepower advantage."
"The most critical thing is that judging from the battle situation from last night to this morning, our opponent is a very cunning guy. Almost every move we make is under his calculations. However, we know clearly that their troops are insufficient. He was always helpless and even lost troops and generals."
"Under this situation, if we continue to launch an attack, we can only fill in all the last three thousand people. For us now, how to maintain the last strength of the 7th Division and survive, It’s even higher than the honor we had before retaining the 7th Division.”
"And we can't really destroy the 7th Division due to our own personal reasons or some reasons, causing the 7th Division's designation full of honors to be canceled by the base camp, then you The two of us have become eternal sinners in the history of the Seventh Division."
Kunizaki Noboru's answer made Tomita Naoaki shake his head and said: "Division Commander, I'm afraid it's too late for us to withdraw now. Defending on the spot is just delaying time. Since delaying it means death, it's better to give it your all." If you die, then you might as well choose to go all out, at least you can show the military power of our imperial soldiers."
At this time, just like a gambler who had lost most of his chips but was still unwilling to fail and still wanted to try his best, Tomita Naoliang, his eyes suddenly turned scarlet, and his face was slightly ferocious as he said: "And We can also bet that the enemy's current artillery shells have basically consumed their embers."
"Bet that when we concentrated all our forces to attack again, they would no longer be able to use artillery shells to form a sea of fire to kill our troops like before. In addition to betting that their artillery shells have been exhausted, we can also bet that they would have originally The weak defense force, exhausted in the middle of the night, is no longer able to support such a long line of defense."
"Based on the amount of artillery shells consumed by their intense artillery fire this morning, I'm afraid even the empire's vast national power cannot afford to fight this kind of battle, let alone a bandit armed force that doesn't even have a regular military industry. They have such sufficient firepower. , it can only last for a while.”
"It is true that they relied on heavy firepower to inflict heavy damage on us, but with their supply capacity and industrial production capacity, they will never be able to support such intensive firepower for a long time, not to mention that there is no railway or road from Linxi to their rear area. Excellent road links.”
"If they want to transport the artillery shells they need all the way from the rear, it may be difficult to fully meet their needs with their supplementary capabilities. The fierce shelling in the past hour may have consumed most of the artillery shells they have on hand. If we launch an all-out attack again, it will be almost impossible for them to repeat the previous battle."
"Furthermore, Your Excellency, Division Commander, you are the Division Commander of the Seventh Division. You know the true combat effectiveness of the Seventh Division much better than I, the newly transferred Chief of Staff, did. In the night battle in the middle of the night yesterday, the Seventh Division Although the regiment suffered heavy losses, they were only the strength of a newly formed regiment, so their casualties could be much smaller than ours."
"It is even possible that their effective strength has actually been exhausted. With the embers of troops consumed and the need to maintain such a long front, the number of defensive troops in their various defense zones will probably be quite limited, otherwise they will inflict heavy losses on us. After that, why not take advantage of the victory to pursue it and defeat our army's resistance in one fell swoop?"
"Now it can be said that at least we can afford it until their reinforcements arrive, but they cannot afford it themselves, because we still have at least three thousand troops, and they can only get ahead with a thousand men. If they don't get reinforcements in a short time, Now that the artillery shells have been used up and we can no longer resort to sea of fire tactics, I want to see what they can do to withstand our army's follow-up offensive. Now if we retreat or take defense on the spot, we will play into their hands."
"Furthermore, your Excellency, the division commander, we now have more than 3,000 troops. The more than 3,000 troops we are talking about now are just the remaining troops of the two regiments. If all the non-combatants at the division headquarters and no artillery are included, The artillery, all equipped with weapons, includes at least nearly 4,000 people, including medical corps, chemical corps, drivers, grooms, Korean handymen, and lightly wounded people who can move."
"Coupled with the currently complete search regiment of more than 400 people, more than half of the baggage regiment of more than 300 people, and the engineering regiment with one-third of its strength, if these forces are all added together, we will Now we can at least gather less than 5,000 combat-effective troops. In terms of military strength, we still have an absolute advantage."
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, although I don't want to admit it, so far, judging from our current casualty figures and current progress, the 7th Division's war in Aruhorqin Banner has failed. Can we save the 7th Division?" The remaining dignity of the Seventh Division is probably all we can do to prepare for the last ditch effort."
"There is a saying in China that it is better to be in pieces than in ruins. Since the seniors of the 7th Division have set an example for us in the battle at the 203 Highlands in Lushunkou, then we can only die gloriously on the battlefield. , so as not to disgrace the illustrious achievements made by the ancestors of the 7th Division in previous wars."
After saying his thoughts, Tomita Naoliang suddenly bowed deeply to Lieutenant General Kunisaki Noboru and said: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, if you agree with my suggestion of a last-ditch effort, then I hope that I will personally lead this final attack. , If I can die in battle for His Majesty the Emperor, it will be my lifelong glory, and it will also be the last chance to wash away the shame brought upon me by the enemy in the previous battles."
Hearing Naoki Tomita's last request, Noboru Kunisaki was slightly startled, and then understood what he meant. In the Japanese Army, although there is no explicit rule, there has always been a saying that generals are exempted from death, which means that generals are exempted from death. As an officer, no matter how big a mistake you make, the most you can do is retire from active service and go home to retire, and there will be no more serious punishment.
Lieutenant General Komatsubara, the former commander of the 23rd Division the year before last, reduced the 23rd Division to nothing during the Battle of Nomenhan, but it was only transferred to reserve force. He was a lieutenant general, even if he fought again A major defeat will mean, at most, losing hope of further advancement and transferring to the reserve force in advance to support retirement.
But Tomita Naoliyo is different. As the main person responsible for the defeat of the 7th Division, he is bound to be held accountable. He is just a senior officer. The preferential treatment of exempting generals from death will not be his turn. If he does not die, it will not be good for the people. He couldn't explain it, so after this battle, no matter what the outcome of the 7th Division was, commiting seppuku to apologize was almost his only option.
Although committing seppuku has always been the best choice for a samurai when he fails, doing so is tantamount to admitting his failure in disguise. For a true samurai, this result is difficult to accept and is even more of a shame. Compared to committing seppuku, dying in battle is what a true samurai should do.
After hesitating for a moment, Lieutenant General Kunizaki Noboru finally nodded: "Since Tomita-kun has made the choice to die on the battlefield and become a true samurai, then I will fulfill your wish, but now, I want to ask Tomita-kun to give me Take some time to carefully consider and analyze the current battle situation."
"Although I am a defeated general now, I am not ready to be the last division commander of the 7th Division. The 7th Division was the first division formed in the second batch when Emperor Meiji created the new army. Although It is not as senior as the first six divisions, but it has always been the ace division of the empire."
"Since the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, it has been the fist division of the empire. Whether it was during the Russo-Japanese War, when it sent troops to Siberia, or during the battles of Zhanggufeng and Nomenhan some time ago, it was Having repeatedly made military exploits and putting all my strength into the final effort can certainly restore some of the honor of the 7th Division, but the bloodline and continuity of the 7th Division cannot be cut off at my hands."
In response to Noboru Kunisaki's reply, Naoki Tomita said nothing more. After saluting Lieutenant General Noboru Kunisaki with a standard military salute, he turned and left. Because within 24 hours of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, they bombed almost day and night, and the Engineer Regiment This division headquarters was built in a raid and was located in a semi-underground bunker.
Although Kunizaki Noboru did not immediately give him a clear answer, Naoki Tomita used his power to make preparations for the last resort. He sent all non-combatants at the division headquarters, including artillerymen, grooms, and cooks without artillery, to Members of the division's cremation team and even handymen composed of forcibly recruited Koreans were gathered together to distribute guns.
Since the reserve guns were not enough, he issued three grenades to each person. At the same time, he evacuated the stragglers of the 28th Regiment to the front line of Baichengzi. He also picked up all the stragglers and replenished their ammunition, preparing to invest them all in the battle with Bala Qirud. In the decisive battle of the frontal anti-Union garrison.
At this time, the final madness has gone to his head. No matter whether Kunisaki Noboru agrees or not, he knows that he has no way out and it depends on the way he chooses to die. He has made up his mind to be completely crushed on the battlefield. If he didn't go back and accept the shame of seppuku, even if he was left alone, he would rather die in battle than get a chance to live a temporary existence.
Here Tomita Naoaki was nervously preparing for a last-ditch effort, but over there Lieutenant General Noboru Kunizaki was still hesitant and could not get in touch with the military headquarters in Ongniut Left Banner. During the short period of time when he was able to set up a radio station, a sound came out from the earphones. The noise made Kunisaki Noboru even more dilemma.
Seeing another wave of more than 20 anti-Japanese bombers coming from the sky, as well as Bala Qirud's side, because the bombing continued to send smoke into the sky, Noboru Kunizaki knew that he had to make up his mind quickly, no matter what Whether to fight to the death or retreat immediately, he had to make a decision, but the current situation and the current predicament of the 7th Division made it difficult for him to make this determination.