But Yang Zhen hesitated, and finally did not interfere with the contents of Guo Bingxun's telegram to Chen Hanzhang. In any case, Chen Hanzhang's progress this time was indeed a bit too slow, and proper urging was necessary. If the Kwantung Army's true intention in the next step, It's really the direction of Tongliao.
Then the war there is dragging on, and he is likely to be in a dangerous situation of being attacked from both sides. Once Chen Hanzhang's troops are defeated, the entire Western Manchuria war situation will be passive across the board, especially the 18th Division of the Kwantung Army behind it. Now The progress is not slow.
Chen Hanzhang never complained. Even if he encountered great difficulties, he would grit his teeth and persevere. He would not easily ask for reinforcements from his superiors. Therefore, Yang Zhen still doesn't know what kind of situation he encountered there, but for someone who always pays attention to action, For Chen Hanzhang, who is decisive and never procrastinates, this situation is not normal.
The progress there is so slow, he must have encountered something difficult for him. But what will happen to this difficult matter? Chen Hanzhang did not complain, but Yang Zhen did not know. Since the interlude battle started, Chen Hanzhang's report He always downplays the situation of the battle.
After receiving the telegram from Guo Bingxun, he finally captured Bayantala after several hard battles. Chen Hanzhang, who had already reached the outskirts of Tongliao, could only smile bitterly. When he received the telegram, he understood the true intention of the chief of staff, but Facing the current battle situation, he felt somewhat helpless.
Originally, Chen Hanzhang was planning to capture Tongliao and Kailu during the march, and then either follow the latest intention of the headquarters and plant the Naiman flag directly to the southwest, or plant the Naiman flag to the southeast toward the Kangping and Changtu lines, threatening the deployment in the center. The long railway flanked various Japanese divisions and even ran straight into Siping Street, where the Kwantung Army headquarters was located.
As for the Japanese 14th Division originally stationed in Tongliao and Kailu, Chen Hanzhang did not intend to eat it in one bite. He still planned to use the advantages of his armored group to defeat it as much as possible. As a column-level soldier Commander Chen Hanzhang has a very long-term vision.
As early as when he learned about the entire battle plan of the headquarters, Chen Hanzhang believed that the role of capturing Tongliao and Kailu and developing it in depth would be far greater than the total annihilation of the 14th Division. He believed that this time the headquarters would send himself to execute the plan. In this interleaved task, the most important thing is to be fast.
Forming a horn-like force with Wang Guangyu's troops on the Linxi battlefield, we will first resolve the Western Manchuria battlefield and completely stabilize the vast territory from Rehe in the south to Hung Yen Province in the north. Taking Tongliao is just a flank guarantee for this plan. The headquarters' intention is definitely not to annihilate many Japanese troops, but to seize the entire Western Manchuria is the headquarters' real intention.
Encircling and annihilating the 14th Division was certainly a joyful battle, but it was completely contrary to the headquarters' immediate combat intention. If I could not form strategic cooperation with Wang Guangyu as soon as possible, then Wang Guangyu would always have someone there. Not only the Anti-Japanese Alliance knew about the possibility of being crushed, but the importance of the line from Rehe to Nanxing'an was also known to the Kwantung Army.
According to the strength of the two divisions on hand, plus a tank brigade and a cavalry brigade, it is not a big problem to eat up a 14th division, but in this way, your penetration speed will be greatly reduced. In the end, this will not only be unhelpful to the overall strategy of the headquarters, but will also be a severe test for oneself.
The Tongliao front line is too close to the Zhongchang Railway where the Japanese army deployed heavy troops. The straight-line distance does not exceed 300 kilometers, and the gap behind it and the Xinjing to Fuyu line is also too large. Once the war drags on, the surrounding areas will When the Japanese army swarmed forward, they attacked themselves first. When the retreat was cut off and fuel and ammunition were not supplied, their own troops were in danger of being encircled.
As the commander of the Anti-Union Armored Forces, Chen Hanzhang knew very well that his subordinates were all oil tigers. Every time he was delayed for a day, the fuel consumption was an astronomical figure. Without the fuel support from the rear, the fuel in the refueling trucks in his hands would be lost. If you can hold on for a few days, without fuel supplies, your tank brigade will be dead.
Therefore, Chen Hanzhang's earliest idea was not to eat the 14th Division at all, but to try to fight quickly, take advantage of the high mobility of his troops, adopt a jumping attack, and use the 14th Division, which had previously been the second line, for defense. He took the opportunity to take the Tongliao and Kailu front lines as quickly as possible, but he did not expect that the development of the battle would backfire on him.
As for the reason for the current slow progress, Chen Hanzhang, who was originally planning to seize the line from Tongliao to Kailu during the march, did not expect that the resistance of the Japanese army in Tongliao would be so tenacious. The number of infantrymen in his hands who were actually engaged in front-line combat was insufficient, and the inability to take advantage of his troops was the main factor.
Since the breakthrough along the Songhua River, several divisions under his command have been transferred out. Most of the original divisions in his hands have been transferred to Du Kaishan's command to fill Du Kaishan's position in capturing the line between Aershan and Wangye Temple, and opening up the connection with the After direct ground contact with the Linxi battlefield, a considerable portion of the troops in hand were transported by emergency vehicles to the blank space of the Linxi battlefield.
Since he was ordered to forcibly attack from the Qian'an line to the Tongliao and Kailu lines, the infantry unit with the largest number of troops in his hands actually only had two regiments of the 3rd Division and the 18th Division, and was limited by the number of vehicles following the intersecting troops. With the constraints of ensuring ammunition and other supplies, especially the need to free up a large number of vehicles to transport fuel, in fact, together with an infantry squad mounted on each tank, the total number of troops that can be transported by vehicle is barely one Third Division .
The two main regiments of the 18th Division that followed up on the foot march were actually chasing the main force. They were only marching on two feet. No matter how fast they were, they could not keep up with the speed of tanks, cars and cavalry. The division's troops did not finally catch up with the main force until the troops' offensive in Bayantala had lasted for two days.
Although they caught up with the main force, the long and high-intensity march made the already extremely exhausted main force of the 18th Division temporarily rest for more than a day and could not join the battle immediately. The third division had to separate some parts With the strength to guard the enemy forces in the Shuangliao direction and to contain the first part of the 14th Division in the Kailu direction, only one regiment was devoted to the attack on Bayantala.
Due to the insufficient number of motorized infantry, Chen Hanzhang originally planned to take advantage of the strong mobility of his troops and adopt a leap attack. He would assign some tank troops of the 18th Division to attack frontally, while he would lead the main force to avoid the front of Bayantala and attack from the front. The plan to penetrate Tongliao from the side cannot be carried out.
In addition, Tongliao is the core deep defense zone in Western Manchuria. In order to fight against the Soviet Union, the Kwantung Army built a large number of extremely strong reinforced concrete permanent fortifications in the triangle area of Tongliao, Kailu, and Bayantala. The core fortifications
Most of them can withstand the bombardment of 75mm field artillery fire, and all artillery positions have been moved underground or semi-underground.
In fact, before Chen Hanzhang implemented the insertion, a large part of the enemy situation report issued by the headquarters was not accurate. The headquarters made some mistakes in judging the Japanese military fortification group in Tongliao, thinking that Tongliao, as an important town in Western Manchuria, was not as important as the Kwantung Army in Western Manchuria.
In strategically important areas deep in the region, a large number of fortified areas will definitely be built to be used as second-line fortification areas.
But as a rear area, his fortification group, both in terms of solidity and density, is certainly incomparable to the Linxi Fortress Group, which was the front line of the Kwantung Army's battle against the Soviet Union. However, in fact, the comparison between this judgment and the real situation is exactly the opposite.
Yes, the density and solidity of the fortifications here are definitely not much worse than those in Linxi.
Even in terms of density, it has to be above the Linxi battlefield where the terrain is relatively favorable. The reason is very simple. Although Tongliao is located deep in the so-called Japanese and puppet border fortification areas in Western Manchuria, it is located just south of the Daxingan Mountains in Western Manchuria.
It is a rare plain area under the intersection of the foothills, hills, and the Nurul Tiger Mountains in western Liaoning and the Yanshan Mountains in Rehe.
Since ancient times, it has been the main transportation route from the Songliao Plain to Western Manchuria, and it has also been an important passage for the Mongols to pass through the Northeast. Whether it was the Central Plains Dynasty entering the Mongolian region from here, or the Mongols harassing the Northeast, this place must pass through.
After passing Tongliao, we entered the nomadic areas of Mongolia to the west.
The Horqin Sandy Land and the Xiliao River System can indeed be used as natural barriers. Most of the terrain here is quite flat, but it is quite conducive to the movement of a large number of tank and mechanized troops. The sandy land is not a desert. Although there is only a one-word difference,
The terrain is very different.
As part of the original Horqin Prairie, the Horqin Sandy Land is flatter and not as large as in later generations. At the same time, there is no shortage of water here. Although it can be used as a natural barrier, its effect is far less than that of the mountains.
The flat sandy land cannot stop the Soviet tanks and armored groups. If the attacking party does not care about the impact of sand at all, this so-called barrier is almost the same as not having it. Although the Xiliao River can
As a real natural barrier, it flows in the east-west direction.
Except for the Siramulun River, the flow of other tributaries is generally not large. Most rivers can basically be forded. The role these rivers can play is not too great. As for the density of the water network
, far from being able to truly serve as a barrier.
Therefore, after the Battle of Nomonhan, the Japanese army learned the lessons of the Battle of Nomonhan and comprehensively strengthened the original so-called fortification areas in Western Manchuria. After mastering the power of the Soviet army's large-caliber artillery and the mechanization of tanks,
After the troops have the ability to break through quickly.
On the Tongliao front line, which is the deep zone of Western Manchuria, a large number of anti-tank fortification groups and permanent firepower points were built, and all artillery positions were moved underground. There was no way, compared with the Soviet artillery, the Japanese artillery was not only inferior in quantity
They are not on the same level, even in terms of power, the difference is too great.
The killing radius of a Soviet 152mm howitzer and the power of the explosion are almost 40% larger than the shells of the latest Japanese Type 96 152mm howitzer. This is still The Japanese have underestimated their estimates. If we tell the truth, they can only be higher, not lower.
Because during the Battle of Nomonhan, the Kwantung Army inspected the unexploded dumb bombs fired by the Soviet army and found that for artillery shells of the same caliber, the Soviet army's charge density was much higher than that of the Japanese army. The most important thing is not only the power of the artillery shells. They were much larger and their numbers were not comparable to that of the Japanese army.
According to the standards of the Battle of Nomonhan, within a unit of time and with roughly equal troop strength, the one-time firepower projection of the Soviet artillery was several times that of the Japanese army. Moreover, according to the knowledge of the Kwantung Army Intelligence Department, the Soviet army still had a This is a mobile 203mm heavy howitzer. This is the exact information provided by the Japanese military attache stationed in the Soviet Union who visited the pre-war Soviet military parade.