Chapter 554: The Japanese Army with a Psychological Breakdown
Although Onimu Goichi desperately tried to gather his troops to resist the counterattack of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, he was unable to prevent the entire army from retreating due to a psychological breakdown that was extremely rare among the Japanese army. Even he himself was coerced by the collapse of the army. Then they passively retreated towards Tongliao County.
Previously, the huge lethality of the twin 14mm anti-aircraft machine guns and the twin 2/3 anti-aircraft guns had brought a huge psychological shadow to the Japanese troops on the front line of Kongjiawo Fort. When the tanks appeared, they crushed the hearts of the remaining Japanese troops. The last psychological bottom line, the psychologically collapsed Japanese army could no longer withstand the blow, and in an extremely rare scene, they fled.
The Japanese army who have been trained in the so-called cruel Bushido have indeed strong psychological quality, and their endurance far exceeds that of the average army. It can be said that they are the toughest army in the world and the most endurance army. However, no matter how strong their psychology is, they will not be able to withstand it. Just ordinary people.
Facing the broken limbs and broken arms on the ground, and the parts and pieces of people on the ground, no matter how tough the psychological quality of the Japanese army was, they couldn't bear it. They attacked in turn and faced huge casualties, let alone ordinary soldiers. The most fanatical middle- and lower-level officers in the Japanese army are also facing psychological collapse.
If they could barely hold on under the high pressure of Onimu May Day before, then the appearance of tanks became a straw for them. When the anti-alliance tank cluster suddenly appeared, all the remaining Japanese officers and soldiers who were already exhausted could no longer carry it. Unable to withstand the psychological pressure, the entire army collapsed completely.
At this time, the Japanese army in Kongjiawo Fort, with the huge casualties suffered by grassroots officers and Commander Cao in the previous battle, even the most basic command system no longer existed. In the past, even if the Japanese army suffered a defeat, it was defeated but not in chaos. This time the Japanese army fell into a complete collapse.
There were no rear-cutting troops or forward reconnaissance troops in the past. Everyone was running towards Tongliao County in a swarm, not to mention heavier weapons such as heavy machine guns, 92 infantry cannons, and 37 infantry flat-firing cannons. The crooked light machine guns, made in the Czech Republic that Kawami had worked so hard to acquire, were all thrown away.
The Japanese army also had strict requirements for the storage of weapons and equipment. Losing a bayonet was a considerable responsibility and would be subject to extremely severe punishment. At this time, even the light and heavy machine guns and infantry cannons were lost. It can be seen that the Japanese army at this time How mentally disturbed it has become.
But before they could be beaten to pieces by the tanks that suddenly appeared, the Japanese troops who were desperately retreating along the road to Tongliao County had just withdrawn to Bangtong shack, when an anti-alliance force suddenly appeared on the flank, with Bangtongwo Fort as its base. Relying on, under the cover of intensive firepower, the Japanese troops who had no intention to fight were knocked down in pieces on the way to retreat. At the same time, with companies and platoons as combat units, the Japanese troops' retreat sequence was cut into several disconnected pieces. .
Looking at the anti-alliance forces that suddenly burst out from the flank in front of him, and listening to the rumbling gunfire and shouts of killing behind him, the words "divide and encircle" suddenly appeared in Onimu Wuyi's mind. He knew that if the division commander did not take action at this time, If they receive assistance, then I and the remaining troops will annihilate the entire army at this place, which is already within easy reach of Tongliao County.
It's just a pity that the phone line was disconnected at some point, and the radio station disappeared in the chaos. Now he wants to ask Lieutenant General Kawami for help, but there is no way. The surrounding soldiers were in chaos, and it was almost impossible to organize a breakout or fight.
And those squadron leaders who showed off their power on weekdays didn't know where they had gone. Onimu Wuyi understood that if he didn't find a way quickly, he could only sit here and wait for death. In desperation, Onimu Wuyi took the two around him The guards, taking advantage of the chaos, left the group and ran quietly toward the southeast.
As for the remaining defeated generals around him, he didn't care. In fact, he clearly understood how many troops were left in Tongliao City at this time. He knew that even if the connection with Tongliao was opened, the division commander's reinforcements would not come. Instead of giving yourself an indiscriminate artillery fire coverage, it would be good to wipe out all the defeated troops and the surrounding resistance alliance.
If you continue to stay here and wait to die, you will die last year, but you don't deserve to die here now. There is still half of your regiment in Tongliao City that needs to be commanded by others. You must not die here, facing complete collapse. Knowing that he could no longer reverse the situation, Onimu Wuyi decisively left the troops in chaos and ran away quietly.
And his judgment of the character and mentality of the new division commander of the 14th Division, Chuan Bingmi, was quite accurate. After he left, the development of the situation in Bangtongwo Fort was really within his expectations. He just thinks that he doesn't deserve to die here. Whether Guiwu Wuyi, who escaped death at the front line of Bangtongwo Castle, can really escape smoothly is not up to him.
Originally, he had been standing on the wall of Tongliao to watch the battle, but not long after, he was driven back to the shelter in the city by the rockets and shells fired by the Anti-Japanese Alliance. At this moment, he received the observation post he deployed on the top of the city to monitor the entire Kong family nest. Lieutenant General Chuan Bingmi, who had made a detailed report on the battle on the front line of Kongjiawo Fort, was also dumbfounded by the sudden collapse of the front line of Kongjiawo Fort.
Although he had received a detailed report on the previous battle, he still stubbornly believed that with the training and tactical literacy of the imperial soldiers, not to mention the absolutely superior artillery cover behind him, even if the counterattack failed, the most he could do was retreat. It's just inside Tongliao City, which means that in Chuan Bingmi's opinion, it paid a high price at most and did not achieve the expected results.
Although he is currently short of troops, the troops who went out to counterattack Kongjiawo Fort this time accounted for half of the total strength of the entire Tongliao garrison. However, in the view of Lieutenant General Chuan Bingmi, the failure of the counterattack would at best reduce the defensive strength, not It would affect his ability to stick to Tongliao County, and he was not mentally prepared at all for the failure of the counterattack but the collapse of the whole line.
After receiving the report, Lieutenant General Kawami no longer cared about the danger. Under the strict protection of a large group of guards, he quickly rushed to the east city of Tongliao. When he raised his telescope, he could clearly see the gangtong nest. The retreating counterattack troops on the front line of the fort had completely collapsed. With the cooperation of tanks, some of the resistance forces were intercepting and killing the defeated troops everywhere. They couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
Before Lieutenant General Sichuan Bingmi could wake up from the major setback he suffered at the Kongjiawobao front line, a rather unfortunate news came one after another. The troops who were ordered to guard the communication channel between Tongliao and Kailu County were Under the siege of the anti-alliance tank and mechanized troops, Zhanggutai and Sankeshu Line were lost in a short period of time.
The remaining troops who were ordered to protect the lifeline of Tongliao and Kailu were tightly trapped in a small position of less than 600 square meters around the Guanyinhao. They were faced with a situation where they could neither fight nor escape. After discarding Zhanggutai and Sankeshu, two crucial points for the connection between Tongliao and Kailu, it means that the connection between Tongliao and Kailu has been completely severed.
After receiving this report, Lieutenant General Sichuan Bingmi almost fell over. The connection between the two places was cut off. Tongliao County was better off. Fortunately, the troops stationed there were relatively sufficient, but only engineers and baggage were attached. , as well as two squadrons of the search wing, two squadrons of the divisional field artillery wing, two 120 howitzers of the heavy artillery battalion and more than half of the infantry battalion, how long the Kailu garrison can hold on, I am afraid only God knows.
At present, Tongliao and Kailu support each other. If Kailu is lost, Tongliao County will be isolated and helpless. Once Kailu County is lost, it will be equivalent to the resistance of Tongliao battlefield. The League directly opened up the connection with the frontal resistance against the Linxi battlefield.
Once this situation occurs, for the two divisions that are currently fighting fiercely with the Anti-Japanese Alliance on the Linxi battlefield, the consequences that this may cause are almost unimaginable for Chuan Bingmi, or he is unwilling to think about it, because He clearly knew what the outcome would be if the two divisions on the Linxi battlefield faced a pincer attack from two large tank groups, given the anti-tank capabilities of the Japanese army.
At the beginning, the Kwantung Army Headquarters strictly ordered the Fourteenth Division to defend Tongliao and Kailu because they were worried about the Anti-Union tank cavalry group on the Tongliao battlefield. After taking Kailu and Tongliao, they cooperated with the enemy in Linxi to attack the Linxi battlefield. The two Japanese divisions that were attacking from the front posed a threat from the rear. As a result, the situation has now developed for the worst.
Facing the anti-Japanese counterattack troops that were about to rush to the city, Kawami, who never dreamed that his counterattack would be so miserable before the counterattack, and suffered continuous heavy blows, did not care about accidental injuries at this time and ordered Tongliao. All the artillery in the city fired indiscriminately at the two armies on the front line of Bangtong Wo Fort and Wei Jia Wo Fort.
He knew that he could no longer mobilize any troops to re-open the connection between Tongliao and Kailu. If Kailu County was not protected, the only thing he could do now was to stick to Tongliao County, the only support point. Waiting for the changes in the war situation promised by the Kwantung Army Headquarters, since both sides have pressed the gourd and lifted the gourd, then for Kawami, it is better to focus on the present.
The Kwantung Army's censure is something that will happen later. If Tongliao County is also lost, then the anti-alliance forces in front of them will be able to devote all their resources to the Linxi battlefield unscrupulously. If Tongliao County is still in the hands of the Kwantung Army, even if the anti-alliance forces in front of them are After taking Kailu, it is impossible to devote all the troops to the Linxi battlefield.
For Lieutenant General Chuan Bingmi, how to ensure the safety of Tongliao County under the circumstances that Kailu County may not be able to be saved is already the most concerned issue before him. As for other things, he will not and cannot Don’t think too much and put practical interests first. This is the usual mentality of the Japanese.
For senior officers, lower-level officers and soldiers are nothing more than inevitable consumables in war. They cannot be said to care about the casualty rate, but if there is a choice between profit and the lives of soldiers, they will not hesitate. Choose benefits.
As for whether the counterattack troops who were fighting hard against the Anti-Japanese Alliance and trying to break through could survive this indiscriminate bombardment, he no longer cared about it. What he saw was that if the momentum of the Anti-Union counterattack was not curbed, the people in front of him would be If the anti-alliance forces continue to attack, as long as they reach the Panjiayao line, Tongliao's east gate will be in danger.
Kawami's method of secret indiscriminate bombardment can indeed be described as a very vicious weapon. This tactic of killing eight hundred enemies and damaging one thousand will cause the Japanese army to pay the same price, but it does also inflict heavy losses on the ongoing battle with Onimu. The remnants of Hai Jingqing's troops fighting fiercely on May Day posed a considerable threat.
However, Hai Jingqing was not completely unprepared for the tactics used by the Japanese army when the battle was unfavorable. The anti-alliance troops had suffered similar losses when fighting the Japanese army. If they didn't have a longer memory, Then it really means remembering what to eat and not what to fight.