For Umezu Yoshijiro and the Kwantung Army and Japan behind him, although the industrial zones in Fengtian, Anshan, Fushun, Liaoyang, and Benxi suffered heavy losses in this anti-alliance raid, the enemy did not defeat the enemy in a short time. The factory that was being dismantled inside did not cause too much damage. Although a large number of parts were dismantled and removed, the main body of these equipment was not damaged.
As long as we can find ways to find parts for these equipment, there is no hope of repair, and the factory has no hope of recovery. Of course, the dense mines in these factories need to be cleared first, otherwise, they will not even be able to repair the equipment. arrive.
For Japan, the importance of Southern Manchuria to its overall strategy lies not only in restoring these factories. Japan also has a large number of other factories in Jinzhou, Liaodong Peninsula, Huludao and other places in Southern Manchuria. There are dozens of large-scale military factories in this area, as well as the most important naval base in China. In various parts of southern Manchuria, there are also large amounts of rare metal deposits that the empire urgently needs.
Molybdenum from Yangjiazhangzi, zinc from Huludao, magnesium from Dashiqiao, coal from Fuxin and Beipiao, lead and zinc from Qingchengzi, copper mines from Hongtoushan in Qingyuan, etc. are all resources that Japan urgently needs for the war. With these resources, Japan's tank lost two wheels. If Southern Manchuria was completely lost, the empire's own national strength alone would not be enough to sustain this war for a long time.
At the same time, South Manchuria cannot be defended, and it is equally difficult to defend North China and North Korea. Manchuria is the bridgehead for the empire to attack the mainland of China, but it can also become a bridgehead for the enemy to attack North Korea, thereby threatening the mainland. According to Umezu Yoshijiro, the current problem It is not about recapturing the front line of Xinjing, but whether we can hold Siping and preserve Southern Manchuria, the empire's rear area for this war.
However, considering the overall situation of the entire battlefield, in order to reduce the pressure in the direction of Siping, Umezu Yoshijiro continued to adopt the policy of large-depth defense around Siping and Fengtian, relying on the terrain of rivers and hilly areas, with Xifeng and Quantou as the two wings of Siping. Defend key areas and secure Siping, the strategic key town of the Kwantung Army's entire northern front, to the death.
In Liaodong, we relied on the hilly areas of Liaodong to defend the line from Xifeng to Caoshi. We used Xinbin and Qingyuan as strategic support points to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the mountainous areas of Liaodong. We then made another large-scale deep penetration in a decent manner, and established a front line in Siping. In the stalemate situation, they adopted a large outflanking tactic to encircle the entire retreat from Siping to Fengtian battlefield.
The enemy's last strategic attempt was to build an industrial base in southern Manchuria. Tactically, they adopted a quick-attack approach and immediately retreated after grabbing a handful, instead of taking a deep and roundabout approach to defend Fengtian for a long time. However, according to Umezu Yoshijiro, Come on, if there is a first time, there may be a second time.
The enemy, who had tasted the sweetness of the first sneak attack, would try to concentrate their forces in a decent manner, and launch a bold surprise attack on their flanks. This time, they did not even need to outflank Fengtian, but would go directly through the mountains of Liaodong. Cha Tieling, Kaiyuan line, behind the Siping battlefield.
If the enemy forces take such a move when the fighting in front of Siping is tense, it will not be a quick victory. Once this situation occurs, all the retreat routes of the divisions participating in the Siping front line will be cut off, unless it is within a short period of time. Reinforcements must be received within the battle, otherwise the main force of the Kwantung Army on the Siping front line will be surrounded. Coupled with the large number of armored groups invested by the enemy, the entire Siping front line is in danger of complete collapse.
Although Umezu Yoshijiro judged that the anti-alliance forces had been used to the extreme, he still did not dare to take it lightly, so he did not hesitate to shrink his troops on the Siping front line, withdrawing the focus of defense on the eastern front to Xifeng, and shrinking the focus of defense on the western front. To the southwest of Siping City, we mobilized troops to strengthen defense in the east of Liaodong.
In Umezu Yoshijiro's view, although this move is suspected of making up for the situation, it is necessary because his opponents are too cunning. When the fighting on the Siping battlefield was getting serious, no one expected that they would deploy a considerable number of troops. , after a surprise attack in the Liaodong mountainous area, according to Umezu Yoshijiro, falling down once in a pit is not terrible, but falling down continuously is the most terrible thing.
In fact, Umezu Yoshijiro's worries were completely unnecessary. Yang Zhen's ultimate goal in the Northeast battlefield in this battle was to frustrate the Kwantung Army. In terms of the overall strategy of the Japanese army, it was already in a situation of attacking from all sides and stretching the battle line too long. Next, completely destroy the offensive capabilities of the Kwantung Army.
He clearly knew that he did not have the capacity to devour the main force of the Kwantung Army in one go, and he had not thought about completely regaining the entire Northeast. First, the Anti-Japanese Alliance did not have the strength and sufficient troops to regain the entire South Manchuria. With two war zones raging at the same time, the Siping battlefield contained the main force of the Anti-Japanese Alliance in the Northeast battlefield.
The battle was so protracted. Although the Kwantung Army suffered heavy losses, the casualties of the Anti-Alliance were definitely not light. Although they were much less than those of the Kwantung Army, the Anti-Alliance, whose follow-up strength had been exhausted, absolutely did not have the strength to invest in new forces. Go out with all your strength and continue fighting a continuous battle with the Japanese army.
In fact, in the Northeastern battlefield, although the Anti-Japanese Alliance still relies on the mobility and assault capabilities of a large number of armored forces and always controls the initiative on the battlefield, due to excessive casualties, it has lost most of its continuous offensive capabilities, at least it has no ability. Divide your troops to open up a new battlefield.
Even if we are alone in the Northeast battlefield, we no longer have that ability. The offensive launched now is just a coordinated diversionary offensive. If we really launch a new large-scale offensive, even if we find ways to recruit all the soldiers, but at the moment The resistance forces were really exhausted.
As the territory controlled by the Kwantung Army shrinks, its room for maneuver on the battlefield also shrinks greatly. However, the density of troop and firepower deployment also increases significantly as the defense front shrinks. In this battle, The density of Japanese troops and firepower deployment on the Northeastern battlefield far exceeded that of previous battles.
Not only were they defeated again and again, the Japanese base camp was already impressed by the sudden rise of the Chinese army from top to bottom against the Allied Forces. The Kwantung Army, which had suffered consecutive defeats and lost most of the Northeast, had been forced into a corner. Compared with Northern Manchuria, which mainly produced timber and served as a base for operations against the Soviet Union, Southern Manchuria was the real foundation of the Kwantung Army.
Moreover, Southern Manchuria's industry and mineral resources, which are far more developed than those of Northern Manchuria, are an important asset for the Japanese army to dare to launch a world war. Without Southern Manchuria, the Japanese army's war resources will be reduced by at least one-third. If Manchuria is The Japanese had the confidence to initiate the war, so South Manchuria was the most confident among the Japanese.
The change in the situation caused the Japanese base camp to attach extraordinary importance to South Manchuria. Even with the launch of the Pacific War, not only did it not weaken the area under its jurisdiction and only the original Kwantung Army strength in Liaoning was left, but to a certain extent, there was still a relative sexual enhancement.
This led to the fact that in this battle, the density of Japanese troops deployed from Xingjing to Siping was much greater than in previous battles, leaving almost no large-scale penetration of the Anti-Japanese Alliance and leaving any gaps that could be exploited. Although the Anti-Japanese Alliance was still there During the initial stage of this battle, strategic deployments were repeatedly adjusted in an attempt to mobilize Japanese defensive forces.
However, they have never been able to open up the gap between the various departments of the Japanese army on the front line and create a fighter plane that can be used for their offensive. Whether it was the previous interspersed encirclement south of Xinjing or the flanking detour on the Siping line, they were not able to achieve success in the first battle. Achieve the desired effect in a short period of time.
The emergence of this situation cannot but be said to be that the Japanese frontline generals were quite sophisticated in their use of troops and responded extremely quickly. What Yang Zhen saw was not only the judgment and ability of the Japanese commanders on the battlefield, but also the more clearly What we can see is that during this battle, compared with before, although the company suffered heavy losses, at least the quality and combat capabilities of the Kwantung Army's soldiers did not decline significantly.
Not only has the extremely tenacious fighting will not declined significantly, but neither the technical and tactical level nor the military quality of commanders at all levels has declined much. The Japanese base camp still attaches great importance to the Kwantung Army. After replenishing its troops, up, without any downward adjustment.
The emergence of this situation is also the main reason why Yang Zhen fought very well in the Northeast battlefield in this battle and rarely used surprise troops, because for an army like the Japanese army, with such a large density of troops, Under the deployment situation, whether the surprise troops were outflanking or inserting on a large scale, the Japanese army could only divide their overall deployment.
Especially now that the Japanese army's combat effectiveness has not declined significantly and its basic strength is still there, launching surprise troops can only be a very dangerous strategic adventure. This kind of adventure may not necessarily bring much losses to the Japanese army, but if it fails, , will bring irreparable losses to the Anti-Japanese Alliance. If we take any more risks, it can only be said that the gains outweigh the losses.
The fact that this battle was so difficult cannot but be said to have a great relationship with the excessive concentration of Kwantung Army forces on the entire battlefield. In terms of the overall strength comparison between the two sides, the Anti-Japanese Alliance, which did not have an absolute advantage, was in this offensive battle. Among them, the reality of being unable to completely defeat the Kwantung Army was doomed as early as the launch of the campaign.
Yang Zhen sees this very clearly. Not to mention that the Anti-Japanese Alliance is currently fighting on two fronts. It has not opened up the western front battlefield and is not currently fighting hard in northern Shanxi. In the entire Northeast, even if you risk complete injury, you don't have the strength to decide the outcome in one game.
The most important thing is that when Yang Zhen raided Fengtian before, he considered using a deep and roundabout approach. After seizing Fengtian, he forced his way north and penetrated behind the front-line Japanese troops in Siping. Together with the troops around Siping, they formed an encirclement of the main force of the Kwantung Army in the Siping area. Even if Bu can eat the entire main force of the Kwantung Army in one go, he still has to inflict enough heavy damage.
But after careful analysis and hesitation, Yang Zhen finally gave up this idea. Yang Zhen knew very well that if he decided to fight this battle quickly and focus on the industries in South Manchuria, the Japanese base camp or the Korean army might not intervene. After all, for the Japanese army, which is currently stretched too far, its military strength, especially its elite soldiers, is also being used to the limit.
But if once the war drags on and the Anti-Japanese Alliance manages to defend Fengtian and Liaodong, surround the main force of the Kwantung Army at Siping, and stab it from behind, the Japanese base camp will definitely not sit idly by and mobilize troops as soon as possible. Reinforcements, even if it means giving up some achievements on other fronts, they will not sit back and watch Southern Manchuria be lost.
If the Japanese base camp quickly mobilizes heavy troops from other directions, due to the tense battle situation and the use of troops to the extreme, this unit serving as an interlude is destined to break in alone and cannot even cooperate with the flanks. It will be counterattacked by the Japanese army. The danger of encirclement.
It takes a lot of time for the Japanese army to mobilize reinforcements from other fronts. Even if it moves quickly, it will not get there quickly. However, it is not very troublesome to mobilize troops from the Korean army or even the mainland to reinforce South Manchuria, and it does not take much time. , when the time comes, this roundabout force cannot defeat the tiger, so don't suffer the consequences again.