Chapter 344 It's more profitable to stretch out your hand
Shizuo Yokoyama, who now had no troops to maneuver, hesitated for a long time and finally gritted his teeth. From the few troops around him, he mobilized two squadrons and took the only armored train of the Kwantung Army parked at Chaoyang Station. train, using the artillery and machine gun cover on the train to force reinforcements to Beipiao.
Lieutenant General Yokoyama Shizuo can ignore the final outcome of the coal mines in Beipiao, but he cannot ignore the life and death of Lieutenant General Washijin Seppei. If Beipiao is lost, he still has an excuse to explain, and he can also pass the responsibility to Lieutenant General Washizu Seppei, who was in charge of the deployment of the entire campaign, was in charge.
The overall deployment of the war situation was planned by Lieutenant General Washizu Jinhei. As the highest commander on the front line, he only has the right to execute. The war situation has deteriorated to such an extent in such a short period of time. The first thing is the deployment. Responsibility, even if Beipiao City is really lost, there is still some room for relaxation.
But if Lieutenant General Washizu Seppei, the commander of the army, is also lost, he really has no way to report to the base camp, not to mention the Tokyo base camp, even General Umezu Yoshijiro. There is already a military force in the Kwantung Army. The huge scandal of the commander being captured, and if another army commander is captured or killed in battle, I am afraid that General Umezu Yoshijiro will have no choice but to return to Tokyo to retire. The fire has already burned his butt, so let's save his butt first.
As for the defense of Chaoyang City, he abandoned all the peripheral strongholds and adopted a posture of being unable to retreat. Although the Jianping defenders used the Chinese as human shields as a tactic, he really couldn't find the shame to do it, but This did not prevent him from using the large number of gas bombs stored in Chaoyang City to fight desperately.
After the Battle of Jehol began, the Kwantung Army, which was slightly short of troops, urgently transported a large amount of corrosive and asphyxiating poison gas to Chaoyang and Fuxin. In Chaoyang alone, hundreds of thousands of poison gas shells were stored. and smoke cans. For Yokoyama Shizuo, these gas bombs and the two field artillery squadrons and a heavy artillery squadron that had not yet had time to enter the battlefield in the city were his only hope of holding on to Chaoyang City.
Therefore, he ordered that as soon as the enemy troops showed up outside the city, no matter how many troops were dispatched, they would be greeted with artillery shells and poison gas bombs. In order to clear the firing range outside the city, when he was about to shrink, he set fire to all the villages near the city. At the same time, a large amount of incendiary bombs were mixed into the cannonballs. Fortunately, the cannonball reserves in Chaoyang City were relatively sufficient, so he could let him waste some.
After Shizuo Yokoyama gave up all the strongholds outside Chaoyang City, the brigade commander of the advancing army in front of him, who was called Madman Wang, had a division of labor and cooperation with the political commissar. The political commissar commanded a regiment and a battalion to directly attack It seems that the Japanese army in Chaoyang City is now equipped with gas masks, so he is naturally not afraid of the Japanese gas bombs.
But under such circumstances, he was unwilling to attack the fortified city. Since the Japanese army could not defend it, there was no need for him to chew the bones. Instead of hoarding the entire army under the fortified city, it was better to march to the north. , direction to Yixian, see if you can catch something.
Although after the large-scale training at the end of last year and the improvement of weapons and equipment, the troops' ability to attack difficulties has been greatly improved compared to the past. At least it does not have a single artillery and can only rely on light weapons and limited explosives to fight hard. Even compared to the situation where troops are piled up, it is already much better.
But in view of the experience and lessons of the Hundred Regiment War the year before, he was still reluctant to fight such a tough battle, especially after seeing that Chaoyang City's defenses were complete, the number of defenders was not small, and there was a large amount of poison gas to cooperate with the battle, he thought that even if he could If Chaoyang City is captured, the troops will also suffer certain losses.
In his opinion, under the current situation where his superiors have no idea of occupying Beipiao and Chaoyang for a long time, not only the troops will be easily stuck and unable to exert their mobile combat advantages, but also even if Chaoyang City can be captured, the force will not be able to capture Chaoyang City. Judging from the losses incurred, this was not a worthwhile deal.
So even though the whole army was burned to ashes outside Chaoyang City, and the whole army was agitated, and commanders and soldiers at all levels wrote letters asking for war, demanding that the Japanese and puppet troops in the city be completely eliminated and avenge the villagers, he still analyzed the battle situation. and judgment, and keep a cool head.
Against all odds, he insisted on leaving only part of the troops to look out for the Japanese and puppet troops in the city, and dispatched a group of political workers and small troops to mobilize the masses around Chaoyang City. However, he chose to lead some troops to attack outside. The battlefield expanded outwards, and the first choice target was Beipiao, where the Jiuping Headquarters was located.
Even though the political commissar and most of the cadres of the brigade were firmly opposed, they did not shake his thoughts and ideas. Compared with the current fire hedgehog Chaoyang City, judging from the intelligence issued by his superiors before the war, the Japanese Military Command Just in Beipiao, now that Beipiao is under attack by the Anti-Alliance brothers, let alone such a giant Buddha in Beipiao, even if it is not in the usual style of the Japanese army, Beipiao must be quickly reinforced.
Having dealt with the Japanese army for so many years, he has seen the Japanese army fight to the end, and has seen the Japanese army fight to the death without retreating. But he has never seen the Japanese army that refuses to save the enemy. It is even more difficult for him to fight in a field battle with the enemy reinforcements. If you are willing to do it, surround the point and call for reinforcements. This is also his favorite tactic when he was the old commander of the 129th Division and the current commander of the advancing army.
Although the brothers' troops today have ulterior motives, they basically have the effect of encircling the point. However, they are not strong enough to provide reinforcements. So it is better for this good man to do the good deeds. After all, from the Battle of Jehol last year to the present, the two armies have cooperated in fighting. At that time, it was usually the anti-alliance troops who were responsible for the heaviest battlefield duties. This time I extended my hand to help, which could be regarded as returning a favor.
As for how much fat he can eat, it depends on the situation at that time. Anyway, he has made up his mind that as long as the Japanese troops in the city do not come out, he will not forcefully attack the city. That would be too high a price for him. , it’s really not worthwhile.
This man went crazy on the battlefield, but his madness was not without purpose. When it was time to retreat, he would retreat without hesitation and fight to the death. That was when necessary, and he would not do it unless it was absolutely necessary. He will do it, and the crazy energy he has when he comes up refers to his belief on the battlefield that he will fight until death and completely defeat the enemy.
It’s not that he’s really prone to convulsions at every turn. He doesn’t care about anything when he’s on the battlefield. He’ll fight until he’s beaten to death. If he doesn’t die, he’ll continue to fight. The madman is talking about his fierce fighting style, not that he’s just stupid and hard-headed. , Fighting hard is hard, but it does not mean fighting hard no matter what the situation is. If that were really the case, he would have died countless times.
As a cadre born in the old Red Army, he has grown step by step from an ordinary soldier to a deputy division commander, from a soldier, to a squad leader, to a platoon leader, to a company commander, to a battalion commander, to a regiment commander, step by step without falling behind. At this time, the army promotes cadres. There was no talk of nepotism, or some unclear or unclear relationship.
Being able to walk so solidly step by step, from an ordinary soldier to a division and brigade commander, is all achieved on the battlefield. After many years of hard struggle, he has been fighting against opponents with superior equipment. This brigade commander's fighter jets His ability to capture and judge the situation on the battlefield are both quite outstanding.
After so many years of hard struggle, most of the senior commanders like him who survived the Red Army period and could even be said to have crawled out of the dead are quite outstanding. What is left behind is real gold. , ten years of civil war in which the enemy is strong and we are weak, has indeed trained a large number of time-tested military cadres for the customs forces.
Although most of them have not received formal military education, their many years of military career also make it difficult for them to receive more advanced military education for a long time. Before and after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, they had read a period of "Red University" and "Anti-Japanese War". It is a rare opportunity for them.
However, no matter how many shortcomings they have, most of these senior commanders who grew up on the battlefield lack modern combined combat experience and capabilities due to conditions and opponent constraints, and basically do not have the ability to coordinate operations with multiple arms such as artillery. Command experience.
But there is one thing that those cadres who have received formal military education do not have, and that is the keen sense of smell on the battlefield developed by long-term fighting in the flames of war, as well as the rich combat experience, and the command skills developed on the battlefield. Experience cannot be learned in military academies. It can be said that these cadres who have climbed out of the dead are all the best, and they are all reliable old bones.
Although most of the command experience is based on single infantry, they have learned a lot from wars over the years and accumulated rich experience. As long as they are given the necessary conditions, these graduates of the War University will be equipped with a certain command in the shortest time. The military qualities a modern and qualified commander should possess.
The brigade commander judged from the current overall battle situation that since the Japanese highest command on the Liaodong battlefield is now in Beipiao, once Beipiao is attacked, the surrounding enemy forces will inevitably mobilize to rescue. However, in the current Liaoxi battlefield, Judging from the above, it is difficult for the Japanese army to deploy group troops.
In other words, the Japanese troops around Beipiao are destined to be dispersed rather than concentrated when they go to the Beipiao battlefield to reinforce. In this way, they will bring themselves a rare fighter opportunity. Instead of fighting hard under Chaoyang City, Even if you pay the price, you may not be able to get an advantage, and you may even suffer losses. It is better to look outside and look for fighters around the Chaoyang battlefield.
Make full use of the fleeting fighter opportunities on the battlefield, seize one part of the enemy and eat him completely. Injuring ten of his fingers, it is better to cut off one of his fingers. Instead of brazenly paying a lot of money to attack the city, it is better to create something in the brother army. Among the fighter planes, he got a good deal. He not only assisted the brothers' troops in fighting, but also allowed himself to eat meat. It can be said that he killed two birds with one stone.
In the first battle west of Jianping City, a reinforced Japanese brigade was neatly eliminated. Although he also suffered certain losses, this cost was too much for the brigade's current strength, with the entire brigade fully staffed and with a total strength of 5,000. , it was still a bearable battle, which gave the brigade commander considerable confidence.
If a brigade can eat up a fully reinforced infantry brigade, why can't it eat up one or two of your combat squadrons? And for this veteran of the Red Army, that battle brought him not only Unprecedented self-confidence, and awareness of the declining command quality of the Japanese army's junior officers.
In that battle, he discovered that the quality of the lower-level Japanese commanders, especially those at the squadron and squad leader levels, was almost incomparable to what it was between 1938 and 1940. Both their fighting will and their commanding abilities continued to decline. At one level, there may even be a situation where attacking key points will stagnate after two failed attacks.
Moreover, the squad's first-level offensive tactics, whether it is firepower or troop distribution, are incomparable with the Japanese army in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War. Although the soldiers' style remains the same, the most basic officer quality has declined, which undoubtedly affects the Japanese army's combat efficiency. This discovery, This further strengthened his idea of extending his hands outward.