Even if the general captain of the regiment has the rank of colonel, and even if the Japanese army has a strict hierarchy, it is difficult for these colonels to command in wartime. The captain of the third tank regiment, who is a lieutenant colonel. Even if he is
The chief of staff of the division is also very incompetent in commanding.
The Kwantung Army wanted to find a brick for the 23rd Division, but they didn't expect to get a thorn head, not to mention a hob-style thorn head. Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi didn't know who was behind the scenes.
After being transferred to Linxi, I have always been able to find all kinds of excuses to push back and delay the orders of the 23rd Division.
I really couldn't shirk it, so I sent a few tanks to deal with it, but it was too much work, and there was no happy time anyway. In the battle at Linxi Airport, all the tanks of the two squadrons of the 23rd Division Search Wing were lost.
After the enemy fell, under the strong request of the division commander Nishihara Kanji, five tanks were sent to deal with it.
The five tanks it dispatched were less than one-tenth of the number of tanks under its control. In the eyes of Nishihara Kanji and Matsuda Iwa, Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi was simply fooling the devil by doing such a big operation.
, it can even be said that in the battle that will determine the future war of the 23rd Division, you dispatched five of more than 60 tanks? You tried your best, who can believe it?
Since Wang Guangyu entered Linxi territory, in order to let the third tank regiment go into battle, Nishihara Kanji has used both soft and hard methods. It is a pity that the effect is really not good. This Commander Ikoma Lin,
It's as soft and hard as a hob meat and can't be eaten.
They go their own way, pick and choose, and always find countless excuses to avoid fighting. The darlings of the Third Tank Regiment have made Kanji Nishihara and the 23rd Division very troubled. If the battle situation does not require it, Nishihara
Guanzhi would rather rely on his own infantry. Even based on the previous performance of these guys, he is determined to kick the third tank regiment out of the Linxi battlefield.
The performance of this third tank regiment on the battlefield has always made the 23rd Division, from the commander of the division, Lieutenant General Nishihara Kanji, to the chief of staff, Colonel Matsuda Iwa, quite dissatisfied. In the previous battle at Linxi Airport,
It was because only a few tanks of the Third Tank Regiment were destroyed that all tanks were withdrawn from the battlefield around the airport, which directly led to the loss of the airport due to the attack on enemy tanks.
In the ensuing counterattack at the airport, the third tank regiment refused to do anything, let alone work, and even refused to work. It sat and watched the infantry under attack from the opponent's tanks, artillery and other arms.
There were heavy casualties, and the airport was still unable to be recaptured, but refused to be dispatched.
This time, Lieutenant General Nishihara Kanji took the personal order of Kwantung Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Teiichi before this guy was willing to move. But his performance on the battlefield was still quite bad. Not only was it only at 500 meters last time,
On the basis of the distance to provide fire support from outside, they directly retreated to about 700 meters, and they would not even take a step forward even if they were killed.
Moreover, even an occasional mortar shell fired from the garrison position could cause his tank regiment to retreat several hundred meters. If Colonel Matsuda Iwa hadn't been supervising the battle here, he might have just defended it.
The dozens of mortar shells fired from the military position were enough to make the thick-skinned Third Tank Regiment retreat behind the headquarters in one go.
Putting down the telescope in his hand, Colonel Matsuda Iwa said to Lieutenant Commander Ikoma Hayashiichi of the Third Tank Regiment who was wearing the Japanese standard tank soldier uniform next to him: "Ikoma-kun, your tank regiment is so ineffective during the battle.
Your Excellency, Division Commander, where are the orders from the Kwantung Army?"
"Don't forget to break through the Twelve Tu front lines to attract the enemy's attention and ensure that the main force of the division attacks the Sunjiayingzi front line. However, the division commander personally issued the order. Whether this operational plan to attack the east and west will be successful is directly related to
Can the next overall battle plan of the Kwantung Army be implemented? Your regiment has assumed such an important responsibility, but it is so half-hearted during the battle. How can it be decent?"
"The 23rd Division requires your tanks to serve as the vanguard to create conditions for the entire army to break through the enemy's garrison positions. But when your tanks were covering the infantry assault, they stayed 700 meters away and bombarded them. The infantry was allowed to attack.
Under the enemy's fire resistance, they suffered heavy casualties and just cowered. Is this the behavior that Imperial soldiers should have?"
"Ikoma-kun, if you need pure fire suppression, the 23rd Division does not need the third regiment of labor tanks. The 23rd Division's own artillery is sufficient in terms of firepower and quantity. Simple
The 23rd Division itself can handle the task of fire suppression."
However, in response to Colonel Matsuda Iwa's severe reprimand, Ikoma Hayashi said indifferently: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, you are not unaware of the fact that the enemy has large-caliber anti-tank artillery. This kind of
The power of anti-tank artillery is even far greater than that of Soviet and Russian anti-tank artillery, and its huge lethality has been confirmed in the battle outside Linxi Airport."
"The Empire's latest Type 97 tank will be completely destroyed as long as it is hit at a distance of 500 meters. Not to mention that the tank cannot be saved, even the crew members will not survive. Such a powerful anti-tank artillery, no one else can
To say that the Empire is not equipped yet means that other countries do not have similar equipment. If we follow the division commander's request, we will not be attacking but committing suicide."
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, the entire Kwantung Army currently only has four tank regiments. And on the battlefield in Western Manchuria, our regiment is currently the only tank regiment. If all are destroyed, how will the 23rd Division explain to the base camp?
Is it beneficial to the Kwantung Army’s next battle?”
"Since your Excellency, the division commander, has always believed that the role of tanks is to guide infantry attacks, then when we launch an attack on enemy positions equipped with anti-tank guns, we also ask the infantry to help us clear out the anti-tank guns first. Since this attack is
The main force is infantry, but we cannot blame us for the unfavorable breakthrough of the infantry. We still have to find the reasons within ourselves."
"The Third Tank Regiment has used the artillery equipped on the tanks to provide precise fire support for the infantry attack at a distance of 700 meters, knocking out many machine gun fire points of the defenders. It has done its best.
.Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, cannot ask us to do something we cannot do."
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, at present the tank regiment has done what they can do. The remaining things are what the infantry should do. Moreover, the division commander's order is to move the enemy's reserves on the Linxi front line.
To attract them, we are not required to break through the defensive line of the Twelve Front Line defenders."
"Since the division commander's order is only to attract the enemy's attention, there is no order to break through the enemy's defense line at the risk of losing all the 3rd Tank Regiment. I think so far, the 3rd Tank Regiment has
There is no failure to do our best to complete the deployment of the division commander."
"If the division commander and the chief of staff believe that the artillery directly under the division can complete the tasks currently performed by tanks. Or the third tank regiment does not play any role here, then the third tank regiment can
Withdraw from this battle. Of course, if the Chief of Staff deems it necessary to report to the Kwantung Army Headquarters, then that is up to you."
Ikoma Lin's answer almost made Colonel Matsuda Iwa angry to death. By the way, you are here purely for sightseeing on the battlefield, not for fighting? Just fire a few shots far away from the enemy's defense line and you're done.
A mission? If it were such a simple mission, what else would you do?
The opponent is a ferocious and cunning army, and they won't take the bait unless you lay out enough bait. The reason why Your Excellency, the Division Commander, deployed the entire 3rd Tank Regiment in the direction of Twelve Tu is to lure the enemy.
All reserve teams were mobilized to create conditions for the main force of the division to break through on the front line of Sunjiayingzi.
When the division broke through the front line of Sunjiayingzi, it was the signal for the entire Kwantung Army to counterattack. If the old man was so ineffective, considering the enemy's cunning, could they take the bait? The enemy's reserve team could not take the bait.
If transferred to other directions, with the current remaining strength of the division, it will be difficult to break through the front line of Sunjiayingzi in a short time.
Without breaking through the front line of Sunjiayingzi, it is impossible to separate the enemy forces in Linxi from other enemy forces. On the entire Western Manchu battlefield, these enemy forces equipped with a large number of tanks, cavalry, and heavy artillery gathered together, making the entire
The Kwantung Army was like a thorn in the back. It even reached the point where it could not launch a counterattack on the battlefield in Western Manchuria without solving the problem.
Originally, the Kwantung Army had pinned its hopes on the 23rd Division to use the existing pre-set positions in the Linxi area to wear down this unexpected force of the Anti-Union Army, or even drag it down, or at least drag it down.
As skinny as a stick. Unexpectedly, the opponent ignored the fact that the outer positions in Linxi were still being fought over, and moved away from the surrounding areas to directly attack Linxi County, the core position of the 23rd Division in the entire Linxi area.
Once Linxi County is lost, the defense posture of the 23rd Division in the entire Linxi territory will be completely disrupted. And the loss of Sunjiayingzi's front line will cause the entire defense deployment of the 23rd Division to be divided into several major interconnected areas.
Several disconnected sections. In order to keep the core position intact, the 23rd Division, which originally retreated for defense, even though it knew that the opponent's move meant to lure itself out of the fortifications and fight in the wild.
However, Kanji Nishihara had no choice but to send troops to reinforce Linxi County. There was no way that the entire Linxi County was too critical in the entire defense posture of the 23rd Division. Once Linxi County was lost, the entire 23rd Division would be
The defense would be in danger of completely collapsing, which would also mean the failure of the 23rd Division's battle in Linxi County.
As a result, most of the reinforcements dispatched and the counterattacking troops in the city were wiped out in the melee. Not only was the 23rd Division completely damaged, but the core area of defense in Linxi County could not be defended. In the end, we had no choice but to
Retreat to the northeast and southeast corners of Linxi and try to continue to resist.
After Linxi County was lost, Yang Zhen did not know that Yang Zhen had arrived at the Linxi battlefield. This tactic of getting rid of the surrounding areas and going straight to the core was proposed by Lieutenant General Nishihara Kanji. Facing the dilapidated battle situation, I could only sigh in my heart.
The opponent's move is really sophisticated and more vicious. It can be said that this move comes directly to your waist, and you have to take advantage of it even though you know it is a trap.
Looking at the only territory he had left after the battle in Linxi County, Lieutenant General Nishihara Kanji lamented that these anti-resistance alliances were probably the most terrifying opponents of the Kwantung Army and would also be the most difficult opponents. The Kwantung Army was still weak when they were
At that time, the opportunity to catch them all was missed.
God once gave the Kwantung Army an opportunity, but it was because the Kwantung Army was arrogant that it gave up. For the current Kwantung Army, once the opportunity is lost, it will never be recovered. Who will win in Manchuria in the future? I am afraid it will never happen again.
The Kwantung Army will have the final say.
If the current situation continues to develop, not to mention that the Kwantung Army will continue to dominate Manchuria, if no measures are taken, it is still unclear whether it can continue to gain a foothold in the Northeast. Although there are many countries in the world, they have dispatched more than 200 tanks at one time.
But there are only a few who can fight in one direction. Even among the European and American powers, only a few have this capability.