Just when Yang Zhen seized this rare rest time to adjust his extremely tired body. At this moment, the Kwantung Army headquarters had been moved to Siping Street. Due to the unsmooth battle situation, the Kwantung Army was under great pressure from the base camp.
The commander of the army, General Yoshijiro Umezu, also had a bitter look on his face when he faced Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe of the General Staff Headquarters who came from Tokyo to supervise the war and Major General Shinichi Tanaka, Chief of Operations of the Headquarters.
This time, Umezu Yoshijiro also made careful preparations for the operational plan of luring the enemy deep into the country, using improvised positions and solid defenses to gradually consume the effective forces of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, and then concentrating on the second-line elite troops to counterattack across the board.
It is too in line with the usual Japanese character, but in Umezu Yoshijiro's opinion, it is undoubtedly the best choice.
In his opinion, his wings are full, and now there are the United States and the Soviet Union behind him, either overtly or covertly supporting the Resistance Alliance. Coupled with its own fierce fighting power, fighting to the death is not a good solution to the problem. Last year
Although he found Juichi Namada as his scapegoat in the autumn battle and did not let himself follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, it was undoubtedly a very profound lesson for him.
As a rare scholar-like commander among the Japanese army, Umezu Yoshijiro has always been very clear-headed. At least he does not have a body temperature of 60 degrees like his colleagues. As the supreme commander of the largest strategic group of the Japanese army,
Umezu Yoshijiro still has an objective evaluation of the current strength of the two armies.
Especially now that the whole of Japan is in a very delicate situation, Umezu Yoshijiro is not prepared to take the initiative to fight an offensive war in accordance with the Japanese army's consistent strategic thinking that offense is the best defense. In his opinion, if Kanto
Too much blood will be shed by the army this time, which will affect the fate of the Japanese Empire.
Therefore, after careful consideration, he chose to use the strong defense line built by the Kwantung Army on the south bank of the Songhua River since last autumn to weaken the opponent's effective strength as much as possible, and then mobilize subsequent troops to carry out a comprehensive counterattack, thus achieving the goal of solving Manchuria in one fell swoop
The purpose of the current predicament. Because in his view, the Anti-Japanese Alliance's lack of sustained combat capability is its greatest weakness.
If its equipment and soldiers suffer heavy casualties, and new reinforcements are mobilized to encircle and annihilate them, and completely wipe out one or more of their attacking forces, the current war situation will be changed in the shortest time. If judged
If we were more optimistic, reversing the situation in the entire Northeast War would not be a big problem.
For the current Kwantung Army, this kind of pre-emptive strike is undoubtedly the best way. Waiting for work and taking all means to weaken their continuous combat capabilities. This is the case for Umezu Yoshijiro and Yoshimoto Sadichi, the two giants of the Kwantung Army as early as last year.
A tacit understanding had been reached after the 23rd Division suffered heavy losses half a year ago.
For Umezu Yoshijiro, taking the initiative does not necessarily mean that he will be controlled by others. He believes that no matter how strong the Anti-Japanese Alliance is and how sophisticated its weapons and equipment are, there is still a certain gap between the foundation and the Japanese army. Especially the mobility of the troops, the Japanese army is even more
Far more than the Anti-League.
Although the Kwantung Army lost the entire north of the Songhua River, most of the railway lines were still in the hands of the Kwantung Army. Even if they were bombed by the Anti-Japanese Alliance, relying on the strong national power behind them and the capabilities of each railway regiment, they could still
It can be repaired in a short time.
Umezu Yoshijiro has always believed that in modern warfare, the number of troops and equipment are not absolute factors. Mobility capabilities at critical moments and the potential for sustainable warfare are the keys to victory. And in this regard, Japan is far ahead.
Regarding the Anti-Japanese League. What is fought in modern wars is national strength. In this regard, not to mention the current Anti-Japanese League, even their Chongqing National Government cannot compare with Japan.
Although it is a bit risky to use two to three divisions as bait to consume the effective strength of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the bet is a bit big. The bait is almost eaten up. The most important thing is that the Kwantung Army Intelligence Department has no
It was learned that the armored forces of the Anti-Japanese Alliance had suddenly expanded several times. This would undoubtedly cost the Kwantung Army, which lacked effective anti-tank weapons, more cost.
At present, the 23rd Division is already in danger under the impact of the tanks of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. As a tentative counterattack before the Kwantung Army's full-scale counterattack, it has almost concentrated the last remaining troops of the 23rd Division. So far, it has only recovered
After reaching the front line of Sunjiayingzi, it came to a halt due to the lack of follow-up troops and lack of troops.
Although the last remnant of the 51st Division is still resisting, the soldiers and ammunition are currently consuming the embers. In the words of the division commander, Lieutenant General Li Wangyin, the division has fallen into a desperate situation. The entire division currently only has troops left.
There are less than a thousand men, all heavy weapons have been lost, and light weapons ammunition has dropped to ten rounds per person per day. Two of the three regiment captains have been killed, and the entire division is on the verge of total destruction.
As for the 28th and 29th Divisions fighting north of Xinjing, they have been divided. The losses of the 28th Division have reached 70%, and the 29th Division, which is in the best condition, has also been divided.
More than half of it was damaged. Today, in Xinjing City, the sound of artillery coming from the north can be clearly heard. And just outside Xinjing City, a small group of anti-alliance troops have already penetrated.
Under the increasingly severe situation, in order to ensure the safety of the Kwantung Army Headquarters. Just the day before yesterday, the day before the arrival of these two base camp representatives who would have known what they were doing unless they were fools, the Kwantung Army Headquarters had to move from Xinjing to
Siping Street in the south.
Although the current battle situation is like this, it is part of the so-called plan of the entire Kwantung Army to lure the enemy deeper. But the situation has suddenly changed so badly, which is something that commanders at all levels of the Kwantung Army, including Yoshijiro Umezu, did not expect. This
It also caused Umezu Yoshijiro to hesitate before fully counterattacking.
Especially under the fierce impact of the armored cluster tactics adopted by the Anti-Japanese Alliance, in just one day, the forward positions that could have been held for a week as planned were completely broken through. On that day, the armored troops of the Anti-Japanese Alliance broke into the Japanese positions as deep as more than ten people.
km. The war situation deteriorated so quickly that the Kwantung Army had never expected it.
The Kwantung Army did not expect that the Anti-Japanese Alliance would avoid the 51st Division in front of Nanxing'an and use the layers of blocking positions set up in the Greater Khingan Mountains to forcibly connect with Outer Mongolia and penetrate Linxi, ruthlessly attacking the Kwantung Army's weakness.
He thrust a knife in. This knife was undoubtedly the most ruthless and fatal knife for the entire frontal deployment of the Kwantung Army.
It was this sword that made General Umezu Yoshijiro even more hesitant when he issued the order to counterattack. He could not turn a blind eye to the anti-alliance forces north of Xinjing and put all his effective forces in Western Manchuria. As the current commander of the Kwantung Army
Official, he will never tolerate Xinjing being lost in his hands.
If the situation in Western Manchuria is allowed to deteriorate rapidly, it will be even more fatal to the Kwantung Army's rule in Northeast China than losing Xinjing. If Xinjing is lost, at most it will have political and morale consequences for the Kwantung Army and the base camp.
It will have a certain impact, but it is not a fatal blow.
But once the Anti-Alliance takes hold in Western Manchuria, not only will Southern Manchuria, which contains the essence of the entire so-called Manchuria and the main population centers of Manchuria, be directly under the front of the Anti-Alliance. It will also connect the Kwantung Army and the North China Front Army.
The Bac Ninh Railway, the throat of these two Japanese strategic groups, posed a fatal threat.
And neither the Kwantung Army, the North China Front Army, nor the base camp would tolerate this kind of thing happening. As early as the beginning of the advancing army entering Rehe, the base camp had sternly warned the Kwantung Army. Even if the entire Western Manchuria and most areas of Rehe were
If it is lost, even if Xinjing is lost, the Beining Railway cannot be in any danger.
Of course, the base camp did not blame the Kwantung Army blindly. Although the Japanese have always been dishonest, they could not accept that others also dishonored themselves. While sending two generals from the General Staff Headquarters to Manchuria to supervise the war, the Japanese
Through the ambassador to the Soviet Union and the military attache of the embassy in the Soviet Union, people also raised serious protests against the Soviet Union's permission for the Anti-Japanese Alliance to use the route through Outer Mongolia.
Even when the Soviet Union is currently engaged in a large-scale war and the war situation is extremely pessimistic, the Japanese rarely resort to direct threats of war. The Japanese ambassador who went to protest told the Soviet Union that if the Soviet Union cannot give a
If there is a reasonable explanation, Japan reserves the option of using force to resolve the issue.
In the view of a considerable number of people in Japan, the Soviets, who have been defeated repeatedly in battles, are now unable to protect themselves under the fierce armored offensive of the German army. The Soviets, who need to fully deal with the western front, are now simply unable to deal with the Japanese attack from the eastern front.
Attack. As long as the threat is in place, no matter how tyrannical the Soviets are, they can only bow their heads.
Although the Japanese have not developed their own armored forces on a large scale, they are relatively clear about the amount of materials consumed by a large armored corps every day. The Japanese can easily calculate the amount of materials consumed by the Anti-Japanese Alliance based on the consumption of their own tank troops.
The consumption of anti-Union armored forces in Linxi.
They knew very well that the anti-alliance forces fighting in Western Manchuria, not counting the daily quantity of ammunition, but the constant consumption of fuel alone would be a very huge number. In the case that the direct ground communication line has not yet been opened, if the anti-alliance forces
If you want to replenish supplies for the troops fighting in Western Manchuria, you can only go through Outer Mongolia.
They believed that as long as the Soviets cut off the supply lines of the Anti-Japanese Alliance through Outer Mongolia, and the Anti-Japanese Alliance lacked fuel and supplies, their offensive in Western Manchuria would have to stop. And the few transport planes of the Anti-Japanese Alliance were simply unable to satisfy such a force.
The daily supplies required by the army are astronomical.
What the Japanese didn't expect was that when the Japanese ambassador to the Soviet Union protested to the Soviet Union, the Soviets also gave them a helpless answer. This move by the Anti-Japanese Alliance had not been approved by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was also asking the Soviet Union for help.
The Anti-League has negotiated and lodged protests, and has adopted corresponding sanctions against the Anti-League.
This includes the immediate termination of the sale of all supplies needed by the military and civilians to the Anti-Resistance Alliance, including all weapons and equipment, including all kinds of oil, food, medicine and other materials that can be used for military purposes. It also prohibits the Anti-Resistance Alliance from selling to other countries through the territory of the Soviet Union.
Import supplies and cut off the Anti-Japanese Alliance's supply routes through the Soviet Union and the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic to the troops under its jurisdiction.
As for the sale of tanks to the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the Soviets believed that the main tanks currently used by the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the T-26 tanks and the BT series fast tanks, were already second-line equipment in the Soviet army. The sale of these tanks to the Anti-Japanese Alliance did not violate
An agreement previously reached between Japan and the Soviet Union.
Since Japan has become an ally with Germany, it must be familiar with the tanks used by the Soviet army on the Soviet-German battlefield. It should be known that these two tanks are already second-line equipment for the Soviet Union. The original agreement stipulated that the sale of active service was prohibited.
weapons, but did not stipulate that the Soviet Union was not allowed to sell decommissioned equipment.
The Soviet Union has the right to sell decommissioned equipment that they think can be sold to any party according to its needs in certain aspects. As long as the Soviet Union does not violate the agreement reached with the Japanese, the Japanese have no control over this and have no right.