The Kwantung Army has great expectations for this full-line counterattack, and their appetite is also quite big. What they want is not simply the restoration of the pre-war situation stipulated by the base camp. Their ultimate goal is to annihilate at least most of the forces of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, thinking that
Make preparations to regain Manchukuo across the board in the future.
However, both Umezu Yoshijiro and Yoshimoto Teiichi believe that the strategic intention is to inflict heavy losses on the so-called elite and elite troops of the Western Manchurian Resistance Alliance even if they are unable to defeat them. According to the current strength of the Kwantung Army, it is not enough.
Used, there are still considerable gaps.
It is precisely for this reason that both Umezu Yoshijiro and Yoshimoto Teiichi consider this battle to be the most important battle since the establishment of the Kwantung Army. In their view, the Kwantung Army must fight against several military forces with its existing strength.
The offensive in the direction of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. Under the circumstances of trying to keep Xinjing intact, they devoted all their efforts to the Western Manchuria front, but their strength was still quite insufficient.
Different from Naosaburo Okabe and Shinichi Tanaka who do not attach too much importance to Xinjing and believe that Xinjing can be completely abandoned when necessary. Whether it is Umezu Yoshijiro, Yoshimoto Teiichi, or even all the senior officials of the Kwantung Army, they have no regard for Xinjing.
They attach great importance to it. If they compare Xinjing with Western Manchuria, they would rather give up Western Manchuria than Xinjing.
Because in their eyes, Xinjing means the rule of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria. Giving up Xinjing means that the Kwantung Army has completely failed. Just like letting the China Dispatch Army give up Nanjing, Wuhan, and Peiping, which symbolize the imperial army.
Just like conquering the central city of China, they will not accept even temporary abandonment.
In the hearts of all the officers of the Kwantung Army, Xinjing is already equal to the life of the Kwantung Army. If Xinjing is lost, the Kwantung Army, which is invincible in their hearts, will also be defeated. If Umezu Yoshijiro and Yoshimoto Teiichi accept the base camp when necessary,
, we can temporarily give up the suggestion of Xinjing, I am afraid that their position will not be secure. I am afraid that the 226 incident in Tokyo will be repeated at the Kwantung Army Headquarters.
It is precisely because they know the importance of Xinjing to the Kwantung Army that Umezu Yoshijiro and Yoshimoto Sadashi will resolutely refuse to accept the suggestions from the base camp. And for them personally, if they give up Xinjing, it will undoubtedly be a great shame for them.
.Although the Kwantung Army headquarters has temporarily moved away from Xinjing, it is definitely unacceptable to them.
Xinjing is the capital of Manchukuo and the seat of the Kwantung Army's headquarters. Giving up Xinjing would be equivalent to admitting the failure of the Kwantung Army's rule in Manchuria. The foundation laid by the Kwantung Army in spite of the world's injustice is now with them.
To end it in their hands, for them personally, it will be something they cannot accept no matter what.
However, the war situation in Western Manchuria made them worried. It was not entirely because the base camp had to ensure the safety of the Beining Railway, but also because the battlefield in Western Manchuria posed a great threat to Southern Manchuria. Therefore, they made a plan to focus their counterattack first.
In Western Manchuria, on the battlefield north of Xinjing, water was used instead of troops to cut off the resistance of the anti-alliance forces and buy time for the next counterattack north of Xinjing.
At the same time, in order to achieve this strategic goal as successfully as possible, the Kwantung Army even ordered the defensive troops north of Xinjing to abandon the defense of Xinjing's most important peripheral platform and shrink all defensive forces to the fortification groups outside Xinjing.
The first is to use these inherent positions to consume the maximum number of troops and equipment of the Anti-Japanese Alliance north of Xinjing, causing it to lose its subsequent offensive capabilities.
The second is to attract the anti-alliance forces north of Xinjing as deep as possible to create a salient that is very beneficial for the next counterattack. Once the purpose of replacing troops with water is achieved, the entire anti-Japanese force north of Xinjing will
The anti-alliance forces will completely become a lone army unable to advance or retreat.
When the time comes, if they want to advance, they will have to face the solid fortifications on the outskirts of Xinjing. If they want to retreat, there will be a torrential flood behind them. Because the surrounding areas are too prominent, they will lose the support of friendly forces and become a lonely army. The Kwantung Army can take it easy first.
After encircling and annihilating their troops in Western Manchuria, they turned around and ate up the anti-alliance troops one by one.
In fact, Umezu Yoshijiro's deployment was neither a risky move nor a risky move. He knew that although the anti-alliance force north of Xinjing was not large, it was not easy to deal with. The troops who had previously broken through the frontal defense line of the Songhua River were
At that time, its offensive was fierce and its combat effectiveness was not inferior to several elite troops of the Western Manchurian Anti-Japanese Alliance.
At present, the Kwantung Army units defending Xinjing, except for the newly transferred Ninth Division, only have the remnants of the 28th Division that were compressed from the south bank of the Songhua River to Xinjing City, and the remaining troops of the 29th Division.
The main force. Although these troops are large, their organization seems a bit chaotic. The Ninth Division is just that. It has been recharging its strength before, and its organization and equipment are extremely complete.
However, the 28th Division that retreated from the front has lost two-thirds of its strength and almost all its heavy equipment. The total strength of the entire division is now less than 3,000, and only the standard five heavy machine guns are left.
1/2. Except for the grenade launchers, all artillery including mortars were lost.
The situation of the 29th Division is not much better than that of the 28th Division. The only consolation is that if you add the part of the 51st Division that followed the 28th Division, this
Nearly half of the division's total strength remains, and one-third of its heavy weapons remain.
The number of light and heavy machine guns is quite sufficient. If you add in the engineer regiment that has not been on the front line but has been completely retained, the 28th Division responsible for the defense of Xinjing in the west is still relatively complete. The Kwantung Army defending Xinjing
Among the three divisions, one is already dilapidated and the other only has half its strength.
The Ninth Division, which is the only fully-organized and well-equipped Ninth Division, is not only responsible for the defense of the urban area of Xinjing, but also for the defense of the east side of Xinjing and the Jilin railway line, as well as the in-depth defense of the line from Xinjing to Gongzhuling. In this way, the first
The Ninth Division could not concentrate all its forces to defend Xinjing.
In order to prepare for this counterattack, the 7th Division, which was originally fighting on the Lalin River front line, had intensively withdrawn to the Gongzhuling front line south of Xinjing for reinforcements as early as when the Anti-Japanese Alliance broke through the Nong'an front line. Update at this time
It has been transferred to the front line of Changtu and is preparing to serve as the first wave of main divisions to participate in the counterattack.
The entire defense of Xinjing can currently only rely on the Ninth Division. Originally used as the main force of the Kwantung Army north of Xinjing, the Seventh Division, which suffered heavy losses in the previous battle, was transferred to the rear for reinforcements.
This is also one of the main reasons why Ma Chunsheng's offensive went relatively smoothly after taking over from Du Kaishan to command the troops north of Xinjing.
Umezu Yoshijiro used these troops to defend Xinjing, which was a risky move in itself. Although the anti-alliance forces north of Xinjing were not as numerous as Western Manchuria in terms of tanks, they had more heavy artillery than Western Manchuria.
The anti-alliance forces, especially the number of 155 howitzers that pose the greatest threat to the fortification groups, are quite sufficient.
Once the Anti-Alliance Forces north of Xinjing tear through the peripheral fortifications, Xinjing City is likely to fall into a dangerous situation. Not to mention that Xinjing City is captured by the Anti-Alliance Forces, or that Xinjing City is broken into by the Anti-Alliance Forces, it will cause great harm to the overall situation.
of turmoil.
However, if the base camp does not agree to increase the strength of the Kwantung Army, if it wants to achieve the results it wants to achieve in Western Manchuria, the strength of the Kwantung Army that can be placed on the front line in Xinjing will be extremely limited. And the Kwantung Army will not be able to
In the case of increasing the defense strength of Xinjing, the only thing that can be relied on is the solid fortifications built outside Xinjing as early as when the puppet Manchus established their capital here.
Apart from this, the only thing that is beneficial to the Kwantung Army's defense of Xinjing is that Xinjing is the capital of the Manchu Empire and the core area of the Kwantung Army's rule. There are a large number of Japanese expatriates here. Among these Japanese expatriates, among the Kwantung Army
Under the deliberate operation of the country, there are a large number of so-called soldiers in the countryside. These people are a very rich reserve force in wartime.
Even those expatriates who are not soldiers in their hometowns can still be issued weapons and go into battle when necessary. These people who have not received military training are going to die if they are allowed to fight. But in the solid fortifications, it is difficult for them to fight.
Shooting outside is no problem. It takes a long time to teach someone to fight. If you only teach them to shoot a rifle, it is very simple and only takes ten minutes.
Without increasing the number of troops in the base camp, if the Kwantung Army devotes all its forces to the battlefield in Western Manchuria, and its entire counterattack cannot be coordinated, if Umezu Yoshijiro and his Kwantung Army want to defend Xinjing, this is the only thing they can rely on.
Two points. This is definitely unacceptable to the always steady Umezu Yoshijiro.
Therefore, in his opinion, if the destruction of the Songhua River embankment cannot be carried out at the same time as the counterattack in Western Manchuria, and his strategic goals cannot be achieved, the Kwantung Army will not be able to counterattack against Western Manchuria with its current strength.
It is impossible to ensure the absolute safety of Xinjing while carrying out the Western Manchurian War. And in their eyes, Xinjing must not be lost.
They knew that they couldn't have both, but they wanted to pick up watermelons, but they didn't want to give up cantaloupes. That's why they firmly opposed the base camp's proposal when the base camp would not send more troops to the Kwantung Army.
It is required to either increase the strength of the Kwantung Army, or wait until the weather improves and air strikes can be carried out before launching a counterattack.
It's just that the two men in front of them have actually agreed in disguise to the Kwantung Army's request for additional troops. Although they still somewhat disagree with launching a counterattack against Western Manchuria alone. But with this thing being quite affordable, the previous objections are naturally no longer allowed.
It will take effect now.
In fact, although both Umezu Yoshijiro and Yoshimoto Teiichi were very dissatisfied with the decision of the base camp. They believed that the requirements of the base camp exceeded the current capabilities of the Kwantung Army. But in fact, as part of the scheduled plan, several of their divisions
As early as midnight yesterday, the entire regiment had secretly moved to the designated area in Western Manchuria and had completed its covert deployment.
In order to ensure the success of this counterattack, the Kwantung Army even reduced 60% of its inventory of artillery shells and 80% of its artillery shells over 100 mm. As well as most of the field heavy artillery regiments and independent field heavy artillery regiments currently affiliated to the Kwantung Army have been
Transferred to the Western Front. It can be said that the entire Western Manchuria area concentrated most of the essence of the Kwantung Army and the mobilizable troops at this time.
In order for this counterattack to be successful, the Kwantung Army had already made a desperate effort. Not only did they mobilize almost all the mobile forces on hand, they did not even leave a reserve team before the fifth division arrived. Even if the defense was changed at this time,
On the eastern front, the 12th Division and the 57th Division, which took over from the 18th Division as the defense on the eastern front, frequently reported emergencies, but they ignored them.
Not only did they not pay attention to the emergency on the Eastern Front, they also transferred the heavy artillery units originally assigned to the two divisions on the Eastern Front. Not only the Eastern Front, but also the situation of the Tenth Army, which currently commands the first-line defense of Tongliao, is even more dangerous.
Umezu Yoshijiro also ignored the urgency of the Fourth Division.