In the view of Major General Watanabe Hiroshi, the emergence of this situation also left a fatal weakness for the Japanese army to counterattack when necessary. According to the Imperial Army's many years of experience in the China battlefield, there are generally disputes within the China armed forces. Even though
They are friendly forces on the same side, and the gap between them is quite large. It has become a common practice between them not to rescue each other.
On the battlefield in China, the Imperial Army took advantage of the mutual wariness between the various factions in China and defeated the enemy many times. Internal disunity and mutual support were a common weakness of the China army. A Chinese person may be like a dragon.
But a group of Chinese people are just a bunch of worms.
Armed forces of the same organization often have internal coordination problems, let alone two troops with different organizations. Working together will definitely not be as smooth as it seems on the surface. If all Chinese people can act like
If the Imperial Army cooperates so closely with each other on the battlefield, then the Imperial Army will not occupy most of China in such a short period of time.
The national characteristic of the Chinese people is that they are more than willing to fight internally and not enough to fight externally. This is a common phenomenon among them and is not a characteristic unique to any one aspect. The Communist Army of China is also composed of Chinese people. As long as it is a Chinese people,
Then this problem is definitely unavoidable.
This is not a random guess or an unfounded inference by him when he crossed the ocean. It has been clearly reflected in the large-scale raids carried out by the North China Front Army against the Communist Army of China and the so-called base areas behind enemy lines last year. In North China,
It can be said that there is no concept of cooperation among various departments in terms of operational coordination.
The North China Front Army carried out a large-scale sweep of its Jizhong Military Region. The troops of the Southern Hebei and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Regions were just around the corner. There was no response at all. They did not provide any cooperation during the battle and sat back and watched what they called the Jizhong Military Region.
The military region was wiped out by the North China Front Army in one go.
This allowed the North China Front Army to relatively smoothly mop up the Central Hebei Communist Army and completely destroy the main source of supplies for the entire North China Communist Army. For another major sweep last winter, it completely destroyed its so-called base areas in North China, creating an extremely
Good conditions.
Judging from the battle situation of the North China Front Army last year, the China Communist Army must also be full of contradictions, but it is not as obvious as the Chongqing Front Army. If this point is taken advantage of, as long as the preparations are sufficient and the attack is accurate, the current Fourth Army
There is still room for a counter-attack.
It's just that Major General Tobeyo, who has never fought against the North China Army in the base areas behind enemy lines, and has never even fought against the Anti-Japanese Alliance before, makes this judgment a bit too idealistic. Last year, when the North China Front Army conducted a large-scale raid on the base areas behind enemy lines in North China, North China
The main forces in the two base areas have formed an advancing army and are heading north.
Most of the troops left behind were newly upgraded local armed forces after the main force moved north. The remaining main force were also the troops that suffered heavy losses during the Hundred Regiment War and had not yet been fully replenished. Both their equipment and combat effectiveness had dropped significantly.
.The remaining troops are more than capable of protecting themselves, but lack offensive capability.
It is already quite difficult to secure and maintain the old base areas in the mountainous areas, and there is no ability to rescue the Jizhong base areas. Especially in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, from the chief officer of the military region to the chief officer of the military division below, either the original chief officer is not there or the original chief officer is not there.
After entering the army, they were newly reported or transferred.
Even after the Japanese army's major sweeps began, the military division commander was still vacant, with only a political commissar or chief of staff in charge of the work. The lack of a military chief made the units at all levels below have difficulty in response speed and combat effectiveness.
To a certain extent, it has declined even more.
The Southern Hebei Military Region itself is not very strong, and it is located in a place of four battles. It is faced with attacks from three sides by the North China Front Army and the Japanese Army along the Jinpu Road. The center and the Jizhong Base Area are separated by a large Japanese-occupied area.
The equipment itself is worse than that of the old army, and it is even less capable of rescuing Jizhong.
In addition, the overall communication level of the army is lagging behind, and the regions that have been fighting independently for a long time also lack cooperation and have the habit of horizontal communication. At the same time, there are also a lot of problems in judging the enemy's situation and other aspects of the problem.
It was because of this problem that the entire Jizhong Military Region did not receive any cooperation in the raids.
It is not that the conflicts and factional strife between the various troops in the pass lead to a desperate situation. The troops in North China are different according to which division they developed, and even as far back as the Red Army period, which front army and which legion. They do have factions.
, also have their own hills, and are far and near from each other.
But externally, they are still unanimous as never before. Countless bloody experiences in the past have taught these generals at all levels who have been forced to go into ravines and fight guerrillas that no matter what kind of internal conflicts there are, only by uniting as one externally can they ensure their own safety.
survival and development.
When friendly forces are in trouble, they remain motionless. This is the behavior of certain parties. The anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines do not have these problems. Although the two armies still behave in separate battles on various battlefields, this is due to
It is due to special reasons and is not caused by conflicts between factions.
The most critical thing is that both the two veterans who advanced into the army and Yang Zhen who resisted the alliance gave the other side the authority to directly command their surrounding troops when necessary before this battle. This was repeated again and again at the pre-war mobilization meeting.
It has been emphasized that in order to avoid disobeying the command, each of them issued death orders to the commanders at the division and brigade level of their respective troops.
If you disobey the other party's command on the battlefield, you will be subject to the strictest Party discipline and military discipline. The political commissar of the advancing army directly told the cadres above the regiment that when assigned to the anti-alliance war, if someone disobeys the order or violates it directly, he will be punished directly
If you are expelled from the Party, all positions will be removed. And if you are expelled from the Party, you will never be reinstated.
Yang Zhen's attitude is even tougher. When the two armies are cooperating in combat, if they are assigned to the troops of the Advance Army and do not obey the command of the Advance Army, no matter how high the position or seniority, it will be regarded as a battlefield mutiny. You are here
You can have opinions on the battlefield, but your opinions will be discussed after the war.
On the battlefield, orders and the battle situation are everything. No matter who it is, as long as it affects the development of the battle situation, the headquarters will not show mercy. Because this battle is related to the battlefield inside and outside the pass, whether it can form a truly key battle as a whole.
The headquarters will not allow anyone to do anything that jeopardizes the progress of the war.
There are two orders here with infinite murderous intent hidden behind them. Whether it is the cadres at all levels of the Anti-Japanese Alliance or the advancing army, who dares to disobey orders on the battlefield or violate them in disguise? What does it mean to treat it as a battlefield mutiny? That can be done directly on the spot.
Executed by firing squad? And what is permanent expulsion from the party? It is the loss of political life.
In addition, both Yang Zhen and the two veterans who advanced to the army were relatively cautious in the use of the opposing troops under their command. The two troops also had many confrontations at the end of last year and the beginning of this year.
In terms of coordinated drills and overall cooperation between the two armies, at least so far, there has been no estrangement, and the smoothing out of the command relationship has been quite smooth.
At the same time, in order to strengthen command and coordination, the Anti-Japanese League issued horizontal liaison instructions to the advancing army columns and brigades in Suidong, Shanxi and Northern Shanxi battlefields, and Jehol battlefields adjacent to the battlefields of the advancing army, and to the division-level of the anti-Japanese war participating troops.
Password. Special code books were also issued among the columns. At the same time, the division level in the northern Shanxi battlefield and the Jehol battlefield also issued special passwords for communicating with the headquarters of the advancing army.
Of course, there are still small frictions and mutual dissatisfaction, but when it comes to the judgment of Major General Watanabe Hiroshi, there is still a big difference. And even if there is mutual dissatisfaction, it is all in private on the battlefield, and no one dares to hang it.
Talk it out and put it into action.
Most of Major General Tobehiro's other judgments were accurate. However, his judgment on the coordinated operations of the two armies was based too much on past experience. Especially last year's large-scale raids by the Japanese army in North China did give various base areas in North China a
The remaining troops and various base areas suffered huge losses.
However, the experience gained by the Japanese army is not always correct. Based on this experience, it is too wishful thinking to judge that there are problems between the advancing army and the coordinated operations of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. However, this stubborn Major General Watanabe Hiroshi always believed that he
This judgment is accurate.
Especially in this battle, the Anti-Japanese Alliance was responsible for the two ends, and the advancing army composed of troops from various base areas in North China was responsible for the middle. The two battlefields are almost distinct and have their own command systems. Even the Jehol battlefield is the only one where the two armies cooperate.
The situation of two command systems, each responsible for one task, made Major General Watanabe Hiroshi more convinced of his own judgment.
It was based on this judgment that Major General Watanabe Hiroshi suggested that the Eighth Division regiment headquarters plus the defenders and an infantry brigade should be used to defend Chaoyang with all their strength. Although there were not many defenders, there was only one infantry brigade. However, the Eighth Division regiment headquarters still had an infantry brigade.
The search squadron, two engineering squadrons, and the main force of the baggage regiment are also in Chaoyang City.
In addition to the scattered non-combatants such as an artillery regiment, a field hospital, and a field epidemic prevention and water supply department, Chaoyang City has a considerable number of troops that can be used for defensive operations.
Although some troops cannot engage in field combat, they still have the ability to hide in fortifications and shoot.
In the Beipiao battlefield, we took advantage of the situation where two enemy troops broke in alone and mobilized surrounding garrisons to first deal with the enemy with only one regiment in the southern part of Beipiao County. Although Chaoyang and Beipiao could not allocate troops at the moment, in Yixian
, Jinzhou, Xingcheng, Jinxi, Suizhong, and Huludao, the Fourth Army can at least piece together the strength of two infantry brigades.
Although these troops are all garrison, military police, and even mine police and factory guards, they lack heavy equipment such as artillery. However, they are also troops of the Imperial Army and have completed all military training. When necessary,
There is no problem in pulling it out to fight.
In particular, there are two bridge-building engineering squadrons and two railway engineering squadrons in Jinzhou. There are two tunnel engineering squadrons and an independent river-crossing engineering squadron in Huludao. These are all soldiers who can be effectively utilized. As for the shortage of light weapons, it is completely
You can replenish weapons and equipment from Jinzhou Arsenal.
Moreover, there are a large number of Japanese railway police and Manchu armed police on this front line. These people can be brought to the battlefield when necessary. When Chaoyang and Beipiao were attacked at the same time, the enemies on the Beipiao battlefield were also eliminated.
. Take advantage of the enemy's lone attack in the southern part of the Beipiao battlefield, mobilize all the troops that can be mobilized, and use all your strength to eliminate the enemy's entire regiment.
As for the defense gaps left by the removal of the garrison troops from these places, Major General Tobeyo does not think it is a big deal. The enemy's military strength has now been used to the extreme, and it has reached its limit as far as Chaoyang and Beipiao.
, simply have no ability to threaten the security of these places.
If we can defeat the enemies of Beipiao and Chaoyang in one battle, and break off an arm and a thigh of the enemy in the Western Liaoning battlefield, even the possible threats to these places can be completely eliminated, and there will be nothing to worry about. So.
Major General Du Beiyang suggested that the troops in Jinzhou, Xingcheng, Jinxi, Huludao, Suizhong and other places should be concentrated as much as possible and go north to participate in the war.