Chapter 247: The Kwantung Army, which is strong from abroad
Speaking of this, Umezu Yoshijiro said with a wry smile: "In the battle of Nomonhan, the imperial army fired one 150mm artillery shell, and the Soviet army could fire back hundreds of artillery shells of the same caliber. Wasn't the 23rd Division defeated?
Those who were defeated were simply blown up by the Russian army’s heavy artillery. [.Com text]”
"I don't care about the thin-skinned tanks of the Russian army, which are regarded as death by the Imperial Army soldiers. But their overwhelming artillery fire has caused huge casualties to the Imperial Army soldiers. Facing the Russian artillery, the Kwantung Army was unable to fight back."
"Yamashita-kun, you don't know that during the Battle of Nomenhan, the entire Kwantung Army's 150mm howitzer ammunition reserves were only 4,000 rounds in total. Even if they were all transferred, it would not be enough for the sixteen 150mm howitzers to participate in the battle.
Ten millimeter howitzers were used for five days. Commander Ueda Kenkichi lost the secret warehouse at Qunce Mountain and also lost 80% of the artillery shells stored by the Kwantung Army."
"The anti-Manchu armed forces in Jiangbei relied on the weapons, ammunition, and large quantities of military materials stored in the secret warehouse in Qunce Mountain to arm three divisions, and they were able to grow to the point where they could compete with the elite troops of the imperial army."
"You must know that Qunceshan Fortress does not count the 150mm heavy artillery shells. Among them, the reserve of only 75mm mountain artillery shells reaches 100,000 rounds. And after losing the largest secret warehouse of the Kwantung Army, the entire Kwantung Army
The army's 75mm mountain field artillery shell reserve is only 16,000 rounds, of which the most important 75mm field artillery shells only have 4,000 rounds."
"As for the Eighth Division you named, half of its troops have been transferred to the China battlefield in the middle of this year to form a new division and garrison brigade. Now there is only one brigade and half an artillery regiment in Manchuria. And the Eleventh Division
The division has not yet been replenished since it suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Qunce Mountain. And judging from the current intentions of the base camp, the four infantry brigades that stayed in Mudanjiang before the second division went north will also be transferred."
"Yamashita-kun, I have said this, and I have nothing to hide. In other words, before the arrival of the 14th Division, according to the current strategic reserves and actual strength of the Kwantung Army, before the arrival of the additional troops at the base camp,
, we are no longer able to afford any large-scale invasion and suppression operations."
"I can give you the rest time you want, but at least until the Kwantung Army this winter, the Kwantung Army will no longer be able to launch any offensive operations for the time being. Unless all the troops in southern Manchuria are mobilized, the lack of troops will always restrict our future.
The losses in the campaign for a period of time were too great. I did not expect the outcome of the second division to be so tragic."
"What I need now is not how to wipe out these anti-Manchu armed forces, but how to prevent them from continuing to expand and firmly control their current control area before the reinforcements arrive to meet the needs. Manchuria belongs to the empire.
The lifeline, and Southern Manchuria is the top priority. They must not be allowed to expand any longer."
"Ah!" Yamashita Fengfumi was startled when he heard Umezu Yoshijiro's words. During the two days after arriving in Xinjing, he had been following the commander's request, thinking about how to transform the Fourth Division and how to wipe out the enemy forces north of the Songhua River as soon as possible.
These are ruthless bandits. But today the commander told himself that he would be on the defensive for a long time to come.
Yamashita Tomofumi didn't know that just last night at the Tokyo base camp, because the Second Division's troops heading north were completely exhausted, Umezu Yoshijiro Shin proposed to increase the strength of at least two infantry divisions to the Kwantung Army, especially the last one from the Shenyang Arsenal this year. The request to allocate all quarterly production to the Kwantung Army sent a stern reprimanding telegram to Umezu Yoshijiro. The unusually stern tone in that telegram is still fresh in Umezu Yoshijiro's mind.
Umezu Yoshijiro could understand the anger of the base camp. Originally, the Second Division had planned to combine the 30th Regiment of the 2nd Division with the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Division and the 36th Regiment of the 9th Division into two The 18th Division. Now, of the 30th Regiment, only an infantry brigade remains in Mudanjiang. The establishment of the 28th Division, which was scheduled to be incorporated into the Kwantung Army, has been postponed. After adding the previous two The heavy losses suffered by the Fourteenth Division made the Tokyo base camp extremely dissatisfied.
If someone hadn't spoken for Umezu Yoshijiro beside the emperor, the base camp also considered that the Kwantung Army's continuous changes in commanders in the short term would affect the expansion progress. Based on the huge losses in the current campaign, I'm afraid Umezu Yoshijiro's results would not be good. He will be better than his predecessor Ueda Kenkichi.
The base camp not only severely reprimanded Umezu Yoshijiro in the telegram for losing troops and generals, but also told him clearly that since the battlefield in the pass is getting longer and longer, the number of troops has become extremely tight. The newly formed troops and various supplies must be Priority is given to ensuring the battlefield within the Kwantung River. As for the Kwantung Army, there will not be any expansion before the end of the year. If you want to add new formations, you can only wait until next year.
Although the base camp finally acquiesced to Umezu Yoshijiro's beheading first, and transferred the 14th Division, which was originally transferred to Manchuria for rest and recovery, to Jiamusi. However, the 50th Infantry Regiment was blocked and used to form the 29th Division. And the base camp repeatedly It was emphasized that before receiving direct orders from the base camp, the Kwantung Army could only allow the 14th Division to participate in the blockade mission and could not mobilize it to participate in the war at will.
Although the base camp did not say it directly, the meaning of the telegram also told Umezu Meijiro in disguise that the strict blockade he proposed before would freeze him to death and trap him to the west of the Songhua River, east of the Xiaoxingan Mountains, Laoye Mountains, and Zhangguangcai Mountains in Beiman. The plan for the small northern area has been approved. Although there were some detours, it was finally agreed.
At the same time, the Kwantung Army's plan to expand the Manchurian Army was also approved by the base camp. However, as the domestic mobilization has not yet been completed, equipment should not be thought about. Domestic production of equipment must be given priority to the newly formed divisions and regiments. To make up for the losses on the battlefield in the Guan Dynasty. As for the expanded tens of thousands of people, all equipment will be provided by the Kwantung Army itself.
Regarding this telegram from the Tokyo base camp, which was blocked and sent to Mizuo, Umezu Yoshijiro, who developed a persevering character due to the difficult living environment at his stepfather's house when he was young, was very angry about being slapped, but he had nothing to say about this Mizuo. Not any excitement.
He knew that the reason why he was spared was not only the mediation efforts of several friends he had made when he was serving as Army Vice-Minister in his early years, but also the former Prime Minister Nishio Hisao, whom he greatly admired when he was serving as Army Under-Secretary. Director Sugiyama Gen said something. Of course, the reason why the emperor did not punish himself severely was probably because he stood in the right position during the February 26th Mutiny.
However, although the base camp has made it clear that it will not increase troops for the Kwantung Army at least before the end of this year, Umezu Yoshijiro is not depressed, let alone indifferent. Because of his many years of experience in the Army Ministry in his early years, he has already knitted a series of
Zhang Houhou's human network. Those close friends in the Army Ministry had already secretly greeted him and leaked the base camp and the Army Ministry's huge military expansion plan to him.
Among the divisions to be formed by the Army next year, the 28th and 29th Divisions have been definitely assigned to the Kwantung Army. In order to strengthen the strength of the Kwantung Army, the base camp is considering changing the 14th Division that has already arrived in Manchuria.
In addition to garrisoning in Manchuria, it is also planned to transfer the Ninth Division and Tenth Division, which have been prepared to be transferred back to China, to garrison in Manchuria and place them under the Kwantung Army.
In addition, the base camp has decided to reorganize the 23rd Division, which had experience in mechanized combat in Nomonhan and the Soviet Army, into a mechanized division. In addition, the base camp is also considering forming the remaining troops of the 14th Division into a mechanized division next year.
The 51st Division and the 57th Division, composed of the left-behind troops of the 8th Division, were transferred to the Kwantung Army. At the same time, the establishment of five independent garrison units was added to the Kwantung Army.
While its military strength has been greatly increased, the base camp has also decided to increase the technical equipment of the Kwantung Army on a large scale. The base camp has decided to add a 240mm grenade heavy artillery regiment, a 105mm cannon regiment, and two more to the Kwantung Army.
150mm heavy howitzer regiment. One 150mm cannon and 300mm heavy artillery regiment.
In addition to the greatly enhanced artillery, the base camp has also decided to allocate two armored train groups, three tank regiments, a large number of anti-aircraft artillery brigades, and a large number of radio communication squadrons to the Kwantung Army next year. And all divisions will be established in peacetime.
Fifteen thousand people were strengthened to the wartime establishment of 24,000 people.
At the same time, in order to prepare for the war against the Soviet Union, the base camp is also preparing to add a flying group, three flying corps, two heavy bomber groups, three light bomber groups, three fighter groups, and a transport aircraft to the Kwantung Army in next year's military expansion plan.
Team.
The goal of the base camp is to gradually mobilize domestically. By 1941, that is, the year after tomorrow, the Kwantung Army's strength will reach at least 16 divisions and 750,000 people. There will be 14 field heavy artillery regiments, and the heavy artillery regiment will
There are three brigades and eight independent field heavy artillery brigades. At the same time, the number of tank regiments should be increased to nine, with a standard of 400 tanks of various types.
The number of flying units must reach more than 1,000. Among them, the number of reconnaissance aircraft, fighter jets, light bombers, and heavy bombers must not be less than 1,000. Moreover, ammunition reserves will begin next year, and they will try their best to tilt towards the Kwantung Army.
Although the base camp has not agreed to allocate the output of the Shenyang Arsenal in the last quarter of this year to the Kwantung Army, the base camp has decided that starting from next year, the output of the Shenyang Arsenal will be allocated to the Kwantung Army first.
Moreover, in view of the fact that the battlefield inside the pass has entered a stalemate stage, after two years of bloody fighting, the two sides, who have been exhausted from fighting, are unable to fight a full-scale war like the previous two years except for local battles.
The strength of the Chinese government forces, which have suffered severe blows from the Japanese army, has been greatly weakened. Although they are still resisting, they are no longer able to form a comprehensive counterattack against the Japanese army in the Guanhai battlefield. The base camp will no longer be able to launch from the Kanto area as before.
The military reserve allocates materials for the China battlefield. But starting from next year, equipment, soldiers, and material reserves will be tilted towards the Kwantung Army.
Of course, these equipment and troops are only on paper now, and they still need to wait until the domestic mobilization is completed next year. Otherwise, according to Japan's current production capacity, which has only completed part of the mobilization, if the artillery equipment alone is to be expanded to this number, we don't know how long it will take to wait until the end of the year of the monkey.
.
Therefore, Umezu Yoshijiro, who had already received positive news from within the base camp, was not frustrated because the base camp refused to increase the strength of the Kwantung Army. On the contrary, he knew that no matter whether the base camp would definitely go to war against the Soviet Union, when the opponent would decide to go to war, as a war against the Soviet Union
It is imperative to strengthen the main force of the Kwantung Army.
Although heavy losses were suffered in the previous stage of the campaign, the new troops allocated to the Kwantung Army that had been reported privately were still only on paper. But with the arrival of the 14th Division now, although his confidence is not that strong,
, but it can be regarded as making up for the vacancy in strength caused by the loss of the Second Division.
However, even if the 14th Division arrived, it made up for the vacancy of the Second Division. But before the new troops were formed or had not yet arrived in Manchuria, Umezu Yoshijiro was embarrassed to find that as his opponents became stronger and stronger,
Under this situation, although the current troops in Manchuria in Northeast China are more than enough to defend, they are not enough to enter.
The Tokyo base camp has drawn up a huge expansion plan for the Kwantung Army, but the Soviet troops on the other side of the Heilongjiang and Ussuri Rivers are not idle either, and are also constantly expanding their strength. Due to the limitations of national power and the ongoing battle within the China Pass,
The expansion of the Kwantung Army will not begin until at least next year. Jiangbei has been expanding its troops since the Battle of Nomenhan.
According to the current estimate of the Kwantung Army intelligence department, the total strength of the Soviet army in front of them is at least 600,000, and the number of tanks and aircraft is even greater than the Kwantung Army expansion plan currently on paper in the Tokyo base camp. Tanks alone
The number of vehicles has reached more than a thousand, and the number of aircraft is also more than a thousand. And this number is still expanding.
Facing the Soviet army with such huge numbers and equipment, the Kwantung Army simply did not dare to take it lightly. The Eighth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Divisions deployed on the Manchurian-Soviet border, especially in the Northeast Manchuria area with relatively flat terrain, did not dare to take it lightly.
Mobilization. After the Second Division was disabled, only four infantry brigades in Mudanjiang remained. The Kwantung Army had lost its last mobile division.
The fourth division is still unable to hold up the wall. The Kwantung Army, which has no reserve, dare not easily use the three divisions. Otherwise, if something happens in the Northeast Manchuria area, most of the border fortresses have not yet been completed.
, even if the construction of Fujin Fortress has just begun and is still far away from being put into use, except for a small number of border guards, the Kwantung Army will have no force to resist.
What's more, the Vietnam War force currently entrenched in the Sanjiang area is getting stronger and stronger, and is now even capable of defeating the anti-Manchu armed forces of a division of the Imperial Army. Judging from the limited information currently available, this anti-Manchu armed force has already
It has reached at least 50,000, and the number of mountain field guns of various calibers has reached nearly a hundred. There are even field heavy guns.
Full mobilization is far from being completed at home. We are now facing hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops externally, and we have another well-equipped, numerous, and powerful opponent internally. In fact, we are already being attacked on both sides, and our troops are no longer sufficient.
The Kwantung Army under the current situation cannot be fully replenished.
General Umezu Yoshijiro believed that he would temporarily adjust his tactics, replace the mobilization of heavy troops for clearing with a tight blockade, and weaken the opponent's combat effectiveness with hunger and cold. Lure him to go south for food and supplies, leave his base area, and then use the fortified city to wear away his strength bit by bit.
Still appropriate.
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