However, it was also considered that Lieutenant General Eitaro Uchiyama, who was somewhat lacking in strength to complete the entire battle plan of the front army with the existing strength of the two divisions without redeploying the 48th Division, reported to the front army headquarters and requested
The 50th Division, which was currently attacking east of Pinghan Road, turned around and headed eastward.
Or the Sixty-fifth Division, which has now moved from Xuzhou to Yanzhou and has been temporarily transferred from the Thirteenth Army to the Twelfth Army, to participate in the battle. And the 114th Division, which is currently reduced to a brigade, can be shrunk back to the Yanzhou line.
Take over the Sixty-fifth Division. Try your best to concentrate the overwhelmingly superior forces on the battlefield west of Dezhou and east of Pinghan Road to defeat the anti-alliance forces in front of you in the shortest possible time.
Regarding Eitaro Uchiyama's request for instructions, Okamura Neiji considered it several times and finally partially agreed to his suggestion and transferred the 65th Division to Gaotang in an organic form. However, as for the remnants of Eitaro Uchiyama's General 114th Division, he temporarily
The proposal to transfer the downsized brigade to Yanzhou for garrison was not approved.
Instead, the Third Independent Infantry Brigade of the First Army, which is still in the Luyu border area, was transferred to Yanzhou to take over the defense line of the 65th Division. A certain scale of adjustments was also made in other directions to ensure that
After the Sixty-fifth Division moved north, the deployment of troops on the Yanzhou front line.
For Neji Okamura, who had a lot of dealings with the Eighteenth Army in North China and knew that this army has strong survivability, which is rare in the world, he absolutely cannot tolerate himself giving up a lot of interests, and even facing many parties.
The risk of accusations will force the Shandong Military Region troops of the North China Communist Army trapped in the Jiaodong Peninsula to once again escape from the blockade area he painstakingly built.
Because he knew very well that once the main force of the Shandong Military Region troops, or even most of them, were evacuated from the Jiaodong Peninsula and returned to the central Shandong Mountains, what irreparable consequences would be caused to the current lifeline of the Japanese army's north-south Jinpu Railway, and even to the entire northern Shandong and the rear of the battlefield in northwestern Shandong.
of destruction.
At the beginning, he withheld a field supplementary team for the First Army in order to use this field supplementary team to take over the 48th Division and continue to bear the responsibility of attacking Jiaodong if it was necessary to mobilize the 48th Division to the north of the blockade area to participate in the war.
The blockade of the area controlled by the 18th Army of the Peninsula.
Just considering that Yantai is the closest port to the current battlefield in Shandong, its strategic location is extremely important. Okamura Neiji also handed over the field supplementary team he held in his hands to the commander of the 48th Division, Lieutenant General Yamada Kunitaro, to attack Shouguang.
The front line to Yantai was tightly defended.
For Neiji Okamura, the Communist Army in North China is as serious a threat as the Anti-Japanese Alliance that has already reached the city. One is that it is well-equipped, well-trained, and has powerful firepower. New tactics and new tactics are emerging on the battlefield. Especially
It can be said that the use of tank tactics and firepower is definitely not inferior to any modern army in the West.
One is like a tarsal maggot, which cannot be driven away, cannot be beaten, and cannot be trapped to death, but it makes you unable to eat well, sleep restlessly, and makes you unable to live in peace all day long. As long as you are given a piece of land, even in a barren mountainous area
They can also survive. Once they take root, it will be the beginning of a nightmare for the local defense team.
Dealing with two different armies, Okamura Neiji did not dare to take anything lightly. Although the most powerful enemy at the moment was the resistance alliance in southern Hebei, Okamura Neiji still did not dare to have any intention to deal with the Communist army in Shandong.
Therefore, Okamura Neji accepted Uchiyama Eitaro's suggestion not to mobilize the 48th Division for the time being, but instead to mobilize the 65th Division to go north.
However, after meeting some of Eitaro Uchiyama's needs, Okamura Neji asked him not to wait for the arrival of all reinforcements before taking the next step. First, use the 100th and 118th divisions to attack Zaonan battlefield on the spot.
, we must not treat the entire 72nd Division as annihilated.
Under the urging of Okamura Neiji, in response to the current changes in the war situation on the Hebei-Shandong border, the Japanese army is closely and constantly adjusting its deployment. The 118th Division, which is closest to the 72nd Division, after receiving the order
The division commander, Lieutenant General Uchida Ginnosuke, ignored the constraints of the surrounding Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region troops, and used his 89th Infantry Brigade as the first echelon to launch an attack in the direction of Zaonan with all his strength.
It turned out that after accepting the mission, both General Okamura Neiji and Lieutenant General Eitaro Uchiyama repeatedly patted their chests and promised. But Lieutenant General Uchida Ginnosuke was still frightened, even though he was fighting in northwest Shandong Province.
. But he has always been cautious in his deployment. He is afraid that he, the bait used as bait, will be swallowed by his opponent in one go.
At present, the enemy did not attack him. Instead, he turned around and attacked the 72nd Division. Although this was undoubtedly quite good news for Lieutenant General Uchida Ginnosuke, he also knew that he was relatively weak.
The isolation situation has still not been completely changed.
Once the enemy has eliminated the 72nd Division, its next target is likely to be its own 118th Division. As a newly formed division with a two-brigade system, Lieutenant General Uchiyama Ginnosuke knows very well that he will consist of most of the divisions.
They have been mobilized for three times as reserve soldiers. A considerable number of officers are reserve officers, and there are even a large number of freshmen officers.
The infantry's light weapons not only lack the new 99-type rifles, but even the 38-type rifles are insufficient in number. The light weapons equipped are still mainly 30-year-old rifles in stock. Both firepower and real combat effectiveness are not as good as those of the 70-type rifles.
Second Division. If the 72nd Division collapses first, once the enemy turns to attack the 118th Division, then the 118th Division will be really tragic.
With the idea of killing rabbits and foxes mourning, Lieutenant General Uchida Ginnosuke worked very hard when rescuing the 72nd Division. The first step was to adopt multi-point offensive and group offensive tactics to outflank the 70th Division towards the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
The troops on the left wing of the Second Division launched a fierce attack, trying to establish contact with the Seventy-second Division in the shortest possible time.
Even behind them, the troops of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region who were constantly launching attacks around it did not care. They focused on heading northeast and attacked desperately. Under the supervision of Lieutenant General Uchida Ginnosuke, the division's subordinates
The two brigade commanders even went to the front line to supervise the battle in person.
It's just that this division, as a two-brigade system of the Japanese army, only has one brigade-level artillery team under its jurisdiction, equipped with eight Type 41 mountain cannons and four Type 38 field cannons. Although four mountain cannons were strengthened before the attack.
squadron, plus two 105 howitzer squadrons. However, compared with the artillery of the anti-Union blockade force, the quantity and quality are much inferior.
Suppressed by the accurate and fierce artillery fire of the resistance force, the offensive launched by the 118th Division was shattered like a tide hitting a dam. After two days of attack, it only advanced less than five steps.
kilometers. However, its own losses were quite staggering, and even a whole brigade was crippled in one day.
The 100th Division and the 4th Independent Tank Brigade, under the strict orders of Eitaro Uchiyama, strengthened four anti-aircraft artillery squadrons. With the support of the naval aviation, the two independent 4th Tank Brigade were
The team acted as the vanguard and attacked along the line from Gucheng to Zhengjiakou.
But as an artillery officer, Uchiyama Eitaro made a fatal mistake in using the Fourth Independent Tank Brigade. Lieutenant General Sakai Yasu's battle outside Baoding left an impression on him.
It was too profound. A fully-organized tank brigade was destroyed by the enemy's attack aircraft group at the assembly area before even firing a single shot.
No matter what, he could not allow the Fourth Tank Brigade assigned to him to encounter this result. He was afraid that this independent Fourth Tank Brigade would repeat the mistakes of the First Tank Brigade on the Baoding battlefield. He ignored the brigade.
The commander of the regiment, Colonel Hideki Takazawa, firmly opposed it, and the two tank regiments of the brigade were broken up into squadrons and assigned to each brigade of the 100th Division, ranging from one to two squadrons.
As a result, the ending of Baoding North Battlefield was indeed avoided, which would happen again. It also avoided the situation where too many tanks were destroyed by the Anti-Alliance attack fleet at once. However, a tank originally used for concentrated breakthroughs can exert greater power.
The brigade was reduced to pieces by him.
After each infantry brigade was strengthened by a tank squadron, its assault capability increased. However, its overall breakthrough capability was completely lost. At the same time, the dispersed deployment of this tank brigade also greatly reduced the
Facing the pressure of the Anti-Alliance Forces.
It was precisely because of his deployment that the latest Type III tank equipped by the Japanese army for this tank brigade, which was also the first tank used by the Japanese army to fight tanks, lost most of its original role.
Two consecutive tank battles broke out. The Japanese tank troops, which originally had the advantage in performance, were defeated in two consecutive battles.
However, the reason for such a deployment was not that Eitaro Uchiyama was too conservative in strategy and was unwilling to accept new tactics.
In fact, among the Japanese Army, which has always been known for its conservatism, Lieutenant General Eitaro Uchiyama, a former artilleryman, is a rare general who accepts new things quickly.
It was just that after the Baoding battlefield ended, but before it could start on the battlefield, the entire army was defeated by a group of anti-Japanese attack aircraft. The cry of Major General Ano Anri, commander of the first tank brigade, and the still dismissed Lieutenant General Yasu Sakai
That detailed report left a very deep impression on him.
Ever since General Okamura Neiji decided to put the 4th Independent Tank Brigade into this battle, Major General Ano Anri's report on the battle situation in Baoding North has been constantly showing in his mind. How to avoid Baoding
The situation on the Northern battlefield was repeated again, and it became something that Eitaro Uchiyama had been thinking about.
After thinking for a long time, Eitaro Uchiyama decided to adopt a decentralized deployment method. In this way, even if the Anti-Japanese Alliance's old tricks were repeated, the losses caused to the Fourth Independent Tank Brigade would not be too much at one time. At least the safety of the participating troops could be guaranteed.
Assault capability, and rapid maneuverability.
The most important thing is that in Uchiyama Eitaro's view, although such an approach may disperse the troops on the surface, in fact, when it is scheduled to be put into the battlefield and the front is not very wide, no matter which direction there is a threat,
Rapid reinforcements of chariot troops are needed. This chariot brigade, which does not have a very wide expansion area, can be regrouped as needed.
Anyway, these chariots can maneuver quickly. There are no natural obstacles blocking the planned attack direction. On the flat terrain, this chariot brigade is easy to dismantle and move, and it only takes a few hours to concentrate.
.Such a deployment method, although there are certain risks, is better than letting others take over everything.
Moreover, Uchiyama Eitaro did not completely dismantle the tank brigade. The two regiments and eight tank squadrons to which it belongs, in addition to the five tanks directly under the brigade headquarters, each regiment also has its own remaining tanks.
A squadron of light and medium tanks and a squadron of artillery tanks were dismounted. The motorized infantry belonging to the brigade was also left intact to the brigade command.
Only four squadrons were left after being dismantled, plus the fourth independent tank brigade of motorized infantry, which was entrusted by Eitaro Uchiyama with important tasks. It was not responsible for front-line offensive tasks, but was used specifically for mobile use. It was specifically responsible for dealing with the resistance.
Allied tank troops were used to ensure the safety of the infantry in frontal attacks.