This reorganized Ninth Division not only has the latest Japanese equipment such as Type 99 rifles, Type 99 light machine guns, Type 1 heavy machine guns, etc. throughout the division, but its non-commissioned officers are also extremely rare. They are all equipped with Type 2
Type submachine gun. Compared with other divisions that were formed later, this Ninth Division has many soldiers, who look like battle-hardened veterans at first glance.
The most critical thing is that the division is also equipped with a large number of rocket launchers that Chen Hanzhang's troops have encountered on the battlefield in northwest Shandong. Although the 50mm anti-tank artillery of the division suffered serious losses at the beachhead, it was still able to
It has a certain strength. From the first wave of offensive, it can be judged that the division has deployed at least three 50mm anti-tank guns on the front line of Hulangzhuang.
The mountain artillery regiment to which this division belongs currently has at least three Type 94 mountain guns, one Type 95 field gun and one Type 91 105 howitzer. Du Kaishan discovered this Ninth Division from the first wave of battles
Regiment, although there are not many troops left on the front line of Hulangzhuang. At best, it is just a reinforced regiment, but it is definitely a hard nut that is not easy to chew.
In contrast, the 44th Division is not only equipped with the old 38 rifles, Type 96 light machine guns, and Type 92 heavy machine guns. In terms of anti-tank firepower, it is still equipped with the old Japanese 47 mm
Rapid-fire guns, the largest number of anti-tank weapons are Type 99 anti-tank mines and anti-tank grenades.
Except for two 92 infantry guns and three mortars, the artillery has almost no artillery. Even the Type 1 rapid-fire guns it is equipped with only three. The most critical thing is the division's fighting will and fighting spirit.
The determination is far from comparable to that of the 9th Division. The battle against the 93rd Regiment has given people a sufficient understanding of the true combat effectiveness of the 44th Division.
By interrogating the prisoners, the identity of the 44th Division was found out. It was learned that the 44th Division was based on the Japanese 4th Division left behind. In addition to some reserve soldiers, a considerable number of the soldiers were
Veterans of the 4th Division who were mobilized for the second or third time. In other words, the 44th Division, who was raised by the same mother as the 4th Division, basically has the same virtues as the 4th Division.
With this result, it is better to explain how the two Japanese divisions that were supposed to advance together made such low-level tactical mistakes that one was faster and the other was slower, and the speed of advance and the intensity of attack were so different. It is better explained.
Why did the 93rd Regiment collapse so quickly? With this understanding, Du Kaishan immediately made up his mind that it was him.
First attack the 44th Division and the Marine Corps on the front line at Sunzhengzhuang, and completely isolate the 9th Division on the front line at Hulangzhuang. After all the meat is eaten, we can finally deal with the bones. Anyway, this is what happened to the Japanese troops who landed on the Qikou frontline.
If there are many, there is no need to consider Japanese reinforcements in a short period of time, and I can be quite calm in adjusting my deployment.
The Ninth Division must be fought, but if we pick this hard nut to gnaw on first, it will definitely waste a lot of time and energy and affect the progress of the battle. First deal with the Forty-fourth Division and the Marine Corps, these two soft persimmons.
.The Ninth Division is left alone and helpless. When the time comes, you can fight however you want.
Of course, the Ninth Division still needs to be taken care of. With so many artillery in his hands, he should give some special care to the Ninth Division and weaken its strength in order to finally completely solve the Ninth Division and lay down the foundation in advance.
Some foreshadowing. Du Kaishan decided to attack the 44th Division first, which destined these Osaka soldiers to have a difficult time in the remaining days.
After Du Kaishan completed the division of the two Japanese divisions, he turned his focus to the 44th Division. Under the attack of Du Kaishan's concentrated superior troops and firepower, although the division continued to resist, it could no longer form a
The overall combat situation, coupled with the fact that it itself has been divided, has directly fallen into the situation of fighting on its own.
By the evening of the battle, the main force of the 44th Division, which had suffered heavy casualties and was on the verge of collapse, had already fallen into a state of collapse. The entire position was attacked by the Anti-Alliance.
Under the cover of the aircraft fleet and artillery, the anti-alliance tank group rushed to pieces.
Although the captain of the 92nd Regiment, Colonel Ina Shigesei, after being cut off from the 9th Division, launched counterattacks in the north and east directions many times, first trying to join the 9th Division. During the operation
After the failure, he turned eastward, hoping to get closer to the 93rd Regiment that was heading towards Sanhuzhuang. However, all his attempts were in vain under the siege of the superior firepower and troops of the surrounding anti-alliance forces.
.
After many failed breakthroughs, the captain had no choice but to switch to a full-line defense, trying to rely on the small village of Sanhuzhuang to hold on. However, his men were already under the anti-Japanese air strikes, and they were about to lose their will.
To the point of collapse. After many attempts to get closer to friendly forces failed, the already low morale dropped to the bottom.
On the contrary, they cooperated with them in fighting, and the 9th Division, which was a guest army, fought extremely tenaciously. Although this division only had one infantry brigade, it refused to retreat but advanced when faced with the offensive of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, and continuously launched counterattacks.
.Even for a period of time, he was allowed to get close to the remnants of a brigade of the 92nd Regiment of the Northern Division, which gave him the feeling of being a guest.
But it only has the strength of one infantry brigade. Even if it has three heads and six arms, it is unable to save the day when the surrounding friendly forces are weak. After repeated attacks in the afternoon, this infantry brigade has been reduced to casualties and embers, and is no longer able to carry out any operations.
Action. We can only stick together with the remnants of the two squadrons of the 92nd Regiment and stick to a small natural village south of Sanhuzhuang.
After the infantry brigade of the anti-customer 9th Division lost its combat effectiveness and assault power, the Japanese army on the entire Sanhuzhuang battlefield was in chaos. Although most of the Japanese army was still resisting passively, it could only be regarded as a kind of
A desperate struggle.
Although it was getting dark, Du Kaishan had no idea of stopping or reducing the attack. For the remnants of the 44th Division on the front line of Sanhuzhuang, his order was just one sentence: attack, attack, non-stop.
Attack. No matter it is day or night, as long as the enemy does not stop resisting, the attack will continue.
However, compared to the smooth progress of the front-line battle in Sanhuzhuang, the battle in Sunzhengzhuang in the north to encircle and annihilate a special marine unit and the attached naval tank unit invested by the Japanese navy was not going very smoothly, and it could even be said that the fighting was not very smooth.
As expected.
Compared with the Osaka soldiers of the 44th Division, the performance of the navy, which was far smaller than his own, was much better. Sun Zhengzhuang, who was the first to attack, had been fighting hard for nearly a day, but the attacking force had not been able to solve it.
Problem. The navy on the front line of Sun Zhengzhuang is too stubborn to resist.
In fact, in this battle, the Japanese Navy invested in this special marine force to strengthen the group level, and the only tank regiment to form a mixed infantry and tank force to participate in the battle. The real purpose was naturally not to serve the army. To be precise, it was to test
The Marine Corps, which is being greatly expanded, has combat capabilities in defensive warfare and counterattack warfare.
The so-called Special Marine Corps of the Japanese Navy does not have a long history. It was not really established for a long time. The number of troops and equipment are not strong. And although the Navy also equipped it with mountain guns, armored vehicles and other weapons, the ratio of artillery to
Even more than the Army. In a series of offensive battles in China and the Pacific, it has participated in many battles.
But after the large-scale expansion, this is the first time to participate in a landing operation, especially the first time to participate in such a large-scale operation. That’s why the Navy sent this Marine Corps to participate in the battle this time to test the expanded Marine Corps.
The actual combat capabilities of the team, as well as the performance of some special equipment.
Although the Japanese Navy has a lot of impulsive generals, after all, the Navy, which has been exposed to the outside world for a long time, is not as conservative as the Army. In fact, facing the increasingly unfavorable war situation, the Navy has begun to prepare for the worst plan. Since the Fourth
In the second half of three years, the Marine Corps began to be significantly expanded.
And with fewer and fewer resources available, we have equipped ourselves with some new equipment as much as possible so that we can make all necessary preparations for a decisive battle on the mainland when needed. To send troops to participate in this battle is the navy.
A very important part of the overall preparation.
This is also the real reason why Major General Ogata Shinki so generously handed over the navy's precious marines and the only tank regiment to the command of Lieutenant General Hara Mori, an army bumpkin. You must know that even in the past, the navy
In cooperation with the Army, which does not participate in many ground operations, the Navy and the Army also do their own things. Let the Navy hand over its precious Marines to the command of the Army. It is a no-brainer.
This time the Navy sent the Marine Corps and only one tank regiment to the North China battlefield to test the combat capabilities of the newly formed Marine Corps. However, although the vision is better than that of the Army, after all, the narrow-minded nature of the islanders still took over.
Upside. There is still a lot of criticism among the navy about the fact that the navy spent money but ended up picking peaches for the army.
In particular, there are no large ports. Hebei is not far away from the Japanese Navy's largest base in China, Lushun, and is not far away in a straight line. The navy basically has no interests. There is still a lot of internal debate within the navy about sending the Marines to participate in the war, especially
The opposition from the Southern United Fleet was quite strong.
Under the circumstances of great internal disputes, the navy's final ground combat forces were only a reinforced group-level special marines, and of course the navy's only tank wing. You must know that the Navy Military Command, the original
The planned dispatch is the entire Maizuru Fort Special Joint Marine Corps, with a total strength equivalent to an army division of more than 10,000 people.
Of course, the Navy ultimately only dispatched such a small number of troops in this ground battle, and the Army also played a big role in it. The Army, which has already regarded the entire Chinese battlefield as its own territory, does not want the Navy to get too involved except the Yangtze River.
Beyond the coast, there are other parts of the Chinese battlefield.
Especially in order to win the navy's strong support for this landing operation, the army, which had given up a lot of interests in Shandong, absolutely did not want the navy to get involved in the Hebei battlefield. Regarding the navy's original overall plan, interference from the army
Quite a lot.
As a result, the Marine Corps dispatched by the Navy became the one with the weakest firepower among the Japanese landing forces. Even with the hundreds of sailors who escaped from the destroyed battleship and were armed with the discarded weapons of the Army at the beachhead, the total strength was
There were only two thousand men. Although they were equipped with six mortars and two mountain cannons, their firepower was still at an absolute disadvantage.
The most critical thing is that this Marine Corps does not have any anti-tank weapons except for two 94-type 37 rapid-fire guns. It is just the weakest in terms of strength and firepower, but this unit is responsible for the defense of the entire Qikou front-line right wing.
, the location is quite critical. In order to complete the complete encirclement of the Ninth Division, the Marine Corps on the front line of Sunzhengzhuang must be completely solved first.