Chapter 231: The Predicament of the Ninth Division
Du Kaishan felt that when they fought against their big brother, the Fourth Division, they had never captured so many people at once. The Fourth Division did not have a strong will to fight, but it was not as weak as this. The situation was right.
Even when times were unfavorable, we repeatedly made breakthroughs.
When they failed to break through, they also stubbornly persisted in resisting. They were definitely much more tenacious than the 44th Division. This time, the little devils laid down their weapons in an organized manner, with the strength of nearly two squadrons.
Even those stragglers who had been dispersed came over to hand over their guns when they were found without even having to greet them.
It wasn't until the interrogation report was handed in that Du Kaishan learned that these guys had not had a bite of food since the day they landed, and all their supplies were left on the beachhead, and that several villages controlled by the Japanese army on the Qikou battlefield were
The country was also completely cleared by the strong walls, not to mention not a grain of food could be found. Even the wells were all blocked or polluted in some way.
On the coast of the Bohai Sea, where brackish water is everywhere, although there is plenty of water, it is not easy to find drinkable fresh water. The wells are either filled to death, or they are filled with smelly fish, rotten shrimps, and even human and animal feces.
Within dozens of square kilometers around the entire battlefield, there was not even a human habitation.
If you don't surrender, you can only die of thirst and starvation around the battlefield. Death in battle is unacceptable, let alone death of starvation or thirst here? There is no need to look for those hungry and thirsty stragglers, facing the Anti-Japanese Alliance and the Bohai Navy District
The suppression troops came to surrender on their own initiative.
In addition to the 700 to 800 captured personnel of the 93rd Regiment, so many Japanese soldiers were captured on the front line of Sanhuzhuang. This made him somewhat doubtful whether his air fire strikes had much effect?
Otherwise, how could a reinforced regiment of just over 4,000 people capture so many Japanese troops in one fell swoop?
The entire 92nd Japanese Regiment on the front line of Sanhuzhuang, plus a total of more than 5,000 troops of the Ninth Division. After dispatching so many aircraft and intensifying the artillery fire of a large number of artillery, they actually
There were still so many people alive, and the number of prisoners accounted for nearly a quarter of the total force. This made him have doubts about the cost-effectiveness of his firepower deployment for the first time.
In fact, Du Kaishan is not surprised that there are so many Japanese prisoners this time. The Japanese army's front line is too long, and after many years of war, the loss of manpower is also too great. After many large-scale mobilizations, the country can
The quality of the mobilized troops is constantly declining.
The 44th Division was mobilized and established by the Osaka Division. Although this number is high, it was only completed in early 2004. Before the formation of the 44th Division, in addition to the 4th Division in the Osaka Division,
In addition to the divisions, three divisions including the 104th Division, the 34th Division, and the 68th Division were successively formed.
Among them, except for the 104th Division, which was the first batch of special divisions mobilized and formed by the Japanese army after the outbreak of the all-out war of aggression against China, the other two divisions were formed in 1942 and last year.
In addition to the supplementary troops mobilized for the Fourth Division, as well as the Ninety-Fourth Division, which was also formed based on the Osaka Division's jurisdiction, the elite soldiers and generals who had been in their prime years had long been mobilized and sent to the battlefield.
The rest are veterans who were mobilized for the second or even third time, as well as employees, vendors, and students who were eliminated from the first three mobilizations. If the Fourth Division is a vendor division, it is full of bargaining and only thinks about it.
They have the aura of a businessman who takes advantage and doesn't want to suffer a loss. Then the Forty-Fourth Division can be said to be composed of seasoned traders.
It is strange that these people have families and families, and the nature of Osaka people, they can fight to the death. But no matter what, they are all trained strictly by the Japanese army. It is one thing to be weak in fighting will, but military literacy is still common
That's right. When life is the first priority, some people will always find ways to protect themselves. So right now, Du Kaishan actually doesn't need to make a fuss.
However, for Du Kaishan, although the number of prisoners was a bit surprising, the entire army of the 44th Division was destroyed, and the Japanese Marines on the front line of Sunzhengzhuang also stopped resisting, thus completing his first phase of the combat goal. The remaining
The Ninth Division, which was still holding on to the front line at Hulangzhuang, was basically alone.
After completing the battle against the 44th Division, Du Kaishan did not hesitate at all. He immediately joined the troops fighting against the 44th Division in the siege of Hulangzhuang. At the same time, he also transferred 80% of the artillery in his hands to the siege of Hulangzhuang.
They arrived at the front line of Hulangzhuang, preparing to clean up the final mess and completely eliminate the Japanese troops who landed in Qikou.
Du Kaishan made preparations for the final general attack on the Ninth Division, and was sitting on the front line of Hulangzhuang. After hearing the gunfire from the directions of Sanhuzhuang and Sunzhengzhuang on both wings, which gradually calmed down completely, he knew that those two directions were probably completely gone.
It was over. Lieutenant General Yuan Shou knew that he was alone, but he had no choice in the face of the predicament in front of him.
It's not that he hasn't thought about breaking out, but breaking out in that direction is not something that the Ninth Division can achieve at the moment. Even if he goes to the seaside to encircle, all the ships of the navy and army will
Either they were sunk, destroyed in the Bohai Bay, or they had already retreated, there was no ship to carry them away.
Breaking through to the north is the depth of the enemy's occupied area. With the 9th Division's current remaining strength, breaking out to the north is asking for death. Breaking out to the south, friendly forces are still hundreds of miles away on the Leling line.
. Even if the 120th Division cooperates strategically with itself to a certain extent, it will not be able to coordinate and support itself at all.
The most important thing is that his troops are all infantry. On the terrain of the Bohai Plain of Mapingchuan, even if they can break out of the enemy's encirclement, it is impossible to outrun the enemy's tank mechanized cluster. If the breakthrough is in the heart of the army,
Once the enemy is overtaken by the enemy on the plain terrain and is already dispersed, being exposed on the bare plain will only lead to faster death. Racing against the enemy tank group on the plain is something that only fools would do.
.
However, all the friendly forces on both wings have been completely wiped out. The only one left is nominally a division, but in fact it is just a reinforcement of the regiment. It continues to be trapped on the front line of Hulangzhuang, facing the enemy's full-line attack that has completed its U-turn.
It just delayed a little longer. Once the enemy's hundreds of tanks pressed on the entire line, even the pressure would crush the small number of our own troops into pulp.
Previously, the enemy only adopted cannibalization tactics and did not put the main attack direction here. However, after dozens of hours of fierce fighting, the strength of the troops in hand was continuously weakened by the enemy's tank armor cluster, and one-third of the strength had been lost.
First, there is not much heavy firepower left.
From top to bottom, the Ninth Division has no confidence in how long the remaining troops of less than 3,000 can hold on after losing all support and coordination. The most important thing is that there are not many in the first place.
Carrying ammunition, after dozens of hours of fierce fighting, and with the embers basically consumed, everyone knew that the 9th Division's continued resistance was just lingering for breath.
Moreover, the limited supplies have been exhausted. The remaining troops are trapped on the Bohai Bay Plain, with no water to drink. If they persist, even if the enemy attacks, they will starve and the remaining people will collapse. They cannot be defeated.
, unable to hold on, unable to escape, this is the situation faced by the Ninth Division of Hulangzhuang.
Lieutenant General Yuan Shou, who was helpless in the face of the situation in front of him, looked at the enemy troops on the opposite side within the reach of his telescope. It could be said that he was adjusting his troops without scruples. A large number of tanks and mechanized troops marched from the front in front of the forward observation post.
The battlefields on both wings opened up.
Knowing that this time the enemy is launching another attack, I am afraid that it will not be the small-scale multi-channel attack before, but will gradually encroach. I am afraid that when the sound of artillery is fired, the enemy's attack will be overwhelming. The enemy has mobilized so much
With more troops and equipment, this is the final word.
It's just that the enemy is blatantly mobilizing troops right in front of him, but Lieutenant General Yuan Shou and his men are basically helpless. The entire Ninth Division now has very little ammunition left, let alone fighting a big battle.
A large-scale tactical counterattack, even if the enemy attacks, will probably last less than half an hour before all the ammunition is used up.
Even now, Colonel Yoshiharu Kakudo, chief of staff of the Ninth Division, has ordered all remaining ammunition to be used for some light and heavy machine guns. Fortunately, the three main infantry weapons of the Ninth Division can be used in common in terms of ammunition. If it were to be replaced
In addition to the Type 38 rifle, the Taisho Type 11 or Type 96 light machine gun, and the configuration of the Type 92 heavy machine gun, I am afraid that the heavy machine guns will have to run out of food.
However, even if all the ammunition is concentrated on a few limited machine guns, the Japanese troops on the front line of Hulangzhuang are still extremely embarrassed in terms of ammunition. The two heavy machine guns only have three bullet protectors each, and the five 99-type
The light machine guns each have five full magazines. The Type 99 rifle with the largest equipment only has five rounds of ammunition left in each.
All the grenade grenades were used as hand grenades, so only five people could be issued one. For the few remaining artillery pieces, there was no shell left and the breech block could only be blown off with a grenade. And it was issued as a new weapon.
The rocket launcher is a one-time use weapon. After dozens of hours of fierce fighting, the rocket launchers and one-time use launchers have also consumed their embers.
The most critical thing is that the maximum effective range of these rocket launchers is only thirty meters, and they have no time to play much role. If they are too far away, they cannot penetrate. When the calibrated range is reached, the enemy's infantry has already beaten the rocket launcher into a nest of ants.
The enemy's infantry and tanks cooperated extremely closely, leaving few opportunities for this rocket launcher with a range of only thirty meters to take advantage of.
Moreover, once this kind of rocket launcher is fired, the rocket launcher is immediately scrapped and cannot be reloaded at all. In the absence of new supplies or sufficient reserves, this kind of weapon is consumed very quickly. Dozens of hours of fierce fighting.
After coming down, the Ninth Division used up all the rocket launchers in their hands, but the results achieved were pitifully limited.
Hundreds of rocket launchers only damaged five enemy tanks in total. The results achieved were not as great as those 50mm anti-tank guns with only a few rounds of shells. This result made Lieutenant General Hara Mamoru, who was attacked by the base camp,
A weapon with high hopes, it can be said to be quite disappointing.
Faced with an unfavorable battle situation, and except for a small number of 50mm anti-tank guns, they were basically helpless against the rampaging enemy tank groups. The new weapons that had high hopes were not able to work at all, leaving Yuan Shou.
In his heart, the lieutenant general cursed at the weapons research and development department of the base camp more than once.
If the base camp can be less biased in weapon research and development, there will be no situation where such so-called new weapons are not as effective as meat bullets. If you have the time to introduce such flashy weapons from Germany, it is better to concentrate on imitation.
weapons to face these opponents.
An armor-piercing thickness of more than 100 millimeters is useless, and the effective range is only 30 meters. With such a short firing range, you think the infantry is a fool. What kind of weapon does the enemy infantry have in their hands? The rate of fire is as fast as that of a light machine gun.
Okay, with such a high density of firepower, if you have to fire from 30 meters away, isn’t it going to be used as a target for others?