The group of fortifications built with great effort by General Umezu Yoshijiro once blocked enemy tank groups from interspersed operations during the battle in the first half of this year. After General Yamada Otsuzo took office, it was further strengthened on a large scale. General Yamada Otsuzo, General
Two-thirds of the troops directly under the engineering corps were transferred to the center-line battlefield.
Even the Kwantung Army allocated most of the cement reserves to the center line cluster to strengthen this defense line. On the basis of the original fortifications, some reinforcements were made. And the second and third lines of defense, especially the combination of the two armies, were
Department, based on previous combat experience, has made a lot of modifications.
Although they are not as solidly built as those fortress groups in Northern Manchuria, these permanent fortification groups, semi-permanent fortification groups and fortification areas are enough to defeat a large-scale enemy force even according to the standards of the German army on the Soviet-German battlefield.
Under the tank group offensive, it persisted for more than half a year.
But now these permanent fortification groups, which General Yamada Otsuzo had placed high hopes on, were turned into an ant's nest by the enemy in such a short period of time. When did the enemy army equip so many heavy artillery, the Kwantung Army
intelligence department, but received no information at all.
What makes Qin Yansaburo even more depressed is that the two most powerful super heavy artillery used by the enemy on the center line battlefield were actually manufactured by the empire and shipped to Northern Manchuria. They were originally intended to be used in the battle against the Soviet Union. But now, they are used by the enemy.
Qin Yanzaburang is still aware of the power of these 280mm heavy howitzers. All the fortifications on the entire center line battlefield, even if they are strong, cannot withstand a single bombardment of these super heavy artillery shells.
And until these heavy artillery clusters appeared on the battlefield, the Kwantung Army, which had no ability to manufacture such super heavy artillery shells at all, did not know that the enemy had restored all these super heavy artillery shells under the solemn guarantee of the intelligence department.
combat effectiveness.
Not only has the combat effectiveness been restored, but they have also obtained a large number of howitzers with a caliber of more than 200 mm from where they did not know. It is the addition of these super heavy artillery that directly led to the sudden resistance in the first half of the year.
The defense line that held back enemy tank groups' attacks in turn was completely broken through in a short period of time.
Judging from the intelligence coming from various divisions on the front line, these large-caliber artillery were obviously used to deal with the concrete-destroying bombs of the permanent fortification group. And these large-caliber howitzers were not discovered until they were pulled to the battlefield. He
Qin Yansaburo had been the general manager of intelligence collection on the Soviet Union at the General Staff Headquarters for many years. Did he really think he didn't recognize these Soviet-made 203 howitzers, known as Stalin's Hammers?
There is also the large-scale airborne operations currently being carried out by the enemy on the second line of the Liaodong battlefield. The intelligence department of the Kwantung Army has never obtained any information on when these enemy paratroopers were formed and how large they were. Even the enemy has already formed them.
Paratroopers, who have actual combat capabilities, have never been able to figure it out. Such a huge intelligence error can be said to be a fundamental reason why the war situation deteriorated so quickly.
Qin Hikosaburo was also quite angry about the continuous mistakes of the intelligence department. But compared to General Yamada Otsuzo who was furious and no longer had the demeanor of a general at this time. He was thinking more about how to make up for the current front.
The loopholes that appear on the battlefield. The most fundamental thing is what to do to contain the enemy's next offensive.
The center line cluster is now divided by the enemy forces and must be rescued. These two armies currently account for half of the Kwantung Army's strength. If they sit back and watch them be completely annihilated, then the Kwantung Army will be completely defeated. But how? To rescue him, Qin Yansanlang repeatedly considered the situation, but he really couldn't find any reinforcements that could be mobilized.
The two divisions that were originally on the line from Gaiping to Dashiqiao have now all been transferred north. Except for the seventh division, which is heading north at full speed and is trying to regain the line of Anshan. Another division is rushing towards Liaozhong to meet the merging troops. The Fifth Army, cooperating with Xinmin's front line, counterattacked in the direction of Shenyang.
However, the attack speed of these two divisions can be said to be quite slow. As soon as the Seventh Division passed Haicheng, it encountered extremely stubborn resistance from the enemy. The two armies were at Tanggangzi between Anshan and Haicheng, between Dacheng and Dacheng. During the period, a tug of war continued. Although the 7th Division tried its best, all its offensives were basically in vain due to the enemy's constant tank attacks.
The enemy force even used tanks as the guide to break through the defenses of the seventh division from the left wing and almost broke into Haicheng. Once Haicheng was occupied by the enemy, not only would the seventh division be unable to provide If you provide any support to the midline battlefield, you will also become one of the rescue targets.
An independent tank brigade that cooperated with the 7th Division's counterattack was no match for the enemy's tanks with better performance. In just one day, although it showed that it was no match for the enemy's powerful tanks, it had also been defeated by the Kanto The army placed high hopes on an independent tank brigade, but it turned into more than a hundred piles of burning scrap metal.
The performance gap between the tanks on both sides is too big. The performance comparison between the 50mm tank gun and the 75mm and 76mm tank gun is really no match. Although some enemy tanks were destroyed, in this tank battle, However, the losses caused to the Kwantung Army are irreparable. The Seventh Division was blocked south of Anshan and is now almost unable to move forward.
The other one passed through Taian and along the west bank of the Liao River, just like the division that was advancing rapidly in central Liaoning. Starting from Yingkou, it was besieged by enemy aviation all day long. A large number of attacking aircraft groups, like a swarm of locusts, were flying around the division all day long. The regiment's head was hovering. As long as there was any movement on the ground, there would be overwhelming bombing and strafing.
Before the division reached Liaozhong, it was attacked by enemy bombers and lost nearly one-third of its troops, as well as almost all of its heavy equipment and trucks. The Third Army was now in the Huanren Mountain area. The enemy troops that were killed were entangled in the battlefield north of Benxi Lake on the Anfeng Railway. Not to mention rescue in other directions, even dealing with the enemy troops in front of them was quite difficult.
The aviation units of the last two teams invested by the Kwantung Army were also attacked by the enemy fighter groups. Not only were they unable to fulfill the Kwantung Army's expectations of supporting an air protection network for the frontline troops. Even the airports on the frontline were under enemy attack. Under the suppression of the army's absolutely superior aviation force, it was also transferred repeatedly.
The Japanese Empire, fighting on all sides, could no longer sustain the huge consumption of the war. It was increasingly difficult to replenish the Kwantung Army's aviation combat aircraft and pilots. The only remaining veteran pilots were transferred back to the homeland to take charge of the bombed-out homeland air defense. Combat. Those hastily trained rookies had almost no survivability, and some were even shot down as soon as they took to the skies.
After losing air supremacy, the Kwantung Army's life was almost like an old lady's New Year's Eve. Every day was getting worse. The enemy's bomber group was even unscrupulous. They broke into the Kwantung Army's rear area directly, bombing wherever they wanted, and attacking wherever they wanted.
Attacking there, the aviation force has no power to fight back.
In addition to the quality of the pilots, which is far from meeting the needs of the battlefield, what puzzles the entire Kwantung Army is how the enemy can observe its combat aircraft fleet in such detail. As soon as all the fighter jets take off, the entire intelligence is revealed to the enemy.
The military is in control. From the number of dispatched fleets to the flight altitude and flight direction, it seems as if they are always being watched.
Every time the aviation unit participated in the war, it was like being sent to the door to be beaten. Even though the performance of the aircraft was not bad, it repeatedly failed in air battles. The Kwantung Army Aviation Corps, whose own strength had already declined, was here.
Under such circumstances, he is no match.
According to Qin Yansaburo's estimation, if the Kwantung Army wants to change its current decline, it will need to add at least three to five divisions and a large number of aviation forces. This may be possible. But Qin Yansaburo is very clear that there is a military panic at the moment, and has even been
From the base camp where troops were initially mobilized from the Kwantung Army, it was no longer possible to add any divisions to the Kwantung Army.
Even the Korean army behind the Kwantung Army was entangled in North Korea amid constant enemy attacks on the Korean Peninsula, unable to divide its forces to reinforce the Kwantung Army. The most critical thing was that the entire Japanese-controlled area on the Korean Peninsula was
All railways and roads were subject to extensive enemy bombing.
Even if the North Korean army, whose main force is in southern Korea, wants to withdraw to reinforce the Kwantung Army, it is basically impossible in a short time. Moreover, when there are enemy troops in North Korea, neither the base camp nor the North Korean army wants to be mobilized.
troops to support the Kwantung Army.
After calculating and calculating, Lieutenant General Qin Yanasaburo, who had no troops to maneuver, turned his attention to the two armies on the center line battlefield. After urgent discussions with General Yamada Otsuzo, Qin Yanasaburo used the words of the Kwantung Army Chief of Staff.
identity, and issued successive orders to Lieutenant General Shimizu Nori and Lieutenant General Hongo Yoshio.
They were ordered to abandon all equipment and supplies that they could not carry, and to take advantage of the fact that the main force of the enemy forces in the entire Shenyang battlefield was on the Xinmin line and south to Anshan and Liaoyang lines, leaving relatively empty opportunities behind the entire encirclement circle, to attack the mountainous area south of the Zhongchang Railway with all their strength.
Breakout. After the breakout, the entire army immediately went south and joined the main force of the Third Army around Benxi Lake.
Order the Fourth Army of the Kwantung Army currently on the Jinzhou and Huludao front lines not to entangle with the enemy. Immediately abandon the Jinzhou and Beizhen front lines and retreat to Liaozhong. The original order to blow up all the factories in Jinzhou and Huludao when necessary is revoked.
, all with the primary purpose of safely withdrawing the main force of the Fourth Army.
After withdrawing to central Liaoning, the entire army was immediately dispatched to cooperate with the Fifth Army to coordinate the two armies on the center line to break out and launch an all-out counterattack on Shenyang. After the two armies completed the breakout, they retreated eastward along the coast of Liaodong Bay, and all evacuated to
The line from Gaiping to Fengcheng. Lieutenant General Qin Yanzaburo's approach was obviously to prepare to completely abandon Southern Manchuria, and the main force of the Kwantung Army retreated to southern Liaoning and the Liaodong Peninsula.
As for the Fourth Army and the Fifth Army's counterattack against Shenyang City, it was just a feint plan to cooperate with the two armies in the north to break through. Qin Yansaburo understood that the current situation of the entire battle no longer allowed the Kwantung Army and was still here to care about the city.
Gains and losses in one place. For the Kwantung Army at the moment, the best choice is to take the first step among the thirty-six strategies.
However, for Major General Yoshitomi Tamura, deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, he plans to mobilize the garrison stationed on the line from Dalian to Gaiping to go north for reinforcements, hand over the garrison from Lushun to Dalian to the navy, station the Lushun special garrison, and transfer the Lushun Heavy Artillery Regiment
The plan to transfer some troops to the north to participate in the war was firmly rejected by Lieutenant General Qin Yanzaburo.
Although it is not believed that the enemy has the ability to cross the entire Liaodong Bay, the enemy's large number of ships concentrated in Tanggu Port and a summer of landing drills have still become a worry for Lieutenant General Qin Yansanlang. What kind of place is the Liaodong Peninsula?
, that is the foundation of the Kwantung Army, and Port Arthur is the spiritual symbol of the Imperial Army.
Once the direction is lost, the impact on the entire military and people's morale of the Japanese Empire will be too great. After the 7th Division went north to reinforce and counterattack Anshan, the defense of the entire Liaodong Peninsula is already quite empty. Only a total of 10,000 people are left.
The army and navy basically have an independent garrison with no heavy weapons. Once the troops are mobilized, there will basically be no troops to defend.