Sui Changqing didn't have much objection to the two regiments left behind in Muling going south. If the troops going south could capture the Laosongling line, it would be equivalent to advancing the entire defense line southward for dozens of kilometers. Although only one regiment was left in Muling. , it seems that the depth of the defense is too shallow. But this line is a mountainous and forested area with high mountains and dense forests, leaving limited roads for the Japanese army to counterattack.
Although the depth of the entire battle seems a bit too shallow, and the combat effectiveness of the follow-up troops is also somewhat poor. However, most of the areas here are virgin forests that cover the sky, and the mountains with a general height of 700 to 800 meters are quite powerful for the defending side. The terrain here is doomed to be very limited in the scale and route of the Japanese counterattack.
However, the four battalions left behind in Tiaomi Mountain went directly south to the west of Laohei Mountain, but Sui Changqing somewhat disagreed. This is not to say that he is selfish, but the two regiments currently participating in the war have reached the point where they cannot do anything without supplementing them. Although the current situation is For the remaining Japanese troops, these two regiments are likely to still have an advantage in terms of strength. But this is only a theoretical possibility.
And after all, it is an offensive operation. When the heavy artillery group can no longer provide sufficient fire support, facing the Japanese army's complete fortification group, the casualties of this attacking force will definitely not be too light. Even if these two regiments are not replaced, But at least some of the troops must be replenished for them. As a superior, you can't destroy both regiments unnecessarily.
And the most critical point is that Sui Changqing himself is not sure. That is, with the current combat effectiveness of only three battalions, he needs to face how many remaining troops there are in the Dongning Fortress Group, and whether he really has a numerical advantage. .Because Sui Changqing has always suspected that the strength of the Japanese army in the Dongning Fortress Group is far from the 1,500 people on paper.
The reason is very simple. As the key direction for the Japanese army to prepare for the attack, the density of Japanese troops in Dongning is almost the highest in the Northeast. In addition to the 12th Division originally stationed in Dongning, the Kwantung Army also stationed the 3rd Division in Dongning and Muling areas. The Eighth Division, the Eleventh Division, the so-called Border Guard and a large number of special agents.
Although the main force of the 8th Division has been defeated in Hulin, and the main force of the 11th Division has also been completely destroyed in Baoqing. However, according to the Japanese combat habits, the divisions invested in each battle are not fully organized. Before the battle, each brigade in its division structure will leave at least one squadron behind.
In other words, not counting the troops of the Twelfth Division that had no time to evacuate and were separated and stranded in the fortress group. After the various key points in Dongning were lost, only the Eighth Division's Japanese troops retreated to the Dongning fortress group. There are at least three squadrons. If you add in the similar number of troops left behind by the 11th Division, as well as the large number of other military and police military and special forces in Dongning, which is a strong military base of the Kwantung Army, the Japanese army in the Dongning Fortress is absolutely It's only a lot more troops than the First Border Guard on paper.
In addition, when attacking Lumingtai and Suifenhe Fortresses, due to the terrain restrictions close to the Soviet border, we were unable to adopt the multi-circuit tactics that the troops were accustomed to adopting when attacking. As a result, when attacking these two fortress groups, the encirclement was never completed. .
Although two fortress groups were finally captured and the Japanese troops stationed in the fortresses were severely damaged. However, there were still many fish that slipped through the net, and it definitely cannot be called a total annihilation. The second and tenth Japanese border guards stationed at Lumingtai Fortress and Suifenhe Fortress , at least one or two squadrons were deployed. In this way, the Japanese army in the Dongning Fortress Group would have at least seven or eight more squadrons.
When interrogating the Japanese prisoners of war of the Twelfth Division who were stragglers during the retreat, Sui Changqing already knew clearly that the Twelfth Division in this battle was different from the First Border Guards originally stationed in the Dongning Fortress Group. , and other Japanese divisions under the command of the First Border Guard Corps were defeated, and the two divided the defense area. The two were bounded by Suifen River. The northern part of the fortress group was responsible for the First Border Guard Corps, and the southern part was responsible for the 12th Division.
Although it was learned through interrogation of prisoners of war that the Japanese First Border Guard Station stationed in the northern part of the fortress group only had a strength of 1,500 people, Sui Changqing clearly judged from the battles at Hongshan, Xunshan, and Chaorishan that the Japanese army was only The number of troops shown in the battles at the various fortress groups on the north bank of the Suifen River was at least about 3,000.
But now, because it is impossible to go down to the inside of the Japanese fortifications, it is impossible to count how many Japanese troops were wiped out in the previous battles. And it is impossible to count how many Japanese troops were wiped out, and it is impossible to completely understand the strength of the Japanese troops. Once the entire fortress is in The actual strength of the Japanese army is as large as I imagined. According to the general practice of combat deployment, the remaining number is at least a thousand.
With a division equipped with three battalions after a long battle, it can be said that the attacking force with less than 3,000 people in total did not have an advantage when facing thousands of Japanese troops who had strong fortifications that could be used to defend themselves. Together with the attached artillery units, the attack force could not be said to have an advantage. .The Japanese army's fortifications, even if they were all civil engineering works, greatly offset this numerical advantage.
Seeing the hesitation on Sui Changqing's face, Du Kaishan, who knew what he was worried about, waved his hand and said: "The only enemies we have in front of us now are Chaori Mountain, Mulu Mountain and Qingshilizi. Even if these Japanese troops are huddled together, the total strength is at most Only six to seven hundred people."
"Although we currently have a serious shortage of personnel except for the third regiment of the only brigade on the front line of Laoheishan in the south. Our first batch of the original fourth division three regiments to participate in the war can only be reduced to one battalion, withdraw from the battle and withdraw to the east Ning, we are resting at the junction of Tumen and guarding the Japanese troops in Tumen. For us, our troops are also extremely empty."
"But we still have four battalions on hand, with nearly 3,000 troops. And after the Japanese army lost the two major fortress groups of Shenghongshan and Xunshan in the north, we have an absolute advantage in artillery firepower. Even if We must attack the enemy, but when dealing with the 600-700 Japanese troops who are huddled in the Qingshilizi front line with only civil fortifications, although we cannot say that they can be pinched with both hands, there is still no big problem in eating them."
"Compared with us here, the pressure faced by Wang Xiaoming is much greater. He broke into Hunchun southward. Although it was only a shallow depth of the Wujiazi front line, he had to face the Japanese 57th Division stationed in Hunchun. Now he retreats into Hunchun , the main force of the 12th Division in Wangqing territory and the Japanese and Korean troops were besieged on three sides. The 19th Division under the Japanese and Korean troops was stationed in North Hamgyong Road, North Korea, adjacent to Hunchun."
"Wang Xiaoming could mobilize only two brigades with heavy casualties, as well as an armored brigade and a cavalry brigade whose strength was less than half that before the war. Faced with the siege of the Japanese army's absolutely superior force, tens of thousands of laborers and Japanese garrison troops had to be transferred Fighting as a team, you can imagine the pressure he is under."
"Now the First Column and the Fourth Column are both in Binjiang and Longjiang, and Liu Changshun is a new recruit group, and their combat effectiveness is far from being formed. Once the Second Column is attacked by the Japanese in Hunchun, there won't even be a single reinforcement except us for a short period of time. Instead of passively providing reinforcements when the time comes, it is better to prepare for a rainy day now."
"We're going to have to intervene sooner or later anyway, so it's better to take action early and send some troops to assist the second column in fighting, so that we won't be passive when the time comes."
Hearing Du Kaishan's somewhat idealistic deployment, Sui Changqing expressed his hesitation with a wry smile and said: "Commander, I know you know what I said. Isn't your deployment a bit too idealistic and Are you talking about emotions? I am not a egoist, but Commander, with only three battalions of troops, facing a Japanese army that is probably about the same number and has solid fortifications to rely on, do you think we are sure to win? Are you sure?"
"The fighting these days has surfaced. The number of Japanese troops in the entire Dongning Fortress Group, especially the fortress north of Miaogou, is definitely not the number of Japanese troops on paper we have collected. Their actual strength is at least higher than we expected. One to two times more.”
"If our two regiments are still intact even now, there is no need to worry. Our two regiments have 6,000 troops. Even if the Japanese army has solid fortifications to rely on, there will definitely not be any big problems."
"But now you have to consider the actual situation of these two regiments. Since the first stage of the battle, the Sole Brigade has been fighting on the main battlefield as the main force. It has been fighting continuously for more than three months. Not to mention that it is already extremely tired. The number of casualties is also quite large. Now the battalion-level cadres of the sole brigade have basically been replaced once, and the company-level cadres have been replaced twice or more."
"The troops suffered too many casualties, but the number of supplementary troops has never reached full strength. And since Dongjin attacked Dong'an and Mishan, it has not received any supplements. In addition, Miaoling, Lumingtai, Suifenhe and The casualties of the continuous battles on the front line of Shenghongshan. Now, except for the third regiment, which is still barely intact, the remaining first and second regiments have been literally disabled."
"The total strength of the two regiments now combined, even including the attached troops, is only four battalions. The actual combat soldiers can barely make up the strength of three battalions. You ask the troops of the three battalions to face How confident are these three exhausted battalions that they can completely annihilate the Japanese army, which has roughly equal strength, and may even be larger, or even defeat the greater number with fewer troops?"
"I don't disagree with us supporting the second column, but commander, we must also consider our own difficulties. I think we need to supplement the strength of at least two battalions now in order to be fully confident in completely solving the Dongning Fortress Group. These are the remaining Japanese troops."
"Commander, this is my idea after careful consideration. Please consider it carefully. I think that relying solely on the existing three battalions cannot completely solve our current remaining Japanese troops. I am not unfounded, nor am I aimless. After these few days of fighting, I think based on your ability and sense of smell on the battlefield, you may not have experienced it."