However, while he breathed a sigh of relief, Kimura Hyōtaro hesitated and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, since we are temporarily waiting for changes in the international situation before launching an attack, do you think the 23rd Division deployed on the front line of Hylar is going to attack?" The garrison area should be adjusted."
"The 23rd Division deployed on the front line of Hailar is the only mechanized division of the Kwantung Army. For the Kwantung Army, whether it is fighting the Soviet Union or the decisive battle with the Anti-Japanese Alliance, it is an extremely valuable asset for the next battle. Now The 23rd Division was deployed alone on the Hailar front line, and after the Heihe and Longjiang front lines were lost, the 23rd Division lost almost all support and cover."
"The current situation of the 23rd Division can be said to be that it stands alone in Xing'an North, which is extremely detrimental to the 23rd Division. At present, the 23rd Division can be described as being attacked from both sides. It has neither defensive depth nor surrounding areas during the war. There is also a lack of friendly forces to support and respond. Once an abnormal situation is encountered, the 23rd Division currently deployed alone is likely to be surrounded by enemy forces."
"If there were another Battle of Nomenhan, the 23rd Division might not even be able to get reinforcements. Once Jiangbei and the Soviet army attacked from behind, the 23rd Division fighting alone might be in danger of being destroyed. Once the 23rd Division When the Thirteenth Division encountered an accident, it would undoubtedly be a very heavy loss for the Kwantung Army and even the entire Japanese Army."
"Furthermore, after the loss of Longjiang Province, the railway lines connecting the Kwantung Army and the 23rd Division have been cut off. All the current supplies of food, ammunition and materials for the 23rd Division can only be transported by trucks. The road conditions leading to Hailar are extremely poor right now, the distance is long, and the terrain is extremely complicated."
"Because this supply line is too long, it is easily attacked. The Anti-Japanese Alliance often sends small groups of troops and large numbers of aircraft to attack the 23rd Division's supply line. Relying only on roads and a small number of trucks, we can't attack The supply of the 23rd Division was quite difficult.
"Just last month, we lost more than a hundred trucks and cover troops due to attacks and air strikes by small enemy forces. We also suffered heavy casualties. Your Excellency, Commander, it is impossible for us to mobilize all the trucks of the Kwantung Army for twenty The Third Division is replenishing supplies, and we cannot afford this consumption in the long run."
"Now due to the shortage of supplies, the supplies of the 23rd Division have dropped to an extremely dangerous situation. The reserves of food and ammunition have dropped to a very low amount. The entire division, from the division commander to ordinary soldiers, has now begun to Implement rationed supply of materials.”
"Daily training can only be reduced due to the lack of ammunition. Now that the weather has gradually warmed up, the uniforms of the 23rd Division have not yet been shipped, and the imperial immigrants in Hylar, whether military and police personnel or Ordinary residents can only implement a strict rationing system."
"The new division commander, Lieutenant General Nishihara Kanji, has proposed more than once that if the Kwantung Army can no longer find a way to improve the supplies of the 23rd Division to meet the daily life and training requirements of the 23rd Division, he will take action on his own , in order to change the current situation of the 23rd Division."
"I think that since the two provinces of Heihe and Longjiang have been lost, the current deployment of the 23rd Division is no longer necessary. I suggest that the entire 23rd Division be withdrawn south to the Wangye Temple line, and be deployed in the central area The various divisions in the region should form a unified front. As for the Hailar front line, I think it is better to give up temporarily."
Originally, Kimura Hyōtaro did not want to propose the withdrawal of the 23rd Division to the south at this time. After all, it was already very unpleasant for the arrogant General Umezu to accept the suggestion of the Prime Minister, whom he had always looked down upon. When the time comes, bringing up the matter of withdrawing the 23rd Division southward, which he has always placed high hopes on, is tantamount to adding fuel to the fire.
But the matter of the 23rd Division has now reached a situation where it can no longer be delayed. The front line of Hailar is the Mongolian pastoral area. There are a lot of cattle and sheep, but all food depends on supplies from other places. The 23rd Division has tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. The amount of food consumed every day is a huge amount. If the Hailar region alone raises its own funds, even if all the local Mongolian herdsmen starve to death, there will be nothing they can do.
The commander of the 23rd Division has repeatedly stated that if the Kwantung Army is unable to solve the supply problem, the 23rd Division will have no choice but to move freely in order to survive. Under the current situation, the 23rd Division has no choice but to move south on its own. In addition to withdrawing, no matter what they do, it will affect the next combat deployment of the entire Kwantung Army, and may even affect the next overall strategic deployment of the entire empire.
What does freedom of action mean? Kimura Hyōtaro, who organized troops many times to carry out the annihilation of the Shandong Anti-Japanese Base Area of the 18th Army when he was the commander of the 32nd Division, knows it very well. The so-called freedom of action is nothing more than one word to put it bluntly. "Grab". As for who to rob, Kimura Hyoutarou can roughly figure it out.
Since the local area itself is not a grain producing area and the scale of grain production is extremely limited, this robbery is either to go east to rob the Anti-Japanese League, or to go west to rob the so-called Mongolian People's Republic. It doesn't matter if it goes east. If Xi provoked the Soviet troops stationed in Mongolia, the consequences would be disastrous.
Once the Soviet army and the Anti-Japanese Alliance were attacked from the east and west, and with no support, the 23rd Division, even with its three heads and six arms, could not withstand the attack from both sides. During the Battle of Nomonhan last year, the Soviet army itself was defeated by the Second Army. The 13th Division caused serious losses. Now that the Anti-Japanese Alliance is added, the 23rd Division may be even more difficult to resist.
But if it is not approved, the supply quantity has dropped again and again, and the 23rd Division, which has almost reached a dangerous situation, is indeed unsustainable. If this situation is not alleviated in a short time, what else can we do? No matter what kind of war we fight, even hunger will destroy the 23rd Division.
If an entire division were to starve like this, let alone others, the land minister behind him would not be able to spare him. Therefore, no matter how reluctant he was, Kimura Hyoutarou, the current chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, could only Fulfilling his duties as chief of staff, he recommended that Umezu Yoshijiro approve as soon as possible the withdrawal of the 23rd Division to the south in order to improve the current supply situation of the division.
Hearing that Hyoutarou Kimura actually wanted to give up the Hylar line on his own initiative and prepare himself for the future attack plan, and all the 23rd Division used for flank attacks to withdraw south to the Wangye Temple line, Umezu Yoshijiro's brows deepened. Wrinkled deeply,
Umezu Yoshijiro is not unaware of what Kimura Hyōtaro said. Umezu Yoshijiro still attaches great importance to the current division of the Kwantung Army that is still holding on to the northern front. He knows that Kimura Hyōtaro said the same thing. The truth is that the 23rd Division, which is currently standing alone and far away from other divisions, and whose supply lines can only rely on limited trucks to maintain, has indeed reached the point where it cannot be revealed.
The Kwantung Army's supply line leading to the 23rd Division was extremely unstable under the attack of the Anti-Japanese Alliance aircraft and small groups of troops. 100% of the supplies departed from Xingjing and could be transported safely to Hailar. Two achievements are already quite good. And that small amount of supplies is not even a drop in the bucket for a fully-staffed division.
No matter how perseverant and patient the Japanese soldiers are, they cannot be hungry for a long time. The most critical thing now is not only the food problem, but also the security of the supply lines. Ammunition, food, fuel, uniforms, etc. cannot be solved. Supplies are in dire straits,
For the Japanese army, which has a relatively low degree of mechanization, it cannot withstand the loss of a large number of vehicles for a long time. In order to ensure the supply of the 23rd Division, after the battle of the Kwantung Army last year, half of the trucks supplied by Tokyo were transferred over. However, the number of trucks currently lost to air raids and attacks has reached a figure that is unacceptable to the Kwantung Army. The loss of two to three hundred trucks per month is really unbearable for the Kwantung Army.
Judging from the current situation of the 23rd Division, Kimura Hyoutarou's worries are not wrong, but if the 23rd Division is to withdraw in such a disheartened manner, Umezu Yoshijiro is really unwilling to do so, and the Kwantung Army is still there. There is also a huge fortress group in the Hylar region,
Located in the Aobao Mountains and Beishan Mountains in the mountainous area north of Hailar, the construction of the Beishan fortress group began in 2034. Because of its large scale, it took a full five years and was not completed until 1939. However, until now, the final finishing work has not been completed. The fortress group is one of the two largest fortress groups built by the Kwantung Army in the northeast along with the Dongning fortress group located on the eastern border of Northeast China.
The strategic location of the Hailar Fortress is extremely important. It was the most important link in controlling the entire west side of the Kwantung Army's defense line against the Soviet Union. Compared with the eastern border, which is densely covered with mountains and swamps, the terrain of the Hailar line is relatively flat, which is extremely conducive to a higher degree of mechanization. , a large number of Soviet troops equipped with tanks and other weapons carried out assault operations,
With this fortress group, when the Japanese army fought against the Soviet Union, they were in a position to advance, attack, and retreat in the northwest direction of the entire northeast. Even if they lost the first battle, they could rely on the solid fortifications of this fortress group. group to block the Soviet army’s follow-up attack,
Abandoning Hung Yen North Province and allowing the 23rd Division to withdraw southward to the Wangye Temple line means that the newly completed fortress group will be completely abandoned, and abandoning the largest fortress group of the Kwantung Army without a battle will make Umezu Yoshijiro cannot accept it easily no matter what.
Kimura Hyōtaro knew exactly what the reason for Umezu Yoshijiro's hesitation was. He also knew that after last year's battle, the 23rd Division, which was actually in an extremely disadvantageous situation, had been unable to get the order to retreat. The key factor lies in the Hyrule fortress group.
In the First World War last year, the Kwantung Army lost nearly half of its troops, and the use of troops was already stretched. However, under that severe situation, General Umezu Yoshijiro did not say that he would move the 23rd Division. , the only complete division of the Kwantung Army in northern Manchuria withdrew southward to strengthen the already open Xinjing defense line.
And now that all the divisions that suffered huge losses last year have been replenished, withdrawing the 23rd Division will probably be even more difficult for this arrogant man who always believed that the Kwantung Army fought last year. Even the commander-in-chief himself, a great disgrace to him, accepted,