Faced with the sudden acceleration of the Japanese army's retreat, the Anti-Japanese Alliance aviation forces stationed at various field airports in Qiqihar dispatched all fighter jets and bombers to continuously pursue and bomb the 23rd Division, which had forcibly retreated despite bombings from aircraft in the sky.
While suppressing the speed of the Japanese army's retreat, they tried to kill and injure the Japanese army as much as possible. At the same time, they concentrated a group of bombers to bomb various peripheral positions in Hailar in an attempt to stop the Japanese army from massacring the city.
While bombing the retreating troops of the 23rd Division on the ground in order to slow down the retreat of the 23rd Division and inflict maximum damage, the aviation and Kwantung Army concentrated on the Wangyemiao Airport in order to cover the retreat of the 23rd Division.
Several aviation groups launched a fierce battle. This battle, which later generations called the Battle of Xing'an, first started in the air.
However, although the aviation force launched a high-intensity attack before the main force arrived in an attempt to delay the retreat of the 23rd Division and inflicted heavy casualties on the troops of the 23rd Division, the aviation force could only operate in the air after all and could not
Going to the ground to participate in the battle, although it slowed down the retreat of the 23rd Division to a certain extent, it could not completely stop its retreat.
The ground offensive launched by Wang Guangyu, who was attacking westward along the Binzhou railway line, was blocked by the cover of the 23rd Division commanded by Colonel Shirahama, relying on the favorable terrain to block the line north of the Zamin River and Wu'er Mountain.
Facing the dense forests and complex terrain on both sides of the Zamin River, the vanguard unit commanded by Wang Guangyu was struggling.
Because the journey from Qiqihar to Hailar almost crosses the entire Greater Khingan Range, the independent 1st Brigade of the Nenjiang Military Region, as the main vanguard force, only carries the 120mm heavy mortar battalion of the military region and the mountain artillery battalion of the brigade. In terms of supporting firepower, it is obviously weak.
As for the Japanese army, the Japanese army now occupied almost all the commanding heights, so the vanguard troops commanded by Wang Guangyu fought very hard.
Although there was air cover, the dense forests on the ground greatly limited the lethality of the air cover. Faced with the extremely tenacious resistance of the Japanese army, Wang Guangyu's troops, who could only attack one hill after another, suffered heavy casualties.
Under the Japanese army's tactics of large depth, ladder defense, and continuous resistance based on favorable terrain, the only brigade had already suffered casualties of nearly five companies in less than six hours of fighting, but the progress was still not great.
Facing Yang Zhen's telegrams asking about progress almost every hour, and looking at the mountains in front of him that were spraying deadly flames everywhere, Wang Guangyu put down his telescope and frowned more and more. Faced with the tenacity of the Japanese army, he did not
It was beyond his expectation that he had been fighting the Japanese army for several years, but his troops' attack was so unsuccessful, which was far beyond his expectation.
As early as when the First Independent Brigade of the Nenjiang Military Region was formed, Wang Guangyu, who knew that sooner or later he would have to fight the Japanese 23rd Division in the mountains and forests of the Greater Khingan Mountains, had specially strengthened mountain combat training for this brigade, but he did not expect that it would face the enemy.
They fought to the death against the Japanese army without retreating, but the attack was still so difficult.
This time the Japanese defense changed from the previous tactics of repeatedly fighting for even a small hilltop. Instead, they adopted a posture of being passively beaten. They relied on the favorable terrain and concentrated firepower and troops to defend all the commanding heights but could not get out.
No matter how many attacking troops there are, they will only use firepower to kill them and never engage in bayonets with the attacking troops.
Moreover, once the position is lost, except for a few crucial points, there will be absolutely no counterattacks, let alone repeated battles with the attacking troops. They will only use a large amount of artillery fire or poison gas to cover the remaining troops and withdraw immediately. Enter the next blocking position, and fight to the death in more positions until the last person is killed.
In addition, the Japanese army rarely used landmines on a large scale during the battle on the Zamin River. In the defensive battle, poison gas was used on a large scale many times. At most, more than 200 poison gas projectiles were fired in one battle. Artillery shells, under the Japanese army's style of play, it is not surprising that the independent first brigade has trouble attacking.
Watching the time on his watch passing by second by second, but still unable to achieve a fundamental breakthrough, Wang Guangyu couldn't help but feel anxious. Twenty-four hours had passed since he received the order from the military region. But he has not yet been able to break through the front line of the Zamin River. How can he not be anxious?
Now that the Japanese army has come up with this tactic, it has been made clear that it is not to fight to the end, but to delay time on one hilltop after another. However, they are facing such a simple tactic, but due to the limitations of the terrain, their troops cannot be deployed. The troops can only adopt the method of small troops in multiple batches, bit by bit from the front and there is nothing they can do.
He was ordered to use his own maneuverability and the fact that the cavalry was far inferior to mechanized troops due to terrain constraints, and detoured from the northern line of Guliqina Mountain. This was related to whether they could seize the Teni River Sumu line before the Japanese massacre began, so as to force It has been nearly six hours since the cavalry brigade of the 23rd Division gave up its original massacre plan, and there has been no response yet.
Wang Guangyu personally interrogated the puppet Xing'an Army who defected to the Nenjiang Military Region. He naturally knew exactly what outcome Hailar, a small city on the border but with an extremely important strategic position, was going to face. If it were delayed any longer, I'm afraid that even if the King of Heaven comes, I won't be able to save the fate of the people on the front lines of Hylar.
Gritting his teeth, Wang Guangyu turned his head and said to the combat staff beside him: "Send a report to the aviation force and ask them to use napalm and special bombs to burn the Japanese positions here to ashes. Those bombs are not used at this time. Are you still waiting to give birth to cubs?"
"Tell Li Ming that as long as we can break through the Zamin River as soon as possible, even if the mountains and forests in this area will be barren of grass for decades, I will fucking admit it. If we can't make breakthrough progress, if we continue at the current breakthrough rate, etc. Let’s rush to the front line of Hailar, the day lilies will be cold long ago.”
"Also, seize the opportunity to contact the cavalry brigade on the northern line, ask them where they are, and tell them that no matter what method is adopted, they must arrive at the Teni River Sumu line before eight o'clock tomorrow morning. If they cannot make it on time, Arrive and ask their brigade commander and political commissar to report to No. 1 with their heads raised."
The staff officer beside him was startled by Wang Guangyu's cold tone when he said these words. Seeing the always kind commander's now gloomy expression, knowing that the situation was urgent, the staff officer did not dare to delay, so he hurriedly took three steps and Zuo ran to the radio station to deliver the order.
After receiving Wang Guangyu's reprimanding order, Liming could only shake his head and smile bitterly. It wasn't that he didn't want to use napalm, but that he really had a taboo. The wind was blowing from the southeast at this time, and it was normal. In spring, when trees are dry and flammable, the area along the Zamin River is densely forested.
If one napalm bomb is used, it will definitely cause a forest fire. According to the current situation of the forest, once a fire is caused, the fire may burn down the entire Zamin River and set the mountain on fire. Li Ming doesn't care about this matter, but this is on the battlefield between the enemy and ourselves. Once the fire is caused, no one is sure who will be burned.
It is precisely because of these reasons that I am somewhat taboo about using such powerful incendiary bombs. When providing front-line ground support to the Zamin River, I usually only use ordinary high-explosive bombs because I am afraid of them. The fire caused even the One Brigade was burned down,
This own plane knows that the one below is its own people and that is the Japanese army, but the fire caused by the bomb does not recognize it. Under the current conditions of dry weather and mountain wind, once in the mountains and forests, It's not a trivial matter to cause a fire. It can burn a large area.
However, Wang Guangyu's strongly worded telegram made Li Ming, who was ordered to temporarily command the aviation units stationed on the Qiqihar frontline because he was in the Nenjiang Military Region, feel somewhat in a dilemma. Although he did not understand the terrain of the Zamin River very well, , but I also know that if Wang Guangyu, who has always been steady, can issue such a reproachful order, the progress of the Sole Brigade may be very difficult.
After receiving the notification from the Aviation Headquarters, Li Ming knew that the matter was urgent, but this method of fire support, which killed a thousand enemies and probably cost him a thousand, made him quite embarrassed. He raised his head and looked at the sky above the airport. There was a strong southeast wind, and Ming Ming's face was full of helplessness and hesitation,
Seeing the helplessness on Liming's face, a combat staff officer from the Nenjiang Military Region, who was sent by Wang Guangyu as a liaison staff before departure, thought for a while and said: "Deputy Chief of Staff Li, I suggest you follow Commander Wang's instructions. Ask for it to be carried out, Commander Wang is probably going crazy with anxiety, otherwise he would not have issued such an order."
"The Japanese army on the front line of the Zamin River should have no permanent fortifications. They are all field fortifications built and use napalm bombs. The attack effect on such fortifications is the best. Our army is currently blocked on the front line of the Zamin River and has been unable to advance westward. , once the Japanese troops on the front line of Hailar really take action, then we will really become sinners through the ages."
"I also understand your concerns. In this season, using napalm bombs is not a good idea in the terrain along the Zamin River. Once a forest fire is caused, not all the unlucky ones will be the Japanese army. It cannot be done. Okay, our own troops will have to suffer a lot of losses, but the situation is really pressing right now, and there are tens of thousands of people in Hylar waiting for us."
"Of course, if you agree to use the No. 1 special bomb, I think the effect will be better. Judging from the current situation that the Japanese army on the Zamin River front line has no permanent fortifications to rely on and only uses relatively simple field fortifications, The lethality of the No. 1 special bomb should be higher than that of napalm."
"I know that you have more than a dozen of these bombs here. If all of them are put into use, they can kill the Japanese army more effectively. It can at least reduce the casualties of Commander Wang by more than 60%, and the speed of advancement is at least It can be more than twice as high.”
"I think even if there is no order from the headquarters, as long as you can cover Deputy Commander Wang to quickly break through the Japanese blockade and allow the troops to arrive at the Hailar line on time, the headquarters will not blame you. And if I remember correctly, No. 1 In the telegram to you, I gave you the order to use the No. 1 special bomb when necessary."