Chapter 785 This is the revenge of the Anti-Japanese Federation
What he knew even more was that these anti-alliance aircraft, which were hovering above his head all day long, displaying a reluctance attitude, were now dispatched with such high frequency that they even ignored the desperate interceptions of the Kwantung Army's air force and desperately attacked them. The attack by the 23rd Division was obviously not just to weaken the combat effectiveness of the 23rd Division. I am afraid that revenge for what the 23rd Division did in Hylar played a large part in the reason.
For Kanji Nishihara, as an army lieutenant general who graduated from the Japanese Army University, how could he not know that the retreat under the eyes of the enemy should be as concealed as possible. If it is so earth-shattering, wouldn't he be seeking death? Tens of thousands of Manchus are nothing, but when they are at a disadvantage, they are seeking death.
To be honest, Lieutenant General Kanji Nishihara was quite satisfied with the excuses given by the two staff officers who caused these troubles for ordering the massacre in order to keep the secrets of the Hyrule Fortress Group and to inspire the Imperial Army soldiers to encourage them to have the courage to fight again. I didn't take it seriously, and even thought that these two guys found this excuse, which was quite lame.
Indeed, in his opinion, although the dead will not leak the secrets, but if you want to keep the secrets of the Hyrule Fortress Group, why would you massacre the city and kill all the workers who built the fortress group? As for the reason for his dissatisfaction, it is not that he would think The empire will hold itself responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Manchu civilians.
Later that year in the Shanghai Incident, the Empire's Shanghai dispatched troops did even more excessive things in Nanjing, the capital of China. The Empire did not actually punish that person, but only singled out one unlucky guy, Lieutenant General Hisao Tani, commander of the Sixth Division, as the scapegoat. That's all, and the so-called serious punishment for him was just to retire from active service early and transfer to reserve duty.
As for the huge amount of property this guy plundered on the road from Shanghai to Nanjing, no one went after him. No one went after him for openly raping Chinese women on the streets of Nanjing, except this unlucky guy, because his subordinates were in Except for the lieutenant general who performed too outstandingly in that incident, the remaining squadron leaders did not even receive the most basic punishment.
Other division commanders who committed no less crimes than him were promoted one after another after this battle. Each of the brigade commanders and regimental commanders who went into battle personally and openly killed people in the street, no one was held accountable, let alone People's futures have been delayed, and there are currently many people who have been promoted to division commanders.
In the view of Lieutenant General Kanji Nishihara, what the 23rd Division did in Hailar was far worse than what the Shanghai Expeditionary Force did in Nanjing. Neither the emperor nor the headquarters held the Shanghai Expeditionary Force accountable. He will not hold himself accountable for the tens of thousands of people in Hailar.
But for Lieutenant General Nishihara Kanji, he is more worried that this kind of massacre will completely anger the opponent. Once the opponent is completely angered, the Kwantung Army will not be able to send troops to cover its retreat in order to stabilize the current front. Under such circumstances, it was quite unfavorable for the 23rd Division, which was retreating south alone, and the facts that happened from the second day of the retreat to the present have proven the accuracy of his original prediction.
Although the main forces mobilized by the Anti-Japanese Alliance to march westward were unable to pursue them due to some special reasons that only some people knew, they did their best to concentrate a large number of aviation forces and use air superiority and overwhelming bombs to attack the Second World War. The Thirteenth Division suffered heavy casualties.
It has only been less than three days since the departure from Hailar, and before it has retreated to the Aershan line, the 23rd Division has been under almost continuous air attacks by its opponents, suffering nearly a quarter of its casualties, while the 23rd Division The regiment is currently a very precious heavy equipment for the Kwantung Army, but it was all lost due to the opponent's air raids.
What's more important is the impact of the Anti-Alliance air strikes on the speed and time of the 23rd Division's retreat. Under the opponent's almost 24-hour uninterrupted air strikes, coupled with the poor road conditions and their own carrying capacity, the retreat was delayed. With such a large number of immigrants, the 23rd Division's march was no faster than a tortoise crawling.
Three days have passed. The 23rd Division is still dozens of kilometers away from the first destination of the retreat, Aershan. On the front line of the temple, how much combat power does the 23rd Division have left? A fully-staffed division was forced into such a tragic situation by the opponent's aviation force. This made Kanji Nishihara's anger reach the extreme.
Faced with the unrelenting pursuit and bombing by the Anti-Japanese Air Force, Nishihara Kanji focused his anger on the two guys who ordered the massacre of the city under the guise of his order. If they had not been unable to see the current situation clearly and issued the order to massacre the city without authorization, it would have caused In the retaliation of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the 23rd Division would suffer such heavy losses.
These guys really thought that if they killed tens of thousands of people, they would not be held accountable, and they could just pat their butts and leave with peace of mind. They really thought that the Kwantung Army was invincible and that no one could do anything to them. It was they who thought of others. It's too simple, or I'm too stupid.
What disappointed him even more was the performance of the Kwantung Army Headquarters. Since the first day of leaving Hailar, almost all wired and wireless communications between the 23rd Division and the Kwantung Army Headquarters were interrupted. Even after leaving Hailar, The continuity between the 23rd Division and its various regiments is also intermittent.
The air support promised by the Kwantung Army Headquarters rarely came on time, and the fighter groups sent out to cover the few times were clearly at a disadvantage in the air battle with their opponents, and were unable to stop the overwhelming force. Not to mention the bombing of the 23rd Division by the Anti-Alliance Air Force, its own losses in the three-day air battle were quite heavy.
The current situation can be described as being at a loss for Kanji Nishihara. Faced with the heavy losses suffered by the 23rd Division under the bombing of the Anti-Alliance Air Force, Kanji Nishihara felt that he had painstakingly designed to escape from the Anti-Alliance pursuit. All my thoughts were wasted.
The currently entangled Resistance Alliance did not send ground troops to pursue them, but the intensity of the air strike was even greater than the ground pursuit. Facing the bombed troops with heavy casualties, Nishihara Kanji could not even imagine that once The main force of the Anti-Japanese Alliance is catching up. How long can they resist based on the current miserable situation of their own troops?
Therefore, while being angry, Nishihara Kanji was somewhat glad that his method was successful. He was even a little proud that he had only used a small method and did not waste a single soldier of the 23rd Division. Successfully held back the pursuers of the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
As for the reason why the main force of the Anti-Japanese Alliance failed to pursue them, Nishihara Kanji certainly knew it well, because this good show was originally directed by him, as early as the moment he received the order to retreat from the Kwantung Army , he, Kanji Nishihara, has been thinking about how to safely retreat to the front line of the Prince's Temple with thousands of imperial citizens under the nose of his opponent.
After all, it is almost impossible for the actions of tens of thousands of people not to attract the attention of an opponent who is only separated by the Greater Khingan Mountains. After the battle last year, although the two sides temporarily stopped large-scale combat operations, they are still eyeing each other and attacking the opponent within their jurisdiction. The reconnaissance and infiltration never stopped for a day.
Nishihara Kanji believed that without taking some necessary measures, it would be impossible to hide his retreat from his opponents. He was not afraid of possible pursuit and interception by his opponents. For the senior officials of the Japanese Kwantung Army who did not sincerely and completely admit defeat, the Anti-Alliance It's far from the point where they feel like they're talking about it. It's just that Kanji Nishihara doesn't want to cause too many casualties to his division during the retreat.
In order to retreat safely without attracting the attention of his opponents, Lieutenant General Nishihara Kanji took great pains. In addition to abandoning the strategically important Blog Map line on the Binzhou Railway Line, he contracted the defense line from Yakeshi to Hailar. On the front line, several blocking lines were set up based on the favorable terrain in order to save as much troops as possible.
They also used the spy network planted by the Japanese army in Mongolia, especially a senior spy lurking in the eastern cluster of Soviet and Mongolian armies, to encourage the Mongols to take advantage of the situation and enter North Xing'an, taking advantage of the international situation to thwart the possible pursuit of them by the Anti-Japanese Alliance. For him, as long as he can catch his opponent's attack, other things don't matter.
What happens next is a matter for the future. What needs to be solved now is how to retreat safely. As for how to deal with these Mongolian troops after defeating the Anti-Japanese Alliance, Kanji Nishihara doesn't care. Anyway, the base camp has not been planning a war against the Soviet Union. Well, that won't be a good excuse then.
As Kanji Nishihara, who is currently in charge of the Kwantung Army's operations in the direction of Mongolia, he has a very accurate grasp of the mentality of the Mongols in the Inner Mongolia region who dream of occupying Manchuria. Although this bet of his unauthorized actions will be a big risk to the Kwantung Army. It will cause some trouble in the future, but now it is still very beneficial to the 23rd Division.
Moreover, Nishihara Kanji, who had exhausted all his plans, was not in vain. The Mongols really fell into the trap. After receiving the intelligence of the shrinkage of the 23rd Division, they immediately dispatched most of the Eastern Front Cluster deployed on the Qiaoba Mountain front line. The troops used the 23rd Division's opportunity to shrink the defense line, not only seized the first-line important town in Manzhouli, but also took the opportunity to advance into the hinterland of northern Xing'an.
In fact, as soon as the Mongols crossed the so-called Manchuria-Mongolia border, Kanji Nishihara, who had been closely monitoring the border since the contraction of troops, knew that, under the circumstances that the Yakeshi line had been unable to be contacted for a long time, , Nishihara Kanji, who was eager to retreat, did not care whether the covering troops could be withdrawn. Taking advantage of the opportunity of someone rushing to act as a shield for him, he immediately took advantage of the situation and withdrew directly from Hyrule.
Lieutenant General Kanji Nishihara was very clever. Although he publicly withdrew all the troops stationed on the border, he secretly left many spies behind, including the herdsmen who had come from Mongolia and were recruited by the Kwantung Army in recent years. Whether it is the Anti-Japanese Alliance or the so-called Mongolian People's Army who occupies North Hung Yen Province, these people will become the thorn in the Kwantung Army's deployment in North Hung Yen Province.
Therefore, as soon as the Mongols crossed the border, he knew that after the Mongolian army entered Manchuria, he had completed preparations for a general retreat, and even consciously gave up the area north of the Hailar River in order to allow the Mongolian army to go deeper. , used to cover the commanding heights of the entire Hyrule City, and to be prepared to abandon Hyrule at any time.