Yang Zhen's famous instructions were based on a comprehensive analysis of the current international and surrounding situations. In Yang Zhen's view, this may be the last piece of free material he scraped from the Soviets. , after a month and a half, I'm afraid there will never be such an opportunity again. Since there is still such an opportunity, don't have any scruples.
Although the scale of the Lingxi battle carried out by Yang Zhen this time was extremely small, and the main combatants with the Japanese army were aviation forces, Yang Zhen and the 23rd Division that caused the Hailar massacre were unintentionally involved in the battle. Strategically, we have made a quite tacit cooperation. From a pure result point of view, the result of this unintentional cooperation is quite good.
Although the Anti-Japanese Alliance hated the 23rd Division deeply, it was their act of letting the wolf into the house that made Yang Zhen give in to those who were always thinking about taking advantage of others' danger to bite off a piece of flesh from his original master. The Mongols learned an unforgettable lesson that completely destroyed their ambitions and created a stable western environment for the next battle.
Moreover, it was the escape operation of the 23rd Division that passed through Mongolia and looted all the materials stored by the Soviet army in Bayinbur area, which also made the Soviet army truly realize who their enemy was, and did not let Yang Zhen After a lot of effort, a huge amount of money was bilked beyond the quota.
If the 23rd Division hadn't massacred tens of thousands of Hylar's compatriots, Yang Zhen would probably have given them a certificate for the best supporting actor just based on the 23rd Division's unintentional cooperation with Yang Zhen. Reward them for their cooperation when Yang Zhen fought against the Mongols and intrigued with the Soviets.
In fact, the Soviets did not know that the efforts made to curb the Japanese army's ambitions in Mongolia were actually unnecessary. Yang Zhen naturally knew it, but he would not be so troubled as to go up and tell the Soviet Union Man, if the Soviets knew that the troubles caused by the Japanese army on the Manchuria-Mongolia border were just a bluff, then where would they go to find this free lunch? Yang Zhen is not that naive and stupid.
In fact, when the 23rd Division, which had been fleeing all the way, withdrew to Linxi, although it kept its organizational structure relatively intact, it had no ability to launch an attack at all. If they relied on their own strength, let alone fight against Su, they would They were unable to fight against the extremely weak Mongolian army.
In fact, the Japanese troops that entered Mongolia and fought with the Mongolian army were not the real troops of the 23rd Division, but were drawn from other troops by the Kwantung Army in order to restore the combat effectiveness of the 23rd Division in the shortest time. Some Korean puppet Manchu troops stationed in Linxi were also put into military uniforms and merged into the 23rd Division. The Japanese troops who entered Mongolia to conduct harassment operations were all transferred here later.
They entered Mongolia to harass, just to fool the Soviets and make the Soviets think that although the 23rd Division had suffered considerable losses, its combat effectiveness was still strong. The Soviet troops in Mongolia gave up the idea of taking advantage of the situation.
When the 23rd Division, which had almost fled all the way, withdrew to Linxi, the tragic situation not only stunned the local Kwantung Army troops in Linxi, but also stunned the new Kwantung Army Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi who came to Linxi specially to inspect and welcome them. Everyone was shocked. This was actually a division of the imperial army. People who didn't know it thought they were a group of beggars.
The uniforms of these once majestic Imperial Army soldiers have long been in tatters. There are still military uniforms. Some soldiers are still wearing the captured Mongolian army uniforms. The worst ones are even wrapped in military uniforms from Mongolia. Sheepskins looted from within the territory.
If it weren't for the hat on his head, which was an authentic Imperial Army-style war hat, and he looked authentically Japanese, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi almost thought it was the Mongolian army or some other garbled army. The bad guerrillas came and the miserable situation was described as horrific.
As for the standard rucksacks of the Imperial Army soldiers, they have long been replaced by the ones used by the Soviet army. Things such as blankets have long been lost due to light packing, and Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi is even more Surprisingly, when these Japanese soldiers returned to the border, the dry food they took out from their pockets, exhausted, was not the standard Japanese field food.
Instead, almost everyone took out a kind of food that surprised him, a pure Russian-style bar. They had already run out of food. These Japanese soldiers had been living on the Russian reserves looted in Mongolia these days. I have long lost my previous pickiness. According to the Russian habit, I sprinkled a little salt on it and ate it in big mouthfuls.
In terms of weapons and equipment, it was even more miserable. The entire army brought back only four rapid-fire cannons and two Type 92 infantry cannons. As for other weapons above heavy machine guns, they had already been lost. Not only did the entire division bring back None of the regiment's original weapons and equipment were brought back, and even the weapons that were replenished in Aershan were lost.
Even the Japanese standard Type 38 rifles in the hands of many soldiers have been replaced by Russian-made Mosin-Nagan rifles with relatively sufficient ammunition. This type of rifle is even longer than the Type 38 rifle and has a long, non-detachable prismatic The frightening rifle with an even longer bayonet behind it was almost much taller than the average Japanese soldier. A short Japanese soldier looked quite ridiculous holding such a rifle that was taller than himself.
The tragic situation of the 23rd Division from top to bottom was not what shocked Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi the most. What shocked him most was the number of people who had withdrawn from the 23rd Division. There is a huge gap in the total strength. In Hylar, together with the border guards, heavy artillery, and tank troops assigned to it, the strength of this division once reached more than 20,000 people, and it can even be said to be nearly 30,000 people.
But the combined strength of all the troops of the 23rd Division that had withdrawn, no matter how Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi counted it, did not exceed 10,000. In other words, during the entire retreat, the 23rd Division was not counted as remaining. They came down to take cover, but in the end no troops were able to withdraw.
Nearly ten thousand troops were lost on the road alone. In other words, the 23rd Division, the division with the most experience in combating the Soviet Union among the Japanese army, has been completely crippled. What will be difficult to accept is that except for a few ground operations, almost all of the heavy losses caused to the 23rd Division were the result of the Anti-Alliance aviation.
After inspecting the embarrassment of the 23rd Division and conducting a detailed investigation of last year's battle, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Teiichi did not hesitate at all. In the shortest possible time, he sent a letter to the Japanese base camp that was later confirmed by the Japanese. War historians call it the most accurate report, but it also pushed the entire Japanese Empire to the point of no return.
Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi stated directly in the report that today's Anti-Japanese Alliance has become a well-equipped army with extremely strong combat effectiveness. Its use of aviation has even exceeded the use of combat aircraft by the Imperial Army Air Force. Before the complete cut-off, the Kwantung Army alone had almost no possibility of defeating the Anti-Japanese Alliance while also taking into account the defenses in various parts of Manchuria.
Unless a large number of troops are mobilized, as well as the full support of a huge number of heavy artillery, tanks, and aviation units that far exceed the current equipment of the Kwantung Army, and all its foreign aid, including oil, and all import channels for aircraft parts are cut off, Otherwise, it is almost impossible to completely defeat this anti-Manchu armed force by relying solely on the Kwantung Army's current strength.
Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Teiichi was very generous in his report. He ordered a thousand new fighter jets alone. As for the number of other tanks and heavy artillery, it was even more than the Japanese army could bear. If they wanted to meet the needs of the Kwantung Army, , the other Japanese troops should stop doing anything and just stay where they are.
Without the support of heavy weapons, which has an absolute advantage over the Chinese army, the Japanese army, facing the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Chinese army in the pass, is no longer fighting an advantageous battle like this. In terms of infantry quality, the Japanese army is certainly far better than the Chinese army. However, the Japanese army, which has always been at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, may not be able to take advantage as much as before in a one-on-one battle.
It should be said that Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadatari, who is the chief of staff of the largest strategic cluster of the Japanese army, has considered things quite carefully. In the report, Yoshimoto Sadat has been bluntly telling the Tokyo base camp that currently there is a better way for the Kwantung Army. Not offense but defense.
If Tokyo can completely cut off its import channels for oil and military raw materials, mobilize reinforcements in the quantity it requires, and replenish a sufficient amount of heavy equipment to form a firepower advantage, then the Kwantung Army will be able to completely annihilate this force in northern Manchuria. The anti-Manchu armed forces have completely gained a foothold.
The Tokyo base camp attaches great importance to the report of Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi. Although the Japanese military leaders have always regarded Manchuria and Mongolia as their so-called lifeline, for Japan, which lacks local resources, the oil and rare metals in Nanyang are more desolate than the desolate ones. Northern Manchuria, which had nothing but coal and timber, was more attractive. Especially for the Japanese army, which was even more scarce in oil resources, the oil resources in Southeast Asia were even more attractive.
This report, together with the results of the 41st Battle, was considered by later war historians as one of the reasons that prompted the Japanese army to finally decide to go south. Of course, this report came later, whether it was for the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, Umezu Yoshijiro or For Yoshimoto Seiichi, who inherited such a mess just after taking office, the most important thing now is to solve the immediate problem.
The outcome of the 23rd Division in front of us is undoubtedly extremely unacceptable to both Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi in Linxi and General Umezu Yoshijiro in Xinjing. However, out of concern for the situation in Mongolia, The two people who took advantage of the Soviet-Mongolian coalition forces to sneak in could only think of ways to give the Soviet army in Outer Mongolia the impression that the 23rd Division's combat effectiveness was still intact and that they had no way to take advantage of it.
Although the Tokyo Base Camp has drawn a quite large pie for the Kwantung Army, until it is realized, the pie can at best be described as a pie to satisfy hunger. The Kwantung Army, who tried the Soviet army's firepower superiority in the Battle of Nomenhan, also knows that at any time It’s not just yourself who is spying on your opponent in the secret. People who are always scheming against others are always on guard against others scheming against themselves.