Having said this, Namada Juichi looked at the 6th Division Commander Machijiri Ryouki, the 8th Division Commander Tsukada Tsugumi, the 10th Division Commander Tokawa Jiro, the 11th Division Commander Ushijima Mitsuru, and the 10th Division Commander.
The commander of the Fourth Division, Kitaka Makoto, the commander of the 1st and 5th Divisions, said: "You are all famous warriors of the Imperial Army. I hope that during this campaign, you can continue to display your bravery on the battlefield in China and unite each division.
The regiment's brilliant achievements on the battlefield in China will continue."
"This time in Manchuria, we will use the same methods the empire adopted in China, which is to use iron and blood to tell those Chinese and Manchurians who dare to resist the empire what a real strong person is. We will use their blood and lives
, completely wipe this so-called Manchu bandits from the face of the earth."
"Most of the divisions are troops that participated in the Battle of Nanjing in the twelfth year of Showa. I hope you can continue to carry forward the performance of the Imperial Warriors in the Battle of Nanjing. In order to encourage the Imperial Warriors to continue to carry forward the bravery and fearlessness of the Twelve Years of Showa,
Spirit, I declare that after this operation is completed, each unit can take a week off in the bandit area and move freely."
"Imperial warriors, show your performance in the capital of China and tell the despicable Chinese and Manchus who is the master of this land and who is the real strong man."
Perhaps due to the change in his position, Shigeichi Hatada at this time no longer had the vigor he had when he served as the commander of the **** mixed brigade, let alone the year before last in the Wuhan battle, when he served as the commander of the Hatada detachment and could not command more than two infantry regiments.
When the team acted as the vanguard of the entire 11th Army's attack on Wuhan, they took the lead, but they were a little too cautious.
Although the plane sent out to reconnoiter the situation has not sent back any reports, Hatada Juichi still thinks that Yang Zhen's preemptive action this time is just a tactical reconnaissance, and at most it is an attempt to disrupt the Kwantung Army's next step.
It's just the tactical actions of a battle plan.
In Juichi Namada's view, they rely more on mortars, infantry guns and other light artillery as the main support firepower. A brigade can only have four mountain field guns, which is at most an opponent equivalent to a regiment of the Imperial Army. Unless the head is too hot to
Baidu will take the initiative to attack the Imperial Army, which has a large number of heavy artillery, tanks and powerful aviation cover.
Judging from the previous encirclement and suppression campaigns carried out by the Kwantung Army, although the tactics adopted by this army are clever and the will is tenacious, due to equipment constraints, they tend to adopt surprise attacks or defensive counterattack tactics, regardless of the initiative.
Whether the attack spirit is strong or not, the lack of heavy firepower is a fatal point that always restricts its attack power.
It was only Namada Juichi's stability that was broken by the report of Tokawa Jiro, who finally got in touch with his subordinates during lunch after working hard for most of the day, and received a message from the only remaining combat staff officer at the 10th Division's headquarters.
Report, Lieutenant General Tokawa Jiro was not the only one who turned pale.
This telegram clearly told the division commander and corps commander that the other party had a powerful artillery force with at least more than 200 artillery pieces of 75 mm or more, including at least 60 artillery pieces with a caliber of 100 mm or more, early this morning.
As well as a large number of mortars and infantry artillery, tens of thousands of people gathered together to launch a fierce attack on the 10th Division.
The number of artillery concentrated and the fierceness of the artillery fire when the opponent launched this attack were almost rare for the 10th Division. In the two years of fighting in China Pass, the 10th Division had never experienced such a violent artillery attack, let alone
I have never encountered such a well-equipped army.
In just one hour, at least 20,000 artillery shells with a caliber of more than 75 mm were fired in the front-line positions of the 10th Division and in an area 20 kilometers deep.
The attack, forward fortifications, troop assembly points, various material storage points, artillery positions, and tank assembly areas all suffered heavy losses in the shelling.
The chief of staff of the division and the captain of the 35th regiment were killed in the shelling. The infantry groups that had entered the starting position suffered heavy losses. The tank regiment, heavy artillery regiment and division artillery were almost all lost. The division reserves
The ammunition and other supplies were severely damaged, and the ability to supply them was almost lost.
After midnight and a whole morning of fierce fighting, all the front-line positions of the 10th Division have been broken through. The 10th Regiment and the 35th Regiment have been defeated. In addition to the two regiments who died in the shelling and those who died in battle,
In addition, most of them have been divided and surrounded, one part is retreating, and the division headquarters has lost direct contact with all subordinate units.
After receiving the report from the 10th Division, especially after learning that the division's chief of staff and a captain of the regiment were killed, and that the attached heavy artillery and tank troops suffered heavy losses, Tokawa Jiro, who had just been calmed down by Namada Juichi, could no longer sit still.
, not even caring about the most basic etiquette of saying goodbye, he hurried back to Baoqing, trying to regroup the defeated troops.
After seeing this report, Namada Juichi was stunned. They got more than 200 cannons and more than 20,000 rounds of artillery shells from there. Isn't it because the intelligence said that each brigade only has four mountains and wilds?
Artillery? The six brigades added together, even if the so-called direct artillery is added, should not exceed a hundred.
With so many cannons coming from them, could it be possible that these people have the magic of spreading beans into soldiers in Chinese mythology? He was murmuring in his heart. Naturally, Juichi Namada would not believe this illusory myth, but there was one thing he did.
I'm scratching my head. How much weapons and equipment did the Kwantung Army, which suffered two major defeats in a row, lose last year?
These artillery pieces were all thrown away by the Kwantung Army, or were they made by themselves. Could it be possible that they still have foreign aid? But haven’t the headquarters and the Kwantung Army already sworn to ensure that the Soviet Union would never provide them with their own equipment, and intelligence showed that,
They do have some Soviet-style weapons, but they are all small arms that were purchased by the Russians in the United States and then resold to the Feng army by the Americans because of the domestic revolution. Where did these artillery pieces come from?
This is just one direction, with more than 200 cannons. Could it be that they concentrated all the artillery on hand in front of the 10th Division? Thinking of this, Hata Juichi no longer had the stability before, and ordered the aviation troops stationed in Mudanjiang to immediately dispatch
Small planes will transport the division commanders back to their respective stations as quickly as possible. As for their cars, the drivers will drive them back by themselves.
After hurriedly chasing people away, Namada Juichi once again confirmed the changes in the enemy situation with each division. When receiving reports from each division, there were no other abnormalities in the enemy in front of him except heightened alert, and the number of troops and equipment had not increased.
, but after the report that it was somewhat weakened, Namada Juichi was confused.
Do they really want to attack the 10th Division, which is the weakest among the five divisions deployed on the front line, but is equipped with the strongest heavy weapons except the 6th Division? Juichi Namada, who paid more attention to intelligence, did not believe the reported number of enemies in the tens of thousands.
And in Juichi Namada's view, unless the opponent is willing to risk the empty space in other directions and devote all his troops to Baoqing, who has heavy troops in the east and west, Boli's front line, but Juichi Namada is against the opponent reported by the 10th Division. He didn't believe the numbers, but he firmly believed that even if the opponent had the advantage in firepower and could defeat the resistance of the 10th Division in such a short period of time, the opponent would have concentrated at least two to three times the strength of the 10th Division.
Hatada Juichi's calculation was based on his experience fighting the national army in the pass. In his opinion, the resistance of the 10th Division could be defeated in a short time, even according to the most elite German troops in the Central China Army. Mechanics must also concentrate at least three times the force under superior firepower conditions.
If according to this calculation, the opponent must also concentrate at least 30,000 troops, which means at least more than half of its total strength. Why did they do this? Could it be that their cunning predecessor of the Kwantung Army who once fought Did the commander who resigned sadly and received an almost unprecedented hefty punishment from the Imperial Army really not see that this 10th Division was a bait specifically given to them to force them to fight in a decisive battle?
You know, even if he concentrates all his forces, it will not be easy to completely annihilate the 10th Division, which is reinforced with heavy artillery and tanks. The reason why the 10th Division is the only division among the Japanese divisions on the front line that is divided and used, A regiment was transferred away, first assigned to the Fifth Division, and now assigned to the Eighth Division, because the Tenth Division's combat effectiveness is the strongest among the front-line divisions, except for the Sixth Division.
In Juichi Namada's battle plan, the Sixth Division was assigned by the Kwantung Army Headquarters to be the main offensive mission of this battle because of its strong combat effectiveness. Among the several attacks, the most important mission was to recover Jiamusi. , the divided 10th Division was only used as a bait to lure the opponent to take the initiative.
If the opponent does not bite the hook, then move north on the spot, fully cover the flanks of the Sixth Division, and disperse the opponent's forces, forming a situation of mutual support with the Sixth Division heading north.
But even though the 10th Division is currently the one with the smallest strength among the divisions scheduled to be used, it is not easy for the opponent to eat them in one bite. Moreover, he transferred a regiment, but strengthened it with heavy artillery and tanks. The firepower configuration of each wing has been greatly strengthened.
Moreover, once the 10th Division encounters a full attack from its opponent, the 6th and 8th Divisions on its wings, and even the 11th Division on the Mishan front line, can provide reinforcements in a short time, especially those assigned to The 63rd Regiment of the 8th Division has all been converted to vehicle transportation and can carry out rapid reinforcements at the first time.
It is impossible for a commander who has performed so well before not to see such a simple trap, but why did they take the risk to attack after seeing it? Could it be that the purpose of their attack was other than what they had guessed? There is no other intention.
Thinking of this, Juichi Namada realized that it was difficult for him to explain clearly how much of the intelligence he had at hand was real and effective, and what methods the other party had taken to make the Kwantung Army's intelligence department, which was known to be all-pervasive, lose its nose again. , unexpectedly, up to now, we still haven’t been able to come up with any real and reliable information.
Even the most basic intelligence of judging the enemy's strength has made such a serious mistake. The Kwantung Army Intelligence Department has not yet found out the true strength of the opponent. The opponent suddenly appeared with so many artillery pieces. , without the slightest notice, making Shigeichi Hatada almost lose all confidence in the information at hand.
The situation was far worse than he expected, causing Juichi Namada to lose his previous calmness and poise. He was completely angered and slammed his fist on the map: "Cunning Chinese, damn intelligence department, that cunning Guy, I don’t care what your true intentions are, but after this battle is over, I will chop off your head with my own hands."