The crisis turned into an opportunity, and it was a pity to let it go. Liu Yuqing and Pang Deya briefly discussed a few words, and both felt that this was an opportunity to expand the results of the war. Liu Yuqing called Jiang Guangnai and asked for instructions to seize the opportunity to capture Cangnan. Jiang Guangnai pondered for a while and replied: " Several guerrilla columns in southwestern Zhejiang have been standing still. It's time for them to attack. The strength of the South China Front in attacking Fuding has been reduced. Now we also have air supremacy. Before the combined fleet can regain its strength, we can launch a ruthless attack. Beat him hard."
There are eight guerrilla columns in southwestern Zhejiang, with a strength of about 16,000 people. Although the weapons and equipment are not very good, they have been playing cat and mouse games with the South China Front at the front line and have rich experience in harassment warfare. Demoralized by the defeat, and with the regular army restraining them from the front, the guerrilla column beat up the drowned dogs. If they performed well, they might actually become a key force in determining the situation in southwestern Zhejiang.
Liu Yuqing: "Okay, let's leave an infantry regiment and an artillery regiment to defend Guanmei, and other troops will pursue them. Mr. Jiang, there is no problem along the coast of southern Fujian. Although the air power of the combined fleet was severely damaged, they have many gunboats, so Prevent a sneak attack by the Marines."
"There is no need to worry about this. The combined fleet without fighter planes is like a tiger without teeth. Now Yamamoto Isoroku should be worried about Commander Iron and their sneak attacks. There is one thing you should pay attention to. You must get someone above the captain of the 6th Division. List of officers, Cangnan’s business is not over yet.”
"yes."
The 2nd Special Artillery Brigade once again showed off its power, and the Japanese 6th Brigade was almost wiped out. Okuichiro called to report to Matsui Iwane. Only then did the old Japanese understand what the previous continuous explosions were about. He held the phone and kept quiet. After listening to Okuichiro's report on the battle situation on the front line, the old Japanese suppressed his thoughts and thought for a while, then ordered: "The army of the apprentices is strong, so retreat temporarily. We will retreat first, and you can follow."
Matsui Iwane had not expected that the New Year's Strategy would be fought like this, and he also had a premonition that after this battle, his position as commander of the South China Front would be lost, so he put down the phone and issued an order for the entire army to retreat. , while the staff were sorting out documents and packing their bags, the old Japanese walked out of the headquarters and stood in the yard looking northwest. A few minutes later, he suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood.
From the moment he became the commander of the Central China Front and later the commander of the South China Front, Iwane Matsui worked hard and worked hard, but in the end he was defeated again and again at the hands of the Xuebing Army. The old Japanese is also a self-respecting person, knowing that he is not in good health. , I always wanted to win a good fight and go back to China in glory, but it backfired. The old Japanese had endured it in Zhejiang for so long, gathering momentum and wanting to draw a perfect end to his military career. What happened,
About a brigade of Japs from the troops directly under the South China Front Army Headquarters were packing up and preparing to retreat. On the Guanmei front line, the artillery fire from the Xuebing Army finally stopped. The Second Special Artillery Brigade sealed the victory with just one salvo. Wang Hai and the others The bombardment lasted for about half an hour. With forward scouts providing accurate data, the artillery shells fired by the artillerymen of the Xuebing Army flew specifically towards the places where the Japs were concentrated, as if they had eyes. In this kind of fixed-point bombardment, which was similar to a surgical operation. Under the attack, the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties. In the end, only about 3,000 people from two infantry brigades, a tank regiment, and a cavalry regiment survived the artillery fire. Although Inoue Masakichi and Maruyama Masao later figured out why the enemy's artillery shells fell. The point was so accurate, but he no longer had the ability to go to the mountains to clear out those blatant scouts from the Tenth Division.
When the order to retreat was given, the 6th Tank Regiment relied on its wheels and ran very fast. In the end, more than 30 tanks and more than a dozen armored vehicles successfully escaped, while the 6th Infantry Brigade was always under the artillery fire of the cadet army. , was the one with the heaviest casualties. In the end, only more than 600 people, including brigade commander Maruyama Masao, fled to Fengchi Township in despair. As for the 6th Division, because of the focus of Wang Hai's Kongyi Division, , and because Hisao Tani used such vicious and outrageous methods, he became a key target of the cadets. In order to protect Hisao Tani, Inoue Masakichi successively left the few remaining troops in his hands to snipe the pursuers, and finally ran away. More than 1,500 people were taken off,
The Japanese army was completely defeated. The 10th Xuexue Division invested two regiments of infantry and two regiments of self-propelled artillery. The Second Fujian Guard Division invested all its artillery regiments except Ma Chun. The Second Special Artillery Brigade supported a battalion of "Thunderbolt Fire". The Ningbo Security Brigade had More than a thousand people fought with the army, and Wang Hai's Air Division launched 25 fighter planes to join the battle. A massive pursuit battle began.
The first one to achieve success was naturally Wang Hai's Air Division. Wang Hai put his fighter planes into battle in batches of five, specifically chasing the Japanese tank troops and cavalry troops. Twenty-five fighter planes attacked the ground one after another. The Japanese army suffered more than a thousand casualties. Inoue Masakichi was killed and Okuichiro was injured. Now, the Japanese high-ranking officials no longer dared to ride in armored vehicles or ride horses.
The Japanese Eleventh Air Corps had been severely damaged, and the total number of remaining fighters was less than two brigades. Now the southern troops of the South China Front are being mercilessly ravaged by the 1st Air Division. Matsui Iwane is worried that the Gakuin Air Force will continue to fight without stopping. He stopped carrying out air strikes and sent a telegram to Yokoyama Munemori, asking him to take off fighter planes to fight no matter what. Yokoyama Munemori had no choice but to release all fourteen remaining fighter jets of various types and let them go to Aangnan to cover Matsui Iwane. retreat,
On the way the 1st Air Division returned to the airport to replenish ammunition, Wang Hai provided Liu Yuqing with the location of the Japanese army. Liu Yuqing commanded Wang Hai and Liang Wenhui to bombard the Japanese army, and used five minutes of rapid fire to give Okuichiro's 9th Division a head-on blow. Kuichiro's 9th Division was originally the strongest among the southern front troops of the South China Front. After this rapid round of bombardment, at least a thousand people were killed. The unit was suddenly dispersed. Okuichiro was killed because the armored vehicle he was riding in was He was blown over and his right leg was injured and he had difficulty moving. He was evacuated on a stretcher by several Japanese soldiers. He realized that if things went on like this, the entire southern front army was in danger of being destroyed, so he ordered two units under the jurisdiction of his 19th Infantry Regiment. The brigade stayed to stop the enemy. Okuichiro did this, which can be regarded as bearing the humiliation and bearing the burden for the sake of the overall situation. However, he underestimated the attack firepower of the Xuebing Army's pursuing troops.
The captain of the 19th Regiment, Hidden Colonel Hitomi, was personally the commander of the sniper attack on the Japanese army. He had just set up a formation in Xiaojiang Town, three kilometers east of Cangnan. Six rocket launchers from the 1st Battalion of the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Special Artillery Brigade were They lined up and fired a round of volleys under the command of the battalion commander Zuo Liang. The hastily established defense line was immediately wiped out. Seeing Xiu San, he was determined to fall. He realized that if he held on to the stronghold, he would only become a training artilleryman of the cadet army. Target, resolutely ordered a charge, hoping to close the distance with the Xuebing Army and create a melee, so that the Xuebing Army's artillery advantage could not be used.
Under the current circumstances, it was undoubtedly the most appropriate thing for Hitomi Hidezo to do, but he underestimated the close combat capabilities of the Xuebing Army. The continuous fire performance of the Wei Qing assault rifle determined that this kind of confrontation was what the Xuebing Army was least afraid of.
Attack, so the Hidden Hidezo Division, which Okuichiro had placed high hopes on, only persisted for less than ten minutes before being defeated by the Xuebing Army. At this time, in front of the Japanese army, the guerrillas of the Xuebing Army's southwestern Zhejiang Province began to join the battlefield.