The power of butterflies, due to the emergence of the Xuebing Army, the Sixth Division, once known as the two most powerful divisions of the Japanese Army, experienced a tragedy on the Chinese battlefield. All of this naturally originated from that time and space. The heinous crimes this division committed against Chinese soldiers and civilians in Nanjing made Ouyang Yun look at it differently. Therefore, in the contest between the Xuebing Army and the Japanese army, as long as the Sixth Division participated in the battle, the Xuebing Army would definitely take a liking to it. The Ministry took special care of it, and the Japanese generals who served as the commanders of the Sixth Division also benefited. For example, Hisao Tani, the culprit who caused the Nanjing Massacre, was captured alive by the Xuebing Army and sentenced to death.
Kanda Masane's headquarters is located in an underground bunker in Xiangtan City close to the north bank of the Xiangjiang River. The terrain near Xiangtan is more conducive to defense because the Xiangjiang River takes a "U" shape here, and the natural danger of the Xiangjiang River is added. , in fact, as long as the defender firmly controls the land in the northeast, it can greatly reduce the difficulty of defense. In the era of hot weapons, due to the existence of long-range firepower, crossing the river is much more difficult than in the era of cold weapons. This is also A major factor that contributed to Kanda Masane's confidence in winning the upcoming war.
The command styles of his predecessors Hisao Tani and Yuki Machjiri were different. Although Kanda Masane also had the crazy idea that the Imperial Army was invincible, he paid more attention to the actual situation on the battlefield than Hisao Tani and Yuki Machjiri. , after being ordered to Xiangtan, he walked inside and outside the preset battlefield every day during the day, and at night he summoned the staff to plot against the map. With his efforts, a masterpiece of defensive formations was formed, with more than 30,000 troops in total. More than a thousand Japanese troops, more than 5,000 peaceful troops, and more than 10,000 Korean kings were immediately arranged by him to different locations according to this defensive formation map. What followed was high-intensity civil construction that lasted for more than three days. In general, the terrain of Xiangtan It is a mountainous area, which of course makes it more difficult for the Japanese army to carry out civil engineering operations, but at the same time it also increases the sturdiness of the fortifications. What the Japanese army fears most is still aviation power, and the excavation of air defense facilities has become the focus of the Japanese army's civil engineering operations. Because they would be bombed by the Chongzuo Aviation Corps during the day, the Japanese army spent most of their time digging air-raid shelters and air-raid tunnels at night. The day before the 3rd Xuexi Division captured Lusong, the Japanese army finally completed the carpentry and civil work on the basis of the existing fortifications. , and as He Zhengsheng led the 3rd Guangxi Police Division to Tanjiashan, the new battle of Changsha finally kicked off.
The time is October 21, 1942. The location is the area around Xiangtan. The offensive side is the Western Front Army of the Cadet Army; the defensive side is the Japanese Kanda Masakusa Military Group. At about three o'clock in the morning, the two sides faced off at the Meilin Bridge battlefield with heavy troops. Two signal bombs, one red and one green, rose into the sky, and the sky in the southwest was immediately illuminated by artillery fire. Then, with the fierce sound of artillery fire, hundreds of artillery shells drew a bright trace in the night sky and struck hard. At the Japanese position at Meilin Bridge,
As the only defensive stronghold of the Japanese army on the south bank of the Xiangjiang River, Meilin Bridge is certainly the only way for the troops on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River to invade the city of Xiangtan. Its significance to the Japanese army is that once the Japanese army can attack anywhere in the east or northwest of the Xiangjiang River, If a breakthrough is achieved, then troops can be quickly added to Hunan and Jiangxi through the Meilin Bridge. At that time, the troops that were previously "defeated" by the Xuebing Army can take advantage of the situation and attack, and then the offensive and defensive situation can be reversed in one fell swoop. They may be able to severely damage or even completely annihilate this army. The Xuebing Army, the Meilin Bridge area is a mountainous plain, which is actually not conducive to the Japanese defense against the mechanized troops of the Xuebing Army. Actual combat has proved that whether it is anti-tank guns, combat anti-cannons, tank trenches, anti-tank mines or The stand-up tactics have extremely low restraint effect on mandrills. So, what will the Japanese army use to resist the steel torrent of the cadet army? In this regard, Kanda’s explanation to his generals was: “Some people are worried that the defense at Meilin Bridge will cause the troops to I have no objection to this judgment, but even if I have to fill in one regiment, I think it is worth it. Gentlemen, since the China Incident, when has the imperial army been so passive, and what about the student army? If the Chinese are so powerful that they are invincible, we will not be able to achieve such a good situation. As imperial soldiers, we should always maintain the belief that we must win. Yes, in the Xiangtan battlefield, the Xuebing Army is indeed stronger than us at the moment. , they have air superiority, their ground forces are more mechanized, and their artillery is sharper. However, should we give up just because they are superficially powerful? No, never, so we must not only think about defense, We also need to look further ahead, and even think about how to govern Guangxi after occupying it..."
Careful layout and bold response, this is the positioning Kanda Masane gave his troops in the Battle of Xiangtan. Since Changsha is only about 50 kilometers away from Xiangtan, there are now more than 30,000 troops in Changsha, and the follow-up troops are still coming in a steady stream. Kailai, so Kanda has enough confidence in his "boldness",
The Xuebing Army's preparations for the Battle of Xiangtan actually started a week ago. After the Chongzuo Aviation Corps successfully raided Shuangqiao Airport, it once again firmly held the air superiority in its hands. Just yesterday, Zuo An At He Zhengjiang's request, Zhao sent a Tiger Shark Brigade to bomb the Japanese position at Meilin Bridge. After this round of intensive bombing, the surface fortifications at the Meilin Bridge position were almost completely destroyed, and the Japanese army spent great efforts to dig out the The tank trench was also blown down and turned into a small earth slope that was not enough to hinder the mandrill.
The bombardment lasted for about twenty minutes, and five minutes before the bombardment stopped, the vanguard of the Guangxi Police 07 Brigade of the Third Guangxi Police Division rushed out of the offensive position. Twenty-seven Mandrill heavy tanks opened the way, followed by two Seventeen "Pangolin" armored vehicles, with about a battalion of infantry in the middle,
Infantry and artillery coordination has long been a compulsory course for all regular troops in the cadet army. The popularization of radio communication has greatly reduced the chance of infantry and artillery cooperating with friendly artillery to accidentally injure one's own people. Therefore, the sound of artillery stopped, and the Japanese frontline commanders were still there. They listened with their ears bent, in case it was a fraudulent artillery pause. The next moment, they heard the familiar roar of the Mandrill engine. Many people immediately climbed out of the anti-gun holes and shouted: "Get into the fighting position immediately. , the Chinese rushed up."
After receiving more shelling, the level of the Japanese army's civil engineering work has increased linearly, so the quality of the anti-artillery facilities built has been greatly improved. Of course, in the contest between spears and shields, the shield side will always suffer, so at this time the Japanese army's position There were still groans and howls, which was naturally a heavy blow to the morale of the Japanese soldiers.
After the Sixth Division experienced the Battle of Nanjing and the New Year's Strategy, almost all the veterans were dead. Although the ones added later were still relatively elite in the reserves due to the characteristics of the folk customs in the supply areas, they could not be compared with the veterans after all. This was due to their reaction speed. You can tell it on the battlefield. If you are a veteran in the past, when the commander shouts, they will immediately enter their respective combat positions and enter combat status immediately. But now, a dozen Japanese Army officers are almost shouting at the top of their lungs. A brigade Less than 30% of the Japanese soldiers entered the fighting position.
(Old Poison: Thanks to me, brother Xingzi, for preventing Lao Du from eating duck eggs, haha, thank you,,)