Zhang Lingfu also saw Masaharu Honma through the telescope. Comparing it with Honma's photo in his mind, he said with certainty: "It's Masaharu Honma. He suddenly appeared here. It's really possible." Then he shouted: "Quick! Bring me the walkie-talkie."
The walkie-talkie was quickly delivered to him, and he directly asked for the commander of his artillery regiment, then reported a landmark parameter and asked him to fire immediately.
When Sun Liren and the others saw Honma Masaharu, the latter also saw them. When they recognized that the military rank on Sun Liren's collar was the rank of general, Honma Masaharu immediately whispered: "General Shina, Xixi, Ono-kun, quickly, contact the artillery immediately and ask them to fire immediately."
Zhang Lingfu and Honma Masaharu reacted very quickly, and their artillerymen were also very up to date. Perhaps for this reason, their attempts failed. However, what followed was the early outbreak of the Malan Battle. After nearly 20 minutes of artillery fire between the two sides, Sun Liren and Masaharu Honma made the decision at the same time to launch an offensive immediately. Therefore, with this round of artillery fire as a sign, the Battle of Malan officially entered the stage of world military history.
On the day the battle began, the Chinese side had the upper hand because Zhang Lingfu's troops were always ready to launch a general offensive. After the engineer battalion of the First Division spent two and a half hours clearing a passage, a fire-breathing tank of the First Division The regiment drove directly onto the battlefield and used flames to carve out a bloody path. Immediately, the other two tank regiments of the first division, three armored regiments and a mechanized infantry brigade quickly interspersed. According to the steps Zhang Lingfu had envisioned before, The surprise troops occupied a high ground fifteen kilometers northeast of Malan.
This highland is the most critical strategic point east of Malan. The Japanese army was heavily guarded, so the occupation operation did not go smoothly. The First Division was first strongly blocked by about two groups of Japanese, and then it was blocked near the high ground. Encountered a siege by about two divisions of the independent army. However, because the first division came well prepared and equipped with sufficient fire-breathing tanks, even though all two divisions of the independent army took stimulants, they still failed in the end. To be able to block the offensive of the First Division, of course, in order to capture this high ground, the First Division also suffered heavy casualties. According to the final statistics, the losses of the infantry brigade alone exceeded one thousand, and the number of damaged tanks exceeded one hundred. vehicle.
The cost of seizing this highland was huge, but from the post-war analysis, it was worth it, because it was by occupying this highland that the Third Expeditionary Army gained a foothold to advance, and only then did the great victory of Ganbang happen. .
This highland was later named Xiaolin Highlands by Zhang Lingfu. The reason why Zhang Lingfu did this was because the acquisition of this highland was closely related to the sacrifice of a captain named Xiaolin. At the most critical moment of the battle for the highlands, It was because of Xiao Lin's sacrifice that he used his own flesh and blood to block one of the enemy's bunker firing ports at the most critical moment, thus buying time for the troops behind to advance.
The battle for Xiaolin Heights lasted for six and a half hours. After the First Division occupied this highland, it should have understood the strategic value of this highland. The Japanese army immediately organized a counterattack, so within about two weeks thereafter, the Chinese The battles between the Japanese and Japanese sides revolved around Xiaolin Heights.
After the Battle of Malan began, Koizumi Toshiichiro must have sensed China's intentions. The next day, Toshiichiro Koizumi called the United States and requested that an operation to seize the island be launched immediately. At the same time, based on Inoue Narumi's suggestion, he called Stalin through the White House and expressed his willingness to help the Soviet Red Army.
To recapture the Far East, if Soviet Russia needs it, he can persuade the Japanese military to send troops to land at Korsakov in the Soviet Far East and attack the Chinese army from behind.
Truman has always longed to win over the Soviet Union to join the war bloc against China. Therefore, after Koizumi Toshiichiro showed such intention, he immediately added another fire, saying that the U.S. government sympathized with the Soviet Union and was willing to
Help the Soviet Red Army regain the territory occupied by China, and promised that as long as the Soviet Red Army launches the battle to regain the Far East, the U.S. government will provide certain assistance to Soviet Russia.
There is a reason why Truman suddenly showed such enthusiasm in wooing the Soviet Union to join the war bloc against China. This is because on the Brazilian battlefield, although the US government successively deployed more than 100,000 troops, it still could not contain the Brazilian government forces.
and the Chinese South American Volunteer Army's offensive, and because other South American countries began to show hesitancy in joining forces to fight against China, Truman was worried that the situation in South America would get out of control, so he urgently needed Soviet Russia to contain China from the north, hoping that this would allow the Chinese government to reduce its opposition to China.
Investment in the Brazilian battlefield.
China and Japan once again fought fiercely in the Malay Peninsula. The British were also stimulated. After the Shoulin Heights was occupied by the Chinese army and the Japanese army was in a passive situation, Churchill sent people to contact Koizumi Toshiichiro and expressed his willingness to send troops from the Indian and Bengal regions to contain it.
China also set a condition, that is, after defeating China, Britain must gain control of the Malay Peninsula except the areas currently controlled by the Japanese army.
The British calculated very well, or Churchill believed that China had no chance of winning in the Malay Peninsula war, so they thought that this was an opportunity to beat the dog in the water and pick up the fruit.
Koizumi Toshiichiro was well aware of the British's little calculations. Because of this, he did not respond to the British's "goodwill". Instead, he said that the imperial army was confident of defeating the Chinese army alone, and the British army could just watch the show.
It was obvious that he was playing hard to get, and Churchill could certainly see through it. However, the more Koizumi Miichiro behaved like this, the more Churchill became more determined to send troops to Burma. Therefore, the British base camp immediately revised the original Middle East plan and converted it to an Indochina war plan.
They wanted to take advantage of the opportunity when China's Indochina Peninsula troops were pinned down in the Battle of Malan to forcefully take Burma into their hands. However, they should have realized that their own army's combat strength was insufficient. After the British made the above decision, they did not immediately take action.
Called the Chinese government, saying that in view of the appeals of the Burmese people, the British government decided to speed up its return to Burma, and hoped that the Chinese government could take care of the sentiments of the Burmese people and cooperate in this matter.
The first person among the military and political leaders of the coalition government to see this telegram was Song Ziwen. He was very happy at the time and told his subordinates: "I have seen shameless people, but such shameless people. I have been the Minister of Foreign Affairs for so many years, and this is the first time."
Once we meet, I estimate that the Prime Minister will also laugh out loud when he sees this telegram."