Seishiro Itagaki, Gun Hashimoto and other generals stationed in North China were welcoming Kenji Doihara, the commander of the Japanese 14th Division who arrived in North China with his troops.
Along with the arrival of the Doihara Division, there were also anti-aircraft guns, anti-aircraft guns and other anti-aircraft weapons that were urgently needed due to the loss of air control in North China. Last night, the first batch of anti-aircraft guns urgently transferred from North Korea had been installed in the defense forces around Tianjin.
Facing the threat from the Chinese Air Force, the Japanese base camp wiped away the arrogance before the war and responded with full vigor.
Itagaki Seishiro was having a close conversation with Doihara Kenji, and the commander of the 10th Division, Isotani Rensuke, rushed from the Yangcun headquarters and asked anxiously:
"Itagaki-kun, when Wuqing was attacked by the superior force of the Chinese army, why didn't you let me lead the warriors of the 10th Division to reinforce it? Now that the Chinese army has captured Wuqing again, its arrogance is high, and the situation in the entire China has taken a turn for the worse. If this affects the base camp,
How can we explain the China strategy to His Majesty the Emperor?"
Itagaki Seishiro frowned slightly at Isotani Rensuke's rudeness: "Isotani-kun, please pay attention to your identity! Before appointing a new commander at the base camp, I will coordinate the Heitin ministries. Please keep this in mind!"
Realizing that he had been reckless, Isotani Rensuke quickly bowed and apologized: "Hey! I'm sorry, Commander, please forgive Isotani for offending you, Commander, please give me some advice!"
Itagaki Seishiro nodded approvingly: "Yo Xi! Isotani-kun, it's not that I don't want to keep Wuqing, it's that the current situation doesn't allow it. The base camp has formulated a new strategy. Our purpose is to ensure the absolute safety of Tianjin Port and prepare for the follow-up
The arrival of the troops provides strong support. Now there are more than 100,000 people from the three armies of the Chinese Army gathered on the south bank of the Liuli River in Tianjin. Coupled with the advantage of its air force in a short period of time, I have to treat it with caution! There are also
, I heard that An Yi, the commander-in-chief of the Anjia Army, is supervising the battle in Jinghai. We all know how powerful this person is. If Tianjin is not secured and the development of the base camp plan is affected, who can bear this responsibility? Finally, I will tell you about the base camp.
Decision: In order not to arouse the alarm of the Chinese government and military, only at critical moments when the overall situation collapses, the navy will send aviation troops to assist in the battle. At other times, we will face it ourselves, do you understand?"
Isotani Rensuke said in surprise: "So, for a long time, we will not get air support..."
By this time, Doihara Kenji had already understood the general situation of the current war situation through conversations with the garrison chief of staff, Hashimoto Gun, and strongly agreed with Itagaki Seishiro's arrangement:
"Itagaki-kun's decision is correct. At this time, only by knowing how to give up can we gain greater strategic room for maneuver. In order to defeat the Chinese people's will to resist in one fell swoop, it is worthwhile to make some temporary sacrifices."
Isotani Rensuke thought for a while and asked again: "In this case, why don't we take the initiative to shrink the defense? Wouldn't this be able to avoid greater casualties and be more powerful during the counterattack?"
Itagaki Seishiro shook his head: "Isotani-kun, you are also a well-known China expert. You must know that the opponents we face are very cunning. If we don't show our determination to resist resolutely, they will smell something unusual from it.
, and then shrink its own defense line, turning the China War into a
A protracted tug-of-war, which will seriously consume the empire's national power! Our goal is to strive to annihilate the main force of the Chinese army in northern China, and then firmly grasp the strategic initiative, and finally implement the landing in Shanghai with lightning speed.
Occupy its capital and force the Chinese government to surrender!"
Isotani Rensuke suddenly understood and bowed quickly to express his thanks: "Thank you, Commander, for your guidance. Itagaki-kun is indeed the best among our sixteen Rokushi. He is the pride of the empire. Isotani is impressed!"
Itagaki Seishiro took Doihara Kenji's hand, and then took Isotani Rensuke's hand, folded them together, and said with a smile: "Who could have imagined that our classmates from the 16th batch of Rokushi would gather in China?
?Isotani-kun, Doihara-kun, and Okamura-kun who fought with the Chinese army on the Chahar and Suiyuan lines, our classmates in the 16th period have lived up to the training of the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor. Now is the time for us to show our own value.
Got it!"
Kenji Doihara and Rensuke Isotani had moved expressions on their faces. These three were known as the three China experts in the Japanese Army. They knew far more about everything about China than the average person. Thinking of the scene when they graduated from the Army Corps, the three of them were filled with emotion.
Born heroic and determined to use China as a stage to display their talents and a step for further promotion, their top priority is to defeat the An family army that stands in the way of the empire's progress!
...
In Jinghai, Tianjin, An Yi asked strangely: "So, the Japanese troops stationed in Yangcun and Tianjin never had any intention to aid the Japanese troops in Wuqing?"
Communications Director Li Yufu nodded: "Yes, according to our aerial reconnaissance, this is indeed the case. In addition, the Japanese army in Yangcun has been equipped with anti-aircraft guns. When our reconnaissance plane was taking pictures, it was attacked by its ground artillery fire. Fortunately, the enemy
The anti-aircraft gun is a Taisho 11-year-old 75mm anti-aircraft gun. The reaction speed and projectile muzzle velocity are very problematic. It is not harmful to our high-speed reconnaissance aircraft, but if it is a bomber, there will be a certain danger."
An Yi thought for a while and asked: "Is there any other movement from the Japanese army in Tianjin?"
Li Yufu said: "Perhaps feeling the threat from the south bank of the Liuli River, the Japanese army in Tianjin showed no signs of mobilization, but quickly strengthened its defense lines. According to the reconnaissance planes, the Japanese army in Tianjin has begun to focus on the construction of air defense firepower networks. Currently, in Tianjin
There are more than 60 anti-aircraft guns discovered in the surrounding areas, and it is estimated that there will be more in the future."
An Yi said doubtfully: "The Japanese army has always been arrogant. During the September 18th Incident, a brigade dared to chase our army. Why have they become so humble now? Something is wrong!"
Fang Pengxiang said with a smile: "The little devils have suffered such a big loss from us. If they are not more honest, it will be unjustifiable. I guess they are still playing the old trick of waiting for help..."
An Yi shook his head: "I always feel that Itagaki Seishiro has some conspiracy. In this way, inform the beard and let the 17th Army move and hit the enemies west of Langfang to see how the Japanese army will react. I don't believe it.
The Japanese army suddenly changed from hungry wolves to turtles!"
After Li Yufu recorded An Yi's order, he turned around and left. Fang Pengxiang looked at the monolithic mouth in the north that had been marked in black on the large map of North China beside the table, and said thoughtfully:
"Could it be that the garrison is waiting for the cooperation of the Chahar Corps of the Kwantung Army? At present, the 7th Division of the Kwantung Army and the 64th Regiment of the 23rd Division have successfully captured Dushikou, a dangerous pass on the Great Wall, and are moving towards Chicheng.
, Jinsui Junzheng
Mobilize a large army to rush for reinforcements. Once Chicheng falls, the Japanese army can threaten Yanqing from the front and back, and the line from Badaling to Juyongguan. At that time, the Thirteenth Army and the Fourteenth Army will have to divide their forces to defend, and the Japanese army will have fighter opportunities on the front lines of northern Hebei and eastern Hebei."
An Yi nodded slightly: "It is possible. It seems that we have to be prepared to mobilize troops to go north for reinforcements. Currently, Zhang Cunzhuang's two divisions are in Wuhan. It is fastest to go north by the Ping-Han Railway. I will call Uncle Luan later.
, seek his opinion.”
...
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the defensive line from Huaying Village to Zhangying Village, which the Japanese army had painstakingly managed in the northwest of Langfang City, was suddenly attacked by more than 50 heavy artillery pieces and more than 100 mountain artillery pieces from the Independent Division of the 5th Army Corps and the 17th Division of the Anjia Army.
, he was originally hesitating whether to call the headquarters to rush to the military to support him urgently.
Kawagishi Bunzaburo, the commander of the 20th Japanese Division in Qingcheng, no longer had to worry. Although his headquarters was set up in Baigutun, five kilometers away from the front-line position, he could still feel the tremors of the earth and the enemy's heavy artillery.
When it landed, it seemed to be an invincible and huge momentum.
"Oh my God, where did the Chinese get so many cannons? Did they gather all the cannons in China to shoot at us?"
Kawagishi Bunzaburo was shocked and rushed out of the headquarters, found a place with a wider view, picked up a telescope and looked at the defense line jointly built by the 20th Division and the 109th Division. He saw continuous explosions.
It spread rapidly within a radius of several kilometers, and in the flickering fire, plumes of smoke shot straight into the sky.
At this moment, what Bunzaburo Kawagishi wants to know most is whether his artillery is safe, because it means that he still has the capital to counterattack. The reason why the Japanese generals are so confident in their artillery is that the Japanese artillery has high bore pressure and the shells fired
Extremely fast muzzle velocity
, it is also powerful. In addition, the accuracy of Japanese artillery is amazing, and the hit rate is extremely high. Coupled with the high quality of Japanese artillery, it is determined that they can always find the enemy's flaws, strike early, and deal severe blows to the enemy's artillery and important targets.
blow.
But what disappointed Bunzaburo Kawagishi was that the entire artillery position was shrouded in smoke, and it was impossible to see clearly what the situation was. However, through the burning cars and motorcycle wreckage scattered around the artillery position, as well as the wailing draft horses lying on the ground,
, you can imagine what happened just a moment ago.
The shelling of the Chinese army is still going on, and the ground is still roaring. Kawagishi Bunzaburo guessed that during the more than ten minutes of shelling, the Chinese army had fired at least thousands of artillery shells. This made people think that the Chinese army was poorly trained and poorly equipped before entering the war.
The vulnerable Bunzaburo Kawagishi felt a fever on his face.
Bunzaburo Kawagishi returned to the headquarters with a heavy heart. He saw that the whole room was noisy. Almost all the staff members were crowded in front of the phone, constantly calling the numbers of the front-line units, but without exception, there was no reply.
.
Kawagishi Bunzaburo tried his best to calm down. At this moment, stationed at the front line was the 39th Brigade of Takagi Yoshito, which had just replenished its troops and equipment in Tangshan. The two regiments under this brigade had almost become organic areas before.
It was wiped out by the Anjia Army. Although the officers and subordinates at all levels were preserved and did not suffer the fate of being abolished, it would take some time for the newly recruited soldiers to form a tacit understanding and combat effectiveness. Unexpectedly, they were once again annihilated against the Anjia Army.
.
In addition, the 26th Field Artillery Regiment directly under the division lost all its cannons in the Langfang Battle, and they were replenished in Tangshan. It is said that the thirty-six cannons were supported by the Kwantung Army, but now -
Chief of Staff Kakimura Hisashi Colonel Kawagishi interrupted Bunzaburo Kawagishi's thinking and suddenly asked: "General, do you want to send Yamashita-kun's forty brigades to support?"
Bunzaburo Kawagishi thought for a while and asked: "Faced with such a fierce artillery attack by the China Army, will the 40th Brigade, which is still recovering, be able to defend it? By the way, did Yamaoka-kun call? They suffered How big is the loss?”
Kimura Jiuzang shook his head: "There is no news yet. I guess the 109th Division will not be easier than us. Although Commander Itagaki called yesterday and asked us to strengthen our defense lines and beware of Anjiajun's attack, in the face of such a fierce Even if Commander Itagaki's Fifth Division comes, they will not be able to withstand the heavy artillery fire."
Hearing the sound of artillery on the front line gradually becoming sparse, Bunzaburo Kawagishi came to the large combat map, looked at it carefully for a while, and decisively issued an order:
"Immediately call the headquarters and request tactical guidance. Attached is my opinion: Without air superiority and artillery superiority, it is unwise to compete with the Chinese army. I think we should withdraw to the east bank of the canal and fight with the Chinese army. China’s troops confront each other!”
"Is this...appropriate? Will the headquarters think that we are too cowardly?" Kimura Jiuzou asked hesitantly.
Kawagi Bunzaburo raised his hand: "Execute the order!"