Immediately after being bombarded, the 8th and 70th regiments of the 7th brigade and the 37th and 61st regiments of the 32nd brigade, which were deployed on a defense line of more than ten kilometers, immediately
The gun exploded. Whether they were infantry, machine gunners, artillery, or officers and staff at all levels in squads, squadrons, groups, wings and even brigades, they were all stunned by the sudden shelling. They were destroyed all around.
In the explosion, ghosts were crying and wolves were running around, and the organization was suddenly disrupted. The officers and soldiers were like headless flies, running towards the friendly defense line. The battle line that had been carefully constructed all afternoon collapsed in an instant.
The divisions of the Anjia Army did not wait for the sound of artillery to stop, and then stepped on the impact point of the artillery shells to launch a full-scale attack on the Japanese defense line. The 1st Brigade of the *** Division and the 49th Brigade of the 17th Division rushed to the Japanese position.
As we walked forward, we discovered that the trenches in front of us were empty except for scattered corpses of Japanese soldiers. Guns and ammunition abandoned by Japanese soldiers could be seen everywhere on the ground. At the same time, the hurried backs of Japanese soldiers could still be vaguely seen dozens of meters ahead. I couldn't help but let out a cry.
Shouting with murderous intent, under the leadership of the two brigade commanders Lu Xiong and Zhao Tingfang, they launched a tail-to-back pursuit of the Japanese army. The *** Division and other brigades of the 17th Division followed up one after another, chasing the Japanese army like a duck.
The Sixth Division's station was driven away.
General Matsui, commander of the Fourth Division, was on the front line of Longwang Temple where the division headquarters was located. He also felt the earth-shaking shelling. His face turned pale, and he felt panic in his heart. He secretly shouted "It's over."
Ever since he became the commander of the Fourth Division, Matsui Ming had not had a good night's sleep. He was worried about the affairs of the division all day long. For example, this time the division was urgently transferred from Osaka to North China to participate in the war. After the division disembarked in Qinhuangdao, it was not originally possible.
If you need a rest, you have to rush to the temporary garrison in Hancheng, west of Tangshan. But what is strange is that the number of disease patients in the division has increased sharply. Looking around, you can see that the entire camp is full of officers and soldiers who requested to stay in Qinhuangdao for medical treatment for various reasons.
The emotional General Matsui was so furious that he personally visited the division's infirmary and gathered all the sick and wounded for physical examination. The results were self-evident. Seeing that there was no way to escape, the whole division began to tidy up in despair.
The good troops marched towards the garrison, and the joke that "the division commander changed his profession to become a doctor" quietly spread among the Japanese troops on the front line in eastern Hebei Province. However, the matter was not over, and the soldiers of the Fourth Division played a new trick——
Negative work. From Qinhuangdao to the temporary camps of each division, other divisions took two days to arrive, but the Fourth Division, which was closer than other divisions, took six days to travel, and there were still a large number of people left behind.
After finally getting all the personnel in the Hancheng military camp, the division headquarters received an order from the front army headquarters to rush to Baodi County to attack the Chinese *** team. Now everything was in chaos, and nearly half of the officers and soldiers were invited.
On sick leave, they all went to the Japanese Army North China Hospital in Tangshan to apply for hospitalization. If General Matsui hadn't gone to the overcrowded hospital in person to assure the officers and soldiers that they only needed to follow other divisions to boost their reputation, and that this trip would never happen.
If the main force of the Sina Army had not been so comforted, most of the Fourth Division would probably still be "waiting" in Hancheng at this moment.
After arriving in Baodi County, the battle started as expected. As expected, as the division commander Lieutenant General Matsui said, during the attack on the Third Army of Zeng Wanzhong, Lieutenant General Tani Hisao's Sixth Division almost fell
It was easily defeated in a single encounter, and when the team arrived at Bangjun Town to set up an encirclement, the front army also placed the Sixth Division facing the east of the Second Army Group of the Chinese Army, and it was said that the army was
Under the frequent reconnaissance of the aviation reconnaissance aircraft, no trace of reinforcements was found on the road east from Peiping. The Chinese *** team, which was expected to be stunned by the Imperial Army, was temporarily unable to send troops, and the western front was completely destroyed.
With no possibility of encountering war, these officers and soldiers from Osaka felt more at ease.
In the afternoon, when the scorching sun was shining and the battle between the Sixth Division and the Chinese Army was at its fiercest, many officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division began to go deep into the front line with small commodities such as sunglasses, folding fans, lighters, chewing gum, and kettles filled with water.
, peddling it to the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division, and made a lot of money. Regarding this, Lieutenant General Matsui just smiled faintly after receiving the message from Lieutenant General Hisao Nagatani of the Sixth Division, and said in his heart that as long as there was no trouble,
Let's just let it go. You must know that even the new commander of the North China Front, General Juichi Terauchi, was helpless against the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division when he was the commander of the Fourth Division. Although Matsui was very confident in himself, he had no choice but to do anything.
He was so arrogant that he thought he was better than General Juichi Terauchi. He just wanted to be safe during his term of office, and then find a position where he could better utilize his abilities like General Juichi Terauchi.
However, no one expected that this trip, which was originally thought to be a relaxing "cheering" activity, would suddenly encounter a fierce attack by the Chinese *** team. Moreover, judging from the intensity of the artillery bombardment, it was definitely the Chinese *** who participated in the attack.
It is strange that the unprepared Matsui, the main force of the team, was not worried about the collapse of the entire Fourth Division.
On the battlefield at this moment, the Anjia Army's First Division and the 17th Division marched straight in, driving the defeated Japanese troops towards the Sixth Division's garrison. The soldiers of the 40th Division followed behind, paying attention to protecting the flanks of the two divisions.
Seize the time to collect weapons and ammunition dropped by the Japanese army.
To the great surprise of Yang Jiuxiao, the commander of the 40th Division, the Japanese army actually threw all their machine guns and artillery to the Anjia Army. When Yang Jiuxiao heard the urgent report from Chief of Staff Tong Zhiqiang, he couldn't believe his ears and hurried to the Anjia Army.
The Japanese heavy artillery position deployed on the front line of Xipanzhuang Village found that thirty-six field guns and twelve 120mm howitzers were intact. Boxes of artillery shells filled several ammunition warehouses behind the artillery position, which made me laugh heartily.
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Not only that, but soon Ni Xianrong, commander of the 118th Brigade, received good news. The search team found two Japanese brigades and their subordinate artillery units in Xicaochang Village and Luoguzhuang Village respectively.
, a total of more than 80 mountain artillery and infantry artillery were obtained. In addition, more than 200 crooked machine guns and 92-type heavy machine guns were also captured, which can be described as a bumper harvest.
Now let’s look at the fate of the Sixth Division. Half an hour before the Anjia Army’s Fifth Corps launched an attack on the Japanese Fourth Division, Lieutenant General Hisao Nagatani of the Sixth Division happened to summon Chief of Staff Shimono Ichidazuo, Thirty-sixth
Brigade commander Major General Ushijima Mitsuru and the staff of the 1st Cadre Division held a meeting.
The Sixth Division was transferred to North China as early as the beginning of the war between China and Japan, but it has been stationed in Tangshan, an important town in eastern Hebei. Like all the Japanese generals, Hisao Tani was dismissive of the Chinese army at the beginning, thinking that according to the
The Japanese army has strong fighting power. One brigade is enough to annihilate one division of the Chinese Army. In the Peking-Tianjin war, only two to three divisions could be invested and several Japanese brigades could easily solve it. However, the progress of the war was far beyond his expectation.
Unexpectedly, the defeats suffered by the 20th Division, the 109th Division, the Riverside Brigade and the Japanese Army Brigades made Hisao Tani gradually pay more attention to the Chinese Army, especially for the creation of
With this series of achievements, An Jiajun and Hisao Tani were even more vigilant.
The reconnaissance plane of the Army Aviation Corps found no trace of reinforcements on the way east, which made Hisao Tani a little disbelieving. However, the reconnaissance plane later reported that a large number of troops building fortifications were found on the west bank of the Chaobai River. The number was estimated to be around 100,000.
, although he suffered frequent air attacks, he still did not change his original intention of building fortifications. This slightly alleviated the doubts in Hisao Tani's mind, but he still did not dare to take it lightly, so he convened this military meeting to study and judge the current war situation and the movements of the Anjia Army.
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"The China Army was nothing more than that. Mr. Sakai only sent out the Okamoto Regiment, which blocked the attack of the legendary 52nd Army of the China Army. Mr. Okamoto even had the strength to launch several counterattacks, causing serious damage to the China Army.
Huge casualties. If he hadn't followed the order from the front army headquarters to stay on the spot, Mr. Sakai would have launched a full-line attack and driven the current enemy into Jixian County in one fell swoop."
Major General Mitsuru Ushijima, who had just spoken on the phone with Major General Tokutaro Sakai, commander of the 11th Brigade, said with a smile, his tone full of disdain for the Chinese *** team.
Colonel Inoki Kon, captain of the 6th Cavalry Regiment who attended the meeting, had a different view:
"The Chinese army may not be as miserable as we have seen. We must realize that the front army headquarters is unique in selecting fighter aircraft. The Chinese army has continued forced marches and is exhausted today. I estimate that they are now even
Half of its true strength cannot be exerted. Furthermore, according to an urgent telegram from the Front Army Headquarters, the 16th Division encountered a tenacious blockage by the Chinese army in Yutian County. It has been fighting non-stop since noon and has still not occupied Yutian County. It has also been attacked by the Chinese army.
The attack with a large number of explosives laid in advance resulted in the destruction of most of the 19th Brigade and the destruction of 27 tanks of the 1st Battalion of Armored Vehicles that went to assist in the battle. Doesn't such a huge loss not attract enough attention from us?
"
"How can the Sixteenth Division compare with our Sixth Division?" Ushijima Mitsuru said with some dissatisfaction: "Inoki-kun, I think you were frightened by the Chinese army..."
"Enough!"
Hisao Tani raised his hand: "There is no need to be so critical among colleagues. The purpose of our meeting is to promptly review and discover the loopholes in the divisions and fronts, successfully realize the pre-war strategic concept, and at the same time avoid unnecessary losses.
Gentlemen, I have a question here. Where is the fifth legion of the Anjia Army stationed in Tong County now? Will it sneak up on us and launch a surprise attack on us?"
"That's unlikely, isn't it?"
Chief of Staff Shimoichi Huo Dazuo said in surprise: "Today, our reconnaissance planes and fighter planes frequently circled in the airspace from Tangshan to Tongxian. If the Fifth Army Corps of the Anjia Army was dispatched in large numbers, there is no reason why they would not be able to detect it."
The division's communications staff hurriedly stood up and reported the telegram he had just received: "General, there is a call from General Heiyan of the 24th Division. A regiment of the Manchurian Army sent to Tiejia Ridge to build fortifications in the afternoon has lost contact for six hours.
There has been no news from more than ten search teams sent by the 24th Division. General Heiyan suspects that the Chinese army has made some moves on the front line of Tiejialing and wants us to be more careful."
"Baga!"
Hisao Tani was furious and stood up and yelled: "Why wasn't such important news told earlier? It's dark now, and even if you want to ask the Aviation Command to send a reconnaissance plane for low-altitude reconnaissance, it's too late... Immediately
Inform General Matsui of the Sixth Division Headquarters..."
Before Hisao Tani finished speaking, the earth trembled and the deafening continuous sound of shelling came, followed by the sound of landslides and tsunamis that filled the world.
Hisao Tani's face was pale, and like General Matsui, he secretly screamed "It's over", and immediately issued an order to the generals attending the meeting to urgently mobilize all divisions and prepare for battle at any time, but the An family army would prepare for the Sixth Division.