Liaocheng, Shandong Province, the headquarters of the Japanese 5th Division.
At this time, the 5th Division basically had nothing to do with the original Sakagaki Division. Not only were the division commander Seishiro Sakagaki and Chief of Staff Takeshi Sakurada assassinated, but their two infantry brigades, the Kunisaki Brigade and the Sakamoto Brigade, were destroyed successively.
, even the fully formed 5th Cavalry Regiment was transferred to the newly formed 105th Division.
Although the current 5th Division is still an old division in name, it is actually a new division.
However, the new commander of the 5th Division, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio, was not discouraged by this. Instead, he was even more full of fighting spirit. The reason is very simple. If Shinozuka Yoshio can rebuild the 5th Division
If he becomes the "Steel Army", then he will become the division commander with the most outstanding merits among the previous division commanders of the 5th Division.
In addition, the number of soldiers who have been supplemented also gives Yoshio Shinozuka confidence.
Among the four infantry regiments that have been replenished, one regiment was transferred from the Second Division, but its designation was changed to the 11th Infantry Regiment. The other three infantry regiments are also in reserve service.
Compared with the local soldiers in the reserve force, the recruits in the reserve service are obviously more energetic and malleable.
The engineering and cavalry regiments directly under the division have also been rebuilt, and the baggage regiment and field artillery regiment have even been strengthened. The baggage regiment has two full truck brigades, while other divisions only have one truck brigade at most, and the field artillery regiment has even been strengthened.
The two 75-caliber field artillery brigades of the artillery wing have also been replaced with 105-caliber field artillery.
The only thing that made Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka feel a little regretful was that the 5th Division was incorporated into the third echelon.
According to the instructions from the base camp, twenty-six divisions will directly or indirectly participate in the Xuzhou Battle, including sixteen divisions in the North China Battlefield and ten divisions in the Central China Battlefield. All twenty-six divisions participating in the battle are divided into
There are three echelons. The first echelon's combat mission is to hold back the national army. The second echelon's combat mission is to turn into counterattacks from all directions. The third echelon is actually the strategic reserve. Once the Xuzhou battle is won, it will be launched to capture Wuhan.
In the midst of combat.
The ambition of the Japanese base camp was not just to win the Battle of Xuzhou, but also planned to seize Wuhan in one fell swoop.
When Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio was frowning and meditating on the battle map, a tall and tall colonel officer who was no more than forty years old walked straight in. He immediately put his feet back and stood at attention, lowered his head and saluted: "Your Excellency, General, Imperial Army of Japan
The new chief of staff of the 5th Division, Chi Tengtian, reports to you and asks for your instructions."
"Yoshi." Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio heard the voice and turned around and said happily, "Tengada-kun, you are finally here."
"Hai." Colonel Tomo Tetsuda responded suddenly and loudly again, "I'm really sorry for keeping you, General, waiting for so long."
"Where is it?" Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio waved his hand. When his eyes inadvertently glanced at the collar badge on Tetsuda Chi's collar, his originally gentle eyes couldn't help but condense slightly. Just half a month ago, this guy was just a base camp.
A major staff officer in the staff department of the front line commander of the dispatch squad was promoted two ranks to become a colonel in less than half a month!
This is partly due to his father and family, as well as the fact that General Terauchi and Lieutenant General Okabe admire him very much, but the most important thing is that Tomo Tetsuda himself is indeed an outstanding officer. General Terauchi did not mention him at all.
He is not stingy in his praise and thinks that Tomo Tsumata is probably the most outstanding representative among the future imperial army generals!
Without any reason, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio had the idea of a test in his mind.
Lieutenant General Shinozuka smiled and asked: "Tengda-kun, I heard that you have a unique insight into this holy war of 'Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity'. I wonder if you can tell me about it?"
Colonel Tsuda sighed and said: "Your Excellency General, with all due respect, the pattern of the Greater East Asia Holy War or the 'War between China and Japan' has been basically determined, and both sides are already in deep trouble, and they are obviously unable to follow the grand strategy.
They have changed their respective arrangements, so it is meaningless to discuss this proposition now."
"No." Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka waved his hand and said, "I still want to hear Mr. Tetsuda's wise words."
"Hai." Colonel Tetsuda lowered his head suddenly and said, "Your Majesty General, I think the decision-making of the base camp has been deviated from the beginning. We have gone astray from the beginning of this holy war."
"Oh?" Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka said with a horrified expression, "I would like to hear the details."
Colonel Tengtian said: "Your Excellency General, China is a country dominated by Han people. In the long history of China, there has only been one and a half experience of national subjugation. The so-called half time was the fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. The reason why the Manchu Qing Dynasty was able to enter the country was
The control of the Central Plains actually came at the expense of fully accepting Confucian culture, so it is difficult to say who destroyed whom."
"The other time was when the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Song Dynasty. The Mongolian Yuan Dynasty basically relied on pure force to destroy the Song Dynasty. There was almost no compromise on civilization and culture. Therefore, the Chinese people were truly subjugated this time, and they also became a few
After ten years of subjugation, the Chinese people finally restored their ancestral temple until the Ming Dynasty Zhongxing expelled the Meng Yuan from the Central Plains."
Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio listened very carefully and asked: "Is this related to the Empire's Holy War?"
Tengtian Dazuo said: "Your Excellency General, I think the experience of the Manchu Qing's destruction of the Ming Dynasty is not worth learning from, because the Han nationality has a long history and its tolerance is beyond imagination. If we follow the Manchu Qing's example, then within three hundred years
, the Yamato nation will also become a vassal of the Han people like the Manchu people, and will never be able to guarantee its dominant position."
"So..." Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka said, "should we follow Mongolia's example?"
"Yes." Colonel Tengtian said, "We must not only imitate the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty strategically and resolutely abandon the absurd idea of conquering China culturally, but we must also imitate the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty tactically and adopt the strategy used by the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty to destroy the Song Dynasty.
Come and destroy the National Government. If the empire really did this, then the National Government would probably have surrendered by this time."
Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio frowned and said, "Tengada-kun, can I hear the specific deduction?"
Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka was obviously a little unhappy. Tomo Tessata was so bold and openly denied the grand strategy formulated by many senior staff officers in the base camp. This made him feel very uncomfortable.
"Of course." Teng Tianzhi strode to the map hanging on the wall, immediately picked up the command pole and pointed at the map and said, "General, please see, when the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Song Dynasty, they used a counterclockwise encirclement. From the beginning
So he gathered all the troops in the country and launched a large-scale southern expedition, first conquering Sichuan, the land of abundance, then detouring to Yunnan, cutting off the Chinese people's retreat, and finally launching an attack on the Chinese people from the north, west and south at the same time, and a decisive battle would determine the outcome."
"If the Empire of Japan could use all its strength from the beginning and mobilize at least fifty divisions in the shortest possible time, then land at Lianyungang, cut straight through Xi'an along the Longhai Line, and then invade Sichuan from Xi'an
, after occupying Sichuan, then divide the troops to detour to Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangdong and Guangxi. In half a year at most, the imperial army will be able to occupy all the above areas."
Yoshio Shinozuka was silent when he heard this. Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangdong and Guangxi were actually controlled by local warlords in China. If the imperial army really assembled the main force to attack the above areas, Chiang's Central Army might not be able to help. Even if it reluctantly sent troops, it would probably be just
Symbolically, occupying the above areas within half a year is really not a difficult task for the imperial army, which has devoted all its troops.
Tetsuda Chi added: "After occupying Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangdong and Guangxi, the imperial army will be able to form a half-moon-shaped encirclement of central China from a grand strategic perspective. The China Army will also lose the space for strategic maneuvers and will be forced to fight the imperial army decisively."
, with the military power of the imperial army, supplemented by the powerful navy and air force, we will definitely be able to defeat it in one go, and China will surely perish!"
Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio was speechless for a long time. As proud as he was, he had to admit that this little guy Tetsuda Tomo did have extraordinary strategic vision. If Ishihara Kanji, the deputy chief of staff of the base camp, could have such vision, then at this time
, I am afraid that the Holy War in Greater East Asia has ended and China has been destroyed.
"It's a pity..." Tomo Tomo put down the command pole, sighed deeply, and said, "Our base camp has neither foresight nor strategic vision. They were intimidated by China's vast territory and huge population. From then on,
From the beginning, the Japanese Empire did not believe that it had the strength to destroy China, so it adopted a conservative and stupid cannibalization strategy."
"It wasn't until the Chinese took the initiative to provoke disputes in Shanghai that the empire responded passively and mobilized urgently."
"Up to this time, the empire still had the strength and opportunity to destroy China in World War I, but the base camp once again made a major strategic misjudgment. They passively and foolishly assembled a large number of elite troops in the Songhu area, and fought with the China Army in Nanjing.
Fighting two wars of attrition not only gave the China government enough time to shift its strategy, but also consumed a large number of elite veterans, thereby forever losing the opportunity and strength to quickly invade the hinterland of China."
Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio said: "Then there is no room for recovery?"
"Yes." Tengtian Zhidao said, "The only chance now is to gather heavy troops to land in Guangzhou, and then quickly capture Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou, and strategically cut off the China government's connection with the outside world. Then, with the poor industrial strength of the China government, both
Even if we have deep strategic maneuvering space, we will eventually be trapped alive by the imperial army in the two lakes area!"
Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio said: "You mean... the Battle of Xuzhou is meaningless?"
"Yes." Teng Tianzhi said very simply and authentically, "The Chinese army assembled on the battlefield in Xuzhou seems to be large in number, but in fact they are just Chinese peasants who have just put on military uniforms, and the items in their hands are primitive and shabby.
With such weapons and such an army, even if the imperial army annihilates one hundred divisions, the Chinese government can quickly replace it with two hundred divisions."
"Therefore, it is a completely stupid decision to force the China government to surrender by wiping out the effective strength of the China army. The most effective strategy to deal with the China government is to imitate the Mongolian Yuan and use all the troops to fight quickly. The second is to besieged for a long time and wait for the internal strife in the China government.
Then they will support a puppet government and gradually encroach on it."