In cooperation with the intensive bombing of the Blue Army aviation, the Fourth Red Division was cut directly from the front by Hou Hekun's Second Blue Division with half a division of tanks, armored vehicles, assault guns, and an entire division of motorized infantry, and then annihilated in pieces.
.
Immediately afterwards, the Second Blue Division bypassed Taihu Lake from the east and went south to attack the rear of the Fifth Red Division. The First Blue Division followed behind to clean up the mess of the Fourth Red Division.
On June 2, that is, at 2:10 p.m. on the second day of the fortress exercise, the Blue Army headquarters officially announced that the Fourth Red Division had been annihilated.
At 6:30 in the evening, the Blue Army headquarters announced that the 5th Red Division had been annihilated.
However, in both battles, the opponent had already built a defense line. Although it was very simple, it also had a more head-on feel. In addition, the tanks of the Second Blue Division and the number of armored divisions were far less than those of the First Blue Division, so the losses were huge.
A little more, reaching more than ten percent.
Up to this time, the only remaining troops of the Red Army were the Sixth Red Division, an empty shell of more than a thousand people huddled in Xinmenzhuang.
In order to completely annihilate the last remaining number of the Red Army, Rommel ordered two divisions of the Blue Army to surround Zhuangzi, and began a fierce attack with absolutely superior strength.
…
The Red Army headquarters in the Purple Mountain Fortress in Nanjing is much deserted now. There is no such hustle and bustle as the previous day, with phones ringing one after another and people running around.
Everyone was sitting there, staring at the phone in front of them, or looking through documents. Occasionally, a phone rang, and an officer picked it up, briefly asked a few questions, and then put it down and continued with what he was supposed to do.
On the huge map, there are almost no red figures left, leaving only a large number of blue figures and small tanks. Only in Xinmengzhuang, there is a solitary red figure with a serial number next to it.
:Red Sixth Division.
The two little female officers under the map were just sitting there, holding long indicator poles, waiting for a certain officer to receive a call, and then follow the instructions to remove the last red man.
Everyone knows that the Red Army lost completely and completely this time. And it lost so quickly. It took only two days for a large-scale exercise involving eight divisions and hundreds of thousands of people to determine the winner.
…
"What do you all want to say?" Tang Yunsheng sat in the small conference room, sipping tea lightly, "What do you think?"
"Sir, the Blue Army is acting rogue," said a colonel. "It was clearly agreed that the drill would start at eight o'clock, but they started it at midnight in advance. How can there be such a drill?"
After he finished speaking, several officers immediately nodded and whispered in agreement, expressing deep sympathy. However, most of the officers present remained silent. The conference room was still lifeless.
Tang Yunsheng didn't speak, but continued to drink tea. At the same time, he glanced around at the crowd and motioned for them to continue expressing their opinions.
Another short colonel glanced at Tang Yunsheng, then at everyone, and felt that it was time for him to speak:
"If you simply explain it this way, it seems to be far-fetched. My subordinates believe that the Blue Army won relatively hard this time. They should win with new equipment and new tactics."
As soon as he said this, everyone around the conference table turned to look at him. Although this colonel was something that no one had ever seen before, most people nodded in agreement.
The colonel then said:
"If the battle between the Blue Army and the Second Red Division and the Third Red Division was based on 'playing rogue', then the subsequent battles with the Sixth Red Division, the First Red Division, the Fourth Red Division, and the Fifth Red Division were all won by playing rogue?"
In other words, if the Blue Army did not "play rogue" and instead attacked at eight o'clock, would the Second and Third Red Divisions be able to stop them? The next four divisions would be able to escape the fate of being annihilated.
?
"Everyone knows that this exercise is not for training, but for testing new tactics. Since it is an experiment, in order for the test results to be accurate, we must do everything possible to simulate the most realistic conditions. I just said, 'There is no such thing as an exercise.'
Yes, exercises are rarely like this, but real war is like this."
The colonel just now couldn't hold it in any longer and said coldly:
"Then according to your opinion, six of our divisions were wiped out by two of them within two days. It's not that they are rogues, but that we are too incompetent?"
"Of course not!" said the second colonel, "There were no major mistakes in our command, and our officers and soldiers fought very hard. However, the Blue Army's offensive method is something we have never seen before. The sky is in their hands.
, they can bomb us however they want, and those few anti-aircraft guns are of no use at all. Our troops have lost most of their heavy weapons, vehicles, and ammunition supplies before they even see the enemy.
, and a large number of soldiers.
"We are all semi-motorized infantry divisions. It is not a problem to march thirty kilometers in a day and night, but under their bombs and strafing, we can only march six or seven kilometers in a day. Moreover, our combat effectiveness and morale have dropped to the lowest point. -
―This is because they have transferred most of the aircraft to other places to cooperate with their ground forces to annihilate other divisions. If they transfer all the aircraft above our heads, then we will not only
The problem of not being able to walk is gone.”
His tone sounded a little strange, as if he came from the front line. A major general asked:
"Who are you……"
"General," the colonel said, "I am Huang Shuliang, commander of the Sixth Red Division."
Upon hearing this name, everyone at the conference table looked towards him, sizing him up.
In the past two days, the name Huang Shuliang has appeared more and more frequently in the Red Army headquarters. As several other divisions were annihilated one after another, his Sixth Red Division became the only red spot on the huge map.
"You also know that I advocate ending the exercise," Tang Yunsheng said slowly, "because it is very clear that we no longer need to fight anymore. At least we still have a nominal division left. If after one hour, or
In two hours, when we don't even have a division in name, it will be a real disastrous defeat. There have been many exercises in the history of our army, but it can be said that none of them have reached this level."
He looked at Huang Shuliang and said:
"But Commander Huang was firmly opposed to ending the exercise early. He had a completely different view. So I sent a car to pick him up and express my opinion."
Huang Shuliang looked around and said with a smile:
"It's not easy to escape. They hadn't surrounded the village at that time. I'm afraid it will take a little more effort to run back now... My lords, although we only have the last thousand people left, we have occupied the area."
The most favorable terrain - residential areas. Our six divisions were annihilated by the Blue Army. One of the biggest problems was that there was no defensive position when we encountered them. If one of our divisions could take the initiative to stop before and build a simple
As for the defense line, it will definitely be defeated, but the defeat will not be so disastrous, and the blue army will also suffer heavy losses. Just like the fourth and fifth red divisions.
"But the defensive positions they hastily built can only play a little role. They can't dig a qualified trench in one night. They are neither wide nor deep. They can't protect people well and can't stop tanks. And they can only
One way. Most soldiers can only say that they have a foxhole. But my lords, look at the place occupied by our Sixth Red Division, houses, buildings, stables, granaries... Is there any more ideal defensive position than this? In addition,
It's a residential area again. The blue army's aerial bombs and heavy artillery can't be used. They can only fight us with human lives and light weapons...
"Haha, gentlemen, don't underestimate the more than a thousand of us. We have more than a thousand machine guns, artillery, ammunition, and excellent terrain. With this, we will consume three to five thousand of them.
It is not impossible to lose half the division. Yes, we are definitely going to lose this exercise, but if we are allowed to resist for a while in the end, we can at least lose less ugly."