The Japanese army was busy planning how to rescue 2,000 officers and soldiers from the side and a colonel who could not even eat so much.
The more than 6,000 officers and soldiers of the Four Army Regiment, no, or more precisely, more than 10,000 officers and soldiers were busy building fortifications around the Japanese army in the encirclement.
That's because after the start of the Zishan Battle, more than 4,000 new recruits who were still training at the Four-Royal Regiment garrison also set off towards Zishan in batches under the leadership of their respective new recruit companies and platoon leaders. When the Zishan Battle was in full swing, 4,000 new recruits had already entered Zishan from Taihang Mountain.
These 4,000 new recruits are considered the last reserve team in Tang Dao's hands. If the Japanese army increases their troops, these 4,000 new recruits will be on the way. At the same time, the 921st Division headquarters located in Xingtai ordered that two regular infantry regiments in the southern Hebei region would also be assembled and could support Zishan at any time.
In other words, not only the Japanese North China Front Army can increase its troops, but China can also invest more than 10,000 troops into the battlefield at any time.
The headquarters of the 80th Army was also determined to show morale and prestige in this battle. If the battle was in a stalemate, it would even be hesitant to use the main 686th Brigade of the 511th Division, which was hundreds of miles away.
It can be said that before the Battle of Zishan, Tang Dao and the 80th Army headquarters had already regarded this battle as a battle-level battle, while the Japanese North China Front Army only planned it as a division-level battlefield and had already lost in terms of pattern.
Before the battlefield could be expanded, the Japanese army had already admitted defeat and retreated. The 4,000 new recruits who were ready to beat the Japanese army could only watch the big brothers beat the Japanese army to a huge blow, and they could only stay in the rear and wait for the military order to be issued.
It was not until the Tang regiment returned that he waved his hand and ordered 4,000 new recruits to walk out of Zishan and participate in the siege of the 2,000 Japanese army as a company.
Originally, Ye Chenghuan and Shangguan Yun had doubts about the newly recruits' in-depth participation in the encirclement battle, and planned to split the new recruits into new recruits platoons and supplement them to the four major infantry battalions. They could not only replenish the soldiers of each infantry company, but also accumulate combat experience by leading the new.
"When the Sichuan Army's new recruits were able to use the pure new recruit system and the Japanese A Division to work in front of each other, why can't they do it? The title of Ironback New Recruitment Company is particularly good, I believe they will not disappoint me!" Tang Dao insisted on his decision.
The Four Lines Regiment is a tradition to lead the new with the old, which can greatly reduce the death rate of new recruits, but it does not necessarily mean that they will become a fixed model. New recruits are not children, and they will face life and death alone one day. Such a battlefield will accelerate their growth.
Tang Dao, who came from the future, considered far more than his colleagues. As May was about to come, Japan's war against Southeast Asia was imminent, the Pacific War was about to begin, and the situation in China's war zone was about to usher in new changes.
This change may not be felt by combat troops of the Four-Royal Regiment, but Tang Dao knew that the mentality of holding the American thighs was necessarily different from that two years ago. At that time, under various pressures, he might have the need to "brothers work together to cut off gold", but when the Americans sent an olive branch, the poor brothers should be as if they were worn out.
Tang Dao had a kind of intuition that since the man must have this intention, the Four-East Regiment, which was very close to the Eighty Army, would inevitably be transferred from the Second War Zone by him in every way.
The stingy old man in the second war zone is not Wu, Guo, and Zhang, who are righteous and righteous generals. He is a pure businessman. As long as he can get the benefits he wants, let alone Tang Dao and Sixing Group, even the women around him can sell them without hesitation.
Tang Dao can cooperate with him, but he has never regarded it as a big tree that can be shaded and avoided the shade.
Even the planning for the Four Army Regiment began when Tang Dao took office as deputy director of the Hebei-South Office. The Four Army Regiment was transferred from the 22nd Army Command to the directly under the War Zone Command.
From that moment on, the Ministry of Military Affairs no longer had to consider the feelings of the Sichuan Army. It would be enough to convince the stingy old man to be alone.
After all, even if the Four-Enterprise Group is a special group, its regular group is only 5,000. Even if the Four-Enterprise Group is well-known, it will only have 5,000 people who cannot resist the Withering Order of the Ministry of Military Affairs. The rest are the seeds left by the Four-Enterprise Group in North China.
Even if one day the Four Army Regiment was wiped out on a certain battlefield, the Four Army Regiment's firm spirit and combat will remain on the battlefield in North China.
More than 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Four Rangers, built with rich field fortifications, dug out two deep trenches of more than 12 kilometers overnight, and deployed a total of 32 infantry companies, 14 veteran companies and 18 new companies. According to the geological characteristics of the hilly areas, excavation was carried out at the bottom of the hilly hills, and efforts were made to dig out more than 30 large air raid shelters before the Japanese plane arrived.
Colonel Jigu, who was so worried that he could not eat, never expected that he would not be able to eat because of his worries, but that he had no food to eat as time passed.
His division commander didn't really give up. After two days of rest and negotiation, the Japanese army in Handan City sent 17,000 reinforcements led by Yukiosuke Okumizu, the 4th Division, with 4 infantry gangs and 5 artillery brigades with 60 artillery pieces, two tank squadrons with 34 tanks, and four bomber squadrons sent by the Japanese North China Front Aviation Corps in the sky for air cover.
In terms of strength, the combat effectiveness of this Japanese reinforcements is almost comparable to that of a division, which fully demonstrates Saburo Okabe's determination.
But even such a large army had not even seen the shadow of its trapped officers and soldiers. Just about 2 kilometers away from the encirclement, they were blocked by the four regiments of the 683rd Brigade and the two regiments arrived at the southern Hebei region.
China has invested more than 20,000 infantry, and the defense line deployed along the hills is 10 kilometers long. The four infantry regiments commanded by Okunosuke personally did not advance for three days.
Of course, the main reason for this result is that the six Chinese infantry regiments have brave and powerful firepower in combat, and any Japanese infantry who wants to advance will be ruthlessly attacked, but the combat will of the four infantry regiments, mainly the 4th Division and the 10th Division, are not firm and the same key.
The most common situation on the battlefield is often when the Japanese army attacked at the beginning, and the Chinese infantry had not yet been launched, and they were fighting back, and the Japanese army immediately retreated like burning their butts. Not to mention that they did not advance for three days, even for thirty days, they would probably not be able to get to the side of the Japanese army trapped.
The 17,000 people from Yukinosuke Okuba had the 17,000 people in Handan City that could continuously transport supplies, attacked three times a day, and then stopped working and had dinner after fighting, but the Japanese army in the encirclement had no supplies.
Originally, the Battle of Zishan could be solved in the Japanese army's plan at most half a month or a week, and the logistics supplies were basically carried at this time. That's all. According to the distribution of the supplies, the Japanese army in the encirclement could support at least another week, but it was so hard that they could not die. In order to avoid wasting materials, the evacuation of five days ago took away most of the supplies.
So, on the third day after being surrounded, the Japanese army in the encirclement completely ran out of food.
As the saying goes: People are iron rice and steel, and they don’t eat a meal and are hungry! What does it feel like to be hungry for 9 meals in a row?
The eyes must be blue, and the Japanese army in the encirclement finally fully understood this.
There are only a short tree and shrub on the hills that are at most seventy or eighty meters high, and there are nothing to do except for short trees and shrubs. It is not right. When the Japanese infantry dug trenches, they still found a lot of field mice...
So, on the first day after the food was cut off, from the captain to the second class, the Japanese army began a vigorous mouse-catching operation, but not to eliminate the four evils, but to eat meat.
Colonel Chongxin Jigu, who was so worried that he couldn't eat, ate the first meal of meat in three days that night, a field mouse that was roasted until charred.
In order to make the colonel happy, the cooks in the corps were also thoughtfully sprinkled with precious salt.
The senses were extremely disgusting, but the taste buds on the tip of the tongue reminded the Japanese Army Colonel that this was the ultimate delicacy he had never eaten in his life.
As he ate, the Japanese Army Colonel cried, not because of the touching food, but because he knew that even such a voles, I am afraid that 2,000 imperial officers and soldiers would not be divided into one branch.
This is indeed true. According to the battle report of the troops seized after the war, the Japanese army captured a total of 1,246 voles on that day. Except for those who were rated as officers and above of sergeant commanders, one branch was shared by the rest of the officers and soldiers below Cao.
On average, less than 80 grams of meat per person!
But this was also the last delicacy that the Japanese army could fill their stomachs. From that night, the Japanese army had to feed on wild vegetables and bark.
The key is that their activity area is less than 0.5 kilometers, and no matter how many small trees there are, they can't help but peel the 2,000 Japanese soldiers in a hurry!
On the sixth day, the wild vegetables and bark were all pulled out. The Japanese army was about to eat dirt. Some Japanese army even looked at the bodies of their comrades who died because they were not treated. Colonel Shigenoshi Yoshigu was also anxious and no longer begged Okabe Saburo to speed up the rescue, but directly confessed the current situation of his troops.
"Food, clear water was completely cut off 4 days ago, and the officers and soldiers were starving and were about to eat with their comrades' corpses. If the scene falls into the eyes of the Chinese, the consequences will be unimaginable. Whether to fight or surrender, I hope the division commander will make a decision as soon as possible!"
Up to now, the Japanese army has suffered setbacks and suffered repeated blows, but this is the first time that someone has announced the word "submission" on paper, which shows the despair of the Japanese Army colonel at that time.
If the Chinese launched an attack, he would rather lead more than 2,000 troops to fight the Chinese to the death. The entire army would do whatever it wanted, at least not lose the name of the 1st Division.
But the Chinese were born with this kind of soft knife to kill people, and they surrounded them without attacking them, so they let 2,000 of them stand up in the mountains and fields.
Just as the Japanese Army Colonel said in the telegram, except for food, what is even more terrifying is that there is no clear water. The southern part of Hebei belongs to the north and is not very rich in water resources. Unlike in southeast China, water can be dug out by digging a trench more than one meter deep.
In order to solve the water source problem, Colonel Chongxin Jigu has organized an infantry squadron to dig more than a dozen soil pits with a depth of 10 meters, but no water vapor was seen.
Fortunately, there is a stream less than half a meter wide under a hill. Although the water flow is small, if you use a military kettle to get water diligently, it will be barely enough to maintain the lives of 2,000 people.
However, the small mountain stream was less than 300 meters away from the Chinese blockade line, and was within the range of the Chinese rifle.
Damn Chinese also quickly discovered this, so they regarded this stream, which was only 150 meters long exposed to the jungle, as their shooting range.
Even at night, they would shoot flares from time to time and shoot soldiers crawling with water under the flares. For this reason, more than 30 imperial officers and soldiers have paid their lives, and the water they retrieved has a faint smell of blood.
But even so, the Japanese infantry with blue eyes still looked at the comrades who sacrificed their lives for them. How could this not make the Japanese Army Colonel feel heartbroken?
He couldn't blame him for putting the taboo word "reduce" on the desktop.
"If you can fight, you must not surrender, otherwise it will become a shame to the division, a shame to the Kanto army, and a shame to the imperial army!" Okabe Saburo's reply was also fierce, and he replied with three harsh shames.
However, Saburo Okabe also knew that his military order might be able to restrain Shigeon Yoshigu and most middle and senior officers, but what about those lower-level officers and soldiers who were hungry?
The most urgent task is no longer the problem of ground support, but the problem of eating and drinking water for 2,000 officers and soldiers surrounded by Chinese.
The largest airdrop material operation in the history of the North China military in Japan was launched on the 7th day of the end of the Zishan Battle.
More than 60 fighter jets took off from airports in North China, but this time the aircraft was loaded with bombs, but supplies packs carrying parachutes, including biscuits, canned food, milk candies, and medicines...
All fighter jets started airdropping at an altitude of 3,500 meters, with the goal of lighting a large bonfire area.
The height is too high. If the pilot only looks at the airdrop area, it is simply known as the blind big shot.
But this little trick of the Japanese army was soon learned by the Four Army Corps!
The main reason was that the Japanese army in the encirclement was too anxious. Half an hour before the arrival of the aircraft group, they were impatient to light bonfires in various places of their positions according to the agreement, causing smoke to fill the entire position, which really scared the troops of the four regiments and thought that the hungry Japanese army was going to fight to the death.
After looking back, I found that there were piles of bonfires on the Japanese positions. In this kind of sunny weather, there would never be a need for heating. It was too abnormal. Although I didn’t understand what the Japanese wanted to do, this did not prevent the commanders at all levels of the Four Corps from slapping their heads. I also lit a few fires to make some barbecue.
So hundreds of bonfires were lit outside the encirclement.
Sure enough, more than ten minutes later, the huge roar of the Japanese army fleet resounded throughout the world.
"It seems to be an airdrop of materials! This is a good thing! Tell Cheng Tieshou not to scare the God of Wealth away and ask them to cast it. It depends on whether I picked up more or the Japanese guys picked up more!" Tang Daoyao looked at the small black dots in the distance. Combined with the abnormal situation on the Japanese position today, it was the first time that he saw a machine that he had the idea of ​​hitting a machine that he saw.
This may also be the first time Captain Sasaki flew over the Chinese position without experiencing ground artillery fire, but what made him headache was that he looked down with a telescope and there were spots of fire everywhere. It was an area with an area of ​​more than 4 square kilometers, and it expanded nearly ten times the 0.5 square kilometers of its own position as mentioned above.
"Dry materials, all aircraft should be careful and try to throw them into the central area agreed upon with the imperial infantry before taking off!" Captain Sasaki was a smart man. He soon realized that this might be the Chinese who were making trouble. He had already invested materials in the central area so that he would not blindly invest the last stubbornness.
Unfortunately, his intelligence was mistaken for being clever. The encirclement was not a regular circle. Due to the terrain, the Japanese position was actually located in the upper right corner of the entire combat area. The central area that Sasaki could see was actually the command center of Tang Dao.
What's even more terrible is that the northwest wind was blowing at that time. After the Japanese planes entering the battlefield from the north dropped supplies, even if the materials that fell into the Japanese position area were packed with the power of the northwest wind, they would float to the Chinese position area.
The Japanese army on the position just watched the supplies packages that were only a hundred meters above their heads glided by leisurely above their positions and landed on the Chinese position hundreds of meters away.
Tears that were not strong enough to slide down the corners of your lips!
It would be fine if the Chinese people didn’t talk about martial ethics, but the air force in the Mao Empire would be so stupid. I am about to starve to death, not to let you hold the Chinese to death!
"The supplies that can fall into our position are less than one percent!" Colonel Shigeon Yoshigu endured his sadness and ate his first bite of biscuit in seven days, and sent the following message to Saburo Okabe.
This is the front army that wants to go bankrupt! Duotianjun, who received the telegram from Saburo Okabe, almost jumped out of breath.
If possible, he really hopes that Shigein Yoshigu will die quickly with 2,000 people, so as not torture him before he leaves office.
The dozen tons of airdropped materials were not transformed out of thin air. Is it good that the Front Army saved the materials of the front-line divisions?
If it weren't for the familiarity with Saburo Okabe, Tata Jun would even deeply doubt this guy's plan to openly invest in the enemy.
In the end, the commander of the Kwantung Army sent another telegram to Duo Tianjun in private, and the Japanese who were stinging and searching for three consecutive airdrops for the first time.
Dozens of tons of various materials can be regarded as making the Chinese generals smile.
Chapter completed!