As of the end of 1938 AD, the Japanese army had a total of thirty-four regular infantry divisions. Only one Guards division was stationed in Tokyo and one division was stationed in the Korean Peninsula. The remaining thirty-two divisions were all used in the Chinese battlefield. Among them,
The Kwantung Army has eight divisions, and 24 divisions are deployed on the battlefield within the Kwantung Army.
There was only one division responsible for the defense of Japan's mainland, which made the Japanese, who were very fond of face, feel ashamed. So in September 1938, when the war in Wuhan was in full swing, Japan's mainland formed another fourteenth division.
Each left-behind division was tasked with transporting trained recruits to the Chinese battlefield. Most of the twenty-four divisions in the Guannei battlefield were deployed to major battlefields such as Wuhan and Guangzhou, resulting in an extremely empty military base in the Japanese-occupied areas. Some counties were
There were only about a small group of troops stationed there, and even some remote counties had only a dozen or so Japanese troops.
It can be said that the Japanese army's use of troops on the Chinese battlefield has reached its limit. Telegrams from frontline generals requesting more troops continued to fly like snowflakes. Under this situation, Emperor Hirohito also felt a little helpless. China was really too big, and the Japanese army
The more territory they conquered, the more they were unable to make ends meet in the use of troops. The army led by Gen Sugiyama proposed several times to expand the army again, but gave up due to the opposition of Prime Minister Konoe and the Foreign Minister. Hirohito was also worried about the expansion of the army at that time.
It was too fast and the domestic economy could not support it, so they voted against it.
Now that Sugiyama Motona brought this matter up again, the emperor had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.
Seeing that the emperor was choked speechless by Sugiyama Gen, Nishio Shouzou was afraid that the emperor would be angry, so he quickly said: "Your Majesty, Ando Toshiyoshi is also for the long-term peace and stability of Guangdong. The complete occupation of Guangdong is very beneficial to the great cause of the empire. This
It is no less important than the capture of Nanchang. Your Majesty, please forgive me for your dedication to serving the empire."
"snort……"
The emperor snorted a heavy nasal sound from his nostrils, and then said: "Let's do this. When I give Ando Rikichi more than one month, I will hear him completely occupy the western part of Guangdong before December 31.
Good news."
"Hai..."
As soon as Hirohito's murderous telegram was sent, the atmosphere in Guangdong suddenly became tense. After receiving the warning telegram from Sugiyama Gen and Nishio Hisoo, Ando Toshiyoshi did not dare to neglect, and immediately ordered the Japanese troops on the 5th and 38th
, the 48th Division set out from Guangzhou and Foshan and advanced to Jiangmen and other places at the same time.
The sudden action of the Japanese army caught the Fourth War Zone off guard. At this time, the Fourth War Zone had only one 12th Group Army. This group army had a total of nine infantry divisions and two infantry brigades. However, these troops were distributed in Guangdong, Guangdong and Guangdong.
The remaining troops only had one infantry division and one infantry brigade. Faced with the sudden Japanese offensive, they could only retreat steadily.
On November 26, the Japanese army captured Jiangmen, and Kaiping fell on December 3. On December 6, the Japanese army crossed Enping and approached Yangchun. For a time, the entire Guangdong was in chaos.
Zhang Fakui, deputy commander of the Fourth War Zone who was far away in Shaoguan, was so anxious that if the Japanese army wiped out the western part of Guangdong, then the Japanese army would be directed towards Guangxi, and he would not be spared the blame even if he died.
In the theater headquarters in Shaoguan, there was an atmosphere of overwhelming excitement. Staff officers were marking the progress of the Japanese attack on the map. The red arrows representing the Japanese army were like sharp swords piercing Yangchun and western Guangdong.
Zhang Fakui, who is in his forties, is wearing a khaki woolen army coat. His face looks very haggard from not sleeping well for several days, and his thick black face is full of anxiety.
"Has there been any telegram from the Twelfth Army Group? Is there any news about Yu Hanmou?"
The chief of staff on the side shook his head sadly, "Sir, our fourth theater is already weak in strength. Commander Yu has tried his best. It is only a matter of time before Yangchun falls. The temporary 236th Brigade stationed in Yangchun has already suffered more than half casualties and is about to withstand the attack.
Can’t stand it any longer.”
In anger, Zhang Fakui suddenly cursed in a local accent: "What kind of fight is this when you throw him a**?"
"Sir!" a staff officer suddenly shouted: "Don't we still have one of our troops in Maoming now? Why not let them go to reinforce Yangchun?"
"You mean the new three hundred division?"
Zhang Fakui was naturally aware of the arrival of the 300 Division. Li Zongren personally sent him a telegram for the arrival of this unit, asking Zhang Fakui to take special care of Yun Yun. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the 300 Division to gain a foothold in Maoming so easily. He hesitated for a moment.
Said: "Will they support Yangchun?"
"Why not?" the staff officer said anxiously, "Sir, this Three Hundred Division has been stealing the show this year. Although none of us have seen their combat power with our own eyes, his reputation in Linyi and Taierzhuang is not just blown away.
, Besides, we also know the principle of dying lips and cold teeth."
"Okay!" Zhang Fakui said after hesitating for a moment: "Hurry up and send a telegram to Sanbaisi and ask him to immediately reinforce Yangchun, otherwise it will be too late."
"yes!"
The staff officer agreed and was about to turn around and leave, but a scream suddenly sounded in the war room, "Commander, it's bad, the 236th Brigade suddenly sent an emergency telegram. Yangchun... has been lost..."
As soon as this voice came out, everyone in the war room fell silent...
After a long time, Zhang Fakui sighed and said, "That's all, it all depends on God's will. If Maoming is lost again, Guangdong will not be far away from losing the whole territory!"
The Japanese army swept through almost all of western Guangdong in less than a month, causing Ando Rikichi to fall into an inexplicable ecstasy. He immediately ordered the 48th Division at the forefront to advance to Maoming immediately.
Capture Maoming before December 22nd.
After receiving the order, the commander of the 48th Division, Dohashi Yugi, left the 47th Regiment to deal with the remaining national army defenders in Yangchun, and the remaining troops immediately marched towards Maoming.
But Lieutenant General Dohashi Yugi did not know at this time that it was his order that brought his 48th Division into a crisis...
Winter has arrived in December, and although Guangdong is located in the south, the originally dense jungle has already become a little bare.
In a hill covered with woods, several sparrows were chirping and jumping on the treetops in search of food. With the coming of winter, it was much more difficult for them to find food.
A pine tree collecting food ran towards a pile of withered hay. When it ran into the pile of hay, it seemed to have discovered something and quickly ran away and climbed onto a pile of grass.
tree, and then he looked down at it.
After a while, the pile of withered grass moved, and two heads with steel helmets slowly poked their heads out. The blue sky and white hat badges glowed with a blue light on the side. It turned out that there were two people hidden in the pile of withered grass.
I saw that they were wearing grass-green camouflage uniforms, and one of them had a German Zeiss telescope hanging around his neck. When he was about to raise the telescope and look toward the northeast, there was a low buzzing sound in the sky.
.
The person holding the telescope was about to lower his head to hide, and his companion beside him whispered: "Why hide, we will be damned if it can see it."
"That's right." The man holding the telescope said with a bright smile: "I even forgot that we are thousands of meters away from it. If he could find us, he would be clairvoyant."
"Okay, don't say it anymore. Our mission this time is to observe the movements of the Japanese. As long as we report the movements of the Japanese troops to our hometown, our mission will be completed. Other matters will be handled by our superiors." The voice next to him said.
The rank on this man's collar is red with a black bar in the middle and three three-pointed stars inlaid on it. It is obvious that he is a sergeant. The companion holding the telescope next to him has the same three stars on his rank.
, but without that black bar, in the eyes of those who are interested, they will see that he is just a superior soldier.
The superior soldier looked at it for a while before putting down the telescope and said: "Head... you said the little devil's 48th Division moved so slowly. It's been two days and they haven't arrived yet. Compared to the ones we fought before, they were second and fifth.
The division’s speed is a lot slower!”
The sergeant shook his head slightly, "You kid, don't underestimate the 48th Division. I heard from the commander that the 48th Division's combat effectiveness is not bad. They are the only two groups in Japan that are capable of landing.
One of the mechanized divisions with combat capabilities, the combat effectiveness is quite powerful. But what makes people angry is that two of their infantry regiments are all composed of Taiwanese. These Japanese devils are merciless in killing our own people.
I heard that they took the lead in massacring a village during the attack on Guangzhou, and more than 600 people were killed by them."
"What?" The superior soldier next to him shouted in shock: "There are still people like this? It's just that they don't fight the Japanese, but they are so willing to kill their own people?"
The sergeant was silent for a while and then said: "Hmph...there are many beasts in this world who forget their sects."
The two fell silent at the same time. After a while, the superior soldier called softly: "Head, there is movement ahead."
As he spoke, he immediately raised the telescope to his eyes and started looking. Soon, the shadows of a group of Japanese troops appeared in front of him. The first thing that appeared in the telescope was a convoy of dozens of trucks.
There were more than a dozen soldiers standing on each vehicle, and an 11-year-old machine gun was mounted on the roof. In the leading truck, a Japanese soldier was holding a crooked machine gun and shooting at the surrounding people.
.
Amidst the gunfire from the Japanese army, the sergeant lying in the haystack had already taken out the microphone and put on the headset, "Shan Ying reported to the headquarters, Shan Ying reported to the base, a squadron of the vanguard of the Japanese 48th Division has crossed Lingbei.
Valley, I repeat, a Japanese squadron has crossed the Lingbei Valley."
"The base understands, continue to observe, continue to observe!"
"Yes, Shan Ying understands!"
PS: Thank you for the tips from Cold Night Wind and Rain, Baobao1125, Cang Laoshi, Kong Ming Xiaoxi, Late Star, abccd5432 and other tubes. Thank you all! (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster.