Faced with Okamura Neji's strict order, Kumagai Kei had to grit his teeth and bear it silently. It's really funny to say that he originally led the 15th Division to rescue the 63rd Division, but now he and the 63rd Division
They were also dragged into Nanping City by the Chinese army. What is even more ironic is that the Chinese army on the opposite side is still only one division in size.
Two Japanese field divisions with nearly 50,000 troops were defeated in such a miserable manner by the Chinese army of less than 20,000. This is undoubtedly a huge irony for the Japanese military, which has always claimed to be the best in Asia.
It stands to reason that what the Japanese should do after being so ridiculed is to immediately launch a large-scale counterattack. Even if they kill the last person, they must wipe out all the Chinese troops on the opposite side. In fact, there are indeed many middle and low-level officers who want to fight back.
The two division commanders Kumagai Keiichi and Noboshi Masatori proposed to launch a large-scale counterattack against the Chinese army and wipe out all the Chinese armies on the opposite side. In the view of these Japanese officers, although the 15th and 63rd Divisions in Nanping City are now
The losses were considerable, but there were still nearly 30,000 combat troops, far more than the Chinese army on the opposite side. If they launched a fierce attack, they might be able to defeat them.
But the two division commanders, Kumagai Keiichi and Noboshi Masatori, knew very well that if they did this, the final result would most likely fall in front of the dense artillery fire and machine gun positions on the opposite side. The Chinese machine guns, artillery, and aircraft would definitely not be able to do so.
They will be merciful because they have more people. The result of rashly launching a counterattack without air support and artillery superiority will only be to make many Japanese soldiers become the targets of the opponent's machine guns. In this case, you should shrink your head.
Turtle is the best choice.
Looking at the forward position that had turned into a sea of fire, Kumagai Keiichi closed his eyes in pain. He knew that another squadron had disappeared from the establishment of the 15th Division.
"General, we can't go on like this. If we go on like this, our 15th Division will be wiped out." Chief of Staff Sasaka Toshiyuki couldn't stand it anymore, and begged Kumagai Keiichi: "These Chinese people are obviously
To exhaust our forces bit by bit, we should withdraw all our troops into Nanping City. At least in Nanping City, the Chinese will take care of the people in the city and not dare to bombard us with heavy artillery, so that we can have a fair chance to fight with the Chinese.
."
"Fair?" Kumagai Keiichi smiled bitterly. He let out a long sigh, pointed at the still intensive artillery fire in front and said: "Sataka-kun, do you know why the Chinese clearly gained air supremacy a week ago, but why have they not been able to do so until now?"
Didn’t bombers come out to carry out a massive bombing campaign against us?”
A trace of confusion also flashed across Sako Toshiyuki's eyes, and he shook his head and said, "I don't know what my position is, so please give me some advice, your Excellency, the division commander."
Kumagai Keiichi gritted his teeth and said: "Actually, the Chinese people have long known that we are waiting for the arrival of the Kwantung Army. The reason why they have not launched a general attack on us until now is because they regard us as bait to lure the Kwantung Army forward.
Come, and then want to kill us and the Kwantung Army who came for reinforcements. This is the goal of the China commander. But if we all retreat into the city, they will immediately use bombers to flatten us all without hesitation.
Do you think they will care about the pitiful few people who have almost escaped from the city?"
"Bagaya Deer!" Sasaka Toshiyuki cursed loudly: "They have a good appetite, and they are not afraid of having their teeth popped out. They think the Kwantung Army is a group of sheep. Can they kill them if they want?"
In fact, the Japanese troops in the Kwantung region are not very fond of the Kwantung Army. In particular, many officers and generals are very disgusted with the Kwantung Army's coaxing attitude all day long, claiming that I am the best in the world. However, they still agree with the combat effectiveness of the Kwantung Army.
Moreover, facing a common enemy at this time, Sa Xiaojun couldn't help but sing praises for the Kwantung Army.
Kumagai Keiichi said impatiently: "Okay, Sasaka-kun, it's useless to say this now. The problem is that the Chinese people think so now, and they have already done so. What we have to do now is to wait for the arrival of the Kwantung Army, and then fight with
The Kwantung Army will wipe out the Chinese people together. But before that, we cannot suffer too many losses, otherwise we will not be able to counterattack. It will be good if we can protect ourselves."
Sa Taka Toshiyuki thought for a while and came up with an idea: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, why don't we all come out tonight to carry out a full-scale night attack on the Chinese people and catch the Chinese people by surprise? What do you think?"
"A night attack on the Chinese?" Kumagai Keiichi couldn't help but ponder.
As we all know, the Japanese learned things from the Tang and Song Dynasties in China, whether in terms of etiquette, military art or social culture, and they also carried forward some of them. For example, they are not afraid of deceit, and they learned such things as conspiracy.
Skill is better than skill. Sneak attacks are also the favorite of the Japanese, and the Japanese are interested in these things. Therefore, although they are limited by the current lack of scientific and technological strength and technical equipment, since the outbreak of the war of aggression against China, the Japanese have launched
There are only a handful of night raids, but this does not affect their love for this conspiracy.
After thinking for a while, Kumagai Keiichi asked: "Sataka-kun, are you sure that this night attack can defeat the Chinese troops in one fell swoop?"
Sa Taka Toshiyuki shook his head and said: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, I am not 100% sure, but there is no strategy in this world that is 100% successful. I think if you can be 70% sure, you can give it a try. And
At night, the Chinese's artillery fire will be restricted to the greatest extent, and their air force will not be able to take off. In this way, we and they are on the same starting line. With our superior strength, we dare not say that we will conquer the enemy in one fell swoop.
The Chinese were annihilated, but it should still be possible to defeat them, right?"
Colonel Ueda Takashi, captain of the 51st Infantry Regiment of the 15th Division, was also looking at him with incomprehensible grief and anger. His regiment had been losing an average of nearly one squadron every day in the past few days. Now his regiment only has less than 2,000 troops left.
Man, he couldn't stand it anymore, so he said: "Your Excellency, division commander, we can no longer be passively beaten. The Chinese are obviously taking advantage of their artillery to consume our troops. If this continues, there will be no need for us."
Our 15th Division will be finished in a month! Instead of throwing troops into the Chinese artillery fire every day, one brigade after another, it is better to let them fall on the road of attack. Your Excellency, Division Commander, please!"
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, please give me an order!" The surrounding staff officers and officers also bent down and bowed ninety degrees to Kumagai Keiichi.
"Well, that's it!" Kumagai Keiichi glanced at the angry people around him, knowing that if he insisted on disagreeing, he would probably make his subordinates complain. He pondered for a while before saying: "In that case, then
Let's implement it according to your opinions, but..." At this point, his next words showed his cunning, "But since it is a full-scale raid, naturally we cannot let our 15th Division do it alone, we have to
Let the 63rd Division cooperate with us, so that we can still leave some troops to guard the position!"
"Yo Xi, your Excellency, the division commander, congratulations!"
At this time, all the officers suddenly realized and looked at Kumagai Keiichi with admiration. This ginger is still hot. Well, since a suicide charge is going to be launched, naturally the 15th Division cannot be allowed to do it on its own.
The Sixty-third Division must also contribute.
"Yes, although the Sixty-third Division suffered more casualties than us, it is still possible to dispatch a regiment of troops. I will contact the Sixty-third Division immediately and ask them to contribute." This matter.
The initiator of the incident, Colonel Toshiyuki Sataka, slapped his thigh and shouted loudly.
Seeing that Kumagai Keiichi agreed to their plan, the officers began to discuss their actions at night...
At 19:30 in the evening, at a Chinese army position five kilometers away from Nanping City, the commander of the 399th Division, Cheng Sheng, dressed in ordinary soldier clothes and a steel helmet, quietly led a staff officer and two guards.
Quietly, he arrived at the position far away from the forefront of the Japanese army.
"Sir, why are you here? It's too dangerous here. You'd better get down."
After hearing the news, Sun Hao, the leader of the 678th Regiment, rushed over with several guards to dissuade him. This place was only 300 meters away from the Japanese army's most forward position. It can be said that Cheng Sheng was completely exposed to the Japanese army's rifle range.
Cheng Sheng grinned: "What are you afraid of? When I followed Jun Zuo, didn't I still wander around like Jun Zuo? I didn't see any of Jun Zuo's injuries."
"I...I can't tell you clearly!" Sun Hao couldn't help but feel angry. This Cheng Sheng turned out to be the deputy chief of staff of Bai Jingran, the former commander of the 400th Division. Bai Jingran usually liked to go to the front line during wars.
The position was wandering around until the 400th Division was expanded and he became the commander of the 400th Army. Things got better now. He had only been a division commander for a few days, and he had already learned Bai Jingran's bad habit of taking personal risks.
"Okay, stop talking nonsense. I'm just taking a look. What's the big deal? Is there any inscription on my forehead? How do you guys know it's me?" Cheng Sheng grinned. This man is from Liaoning and has three generations of ancestors.
A guy with a beard from Northeast China has a bold temperament unique to Northeastern people.
Seeing Cheng Sheng's disapproving look, Sun Hao knew that he couldn't stop this guy today. Sighing, he waved his hand and several guards stood behind Cheng Sheng, ready to protect him at any time.
Soon, everyone was walking in a trench. Many soldiers were strengthening fortifications in various parts of the trench. Cheng Sheng came to a convex trench and stopped. He bent down and raised his binoculars to look.
The Japanese position in front. Since it was already evening, the sky had become a little dark, and the Japanese position in front became very blurry in front of Cheng Sheng's eyes.
Cheng Sheng looked at it for a while and pointed to the dilapidated Japanese positions in front and asked: "Captain Sun, don't those Japanese build fortifications in the evening?"
Sun Hao also looked at it and said strangely: "Eh... that's not right. In the past, the Japanese would start building fortifications at night. Have they changed their temper today?" (To be continued...)
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