It has to be said that the 152nd Regiment, which had completed the task of blocking the enemy along the Huangpu River and successfully retreated, left a big problem for the Sixth Division.
Not to mention that the nearly 400 pursuing troops of the Buddhist Army stood in military posture from late at night to dawn in one breath. They had already used the night to build the pontoon bridge and spent four or five hours to land all the troops on the Sixth Division on the Songjiang side of the Huangpu River.
They didn't immediately start their formation and march toward Songjiang.
Since the Japanese artillery fire had a huge advantage, throughout the Songhu Battle, the Chinese rarely laid mines in front of the positions, because even if they were laid, they would be in vain. The overwhelming shelling basically plowed the positions and the front of them over and over again.
The mines were basically detonated.
However, the Chinese here in Songjiang actually did the opposite and buried mines in the vast wilderness. No matter how extravagant the Sixth Division was, they were unable to cover a dozen kilometers with artillery fire. As for the Chinese
Is it pure deception? It is just a possibility that landmines were planted on the way to be pursued. At dawn, two infantry captains brazenly sent trucks and infantry to march towards Songjiang from the wilderness. The wheels of three cars were blown off, and five people were injured.
After a soldier was maimed by the bomb, he was completely rejected by everyone in the Sixth Division.
The Chinese were so cunning and cruel that they turned this area into a big minefield.
There are an unknown number of mines and no one knows where the minefield is. Even a man as fierce as Hisao Tani cannot be said to have commanded the infantry to march towards Matsue without ensuring safety. It is one thing to dare to serve His Majesty the Emperor.
It is another thing for the imperial officers and soldiers to die before their eyes. That is not only not bravery, but stupidity.
Hisao Tani could only come up with a clumsy way and ordered 10 94 tanks and 5 Type 89 tanks from the search corps directly under the division to line up in a row in the muddy wilderness of Jiangnan Water Town and advance towards the west of Songjiang City. Although the road was very poor, the speed was slower.
Yes, but tanks are not afraid of infantry mines and can at least crush the infantry to create a safe path.
As for the long and winding trench dug by the Chinese for escape, it was abandoned by the Japanese army. Who knows if there will be landmines in it?
Since it is still far away from Matsue City, it is impossible to know the Chinese defense situation in Matsue. While using armored troops to slowly carve out a feasible road in the possible minefields in the wilderness west of Matsue City, Hisao Tani sent out troops in several other directions of Matsue.
A large number of reconnaissance teams.
The Japanese reconnaissance team, mostly riding horses and three-wheeled motorcycles, reported the general situation around Songjiang to the Sixth Division headquarters in less than two hours.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the dozen or so villages around Songjiang City are all empty. Not only are there no Chinese soldiers, but there are no Chinese civilians at all!" Based on the intelligence reported by the various reconnaissance teams, the Chief of Staff of the Sixth Division, Shimono Ichi, Huo Dazuo, Minggu Gu
Hisao report.
"Baga!" Hisao Tani said angrily: "The Chinese people are using a strategy of shrinking their troops, trying to use the city's fortifications to resist and delay time."
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, based on the performance of the China Army in the landing operation, its combat capabilities are quite strong. If they all retreat into the city, our army will have to spend time and pay casualties if we want to completely capture it. Your Excellency, Division Commander, have formulated the two plans
It will be difficult to achieve the operational plan of reaching China's Suzhou within a few days. Should our army send a force to monitor, while the main force bypasses Songjiang and marches towards Suzhou?" Shimono Kazuhiro suggested.
"No, Shimono-kun, you are wrong. The combat plan must be changed at any time based on the actual battle situation. Although Songjiang City is small, it is a nail on our army's logistics transportation road. If it is not removed, our army's long logistics line will be destroyed."
There is always a hidden danger. If the logistics are lost, what will happen to our army's various material support? What we want to surround is not hundreds of thousands of pigs, but hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops with guns and cannons." Hisao Tani shook his head.
He shook his head and said firmly: "Songjiang must be defeated, and all the Chinese in the city must be annihilated, leaving no one behind."
"And..." Hisao Tani's eyes slid over the reconnaissance reports, with a hint of ferocity on his face: "Shimono-kun, have you noticed that the Chinese people who are clinging to the isolated city with strong walls and clear fields are trying to resist and delay the Chinese people?
People have forgotten one thing."
"Hi!" Shimono Yihuo nodded heavily. "The Chinese people made a very fatal mistake. The artillery of our division is beyond their imagination."
"Yo Xi!" Hisao Tani showed a trace of satisfaction on his face, "The Chinese commander gave up the outer positions, but shrank his troops into a group inside the city. This may have some effect in the cold weapon era, but in front of the well-equipped imperial army,
But it’s a big mistake!”
"Your Excellency, the division commander, is right!" Shimono Yihuo said with a ferocious smile, "If the Chinese people had built complete trench fortifications outside the city in advance, they could still hide in the trenches when the Imperial Army was shelling. Our army's equipment
Although the destructive power of the howitzer is powerful, it is impossible for every shell to be fired into the Chinese trenches. If this is the case, the Chinese people still have a glimmer of hope!"
After a slight pause, Shimoye Yihuo continued: "But now, the Chinese are stupidly retreating into the city. The heavy artillery equipped by our imperial army can reduce the houses and buildings in the city to rubble with just one shelling.
The Chinese in civilian houses will also be buried alive, so our division will be able to seize Songjiang City without any effort!"
"Hey! The heroes see the same thing!" Hisao Tani nodded with great satisfaction. "Instruct the two brigade commanders and all other regiment commanders to come to the division headquarters, and I will deploy combat orders."
When all the senior officers of the Sixth Division were in place, the smug Hisao Tani divided his main four infantry regiments into three directions, southeast and west, and marched toward Songjiang. To the west, the commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade
Led by Major General Tokutaro Sakai, under the jurisdiction of the 13th Infantry Regiment plus a light armored squadron of the Search Regiment, the commander of the regiment is Colonel Okamoto Yasuyuki. To the south, led by Major General Mitsuru Ushijima, the commander of the 36th Infantry Brigade,
Under the jurisdiction of the 23rd Infantry Regiment, plus a light armored squadron of the Search Regiment, the commander of the regiment is Colonel Okamoto; while Hisao Tani and the division headquarters lead the 47th Infantry Regiment and the 45th Regiment that have been half disabled.
, the heavy armored squadron of the search wing, the engineer wing, the cavalry wing, etc. gathered towards the east of the city.
Two major generals led two Okamoto ultra-thin colonels plus more than 3,000 infantry and 5 94 light tanks to attack the two wings of Songjiang. The division commander Hisao Tani led the main force to attack the east of Songjiang City. The field artillery regiment was stationed 4 to 5 kilometers away from the city.
Responsible for supporting the three-party forces, this arrangement is absolutely correct based on the map and various information provided by the reconnaissance team.
All Japanese officers and soldiers stood at attention and bowed their heads, ready to receive orders.
The Chief of Staff of the Sixth Division, Shimoichi Huo Dazuo, seemed to be ignorant and said: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, why don't you surround the city on all sides and make it difficult for the Chinese army in front of you to fly?"
"Haha! Gentlemen, there is a famous saying in China's ancient military books, which is called "encircling three ques and one", and the so-called "encircling three ques and one" should actually be called siege must que, which means to emphasize that when encircling the enemy, there should be no gaps. Just like
At this moment, our army is attacking Songjiang. If the enemy adopts the strategy of surrounding the city on all sides, it may prompt the Chinese commander to make up his mind to fight to the death. On the contrary, if a gap is deliberately left, it may cause the Chinese commander to waver between fleeing or fighting to the death.
The uncertainty also caused the Chinese soldiers to lose their fighting spirit." It is estimated that the question of his chief of staff just scratched Hisao Tani's itch. Instead of blaming this "sensible" person for raising the question in front of a group of major generals and colonels,
The serious expression on the colonel's face became more relaxed, and he patiently explained his tactical intentions to the army colonel who was looking for advice humbly.
"The most powerful thing about this tactic is not only that it can shake the enemy's psychology from head to tail. If they really dare to escape, do you think I will let them go?" Hisao Tani asked with a smile.
"What do you mean, your Excellency, the division commander? Lay an ambush not far from the gap?" Shimono Yihuo quickly answered with great intelligence.
If he has been admiring Hisao Tani for a long time, but this joke is borrowed by others, how can he still be the chief of staff of the division in the future?
The other two Army Major Generals, Nagasakai Tokutaro and Ushijima Mitsuru, curled their lips without revealing any trace. They were extremely disdainful of the division chief of staff, but they also expressed their understanding of him.
The position of the Japanese division chief of staff is indeed awkward. His rank is the same as the infantry commander, and two ranks behind the division commander. Basically, he is responsible for managing logistics in peacetime and providing the division commander with ideas and memorization during wartime.
He is a loser, but if he wants to be promoted quickly in the army, he must be the chief of staff. Ichiho Shimono is the kind of person who is very smart and has completely given up his academic attitude.
In other words, he no longer regarded himself as one of the two commanders of the division headquarters, but had completely become a scapegoat for Hisao Tani, the arrogant and cruel Japanese Army Lieutenant General.
Obviously, Hisao Tani was in a good mood after being praised very much. He nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Hey! Shimono-kun is right. I left the north of Songjiang City without attacking or sieging. Naturally, I didn't let it go. I just lost it when the China Army lost it."
When the defenders of the city were confident of fleeing north, they were completely annihilated in the wilderness. Without the cover of the city, even if the Chinese people tried to fight, it was too late. Our imperial warriors should not waste our precious lives in this small town needlessly.
"
"Hundreds of years ago, Genghis Khan, who expanded his territory to the Eurasian continent and was invincible, was able to lead his cavalry to be invincible on the eastern battlefield. Whether it was a field battle or a city demolition, one of the important reasons was that he could almost conquer every attack.
, because he repeatedly adopted the strategy of "encircling the enemy and must be surrounded", often luring the defenders out of the castle and destroying them in the vast and easy-to-maneuver field battlefield." He walked lightly in front of the Japanese officers and soldiers with his hands behind his back.
The figure of Hisao Tani, who turned his gaze to Songjiang several kilometers away, was bathed in the morning light. He looked like a master and sighed softly. "I have to say that the wisdom of the ancient Chinese people is really terrible. But today's Chinese people...
..”
Looking back at the group of officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division who were nodding in agreement, Hisao Tani's eyes flashed with a coldness, and he said sternly: "It is precisely because the Chinese people have had glory, so in this battle with China, our army
They must win the final victory, otherwise, when they recover from their weakness, the east of the empire will inevitably have a larger enemy. Do you understand?"
"Hey, I understand." All the officials of the Japanese Sixth Division in the rear bowed their heads heavily.
Hisao Tani clearly meant that he no longer regarded himself as an Army Lieutenant General division commander who implemented tactics, but even regarded himself as a strategic commander. This was a bit exaggerated, but for these Japanese soldiers who had been brainwashed and extremely fanatical,
However, it is just right for their taste. Otherwise, they would not have entered the land of China and turned into a bunch of beasts under the instructions of Hisao Tani.
It can be said that from the moment they fired the first shot at civilians, everyone in the Sixth Division deserved their death. Of course, the Sixth Division, which was so glorious in time and space in the early days of the war, would never have thought that they would also die in the future.
It would be extremely miserable. Hisao Tani was shot, Ushijima Mitsuru's head was chopped off by his subordinates personally, and less than a thousand of the more than 20,000 troops survived until the war.
So what will be the fate of the Sixth Division that is about to face the Sichuan Army in this time and space? No one knows.
After all, the war has not started yet. It will take at least three hours for the Sixth Division to be fully deployed in accordance with Hisao Tani's military orders.