Hata Shunroku hadn't closed his eyes for two days and two nights. His eyes were already bloodshot, and his face was filled with endless exhaustion, as if he might collapse at any time.
Shunroku Hata stared at the simulated sand table in front of him.
What is demonstrated on the simulation sand table is the situation map of the Chinese and Japanese armies on the Nanxun Road battlefield.
It can be clearly seen from the sand table that the National Army's defense line along the Ruide Highway and Nanxun Railway formed an inverted figure of eight that was disconnected in the middle, and the Matsuura Division had a long distance from the inverted figure of figure that was disconnected one by one.
Going straight in, it is less than fifty kilometers away from De'an.
According to the experience summed up by the Japanese army in the Battle of Xinkou, the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Xuzhou, when the National Army's defense line is broken through from the middle, the entire line will collapse, so the Japanese army can safely advance forward, which is exactly what happened.
Under such guiding ideology, the Matsuura Division dared to boldly advance.
But on the Nanxun battlefield, things obviously changed.
The defense lines of the National Army, to be precise, were the armies and divisions affiliated with Xue Yue's 1st Corps. After being breached, the defense lines of each division did not shrink back and reorganize. Instead, they shrunk and reorganized on both sides of the gap and quickly deployed.
They counterattacked and launched a harassment attack to the rear of the Matsuura Division. In this way, the further the Matsuura Division moved forward, the more defense lines they broke through, and the more Nationalist troops stayed behind them, and the organization of these Nationalist troops was not
It has not been lost and still has the strength to fight.
Therefore, when the Matsuura Division advanced to Wanjialing, less than 50 kilometers away from De'an, it was finally unable to advance.
As soon as the Matsuura Division came to a stop, Xue Yue, who was experienced in the battlefield, sensed an opportunity and immediately ordered the inverted figures one by one to launch a centripetal attack on the Matsuura Division. At the same time, he held the strategic reserve force in his hand, the 74th
The army was sent out and launched a fierce attack on the Matsuura Division from the front.
All of this is demonstrated authentically on the simulation sand table.
Even the heavy artillery brigade of the 74th Army was marked.
Seeing this heavy artillery brigade, Shunroku Hata's heart twitched.
Because the heavy artillery brigade of the 74th Army was snatched from his hands!
This heavy artillery brigade was originally supposed to be the sharp knife used by the Japanese army to attack the National Army, but now, it has become the heavy hammer used by the National Army to attack the Japanese army!
The situation of the Matsuura Division is already bad enough, but with this heavy artillery brigade, it will be even more troublesome!
If Tokugawa Yoshitoshi's aviation regiment cannot severely damage the Soviet aviation fleet aiding China as soon as possible and seize air superiority in the airspace from Jiujiang to Wuhan, the heavy artillery brigade of the 74th Army will be enough to pose a fatal threat to the Matsuura Division.
Moreover, the threat faced by the Matsuura Division this time is more dangerous than the previous 9th and 13th Divisions!
Since the full-scale Sino-Japanese war broke out, the Japanese army has never had a precedent of its divisions being completely wiped out.
Even going back to the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese army had never had a precedent of its divisions being completely wiped out.
But now, this rare phenomenon is likely to be broken by the Matsuura Division! If nothing else, this unique "honor" alone is enough to nail Shunroku Hata to the pillar of shame, because both
Even Iwane Matsui, who was dismissed from his post, and Yuan Sugisu, who committed seppuku, have never received such an "honor".
Therefore, Shunroku Hata must avoid this scene from happening at all costs!
However, to be honest, Shunroku Hata really doesn't have much he can do now.
When Shunroku Hata was frowning, Shozo Kawabe walked in hurriedly.
Kawabe Shozo came over and reported to Hata Shunroku: "Your Excellency, the Navy just sent a note, saying that their Jiangfang detachment rescued a Japanese businessman who fell into the water from the Qixia section of the Yangtze River. According to the Japanese businessman's report, his A batch of cement factory equipment to be shipped to Nanjing was robbed by the guerrillas."
Hata Toshiro didn't even raise his eyelids and said: "Let's just get rid of it."
After the Sino-Japanese War broke out, especially after the Japanese army captured a large area of China, countless businessmen from Japan came to China to look for opportunities to make money. For these businessmen borrowed from Japan, Shunroku Hata welcomed them on the one hand, because these businessmen could provide The Japanese army provided some help, but on the other hand, they also hated them because these businessmen needed military protection from the Japanese army, which would inadvertently increase the burden on the Japanese army.
Normally, Hata Shunroku might have asked, but now, he was not in the mood at all.
However, Kawabe Shozo believed that this issue should be taken seriously, and added: "General, do you remember that less than two hours ago, the Pucheng garrison reported that a transport team of an independent regiment was passing through Pucheng. At that time We don’t know what materials this transport team is transporting, and we even suspect that they are transporting grain, but now it seems that this transport team is transporting equipment from the cement factory that was robbed on the Yangtze River.”
"I see, isn't it just a cement factory..." Shunroku Hata said this, suddenly paused, then turned around and stared at Shozo by the river, and said in a deep voice, "What did you just say, the independent group? Cement factory?!”
As a veteran who participated in the Russo-Japanese War, no one knows the power of reinforced concrete fortifications better than Shunroku Hata. In order to capture the Port Arthur Fortress that the Russian army had operated for many years, the Japanese army really used human lives to fill it. The more than 3,000 people in the team were all wiped out in one morning. In the entire battle, more than 80,000 Japanese soldiers were killed!
Why did the Japanese army take human lives to fill it? Because the Japanese army's heavy artillery could not blast the Russian army's concrete fortifications!
If the independent group is allowed to transport the equipment of the cement factory back to Dameishan, set up the cement factory, continuously produce cement, and then use the cement to build fortifications, the consequences will be disastrous! With Xu Rui here , the Dameishan Independent Group is difficult enough. If they are given unlimited cement...
Shunroku Hata didn't even dare to think about it. Maybe Damei Mountain would really become the second Port Arthur Fortress!
Kawabe Shozo also realized the seriousness of the problem and said in a deep voice: "General, why don't you send another telegram to the base camp, requesting the 2nd Army to arrive as soon as possible, and then order the 2nd Army to leave Damei Mountain eastward, first with The overwhelming power of Mount Tai crushed the Dameishan Independent Regiment, and then flanked Wuhan along the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains."
Shunroku Hata was silent, not because he didn't want to send this telegram to the base camp, but because he knew it would be useless if he sent it.
The Sino-Japanese War has been going on till now. As the front line has lengthened, Japan's strategic shortcomings have gradually been exposed. One of the most fatal strategic shortcomings is the lack of manpower!
Looking purely on paper, the reorganized Central China Condemnation Army has 14 divisions plus one detachment, with a total strength of more than 400,000. These forces are enough to launch a large-scale offensive operation. After all, the Japanese army during the Songhu Battle
The number of participating troops in the war was only nine divisions and less than 300,000 people.
But after all, these are just numbers on paper.
Among the fourteen divisions affiliated with the Central China Condemnation Army, the 6th, 9th, 13th, and 18th Divisions have been basically crippled. Among them, the 6th Division, the most miserable one, even had its company division commander captured.
, without more than three months of rest and recuperation, it would be difficult for these four divisions to regain their combat effectiveness, so now, these four divisions can only undertake rear security tasks.
Among the remaining ten divisions, the three divisions of the 11th Army plus the two divisions that were later supported have already fought against the National Army on both sides of the Yangtze River and the Nanxun battlefield.
Outside the 22nd Division on the Chinese battlefield, only Higashikata's 2nd Army remained.
The 22nd Division is a special garrison division, which is very useful if it is embarrassing.
Therefore, the only thing we can count on now is the 2nd Army.
Originally, according to the battle plan of the Japanese base camp, the three divisions of the 2nd Army should have assembled in Feicheng as early as mid-June, and then attacked from the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains before the end of June. But now it is the end of June, and the
However, the three divisions of the 2nd Army were still stranded on the battlefield in Shandong and were unable to move south to Central China.
The three divisions of the 2nd Army failed to move south as planned because something happened in the north.
Because the Soviet Red Army suddenly occupied Zhanggufeng on the Sino-Russian border and built fortifications on it, this incident immediately aroused the alarm of the Japanese army. The Japanese government also thought that the Soviet Union was going to intervene in the Sino-Japanese war, so it decisively stopped the 2nd Army's southward march.
, went to Qingdao to assemble as the strategic general reserve of the Kwantung Army.
Up to now, both Japan and the Soviet Union have continued to invest troops in the direction of Zhang Gufeng, and the war is about to break out.
Under such circumstances, how could the Japanese base camp agree to the 2nd Army going south to Central China? It would have been better if they did not in turn transfer troops from the Central China battlefield to go north to provide support.
After a long silence, Hata Shunroku said: "At this time, it is impossible for the 2nd Army to go south."
Kawabe Shozo said: "In this case, I'm afraid we can only mobilize the 22nd Division to sweep Dameishan. I think that the independent regiment cannot be allowed to build this cement factory under any circumstances."
Shunroku Hata sighed and said: "Kawabe-san, do you think the 22nd Division is up to the task?"
Kawabe Shozo immediately fell silent, because the 22nd Division was not a four-unit field division, but a three-unit security division, and the three infantry regiments of the 22nd Division were not front-line field divisions.
Regiment, this can be seen from their numbers, the 22nd Division has the 84th, 85th, and 86th Infantry Regiments.
Among the three infantry regiments under the jurisdiction of the 22nd Division, none of them has a designation in the top 80. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of this division is far worse than that of the three-unit field division formed after the outbreak of the Pacific War.
Because the three-unit field division formed at that time still had an infantry regiment numbered in the top 80.
Shunroku Hata sighed and said: "I'm afraid the Independent Regiment can't be taken care of for the time being. Fortunately, even if they have a cement factory, they can't turn Dameishan into another Lushun Fortress in a short time. So, for now, we still
Think carefully about how to solve the problem of the Matsuura Division."
