In November, it is already early winter, but the temperature in Jiangnan is not too low, especially when the sun rises during the day.
The sun at 9 o'clock beats down on the body, dispelling the coldness of the morning and even making one feel warm.
However, walking alone in the mottled trench fortifications that had been ravaged by artillery fire and bullets, Lieutenant General Ushijima Sadao, the top Japanese commander on the Jiashan front line, only felt cold all over his body.
A cold breeze blew by, and he even subconsciously wrapped his woolen army coat tightly.
Ushijima Sadao walked very slowly. Judging from his pace, he looked like a king patrolling his territory.
If you don't look at his somewhat desolate back.
Yes, the assistant-level staff officers of the 18th Division Headquarters all took the initiative to follow the Lieutenant General Division Commander, who looked slightly rickety from behind, a dozen meters away.
No one dares to approach.
Because, the bleak 'King' is very angry, furious, furious at this time!
Loneliness is the best medicine to calm anger.
Although he has actually set foot on this line of defense where he led his army to attack for nearly ten days and suffered more than 4,000 imperial infantry casualties, he has always dreamed of setting foot on this line of defense.
However, this was given up by the Chinese on their own initiative and thrown to him like a big piece of garbage.
As the top commander of the Japanese Army in the Jiashan area, he was like a rag picker, but nothing was left of the empty trenches and the reinforced concrete permanent fortification points every 200 meters.
Picking up rags makes you feel lonely.
The Chinese ran away, using the cover of night to run faster than a rabbit.
News has come from the Navy, not to mention their Army, even if the Navy's fighter jet formations are rushing over now, they won't be able to get a hot meal.
This meant that his plan yesterday to be more honest and wait for the Kunisaki detachment to arrive so that he could beat his opponent into a pot was in vain.
The fact that the Chinese fled to Jiaxing, more than 20 kilometers away, was not the most painful thing for Ushijima Sadao. For him, ever since Yanagawa Heisuke defeated the Chinese humanitarian defense line, the frontline of the troops was directed towards Jinling, the capital of China, and Southeast China.
It has become the empire's hunting ground. The Chinese army he faces is at best a rabbit in the hunting ground. No matter how he escapes, he will still be his prey.
However, since the Songjiang War, whether he is holding on or giving up, or escaping, the Chinese commander's unexpected tactics time and time again seem to have the upper hand, while sitting on an army of tens of thousands, he seems to be a leader.
The cow was led by the nose. This was a situation he had rarely encountered in his decades of military service.
Just like now, if the Chinese run away, he will lead an army to chase them.
But the Chinese still have a defense line that took two years to build. How long will they resist there?
Should he continue to turn around and run away? Or should he run away if he can no longer resist? Or, like this time, run away without any warning?
Ushijima Sadao was completely unable to grasp the psychology of the Chinese commander.
This may be the main reason why the Japanese Army Lieutenant General, walking alone in the trench that already belonged to him, felt cold all over.
Like Ushijima Sadao, the Japanese infantrymen had already crossed the line of defense that had blocked them for nearly ten days in groups, but they did not raise their guns and shout "The Empire will be victorious" every time they conquered a Chinese position as usual.
Instead, most people had a look of frustration on their faces.
Because, that meant that they had to run wildly on the extremely muddy land in the south of the Yangtze River, driven by the officers, and then meet the guns fired by the Chinese.
Even if you are going to die, you have to be exhausted first! In Chinese words: You will not die well!
Damn the Chinese! I don’t know how many Japanese infantrymen cursed secretly in their hearts when they thought of the dozens of kilometers of heavily armed and urgent march they were about to face.
Aggrieved, extremely aggrieved, this was the most real feeling felt by everyone in the 18th Division who occupied the Jiashan defense line.
I don’t know how much time passed, but Ushijima Sadao finally stopped and gave a cold order: “Order, the 36th Infantry Brigade will immediately move towards Jiaxing. They must arrive in front of the Chinese defense line before 5 p.m. and send out reconnaissance troops to the front.
The Chinese conducted roundabout reconnaissance behind the defense line and promptly reported reconnaissance information to our division and regiment headquarters.
The entire army of our 18th Division set out at 11 o'clock in the morning. Each infantry regiment arrived at the location, and then the division headquarters issued a meeting to them. This time, the Chinese must be dragged into Jiaxing and annihilated."
"Hi!" The staff officers who did not dare to disturb the Japanese Army Lieutenant General more than ten meters away lowered their heads.
In the end, Ushijima Sadao chose the safest plan, mobilizing all his troops to pursue him, with the 36th Infantry Brigade of the Unlucky Boys as the vanguard, and the 18th Infantry Division as the rear, heading towards Jiaxing.
Only this time, he learned the lesson from the Chinese troops on the Jiashan defense line who took advantage of the darkness to escape quietly, and ordered the 36th Infantry Brigade to send a large number of reconnaissance troops to the rear of Jiaxing. Once he found that the Chinese troops were coming again, he said, "Hey, I just run fast!"
' With this idea, the army will launch an attack immediately. Even if the main force of the Chinese cannot be retained for a while, it will at least eat up their remaining troops, so that the whole army will not be as frustrated as it is now.
I didn't even see Mao.
As for how Colonel Tanigawa Masanori was acting like a dog after receiving the military order, did Ushijima Sadao have the time to care about him?
You can scold him as much as you like, as long as you don't rush to his division headquarters and point your nose at him. Anyway, he has already made up his mind to use the idiots from the 'Strongest Division on the Surface' as cannon fodder. The more they consume,
The future tactical position of the 18th Division will be more stable.
Will anyone blame you for this after the war? Come on! It’s hard to deal with this now. How can Ushijima Sadao think so far, he is already 60 years old, and the dead ghosts of the ‘Strongest Division on the Surface’ want to bite him.
The bird probably won’t be able to chew it, it’s gone!
The Japanese side looked like a dead mother when facing the empty Chinese defense line. They tightened their straps, put on their big leather boots, cursed and embarked on the pursuit.
The Chinese side, who had successfully arrived at the Jiaxing defense line after running wildly all night, happily celebrated their victory and escaped without saying anything.
The officers and soldiers naturally knew that there were more than 20,000 Japanese troops running towards this direction more than 20 kilometers away, but they could no longer leave, not only because their physical strength had been exhausted and needed to be repaired, but also during the day, once they left this road
If the defense line is strong, the Japanese bombers will attack them viciously without hesitation.
谷/span> It’s not like in Baihe Port where the advance group was used as bait. The whole army could hide in the mountainous area. The advance group only had 3,000 troops. It had enough anti-aircraft weapons and fighter planes to catch the Japanese army by surprise.
, was able to enable the entire army to escape smoothly.
There are many paddy fields in Jiashan and Jiaxing. Not to mention walking in the paddy fields with all kinds of equipment, even an individual soldier walks extremely slowly. If you want to walk fast, you can only take simple roads, which will definitely become the target of Japanese fighter planes.
If you have to leave, you can only leave at night.
But will the Japanese give them a chance this time? Unless the Japanese are so stupid that if they fall in a pit once, they will fall in the same pit again and turn their heads into tofu.
The probability of this is obviously low.
As soon as each infantry regiment arrived, they first sent out their respective special agent companies to conduct overt and covert sentry defense for the five or six kilometers behind their own defense area, in order to prevent Japanese infiltration.
But for these colonel officers, they also know that it is difficult to prevent the infiltration of a small group of troops sent by the Japanese army. In order to prevent them from escaping again, the Japanese may send out an infantry squad-level special agent team like the battle that took place in Baihe Port.
.
During the Battle of Songjiang, if Lei Xiong hadn't led his troops to defend the Baihe Port Bridge, their escape route would have been cut off by more than 400 special agents sent by the Japanese to hide in disguise.
When they thought that the Japanese army dared to send infiltration troops more than 40 kilometers behind the front, the school officers felt chills on their backs. They would not have dared to have such courage.
But the Japanese have just done this. Who knows if they will do it again this time? I'm afraid there is a 90% chance that they will do this.
In fact, this is exactly what happened. As soon as the 36th Infantry Brigade arrived at the assembly area, it sent four task forces with 60 people behind Jiaxing. Their purpose was not to destroy and harass, but to observe the movements of the main Chinese force.
For the temporary command headquarters composed of two armies and one division, the pressure faced is even greater. The three army lieutenant generals not only have to bear the lives of more than 20,000 people, but also face censure from the theater headquarters.
After arriving at the Jiaxing defense line, the three army lieutenant generals sent a telegram to the theater headquarters to report that the entire Jiashan army had retreated to the Jiaxing defense line. This was actually nothing compared to the already extremely corrupt war situation.
Not to mention the tactical retreat of more than 20 kilometers in the direction of the Xicheng Line, the more than 100,000 troops that were left behind did not resist for more than three days before the entire army collapsed. Several divisions even lost their own battle because they ran too fast and too hastily.
None of the infantry could be gathered, and in the end only the division headquarters and the special agent battalion directly under the division headquarters were left and ran dozens of kilometers away.
The heavy equipment that was originally brought out in an orderly manner because Songjiang held firm for four days and nights was completely lost in this battle and completely lost its combat effectiveness.
Relatively speaking, although the three infantry divisions and one incomplete infantry corps on the Jiashan defense line have also given up the defense line, they have not lost much of their heavy equipment and their organizational structure is still intact. I don't know how much stronger they are than the friendly forces over there.
Moreover, the theater headquarters also reported that a Japanese army was marching from the direction of Taihu Lake, probably heading towards Jiashan and Jiaxing. The three army lieutenants originally thought that the theater headquarters would not launch an attack.
Unexpectedly, the response from the theater headquarters was unprecedentedly fierce, and there were even signs of launching an attack on the enemy, as if the large-scale reward distribution in response to requests in the past few days did not exist.
"This battle can't be won. Damn it, if you dare, others can run away, but I can't! If you want to kill me and take care of someone's head, fine! I'll wait for these sons of bitches in Jiaxing to see if they have any
Are you brave enough?" The hot-tempered bearded lieutenant general was furious.
"It's really chilling!" Lieutenant General Guo's eyes were full of coldness and he slapped the simple marching table hard. "Could it be that the 20,000 soldiers of our army just watched the Japanese army outflank our retreat, and then the whole army fought
I want to die, just to comply with the wishes of those officials, and finally give me a national flag to cover my body as a sign of comfort?"
Compared to the two colleagues who were filled with indignation, Lieutenant General Wu, as the supreme commander, remained silent and kept looking out the window with his hands behind his hands.
After a long time, he turned his head and sighed slightly with a solemn expression: "This time our army traveled thousands of miles to the southeast. Mr. Wu came here with the intention of dying for the country and the people. There are soldiers of our 67th Army everywhere in Songjiang, Baihe Port, and Jiashan."
The figure of the bloody battle with the Japanese invaders. This is a national war. We, the Chinese army, should put aside their past grudges and fight for the national disaster together. Unexpectedly, some people are narrow-minded. At this time, they still remember the hatred of the past. It is I, Wu, who has implicated the two of you.
Yes, sorry!"
Guo and Gu both made a collective mistake.
Whether you have a hot temper or a calm personality, you all know who this person is talking about.
The big incident a year ago almost didn't kill that person. Although it was finally resolved perfectly under the slogan of "joint resistance to Japan" by the whole people, that person had to personally escort his sworn brother back to Jinling under house arrest.
, has proved his mind.
It is only natural to make a big fuss out of this.
"Commander-in-Chief, no matter what you decide, our 128th Division will advance and retreat with you! At worst, I will just leave this good head of mine in Jiaxing." The bearded Lieutenant General first stated his position.
"Guo, attached to Jiwei!" Lieutenant General Guo looked calm and also stated his position.
Both of them are generals of the same army, and of course they will not make such a decision rashly that affects their whole body. Behind them are thousands of lives that depend on it, so they are destined not to make decisions based on personal emotions.
The reason for clearly expressing their position is naturally due to the feeling of fighting side by side for several days, but more importantly, it is determined by the current battle situation.
There are more than 20,000 troops on the Jiaxing defense line, and the two infantry divisions of the 67th Army account for more than 15,000 people. The remaining ones are the 128th Division and the 43rd Army, which has only 2,000 people including the newly established independent battalion.
Once the 67th Army felt they were being treated unfairly, they ran away. Those who were barefoot were not afraid of those who wore shoes, but the two of them were still wearing shoes, so what should be done?
It would be better to tie them together, even if the headquarters really issued a death order to kill all their troops here, it would still teach the Japanese army a severe lesson and leave a mark in history.
Needless to say, Lieutenant General Guo was famous among the Sichuan Army for his sharp eyesight. Even the bearded Lieutenant General, who usually went straight without turning around, also had his own subtlety.
"Hey! Brother Guo, brother Gu, you don't have to be too pessimistic! This harsh message is not necessarily a bad thing, maybe it is a turning point for our entire army!" Lieutenant General Wu smiled slightly and held the message in his hand lightly.
Dropped on the table.
"I, Mr. Wu, and the 67th Army are now motherless children with no one to care about them, but you two have backers behind them. At this time, no matter how harshly that person wants to criticize me, the 67th Army, he will not and cannot bring you two down.
The big backer behind him has been pushed far away, but he has not yet reached the point where he can cover the sky with one hand."