Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 1527 Going home!

With the arrival of the 74th Army and the 27th Group Army, the battle of Hengyang is decided!

In the following days, the main force of the Japanese 11th Army gradually got rid of the pursuit of the main Chinese force because of the support of two divisions and retreated to the vicinity of Tanzhou. The main force of the Chinese army, hundreds of thousands of troops, crossed Hengyang and successively recovered important cities such as Xiangtan and Zhuzhou, and confronted the more than Japanese troops near Tanzhou.

The Japanese army failed to open up the mainland line and was threatened by the Chinese army due to insufficient manpower. It had to urgently ask the Kwantung Army for help and transferred two more divisions to the south. The Japanese North China Front Army could only transfer two mixed brigades to the south for support.

That is already the maximum capability of the Kwantung Army and the Japanese North China Front Army. Although the Russian Empire is still focusing its main energy on how to deal with its most powerful opponent, it still has a Siberian Corps with hundreds of thousands of troops in Siberia, which may send troops to the Kwantung Army at any time.

The Japanese North China Front Army was now in a worse situation. The Zhongtiao Mountains and Taihang Mountains had become insurmountable barriers for them. In Shanxi Province, of the 102 counties occupied during the heyday of the army, only 67 remained. Even important cities such as Yuncheng and Linfen had been recaptured by the Chinese side.

In Hebei Province, although most of the cities are still in the hands of the Japanese army, the vast rural areas are almost all under the control of the Chinese side; Shandong Province is also being copied by the Chinese side in an almost similar model. The Japanese army now basically only controls the cities and major transportation roads. Even this depends on the mood of the Chinese. If they are not honest, the roads and railways will be interrupted at any time.

To put it bluntly, the Japanese North China Front Army is now doing well in defending its position, and its strategy of advancing southward has long been thrown into the trash. The reason why it is now transferring two divisions and two brigades to the south is purely because Okamura Koji has just been promoted to commander of the China Expeditionary Army and does not want to see the war situation become a mess, so he did it with gritted teeth.

Otherwise, if anyone else in office as commander of the North China Front Army were to send a division south, it would be because he felt guilty about having an affair with Shunroku Wada's wife.

Seven days later, China officially notified the whole of China and its allies in the East and the West: The 7-day Battle of Hengyang was a victory!

Chinese people in the Chinese-controlled areas took to the streets, beating gongs and drums, lighting firecrackers, and cheering to celebrate this hard-won victory.

Mainstream media in the United States, the British Empire, the Gallic Rooster, the Bear Country and other countries also praised the event generously, introducing on their main pages this heroic city defense battle that took place in the poor and backward ancient Eastern country.

The Bear Country even compared this battle to a famous defense battle that took place on its own territory, naming it the "Eastern Moscow" Defense Battle.

This famous defensive battle, which took place from September 1941 to early 9, is hailed as a turning point in the Bear Country's anti-aggression war. It was after this battle that the myth of the German Empire's invincibility was completely shattered, and the Bear Country began a major counterattack mode.

The Russian Bear Country compared the Battle of Hengyang with the Battle of Moscow, expressing their recognition of China's current allies. This also made a number of Western countries led by the United States put China in the position of an equal ally for the first time.

More than 2 regular troops, along with tens of thousands of civilians, actually resisted the repeated attacks of one of Japan's most powerful field armies. This is a record that no other country has ever achieved on any battlefield.

Even though the United States had defeated the Japanese in the Pacific battlefield, perhaps only the Americans themselves knew that it was not the bravery of the American young men that defeated the Japanese, but their extremely powerful industrial capabilities.

In fact, on the battlefields of the Pacific islands, the Japanese army made the Americans terrified.

In the Battle of Guadalcanal that broke out in 1941, the U.S. military deployed 6 ground troops, dozens of ships, and more than a thousand aircraft, while Japan deployed more than 3 ground troops. However, the final result was that nearly 8000 U.S. soldiers were killed, including more than 400 pilots, before Guadalcanal was finally captured.

In 1943, there were only 2300 Japanese engineers on Attu Island. The Japanese troops on the island were shivering with cold on the high-altitude island and had no combat effectiveness at all. In order to deal with these Japanese troops, the US military sent the famous th Infantry Division and used a sneak attack.

As a result, the Japanese army was completely wiped out, but the American army suffered nearly 2000 casualties, and 2000 people were frostbitten and had to withdraw from the battle.

Perhaps the Americans at this time did not know that these island grabbing battles were just foreplay before the climax. The real bloody battle would not come until more than half a year later, in the Battle of Okinawa Island, which was closest to the Japanese mainland. Even with the support of thousands of warships and thousands of fighter planes, 10 Japanese troops still managed to kill almost as many Americans as them.

However, it was that battle that made the US top brass realize that if they continued to attack the Japanese mainland in this way, it would completely sacrifice a generation of young Americans. The Fat Man bomb, which had already been successfully tested, was included in the military plan.

But no matter what, at least at this time in 1944, the US military top brass already knew that the Japanese Army might still not be a match for the US Army, but in terms of combat will and tactical execution, it was definitely one of the opponents that the Americans did not want to encounter on land.

But the Chinese actually did it. With a troop strength ratio of 1 to 5 and without any firepower advantage, they relied on a small city to cripple the most powerful field army of the Japanese Army.

"I firmly believe that our Eastern allies can become our most reliable partners in the East, because their soldiers have a will tougher than steel! Because they have the best middle-level, low-level and even grassroots military commanders in the world!" China Theater Chief of Staff Stilwell said bluntly at a press conference.

"We need to strengthen ties with our Eastern allies, give them enough respect and more assistance, which will help end the war early!" Admiral McArthur, commander of the U.S. Far East, wrote in a telegram to the U.S. President.

One month after the victory of the Battle of Hengyang, the U.S. Congress approved an interest-free loan of up to 10 billion U.S. dollars to China. A large amount of arms and other materials continued to flow into China from Myanmar.

The original amount of the loan was only 3 million US dollars, with interest, and the government was required to provide important ports and well-known mines as collateral.

But the victory of the Hengyang Defense War allowed the world to see the determination and strength of Chinese soldiers to defend their homeland.

  On this planet where survival of the fittest reigns, the only way to win respect is with strength and fists!

However, there was wailing in Japan. Both the public and the military were full of accusations against the commander of the China Expeditionary Army, Tian Shunroku, and the commander of the 11th Army, Yokoyama Isamu. They believed that it was their command and judgment errors that led to the disastrous defeat in Hengyang and the destruction of the Henan, Hunan and Guangxi Campaign.

There were even radical elements who held blood letters and marched in protest, demanding that the two unlucky guys be held responsible for the defeat and that they should commit suicide by disembowelment to apologize to the Emperor and the entire nation.

Tian Shunroku had resigned a long time ago and was only serving as a temporary replacement, so after waiting for his successor Okamura Koji to arrive in Jiangxia for a simple handover, he flew directly to Taiwan Province, claiming to be ill and unable to go out. He neither returned to his country nor stayed in China, but hid away.

  Tian Junliu was an army general after all. In the past, he was awarded the title of Army Marshal for his successful advancement in Henan, Hunan and Guangxi. He was also one of the top figures in the Japanese Army. Now that he had gone into hiding, who could do anything to him?

In order to calm domestic public opinion, Tian Shunroku was finally appointed commander of the Japanese Western Army. The so-called Western Army is synonymous with the reserve force. Due to the large loss of young and strong people, most of the Western Army were weak soldiers and women, and it was difficult to even gather a few usable equipment.

Tian Shunroku only led those weak soldiers and women to practice bamboo spears and never had the chance to be reused. This was the job that once belonged to Yokoyama Isamu in time and space.

Yokoyama Isamu, whose position was taken away by someone, was in trouble this time. He was ordered to resign and return to the mainland to report on his work. It turned out that he had a conflict with Okamura Koji, and Okamura Koji deliberately used public opinion to make trouble for his old rival. He made him take a sealed train carrying battle train supplies to Tianjin on the pretext that there was no transport plane, and then take a boat from there to the mainland.

  When the train stopped at a county in North China, the depressed Yokoyama Isamu ordered his guard captain to get off the train to get some meat and wine to cheer him up. As a result, he was accidentally targeted by the 80th Army Group Guerrillas. The people in charge were all non-commissioned officers, so there must be at least a colonel on the train, right?

With the simple idea that if they couldn't get the rank of colonel, they could at least get the rank of major, the armed brigade of the 10th Army buried three large explosive packs miles ahead of the train and detonated them manually without reporting to their superiors.

One of the explosive packs exploded right under carriage No. 4 where Isamu Yokoyama was riding. Isamu Yokoyama, who was drinking alone in the carriage, was seriously injured. He was rescued by the Japanese army and had not been sent to the county town for treatment before he went to report to Amaterasu.

It was not until much later that the news leaked from the Japanese army that the armed brigade realized that they had killed a Japanese lieutenant general who was almost the commander of a Japanese front. The civilian armed brigade leader who made the decision was directly rewarded with 30 rifles and a crooked light machine gun, and the armed brigade was directly transformed into an infantry company under the 683rd Brigade Independent Regiment, becoming a regular army.

  This is incredible luck.

Isamu Yokoyama: This is so unlucky! If I had known that I would die at the hands of a bunch of unknown people, I would rather have died in Hengyang!

At least, there are a group of famous Chinese generals like Fang Xianjue, Zhao Ziling and Tang Dao.

There was jubilation at home and abroad over the victory of the Hengyang Defense War, and the war entered a new situation.

But in Hengyang, it was not all joy. On the one hand, the Hengyang defenders suffered heavy casualties. On the other hand, Tang Dao, the fifth-ranked director of the Hengyang Command's Operations Department, was seriously injured and fell into a coma on the last day of fighting in Hengyang.

In order to save his life, the famous Western doctor at the Hengyang Field Hospital performed surgery on him personally. The operation lasted for 8 hours and more than ten shrapnel were removed, but they still could not guarantee his life safety.

Fang Xianjue, Zhao Zili and other important generals including Ge Youcai who was carried on a stretcher had been waiting in the field hospital for most of the night. What they finally saw was a man with a swollen face and a Tang sword wrapped all over his body like a dumpling. The usually strong Tan Tai Mingyue burst into tears.

After receiving the news, the Military Commission urgently dispatched a special plane with three American doctors from Shancheng to Guicheng, and then arrived in Hengyang, intending to treat Tang Dao and take him to Shancheng.

However, this time the man did not have any ulterior motives, but the Tang Dao and the Four-Line Regiment became famous again at home and abroad because of the Battle of Hengyang. From a national strategic perspective, this flag must not be allowed to fall.

However, the Hengyang Field Hospital was completely taken over by the grief-stricken officers and soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment at this time. Not to mention that the American doctors were not allowed to enter, even the representative, the think tank named Chen who had an old relationship with Tang Dao, was not allowed to enter.

The reason! Although Chief of Staff Leng, who was in charge of the field hospital, did not say it explicitly, the expression on the face of Battalion Commander Cai Yongguan, who was still armed and guarding the door of the Tang Dao ward with a gun even though he had lost an ear, said it all. All the officers and soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment did not trust certain people.

  In the face of the life of the regimental commander, all military orders are ineffective against them. Didn’t you see that Commander Xue, who came in person with the think tank named Chen, also suffered a setback?

But even the arrogant Commander Xue did not issue a military order to ask them to let them pass.

Let’s not talk about the Four-Line Regiment’s military exploits in the Battle of Hengyang, but just the tactical deployment made by the more than a thousand remaining soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment around the field hospital. How many people would it take to overcome it?

Even though the statistics have not been fully compiled yet, according to the most conservative estimate of the Hengyang Command Staff, the number of Japanese soldiers killed or wounded at the hands of the Four-Line Regiment was at least 5, accounting for half of the Japanese soldiers killed or wounded in the entire Hengyang Defense War.

That is definitely a number that would horrify any commander at the army level or above. It means that if one wants to kill this terrible infantry regiment, they would have to pay the price of annihilating at least two infantry armies.

Finally, under the leadership of Tan Tai Mingyue, the think tank named Chen and an American doctor entered the ward and simply checked Tang Dao's physical condition.

"Unfortunately, Tang's life is already in countdown. His heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen and other vital signs are only one-third of that of a normal person. Such a person should have died before we arrived, but perhaps because Tang is a soldier and his body is stronger than ordinary people, he is still alive now, which is a miracle in itself. Compared with Dr. Norman's medical skills, I admire Tang's tenacious vitality more." The American doctor shook his head and sighed.

. . . . . . . .

"Is Tang Dao's injury really so serious?" The man looked at his think tank and instinctively became a little skeptical.

"Yes, Dr. Michel personally checked Tang Dao's various indicators, and his vital signs are extremely weak. Mrs. Tang has already applied to Commander Xue. If his condition stabilizes later, Tang Dao will be transported back to Taihang Mountain Hospital for treatment. If he unfortunately dies, his coffin will be buried in the Martyrs Cemetery of the Four-Line Regiment in Taihang Mountain. Commander Xue doesn't dare to make the decision, so let me ask you for advice on his behalf." The think tank named Chen replied.

"With such a serious injury, even if he is saved, it will take one or two years to recover. Who will be the leader of the Four-Line Regiment? This is an elite force!" The man lowered his head and thought for a moment, muttering to himself.

"The Four-Line Regiment is already crippled. There are less than 800 officers and soldiers who can still fight, and there are as many as 2000 disabled soldiers and more than 2000 killed in action. Moreover, from what I have seen of these officers and soldiers, as their unit suffered heavy casualties and the regiment commander was seriously injured and dying, they are all very war-weary. Even Commander Xue and I went to visit them and they were in low spirits. I'm afraid it will take more than one or two years to restore their combat effectiveness. The reputation of the First Infantry Regiment of North China is nothing but a false name after this battle." The think tank named Chen sighed.

"Oh?" The man had a heavy face but a hint of relief appeared in his drooping eyelids.

"Then what plans does the 9th War Zone have for this incomplete infantry regiment? Even if they are no longer effective, they still made contributions in the Battle of Hengyang and have made meritorious contributions."

"Commander Xue believes that they should either continue to be placed on Hengshan Mountain to supervise the work, or be sent back to where they came from. The Ninth War Zone still has to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army, and military funds are tight. It is impossible to support more than 2000 disabled soldiers and these engineers, but we cannot let the hearts of all the soldiers down. No one should be left out of the commendation for their military merits."

"What about the Four-Line Regiment? Have you asked their staff for their opinions?" the man asked after thinking for a moment.

"Chief of Staff Leng Feng, who is currently in charge of the military affairs of the Sihang Regiment, should provide them with sufficient troops and equipment. It would be best if they could go to the front line in Yunnan Province to fight the Japanese army again to avenge the officers and soldiers who died in the battle! The position of regiment commander is temporarily vacant until Tang Dao returns after recovering from his injury." The think tank named Chen replied.

"Haha! This Chief of Staff Leng is very smart. He knows that Bai Ling will not use them, so he wants to go under Stilwell and use Laura's relationship to obtain advanced equipment from the Americans and become a strong army again." A hint of sneer appeared in the man's eyes. He tapped the table lightly with his fingers and said in a cold voice.

"However, what Bai Ling said really touched my heart. We must not let the soldiers down. Tell the Military and Political Department to promote Tang Dao to the position of Director of the Ji'nan Special District, and to command the Ji'nan Guard Brigade. The Four-Line Regiment has suffered heavy losses and needs to rest. All its personnel who participated in the battle will be promoted to the first rank, and those who are colonels in the army will be promoted to the rank of major general. The name will be changed to the Ji'nan Guard Brigade Independent Regiment, and the staffing is tentatively set at 2500."

"This..." The think tank named Chen was slightly stunned.

Is there anything more blatant than this kind of promotion in the open but demotion in secret? Can it convince the public?

"For an infantry regiment whose spirit has been destroyed, would they still care about titles? They should be satisfied to be able to rest in their old base. Why do they need the establishment of a special forces regiment?" The man's eyes flashed.

"But this is just an internal military order. Externally, we still need to publicize the Four-Line Regiment more. The Military and Political Department of the Second War Zone needs to be specifically informed.

To show my prudence, Yanji, I have to trouble you to make another trip to award the meritorious troops in Hengyang on my behalf, and to help me tell the officers and soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment that I hope they will train well on the northern battlefield. I look forward to their new achievements! "

"Yes," the think tank named Chen nodded and agreed.

A special plane flew through the sky under the escort of four fighter jets, carrying medals, bonuses and a military order.

  The Four-Line Group is going home nearly three years after leaving North China!

(End of this chapter)