Beiyang 1917

() The battlements in many places at the head of the northern city of the Kharkov Fortress have been bombarded by Koji Hashimoto's four-year-old 3-centimeter heavy artillery, but this is still far away from the northern city wall that was destroyed as high as four feet, and later reached [-] feet One hundred and eight thousand miles...

"Division commander, I still recommend ordering the Muto brigade to launch an attack from the east city. Judging from the results of aerial reconnaissance by the coalition air force, the strength of the northern city of Kharkov is the most prominent among the four directions. The height of the walls of the east city and west city Although it is also 4 feet, its thickness is only less than 2 feet, and only the wall of the northern city is close to 3 feet thick. We should not continue to push the main force into the opponent's strongest defense line..." Division Chief Staff Chief Hibishi Karilong earnestly persuaded With Oba Jiro. ..

"Report, the Muto brigade called back. Major General Muto insisted that he, as the commander of the detour force, has the right to make du li judgments based on the battlefield situation. Now the main force of the Muto brigade has moved south and is preparing to join the Yonezawa cavalry regiment in the south of the city. , so as to strive to occupy the bridge over the Lopan River and cut off the retreat of the German-Ukrainian coalition forces in the south. He believes that it is enough to leave an infantry brigade of the Mizuno Regiment at the east gate to maintain control of the Kharkov River Bridge. Major General Muto reminded Don't forget the former enemy headquarters. His two infantry brigades, Jianchuan and Okamoto, are still undertaking the arduous task of suppressing the three main Ukrainian divisions in the eastern forest... At this time, it is absolutely impossible to ask the main force of the brigade to turn around and attack the east gate again. !"

A confidential staff officer of the 3rd Division sent a call back from the Muto Brigade that he had just received. The unruly Major General Muto obviously rejected the request from the former Chief of Staff Hisashi Kari Takashi in the name of the former enemy headquarters to attack the Muto Brigade. An order to divert the attention of the Ukrainian defenders from the defense line of the eastern city of Erkov. ..

"Can the Yonezawa United team break through the blockade of the German armored train?" Jiro Oba turned around and asked with his hands behind his back.

"According to the telegram received earlier, the Yonezawa Regiment has divided into three groups, and the Yamashita Regiment led a cavalry squadron to feint to the south, making a posture of attacking the Krasnorad River Railway Bridge, which attracted the German armored train detachment. The troops followed behind... Yonezawa led the main force of the two cavalry brigades, Iida and Xiaoji, to break through the railway line and insert it to the southeast in order to join the Muto brigade. The wounded and logistics and artillery units of the Yonezawa unit , then slowly turned westward under the command of Major Shimizu Kishige, captain of the artillery battalion..." Chief of Staff Kari Takashi Hishihishi replied.

"The head of the division... I still insist that the tactical guidance of the coalition air force must be requested. In addition, the 14th Federal Infantry Division should be transferred to the front line in advance, and the 13th Federal Infantry Division, which replaced Major General Voronieri, should join the battle ...The 5th Infantry Brigade has suffered too many casualties and needs to be supplemented and rested, otherwise the main force of the 3rd Division will be consumed too quickly..." Major General Shinnosuke Kikuchi, head of the 5th Infantry Brigade, straightforwardly put forward his own suggestions.

"Your Excellency Oba, everyone, I want to remind everyone that the Ukrainian campaign has been fought for two consecutive days, and the casualties and consumption of the frontline troops of the Central Route Army are not light. Of course, the life of the Ukrainians is even more difficult, but we must see , the main force of the 47th German Reserve Division has not yet entered the battle, and what remains in the southern city of Kharkov is only the 139th Infantry Regiment. Now the Yonezawa Regiment failed to break through the railway line for the first time under the attack of two armored train detachments of the German Army... ...If the main force of the German army goes north along the railway line to reinforce Kharkov before evening...is our current style of play and arrangement worth considering again?"

Colonel Lu Huanyan, the commander of the 1st Chinese DULI Armored Regiment who had been silent for a while, finally spoke up. From Lu Huanyan's point of view, Oba Jiro's current style of play is a bit reckless. To put it bluntly, he wants to grab reinforcements from the enemy Before the troops arrived, they captured Kharkov, and then relied on the protection of the strong fortress to block the German counterattack. To put it bluntly, the division commander of the Japanese 3rd Division was a little confused...

"Lu Sang is right... In fact, the lack of troops in the Central Route Army is obvious... On the defensive side of the Kharkov battlefield are 4 divisions of the Ukrainian National Army and 2 volunteer divisions, with a total strength of nearly 8 troops, and the Germans stayed behind. A reinforced regiment has 3000 elites. On the other hand, we have only the 3rd Division on the front line with less than 28000 people, and the 13th Division of the Federal Infantry has only 4 people. The fighting will of the Ukrainians is not so weak. Is it trying to defend our home and country... Our current military strength is too small, and it is too scattered, so it is obviously impossible to fight like this..."

Major General Juchi of the 5th Infantry Brigade was the first to stand up and echo Lu Huanyan's statement. The Juchi Brigade made great contributions in yesterday's battle. This meat grinder is exhausted... The Ukrainian campaign has only been fought for two days, and the Sugimoto unit of the Kikuchi Brigade has already folded in an artillery battalion commander, Isokawa Shaozuo, and an infantry battalion commander, Fukushima Shinta, and Masaki Masaki Although the captain of the 18th Infantry Regiment just now did not lose any first-level generals, the squadron leader lost three and seriously injured two, and nearly half of the troops had just been replenished, but no matter what, they were seriously injured...

"Baga... Kikuchi, what you are facing today is only a second-rate volunteer division of the Ukrainians, and you don't have the courage to win the battle. Shouldn't your Kikuchi brigade turn around and retreat when the main force of the German army comes back tomorrow? !" Niba Jiro, head of the division, roared at Shinnosuke Kikuchi!

"Hay!" A group of Japanese generals followed Kikuchi and nodded Hay. When Shangfeng was furious and roaring, it is the duty of a Japanese soldier to bow his head and shout "Hay". In the words of the head of the division, Daba and his subordinates should not only call "Hay" but also "Hay", which is a customary habit in the army.

"If we don't take Kharkov, once the main force of the German army comes up tomorrow, whether we can stand in the city of Kharkov is a matter of opinion. Gentlemen, don't you all understand this?!" Jiro Oba anxiously gathered in a group of Japanese Pacing back and forth in front of the general, the sound of guns and artillery in the south has stopped at this moment. Hashimoto's du li heavy artillery regiment did not start the 30-minute heavy artillery bombardment as Oba Jiro had asked before. The ammunitionists of the artillery regiment are too tired to stand up...

"Division Commander, according to the requirements of the Allied Southwest Front Army Command for the first phase of the Ukrainian campaign, our strategy should be to besiege the city and fight for aid, focusing on annihilating the enemy's vital forces, rather than fighting for the gains and losses of a city or a place..." Division The chief of staff of the regiment, Hishikari Takashi, muttered, at this moment, the battle is obviously in a stalemate. Oba and his chief of staff not only hope to get the tactical guidance from General Utsunomiya in the rear, but also worry about losing their hands. Utsunomiya Taro and Hata Shunroku, who were sitting in Belgorod, did not give further instructions... This put even more pressure on the two of them.

"If we don't take Kharkov, the main force of the German army will counterattack, and we may not be able to stand in the city..." Jiro Oba pointed out the root cause of the dilemma that the Central Route Army is in at the moment...