Beiyang 1917

() "It is indeed the telegram just received... the reconnaissance plane of the Allied Air Force found it... The Germans are now hurrying to unload vehicles and deploy artillery positions... the reconnaissance plane of the air force reminds us to be careful!" The communications staff officer struggled and continued.

"The head of the brigade... If the reconnaissance of the air force is true, it is clear that the enemy is using the Lopan River Bridge as a bait to attract our main force. The reinforcements, especially the artillery, got off the car in advance on the south bank of the river and prepared to deploy artillery positions... The German army wanted to start from Come and eat us from the south of the Uda River!" The chief of staff of the brigade, Yoshinari Takagi, looked at Major General Muto with a solemn expression. ..

"Brigade commander... Didn't the Yonezawa Cavalry Regiment detour in Henan? Why didn't they notice the Germans making such a big noise? Should we send someone to inform the Yonezawa Regiment to go west to search for the railway?" !” said Major Toshishiro Obata, the captain of the Artillery Battalion.

"It's too late! The Yonezawa Regiment is all cavalry, and the opponent's two infantry regiments have ready-made machine guns and artillery on the armored train to help out. The Yonezawa Regiment turned to the west and it was an egg hitting a rock..." Gang, who is also the artillery captain Major Saburo Buzhi retorted.

"Brigade Commander, time is running out...I suggest that the whole army gather and turn north. Wu Keren's artillery position should be fired before the enemy and smash the shells near the railway line, trying to catch the enemy by surprise!" It's Captain Masaharu Honma, the confidential director of the Muto Brigade and Regiment Department!

"What are you panicking about! Calm down, you are the soldiers of the mighty Japanese Empire, not the hawkers in the vegetable market. If the city management is here or something, why are you panicking like this?!" Chief of Staff Takagi stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Brigade Commander, do you want to request the Allied Air Force to dispatch to the enemy headquarters again? If there is a bomber brigade at this moment, not even just a bomber squadron can If the air strikes catch up, the main force of the two regiments that the German reinforcements come up will not be able to catch up!" ..

Muto Nobuyoshi didn't speak when he heard the words, turned around a few times with his hands behind his back, raised his head and ordered firmly,

"Send a report to the former enemy headquarters and send a copy to the second echelon of Lu Huanyan. The main force of the German army is about two regiments to reinforce the southern line of Kharkov. The opponent has at least 2 to 3 artillery battalions for fire support. Our department plans to decide to shrink the force. , Organize a position on the edge of the forest near the north bank of the Uda River, and request tactical guidance from the coalition air force! Please ask the former enemy headquarters to indicate the next action plan!"

"Order the 3rd Battalion of the Lishang Armored Battalion and the Guzhuang Infantry Brigade to move in as the cover of the rear of the army, order the Wu Keren artillery position to bombard the area south of the Lopan River Bridge along the railway line, disrupt the German army's assembly and deployment, and don't be reluctant to shell , we need to use the density of firepower to make up for the lack of cannons, and the main force of the brigade will start to retreat from the current position!"

The series of orders issued by Major General Nobuyoshi Muto of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the Japanese 23rd Division all highlighted the fact that Muto's brigade had to avoid its edge in front of the German reinforcements and give in first or second, or the opponent would This new force and the 3mm light howitzers of the three artillery battalions are not something that the main force of the Muto brigade with insufficient troops can stop with field fortifications!

At the same time as Muto gave the order, Lieutenant Suzuki Sadaichi, the brigade's confidential staff officer, rushed over again with the telegram he had just received.

"Reporting to the head of the brigade, the latest order from the former enemy headquarters. In view of the fact that the reconnaissance plane of the air force found the main reinforcements of the German army on the south line, the Muto brigade was ordered to shrink from the current position to the northern forest. The bottom line is to guard the three-way road outside the east gate of Kharkov. Cover the flanks of Lu Huanyan's second echelon, and ensure the second echelon's task of annihilating the three main Ukrainian divisions in the eastern part of the forest! Order the Yonezawa unit to detour to the south, wait for the opportunity to cut off the railway line, but must not confront the German armored train head-on!"

It should be said that Lieutenant General Oba's order came quite timely, and it also coincided with Muto Nobuyoshi's previous order. Muto lost the pre-emptive strike to disrupt the enemy's reinforcements because his artillery position was too far away from the German army's assembly position. And the opportunity to deploy, and at the same time, why didn't this allow the only remaining Wu Keren artillery battalion in the brigade to escape the German army's intensive artillery attack?

A few minutes later, the main force of the retreating Muto brigade saw the 105mm light howitzer positions on their side suddenly hustle and bustle. Amidst the huge roar, a series of shells roared towards the southwest, starting from the Lopan River Bridge all the way along the road. As the railway line covered and shot to the south, the sound of rumbling guns from 7 or 8 kilometers away showed the power of the eight 8mm light howitzers captured by the coalition forces.

Maybe it was Major General Muto's order, or maybe the coalition gunners who were about to retreat were unwilling to reload the ammunition that had been moved down again, so the nearly 10-minute coalition firepower attack almost turned the area around the opposite railway line into a sea of ​​flames. In just 10 minutes, the 8 guns of the coalition forces fired almost 400 shells...

It is a pity that due to the range of the guns, the coalition's artillery can only hit the railway line about 2.5 kilometers south of the Lopan River Bridge at the farthest point. The German infantry who got out of the car were startled, and they could not pose a real threat or threat. Of course, the German artillery unloading the car could not rush into the area under the opponent's shelling to expand the artillery position. They could only go south and bypass the opponent's artillery. Hit it, and then quietly advance to the east...

The artillery on both sides is equipped with 105mm light howitzers, and the terrain is not much different. If you can hit me, I will definitely hit your bottom. The fan-shaped firepower circle with a width of 1 km only delayed the deployment of the German artillery battalion... As for the Armored Train Unit 2, they now have the courage to fight after crossing the Lopan River Bridge and entering the Nancheng District. Unfortunately Yes, the railway line that was withdrawing south near the bridgehead of the Lopan River Bridge was damaged by the bombardment of the coalition forces, and the German army would not be able to enter the city for a while.

In all fairness, the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing. The German army lost the convenience of aerial reconnaissance while losing air supremacy. Not small, and the coalition has a unique advantage. Even if the bomber fleet of the coalition air force cannot dispatch so many times a day, the reconnaissance planes are obviously not included. In fact, the coalition reconnaissance planes found that the German reinforcements were already a step late... Fortunately, it still helped the Muto Brigade to get a chance to escape unscathed.