Beiyang 1917

() "Jiang Sang was right, and at that time the Chinese Armored Duli 1st Regiment and the 2nd Regiment also formed the Duli Armored 1st Brigade. Chinese Colonel Lu Huanyan served as the acting brigade commander of the Duli Armored 1st Brigade. The second artillery battalion of the 8th Division, plus two artillery battalions of the 15th Federal Infantry Division, formed the 1st Du Li Artillery Regiment, and joined Lu Huanyan, the 1st Du Li Armored Brigade! Such a powerful assault force, At least one German infantry division can be defeated?!" Tanaka Yoshi said abruptly.

"Yes, Director Qian, I remember that the 5th Kikuchi Infantry Brigade strengthened the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment of Tanaka to form the 5th Mixed Infantry Brigade. Major General Shinnosuke Kikuchi was still the brigade commander. The team replaced 3 Dodge trucks and dragged 48mm mountain artillery, and the simplified personnel of the artillery wing were added to the Kikuchi Infantry Brigade. With the addition of the supply of troops from the Supplementary Wing, the Juchi Brigade resumed its establishment... . .

The 23rd Infantry Brigade of Nobuyoshi Muto directly accepted two field artillery battalions from the 14th Federal Infantry Division, which shined in the Kharkov Forest, plus an artillery battalion from the 7th Federal Infantry Division, forming a mixed infantry In the 23rd Brigade, Nobuyoshi Muto continued to serve as the head of the brigade.

After such a strong reorganization, the Kharkov Group has jurisdiction over 4 Japanese mixed infantry brigades, a Chinese du li armored brigade, a Japanese du li field heavy artillery brigade, plus the 14th and 15th divisions of the federal infantry, The 7th and 9th Divisions, although the 13th Division of the Federal Infantry of Major General Liukin Alexievich Voronjeri withdrew to Voronjeri for rest and replenishment, but Voronjeri was promoted to deputy commander of the army Also the chief of staff, instead of Lieutenant General Stepin, he commanded the 14th and 15th Federal Infantry Divisions in the direction of Kharkov, and Lieutenant General Stepin returned to Voronjeri to sit in the base camp. ..

To say that the pre-war preparations for the second stage were sufficient, how could the Kharkov cluster with such a powerful force and firepower be defeated? ! "

Jiang Fangzhen coaxed with Tian Zhongyi, although he knew it was inappropriate, but he couldn't hold back such an impulse, even he himself wondered, could it be that he had been running back and forth on the Ufa Great Plains to reorganize the troops, holding back for too long and wanted to go to the battlefield Try it yourself?

For the entire Kharkov cluster, Fujii Yukatsuki of the Seventh Division served as the first deputy commander of the cluster, and Oba Jiro of the Third Division served as the first deputy chief of staff of the cluster. The chief of staff of the group was Major General Hata Jun-six, and Ishihara Wanji was unexpectedly appointed as the chief of staff of the [-]st Armored Brigade of Du Li, serving as Lu Huanyan's deputy.

The Kharkov cluster is almost the essence of the Southwest Front Army. The Eastern Front Allied Forces, especially the Japanese troops, have never seen such a powerful combat sequence. How could they lose? !Could it be related to a command error?It doesn't make sense to say that the air force cannot be dispatched due to bad weather. Isn't the German plane also unable to dispatch? !

The coalition generals present had the same questions as Tanaka Yoshiichi and Jiang Fangzhen.

1918年8月8ri9:30，萨马拉联军总部作战会议室，

"How did you lose? The arrogant soldiers will be defeated. I thought that after reorganizing the group, I would have a thicker and stronger firepower, but even if it has become a mixed infantry brigade that strengthens the artillery wing, our firepower is not as good as that of a German infantry division. !

According to the battle report of General Utsunomiya, the Kharkov Group took the 5th Brigade of Mixed Infantry under the command of Shintaro Kikuchi and the 23rd Brigade of Mixed Infantry under the command of Nobuyoshi Muto as the vanguard, along the Kharkov Yekaterinoslav Brigade. The railway and road line attacked and successfully occupied Yekaterinoslav's outer positions! "

Commander-in-Chief Wang Geng of the Allied Forces threw away the cigar butts in his hand and stood in front of the big battle map again, obviously thinking that the director of the war room couldn't hold back the situation, and asked Tanaka and Jiang Fangzhen to keep questioning him like this. This battle meeting Cheng Yi is bittersweet and sweet, how can this work?

Qian Tianfu handed over the baton in his hand, returned to his seat and sat down silently, complaining in his heart that he had not encountered the possible variables that might appear in the Ukrainian battlefield. The commander-in-chief was right. With a series of devastating victories in the Southern Campaign, the Allied forces on the Eastern Front were full of optimism. In fact, the first stage of the Ukrainian Campaign was fought very hard. Although the Allied Air Force relied on the number of aircraft and performance advantages to defeat the German No. 1 Fighter Wing, but its own 1st Fighter-Bomber Wing has actually almost lost its combat effectiveness.

In the battle to conquer Kharkov, nearly half of the two infantry brigades of the Japanese Third Division suffered casualties, and the 13th Federal Infantry Division also suffered more than half of their casualties. Covered by optimism, intoxicated by the capture of the Ukrainian capital in four days and five nights, while the Japanese Third Division gritted its teeth to win glory for the Imperial Army, gnawing on a hard bone and gnawing its teeth, and refused to complain easily!

"The German army guarding Yekaterinoslav is the main force of the 29th Infantry Army. Although the 47th Infantry Division that was withdrawn from Kharkov was disabled, the 48th and 49th Infantry Divisions are still full. Waiting for work! Almost one-third of the Kikuchi brigade and the Muto brigade are newly added to the first-line team, and the artillery regiment is temporarily integrated into the mixed brigade. The city defense has lost its teeth!"

Wang Geng quickly pointed at Ekaterinoslav's battlefield situation map with his baton, and several staff officers frantically pasted the signs of offensive and defensive transitions and the numbers of the troops of both sides. asked,

"Why didn't Kikuchi and Muto wait for the main force of the group to arrive before launching an attack? But even so, the two mixed infantry brigades attacking the positions of the other two German reserve infantry divisions shouldn't be easily defeated? The difference in strength between the two sides is not big , the firepower is almost the same, although our troops are tired and filled with a large number of reserve reinforcements, but the Germans escaped all the way from Kharkov's bullshit, isn't it a bitter plan? At least it can be a stalemate!"

Tanaka Yoshiichi’s words resonated with many generals in the conference room, especially the Chinese generals Li Mingzhong, Sun Liangcheng and Xiong Shihui who shined in the Battle of Ufa held the same question. Although the German army and even the Ukrainian National Army’s firepower It is far stronger than the original Soviet Red Army, but isn't the Japanese Third Army of General Utsunomiya also the elite main force of the Japanese Army, and it has also strengthened artillery and temporarily reorganized mixed armored brigades!Could it be that Lu Huanyan was defeated in this battle? !