Age of Rebirth

~- -~Chapter 230 Ito changed his tricks

General Genzaburo Ito, who was encouraged by a letter written by Emperor Hirohito, made new adjustments to Yangon's defensive deployment, withdrawing all the troops previously deployed on the outskirts of Yangon into the urban area. The three lines of defense have become two. It seems that the line of defense has been reduced by one layer, but the strength of each line of defense has more than doubled.

Ito was like a mirror in his heart. Before the arrival of the local supplementary heavy equipment, the troops deployed in the open fields in the suburbs were the live targets of the fierce artillery fire of the independent division. In the Battle of the Valley, 15 brave imperial soldiers were killed under such artillery fire, and Ito still remembers it vividly.

The best strategy for defending Yangon is to introduce Tang Qiuli's troops into the urban area, use the city's complex buildings and favorable terrain conditions to offset the superior heavy weapons of the independent division troops, and fight a bloody battle with the soldiers of the Chinese devil Flying street fighting, in terms of individual soldier quality and combat effectiveness, the soldiers of the Empire are not much worse than the soldiers of the Independent Division.

With his strengths and the weaknesses of defeating the enemy, urban street fighting is a contest between light weapons and soldiers' will and combat effectiveness. Ito is confident that with two defensive positions surrounding Yangon on three sides, it will not be a problem to hold Yangon for a few months. The empire will not He will sit back and watch Yangon fall, and will do his best to reinforce the Yangon battlefield. In this port city on the Indochina Peninsula, he will fight a stalemate with Tang Qiuli's troops, grab him and consume him. [

When the local cutting-edge troops come in a steady stream, they can counterattack at the right time, and the battle situation may not be known. For the defense of Yangon, Ito racked his brains to figure out new tactics. Every street, every building, and every house has become If the firepower is lost, the independent division will have to pay a heavy price if it does not move forward.

Ito even used scorched earth to defend the city. He planted a large amount of explosives in the houses and buildings on both sides of the main streets. Once he could not withstand the attack of the independent division troops, he would blow up everything. Here, pro-Japanese elements were selected to form a volunteer team to assist Japanese soldiers in defending the city. They also ordered various search forces to mix with the Burmese volunteer team to form assassination and sabotage teams behind enemy lines.

The target is the senior commander of the independent division, an important drug warehouse and supply center. Ito said murderously at the military meeting of officers above the rank of squadron commander of the Japanese army: "This is a battle that combines urban defense warfare and guerrilla warfare. , We must use all means to keep the enemy out of Yangon, even if it means sacrificing our lives, we will not hesitate."

After a pause, seeing that the officers' attention was attracted, Ito nodded with satisfaction, and continued: "The whole city is a battle fortress, and what we give to the enemy is our courage and respect for the great Japan." Loyalty of the empire, and endless sons, warriors of His Majesty the Emperor, we want the enemy to see that there is nothing left for them except the scorched earth and our corpses, the horn of battle has sounded, fight Now, warriors of His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Our bayonets are already eager to drink the blood of Chinese soldiers, so that the enemy who dares to attack Yangon trembles in front of us." This scene, even Ito himself felt a desire to fight, rising in his heart, The passionate Japanese officers who were stimulated by Ito's impassioned words shouted and danced wildly, and the crowd was excited. They all expressed their determination to Ito as if they had been beaten with chicken blood.

Especially those mid-level and lower-ranking officers who almost wrote blood books on the spot. Ito was very satisfied with the effect of this military meeting. The will to fight of the soldiers, this fanatical will, is indestructible and unrivaled.

After the officers' emotions calmed down, Ito continued: "Our battle today will create a miracle and glory for the empire. His Majesty the Emperor is watching us. Thousands of subjects of the Great Japanese Empire are watching us, and we are also At the moment when the empire dispatched troops to Southeast Asia to avenge their shame, let the enemy's corpses cover the streets and alleys of Yangon. Every inch of scorched earth, and the safety of Yangon, is up to you." After finishing speaking, facing thousands of officers at all levels, I bow deeply.

After the meeting, looking at the empty conference room, Ito was still immersed in the passion just now. He was very satisfied with his agitation today. What is the war fighting?In addition to weapons, there is also the fighting will of officers and soldiers. The empire does not lack warriors who dare to sacrifice their lives. What is lacking is a commander who ignites this spirit. I am this person. This is very fulfilling!

Northwest of Yangon, Yangon Township, Yangon Campaign Headquarters of the Independent Division, the division commander Tang Qiuli is also holding a military meeting, jumping up and down with Ito Yanzaburo, full of passion, and the whole thing is very different. The military meeting of the Independent Division seems to be It was plain and boring. The Japanese troops in Yangon frequently mobilized, abandoned their original suburban positions, and shrank their troops into the urban area. This abnormal situation, the frontline troops, immediately reported to the division commander.

Feng Jiwu, who was in charge of the main attack in the due west direction of Yangon, and Li Honggang, who was in charge of the due north direction, both hated and hated their teeth. According to the original attack plan, the artillery of the two corps plus the artillery of other corps attached reached 32 regiments. Artillery firepower, more than 800 artillery pieces of various types, carried out devastating shelling on the first-line positions of the Japanese army on the outskirts of Yangon before the attack was launched.

The bombardment lasted for an hour and a half. This was also one of the division commander Tang Qiuli's plans. In the open suburbs, kill and injure as many Japanese troops as possible to reduce the difficulty of subsequent street fighting. The bombardment should eliminate four of the Japanese guards in Yangon. About one-fifth to one-fifth, but the sudden change in the deployment of the Japanese army made this plan come to naught.

This means that the attacking troops of the Independent Division entered the stage of street fighting from the very beginning. According to the requirements of the division commander, Yangon could not be reduced to ruins. All of you here have a deep understanding of the ferocity and combat effectiveness of the Japanese soldiers despite great difficulties.

Today's military meeting is to solve this problem. In the past two days, Tang Qiuli has been annoying enough. That annoying MacArthur has been clamoring all day long. In the scene of the violent attack, Lieutenant Liu Xinlan, the liaison officer, tried her best to delay the Americans for two days.

In the evening, when she returned to the division to report the situation, Liu Xinlan was as exhausted as if she had run tens of kilometers of mountain roads. When she told Tang Qiuli about the situation of American stalkers, tears of grievance rolled in her eyes, making Tang Qiuli Li's heart aches, Liu Xinlan smiled after she tried to persuade her with soft words.

Seeing that it was too late, Tang Qiuli personally sent Liu Xinlan back to the dormitory. This time, Liu Xinlan no longer refused Tang Qiuli's holding her little hand. Although she was still too shy to look up, she didn't try to pull it out. The girl didn't see it, but not far behind, more than [-] special guards followed unhurriedly to protect secretly, otherwise, Tang Qiuli wouldn't even hold her soft little hand, and arrived at the gate of the officer's dormitory , Liu Xinlan said nothing to let him send it in, Tang Qiuli had no choice but to give up this idea.

On the way back to the division headquarters, Tang Qiuli carefully considered the time to attack Yangon. In Yangon, the problem cannot be solved if he does not fight, but when to attack is a question that must be carefully considered. There is particularity, the reason why Tang Qiuli did not launch an attack on Yangon for a long time, but put on the posture of a large army pressing the border.

Just let Ito understand that no matter how stubborn he is, it will help. The best result is that Ito sees his tactics of encircling three and missing one. Continue to withdraw to the south. In this case, the Yangon issue will be much simpler, but the sudden change in the deployment of the Japanese army has frustrated his hopes. Therefore, there is the current military meeting.

After being silent for a while, Feng Jiwu first said: "The enemy's situation has changed, and the original plan can no longer be implemented. My opinion is, change the style of play, use tanks as the guide, cover the infantry, and conduct a tentative attack on the Japanese positions. What about the scale, with two to three brigades of the main attacking corps, attacking from the due west and the due north at the same time, in this way, we can also test out the characteristics of the Japanese army's defensive deployment and firepower deployment."

Li Honggang added: "Our tentative attack can be launched at multiple points at the same time. The strength of each direction should not be too many, and one regiment is better. In this way, we can avoid being hit by the Japanese artillery fire in the city. If we can break through a point, we can firmly control it and attract the Japanese army to fight for it. We can also use artillery fire to injure the Japanese army. It is much better to destroy a place than to destroy the whole city, and it does not violate the requirements of the commander. .”[

Tang Qiusheng followed Li Honggang's words and said: "Tanks are not conducive to street fighting, so we will not go deep into the urban area. We will fight the Japanese army in the suburban junction, consume the Japanese defensive force, and continue to attract reinforcements from the Japanese guards in the urban area. , can also achieve the goal of annihilating the enemy in the suburbs, and the main attacking corps can continuously send new troops to assault the Japanese positions, which will not only exhaust the Japanese army, but also consume the Japanese army.”

Everyone finished talking, only Tang Qiuli did not speak. His mind was no longer in the meeting. Ito's abnormal deployment aroused his high vigilance. In order to achieve the purpose of consuming and dampening the strength and vigor of the attacking party.

However, Ito suddenly gave up his position in the suburbs and shrank all his troops into the urban area. This is a very bad phenomenon. It shows that Ito has made up his mind to defend Yangon, and uses street fighting to fight against our superior forces and weapons. Ito is an old and cunning guy. He bets the whole city. The key problem is that he doesn't want to bet. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to attack Yangon for the first time.

(To be continued)

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