Age of Rebirth

The bomber fleet of the Air Force of the Independent Division bombed the Japanese defensive positions on the front line of Lushunkou on the Liaodong Peninsula quite violently. Including the fleet carrier bomber fleet, more than [-] bombers were dispatched in the first round of air strikes.

After the bombing, the Japanese army’s positions were in a mess, with bomb craters everywhere. All surface buildings, whether they were reinforced concrete bunkers or half-hidden firepower points underground, without exception, were severely hit. Scattered cement blocks, mixed with broken limbs of Japanese soldiers, dark red blood, it is not an exaggeration to describe the current situation of the Japanese positions with devastation and ruins everywhere.

Lieutenant General Hengshan, the commander of the Seventh Army, saw all these miserable scenes in his eyes. His heart was shocked and painful to the extreme. The losses caused by the defensive troops on the front line of Lushunkou will never be small. Therefore, when a senior staff officer reported to him the statistics of the casualties of the troops, the Lieutenant General was already prepared to suffer a psychological blow!

The senior staff officer looked at the statistics sheet in his hand and said, "Your Excellency, according to the incomplete statistics of the staff department, No. 30 First Division 53 Regiment, 54 Regiment, and 870 Regiment are searching for the positions of the Regiment. All the surface fortifications were destroyed, and there were more than 30 casualties. The fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and search regiments of the No. [-] Second Division, because of the location of the positions, the casualties were relatively large. Huge, more than [-] soldiers were killed or wounded!"

"This is the number of casualties of our imperial army at the Lushunkou defense line. The total casualties are more than [-]. The artillery regiments belonging to the two divisions and the field artillery brigade directly under the military headquarters, because no targets were exposed, No losses, only the Shore Artillery Regiment, because the phone has not been connected, and there are no statistics!"

After the senior staff officer finished his report, he looked anxiously at the face of His Excellency the Commander. In just four to ten minutes of bombing, the Seventh Army suffered more than 10 casualties, exceeding the strength of a regiment.For the Seventh Army, which is short of troops, the blow is very heavy. Your Excellency Commander, if you don't get angry, you will probably be furious?

"Haney? - more than [-] casualties? Staff Officer Watanabe, are your statistics accurate? The number of casualties of the Seventh Army. Will it not exceed these?" Lieutenant General Hengshan stood up suddenly, his eyes shining .Lean your upper body forward.Looking closely at the senior staff officer named Watanabe, he asked, does that posture look like he wants to eat people?

Senior Staff Officer Watanabe took half a step back to get rid of the aggressive aura of His Excellency the Commander, and faced the Commander in this state.He felt a sense of oppressiveness out of breath, with beads of sweat on his forehead, and Staff Officer Watanabe replied cautiously: "Yes, Your Excellency Commander. The statistics are absolutely accurate, except for the Coastal Artillery Regiment, there is no statistics. In addition, all the casualties are here, in general, the casualties will not exceed 7000! But the surface positions are severely damaged!"

"Yoxi! Hahaha!" Lieutenant General Hengshan suddenly laughed out loud after hearing what Senior Staff Officer Watanabe said, stretched out his hand, and patted him heavily on the shoulder, "Watanabe-kun, I didn't expect that in the Air Force of the Independent Division Under the violent bombing, our Seventh Army deployed nearly 5 troops on the front line, and the casualties were so slight. It was unexpected. With the blessings of Amaterasu and His Majesty the Emperor, I, Hengshan, defended the line of defense at Lushunkou The decision was correct!"

Seeing His Excellency the Commander, who looked like a mad tiger, Senior Staff Officer Watanabe was stunned, and did not react for a while, "The casualties are so slight?" The casualties of nearly 7000 people are close to one-fifth of the total strength of the Seventh Army deployed in the first-line positions. One, he also said that the casualties were slight, so is it true that your Excellency the Commander, because he was strongly stimulated, is speaking ironically?

Lieutenant General Hengshan was very excited. According to his estimation, the Air Force of the Independent Division dispatched more than 40 bombers for more than 7000 minutes of indiscriminate bombing. , The tsunami-like bombs blew up the position. I saw it with my own eyes. I didn't expect that less than [-] people were killed or injured, and the Seventh Army was not injured!

Lieutenant General Hengshan changed his perspective and considered his decision to stick to the front line of Lushunkou. He felt more and more clever about his battle plan. Just imagine, if the order of the Kwantung Army headquarters was followed, the two divisions of the Seventh Army on the front line of Lushunkou would The nearly 5 troops of the regiment, after the independent division troops landed, resisted for a while, and then retreated to the second line of defense. Then, on the retreat route of more than [-] kilometers, the bomber fleet of the independent division alone would It will cause immeasurable losses to the Seventh Army who left the strong fortifications and was exposed in the wilderness.

There are bombers and fighter jets from the Independent Division in the sky, whistling and circling, completely controlling the air, and countless bombs and bullets are pouring crazily. On the ground, there are the landing troops of the Independent Division that are chasing after them. In the second line of defense, more than 70.00% of the soldiers will fall under countless bombs and bullets and fall on the way to retreat.

Lieutenant General Hengshan rubbed his hands excitedly. Seeing Senior Staff Officer Watanabe's mouth wide open and looking at him with panic on his face, he knew that he had lost his composure, so he said: "Mr. Watanabe, the damage to the surface position is serious, as expected , However, our underground fortifications are still intact. This is the biggest reliance for us to repel the attack of the independent division troops. After conveying my order, the various troops immediately began to rush to repair the surface fortifications. In addition, contact Kiyosaki as soon as possible. The shore artillery has exposed the target, how about the loss, I need to know!"

Colonel Kiyosaki, the commander of the Coastal Artillery Regiment of the Seventh Army, was obviously in a good mood. After the bombing, the losses of each artillery position have been counted. Three coastal defense artillery were blown up, and two other coastal defense artillery were slightly damaged. After rush repairs, it can still be put into use. This kind of loss has greatly exceeded the expectations of Colonel Kiyosaki. As for the fighter jets of the independent division hovering above the head, they are not a threat at all. They have the ability to penetrate my Tibetan artillery. Hole?

However, the phone call to the army headquarters was never connected. This made the happy Colonel Kiyosaki a little unhappy. When the bombers of the Independent Division started bombing, he pretended to be crazy and deliberately dropped the phone number of Commander Yokoyama. Now , and unable to connect with the army headquarters for a long time, what will Hengshan think?How do you see what you do?

According to the practice of the Kwantung Army, right now, it is time to report the losses and casualties of the various units to the army headquarters. The coastal artillery regiment is directly under the command of the army headquarters and is the defensive pillar of the entire Lushunkou defense line. Lieutenant General Hengshan must be eager to know. Regarding the loss of the Coastal Artillery Regiment, Colonel Kiyosaki originally wanted to scold and give a few mouthfuls to the commander of the Regiment Communication Squadron to let this guy know how serious the delay in reporting the situation to the Army Command was!

But because he was in a good mood, Colonel Kiyosaki saw that he had just come back from the outside, his face was covered with oil and sweat, he was swallowing saliva nervously, his military uniform was dirty, and he was kind to the communication squadron leader who crawled out of the trench like a rout. Said: "Thank you for your hard work! Don't worry, gather all the soldiers in the communication squadron, conduct a 1.1-meter investigation, work hard, and restore telephone contact with the army headquarters as soon as possible!"

Originally, I was mentally prepared to be scolded or slapped so hard that I couldn't find the squadron leader by the captain of the first company. After connecting with the army headquarters, not only did I not get scolded and yelled at, but your Excellency the regiment captain also said that I have worked hard, which is really touching!

It was indeed hard work. Almost half of the staff in the communication squadron were devoted to checking the line, but they couldn't find the reason why they couldn't get in touch with the army headquarters. As for the commotion, the squadron leader hurriedly "snap!" stood at attention like a little ghost coming out of the ground, with tears in his eyes, without saying a word, he turned and strode away.

On the flagship of the escort fleet, Tang Qiuquan put down his binoculars and said to Major General Xin Xiguo, chief of staff, "Xiguo, have you evaluated the effect of the first round of bombing?"

Xin Xiguo said: "According to the reports of the fighter pilots still lingering over the Japanese positions, the effect of the first round of bombing was excellent. On the Japanese positions, there was not a single complete fortification visible, and all of them were destroyed. The assessment result is that the Japanese defensive positions , the ground fortifications were severely destroyed, and the casualties of the Japanese army should be about one-half!"

Tang Qiuquan frowned slightly, and said: "The casualties of the Japanese army are about one-half? What is the basis? Is it the report of the pilots' visual results? Xiguo, the Seventh Army of the Japanese Army has been operating in the Liaodong Peninsula for many years, and Lushunkou is an important place. The defense system of the military port is very strong. The information from the Intelligence Department also mentioned that more than half of the defense system of the Japanese army is hidden underground. Our first round of bombing may only destroy the superficial fortifications of the Japanese army, and the underground part remains unscathed. , so, don’t make blindly optimistic estimates!”

"Once the landing troops start to land, the soldiers will be exposed on the unobstructed beach, and the Japanese fortifications that have not been destroyed will cause serious damage to the landing troops. At that time, blood will flow like a river! What else will happen? "

When Tang Qiuquan said these words, his face was very serious. He was dissatisfied with his chief of staff, who had such an optimistic estimate of the battlefield situation. According to intelligence, the Japanese army's defensive force on the front line of Lushunkou was close to 5 people, with half of the casualties. One, that is, about [-] Japanese soldiers were killed in the first round of bombing. Tang Qiuquan didn't believe it, nor was he so optimistic!

Xin Xiguo's face turned red. It is the chief of staff's responsibility to evaluate the results of the battle. Obviously, the commander is not satisfied with his own assessment. Seeing that the commander asked another question, he replied: "According to the reports of the fighter pilots, , After the bombing ended, a large number of Japanese signal soldiers were found nervously checking the lines!"

(to be continued) (to be continued..)