Age of Rebirth

Major General Han Tie, the commander of the Marine Corps who was in charge of attacking the Liaodong Peninsula, arrived at the Forward Fourth Brigade, and what he saw was the scene after being attacked by a Japanese human bomb. He flew into a rage.

In the tent of the [-]th Brigade Headquarters, there was no sound except Han Tie's angry roar. The staff officers were silent. Looking at the commander's furious face, Han Tie was indeed angry. On the one hand, it was anger at Huang Wanshan, the commander of the [-]th Brigade. On the one hand, it is more self-blame for himself. In his opinion, Huang Wanshan made a mistake similar to his own, that is, he did not pay attention to the aspects emphasized in the teacher's report.

Of course, Han Tie, as the commander, has already done it. After landing at Lushunkou, he has forwarded the division commander’s telegram to each brigade. Nearly 4000 people, almost an entire regiment of the Marine Corps, made him very painful, so painful that his heart was bleeding. If it was on a normal battlefield, such casualties would be understandable.

However, in the face of suicide attacks by Japanese armed civilians, what made him especially angry was that the division commander had foreseen this, and the report emphasized in the telegram that Huang Wanshan, as the brigade commander, still caused the troops to be attacked. Such a heavy loss cannot be forgiven anyway!

Seeing Huang Wanshan bowing his head, Han Tie became more and more angry, "Huang Wanshan! Why don't you speak? Is it hard to say or can't say it?" He stared at Major General Huang Wanshan, the commander of the fourth brigade, and roared, Li Jialiang, chief of staff of the brigade The colonel secretly gestured to the staff officers and radio operators in the brigade headquarters, and these junior officers slipped out relieved.

Then, Li Jialiang sincerely said to Han Tie: "Commander, it has nothing to do with our brigade commander. As the chief of staff, I bear full responsibility. After the headquarters forwarded the division commander's telegram, I underestimated the enemy and did not convey it to the troops below. So much so that when the troops were attacked by Japanese civilians, they were slow to respond and did not shoot in time, which caused the current huge casualties. I am willing to accept any disposal by the commander!"

Han Tie was so angry that his lips trembled, and he shouted: "Li Jialiang, don't be sloppy! Don't cover up for Huang Wanshan! I want to hear Huang Wanshan himself explain the reason!"

Huang Wanshan raised his head suddenly, because of the pain in his heart, the muscles on his cheeks.Twitching uncontrollably, he looked at Han Tie's fire-breathing eyes.He said in a hoarse voice: "Commander, it's all my fault. It has nothing to do with the chief of staff. It was me. After receiving the division commander's telegram forwarded by the headquarters, I didn't arrange to communicate it to the troops below. At the same time, I still underestimated the enemy. Do you think that the regular little devil army is not our opponent, and a group of mobs can turn the world upside down?"

"Commander. Because I didn't pay enough attention to the order of the headquarters, it caused such heavy casualties to the first and second regiments. I take full responsibility and accept any punishment imposed on me by the headquarters!"

The words held in his heart were finally uttered, and the pain in Huang Wanshan's heart eased a bit. Yes, because of his negligence of the enemy, nearly a thousand soldiers were buried forever on the land of the Liaodong Peninsula, and more than four thousand The soldier, lying in the hospital, his inner pain cannot be expressed in words, wishing he could pull out his pistol and shoot himself in the head, which is much better than such painful torture!

Han Tie looked at Huang Wanshan coldly, but his tone did not resemble the anger just now, and said: "Huang Wanshan, it should be your responsibility, if you can't escape, it should be my responsibility, and I will not shirk it. I will report this result to the cross-sea campaign headquarters and division commanders, and ask the superiors to decide!"

After finishing speaking, he ignored Huang Wanshan, who had a painful face, and picked up the phone, "Chief of Staff? This is Han Tie, yes, I am at the headquarters of the Fourth Brigade, and I will convey my order to attack the second Japanese position. Postpone for three hours, order the sixth brigade, which is serving as the rear guard, to move up immediately and replace the offensive position of the fourth brigade. Yes, the fourth brigade will withdraw to rest! You order the logistics department to prepare to receive the wounded from the fourth brigade and send them back as soon as possible Qingdao base, at the same time, report the situation of our delayed attack to the cross-sea campaign headquarters and division commanders!"

As soon as Han Tie put down the phone, Huang Wanshan rushed over and yelled, "Commander, you can't withdraw the fourth brigade, we can still fight! You can still serve as a forward, and fight all the way to Fengtian! If this is not clear, why not?" When Bai retreated, he thought that I, Huang Wanshan, had lost the battle, so can the Fourth Brigade still raise its head?"

Han Tie looked at Huang Wanshan coldly, and said: "Can you still fight? Huang Wanshan, the fourth brigade has suffered nearly one main regiment casualty, and is already injured. Look at your soldiers, facing the attack of armed Japanese civilians , as tired as after fighting for several days and nights, can such a unit still serve as the forward attack mission? It is withdrawn for no reason, thanks to you being able to speak out, it is you who don’t understand it in your heart! You Huang Wanshan fought Isn't it a defeat?"

"Do you still want to continue fighting? What do you rely on to fight? Are you relying on soldiers who have lost their vigor? This is not the time to be brave and aggressive. Immediately organize the troops to withdraw and rest to make room for the Sixth Brigade to attack! Tired soldiers are not available, don’t you understand?——Because of your fourth brigade, you delayed the attacking rhythm of the entire army. You, Huang Wanshan, are more guilty! Quickly organize the troops to withdraw, while resting, while waiting for the opinions of the superiors! "

After listening to Han Tie's words, Huang Wanshan's face turned pale in an instant. He knew very well what the commander's words meant. It meant that in the entire Liaodong Peninsula campaign, the Fourth Brigade was likely to be excluded from the future battlefield. , even, will be transferred back to the Shandong Peninsula to stand by. For a general who is eager to gallop on the battlefield, being deprived of the right to participate in the battle is more uncomfortable than killing himself.

There is also my fourth brigade, which is such a powerful force, it may also be listed as a reserve force by the headquarters, that is, a supplementary brigade. Since then, I have lost the opportunity to fight on the front line. Because of his carelessness and underestimation of the enemy, Huang Wanshan didn't know how he got out of the brigade headquarters. When he saw the first regiment's position in the faint morning light, there were many bomb craters and bloodstains. The seven-foot-tall man with the Major General's epaulets on his shoulders couldn't help crying.

Seeing Huang Wanshan's distraught appearance, Han Tie couldn't bear it, but he had to do so. At the same time, Han Tie couldn't forgive himself. It was also difficult for him to disable a main brigade before the official battle started. Accept, although it was because of Huang Wanshan, the commander of the fourth brigade, that the huge casualties of the troops were caused this time, but Han Tie believed that he also had an unshirkable responsibility.

It may be that after the landing from Lushunkou, the troops fought too smoothly. As for the landing battle at Lushunkou, it was not a war. There was no enemy battlefield. Can it be considered a battlefield? Han Tie admitted that not only Huang Wanshan and other brigade commanders The officer, even myself, would not have taken Japanese armed civilians to heart if he hadn't been in the call from the teacher to emphasize it!

Therefore, after Huang Wanshan went out, Han Tie sat down and began to write a telegram to the headquarters of the cross-sea campaign and the division headquarters. Regarding the view of armed civilians attacking, in the telegram, Han Tie did not shirk his responsibility at all, and blamed himself for the cause of the casualties of the troops.

The telegram requesting a delay in the attack first reached Lieutenant General Tang Qiuquan, commander-in-chief of the Battle of Crossing the Sea Command. After listening to the chief of staff, Major General Xin Xiguo, after reading the telegram, Tang Qiuquan frowned slightly and said, "Chief of staff, immediately inform the aviation commander. Le Yiqin and Liu Cuigang, the Marine Corps' attack on the second line of defense of the Japanese Liaodong Peninsula changed the original plan to start at dawn and delayed it by three hours, please ask the air force to support the aircraft fleet and be ready for contingencies!"

After the chief of staff Xin Xiguo handed over the message to a staff officer, he said suspiciously: "Commander, why did Commander Hantie postpone the launch of the offensive? Could it be that the deployment of the Japanese army on the Liaodong Peninsula has changed?"

Tang Qiuquan said succinctly: "Han Tie is in trouble, Chief of Staff, send a telegram to Han Tie to ask the reason for the postponement of the attack!"

In the headquarters of the North China Field Corps in Kailu County, Mengdong, Tang Qiuli put down the telegram sent in the name of the Marine Corps headquarters, and said slowly: "Han Tie is in trouble, and the postponement of the offensive is to adjust the troops. !"

Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe thought about it and asked: "Could it be that on the Liaodong Peninsula, there is information that we have not detected, and the Japanese army is hiding a huge force. Commander Hantie felt the pressure and had to adjust the deployment of the campaign. Ah, the Intelligence Department and the Special Operations Detachment are working together, so important information shouldn’t be neglected, and besides, the total strength of the Kwantung Army in the entire Northeast is so large, will Nanjiro make an army out of nothing?”

Tang Qiuli just said, "The problem lies in the Japanese armed civilians. If the judgment is not bad, Han Tie's troops have already suffered a loss!"

"Ah!" Zhao Yuhe was startled, "Master, should we send a telegram directly to the Marine Corps headquarters in the name of the division commander, emphasizing again the issue you particularly emphasized in the last telegram? Or, could it include the Southeast Mobile Corps on the southern front?"

Tang Qiuli shook his head, and said simply: "No need, there is also the headquarters of the cross-sea campaign, our master can't intervene in everything, later, Han Tie may have a telegram, he should explain and postpone the attack There's a reason!"

Compared with the independent division division, the cross-sea campaign command, guessed that the Marine Corps has postponed the attack time, and the commander Han Tie blamed himself. Not to the point of triumph, but pretty good nonetheless.

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