Age of Rebirth

The surprise attack came quietly at dawn. The strength of the three brigades of the Marine Corps of the Independent Division was on the defensive from Anton to Gaizhou. The independent division made General Umezu Yoshijiro, the new commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, feel like a thorn in his throat. Looking at the entire Manchurian battlefield, only the current Liaodong Peninsula is the weak point of the Chinese devil Tang Qiuli.

After employing a series of strategies of attacking the west from the east and keeping the warehouse in the dark, General Meijin successfully assembled two elite first-class divisions on the front line of Liaoyang, and used this as an assault force to start a counterattack on the Liaodong Peninsula.

The newly formed Third Army of the Japanese Army is the original base of the Japanese Southwest Pacific Dispatch Army. The [-]th Division fought against the Independent Division in the Indochina Peninsula. Although it was beaten badly, it followed the Commander-in-Chief General Genzaburo Ito withdrew from the Indochina Peninsula in embarrassment, but Lieutenant General Shinyuemon, the head of the division, knew the combat effectiveness and weaponry of the independent division troops very well.

According to the operational order of the Kwantung Army General Headquarters, the direction of attack of the [-]th Division is Anton, and the position of the independent division in the Phoenix Mountain area to the north of Andong is the line of defense that the [-]th Division cannot bypass. , In order to successfully break through the defense line of the independent division, Lieutenant General Shinyuemon took great pains and used a lot of brains.

The opponents I know, how strong the soldiers are, and how fierce the artillery firepower is, Lieutenant General Shinyuemon is still fresh in his memory. If the Imperial Japanese Army adopts the usual frontal attack method, it will obviously not work, let alone yourself. A division, even if it has twice as many troops, is still not enough to fill the battlefield, let alone.I don't have that much capital yet, so in this battle, I can only outwit, not attack.

Moreover, in the absence of air supremacy, the suddenness of the battle is extremely important. Lieutenant General Xinyouwei doesn't want his troops to face the independent division troops.The sky above was filled with bombers and fighter jets of the Independent Division Aviation.

As soon as the [-]th Division arrived at the assembly point in Liaoyang, Lieutenant General Shinyouemon sent out the search wing of the division to conduct an all-round reconnaissance of the terrain around Phoenix Mountain.But there is one thing, the head of the Shinyuemon division sternly told the search team leader Ono Osamu. "This is purely for reconnaissance. But we must not expose any of our intentions, let alone let the Chinese people discover our intentions. The scale must be strictly controlled!"

"If your soldiers are discovered or captured by the soldiers of the Independent Division, you must tell the soldiers in advance. Immediately commit suicide and be loyal to the Emperor of Japan and His Majesty the Emperor, so as not to leak the secrets!" long tone.is cold and cruel.

This is a deadly order. The back of Ono's head felt cold, but he also knew that the order must not be violated. Fortunately, the search wing did not disgrace its mission. During the entire reconnaissance process, the target was not exposed. The soldiers did not have the results of reconnaissance in the Phoenix Mountain area, otherwise, they would not be able to escape the eyes of the guard sentries of the [-]st Regiment of the Sixth Brigade. Relatively speaking, the results of the reconnaissance were very rough.

There is only the front line of Phoenix Mountain, the approximate location of the independent division troops, and the nearby terrain and landforms. As for the distribution of troops and the distribution of firepower points of the independent division defenders, there is no such thing at all. enough.

The attack plan formulated by the head of the Xinyouweimen division is divided into three steps. The first step is to send elite soldiers from the search wing to form a small team, secretly sneak into the independent division's defensive position, and be responsible for clearing the guard sentinels and opening the offensive. The passage, the second step, is to use the secret weapon newly equipped in the country, the special mortar brigade. This brigade is a reinforced brigade, which is twice the size of the normal establishment and has 230 special mortars.

The entire special mortar brigade, along the passage opened by the soldiers of the search wing, secretly moved to the front of the independent division's position. The effective range of the special mortars, after two rounds of firing, immediately withdrew from the battlefield. The third step, That is, the field artillery regiment to which the division belongs, and the artillery brigades to which each regiment belongs form an artillery group to conduct indiscriminate bombardment of the independent and defending Fenghuang Mountain position. Finally, there are two tank brigades to cover the division. The main infantry charged.

The offensive plan formulated by Lieutenant General Shinyuemon is interlocking and has a clear hierarchy, but the most critical part is the first step, clearing the guard sentries of the independent division troops in the forward positions. If the first step fails, alarmed For the defenders of the Independent Division, there is no way to talk about the next plan, and it is even very likely that they will be counterattacked by the Independent Division. Therefore, the task of undertaking the first step of the plan still falls on the United Team - search for the Wing.

The most effective offensive plan is not the covering bombardment of the artillery group belonging to the division, but the shelling of the special mortar brigade. Whether the special mortar brigade can move smoothly to the front of the independent division's defenders position, It is another critical node. For this plan, Lieutenant General Shinyouemon repeatedly calculated and weighed, and personally asked every detail of the operation.

Shinyouemon, among the generals of the Japanese army, is considered a young and strong faction. He is used to taking risks, and he is quite cunning in using troops, but he does not have the rigid command style of Japanese senior officers. He spends day and night preparing for an attack. Lieutenant General Shinyuemon did nothing else but collect information on the front line of Phoenix Mountain and the situation in front of the independent division's positions, and worked out an attack plan. More than 50.00%!

"Enough is enough, war itself is an adventurer's game!" Lieutenant General Shinyouemon made the final decision, and the attack plan of the [-]th Division was finalized. He knew that after the attack plan was reported, it would definitely cause an uproar. However, in the eyes of those rigid-minded senior officers at the headquarters, it was too risky and too many uncertainties. A mistake in one link would lead to the failure of the entire offensive plan.

Lieutenant General Shinyouemon did not intend to get the unanimous approval of the big bosses in the headquarters, as long as the commander-in-chief Umezu agrees, so he personally carried the attack plan and rushed to the headquarters of General Umezu Yoshijiro, the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army overnight. The interim headquarters, moreover, must present and explain in person, and strive to pass it, because this is the only attack method that can quickly break through the positions of the independent division troops, and it is also the method of attack with the least casualties of the imperial army soldiers.

Sure enough, as Lieutenant General Shinyouemon expected, once the plan was put forward, it was unanimously opposed by the senior generals of the headquarters. Among them, the strongest opposition was the chief of the general staff, Lieutenant General Matsuda Kenjiro. The reason for his opposition , very convincing, "It is an irresponsible attitude to place a large-scale offensive that is related to reversing the situation in Manchuria on risky and uncertain factors. I don't know. When planning, do you take into account the possibility of failure?"

"From the perspective of the staff department, formulating a rigorous and feasible combat plan is the basis for ensuring a smooth attack, but in the plan of the head of the Shinyuemon division, I can't see this. A small accident and Mistakes will lead to the failure of the attack on the southern front. As for the special mortar brigade, there are more than [-] mortars with insufficient firepower. I don’t know how effective it can be.”

"If this plan was made by a regiment leader, it is understandable. It will have little effect on this counterattack plan, and it can be corrected at any time. However, it was made by the commander of the southern offensive, the head of the Shinyuemon division. It is even more frightening, we cannot take risks, therefore, as the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, I deny this plan, and now, it is less than eight hours before launching a counterattack, and there is still time to re-enact it!"

Chief of Staff Matsuda Kenjiro, the reason why he tried his best to oppose the attack plan of the commander of the Shinyuemon division was out of prudent considerations. He didn't want an attack that could reverse the situation in Manchuria to be ruined by an absurd, adventurous, young and energetic guy. Li, on the other hand, complained about the head of the Shinyuemon division who bypassed the staff and sent the plan directly to the commander-in-chief Umezu.

Chief of Staff Matsuda believed that the plan did not comply with the procedures, and that the new commander had exceeded the authority of the headquarters staff. In other words, he did not take the Kwantung Army General Staff seriously. It is not desirable in itself.

In the combat history of the Kwantung Army, there has never been such a precedent. The combat plans of each combat unit are first submitted to the staff, and after approval, they are then reported to the commander-in-chief for approval. This Shinyuemon is obviously breaking the rules Well, Chief of Staff Matsuda has the responsibility to let this ignorant guy understand this.

In the face of the unanimous opposition from the senior officers of the headquarters, the voices of accusations, criticism, and belittling, Lieutenant General Xinyouwei kept a calm face. Such a result was already expected. I read it, but for Commander-in-Chief Umezu.

While the other senior generals in the headquarters were denying the battle plan of the commander of the Shinyuemon division, General Umezu Yoshijiro, the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, did not say a word. It seemed that the movement in the room had no effect on him at all. , All his attention was put on this attack plan.

Not only read it once, but read it several times repeatedly, sometimes with sparkling eyes, sometimes with a slight frown, sometimes thoughtful, with extremely colorful expressions, the officers of the Kwantung Army headquarters, after a while, The movement became quieter, and even though he tried his best to oppose it, the final decision was still in the hands of the commander-in-chief of Meijin. In other words, the opinions of the headquarters staff were for reference only!

The eyes of all the officers were focused on General Umezu, and Lieutenant General Shinyuemon was so nervous that his palms were sweating. The atmosphere in the room was quite depressing. Finally, General Umezu Yoshijiro raised his head, his eyes were beating brightly. . . . . . .

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