Age of Rebirth

The room full of shining generals of the Kwantung Army, no one can understand, what kind of meaning does the flashing light in the eyes of Commander-in-Chief Umezumi represent?Is it anger, contempt or admiration?

General Meijin's eyes calmed down, he patted the tabletop lightly, and praised: "Genius plan, unique conception, ingenious deployment, interlocking rhythm, Xinyou-kun, you impress me! After this battle, Emperor In the world, another bright star will rise slowly! Yoshi! Mr. Xinyou, I approve this attack plan!"

"Don't waste time with me, start implementing it immediately, and not only your [-]th Division, but also the [-]th Division attacking on the northern front, must follow Xinyou-jun's plan! The staff immediately dispatched senior Staff, rushed to the [-]th Division overnight to explain this offensive plan and supervise its implementation!"

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, please be careful! Commander Shinyuemon's offensive plan is too risky, and if you are not careful, you will lose everything!" Chief of Staff Matsuda suggested with an ugly face, no matter from which point of view. He is not optimistic about Lieutenant General Shinyuemon's battle plan. Now, Commander-in-Chief Umezu and the [-]th Division, which is going to attack on the northern front, are taking risks together. Isn't it true that the general is not afraid of losing this battle? ?

If it were General Nanjiro, Shinyuemon's battle plan would definitely be torn to pieces, and then he would be thrown on his face and ordered to go to the staff to get a standard battle plan. Plan, just follow through.

General Yoshijiro Umezu waved his hand violently, stopping Chief of Staff Matsuda, "Chief of Staff Matsuda, was what I said just now not clear enough? Do I need to repeat it? Time is running out, so don't waste it. Follow my order immediately!"

General Umezu's tone.It was cold and there was no temperature at all. From Chief of Staff Matsuda down, all the senior officers were speechless. For the first time, they experienced the tyranny and arbitrariness of the new commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army.

Chief of Staff Matsuda shut up with a painful expression on his face. He suddenly realized that now is no longer the era of General Nanjiro, the Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army himself.It can't control the overall situation anymore, "It's a pity that the defeat of the Kwantung Army started with this guy Shinyuemon's absurd battle plan!" He thought with his heart twitching in pain.

After giving the faces of Chief of Staff Matsuda and other senior officers, General Umezu turned his head.Gentlely said to the head of the Xinyouweimen division: "Xinyou-kun, originally, I wanted to keep you at the headquarters for dinner. We can also have an in-depth discussion, but time is running out and the attack is imminent, so you must hurry back Troops, start organizing the attack. I am at the headquarters, waiting for the good news of your victory! At that time, I will hold a banquet in Fengtian to welcome our imperial heroes who have returned in triumph!"

enough.As long as Commander-in-Chief Umezu supports his battle plan, it is enough. Lieutenant General Shinyuemon did not expect so much, but Commander-in-Chief Umezu gave him unexpected compliments, defying all opinions and disregarding Against the opposition of almost all the senior generals in the headquarters, they firmly supported themselves and ordered all the offensive troops to follow their own combat plans. This is a great trust and honor!

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, Shinyuemon is ashamed to say such a compliment. I just entered the duty of the Imperial Army. The Ministry immediately rushed back to the troops and made all preparations before the counterattack. If we win, it is the General Your Excellency, Commander, your wisdom, if you fail unfortunately, Shinyuemon will also die on the battlefield, fulfilling the promise of an imperial hero!" Lieutenant General Shinyuemon said with a trembling tone, without any rhetoric, but Showed a firm will to fight.

Several grass-green military tents were set up in a dense forest, and one of them was the temporary headquarters of the [-]th Division. Numerous telephone lines extended from the tents to the distance, connecting various Troops ready to attack.

Since dawn, when the squadron of the search wing started to move, Lieutenant General Shinyuemon sat motionless on the canvas marching chair, with his back straight, his eyes slightly closed, his face as calm as water, He held the command knife inlaid with gold thread tightly with both hands, and poked it on the ground. From any angle, the commander of the Shinyuemon division is a calm general, showing the demeanor of a general of the Japanese Empire. !

In fact, Lieutenant General Xinyouwei's heart is not as calm as it appears on the surface, and even has a trace of inexplicable fear. Originally, it was only a matter of the [-]th Division's own affairs, but it was expanded to include the attacking troops on the north and south lines. On a large scale, Commander-in-Chief Meijin affirmed his offensive plan and ordered all offensive troops to implement it. This is trust and honor, but is it not a huge pressure?

In all fairness, Lieutenant General Shinyuemon has absolutely no intention of showing off, as long as his division's offensive plan is approved by Commander-in-Chief Umezu, that's enough. To such an extent that he has risked his own wealth and life, so he can only succeed, not fail. If the plan fails, he will cut himself open to apologize without being questioned by Commander-in-Chief Meijin.

The time passed so long, in less than an hour, Lieutenant General Xinyouwei felt that the rest of his life was spent in this short period of time, and there was no news from the action troops, which made He is both worried and full of hope. Such ambivalence is probably something that he has never experienced since he became the head of the Imperial Army division. , their division commander, wearing white gloves, clenched his hands with the command knife, already soaked in sweat.

The always silent radio station finally heard a slight "tick" sound, and the eyes of the officers in the tent were all attracted to them. Lieutenant General Xinyouwei's heart immediately tightened, but he did not open his eyes slightly. With his eyes closed, only the muscles twitching involuntarily on his cheeks revealed his true inner thoughts.

I feel that a person has come to my side, "Reporting to your Excellency, the head of the division, the commander of the search wing, Mr. Ono, reported that the first step of the plan is going well, and all the security sentries on the forward positions of the independent division have been cleared. The second The first step plan has been implemented, and the special mortar brigade is already in place. The brigade commander, Major Watanabe, asks if the shelling will start immediately?" It was the voice of the chief of staff of the division, bringing unparalleled good news.

"Yoshi!" Lieutenant General Shinyuemon couldn't help shouting, "Amaterasu God bless! His Majesty the Emperor bless! The plan has succeeded!" He shouted in his heart, but on the surface, he was still calm With a gentle demeanor, "Order, the special mortar brigade, immediately start shelling the positions of the independent division's defenders. Order, the artillery group belonging to the division, get ready for shelling!" He suddenly opened his eyes, a ray of fierce light flashed, and issued order to attack.

The radio station quickly conveyed the order. At this moment, Lieutenant General Shinyouemon felt that he was exhausted, as if he had collapsed, and his clothes were already sweating, but under the eager and adoring eyes of the surrounding officers, he Still maintained a steadfast military posture.

On the open ground in front of Fenghuang Mountain, the waist-deep wormwood and clumps of bushes became the best concealment for the Japanese soldiers. It was just dawn in the east, and those strange mortars shot quietly. After the erection was completed, there was a slight "swipe" sound, and a mortar shell was fired. In the pre-dawn sky, it drew an arc and landed on the first floor of the Sixth Brigade of the Marine Corps of the Independent Division. on the regiment's ground.

The strange thing is that these landed artillery shells did not explode with flashing flames, nor did they hear a loud explosion sound. After the mortar shells fell, clusters of yellowish-brown smoke filled the air and gradually merged into the dawn layer of the Liaodong Peninsula. In the mist, the entire Phoenix Mountain position was shrouded, and it continued to spread and spread around.

Major General Jiang Xianliang, the brigade commander of the Sixth Brigade, was sleeping, when he suddenly felt that his throat was blocked by something, and he felt uncomfortable like suffocation. He suddenly woke up, rolled over and got out of bed. Fatigue, a little bit of strength in the body, I can't use my hands, and I smell a pungent smell in my nose.

"What's the smell?" He shook his drowsy head and thought in surprise, "Guards! Guards!" He shouted loudly, but there was no movement outside the shelter. He raised his legs and walked out, but found that it was so difficult to move. .

At this time, Colonel Meng Jianzhu, the head of the first regiment, also stumbled over from one end of the shelter, saw the brigade commander, and shouted: "Brigade commander, you are so wicked? Why do you lose your strength after sleeping? ? In the shelter, there is still a pungent smell?"

"Gas bomb! The little devil fired a gas bomb!" Jiang Xianliang, who had been fighting for a long time, had a flash in his mind, and suddenly thought of this terrible possibility. Except for the gas bomb, nothing would cause his body to appear in the current situation. Moreover, this kind of gas bomb can't kill people, but it can make people lose consciousness and mobility. I experienced it once when I was on the Indochina Peninsula battlefield.

"Meng Jianzhu! Hurry up and call the police! The little devil fired gas bombs! All the troops put on gas masks immediately!" Jiang Xianliang shouted, and thanks to his good physical fitness, the headquarters of a regiment was in Phoenix Mountain Behind the main position, the concentration of poison gas bombs fired by the Japanese army is not too high. All the personnel in the regiment headquarters have not lost all consciousness and basic mobility for the time being. However, the stragglers at the door were the first to smell the poison gas. It was relatively deep, and he was already in a semi-comatose state.

When Meng Jianzhu heard this, he was stunned at the time. After he realized it, he immediately took out two gas masks and put them on respectively. Grabbing a submachine gun, "Da da da!" A string of bullets flew into the dawn sky, and the crisp sound of gunfire echoed in the silent field.

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