Age of Rebirth

Speaking of decisions and strategies, Chief of Staff Matsuda asked himself, he did not have the brains of General Umezu Yoshijiro, nor did he have the overall view. After discussing the solution, he went back to work for a while, and issued an order to the military command of the Manchukuo government to deploy troops. Moreover, the Third Army of the Manchurian Army, the Fifth Division stationed in Benxi, the Third Division in Kuandian, etc., which are limited to mobilization, must rush to the border area of ​​China and North Korea within two days to accept the Kwantung Army's Third Division. And the command of the fourth detachment!

It was already dawn, and Chief of Staff Matsuda, who had been working all night, was exhausted and aching all over. Behind the pleasure brought by power was unknown hard work. He sighed, supporting his shaking body, and returned to the The residence, just passed by, was awakened by a hasty knock on the door, "Your Excellency, Chief of General Staff! Your Excellency, Chief of General Staff! An urgent military report from the border between China and North Korea!"

Chief of Staff Matsuda was startled, completely sleepless, and hurriedly got out of bed. At this critical moment, the third and fourth detachments sent an emergency telegram, which must be related to the independent division in the northern part of the Korean peninsula. Could it be that the most worrying thing, happened?

Sure enough, after reading the telegram, Chief of Staff Matsuda's eyes were straightened. Sooner or later, what happened would happen so quickly. The third and fourth detachments of the Kwantung Army reported in the telegram, without exception, all Extremely bad news, "At dawn today, our unit was suddenly and violently bombarded by the Independent Division. Most of the defense line along the north bank of the Yalu River was destroyed, and each unit is now in a bitter battle!"

"Major General Takashima, the leader of the third detachment, has died for his country. The independent division troops dormant in the northern part of the Korean peninsula broke through all the defense lines of the imperial army with extremely ferocious attacks. The guard troops of our imperial army were divided and surrounded. The main force of the independent division , have already crossed the Yalu River, and request the headquarters to send more reinforcements immediately!"

Chief of Staff Matsuda's face was pale, and he was helpless. The two big holes in the northern part of the Liaodong Peninsula and the border between China and North Korea needed troops to fill.But the troops that he desperately mobilized are still being mobilized, and the fastest ones are in Fengtian and the surrounding areas of Fengtian.The troops that were put together improvised were intended to stop the independent divisions that pursued the Third Army and the first and second detachments of the Kwantung Army from the central part of the Liaodong Peninsula.

Chief of Staff Matsuda was going crazy, he knew it all too well.The unit of the Independent Division in the northern part of the Korean peninsula.After crossing the Sino-North Korean border, what to do is to block the retreat of the remaining units of the Third Army and the Kwantung Army. If you turn around, you can still point your troops at Fengtian.

Chief of Staff Matsuda, who was already in a mess, grabbed the phone and called General Umezu Yoshijiro, the commander-in-chief, who also just lay down.Didn't sleep a wink, actually.He couldn't sleep at all. One inadvertent move in the Liaodong Peninsula campaign put the entire Manchurian war in danger of losing. He was thinking hard about a solution, but what frustrates him is that other than requesting the base camp to send more troops to Manchuria, there is nothing else to do. There is no other way.

Moreover, the troops to reinforce Manchuria are indispensable. At least ten divisions and nearly 30 troops are needed, but General Meijin knows that at least for now, the 30 troops cannot be produced domestically. It is not just Manchuria that needs reinforcements. , The battlefields in the Far East and the Korean peninsula needed reinforcements. While tossing and turning, the ringing of the phone at the bedside interrupted his sorrow and bitterness.

After listening to Chief of Staff Matsuda, with a trembling tone, after telling the story of the battle on the border between China and North Korea, General Meijin held up the phone like a fool, his head went blank for a moment, and Matsuda and he studied for most of the night and came to the conclusion that , the independent division in the northern part of the Korean peninsula was temporarily confined to the Beidafeng battlefield east of Tokugawa, but in the blink of an eye, it broke through the defense lines of the third and fourth detachments of the Kwantung Army and crossed the Yalu River.

General Meijin knows better than Chief of Staff Matsuda what this means. It means that the third army and the rest of the Kwantung Army's first and second detachments, which are retreating with all their strength, have their rear route cut off. The front line, to Fengtian and even the hinterland of Manchuria, is under the command of the soldiers of the Independent Division. If Fengtian falls, the whole Manchuria will be divided into two parts that are not connected to each other, concentrated in the Liaoxi Corridor and the Kanto in the Ximan area. The main force of the army will also be in a situation of being attacked from both sides.

His heart was full of painful anger, almost uncontrollable, not because of his misjudgment and being slapped loudly by the facts, but because of a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart. The area of ​​troops was filled, but in my hands, what I lack most is soldiers, the brave and good soldiers of the Empire of Japan, and the hatred for the intelligence department of the Kwantung Army. If I get reliable information in advance, I will never be so passive.

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief! Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief!" Chief of Staff Matsuda's anxious shout brought General Umezu Yoshijiro back to the cruel reality.

Anyone can mess up, but you can't mess up. General Meijin warned himself, "Matsuda-san, the situation in Manchuria has deteriorated further, but it has not reached the point of despair. Adjust the deployment. The first mobilized Fengtian and Fengtian's surrounding troops will immediately go to Ann. On the eastern front, we will block the independent divisions crossing the Yalu River, and then we will mobilize a corps and two divisions of the Manchurian Army to go in this direction!"

"Order these troops, be sure to stop them desperately, otherwise, they will be killed without mercy. In addition, a large number of officers with combat experience will be selected from the headquarters to take over the command of the Manchurian government at all levels. Mr. Matsuda, this is our only hope, An Dong, must be kept, and if the independent division troops occupy Anton first, they must also take it back!" He seemed to be very calm.

Chief of Staff Matsuda's heart was like a mess, and he lost his basic ability to judge. He could only listen to General Meizu's contingency measures. However, he was thinking about another thing, so he asked stupidly: "Mr. Commander, what about the retreating Third Army and the rest of the two detachments of the Kwantung Army?"

General Meijin was so angry that he almost called him a pig, but the more critical the situation was, the more he had to hold his breath, and when it came to the emperor's face, he suppressed the anger in his heart and said, "Mr. Matsuda, take it seriously , the two detachments of the Third Army and the Kwantung Army are retreating, and they will not be able to reach the line from Anton to Gaizhou until tomorrow evening at the earliest. The key point now is this independent division that crosses the Yalu River , is our confidant's serious trouble, we must concentrate on encircling and eradicating it with all our strength! Do you understand?"

Putting down the phone, General Meijin put on his military uniform calmly, ordered the guards to prepare their vehicles, and rushed to the headquarters immediately. He originally planned to sit behind closed doors for a while to sort out his thoughts, but it was completely in vain. Now the Kwantung Army headquarters needs to go by himself With a solemn and solemn feeling, facing the early morning wind, with a calm face, General Meizu, who showed the demeanor of a general of the Japanese Empire, galloped away in a car with steady steps.

The guards around him and the staff officers who followed him couldn't tell. At this moment, General Meijin was heartbroken and his body was burned. Although he changed his deployment, the number of troops used in the direction of Anton exceeded 25. However, he didn't have any peace of mind or confidence in his heart, because it was the Manchurian Army.

If it was the 25 soldiers of the Empire of Japan, General Meijin would have enough confidence to encircle and annihilate the independent division troops that crossed the Yalu River, and deal a head-on blow to the independent division troops coming from the central part of the Liaodong Peninsula! "I hope that the more than 20 Manchukuo soldiers can at least delay the one-to-two-day journey of the independent division troops who came from the back road! Give yourself time to adjust the deployment!" He expected bitterly.

Jiuzhaigou, in the middle of the Liaodong Peninsula.The temporary headquarters of Tang Qiuli, the commander of the Independent Division, is located. As the troops pursued the retreating Japanese army across the board, the flames of war have gone away, and the poison gas bombs thrown by the Japanese army have all been controlled. The area around Jiuzhaigou has recovered. The tranquility of the past, green mountains and green waters, and verdant greenery everywhere, fully show the strong scenery of early summer.

Chief of Staff Zhao Yu and Major General came to Tang Qiuli who was sitting under a big tree, reading telegrams, the morning breeze was blowing, the leaves were rustling, and on a low table next to them were Mei Xue and Liu Xinlan, Carefully prepared breakfast, a large bowl of yellow and orange millet porridge, a few boiled eggs, plus a plate of delicious pickles, a plate of pickled bacon, no chopsticks, take a sip of millet porridge, grab the salty rice with your hands Put the meat in your mouth and eat it with relish.

Zhao Yuhe laughed, and said jokingly: "Master, no matter what the situation, your appetite is so good, it's really enviable! When I'm busy, I just don't have an appetite. I can't learn this. Come!"

Tang Qiuli smiled and said: "Food is the most important thing for the people. I've settled for this one. When the sky falls, I don't delay my meal. When something happens, I don't even have the appetite to eat. How can I eat the whole world? Eating is an attitude." By the way, Yuhe, is the current progress of the Hantie troops going well?" He suddenly changed the subject and asked.

Zhao Yuhe replied: "So far, the troops are progressing smoothly. The division and encirclement of the third and fourth detachments of the Kwantung Army on the northern bank of the Yalu River is in progress. Commander, I am a little worried!"

Tang Qiuli stuffed a piece of bacon into his mouth, chewed it with gusto, and asked, "Yeah! Yuhe, what are your worries, tell me!"

Zhao Yuhe said: "Commander Han's troops left six regiments to encircle and wipe out the Kwantung Army troops on the north bank of the Yalu River. The troops used on the line from Andong to Gaizhou have only four brigades, with a width of more than 200 kilometers. Not enough!"

"Also, the troops are crossing the river with light equipment and marching on foot, with heavy equipment and trucks. They are still stranded on the south bank of the Yalu River in front of them. It is not a problem to capture Andong. However, Gaizhou is far away in the west of the Liaodong Peninsula, and the straight-line distance is more than 200 kilometers. Commander Han I am afraid that the officers' troops will not be able to rush ahead of the fleeing Japanese army and block their retreat. If so, the battle plan to wipe out the Japanese Third Army and the two detachments of the Kwantung Army on the Liaodong Peninsula battlefield will not be successfully completed!"

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