Age of Rebirth

Fengtian, Kwantung Army General Headquarters, General Umezu Yoshijiro, the commander-in-chief, has a gloomy face, Lieutenant General Kenjiro Matsuda, the chief of staff, has a dull face, a lieutenant staff officer, who has just finished reading the front line of the Liaoxi Corridor, and is responsible for covering the retreat of the main force. Urgent telegram from Army Commander, Lieutenant General Barn.

Including General Meijin and Chief of Staff Matsuda, they didn't intend to hear any good news from the Ninth Army. After all, these two Kwantung Army bosses knew very well that with more than 9 troops, they stopped the Independent Division Niangziguan Garrison Corps With more than 40 troops, this in itself is a job to die!

Moreover, the main force of the Kwantung Army in the western Liaoning area began to assemble and evacuate one after another for two consecutive days, with more than 40 people.Such a big movement could not be concealed from the eyes of the all-pervasive Independent Division agents. The Independent Division troops on the front line of Jinzhou launched an attack. As expected, the Ninth Army fought extremely hard, and it was taken for granted. Otherwise, General Meijin would not have Painfully made the decision to cover the main force to retreat to Fengtian at the cost of sacrificing the Ninth Army.

However, the telegram from Lieutenant General Grann, the commander of the Ninth Army, apart from these news, made General Umezu Yoshijiro feel very disturbed. Aerial bombing, in order to break through the defense line of the Daling River, Tang Qiuli, the devil of China, even used bombers, which can be said to have cost a lot of money!

"Under such ferocious firepower, how long can the forward troops of the Ninth Army last? What are the casualties?" Two questions lingered in General Umezu Yoshijiro's mind.The latter question, not to mention me who is far away in Fengtian, is Lieutenant General Granary, the commander of the Ninth Army on the front line.He also didn't know that with bombardment and aerial bombardment, the headquarters of the Ninth Army could contact various divisions and brigades. The brigades and regiments, the situation has shown so far!

The various divisions and brigades could not provide specific casualties, and how many casualties their own troops had.How many troops are left capable of fighting? Lieutenant General Kankura, the commander of the Ninth Army, is the same as General Umezu Yoshijiro.At a loss.

However, General Umezu Yoshijiro, who is experienced in commanding operations, generally knows in his heart that more than half of the Ninth Army's casualties.There must be.There will only be more and no less, but he has no idea how long he can hold on to the Daling River defense line.

Looking at Lieutenant General Matsuda, the chief of staff with a blank face, General Meijin waved his hand silently, telling the staff to leave quickly, "Mr. Songtian, the most urgent thing is to make sure that the Ninth Army is on the Daling River line and can stop the Niangziguan garrison of the Independent Division." How long! What is your judgment?" he began.

Chief of Staff Matsuda had a blank face.With some vitality in his eyeballs, he sighed and replied: "Commander-in-Chief, please forgive me for being incompetent and unable to make an accurate judgment. We know very little about the situation in front of the Ninth Army. The Ninth Army Command Even the eyes are darkened, I am afraid that even Lieutenant General Gu Cang himself does not know the actual situation of the troops, we are far away from the front line, how can we draw an accurate judgment?"

"And..." Chief of Staff Matsuda hesitated to speak, General Meijin couldn't help but frowned, and said displeasedly: "Mr. Matsuda, you are the chief of staff, you may as well speak up if you have anything to say, especially in the current situation. Down!"

Chief of Staff Matsuda thought about it and said: "Commander-in-Chief, I just carefully read Lieutenant General Gu Cang's telegram. It seems, it seems Lieutenant General Gu Cang felt the huge pressure on the Ninth Army and abandoned the Daling River defense line. The troops must be withdrawn to the second line of defense at Qilihe, Dading Fort, and Xinglongtai, and the defense system must be reorganized!"

"What?" General Umezu Yoshijiro exclaimed in a hoarse voice, and then, with a fierce light in his eyes, he said fiercely: "No! Absolutely not! This idea of ​​the barn is very dangerous. The Qili of the second line of defense River, Dading Fort, and Xinglong Terrace, there is no natural barrier like the Daling River, and the defense system is not as solid and complete as the first line of defense, so the Ninth Army retreats, it is self-defeating!"

"Moreover, while abandoning the Daling River defense line and retreating, the more than 40 soldiers of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps of the Independent Division will definitely swarm after them. Don't expect extravagantly. The Daling River, which is not defended by imperial soldiers, can stop the attack of the Independent Division troops. The footsteps, the barn is simply dizzy! What is the difference between this and abandoning the position and fleeing! Hmm!"

The voice of General Umezu Yoshijiro gradually became angry, "Matsuda-kun, order the barn, the Ninth Army must rely on the Daling River defense line, stick to its position, and never allow half a step back, otherwise, all the officers of the Ninth Army will inevitably die. He will be severely punished by the emperor! Even, he will not even have the dignity of cutting himself open!"

"Since our intention to evacuate the troops in the western Liaoning area has been noticed by the Chinese demon Tang Qiuli, there is no need to hide it. He ordered the second-line and third-line troops not to continue to gather. The troops stationed in various places as units, from now on Depart from the station and assemble in the direction of Fengtian, this will save a lot of time! What I am most worried about is the threat from the direction of the Liaodong Peninsula!"

Speaking of this, General Umezu Yoshijiro's expression twisted in pain, "Matsuda-kun, what is the current situation of the imperial army on the Liaodong Peninsula Gaizhou battlefield?" He asked in fear.

Chief of Staff Matsuda couldn't hide the pain in his eyes, and replied: "Commander-in-Chief, I'm very sorry, we lost contact with them three hours ago. The situation on the Gaizhou battlefield is unknown, but I It is estimated that more than 4 imperial warriors should all be shattered!"

Although it was expected, General Umezu Yoshijiro was shocked and took half a step back. He was able to contain the direction of the Liaodong Peninsula. The bargaining chips of hundreds of thousands of independent division troops were finally lost. The next situation will deteriorate even more. He seemed to see that the tide of soldiers from the Independent Division flocked to Fengtian and spread to the whole of Manchuria.

"More than 4 Kwantung Army soldiers who are brave and good at fighting, can't they last for three days?" Chief of Staff Matsuda left. I thought, "Then, the Ninth Army, which has been hit hard, can buy a few days for the hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army soldiers who retreated?"

In Kailu, Mengdong, in the backyard of the headquarters of the North China Field Corps, in a few unremarkable bungalows, the night was already dark, but the lights were still brightly lit. Colonel Ge Zhenzhuang, the division chief of staff, knocked on the door of division commander Tang Qiuli.

"It's Director Ge. You've brought good news these days, so what's the good news?" Tang Qiuli watched without closing his eyes for several days and nights. His eyes were bloodshot, but he was still in good spirits. Ge Zhenzhuang, who was shaking his rope, said with a smile, his expression was unrestrained and natural, very relaxed.

Ge Zhenzhuang didn't dare to joke in front of the commander, and said: "Master, I received a telegram from the commander of the Gaizhou battlefield, Major General Jing Zhanqi, the commander of the No. 20 Ninth Corps' First Brigade. After seven hours of fierce fighting, our troops have all Annihilating the remnants of the Japanese army on the southern battlefield of Gaizhou, the Japanese army from the commander of the third army, Lieutenant General Kamiya, to the next level, none of the more than [-] Japanese troops slipped through the net, the troops are cleaning the battlefield, and the specific results are being counted, and will be reported to the division commander later!"

"Good news!" Tang Qiuli lit a cigarette and said happily: "The war on the Liaodong Peninsula has finally come to an end. Jingzhan Banner can also be freed to go straight to the front line of Siping and Shuangliao. Director Ge, Send an order that all the troops on the Gaizhou battlefield cannot rest and immediately use the designation of the Ximan Blocking Corps to march overnight from Siping to Shuangliao. Feng Jiwu fought fiercely in the west of Liaoning. There will be action!"

"In addition, tell Jing Zhanqi, what kind of battlefield are you cleaning? Those rags, can he still be short of Jing Zhanqi? When did he become able to live? The task of cleaning the battlefield is left to the left behind. Umezu Yoshijiro is rushing for time!"

Ge Zhenzhuang suppressed a smile, recorded the commander's order, and then handed it over to the communications staff, "Director Ge, there is no new telegram from Feng Jiwu?" Tang Qiuli asked. In a battle with predictable results, what he cares most about is the war in western Liaoning.

Ge Zhenzhuang replied: "Master, I still received the telegram that the Niangziguan garrison launched an attack. Since then, Commander Feng has not sent any more telegrams. Shall we send a telegram to inquire about the progress of the battle in the name of the division commander? "

Tang Qiuli shook his head with a smile, and said: "No need, Feng Jiwu knows how to fight, and when the telegram comes again, it will be good news. Go to bed, Director Ge, you still have officers from the staff office and communication office. How many days? You didn't close your eyes at night, so take a rest!"

On the battlefield in western Liaoning, the night flight bomber formation of the Air Force of the Independent Division bombarded the Japanese defense system on the north bank of the Daling River once again, and then began to return. Colonel Zhang Hansheng said: "Chief of Staff, order the armored troops and infantry to start the assault!"

Battelle sat upright in his chariot, looking through the lookout hole with shining eyes, looking at the north bank of the Daling River, which had been blown red half the sky, and more than 1000 tanks from the four tank brigades of the armored forces participating in the assault in the direction of Linghai. Under the cover of rumbling explosions, all the tank engines started, and there were bursts of deep roars, like beasts about to pounce, low roars from the throat, light blue smoke, shrouded the torrent of iron armor .

In all fairness, Battelle, who is used to seeing the German air-to-ground firepower coordination on the European battlefield and the devastating offensive momentum, couldn't help but marvel at the shelling plus bombing tonight. From his point of view, this attack on the defense system of the Kwantung Army on the north bank of the Daling River has surpassed the level of the German army in terms of the ferocity of its firepower!

"Commander, an order from the headquarters of the attacking force!" The shout of the radio communicator in the tank woke up Battelle from his association.

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