Age of Rebirth

Following the order of Major General Battle, the commander of the Armored Forces of the Independent Division, hundreds of tanks from the First Armored Assault Group rumbled across the Daling River several hundred meters wide along the erected pontoon bridge. The infantry followed the tanks, and more and more pontoon bridges were erected. The armored group was divided into multiple assaults, crushing the land on the north bank of the Daling River. Until now, Battelle, who had been in control of the overall situation, breathed a sigh of relief. Bing said: "Immediately report to the headquarters that the armored assault group has occupied the breakthrough on the north bank of the Daling River!"

Significant progress was made in the main breakthrough direction of Linghai. After the tank group and the infantry accompanying the attack climbed to the north bank of the Daling River, at the same time, the independent divisions located in the two secondary breakthrough directions of Xinzhuangzi and Yingpan also sent calls one after another. After breaking through the defense line of the Ninth Army of the Kwantung Army, the troops successfully landed on the north bank of the Daling River.

So far, the first phase of the offensive, breaking through the Kwantung Army's Ninth Army's Dalinghe line of defense, was successfully completed. Even though he had known for a long time that this would be the result, Feng Jiwu, who received the report, still let out an indescribable sense of relief. , said with emotion: "Chief of Staff, this battle to break through the Kwantung Army's defense line is probably the one with the fewest casualties in our army's previous offensive battles. It is a brand new style of play, different from the previous tactics, and it is infinitely useful!"

Colonel Zhang Hansheng, chief of staff of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps, was not thinking about this, and said: "Commander, the victory in the first phase of the offensive campaign is expected, should you order the offensive troops to expand the breakthrough, and the follow-up department will follow up immediately? "

Feng Jiwu smiled and said: "Issue an order. Also, report the battle situation to the teacher, I am thinking about it. The teacher must be waiting for our telegram! Our headquarters is also moving forward, to Daling Hebei Go to the north bank! After confronting the little devil for more than a year, I finally saw what the north bank of the Daling River looks like this time, it was a worthwhile trip!"

With an order from the headquarters, the follow-up troops of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps were tens of thousands of people.From the three breakthrough points of Linghai, Xinzhuangzi, and Yingpan, they crossed the Daling River on the pontoon bridge like a rolling flood.At this point, the Daling River defense line firmly held by the Ninth Army of the Kwantung Army fell apart, and the first assault group of armored forces.from three directions.Go straight to Linghai City, another important city leading to Fengtian in this Corridor area in the west of Liaoning, and immediately fell into siege!

The headquarters of the Ninth Army of the Kwantung Army is not located in Linghai City, but in the small town of Santaizi, which is more than 18 kilometers away from Linghai. It is not clear what kind of mentality it is, Lieutenant General Gu Cang, the commander of the Ninth Army.Set up the army headquarters here, and Linghai City.Give it to the No.[-] Division as the headquarters.

Lieutenant General Granary's actions were criticized by all the senior officers of the Ninth Army, because it violated the glorious tradition of the Imperial Japanese Generals always commanding from the front, and made people feel like a coward. However, on the north bank of the Daling River After the defense system was severely hit by the independent division's ground-air firepower, and the ground was covered with broken bricks and tiles, the senior officers of the Ninth Army Command began to admire the foresight and wisdom of the commander, Lieutenant General Gu Cang.

Although the front line of the Daling River was riddled with holes, Sandaizi, where the army headquarters is located, was not even hit by a shell or a bomb, and was able to continue to play the role of the headquarters. However, the current barn The lieutenant general wished that he would be killed by the shells and bombs of the independent division. This would save his worries, and he would not have to confess to Commander-in-Chief Umezu Yoshijiro, let alone become a sinner of the Great Japanese Empire!

After several years of painstaking efforts, the Daling River defense line with a pure reinforced concrete structure was broken through by the independent division from three directions in less than two hours. Moreover, more than half of the casualties of the Ninth Army soldiers The above, this is still a preliminary estimate. After the real count, the Ninth Army plus the attached troops of more than 9 troops, I am afraid that there will be no more than [-] left. The light of the fire made the Lieutenant General of the barn sweat coldly on his forehead.

What's terrible is that all the wired communication with the front-line divisions and brigades was cut off. After the radio call was finally connected, the only order given by the barn to the front-line troops with more than half of the casualties was, "At any cost, Even with the bodies of imperial soldiers, the three breakthroughs must be blocked. Don't even care about the independent division troops that have already crossed the Daling River, as long as the breakthroughs are blocked!

The lieutenant general of the granary has not messed up. If the troops on the front line of the Daling River are ordered to encircle the independent division troops breaking in at this moment, it will inevitably cause their follow-up troops to rush in along the breakthrough instead of rushing in front of the water. It is better to control the stacked dam at the source. He is sure that for the Niangziguan garrison of the independent division with a strength of more than 40 troops, there will not be too many troops crossing the Daling River.

It took less than three hours for the battle to start, and it took less than four or ten minutes for the line of defense to be breached. How much strength would the Independent Division troops on the north bank of the Daling River have? Then, mobilize troops to encircle and annihilate part of the independent divisions that have crossed the Daling River. If necessary, you can request Commander-in-Chief Umezu Yoshijiro that on the second line of defense, the troops that have not had time to retreat join in the encirclement and annihilation!

It should be said that Lieutenant General Gu Cang's judgment was quite satisfactory, and the approach he adopted was not unreasonable, but he ignored several key factors. First, Feng Jiwu adopted the breakthrough method of armored groups covering infantry, which basically destroyed the artillery. , and lack of anti-tank weapons, the best combination of tanks and infantry is the best combination of tanks and infantry. Several self-propelled artillery regiments of artillery commander Zheng Yong followed closely behind.

What's more, the lieutenant general of the granary considered it according to conventional thinking. He seriously underestimated the speed and quality of the engineer troops of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps and erected the pontoon bridge. On the Daling River, which is one meter wide, a pontoon bridge several times larger than that of the traditional pontoon bridge was erected. Therefore, within a unit of time, the strength of the independent division troops crossing the Daling River was more than ten times the usual.

Feng Jiwu led the Corps Headquarters and the convoy of the directly affiliated agencies, turned on the headlights, and when they reached the pontoon bridge on the south bank of the Daling River without any concealment, they had to stop. , were crowded with tanks, artillery vehicles, personnel carriers and large groups of infantry, rolling towards the north bank of the river like a torrent. The scene was tense but not chaotic. duty.

Feng Jiwu got off the armored command vehicle, looked at the troops busy crossing the river, and said, "I said Chief of Staff, isn't it a bit unscrupulous to cross the river like this? If at this time, a few bombers from the little devils come over , It doesn’t take much, dozens of aerial bombs can kill us, look, there are no air defense positions on both sides of the ferry, isn’t this underestimating the enemy?”

Chief of Staff Zhang Hansheng said with a smile: "Commander, have you forgotten that there are still Japanese planes in the sky in the northeast? Besides, if there are, the aviation force has not sent many fighter jets!"

Feng Jiwu slapped his head, and said suddenly: "I forgot about this, by the way, Chief of Staff, how is the progress of the battle to expand the breakthrough?"

Zhang Hansheng replied: "Three breakthroughs, one tank brigade and two infantry brigades, attacked horizontally along the two sides of the breakthrough. The Kwantung Army troops on the Daling River line have been divided and surrounded. The battle is going on very quickly. Intense, the follow-up troops continue to advance in the depth direction of the north bank of the Daling River, but they do not interfere with each other!"

Feng Jiwu nodded, and said, "Well, eliminating the remnants of the enemy is not an urgent task, but it can't be delayed for too long, by the way, where is Commander Battelle!"

Zhang Hansheng smiled and said: "Commander Battelle is following the second armored assault group and is advancing in the direction of Linghai. I am afraid that he is already on the outskirts of Linghai City. He said in a telegram to the Corps Department that it is time to use the speed of the armored group. When he was in an advantage, Linghai City should be an empty city now, so in order to gain speed, he must command from the front and keep abreast of the battlefield situation at any time!"

The worry in Feng Jiwu's eyes flashed away. From the bottom of his heart, he didn't want Battelle to fight on the front line like ordinary tank soldiers. His position should be in the rear. ?And the independent division will also lose an excellent armored commander, which is the biggest loss!

When Feng Jiwu was hesitating whether to send a telegram requesting Battelle to return to his command position, a military jeep stopped abruptly in front of him, and a major officer jumped out with a letter in his hand. Telegram, ran to him quickly, stood at attention and saluted, "Report to the commander and chief of staff, the latest situation!"

"Read!" Feng Jiwu said concisely.

The staff officer read: "The reconnaissance team reported that on both sides of the three breaches of Linghai, Xinzhuangzi, and Yingpan, a large number of Japanese troops were besieged from other directions. In about 10 minutes, they will exchange fire with our troops and divide and encircle the large area. The remaining troops of the Japanese army on the front line of Linghe, the progress of the battle is threatened!"

Feng Jiwu sneered, and said: "Isn't the reaction slow? The little devil is here to plug the hole. Order, the reconnaissance troops indicate the target to the artillery, and order, Zheng Yong's artillery group, immediately use the most violent artillery fire to attack the three breakthroughs." On both sides, two walls of fire were shot out, I want to see how many lives the little devil has to fill in! Order to expand the breakthrough, divide and surround the troops of the Kwantung Army soldiers, and end the battle as soon as possible!"

On the south bank of the Daling River, at the Artillery Headquarters of the Independent Division, Zheng Yong, who received Feng Jiwu's order, immediately became excited, laughed and said, "I'm back to work again. I thought there was nothing wrong with me. You little devil!" Fight, then let these bastards be fulfilled, staff, convey my order, the heavy artillery group began to shell, and six walls of fire were shot, show him Feng Jiwu!"

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