Age of Rebirth

Chapter 410: Before Shanhaiguan

As the vanguard assault division of the Kwantung Army's Southward Corps, Seishiro Itagaki's original intention was to use the powerful strength of the headquarters to go straight to Tianjin, cut through the Beijing-Tianjin corridor, cut off the connection between Pingjin and Pingjin of the Chinese Army, and break the relationship between the independent division and Beiping. Surrounded, on the coast of the Bohai Sea, annihilated the independent division attacking Tianjin troops.

Itagaki's idea was extremely bold and arrogant. In his impression, it was still in the era when more than 1 people were used to defeat 20 troops of the Northeast Army. The glory and desire to conquer brought by the Manchuria Incident were too strong.

Itagaki, in the Japanese army, is known for his boldness. Although he is short, he is extremely brave. His idea of ​​not saving Tianjin and cutting through the Beijing-Tianjin Corridor can be said to be bold and surprising, but the prerequisite is that there must be enough The strength of the army, and the mechanized corps with powerful assault and piercing capabilities.

If it was a German general in World War II, the mechanized blitzkrieg might have worked. However, the Japanese army still has a long way to go for half a century from mechanization. The artillery wing of the Japanese army, all heavy artillery, is still dragged by mules and horses. One point is that even the troops of the Independent Division are inferior. Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang's corps rushed to Shanhaiguan, and all the equipment of the three artillery brigades was transported by cars. [

Therefore, although Itagaki's idea was very bold and correct, he had to use the soles of his infantry to walk to the outskirts of Tianjin. He also did not expect that the troops of the Independent Division would set up blocking positions outside Shanhaiguan.

Therefore, he was extremely angry with Xiangyue Qingsi, the commander of the North China Garrison Army. The 10,000+ troops of the Chinese Army were deployed outside Shanhaiguan, but the North China side did not get any information. I really don’t know what Xiangyue is doing. To the Commander's position?

One of his vanguard field regiments took a head-on blow from Feng Jiwu. Although the loss was not large, it was the first time since the formation of the Itagaki Division that it suffered losses but no results. Extremely powerful, compared with the Northeast Army in [-], it is incomparable.

Therefore, Itagaki immediately withdrew his troops after his vanguard and the independent division did not gain the upper hand. The opponent changed, and Itagaki wanted to adjust his tactics. Although he was bold, he was not reckless. On the contrary, he was a man with many years of actual combat experience. A madman with high military literacy.

Tang Qiuli on the outskirts of Beiping, now in his heart, except for the Banyuan Division, nothing else is important. If the Banyuan Division is killed on the front line of Shanhaiguan, the Japanese army in North China will lose a sharp claw. The pressure he faces It was much smaller. Taking advantage of the fact that the reinforcements of the Japanese army had not yet arrived in North China, and seizing the favorable situation of the isolated Itagaki Division, it was necessary to kill the Itagaki Division.

In view of the fact that the situation in Tianjin had stabilized, Zhou Yushan was about to evacuate Tianjin. Tang Qiuli handed over the command of the troops encircling Beiping and occupying Tianjin to Liu Tiehan. He drew a brigade from Dongzhi and strengthened the encirclement outside Beiping. The order given to Liu Tiehan was that during the fierce battle at Shanhaiguan, the Xiangyue Qingsi of Beiping could not leave Beiping City with a single soldier.

Another two brigades were drawn from the East Finger, surrounded by a cavalry brigade of the Peiping army, and followed him to the front line of Shanhaiguan to increase Feng Jiwu's strength. Behind Banyuan, there were two divisions of the Kwantung Army. , They will definitely not stand idly by, and will definitely desperately rescue.

The remaining three brigades in the east were responsible for the defense of Tianjin. On the afternoon of July 25, Tang Qiuli led the two infantry brigades under the Northeast Advance Command and the fourth cavalry brigade of the independent division, totaling more than [-] People's forces rushed to the front line of Shanhaiguan. At present, in North China, only the situation there is not clear.

On the evening of the 26th, Tang Qiuli led his team to the front line of Suizhong. Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang's corps had just fought fiercely with the Banyuan Division for a day. The smell of gunpowder smoke, it can be seen that the battle situation of the day was very intense.

Seeing the division commander rushed to the front line of Shanhaiguan, Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang felt a little ashamed. They felt that the direction they were responsible for made the division commander worry, so they came to take command in person.

Tang Qiuli saw what they meant, and told them bluntly that it had nothing to do with you, it wasn't that you played badly, it was purely personal interest, Ban Yuan and I were old acquaintances, Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang were stunned, This is the first time that the Itagaki Division has played against an independent division. How can the division commander come from an old acquaintance?

Tang Qiuli felt a little slip of the tongue, he couldn't say that he knew this guy a long time ago!He changed the subject. The Itagaki Division is based on information obtained from Yu Deshui's intelligence office. In addition to your battle reports, I think it is different from other Japanese troops. I have been studying him for several days. If you don't believe me, ask Mei Ting !

After finishing speaking, she pointed at Mei Ting. Mei Ting felt that there was a ghost in Tang Qiuli's heart, but she didn't know where the ghost came from?I will torture him again in the evening, but what Tang Qiuli has been talking about these days is the truth of the Banyuan Division, and he nodded to confirm. Yes, in the future there must be a gatekeeper.

Chief of Staff Li Honggang reported on the battle situation of the day. Today, the Itagaki Division deployed a brigade of troops to launch a full-line attack on the front of our blocking position more than ten kilometers wide. The Japanese troops of the three regiments formed several attack waves. , Uninterrupted attacks on our army's blocking positions.

The battle lasted for eight hours. The Japanese army lost more than [-] people, and our troops suffered more than [-] casualties. Most of them were injured by Japanese barrel throwers.

The strength of our troops in the forward blocking position is more than 16 in three brigades. The rest of the troops are resting and waiting in the Shanhaiguan area. If you count the troops brought by the division commander, our army has gathered in the Shanhaiguan to Suizhong line Nine infantry brigades, three artillery brigades, four cavalry brigades, and one air defense brigade, with a strength of [-] troops, the total strength has surpassed the Kwantung Army's Southward Corps.

In addition, several units of our special operations detachment have penetrated into the two wings and the rear of the opposite Japanese position to carry out reconnaissance. What surprised Deputy Commander Feng and me was that the Itagaki Division's one-day offensive seemed violent, but it felt like it was not doing its best. Its chariots, heavy artillery units, and cavalry units did not appear on the battlefield, and only light artillery bombarded our positions.

This is a strange phenomenon. It seems that Itagaki is not in a hurry to break through our army's positions, retake Tianjin, and break the siege of Beiping, but wants to attract our troops here. This is where Deputy Commander Feng and I are puzzled.

Tang Qiuli vaguely guessed something. Itagaki must be waiting for an opportunity, and the appearance of this opportunity was related to the increase of troops from the Japanese army base camp to North China. The Japanese reinforcements from North Korea were far away, and the Kwantung Army The Southward Corps was blocked here, and only the reinforcements from Japan were unknown. [

It is a pity that the intelligence network of the Independent Division has not yet expanded to the sea, otherwise, it would be easier to understand Itagaki's psychology. Thinking of this, Tang Qiuli suddenly became enlightened, as if a layer of faint smoke in front of him was blown away by the fresh morning wind generally.

By the way, Itagaki must be waiting for reinforcements from the Japanese mainland. It has been more than [-] days since the July [-]th Incident, and the Japanese base camp clamored to "destroy China within three months." Lost Tianjin, Beiping was surrounded.

In terms of the strategic situation, it is completely in a state of persistence, which was not expected by the Japanese government that launched an all-out war. The purpose of placing the Itagaki Division in a prominent position is to use the combat effectiveness of the Itagaki Division to wait for the arrival of the Japanese sea reinforcements. At the same time, it suddenly broke through our Shanhaiguan defense line and went straight into the Beijing-Tianjin corridor, severing the connection between our troops.

Close and compressed encirclement, or even complete annihilation, I hope that the situation in North China will be determined by the First World War, so that I can free up my hands to move troops southward and attack the hinterland of the Central Plains and Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

It really made Tang Qiuli test right. The reinforcements from Japan are sailing on the North Yellow Sea at this time, and are about to cross the Bohai Strait. It is still a day and a half away from Tianjin, and the number of reinforcements greatly exceeds According to the original plan, there are ten first-class divisions, about 35 people, and five heavy artillery regiments.

Having figured this out, Tang Qiuli's face immediately became tense. The Japanese army came to help, and it was doubtful that they would land in Tianjin, and he was not sure whether Tianjin's defenders could resist the Japanese army.

All the troops on the front line of Shanhaiguan retreated to the Beijing and Tianjin areas, preparing to counter-landing?The Itagaki Division and the Kwantung Army's Southward Corps are bound to chase after them. If the Japanese troops in Beiping go out of the city to fight back, the troops will be in an extremely disadvantaged position and will have to retreat across the board to the Yellow River defense line. The favorable situation in North China will be lost. do.

Tang Qiuli felt that his appetite was a little too big, and he panicked. Now, Shanhaiguan cannot withdraw, this battle must be fought, and the key to this battle is whether Liu Tiehan in Tianjin can succeed Prevent the Japanese army from landing, or Jiang's Japanese army repelled, and won two to three days for the Battle of Shanhaiguan.

In the Battle of Shanhaiguan, Tang Qiuli not only planned to kill the Banyuan Division, but also wiped out or defeated the Kwantung Army's Southward Corps, and Tianjin was the weakness of the entire battle layout.

Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang saw that the teacher's face was changing, and his eyes seemed to be blurred. They looked at each other. They turned their eyes to Mei Ting. Only the person next to the teacher's pillow could know what the teacher was thinking at this time. Mei Ting gently shook her hand, signaling him Don't bother Tang Qiuli, Tang Qiuli in this state is making a difficult choice.

After a while, Tang Qiuli's eyes became clear, and his face was resolute. He made up his mind that the Battle of Shanhaiguan must be fought, and if he did not kill the Banyuan Division, he felt as if he was choked in his throat, and he was very depressed. , I hated this Banyuan division to the bone, notorious, arrogant, not to mention, it can relieve the troops from worrying about the future, how much benefit is this battle.

After he thought about it maturely, he thought of Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang on the side. Seeing their worried faces, he smiled, and the two were relieved. Tang Qiuli explained his analysis to them, this time It was the turn of Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang to change their faces.

The situation is not good. With the strength of more than 3 people in the two brigades of Tianjin Dongzhi, even if Liu Feng's police force and eight urban combat teams are added, there are only more than 6000 people. The Japanese attack from the sea, what can the division commander do?

(To be continued)