Age of Rebirth

Chapter 430: Gathering in Songhu

On the first day of July [-]th, when the Japanese army in North China suffered a disastrous defeat, Emperor Hirohito had already heard the name of this person, but he didn't pay attention to it. Now, the navy suffered heavy losses, and it was this person who did it. Who is this Tang Qiuli?Why is there so much energy?It is a pity that the information provided by the intelligence headquarters of the base camp, apart from his public position, there are only a few words about this person's detailed information, which is dry and lacks any moisture.

Emperor Hirohito became angry again, scolded the ministers of the Intelligence Headquarters who were present at the meeting, and ordered him to get all the information about this China devil Tang Qiuli as soon as possible, otherwise, you will go to a small island in the Pacific Ocean, where the rabbit does not shit Be a garrison commander!

After Emperor Hirohito sent out the evil fire, the head of the intelligence department, who was so frightened that he was sweating, ran out in a hurry to implement His Majesty's imperial order. The meeting returned to the topic, and the generals of the army were very unhappy. The situation in the direction is rotten, the navy made a mistake, or they wiped their ass by themselves, why bother to pull the army?

In North China, facing the combat power and firepower equipment of Tang Qiuli's troops, if he does not maintain an absolute superiority in strength, he will not be able to gain any advantage. Now, one or two divisions of the North China Dispatch Army dare not act alone, for fear of being alone. , Tang Qiuli seized the opportunity and swallowed it in one gulp. [

The Army also hopes to send more troops from the mainland to North China, so as to realize the planned three-way assault. Where can there be extra troops sent to Shanghai?Furthermore, the army was dissatisfied with the navy's rash action in Shanghai, which changed the army's basic strategy of first targeting North China and then going south. basic guidelines for fighting against China.

The implication was that he accused the navy of taking a risk for success, and asked Kiichi Shigemitsu and Takeshi Murakami to explain the fiasco of the navy's Wusongkou defeat. Emperor Hirohito was not happy. The defeat, the loss of Tianjin, the destruction of the entire Banyuan division, the death of two lieutenant generals, and the loss of more than [-] troops, can you give me a reasonable explanation?"

As soon as Yuren said this, the whole audience was full of crows, both land and sea were not clean, you had the loss of soldiers in North China, I had the fiasco of Wusongkou, there was shit on the back of the buttocks, the old bird fell on the pig, no one should say who is black !As for what His Majesty the Emperor meant, it seemed that the generals in the army were not feeling well.

The meeting finally decided to organize the Chinese Shanghai Expeditionary Army in the mainland, with General Matsui Iwane as the commander, under the jurisdiction of the third, fourth, ninth, and No.11 divisions, the fifth tank regiment, the sixth and seventh The Field Artillery Brigade and other troops, with a total strength of more than 18 people, will go to the Shanghai theater today. The combat mission is: "Cooperate with the navy to destroy the enemy near Shanghai, occupy important areas in Shanghai and the northern area, and conquer the capital of China." Nanjing, along the Yangtze River Basin, mopping up enemies who dare to resist."

Matsui Iwane was the chief culprit in the Nanjing Massacre, more than [-] innocent souls died at the hands of this man and his subordinates, and the Japanese officials still deny this tragedy, which really makes Xiaojin very angry It is also his fate that this fellow encounters Tang Qiuli this time, and it is impossible to achieve a bad reputation.

On August [-]th, Emperor Hirohito instructed the government to issue a statement, claiming that "in order to punish the brutality of the Chinese Communist Party, protect the personal and property safety of the Japanese nationals in Shanghai, and safeguard the common interests of all countries in China, the Nanjing government must be awakened and stopped. The attack is for the purpose of maintaining public order, and the Japanese Marine Corps stationed in Shanghai has to take decisive measures today, and everything they do is not what the Japanese government and people want to see!"

When Tang Qiuli saw the Japanese government's public statement in Baoding, he sneered angrily. There are shameless people. I have never seen such shameless people like the Japanese. It is a waste to talk to these people. For such a despicable person The nation, only by beating hard, will they know that things are not up to them, and words are not up to them.

On the afternoon of August 19th, Matsui Iwane led nearly [-] Japanese troops from the port of Nagasaki, Japan, and headed for Shanghai, China on a large number of transport ships. At the same time, the follow-up troops of the Sulu Mobile Corps of the Independent Division Also under the leadership of the commander-in-chief Tang Qiusheng, he arrived at the outskirts of Shanghai and joined the Songhu battlefield.

The 29-strong Sulu Garrison Corps formed by the original [-]th Army arrived in Zaozhuang, Linyi, Shandong, and Xuzhou, Jiangsu on the same day under the leadership of General Zhang Zizhong, the commander-in-chief, to take over the defense of Tang Qiusheng's department. Developed in northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong.

In view of the fact that the Battle of Shanghai was inevitable and tended to expand, Generalissimo Chiang convened a meeting of the Military Commission in Nanjing to adjust the battle order of the Shanghai Army. The former Shanghai Garrison Command had three divisions and one brigade under its jurisdiction. , as well as the Shanghai Police Corps and other forces, formed the Ninth Army, with General Zhang Zhizhong, the former Shanghai Garrison Commander, as the commander, to undertake the task of counterattacking the enemies in Yangshupu area.

The Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other border area troops were reorganized into the Eighth Army, with a total of four divisions and the security forces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, guarding the north bank of Hangzhou Bay, and mopping up the enemies in Pudong to prevent Japanese troops from landing there. Zhang Fakui was the commander.

The Sulu Mobile Corps of the former North China Independent Division had eight infantry brigades, one quick response brigade, three artillery brigades, and one

An air defense brigade, with a total strength of more than 14 troops, formed the Tenth Army, with the former commander-in-chief Tang Qiusheng as the commander, responsible for the defense in the urban area of ​​Shanghai, counterattacking the remaining Japanese troops in Hongkou, coastal defense off Wusongkou, and fighting against Japan. The fleet is coming.

Both the Japanese base camp and the Nanjing government have urgently sent more troops to the Shanghai battlefield. The war in Shanghai is about to rekindle. This time, the flames of war will never be extinguished. In a sense, this is a strategic decisive battle.

The troops that the Japanese army put into the Shanghai theater consisted of four elite first-class divisions, full of vigor, all the soldiers were loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, and there was a tendency to let the navy see how the army fought , plus the original strength of the Marine Corps, the number of Japanese troops who are about to gather in the Shanghai theater has reached 22.

On the Chinese side, the Tenth Army formed by the Sulu Mobile Corps, an independent division, is the backbone of defense, undertaking more than half of the combat tasks, followed by the No. .80 The Sixth Division, together with the Shanghai Police Corps, has a strength of nearly 89 troops.

The Jiangsu-Zhejiang border troops to which Zhang Fakui belongs are mostly miscellaneous troops. For local hooligans and heavy smokers, not to mention peasants who are poor in the army, the number of troops is also severely lacking. Although the establishment of a regiment, the actual strength is only 500 people. It is a good player who harms the common people. Hearing the gunshots, he does not run away. If you lose your shoes, you are a good soldier.

Therefore, although the Chinese squadron in the Shanghai theater has more than 30 troops, it can really fight, but it is nearly 20 people. The overall strength is still weaker than that of the Japanese army. He was quite worried about the battle plan for the Songhu Battle. He looked at the map for a long time. Zhang Fakui's Eighth Army was responsible for the defense of Hangzhou Bay, and there were many places where they could land.

Generalissimo Jiang handed over such an important place to a gang of mobs for defense, which made Tang Qiuli terrified. However, he also knew that this was all the troops the old man could mobilize at present, and the rest of the follow-up troops were heading to Shanghai. On the way to march in the direction, but it will take time, and it will definitely not be ahead of the Japanese. In history, the Japanese army landed in Hangzhou Bay and copied the rear route of the Shanghai defenders. As a result, they lost the Battle of Songhu and lost Shanghai, Lost Nanjing, the government was forced to move the capital. [

Therefore, he sent a secret telegram to Brother Qiusheng, the troops should quickly deal with the enemies in the Hongkou area of ​​Shanghai, and then, with a part of the force, coordinate with General Zhang Zhizhong's Ninth Army troops to besiege the enemies in Yangshupu, and transfer most of them to Hangzhou Bay The line at Quangongting and Jinshanzui formed a second line of defense behind Zhang Fakui's Eighth Army.

Five infantry brigades, two artillery brigades, and the rest of the air defense brigade are the best second-line defense force in Hangzhou Bay. If necessary, they can directly take over the coastal defense of the Ninth Army. I will call Nanjing for approval of this plan. Your department must eliminate the enemy in Hongkou before August [-], and then rush to Hangzhou Bay to deploy defenses.

Tang Qiuli believed that Brother Qiusheng could understand his anxiety, so he could only complete the tasks assigned to him better. The difficult thing was that Chairman Jiang and Zhang Fakui faced him. He wanted to change the overall deployment of the Military Commission on the Songhu Campaign. Can the old man agree?There is also Zhang Fakui, his own army, who took over the defense of Hangzhou Bay, obviously underestimated Zhang Fakui's commanding ability. He is also a veteran general in the army. From the Northern Expedition to the present, he must face embarrassment.

Sure enough, the old man replied that the plan for the battle of Songhu should not be changed, and the ministries should implement it according to the plan, and adjust the deployment before the battle, which may cause confusion on our side. General Zhang Fakui has enough confidence and ability to take on the responsibility of guarding Hangzhou Bay. There is no need to worry about it.

Tang Qiuli said for a while that Zhang Fakui was not feeling well, which is reasonable, and you, Chairman Jiang, can't see the potential crisis in Hangzhou Bay?Look at the soldiers that the old man put there. Wherever the tofu is standing, they are better than them. Regardless of him, Shanghai is lost, and Nanjing and Wuhan are next. What is he doing in North China? It is lucky to be home if you attack from both sides.

In his telegram to Tang Qiusheng, he reiterated the order. The careful Qiusheng saw something strange from the telegram. He also participated in the battle meeting of Songhu Battle. Xiaoqiu was changing the overall deployment. Nanjing did not agree, but Xiaoqiu Qiu saw the danger, so Qiu Sheng made this matter extremely concealed to minimize trouble.

(To be continued)