Glorious Mission 1937

On June 1942, 6, the 20th day after the start of "Operation Thunder", in the northeast region, the northern cluster had reached the outskirts of Xinjing, and at the same time cut off the retreat of nearly 13 Japanese puppet troops in Songyuan and Shuangcheng.The Zhongbei cluster also made a breakthrough. The army captured the transportation hub Siping 30 days ago, but it was met with a fierce counterattack by the Japanese and puppet troops and fell into a bitter battle.

The central group fought bitterly with the Japanese army in Panjin. Although it lasted longer than the soldiers, it still could not make any progress. Umezu Yoshijiro knew the importance of Chaoyang, because it was the most important channel for the Kwantung Army to communicate with the North China Front Army. If Chaoyang and Jinzhou lost If it is done, the Kwantung Army and the North China Front Army will be divided and surrounded by the Chinese and Soviet armies, and finally defeated one by one.

In order to defend Chaoyang, Umezu Yoshijiro mobilized 9 elite divisions, 8 puppet infantry divisions, and a large number of technical units to the front line of Chaoyang, and relied on favorable terrain to block the attack. Shi Jianfei's troops fought hard for more than ten days, but the Japanese puppet army Some of the outermost positions were occupied.

However, Shi Jianfei's hard-fought battle was not without record. At least the fierce attack of the central group contained the main force of the Japanese puppet army to a large extent, and relieved the pressure on the other armies.

Tranquility also fought smoothly. After all, Pingjin and the local area were originally small, so hundreds of thousands of troops from both sides would go there, and the stronger and weaker would be judged at a glance. Besides, Chen Feng has been operating in the north for so long. They just wanted to take down Beiping City. This time, many factors worked together, and the Japanese army suffered a lot of losses.

However, Neiji Okamura is not a vegetarian, although he is at a disadvantage in terms of soldiers, weapons and supplies, and so on.But Ningji Okamura still caused a lot of trouble for the Hirajin cluster.Coupled with the dense cities in the Pingjin area, most of which are tall and large cities protected by city walls, it is really impossible to win these big cities in a short period of time.

The best fighter is probably the Southern Group. Under the command of Zhang Jingjun, the Southern Group successively captured Kaifeng, Lankao and other places in the form of large-scale assaults. Afterwards, the large army conquered Shangqiu in one fell swoop and is marching towards Xuzhou, an important town in Huaibei. .

At ten o'clock in the morning on the 20th, it was a difficult morning for the Japanese and puppet troops in Tianjin. First of all, the Chinese army outside the city began to attack early in the morning.The fighter planes of the Chinese Air Force visit positions and ports from time to time.Huge casualties were caused to the defenders.

However, the real fierce battle had not yet come. At one o'clock in the afternoon, there were sudden bursts of earth-shattering explosions from the direction of the east port, and then shrill sirens sounded throughout the city.It turned out that the Chinese navy suddenly appeared in the sea to the east.Cooperate with the army in the west to launch a thunderous attack on the Tianjin defenders.

at the same time.A large number of spies and special forces that had been lurking in the city also began to exert their strength. The command system and arsenal of the Japanese army were attacked. The war continued from morning to eleven o'clock in the evening. Tianjin City, where the puppet troops were stationed for 5 days, was captured, most of the defenders were wiped out, and more than 3000 people were captured. Only two to [-] people fled north and returned to Beiping City.

In addition, this battle also caused casualties of more than 3000 Japanese nationals, and more than 30 large and small ships anchored in Tianjin Port were sunk or captured, including 2 cruisers and 3 destroyers.

Tianjin is very important to the Japanese and puppet troops. There is no doubt about it. It is not only an external port for the Japanese army to receive supplies and replenish troops and equipment from Japan, but also a transportation hub connecting Shandong Peninsula and Beiping.As soon as Tianjin was lost, the Japanese and puppet troops in Beiping City completely cut off contact with the 12th Army in Shandong.

After Tianjin was captured by Chen Feng's troops, the first thing the Japanese army had to deal with was how to receive supplies and how to communicate with the No.12 Army in Shandong.

At this time, Neji Okamura was keenly aware that the No.12 Army in Shandong was in danger of being completely wiped out. Although the No.12 Army had a large number of elite troops in the Japanese army, there were three divisions and four brigades with 4 troops, not counting the puppet army. The troops of Yu people, plus the local puppet army in Shandong, have a total strength of more than 9.

But there are more enemies. According to the information collected by the intelligence department, there are as many as 8 or 9 divisions of the Chinese army attacking Xuzhou, with a total strength of more than 20. In addition, there are 2 to 12 Chinese troops in Tianjin. The calculation is almost twice that of the Shandong defenders. If the response is not good, the No.[-] army is really in danger of being wiped out.

Okamura Ningji did not dare to neglect, and immediately called the base camp, requesting the navy to send the main fleet to the north immediately, and cooperate with the army to recapture Tianjin.

The base camp did not hesitate to send the main force of the navy to Tianjin. Although the joint fleet was severely damaged, it would not be a big problem to form a squadron to go north if they put together together. Moreover, the navy really needed a hearty victory to maintain The dignity of the Japanese Navy, boost morale.

Moreover, the base camp has repeatedly confirmed that there were only 8 Chinese naval ships that appeared in the sea off Tianjin that day, and there were no aircraft carriers participating in the battle, so the base camp decided to send a small aircraft carrier formation north to Tianjin to cooperate with the army to recover Tianjin.

With the support from the base camp, Neiji Okamura was determined.For this reason, Okamura Ningji sent the only one and a half tank divisions in his hands, and deployed the two most elite infantry divisions of the North China Front Army to prepare to counterattack Tianjin.

6月24日，华北方面军的战车师团出廊坊直逼天津，同时海军中将南云忠一指挥的3艘大型航母、2艘水上飞机航母、1艘战列舰、2艘重巡洋舰、4艘轻巡洋舰、8艘驱逐舰、2艘补给舰组成的分舰队从海上向天津逼来。

Neiji Okamura's idea is good, but the reality is extremely cruel. First, the tank division was attacked by Chen Feng's helicopter group on the road, and more than 800 light and heavy tanks were destroyed. Most of the troops also suffered a lot of casualties. People, the most important thing is that the originally aggressive and high-spirited troops suddenly turned into burning potatoes.Before Tianjin, morale dropped to freezing point.

Secondly, the naval formation was ambushed by the main force of the Chinese naval fleet in Tianjin Waihei. The originally agreed only 8 warships suddenly became 80 ships, including 6 large main battle aircraft carriers and 4 battleships. The Japanese Navy suffered losses in World War I. 4 aircraft carriers, 4 cruisers, 6 destroyers, and more than 4000 officers and soldiers including Nagumo Chuichi were killed, and the plan to recover Tianjin was aborted.

The army was bruised and swollen, and the navy was directly disabled. In desperation, Neiji Okamura had no choice but to recall the troops to Beiping and accept the reality that Tianjin was captured.

I won't mention the recovery of Tianjin, but the situation of the No.12 Army on the Shandong Peninsula is getting more and more dangerous. Whether to defend or withdraw must be decided early, otherwise Chen Feng's troops will capture Xuzhou before they want to withdraw. It was too late.

Abandoning a province in China is not something that a small front army commander, Neiji Okamura can decide. Neiji Okamura reported the crisis facing the No.12 Army to the headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, and asked Yan Jun, the sixth general And those bigwigs in Nanjing city make up their minds.

However, Yan Junliu, like Okamura Ningji, can’t be the master, or he can be the master but doesn’t want to take responsibility, so after a round of problems, he finally flew to Tokyo and handed it over to Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and Emperor Hirohito. Decided.

Both Hideki Tojo and Hirohito were reluctant to give up the province of Shandong. After all, the Japanese army paid a very heavy price for the capture of Shandong, including nearly 3 casualties when they fought for Taierzhuang. It's not good for anyone.

But they also understand that after Tianjin was captured and the navy was severely damaged, it is definitely not an easy task for the 12th Army to defend Shandong. The biggest possibility is that Shandong failed to defend the No.12 Army but was wiped out.

As decided by the cabinet meeting and the joint meeting of the Five Prime Ministers, the No. 12 Army of the Japanese Imperial Army stationed on the Shandong Peninsula immediately retreated to the south in alternate cover, and retreated to Xuzhou via Zaozhuang, and cooperated with the Imperial Army in Xuzhou to guard this important traffic Su Niu.

However, before this order was sent to the North China Front Army, they received an urgent battle report from the headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Army-Xuzhou fell.

Xuzhou is located in the border area of ​​the four provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui, on the north wing of the Yangtze River Delta. The two main railway lines meet in Xuzhou, known as the "thoroughfare of five provinces".Historically, Xuzhou was one of the Kyushu states in China. Since ancient times, it has been the key to the North, the gateway to the South, and a battleground for military strategists.Xuzhou is the birthplace of the Han culture, known as "the hometown of Peng Zu, the hometown of Liu Bang, and the old capital of Xiang Yu".

Since the Battle of Xuzhou, it has been occupied by the Japanese army and has become a key military town for the Japanese army to guard.This time Chen Feng's troops launched Operation Shocking Thunder, and the Japanese army dispatched 12 troops to defend Xuzhou.

Although Xuzhou is important, there is no danger for Xuzhou to defend. This was difficult for Lao Jiang during the battle of Xuzhou. Now it is the turn of the Japanese to have a headache.The Japanese base camp agreed to abandon the Shandong Peninsula in fact because Xuzhou had no danger to defend, and it had to concentrate its forces to fight against the Chinese army, so it decided to transfer the No.12 Army to the south.

However, Zhang Jingjunyan did not give the Japanese army this opportunity. While the main force stormed the western defense line of Xuzhou, he sent a partial division to bypass Suzhou. The support troops will rush to Xuzhou via Suzhou, and Xuzhou needs to be ready to meet them.

The Xuzhou side did not doubt that there was him. They were caught by Zhang Jingjun's thief and were caught off guard. Xuzhou. (To be continued..)