If it is just a purely passive defense, then there is no point in them regaining Harbin now and holding on here.
If they can attract most of the Japanese troops to the vicinity of Harbin, their troops in other directions can launch a larger-scale offensive.
At this time, their large number of transport aircraft can play a huge role.
They still have hundreds of thousands of reserve troops in Shanxi. Xia Yang decided to mobilize another 50,000 troops from them to supplement and strengthen the two divisions of Chen Shiliang and Liu Changlong so that they could launch a stronger frontal attack.
In this case, the Japanese army would have to consider whether to deal with the enemies that pose a huge threat to them on the periphery first, or to deal with the enemies entrenched in Harbin.
If the offensive against Harbin does not achieve the expected results, and many of their peripheral cities, such as Baicheng and Qiqihar, are also lost.
So the situation of the Japanese troops in the Harbin area at this moment will be in a dilemma.
Of course, there is another possibility.
That is, before the Fourth Army¡¯s peripheral offensive achieved a breakthrough, the Japanese army captured Harbin City.
If this is the case, then their offensive on the northern front will be declared a complete failure.
When the time comes, they can only retreat to the Hylar area and go on the defensive.
If it really comes to that point, the Japanese troops on the northern front can go south to support the Japanese troops in the Jinzhou area.
By then, the situation on the entire battlefield may have undergone a fundamental change.
Because that would mean an extension of the battle time.
But the war supplies that Xia Yang and the others had stored were no longer enough to support them in continuing such a high-intensity battle for too long.
They must achieve some decisive victory before their reserves of war supplies are exhausted.
While Xia Yang and the others were formulating a battle plan and actively responding to the battle, the main force of the Japanese army was also moving closer in this direction.
Guderian withdrew two of the three divisions that originally set out to fight in Qiqihar.
They came in this direction by train, truck, or on foot.
This also includes many of the garrison troops of the puppet Manchukuo.
After the puppet Manchukuo was established with the support of the Japanese army, it formed a well-equipped army.
Their weapons and equipment are even better than many Japanese B divisions, and slightly inferior to the Japanese A divisions.
However, the combat effectiveness of these troops is much worse than their weapons and equipment.
On the one hand, most of the people here do not want to work hard for the Japanese. Many of them are forced by the situation or just to make ends meet.
There are also a considerable number of puppet Manchu troops who were members of the original Fengtian troops. They were forced to accept the adaptation of the Japanese army.
¡° Then there are some bandits, traitors, and captured young men who are also part of this force.
The combat effectiveness of this unit was already demonstrated during the Battle of Nomenhan.
That is "collapse at the first touch"
Facing the Soviet Union¡¯s steel torrent, they had almost no intention of resisting, perfectly interpreting what it meant to ¡°flee in the face of the wind.¡±
However, such a unit was subsequently strengthened despite the shortage of Japanese troops.
There are now more than 50,000 puppet Manchukuo troops following the Japanese army.
It¡¯s just that their combat effectiveness is basically negligible.
The Japanese army brought them to the front line mainly to use them as cannon fodder or to engage in logistics and transportation tasks.
It is absolutely impossible for them to fight a tough battle and resist the offensive of the Fourth Army head-on.
The Japanese army could almost completely predict that as soon as the tanks of the Fourth Army appeared, these puppet Manchukuo troops would probably run away with their butts stuck out.
As the supreme commander of the army, Guderian is currently sitting on the train heading to Harbin.
If it were before, their train would drive directly to Harbin Railway Station, where many Japanese generals would come out to greet them.
But it won¡¯t work this time, because the flag on the city has changed.
They can only park in a small town 20 kilometers away from Harbin.
Now, the small town that was almost nowhere to be found on the map has become a temporary stop for a large number of their troops.
After arriving here, these troops will walk towards Harbin CityRush in the direction.
They were divided into multiple routes to avoid enemy bombing.
But now the air force of the Fourth Army does not have much interest in these forces of the Japanese army.
A considerable part of the Fourth Army's aerial bombing force was conducting violent bombings against the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery positions.
Ensure the safety of their transport aircraft taking off and landing at Harbin Airport.
The current Japanese anti-aircraft artillery can hardly pose any effective threat to the transport aircraft of the Fourth Army.
A large number of fighter planes are constantly circling above their heads. As long as their artillery is activated, the fighters and bombers on the opposite side will eliminate their artillery positions as soon as possible.
Those anti-aircraft guns cannot be moved simply by moving. They are simply living targets when faced with attacks from enemy fighter jets and bombers.
Especially on these fighter jets and bombers, there are many air-to-ground missiles.
Although they are very basic and not very powerful, dealing with these Japanese anti-aircraft guns is simply a one-hit shot.
Those fighter jets and bombers don't even need to dive or strafe. They just need to release some missiles at a height that the Japanese anti-aircraft guns can't reach.
Guderian looked out the car window. In the distant sky, the fighter formations and bomber formations of the Fourth Army passed by them.
"The enemy doesn't seem to have any interest in our trains?
Not even interested in bombing railways. "
Hans said on the side, stirring the coffee in his hand with a spoon.
Guderian said: "Of course they are not interested, because the people on the opposite side firmly believe that victory belongs to them.
These railways are damaged, which will affect their use.
Another point is that these bombers and fighters are more interested in our anti-aircraft artillery positions. "
Having said this, he sat across from Hans, picked up his coffee cup, and took a sip.
At this time, a Japanese army staff officer came in and whispered a few words in his ear.
The Japanese military staff officer¡¯s German was not very standard, but it did not affect communication.
After hearing these words, Guderian¡¯s brows gradually widened and he asked, ¡°Are they so fast?¡±
"Yes, the troops of the two divisions were dispatched urgently last night and used our railway to maneuver. They are now less than 40 kilometers away from Harbin."
The Japanese military officer said. (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com