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In order to complete the tasks assigned by the base camp and eliminate the Chinese army in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui regions in one fell swoop, the Central China Front Army Headquarters readjusted its affiliated troops in late October.
This adjustment is very large, not only the adjustment of military strength and combat defense areas, but also the substantial addition and dismantling of command organs, including the Central China Front Army that has existed for more than two years.
The order of battle of the Japanese army in Central China was established since the Shanghai War on August 13, 1937. When the Japanese army decided to send troops to Shanghai, it established the "Shanghai Dispatch Army" headed by Matsui Iwane. Because it could not conquer Shanghai for a long time, He ordered the formation of Yanagawa Heisuke's 10th Army to land at Jinshanwei on the north shore of Hangzhou Bay and attack Shanghai.
At that time, the Shanghai Expeditionary Army and the 10th Army had a parallel relationship, and both were directly under the jurisdiction of the Japanese base camp.
When the war in Shanghai was tense, in order to implement unified command on the same battlefield, the Japanese base camp established the Central China Front Army with Matsui Iwane as the commander, which was under the jurisdiction of King Hatohiko's Shanghai Expeditionary Army and Yanagawa Heisuke's 10th Army.
After capturing Shanghai, Suzhou, Jingjiang, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Jiaxing, and Wuxing. After Xuancheng, Wuhu, Nanjing, and Hangzhou, the Japanese strategic offensive in this area was temporarily suspended. In order to reduce the command level when garrisoning troops and save expenses, the Japanese base camp ordered the withdrawal of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, the 10th Army, and the Central China Front Army Headquarters, and established The Central China Expeditionary Force, with Shunroku Hata as the commander and Shozo Kawabe as the chief of staff, the North China Front Army of Juichi Terauchi in Peiping, and the Kwantung Army of Ueda Kenkichi in Changchun, were all under the direct command of the base camp.
However, with the changes in the Chinese battlefield and the international situation, the Japanese base camp believed that the current strategic layout could no longer meet the needs of the Imperial Japanese Army. First, Wang Jingwei, who had surrendered, would form the pseudo-Republic of China government in Nanjing in the spring of 1940. The second is that a large-scale international war in Europe is about to begin.
In order to cope with the new world situation and unify military operations and policy guidance in China, the Japanese military base camp decided to abolish the Central China Expeditionary Force Headquarters headed by Lieutenant General Yamada Otsuzo and establish a headquarters headed by General Hisao Nishio and Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki. The "China Expeditionary Forces" headquarters of the Chief of General Staff unified the command of the North China Front Army in Peiping, the 11th Army in Hankou, the 21st Army in Guangzhou, and the 13th Army in Shanghai, with Hiszo Nishio serving as the concurrent commander.
In fact, the order to establish the China Expeditionary Forces General Headquarters was issued on September 23, but due to some reasons, General Nishio Hisao did not take office until one month after the order was issued.
The first thing Nishio Hisao did after taking office was to adjust the troop establishment and defense zones in Central China. The first to bear the brunt were several Japanese divisions in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.
The defense areas of the various units of the Central China Front Army were determined based on the strategic offensive against Wuhan and Guangzhou at the Xia Army Base Camp. At that time, in order to take the initiative to capture Wuhan and Guangzhou strategically, the Central China Front Army would be stationed in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou. All six divisions of the enemy's Central China Expeditionary Force and the Taiwan Brigade were mobilized to participate in the battle.
The rear defense was handed over to the newly formed 116th Division and the 15th, 17th, and 22nd Divisions that year. The deployment at that time was that the 22nd Division of Tuqiao was located in Hangzhou, guarding the south of Taihu Lake, Jiaxing, and The area on the north bank of the Qiantang River from Hangzhou to Fuyang.
Hirono Taiji's 17th Division is located in Suzhou, guarding Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nantong, and Jingjiang on both sides of the Yangtze River; Iwamatsu Yoshio's 15th Division is located in Nanjing, guarding Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Wuhu, Chuxian, and Bengbu area; Qingshui Xizhong's 116th Division is located in Anqing, guarding the area on both sides of the Yangtze River from Tongling in Anhui Province to Hukou in Jiangxi Province.
In addition, the 3 infantry regiments of the Jiujin Qinping 21st Division of the North China Front in Xuzhou, with their 62nd Infantry Regiment, guard the area along Jinpu Road from the south of Xuzhou to the north bank of the Huaihe River in Bengbu. The areas guarded by this division in northern Jiangsu (north of the Huai'an and Funing lines) and northern Anhui (north of the Wuhe, Bengbu, and Fuyang lines) are the operational areas of the North China Front.
However, as the front continued to expand, the Central China Front Army Headquarters discovered that the above four divisions, the aviation corps, part of the navy's "Chinese Front Fleet" and the puppet troops occupied and guarded the vast areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. , major cities, and important transportation lines, it is not only difficult to draw out mobile troops, but also the security forces are seriously insufficient.
Therefore, in early 1939, the Japanese base camp transferred the newly formed independent mixed 11th, 12th, and 13th brigades to the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui regions. The initial security deployment of these three brigades was: Major General Takahashi Shigezo The 11th independent mixed brigade is located in Jiaxing, guarding the areas along the Shanghai and Hangzhou railways; the 12th independent mixed brigade of Major General Sadao Maruyama is located in Zhenjiang, guarding the areas along the Shanghai and Nanjing railways; the 13th independent mixed brigade of Major General Ozaki Yoshiharu is located in Hefei, guard Hefei, Huainan mining area, Bengbu, and areas south of the Huaihe River.?And areas along railway lines.
But even so, the Japanese army still felt that its troops were insufficient, so the base camp decided to transfer the newly formed independent mixed 17th Brigade to central China. This brigade administered the 87th, 88th, 89th, 90th, and 91st Independent Infantry Brigades. , to guard Shanghai and its surrounding areas.
In addition, the Japanese army, which was deeply aware of its lack of troops, turned its attention to the puppet army!
At present, there are still traitor troops attached to the Japanese army in central China. The Soviet, Zhejiang, and Anhui appeasement armies are temporarily designated as the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th Divisions, and the Peaceful National Salvation Army (Shanghai). ), the Peace Alliance Army (Zhejiang), the 3rd Division of the Peaceful National Founding Army (Zhejiang), as well as the Garrison Brigade and the Independent Brigade, etc.
However, most of these troops have empty numbers and pretentiousness, but in fact they have limited strength. This is a common trick used by the Japanese army to deceive the traitors of the puppet army. There are obviously only a thousand people, which is only the size of a small regiment at a large scale, but it is a small group. The Japanese insisted on killing the entire infantry brigade, and the traitor who led it suddenly became the brigade commander.
If there are two "brigades" like this, the little devil will give it to a division. It is obviously just a reinforcement regiment, but when it comes to the little devil, it will become an infantry division.
But in fact, such a unit has inherent weaknesses in terms of combat effectiveness and combat confidence. Everyone is not stupid. Just because the name is bluffing, it does not equal the actual combat effectiveness.
"Brigade seat" and "Division seat" are shouted in the innermost part, but everyone knows the actual situation. Such troops will definitely lose weight on the battlefield. Therefore, the Japanese army rarely dares to use these puppet troops to fight, even for public security raids.
After General Nishio Juzo took office, he immediately convened a meeting of the leaders of the puppet army and decided to enrich all the puppet troops on the Chinese battlefield, so that the numbers of the puppet troops should all have something to say and not be empty airs.
To this end, Nishio Shouzou decided to expand the total strength of the puppet army from 150,000 to 400,000. At the same time, he appointed Qi Xieyuan as the commander-in-chief of the puppet North China Appeasement Army, Ren Yuandao as the commander-in-chief of the puppet Soviet, Zhejiang, and Anhui appeasement armies, and Liu Yufen as the puppet commander-in-chief. The director of the Kaifeng Appeasement Army, Hu Yukun was the commander-in-chief of the puppet Soviet-Henan border region's appeasement army, Huang Dawei was the commander-in-chief of the puppet Fujian-Guangdong border region's appeasement army, and Ye Peng was the puppet director of the Wuhan camp.
With Nishio Juzo's order, the Japanese and puppet troops in central and northern China went crazy like chicken blood, especially those puppet troops, who seemed to see hope all of a sudden.
The troop strength has been expanded from 150,000 to 400,000, which means that their strength will triple in a short period of time. How many troops will this cost?
However, although the Japanese army promised to provide the weapons and equipment needed to form a new unit as well as a certain amount of money and food, they still needed puppet troops from various places to recruit themselves. For a time, large and small puppet troops shuttled between various villages, either with money lures or They used coercion and inducement, or even simply captured strong men. In short, they used any means to recruit soldiers.
And as the strength of the Japanese and puppet troops continues to grow and expand, the Japanese army finally becomes impatient, and a war is about to break out! (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com