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Chapter 1585: Kwantung Army¡¯s Counterattack (5)

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    The Japanese army suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Hengyang. The 110,000 troops participating in the battle suffered more than 50,000 casualties, of which more than 10,000 were directly killed, so they were unable to fight again for a while.

    However, the Japanese army was not willing to give up. After more than 20 days of rest, reorganization, and replenishment, the troops of the 11th Army near Hengyang took anti-epidemic measures. The personnel were all injected to prevent cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and malaria.  of medicine.

    After a period of rest, the Japanese army had recovered its physical strength and received a large amount of material reinforcements from the rear, so they decided to continue the attack.

    A week ago, Yokoyama Isamu held a military meeting at the Xiapaichong headquarters with the participation of the chiefs of staff of five nearby divisions.  Attendees were the 40th Division Chief of Staff, Colonel Sakata Shigeki, the 116th Division Chief of Staff, Colonel Eizo Tatsuzo, the 68th Division Chief of Staff, Colonel Ogo Shige, the 58th Division Chief of Staff, Colonel Arima Sumio, and the 13th Division.  Lieutenant Colonel Hidemi Nonoyama, Chief of Operations Staff.

    Before discussing the plan, each division will report on the status of the troops after replenishment and rest.

    It was mentioned in the report that although personnel have been replenished, there are still large shortages. For example, although the 116th Division has replenished 4,000 new recruits, it is still short of 600 people; after the 58th Division has been replenished, it is still short of 3,000 people.

    It was also mentioned that for the division that attacked Hengyang, because the soldiers were exposed to the sun and rain day and night during the hot summer season for more than 40 days, and lived a semi-cave life in the trenches, none of the military uniforms were intact, and all the boots and shoes were damaged due to soaking.  .  The 13th Division proposed that the lack of military shoes has affected the operation and needs to be quickly replenished. The 40th Division proposed that there are 12 mountain guns, but currently only 6 are available, etc.

    After studying the combat plan and the tasks of each division, Army Chief of Staff Nakayama Sadake made a concluding speech.

    Subsequently, under the auspices of Isamu Yokoyama, the 11th Army Headquarters formulated a battle plan to attack the Hongqiao area. According to the fact that the Central Army in front of them had switched to defense, its defense area extended from Changning on the left to Yongfeng on the right (front,  And adopt a deep configuration. The 11th Army Headquarters decided to use the main force to first annihilate the Central Army near Hongqiao west of Hengyang with the cooperation of the 5th Air Force.

    In this battle, Yokoyama Isamu's 11th Army used a total of 6 divisions and 1 brigade, and another 1 division as a mobile force. This is a large force.

    The battle plan is mainly to use the 40th Division and the 58th Brigade to the north of the railway; the 58th Division and the 13th Division to the south of the railway to carry out separate attacks on the defenders in the Hongqiao area; and use the 37th Division to attack the defenders in the Hongqiao area.  The regiment and the 116th Division control the Hengbao Highway, cover the northern flank of the army, and use the 3rd Division to cover the southern flank of the army, and control Changning, Guanling, Baishui, Guanyintan, Dazhongqiao, and Qiyang, south of the Xiangjiang River.  Huangyangsi area, in order to prevent the westward withdrawal and reinforcement of the defenders, and to coordinate the frontal battle of Hongqiao.

    The second is the time for each division to start attacking, starting with the covering troops on the two wings, that is, the 3rd Division on the southern wing on August 29, and the 37th and 116th Division on the northern wing starting on August 30.

    The division responsible for the main attack began operations on August 31 and September 1, in an attempt to cut off the external contacts between the two wings of the defenders first in the battle.

    Furthermore, the plan of the enemy's 11th Army is not limited to fighting in the Hongqiao area. It has made preparations to pursue forward in a timely manner based on the battlefield conditions. The staff of the Yokoyama Isamu Command have called this operation against Gui and Liu.  Phase 1 of the battle.

    According to the above orders, each division made various preparations before the attack. Among them, the artillery unit of the 58th Division, which was responsible for the main attack, was contacted by Yamazaki Kiyoshi, the artillery captain of the 11th Army.  In the preparations before the battle, special attention was paid to the suddenness of the bombardment and the concentration of firepower for suppression.

    On the evening of August 29, the 3rd Division on the southern wing began to attack. At this time, the 6th Infantry Regiment of the division, which was originally located in Chaling and Youxian, and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, which was originally located in Anren, had already attacked the 27th Division.  regiment, the latter has surrendered to the 34th Division.

    At this time, the three divisions of the 20th Army of the eastern garrison continued to counterattack the Japanese troops in the above areas, so that the two enemy regiments were unable to reach Leiyang to participate in the attack on Changning.

    The 3rd Division first used artillery to attack the 26th Army and the 37th Army defending the other side of the Chunling River near the east of Yintianxu, about 20 kilometers west of Leiyang.

    When night fell, the enemy used light and heavy weapons fire from the east bank to cover its infantry as they crossed the river in sections, but they were counterattacked by the defenders.  The enemy who reaches the other side first will launch an attack to cover the following troops crossing the river.

    The 3rd Division, which had crossed the Chunling River, attacked Changning City west of Leiyang in two directions. That is, Hashimoto Kumakichi's 68th Regiment attacked Changning from the north along Yintianxu, Longmen Pass, Salt Lake, and Qutan.  The 34th Regiment of Ershenli went west from Yintianxu, passed through Xinwan Lujia, Yanzhu City, and Yangquan, and then detoured to Lichutang west of Changning to respond to the attack of the 68th Regiment.

    After attacking the advancing 68th Regiment and encountering fierce resistance from the defenders, they occupied the high ground near Longmen Pass on the night of August 29.  On the night of the 30th, after a battle with a battalion of the 96th Division of the 37th Army, the defenders occupied Shajiangpu.area.

    At 9 o'clock that day, the Chinese and American air forces bombed the Chunling Water Enemy Crossing Point and ground troops.

    The 68th Regiment arrived at Dongchongpu, about 7 kilometers west of Longmen Pass, at 7:00 on the 31st. After a fierce battle with the 60th Division of the 37th Army in the Jintang area, it entered Qutan City, east of Changning.  At that time, Changning was defended by the 178th Regiment of the 60th Division of the Kuomintang Army, with about 800 people, and 400 people from the 37th Army's baggage troops.

    After Hashimoto Kumaki reconnoitred the terrain and understood the general deployment of the defenders, he decided to take the lead, Captain Haruichi Yamada of the 2nd Battalion, to lead two infantry squadrons, two heavy machine gun squads and an infantry cannon.

    Starting from Qutan east of Changning, passing through Nanfeng'ao and Tangjiachong in the north and northwest of the city, and then detouring to the Laoya Bridge area, they attempted to encircle Changning City and then launch an attack.  When the enemy's 68th Regiment attacked from the east gate and north gate, they were repulsed by the defenders with grenades, rifles and bayonets.

    At 17:00 on September 2, Hengshan Yong's 11th Army instructed the 3rd Division: The defenders on the Hongqiao front had begun to retreat. The army decided to advance rapidly to the Xiangjiang River area west of Lingling. The 3rd Division should implement the original combat plan.  Quickly advance to the south of Qiyang, block the defenders' retreat, and prepare to attack Lingling Airport and Lingling City.

    Based on this order, Yamamoto Sano decided to continue the attack on Changning with the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 68th Regiment, the 2nd Battalion and the 34th Regiment, and the 6th Infantry Regiment, the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and the division commander who followed.  They all moved rapidly towards Lingling.

    The 178th Regiment, which defended Changning City, had been fighting bravely since the battle with the enemy's 68th Regiment on September 3. The Japanese army launched many fierce attacks in conjunction with artillery and aviation. As of September 10, they failed to capture Changning.  It was not until the 11th Army captured Guangxi on September 14 that the 58th Brigade in Guiyang City, south of Qidong County, the main force of the 34th Division stationed in Leiyang, the 5th Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment, 20  Rixiang Changning gathered and began a large-scale attack on Changning.

    Just as the divisions of Hengshan Yong¡¯s 11th Army were preparing to attack the Hongqiao area as planned, the forward command post of China¡¯s dispatched troops in Wuhan had different views on this battle of the 11th Army.

    The main reason is that when the entire war situation is extremely unfavorable to Japan, launching such a combat offensive requires considering the overall situation and making full preparations. However, the 11th Army did not consider and prepare well for this, especially the supply problem in the rear.  .

    In order to unify the combat command in Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Guizhou, continue to complete the operation to open up the mainland transportation line, occupy Zhennanguan on the Sino-Vietnamese border and the areas along the railway from Hengyang to Guangzhou, and completely destroy the air force bases in these areas, the Japanese army  The base camp ordered the formation of the 6th Front Army Headquarters on August 26, and appointed the former North China Front Army General Okamura Neiji as the commander of the front army and Lieutenant General Miyazaki Monday as the chief of staff.

    At this time, Shunroku Hata's Wuhan Forward Command Post was busy establishing the 6th Front Army Headquarters, formulating the next battle plan for Guiliu, strengthening combat supplies in the Hunan-Guangxi region, and considering future operations in Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and  In the coastal areas of Guangdong, the construction of fortifications to prevent the US military from landing, the deployment of troops, and the selection of battlefields for a decisive battle with the US military on the mainland, etc.

    In order to cope with such a situation, Japan put forward the slogan of total war. On August 4, it established the "Supreme War Guidance Conference" integrating the base camp and the government. On the same day, it announced the order of the National Armed Forces.

    In order to conduct bamboo gun training for a decisive battle with the US military on the mainland, schoolchildren in large and medium-sized cities evacuated collectively to mountainous areas and rural areas.  In order to mobilize young people to participate in various military services, including participating in weapons production in military factories and building defense projects to the Pacific coast, Japan has promulgated the "Apprentice Work Order" and the "Women Stand Up Work Order."

    ????For the Chinese dispatched troops who understand the overall combat situation, they believe that there are many issues that need to be studied and reached unanimous opinions on future large-scale operations, especially the continued attack on Guilin.

    Under such circumstances, we felt inadequately prepared for Hengshan Yong's attack on the Hongqiao area.

    As for Hengshan's proposal to pursue Lingling and attack Baoqing in a timely manner, and to use this decisive battle as the first step to attack Guilin and Liuzhou, the Chinese dispatched army believed that the 11th Army did not pay attention to the newly occupied areas and had not yet  Consolidation, effective supply lines have not yet been established, and each division has only made preliminary supplements and has not yet reached the intended combat capability. The campaign coordination with the 23rd Army in Guangzhou requires further negotiation.

    After considering all aspects of the situation, the Chinese dispatched troops only agreed that the 11th Army should attack the Hongqiao area west of Hengyang to repel the defending defenders, but did not agree to attack Baoqing and pursue Lingling to disperse their forces.  Subsequently, the Chief of General Staff of the Expeditionary Forces, Matsui Tataro, approved the 11th Army by telegram according to the above content.  (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com
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