Xinjing, Kwantung Army Headquarters.
When Yamashita Tomofumi took Asaburo Kobayashi and a group of staff from the Far East Front Army Headquarters and arrived at the gate of the Kwantung Army Headquarters, Umezu Yoshijiro was already waiting with a group of staff from the Kwantung Army. Just yesterday , the Japanese base camp issued an order to withdraw and merge with the Kwantung Army.
When the Japanese base camp first established the Kwantung Army, its purpose was only to protect Japan's interests in the three northeastern provinces, so the size of the force was actually not large, with only more than 10,000 people in total. However, after the September 18th Incident, the Kwantung Army occupied the entire Northeast. The combat mission immediately changed from protecting Japan's interests in the three northeastern provinces to long-term occupation of the three northeastern provinces.
As a result, the strength of the Kwantung Army immediately expanded like a snowball, from more than 10,000 people to more than 200,000 people. The main defense target also changed from the Northeast Army to the Soviet Army. In order to defend against the Soviet Army, the Kwantung Army even opened up wasteland and divided the land. Dozens of millions of people were recruited from the mainland under the guise, and they were driven into the deep mountains and old forests of the Greater Khingan Range, Lesser Khingan Range and Changbai Mountain to build military fortresses on a massive scale. It was at this time that the so-called Oriental Maginot was built.
But now, the Japanese army has basically occupied the Far East. Not only the Far East, the Japanese army has even occupied half of Siberia. Therefore, the existence of the Kwantung Army has completely lost its military foundation, so it is expected that the Kwantung Army will be withdrawn. After the withdrawal, all staff officers were integrated into the staff of the Far Eastern Front.
The commander of the Kwantung Army, Umezu Yoshijiro, was transferred back to the Army Headquarters and succeeded Koiso Kunaki as the Army Deputy Secretary.
So for Umezu Yoshijiro, this is actually a good thing. At least he doesn't have to face the headache of the surging rebel forces in the three eastern provinces. Although the transfer to the Army Deputy Secretary level is just a smooth transfer, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Juichi Terauchi is impossible. If he stays in the position of Minister of War for too long, when Touichi Terauchi retires, he will be able to take over in sequence.
The two old devils saluted each other, and Yamashita Fengfumi took the lead in reaching out his hand and said: "Umezu-kun, this happened so suddenly. I was really not prepared at all, especially because I didn't know the details of the various rebel forces in the three eastern provinces. I really don’t know what to do next, especially now that we have to hunt down Xu Rui’s remnants.”
Umezu Yoshijiro waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, Yamashita-kun. I have asked Kimura-kun to prepare a detailed battle report on the situation of the various resistance forces, and I will send it to your office later."
Yamashita Fengwen said gratefully: "Umezu-kun, thank you so much."
"Yamashita-kun, you are too polite. We are all serving the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor, so why do you need to say these things?" Umezu Yoshijiro waved his hand and said, "Then let's start the handover."
"Okay." Now the two old devils entered the Kwantung Army headquarters hand in hand.
The handover process was simple, and Umezu Meijiro left after completing the handover.
Yamashita Fengfumi convened a staff meeting from the Far Eastern Front Army and the former Kwantung Army.
At the meeting, Yamashita Tomofumi handed over the task of quelling all the rebel forces to Kimura Hyōtaro. This old devil was not transferred back to the base camp. He was transferred from the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army to the deputy chief of staff of the Far Eastern Front. His rank did not change, because The Japanese base camp has clearly designated the Far East Front as the general army standard.
After the meeting, Yamashita Fengfumi brought a group of senior generals to the war room.
At this time, the combat staff of the Far East Front had already prepared a simulation sandbox in the war room. The sandbox demonstration was a miniature version of Changbai Mountain. Every mountain, every river, every road and even every village was displayed. As far as the production level of this sand table is concerned, it is indeed much more professional than Du Junjie and the others.
Yamashita Fengfumi stared at the sand table for a long time, and suddenly asked Kobayashi Asaburo: "Kobayashi-kun, is there any latest news from Miss Inoue?"
Asaburo Kobayashi shook his head and said, "Not yet."
Yamashita Fengwen frowned and said, "In other words, Xu Rui's troops haven't arrived in Tonghua yet?"
"Hai!" Asaburo Kobayashi paused and said, "At least until now, we haven't found it yet."
"Normally it shouldn't be." Yamashita Fengwen frowned even more when he heard this, and continued, "From the current point of view, Xu Rui's troops clearly intend to withdraw from the Changbai Mountains to fight guerrillas, and Tonghua is where they evacuated to the Changbai Mountains. It’s the only channel. It’s impossible for Xu Rui not to know the importance of Tonghua, how come there’s still no movement until now?”
Kobayashi Asaburo said: "Maybe Xu Rui's troops are still on the way."
However, before he finished speaking, a communications staff officer hurried in and reported to Yamashita Fengwen: "Your Excellency, Commander, we just received an urgent call from the Inoue Brigade. About half an hour ago, Tonghua was raided by the Langya Brigade. After more than half an hour of fierce fighting, the bandit army in Zhensanshan was defeated, and the Inoue Brigade also suffered heavy casualties and was forced to abandon Tonghua City. Now Tonghua has fallen into the hands of the Langya Brigade."
"Nani?" Asaburo Kobayashi was stunned for a moment after hearing this.
Just now, he said that Xu Rui's troops were on the way, but as soon as he finished speaking, Tonghua was occupied by Xu Rui's troops. This slap in the face was too fast, and he would not bully others like this.
Yamashita Fengwen was also a little surprised. He was not surprised that the Langya Brigade suddenly appeared in Tonghua City. What surprised him was the powerful combat effectiveness of the Langya Brigade. The Inoue Brigade is also a special force, and there are also Zhen Sanshan With the help of more than 5,000 bandit troops, they were ultimately defeated by Xu Rui's Wolf Fang Brigade.
And the entire battle lasted less than half an hour!
Yamashita Fengfumi simply couldn't imagine, how on earth could this be done
…
In Tonghua, the fighting was over.
The soldier came to Xu Rui with a steaming Gatling machine gun and said, "Commander, these bandits are too inexperienced. I only fired half of the bullets from my Gatling machine gun. These Zhazha was so f**ked up that he ran really faster than the other, and in the blink of an eye they were all gone."
Xu Rui said: "Why don't we call them a mob?"
The so-called Eastern Three Provinces Advance Corps in Zhensan Mountain is really a mob. The four fire teams left by Xu Rui on the periphery did not even suffer a decent attack. It was just a sudden fire attack. The bandit army of four to five thousand people They immediately dispersed. Of course, it must be explained that this was also related to the attack on the headquarters of Sanshan.
Without knowing whether Zhensanshan is dead or alive, the first reaction of the small leaders leading troops outside is to preserve the power in their hands. Only with enough strength in their hands can they occupy a place in Tonghua County in the future. , Therefore, as soon as they came into contact and discovered that the Eighth Route Army's firepower was very ferocious, the bandit troops on the periphery immediately became intimidated.
"But we still can't be careless." Xu Rui added, "We still need to do a good job of vigilance and beware of the bandits' counterattack."
Leng Tiefeng pulled the gun bolt with a click and said to Xu Rui: "Old Xu, leave the security to me tonight."
After saying that, Leng Tiefeng left with dozens of Langya team members. Xu Rui said to Shi Xiaoqian: "Lao Shi, you can send another telegram to the regiment headquarters and ask when the cavalry battalion will arrive in Tonghua. ?”
Although the combat effectiveness of the Langya Brigade is strong, the number of troops is still too small. If it is just the Inoue Brigade, plus the bandits in Sanshan, it will be nothing. The Langya Brigade can completely defend Tonghua, but if there are regular Japanese troops, even if With the mere arrival of an infantry brigade, the Langya Brigade might not be able to defend Tonghua.
Therefore, it is crucial that the six cavalry battalions can arrive in Tonghua in time.
…
Xinjing, the headquarters of the Japanese Far Eastern Army.
Yamashita Fengwen quickly accepted the result of Tonghua's fall, and asked: "Where is the 177th Infantry Regiment of the 120th Division now?"
Kobayashi Asaburo said: "One of the infantry brigade has arrived in Ji'an."
"Ji'an?" Yamashita Fengwen gestured with his hand on the sand table and frowned, "There is still at least 150 miles."
After a pause, Yamashita Fengwen continued: "Xiao Lin, please call the 177th Infantry Regiment immediately and ask them to arrive outside Tonghua City before noon tomorrow no matter what!"
"Hai!" Asaburo Kobayashi paused.
…
On the road from Binxian to Tonghua, six cavalry battalions and more than a thousand cavalry were galloping forward like wind and lingering clouds.
Because it was already nighttime, there was no need to worry about being bombed by Japanese bombers, so the officers and soldiers of the cavalry battalion could gallop on the road with confidence and boldness, and the marching speed was actually faster than during the day.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Cheng Luming kept using his legs to move the horse.
Even though his horse was covered in sweat from running, Cheng Luming especially felt that it was not fast enough.
Xiang Dalong chased Cheng Luming with his horse and said loudly: "Batalion Commander, the horse can't bear it anymore. Can you rest?"
Xiang Dahu from behind also echoed loudly and distressedly: "Yes, if you keep running like this, this war horse will be useless."
"Why rest?" Cheng Luming glared at the two brothers Xiang Dalong and Xiang Dahu, and said with a snort, "What did the regiment commander say in the telegram? Let our six cavalry battalions get to Tonghua in the shortest possible time!" After a pause, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Give me the order and continue to speed up. Even if the horse is killed and the man is exhausted, we must reach Tonghua before dawn tomorrow!"
"Battal Commander, is there any need to be in such a hurry?" Xiang Dalong muttered, "It's okay to be half a day late."
Xiang Dahu also said: "That's right, is Tonghua City that important? In my opinion, it doesn't matter if Tonghua cannot be defended."
"Fart!" Cheng Luming said angrily, "It doesn't matter if Tonghua can't be defended? What nonsense are you talking about? If Tonghua can't be defended, if the little devil takes it back, I tell you, by then all the brothers in our regiment will You have to go into the old forest! It’s summer now, do you know what it means to go into the old forest at this time?”
"What does it mean?" Xiang Dahu asked blankly.
Xiang Dahu comes from the grassland, and he really doesn't know what it means to go to the old forest in summer.
ps: I recommend an official book called "Looking at the Present Day", a new book by the platinum boss God Regan. It's awesome. If you like official books, you should miss it.