The commander of the Japanese Army's Central China Front, Shan Shanyuan, was woken up by his adjutant at around two o'clock in the morning. When Shan Shanyuan put on his military uniform and came to the headquarters in Fanghua Garden, the Chief of Staff of the Central China Front, Tsukada Tsugumi, and Staff Officer Deputy Changyong and a dozen combat staff members from the headquarters have already arrived.
The atmosphere in the war room seemed a bit heavy.
In fact, what was reported back to Nanjing at this time was the initial defeat report. Chief of Staff Nagashin Tatsuya of the Hamura Detachment only reported the news of Hamura Shuichi's death in the attack to the Central China Front Army Headquarters. As for the specific battle damage of the Hamura Detachment, Nagashin Tatsuya He did not mention it in this telegram because he did not know the specific battle damage.
For example, whether the brigade in the village was collectively destroyed, the number of casualties of the motorized infantry brigade, and the battle damage of the cavalry regiment and the tank unit. We must wait until dawn the next day to dispatch scouts and aviation scouts to conduct reconnaissance on the battlefield. It can only be approved later, and at that time, he can report it again.
As for the exact number of casualties, it needs to be cleaned up on the battlefield before it can be finally determined.
Whether it was killed in action, missing, or captured, it must be investigated first before it can be reported. Because this involves a series of follow-up questions, Nagashin Tatsuya only briefly reported the death of Hamura Shuichi to the headquarters, but it was this News of his death caused an earthquake at the headquarters of the Central China Front.
Another major general fell into Xu Rui's hands.
Is this the first general who has fallen under Xu Rui
First it was Fushimi Miya Toshihiko, then Shigefu Chiaki, then Tachibana Yukio, and now Hamura Shuichi was added. In less than half a year, four generals had fallen under Xu Rui's hands, so much so that some The staff joked in private that in the battle with Xu Rui, the general's casualty rate was much higher than that of ordinary soldiers.
This is absolutely a sensational phenomenon in the history of world wars in ancient and modern times.
Before Shanshan arrived, the staff at the headquarters had been discussing this topic.
Even Deputy Chief of Staff Chang Yong also participated in the discussion, and believed that Xu Rui's tactical command ability was far superior to that of other squadron-level brigade commanders, and even compared to the Japanese army's brigade-level commanders. Inferior, Chang Yong further predicted that if Xu Rui could not be eradicated as soon as possible, this person would definitely become a thorn in the side of the Japanese army!
As soon as Shanshan Yuan walked into the war room, everyone's eyes turned to him, and then they all put their feet back and stood at attention, paying tribute.
Shan Shan Yuan is undoubtedly in a very bad mood at this time, because before the adjutant woke him up, he had just fallen asleep with his arms around the military prostitute. As a result, he was woken up by the adjutant less than half an hour after sleeping, asking Shanshan to It was enough for Yuan Zai to get up from the entanglement of the military prostitute's pink legs at two thirty in the morning, but there was even worse news waiting for him!
Do you think Shan Shanyuan can be in a good mood? No matter who it was, he wouldn't be in a better mood.
Shan Shan Yuan just waved his hand casually and walked straight to the simulated sand table to stand.
"Tsukata-san, what is going on?" Shan Shanyuan frowned and looked at the sand table in front of him, holding back the anger in his chest, "The mopping up operation against the Dameishan Independent Regiment has just begun. Hamura The detachment lost their commander before they even entered Damei Mountain. Can anyone tell me what happened?"
Tsukada was speechless, and Hamura Shuichi's sudden death was completely unexpected.
Before the mopping-up operation officially started, Tsukada had ordered the staff to conduct repeated war games. The results of all the deductions were highly consistent. Facing the Hamura detachment, the Dameishan Independent Regiment could be said to have no chance at all. Their best As a result, they were defeated by the Japanese army, and only a few remaining troops retreated into Damei Mountain.
However, the cruel reality dealt Tsukada a heavy blow.
The Hamura detachment had not even arrived at Meizhen, and the mopping up operations had not even really started. They lost their commander in a night attack. This also made Tsukada realize more clearly that no matter how realistic a war game is, it is just a war game. It's just a deduction, and it's still far from actual combat.
Especially when faced with an opponent like Xu Rui, the results of the war game can only be used as a reference.
Tsukada Gong lowered his head and said nothing, but Shanshan Yuan didn't want to let him go like this and asked: "Tsukada-san, why don't you speak? Don't you have nothing to say?"
In this mopping up operation against the Dameishan Independent Regiment, Shanshan Yuan gave Tsukada Gong enough trust.
But what Tsukada attacked in return for Sugisumoto was an incredible defeat. It may be too early to say that the Hamura detachment has lost this mopping up battle, but it was a very bad start. It is an indisputable fact that the accidental death of Hamura Shuichi will definitely severely dampen the morale of the Japanese army.
The subsequent mopping up operations are bound to cast a shadow.
"Hai." Tsukada Gong saw that he couldn't hide anymore, so he could only reflect honestly, "Your Excellency, Commander, regarding the mopping up operation against the Dameishan Independent Regiment, I did underestimate the enemy and was too optimistic."
"Is it just a little underestimating the enemy and a little too optimistic?" Shan Shanyuan asked with a frown.
"Hai." Tsukada paused again and said, "The battle plan is not perfect either."
Shan Shanyuan snorted and said coldly: "But that's not what I want to hear. What I want to know is, what happened to the Hamura detachment? As the commander of the detachment, why did Hamura Shuichi come to the front line in person? That’s all, but why was it attacked by the Chinese army again and the jade was shattered on the spot?”
While speaking, Shanshan Yuan's saliva almost sprayed onto Tsukada's face.
However, Tsukada could only endure it and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, as for what happened to the Hamura detachment, I'm afraid we have to wait for the detailed battle report of the Hamura detachment."
Shanshan Yuan just took the opportunity to ridicule Tsukada Ichidichi. In addition, Tsukada's attitude was very upright and he was not as arrogant as before, so the anger in his chest was relieved a little, not to mention the Hamura detachment's In fact, Tsukada was not to blame for this change. After all, Shuichi Hamura was commanding the frontline troops.
Therefore, Shan Shanyuan did not dwell on the previous topic and said in a deep voice: "What happened to the Hamura detachment? We can wait for further report from Nagashin Tatsuya, but there is one thing that the imperial army cannot afford to wait for. Tsukada-san, I wonder if your staff department has made a plan in advance. If the commander is killed in an attack, what will happen next?"
"This..." Tsukada was speechless again, Nimei, who would make such an emergency plan? Shuichi Hamura is the supreme commander of the entire Hamura detachment. Who would have thought that he would go to the front line in person, and who would have thought that he would be killed by a Chinese roadside bomb? Can you make such an emergency plan
"Baga, don't you even have the most basic emergency plan?"
After saying that, Shanshan Yuan slapped Tsukada Gong on the right side of his face unceremoniously.
Shan Shan Yuan's right cheek immediately swelled up, and there were five bright red fingerprints on it.
Although he suffered from ear braces, Tsukada could only endure it and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, perhaps Kawaguchi Heiji, the commander of the Feicheng garrison brigade, can take over."
"Maybe?" Shan Shanyuan said angrily, "What I want is not maybe. The staff immediately recommended a few successors and then submitted a new battle plan. This time, I have to personally review and approve it. I can never leave it to you again. These losers are doing whatever they want, I must personally check them! Otherwise, the entire Hamura detachment will be destroyed by you!"
After saying that, Shanshan Yuan turned around and left angrily.
Watching Sugimoto's figure go away, Tsukada couldn't help but curse: It was with your consent that Hamura Shuichi was appointed as the commander of the detachment, and the entire combat plan was also with your consent, right? Now when something goes wrong, it's all the responsibility of our staff department. It's really unreasonable!
It's just that despite all the slander, orders must be carried out.
Who made Shan Shanyuan the commander? The rank of a senior official is overwhelming.
The first problem before Tsukada Gong is to choose someone who is recognized by Sugiyama Yuan and has outstanding abilities.
Although Tsukada Gong did not participate in the discussion among the staff just now, his evaluation of Xu Rui was even higher. In Tsukada Gong's opinion, Xu Rui's tactical command ability and fighter plane capture ability are far beyond the Tsukada was very doubtful about the level of the Japanese generals. Even if he was a regimental and brigade commander in the German army, he would not be able to match Xu Rui.
Therefore, Hamura Shuichi's successor must be good enough, at least definitely not a mediocre person!
If you choose a mediocre person, it will not only be irresponsible to the more than 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Hamura detachment, but also extremely irresponsible to him, because he himself also bears joint and several liability if the successor recommended by him performs poorly. , he will also be criticized as a recommender, and it may even affect his future promotion.
The second problem facing Tsukada is to re-evaluate the Hamura detachment's combat effectiveness.
However, this cannot be done urgently. We must wait until Nagashin Tatsuya's detailed battle report is submitted before Tsukada can make an accurate assessment of the Hamura detachment's combat power and finally determine how much technical equipment and troops to supplement the Hamura detachment. Of course, , at that time the Hamura Detachment was no longer called the Hamura Detachment.
Tsukada originally thought that he would have to wait until Nagashin Tatsuya's detailed battle report was submitted before he could make an accurate assessment of the Hamura detachment's combat effectiveness. However, what he did not expect was that early the next morning, the Dameishan Independent Regiment A communication was broadcast to the entire East China region in the name of Dameishan News Agency.
This communication from Datong News Agency lists the battle losses of the Hamura detachment in detail.
Of course, all battle losses are listed in the name of the results of the Dameishan Independent Regiment.
According to statistics on the results of the Dameishan Independent Regiment, in the two battles at Teapot Ao and Dawan, a total of 2,118 Japanese soldiers were killed and 26 captured; 30 light and heavy machine guns and 92 infantry guns were seized Two, Type 38 mounted rifles totaling more than 1,500, as well as hundreds of war horses, and two Type 95 light tanks; in addition, five Japanese armored vehicles, 50 heavy-duty trucks and three-wheeled motorcycles were destroyed. More cars! (To be continued.)