At around 4 o'clock in the afternoon on April 11, 1909, the Japanese 9th Division Commander Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi, the 36th Infantry Regiment Commander Yoshida Hiratani, the 17th Infantry Division 53rd Infantry Regiment Commander Hashimoto Junmasa, Kitaro, captain of the 6th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division, and the captains of the two cavalry regiments arrived one after another on horseback.
After all the commanders of the alliance arrived, Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi, who temporarily served as the commander-in-chief, immediately held a military meeting to discuss how to eliminate the Indonesian anti-foreign forces in Shentou Village.
After the meeting began, Major General Saburo Sakata, chief of staff of the Ninth Division, who arrived first to understand the situation, had a solemn look on his face and spoke nonstop about the current severe situation to everyone.
The division commander, Lieutenant General Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi, looked absent-minded, frowning and thinking about his own thoughts.
Since the Ninth Division launched an attack on the Indonesian anti-foreign forces in South Borneo, it has lost troops and made no achievements. Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi has lost face and cannot even raise his head in front of his colleagues.
Among the four infantry regiments of the 9th Division, except for the 36th Infantry Regiment following Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi, the other three infantry regiments, one was surrounded and annihilated as soon as it came into contact with the Indonesian anti-foreign forces; the other attacked the enemy in front of them. The village was completely disabled; another was ambushed and fled to a small village to survive, and was in danger, waiting for rescue.
After repeated heavy blows, the arrogant Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi finally understood that the enemy army he faced was not a so-called mob. Their tenacity and skill in fighting were no less than the Hundred-War Army of the Empire of Japan.
"Moreover, such a powerful army has a very wise and cunning commander hidden behind it.
Relying on the favorable terrain and the negligence of the subordinate regiments of the Ninth Division, the terrible commander constantly seized the opportunity to attack decisively, which actually put the Ninth Division of the Empire of Japan into an irreversible danger.
No, if we continue fighting like this, not only all the troops of the Ninth Division will have to pay for it. Even the entire Borneo Expeditionary Force will be in danger
Thinking of this, Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi was like an ant on a hot pot, becoming extremely anxious and worried.
Because, Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi suddenly remembered that in Borneo, there is a Lanfang Republican Army that is no less powerful than the Indonesian anti-foreigner army. It is now stationed near Pontianak and is "monitoring" the Borneo Expeditionary Force.
Under such circumstances, the Japanese Empire¡¯s plan to expand its colonies in Indonesia is likely to suffer an unprecedented failure under the joint attack of the powerful Indonesian Anti-Foreign Army and the Lanfang Republican Army.
what to do? Give up rescuing the remnants of the 19th Regiment and stop large-scale attacks. Then, he made a submission to his superiors, requesting that he temporarily abandon the plan to continue to expand the colony and slow down the development near Pontianak first?
Do not make jokes
If this happens, what will General Nogi Nogi and General Kuroki Weizhen think? Would they think that I was frightened by the Indonesian anti-foreigner forces and would abandon the besieged remnants of the 19th Regiment and propose a withdrawal?
¡°Moreover, the Lanfang Republican Army and the Indonesian Anti-Foreign Army are old enemies. How could the Lanfang Republican Army help the Indonesian Anti-foreign Army to deal with the expeditionary force of the Japanese Empire at a critical moment?
The most important thing is that the Japanese Empire has long coveted Indonesia. With such a good opportunity and having spent so much money, how could it give up so easily just because of some setbacks?
You know, in the Russo-Japanese War, the interests pursued were not as good as this time, and millions of troops were invested.
Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi's mind was racing, he considered the gains and losses, and finally decided to write a detailed message about the enemy's cunning and skillful fighting and the loss of troops and generals of the 9th Division, and sent them to General Nogi on the march and those who were in Pontianak respectively. General Kuroki asked them to decide whether to continue to attack Shentou Village.
At this time, Chief of Staff Saburo Sakata had almost finished speaking. Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi coughed and asked Watanabe Hiroshi, the commander of the 35th Regiment: "Watanabe-kun, are you sure that the enemy troops on the front line of Kamito Village are A total of more than 20,000 troops?"
Watanabe Hiroshi kept his head down. Hearing Tsukamoto Katsuka's question, he stood up and replied: "Your Majesty, division commander, the original scouts have found out that there are only about 10,000 enemy troops guarding the opposite side. But today, The opponent's reinforcements arrived secretly in the morning, and there was no chance for us to investigate. Therefore, it is only a preliminary estimate at the moment and we are not sure."
"Baga" Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi cursed in a low voice and said in a deep voice: "Gentlemen, the surrounded 19th Regiment has stabilized its position after repelling several attacks by the Indonesian Anti-Foreign Army. The enemy has Time could hardly eat up the 19th Regiment, so the enemy commander only left a part of his troops to besiege the 19th Regiment, and the rest of the large forces rushed here for reinforcements. The 35th Regiment failed to check for a while and suffered heavy casualties.
In addition, our troops came from afar and were hit by rain along the way, making them extremely tired.?. Therefore, I have decided that the entire army will rest for a day tomorrow and then launch an attack based on the situation the day after tomorrow. "
"Hi" The captains of the alliance are by no means reckless. Knowing that the remnants of the 19th Regiment are not in any danger for the time being, and that the enemy forces occupy favorable terrain and are so powerful, they all accept the order happily.
After the meeting, Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi and Chief of Staff Saburo Sakata discussed in secret for a long time, drafted a detailed telegram, and sent it to Nogi Nogi and Kuroki Nozhen respectively.
After sending the telegram, Chief of Staff Saburo Sakata followed Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi's instructions and sent a telegram to the commander of the 19th Regiment, Jiro Kameda, asking him how long the 19th Regiment could sustain itself if it saved food to a large extent.
At about 7 o'clock in the evening, Kameda Jiro called back and said that because the Indonesian anti-foreign forces had stopped attacking, the 19th Regiment now only eats two meals of porridge a day. In addition, although the village occupied by the 19th Regiment had nothing, fortunately there was plenty of water.
"If the Indonesian anti-foreign forces don't know the reality of the remnants of the 19th Regiment and only besiege but not attack, they should be able to hold on for about a week.
After receiving the telegram from Kameda Jiro, Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ordered Chief of Staff Saburo Sakata to send the good news to Nogi Nogi and Kuroki Nozhen.
At about 9 o'clock in the evening, Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi was lying on the straw mat on the ground, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, so he got up and walked outside the house.
As soon as he walked out of the room, he bumped into Chief of Staff Sakata Saburo.
Saburo Sakata took a telegram and said to Tsukamoto Katsuyoshi: "Next, General Kuroki has just called back, saying that he has communicated with General Nogi and asked us to take a day's rest before launching a full-scale attack. We must attack the area near Kamito Village. The enemy forces were held back and killed in large numbers. After General Nogi arrives with the follow-up troops, we will annihilate all the enemy forces here."
Having said this, Saburo Sakata hesitated for a moment, and then continued: "In addition, Lieutenant General Ichitobei, the commander of the 17th Division, will arrive tomorrow evening. General Kuroki ordered the troops on the front line of Kamito Village to temporarily All obey the orders of one subordinate."
After listening to this, Tsukamoto Katsuka, instead of being dissatisfied, showed a look of relief.