How the enemy will play chess can often be predicted.
The Japanese army knew very early that China would definitely launch an unprecedented large-scale offensive in the southeast theater of Korea, and Japan could no longer lose no matter what, even if it had to block all the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army from the enemy's guns. Japan cannot hesitate before launching artillery.
At this time, the Japanese base camp already knew that it was impossible for Japan to defeat China, but as long as it put in all its efforts to hold the southeastern part of Korea, holding here would prevent China from landing on the mainland, and Japan would still have the advantage to negotiate an armistice with China. Agreement.
If China can be severely damaged in the southeast theater of the Korean Peninsula, there is no doubt that it will be most beneficial to Japan.
While China is preparing to launch the southern Korean campaign and the Ryukyu campaign, Japan is also doing its best to prevent the Northeast Defense Force, whether it is using espionage methods, sabotaging northern Korea, and recruiting a large number of domestic troops, maintaining more than 140 troops in the southeastern theater of Korea. With tens of thousands of troops, they tried to stop China from attacking the Japanese mainland.
In the traditional map division of Korea, Japan currently controls the western mountainous areas of North Gyeongsang Province, South Gyeongsang Province, South Jeolla Province, North Jeolla Province, and North Chungcheong Province, as well as the southern area of ??Gangwon Province. The four regions of North Jeolla Province, North Chungcheong Province, and Gangwon Province are intertwined with various lines of defense. The four armies of the Northeast Defense Force are located in these four regions and confront each other with the Japanese East Asia Expeditionary Force. Among the six front armies of the Japanese East Asia Expeditionary Force, There are also four front armies deployed separately, but the Japanese army has one front army stationed in Sangju and Daegu.
The confrontation between the Northeastern National Defense Force and Japan's East Asia Expeditionary Force on this line of defense has been close to four months. The real war has reached the point where it is about to break out. At this time, Japan has already reached a point where it cannot afford to lose. Forty-five more divisions have been added, and they are constantly expanding and training. They will continue to be dispatched to new battlefields at any time, and they will work hard to maintain the current situation between China and Japan.
Counterattack is a real luxury for Japan.
Even for the always arrogant and confident Prince Kanin Gong Zaihito, the chief of staff who secretly controls the Japanese base camp behind the scenes, is also very aware of the current situation. Japan, which risks going to war against the strong, simply cannot afford such losses. , he also understands that China's strategic plan is to implement a circular blockade against Japan and block Japan within the island country, which will directly cause Japan to lose all the resources needed to support the war.
Apart from a population of 70 million, Japan really has nothing else left, except for the Yamato-class battleships that symbolize the glory of the Japanese Empire.
Until this moment, Prince Kanin Miya Zaihito still believed that as long as the Yamato-class battleships did not fall, the Empire of Japan would not fall. No matter how difficult it was, as long as a reasonable armistice treaty was reached with China, relying on the Yamato-class battleships With the existence of battleships, the Japanese Empire will eventually rise again and build the largest navy in Asia.
He is so perseverant, even though he knows the current difficulties Japan is facing, because he firmly believes that the Yamato nation is one of the best nations in the world, and 70 million Yamato people are far better than 500 million Chinese pigs.
To this end, he persuaded Emperor Showa to allow the Japanese army to use chemical weapons in subsequent wars, trying to use greater casualties to curb China's decisive war intentions and force China to agree to sign an armistice agreement.
¡°If this causes China to retaliate against Japan by using chemical weapons, he believes that the Yamato nation will be able to withstand it.
Prince Zai Ren decided to gamble again, not because he wanted to gamble, but because he had no other choice. For the strength of the Japanese Empire, and for the future of the Japanese Empire, Japan had reached the point where it had to use chemical weapons to intimidate its opponents. the point.
At this time, he hoped that fate would favor the Empire of Japan again, so that the empire would have better luck and win this bet. However, he did not know that at the moment he signed the order to use poison gas bombs, what exactly were the mistakes he made? How big.
At a critical moment of life and death for a nation of 70 million people, under such a critical situation, time gradually entered May, and the preparations for the two sides on the battlefield in southern Korea entered a more urgent stage. Before that, as the Japanese Army Japanese Army General Shunroku Hata, the education director among the three generals, was recommended as the commander-in-chief of the East Asia Expedition Force and arrived in Daegu on April 14.
General Hata Shunroku clearly expressed his dissatisfaction with the arrangement of the former Commander-in-Chief Juichi Terauchi on the southern defense line and tried to make adjustments. He wanted to shrink the force from the north and retain more troops as reserves. However, Prince Zaihi was behind the base camp. The actual controller of the war clearly prohibited the Japanese army from abandoning their positions, strictly ordered Shunroku Hata to defend every inch of southern Korea, and to engage in a desperate battle with the Chinese Army on every inch of mountainous high ground, until China timidly agreed to armistice negotiations.
? ?Such upper-level orders made it difficult for General Hata Shunroku to make effective changes, but Prince Zain agreed to deploy ten additional divisions to the East Asia Expeditionary Force as reserve forces. There were soldiers, but the Japanese army's lack of artillery was difficult to solve. The serious shortage of gun production capacity forced the Japanese army to put the Type 30 and Murata Type 22 rifles in stock back into use. However, the new semi-automatic rifle Type 97 has only been in service for a short time in the army and the quantity is seriously insufficient. The main rifle of the Japanese army is still Type 38 rifle.
In terms of barrel artillery, the Japanese army still uses the 75-type mountain gun as the main body, and the number of 105\120mm caliber artillery is obviously insufficient.
Shunroku Hata was very aware of the difficult situation he faced. Soon after arriving in Daegu to take over the post of commander-in-chief of the East Asia Expeditionary Force, he ordered to stop the original counterattack and many ongoing small-scale battles, quickly continued to gather troops, and concentrated all efforts manpower and material resources for defensive operations.
During this period, Cai E also continued to make adjustments within the Northeast Defense Force. In order to correct the arrogant atmosphere within the army, he has done his best. But for Cai E, the most difficult thing for him is to face two The more difficult things are: first, the massive casualties that this battle will inevitably cause; second, the consumption of ammunition in this battle will be staggering. Both of these problems require the Northeast Defense Force to ensure the ability to mobilize and supply materials.
Rich war experience is the most valuable asset of senior generals such as Cai E and Liu Gengyun. They have been able to predict all this very early. Even before the Central Military Commission officially ordered them to be appointed as the supreme commander of the Northeast Defense Force, they already had made such a judgment.
Through deployment at the Central Military Headquarters, Cai E has established the world's largest field medical team within the Northeast Defense Force. On average, each infantry squad has one medical soldier who has received strict training, and is responsible for special drugs such as morphine and penicillin. The reserves are sufficient to ensure the use of 300,000 wounded people.
300000.
This is the upper limit of casualties Cai E has set for himself.
Details determine success or failure. Cai E and Liu Gengyun have a very unique division of labor. Liu Gengyun is responsible for the overall tactical planning and deployment, while Cai E is responsible for troop adjustments and these details. As the instructor, Shu Fangde is responsible for coordinating the air force, navy and patrol. Military troops.
In a war, they have to deal with thousands of problems, most of which are extremely trivial and small problems, and these small problems determine the final success or failure.
The number of troops accumulated by the Chinese and Japanese armies in southern Korea has exceeded 1.7 million, and the total number of troops and equipment has reached the level of the Sudkursk Battle. Once it starts, it will definitely become a decisive factor in the decisive battle between China and Japan. The final battle for the fate of the country.
The official start date of Operation Random Plan was May 17, but before that, starting in March, the Imperial Air Force and Navy continued to implement blockade operations in the Korean Strait, attacking the Japanese supply fleet and all other ships. The Japanese army had lost air and sea control after the Battle of Seoul and was unable to effectively stop the Imperial Air Force. It could only transport at night, but it was also vulnerable to attacks by Tiger Shark fighter jets and submarines at night.
From the beginning of the war to the present, the J-5 Tiger Shark fighter-bomber has been a well-deserved star on the battlefield. It has a variety of key values ????from beginning to end. It has a large body and a long range. It can serve as a second-line bomber, attack aircraft and fighter aircraft, and can even undertake reconnaissance alone. , anti-submarine, night search and other work. From March to May, the Japanese army lost more than 400 transport ships in the Korean Strait. About two divisions were sunk in the Korean Strait directly due to air strikes.
This put Shunroku Hata's Japanese army into a very difficult situation. The strength of the Japanese army at this time was far from being comparable to that during the war of aggression against China. Without resource areas like Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan, Japan's own national power was also very limited.
In the Battle of Seoul, the Japanese army collapsed thousands of miles under Wei Lihuang's attack. More than 2,000 artillery pieces and a large amount of military supplies were captured. This made the Japanese East Asia Expeditionary Force stationed in the southeast theater of Korea even worse. In order to protect more than one million people, For the daily supplies of the Japanese army, the Japanese army could only forcefully expropriate supplies in southern Korea and seize supplies from Korean families and businessmen.
The troops on both sides are very large, and the daily military ration expenditure of nearly 700,000 kilograms is even more unbearable for the Japanese army. There is little cultivated land in southern Korea, and there is not much food for the Japanese army to rob. In fact, starting from April, the Japanese army's military rations Supplies have been gradually halved.
Cai E and Shunroku Hata were classmates at the University of Japan. They knew each other to a certain extent. Shunroku Hata also knew Cai E's ambition, talent and shrewdness. Both sides were not in a hurry to take action in the southeast theater, but a Sino-Japanese war The greatest battle between the two countries is inevitable but is bound to come.
After Emperor Showa agreed to Prince Zaihito¡¯s proposal, the Japanese army accelerated the deployment of chemical weapons during this period, and the empire was also actively carrying out related defense and counterattack work. In fact, neither Cai E nor Shunroku Hata wanted to use this weapon.However, they are unable to intervene in high-level decisions, and both of them are only the executors of the battle.
As the various armies of the Northeastern National Defense Force stepped up preparations for war, people did not notice that Chen Wu, a veteran who had left the Chinese Army for nearly ten years, was glowing with new glory.
??The old man is hiding in his stable, aiming for a thousand miles.
Among the four group armies, Chen Wu's Fourth Group Army was the last to be established. About 1/3 of the officers and soldiers came from the patrol forces in Northeast and North China, and 1/3 came from new recruits. The real elite troops only had two infantry divisions.
Chen Wu was not dissatisfied or sad because of this. On the contrary, he cherished this opportunity in front of him.
The chief of staff of Chen Wu's Fourth Group Army was also General Han Chunlin who was temporarily transferred. The reason why the Central Military Department arranged this was because of their deep personal relationship. The person who made this decision was Jiang Fangzhen, but Jiang Fangzhen did not know that Chen Wu has actually changed a lot over the years.
Han Chunlin had not yet arrived at the front line at this time, and related work was handled by Xu Wei and Lin Yangchun. Xu Wei was the acting chief of staff, and Lin Yangchun was the deputy chief of staff. Xu Wei, who was born in the Far East Military Academy, happened to be Chen Wu's old department, and Chen Wu Wu knew this old man well and trusted him very much.
In the past six months, Chen Wu led the Fourth Army and had many battles with the Japanese army, and the results were not outstanding. However, after all, Chen Wu had experienced hundreds of battles. It was during these six months that he practiced while fighting and improved himself. The level of these new and inconspicuous troops in hand has been trained.
In the eyes of many people, Chen Wu is a very old-fashioned, conservative and stubborn senior general. His tactical thinking is relatively backward among the Central Defense Forces. He always has the old atmosphere of the Northeast Army era and places too much emphasis on military fighting spirit and hard training. It¡¯s just that veterans have the benefits and advantages of veterans.
¡°Moreover, in the past few years, Chen Wu has not remained as unchanged as everyone imagined.
After arriving on the Korean Peninsula, he has been exploring new tactics for new equipment in the southern region, adjusting the wartime organization of the Fourth Group Army, increasing the number of soldiers in each squad to about 15 people, each company has 4 platoons, and each company has 4 platoons. Each of the 4 squads in the platoon retains a basic unit as a reserve force, while each battalion is similar to other group armies, generally increasing to 5-7 companies.
Chen Wu is indeed very old, but after all he has fought a lifetime.
The battlefield in Korea is no stranger to him.
Like Cai E and Liu Gengyun, Chen Wu also knew very early on that if he wanted to end this battle, he would ultimately have to rely on the methods used by the Northeast Army back then, but on this basis, he would have to make significant adjustments to his tactics based on the new equipment. and improvement, the grassroots establishment is constantly adjusted and changed.
Another thing that is very special about Chen Wu is that he always personally directs the divisions in the front line, leaving the instructor Yuan Zonghan behind to take charge of logistics dispatching work. Although Wei Lihuang and Zhang Zizhong are also used to commanding at the front line, they are both It would be better for him to stand directly within the range of the enemy's artillery.
In the past few days, the Air Force has significantly increased the frequency of air raids on the Japanese frontline positions, continuously carrying out strikes deep into the Japanese hinterland, and defeating some of the Japanese limited air force.
Chen Wu has received a clear telegram to launch a full-scale attack at 10 a.m. on May 17. Before this, he planned to send an infantry division to quickly insert into Jingshan County to cut off the Japanese army's retreat route and prevent the Japanese army from joining the headquarters on the south side.
He wanted to fight an ambush and besiege the city for reinforcements.
He was not a general who was good at using tactics, and neither was Han Chunlin. After much deliberation, the two of them finally considered fighting a real bayonet-on-bayonet bloody battle. This was a bit like a replica of the Battle of Menglianggu. They did not give their opponents a chance to rescue them. Kill the opponent's most elite troops and demoralize the opponent.
" Of course, fighting hard is not reckless. If you are of equal strength, you can fight harder than your opponent. This is your real skill. If your strength is higher than your opponent, you can fight harder than your opponent. That is your real skill.
Under the Central Military Department's grand planning and grand strategic goals of the Ranjian Plan, Chen Wu and Han Chunlin prepared to carefully organize a real large-scale encirclement and annihilation campaign based on the current strengths and advantages of the Fourth Army, and the Japanese elite Seventh Army The 3rd Division and the 27th Division were wiped out in Gangneung and Jeongseon.
¡¡
May 17th.
Early in the morning.
The sky was dark with few stars. It seemed that it would be cloudy today, or there might be light rain. During the early morning, Wei Lihuang was still in the headquarters discussing the new situation with Bai Chongxi, Xue Yue and others. .
The Second Group Army is mainly armored. It is currently very difficult to send the main force to attack the southeastern region of North Korea. Wei Lihuang, who only has two infantry divisions and three new infantry brigades, must use all methods carefully. Accomplish his combat objectives??
The goal given to him by the Central Military Headquarters is to capture Xian'an County, attack Changning County from the north and south with the First and Third Army Groups, and at the same time open a channel for the First Army Group to continue southward to attack Pusan, and make all necessary preparations.
His armored forces can basically reach Xianyang County, but it is difficult to break through the 60 kilometers of mountainous terrain from Xianyang County to Xian'an County. This is precisely the key area for the Japanese army's defense on the southern front, especially when the two places must pass through. In Sanqing County, the Japanese defenses are not only strong, but also numerous in number. Although many batches of air forces have been dispatched to carry out bombing and ground attacks, the current feedback is still not ideal.
Wei Lihuang's luck was not good. His opponent was General Matsui Iwane. After the Battle of Seoul, the Japanese army was extremely frightened by Wei Lihuang's troops, although in theory they were not worried about Wei Lihuang's Second Army. Still capable of continuing the offensive across the vast mountainous areas, the Japanese base camp dispatched General Matsui Iwane to South Gyeongsang Province to serve as the commander of the Fourth Front of the Japanese East Asia Expedition Force.
After analyzing the troops of the Wei Lihuang Division and the characteristics of the main commanders, General Matsui Iwane, who has an extremely keen sense of war, realized that "the Wei Lihuang Division is the ace force of the armored forces in the China Army. In view of the terrain of southern Korea, The possibility that the group army will continue to rely on armored forces to advance eastward is very low." Based on this analysis, Matsui Iwane chose to shrink his forces and not set up frontal defenses. Instead, he deployed a highland defense line around Jirisan Mountain and used a large number of highlands to contain each other. And curb the advancement of Wei Lihuang's department.
Just as General Matsui Iwane judged, Wei Lihuang also knew that the most difficult thing for his troops to overcome was the seemingly loose defense line of Jirisan Mountain. If he wanted to complete the Central Military Headquarters' plan to occupy Xianyang County, he must first Destroy the Japanese 24th Division and the 2nd and 8th Brigades that are entrenched in Jirisan Mountain. However, the strength of his mountain troops and conventional infantry divisions and brigades is far from enough to accomplish this goal.
Wei Lihuang could only choose to go north, detour to Changshui County, and then go south along the Yangtze River to attack Xianyang County. He also used mechanized divisions to storm Gucheng and Namwon and stationed them on the spot, forcing the Japanese army to voluntarily abandon the Jirisan defense line and return to rescue Xianyang. If the Japanese army abandons the Jirisan Mountain defense line, its armored forces can find a way to break through the hilly area north of Jirisan Mountain and attack Xianyang from the west.
If the Japanese army resolutely does not shrink the Jirisan defense line, Wei Lihuang can only let his mechanized armored division park in Namyuan, neither attacking nor mobilizing, watching the Japanese 24th Division and two infantry brigades, just How he captured Xianyang with only two infantry divisions and three mixed brigades was also a complicated problem.
Wei Lihuang is different from Fu Zuoyi. He is not extremely enthusiastic about military success. Compared with the temptation of general rank, he pays more attention to combat efficiency. The highest order given to him by the Central Military Headquarters is to prevent Matsui Iwanebu from going north to support Hata Shunroku. Therefore, he chose the strategy of forcing but not attacking, and instead established a defense line in the northern part of the Xianyang Army to prevent Matsui Iwane's troops from going north, and waited for Fu Zuoyi and Zhang Zizhong to attack Hata Shunroku.
He decided to go against the plan of the Central Military Headquarters and not attack the heavily guarded Xianyang County. Instead, he captured Juchang County with fewer troops. It was like a thorn stuck between Matsui Iwane and Hata Shunroku, making it impossible for the two Japanese armies to interact with each other. support.
Of course, he also has to take a huge risk. If Fu Zuoyi's attack fails, Shunroku Hata may send his troops southward and attack his defense line in Guchang County with Matsui Iwane from the north and south.
At this time, Wei Lihuang did not believe that his old boss and senior would fail, but he always had to be prepared with both hands. If the situation changed, he must still hold on to Juchang County and hold on here, no matter when. It will be difficult to evacuate the Matsui Stone Roots, and they can only sit back and wait for the Imperial Army to attack one after another.
After Wei Lihuang received the combat plan from the Central Military Headquarters, he had already finalized his own combat plan before the end of April. However, in the early morning of the actual dispatch of troops, he still called his most trusted subordinates Huang Baitao and Xue Yue to command. Therefore, let¡¯s re-examine each specific step together.
If the situation goes well, how many troops he will need in Juchang County, how to arrange the defense line, ammunition reserves, and artillery positions. If the situation does not go well, how to arrange them all require a little consideration.
The three of them discussed until 3 o'clock in the morning. When they heard the alarm clock that had been set in advance, Wei Lihuang threw the pencil aside and sighed with Xue Yue: "Brother Boling, this time I live in Changjun. What you do depends on you. The Japanese army's grassroots officers and soldiers are brave and aggressive, and they are extremely martial. A strong infantry attack is not good for us, and the defense will also suffer heavy losses. Therefore, you must be quick to occupy Juchang County, and you must treat tens of thousands of people after occupying it. Be careful, there are very few places where our troops can support you, so we can only ask the air force for support. I will be stationed in the north of Changshui County, and I will place all the rocket launchers in the north. The advantage of the range can help you guard the southern line of Taniguchi."
Xue Yue immediately stood up and saluted: "Please rest assured, my subordinates, I will do my best."?What you can do. "
Wei Lihuang also reassured: "Fu Zuoyi and Zhang Zizhong's armies are heading south, and the possibility of defeat is extremely low. We should rest assured about this, but military matters are always prepared for emergencies."
Xue Yue agreed: "What the military commander said is true."
Huang Baitao said: "Not necessarily, the military seat, Boling, General Fu came in with a rather arrogant attitude. If the enemy forces penetrate deeply and encircle and annihilate them with heavy troops, even if he can escape, the losses will be considerable. The key to this military operation is that Fu Zuoyi's and Zhang Zizhong's troops should join forces first and move south together. However, Fu Zuoyi's troops are close in distance, have strong firepower, many soldiers, and many elites, so it is inevitable that they will win first."
Wei Lihuang was said to be the most worried place in the center and said: "Actually, this is what I am worried about. The military department's plan is wonderful, but no matter how good the plan is, it relies on people to implement it. We can only wait and see what the specific effect will be. Change."
It was getting late. After Wei Lihuang said these words, he stood up, shook hands with Xue Yue, and said, "I won't say anything else. You go back and prepare first. The troops will be officially dispatched at 7 noon."
Xue Yue nodded in agreement, saluted again, and left the command post first.
Wei Lihuang's Second Group Army is a gathering of elites. Huang Baitao, Guo Yuqian, Xue Yue, and Sun Ren are all famous generals. However, Huang Baitao and Guo Yuqian are both better at using armored units and are quite limited on the battlefield in southern Korea. .
Wei Lihuang¡¯s arrangement was for Guo Yuqian to lead the army to attack Nanyuan, Xue Yue to attack Juchang, while he and Huang Baitao would lead the troops to garrison in Changshui County, with support from both sides, just in case, and Sun Ren¡¯s troops would stay in Guangzhou on standby.
The development of war is always ever-changing and unpredictable.
At this time, Wei Lihuang did not know that history would once again push him to the most shining new peak. (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!)