Tang Qiusheng's use of troops was calm and strange. The Baldwin mining area was only more than 20 kilometers away from Wubin. He actually dared to set up an ambush with four brigades of troops, and used armored troops in a counter-attack posture to conduct a frontal assault. The marching Japanese troops were very unexpected. Not only the Japanese supreme commander Genzaburo Ito did not expect it, but also other members of the campaign headquarters did not expect it.
Two tank brigades with hundreds of Soviet tanks, followed by six brigades of infantry, received an unexpected blow. The 13th Division, the vanguard of the Japanese army, was unable to withstand it at first, just like a red-hot iron drill piercing cheese. Collapsed in an instant, the 20,000 Japanese troops were drowned in the frenzy of the ** division troops, and the 13th Division was finished.
Unable to withstand the impact of this frenzy, they began to retreat across the board. Then, it shook the stability of the Japanese troops behind them, and then threw the Japanese attacking troops participating in the attack on the Baldwin Mining Area into chaos. The Japanese artillery did not even have artillery. Before he could unload it, he was knocked over by a tank that was rushing towards him.
Ito was marching with the troops behind him when chaos suddenly broke out in front of him. Just as he figured out the situation, the retreating soldiers surged over like ebbing water, disrupting the troops behind them. Immediately afterwards, the entire Japanese army was in chaos.
It was not until he retreated to the Baldwin Mining Area that Ito gathered his troops, stabilized his position, and opened up his posture, preparing for a big fight with the ** division troops who dared to attack the imperial army. It was as sudden as when the attack was launched, and the offensive was on track. The fierce Japanese troops quickly retreated to Wubin. After working hard all morning, the Japanese troops returned to their original starting point.
Ito was so angry that his face was livid. The sudden attack by the ** Division troops caused considerable losses to the troops. The 13th Division, the leading force, lost more than half of its soldiers, which was equivalent to being disabled. The 3rd Artillery Brigade The regiment lost more than two-thirds of its artillery, as well as thousands of non-combat attrition soldiers who collided with each other in the chaos, were injured and died. Tang Qiusheng's punch made Ito dizzy.
This was a beautiful counterattack during the defense, and it also verified the combat effectiveness of the ** division's team in rapid offensive and defensive transitions. This may be the first time that Tang Qiusheng has used troops so boldly in the past few years. Get up, this was forced by the division commander Tang Qiuli.
So far, Ubin's blocking war has changed its nature. It is no longer a stand-alone battle to ensure the smooth conclusion of the Degang Battle. Judging from the speed of the Japanese attack, even if the Degang Battle is over, Ito will still be there dozens of times later. Thousands of Japanese troops continued to advance northward to Myitkyina and held on to the Japanese division troops. Since they could not get rid of the Japanese troops neatly, they would have a big fight with the Japanese troops on the Wubin front line.
Therefore, on the night when Tang Qiusheng commanded the troops to withdraw from the Baodwen mining area, Tang Qiuli sent him a telegram, "Brother Qiusheng, in view of the current situation between us and the enemy, it is imperative to intercept the Japanese troops under Ito in Wubin. I plan to use all the troops of the ** Division in Indochina to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army on the Wubin front line. It will take time for the troops to rush to the battlefield. Therefore, it is particularly important to be able to stop the Japanese army from advancing northward at Wubin. ¡±
Tang Qiuli had no choice but to change his original plan to fight the main force of the Japanese army in the Gangao Mountains. For some reason, Tang Qiuli felt that everything was not going smoothly after facing Ito. At the beginning of July this year, the eastern part of Indochina Peninsula The region experienced continuous heavy rains and a major flood that had not been seen in ten years. All roads and bridges were washed away by the floods.
The troops of Feng Jiwu Corps and Ma Chaoyang Corps, who were originally scheduled to arrive at the battlefield in northern Myanmar in about two weeks, were blocked on the east bank of the Salween River. They looked at the surging river and sighed. Among them, Ma Chaoyang Corps was the farthest away. It started from Hanoi and walked north of Chiang Mai in Thailand, but was blocked by floods.
With such a large flow of water, the engineering troops had no way to build a bridge. Several pontoon bridge regiments gathered all the equipment together. Not only did they fail, but part of the pontoon bridge was washed away by the extremely fast flowing river water. Feng was very angry. Jiwu cursed in the tent, "This weather is so damn bad." After cursing, he looked helplessly at the rain falling from the sky, unable to do anything.
The engineer brigade commander was dripping with water and stood in front of him dejectedly. Feng Jiwu looked at the clay figure-like major general and had nothing to say. Even if he shot the engineer brigade commander, his troops and equipment would not be able to cross the river. Moreover, In order to strengthen the Salween River, the Engineer Brigade has lost hundreds of people, and he has no right to risk the lives of soldiers.
After contacting Ma Chaoyang, I learned that the situation of Ma Chaoyang's regiment was similar to his own. Although there was no rough Salween River blocking the way, continuous heavy rains had caused rivers and creeks that were several meters wide to become more than ten meters or dozens of meters wide. The turbulent rivers and rivers, the original bridges, not even a ghost can be seen. Every step forward takes more than ten times the time.
At the speed of Ma Chaoyang Corps, they rushed to northern MyanmarOn the battlefield, there was no way to do it in less than forty days. Feng Jiwu sighed. According to the organizational structure of the ** division, Feng Jiwu also served as the deputy division commander, and Ma Chaoyang's regiment was under his control. Therefore, he gave the division commander Tang Qiu Li sent a telegram explaining the difficulties encountered.
"The division pointed out that our Corps and Ma Chaoyang Corps were both trapped by the largest flood in the eastern part of Indochina Peninsula in ten years. Our Corps was blocked on the east bank of the Salween River, and Ma Chaoyang Corps stopped in the Chiang Mai area in northern Thailand. The two originally planned to The plan to rush to the battlefield in northern Myanmar within a week could not be realized. Therefore, I suggested that the division commander adjust the battle deployment according to this situation. In addition, I suggested that the division commander mobilize the equipment to cross the river to ensure that our corps and Ma Chaoyang's corps were "We can reach the battlefield in northern Myanmar as quickly as possible without affecting the division commander's overall campaign deployment."
After Tang Qiuli read the telegram, he knew very well that the difficulties Feng Jiwu encountered were more serious than what he said in the telegram. With Feng Jiwu's character, he would never complain easily. He must have tried various methods. , with no results, they asked the teacher for help. It's strange. There has been no rain for many days in northern Myanmar. The big sun hangs in the sky like a furnace, and the temperature is so hot that people feel irritable.
In view of the actual situation encountered by Feng Jiwu Corps and Ma Chaoyang Corps, after Tang Qiuli sent the telegram to Tang Qiusheng, he immediately issued an order to Major General Zhang Quan, commander of the ** Division Joint Service Command in Kunming, "Commander Zhang Officer, within a week, we must raise a ferry for 100,000 troops and all equipment to cross the Salween River. Please consult with Zhou Yushan, commander of the ** Division's transportation force."
After receiving Tang Qiuli's order, Zhang Quan's head swelled three times. When it came to using cars, people, guns and ammunition, Zhang Quan didn't even frown and opened up the supply. But when it came to ships, Zhang Quan's I don't have one in hand at the moment. Besides, the Army has been fighting in the north, so there is no need for that thing at all.
There was no other way. Zhang Quan made a phone call and transferred Zhou Yushan back to Kunming in Myitkyina. The two discussed it for almost a night and sent more than half of the officers of the Joint Logistics Department to the mainland to recruit ships. Shanghai, Wuhan and other places It is also a key procurement area. In Zhang Quan's words, "It's just a thorn in the side of the eyes." Whether it's procurement or requisition, getting enough ships is considered to have completed the task.
Because of Tang Qiuli's unreasonable order, the Army Corps established an engineer unit to fight in subtropical areas, which provided great convenience for future operations. It can be regarded as an unintentional insertion.
Then, Tang Qiuli issued an order to Li Honggang's 29th Corps, which was tasked with guarding the coast of Fujian, to urgently transfer to northern Myanmar. "After receiving the order, the 29th Corps will transfer the defense of Fujian and Guangxi to To the Guangdong Provincial Security Command, your troops will enter Myanmar immediately, and the assembly point will be Myitkyina in northern Myanmar."
Li Honggang's 29th Corps was actually Tang Qiuli's strategic reserve in the south and Southeast Asia. Now, due to special circumstances, he had to use the reserve in advance. As a result, the ** division was in The main combat corps in the southern part of the country were all transferred overseas.
The only military strength within the country is the Jiang Yanming Corps stationed in Songhu and Hangzhou Bay. Compared with the vast area in the south, the military strength is quite empty. As for whether it arouses the eagerness of powerful factions in various places in the country, and whether Chairman Chiang Kai-shek can Whether he will take the opportunity to do something behind his back or not is still unknown.
All the deployment adjustments were completed in the middle of the night. The pressure in Tang Qiuli's heart was slightly relieved. The 29th Corps rushed to the battlefield in northern Myanmar and the troops that confronted the Japanese army in Wubin would not be The difference is too huge, and with the help of heavy equipment, it is still very safe to turn the battle into a stalemate.
Around one o'clock in the morning, the darkest moment of the night, Chu Tian finally arrived at Degang with four detachments. Together with the original 18th detachment, the special operations detachment gathered two thousand people in Degang. The strength of many people.
The task Tang Qiuli gave Chu Tian was to bring out as many as possible a battalion and a half of more than a thousand soldiers who had been surrounded by the Japanese army for three days without disturbing the Japanese army in the canyon. Tang Qiuli Chu Tian was not asked to bring them all out. This was unfair to Chu Tian.
At two o'clock in the morning, in the canyon northwest of Degang, there were still sparse and intensive gunfire sounds from time to time. The surrounded troops tried to break out many times, but all failed. The Japanese army was determined to pay attention, as long as * The * division troops did not break through, they did not attack, they were just wasting away.
At about 3:30 in the morning, the sound of gunfire in the canyon suddenly became intense, and it was concentrated at the mouth of the canyon. Tang Qiuli waited anxiously for more than forty minutes. The sound of gunfire seemed to have solidified, and another ten minutes passed. After a few minutes, the communications staff officer turned around and reported: "Division commander, Captain Chu is calling. The participating troops and the surrounded troops of the special operations detachment have already emerged from the valley entrance and are blocking the pursuing Japanese troops."
Tang Qiuli suddenly felt a sense of exhaustion.Degang, who had tortured and struggled with himself for three days and three nights, finally got over it completely. He turned back to the communications director Chen Feng and said: "Order Le Yiqin to send at least two bomber regiments to bomb the canyon at six o'clock this morning." Chen Feng's heart trembled for no reason. There was a cold murderous intent in the teacher's words.