readx; For pure text online reading, please visit this site¡¯s domain name for simultaneous reading on your mobile phone
Chief of Staff Shinto is right to be worried. The China Division's 100,000-strong army attacked the city from six sides and had powerful artillery firepower. How could it stop just because a series of suicide attacks on Imperial civilians in Yamagata Castle caused some casualties?
Chief of Staff Nobuto knows something about the ancient Chinese art of war. "Under a long attack, there is no need to defend the city!" Blocking the China Division's troops for more than a week is almost like a dream. In his opinion, Yamagata Castle can support three Days of time, it¡¯s quite remarkable. The Yoshida division leader was temporarily defeated, no! It's not even a small victory. The casualties of thousands of people are just superficial to the China Division with a strength of 100,000 troops!
Looking at the obviously excited Yoshida Division Commander, Chief of Staff Shinto opened his mouth and swallowed the words he spoke. In fact, Chief of Staff Shinto also misjudged the defense capabilities of Yamagata Castle and had been completely destroyed. Tang Qiuli was so angry that he wouldn't even give it to the Japanese for three days!
Outside Yamagata City, there is a tight artillery array. Large-caliber artillery has been deployed. Thick barrels are pointed at Yamagata City from all directions. The directly-affiliated corps is the number one field force in the division's combat sequence. It is not only reflected in the combat effectiveness of the troops, but also It is also reflected in weapons and equipment.
Six field mechanized brigades, each with a brigade-affiliated heavy artillery regiment equipped with forty-eight 155-caliber howitzers, a self-propelled artillery regiment equipped with thirty-six wheeled and tracked large-caliber artillery pieces, and a rocket launcher battalion equipped with Twelve thirty-two-tube rocket launchers. Each regiment has a regimental artillery battalion equipped with twenty-four medium-caliber artillery pieces. Each battalion also has a battalion-affiliated artillery company equipped with twelve medium-caliber artillery pieces, and two There are more than ten mortars, and each company has a heavy firepower platoon. In addition to heavy machine guns, it is also equipped with more than a dozen mortars.
As far as the artillery firepower of a mechanized field brigade directly under the corps is concerned, there are more than 380 artillery pieces of various calibers, which is an astonishing number. This is also the principle that Tang Qiuli has always demanded that artillery firepower be supreme. , the six brigades combined, the number of artillery shelling Yamagata Castle exceeded 2,000.
The artillery of each brigade was ready. Time passed by minute by second, but they still did not wait for the division commander to give the order to fire. The six brigade commanders kept looking at their watches, their hearts were burning with anxiety, and they were holding their breath. , wandering back and forth in a hurry, accumulating a pile of cigarette butts at his feet.
Yamagata Castle is as big as a palm. We fought for several hours and paid a certain price of casualties. As a result, we were forced to withdraw from the city. It was as if we had lost the battle. Was Yamagata Castle difficult to fight? Of course not, it was even harder than this. There are so many targets to hit.
"More than an hour has passed. Why hasn't the division commander given the order to fire? What are you waiting for?" Liu Hongzhang, commander of the first brigade, shouted anxiously: "No, I have to call the division commander and hit a mountain as big as a palm." "Cheng, why should you be cautious?"
With that, Liu Hongzhang picked up the phone. Deputy brigade commander Gao Jingkun hurriedly pressed his hand and stopped him: "Brigade commander, don't send me to the door to be trained by the division commander. I will talk to the deputy brigade commanders of each brigade." After some communication, we found that our brigade suffered the most casualties. You said that the division commander was angry. What good could you gain by calling him? "
"Then I just wait?" Liu Hongzhang felt guilty but refused to admit defeat. He did not expect that in fighting a small mountainous city, the first brigade actually paid more than a thousand casualties, including himself. He was too careless and too eager to take the lead in the main attack, so he suffered a dull loss. He was thinking in his mind, wondering how the division commander would settle the score with him after the battle was over?
"What else can I do without waiting for you?" Gao Jingkun replied.
"Sure, then I'll wait!" Liu Hongzhang lost his temper, sat down on the shell box, and started smoking sullenly.
Chu Ziye, the commander of the 4th Brigade, was also so anxious that his eyes were burning and a pack of cigarettes was empty. He frowned and asked the brigade chief of staff, Colonel Wu Chengguang: "Chengguang, you said the artillery is already in place. What are you waiting for, Commander? I¡¯m so anxious!¡±
"Brigadier Commander, it's useless for you to be anxious!" Wu Chengguang blinked and said: "According to my judgment, the division commander is probably waiting for the bombers! I think the infantry will not be used if we attack Yamagata Castle again! The Japanese in the city , I¡¯m afraid there won¡¯t be any left!¡±
"What! Bombers?" Chu Ziye said in disbelief: "You still need that thing. The artillery of our fourth brigade alone can blow up the little Japs in Yamagata City to pieces. That's right. Ah, if we want to blow up Yamagata Castle, we really need to use bombers!" He muttered after waking up.
More than thirty minutes later, the Division Aviation Northern Flying Group's third bomber formation, consisting of more than 180 bombers, escorted by fighter jets, flew over Yamagata Castle. The muffled roar of their engines was like heavy thunder, pressing down on Yamagata Castle. All the Japanese in the cityIn the head, a kind of boundless fear arises spontaneously.
"Division Commander, the Chinese have dispatched bombers. It seems that they are coming with bad intentions!" Chief of Staff Shinto said worriedly.
Lieutenant General Yoshida disagreed and said: "Bombing is just a means of siege. If the order is given, the whole city will enter an air defense state. In the end, to capture the city, infantry will still need to be dispatched. As long as the Chinese infantry enters the city, all their heavy weapons will be lost." It works, but the result is still the same!¡±
"Reporting to the division commander, Huang Manliang, commander of the Northern Flying Group's third bomber formation, reports that our formation has entered the bombing position, please give instructions!" A call came from the ground-to-air communication radio.
"Let's all start!" Tang Qiuli glanced at the group of bombers in the sky and said coldly.
The bombs poured down from the sky. The silver-white projectiles reflected dazzling light under the midday sun. It was not the kind of explosion that blew up smoke and dust, but suddenly burst into pieces after landing silently. , then, flames burst out, and countless flames were connected together, like tongues of winding fire, seeping into every corner of the ground and underground of Yamagata City.
The destructive power of "Buddha's Light" napalm bombs against dense urban areas is absolutely terrifying. In an instant, fires and thick smoke burst into the sky in Yamagata City. Not only Tang Qiuli, but also all brigade-level and above people in the division Commanders all know that underground air defense fortifications will be built in key cities in the Honshu Island region of Japan. The Japanese also know in their hearts that their own troops can invade the territories of other countries and their own homeland will also be attacked.
A few years ago, especially after Japan defeated Australia, the Japanese did this. There is a lot of detailed intelligence that confirms this. Artillery shells cannot destroy the underground air defense system. So, using "Buddha's Light" napalm bombs, Covering bombing can solve this problem, which is the only reason why Tang Qiuli mobilized a bomber group even though he had powerful artillery.
At the same time as the "Buddha's Light" napalm bombs fell, more than two thousand artillery pieces of various calibers also roared together. Countless cannonballs were like meteors, streaking across the sky and hitting the Yamagata Castle. Thick plumes of smoke arose.
On Honshu Island in June, the midday sun was scorching, the Yamagata Castle was burning and trembling, and the heat wave blowing in the wind was scorching people's faces. However, Tang Qiuli's eyes were filled with an unbreakable coldness. With his hands behind his back, he just He kept looking at the burning Yamagata Castle under the influence of napalm bombs and countless artillery shells.
The artillery bombardment of the division's artillery force was quite methodical. It adopted a gradual and carpet bombardment. The artillery shells first dropped intensively on the outskirts of the mountainous urban area, gradually extended into the inner city, and finally reached all-round coverage. Then, they fired back along the same route. During the repeated shelling, there were also gunfire from time to time. It was the surrounding troops who were killing Japanese who tried to escape.
More than an hour later, the bombers returned, the bombardment stopped, and the entire Yamagata City turned into a sea of ??fire. Thick smoke mixed with the smell of burnt smoke floated in the wind. Tang Qiuli let out a long breath, as if the anger in his heart had dissipated. That's almost it.
"Director Ge!" Tang Qiuli called to Ge Zhenzhuang: "In the name of the division commander, I authorize the acting director of the Information Department, Colonel Mei Ting, to truthfully broadcast the situation of today's shelling and bombing of Yamagata Castle to all Japanese people, and once again Statement: Tang Qiuli, the commander-in-chief of the squadron attacking Japan, sternly warned all Japanese that if the Japanese commander in that city tried to drive civilians to fight against our squadron, the result would be hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians and more than 50,000 Japanese soldiers in Yamagata Castle, that is, I'll wait for you!"
??Domineering! murderous look! Ge Zhenzhuang's heart suddenly tightened. He did not doubt the division commander's statement at all. Maybe the Yamagata City that was disappearing in the fire was not the last Japanese city to be destroyed. Maybe it was just the beginning. To treat the Japanese, commanders at all levels of the division The murderous aura in his heart was no less than that of his teacher, it was even stronger!
After thinking about it, Ge Zhenzhuang felt that it was still necessary to remind the division commander, and said: "Teacher Commander, it is not inappropriate to scare the Japanese with the fate of Yamagata Castle. It is normal to issue a public statement to warn the Japanese. But in your name, division commander, It doesn¡¯t seem appropriate. I¡¯m afraid it will have a bad international impact. Is it better to do it in the name of the teacher?¡±
"International influence! So what?" Tang Qiuli smiled coldly and said: "That is something that binds his hands and feet. When the Japanese invaded Northeast China and invaded the whole of China, they never considered international influence. Director Ge, the so-called The international influence is like a passing wind to the strong, and like an international convention, it is a constraint on the weak! "
"The Japanese must learn to fear and be afraid. This is a nation that will not shed tears until it sees a coffin. If in the battle to attack the Japanese mainland, people are slaughtered in the fields and cities, and they are known as butchers and executioners, I, Tang Qiuli, will be happy accept!"
"It's almost done, Yamagata Castle is no longer there"Now, the Sixth Brigade was ordered to leave two regiments behind and then enter Yamagata Castle to clean up the battlefield. The other brigades immediately rushed to the predetermined area to build blocking positions! "
Ge Zhenzhuang was silent, then saluted and left. Tang Qiuli looked towards the northeast of Honshu Island, where there were nearly a million Japanese soldiers.