Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 414 In front of Shanhaiguan

As the leading assault division of the Kwantung Army's southward march, Itagaki Seishiro's original intention was to use the powerful troops of his headquarters to go straight to Tianjin, drill through the Beijing-Tianjin Corridor, cut off the connection between Beijing and Tianjin of the Chinese Army, and break the Japanese Army's control of Peiping. Encircled and annihilated the troops attacking Tianjin on the shores of the Bohai Sea.

Itagaki's idea was extremely bold and arrogant. In his mind, it was still an era when more than 10,000 people were used to defeat 200,000 troops of the Northeast Army. The Manchurian Incident brought him too much glory and desire to conquer.

Itagaki was known for his boldness within the Japanese Army. Although he was short in stature, he was extremely brave. His idea of ​​cutting through the Beijing-Tianjin Corridor without saving Tianjin was indeed bold and surprising. However, the prerequisite was that there must be Sufficient troops and mechanized corps with powerful assault and penetration capabilities.

If the German generals in World War II implemented mechanized blitzkrieg, it might be effective. However, the Japanese army is still half a century away from mechanization. The Japanese artillery wing, all the heavy artillery, is still dragged by mules and horses. One point is that even the troops of the ** Division were inferior. Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang's regiments rushed to Shanhaiguan. All the equipment of the three artillery brigades was transported by car.

Therefore, although Itagaki's idea was very bold and correct, he had to use the soles of his infantry's feet to walk to the outskirts of Tianjin. He did not expect that the troops of the ** Division would set up blocking positions outside Shanhaiguan.

Therefore, he was extremely angry at Xiangyue Qingji, the commander of the North China Garrison Army. The Chinese Communist Party's hundreds of thousands of troops were deployed outside Shanhaiguan, but the North China side did not get any information. I really don't know what Xiangyue did. To achieve the position of commander?

One of his vanguard field regiments suffered a head-on blow from Feng Jiwu. Although the loss was not large, it was the first time since the formation of Itagaki Division that it had suffered losses but no results. The Chinese army on the opposite side had no combat effectiveness. It is extremely powerful and cannot be compared with the Northeastern Army in 31st year.

Therefore, Itagaki immediately withdrew his troops after his vanguard troops contacted the ** division and failed to gain the upper hand. The opponent changed, and Itagaki had to adjust his tactics. Although he was bold, he was not reckless. On the contrary, he was a man with many years of actual combat experience. , a madman with high military qualities.

Tang Qiuli on the outskirts of Peiping, now in his heart, except the Banyuan Division, nothing else is important. If the Banyuan Division is killed on the Shanhaiguan front line, the Japanese army in North China will lose a sharp claw, and the pressure he will face It is much smaller. Taking advantage of the Japanese reinforcements that have not yet arrived in North China, and seizing the advantageous situation of Itagaki Division standing out alone, it is necessary to kill Itagaki Division.

In view of the fact that the situation in Tianjin has stabilized and Zhou Yushan has almost emptied Tianjin, Tang Qiuli handed over the command of the troops surrounding Peiping and the troops occupying Tianjin to Liu Tiehan, and detached a brigade from the East Finger to strengthen the peripheral encirclement of Peiping. The order given to Liu Tiehan was that during the fierce battle at Shanhaiguan, not even a single soldier of the Xiangyue Qingsi in Peiping could leave the city of Peiping.

He also transferred two brigades from the East Finger to surround a cavalry brigade of the Peiping Army and followed him to the front line of Shanhaiguan to increase Feng Jiwu's strength. Behind Itagaki, there were also two divisions of the Kwantung Army. Although the distance was far away, once Itagaki was in trouble, , they will never sit idly by and will definitely fight to the rescue.

The remaining three brigades of the East Point were responsible for the defense of Tianjin. On the afternoon of July 25, Tang Qiuli led the two infantry brigades under the Northeast Advance Command and the 4th Cavalry Brigade of the ** Division, totaling 30,000

More than 5,000 troops rushed to the front line of Shanhaiguan. The situation in North China is currently only unclear.

On the evening of the 26th, Tang Qiuli led his team to the Suizhong front line. Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang's regiment had just fought fiercely with Banyuan Division for a day, and not a single inch of ground was lost. The frontline position was still filled with undissipated gunpowder smoke, numerous bomb craters, and the air.

The pungent smell of gunpowder smoke showed that the day's fighting was very intense.

Seeing the division commander rushing to the front line of Shanhaiguan, Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang felt a little ashamed. They felt that the direction they were responsible for made the division commander uneasy, so they came to take command in person.

Tang Qiuli saw what they meant and told them bluntly that it has nothing to do with you. It's not that you don't play well, it's purely personal interest. Itagaki and I are old acquaintances. Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang were stunned and confused.

It was the first time for Itagaki's division to fight against the Japanese division. Why did the division commander come to talk to us, an old acquaintance?

Tang Qiuli felt that he had made a mistake. He couldn't say that he had known this guy for a long time! He changed the topic, "This Itagaki division obtained information from Yu Deshui's intelligence department, plus your battle report, I feel that it is different from

I have been studying other Japanese troops for several days. If you don’t believe me, ask Mei Ting!

After saying that, she pointed at Mei Ting. Mei Ting felt that there was a ghost in Tang Qiuli's heart, but she didn't know where the ghost came from. She would torture him again in the evening, but what Tang Qiuli was talking about in the past few days was Master Itagaki.

The group was correct and they hurriedly nodded to confirm. Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang were relieved. Tang Qiuli wiped his sweat secretly and finally covered it up. From now on, he would have to keep his mouth shut.

Chief of Staff Li Honggang reported on the day's fighting situation. Today, the Itagaki Division deployed a brigade of troops to launch a full-line attack on the front of our blocking position more than ten kilometers wide. Three regiments of Japanese troops formed several attack waves.

, continuously attacking our army’s blocking positions.

The battle lasted for eight hours. The Japanese army lost about 2,000 people, and our troops suffered more than 800 casualties, mostly injured by Japanese grenade launchers. The position was damaged in many places. I ordered the frontline troops to repair it overnight.

Our troops have been deployed in the forward blocking positions, consisting of more than 40,000 troops in three brigades. The rest of the troops are resting and ready in the Shanhaiguan area. If we include the troops brought by the division commander, our troops have already gathered from Shanhaiguan to Suizhong.

Nine infantry brigades, three artillery brigades, four cavalry brigades, and one air defense brigade, with a strength of 160,000, the total strength has exceeded that of the Kwantung Army's Southbound Corps.

In addition, several units of our special operations detachment have penetrated into the opposite flanks and rear of the Japanese position for reconnaissance. What surprised Deputy Commander Feng and me was that the Itagaki division's one-day attack seemed fierce, but it felt that it was not at full strength.

Its tanks, heavy artillery units and cavalry units did not appear on the battlefield, and only light artillery bombarded our position.

This is a strange phenomenon. It seems that Itagaki is not eager to break through our army's positions, recapture Tianjin, and relieve the siege of Peiping, but wants to attract our troops here. This is where Deputy Commander Feng and I are confused.

However, Tang Qiuli vaguely guessed something. Itagaki must be waiting for an opportunity, and the emergence of this opportunity was related to the Japanese army base camp increasing troops to North China. The Japanese reinforcements in North Korea were still far away, and the Kwantung Army

The troops going south are blocked here, and only the reinforcements from Japan are unknown.

It is a pity that the intelligence network of the military division has not been extended to the sea. Otherwise, it would be easier to understand Itagaki's psychology. Thinking of this, Tang Qiuli suddenly became enlightened, as if a layer of light smoke in front of his eyes was blown by the fresh morning breeze.

Generally scattered.

By the way, Itagaki must be waiting for reinforcements from Japan. The July 7th Incident has just begun. It has been more than 20 days since the Japanese base camp shouted "Destroy China within three months." Not only did North China fail to be fully occupied, but it lost troops and generals.

Tianjin was lost and Peiping was surrounded.

In terms of strategic situation, it is completely on the defensive. This is something that the Japanese government, which launched a full-scale war, did not expect. It placed the Itagaki Division in a prominent position in order to use the combat effectiveness of the Itagaki Division to wait for the Japanese naval reinforcements to arrive.

On this occasion, it suddenly broke through our Shanhaiguan defense line and penetrated directly into the Beijing-Tianjin Corridor, severing the connection between our troops.

Close, compress, encircle, or even completely annihilate, hoping to determine the situation in North China in one battle, so that they can free up their hands to move the army south and attack the hinterland of the Central Plains and Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Tang Qiuli's guess was right. The reinforcements from Japan were sailing on the North Yellow Sea and were about to cross the Bohai Strait. They were still a day and a half away from Tianjin, and the number of reinforcements greatly exceeded

According to the original plan, there were ten first-class divisions, about 350,000 men, and five heavy artillery regiments.

After thinking about this, Tang Qiuli's face suddenly tightened. The Japanese troops coming to help from the mainland would undoubtedly land in Tianjin, but he was not sure whether the Tianjin defenders could resist the Japanese troops.

All the troops on the front line of Shanhaiguan have withdrawn to the Beijing-Tianjin area, preparing for counter-landing? The Itagaki Division and the Kwantung Army's southward corps are bound to chase after them. If the Japanese troops in Peiping come out of the city to counterattack, the troops will be in an extremely disadvantageous position and have to be forced to

With the entire line retreating to the Yellow River defense line, the favorable situation in North China that has been hard won will be lost.

Tang Qiuli felt that his appetite was a little too big, and he panicked. Now, Shanhaiguan cannot withdraw. This battle must be fought, and the key to this battle is whether Tianjin's Liu Tiehan can succeed.

Preventing the Japanese troops from landing, or repelling the Japanese troops by Chiang Kai-shek, will buy two to three days for the Shanhaiguan battle.

In the Battle of Shanhaiguan, Tang Qiuli not only planned to kill the Itagaki Division, but also annihilated or defeated the Kwantung Army's southward corps, and Tianjin was the weak spot of the entire campaign layout.

Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang saw that the teacher's face was changing, his eyes seemed to be blurred, and they looked at each other. They turned their eyes to Mei Ting. Only the person next to the teacher could know what the teacher was thinking at this time. Mei Ting gently waved her hand to signal him

Don't disturb Tang Qiuli. In this state, Tang Qiuli is making a difficult decision.

After a while, Tang Qiuli's eyes became clear, and his face was filled with determination. He made up his mind that the battle of Shanhaiguan must be fought. If he didn't kill the Itagaki division, he felt like there was a lump in his throat, and he felt very depressed. In later generations,

, I hate this Itagaki division to the core. It is notorious for its evil reputation and arrogance. What's more, it can also relieve the troops of their worries. There are many benefits to this battle.

After he matured his thinking, he remembered Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang beside him. Seeing the worries on their faces, he smiled, and they were relieved. Tang Qiuli explained his analysis to them. This time

It was Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang's turn to change their expressions.

The situation is not good. The two brigades in Tianjin East Point have more than 30,000 troops. Even if Liu Feng's police force and eight urban combat teams are included, the number is only more than 46,000. It cannot withstand the situation in any case.

If the Japanese attack from the sea, what can the division commander do?

(To be continued)