Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 443: Calm North China

The sound of killing was loud, and the army flags were hunting. Song Xilian's 36th Division came to support. Compared with Liao Lei's 87th Division, Song Xilian suffered much less pressure. There were no Japanese tank troops in front of his position. All

, the Thirty-sixth Division fought relatively easily. After repelling many Japanese attacks, Song Xilian still had a complete brigade of reserves in his hands that had not been used.

The serious situation that occurred in the 87th Division made Song Xilian's head "bang". The 36th Division was the left defensive force of the 87th Division, and the positions abandoned by the 276th Brigade were in the defensive positions of the two divisions.

At the junction, Song Xilian realized the seriousness of the problem. The last line of defense of the Eighty-seventh Division could not stop the fierce attacks of Japanese tanks and infantry. The Eighty-seventh Division was finished, and the Thirty-sixth Division had no good results.

Everyone is finished together.

Before he could ask Zhang Zhizhong for instructions, he immediately brought a brigade reserve to support him. The heavy artillery regiment of the Tenth Army also killed the Japanese tanks. Song Xilian seized the opportunity and soldiers of the Thirty-sixth Division crossed the trenches and rushed towards the enemy.

The bruised and exhausted Japanese army, with the addition of this new force, finally overwhelmed the Japanese army, which had lost all its energy.

The Central Army drove the Japanese troops to the sea before withdrawing their troops and returning to their positions. This day was called the most painful and fierce day since the Songhu Battle. A total of more than 50,000 Japanese soldiers fell in Wusong, Chuansha River Estuary, and Lion Grove Line.

At the front of the Chinese garrison position, a tank regiment was completely wiped out, and two heavy artillery brigades lost more than half. Matsui Iwane's Shanghai Expeditionary Army was killed with blood flowing everywhere, corpses strewn in the fields, and their vitality was severely damaged.

Chang Feng's troops of the Chinese garrison's Ninth Army and Tenth Army also paid a heavy price. The Central Army suffered more than 36,000 casualties, but Liao Lei's 87th Division suffered more than 15,000 casualties.

, it can be said that the Eighty-seventh Division was crippled. Changfeng supported the heavy artillery regiment in the direction of Shizilin, losing 21 men of heavy artillery, 461 soldiers killed, and the entire anti-tank gun unit was wiped out.

At this cost, they fought for three days and killed more than 100,000 Japanese troops. If it hadn't been for the scumbag commander of the 276th Brigade, it could be said to be a complete victory.

At the headquarters of the Ninth Group Army, Zhang Zhizhong's face was terrifyingly serious, and his eyes were full of anger. The brigade commander who escaped was detained by the military police in five bundles. He stood dejectedly in the conference room. He didn't seem to be too scared.

After hearing the news that the commander of the 276th Brigade of the 87th Division had abandoned his position and fled, Zhang Zhizhong smashed the teacup in rage and immediately ordered the Military Justice Department to send a squadron of military police to chase him to the ends of the earth to capture this scum.

The escaping brigade commander had already seen the high-rise buildings in Shanghai. Before he could take a step forward, he was overtaken by the military police. His guard platoon wanted to use force, but the military police shot the platoon leader and several squad leaders to death on the spot.

The guy and his men were captured with great restraint.

Zhang Zhizhong held this meeting specifically to deal with this brigade commander. A staff officer who knew something fishy secretly told him that this person had some connections. He was a distant nephew of Chen Guofu, the head of the Central Organization Department of the Kuomintang, and could go to the Eighty-seventh Division.

The appointment as major general brigade commander was recommended by Minister Chen, and the division commander Liao Lei was a fellow countryman of Minister Chen, so the relationship was very complicated.

Liao Lei's face was horribly pale and his expression was sluggish. On the one hand, he was bleeding too much and had not yet recovered. More importantly, something so embarrassing happened to his subordinates. Among the two hundred thousand people who participated in the war, only this guy abandoned his position and faced the battle.

Running away, his heart felt like a dull pain. How could he raise his head in front of so many colleagues?

What happened was clear at a glance. This guy was a shameful deserter. Because of him, the 200,000 troops almost collapsed. Zhang Zhizhong ordered that he be dragged out and executed on the spot as a warning to all troops. The guy became anxious and shouted:

"Commander Zhang, please show mercy to my uncle. If you let me go, I will be rewarded generously."

Zhang Zhizhong smiled coldly. For your uncle's sake, I will leave you a whole body. Otherwise, I will cut off your head and hang it in the city gate of Shanghai to let everyone know the shameful fate of deserters. There are no scum like you in the Central Army.

, General Zhang Zhizhong was pulled out and waved his hand in disgust.

This was the first major general-level officer shot dead on the Songhu battlefield. The whole army was shocked by it. Liao Lei, the commander of the 87th Division, asked for punishment. His subordinates became deserters. As a division commander, of course, he has a responsibility. Zhang Zhizhong comforted him with kind words.

Zhang Zhizhong already knew about Liao Lei's performance on the battlefield.

How could such a general have the heart to rebuke such a general? In view of the fact that the 87th Division had lost its combat effectiveness, it was transferred back to urban Shanghai for rest and recuperation, and additional troops were sent to take over the defense line of the 87th Division. It is said that Liao Lei was ill for three months as a result.

For a long time, I would say to myself from time to time, "I am not employing people properly."

At the mouth of the Yangtze River, the flagship of the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet, Matsui Iwane was already a little demented. His last sharp sword failed. More than 100,000 soldiers never returned to Japan. There were also those tanks and heavy artillery, a series of failures.

, like a rough boxer, hitting him so hard that he was numb with pain.

Why is this happening? He asked himself more than once whether he was careless or underestimated the enemy. Three days was enough to overturn his inherent impression of the Chinese. Is this still the Chinese army he was familiar with? A few divisions could sweep through most of it.

China, Matsui has always thought so.

But the ruthless reality made him painfully discover that all his experiences about this country, the sick man of East Asia, were outdated. He was facing a Chinese army that was no inferior to the imperial soldiers. The war must continue, but the strength in his hands

, can we still launch a fierce offensive?

Matsui's face looked more than ten years older, like a decrepit old man who had been drained of all his vitality. He ignored the complicated looks of the generals and staff around him, staggered out, and locked himself in the cabin.

, no one was allowed to disturb, the Japanese soldiers on duty discovered that the lights in the Commander’s cabin had not been turned off all night.

On August 26, the Japanese army did not launch an attack all day long. They fought on the beach for three full days. It was rare for them to be quiet. The Chinese defenders, who had a chance to breathe, seized this rare time to repair, strengthen fortifications, and replenish ammunition.

Transporting wounded soldiers and burying the bodies of Japanese soldiers, the beachhead was extremely busy with people coming and going. The blood everywhere had been washed away by the rising sea water, and the beach returned to its former cleanliness.

It's just that the Japanese reconnaissance planes kept flying over to conduct low-altitude reconnaissance. They were as annoying as green flies and couldn't hold back the anti-aircraft artillery of the Central Army's air defense regiment. After a burst of artillery shells, one of them was called down. The rest of the Japanese planes were so frightened that they disappeared.

ran away.

Because the anti-aircraft artillery of the Sulu Mobile Corps Air Defense Brigade has the "Sky Eye" of the artillery sighting radar, the Japanese reconnaissance aircraft have long been in the target. However, Chang Feng strictly ordered not to fire. The soldiers had to look at the friendly forces shooting down the aircraft with envy. Chang Feng

Feng instinctively had a hunch that Matsui could not move on the ground, so he had to make plans in the sky. The air defense brigade could not expose its strength, and he reported his judgment to General Zhang Zhizhong.

Since the start of the battle on the Songhu battlefield, the Japanese troops in North China have frequently mobilized and launched many attacks on the ** division's positions in the form of large corps. After encountering a slight blow, the Japanese troops immediately retreated and started all over again the next day.

In the past few days, the Japanese army was extremely busy dispatching troops and generals, leaving Pingjin three times and traveling to western Hebei and southern Hebei. From Huai'an, Yangyuan, Yu County, Laiyuan to Baoding and Hejian in southern Hebei,

There were fightings on the Cangzhou front line, but they were not serious.

The enemy situation reports from each unit of the ** Division were almost the same. The Japanese army retreated immediately after the slightest contact. According to the requirements of the division headquarters, our unit stuck to the existing position and did not pursue pursuit. Tang Qiuli was furious because the Japanese army was heavily armed.

The gap between the various units was very small, and no suitable fighter planes could be found. The enemy was not good, and the troops were fortunately surrounded by the Japanese army.

In doing so, the Japanese army also had the intention of attracting itself to North China and not being able to divide its troops to support the Songhu battlefield. However, Tang Qiuli was a little confused. The Japanese army, which had always advocated offense, had millions of troops in North China and was facing the Japanese Army.

Hundreds of thousands of troops did not launch a large-scale attack to drive them away and disperse them, but instead engaged in these small tricks. The commander of the Japanese army in North China must have had water in his head, right? The Japanese thinking, using normal people's judgment, is still

I really can't guess.

The plan to annihilate the Japanese army in western Hebei and southern Hebei failed, and the intention to introduce the Japanese army into the Taihang Mountains and Shanxi failed to be realized. Shanxi Commander Yan, with hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands, was in a panic and just couldn't do it.

He was sent to the Hebei battlefield to share part of the pressure for Tang Qiuli. As the chairman of the Northern Army Branch, he once sent a letter to Yan Xishan, stating the interests and emphasizing that the Pingjin battlefield was actually a battle of households in Shanxi.

Tang Qiuli thought he was sincerely affectionate, but he didn't know that the man first cried out about poverty and poured out his sorrows. The troops had no food or clothing, lacked guns and artillery, and had not been able to pay them for several months. The soldiers had no intention of fighting, and then asked

Conditions, if you need this or that, then you can send out some

Military strength, he also said sourly, Vice Chairman Tang was rich and powerful, and the central government looked down upon him again, asking for money, giving money, and asking for guns, giving guns, I, old man, am borrowing your glory. After reading the telegram, Tang Qiuli became angry.

, I no longer have the intention to deal with this guy.

He receives detailed information about everything about the Sulu Mobile Corps on the Songhu battlefield every day. Compared to North China, he is currently more concerned about the direction of Songhu. The anti-landing battle in Wusong area was bloody and there was no movement.

The troops stationed in Hangzhou Bay had Zhang Zhizhong and the 200,000 Central Army in mind, and they felt much more at ease. He knew that next, Brother Qiu Sheng would have even more courage on his shoulders.

After crippling Matsui, the Japanese will not give up. Next, the Hangzhou Bay area will be the main battlefield in the third phase of the Songhu Campaign. They regret that they cannot free up their hands and are pinned to death by more than one million Japanese troops.

North China, otherwise, the threat on the southern front can be eliminated in one battle, and the northern front will be much easier to fight.

He also received a report of Chang Feng asking for disciplinary action. Regarding this young man's outstanding performance on the Songhu battlefield, Tang Qiuli was somewhat surprised, but more happy that the army had another one who could take charge of his own role.

War General, of course he felt bad for losing the heavy artillery and anti-tank guns, but Chang Feng could achieve such a record, no matter how big the loss was, it was worth it.

To be continued

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