Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 571: Siege of She County (1)

In the Battle of Xiangtangpu, the Hirano Hiroshi Division of the Japanese Second Army, which was originally tasked with rescuing Yamaguchi, suffered heavy casualties after being ambushed by the 110,000-strong North China Army Division. It lost all its tanks, artillery, and cavalry units and retreated.

Shexian County was immediately surrounded by the ** Division troops in Shexian County.--%.net

When the news came out, the commander of the North China Expeditionary Force, Xiangyue Qingji, who was commanding the overall situation on the Niangziguan front line, was so shocked that he almost fainted. He never expected that the Second Army, which was originally going to rescue people, would be surrounded and reduced to being rescued.

At this point, he couldn't understand what was happening to the Imperial Army in North China? They were passive at every turn and nothing went smoothly.

He was helpless and had no troops at all to mobilize. This second army was pieced together by tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall. And the three battlefields where Yan Xishan and Tang Qiuli were confronting the troops could no longer reduce their troops.

Once Datong is lost again, Zhangjiakou, an important town in northwest Hebei, may be captured by the Jin army, and the Japanese army in North China will lose an important strategic support point.

Niangzi Pass is even more unable to move at all. One division has been taken away, and the troops are already at a disadvantage. Once the ** division troops on the opposite side of Niangzi Pass launch a fierce attack, he has no idea whether the existing troops can ensure that Jingxing Pass is not lost.

Grasp, after leaving Jingxing Pass, you will reach Shijiazhuang, an important town in southwest Hebei Province. It is also an important strategic node, controlling Zhengtai Road.

Cangzhou in southern Hebei cannot be freed up at all. There are more than 300,000 troops of the ** Division pressing there. The pressure is already extremely great. Moreover, Cangzhou is too close to Tianjin. If Cangzhou is lost, the ** Division's troops will

The frontline can be directed directly at Tianjin. With the strength of Tianjin's defenders, it is impossible to defend it. If Tianjin is lost, Peiping will become an isolated city. The situation in North China that the empire has spent many years of hard work to manage is in danger of total collapse.

Xiangyue Qingji was facing great pressure. The Yamaguchi troops could only resign themselves to fate. Hirano Hiroshi of Shexian County could no longer make any mistakes. He mobilized more than one million troops, from an all-out attack at the beginning to a full retreat now. Finally,

But it was such a situation, and his heart was enveloped by a feeling of failure. Ever since the entire First Army of Isotani Rensuke was shattered, it became the beginning of a nightmare for the North China Expedition Army, and Kozuki Kiyoshi had never had a good life.

The staff officers were shocked to discover that the Commander seemed to have aged much overnight. His gloomy complexion, droopy eye bags, and obvious dark circles caused by insomnia all showed that the empire's highest military commander in North China was suffering from

Great psychological pressure.

Kozuki Kiyoshi simply didn't sleep a wink all night. He could no longer afford to lose. After losing the First Army, the Yamaguchi Army, and the Second Army, the Imperial Army in North China would lose nearly one-third of its strength.

, he could not even apologize to His Majesty the Emperor even if he committed suicide by caesarean section.

January 10, 1938, can be said to be the darkest day of Kogetsuki Seiji. The loss of Isotani Rensuke's First Army was due to the execution of the plan to capture Xuzhou from the base camp and then go south to the Songhu battlefield. He did not have it in his heart.

What a burden, but how to explain the current situation of the Yamaguchi troops and the Second Army? He is executing his own combat plan, and the Yamaguchi troops have been confronting the Jin army on the Wuxiang line for a long time, so that objectively they have formed a lonely army situation, and their own

The greatest responsibility.

He blamed himself very much, why he didn't let Yamaguchi retreat earlier? Was it because Tang Qiuli was too cunning, Yan Xishan's troops were very capable, or he simply didn't have the ability to control the overall situation and didn't foresee the potential crisis. It seemed that it was all, and

It didn't seem to be the case. Xiangyue Qingji's inner reluctance, helplessness, disappointment and many other complex emotions seemed to be a mess in his heart and he couldn't figure it out.

However, there is one thing that Seiji Kozuki knows in his heart. He is likely to follow in the footsteps of Anichiro Tashiro and end up sadly leaving. The war between Japan and China has been going on for a long time. Not only has the North China dispatched troops made no achievements, but it has lost troops and generals, and has become passive. This

Someone must bear the responsibility, and those at the base camp will never let him go.

For a moment, Kozuki Seiji felt a little discouraged, but the immediate difficulties still needed to be solved. The situation of Hirano Hiroshi's Second Army was extremely dangerous. He read Hirano Hiroshi's emergency telegram again, "Your Excellency, Commander,

On the morning of the 10th, our troops were suddenly ambushed by the superior force of the North China ** Division in Xiangtangpu, south of Shexian County and on the south bank of the Qingzhang River. In view of the battlefield situation and our inability to do so, the Ministry of Staff ordered us to retreat to Shexian County."

"Multiple blocking defense lines were deployed along the way. However, they failed to stop the attack of the Chinese army. On the evening of the 10th, the ** Division troops had surrounded Shexian County. All artillery was pointed at the city. The total strength of the Ministry of Commerce was only more than 60,000.

Moreover, the artillery and tanks have been completely lost, and the situation is critical. Please send reinforcements as soon as possible, Commander. Otherwise, it is not impossible that the whole department will be destroyed."

Kozuki Kiyoshi read this telegram many times, and Hirano Hiroshi believed him. Judging from the fact that he had fought with Tang Qiuli many times and never took advantage, Tang Qiuli was very determined to annihilate the Second Army.

Otherwise, there would not have been such a big move. By now, Xiangyue Qingsi also understood that the strategy adopted by Tang Qiuli was a typical example of "encircling a point to mobilize reinforcements" mentioned in the Chinese military book.

Afterwards he realized that it was already too late and the siege of Shexian County had to be resolved. He thought twice and rushed to Peiping in person to ask for a meeting with His Royal Highness Prince Zai Ren, Chief of General Staff of the base camp. After meeting Zai Ren, he sensitively realized that this old friend of his was...

His attitude towards him was obviously much colder, but Xiangyue Qingji ignored all that. His purpose in asking to see Zai Ren was to use him to mobilize the Kwantung Army troops from Manchuria to go south and enter North China to relieve the siege of Shexian County.

It's very shameless for him to be able to recruit the proud and powerful generals of the Kwantung Army despite his power, Xiang Yue Qingji. Now that things have happened, he can't care about so much. If the Second Army is lost again, he won't even be able to have a good death.

After hearing his request, Zai Ren frowned, thought for a long time, and finally agreed. Xiangyue Qingsi felt somewhat reassured.

Watching Xiang Yue Qingji leave, Zai Ren's face darkened. This old friend no longer had any value. Instead, he was a burden to himself. The base camp would not reuse a commander who had repeatedly suffered defeats.

It would be a matter of time, and it was impossible for him to mediate for him. Otherwise, he would be implicated. At this time, Zai Ren had already thought of giving up Xiangyue Qingsi and leaving North China as soon as possible.

It is a pity that Xiangyue Qingji did not see the face of Prince Zairen, otherwise, the frustration and anger in his heart would torture him for many more days. After returning to the Niangziguan front line, he sent a telegram to Hirano Hirano who was besieged in Shexian County

, ordering him to stay in Shexian County for eight to ten days at any cost.

Hirano Hiroshi, who received the telegram, fully understood the commander's order for him to stick to it. With the high walls and deep trenches of Shexian County, coupled with the emergency construction of fortifications and more than 60,000 imperial soldiers, Hirano Hiroshi stood firm for fifteen days.

It's not a problem, this is not in the wilderness, he has the confidence to deal with the troops of the Japanese Army for many days.

However, he encountered the same fatal problem as Yamaguchi, that is, an extreme lack of supplies. Xiangtangpu was ambushed, and most of the supplies were destroyed by the artillery fire of the Chinese army. More than 60,000 people were crowded into the small Shexian County, and they were consumed every day.

His rations were a huge number, and without replenishment, he could only live by counting grains of rice, so he could not panic.

Now, Hirano Hiroshi, in the name of the commander, issued an order to ration rations. Non-frontline combat troops only have one meal per person per day, and combat troops have two meals. Even so, the small amount of rations has been consumed very quickly.

After being consumed, the logistics officer told him that the food was only enough to last for another five days. Hirano swallowed hard and then ordered that the rations for non-combat troops be reduced by half.

On January 12, in the name of the chief of general staff of the base camp, Zai Ren issued an order to the Kwantung Army to quickly form a southbound corps through the base camp. The order required the deployment of four elite divisions of the Kwantung Army, with no less than 140,000 troops.

The troops, supplemented by tanks, artillery, and cavalry units, marched southward to the Pass and joined the North China battlefield. Outside the order, the Kwantung Army Air Force deployed no less than 300 aircraft of various types to form the North China Air Force.

The order also specifically emphasized that the Kwantung Army's southward marching corps directly obeyed the orders of the Chief of General Staff of the base camp, Prince Kanin Miyazaihito, and that military operations were not subject to the control of the North China Expeditionary Forces Headquarters. Kwantung Army Commander Nanjiro carefully considered this very sudden order.

Order, he got at least two pieces of information. The Imperial Army was having a hard time in North China, and this guy Xiangyue Qingji was going to be in trouble.

Nanjiro carried out this order without compromise. Within two days, he quickly organized and completed the southward marching corps, and appointed the Kwantung Army Chief of Staff Okamura Neiji as the commander. Nanjiro absolutely believed in Okamura Neiji's military ability.

he is full of confidence

, before leaving, he had a secret conversation with Okamura Neiji, asking him to use this opportunity to strive to bring northern China into the jurisdiction of the Kwantung Army. Okamura Neiji understood it, and then the two looked at each other and laughed, both seeing this as

This is a rare opportunity for the Kwantung Army.

At this time, in the Northeast, since Tang Qiuli's Blood Hand Regiment went south and entered the Pass, except for the sporadic resistance by the Anti-Union Forces, there was no armed force that could pose a threat to the Kwantung Army. The entire Northeast had become a Japanese

The paradise of the Kwantung Army. Under such circumstances, the senior generals of the Kwantung Army, who were extremely restless and restless, naturally turned their hands to the North China region, which is adjacent to the Northeast.

In the minds of the senior generals of the Kwantung Army, except for the Kwantung Army, which is known as the flower of the Imperial Army, the other armies of the Empire of Japan are second-rate troops and cannot bear the heavy responsibility of His Majesty the Emperor and the grand goals of the Empire.

At that time, the equipment and combat effectiveness of the Kwantung Army were indeed second to none among all Japanese army units, and the generals were inevitably arrogant and arrogant.

On January 15, the confident Okamura Neiji led the 150,000-strong Kwantung Army's southward marching corps composed of various arms. They boarded a train from Jinzhou and headed south. The strength of one division of his vanguard had already reached

Departing on the 14th and arriving in Tianjin the next day.

After a short stay in Tianjin, it passed through Bazhou, Renqiu, and Hengshui, and arrived at Handan on January 17, and quickly launched an attack.

(To be continued)