Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 804: Liaoxi Offensive

Surrounded in the Ulyasutai area in western Outer Mongolia, Zhukov's Division of the First Soviet Far East Army basically ran out of food after the fifth day because the quality of the water pumped out from wells dug on the spot was too poor.

Most of the soldiers suffered from diarrhea. At this time, the more than 100,000 soldiers of the First Far East Army were like dying sick tigers. They would fall to the ground with just the slightest touch.

Zhukov and the Soviet soldiers could only grit their teeth and persevere. Their only hope was that the Second Far East Army, with General Timoshenko as commander and political commissar, be formed as soon as possible and participate in the Outer Mongolia campaign immediately. Only then could the First Army

There is a glimmer of hope for escape, provided that the Chinese team does not launch an attack immediately.

While Tang Qiuli was besieging Zhukov's troops, he did not give up paying attention to the movements of the Japanese Kwantung Army. Based on his understanding of the Japanese, this was the moment when the Kwantung Army was most eager to take action. These wolf cubs never forgot the Liaoxi region.

, For the Japanese, the importance of the Liaoxi region is equivalent to the Soviet Union's view of the Outer Mongolia region.

Tang Qiuli's northward march into Outer Mongolia was equivalent to sticking a needle into the Soviet Union's belly. Liu Tiehan's eastward command of troops to occupy western Liaoning was equivalent to driving a nail into the forehead of the Kwantung Army. Whether it was the Soviets or the

The Japanese have trouble sleeping and eating, and they have to pull out their hair even in their dreams.

Tang Qiuli's three main corps moved north to Outer Mongolia and fought with the Soviets. This undoubtedly created excellent opportunities for the Japanese base camp and the new commander of the Kwantung Army, General Ueda Kenkichi, and gave him the courage to take action.

Regardless of the fact that the Kwantung Army troops had not yet finished their rest, Qianji impatiently took action on the Jinzhou front line.

On August 21, the Kwantung Army's three divisions, with more than 76,000 troops, entered the Goubangzi and Panshan areas east of the Linghai line in western Liaoning. Their forward troops, the 11th Division, even went forward.

Arrive at Xietun, which is more than 30 kilometers away from Linghai, and assume an offensive posture.

Liu Tiehan, deputy commander of the ** Division and commander of the East Point Force, immediately telegraphed the Kwantung Army's active military operations to division commander Tang Qiuli. Liu Tiehan was not worried about the Kwantung Army's attack. He had 24 East Point Force troops in his hand.

Ten thousand people and Sun Zhenbang's regiment of more than 80,000 people, a total of more than 330,000 troops, and a mere two or three Kwantung Army divisions with more than 70,000 troops, have not yet paid attention to him.

The purpose of his telegram was to tell Tang Qiuli that there was no need to worry about the war on the front line in Jinzhou in Northeast China, and that he could rest assured to fight the Soviets in Outer Mongolia.

Tang Qiuli saw the fighter plan from Liu Tiehan's telegram, and Ueda Kenkichi was too impatient. The Kwantung Army troops had not yet recovered after their disastrous defeat at Niuxin Mountain in the Shanhaiguan area. The strength of these three divisions should be

The first unit to be rested and replenished is also the only offensive fist that Ueda Kenkichi can use at present. Otherwise, the Kwantung Army would not only come with only three divisions, but would definitely attack the entire line.

He sent a telegram back to Liu Tiehan, saying this: "Brother Tiehan, based on the current situation of the enemy and ourselves in the western Liaoning region and the comparison of forces, the Japanese troops of these three divisions are in a prominent position. I have decided that your department can take this opportunity."

, use absolutely superior forces to inflict heavy damage on the Kwantung Army. The specific battle plan can be determined by yourself."

After Liu Tiehan received the telegram from the division commander Tang Qiuli, he understood it. He also felt that the Kwantung Army of these three divisions was fat meat that was put to his lips.

At 130 hours, Liu Tiehan used eleven infantry brigades, five artillery brigades, two air defense brigades, and three cavalry brigades, totaling nearly 200,000 troops, to attack the Kwantung Army troops stationed on the Goubangzi and Panshan lines.

Launch a sudden large-scale attack.

The 11th Division of the Kwantung Army, which is located in a prominent position on the Japanese front and stationed on the Xietun front line, became the first target of attack. Wherever Liu Tiehan's troops went, the 11th Division of the Kwantung Army was immediately surrounded by more than 200,000 people.

Amid the violent waves of the troops, in less than two hours, the 11th Division of the Kwantung Army was reduced to ashes and all were annihilated.

At about 7 o'clock in the morning, Liu Tiehan's troops came to Goubangzi and Panshan. They first used all their artillery to carry out devastating bombardments on the Japanese troops in the two places. After an hour and a half, the troops launched a general attack. By 11:30 noon that day,

Most of the Kwantung Army troops of the two divisions were annihilated, and the remaining troops retreated to Taian and Liaozhong areas.

Liu Tiehan continued to command the troops to attack fiercely, and successively recaptured more than 80 towns in Panjin, Panshan, Goubangzi, Taian, and Liaozhong. Arriving at the west bank of the Pu River, his troops pointed directly at Shenyang, the military, political, economic, and cultural center of Northeast China, and in southern Liaoning.

and Liaodong Peninsula.

The battle history of the ** Division calls this battle the "Western Liaoning Offensive." It was a large-scale exploratory attack conducted by Tang Qiuli to gain a strategic advantage for the front-line troops in Jinzhou, and to test the reaction and recovery of combat effectiveness of the Kwantung Army troops.

.

The Japanese base camp and the Kwantung Army headquarters were extremely shocked. They did not expect that the dispatch of three fully trained divisions to carry out strategic deployment in western Liaoning, which was originally intended to be the front line for the main force of the Kwantung Army, would provoke such a violent reaction from the ** division troops.

, mobilized heavy troops to launch a ferocious attack, and if this situation continues, the Liaoning area will soon be in danger.

The extremely angry commander of the Kwantung Army, General Ueda Kenkichi, immediately asked the headquarters for instructions on whether to engage in a decisive battle with the Chinese troops in the central Liaoning area. In fact, Ueda Kenkichi did not want to fight this battle. The troops in his hands were

Although the total strength of the Kwantung Army has been restored to about 780,000 people after extensive reinforcements, more than 600,000 of them are new recruits and have not yet completed their training.

He could only pull up more than 200,000 people to fight with Liu Tiehan's troops. More than 50,000 people had been defeated by the Chinese army, and the remaining combat-effective troops were only about 170,000. Moreover,

, most of the large quantities of heavy equipment, tanks, and aircraft supplemented locally were not in place. He was not sure about this battle. The combat effectiveness of the troops alone was Ueda Kenkichi's absolute weakness.

Prince Kanin Miyazaihito, Chief of the General Staff of the Base Camp, responded to the call on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor and the Base Camp: "Commander of the Kwantung Army Ueda-kun, the Base Camp received the order from His Majesty the Emperor. Shenyang is the center of Manchuria, and the Liaodong Peninsula is where the Empire of Japan controls the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.

The outpost base must not be lost, and the various departments of the Kwantung Army must block the Chinese army from the Pu River line and then completely repel it."

After Ueda Kenkichi received the order from the general staff of the base camp, he was full of bitterness. If it were the Kwantung Army that had not experienced the defeat of Niuxin Mountain, he would have fought it long ago, but the actual situation facing the army now made him worried. This

After the battle is over, the Kwantung Army will probably be severely injured again.

The emperor's order could not be violated, so Ueda Kenkichi had no choice but to mobilize troops from all over the Northeast and concentrate them in the Shenyang area. Just when Ueda Kenkichi was too busy to deal with the situation, the Chinese Army suddenly withdrew across the entire line, from the Pu River line to Panshan. , Goubangzi, Panjin area.

Ueda Kenkichi was confused and could not guess the intention of the squadron. Without orders from the base camp, he could only follow the original order and continue to concentrate troops in the Shenyang area. Ueda Kenkichi was still very efficient. In a few days , fifteen divisions of the Kwantung Army, with about 340,000 troops, were concentrated in the Shenyang area, and other units of the Kwantung Army were coming in a steady stream.

A large-scale war in Northeast Liaoning and western Liaoning is about to break out at any time. Liu Tiehan's troops will face great pressure from the overwhelmingly superior Kwantung Army. Is this move not well thought out? The war in Outer Mongolia has not yet ended, and most of the main troops have been transferred north. time to stimulate the Kwantung Army and plunge the troops into a dangerous situation of fighting on two fronts?

After Tang Qiuli ordered Liu Tiehan's troops to retreat, he set his sights on Suifenhe and Dongning at the junction of the Northeast and the Soviet Union. There, he had placed an important chess piece in advance, led by Tang Qiuquan, captain of the Special War Detachment of the ** Division. Three special operations teams with more than 700 people have been operating on the Sino-Soviet border for more than two months.

He ordered Liu Tiehan to command the troops to violently attack the western Liaoning area and intimidate Shenyang and the Liaodong Peninsula, in order to attract most of the Kwantung Army's troops to this area and create a situation for Tang Qiuquan to carry out top-secret operations. Moreover, according to the new special operations detachment Information provided by the established intelligence network shows that the newly established Second Group Army of the Soviet Far East Military Region is already being rapidly formed in Shuangchengzi, Haishanwei, Khabarovsk and other places. It is expected to be completed in another seven to ten days. .

The combat target of the Soviet Second Army in the Far East is undoubtedly itself, and the commander and political commissar of the Second Army, General Timoshenko, is definitely a famous Soviet general who is as difficult to deal with as Zhukov. Moreover, according to reports that have penetrated deep into Baikal Feng Jiwu from the Lake area reported that in the Transcaucasus area of ​​the Soviet Union, the Soviet army was mobilizing frequently, and there seemed to be signs of massing heavy troops to attack our headquarters.

The complete annihilation of Zhukov's First Army did not meet Tang Qiuli's strategic requirements. He did not want to force the Soviets to fight for their lives. At least it was not the time yet. In order to face Timoshenko's second The most direct way for the group army and the Soviet Transcaucasian troops reported by Feng Jiwu is to immediately kill Zhukov's troops, which absolutely goes against Tang Qiuli's strategic intentions.

In this case, Tang Qiuli will pull a greedy wolf into the melee. This wolf is the Japanese who covet the territory of the Soviet Far East and never forget it. Polar bears and Japanese wolves are at each other's throats. , Tang Qiuli was able to use the lives of Zhukov and his hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers as a bargaining chip to force Stalin to accept his conditions.

Now, the time has come. After enjoying afternoon tea on the endless grassland in western Outer Mongolia, Tang Qiuli used a special password to send Tang Qiuquan a command. It was very simple, just four words "Rose in full bloom"

At midnight on August 23, 1939, Suifenhe, a small town on the Sino-Soviet border, was completely silent. Only Japanese patrols walked through the quiet streets from time to time. Across the shallow boundary river, the Soviet small town on the other side of the river. Zhenge Lianji was already completely dark.

Dozens of black shadows blended into the ground, lying quietly on the bank of the boundary river, their sharp eyes looking in the same direction.

(To be continued)