The Beacon of Laiyang Metal

Chapter 67 Dou Xuegui

Araki Sadao is the 1873th Lieutenant General Division Commander since the formation of the Sixth Division in 15. A month ago, when the division headquarters was originally stationed in Kumamoto, he suddenly received an order from the Army Ministry, requiring his division to complete the task quickly. Assemble and head to the Andong region of China to eliminate local militants.

When he learned that the target of the purge was just a local unknown division, Sadao Araki felt very unbelievable. You must know that there are not only more than 1 Kwantung Army troops stationed in the entire Northeast region, but also hundreds of thousands of armed expatriates. , how could a small local armed force in China have to recruit a standing division in the country to go on a crusade?

This made him wonder if the base camp was planning some ulterior secrets against China, and wanted to use the pretext of military operations in the Andong region to seek greater interests for the empire.

But soon Sadao Araki found that he was overthinking, because what was sent this time was not only the detailed information and weapon configuration of the 7th Division, but also the detailed battle history of the Kuta Regiment, and even the Emperor's edict was sent by the special envoy. Come to get one, which forced him to pay attention to this Chinese opponent he had never met before.

Like other Japanese officers, Araki Sadao also believed that the Chinese armed forces stationed in Andong, which were strongly hostile to the imperial army, were probably a force supported by Maozi and wanted to take the opportunity to create trouble in the Northeast. chaos, and use this to seize Japan's interests in the Northeast region.

For this reason, Sadao Araki did not dare to be careless. After studying the intelligence of the Seventh Division in detail, he and the division staff specially formulated a set of detailed combat plans for the Seventh Division.

Specifically, at dawn on November 9, the navy took the lead in launching an attack in the direction of Andong Port under the cover of huge artillery, and used this to contain the 7th Division Air Force.

Because they discovered through studying the combat experience of the Jiuda Wing and the 7th Division that the Air Force plays a very important role in the 7th Division, and even plays a decisive role to some extent.

In addition, more than 3 fighter jets and 80 bombers of the 17rd Air Wing stationed at Luda Airport all took off. In addition to the fighter jets fighting head-on with the aviation unit of the th Temporary th Division in the air, the accompanying bombers were also responsible for ground attacks. Bombing mission.

As a result, only the 60th Division and an Army Aviation Regiment with more than aircraft, which had to take into account both sea and land defenses, could not pose an effective threat to the imperial army attacking on the ground.

The imperial army could concentrate its artillery fire to blast away the defenses of the Juqi Division. Coupled with its numerical advantage, this battle was not very difficult to completely wipe out the Juqi Division's headquarters.

Based on his understanding of the Chinese people, if the opponent's defense force is breached in one direction, it will cause the entire defense line to collapse, and the imperial army will only suffer more casualties.

November is winter in the Northeast, and local residents have begun the "Cat Winter" early in the cold weather. Unless there is something urgent at home, no one will wander around outside. At this time, many places in the Northeast are still In the inaccessible virgin forest, once you get lost in the forest, you will starve to death if not freeze to death.

The cold wind howled across the snow and rolled up layers of snowflakes. At this time, on the road connecting Luda and Anton, a huge marching convoy quietly appeared on this inaccessible road in the Northeast.

The marching convoy consisted of hundreds of various military vehicles, many of which were towing artillery pieces of various calibers at the rear. It stretched for more than ten kilometers, accompanied by the roar of engines and rolling wheels. The thick snow made a crunching sound.

In addition to the marching troops on the road, there were also more than a dozen Japanese "Nakajima 91-type fighter jets" flying in the air to escort the Sixth Division on the ground march.

Sadao Araki was resting with his eyes closed in the back seat of his division commander's exclusive car. This is a "Chrysler-Ocean" luxury car. Even in Japan, only lieutenant generals and cabinet ministers and above are eligible to equip it.

For some reason, ever since the army marched to this inaccessible road, Araki Sadao felt a strong uneasiness in his heart. This was one of the few situations he had encountered in his decades of service in the army, and the last time he had this feeling was in During the Russo-Japanese War, he led his team to attack a Russian fortress and was ambushed by the Russians with artillery fire.

That time, when they were ambushed by Russian artillery fire, a brigade of nearly a thousand warriors led by him was almost completely destroyed. To this day, in my dreams, the bodies of the soldiers that had been shattered by artillery fire would still appear, and a pair of soldiers filled with despair. Helpful and frightened eyes.

Sadao Araki opened his eyes and looked at the virgin forests flashing past the car window. His fingers unconsciously tapped the armrest on one side, thinking about what other potential dangers there were.

In order to prevent the Chinese air attacks, in addition to the dozen or so escorting military aircraft in the sky, the ground troops also towed dozens of "Type 96" single-barreled machine guns to be used as accompanying air defense firepower on the ground.

Supposedly, this configuration of firepower is enough to deal with an entire army of China's elite troops. However, Araki Sadao's uneasiness not only did not ease at all, but became more intense. He tried to calm down his anxious mood by taking deep breaths, but that kind of The feeling of panic became more and more intense, so much so that he felt an uneasy feeling like a thorn in his back and a lump in his throat. This feeling was like being a prey, being spied on by a large carnivore and preparing to kill him. The feeling of a hit.

So much so that the division chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Nagaho Kayo, who was sitting nearby, felt the tension and anxiety of his commander, so he quickly asked with concern: "Your Excellency, are you feeling unwell? Do you want to ask a military doctor to come over?"

Sadao Araki shook his head slowly and frowned: "It's okay, I just suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of insecurity, as if there was some kind of wild beast spying on us. We were already halfway through the journey from Luda. But the enemy on the opposite side is still hiding in their defense line, without any idea of ​​​​taking the initiative to attack. Even the aircraft they relied on did not come to harass. Kubo-kun, don’t you think the reaction of the Chinese soldiers on the opposite side is too quiet? I have a hunch. The enemies this time are different from the previous ones, they seem to have a deeper conspiracy!"

At this time, Araki Sadao and others, including the Kwantung Army Headquarters at Luda, did not know that the mixed fleet led by Hirata Tokuo had taken the lead in launching an attack in the direction of Andong. After being attacked by the Army Aviation Regiment of the 7th Division, they all The mixed fleet he led was destroyed and damaged.

This has to be said about the long-standing grievances between the Ministry of Navy and the Ministry of War in Japan. As we all know, Japan is an island country with inherent shortcomings of lack of natural resources. This has resulted in very limited military expenditures. There are serious conflicts between the militaries in order to compete for limited military expenditures.

The reason why a large and powerful new army can be trained in modern times is that on the one hand, Japan's domestic economic strength increased rapidly during the Meiji Restoration, and on the other hand, the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki received a huge amount of silver from the Qing government. compensation.

But when all the compensation money was used to build giant ships and cannons, the conflict between the navy and the army became increasingly tense, and in February 36, the February 2th Mutiny occurred. To put it simply, the army launched a mutiny. The navy sent troops to suppress it, turning the navy and the army into a feud. So much so that the army and navy called each other "red deer". During the Pacific War, Japan even established a battlefield responsibility area. That is, if an island is guarded by the navy, the army will never take care of it. , on the contrary, the navy is also not concerned about the islands that the army is responsible for guarding.

This is also why the mixed fleet led by Hirata Tokuo did not report anything to the army after it was clearly attacked. In addition to his arrogant character, the biggest reason is the long-standing grudge between the sea and the land.

Staff officer Kubuho Kayo picked up the sake wrapped in cotton cloth to keep it warm, poured a glass and handed it to Araki Sadao, and said with a smile in a relaxed tone:

"Your Excellency, you are worrying too much. Judging from the intelligence, this Chinese army does seem to be well-equipped and its combat power is far superior to that of the general Chinese army. However, the shortcomings in military strength cannot be made up for in a short period of time. Moreover, the attitude of the Chinese government towards this is quite unclear, at least it has not revealed any clear support for their ideas. No conspiracy can succeed in the face of the absolute strength of the imperial army. You must have been too exhausted during the sea crossing and boating to produce this If you are worried, you might as well drink this glass of sake and then take a nap, so that you can have more energy to fight this battle. I believe that under your wise command, this militant group will be defeated in one fell swoop."

After hearing what the Chief of Staff said, Araki Sadao was silent for a moment, rubbed one temple with his hand and said to himself:

"I hope I'm worrying too much!" Then he picked up the wine glass in his hand and drank it all in one gulp. When he turned his head and looked out the window, he didn't know when large dark clouds had gathered in the sky, followed by a wave of floating waves. Snowflakes seemed to indicate an approaching storm.

At the same time, in a dense old forest 8 kilometers away from the Kwantung Army Military Airport, dozens of tall and strong men were sweating profusely and busy using hand saws, axes, diesel electric saws, etc. One giant tree after another fell down.

Among them was a dark, muscular man who was nearly 1 meters tall and stood out like an iron tower.

I saw him swung the giant ax in his hand and kept slashing at a huge birch tree that could be carried by one person. Sawdust flew everywhere. In just a moment, the towering tree that could be carried by one person collapsed. The efficiency was no better than holding it aside. The efficiency of the chain saw was not much better. This man was none other than Dou Xuegui, who was captured when he wiped out "Bei Ba Tian" in Heixiazi Mountain.

After the "North Tyrant" was wiped out, when the lieutenant reconnaissance platoon leader returned, the more he thought about it, the more something was wrong. He always felt that there was something weird on that cliff.

When the team returned after dawn, they finally found Dou Xuegui shivering in the cave above that place after some searching.

Perhaps some readers may want to ask, why didn't Dou Xuegui take advantage of the night to escape?

Dou Xuegui really wanted to escape under the cover of night at first. The reason why he stayed in the cave and did not dare to go out was that, on the one hand, this was the only way down the mountain. He was not sure whether there was an ambush by the army in the middle of the road. If he ran away rashly, It was like a mouse running into a cat's nest.

Another reason is that he has been an orphan since he was a child, and he really has no other place to go.

Although I was bullied everywhere in the mountains and had neither enough food nor clothing, I finally found a place to stay. I originally wanted to take advantage of the retreat of the army to see if there was any food in the village. It might as well be kept for escape on the road, but the reconnaissance platoon leader directly blocked him in the cave with his men and captured him with his gun.

Dou Xuegui, who originally thought he would be beheaded after being caught, cried so hard that he cried so hard that he had an eighty-year-old mother to support him and a young child waiting to be fed. The clerk laughed so hard.

At this time, the security regiment was expanded into a brigade, so he was asked if he would accept the reorganization of the team and join the army to become a member of the security brigade. As a result, Dou Xuegui, who had heard some messy dramas at the temple fair, automatically imagined that the officers and soldiers were testing him. This guy was nodding his head like he was pecking at rice, for fear that he would be pulled out if he was too slow to agree.

In this way, after several months of recruit training, Dou Xuegui became a member of the expanded security brigade.

After joining the No. 7 Division, Dou Xuegui discovered that in addition to the tens of dollars of settlement allowance he received when he joined the army, there was also a monthly allowance. According to Dou Xuegui's understanding, the allowance was wages and salary, but his understanding was not wrong.

It was the first time since childhood that Dou Xuegui had seen so much money. He squatted on the ground at the door of the brigade's finance room and burst into tears.

While crying, he kowtowed in the direction of the previous village and muttered: "My son has become promising, my son has become an official, and so on..."

Moreover, Dou Xuegui also discovered that the food in the entire security brigade was never limited, and every meal was meaty. No matter how much he ate, as long as he took the steel basin in his hand to get food after eating, the cooking squad leader promised to give him a full basin. White rice.

This is rice with white flowers, not corn stubble or sweet potatoes and potatoes. How much food do people eat every day? Dou Xuegui secretly sighed in his heart.

But if we look at these grains and meats, Weiyuan really didn’t spend much money.

The rice is old rice bought from the grain depot, and the meat is "zombie meat" bought from the frozen warehouse. The production date on some packages cannot be seen. Wei Yuan estimates that some of these "zombie meats" are older than himself. .

It's just that the storage of these frozen meats is a bit troublesome. Fortunately, in the "system", there is no need to worry about spoilage, but it is a problem to store such a large batch. It is impossible for me to eat one meal and take it out once. In the end, I purchased several large-scale cold storages, which are stored every day. Relying on the division's diesel engine to generate electricity has solved this problem.

Even the machinery in the industrial park uses diesel generators. At first, out of laziness and saving time, Wei Yuan simply purchased a batch of diesel generators with a wave of his hand. However, he later found out that this thing was okay for a while, but not a long-term thing at all.

Later, through Fatty Wang's relationship, we built a thermal power station and purchased a batch of electrical equipment to completely solve this problem. Anyway, the Northeast region had quite abundant coal resources, and that was exactly why at that time. Only then did he decide to come to Northeast China for development.

(End of this chapter)