Age of Rebirth

Two battlefields were formed in the southern region. On the northern front, Terauchi Shouichi commanded the main force of the Japanese China Southern Expedition Army with nearly 40 troops. They continued to attack Chongqing, the capital of the Nationalist Government, in accordance with the original combat plan. Fight to the death.

On the southern front, Tang Qiuli commanded 23 troops, and was encircling the 12 Japanese troops who had withdrawn to Nanning. A huge encirclement circle was formed around Nanning. In this encirclement circle, Nanning was the center, including southern Guangxi. Region, Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong.

He was not in a hurry, nor did he conceal the actions of the troops. At present, the Central Army and the Japanese Army have not yet reached an inextricable level. Moreover, after Terauchi Shouichi knew his plan, it was not obvious how he would react next. At the same time, Tang Qiuli had to be wary of reinforcements from Taiwan, Hainan Island, and Japan. If the Japanese gave up Nanning, the land foothold in the Beibu Gulf, it meant that the strategic direction of the Japanese army base camp had fundamentally changed. Change.

On August [-]th, Tang Qiuli received a call from Liu Tiehan who was far in the Northeast, "Master, the situation in the Northeast and the Far East is still dull. The Japanese Kwantung Army and Zhukov's Soviet Far East Front Army are still facing each other on the outer Xing'an Mountains. Analysis for several months In the coming Far East war, Japan and the Soviet Union seem to have reached some kind of tacit understanding."

"The Soviet Far East Front Army gradually reduced its troops on the outer Xing'an Mountains and withdrew to Europe. At the same time, the Kwantung Army also sent some troops back to the Northeast to strengthen its control over the Northeast. , Opposite the Jinzhou defense line in western Liaoning, the area controlled by the Japanese army, the Panjin and Shenyang front lines, the Kwantung Army has increased from the original four divisions to seven divisions, and the Kwantung Army's guards are also gradually increasing. " [

"Comprehensively appealing all the information, I advanced to the headquarters in the northeast, and drew up the following combat plan. To the east refers to the main force of ten field infantry brigades and four artillery brigades. Twelve thunder rocket artillery battalions and one mixed cavalry brigade. The offensive on the peninsula was aimed at capturing several key points in the hinterland of the Northeast, such as Panjin, Yingkou, Fuxin, etc., to put pressure on the Kwantung Army and disrupt the deployment of the Kwantung Army in western Liaoning. This battle also required the cooperation of the Air Force of the Independent Division. Whether the above combat plan is correct or not, please give instructions to the division commander."

Tang Qiuli passed the telegram to Chang Feng, chief of staff of the independent division and chief of staff of the directly subordinate corps, who had just arrived in Wuming.Said: "Chief of Staff, take a look, this is a telegram from Master Liu, do you have any suggestions?"

After reading the telegram, Chang Feng thought about it and said, "Commander, according to what was mentioned in Commander Liu's telegram, the Soviets and the Japanese seem to be tired of such a stagnant confrontation. In other words, the Kwantung Army broke through the Soviet Army's outer Xing'anling defense line. Drive Zhukov's Far Eastern Front Army to the Soviet Union's European direction, and the Soviet Army has no strength to recover the Far East. If Commander Liu makes some moves in western Liaoning at this time, he will definitely divert the attention of the Kwantung Army to Dongzhi. In this way, your division commander's layout in the Far East and Northeast will be disrupted, so I think it is better for the East Pointing troops not to move."

Tang Qiuli glanced at Chang Feng very appreciatively. This is what he is most satisfied with Chang Feng. He can stand at a certain height, pay attention to overall issues, and keep in mind his duty as chief of staff. He knows and believes that, with Liu With the current strength of Tiehan Dongzhi's troops, it has swept across the west of Liaoning and the Liaodong Peninsula, and pushed the front into the hinterland of northeast China, at the junction of Jilin and Liaoning. There is no great difficulty.

At present, the strength of the East Pointing Army and the Kwantung Army in this area is two to one, and there are far more powerful firepower and equipment than the Kwantung Army. Seven or eight Kwantung Army divisions have 10,000+ people. The opponents of the Dongzhi troops, but in this way, it is bound to form a situation in which the Dongzhi troops and the Kwantung Army will fight in advance.

Only the troops of the Dongzhi family cannot form an overwhelming advantage over the Kwantung Army. Moreover, the time for a decisive battle in the Northeast is far from ripe. Besides, Zhukov will not let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Taking the opportunity to recover the Far East region of the Soviet Union, the East Pointer became a chestnut for the Soviets, destroying its own strategic layout of driving tigers and wolves, and tigers and wolves pinching each other.

After Chang Feng carefully expressed his opinion, he looked at Tang Qiuli expectantly, hoping to get the teacher's judgment, but Tang Qiuli said with a smile: "Chang Feng, Mr. Liu can't bear the loneliness anymore. Do you want to move? No matter who has nearly 30 troops in his hands, he must do something. Besides, we are fighting so lively in the south. With Commander Liu's temper, can he hold it back? It is also a problem to hit the Kwantung Army The meaning in the middle is understandable."

Chang Feng also laughed, and said, "Don't tell me, Commander Liu is used to fighting tough battles. The old foundation of Dongzhi's army is the Northeast Army of the former Zhang Xueliang. With the strength, it is natural to regain your hometown, not to mention, with the strength of Edongzhi, if you can do this in front of you, I am worried that it will destroy your strategic layout in the Far East and Northeast, Commander."

Tang Qiuli shook his head meaningfully, and said: "Chang Feng, you are right in thinking. We must consider the problem from the perspective of the overall situation. It is my established strategy to be quiet in the north and move in the south. I will send a telegram to Dongzhi," Chang Feng hurriedly Take out your notebook.

"Brother Tiehan, you are very quiet and want to move, and your family is rich. Seeing me playing lively in the south, your hands are itchy? The battle of the Kwantung Army has not come yet. The main task ahead of Dongzhi is to consolidate the bridgehead of Jinzhou in western Liaoning and expand The strength of the troops, strengthen training, and prepare to fight big and vicious battles, or the same sentence, to regain the Northeast, it must be the Dongzhi troops of Brother Iron Man, stay safe and wait for the opportunity, Tang Qiuli."

After Liu Tiehan received Tang Qiuli's telegram, although he couldn't figure it out, what did the teacher mean by the timing?Still carried out the order to the letter, disbanded the troops that were ready to go, and devoted themselves to expanding and training the troops according to Tang Qiuli's request, ignoring the continuous small moves of the Kwantung Army in Shenyang and the Liaodong Peninsula.

There is another doubt, hidden in Liu Tiehan's heart, and he has never mentioned it to anyone. The division commander wants the Dongzhi troops to be on standby all the time. Could it be that he has already judged that at a certain time in the future, there will be major events that will change the pattern of the Northeast and Far East. ?

On the second day after receiving Liu Tiehan's telegram, Tang Qiuli received another telegram from Sun Zhenbang, Commander of the Outer Mongolia Frontier Defense Forces, "Commander, the situation in Outer Mongolia is stable. The transformation of the former Outer Mongolian army has been completed. The Mining Bureau's mining companies in Outer Mongolia have already begun mining various mineral resources."

"In addition, the security situation in the Outer Mongolia region has changed. The Soviet Transcaucasus Front Army has suddenly increased its troops in the Lake Baikal region, bordering me. Although no provocative behavior has occurred, the situation has suddenly become tense. Five brigades of the main force will be sent to the area to deploy defenses in response to future changes."

Tang Qiuli read Sun Zhenbang's telegram.With a sneer, he said to Chang Feng: "The Japanese and the Soviets are a pair of enemies who beat each other to death, and now they are doing things in western Liaoning and Outer Mongolia at almost the same time, thinking that they are panting. After a while, with the capital to challenge the board, I began to feel restless."

Chang Feng said worriedly: "Commander, we don't have many troops in Outer Mongolia. Commander Liu's troops are confronting the Kwantung Army in the northeast, and the main force is in the south. Once the situation in Outer Mongolia suddenly changes, it will be too late for the troops to come back." Tang Qiuli said matter-of-factly: "Well, the Soviets don't have the guts yet, it's just a test, call back to Sun Zhenbang, set up marking lines on the border with the Soviet Union, and resolutely fight back against the provocations of the Soviet army, don't be afraid If you hit hard, you will be afraid to hit lightly."

"An order was given to Yuan Jinghao, the commander of the Zhilu Garrison Area, to draw six brigades from the troops in the Garrison Area to form the Second Army of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Defense Army, which was assigned to the battle order of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Defense Army, and went to Erenhot to prepare for the battle. Tell Yuan Jinghao, be generous, don’t let some second-rate troops fool me, Han Tie’s marines went to Tianjin for training, and at the same time, they were responsible for a part of the vacant guard mission after the Zhilu Garrison was transferred northward to Erenhot.”

Tang Qiuli was in Wuming, arranging military deployments in the far north. Xue Yue was in Zunyi, but he fought very hard. On August 20, Xue Yue arrived in Zunyi. After taking over command from Gu Zhutong, he immediately mobilized the Seventh Army of the Central Army, No.13 First Army, No.[-] Army, emergency reinforcements on the front line of Xifeng, the Fourth Army, which was fighting hard with the Japanese army.

On August [-]rd, Xue Yue issued a general mobilization order to deploy a second line of defense in Zunyi, and deployed two army groups. Xue Yue did not intend to defend these two lines of defense to the death. He pinned his last hope on the third line of defense. , Loushan Pass in the Tongzi area, the first two lines of defense are just to gain buffer time for the Loushan Pass defense line. [

It should be said that Xue Yue's military strategists had a good vision. Loushan Pass is the only passage leading to Chongqing. There are natural barriers of Chishui River and Yachi River on the left, and Dalou Mountain stretches for hundreds of kilometers on the right. Besides, the Central Army has no retreat, and Chongqing is behind.

Xue Yue's reinforcement of Xifeng's troops is not so much a reinforcement, it is better to replace the Fourth Army, and then alternately cover and retreat to the second line of defense in Zunyi. The two lines of defense delay and consume the Japanese army's offensive momentum, and gradually wear down the Japanese army The spirit, the real iron wall, is in Loushanguan.

When Xue Yue dispatched his troops, he was on the front line of Xifeng, with a group army of more than 8 troops, blocking the Japanese fourth group army with nearly [-] troops. The artillery, the Japanese infantry charge formation like locusts on the ground, has been battered and bruised, and it seems to be exhausted.

(To be continued)