Age of Rebirth

"You got it right!" Zhao Yu laughed happily, and said, "Commander Ma Chaoyang's troops attacked Oita City on Kyushu Island, and Commander Hantie's troops attacked Takamatsu on Shikoku Island. There were casualties in the Japanese civilian suicide attacks in the two places. In a fit of rage, the two mobilized thousands of large-caliber artillery pieces and flattened Oita Castle and Takamatsu Castle. This happened before you ordered the bombardment of Yamagata Castle thing!"

"However, maybe it was because of fear of being punished by the division commander. At that time, Commander Ma and Commander Han did not report the results of the battle. It was not until after your public statement was released that the division commander received the shelling of Oita and Takamatsu by the Southeast Mobile Corps and the Marine Corps. A detailed report on the ground!"

"Okay! These two guys went ahead of me!" Tang Qiuli teased, "What punishment? It's really unfounded! If I punish Ma Chaoyang and Han Tie, wouldn't the hearts of the soldiers be chilled! Yuhe, the division will immediately move forward to Xinzhuang, the blockade position of the [-]st Brigade, command the troops nearby, and let's see how Liu Hongzhang fights this blockade!"

"I don't agree!" Zhao Yuhe's complexion immediately changed, and he said excitedly: "Master, the current position of the commander is already very forward, can he also command the troops? The first brigade is deployed on the front line of Xinzhuang. That is the key attack area for the Japanese army to break through, it is too dangerous, if you are worried, I can go to the position of the first brigade, but you must stay here!"

"Yuhe! Look, you're nervous!" Tang Qiuli said nonchalantly: "The Japanese soldiers now have lost their fighting spirit and only have the idea of ​​running away. There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers directly under the Corps. Powerful tanks and Artillery, the fortifications have been strengthened for several days, there is no danger for me to go to the first brigade. Besides, I will stay at the brigade headquarters if I go, Liu Hongzhang can let me go to the front line?"

"So, your worries are unnecessary! Besides, this may be the last large-scale blocking battle after the start of the invasion of Japan. I can't miss it! Also, you immediately order Le Yiqin and Liu Cuigang to dispatch all The fighter planes were used to bomb the retreating Japanese army continuously. If the Japanese army reached the blocking position, they would lose too much blood and become half-dead!"

Zhao Yuhe still wanted to dissuade him.Tang Qiuli waved his hand.His attitude was very resolute. Seeing this, he knew that he couldn't persuade the teacher, so he gave up the idea of ​​going to the front line, so he went to arrange the matter of moving the teacher's finger forward. On the way, he thought: "If Captain Huang Yes, the commander will definitely not be able to go to the front line!"

The sun is up and the sun is shining brightly.It was definitely a good weather, but for the more than [-] Japanese soldiers who were rushing to retreat from Aomori and Morioka to Tokyo, such cloudless weather was an absolute nightmare.

Under the bright sunshine, the ebb tide and sea-like Japanese soldiers marched along several narrow passages, crowded with people and cars, and the chaotic footsteps of the Japanese soldiers stirred up dust all over the sky. It blocked the way for the soldiers and blocked the passage of trucks and artillery vehicles. Therefore, the Japanese soldiers who refused to give in to each other began to abuse each other, and the leading officers of both sides had to come forward to reason.

In the back, the sound of gunfire getting closer and closer, like a reminder, marching under the scorching sun exhausted the physical strength and patience of the Japanese soldiers. We could see exhausted and injured Japanese soldiers everywhere, falling on both sides of the road, miserable shouted, but all the Japanese soldiers passed by with their heads down, listlessly. No one looked at these wounded soldiers more, and the breath of failure and fear permeated the ranks.

In the sky, there was the roar of engines. Countless independent division bombers and fighter jets covered the clear sky. Immediately, countless bombs roared down from the sky, and dense bullets poured down like raindrops.

"Boom! Boom!——Boom!" There was a series of violent explosions, and the soaring smoke column and flashing flames enveloped the marching ranks of Japanese soldiers. A heavy bomb fell. With the blasted soil, it flew into the air.

Japanese commanders at all levels shouted and organized light and heavy machine guns to shoot into the air, but often just after firing a few bullets, they were attacked by fighter jets from the Independent Division. The corpses of the Japanese soldiers, what was even worse, were cut in two by bullets from large-caliber airborne machine guns.

The area is too narrow. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers are crowded in a small area. The density can be imagined. The bombers of the independent division don’t even need to deliberately lower their heights to find targets. Just drop the bombs. There are targets all over the mountains and plains. , Don’t worry about not being able to bomb the little devil, the explosion of the bomb and the roar of the aircraft engine are intertwined, playing a song of death for hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers.

Starting from this day, in the next few days, from morning to night, the bombers and fighters of the Independent Division, like the king of Hades, appeared one after another over the heads of the Japanese soldiers all the time. , Countless bombs and bullets poured down, even in the dark night, there is no peace, as long as there is a little fire, it will attract piles of bombs.

The Japanese soldiers who broke out from the battlefield in the northeast of Honshu Island braved the bombs and bullets pouring down from the sky every moment, and walked step by step. From Aomori, Morioka to Xinzhuang, it was only a distance of more than 170 kilometers. On the way, you can see the bloody corpses of Japanese soldiers, limbs blown to pieces, wounded soldiers with missing arms and broken legs crying in pain, burning trucks, and cannons with bent barrels.

The blood of the Japanese soldiers stained the road to break out of the siege red, and there were many dead bodies along the way. The carrier aircraft group of the Southern Fleet of the Independent Division also participated in an unprecedented large-scale bombing, which aggravated the casualties of the Japanese army and caused a huge delay. The marching speed of the Japanese army, the right-wing attacking group chasing after them, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers like wolves and tigers naturally would not let go of such a good opportunity.

Sun Zhenbang and Yuan Jinghao are now laughing from ear to ear. The Japanese army that pursued them has basically lost the ability to counterattack. Followed by the fierce pursuit of the artillery, encountering blocking, first a shell hit it, and then the tank accompanied the infantry to attack, and the battle ended in a short time.

Sun Zhenbang and Yuan Jinghao enjoyed the fight, biting off the tail of the Japanese army with their mouthfuls. The two of them knew in their hearts that the more Japanese troops wiped out by the right-wing attacking group, the less pressure the troops directly under the corps who fought against them would bear. , The order to all the troops is extremely simple, "Pursuit! All brigades must pursue uninterrupted pursuit regardless of fatigue, and be sure to annihilate more Japanese troops during the pursuit!"

The Japanese troops on the battlefield in the northeastern part of Honshu Island were blown to pieces. On the battlefield in the northwestern part of Honshu Island, the situation of the Japanese troops who also broke through the siege was not much better. At the beginning, they stuck to the Japanese troops to fight. Now, the Japanese troops have started to retreat. Naturally, they cannot let them go. Bombs and bullets are raining in the sky, and tanks are roaring on the ground. Every day, tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers will disappear in the bombing.

On the eastern battlefield, the main force of the Japanese army, ignoring deaths and breaking through, finally staggered to the line from Ishinomaki, Xinzhuang to Tsuruoka east of Tokyo after almost bleeding from their bodies. An elite direct corps, a blocking line composed of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

Lieutenant General Yano Masaichi, Commander of the Northeast Defense Zone Headquarters of Honshu Island, stopped wearily and looked at the independent division bombers circling and dropping bombs in the sky. His nose was full of gunpowder smoke and blood. It was the imperial army. The smell of blood from soldiers.

In the past few days, I, a dignified Lieutenant General of the Imperial Army, has been mixed among ordinary soldiers. Just like ordinary soldiers, I have walked more than 170 kilometers on the road to break out of the encirclement with my feet. I dare not ride a car or ride a horse. The Chinese plane is worried about not being able to find the target!

On the cruel battlefield, the life of a Lieutenant General of the Imperial Army is not much more expensive than that of an ordinary soldier. The bombs of the Chinese planes, I don’t know the Lieutenant General and the privates, and I have changed several times just to cover my guards. , Look at yourself again, the whole body is covered with mud, and the military uniform has been torn a few times, as embarrassing as you want, "Oh!" Lieutenant General Yano Masaichi sighed, his eyes were very confused.

Major General Hayao Yokota, chief of staff of the headquarters, heard the commander's sigh, his heart sank suddenly, and he said in a heavy tone with fatigue: "Commander, the army has suffered heavy casualties in the past few days. The bombing exhausted the soldiers' energy and physical strength to the extreme, and a lot of heavy equipment and ammunition were destroyed on the road!"

"The Chinese people have built a blocking position on the line from Ishimaki, Xinzhuang to Tsuruoka. It is obvious that they want to block the retreat of the Imperial Army troops to Tokyo. The staff is worried that with the soldiers' current combat effectiveness and physical strength, it may be difficult to break through the Chinese independent division. block!"

"There are still chasing troops behind. If we can't break through the blocking in front within two days, the Chinese Independent Division troops chasing after us will catch up soon, and the situation will be even worse. Do you want to ask Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zai Ren for help again? "

"Yokota-kun, if Deputy Commander Zairen has reinforcements in hand, will he just ignore it?" Lieutenant General Yano asked, "Now it's not just us, the Morita troops on the northwest battlefield are also facing We are in the same danger as us, alas, His Royal Highness is also helpless!"

Chief of Staff Yokota was silent, and asked after a long time: "Commander, what should we do now? Should we give the troops a rest for a few hours, adjust the deployment time, or launch an attack immediately?"

"What should we do? It's just a deadly battle to break through!" Lieutenant General Yano said indifferently: "Yokota-kun, convey my order, and each department will form a wave of attack troops with divisions as units. If there is no order from the headquarters, no matter how heavy the casualties are, they must not stop!"

(to be continued) (to be continued...)