Chapter Fifty-Nine: Sad Detachment Leader
Tangyuan County was lost, and Jiamusi was directly exposed to the front of our army, and Jiamusi's Japanese Ninth Division inevitably faced our army's newly victorious division. The Ninth Division has always been known for its ability to fight vicious battles www.biquge.info which is why the Japanese base camp is in a hurry to transfer it to the Pacific theater to deal with the well-equipped and well-trained American troops.
Now, the Ninth Division knew from top to bottom that the U.S. forces were difficult to deal with, and that what awaited them in the Pacific theater was likely to be the most difficult battle since the formation of the army.
The war was imminent, but the 9th Division was transferred to the extreme northern city of Jiamusi to deal with the Ren Laifeng troops, which could cause headaches for the commander of the Kwantung Army, General Umezu Mijiro, and it was unrealistic to say that the commanders of the 9th Division had no ideas.
Lieutenant General Haramori, who was the commander of the 9th Division of the Japanese Army at the time, may not be as famous as Yoshizumi Ryosuke in the hearts of our military and civilians, but since he can become the division commander of the 9th Division, Lieutenant General Hara Mamoru is naturally not an ordinary person.
Although he will soon go to the Pacific theater to fight a vicious battle with the US army, since the Ninth Division has been transferred to Jiamusi as a garrison unit, Lieutenant General Yuan Shou definitely does not want to suffer a defeat before going to sea, and will be driven to the sea by Ren Laifeng. That would be too ugly for the Ninth Division, for Your Excellency the Lieutenant General.
Lieutenant General Hara was keen to end the 9th Division's trip to China with a victory before entering the Pacific theater. Of course, if this victory is a disastrous victory, His Excellency the Lieutenant General will be insensitive to him. He wanted to win the battle, but he was also afraid that the losses would be too great, which would lead to a great reduction in the strength of the division and regiment after entering the next battlefield, and it would become a second-rate division.
To tell the truth, it is not terrible to be reduced to a second-rate division, and the most terrible thing is that if it is targeted by the US military as a soft persimmon in the Pacific theater because of its poor strength, the future of the ninth division will be greatly bad. If that really happened, Lieutenant General Hara Shou would probably become a sinner of the 9th Division.
It's really tangled to say, but Lieutenant General Hara still has a way to deal with it. After learning the news of the loss of Yuyuan County, His Excellency Lieutenant General immediately summoned the middle and senior commanders of the division to his division headquarters for a meeting. At the meeting, Lieutenant General Yuan Shou emphasized the determination to defend Jiamusi and defeat the Ren Laifeng military group.
Subsequently, the commander of the original defending division ordered the 35th Infantry Wing as the backbone, joining a mountain artillery brigade, an engineer squadron, a baggage brigade, a tank squadron, and two divisions of the Anguo Army, with Major General Tanaka as the detachment leader, to form a special detachment to rush to Yuyuan to meet Ren Laifeng!
The Zhaoping Wing of the 12th Division can't defeat Ren Laifeng's troops, so it's okay for me to send a special task force over, right? With the addition of two puppet divisions, the number of the task force will reach 10,000!
Of course, in order to prevent the task force from carrying forward the fine traditions of the Ninth Division and fighting to the death with Ren Laifeng's headquarters, which ultimately led to heavy losses of the troops, after the military meeting, Lieutenant General Hara Mamoru and the newly appointed commander of the task force, Major General Tanaka, held a separate secret talk.
During the secret conversation, Lieutenant General Hara Mamoru told Major General Tanaka that when you and Ren Laifeng's troops are fighting, you must control the rhythm of the battle to prevent the troops from falling into a dead knot in a fierce battle. It is imperative to ensure that the vitality of the troops is not lost and to control the number of casualties among the soldiers. Victory is the main thing, but it is more important to preserve the strength!
Why didn't the Shohei United defend Yubara County? Why did the captain of the Zhaoping Wing throw the county seat to Ren Laifeng and retreat when the strength of the troops was still alive? Didn't he receive a secret order from the top of the 12th Division? They know how to preserve their strength, and we can't be fools! Do you understand?
"Please rest assured, the division commander, Tanaka understands!" Major General Tanaka nodded solemnly.
Major General Tanaka was transferred from the Japanese War Department to the Ninth Division only last year, and he was basically an idle post in the Ninth Division, usually studying tactics and strategy with the chief of staff, and spending most of his time reading the combat history of the Ninth Division. Although this history of the war had been thoroughly studied before he came to the Ninth Division to take up his duties, in order to make a good impression in front of the division commander, His Excellency the Major General still studied tirelessly every day.
Hard work pays off. His Excellency the Major General's diligence was finally discovered by the division commander, and he finally got a chance to personally lead the troops to the battlefield.
However, what was behind this appearance disappointed Major General Tanaka. It turned out that the division commander did not fancy his profound attainments in strategy and tactics, but let him be the scapegoat. If you put the preservation of strength in the first place before you go to war, is it possible to win this kind of battle? Once he failed, it was only natural that he, the leader of the detachment, would be pushed out to take the blame.
Can he not go? No! Once this kind of unavoidable opportunity is voluntarily given up, especially if he accepts the appointment in front of all the middle and senior commanders of the whole division and resigns as soon as he turns his face, then the Ninth Division will no longer have a place for Major General Tanaka to stand in the future!
If he fights hard, the consequences may be more serious than voluntarily resigning! Ren Laifeng can even fight Harbin, how can he win the battle with this 10,000-strong man of the ordinary Japanese army and the puppet army? Once the war on his side is unfavorable, it would be a dream to expect the division to send him reinforcements. The result that awaits him will inevitably be a great defeat for the wounded soldiers!
If he really gets such a result in the end, it is estimated that Lieutenant General Yuan Shou will probably directly order him to commit suicide by caesarean section!
No matter how hard you do, you can't get good results, no wonder Major General Tanaka has a sad face and a solemn face. At this point, it's useless to be angry and sad. He still served as his detachment commander and fought this battle in full accordance with the orders of the division commander. As for the final result, there will be any variables before the battle is fought, and perhaps he will be appointed to a newly formed division as the division commander after this battle.
With this complicated and incomprehensible mood, Major General Tanaka gathered his troops and horses, left Jiamusi, and came to the border of Tangyuan County.
The scout reported that after the front of the earthen ridge, there was Yubara County. Major General Tanaka raised his binoculars and looked at it for a moment, then pointed forward with his horsewhip, "The chariot squadron, the engineer brigade, and the 2nd Division of An will cross the earthen ridge and build fortifications on the spot." The 3rd Division, the Heavy Brigade, and the 35th Wing advanced one kilometer to Tuling to build fortifications. ”
Look at what he means, this guy is going to fight a blocking battle on Tulingzi. The officers below couldn't stop wondering, their detachment was obviously going to recover Tangyuan County and fight against the 49th Group Army of the Chongqing Army, how could they build fortifications on the way?
"Your Excellency General, I don't understand, why don't we build any more fortifications in Yuyuan County?" The commander of the 35th wing, Jiro Kato, asked Major General Tanaka.