Chapter 242: I'll Go Back Eventually

Zhang Ziwen naturally wouldn't really come up with a question without an answer, he already had an idea in his heart.

"Although Matsuyama is impregnable, it is not impossible to conquer it. We can use artillery ............"

"Commander, the 82nd Division of the Eighth Army is calling, urgent."

Zhang Ziwen took the message, and the content on it made him very happy.

"Immediately assemble the troops, let all the personnel who go out for training return to the team immediately, inform Lao Shen to load the military rations immediately, and the whole team will go to Baoshan."

Baoshan, where did the people sitting start from, go to Mandalay via Songshan, from Mandalay to Tonggu, and then fall to Savage Mountain.

Everything is like going back in time, only there are 200 divisions missing.

I will eventually go back is the slogan that MacArthur shouted in Australia after being driven out by the Japanese in Southeast Asia for two months and taking more than 10,000 prisoners.

Today Zhang Ziwen also wants to say this, I will finally go back, and I will finally go back to bring back your bones: I will finally go back and comfort your souls in the sky with the blood of the enemy: I will eventually go back and plant bright red flags all over the mountain.

"Lu Wenqing, tie that military flag to me on the top of the convoy mountain. Don't hide it, take out the flag of the 200 divisions and tie it to the car. I want to tell the 56th Division that they still have to pay some debts after all. ”

In the early morning of the next day, 60 cars rushed out of Qujing.

They will be followed by 5,000 warriors who will wash away the shame of their comrades.

Five battalions, this is a strong army that Zhang Ziwen spent all his money to build for the counterattack on Burma.

Dali, Cai Wen, Sun Liang, Tang Song, and Wang Yi, each battalion has 800 people, plus 600 people in the teaching team, and Zhang Ziwen's headquarters has only 400 people, but it has extremely high efficiency.

There are no civilians in the team, all of them can go into battle with guns, even Long Yang has become a person with a pistol and a knife in the baptism of war.

Zhang Ziwen tried his best but could not catch up, and the 11th Army was forced to cross by various ferries on May 29 according to the predetermined plan.

The Japanese army was empty and did not put up strong resistance. On 2 June, all units had successfully crossed the bridge.

On June 4, the main force of the new 28th Division, the 10th Artillery Regiment on the east bank of the Huitong Bridge, covered the river with fire. At the same time, a detour to the south of Lameng. Cut off the protection of Lameng, launch an attack on the enemy of Lameng, and launch an attack on the Yunnan-Burma highway between Lameng and Longling.

The 82nd Regiment of the New 28th Division, with the 1st Battalion as the left flank, the 3rd Battalion as the right flank, and the 2nd Battalion as the reserve, began to attack Lameng and Zhuzipo at 6:40 a.m. on 4 June.

At about 12 o'clock, the two places were captured one after another, and the attacking troops suffered only 13 casualties. The enemy suffered about 30 casualties, and the remnants of the enemy retreated to Yinshan Mountain.

On 5 June, the new 28th Division continued its assault on 7 June, but was halted by the dense fire of the enemy's fortified positions.

The 82nd Regiment attacked Yinshan Mountain, and entered and exited the line of Xiaoshuidong and Songshan; The 83rd Regiment was deployed on the line of Wangjiazhai and Hetaoqing, attacked Dayakou and Rolling Longpo, and later entered and exited the line of Songshan and Bangzhang, and at the same time used a section to guard and destroy the road in the direction of Zhen'an Street.

The 11th Group Army initially judged that the enemy in Songshan was only 300-400 men and 11 or 2 artillery pieces, but it did not know that the enemy had built an extremely strong position on this barren mountain and defended it with heavy troops. The enemy in Songshan was the main force of the 113th Wing of the 56th Division and the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade of the division, as well as engineers, baggage, communications, sanitation, epidemic prevention and water supply, with a total of about 3,500 people.

The commander of the 113th Wing, Hideji Matsui, also served as the captain of the garrison and was responsible for commanding the garrisons of Longling and Zhen'an Street.

After the expeditionary force crossed the river and counterattacked, Matsui was transferred to aid Tengchong. From 7 to 10 June, the 82nd and 83rd regiments of the new 28th Division launched several attacks on the enemy positions in Songshan, and although they suffered heavy casualties, they made little progress.

The main force of the 71st Army, which was attacking Longling, progressed relatively smoothly, with the 259th Regiment of the 87th Division capturing Huangcaoba on the 6th, and the 260th Regiment capturing Daba and Zhen'an Street on the 8th, cutting off the road between Songshan and Longling.

The dam was also the location of the enemy's supply depot in Songshan, and the cutting off of the Longsong Highway and the occupation of the dam warehouse made the enemy defend Gongshan surrounded by the expeditionary force on all sides.

In order to wipe out the enemy at Songshan as soon as possible and eliminate the flank threat to the main force attacking Longling, the 11th Group Army ordered the 117th Regiment of the New 39th Division of the 6th Army to move from the east bank of the Nu River to the vicinity of Songshan and come under the command of the New 28th Division to participate in the attack on Songshan on 14 June.

On 15 June, the new 28th Division launched another offensive with the 82nd, 83rd, and 117th Regiments. After a fierce attack in the rain on the 3rd, it captured Yinshan Mountain at around 6 p.m. on the 17th.

After 20 June, the 84th Regiment of the New 28th Division joined the battle, and Zhong Bin, commander of the 71st Army, personally came to the Songshan front to take command, and the Expeditionary Force Commander's Department transferred the Rongpu 1st Division of the 8th Army of the Strategic Reserve to reinforce it. The troops rushed to build a temporary bridge at the site of Huitong Bridge, and continuously transported reinforcements and supplies to the foot of Songshan.

The troops stormed fiercely for several days, and regained more than 10 strongholds, but the enemy stubbornly defended them with strong Huishu, and it was difficult to destroy them even if they were directly hit by heavy artillery. In addition, the weather was bad and the terrain was dangerous, and the attacking troops fought continuously for many days, suffering heavy casualties, fatigue of officers and men, and making progress difficult.

By July 2, the Expeditionary Force Commander's Headquarters ordered the 8th Army to take over the task of besieging Songshan, and all units of the 71st Army attacked Longling with all their might. The month-long battle from June 4 to July 2 was the prelude to the siege of Matsuyama.

The attacking forces of the expeditionary force, with the new 28th Division of the 71st Army as the main force, paid a heavy price of nearly 1,700 casualties.

Of these, 805 soldiers were killed and 736 wounded; 50 officers were killed and 108 wounded. In addition, 32 people are missing.

596 enemy soldiers were killed and wounded, and 16 rifles were captured. The ratio of casualties between the enemy and us was close to 1:3, and the severity of the battle and the huge losses of the expeditionary force can be seen here.

The Eighth Army was originally stationed in the Wenshan area of southern Yunnan, and was tasked with defending against the Japanese invasion on the Vietnamese side, under the command of Guan Linwei of the 9th Group Army.

The Eighth Army assembled in the vicinity of Xiangyun and Fengyi through Kaiyuan and Kunming. In mid-May, he was ordered to open Baoshan Youwang Town with a division to take over the east bank of the Nu River.

In mid-June, he was ordered to go to Anjie, Longling Town, with a first division, to participate in the siege of Longling. Due to the long-term inability to attack Songshan, the 8th Army was ordered to take over the new 28th Division of the 71st Army to besiege Songshan on 2 July, and the new 28th Division was transferred to Zhen'an Street to stand by.

The 8th Army is under the jurisdiction of the Honorary 1st Division, the 82nd and 103rd Divisions, with Army Commander He Shaozhou, Deputy Army Commander Li Mi and Honorary 1st Division Commander. Due to the repeated change of mission, the army was divided into three divisions.

Zhang Ziwen ran several places to catch up with He Shaozhou in Songshan.

After accepting the task of besieging Songshan, He Shaozhou ordered all units to assemble and complete preparations in the Songshan area within three days, and attack Songshan and Rolling Longpo on the two sides at dawn on July 5, preparing to drive the enemy outside the position and annihilate it in one fell swoop.

Zhang Ziwen had just arrived, and He Shaozhou did not assign a task, but hid it in the area of Lao Baiyan as a surprise soldier.

After several setbacks in the troops, the troops need to pay attention to the fact that Zhang Ziwen only sent a small group of troops to investigate.

In order to ensure the Matsuyama offensive, the expeditionary force supported the attack with artillery fire from the mixed battalions of the 7th and 10th artillery regiments, the 5th artillery battalion, and the 2nd artillery battalion of the 71st army.

The attacking troops were deployed on Dasongshan, Yinshanshan, Luolongpo, and Lamengjie, the artillery was deployed at the Dashantou position at 733 kilometers from the Yunnan-Burma Highway on the east bank of the Nujiang River, and the corps command post was set up at Yinshanshan.