Dalian, the headquarters of the Kwantung Army of the invasion of China.

The chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, Toranosuke Hashimoto, walked to the door of Muto Nobuyoshi's office with a solemn face and a telegram.

The office door was hidden, and through the crack in the door, Muto Nobuyoshi was sitting behind his desk.

Hashimoto Toranosuke groaned for a while, and finally raised his head and knocked lightly on the door, and said loudly, "Report!" ”

"Come in." Muto Nobuyoshi heard Toranosuke Hashimoto's voice and said without raising his head.

Hashimoto Toranoyuki pushed in the door, came to Muto Nobuyoshi, and suddenly closed his feet and saluted: "Your Excellency General, Toshijun Hata has sent an urgent telegram from Shenyang. ”

"Oh? How's the Battle of Shenyang going? Muto Nobuyoshi had already handed over the command of the 200,000-strong army to Shunroku Hatata, so he asked.

"General, since the fall of Tieling, the imperial army has repeatedly fought unfavorably, first Guanjiabao, a strategic point between Shenyang and Xinmin, was lost, you should know this, we also dispatched aviation for this purpose, and finally returned with a crushing defeat.

After the defeat in the Battle of Guanjiabao, Xinmin County fell into the encirclement of the Zhina Army, and almost at the same time, a new force of the Zhina Army suddenly attacked Fushun and captured it.

Subsequently, Xinmin was also captured by the Shinna Army, and the Xinmin garrison army was all broken from the commander of Lieutenant General Kohei Kashii down.

Now the people of China have surrounded Shenyang from three directions, and only Sujiatun in Shenyang can still maintain contact with all parts of South Manchuria. Toranosuke Hashimoto calmly reported.

"Nani? Has the situation in Shenyang deteriorated to such an extent? Muto Nobuyoshi was a little surprised, and more angry.

"Shunroku Hatata, this idiot, how the hell is he commanding?"

"Don't be angry, general, the battle of Shenyang is like this, not because of the ineffective command of Shunroku Hatata, but because the imperial army has no air supremacy, and there is a serious lack of effective anti-tank weapons to restrain the tank and armored forces of the Chinese army.

Moreover, the Chinese army is also newly equipped with a technical equipment that can quickly build bridges and pave roads, whether it is the anti-tank trenches or rivers and lakes we have dug, it is no longer possible to stop their pace.

Their technical equipment can build a steel bridge more than ten meters long in three to ten minutes, which can be easily passed by tanks and combat vehicles of tens of tons.

Therefore, this battle is not a crime of war, and now we have not yet reached the point where we will definitely lose, as long as the imperial army holds Sujiatun and ensures that the connection between Shenyang and all parts of South Manchuria is not severed.

Toshijun Hatara will be able to hold on to Shenyang and will definitely be able to hold out until the next wave of reinforcements arrives, which Toshijun Hata made a special explanation in the telegram. Toranosuke Hashimoto hurriedly explained.

After listening to his explanation, Muto Nobuyoshi nodded noncommittally, and immediately ordered: "Call Shunroku Hatahata back and order him to stay in Shenyang for another month, all in all, at any cost, Shenyang must not afford to lose." ”

"Hay!" Hashimoto Toranosuke suddenly bowed his head in response, and immediately turned around and took the order.

…………………… After resting for a night, the main force of the Western Route Army was ready to cross the river at any time, and at this point, the Northeast New Army had strategically completed the encirclement of Shenyang on three sides.

At this moment, on the north bank of the Liuhe River, where the water flow is not turbulent in the west direction of Xinmin City.

Dozens of No. 4 bridge-building tanks have cooperated with each other to build several temporary steel bridges on the surface of the Liuhe River, which is tens of meters wide.

Tank No. 4, armoured vehicles and military trucks loaded with soldiers were moving across the river.

On the north shore, several military jeeps were parked aside, and a large number of guards had already set up a guard within a radius of several hundred meters.

Further on the periphery, patrols roamed non-stop.

"Zhenyuan, this is dangerous, you must be more careful!" Wang Yizhe patted Li Zhenyuan's shoulder and did not forget to instruct.

Li Zhenyuan nodded and said, "Please rest assured, old sir, Zhenyuan will pay attention." ”

After speaking, Li Zhenyuan stepped forward and saluted Wang Yizhe and the others who rushed to see him off, and said, "Take care!" ”

"Take care!" Wang Yizhe and Gao Chu and others returned the salute one after another.

After the salute, Li Zhenyuan turned his head and climbed into a No. 4 tank car, and soon the driver drove the tank forward with a roar.

This time, Li Zhenyuan was ordered by Zhang Xinghan to send an urgent telegram, and he led four armored tank regiments and two motorized infantry battalions to form a right-wing roundabout mobile force, which was responsible for attacking Liaoyang, an important town in the rear of the Yue army.

In order to achieve the strategic goal of mobilizing the army to seize the opportunity to seize Sujiatun.

At the same time that Li Zhenyuan led his troops to quietly cross the river and set off, the main force of the First Division of Reading Li stationed in Fushun also bypassed the Hunhe River from Salhu under the leadership of Deputy Division Commander Niu Erzhu.

Entered the area south of the Hunhe River and waited for an opportunity.

In Fushun, Huang Xiansheng left only one infantry regiment and one guard company directly under him, and the remaining two infantry regiments, one tank regiment and one artillery regiment were all transferred to Niu Erzhu.

Therefore, the task of capturing Sujiatun this time will be the main force of the 1st Reading Division led by Niu Erzhu.

After deploying these two troops, Zhang Xinghan ordered the three motorized infantry divisions in front of Shenyang to gather the support of the air force and heavy artillery brigade groups and launch several fierce attacks on Shenyang.

In order to attract the main attention of the Shenyang army, as a cover for the two partial divisions.

…………………… The battle of Shenyang has reached the most critical moment, and it can be said that all countries in the world are paying close attention.

Among them, the most concerned is the Soviets, who have just suffered a big loss under the Northeast New Army.

Vladivostok, command of the Far Eastern Military District of the Soviet Army.

The commander of the Soviet troops, Blyukhel, was listening to a briefing from an intelligence officer.

"General, according to the information we have, the Northeast New Army, under the command of its commander Zhang Xinghan, has eliminated no less than 70,000 Kwantung Army, and at present, Shenyang City has been surrounded by the Northeast New Army on three sides. A Soviet intelligence officer made a respectful report.

"The combat strength of the new army in Northeast China is really very strong, and the Kwantung Army, with 300,000 troops, is not their opponent, and it seems that we will not be able to avenge the last arrow in a short period of time." After listening to the intelligence officer's report, Blyukhel said in horror.

………………………… Ichiro Linquan was an ordinary captain officer of the Kwantung Army of the Chinese Invasion Army, and he commanded an infantry squadron of more than 180 people, and he and his squadron were currently responsible for the defense of Liaoyang County.

There are ten squadrons like him in Liaoyang City, plus some gendarmes and guard units, and there are nearly 3,000 troops in Liaoyang City.

In the south of Liaoyang, Anshan, Haicheng, Dashiqiao, Yingkou, Benxi, Fengcheng, Dandong in the east, Panjin, Liaozhong, Montenegro, Jinzhou, Jinyang and other places to the west are distributed nearly 100,000 troops.

The reason why Liaoyang had only more than 3,000 defenders was because there were 200,000 imperial troops deployed at the lighthouse north of it, Sujiatun and Shenyang.

The strength of the lighthouse and Sujiatun exceeded that of two divisions.

Today, Izumi Ichiro carried a saber on his shoulder, as usual, and led two guards with 38 rifles on his back to patrol the defense line of the castle wall.

Everywhere they went, there were soldiers who hurriedly and respectfully stood up and saluted.

This respectful atmosphere and life is very useful to Ichiro Izumi.

After making a round, Izumi Ichiro leaned against a wall and took out a cigarette, and one of the guards had already taken out a match to help him light a cigarette.

Mei Zizi took two puffs, and Ichiro Linquan began to joke with the two subordinates: "Kobayashi-kun, I heard that you and Motoki-kun often go to the Shina Ji Temple in the city to look for flower girls, right?" ”

The two devil soldiers were a little submissive, and they didn't know how to answer.

Ichiro Rin Izumi patted the shoulder of the devil soldier who lit his cigarette and said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, I won't blame you for dripping." ”

"Back to sir, Benmu-kun and I only went once." The devil soldier who called Xiaolin bowed his head and said.

"Once? Haha, how does it feel? Is there a woman in the comfort station of the imperial army? Ichiro Linquan smiled evilly.

The ghost soldier named Xiaolin smiled embarrassedly and said, "They are more flavorful than the women in the comfort station, and we don't have to pay for ......"

"Yo Xi, Yo Xi, remember to call me next time you go, I also want to try what is the difference between Chinese girls, ah, hahaha!" Ichiro Rin Izumi looked up and laughed with a silver smile on his face.

The two devil soldiers hurriedly bowed their heads: "Hai." ”

Suddenly, the devil named Motoki looked up and saw a scene that shocked him, and the whole person was stunned.

Seeing that his face was wrong, Ichiro Linquan asked what was going on, and followed his gaze.

I saw a large number of tanks and armored vehicles appearing in the distance outside the city, and the black pressure was approaching this side like a torrent of steel.

Ichiro Linquan's pupils tightened for a while, and he immediately pulled out his Wang Ba box with a gun and fired a shot into the sky, shouting at the top of his voice: "Enemy attack!" Enemy attack! ”

The two devil soldiers also untied the 38 rifle from their backs in a panic, holding the gun in one hand and the specially equipped whistle around their necks in the other.

The shrill gunfire and the rapid sound of the whistle soon alarmed the entire Liaoyang City army.

Hearing the news, a large number of devil soldiers boarded the city to defend it.

Outside the city, Li Zhenyuan had already lined up four tank regiments outside the west gate of Liaoyang, and the infantry of the two motorized infantry battalions also got out of the car and quickly prepared for battle.

In a tank car, Li Zhenyuan held a wireless walkie-talkie and ordered indifferently: "All tank guns are aimed at the head of the city, ten rounds of rapid fire!" ”

The order was quickly communicated to each tank and armored vehicle of the four tank regiments.

Nearly 400 tanks, each tank spaced about ten or twenty meters apart, divided into several rows, almost surrounded the entire west gate.

The barrels of the tanks slowly rotated and adjusted, aiming the muzzles of the black holes at the city.

Seeing this, Captain Ichiro Linquan suddenly turned pale with fright, raised the Wang Ba box in his hand and pulled the trigger again and again, and shouted a little crazy: "Shoot, shoot!" ”

The devil soldiers on the head of the city suddenly opened fire with light and heavy weapons, and dense bullets suddenly rained down.

"Jingle ......" bullets hit the heavy armor of the tank one after another, bursting out a series of sparks.

Not long after the devils fired, nearly 400 75mm tank guns also opened fire one after another.

"Boom...... Rumble...... Boom ......" huge cannon sound suddenly resounded throughout Liaoyang County.

Clusters of flames erupted from the muzzles of the tank guns, roaring towards the head of Liaoyang City.

"Boom...... Boom ......" shells bombarded the city, and there was a violent explosion, and the raging shrapnel and shock wave blew up the city, and the earth and rocks were splashed on the city, and the smoke of gunpowder was filled.

The devil soldiers, who were still shooting violently just now, suddenly fell down in pieces and howled.

Ichiro Rinizumi also hung up the color, and a piece of shrapnel hit him in the shoulder, and blood immediately flowed profusely.

Holding his arms, Ichiro Rizumi endured the pain and withdrew from the city under the escort of two guards.

"Report to the garrison headquarters immediately, and we will ask for reinforcements." As soon as he got out of the city, Ichiro Linquan instructed Kobayashi.

"But, sir, you're hurt." Kobayashi hesitated.

"Leave me alone, go, carry out the order, bastard!" Ichiro Rin Izumi roared anxiously and angrily.

"Hay!" The devil named Xiao Lin suddenly bowed his head, and immediately walked away with his 38 rifle on his back.

At this time, the second round of shelling by the Northeast New Army outside the city came, and the sound of violent explosions sounded again.

Ichiro Linquan looked back, only to see that his subordinates were blown down from time to time in the firelight, and some people were directly torn to pieces by the raging shock wave.

Ichiro Rinzumi did not dare to order a retreat, because he was deeply afraid that if he gave the order to retreat, the West Gate would be easily occupied by the [***] team outside the city.

It was definitely a capital offense for him, so he had to hide in the urn wall accompanied by Kimoto.

The Liaoyang Army Garrison Headquarters soon received a report from Kobayashi, and the then commander Jiuquan Dazuo was taken aback, hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, which was not a force he could compete with.

While mobilizing reinforcements to reinforce Ximen's Linquan squadron, Jiuquan Daisa immediately instructed the signal corps to send an urgent message for help to Muto Nobuyoshi.

…………………… Dalian, headquarters of the Kwantung Army.

Toranosuke Hashimoto went and returned, but this time his face was much more nervous and anxious than the previous time.

"Hashimoto-kun, what's wrong with you, so flustered?" Muto Nobuyoshi asked puzzled.

"General, the Liaoyang Garrison Headquarters sent an urgent telegram, and a branch of armored troops quietly bypassed Liaozhong, suddenly appeared in Liaoyang County, and is currently launching an attack on Liaoyang.

The commander of the Liaoyang garrison, Jiuquan Dazuo, requested urgent tactical guidance from the headquarters. Toranosuke Hashimoto quickly reported, and after speaking, handed the telegram in his hand to Muto Nobuyoshi.

Muto Nobuyoshi was shocked when he heard this, and immediately ordered: "Immediately order the garrisons of Benxi, Anshan, Haicheng, and Liaozhong to rush to the aid of Liaoyang, and the aviation will also immediately attack to attack the armored forces of the China Army." ”

"General, do you want to send the garrison of the lighthouse to the south to help Liaoyang? They are the closest to Liaoyang and can also be reached by train, which is very convenient. Toranosuke Hashimoto suggested.

"No, unless it is absolutely necessary, we must not easily mobilize the defenders of the lighthouse and Sujiatun, which is related to the back road and life and death safety of the hundreds of thousands of imperial troops in Shenyang, and we must not afford to lose it!" Muto Nobuyoshi immediately shook his head and vetoed.

(To be continued)