Chapter 764 Chaos Rises to the Threshold

Just when Liu Yimin was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot because he didn't know the progress of the Battle of Nomenhan, the Japanese Kwantung Army Headquarters was holding an analysis meeting on the situation of the Manchurian-Mongolian border conflict.

The Battle of Normenheim, as in history, began in mid-May and has been fought for two months now. In the past two months, the fighting between Japan and the Soviet Union has been unprecedentedly fierce from the ground to the air.

Looking at the neat officers sitting on both sides of the conference table, the decrepit Kwantung Army commander Kenkichi Ueda looked at the chief of staff Isoya Ryosuke who was sitting beside him, and said a little irritably: "So, the 23rd Division has suffered a loss? ”

Ueda Kenkichi had been the commander of the Kwantung Army for a long time, and he had psychologically regarded himself as the master of Manchuria, and his tone of voice had changed, sounding both slow and careless.

Ryosuke Isoya is one of the four famous China experts in the Japanese army, but due to the fact that the main force of the 10th Division was completely annihilated by the Eighth Route Army, this arrogant guy is now a lot less arrogant and has become a little more humble.

After listening to Kenkichi Ueda's questioning, Ryosuke Isoya once again stood up and respectfully reported, "Your Excellency Commander, this is indeed the case. According to a report by Komatsubara-kun, commander of the 23rd Division, the 23rd Division has been in a passive state since it was bombed by Soviet planes and suppressed by heavy artillery fire on the morning of 3 July. Now 3,000 people have been killed. ”

Ueda Kenkichi is only now beginning to feel remorse in his heart, he knew that this was the result, he shouldn't have sent the 23rd Division, and the elite 1st Division, 2nd Division, and 5th Division were not used, so what was the 23rd Division!

Speaking of the Battle of Normenhan, we have to talk about the Zhang Gufeng incident. At that time, although Liu Yimin made a statement, basically explaining the deployment of the 19th Division, the main force of the Japanese Korean Army, and the Soviet Army did bomb the 19th Division badly enough, there was one point that Liu Yimin's judgment was incorrect, that is, the Zhang Gufeng incident exposed the weakness of the Soviet Red Army's insufficient combat effectiveness. The chief of the general staff of the Japanese army said afterwards that the Zhang Gufeng incident was generally a draw between the two sides, and it should be said that it was objective. But even if it was a draw, the Japanese army looked down on the combat effectiveness of the Soviet Red Army, mainly because the Japanese army did not seriously mobilize in the Zhang Gufeng incident, and the scale of the operation was only limited to the division and regiment level, and the troops that were really engaged in the battle were at the brigade and regiment level. And the Soviet Red Army not only dispatched a large number of aircraft, tanks, and artillery, but also a group army in terms of strength alone. Therefore, it is fair to say that although the Japanese army was defeated, it was not defeated. Although the Soviets won, they won a bit miserably. It was precisely because of this that the commander of the 19th Division, Otaka Kamizo, who had been defeated by the Japanese army, was not only not punished in any way, but was promoted to commander of the 12th Army, while the Soviet side not only disbanded the Far Eastern Front, but also purged and executed the commander of the Far Eastern Front, Marshal Bryucher, that is, General Galen, an old friend of the Chinese people during the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, as a scapegoat. If the Soviet Red Army really believed that it had won a great victory in the Zhanggufeng incident, the fate of Marshal Bryucher could well be rewritten.

Liu Yimin originally knew the outcome of the Zhang Gufeng incident, but he believed that through his conversation, the deployment of the Japanese army and the Korean army had been roughly explained, and the Soviet Red Army could completely use air superiority to completely destroy the Japanese defense system and expand the results of the battle. Unexpectedly, the development of events did not depend on his will, and the Soviet Red Army, confined to its own strategic considerations, did not have the requirement to expand the scale of operations against Japan, and the Japanese army only made a tentative attack.

It was precisely because of the outcome of the Zhang Gufeng incident and the fact that the intelligence department had a very clear understanding of the situation of the Soviet purge that the Japanese army, after carefully analyzing the course of the battle at Zhang Gufeng, not only did not learn a lesson, but instead became arrogant in despising the fighting strength of the Soviet army. According to the Kwantung Army, that is, the combat effectiveness of the North Korean Army was not good, and the Kwantung Army was replaced by the Kwantung Army, and ten Zhang Gufeng were also taken. As a result, on April 25, 1939, the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, General Kenkichi Ueda, issued the "Outline for the Settlement of Manchu-Soviet Border Disputes", which pointed out that the next time there was a similar border dispute, it would learn from the practice of the 38th Infantry Brigade of the 19th Division of the Korean Army, resolutely fight back and take the opportunity to occupy the disputed area and resolutely hold on, resulting in a fait accompli and forcing the Soviet Union to recognize the territorial claims of the Kwantung Army. This led to the current Battle of Normenheim.

Unlike in history, due to the late withdrawal of the 23rd Division from Suxian in northeastern Anhui to the northeast, the first phase of the Normenkan conflict was a clash between the Eighth Independent Garrison of the Kwantung Army and the border garrison of the puppet Manchurian Defense Army and the Soviet-Mongolian army. The operational staff of the Kwantung Army Command believed through aircraft reconnaissance that only 400 cavalry of the Mongolian army had crossed the border, and asked the 8th Independent Garrison to destroy these 400 cavalry. As a result, the 8th Independent Garrison did get wiped out at first after it was dispatched, and successfully attacked the headquarters of the 6th Division of the Mongolian Army, resulting in the death of the division commander Sharibu. However, when the Japanese retreated, they were bombarded by heavy artillery and mortars on the 733 heights, and then, the Soviet armored units entered the battle, and the 45mm cannons on the tanks hit the Japanese tanks, as simple as piercing the window paper, and all the Japanese troops who attacked were annihilated. At this time, the staff officer of the Kwantung Army Headquarters, Qian Zhengxin, arrived by plane and insisted that the Eighth Independent Garrison launch a night attack to find the bodies of Japanese soldiers killed in battle. In this way, the Japanese army attacked at night, and the Soviet-Mongolian army counterattacked during the day, and the two sides launched a tug-of-war in the Nomenkan area.

Originally, this was only a small loss, because the 1st Division, the 2nd Division, and the 23rd Division were all fighting in the Guannei, and the Kwantung Army was short of troops, so it could only watch the Soviet-Mongolian army, which had an absolute advantage, enter the Nomenkan area and drive the border garrison of the puppet Manchurian Defense Army into the Daxinganling.

When the 1st, 2nd, and 23rd Divisions returned to their formation, Qian Zhengxin, the operational staff officer of the Kwantung Army, began to go crazy, repeatedly saying that the Japanese army could not suffer dumb losses and that it must resolutely crack down on the actions of the Soviet-Mongolian troops who were left alone.

At this time, Chongqing's "Wen Wei Po Military Forum" came out, which talked about the war between Japan and the Soviet Union, and some of the articles were really well written, which attracted the attention of the Japanese military high-level.

Kenkichi Ueda felt that it was time to have a good fight with the Soviet-Mongolian army, and as the base camp reported, he requested that a division be mobilized to destroy the Soviet-Mongolian army that had invaded the Nomenkan area. If the base camp is not adjustable, it will call back to the Kwantung Army to dispose of it on its own. Later, perhaps Ueda Kenkichi demanded a strong request, and the base camp transferred the 5th Division in Qingdao to the northeast to support the Kwantung Army in the operation.

The Kwantung Army, which had received authorization and reinforcements, sent the 23rd Division to the war area, accompanied by a wing of the 7th Division, with the task of destroying the Soviet-Mongolian army in the Nomenkan area and recapturing the lost territory of Manchukuo.

It should be said that this time the Japanese army was fully prepared, and in order to deal with the Soviet tanks, Ueda Kenkichi ordered the 2nd Flying Group and the 1st Tank Division, the only Japanese army, to cooperate in the operation.

As a result, the day after the 2nd Flying Regiment arrived at the Hailar airfield to complete its assembly, there was an air battle with the Soviet Air Force, losing 30 fighters, and the Soviets losing forty fighters. Immediately after, a few days later, the 2nd Flying Group of the Japanese Army successfully attacked three airfields in the Far East of the Soviet Red Army, destroying 124 Soviet planes, according to the reports of Japanese pilots, but in fact 150.

The actions of the Japanese air force were tantamount to fighting deep into the territory of the Soviet Union, escalating the border conflict into a war of aggression. In this way, the Battle of Nomenkan will not be able to be fought.

Sensing that the air threat had been lifted, the Kwantung Army Command began to urge the 23rd Division to launch a ground offensive as soon as possible and completely annihilate the Soviet-Mongolian army in the Nomenkan area.

From the very beginning of this battle, the Japanese army was doomed to defeat. On the Soviet side, after the Japanese airfield in the Far East was attacked, the Red Army artillery commander Voronov, armored commander Pavlov, and air force acting commander Borgikin all went to the front line of the Kharakha River to inspect the front. The Siberian Air Force was transferred to support, and a steady stream of tanks, artillery was sent to the front by rail. Zhukov even transferred 48 veteran Belarusian pilots who had participated in the Spanish Civil War to augment the air force. On the Japanese side, they did not realize that the Soviet Red Army was going to defeat the Japanese army's dream of going north in World War I, and they also thought that the troops under the command of Michitaro Komatsubara could destroy the Soviet-Mongolian army in the Nomenkan area alone. Due to the lack of automobiles, the soldiers had to carry 30 pounds of baggage on their backs to march on the grassland, and almost half of them were left behind, and defeat became inevitable.

It was in this context that the commander of the 23rd Division, Lieutenant General Michitaro Komatsubara, launched an attack on the Nomenkan area.

At this time, in addition to a reinforced brigade of the 23rd Division and the 26th Wing and the 28th Wing of the 7th Division, the Japanese troops on the Normenhan Front also included the 3rd and 4th Wings of the 4th Brigade of the 1st Tank Division, the 1st Field Artillery Wing, the 24th Engineer Wing, plus a flying division and an automobile wing. The armament consists of roughly 212 artillery pieces, 128 rapid-fire guns (anti-tank guns), 24 mountain guns, 36 field guns, 24 Type 9 field guns, 180 aircraft, 82 tanks, 26 armored vehicles, and 400 automobiles.

Lieutenant General Michitaro Komatsubara, who formulated an operational plan for the flanking of the Soviet-Mongolian army on both sides of the strait, planned to use a brigade of the 26th and 28th Infantry Wings of the 7th Division of the Japanese Army as the main force to cross the river from the upper reaches of the Haraha River, enter the Hamaldaba Mountain on the west bank, annihilate the artillery positions of the Soviet-Mongolian army, and condescendingly bombard the Soviet-Mongolian positions on the east bank; The 23rd Division, the 1st Chariot Division and the Xing'an Cavalry Division of Manchukuo attacked the Soviet-Mongolian army on the east bank of the Haraha River from the front, forming a flanking attack and completely annihilating the Soviet-Mongolian coalition army.

In the early morning of July 3, a brigade of the 26th Wing and the 28th Wing of the 7th Division of the Japanese Army successfully smuggled across the Khalkhin River and stormed Bayingchagang Mountain. But the stubborn resistance of the 6th Cavalry Division of the Mongol army bought Zhukov several hours of precious time. Under the command of Lieutenant General Yasuoka, the Japanese troops who were engaged in a frontal attack on the other side of the Khalkhin River, after 30 minutes of artillery preparation, concentrated 87 medium and light tanks and 37 armored vehicles, and with the cooperation of the infantry wing and cavalry wing of the 23rd Division, launched an attack on the left and right lines, and broke through two Soviet infantry lines one after another.

However, the next Japanese offensive was contained, and Zhukov, who personally rushed to the Bayingchagang Mountain area, ordered all aircraft to be dispatched, bombed and crossed the river to attack the Japanese troops occupying Bayingchagang Mountain, and mobilized heavy artillery units to shell the Japanese assembly area. The Japanese frontal offensive was also blocked by the dense Soviet artillery fire in front of the third line of Soviet defense.

By 10:45 a.m., the Soviets launched a counteroffensive, with heavy tanks flying at every 5 meters, roaring towards the Japanese. Dense bombers swept across the grassland, blowing up the pontoon bridge erected by the Japanese army and the bridgehead town. Where have the little devils seen such a formation, they can only grit their teeth and insist, desperately using anti-tank artillery against the Soviet Tucker and armored vehicles. To say that the results of the Japanese army were not bad, destroying hundreds of Soviet armored vehicles and tanks. However, the Soviet army was all mechanized troops, and tanks and armored vehicles formed a torrent of steel, which the Japanese army could not stop in any case. When the Soviets made a detour back to the vicinity of the headquarters of the 23rd Division and the 7th Division crossed the river to attack the troops' crossing, the Japanese had to be defeated. The Japanese troops occupying Bayingchagang Mountain retreated into the mountains, and the infantry wing and tank units of the 23rd Division, which were attacking frontally, were divided by the Soviets.

At night, the 4th Brigade of the 1st Tank Division, led by the commander Tamada Daisa, took advantage of the heavy rain to successfully attack the artillery positions of the 36th Motorized Rifle Division of the Soviet Army at night, destroying 18 Soviet 122mm howitzers and 6 152mm howitzers, and the Tamada Division lost only one tank, and the commander of the 2nd Squadron, Fujikihisa Nakasa, was killed.

The next day, the two sides used 1,000 tanks to engage in a tank battle on the grassland within a radius of seven kilometers, and by dawn on the 5th, the Japanese attack was completely crushed, leaving behind a corpse and retreating to the starting position.

Komatsubara Michitaro, who lacked the support of armored troops, had no choice, and organized troops to cross the river for several days in a row to attack at night, but they were all beaten back by the Soviet army, and the battlefield entered a state of stalemate.

The meeting of the Kwantung Army Command was to discuss the fighting on the Nomenkan front.

After listening to the report of the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ryosuke Isoya, Ueda Kenkichi regretted it in his heart, but he still set his eyes on the officers present to see what they had to say.

Seeing that the commander's gaze swept over, Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe, the commander of the 1st Division, knew that this was for them to speak. It just so happened that the 1st Field Artillery Wing of his 1st Division was transferred to participate in the Battle of Nomenkan, and needless to say that the losses must be not small, he just had something to say.

Naosaburo Okabe unconsciously straightened his waist and was ready to speak.

Since Naosaburo Gangbe was beaten off his genitals by Liu Bin, a sniper of the Eighth Route Army, in Suxian County, there was always a smell of urine all over his body, so that the people sitting next to him had to take out a handkerchief and cover their noses.

Dear book friends: The second update is late, please enjoy it tomorrow. Thank you!