At this time, Major General Watanabe suddenly spoke: "I have already occupied the defense line of the Liaodong Army, if it were not for the arrogance of the attacking troops, who abandoned the defense line and fought with the Liaodong Army, it would be impossible for most of the warriors of the wing to be killed, and the defense line of the Liaodong Army that had just been taken would not be lost!" ”

Lieutenant General Murakami was not happy when he heard this, after all, most of the people killed on the battlefield were his subordinates. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

frowned and retorted: "Yaga, Watanabe-kun, the warriors have all died in battle, do you still want to put the blame on them?" ”

Rear Admiral Watanabe immediately argued: "No, this is not a shirk of responsibility, what I said is the truth." If the attacking troops did not rush forward and fought steadily after occupying the position of the Liaodong Army, there would not have been this takeover! ”

When Lieutenant General Murakami was about to say something, the chief of staff, who was frowning, finally interrupted: "Eight Ge Yalu, shut up for me!" “

"You are high-ranking officers of the Empire, not vendors in the market, arguing around, what kind of system! I want you to think of a solution, not to let you shift the blame! ”

"I want to know your opinion, after such a big loss, do we still want to continue the attack!"

"Of course!" Major General Watanabe, who was bent on finding the heavy artillery divisions of the Liaodong Army and fighting them, replied without thinking.

"There is no artillery left in front of the Liaodong Army, and in the battle just now, the Liaodong Army also suffered heavy losses. It is certain that now is the time when the Liaodong Army is the weakest and the worst in combat effectiveness. As long as they attack, they will not be able to stop us! ”

Another lieutenant general, the commander of the division, who had always been cautious about the attack, frowned and retorted: "I am against continuing the offensive? ”

"We have already lost a brigade in this line. Even if we take it, how many people are we prepared to lose in the face of the next defense line of the Liaodong Army? At this rate of loss, it would be good if we had one division left when we had all the way to the outside of Liaoyang City. Without infantry, did Watanabe-kun plan to command artillery to attack the city? ”

Every time the chief of staff said who was right and who was wrong, he turned his head to Lieutenant General Murakami, who was silent beside him, and asked, "Murakami-kun, what do you mean?" ”

Lieutenant General Murakami, whose face was solemn, frowned, and was just about to say what he thought, when an officer broke in and reported.

"Sir, the forward troops report that the Liaodong Army blocking us seems to be retreating, and as soon as the shelling stops, it will begin to withdraw from its position, and it will take a lot of light and serious wounded with it!"

Without saying a word, the chief of staff immediately rushed out of the command headquarters with a few people, holding binoculars and began to stare at the battlefield.

"Definitely a retreat! Didn't the Liaodong Army win the attack just now, why did it retreat! The division commander who insisted on retreating kept his eyes on the positions of the Liaodong Army, trying to find some clues. After finding no answer, he could only frown and ask the others around him.

Major General Watanabe suddenly said at this time: "This is not simple, it must be that the Liaodong Army suffered heavy losses and decided to retreat knowing that it could not hold on." Not to mention anything else, there are more than a thousand wounded carried down by the Liaodong Army alone, not to mention those who were wiped out by us! ”

At this time, Lieutenant General Murakami said fiercely: "Chief of Staff, don't miss the opportunity!" ”

"Noda-kun just said that according to the current losses, even if we kill outside Liaoyang City, there will be few troops left. However, Noda-kun overlooked a situation, we suffered heavy losses, and the Liaodong Army also suffered heavy losses! ”

"Take the retreating Liaodong Army as an example, not only did it lose all its artillery, but it also suffered heavy losses in its troops, otherwise it would not have taken the initiative to retreat."

"The Liaodong Army has so many troops, except for the direction of Anshan, our Liaodong Army here is 30,000 or 40,000 people."

"Not to mention anything else, when we fight all the way outside Liaoyang City, the Liaodong Army will definitely lose more than half. As for the remaining Liaodong Army, we have every strength to take them. ”

Hearing this, the chief of staff's expression, which was still hesitant just now, immediately became firm.

"Then keep fighting, we can't let so many soldiers die on the battlefield in vain!"

After the Japanese army followed behind the 2nd Division to take the blocking position, they no longer made the mistake of lightly advancing the enemy. After all the main forces arrived, they hugged together and slaughtered the second line of defense of the Liaodong Army.

At this time, Zhou Qiangsheng had already withdrawn to the second line of defense that had been built by the Fifth Division one step in advance, and met Yang Xingguo, who had also moved his headquarters here.

As soon as he saw Yang Xingguo, Zhou Qiangsheng reported with regret on his face: "Commander, I didn't fight well, and I suffered nearly 3,000 casualties.

I also lost all the artillery of the division, please punish the commander! ”

A main division blocked the two main divisions of the Japanese army and a heavy artillery brigade for three hours without an artillery superiority, a task that was difficult to complete in Zhou Qiangsheng's view. Even if it is completed, the 2nd Division will suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, Yang Xingguo has done a good job of telling Zhou Qiangsheng the bad news that the second division has been beaten.

And Zhou Qiangsheng in front of him actually told himself that after this battle, the Second Division only lost less than forty percent of its troops.

As for the mountain artillery equipped by the Second Division, Yang Xingguo didn't pay attention to it at all. In his opinion, as long as people are alive, the lost mountain artillery can be snatched back from the Japanese army at any time.

Therefore, when he heard Zhou Qiangsheng's report, Yang Xingguo's first reaction was not to believe it. Then he asked Zhou Qiangsheng with a face full of incredulity.

"The cannon is fine, as long as the person is alive! Master Zhou, tell us how you did it. It was surprising that three hours of perseverance had to lose this little person. ”

Zhou Qiangsheng hurriedly told how he exchanged artillery for the lives of Japanese soldiers and how he fought at close range to destroy a wing of the Japanese army.

Yang Xingguo was very satisfied after listening, and asked directly to Yuan Lei, the commander of the fifth division beside him: "You have heard clearly, the second division used the equipment of a field artillery regiment and three mountain artillery battalions to eliminate an infantry wing and a heavy artillery wing of the Japanese army......

"Your fifth division is a newly formed division, and I will not ask for the Japanese army to be put in later, and I will not ask for it to eliminate a wing through close combat. But you also have a field artillery regiment and three mountain artillery battalions, and the artillery is all drawn from other units, and the combat effectiveness is not bad at all. So, I ask your 5th Division to also destroy an infantry wing and a heavy artillery wing of the Japanese army! ”

After Yuan Lei and **** glanced at each other, they replied very confidently: "Please rest assured, Commander, I promise to complete the task!" ”

As soon as the two of them left the headquarters, Yang Xingguo focused his eyes on Zhou Qiangsheng again, and ordered with a serious face.

"Master Zhou, after all, the fifth division is a new division, in order not to have an accident, your second division has to work hard. A regiment was dispatched as a reserve, and once an accident occurred on the battlefield, it would immediately go up to meet the retreat of the Fifth Division. ”

"As for the rest of the troops, they will start correcting it immediately. I estimate that this decisive battle is likely to end early. Your second division must seize all the time to rest, no one knows when you will go to the battlefield! ”

"Decisive battle!" Zhou Qiangsheng's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked.

Seeing Yang Xingguo nodding affirmatively, Zhou Qiangsheng continued to add: "Commander, if you really want to fight a decisive battle, you must put our second division at the front, and I will avenge the brothers who died in battle!" (To be continued.) )