[Anti-Japanese Iron Blood King] Chapter 455: Hunhe Attack and Defense Battle (Ask for subscriptions, ask for monthly passes, ask for everything!) ）

Dai County. Headquarters of the 20th Division of the Japanese Army.

After listening to the report of the chief of staff Uchida Ginnosuke, Ushijima Shichang looked at the officers around the sand table and said: "Gentlemen, the general situation is like this, after the people of China successively captured Datong, Huairen, Shanyin, and Yingxian, the main force gathered in Shuoxian, and its strength was about one infantry division plus a brigade, among which there was an armored force of considerable size. ”

"The meaning of the Front Command and the Corps Command is to ask our troops to crush the enemy in front of them, and then move north to regain the lost territory. What do you think about this? ”

Uchida Ginnosuke Osa immediately said: "According to the information collected by the intelligence department, the reason why the Shina people were able to occupy the entire northern Jin in such a short period of time was mainly due to that powerful chariot force. And the origin of this chariot unit is the trophies of the Fourth Division captured by Ma Zheng's department, there are about 100 vehicles, all of which are the most advanced Type 97 medium chariots in the empire, only a small number of Type 94 and Type 95, if our army wants to defeat the Chi Na people, we must first defeat this chariot unit! ”

"Yo Xi, the front army also means this, so I asked His Excellency Umezu to concentrate all the chariots of the legion for use. Now we have more than 270 chariots in our hands, which is more than twice the number of the Chinese people, and as long as the Chinese people dare to engage in a duel between the chariots with us, it will be easy to destroy this Chinese chariot army. ”

Then Ushijima's voice changed, and he said quite worriedly: "Now we are most worried about the fact that the people of China will avoid fighting, if they know that they are not the opponents of the imperial army, and choose to defend Shuo County or rely on the favorable terrain to block our troops from going north, it will be much more difficult to defeat them, especially the plan to destroy their chariot troops is also very likely to fail." ”

Uchida Ginnosuke Osa replied: "Your Excellency Division Commander, according to the analysis of our General Staff, the people of China are most likely to have a decisive battle with us in the outskirts of Shuoxian County. Because Shuo County was originally the station of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, there were complete defense facilities built there, and only an anti-tank trench designed to restrain tanks was needed to effectively block our army. ”

"Uchida, what worries me the most is this, now the front army's offensive on the front line of Zhangjiakou has been blocked, and it has been delayed in breaking through. However, the entire North China region is full of smoke because the main force of the front army is moving north, so we don't have much time. If they are pinned down on the battlefield by Ma Zheng's subordinates for a long time, the resistance forces in the defense area will inevitably take advantage of the opportunity to develop, and it will be another challenge for the front army at that time! Ushijima said in a deep voice.

Major General Sekihara, commander of the 39th Brigade and Regiment, also interjected: "Your Excellency the division commander is reasonable, after the previous attack on the battle plan for law and order, the law and order in the area under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Army has been significantly improved, and the Tuba Road and other resistance forces have suffered heavy losses. But now, because the front army has mobilized all the remaining troops in the occupied area to besiege Ma Zheng's headquarters, this will inevitably loosen its control over the resistance forces in the occupied area, and even if we win, I am afraid that the gains will outweigh the losses. ”

"Don't talk about that"

Ushijima was about to continue talking, when the signal soldier of the division headquarters suddenly got up and said: "Report to Your Excellency Commander, there is an urgent telegram from the front!" ”

"Read!"

"Your Excellency Division Commander: Half an hour ago, the main force of the branch suddenly advanced to Fushanzhuang on the north bank of the Hunhe River, and built fortifications along the Hunhe River, and also blew up six bridges on the Hunhe River."

"Nani?" After listening to the report, Ushijima hurriedly got up and looked at it on the sand table.

After a while, the expression on Ushijima's face became more and more shocked, and it could be seen that the shock was mixed with an inexplicable smile.

After a long time, Ushijima Minoru said: "The people of China are stupid for trying to block our department along the Hunhe River! ”

Uchida Ginnosuke Osa thought for a while and said, "Your Excellency the division commander, the Shina people blew up the bridge over the confluence river, which has a great impact on the chariot troops. If the chariot units of the Imperial Army were unable to cross the river because there were no bridges, it would be difficult for the infantry to defeat the opposing Shina troops for a while! ”

Ushijima said disdainfully: "The people of China are indeed fighting such attention, wanting to use the natural terrain of the Hunhe River to prevent the chariot troops of the Imperial Army from crossing the river. If it were an ordinary army, they might have really succeeded, but for our division, it was too simple to cross the river by bridge. Korokuro Asada of the Engineer Company is an elite that I want to come out of the Engineer School, and it is not a difficult task for him to lay a pontoon bridge that can allow chariots to pass, and I am afraid that the intentions of the people of Shina will be frustrated. ”

Major General Takahashi Tagaji, commander of the 40th Brigade, said with a twinkle in his eyes: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, if our chariot troops can quickly cross the river, the people of China will inevitably be caught off guard by our army, and a rout will be inevitable at that time. ”

"Yo Xi, pass on my order, the troops will rush to the south bank of the Hunhe River early tomorrow morning, first let the aviation troops greet the Chinese troops, and then at the same time as the infantry launches an attack to cross the river, the engineer wing will build a large pontoon bridge to assist the chariot troops to cross the river and level the Chinese army in one fell swoop!" Ushijima Minoru commanded loudly.

"Hay!"

On the morning of 18 June, the main force of the 20th Division of the Japanese Army, with more than 20,000 troops, under the cover of more than 270 tanks and armored vehicles, went straight from the county seat of Daixian to the south bank of the Hunhe River.

Along the way, the Japanese troops marched smoothly and were not hindered or harassed in any way. By 9 o'clock in the morning, the vanguard of a Japanese brigade had arrived on the south bank of the Hunhe River. At the same time, the Japanese air force constantly circled over the forward positions of Ma Zheng's headquarters, dropping bombs of different sizes one after another.

At ten o'clock in the morning, the battle finally began. The first to strike was the artillery wing of the 20th Division of the Japanese Army, 36 75mm mountain guns and 12 field guns opened fire at the same time, plus the mortars arranged in the forward positions, the roar of nearly 100 guns was enough to deter anyone.

In a very short period of time, the violent sound of the explosion turned the position of the reorganized 1st Division and 2nd Brigade into a sea of fire, the fortifications were blown up, the weapons and equipment were blown into the sky, and the scene was in a mess.

At the same time as the artillery attacked, the Japanese engineering wing quickly moved forward and began to build pontoon bridges over the Hunhe River under the cover of artillery fire.

The Hunhe River is a tributary of the Sanggan River, belongs to the Yongding River water system, the upstream flows through the loess area, the river water has high sediment content, and the river water is turbid, so it is called the Hunhe River. The middle and lower reaches of the Hunhe River have a small specific riverbed, stable water flow, curved river channel, and flat terrain on both banks, which is an important agricultural area and population gathering area. Due to the steady current, the Japanese sappers easily gained a foothold in the river and quickly built piles and bridges.

In order to transport the troops across the Hunhe River as quickly as possible, the engineer wing of the 20th Division of the Japanese Army built four pontoon bridges over the river at once, and at the same time built two large pontoon bridges in the river with fishing boats and wooden planks for tanks and the Forbidden City to pass.

The defenders on the other side of the river, apparently sensing the Japanese intentions, quickly organized a counterattack, and the artillery and infantry in the fortifications opened fire quickly, and the guns and bullets were aimed at the sappers of the little devils. Since Ma Zheng's defensive position was only more than 50 meters away from the riverbed, the little devils in the congratulatory face were all within the range of the defenders' shooting, and they were accurate one by one.

At this moment, the Japanese sappers suffered casualties, and in just a few minutes, dozens of Japanese soldiers were killed and wounded, and the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was sharply reduced.

Major General Sekihara Roku, the commander of the 39th Brigade who was supervising the battle in the back, saw that the engineers under his command were defeated like straw by the defenders of China, and the whole person was extremely angry and ordered the artillery unit to intensify the attack. Secondly, the infantry was ordered to join the battle, attacking the defenders on the other side of the river across the Hunhe River to cover the movement of the engineers.

The quality of the Japanese sappers was still very high, and in a very short time four simple pontoon bridges were erected. Under the order of Sekihara Roku, the 77th Infantry Wing began to cover each other's bridges and launched an attack on Ma Zheng's headquarters. (To be continued.) )