966 Korean War XVI Crisis

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, the command of the 16th Army has an urgent telegram

A somewhat hoarse voice suddenly sounded in the ears of Ryotaro Nakai and Kita Issei, two lieutenant generals who had just "broken" the myth of the invincibility of the Chinese army. Junrokuro Matsuura turned his head and saw that it was his adjutant standing behind him with a thin dossier in both hands. Matsuura took it suspiciously and opened it to see that inside was a copy of the newspaper with the words "Top Secret" printed on it. Matsuura said lightly: "What's the matter?" ”，

"It's an order from the military command, and ...... And the latest war briefing, it seems...... It seems that Chu Shan was defeated. ”

"Baga! The 55th Division is really a rice bucket! Ryotaro Nakai frowned slightly, reached out to take his reading glasses, and looked at them carefully.

The first half of the newspaper is the battle report of the army headquarters: "The 110th Wing and the 111th Wing of the 55th Division of the Army defending Chushan suffered a heavy setback under the attack of the superior forces of the Chinese army!"

Although the 110th and 111th Wings carried forward their martial courage and fought to the death, they still could not withstand the superior firepower of the enemy. After a day and night of hard fighting, I regretted defeat. Chushan was captured by the Chinese army at 2:10 a.m. today. The 110th and 111th Wings, with the exception of a few wounded who had been evacuated in advance, were fully staffed...... About 10,000 people of the 55th Division and the rest of the 106th Division are retreating in the direction of Weiyuan. The highway from Chushan to Guipingli and Gufeng Village has been opened by the Chinese army. ”

"How so?" Ryotaro Nakai let out a low exclamation. The 55th Division and the 106th Division have a total of 6 infantry wings on the Chushan front, plus the division and regiment have more than 30,000 people, and in this only one day and one night, there are only more than 10,000 people left, that is to say, more than 20,000 people have been lost! It's dying too fast, isn't it?

"Nakai-kun, what's going on?" The commander of the 123rd Division, Kita Issei, saw Matsuura's face was pale, and hurriedly asked, "Is there another defeat somewhere?" ”

Ryotaro Nakai nodded with a blue face: "Chu Shan is lost!" Reinforcements from the Chinese army will soon be able to come by road! As he spoke, he glanced at the second half of the telegram transcript again, and sighed: "General Umezu ordered us to withdraw from the battle immediately and retreat to the Panping to set up defenses, without the slightest delay, otherwise military law will be engaged!" ”

He then handed the copy of the telegram to Kita Kassei, who looked at it twice, sighed, and was about to say something like "falling short" when he heard someone shouting: "Shelling! Hide your ......" before the shout fell, the scream of the cannonballs rang in my ears.

"Boom! Rumble! The deafening roar of the ...... seemed to ring in the ears of Ryotaro Nakai and Kita Issei as the two Japanese lieutenant generals were pushed to the ground by their respective adjutants at the same time. The earth shook, all the people in the shelter department were shaken, and a few young staff officers couldn't help but let out exclamations!

The artillery bombardment of the Chinese army suddenly became unprecedentedly fierce! Clusters of orange flames exploded one after another on the Japanese positions, from the few hills that had just been captured by the Japanese army, to the Japanese offensive starting positions and artillery positions, and even around this seemingly hidden good forward command post, a dense rain of bullets fell! The explosion points of the artillery fire could not be counted, and only a huge roar could be heard. And what made all the officers in this forward command post feel a burst of fear was that these deafening loud noises must belong to 150mm shells!

In last night's fierce battle, the Chinese army on the opposite side did not use a 150mm cannon! Other words...... Reinforcements from the Chinese army have arrived!

Ryotaro Nakai realized that something was wrong at that time, and he pushed away the adjutant who was pressing on his body, and he didn't know what he touched, but he felt that his hands were wet. But he couldn't care so much, he reached out and touched the phone on the table into his hand, picked it up and shook it a few times, called through the rear command post, and only heard the voice of Akiyama Yoshitaka, the chief of staff of the 122nd Division who was staying in the banping, a little panicked: "Is it Your Excellency the division commander?" Are you okay? What's going on up front? ”

Ryotaro Nakai yelled into the phone, "Organize a defense immediately!" Send out all the troops you can find to defend them! Organize the logistics personnel of the two divisions, including the medical personnel of the field hospital of the division and regiment, and the comfort women of the comfort stations of the division and regiment, and all the wounded soldiers who can move must also be dispatched! Be sure to keep the plank! Do you understand! Also, immediately request tactical guidance from the Army Command! ”

……

The news of the fall of Chushan and the defeat of the 122nd and 123rd Divisions at Gufeng suddenly made the atmosphere in the headquarters of the Japanese and Korean forces tense to the extreme. Chief of Staff Ishihara was so anxious that he went around the headquarters. And Marshal Okamura Ninji sat in front of the sand table in a daze. In just one day and two nights, the entire Yalu River defense line was actually broken through by the squadron! And as many as five divisions of the Japanese army suffered heavy losses! Among them, the 18th Division was also surrounded in Dapingli; The combined forces of the 55th Division and the 106th Division were less than 10,000 people, and they were pursued by the superior Chinese army, and the fate can be imagined; The 122nd and 123rd Divisions lost more than half of their artillery and baggage in one night's assault! The remnants of these two divisions are now being deployed in Banping, and it is estimated that they will be completely wiped out in less than two days. Once Banpingli is not defended, the Chinese army will be able to assault Yunshan in less than a day, and Yunshan does not have a single soldier of the Japanese army now! The posture of the North Korean army is already extremely dangerous!

Chief of Staff Ishihara was in a hurry to turn in circles in the headquarters, and at the same time, he couldn't help but look at the sun outside the window, gritting his teeth and cursing this damn sun to get out of the sky early! Because only at night, the air superiority of the Chinese army could not play a role, and the Japanese army could readjust its deployment and find a way to safely retreat the main forces of the 16 divisions and regiments in the east and west sections of the Yalu River defense line and disengage from the Chinese army!

The news of the passage of the Chinese naval battleship fleet through the Taiwan Strait has also been sent to the command of the North Korean army. But the North Korean military, which had been very concerned about the movements of the Chinese navy, has now almost forgotten the news. The key now is how to save the front of the North Korean army! The Yalu River defense line, which the Japanese army had painstakingly managed for eight years, was as vulnerable as paper paste in the face of China's large-depth assault operations. Their defenses are close to crumbling. Now we must try to save this positive! If the Chinese army is allowed to break through along the Chushan-Unsan road, then it will be a matter of time before the entire Korean army is annihilated!

Once the Korean army is destroyed, once the Korean Peninsula is occupied by the Chinese army...... Then Chinese fighters and bombers will cover the skies of the entire Japanese mainland! Blow up all the cities! And the Korean Strait, which is only more than 200 kilometers wide, is, of course, impossible to stop the squadron, which has the world's second navy and second air force. This means that a full-scale invasion of the Japanese mainland is imminent! The end of the Japanese Empire is not far off!

In the panic as if a catastrophe was imminent, Marshal Gangmura Ningji's expression was blank, and he looked at the huge blue arrow symbolizing the Chinese armored forces on the sand table with a little despair, like a sharp blade inserted into the heart of the entire Korean army, no, it was inserted into the heart of Okamura Ningji! A cramp in his heart woke the marshal, who commanded one-third of the Imperial Japanese Army, from his thoughts. Okamura raised his left hand and pressed it to his heart, took a few deep breaths, and felt a little better, when a loud and noisy voice seemed to suddenly appear in his ears. Ishihara didn't know when he started arguing with Oshirodo Sanji, as if it was a question of where to rebuild the second line of defense. Okamura Ninji coughed in a low voice: "Haven't you come up with a feasible plan yet?" ”

When Ishihara heard Okamura's question, he replied loudly: "The collapse of the defense line of the Yalu River is imminent, and only by retreating in a decisive and stride can the Korean army disengage from the Shina Army and win the opportunity to regroup!" Therefore, the lower officer suggested that the 16th Army and the 17th Army should resist step by step along the Yuling Mountain Range, the Langlim Mountain Range, and the Gaima Plateau to cover the 15th Army and the 18th Army, the 19th Army and the 20th Army on the west coast of Korea, and the 22nd Army and Mecha Army near Pyongyang to retreat southward...... In order to establish a new line of defense on the Gwangju-Daegu line, as the last line of defense against the empire itself! ”

"What is the difference between this and abandoning the whole of North Korea! Although the situation is unfavorable now, the main force of the North Korean army is still there! Except for the 16th Army, which suffered heavy losses, and the 18th Army, which also suffered some casualties, the rest of the armies were basically intact. The total strength of the entire Korean army is still around 1.4 million, and with such a strong force, how can it give up more than 100,000 square kilometers of territory? Then what kind of face do our Korean troops have to meet the citizens of the Japanese Empire? What kind of face do you have to meet His Majesty the Emperor, who has high expectations for us! Oshiroto Sanji immediately loudly refuted Ishihara's opinion, he strode up to Okamura, bowed and said, "Your Excellency Marshal, the suggestion of the lower officer is to transfer four divisions from each of the 19th Army and the 20th Army on the west coast of Korea, plus the remaining four divisions of the 22nd Army, to build a second line of defense on the Cheongcheon River, Myoxiangsan, and the line of the Battle Ridge. At the same time, the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th armies were ordered to resist and consolidate the Qingchuan River step by step, and to go to the battle ridge defense line to gain time. ”

But Ishihara quickly retorted: "This is a fool's dream!" The defense line of the Yalu River has been breached. Although the 15th, 17th, and 18th armies had not suffered the same heavy losses as the 16th armies, they were all under great pressure. Once they abandon the strong defensive line and start to retreat, they will inevitably lose their troops under the double blow of the Chinese army's air and ground mechanized forces! In the end, it would be considered a good fortune to be able to successfully disengage half of the troops from the enemy. If you want them to resist...... The only consequence is to bury these four armies, which are a heavy army group of more than 30 divisions! Definitely not to lose! ”

"But most of the Korean Peninsula cannot be lost either!" A staff officer, who was about 30 years old, stood up against Ishihara almost with tears in his eyes: "If we retreat to the Gwangju-Daegu line. Of course, it is possible to greatly compress the defense zone and make the defense line more compact. However, the Chinese army was able to build an airfield to the south of the Korean Peninsula, and the distance to the Japanese mainland was too close! Enough for their fighters to escort the bombers. So that they can bomb the cities of Japan in daylight with good visibility! Our people and His Majesty the Emperor will be living day and night under the bombardment of Chinese planes, and their incendiary bombs will destroy the entire cities and factories of Japan! ”

Okamura Ninji stood up supporting the edge of the sand table: "Order Umezu Mijiro, the 122nd Division and the 123rd Division must hold on to Banpingli for at least 24 hours, and then retreat in the direction of Unzan." The 18th Division held on to the spot in Dapingli, and must fight to the last man; Order the 55th Division and the 106th Division to hold Weiyuan on the spot, and also resist to the end! ordered the 58th Division and the 59th Division to retreat to the Jiangjie and Chenggan lines, and together with the 62nd Division, they relied on the Ballu River to deploy defenses; The 60th Division retreated to Wolf Forest Mountain to set up defenses; The 61st and 62nd Divisions held on to Changcheng and Shuozhou to cover the flanks of the 15th Army, and before the 15th Army moved safely, they were not allowed to take a step back, even if they were surrounded by the Chinese Army, they would fight to the death! ”

"Order the 15th, 17th, and 18th armies to hold the line of defense and not take a step back without authorization! ordered the 19th Army to dispatch 4 divisions to assemble on the front line of Longtouli west of the Changcheng River; ordered the 22nd Army to advance north to the area north of the Qingchuan River and south of the Kowloon River to stand by; ordered the 20th Army to draw 4 divisions and regiments to serve as the general reserve; Order the entire Mecha Army to assemble and prepare for tonight's dispatch...... Their goal is Yunshan! The Mecha Corps must advance to the vicinity of Yunshan within one night, and by the night of the 15th at the latest, they will have a decisive battle with the armored forces of China! ”

At this point, Marshal Okamura Ninji's face tightened, and he said coldly: "The Korean army has not yet failed!" The Imperial Japanese Army was not defeated either! The breakthrough of the Chinese army was nothing more than a lone in-depth ...... The entire defense line of the Yalu River is still basically intact, and even if there are one or two lone armored divisions that go deep, the officers and men of our imperial army can annihilate them with ten times the strength of their troops! Do you understand what this official means? He paused, and glanced majestically at the terrified staff officers. Now my request to you is to draw up a plan to encircle and annihilate the armored forces of China in the Unsan area as soon as possible! The fortunes of the Great Japanese Empire are in the hands of the monarchs, so let's take action! ”

The staff officers returned to their respective posts one after another and began to urgently formulate an overall plan for the "Yunshan Campaign." How to transfer troops, how to avoid the march of the Chinese air force, and what is the order of sorties...... Only Gangcun Ningci was still standing in front of the sand table and contemplating. Ishihara Wan'er walked up to him at this time and said in a low voice: "Your Excellency, the Battle of Yunshan is really unpredictable, if anything...... Do you want to develop a forecasting plan? ”

Okamura Ninji said in a deep voice without raising his head: "What if there is no such thing as the Japanese Empire, and the retreat to Gwangju - the Daegu line will not be able to restore the fate of the empire at all, and the war is a contest of comprehensive national strength between the two countries in the final analysis!" If the local factories and cities are bombed by Chinese military planes, what will the more than one million soldiers of our Korean army rely on to fight? ”

Ishihara shook his head with a wry smile: "Let's make a plan for what if...... The base camp will take time to complete its plan to preserve the Empire's essence. ”

Okamura shook his head slowly: "This world war was originally based on the idea that the newly industrialized countries hoped to use military means to break the monopoly of the old empire on world resources and markets, and to use military victory to gain a broad living space and establish a new empire. The Great Japanese Empire was counting on the flesh and blood of the army and navy in exchange for a new space for the development of the empire, and what about their Chinese empire? How could they allow the empire to retain Eastern Australia after losing its homeland? It's all wishful thinking on someone's part, right? Perhaps it was the illusion that Germany would intervene in the Sino-Chinese War after a quick defeat of the United States, force the China Army to withdraw from the mainland, or allow tens of millions of local citizens to migrate to Eastern Australia? But have they ever thought about the relationship between comprehensive national strength and war? The United States has twice the industrial strength and population of Germany, and its land area is larger than that of Germany...... How could such a powerful country be quickly destroyed by Germany? Moreover, Germany is still on a labor expedition, but the United States is waiting for work, and the war in the Atlantic will only be a long and protracted war! The Empire can't wait for the day when the war will be decided. ”

Ishihara was silent, and he naturally knew the truth of what Okamura said. However, the "relocation plan" was based on the emperor's "wishes", not to mention that there was a vote of ministers and magnates behind it, and the chaebol bureaucracy was pushing ...... Even if they still have Gangcun Ningji in front of them, they are actually the beneficiaries of this plan, and their families are also in the first batch of mobilization lists!

Moreover, there is another layer of window paper that no one has pierced, that is, once Korea falls, the Japanese archipelago may be blocked by the Chinese Navy at any time, and then the top echelons of the empire will be the turtle in the urn. The situation is different when they flee to Australia, even if there is any case, the so-called new state of Japan is not guaranteed, and the big guy can still move to the Japanese-controlled islands in the Pacific Ocean, and if not, he can go to South America to establish a government-in-exile...... Even if he does not have such a chance, he will always be able to enjoy himself for a while with the wealth he has scavenged in Japan for many years.

Okamura looked at Ishihara steadily, and after a long time, he sighed and ordered in a low voice: "Go and make a preparatory plan, in case the Battle of Unsan fails, resist step by step, retreat one by one, and withdraw the main force to the Gwangju-Daegu line to establish a new defensive line, so as to buy time for them to escape." ”

Ishihara snapped and bowed slightly to Okamura: "Your Excellency Marshal, please rest assured that the Korean army will definitely fight to the end and win a turnaround for the Japanese Empire!" ”