Regarding the current Chinese Empire, Prince Zairen, the marshal of the Chinese Empire, once commented that a country that has such strength but does not open up its territory is really incomprehensible, and perhaps it is really not pursued.

Such an evaluation can basically represent the overall perception of the Chinese Empire.

The reason why Prince Zairen came to such a conclusion is precisely because China has chosen to avoid retreating from the war several times, so he has never been afraid of China, he will fight if he fights, what can he do if he fights, what is the difference between the current China and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, is it not a corner of peace, and he thinks that he is pedantic of the Celestial Empire?

…… The shock caused by the Battle of Jeju in the upper echelons of the military and political circles of the society was extremely strong, because the main source of the strong superiority mentality against China over the past half century was its navy.

The Sino-Japanese War not only raised his self-confidence to an unprecedented level, but also gave rise to an extremely strong mentality of disdain against China in which the victors disdained the losers.

Even after the rapid rise of the Chinese Empire, the reason why the concept of discrimination against China has been firmly maintained to this day is that in addition to the strength of the conservative and far-right forces, the naval superiority of the Empire and the impact of the First Sino-Japanese War are the most important.Chinese

During this period, there was actually a second Sino-Chinese war, but the outcome of this war was not clearly informed in the country, and even most of the people in Japan believed that in that war, the navy continued to win a great victory, and the army was not defeated.

The usual trick of the base camp is to increase the casualties of the other side if they cannot cover up their own casualty reports for a long time, and the middle- and lower-ranking officers of the Yueben also have such exaggerated surnames, and they like to publicize their achievements and report the casualties of the enemy army several times.

Therefore, at this time, if you ask an ordinary person about the Xinhai War, he will say that the Chinese army won a crushing victory with more casualties, and after all, the Chinese army is the world's top three naval powers that cannot be challenged, and the superiority of the navy is impossible to reverse by the Chinese people.

…… After the Battle of Jeju, the Navy's glorious history was completely ended, leaving only two newly commissioned Yamato-class battleships, a Nagamen-class battleship and a Kongo-class battleship, and the other two Kongo-class battleships took refuge in Incheon Port, and only one "good luck" Soryong remained.

Although the base camp of the Japanese army, under the control of Marshal Fushimi Palace Hirokoshi Wang Admiral Admiral, issued a battle report that was more favorable to the Japanese army, claiming that the Chinese navy and air force had suffered even more heavy losses, the truth was basically clear to the upper echelons of the military and political circles.

Even for Prince Zairen of the hardliners who invaded China, this war may have come to an end, and all the army can do in the future is to regain the admiration of the Shina country by relying on the desperate fighting of the army on the Korean Peninsula as much as possible, and sign an armistice treaty on this basis that is more conducive to the empire.

These are the exact words of Prince Zairen, chief of staff of the base camp of the army.

It was precisely because of these words that the Yue army began to hope that the upcoming Battle of Seoul would be the final battle of the Third Battle of the Chinese Dynasty, and that as long as this battle was defeated or resisted by the attack of the Northeast Defense Army, it was possible for the Yue Ben to sign an armistice treaty that would be beneficial and decent to the Great Yue Ben Empire in this passive situation.

The reason why he has this illusion is precisely because in the past 20 years, although China has been tough on the book and focused on containment, it has never really engaged in war, and in his view, this is a kind of Manchu style, or they claim to be the weak and naïve of the Zhina type.

Well.

It's really unreasonably naïve.

…… The real big war is finally coming, and it is about to break out.

In order to defeat the opponent, Wei Lihuang made all the preparations that could be thought of in advance, and led the deployment to hold more than 40 meetings and consultations on the battle plan, during which more than 10 battle plans were formulated.

With the addition of some troops of the Second and Third Armies in the Northeast and the Third and Fourth Armies of the newly arrived East Asian Dispatch Army, the number of troops maintaining a standoff between Seoul and Pyongyang has increased to 1.27 million, equivalent to half of the total strength of the two countries on the Korean Peninsula.

By the beginning of January 1940, the Northeast Group Army and the Central Military Headquarters had dispatched 584,000 troops, 13,400 tanks and other armored vehicles of various types, 10,500 aircraft, 23,000 self-propelled artillery pieces and other types of body-barreled artillery, and 43,000 trucks and off-road vehicles.

Just two days before the planned major offensive, on the afternoon of that day, Wei Lihuang summoned all the commanders of all divisions and brigades to his headquarters.

The elite of the empire is almost here.

After all the generals sat down, Wei Lihuang opened the telegram book with a serious expression and said, "Everyone, please get up again, here is His Majesty's Imperial Edict." ”

Huang Baitao, Xue Yue and the others hurriedly got up collectively when they heard this, although they were already a group of imperial generals with the rank of brigadier general and major general, under the imperial order, you seemed to be the quasi-ensignants who received the graduation medal of the Central Military Academy from the emperor.

Wei Lihuang picked up the telegram book and read: "Decree, the hegemony of the empire is here, and you should fight for the nation." ”

After saying this, he closed the telegram book, signaled that the emperor's telegram was so simple and direct, and then ordered: "All sit down!" ”

The electric order is simple and direct, but the listener is enthusiastic.

A soldier is a soldier after all.

The navy and the air force have displayed their prestige and killed countless enemies, and the army has only been defending Kaesong for half a year so far, and has made no progress.

Huang Baitao suddenly slapped the table and shouted: "Everyone, my generation killed the enemy in one fell swoop, and I fought hard." ”

Xue Yue and the others all laughed in unison.

Wei Lihuang's expression was still serious, he was cold and silent, and his subordinates could only continue to restrain their expressions and not smile.

After putting away the telegram book, Wei Lihuang glanced at all his subordinates, these people were actually only two or three years younger than him, it was the best moment of energy in his military career, and everyone here was also his most trusted practical talent, not to mention the military wizards that even he admired.

After a little muttering, Wei Lihuang continued to speak: "Our army has obvious advantages, this time in order to defeat the enemy, the M35 assault rifle is also equipped with a large number of several main divisions, especially the 35th Infantry Division, the predecessor of the 35th Division is the 305th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division, which was adapted and expanded during the Sino-Soviet War, and is also the elite infantry division of the empire arranged in Northeast Jilin Province all the year round. Responsible for smashing the defense of the army on the front line, Division Commander Huang, Division Commander Guo, Division Commander Xue and Brigade Commander Cao, the two of you have the heaviest responsibility, and you can only succeed, not fail. ”

Huang Baitao, Guo Yuqian, Xue Yue and Cao Zhen nodded yes.

The specific tactical deployment has been discussed too much, and everyone must have memorized it by heart, so Wei Lihuang does not want to emphasize it too much, this meeting is actually two things, one is to inform the emperor of the imperial edict, and the other is to order all departments to formally prepare for war, and launch a full-scale attack at 7 o'clock in the morning.

At that time, the main force will take the 4th Armored Division, the 14th Armored Division, the 35th Infantry Division, and the 134th Tank Brigade as the elite shock opponents, with a total of 1,552 tanks, 1,148 infantry fighting vehicles, 1,037 tracked transport vehicles, 344 reconnaissance combat vehicles, 155 rocket artillery, and 248 self-propelled guns.

In terms of the whole tactic, Wei Lihuang chose a more simple and direct tactic, and it was also the most conducive to the tactics that gave full play to the advantages of the mechanized armored group army, the elite directly inserted forward, and the large troops pursued in the rear, the front was responsible for penetrating the defense, and the rear was responsible for sweeping everything and support, and the two roads were rushing together to tear apart the opponent with speed advantage.

As for the rest of the matter, he handed it over to Fu Zuoyi's First Army, and he was only responsible for attacking all the way to the end, according to the defensive arrangement of the army and the terrain of southern Korea, he could basically fight all the way to Naju and Gwangju, facing Jeju across the sea, and the rest of the battlefield in the eastern part of Korea, his Second Army could only act as a second-line force, and it was difficult to sweep thousands of troops as the main force.

It's not that they can't fight, but they can't rush up, once the armored forces stop on the battlefield, there are not enough infantry around to be responsible for coordinated protection operations, and it is just the target of a group of anti-tank guns, but the army lacks suitable anti-tank guns.

For example, the establishment and disposition of the Second Group Army of the Northeast National Defense Army will either not be fought, or as soon as the fight starts, it must rush to the end, and the further back it goes, the smoother it will be, until there is no fuel.

Wei Lihuang's all-hands meeting was very simple, but after this meeting, the Second Army was like an engine that had been suddenly pulled, and it was about to ...... Immediately they will rush at the enemy, and the 10,000 guns of the entire group army will fire 10,000 guns in unison, bombarding the Japanese army into mud.

Judging from the intelligence and the deployment of the enemy's troops, Matsui Ishone predicted that the enemy might launch a full-scale attack within four to five days, and demanded that the whole army must strengthen the construction of fortifications, regard anti-tank as the most important task, and do everything possible to organize all manpower to carry out anti-tank operations.

Matsui Ishine has always been regarded as one of the most talented military strategists in the military circles, and in 1935 he was put on active duty, briefly serving as prime minister, after which he returned to active duty and officially became the commander-in-chief of the East Asian Dispatch Army.

However, he could not be trusted by the royal family, and he could only be a puppet of the royal family in many things, such as the previous Jeju naval battle, he has always opposed it, and recently he has been falsely accused of being because of his opposition and resistance, so during the Jeju naval battle, the navy did not get the full support of the army aviation unit, so it led to the naval fiasco.

Even though such a statement was only circulating in the lower echelons of the Tsumoto Navy, Matsui Ishine was still under a lot of pressure, and he did everything he could to block the upcoming all-out counteroffensive of the Northeast Defense Force and create a barely acceptable environment for the peace talks.

As for whether this matter can be stopped in the end, he is not absolutely sure, about the level of China's tank and armored forces, he has not been able to verify very clearly, if he looks at the study of the armored units of the army, he does not think that the situation is serious, he is most worried about the artillery units and aviation units of the Northeast Defense Army.

Although the artillery units of the two sides can barely confront each other in numbers, considering the strange situation of Chinese self-propelled artillery, Matsui Shigen always feels that he will suffer on this issue.

In this field of the aviation force, Matsui Ishine has thoroughly understood the power of the Chinese Air Force, so much so that it is difficult for him to understand how so many excellent fighters in China are manufactured, are they purchased from Germany, France, and the United States?

Only by knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent can one not be defeated.

Matsui Shigen neither knows himself nor the other, how can he not be defeated in a hundred battles?

The calm before the battle was terrible enough to suffocate, and the army had been trying to guess the exact time of the Northeast Defense Army's attack, but unless they could persuade the base camp to retreat, even if they were lucky, the information about a suitable attack would actually be of no avail.

January 18, 1940.

7 a.m.

The 204th Division of the Air Force of the Imperial Northeast Defense Force took the lead in setting off the tide of the counteroffensive with the division waved, although it was a war destined to be dominated by the army, the air force would still play a decisive role, and in modern warfare, the air and land themselves were already inseparable.

Under the cover of 17 fighter aircraft formations, J-5 Tiger Shark fighter-bombers and G-2 Tornado attack planes launched indiscriminate bombardment of the Yue army.

In such a major offensive, the Imperial Army did not pursue a large-scale covering attack by artillery, because the more muddy and rugged the front-line positions were, the less conducive it was to a large-scale attack by the mechanized army, and only rocket artillery units and air force units were needed to strike at the rear of the enemy army and contain the retreat of the opponent.

Thousands of MT22 light tanks crossed the trenches, in the long defense line of several kilometers straight over, in the Empire, this kind of tank belongs to the light standard, in the Ninth Seven Tank is heavier than the 97 tank, stronger defense, the 25\37mm anti-tank gun equipped by the army against the MT22 light tank has limited counterattack ability, even the 37mm anti-tank gun that has only begun to be installed at the level of the infantry wing of the army needs to be within 500 meters to have a probability to penetrate the frontal armor of the MT22.

The Air Force's attack planes and Tiger Shark fighter-bombers together carried out key strikes at the rear of the Army, artillery positions, and command headquarters, ensuring attack capability and maintaining the common surname on the frontal battlefield, leaving a wide enough attack depth for the Army's large mechanized armored corps.

Tank destroyers also began to act as self-propelled guns, following the self-propelled artillery battalions to assault and counterattack the artillery positions of the Japanese army along the road according to the command.

After countless tactical exercises and research, the Army has clearly formulated the main offensive mode of the perfect Army Mechanized Armored Corps, and in all the offensive settings, the most important link is not to destroy the artillery position, rear and headquarters of the Army, nor to destroy the positions and fortresses of the Army, but to ensure the stability of ground traffic, as well as to ensure the chain structure of the entire mechanized corps in the process of advancement.

With the main battle tank as the vanguard, the medium and light tanks as the left and right flanks and the middle troops, to protect the advance of infantry fighting vehicles, tracked transport vehicles, mechanized baggage units, and self-propelled guns.

In the process of the advance of the tank troops, the infantry does not attack the enemy around the tank, but advances around the infantry fighting vehicle, which is also the conclusion of the Imperial Army after many exercises, because the tank is in front, attracting the most attacks, even if the tank itself is not threatened, the damage rate of the surrounding soldiers will be very high.

In addition, the tank must not stop in the actual combat process, it must move forward at a high speed as much as possible, and if it stops, it will be easy to be attacked by individual anti-tank weapons, so it is necessary to coordinate the operation of infantry fighting vehicles, and at the appropriate time, it is necessary to use infantry to protect tanks, rather than using tanks to protect infantry.

For the U.S. Army, the German Army, and the Soviet Army, which are developing mechanized changes, some of the details of mechanization changes may still not be perfected.

The devil is in the details.

In order to deal with China's tank forces and the torrent of steel, the army formulated various individual anti-tank battle plans, which could not play any role at all in the face of the empire's mature mechanized combat theory and system.

It is not that the Chinese Empire does not like to beat you, but if it wants to fight, it will beat you like a dead dog and cannot move.

As soon as the empire launched a full-scale counteroffensive, the army was as fragile as a layer of mud, and within half an hour, the main forces of the empire's two armored divisions tore a 30-kilometer-long rift in the defensive line.

Once the rift is torn open, the entire combat strength of the Imperial Army will be brought into play, with tanks responsible for breaking through, artillery responsible for encircling and annihilating, infantry responsible for protecting tanks and artillery, cleaning up the battlefield, and fighting together.

The Imperial Navy's Central Aircraft Carrier Combined Fleet also arrived in the waters around Incheon Port and dispatched carrier-based aircraft groups to attack warships and garrison units in Incheon Port.

The Imperial Air Force dispatched more superior attack aircraft groups to carry out more rapid strikes at the rear positions and artillery positions of the Japanese army at low altitudes.

This kind of joint offensive of the three armed forces will be held once a year in Yuzhao, Shandong, and the details of each attack have been studied and verified countless times, and the first time the Yue army encountered this complex system attack was like being beaten into a sieve, and in Matsui Shigen's view, it was already a solid and perfect defense line of the Yue army, and it was simply unable to effectively resist the attack of the Northeast Defense Army.

It is undeniable that the lower-level officers and men of the Chinese army are still very brave and excellent, but this is really not a problem that can be solved by the efforts of the soldiers and lower-level officers and men.

Although the base camp had signed a new order through Emperor Showa allowing Matsui Ishine to use chemical weapons against the "Shina people", such a rapid rout made it too late for Matsui Ishine to use chemical weapons.

The Chinese Army's steel torrent was invincible in parts of the battlefield in eastern Korea, and this instantaneous burst of power was completely incomprehensible to Matsui Ishone, and before he could figure it out, the Chinese Army's tank brigade had already invaded the Seoul headquarters of the East Asian Dispatch Army.

(To be continued)