Tokyo, Japan.

After the good news of the success of the First Army's surprise attack, both the Japanese cabinet and the military department breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. The official residence of the prime minister of the cabinet in Xiaguan was even more crowded, with high-ranking generals of the army and navy, veterans and important ministers trusted in the palace, and leaders of opposition political parties coming one after another. Celebrate the victory at the front, and discuss the plan for a victorious end to the war.

One by one, the construction of yì has been proposed, it is nothing more than the success of the surprise attack, and the progress of the front line of the Ussuri River is also in line with expectations, and the Chinese army will inevitably be in chaos. Now it is possible to consider transferring the five divisions in the country to Korea, converging the Korean army to cross the Yalu River to the north, giving the final blow to the Manchurian Army in China, occupying Shenyang and Dalian, seizing the whole of Manchuria, and luring the Soviet Union into the war!

However, Tanaka did not participate in the debate on the victory plan. Instead, he stood in front of the huge map in his office for hours, and the only thing that stood by him was Okamura Ninji, the head of army intelligence, who had only recently been promoted to major general.

The good news from the front did not make His Excellency the Prime Minister feel much joy, his eyebrows were tightly twisted, and his two small eyes were staring at Northeast China on the map, as if he wanted to find something from there?

"Okamura-kun, how many of the Shina infantry corps can confirm the location now?"

Okamura asked in a low voice, "What do you mean by confirmation......"

"The situation is ascertained by the interrogation of prisoners by the front-line troops or the interception of the enemy."

"This ......," Okamura hesitated. At the moment, only the 2nd Division of the 8th Army of the China Army and the 0th Division of the 10th Army of China can be determined, the former on the west bank of the Ussuri River. Relying on the Great Forest to entangle with the Second Army of the Imperial Army, the latter was deployed in Jiamusi. ”

Tanaka glanced back at Okamura. "How many divisions did the Manchurian Army have? Thirty or forty? Only two have now been identified. Where is the rest? ”

Okamura said: "Xiaguan estimates that the Eighth Army of China must be near the Tiger Head Fortress, there is at least one division south of the Tiger Head Fortress, and there should be another division in the Tiger Head Fortress." As for the other two divisions of the 10th Army in China, they should be deployed on the Sino-Soviet border. ”

"What else?"

Okamura shook his head and said, "There is no definite information, so I can only rely on estimates." There may be one army near Fuyuan Fortress, two more armies near Hutou Fortress, at least two armies in Suifenhe, Dongning, and Jixi, and two to three armies north of the Yalu River. There is also an army that is in reserve. ”

Tanaka smiled bitterly. "That is, there are at least eight infantry corps of China who don't know where? If the combat effectiveness of those units was on par with that of the 2nd Division, the situation in Manchuria would be extremely uncertain. ”

Okamura thought for a long time and said to Tanaka: "Your Excellency, after thinking about it, I always feel that the strength of the Far East Army and the Korean Army is still too weak, so it is better to send five divisions in the country to the Far East and Korea." Tanaka shook his head and said, "I've thought of this a long time ago." However, these five divisions are our last hole cards. With them, they can threaten the coast of China, and if the situation is unfavorable, this is our trump card for peace......"

"Summation?" Okamura Ninji was stunned for a moment. "That's not the case, is it?"

Tanaka Okamura did not answer his words directly. "Can that girl be contacted?" Okamura frowned and said, "I'm afraid it's a little difficult, I just know that this little girl is Chang Ruiqing's favorite concubine now, and Chang Ruiqing is very strict with her." Except for Chang Ruiqing's cronies and the high-ranking military and political leaders of China, no one can see her. He paused and then asked, "Your Excellency the Prime Minister means to use this dark chess?" ”

Okamura nodded and said, "Be sure to contact her, no matter what method you use!" If anything happens, she's the only hope for the Empire! ”

……

The Japanese are on the front line of the twin cities in the Far East. At this time, there was not a single smell of gunpowder.

After the Great War between China, Japan and the Soviet Union in 920, there was also the Suifen River in China in the west, which was the focus of the defense of the Chinese and Japanese armies. The Japanese army was east of the twin cities. The hilly area southwest of Xingkai Lake has built up a large fortified area, and at least two divisions and three independent artillery wings are attached to this line of defense all year round. To the south of the twin cities is Vladivostok, the most fortified city in all of East Asia, known to the Japanese as Shioura, which is the capital of the Japanese Far Eastern State and the headquarters of the Japanese Far East Army, so there is also a division that is deployed there all year round.

However, after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War on 7 June, the Japanese garrison troops and technical weapons here were constantly being drawn out, and a division was transferred to Xin'an Tu on the east bank of the Ussuri River in mid-June and incorporated into the First Army, and the division stationed in Vladivostok (Yanpo) was also drawn from the defense line at the end of June and ready to be drawn at any time, and finally received an order to go north by train to reinforce the Ussuri River front on 4 July. Because the artillery of the squadron in front of him has been calm, a large number of heavy artillery has also been withdrawn from the defense line of the twin cities and transported to Xin'antu, ready to be used in the storming of the Tiger Head Fortress. When the day came on July 7, 92, there was only one 10th Division reinforced with 10,000 temporarily recruited reservists and a separate heavy artillery wing equipped with 24 Meiji 45-year 50mm heavy cannons. Such a thin force can no longer defend the more than 200-kilometer front from Xingkai Lake to the Amur Bay, so they can only adopt the method of focusing on the deployment of defenses, guarding the Shuangcheng fortress and the railway line from the Suifen River to the Shuangcheng, of course, this section of the railway has long been picked, and even the roadbed has been destroyed.

Elsewhere on the front, there were only a small number of Japanese posts, where small groups of Japanese troops were stationed, and small detachments would patrol along the border every day, sometimes crossing the border to probe the Chinese lines, and sometimes fighting with Chinese scouts who were also cross-border reconnaissance, which was probably the only battle on the Twin Cities front. However, on the afternoon of July 6, the headquarters of the 10th Division of the Japanese Army in Shuangcheng received some very unusual reports from the forward posts one after another. The vast majority of the detachments they sent out to patrol and reconnoiter did not return on time! And most of the small detachments that came back encountered the Chinese reconnaissance units that far exceeded their own in number and firepower during the patrol! When these reports were sent to the desk of the division commander, Lieutenant General Ugaki Kazunari. The head of the "Ugaki faction", which was historically opposed to Yoshiichi Tanaka, immediately felt that something was wrong! The Chinese have moved their power search curtain forward, which is definitely a sign of large-scale military action!

Ugaki quickly reported these circumstances and his own judgment to the Far Eastern Army Command in Yanura. The command of the Far Eastern Army, of course, did not dare to slack off. The Twin Cities are seven inches of the entire Far Eastern Army. Once interrupted by the Chinese army, only God knows how the next war will be fought! The Japanese Army Air Force, which had been difficult to dispatch until the beginning of the war, was immediately dispatched. The few only flying squadrons were all dispatched to conduct low-altitude reconnaissance. But before they could fly into China, they were intercepted by Chinese air force fighters several times their size, and after a fierce air battle, the weak Japanese air force was almost hit with a devastating blow. However, such a result also proved Ugaki's guess that the main force of the Chinese army was likely to be secretly concentrated near the twin cities, and a large-scale attack was imminent!

Receiving reports of a crushing defeat in the Army Air Corps, the Far Eastern Army Command in Yanpu immediately bombed the battalion. All the generals and adjutants were either dumbfounded. Otherwise, they are scrambling to find forces on the map that can be reinforced in time. The movement of the Chinese army on the front line of the twin cities made everyone feel a very ominous premonition, maybe it was a mistake to provoke this war! But they don't have time to regret it. The Twin Cities were the throat of the entire Far Eastern Army, and Yanpu, the first fortress in East Asia, was only a few dozen kilometers away from the Twin Cities

Now it's almost an empty city! If Yanpo falls, then it will be impossible for Japan to end this war with dignity!

In the early morning of July 7, Admiral Hanzo Yamanashi's Japanese Second Army received an order from the Far Eastern Army, ordering his corps to immediately send two divisions by train to reinforce Shuangcheng. These two divisions immediately came under the direct command of the Far Eastern Army Command, and did not carry heavy artillery or anything. The amount of supplies and ammunition is as much as possible, and the important thing is to be sure to mobilize the troops to the Twin Cities as much as possible! The troops in Yanpu City were also urgently mobilized, and a detachment was formed by the garrison brigades stationed in the coastal forts, the marines defending the military port, the garrison of the military station in charge of the material warehouses of the Far Eastern Army, and the guard units of the Far Eastern Army Headquarters. There were also some Japanese pioneers who had been improvised and organized, numbering about 14,500 people. Under the command of Major General Sugiyama Moto, the superintendent of the Far Eastern Military Station, he went to the entrance to the Amursky Peninsula to set up defenses. At the same time, the Japanese Combined Fleet, anchored at Kure Gungang, was also ordered, and four Kongo-class battlecruisers urgently formed a formation and went to sea for Yanpo, ready to provide fire support to the defenders with their 4-inch naval guns! Apparently the Japanese base camp has prepared for the worst!

And these arrangements. For the Japanese defenders on the front line of the Twin Cities, it was difficult to quench their thirst. Because the time when the general attack of the squadron was launched was at 7 a.m. on July 7, 92.

……

"Move fast! Keep up! "Major Sun Liren, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Army Engineer Regiment of the Chinese National Defense Forces, was heavily armed and commanded his battalion to advance along the passage opened up in advance by the combat engineers in the early morning sun. He carried a state-made MP-submachine gun on his shoulder, four magazines stuck in his belt, and a row of wooden-handled grenades. There is also a shiny badge of the Left People's Youth League on his chest. He graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering of Tsinghua University before he studied at the Engineer Branch of the Central Military Academy, because he had a degree in civil engineering, so as soon as he graduated, he was awarded the rank of major, and served as the battalion commander of this army-affiliated engineering battalion. Like him, the officers and men under his command were all out of breath, some carrying submachine guns and grenades, others carrying all kinds of construction equipment, and their eyes flashed with nervousness and excitement.

Sun Liren ran profusely and sweated, took off the general's hat and fanned him twice, stopped, and hit it four times. A staff officer of the captain of the Eighth Army Corps with two infantrymen rushed up from behind. The captain gasped and said, "Battalion Commander Sun, there is still a little more than a kilometer to reach the mouth of the No. 2 river, where the river is too deep to wade, and the infantry is exchanging fire with the Japanese, and has completely controlled the commanding heights on the north bank of the zhì river." ”

Since the Japanese did not deploy heavy forces in most parts of the border, the raid on the northern front of the Twin Cities Battlefield did not begin with massive artillery bombardment and infantry charges. Most of the sections of the northern front were nothing more than combat sappers clearing the roads of mines, and then brigades of Wehrmacht infantry swaggered in. And the resistance of the Japanese army was to rely on small forces in the mountains and forests to ambush and destroy bridges and roads. Therefore, Sun Liren and their sappers became the busiest group of people in this assault operation. Busy building bridges and building roads. Open the way for the subsequent heavy equipment to enter.

Sun Liren smiled kindly at the captain's staff officer, and asked, "How is the road ahead being damaged?" ”

The captain replied: "A steel bridge over the creek has been blown up. There were also trees that had been cut down and lay across the road. Sun Liren thought for a moment and looked ahead. You can still faintly hear the sound of rumbling and running, and I don't know if it's the cannon over there? The main defensive line of the Japanese army was deployed in the deep area, and the heavy artillery of Suifenhe and Dongning was probably out of reach. The key to the success or failure of this battle is to transport heavy weapons in time, which is actually the surface of the sappers.

The captain asked him tentatively: "Battalion Commander Sun, do you want to wait for the artillery team behind to come up?" Suppress the Japanese with artillery, and then let's repair the bridges? Sun Liren estimated the time in his heart, and now is the time to race against time. Every minute of delay gave the Japanese more time to mobilize reinforcements. He gritted his teeth and said to a company commander beside him: "Go and give an order to the whole battalion, everyone is lightly armed here, bring axes, hammers, hemp ropes, steel nails and weapons, and three sapper mortars." Even if we are against the bullets of Japanese ghosts, we will repair the bridge in three hours! ”

The sappers were shivering and lightly armed, and Sun Liren and the captain's staff officer ran up a nearby high slope. Raise your binoculars and start observing the terrain and the battle ahead. The area is hilly, with very dense vegetation and a winding river passing through it, and the only steel bridge over the river is missing, which must have been blown up. There was an exchange of fire on both sides of the river, with the fire on the north bank clearly overwhelming the south bank. There were also several mortars to aid in the fight. However, there were always gunshots on the south bank, and they were not completely suppressed. It is estimated that snipers are also arranged, and this is the most dangerous!

Descending the high slope, a battalion of sappers was ready. Sun Liren pointed to the commander of the first company: "Your people go to cut down trees, and they can have the thickness of the bowl." The length should be more than 5 meters, and 2 wooden rafts should be cut into a wooden row. It must be completed within an hour. However, it was erected on the disconnected bridge deck. Then he said to the commander of the second company: "Your men bring weapons, smoke bombs, and sapper shovels." And those two mortars, go to the river beach to build a position, and then fire at the opposite bank. When a company of platoons arrives, you cover them with mortars and smoke grenades. Finally, he said to the commander of the third company: "Your men are divided into two teams and look for shoals along the riverbank. Once found, shoot three red flares. Alright, let's go! ”

Just as the Second Army, which had broken into the Shuangcheng Battlefield from Jixi in the north, was advancing along the road destroyed by the Japanese army, and constantly engaged in battles with small Japanese forces along the way.

On the front of the Twin Cities Battlefield, on the battlefield along the Eastern Railway, the fierce bombardment of Chinese artillery has begun. July 7, 7:05 a.m. Suddenly, a flash of light swept over the battle line of the Chinese army, which almost turned the sky red. The Japanese officers and soldiers who had already been warned and were staring nervously at the west in the trenches felt that their eyes were suddenly dazzled. When the word shelling came to their minds, an unimaginably loud roar rang in their ears. It seems to be the sound of the sky falling! The shelling of the Chinese Defense Forces began! And there are more than 1,000 howitzers and cannons of more than 00mm. Hundreds of 75mm mountain guns, 20mm heavy mortars, and 0mm mortars gathered on a not too wide frontal front and roared at the same time! The trajectory of the shells suddenly intertwined with fire in the sky. It's just a blink of an eye. Swarms of shells swarmed and landed on the Japanese positions. Suddenly, the ground shook, as if a magnitude 7 earthquake had happened at the feet of the Japanese army!

The carefully constructed positions of the Japanese army were instantly engulfed by clusters of orange-red fireballs and rows of blue-black plumes of smoke, sweeping away all the deer, horses, wires, and mines, and most of the small number of Japanese officers and men who remained on the front-line positions were also reduced to pieces of smoking corpses in this devastating artillery bombardment. Those who survived also huddled in the trenches with their heads in their hands, their mouths open, not knowing what they were shouting, until the hot air with the smell of gunpowder smoke poured into their throats and burned their trachea, and they did not react.

The Japanese officers and soldiers deployed here also saw such a powerful artillery bombardment for the first time!

At 05:05 a.m., the artillery fire of the Chinese army began to extend into the depth of the Japanese army. At the same time, on the starting position of the Chinese army to the west of the Suifenhe Fortress, a series of piercing whistles have sounded! Thousands of Chinese assault infantry, who had been waiting in the trench with rifles and submachine guns, stood up almost at the same time, and the junior officers with submachine guns jumped out of the trench one after another, shouting with all their strength: "Wehrmacht! Advance! Expel the Japanese Bandits, return my rivers and mountains, and move forward! Advance! ”