The Japanese army headquarters in Seoul was very busy, and Han Ruowei, the commander of the coalition forces who arrived here, listened to Yusuke Ohira's report with some depression, looked at the military map, and asked for a long time: "Where have the troops reinforcing Huishan arrived?" Ohira said: "The reinforcements have reached Xichangli on the Gaima Plateau, which is still half the way from Huishan. Reinforcements were moving slowly because of the difficulty of the roads. ”

Han Ruowei said: "General Hatoyama, reinforcements have lost their meaning, and they can only be oil filling tactics, which is a taboo for soldiers." It seems that the Chinese army's choice to break through at Huishan is justified, and it has been taken by surprise and unprepared. Since the road on the Gaima Plateau was difficult to navigate, he threw the burden to the Chinese army, immediately ordered reinforcements to retreat, and formed a defensive front on the line of Changjin Lake. After breaking through the Huishan defensive line, the Chinese army would soon occupy Pingshan, and the defending troops were ordered to fortify at Hamhung to prevent the Chinese army from moving south. ”

Han Ruowei thought clearly: "The Chinese army broke through the Huishan defense line, the right flank of the Zhongjiang defense line was wide open, the Zhongjiang defense line lost its meaning, ordered the troops defending the Zhongjiang defense line to retreat, and set up a new defense line at the river boundary and formed a ring defense line between Changjin Lake. In addition, the Huishan defense line was already in tatters, and the defending troops were ordered to retreat, and the Chinese army was slowed down by blocking and slowing down the advance of the Chinese army. "Under the critical situation, Han Ruowei's move is undoubtedly the most correct choice.

In late spring, although the Gaima Plateau is bathed in warm sunlight, the solar terms come relatively late. Due to the deep forests of the Gaima Plateau, last winter there was a lot of snow and ice melted, forming many streams, making it difficult to travel. In addition, the Gaima Plateau is sparsely populated. There is almost no way out. At this time, a Japanese unit of about 30,000 men was struggling to walk. They received an order to rush to reinforce Huishan.

After five days of long-distance travel, only half of the distance was covered, and the Japanese officers and men were very tired. Due to the sparse population and high mountains and dense forests, when they saw the village of Xichangli, all the officers and soldiers almost cheered. In a thatched house, several Japanese generals were listening to orders. The supreme commander of this reinforcement was the division commander Ichiro Hatoyama, who was issuing directives at this time. Several generals lowered their eyebrows and bowed their waists to listen.

Hatoyama Ichiro said with a grim face: "The road is muddy and difficult to walk, and the officers and soldiers are very tired after five consecutive days of marching. There was a non-combat attrition. Although the Huishan front line is in crisis, even if we rush to the front line, we are still tired divisions. According to the report of the reconnaissance unit, the terrain from Xichangli to Heping has increased. Since there is no standing water, the road is dry. So I decided to rest for the night in Xichangli. Raise your spirits and speed up the march tomorrow. ”

Several subordinates thought that what the division commander said was reasonable, and they had to rest for one night in Xichangli in the current state. After the order was given, the Japanese soldiers hurriedly set up their tents, and without even bothering to eat, they went into the tents and fell asleep. This Japanese army was a reserve behind the defensive line, and all the officers and soldiers did not expect that the Chinese army had just launched an attack. There was a crisis on the front line, and there was a crisis in the Huishan defensive line, which was considered the safest. Although the Japanese army has a strong force. But to traverse the complex terrain of the Gaima Plateau, the difficulty can be imagined.

A fast horse galloped in, and in the darkness a Japanese communications officer jumped off his horse. Hatoyama Ichiro was awakened in his sleep, "Your Excellency General, Commander Ohira Yusuke ordered to cancel the Jihua that reinforced Huishan, and ordered your troops to quickly retreat and build fortifications on the front line of Changjin Lake to defend on the spot. After speaking, the communications officer handed the letter to Hatoyama Ichiro. Hatoyama Ichiro immediately sobered up and hurriedly opened the letter to check. There is no mistake that it is a letter written by the commander himself.

"Is Huishan lost?" Ichiro Hatoyama's scalp is a little numb. If you are slow to rescue yourself, could it be that the commander wants to punish you? The communications officer said, "Your Excellency, I don't know the specific situation. However, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Han Ruowei, arrived in Seoul, and the change of battle Jihua had something to do with him. Ichiro Hatoyama relaxed his nervousness when he heard this. The communications officer continued: "The headquarters sent another communications officer to inform the Huishan defenders of the retreat and ask them to resist and slow down the advance of the Chinese army. ”

The command ordered a retreat, and the pressure on Ichiro Hatoyama suddenly subsided. It seems that Huishan can't stand it, and can only have Jihua's retreat, which shows that the battle situation has not yet reached the point of being out of control. Simply let the officers and soldiers rest peacefully for the night, so Hatoyama Ichiro did not order an immediate retreat. On the way back, Hatoyama Ichiro considered that the road was difficult, so the speed of retreat was very slow, and it took 8 days to reach the fortified area of Changjin Lake. Due to the delay in the return trip, Hatoyama Ichiro did not wait for the completion of the construction at Changjin Lake when the figure of the Chinese army appeared in front of him, which in turn caused the rout of the Japanese army on all fronts.

A small North Korean mountain village with about a dozen Xian houses. An inconspicuous small mountain village suddenly became lively. A large number of Chinese soldiers entered the small mountain village. All of them were in rags, with all the bells and whistles, and everyone seemed to be asking for food. Zhang Dashan led a group to rest here. After five days of continuous fighting, the first regiment had lost more than half of its strength. When the troops arrived at the small mountain village, they all gathered on the threshing floor and lined up to listen to the lecture of the regiment commander.

Zhang Dashan, the head of the regiment, stood in front of the queue and said majestically: "Brothers, we will rest in this small mountain village for five days and replenish the soldiers. The battalion commanders quickly reported the vacancies, and the brigade commanders said how many people were lacking to make up for how many people. We're here to refresh our spirits for the next battle! Now I declare the dissolution. The officers and soldiers quickly set up tents to bury pots and cook food, and the curling smoke rose from the cooking, which made this quiet downhill village full of vitality.

In a military tent, company commander Zhuang Lei hung his arm on his chest and said: "Brothers, you have a deep understanding of the five-day battle. When we crossed the river to fight, we faced the Japanese troops, and their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. And the Japanese troops in front of us have significantly improved their combat effectiveness, willpower, and soldiers' quality, so everyone should be good at summing up, and when dealing with the Japanese army, we must know ourselves and know our opponents. ”

Everyone nodded and began to talk about it. This was followed by discussions on the issue of replenishment of troops.

"Company commander, our three platoons have suffered the greatest losses, and the replenishment of soldiers must give priority to us!" Guan Biao was blunt. "Guan Huzi, if you don't say that we won't fight with you, you are the best in the row, which is admirable." A long line laughed. Zhuang Lei smiled: "Third platoon leader, don't worry, I will give you the best soldiers." Everyone talked and laughed for a while, and the company commander Zhuang Lei counted the losses of the company's personnel, and then went to the battalion headquarters to report.

Guan Biao returned to the platoon and shouted with a flowery face: "Platoon commander, do you want to issue a set of military uniforms, you see how shivering this military uniform is, if you let the North Korean girls see it, they think that we are poor and don't even have clothes." "You kid doesn't leave the line for three sentences, and you miss the girl just after you stop." The squad leader Iron Tower squeezed him. "Come on, you don't want to be a. I think you're happier than anyone else thinks. Pretended to be injured when charging, and coldly let the female soldier carry a ride, did you kid do it on purpose! "The flower face is sharp-toothed.

"You kid is damaged enough, platoon commander, I promise the president, definitely not pretending to be injured!" The tower blushed and his neck became serious. "Okay, okay, no fart in your throat, I think you're uncomfortable. The company commander said that the uniforms would arrive immediately, two sets of uniforms per person. Guan Biao glared at the two of them and said, and everyone immediately cheered when they heard it. The brutal battle did not affect the mood of the soldiers, and there was still no loss of humor and gags.

Huishan, the military headquarters of the First Army, the chief of staff reported excitedly: "The 2nd and 3rd divisions report that the remnants of the Japanese army in Laosongshan and Fenghuangshan have suddenly withdrawn, and the entire defense line has been occupied by us. Zhong Hanli's eyes were aimed at the sand table, and the combat staff officer took the opportunity to plant the military flag all over several hills. The 3rd Division was ordered to immediately advance in the direction of Hirayama, and the commander of the 3rd Division was told that it was necessary to occupy Hirayama on May 8. Zhong Hanli continued: "The soldiers are fast, how many days has the first division rested?" "4 days!" The chief of staff replied.

Zhong Hanli said decisively: "The current battle situation is favorable to me, and I order the first division to end its rest and immediately advance in the direction of Changjin Lake." I guess that the Japanese army has received an order to retreat, and it must carry out continuous resistance, the purpose is to slow down our advance, and it is necessary to disrupt the Japanese army's subordinates and make the battle situation chaotic, the more chaotic the better, this is called fishing in troubled waters. ”

Sure enough, the retreating Japanese troops resisted one after another. The 3rd Division bravely attacked and occupied peace at the dawn of May 10, two days late according to the request of the army commander Zhong Hanli, which coincided with the requirements of the front army headquarters. A large number of troops appeared on the side of Hyesan, and the headquarters demanded that after Pyongsan was occupied, the 4th Army on standby would enter the DPRK to fight. After assembling at Hyesan, the 4th Army quickly moved into Korea, aiming at Hambong. Their task is to put on a posture of a large-scale offensive and cover the main forces to carry out their real strategic objectives.

In fact, the strategy of the Front Army Headquarters is to lay out the next overall situation. Choosing Huishan to break through, how can it be taken by surprise and unprepared. And the real plot is Changjin Lake. As long as Changjin Lake is captured, the gateway to the north of the Datong River will be opened, and as long as Jiechuan is captured in one go. The 200,000 Japanese troops on the Sinuiju and Ji'an lines will fall into strategic encirclement.

If the strategy is implemented as scheduled, a brutal offensive operation will be avoided. In addition, the annihilation of the Japanese army can greatly speed up the process of conquering the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, the headquarters of the front army drew up a campaign to annihilate the main force of the Japanese army, and the entire campaign lasted more than two months and was expected to be completed in mid-June. And whether this strategy can successfully achieve the goal, the key depends on Changjin Lake.

Sheng Jing, Headquarters of the Front. Chief of Staff Wang Jie said with a smile on his face: "Commander, the strategy has been implemented smoothly, after the First Army occupied Pingshan, the 1st Division took the lead in advancing in the direction of Changjin Lake. At present, the 4th Army has all entered the DPRK and is advancing in the direction of Xianfeng. According to the Zhongjiang front, the Japanese army showed obvious signs of retreat, and the 5th Army intensified its offensive and was expected to break through the Yalu River today. ”

"Great, order the 9th Army and the 10th Army to increase their feint attacks, and they can't give the Japanese any respite!" Bai Sheng continued: "Order the 2nd Army on standby in Zhongjiang, after the 5th Army breaks through the defensive line, quickly enter the DPRK and go to the Changjin Lake area, and join the First Army. Quickly capture the Changjin Lake area. (To be continued......)

PS: Breaking through the line of defense is not the goal, a bigger layout follows.