The eastern suburbs of Baotou, Xinzhao Village, Shaerqin Town, the temporary headquarters of the 26th Division of the Japanese Army. The commander of the division, Lieutenant General Shigetoku Kuroda, sat on the main seat and looked viciously at the officers in the room. Because the war was not going well, the Japanese generals felt ashamed and lowered their heads one after another, not daring to look at Lieutenant General Kuroda.

However, Kuroda Shigetoku obviously didn't intend to let them go like this, and suddenly slapped the table and asked, "Gentlemen, do you know why I called you from the front line?" ”

The generals pretended to be deaf and dumb one by one, and did not dare to speak up, for fear of being shot in the head by Kuroda's gun. They all knew very well in their hearts that the battle was like this, and it was unjustifiable no matter what. Blame Baotou City for being too strong? Blame the enemy army for defending the city too strong? Blame the supply route not being secured? The superiors won't care about this!

"Baga, you are incompetent in combat, don't you even have the courage to speak?" Kuroda Shigetoku pushed away the chair, strode up to the generals, and stared at them one by one, frightening the faces of these guys.

"Isayama-kun, you say!" Seeing that there was no answer, Kuroda Shigetoku had no choice but to order.

In the 26th Division, in addition to the division commander Shigetoku Kuroda, the chief of staff, Yong Daisa, and the commander of the infantry regiment, Major General An Da, 23, had the highest status. However, these two people are Kuroda Shigetoku's right-hand men, and they still have to save some face, so Lieutenant General Kuroda bypassed them and directly ordered the commander of the 11th Independent Infantry Wing, Haruki Isayama. (Note: The infantry regiment here is different from the regimental structure of the Chinese army, and an infantry regiment has three infantry wings, which is more accurate to translate as an infantry group.) ）

Isayama Haruki Dazuo scolded in his heart, but he had to reply stubbornly: "Your Excellency the head of the reporting division." It was because of the unfavorable progress of our department that we were unable to win Baotou for a long time. ”

"Yo Xi, it seems that you don't know the way!" Kuroda Shigetoku sneered, and then asked: "Isayama-kun, then tell me, why can't you take the baotou for a long time?" Is it the reason for me as a commander? ”

"Of course not!" Isayama Haruki Osa hurriedly said: "It's because we are not effective in combat, please punish Your Excellency the division commander!" ”

Kuroda Shigetoku angrily swept all the things on the table to the ground and howled, "Weak in battle, ineffective in combat, don't tell me these things!" I'll show you. You idiots. The face of the 26th Division and the Army has been disgraced to you! As he spoke, he picked up a large stack of telegrams from the ground and threw them in the faces of the crowd.

The Japanese generals did not dare to dodge, and they all glanced at it and secretly looked, only to see that it was full of telegrams from the Mongolian army and the North China Front army urging, shouting, and even scolding. But his heart was even more aggrieved. I don't know who built the fortifications so strongly. Which army dares to say that it will be able to conquer it in a short time?

"You guys. Anything else to say? After venting like a bison in the room for a while, Kuroda slumped in his chair like a deflated ball. But his eyes were as fierce as a wolf. From time to time, he looked at the generals in the house, and wanted to choose someone to devour.

Major General Anda 23, the commander of the infantry regiment, hesitated for a moment, and seeing that the others had no intention of speaking, he had to stand up and say: "Your Excellency, division commander, I suggest that the firepower of the troops be rearranged, and if you attack a few more times, you may be able to capture it." The difficulties we face are great, and so is the enemy, and I believe that victory must belong to the Great Japanese Army with the spirit of bushido! ”

Kuroda raised his eyelids and asked, "How many days?" ”

Anda Twenty-three's face changed slightly, thinking that things on the battlefield were changing rapidly, how could this kind of thing be accurate? I had to say vaguely: "Well, this, naturally, the sooner the better!" Please rest assured, Your Excellency, the warriors of the Empire will do their best! ”

Kuroda snorted coldly and said, "I hope so!" I'm willing to believe you, but Commander Okabe only gave me three days, can you do it? ”

The Japanese generals were taken aback when they heard this, and looked at each other, thinking how could this be possible? It took three days to take a small stronghold outside the east gate, and there were heavy casualties, and the remaining strongholds were even more difficult to fight, how could three days be enough?

Chief of Staff Changyong Dazuo hurriedly suggested: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, with our current strength, three days is not enough in any case. If Your Excellency the Commander insists that we take Baotou within three days, unless we bring in reinforcements from siege artillery! As soon as these words came out, the Japanese generals immediately chimed in.

"Sodos, Your Excellency the Chief of Staff has a point!"

"Gentlemen, Baotou City is so strong, 75mm artillery can't play any role at all. The power of the 105 mm field howitzer is also insufficient, and it is necessary to have a heavy gun of more than 150 mm! ”

"It's better to have heavy artillery of more than 240 mm, didn't the Front have two siege artillery brigades? Why don't you turn it over! ”

"In addition to heavy artillery, aviation should also be intensified!"

"Yo Xi, what's the use of a few light explosion teams, you have to use 97 heavy explosions!"

"Matsumoto-kun is so right!"

……

An hour later, Zhangjiakou, the headquarters of the Mongolian army. The commander, Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe, angrily threw a telegram on the ground and shouted: "Kuroda Shigetoku, this shameless fellow, has fought like this, and he dares to ask me for heavy artillery!" ”

Major General Shinichi Tanaka, Chief of Staff, hurriedly advised: "Your Excellency, Commander, please calm your anger, there are always times when the war goes wrong, so there is no need to be angry about it." It may be true that there are some difficulties at the front, and Kuroda-kun's request can be understood. ”

Tanaka Shinichi was the most die-hard arrogant invading faction within the Japanese army, and when he was the head of the military section of the Military Affairs Bureau in the early days of the 77 Incident, he strongly criticized Ishihara Wan'er, who advocated non-expansion, which led to a large increase in the Japanese army in North China and the outbreak of a full-scale war between China and Japan. In the historical Battle of Suixi, Shinichi Tanaka was dismissed for improper command. After being transferred back to China, this die-hard guy advocated an immediate war with Britain and the United States, and for this reason, he also beat up the head of the military affairs bureau, Muto Akira, who advocated prudence.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the fanatical Shinichi Tanaka advocated the requisition of all ships for military use. Even the most extreme Prime Minister Hideki Tojo thinks this proposition is undesirable, because the Japanese people also need to eat and live, and civilian ships are needed. As a result, this fanatical brainless guy actually rushed to the prime minister's office and scolded Tojo in front of him for being a bastard. As a result, he was confined for 15 days.

Of course, Shinichi Tanaka is not brainless to this extent, but he is very enthusiastic about war. He repeatedly suggested taking the initiative to attack Suixi, completely eliminate Fu Zuoyi's troops, coerce Xitao, and force Ma Hongbin and others in Ningxia to surrender. However, the commander of the previous corps stationed in Mongolia, Lieutenant General Liannuma, did not agree out of prudence. Now it seems that it may have been right to take the initiative, which made Shinichi Tanaka think that he was prescient and very proud.

Okabe Naosaburo snorted and said, "But Kuroda Shigetoku, this bastard, has not made any progress after fighting for so long. Watching the cavalry group be wiped out. Let me be scolded like a dog by General Sugiyama Motodai! ”

He asked curiously: "Tanaka-kun, I heard that you proposed a long time ago to attack Suixi and completely eliminate Fu Zuoyi's troops, but Lieutenant General Liannuma did not agree?" ”

Shinichi Tanaka raised his head triumphantly. But he pretended to be modest and said, "Your Excellency Commander is right. I did make this suggestion a long time ago. It's just that the commander of the Mongolian Corps at that time, Lieutenant General Liannuma Fan, did not agree. ”

Naosaburo Okabe said regretfully, "Alas. That's a shame. If Tanaka's plan can be realized, even if Fu Zuoyi's department can't be eliminated, at least they can be driven to Ningxia! It's good now. They were allowed to launch a counteroffensive first. ”

Tanaka Shinichi comforted: "It's good to let the people of China take the initiative to jump out, it is much easier to directly eliminate them in Baotou than to attack Suixi." ”

Okabe Naosaburo sighed and said helplessly: "But the battle on the front line has not progressed, and His Excellency Commander Sugiyama Moto's Excellency keeps asking questions. Alas, I'm like a rat in a bellows, angry at both ends! He defended again: "Tanaka-kun, look, I'm almost confused by this idiot Kuroda Shigetoku." Tell me, what should we do now? ”

Tanaka Shinichi thought that his plan could finally be realized, and he couldn't help but feel a secret feeling in his heart, and hurriedly considered the words and said: "Your Excellency, the 26th Division may be encountering some difficulties at present, and the longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it will be for us. Kuroda-kun felt that the firepower was insufficient, and it was understandable that he wanted heavy artillery support. I think that at this time we should try our best to meet the demands of the front, at least let Commander Sugiyama see our efforts! ”

Naosaburo Okabe asked, "How to be satisfied?" ”

Tanaka Shinichi showed a look of excitement and said excitedly: "Send the independent mixed 2nd Brigade to Baotou, and then apply to the North China Front Army for the transfer of the siege artillery brigade and the heavy bombing team." We must seize this opportunity, not only to recapture Baotou, but also to take advantage of the situation to advance westward and completely eliminate Fu Zuoyi! ”

Okabe Naosaburo hesitated: "But Baotou is the defense area of our Mongolian army, if something goes wrong, not only can we not solve it, but we also have to ask the front army for help, what kind of face do we have to face our colleagues?" ”

Major General Shinichi Tanaka smiled: "Your Excellency Commander is too worried. The need to ask for help from the front army shows that we do not have enough strength, so can we apply for more strength and equipment? ”

Naosaburo Okabe suddenly realized, nodded hurriedly and said, "Yo Xi!" Tanaka-kun, you are right, it makes no sense to insist on focusing on the troops stationed in Mongolia now. But will Commander Sugiyama Moto? Now the front army is concentrating its forces against Zheng Huzi in Jizhong. ”

Major General Shinichi Tanaka explained: "Suiyuan involves the integration of Manchu and Mongolia and the strategic posture towards the Soviet Union, and Commander Sugiyama will not fail to pay attention to it. ”

Okabe Naosaburo waved his hand and said, "Well, of course I know the importance of Suiyuan, but you don't know the temper of General Sugiyama Yuan." Hehe......"

Speaking of Sugiyama Moto's temper, the two of them looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh. As I have previously introduced, this Sugiyama Gen was born into a samurai family in Kokura, Fukuoka Prefecture. At the time of his birth, the samurai class was already in decline, and they did not have the traditional status of the nobles and daimyos, nor the wealth and power of the emerging merchants. In addition, Sugiyama Yuan is fat and stupid, and his classmates like to bully him, and they nickname him "Fool Yuan".

After being bullied a lot, he got another nickname called "Bento Door", which means that anyone can push it open like a toilet door, but this environment has made Sugiyama Moto's extremely stoic and stubborn character. In July 1931, Gen Sugiyama instigated the Kwantung Army to launch an incident as vice minister of the army, in 1937 as minister of war, in 1941 as chief of the general staff, strongly called for war against the United States, in 1945 opposed surrender, and committed suicide on September 12 as commander of the First General Army. This is the life of the stubborn and belligerent life of the "fool yuan".

For example, this time the North China Front Army carried out an unprecedented large-scale "sweep" in Jizhong, that is, Sugiyama Yuanli overrode public opinion. Single-minded. In fact, neither the military department nor the government wanted to launch a large-scale military operation at this time, but Sugiyama had just taken office, and it was difficult to stop it forcefully.

Okabe Naosaburo laughed for a while, and said with some concern: "I heard that the military operation to sweep Jizhong is going well, and the front army is preparing for the next operation. Until the goal is accomplished, I'm afraid Commander Sugiyama won't agree to our request! ”

Shinichi Tanaka raised his head and said proudly: "If General Sugiyama does not agree, then Kuroda-kun will not be able to recover Baotou because of his lack of strength, and it will not be the responsibility of our army stationed in Mongolia." ”

Naosaburo Okabe nodded with satisfaction. Smiled: "Yo Xi." Tanaka-kun is really far-sighted! ”

Beiping, the headquarters of the Japanese North China Front. Commander Sugiyama was shaking his "fool's head" and was furious, scolding Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, commander of the 9th Division, and Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the 10th Division.

As the saying goes, there are three fires when a new official takes office. The first thing Sugiyama did when he took office was to wipe his ass for his predecessor, General Shouichi Terauchi, to restore the Pinghan line. As a result, the Pinghan line was opened, but the railway was seriously damaged. I couldn't raise that many rails for a while. The resumption of traffic is simply a long way off.

This made Sugiyama realize that the biggest problem in North China was still in Jizhong. As long as he has Zheng Huzi, he will not have a good life. It was the Pinghan line before, what if I pick up the Jinpu line and Zhengtai line again? Isn't the railway traffic in the whole of North China going to be paralyzed? So the second fire immediately burned to Jizhong. Although there are a lot of people who oppose it. But Sugiyama still insisted on fighting, and even threatened to resign.

In the end, the base camp compromised, and the battle to "clean up" the Beijing-Tianjin-Baozhou area seemed to be going well, and it took only two days to occupy all the counties in the Beijing-Tianjin-Baozhou area. This won Sugiyama a lot of applause. However, what Sugiyama did not expect was that the occupation of the county seat was only the beginning, and the soldiers and civilians here did not give in at all. Although the county town fell, the resistance never stopped. The garrison Japanese troops paid more than 100 casualties every day.

As mentioned above, the Beijing-Tianjin-Baozhou area was one of the few wealthy regions in China at that time. Generally speaking, people in wealthy areas are more timid and cowardly, but this is different. The local people are very rebellious. Here is a real example that can reproduce how ordinary people resisted the Japanese invaders at that time.

On September 20, 1937, more than 90 people from the Japanese Xiaolin Squadron took a boat from Baoding to Tianjin along the Daqing River, and docked at Niangniang Palace (now known as Xinglongzhuang) in Xiongxian County in the evening. Three of the Japanese soldiers entered the village and looted and attempted to rape women, but one was killed with a short gun by a member of the village's Anti-Japanese Salvation Association, and the other two took advantage of the chaos to escape back to the boat. The Japanese army immediately surrounded the village to retaliate, and as a result, the people of dozens of nearby villages rushed to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army with various weapons upon hearing the news.

After a night of fierce fighting, the enemy suffered many casualties, broke through to the east at dawn, and was intercepted by the masses, some remnants of the enemy jumped into the river in a vain attempt to escape from the north bank, and the people on both sides of the river chased and beat fiercely, and most of them drowned. After another day of fighting, except for a few who escaped through the net and fled back to Tianjin, all the rest from the commander of the Xiaolin squadron to the rank of captain were annihilated, 5 light machine guns and more than 70 rifles were captured, and more than 10 people were killed or wounded.

This is the most successful case in history in which ordinary people spontaneously counterattacked the Japanese army. The spontaneous action was so powerful, and with the unified command of the three districts, the underground resistance movement naturally became even more turbulent. In particular, after the discovery of the "underground Great Wall" in Yongqing, the soldiers and civilians of the Third Division made full use of this advantage and constantly attacked and harassed in all directions, causing the casualties of the Japanese army to rise in a straight line.

Syllable! Sugiyama Motoichi threw the list of lost soldiers in Yoshizumi Ryosuke's face, and reprimanded angrily: "The Shina army has obviously been driven south of the Daqing River, why are there such big casualties every day? ”

Lieutenant General Ryosuke Yoshizumi's face twitched, and he defended in a low voice: "Your Excellency, Commander, you don't know anything about the situation on the front line of the Tsumido Path! The people there are not tame at all, they ......"

"Yaga!" Sugiyama Yuan didn't listen to his explanation at all, and scolded directly: "You idiot, can't you even conquer ordinary people?" ”

Yoshizumi Ryosuke hated it in his heart, but he didn't dare to turn back, so he had to scold the "fool yuan" in his stomach a hundred times. Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the 10th Division, did not dare to speak out when he saw this. He lost two wings in one company, and also lost the garrison's heavy artillery brigade and tank squadron. Although Sugiyama didn't say anything in the face of his old subordinates, and covered up a lot for him, such a big loss still made him panic, for fear that the gendarmes would hold him responsible.

While he was scolding, a burly officer walked in, and Sugiyama Moto, Yoshizumi Ryosuke, and Shinozuka Yoshio all had to raise their necks so hard that they wouldn't be able to see his face.

The person who came was Yamashita Fengwen, chief of staff of the North China Front, who walked in with a solemn face, bowed, and said, "Your Excellency, commander, there are two telegrams. The stakes are high, so I personally sent them over. ”

Yamashita was tall and heavy, measuring 1.74 meters and weighing 90 kilograms, which is equivalent to the weight of Makuuchi-class wrestlers. It weighs the same as the Japanese-made 37-mm caliber Taisho 11-year flat-fire infantry gun. It is said that a riding horse cannot bear his weight during the exercise, so there must be a replacement horse. At that time, the 11-year infantry gun also happened to be transported on two horses. Therefore, Yamashita received the nickname of "infantry artillery".

Sugiyama Yuan was slightly startled in his heart, and he didn't care about scolding Yoshizumi Ryosuke and Shinozuka Yoshio, so he hurriedly took the telegram and read it. Sugiyama Moto, who had only seen a few lines, suddenly jumped up, slapped Yoshio Shinozuka in the face, and scolded: "Yaga, look at the good things you did!" (To be continued......)

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