The grim shape is pressing, so that Uchiyama Eitaro can only have a headache first. While giving the order to the 48th Division, Uchiyama Eitaro did not wait for General Okamura Ninji to give an answer, nor did he forget to give an order to all the divisions and regiments participating in the entire Texas battlefield, and at the same time issued an order to speed up the retreat.

The 120th Division was ordered to immediately try every possible way to get rid of the entanglement of the enemy troops in front of it, and the whole army withdrew to the front line of Huimin and turned to defense. The 115th Division on the Ningjin front line was ordered to try by all means to get rid of the anti-coalition forces in front of it and withdraw to the Shanghe and Deping fronts at full speed.

Before the main forces of the 48th Division arrived and the main forces of the two divisions were withdrawn, the two divisions and regiments had to draw up a force that might be drawn and deploy defenses on the line from Xinyang to Huimin. Gain time for the arrival of the main force of the 48th Division, and ensure the safety of the rear roads of the two divisions during the retreat. After the arrival of the 48th Division, the three divisions immediately took turns to cover the withdrawal of the Yellow River.

The 22nd Division, which had already begun to shrink, immediately abandoned Dezhou and withdrew directly to Jinan along the Tianjin-Pudong Railway. The 65th Division was ordered to immediately spread out along the plain east of Jinpu Road and the Gaotang line to ensure that the 22nd Division contracted and retreated. After the 22nd Division withdrew from Yucheng, it alternately covered the evacuation with the 22nd Division.

When evacuating Texas, Yiqiē was mainly lightly armed, and all the equipment and supplies that could not be carried were blown up. After retreating to the south bank of the Yellow River, all the bridges on the Yellow River were blown up. After withdrawing to the south bank of the Yellow River, it was transferred to defense on the spot on the line from Licheng to Dangjiazhuang.

With the two new orders he issued in succession, Lieutenant General Kazuo Kitakawa, commander of the 48th Division, who was assembling troops in accordance with his previous order, did not have much opinion. Anyway, his troops were just beginning to concentrate, and it was not a big problem to act according to the new orders.

The previous order to concentrate a wing, and the current concentration of the entire division, for Kitagawa Kazuo. Aside from the fact that it takes a little more time, it doesn't make much difference. Anyway, it had been less than a day since the previous order was issued, and his troops had just begun to assemble.

This time, the order for the whole division not to wait for the arrival of the receiving troops and to set off immediately after the concentration was just a little more time-consuming. For the 48th Division, there is still no difference in essence. And leaving Jiaodong, which gave the 48th Division an abnormal headache, was not a blessing in the eyes of Kazuo Kitagawa.

Although it should not be said that since the start of this battle, it should not be said that since the division number was changed from 66 to 48, Lieutenant General Kitagawa Kazuo, who has always been very depressed, is very dissatisfied with Lieutenant General Uchiyama Eitaro's change of order. But for the latest order of his army commander, he still carried it out to the letter.

In fact, the whole experience from the formation of the division to the current twists and turns makes it almost impossible for Kitagawa Kazuo not to be depressed. Originally, the number of the 66th Division, he looked very pleasing to the eye. From the mouth of a certain big man in Nanjing, he learned that this sixty-six can be described as a lucky number. Although he doesn't trust the Chinese, he still likes this auspicious fortune.

As a result, after the formation was completed, the number was changed from the 66th Division to the 48th Division. This undoubtedly made Lieutenant General Kazuo Kitagawa quite depressed, plus extremely unhappy. Not only was the original auspicious number gone, but it was replaced by a division number that had been wiped out on the battlefield in China, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

Well, the base camp has the final say, and the forty-eighth division is the forty-eighth division. But what made him feel even more depressed was that not only the number had changed, but even the promised station had changed. The division that was originally planned to be transferred to Taiwan was transferred from Taiwan, which has beautiful scenery and a warm climate, to cold and dry North China.

The 42nd Division, which had been transferred back to the mainland and incorporated into the Eastern Army a few days after it was transferred to the Chinese battlefield, was deployed on the Jiaodong Peninsula and was directly thrown into the China Battlefield. And the 42nd Division, which was originally stationed in Shandong, was transferred back to the mainland as the main force of local defense, which made Kitagawa Kazuo feel very looked down upon.

However, what made him even more depressed was that since arriving at the Shandong battlefield, others were in full swing. But he first watched the sea view on the Jiaodong Peninsula and engaged in a blockade area. On the surface, it seems to be leisurely, but in fact, the entire 48th Division and regiment think that the Shandong Communist Army, which is now elusive and has no samurai demeanor, has been shocked three times a day. Since the whole division was transferred to Shandong, it has not slept soundly.

Although there are basically no major battles, small-scale battles are almost every day. Compared with the real knife and real gun on the frontal battlefield, the Shandong Communist Army's extremely unsamurai demeanor, piecemeal stealing and dog-like style of play, made the 48th Division extremely uncomfortable, and even considered it to be a life.

Suddenly drop a batch of grenades at your station today, and give you an opportunity to knock out a few strongholds tomorrow. Small units escorting supplies and ammunition often go out and never return. Concentrate your forces to sweep up, only to find that most of them are trapped in the blockade.

When I thought of transferring back the strength of a squadron, I had to transfer at least one brigade or more to meet the problem. This is often ambushed and beaten violently. They don't want to annihilate you, but after defeating half of your brigade, they will accept it when they see it, and they will never do any entanglement with you.

The whole division was transferred to the Shandong battlefield, and it was exhausted within a few days. The troops stationed in the base below cannot guarantee even the most basic supplies. Who has ever seen the delivery of supplies to a squadron, or even a small squadron, to be escorted by two squadrons?

During this period of time, the entire 48th Division was stalked like this, and the casualties caused by it were terrifying to Kazuo Kitagawa and his chief of staff, who watched it every day. The garrisons stationed in various strongholds below have not been able to eat and go hungry for three days, which has become the norm.

has not waited for his own division to adapt to the fighting style of the Shandong Communist Army. With an order, he Uchiyama Eitaro transferred a main wing. I still have to scrape together to find troops to take over the defense area of this wing. China was too big for the Japanese, and even if his division was only stationed in the north of the Jiaodong Peninsula, it was like pepper flour scattered on the ground and nothing could be seen.

The use of its own troops is quite stretched, not to mention being transferred to a wing? As for the many troops in Nanjing under their jurisdiction, although many of them are local snakes. However, first, it is unreliable, second, its combat effectiveness is not strong, and third, it has become a priority target for the Shandong Communist Army. Not only did it not help much, but it often required the 48th Division to squeeze out troops to rescue.

This time, after receiving the order of Lieutenant General Eitaro Uchiyama, the last two wings of the division were dispatched en masse. Although he knew that the army commander had made such a taboo thing as changing the order every day, it was estimated that there was a big rout in the battle situation ahead, so he transferred himself to make up for it. But for Kazuo Kitagawa and his subordinates, it was as if they had been completely liberated.

At least the whole division may be able to sleep peacefully, and there is no need to be startled three times a day, eat badly, and sleep endlessly. At least you can know where the enemy is, you don't have to play a cat-and-mouse game on the Jiaodong Peninsula. So although he was very dissatisfied with Uchiyama Eitaro's change of order, Kitagawa Kazuo still happily carried out the order.

Compared to receiving the latest order from Uchiyama Eitaro, although he was a little complaining and depressed, he still carried out the order happily. For the latest order, which was actually just urging him to speed up the pace of retreat, Lieutenant General Yanagawa Shinichi, the commander of the 120th Division, was as big as a fight.

His 120th Division, which had suffered more than half of the casualties, now did not have enough strength to attack. If you want to retreat, you will be bitten to death by the enemy, and there is no flank support and response. If you want to rely on your own strength and get rid of the constant bite of your opponent's wolf, it is basically impossible.

Originally, according to the plan of the Japanese army's base camp, the 120th Division was not prepared to participate in this battle, but was prepared to enter the Korean battlefield to strengthen the garrison on the peninsula. However, before the 114th Division arrived on the battlefield, it was blown up and almost directly abolished.

It was urgently transferred to the North China Battlefield by the base camp to fill the gap in the strength of the 114th Division when it withdrew from the battlefield before fighting. Because the action was too hasty, the 120th Division transferred to the Shandong battlefield still had time to complete a considerable part of its artillery, search, and communications troops.

It was only at the time of departure that the whole division was equipped with a mortar squadron of 36 120-mm mortars. Although the 12th Army has strengthened its mountain and field artillery, its overall firepower cannot be compared with those of the Class A division, and even compared with those of the Type B division.

At the beginning of the battle, the 120th Division had no advantage in anything but outnumbering the enemy. However, on the battlefield of Tsuchina, the superiority in strength is not equal to the superiority in firepower. The 30-year rifle, the Taisho 11-year light machine gun, and the Taisho 3-year heavy machine gun were simply a pile of scrap metal in the face of the enemy's dense firepower.

The rifle fire of the enemy troops was not inferior even to their own light machine guns. You use heavy machine guns, what general purpose machine guns do they use, plus flat-firing large-caliber machine guns. You dispatch grenadiers, and people greet them directly with 60 mortars. What is even more infuriating is that everyone has the same 80-caliber and 120-millimeter mortars, and the enemy's range is not only farther than their own, but also the power of the shells is greater than their own.

The strength of the army is superior, but in terms of firepower, from the front-line infantry weapons to the in-depth artillery support, it is at a disadvantage in all aspects. Superiority in military strength cannot be turned into battlefield superiority at all. In the previous battles, although the 120th Division had been on the offensive, the actual situation was known to those who were suffering in their hearts.

said that they had been attacking, but in fact they were just luring the snake out of the hole and entangled the 120th Division in the line of Leling and Qingyun. Otherwise, during the nearly month-long attack, the 120th Division would have been in a tug-of-war with the enemy forces in front of it, and the results of the battle would have basically stood still.

After so many days of attack, the whole division and regiment only advanced a pitiful 30 kilometers. On average, it's less than a kilometre per day. The progress of the offensive was repeatedly frustrated, not to mention the heavy casualties of the troops, and they were almost half-defeated by several tactical counterattacks by the enemy.

Now the enemy has launched a tactical counterattack, and all the troops have been invested, and the whole division and regiment without reserves have been bitten to death by the enemy in front of them. The positions between the two armies were staggered, and the nearest place was less than fifty meters. Between several lines of positions, they were blocked by enemy artillery fire.

In this situation, how can it be so easy to retreat? It's easy for Commander Uchiyama to say, he will command it himself, how can he retreat in terms of the overall situation of the Leling battlefield? Especially at the moment, the 120th Division does not even have a covering force.

What's more, the enemy's tank cluster has already appeared behind him, so how can the 120th Division, which is now more than one-third less than when the offensive was launched, retreat? Is it necessary for the 120th Division to race against the enemy's tanks on the plain with pursuers behind them?