Chapter 423: Strategic Retreat

Tang Qiuli saw Liu Tiehan, from his gods, he knew the pressure he was facing, in the face of Tang Qiuli's concerned gaze, Liu Tiehan just smiled indifferently, between the two of them, there is no need for any words to be polite, a qiē is all in a word, since he got acquainted with this division commander who is more than a dozen years older than himself, following him, there is the glorious situation of the independent division today.

In Liu Tiehan's heart, he has always believed that he can have this qiē today is all given by the young man in front of him, and he has nothing to repay, so he can only carry the burden for him.

In the evening, in Liu Tiehan's headquarters, in front of the large military map of Tianjin, Tang Qiuli and Liu Tiehan were still seriously studying the current situation, and Tang Qiuli's opinion was very clear: the troops must immediately withdraw from the Pingjin area, and if necessary, they must withdraw to the hinterland of the Taihang Mountains and the south bank of the Yellow River.

The special operations detachment remaining in the Jinzhou area in the northeast sent information that after the Kwantung Army entered and occupied Jinzhou, it reorganized the southward corps of the Kwantung Army with the strength of four divisions and regiments, and that the Japanese army had left Jinzhou and marched in the direction of Shanhaiguan three xiǎo hours ago, and the special operations detachment was following and monitoring its specific movements.

In addition, the Andong Intelligence Station sent information that the Japanese army's base camp had mobilized 200,000 troops from the Korean Peninsula to strengthen the North China Battlefield, and yesterday crossed the Andong Yalu River Bridge and entered the northeast territory.

Calculated carefully, plus the reinforcements from the Japanese mainland that are currently storming Tianjin, the number of troops transferred from the Japanese base camp to North China has reached as many as 650,000, and in addition to the nearly 200,000 Japanese troops of the Xiangyue Kiyoji who were besieged in Beiping, the strength of the troops has far exceeded all the troops of the Independent Division in North China, and if the troops do not withdraw from the Pingjin area as soon as possible, there is a danger of being encircled here.

Moreover, Feng Jiwu reported that while the Japanese army was storming Tianjin, the Japanese troops in Beiping City launched attacks on our peripheral troops many times, intending to join up with the Japanese army in Tianjin and flank our army, but they were all repelled by our troops surrounding Beiping, but because the encirclement line was too long, the troops were obviously insufficient, and many directions appeared weak.

Xiangyue Qingji is not a mediocre talent, but he was frightened by Tang Qiuli's unexpected move to seize Tianjin, coupled with a mistake in judgment, he fell behind everywhere, once the Japanese army came to help, the encirclement of Beiping would sooner or later form a situation of hún war, which was not Tang Qiuli's original intention.

The direction of Beiping is easy to do, it can be fought and walked, the direction of Tianjin is a big problem, it is in a state of fire with the Japanese army, sticking together, how to evacuate the troops safely from Tianjin, it is a matter of hard thinking, Tang Qiuli and Liu Tiehan, this is the problem they studied.

The most feared thing is that when the troops were evacuated from Tianjin, they were discovered by the Japanese army, and they took advantage of the situation to chase after them, and more than 300,000 Japanese troops followed, plus 200,000 or more than 500,000 Japanese troops in Beiping, which were not like mad dogs, biting and not letting go, and the troops that withdrew to the Baoding area in advance could be blocked and covered and retreated.

That is to face the Japanese army head-on, wait until the North Korean and Kwantung Army troops press over, this part of the troops to get out, it is a big problem, nòng is not good, the troops of the independent division, you have to come to the rescue of the whole army, that is a decisive battle, in the face of 850,000 Japanese troops, all over the mountains and fields like locusts, Tang Qiuli has a headache when he thinks about it, this is a serious 800 positional battle, there is no room for tricks and tricks, even if he wins, it is a tragic victory, he almost set up the old book, and he wants to retreat with his whole body, it is a dream.

Tang Qiuli thought for a long time, and said to Liu Tiehan: "Brother Tiehan, without further ado, it is better to withdraw early than late, the troops will withdraw from Tianjin tonight, without giving the Japanese army time to react, withdraw to the front line of Hengshui, backed by the Yellow River, you can enter Henan, you can enter Shandong, and there is a huge room for advance and retreat."

Liu Tiehan pondered for a long time, he has always admired Tang Qiuli's command ability, every major battle layout, all show his superb military command art and strategic vision, he is thinking about the details, how to sneak away more than 100,000 troops under the nose of the Japanese army, and wait until dawn, what the Japanese army sees is the scene of a person going to the empty position.

Tang Qiuli didn't bother him, knowing that the problem that Liu Tiehan was considering was crucial for the safe evacuation from Tianjin, Liu Tiehan said his method, the newly formed independent division rapid reaction brigade Liu Fengbu, the soldiers of this brigade, but they are all geographical ghosts, and the ground in Tianjin is familiar with it, leaving two regiments, in the direction of Dagu and Beitang, covering the withdrawal of the main force, if the Japanese army finds out, they will block on the spot, seek opportunities to leave the battlefield, and freely decide the way and direction to break through.

Tang Qiuli very much agreed with Liu Tiehan's method, and brought in Liu Feng, the commander of the rapid reaction brigade, Wang Zhanqun, the deputy brigade commander, and Wang Mancang, the chief of staff, and replaced the deputy division commander's plan with them.

They accepted the task without hesitation, led by Wang Zhanqun and Wang Mancang, mainly a regiment composed of the original independent division urban combat team, all changed into civilian clothes, resisted the Japanese army for a while, waited for the troops to evacuate safely, buried the guns on the spot, hún into the city, and kept the Japanese turning Tianjin upside down, but they could not be found, and the remaining four regiments, led by the brigade commander Liu Feng, evacuated with the main force.

After the arrangement was completed, the troops on the front line, according to the sequence, quietly withdrew from the beachhead under the cover of the night, and when leaving, the special detachment was responsible for laying a large number of mines and mines, and the custody made the Japanese army suffer a big loss.

The Japanese searchlight soldiers did not know, when the lights moved to other places, a group of black shadows, as light as a raccoon cat, hidden in the dark city behind them, Zheng Yong, the commander of the first artillery brigade, when evacuating the fortress battery, the soldiers of the first artillery brigade had placed a large number of time bombs around the fort, which was the product of the Huangya dòng arsenal, which was extremely powerful, and the storage called the fort to fly into the sky.

Zheng Yong reluctantly stroked the huge cannon body, his expression was very painful, these big guys are too pleasant, they just can't take it, otherwise, Zheng Yong will carry it and run, he is a person who has a soft spot for artillery.

The sun rose as usual, the city woke up from its apathy, and the Japanese warships began again the same action that had been repeated for three days, firing large-caliber shells, whistling across the sea, landing on the beachheads and docks, jī billowing smoke and dust, and after days of shelling, there were no intact buildings, and everywhere was a rubble and ruins.

The Japanese Navy also wondered, how did the squadron survive this shelling? Whenever the army landed, it was hit hard, and today's shelling time, more than every day, probably they received an order that Tianjin must be taken today.

After the shelling stopped, more than twice as many landing craft as per day, during which there were still rubber boats that were not usually there, one by one swooped towards the shore as fiercely as sharks, and after a few days of fierce battles, heavy casualties, did not dampen the fierce spirit of the Japanese army, it was close, there were no bullets on the coast that were as dense as a torrential rain, and there were no shells that could blow up and sink the warships. Or was it blown up by heavy artillery fire?

The Japanese soldiers rushed to the beach with fanatical shouts, rushed to the dock, and went crazy to the depths, one by one, the national flags and military flags representing the success of the landing were raised, and suddenly, violent explosions sounded one after another, and the fanaticism of the Japanese soldiers turned into a miserable cry, and the military flag was blown up, like the Japanese flag dripping with jī blood on a white cloth, which was hit by the gas, fluttering over the heads of the Japanese soldiers, falling into the sea, and a làng head came over, and a roll disappeared.

The Japanese commander suddenly woke up, the squadron had an ambush, "kill the machine," the Japanese army's various weapons, splashed and slammed towards the imaginary front, and the dock, which had been quiet, was hit with black smoke and miasma, smoke and dust billowing, and broken bricks and rotten tiles were flying.

After fighting for a while, why didn't there be gunfire to return fire? Charged, occupied the position of the squadron, only to find that in the past few days, the squadron that had made them suffer so hard had long been gone, and there was not even a trace of it.

The two regiments of the Rapid Reaction Brigade ambushed nearby, did not fight with the Japanese army, waited all night, but watched a lively scene, took advantage of the daze of the Japanese army, quickly evacuated the position, and then quietly slipped out of Tianjin, chasing the main force in the direction of Hengshui.

After the withdrawal of the Tianjin troops began two xiǎo hours, surrounded the troops of Feng Jiwu in Beiping, and also quietly evacuated the periphery of Beiping, the sky was bright, and the Japanese army reinforced the troops in North China, after three days of fighting, after paying the price of more than 20,000 soldiers' lives, reoccupied Tianjin, which was riddled with holes, the market was depressed, the compatriots were surrounded by four walls, and there were vegetables on the surface, and the sun flag was raised over Tianjin again, but it was less than the spirit and arrogance of the past, and it looked dejected.

On 3 August, the Japanese army strengthened its troops in North China from all directions, and successively arrived in the Pingjin area, and the total strength of the Japanese army in North China increased to nearly 900,000 men, accounting for nearly four-fifths of the total strength of the Japanese army at that time.

From top to bottom, the Japanese army began to review the situation in North China and the prospects for the development of the war, and was busy rectifying the interior, and there were quite a few complaints about the commander of the Japanese North China Garrison Army, Lieutenant General Kazuki Kiyojiro, the commander of the Kwantung Army, the base camp and the staff headquarters.

Tang Qiuli placed all his troops on the periphery of Pingjin, which was backed by the Taihang Mountains, Henan and Shandong, and coldly watched the movements of the Japanese army in North China, preparing for a greater battle.

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