Chapter 700: The Siege of Taiyuan

The two-month-long war in North China, starting with the Japanese invasion of the Taihang Mountains, ended with Okamura Ningci losing more than 200,000 troops, hating the east bank of the Yellow River, and more than 80,000 troops trapped in Taiyuan.

Emperor Hirohito and the base camp were extremely angry, and held a military meeting in front of the emperor for several days in succession to discuss ways to deal with the crisis in North China, and the situation in North China was eroded to this point, which was not expected by Emperor Hirohito and the headquarters of the base camp, and the two commanders were replaced before and after, and more than one million troops were added one after another, which lasted nearly a year, Tianjin was occupied twice, Zhangjiakou, an important town in northwest Hebei, was lost, more than 700,000 soldiers were lost, and many generals were killed in battle.

A few days of the imperial military meeting, did not discuss a good way to deal with the current situation in North China, but also to return to the old way, to North China to increase troops, inventory, Okamura Ningji can command the troops, less than 600,000 people, although this let Emperor Hirohito great joy and sorrow, so that the base camp is like a roller coaster dizzy Okamura Ningji, has been very dissatisfied, but still have to maintain Okamura Ningji's prestige, less than a year, the replacement of three generals, the loss of troops and generals, can not take the branch of North China, this matter publicity, Emperor Hirohito, The Japanese Army, and all the Japanese, cannot afford to lose this man.

Therefore, at the military meeting in front of the Imperial Palace, there was surprisingly no scene of criticism and mutual attack, and the increase of troops was the most urgent thing in front of us, and the troops could be increased from the Japanese mainland, one was to temporarily form a new division, which could not be completed in a short period of time in a hurry, and the other was that time was not waiting for anyone, I am afraid that the troops here to reinforce North China are still floating on the sea, and Okamura Ninji is already finished.

After thinking about it, it was only about the Eastern Army having this ability and convenient conditions, and besides, Okamura Ninji was born in the Kwantung Army system, and the Kwantung Army would definitely not sit idly by and watch Okamura Ninji be eliminated by Tang Qiuli, and it was Prince Zaihito Miyaji, chief of the general staff of the base camp, who proposed this construction, and Emperor Hirohito immediately approved Zaihito's plan without waiting for other high-ranking generals to raise objections.

Hirohito didn't see his brother's careful thinking, and took the opportunity to weaken the strength of the Kwantung Army, so that the Kwantung Army and Tang Qiuli were inseparable, he formed troops in the country, and after a good time, he killed North China with the attitude of a new force, and in one fell swoop to take back the control of North China from the hands of the Kwantung Army, and also gave Tang Qiuli a heavy blow and recovered the lost occupied area, it was a plan to kill two birds with one stone, and if he was lucky, he could also take the opportunity to go south to the Central Plains and the area south of the Yangtze River, or return to the general strategy before the all-out war against China, fighting from north to southIt also dealt a blow to the arrogance of the navy and consolidated the dominant position of the army in military circles.

Emperor Hirohito couldn't help but take a closer look, this imperial brother who is currently obedient and subservient to his ears, after a few years of inconspicuous mountains and waters, has been trained so deeply, and the plan of being partial to Zairen is the best way at present, irrefutable, to improve the situation in North China, and to relieve Okamura Ning from the difficult task, it is none other than the Kwantung Army.

Emperor Hirohito looked at his younger brother, and glanced at the ministers, several of the senior generals showed thoughtful looks on their faces, including the Minister of War Michichi and the Minister of War Shigemitsu Aoi, are not fuel-efficient lamps, Hirohito secretly sighed in his heart, this imperial military meeting, the Japanese government and the opposition reached a consensus, the devil Tang Qiuli has replaced Chiang Kai-shek, has become the number one enemy of the Japanese Empire, if you want to conquer China, you must first obtain North China, if you want to obtain North China, it is necessary to cut off Tang Qiuli, after that, the empire's combat objectives, The main focus was to eliminate Tang Qiuli, and the treatment of the Nanjing government was mainly to persuade peace and induce surrender, supplemented by military pressure.

Tang Qiuli, who was on the front line of Taiyuan, did not know that he had become thousands of miles away, the object of all the madmen on the island country who swore to eradicate, coordinated and commanded 260,000 troops, besieged Taiyuan and the surrounding points, attacked for two days, and made no progress, which made Tang Qiuli very troubled.

At the beginning, Zhao Chengshou's Seventh Group Army, if it had not arrived at the Taiyuan battlefield one after another, did not form a superior force, and was gradually consumed by the Japanese army, coupled with Yan Xishan's determination to defend Taiyuan wavering, the Japanese did not have more than half a year, don't want to capture this city that is almost wrapped in reinforced concrete, not to mention the outer strongholds such as Jinzhong, Taigu, and Qingxu.

Two days later, Tang Qiuli issued an order to stop the attack, and the whole army moved to the battlefield to rest, whether it was Chang Feng or Sun Zhenbang, as well as the brigade commanders, they were all puzzled by this order, the morale of the troops was high, why not take this opportunity to take Taiyuan in one fell swoop? Only General Jiang Baili had an understanding, and Tang Qiuli had his own considerations and worries.

In the North China battlefield, only Tang Qiusheng's Sulu Mobile Corps fought the hardest, and the southward troops of the Kwantung Army, as if they were crazy, violently attacked the blocking line of the Sulu Mobile Corps regardless of casualties, and the two sides fought inextricably in the areas of Hejian, Renqiu, and Xiongxian in the Jizhong Plain, and the Kwantung Army wanted to break through the defense line, capture Shijiazhuang, and pass through Yangquan through Jingcheng Pass and Niangzi Pass to relieve the siege of Taiyuan, and the Sulu Mobile Corps was desperately trying to block the footsteps of the Kwantung Army to the south.

On 1 June, Tang Qiusheng, commander of the Sulu Mobile Corps, sent a telegram: "The division pointed out that at about 7 o'clock yesterday morning, the Kwantung Army launched an attack on all fronts against our positions in Hejian, Renqiu, and Xiongxian, and by noon, the battle was particularly fierce, and the Japanese army dispatched a large number of tanks and cooperated with a large number of heavy artillery firepower to repeatedly break through our blocking positions, and by the evening, our regiment organized a large-scale counter-assault to regain the lost positions and restore the previous situation; on 31 May alone, the casualties of our regiment had reached as many as 7,000. The Japanese casualties were slightly more than ours, and the Sulu Mobile Corps was able to hold the position. ”

Tang Qiuli was greatly surprised, more than half a brigade of troops were killed and wounded in one day, this is still the first-class main force of the independent division, the Kwantung Army went crazy, it seems that it received a death order, Okamura Ningji was besieged in Taiyuan, which alarmed the Japanese army base camp, Brother Qiusheng's troops continued to fight like this, even if this Kwantung Army was wiped out, it would be greatly damaged and consumed most of it, as if to prove his speculation, the intelligence department received information from the Northeast Intelligence Network, the Kwantung Army was massing forces on a large scale in Dalian and Jinzhou, and the current movement is unknown, It will be reported after verification.

Tang Qiuli immediately understood the intention of the Kwantung Army, which was to mobilize troops for the southward entry into the pass, and it came from two directions, all the way out of Jinzhou and into North China through Shanhaiguan, all the way out of Dalian and through Bohai Bay to land in Tianjin, the purpose of the two Japanese troops was only one, to enter the territory of Shanxi, and relieve the siege of Okamura Ningci Taiyuan.

These two Kwantung Army entered the pass, his good days came to an end, there was no available troops in his hands to block the Kwantung Army in its prime, this was the main reason why he stopped attacking Taiyuan, he couldn't fight the troops under Taiyuan City with heavy casualties, and he was unable to fight with the Kwantung Army troops entering the pass, he was thinking about the map, repeatedly weighing the pros and cons, it was difficult to decide, the guard reported, General Jiang Baili asked to see, Tang Qiuli was overjoyed, let go of such a Republic of China military everyone don't need it, he is still racking his brains here, stupid to home.

He said in a loud voice: "Hurry up, please hurry up, please hurry" General Jiang Baili came for Tang Qiuli's order to stop the attack on Taiyuan, although the other senior generals were puzzled, and even complained behind their backs, he vaguely guessed the intention of this young division commander with extremely high military quality and strategic vision, since he arrived in Dingbian, he is already in his fifties, but he has the feeling of a young man, and his mood has never been more comfortable, and the free air of Dingbian allows him to give full play to his talents.

Tang Qiu's departure from his important task of training officers made Jiang Baili have the grace of knowledge, which is probably the inherent Mingzhu complex of Chinese intellectuals for thousands of years, that his own chairman Jiang, what he did was cold, and he disdained to be with him, so the Central Plains War, the Monaco of the Xingui system overthrew Jiang, and Chairman Jiang was courteous, and invited Jiang Baili to go out of the mountain many times, counselor military or staff, Jiang Baili was not moved at all, and would rather bury his head in the study, or train disciples.

After following Tang Qiuli for more than two years, all the words of this young man made the old general see the hope that had cooled and the fire that had been rekindled, not to mention, this was a battlefield to resist foreign invasion, and he should have no reservations, he came today to express his chest and express his views, because he found that Tang Qiuli's use of troops had reached the limit, and if there was a new war, there would not be enough troops, and the overall situation would be endangered.

Tang Qiuli personally greeted him at the door, "Old general, why do you have time to come to me today?" The juniors just happened to have something to ask for advice," said that, the two looked at each other and smiled, from each other's eyes and looks, they already knew each other's intentions, Mei Xue obediently made a cup of tea, and after sitting down, Tang Qiuli couldn't wait to introduce the current situation, said his own analysis and opinions, as well as the countermeasures to be taken, and did not hide his worries.

Jiang Baili didn't answer immediately, he secretly admired that this young division commander had already taken the problem into account in front of the situation, but he hadn't made up his mind yet, and the words he had prepared before, including how to persuade him tactfully, couldn't hurt his self-esteem, and now it seems that he doesn't need it, he is a person who can't speak tricks, so it's more in line with his consistent style, and what he has to do now is nothing more than to strengthen his determination.

Thinking about it properly, the general smiled, I have two sentences for the division commander to refer to, "Taiyuan should be slow rather than urgent, Pingjin should not be anxious," Tang Qiuli laughed, "The old general Miao Zai Siyan is firm in my mind, in this way, why not be afraid of the southward soldiers of the Kwantung Army," Send Jiang Baili away, Tang Qiuli knows the reason for his hesitation.

(To be continued)