Chapter 414 in front of Shanhaiguan

As the vanguard assault division of the Kwantung Army's southward corps, Itagaki Seishiro's original intention was to use the strong strength of his headquarters to go straight to Tianjin, cut through the Beijing-Tianjin corridor, cut off the connection between Pingjin and Tianjin of the squadron, break the encirclement of Beiping by the independent division, and annihilate the independent division to attack the Tianjin troops on the shore of the Bohai Sea.

Itagaki's idea was extremely bold and arrogant, and in his impression, it was still an era when more than 10,000 people were used to defeat the 200,000 troops of the Northeast Army, and the glory and conquest brought to him by the Manchurian Incident were too strong.

Itagaki Qiren, within the Japanese Army, is known for his boldness, although he is short, but extremely brave, he does not save Tianjin, the idea of chiseling through the Beijing-Tianjin corridor can not be described as unexpected, but the premise is that there must be enough troops, and a mechanized corps with a strong assault and piercing ability.

If it was a German general in World War II, the implementation of mechanized blitzkrieg may work, however, the Japanese Army is still half a century away from mechanization, the Japanese army's artillery wing, all the heavy artillery, or mules and horses towed, at this point, even the troops of the independent division are inferior, Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang's corps, rushing to Shanhaiguan, all the equipment of the three artillery brigades, are all car transportation.

Therefore, although Itagaki was very bold and correct, he had to use the soles of the infantry to go to the outskirts of Tianjin, and he did not expect that the troops of the independent division would set up a blocking position outside the Shanhai Pass.

Therefore, he was extremely angry with the commander of the North China garrison army, Xiangyue Qingsi, the squadron of more than 100,000 horses, set up a position outside Shanhaiguan, but the North China side did not get any information, I really don't know how His Excellency Xiangyue achieved the position of commander?

Although the loss was not large, it was the first time since the formation of the Itagaki Division that there had been losses but no results, and the opposing army was extremely strong in combat, compared with the Northeast Army in 31 years.

Therefore, after the contact between its vanguard troops and the independent division did not gain the upper hand, Itagaki immediately withdrew the troops, the opponent changed, and Itagaki wanted to adjust his tactics, although he was bold, but he was not reckless, on the contrary, he was a madman with many years of actual combat experience and high military literacy.

Tang Qiuli on the periphery of Beiping, now in his heart, except for the Itagaki Division, nothing else matters, if the Itagaki Division is killed on the front line of Shanhaiguan, the Japanese army in North China will lose a sharp claw, and the pressure he faces will be much greater, taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese reinforcements have not yet arrived in North China, seize the favorable situation that the Itagaki Division is alone and prominent, and the Itagaki Division must be killed.

In view of the fact that Tianjin's shape had been stabilized and that Zhou Yishan was about to empty Tianjin, Tang Qiuli transferred the command of the troops encircling Beiping and occupying Tianjin to Liu Tiehan, and sent a brigade from the east to strengthen the encirclement of Beiping, and his order to Liu Tiehan was that at the time of the Battle of Shanhaiguan, the Xiangyue Qingsi of Beiping could not leave Beiping City with a single soldier.

He also transferred two brigades from the east to Chōu, surrounded a cavalry brigade of the Beiping Army, followed him to the front line of Shanhaiguan, and increased Feng Jiwu's strength.

On the afternoon of 25 July, Tang Qiuli led the two infantry brigades under the Northeast Tǐng Advance Command and the Fourth Cavalry Brigade of the Independent Division, totaling more than 35,000 troops, to rush to the Shanhaiguan front.

On the evening of the 26th, Tang Qiuli led his troops to the front line of Suizhong, where Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang's corps had just been fighting with the Itagaki Division for a day, and not an inch of land had been lost.

Seeing the division commander rushing to the front line of Shanhaiguan in the dust, Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang were quite ashamed, feeling that the direction they were responsible for made the division commander feel uneasy, and personally came to command.

Tang Qiuli saw what they meant, and bluntly told them, it has nothing to do with you, it's not that you didn't play well, it's purely personal interest, Banyuan and I are old acquaintances, Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang were stunned, Itagaki Division is the first time to have an independent division, how can the division commander come to know each other?

Tang Qiuli felt a little speechless, he can't say that he has known this guy for a long time, he changed the topic, this Itagaki Division is the information obtained from Yu Deshui's intelligence, plus your battle report, I think it is different from other Japanese troops, I have been studying him for several days, I don't believe you asked Mei Ting

After speaking, she pointed at Mei Ting, Mei Ting felt that Tang Qiuli had a ghost in her heart, but she didn't know where the ghost came from? Wait for the evening to torture him, however, what Tang Qiuli has been talking about in the past few days is all Itagaki Division, and he nodded hurriedly to confirm that Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang were relieved, Tang Qiuli secretly wiped a handful of sweat, and finally covered up the past, and there must be a mén on his mouth in the future.

Chief of Staff Li Honggang reported on the situation of the Jiāo battle for one day, and the Itagaki Division today deployed the strength of a brigade and regiment to launch an attack on the whole front of our blocking position more than 10 kilometers wide.

The battle lasted for eight hours, the Japanese army lost about 2,000 people, and our troops suffered more than 800 casualties, most of whom were wounded by Japanese grenadiers, and the positions were damaged in many places.

If we count the troops brought by the division commander, our army has gathered nine infantry brigades, three artillery brigades, four cavalry brigades, and one air defense brigade on the line from Shanhaiguan to Suizhong, with a strength of 160,000 troops, and the total strength has exceeded that of the southward corps of the Kwantung Army.

In addition, several detachments of our special operations detachment had infiltrated the flanks and rear of the Japanese positions on the opposite side to conduct reconnaissance, and what made Deputy Division Commander Feng and I feel strange was that the one-day attack of the Itagaki Division seemed to be fierce, but it felt that it had not done its best, and its tanks, heavy artillery units, and cavalry units did not appear on the battlefield, and only light artillery bombarded our positions.

This is a strange phenomenon, as if Itagaki is not in a hurry to break through our army's position, recapture Tianjin, and relieve the siege of Beiping, but wants to attract our troops here, which is where Deputy Division Commander Feng and I feel puzzled.

Tang Qiuli vaguely guessed something, Itagaki must be waiting for an opportunity, and the appearance of this opportunity is related to the Japanese base camp to increase troops in North China, the Japanese reinforcements on the Korean side are still far away, the southward corps of the Kwantung Army is blocked here, and only the reinforcements from the Japanese mainland are unknown.

It is a pity that the intelligence network of the independent division has not yet been extended to the sea, otherwise, it would be easier to understand Itagaki's psychology, thinking of this, Tang Qiuli suddenly brightened, as if a layer of faint smoke in front of him was blown away by the fresh morning breeze.

By the way, Itagaki must have been waiting for reinforcements from the Japanese mainland, and the 77 Incident began, and the Japanese base camp shouted that "China will be destroyed within three months" It has been more than 20 days ago, not only did North China fail to occupy all of it, but it lost its troops and lost Tianjin, and Beiping was surrounded.

In terms of strategic posture, it was completely in a state of hard defense, which was not expected by the Japanese government that launched a full-scale war, and the purpose of placing the Itagaki Division in a prominent position was to use the combat effectiveness of the Itagaki Division to suddenly break through the defense line of our Shanhaiguan and go straight to the Beijing-Tianjin corridor when the Japanese reinforcements from the sea arrived.

It is hoped that the situation in North China will be determined by the first war, so that he can free up his hands to wave his army southward and attack the hinterland of the Central Plains and the areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

It really made Tang Qiuli guess correctly, the reinforcements from the Japanese mainland, at this time, were sailing on the surface of the North Yellow Sea, about to cross the Bohai Strait, and there was still a day and a half to sail from Tianjin, and the number of reinforcements greatly exceeded the original plan, for ten first-class divisions, about 350,000 people, and five heavy artillery wings.

Thinking of this, Tang Qiuli's face suddenly tightened, the Japanese army came to help, and there was no doubt that they would land in Tianjin, and whether the defenders of Tianjin could resist the Japanese army, he was not sure in his heart.

The troops on the front line of Shanhaiguan all retreated to the area of Beijing and Tianjin, preparing for a counter-landing? The Itagaki Division and the southward corps of the Kwantung Army were bound to chase after each other, and if the Japanese troops in Beiping went out of the city to counterattack again, the troops would be in an extremely disadvantageous position, and they would have to be forced to retreat to the Yellow River defense line on all fronts.

Tang Qiuli felt that his appetite was a little bigger, and he panicked, now, Shanhaiguan cannot be withdrawn, this battle must be fought, and the key to this battle is whether Liu Tiehan in Tianjin can successfully prevent the Japanese army from landing, or whether Jiang's Japanese army can repel and win two to three days for the Shanhaiguan Battle.

In the Battle of Shanhaiguan, Tang Qiuli not only planned to kill the Itagaki Division, but also to annihilate or defeat the southward corps of the Kwantung Army, and Tianjin was the weakness of the entire campaign layout.

Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang saw that the teacher's face was uncertain, their eyes seemed to be separated, and they looked at each other, they turned their eyes to Mei Ting, only the person next to the teacher's pillow could know the teacher's thoughts at this time, Mei Ting shook her hand gently, signaling them not to disturb Tang Qiuli, Tang Qiuli in this state was making a difficult choice.

After a while, Tang Qiuli's eyes became clear, his face was resolute, he made up his mind, the Battle of Shanhaiguan, must be fought, do not kill the Itagaki Division, he is choked in his throat, very depressed, in later generations, he will hate this Itagaki Division, notorious, arrogant, not to mention, it can also relieve the worries of the troops, this battle has many benefits.

After he thought about it maturely, he thought of Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang on the side, looking at the worry on their faces, he smiled, and the two of them were relieved, Tang Qiuli told them about his analysis, and this time it was Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang's turn to change their faces.

The situation is not good, with the strength of more than 30,000 troops in the two brigades of Tianjin Dongzhi, even if Liu Feng's police force and eight urban combat teams are added, it is only more than 46,000 people, and no matter what, it will not be able to withstand the attack of the Japanese army from the sea.

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