Chapter 349: The Time Is Not Yet
The outbreak took place between mid-March and early April, and in fact, what the two sides really engaged in was only a fierce battle between division-sized troops, the fiercest battle in the entire Korean theater since June. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info In order to fight for Cheorwon and Kimhwa, two points of the Japanese defense system in central Korea, the mountains around Cheorwon turned into a bloody battlefield.
In this battle for Cheorwon, which lasted for 20 days, the Anti-Japanese Union mainly relied on the support of ground artillery. Some of the air forces dispatched mainly carried out fire suppression on the supply lines and communication lines of the Japanese army in depth, and did not participate in front-line combat support. At this moment, the air force of the Japanese and Korean armies is no longer able to provide any support. In other words, in this battle for Cheorwon, the two sides mainly fought on the ground.
Although the fighting was continuous before, the scale of the battle was always controlled on a tactical scale under the conscious restraint of both sides. More operations, even at the battalion and company level, the Korean Peninsula where operations are drawn. The battle for Cheorwon this time can be regarded as a major battle of unprecedented scale.
Originally, the date of the battle for Tieyuan was reported by Du Kaishan was early February, and the scheduled attack time was mid-February. And with Du Kaishan's character, he must be preparing while reporting. When it was not easy to report, it was even basically completed before the war. It's just that although Du Kaishan's report was approved by Yang Zhen, Yang Zhen changed the time of the attack to early March.
At the same time, in the approval report, Yang Zhen changed Du Kaishan's original battle plan of attacking Tieyuan and Jinhua at the same time to focus on Tieyuan and Jinhua as the auxiliary attack direction. The size of the forces to be invested has also been changed from two divisions to one. On both flanks, the size of two divisions and one corps of the Korean Independence Army was reduced to one division and one division.
For Yang Zhen to postpone the attack time back, Du Kaishan can understand. Because the Anbong Railway is still being repaired, the construction of the newly civilized pontoon bridge on the Yalu River has not yet been completed. However, Du Kaishan did not understand Yang Zhen's offensive of reducing the scale of the attack from the group army to the actual division level at once.
With Du Kaishan's heart, where will he only be satisfied with seizing Tieyuan and Jinhua? His real target was on Liancheon, which is only more than 60 kilometers away from Seoul, and even Wenchuan and Pocheon further south. If the war goes the way he envisions, he doesn't mind going straight to the council.
But No. 1 reduced the number of troops invested, and the scale of this battle was reduced from the size of the predetermined group army to the division level, which somewhat discouraged him. The number of troops invested in accordance with the regulations of No. 1 is simply not enough to ensure that he will push the battle line south to the line of Wenchuan and Baochuan.
The Japanese troops facing in the direction of Jinhwa and Cheorwon were the 137th Division and the 133rd Independent Brigade of the 58th Army under the Korean Army. In the depth behind these Japanese troops, there are also the 150th Division of the Japanese Army and the 127th Independent Brigade on the line from Wenchuan to Baochuan. Without enough troops, he could not achieve his goal.
But except for all the energy in the Northeast at the moment, and it is necessary to make every effort to ensure the next battle plan of the Guannei battlefield, Yang Zhen did not give Du Kaishan more explanations. Just told Du Kaishan and Ma Chunsheng, who was the front-line commander, that if these two militants did not accept it, this battle plan would be cancelled directly.
Although whether it is Ma Chunsheng, who is in command on the front line, or Du Kaishan, who is currently replacing Wang Xiaoming and is responsible for commanding the entire Korean Peninsula to fight against Du Kaishan, they all know that the reason for No. 1 is just an excuse. But the two of them, plus Huang Yuqing, who was later transferred to North Korea and served as the political commissar of the North Korean cluster, did not dare to ask any questions.
After being beaten by Yang Zhen on the battlefield in North China, Du Kaishan's personality changed a lot. In the past, when he arrived on the battlefield, he was bold and bold, and gradually calmed down a lot. This time, Yang Zhen reduced the scale of the battle, but he still honestly deployed according to Yang Zhen's requirements, and he was not doing anything.
In fact, Yang Zhen did not disagree, and launched a large-scale offensive in North Korea, pushing the front as far south as possible. At the moment, he is also secretly preparing for the next step, a general attack in North Korea. But he believes that at least for now, a full-scale attack on the North Korean army is not yet the time.
Compared with Du Kaishan, who only looks at the situation in North Korea, his eyes should be looked in more directions. Not only the Jianghuai Campaign, which was being fully prepared at this time, but also the farther Pacific Theater. Du Kaishan only saw the situation in the direction of North Korea, but his vision could not be so narrow.
Judging from both the domestic and international situation, the time is not yet ripe for launching a large-scale offensive on the Korean battlefield. At least at present, although the DPRK army does not have a lot of heavy equipment, the DPRK army, which has nine divisions and regiments under its jurisdiction and three independent mixed brigades, is still sufficient in terms of troops.
After most of the Kwantung Army was annihilated, a small part was evacuated into Korea by chance, and the Korean army withdrew south to central Korea. In order to increase the defense of the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese army base camp was based on the remnants of the Kwantung Army that had withdrawn into Korea, and urgently formed three divisions for the Korean Army: 137th, 150th, and 320th.
In order to replenish the strength of these newly established divisions, the Japanese army base camp not only mobilized the newly formed 160th Division from China, but also transferred four field supplementary units to the Korean army. More than 100,000 Koreans were recruited in the southern part of Korea, and in addition to being incorporated into various divisions, a large reserve force was also formed.
Although these divisions were heavily armed, the continuous bombardment of the homeland was slightly insufficient because of the Japanese army's losses on all fronts. However, in terms of light weapons, it was quite sufficient because of the strong support from the Korean Japanese arsenal. All Type 99 rifles, Type 1 heavy machine guns and light machine guns. The number of grenadiers and infantry guns, especially mortars, was quite sufficient.
Sea routes have been cut off, and locally produced weapons cannot be shipped. Compared to the Southern Army, which has basically been mixed into self-sufficiency. At this moment, because of the advantage of being close to the homeland, the DPRK army has been replenished with a large number of new weapons. Despite the lack of heavy weapons, the performance of light weapons has increased substantially.
In order to increase the firepower of the North Korean army, the production of heavy weapons has repeatedly declined, and the limited production capacity has to ensure the defense of the homeland. The Japanese base camp also painstakingly transferred a batch of old-fashioned and lighter naval guns from the navy's warehouse, which were modified and distributed to the Korean army.
In addition to more than 10 120-mm naval guns, there are also a large number of old Armstrong 76-mm and 57-mm naval guns, and even old antiques from the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese War.
These old naval guns were converted into retired guns, although they were older. Some of them were even from the Sino-Japanese War, and they were older than the Japanese soldiers who manipulated them. But for the Japanese army, which is now beginning to lack heavy weapons, something is much stronger than nothing.
Anyway, these old naval guns of small and medium caliber can no longer deal with US ships. And those who remain in the warehouses of the navy will sooner or later be blown up by the bombers of the hated rice animals and the Chinese people, so it is better to pull them out and exert their residual heat. At least as a ground support firepower, it should still be possible.
Didn't the British do this during the Boer War and the Russians during the Battle of Port Arthur? The dismantled naval guns were added to the ground to compensate for the lack of ground firepower. Now the empire lacks large-caliber artillery, and even mountain artillery is not rich. These old-fashioned guns exert their residual heat, which can be regarded as a place to be used. Even if they are all lost, there is nothing to feel sorry for.
Compared with the current large scale, the number of large-caliber artillery and the Japanese army's standard mountain artillery is insufficient, but the number of small and medium-caliber miscellaneous artillery is quite large. The only troops that could be used on the Korean battlefield were the Jin-Cha-Ji Army, which had left the customs in advance, and the five divisions of the troops that remained behind.
In addition to the remaining troops of these five divisions, they are still being reorganized and cannot enter the DPRK to participate in the war for the time being. In accordance with the requirements of the central authorities, three divisions were organized into a column, which was commanded by Wang Xiaoming and deployed along the line from Jinxi to Shanhaiguan on the Bac Ninh Railway, so that they could enter the customs at any time to participate in the battle when needed. It is precisely because of this requirement of the central government that Yang Zhen can only give priority to these three divisions when he is reorganized.
The tens of thousands of reserve soldiers who had already completed their training had already been incorporated into the main force to enter the customs and participate in the war. Except for the five divisions in the Korean battlefield and the first mountain infantry division, almost all of the remaining troops are not yet fully established, and the full strength rate of tank units is even less than 50 percent.
The last batch of German-made tanks transferred by the Americans, as well as the last batch of German-made tanks obtained from the Soviets in 44 years, have all been replenished to the armored units that have entered the customs. Most of the Soviet-style T 34 tanks manufactured by the Anti-Japanese Federation were also transferred to the Shandong Military Region to form a tank unit of the Shandong Military Region.
Even a considerable part of the US-aided tanks were almost entirely replenished to the troops entering the customs. At present, the tank troops left in the northeast are replenished extremely slowly. Under such circumstances, Yang Zhen believes that at least until the main divisions left in the northeast are all reorganized, the Anti-Japanese Federation should still be on the defensive in the Korean battlefield.
The most important reason why Yang Zhen reduced the scale of the campaign was that he believed that it was not yet the most favorable time to launch a large-scale offensive on the Korean battlefield. At least judging from the current Pacific theater, it is still premature to launch a large-scale offensive in Korea before the U.S. military ends the Iwo Jima operation.
Therefore, Yang Zhen's main attitude is that at present, in addition to the battlefield in Guannei, within the current combat scope of the entire Northeast Military Region, it is better to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. The scale of the battle on the Korean battlefield must be controlled to a certain extent, because once the scale is expanded, there is no certainty in the final number of troops needed to fill it.
At present, the troops left behind in the northeast simply do not have the strength to launch a large-scale offensive operation. In particular, the transportation system in northern North Korea is far from being restored. And at least until some things reach the range that Yang Zhen expects, Yang Zhen doesn't want to make the scale of the battle too large.
At least the Korean army, which is only separated from the Japanese mainland by a strait and can receive rapid reinforcements from the mainland in a short period of time, has not yet reached the last opportunity before receiving foreign aid. Of course, there are no other reasons for this, Yang Zhen doesn't say it, and others have no way of knowing.
Regarding Yang Zhen's idea of controlling the rhythm and degree, Guo Bingxun, as the chief of staff, still agrees. As a matter of fact, Guo Bingxun believes that the war has reached this point, and that the current pull-out operation and the regiment-level encroachment tactics should still be the main focus on the Korean battlefield.
As for the large-scale offensive operations against those who have already reached the edge of the Japanese mainland, I am afraid that they will face increasingly strong resistance from the Japanese. It is still necessary to let the Americans bear the strength of the Pacific theater despite fighting on both sides. In particular, Japan is an island country surrounded by the sea, and this kind of attack on the Japanese mainland should be done by the Americans.
At present, the entire northeast base area has reached the time to recuperate. Controlling the scale of the operation and not expanding the war as much as possible will also help the northeastern base areas to recuperate and regain their vitality. Guo Bingxun believes that for the current Northeast, there is nothing more important than recuperation.