Although the 30th Army under the command of Yoshio Hongo also suffered heavy losses under the siege of Du Kaishan on all sides, all the units of the 44th Army participating in the battle lost at least one-third of their soldiers. But compared to the scattered 30th Army, his entire defense system remained relatively intact.

The most important thing is that although it was cut off from the 30th Army, his 44th Army, under the painstaking management, relying on the favorable terrain of the mountainous area from Zhonggu to Chaihebao, and under the siege of the surrounding Anti-Japanese Alliance, it has always been firmly in a group and has not been divided by its opponents.

Moreover, as soon as the battle began, this cunning Japanese lieutenant general transported all the large quantities of ammunition and food that had been stored in Fushun to the first-line and second-line positions in Zhonggu and Chaihebao. Compared with the 30th Army, which had almost lost all the ammunition and food reserves in Tieling after losing the first line of Tieling and Pingdingbao, it was about to run out of ammunition and food. His 44th Army is still free of food and clothing, and has plenty of ammunition.

The only regret is that because the back road was cut off, the winter clothes that should have been changed for the season of the subordinate troops could not be delivered. Although the weather in Nanman is okay at the moment, it is already very cold in the morning and evening. In addition to fighting in the mountains, the weather was still somewhat cool at night. Fighting in thin summer clothes this season made his troops have a bad cold.

But food and ammunition, the 44th Army was still very adequate. Except for the fact that it is a little inconvenient to make a fire and cook in the face of the enemy's air superiority, there is no need to worry about other aspects. Even if he was besieged for half a month, his 44th Army would not be in danger of starvation.

The most important thing is that Yoshio Hongo believes that the mountainous area east of the entire Chucho Railway is vast. And although his own 44th Army also suffered heavy casualties, it was far from the point of breaking its muscles and bones. At present, the vitality is still alive, and the 44th Army, which has quite sufficient ammunition at hand, can still be sure of a successful breakthrough as long as it concentrates its fists to attack in the northeast direction of Chaihe Fort.

The tanks of the Anti-Union were able to pass through the mountains, bypassing their own lines and penetrating behind them. Could it be that the Japanese army, which has always been good at fighting in complex terrain, could not be transferred through the mountains? It is impossible for the enemy army to fortify everywhere in such a vast mountainous area, as long as a retreat channel can be opened, it is still certain that they can escape from the ascension.

The ammunition and food on hand were sufficient, and although the troops had suffered considerable losses, they were not light. Except for a few units, most of the troop formations are still intact, which gives Hongo Yoshio considerable confidence to break through. He believes that as long as his movements can reach suddenness, the chance of protruding is still quite large.

It's just that under the situation that the surrounding anti-coalition forces are shrinking more and more tightly, how can they safely stand out. This is a rather difficult problem for Lieutenant General Yoshio Hongo and his chief of staff, Major General Takejo Ohno. There is no doubt that the direction of the breakthrough can only be to the east. In the current situation, it is impossible to break through to the west and join the 30th Army.

But how can we avoid the pursuit of the enemy army in the retreat route of the ** encirclement after opening the breakthrough, and how can we get rid of the entanglement of the enemy army under the nose of the enemy army and withdraw the troops in concealment. This made Lieutenant General Hongo Yoshio and Major General Takeshiro Ohno quite a headache.

After several days of fierce fighting, the 44th Army did hold the second line of defense. However, under the deliberate posture of the enemy army, it is becoming more and more entangled with the enemy army. It is not an easy task for the 44th Army to get rid of the enemy army as quietly as possible and withdraw the troops.

And the only direction of breakthrough that can be chosen is all mountainous terrain. The 44th Army is currently equipped with heavy weapons that cannot be carried at all. Whether the rest will be discarded or blown up completely, and how to carry a large number of wounded will also be a difficult problem for Lieutenant General Yoshio Hongo.

The two of them gathered on the map and carefully studied it for most of the day, but they decided to take the method of attacking the west. With a force to the southwest, the first line of Tieling and Pingdingbao was counterattacked with all its might, and the posture of the 44th Army was to be reopened and connected with the 30th Army.

At the same time, the main forces gradually contracted on the northern and southern fronts, and abandoned some secondary positions. With two separate mixed brigades, relying on favorable terrain, he was ready to take over the defense in the north and south directions, and the rest of his forces secretly advanced to the two flanks of Chaihe Fort. After all the troops arrived, the whole army broke through to the east along the mountains on both flanks of Chaihe Fort.

The mortars and mountain guns that could be carried were all dismantled and mounted on the horses. Field artillery and howitzers that could not be carried were all discarded after covering the breakthrough of the main force, except for disassembling the lower gun latch and taking it away. The seriously wounded were all cremated and burned, and the lightly wounded were incorporated into the two flanks of the blocking forces. The breakout troops each carried five days' worth of supplies, as well as one hundred and twenty rounds of ammunition and four grenades.

Light and heavy machine guns and grenadiers each carry two base numbers of ammunition, while mortars, mountain guns and infantry guns carry 60 shells per gun. The rest of the food, ammunition and other supplies, including all the trucks, were thrown away. After the main force broke through, the covering troops blew up all of them, including field artillery and howitzers that could not be carried.

After highlighting the enemy's defensive circle along the Chaihe Fort, the whole army passed through Dadianzi, crossed the Fenghai Railway on the line of Nanzamu, and then retreated in the direction of Benxi with all its strength. Taking advantage of the main force of the enemy army in Liaodong, which was fighting fiercely with the Third Army, and the weak forces behind him, he withdrew to Kuandian through Xinbin and Huanren.

As for the troops on the front line that were too entangled with the enemy and could not be withdrawn, they took on the important task of covering the breakthrough of the whole army on the spot. When the gecko tail breaking tactic should be used, it must be used decisively. How to ensure that most of the troops rush out is what I should consider the most.

In order to ensure that the main force of the 44th Army can finally break through successfully, and can bring out as much as possible the main force of the 44th Army. These two, together with a group of senior staff officers of the 44th Army Headquarters, came up with what they thought was the most detailed plan in the shortest possible time.

All the units to which it belonged had a strict plan for breaking out. When the troops break out, they should either counterattack or take a detour in that direction. The one unit took the lead, and the other one stayed behind and broke the rear. A detailed plan was drawn up for when and in what direction that force would break through. Its entire breakthrough plan was even directly implemented at the brigade level.

When it comes to reducing the so-called burden, that is, the heavy equipment that is inconvenient to carry, and all the wounded, these two show a decisive and even ruthless side. In addition to blowing up all the heavy weapons that cannot be carried. They actually ordered that all the seriously injured who could not move be cremated alive.

You must know that in the fierce fighting in the past few days, the seriously wounded of the entire 44th Army were not dozens but thousands. Burning so many seriously wounded and the bodies of those who died in the war was that these two people could not even take care of the most basic humanity for the sake of the so-called breakthrough operation.

And the Kwantung Army Command demanded that the 44th Army withdraw to Benxi and cooperate with the order of the Third Army to fight. Yoshio Hongo and Major General Takeshiro Ohno simply threw them aside. Benxi is too close to the enemy, even if it can occupy the advantage for a while, but once the trailing enemy pursues it, then the unlucky one is the 44th Army. So these two decided to take a breath and simply retreat directly to Kuandian.

Here, Yoshio Hongo was cautiously preparing for the breakout and constantly adjusting the deployment, but Du Kaishan opposite him was a little upset. The corps of the Western Front had completed the division of the 30th Army, but there was no significant progress in the offensive on its own side.

Although this encirclement was completed, in the face of the hedgehog-like 44th Army, the overall progress was quite limited. These little devils in front of them are indeed quite skilled, and the entire defense line is set up quite cunningly. Days of assault had cleared most of the outlying strongholds, but had not been able to penetrate the core of its entire defensive system.

Putting down the binoculars in his hand, Du Kaishan turned his head and said to Ye Chao, the chief of staff beside him: "Old Ye, this kind of attack is not good. The connection between Zhonggu and Chaihebao must be severed, otherwise we will not be able to deal with this 44th Army in another month if we gnaw on such a hill or a mountain. ”

"Tell the troops on the front line that I am giving them two days, and that the first line of Shangyu, Xiayu, and Majiazhai on the southern front, and the Mengjiazhai, Shuangtailing, and Dazigou on the northern front must be taken down for me in order to complete the division of the enemy's 44th Army. Tell them to dare to be bold and interspersed, not to push so flatly. ”

"I also told Xiong Botao that I don't care what method he uses, the enemy in Shuangtailing and the backing line must be eliminated before tonight. I handed him a 203 howitzer company rationed by my superiors, why is it still progressing so slowly? The backer is the most important stronghold on the periphery of Chaihe Fort, and if we can't capture the backer, we can't directly attack Chaihe Fort. ”

After quickly recording Du Kaishan's order, Ye Chao said with some hesitation: "Commander Du, I think we should be stable now?" The closer we get to the core of the Japanese army, the stronger the resistance of the Japanese army will be. Moreover, the enemy's artillery was deployed in semi-underground fortifications, and the Japanese army, which had mastered the commanding heights, could cover almost the entire battlefield with its firepower. ”

"The attack routes of our various units are always blocked by enemy artillery. Our progress has always been slow, and the main problem is that we cannot suppress the enemy's artillery. The mountainous areas have limited attack routes, and it is impossible for us to deploy too many troops on one battlefield. ”

"In this battle for the mountains, enemy artillery has always been a serious threat to our troops. If we continue to fight like this, even if we can completely annihilate this 44th Army, we will pay a great price. I wonder if it is better to pause for a moment and let the various units sum up their experience and adjust their tactics according to the previous battles? ”

Ye Chao's persuasion, Du Kaishan knocked on the map and said, "Brother comrade, I understand all the truths you said. But didn't you notice that after these days of fighting, these Japanese troops in front of us are a little abnormal? On the surface, it seems that the Japanese army is fighting in a decent manner, but don't you find that the Japanese army is always shrinking its forces? ”

Indeed, every hill seems to be fought over and over again. However, in fact, in each of its battles, except for the central key points such as Zhaojiatun, Jinjiazhai Beishan, Chaihe Donggou, and Shuangtailing, until the east of Chaihe Fort along the Chaihe River, the rest of the directions were mainly artillery as the main means of counterattack, and the troops actually invested were not much. ”

"They are relying on the relatively favorable terrain they are holding on to, and they are consciously weakening our offensive strength. You don't notice that after they were broken through by our troops on the periphery of their second position, when our troops advanced to attack in depth, most of the positions that they repeatedly fought with our troops were concentrated in areas that could be cross-covered by their artillery fire. ”

"Compared with the positive slope, we pay more attention to relying on the commanding heights around the perimeter to compete with our army for the ridge line and anti-slope positions. Even the ridge line is not the main focus of the battle with our army. As soon as the battle for the ridge line failed, they immediately retreated to the anticline position. And at this time, it was difficult for the artillery of our army to hit their anti-slope positions. ”