~Date: ~October 20~

，nbsp; Okamura Ningji stared at Yoshida Pi, who seemed to be a little lacking in confidence for a while, and finally spoke leisurely, with an indescribable tiredness in his voice: "Then speaking of which, does Yoshida-kun have the confidence to win?" ”

"Yes, the lower officials have the confidence to win!" Yoshida took a deep breath, stabilized the tension in his heart, and replied loudly: "Although the armored troops of China have rich combat experience, it is still certain that they will win by attacking an armored grenadier division of the China Army with the entire army of the mecha army!" So rest assured, Your Excellency the Marshal. ”

This is a reasonable answer. Although the Chinese armored forces are famous, how much strength can an Panzergrenadier Division have? There are only 200 assault guns and self-propelled guns in the sky, and the Japanese mecha army has concentrated the armored strength of the entire Japan, which is indeed 10 times the strength of a Chinese armored grenadier division...... At least quantitatively! This is also the reason why Okamura Ninji decisively decided to launch a counterattack after discovering that this Chinese panzergrenadier division was lone in depth.

Although a partial victory was not enough to reverse the huge disparity in strength between China and Japan, it could shatter the myth of the invincibility of the Chinese army and greatly boost the morale of Japan to resist the Chinese invasion...... At the very least, can we offset the adverse effects of the Emperor's Southern Tour? Although this news is still only circulating at the highest level, paper can't contain the fire after all.

Yoshida's answer was quite in line with Okamura's expectations, and he nodded slightly, showing a smile that he hadn't seen for a long time: "Very good!" With a pillar like Yoshida-kun, the Great Japanese Empire will definitely survive the difficulties. For this counterattack, the North Korean army has mobilized 8 infantry divisions, 4 tank divisions, 5 tank brigades, and a cavalry group≤ with more than 250,000 troops. Now I'm giving you command of this army, Yoshida-kun, please! After speaking, he solemnly bowed to Yoshida.

……

In the "Battle of Unsan" when ♀ the Japanese armored unit, the Mecha Army, took advantage of the night of 14 December to quietly set off from a secret station outside Pyongyang, the half-track armored command vehicle in which Xu Yunlong, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy on the Chinese side and commander of the Second Armored Group Army, and his headquarters staff were also driving to a small hill near Gufeng Village, where a fierce battle had just taken place. Look at the steel dragon of the 4th Panzer Division rolling forward at your feet. In the dark night, the sparkling headlights have formed a magnificent picture ♀, which is a torrent of steel composed of more than 460 tanks, high-impact artillery, more than 600 half-track armored vehicles, wheeled armored vehicles, and more than 1,000 trucks and jeeps! The roar of various engines was superimposed. A deafening loud sound has been formed, shaking the ground under his feet§ Yunlong's eyes are now staring at the 63 two or four heavy tanks at the forefront of the tank column, and the 62 No. 3 assault guns following the fourth tank, for the Japanese armored forces, this is 135 cold-blooded killers, their 88mm cannons and more than 100mm frontal armor, will soon become a nightmare for the Japanese! Tank battles cannot be won by numerical superiority alone, and this has been amply demonstrated on the European theater of operations!

Behind the tank columns were three so-called Panzergrenadier Corps (one of which belonged to the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division). Although they still belong to the formation of infantry, they are a special kind of infantry that is in the same company as tanks‖ and they also have to fight with tanks÷ in fact, the firepower of these panzergrenadiers is not much weaker than that of armored troops, they are equipped with 105mm recoilless guns and 57mm anti-tank half-track armored vehicles, and 50mm anti-tank guns are equipped with Min-28 wheeled armored vehicles as long as they are used. They are also anti-tank weapons.

Sappers and signal corps were setting up temporary command posts in the banping at the foot of the mountain, and Xu Yunlong had already decided to command the largest armored battle of the war in this small village near the front line.

In the night, a motorcycle drove to the bottom of the mountain, and a herald jumped off the motorcycle and ran up the hill quickly, handing a telegram to Lieutenant General Xie Jinyuan, chief of staff of the Second Armored Army, and taking the telegram and looking at it twice. He whispered to Xu Yunlong: "Junzuo." The 3rd Panzergrenadier Division advanced smoothly. The Japanese 122nd and 123rd Divisions had become frightened birds and did not dare to organize resistance at all, and had now fled to the depths of the Yuling Mountains. The vanguard of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division had already captured Wolhyeon-ri at around 7 o'clock tonight, less than 15 kilometers from Unsan. ”

Xu Yunlong nodded and ordered: "Let Shi Weikai drive in overnight, and occupy Yunshan tonight." ”

"Tonight?" Xie Jinyuan frowned and reminded, "Chief Li's order says that night marching is not allowed in enemy-controlled areas, so as not to encounter an ambush. ”

Xu Yunlong waved his hand: "The Japanese army has no main force near Yunshan. We have a panzergrenadier division and are still afraid of some stragglers coming nearby? Go and give the order to let the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division march in overnight. The sooner you take Yunshan, the more time you can have to build the fortifications, the report said. The Japanese used 10 times the strength of our 3rd Panzergrenadier Division this time, so it was worth the risk that Shi Weikai would not like a strong fortification. ”

In fact, when Xu Yunlong's order was delivered to Shi Jue, the division commander of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division was already sitting in a half-track armored command vehicle and commanding the army to advance to Yunshan, which was more than ten kilometers away. His thoughts are the same as Xu Yunlong's, the Japanese army's harassment ambush warfare is not in his eyes at all, and the current Japanese infantry does not seem to have any way to deal with armored vehicles, and the few ambushes encountered along the way are also some so-so forwards who rushed up to their deaths, and no one can rush through the fire of automatic rifles and successfully throw Molotov cocktails or grenades. In the early morning of December 15, the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division, which had been marching overnight, finally arrived at Yunshan ahead of schedule, and immediately dispersed a small Japanese garrison in Yunshan City with a fierce offensive and occupied this key communication artery. Then they began to dig fortifications and wait for the attack of the other side.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 15th, the defensive positions of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division of the Chinese National Defense Forces had been set up. With a mechanized chemical corps, the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division turned the small city with a radius of only 10 square kilometers into a fortified fortress in just a dozen hours.

The 24th Panzergrenadier Regiment spread out along the southeastern part of the town. If nothing else, it will be the main direction of attack of the Japanese mechanized forces. A battalion of panzergrenadiers defended the left flank, they relied on the 81.6 heights there ≮ dug two trenches, and planted anti-tank mines along the road, and also dug some anti-tank traps in front of the trenches, 18 105mm recoilless guns and 12 57mm anti-tank guns were removed from the half-track armored vehicles and deployed in dozens of pre-dug anti-artillery fortifications, in addition, there was a reserve position connected to the frontal trench at the back of the heights, which was used to shelter the officers and men of the battalion from shelling.

Another Panzergrenadier Battalion was deployed in the woods opposite Heights 81.2] Soldiers dug numerous foxholes in the woods and concealed them with tree branches. And also a large number of mines were planted close to the road. There is also a light assault gun company (and 15 T-39 assault guns) also ambushed in ♀ this woods, and the low-built assault guns are carefully camouflaged, lurking in all corners of the woods, and the muzzles are all facing the direction of the road, so that they can take the opponent by surprise in a short time. The three battalions of the 24 Panzergrenadier Regiment and the regimental units were attached to the rear of the 81.2 heights, acting as reserves and providing fire support. The 18 120mm mortars are all tuned ballistic, and at the first order, the entire road can be blocked with heavy fire.

The 308th Infantry Regiment was deployed on both sides of the road southwest of Unsan. Each of the three infantry battalions held a piece of high ground and completely blocked the access to Yunshan from the southwest. A light assault artillery company was deployed to the east of the three heights, and together with the direct troops of the 308th Regiment, it formed the last line of defense on the eastern side of Yunshan. Two lines of defense were also built on the northeast and northwest sides of Yunshan, the engineer and baggage regiments of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division. There is also a light assault gun battery deployed in both directions to serve as a guard. The 303rd Heavy Assault Artillery Battalion (with 62 No. 3 assault guns equipped with 88mm cannons), the Armored Artillery Regiment directly under the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division (owing one self-propelled artillery battalion), and the 10th Parachute Artillery Battalion are all deployed inside and outside Yunshan City, forming the core of Yunshan's defense system. The Power Search Group of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division was scattered in the surrounding mountains and forests to serve as a guard.

After completing the construction of the Yunshan defense system. The 3rd Panzergrenadier Division began to wait for a long time, and it was not until midnight that day that the Japanese army was late ♀, not because Yoshida and his 250,000-strong army were slow, but because the Chinese Air Force had caused them too much trouble. Then it was as if I had stabbed a hornet's nest. Dive bombers of the Chinese. F-190 fighters, as well as twin-engine BF-110, E-111 and Ju-88 fighters took turns to fight, powerful submunitions, high-explosive bombs, and a kind of incendiary bombs that seem to ignite everything and throw them down as if they don't need money! In particular, this incendiary bomb caused extreme fear among the Japanese officers and soldiers. Because according to the original rumor, when they encountered an air raid by the Chinese army, they only needed to hide in the woods on both sides of the road, and they were basically safe and sound. However, this unknown incendiary bomb subverted this nonsense, and the dry woods in winter were ignited one by one, so that the Japanese officers and soldiers who got into it had nowhere to hide. They were lit by the scorching flames, or they were killed in the flames. Either screaming and rolling down the mountain, the shrapnel scattered by the bombs or the streams of fire falling from the sky to harvest lives.

When the marching column of the mecha army under the personal command of Yoshida passed through this area that had been ravaged by the Chinese air force after nightfall. All you can see are large smoky blackened trees, scorched dead men and horses on both sides of the road, broken weapon parts, and the screams of the dying wounded coming from nowhere, almost drowning out the sound of the motors of the mechanized troops.

A fast horse galloped from the front and stopped in front of Yoshida's armored command vehicle, and the herald on horseback handed an envelope to Yoshida's lieutenant. After the adjutant took the envelope, he immediately sealed it, took out the documents inside, and handed it to the chief of staff, Major General Masao Terada, who was sitting next to Yoshida.

"Your Excellency, Yunshan has been occupied by the Chinese army!" When Masaio Terada saw the following, his eyebrows tightened: "The approximate losses of the 22nd Army and the 10th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd divisions have been counted. Among them, four divisions of the 22 nd Army were repeatedly bombed by the Chinese air force during the day today, and all artillery and baggage wings suffered losses of more than 50 percent, and all infantry wings also suffered heavy casualties. After a rough inspection, the number of losses has exceeded 10,000!

The 10th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd divisions were also killed and wounded under the air raids of the Chinese army, among which the 10th Cavalry Wing and the 10th Artillery Wing were repeatedly killed and injured by the sub-bombs dropped by the Chinese army's dive bombers, and almost all of them were shattered! The headquarters of the 21st Division was attacked by incendiary bombs of the Chinese army, and the commander of the division, Lieutenant General Washizu Leadhei, became a god! The headquarters of the 21st Division was almost completely wiped out. The 22nd and 23rd divisions also suffered losses of more than 2,000 men each.

In addition, the 1st Tank Division reported that a bridge leading to Unsan was so badly damaged that the Zero assault tank could not pass through. At present, the sappers are working hard to repair it, and it is estimated that it will take another three hours to restore the ......"

"Baga!" The muscles on Yoshida's face twitched slightly, and he gritted his teeth and asked, "Except for the Zero Assault Tank." Can other troops pass? ”

Masao Terada nodded: "After the damaged bridge has been urgently reinforced, it can already be used by the lighter Type 97 assault tank and Type 97 medium tank. But ......"

"Nothing but that!" Yoshida waved his hand and interrupted Terada: "Tell Hoshino Toshimoto that the 1st Tank Division must complete its deployment south of Unzan before dawn. ”

"Tell the commander of the 22nd Army, Shozo Riverside, that the 22nd Army Headquarters will command the 8 divisions that arrived in advance to attack the Yunshan Chinese Army."

"Attack Yunshan?" Masao Terada hesitated and reminded: "The Yunshan Chinese Army has chariots and heavy artillery, our 8 divisions are lightly armed, and heavy artillery and heavy anti-aircraft artillery are still on the way. Your Excellency, see if you can ......?"

"No!" Yoshida shook his head: "The Chinese army has not been in Yunshan for a long time, and they should be inflicted heavy losses before they have a firm foothold, and they cannot be allowed to build a solid defense system around Yunshan." ”

Yoshida's idea is good. But when Kawabe Shozo and his staff arrived at the Japanese advance command post located southeast of Unshan. He found out through the binoculars that this small city had been turned into a fortress that seemed easy to defend and difficult to attack by the Chinese army! He had no choice but to shake his head slightly, and ordered Lieutenant General Mai Lingnan, who was the vanguard of the 36th Division, to retreat his troops and sweep away the small units of the Qinghua Army deployed in the mountains and forests around Yunshan‖ and ordered all the troops that were already in place to quickly complete all the preparations before launching the attack.

At 2 o'clock in the morning on December 16, 1939, the Japanese troops who had arrived around Yunshan in advance hastily completed preparations for the attack. At 2:10, 81 75mm mountain guns and field artillery belonging to the four artillery wings began to shell the forward positions ♀ of the Chinese army, and the four artillery wings originally had 192 cannons, including 48 150mm heavy guns, but these heavy guns did not dare to march during the day, so they were still on the way. By the way. The 8 infantry divisions of the Japanese army did not all arrive. Only most of the 22nd, 23rd, 36th, and 124th Divisions arrived at the front on time.

It should have been the experience of being bombed all the way during the day on the 15th that stimulated these Japanese artillerymen, and as soon as the order to open fire came, 81 mountain artillery and some infantry guns and mortars deployed in the front line began to shoot frantically! The sound of artillery echoed in the night sky. The important positions on the southeast and southwest sides of Yunshan were full of rising columns of fire and smoke. However, the artillery of the Chinese army also reacted quickly, and the 54 105mm or 150mm cannons of two armored artillery battalions and one parachute artillery battalion deployed in and around Yunshan City launched a counterattack! Large-caliber shells came with a heavy whistling sound, and in an instant, the starting positions and artillery positions of the Japanese troops were also shrouded in large and small columns of smoke.

The artillery battle between the two sides lasted about half an hour, and the strong firepower of the Chinese army made Shozo Riverbe in the forward command post gasp.¢ The newspaper said that the Chinese army in Yunshan was nothing more than an armored grenadier division. Look at their shelling, at least 50-60 large-caliber guns! The momentum of the fight was much more fierce than that of the artillery wing to which his four divisions belonged.

Kawabe Shozo, who did not get a bargain during the shelling, still gave the order for the infantry to attack. According to a plan made in advance. Each of the four infantry divisions will dispatch a wing of infantry, regardless of priority. It is evenly distributed on the southeast and southwest sides of Yunshan.

As soon as the shelling was heard, a burst of "onboard!" sounded on the forward positions of the Japanese army. Onboard! The offensive spirit of the Japanese infantry was not frightened by the powerful firepower of the Chinese army, and the thousands of infantry, under the command of junior officers and military officers, lined up several huge attack columns with wings as units on the southeast and southwest sides of Yunshan. All the Japanese soldiers held rifles with long bayonets, and under the cover of night and smoke bombs, they slowly pressed towards the positions defended by the squadron. (，。

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