It should be said that Masao Iwabe is still very careful, and his tactical use is also decent. Not only did they send out two infantry squads, but they also held the troops firmly together. Even if marching in the mountains would greatly reduce the speed of the march, he would not hesitate to do so.

Even for the sake of prudence, he also put the marching column of the 16th Mixed Brigade of the puppet Manchurian Army beside his 70th Wing, and of course the heavy responsibility of playing the vanguard, which is necessary.

However, Iwabe Masao also knew that with the Manchukuo army accompanying him, if he let his troops fight the forward, it is estimated that these bold guys would not mind hitting their black guns in the back.

Although the 70th Wing does not have the spirit of the other wings of the Fourth Division, it is a friend who dies and does not die in poverty. But it is absolutely intolerable for you to let them charge into battle, leaving behind them a bunch of dog-like guys who they think are nothing more than captive dogs in the Kwantung Army.

The reason why the Tokyo base camp transferred the 70th Wing out to form the 25th Division was that it was thought that this 70th Wing was not rotten compared with other wings of the 4th Division. At least after being transferred to Manchuria, the table xiàn was okay, at least not like the Eighth Wing, even the infantry guns dared to be sold in the name of scrapping for money.

But in reality, this 70th Wing was no stronger than the 8th Wing, which was called the first mud pit of the 4th Division. It's just that these guys are very good at hiding, and they are not as unscrupulous as the Eighth Wing, and they don't have the business brains of the Eighth Wing, so they are not as notorious as the Eighth Wing.

Unbeknownst to Masao Iwabe, it was his over-the-top caution that marched the entire wing in a group, but he suffered even greater losses in the following battles. Because for such a cluster of target fire coverage, it is precisely the strength of MLRS. If he really scattered the wings and marched, it would bring some trouble to Yang Zhen.

There is a certain reason why this 70th Wing can make the Japanese base camp look different in the mud pit of the Fourth Division. At least in the event of a critical situation, these guys will not care about the lives of their comrades, and they will run away directly to save their lives. The wings are also very grouped, and when they are in danger of each other, they will do their best to rescue.

This strength was demonstrated in its own domestic garrison, and was already demonstrated when the 70th Wing fought in groups with other wings. When fighting between other wings, at most, the squadron provokes something, and it is solved by itself, which is usually heads-up. And the 70th Wing has never disdained to engage in heads-up, and group fights are their favorite.

As long as there is a conflict with friendly forces, no matter how many people are dispatched by the opposing side, the Seventy Wing is generally the whole team rushing up. Even when I went to smash the Osaka Police Station, it was a whole team. Its squadrons, and even the major teams, have always been extremely united. Its internal unity is far from being comparable to that of the Eighth Wing.

If Masao Iwabe really takes the brigade as a unit, it is arranged in a state of march that can coordinate with each other. Once there is danger in a certain place, according to the Cheng dù of the 70th Wing, the other troops will definitely desperately rescue. In this way, Yang Zhen will have a headache.

But Iwabe Masao insisted on gathering the entire 70th Wing together, and when he encountered a critical situation, he could not find a single reinforcement except for the 14th Wing, which was slowly climbing the mountain along the line of the Haoliang River to the west. Of course, these are still riding on a red ocean horse, and Masao Iwabe is looking around with a telescope that he has not imagined.

After receiving the report that Iwabe Masao had rolled his troops forward in a group, Yang Zhen and Guo Bingxun glanced at each other, and they both found the excitement of the other party. Yang Zhen opened the map and immediately marked the position of the Japanese army according to the report of the reconnaissance unit. After putting down the pencil in his hand, Yang Zhen asked Guo Bingxun: "Old Guo, what do you think?" Is it possible to advance the original plan for the Japanese army to launch an attack after crossing the Jianshanzi line? ”

After looking at the location of the Japanese army, Guo Bingxun found the location of the 14th Wing on the map, pondered for a moment and nodded: "Commander, I can see it." Deputy Commander Zhao's side has been fully launched, and all the preparations have been completed. Moreover, the 14th Wing of the Japanese Army was slow to move, and it has not yet left the Haoliang River. ”

"It's all mountainous all the way. Even if it received a call for help from the Seventy Wing and marched as fast as possible, it could not arrive within twelve hours. And for us, twelve hours should be enough, both in terms of military firepower. ”

"And if the Seventy Wing crosses the Jianshanzi line and launches an attack according to the original plan, judging by the speed of its march, it should already be dark. We didn't expect that the Seventy Wing would hold the whole Wing together when it was marching, and the speed of the march would be so slow. ”

"Although the night battle can neutralize the air superiority of the Japanese army, it is also not conducive to the use of our artillery. It is now four o'clock in the afternoon, and judging from the weather in the North Manchurian region that is completely dark at seven o'clock, I think it is advantageous for our army to launch an attack in advance. At least until visibility is reduced to the point where the artillery fire is completely ineffective, artillery fire can be used to try to kill and injure the Japanese puppet army. ”

Guo Bingxun's answer made Yang Zhen make up his mind. Yang Zhen picked up the field phone and went directly to Ma Qichang, the deputy commander of the artillery who was commanding the two artillery regiments in front of him: "Old Ma, you can start over there." Five minutes later. The rocket artillery fired at the No. 3 fire on the southwest of the Jianshanzi line, and Zhu Yuan fired three salvos. Field artillery used anti-personnel blasting grenades to hit half the base. ”

Putting down the phone in his hand, Yang Zhen glanced at Guo Bingxun, who was also holding the phone to explain the task carefully to Liu Changshun and Du Kaishan, and then turned his gaze to the map again. Waiting for Guo Bingxun to send the phone in his hand, Yang Zhencai said: "Old Guo, I have an idea now." ”

"You said that we were supposed to fight the Seventy Wing first, and then turn west to deal with the Fourteenth Wing. Isn't the plan of first defeating the 25th Division on the Western Front and then forcing the 24th Division on the Central Front to retreat without a fight? ”

"You see, the distribution of the forces of the two main divisions and regiments mobilized by the Kwantung Army this time. At present, the main force of the 14th Wing of the 24th Division is still on the front line of the Haoliang River, and the 70th Wing has now penetrated deep into the front line of Jianshanzi. Its 40th Wing crossed the river with the 25th Division on the line at the mouth of the Lianjiang River. ”

"That is to say, Umezu Mijiro's arrangement this time is mainly based on the middle line, and the troops on the western front are divided into two routes, one should be to adopt the tactics of two-line squeezing, and suppress our army to the west of the Songhua River. Second, it is also necessary to cut off the rear route of our army's retreat to the Xing'an Mountains, and prevent our army from retreating to the western foot of the Xiaoxing'an Mountains by adopting the method of the Third Route Army when the battle is unfavorable. ”

"Nearly two days have passed since the Japanese army launched its attack on September 1. The 14th Wing of the Japanese Army on the Western Front was still circling the line of the Haoliang River, while the main force of the 70th Wing had already reached the line of Jianshanzi. Due to the terrain, the Japanese army on the middle line has already entered the mountainous area of the first line of Shishan, the southern gate general of Heli. The distance between the three Japanese forces can be said to be getting bigger and bigger. ”

"The mountains here are majestic, the terrain is dangerous, and it is also the last line of attack we have drawn for Wang Guangyu. With the strength of the two main regiments at Wang Guangyu's hands, it will not be a problem to block it here. ”

"If we first concentrate our forces to encircle and annihilate this 70th Wing, then use the 3rd Divisional Cadre Regiment with the 2nd Brigade and 1st Brigade to clamp down on the 14th Wing, and take advantage of the favorable terrain to resist step by step. Concentrate all the main forces and go straight to the rear road of Genbo, and strive to use the deep shape of his lone army to annihilate this 24th division in one fell swoop. ”

Regarding Yang Zhen's bold plan to eat the 24th Division in one bite, Guo Bingxun shook his head and said: "Commander, it is not difficult for us to concentrate our forces to eat the 24th Division. However, the Japanese army still had the 4th Division and the 11th Division deployed on the line from Jiamusi to Tongjiang. In the western province of Heihe there was also the 1st Division. ”

"Although these divisions have suffered heavy losses from our army, the main force still exists. If we can eat the 24th Division before it reacts, that's a good idea. However, if our army and the 24th Division are locked in a stalemate, then once these Japanese divisions and regiments go straight to the back of our army, our army will face the danger of being surrounded by the Japanese army inside and outside. ”

"It is difficult to stop these regular divisions of the Japanese army with the backbone regiments of the first, second and second military divisions alone, as well as a small amount of local armed forces. Judging from the combat effectiveness of the 24th Division, it is almost impossible for our army to eliminate it in a short period of time. Wang Guangyu's blocking battle was a trick, if you wanted to eat them in one bite, it would be a hard hit. ”

"Lack of troops, no backup is our biggest weakness. Until this weakness is fundamentally resolved, it will be difficult for us to fight such a big battle. In a word, don't look at our current troops, which have grown a lot, they have reached tens of thousands, but the available troops are still too few. ”

"We now have all the strength combined, but the strength of the Japanese army in this attack. If we count the puppet Manchu army, we are slightly inferior. Combined with our own shortcomings, we can handle tactical-level battles at best. At the level of a campaign, especially on the scale of a battle of this kind, the strength of the army is still unsustainable. ”

"If we want to annihilate this 24th Division, judging by the speed of the Japanese army's usual response, we must maintain at least 10,000 troops on the Eastern Front. Even on the Western Front, where the terrain is better for us, we must at least maintain a fully equipped brigade-level force. And at least two brigades of reserves on hand. ”

"We can't reach this size now, and we don't have it. Even if we count the few independent regiments that were temporarily recruited, we can't muster up these troops. Commander, the meal still has to be eaten in one bite after all. We can't expect a fat man to come out in one go. ”

"The shape is different, and the environment is also different. We took advantage of the fierce battle between Japan and the Soviet Union in Normenhan, and we had no time to take care of him in the past few months, and what we nourished can be described as fat and strong. But now the shape of the Nomenhan area has gradually begun to ease, which also means that the Japanese army can invest heavy troops to encircle and suppress us. Commander, Wang Xiaoming's battle at Guanmenzuizi Mountain is irreproducible. ”

Guo Bingxun's words fell, and the earth-shattering sound of artillery and the swishing sound of rockets crossing the sky suddenly sounded outside the mountain col, which had been calm. Accompanied by the explosion of shells, a dense burst of gunfire rang out at the same time. This dense gunfire represented the beginning of Liu Changshun and Du Kaishan's attack on the Seventy Wing.

Yang Zhen turned a deaf ear to the earth-shattering gunfire that sounded outside the mountain pass. He stared at the map deadly, but his mind was calculating the possibility of follow-up operations against this 24th Division. What Guo Bingxun said, he didn't understand. But he thinks that there is not a trace of fighter planes at the moment.

On the eastern front, the Tongjiang and Fujin areas did have the 4th Division and the 11th Division. However, the 4th Division was reluctant to serve as a garrison, and it was feared that he would not be able to cross the river to attack. The Heiyan Detachment, composed of the 44th Wing and the 43rd Wing of the 11th Division, was completely annihilated by itself at Qunce Mountain, and has not yet been replenished.

The 22nd Wing, which had the strongest combat effectiveness, was transferred out and formed the 24th Division as the main force. Now the two brigades of its main force were introduced into the large swamps on both sides of the Wutong River by Wang Guangyu with small troops. Still struggling in the mud pit.

In the vast area of Fujin and Tongjiang, only its 12th Wing can be used as a mobile force. In addition to the 4th Division stationed in Jiamusi and the 11th Division temporarily transferred to the Xiajiang area to support the operation, the Japanese troops on the Manchurian-Soviet border, which had not yet completely thawed, still needed to stay behind with heavy troops.

At present, the 23rd Division of the Japanese Army was crippled in Nomenhan, and the 7th Division also suffered heavy losses, losing nearly half of its combat effectiveness. Except for the 12th Division stationed in Dongning, the 2nd Division that has been moved from Harbin to Mudanjiang, and the 8th Division stationed in Suifenhe, the Kwantung Army has no other troops to mobilize at present.

Unless the Japanese army dared to brave the threat of hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops in the Far Eastern Military District on the other side of the river, and did not hesitate to wipe out themselves, they would have to leave at least two divisions or more in the so-called eastern fortified area. That is to say, at least the 8th Division and the 12th Division stationed on the Manchurian-Soviet border, the Japanese army will definitely not move lightly.

In addition to the fact that the Second Division might pose a threat to himself, Yang Zhen was most worried about the Japanese First Division stationed in Sun Wu. The division is a first-class unit in the first class division of the Japanese army. Other Japanese divisions and regiments transferred the main force to form new divisions, but this first division was constantly strengthened.

It not only strengthened the armored units that were rare in other Japanese divisions, but also strengthened anti-aircraft guns, heavy artillery and other technical weapons. Although the First Division is separated from Luobei by hundreds of miles from the small Xing'an Mountains. But these distances were not a big problem for the 1st Division, which was good at roundabout attacks.

However, although the 1st Division can be said to be the part that poses the greatest threat to itself now, the Japanese army is also good at fighting in a roundabout way. But the terrain over there was extremely favorable to him, and the reckless mountains could certainly cover the movements of the Japanese army, but they were also conducive to their own resistance. As long as the 2nd Division cannot reach the battlefield in a short period of time, it is still certain that the 24th Division will be completely annihilated.

Facing Yang Zhen, who was deaf to the increasingly dense gunfire outside the mountain pass, after carefully analyzing the shape and approximate strength of the Japanese army around him, he threw the red and blue pencils in his hand on the map, raised his head and said to Guo Bingxun: "Old Guo, I still think that we have fighters to completely annihilate this 25th Division in the Heli area." ”