Chapter 571: The Siege of Shexian (1)

In the first battle of Xiangtangpu, the Japanese Second Army's Hirano Hiroshi Division, which was originally tasked with rescuing the mountain pass, suffered heavy casualties after being ambushed by the 110,000 troops of the North China Independent Division, and lost all tanks, artillery, and cavalry units.

When the news came out, the commander of the North China Dispatch Army, Xiangyue Qingji, who commanded the overall situation on the front line of Niangzi Pass, was so shocked that he almost fainted, he never thought that the Second Army, which was supposed to save people, was also surrounded and reduced to the point of being rescued, he couldn't understand, what happened to the imperial army in North China? Everywhere is passive, and nowhere is smooth.

He was helpless, there were no adjustable troops in his hands, this second army, or the east wall to make up the west wall pieced together, and the three battlefields that confronted Yan Xishan and Tang Qiuli's troops could no longer reduce the troops, once Datong was lost again, Zhangjiakou, an important town in the northwest of Hebei, was likely to be captured by the Jin army, and the Japanese army in North China lost an important strategic support point.

Niangzi Pass is even more immobile, has taken away a division, the strength is already at a disadvantage, once the independent division troops on the opposite side of Niangzi Pass, launched a fierce attack, with the existing strength, can ensure that Jingcheng Pass is not lost, he is not sure, out of Jingcheng Pass, is the southwest of Hebei Shijiazhuang, is an important strategic node, control Zhengtai Road.

Cangzhou in southern Hebei can't be freed up at all, there are more than 300,000 troops of the independent division pressed there, the pressure is extremely great, and Cangzhou is too close to Tianjin, if Cangzhou is lost, the troops of the independent division, the front can directly point to Tianjin, with the strength of the Tianjin defenders, it is impossible to defend at all, Tianjin is lost, then Beiping becomes an isolated city, the empire has spent many years of hard work, and the situation in North China has been in danger of collapse.

Kazuki Kiyoji is facing great pressure, Yamaguchi's department, can only resign himself to fate, Shixian Hirano Hiroshi can no longer make any mistakes, mobilize more than one million troops, from the beginning of the all-out attack, to the present full line retreat, but in the end it is such a situation, his heart is shrouded by a sense of defeat, since Isoya Ryosuke's first army was shattered, it became the beginning of the nightmare of the North China Dispatch Army, Kazuki Kiyoji has not had a good life.

The staff officers were shocked to find that His Excellency the Commander seemed to be much older overnight, and his dull complexion, drooping eye bags, and dark circles caused by obvious insomnia all showed that the Empire's top military commander in North China was under great psychological pressure.

Kazuki Kiyoji didn't close his eyes all night, he couldn't afford to lose it anymore, he lost the first army, lost the Yamaguchi troops, and then lost the second army, and the imperial troops in North China lost nearly one-third of his troops, and it was difficult for him to apologize to His Majesty the Emperor for committing suicide.

On January 10, 1938, which can be said to be the darkest day for Kiyoji Kazuki, the loss of the First Army of Ryosuke Isoya was to carry out the plan of capturing Xuzhou from the base camp and then going south to the Songhu battlefield.

He blamed himself very much, why didn't he let Yamaguchi retreat earlier, was Tang Qiuli too cunning, Yan Xishan's troops were very capable of fighting, or did he not have the ability to control the overall situation at all, and he didn't predict the potential crisis, it seemed to be all, and it didn't seem to be either, and the unwillingness, helplessness, disappointment, and many other complicated feelings in Xiangyue Qingji's heart were unclear in his heart.

However, there is one point, Kazuki Kiyoji knows in his heart that he is likely to follow in the footsteps of Tashiro Wanichiro, and finally end up leaving gloomily, when the war between Japan and China has been going on for a long time, the North China Dispatch Army has not only made no achievements, but has lost its troops and fallen into passivity, this responsibility must be borne by someone, and those people in the base camp will definitely not let go of themselves.

For a while, Kazuki Kiyoji was a little disheartened, but the difficulties in front of him still had to be solved, the situation of Hirano Hiroshi's Second Army, and its danger, he read Hirano Hiroshi's emergency telegram again, "Your Excellency Commander, on the morning of the 10th, in the south of Shexian County, on the south bank of the Qingzhang River, Xiangtangpu, was suddenly ambushed by the superior forces of the North China Independent Division. ”

"A number of blocking lines were arranged along the way, however, it failed to stop the attack of the Chinese army, on the evening of the 10th, the troops of the independent division had surrounded Shexian, all the artillery was pointed to the city, all the troops of the headquarters were only more than 60,000 people left, and the artillery and chariots were lost, and the shape was critical, please send reinforcements as soon as possible, otherwise, it is not impossible for all the troops to be broken."

This telegram, Kazuki Kiyoji has read it many times, Hirano Hiroshi's words, Thaksin, to analyze the fact that he has fought with Tang Qiuli many times and has never taken advantage, Tang Qiuli is very determined to annihilate the Second Army, otherwise, there will not be such a big move, until now, Kazuki Kiyoji also understands that the strategy adopted by Tang Qiuli is a typical example of "encirclement and reinforcement" mentioned in the book of soldiers.

After seeing Zairen, he sensitively found that his old friend, his attitude towards him was obviously much colder, however, Kazuki Kiyoji ignored so much, his purpose in asking to see him and mobilize the Kwantung Army troops from Manchuria to the south and enter North China to relieve the siege of Shexian.

With him Xiangyue Qingji, please don't move those arrogant soldiers and fierce generals of the Kwantung Army, this is a very faceless thing, and now, he can't take care of so much, if the second army is lost again, he can't even do a good death, Zairen listened to his request, frowned, thought for a long time, and finally agreed, Xiangyue Qingji has some support in his heart.

Looking at the departing figure of Kazuki Kiyoji, Zai Ren's face became gloomy, this old friend of the past no longer has any value, but is his own burden, the base camp will not reuse a commander who has repeatedly suffered defeats, and it will be a matter of time before he is replaced, and it is impossible for him to mediate, if he doesn't get it right, he will also be implicated, at this time, Zairen has already had the idea of giving up Kazuki Kiyoji and leaving North China as soon as possible.

It's a pity that Kazuki Kiyoji didn't see Prince Zaihito's face, otherwise, the frustration and resentment in his heart would torture him for many days, and after returning to the front line of Niangzi Pass, he sent a telegram to Hirano Hiroshi, who was besieged in Shixian, ordering him to hold on to Shixian for eight to ten days at any cost.

Hiroshi Hirano, who received the telegram, fully understood the order of His Excellency the Commander to hold on, and with the high walls and deep ditches of Shixian County, coupled with the fortifications built urgently, more than 60,000 imperial soldiers, it would not be a problem for Hirano Hiroshi to hold out for fifteen days, this was not in the wilderness, and he was confident that he would maneuver with the troops of the independent division for many days.

However, he encountered the same fatal problem as the mountain pass, that is, the extreme lack of provisions, Xiangtangpu was ambushed, and most of the supplies were destroyed in the artillery fire of the Chinese army, more than 60,000 people, crowded into the small Shexian County, and the daily ration consumption was a huge number, and there was no supplement, so he could only count the grains of rice to live, so how could he not panic.

Now, in the name of the commander, Hirano Hiroshi issued an order for rations to be rationed, and non-front-line combat units had only one meal per person per day, and two meals per combat unit, and even so, the small amount of food had been consumed at a rapid pace, and the logistics officer told him that the food was only enough to last for another five days, and Hirano Hiroshi swallowed and foamed with difficulty, and then ordered that the rations of non-combat troops should be halved again.

On 12 January, in the name of the chief of the general staff of the base camp, Zairen sent an order to the Kwantung Army to quickly form a southward corps, and the order demanded that the four elite divisions of the Kwantung Army, with a strength of no less than 140,000 troops, supplemented by chariots, artillery, and cavalry, should be transferred south to enter the pass and join the North China battlefield.

The order also particularly emphasized that the Kwantung Army went south to the corps, directly obeying the orders of Prince Miyazahito, the chief of the general staff of the base camp, and the military operations were not controlled by the North China Dispatch Army Command, and the commander of the Kwantung Army, Nanjiro, carefully scrutinized this very sudden order, and he came to at least two pieces of information, the imperial army had a hard time in North China, and this guy Kazuki Kiyoji was going to be unlucky.

Nanjiro carried out this order without discount, and within two days, quickly organized and completed the southward corps, and with Okamura Ninji, chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, as the commander, Nanjiro absolutely believed in Okamura Ninji's military ability, and was full of confidence in him, before leaving, he had a secret talk with Okamura Ninji, asking him to take advantage of this opportunity to strive for the inclusion of North China in the jurisdiction of the Kwantung Army.

At this time, in the Northeast, since Tang Qiuli's bloody hand regiment went south to enter the customs, except for the sporadic resistance of the anti-coalition forces, there is no armed force that can pose a threat to the Kwantung Army, and the entire Northeast has become a happy land for the Japanese Kwantung Army.

In the minds of the senior generals of the Kwantung Army, the army units of the Great Japanese Empire, except for the Kwantung Army, which is known as the flower of the Imperial Army, the other units were all second-rate troops, and they could not bear the heavy responsibility of His Majesty the Emperor and the grand goals of the Empire.

On 15 January, Okamura Ninji, who was full of confidence, led 150,000 troops of the Kwantung Army, which was composed of various arms of the army, to board a train from Jinzhou and head south.

After a short stay in Tianjin, he passed through Bazhou, Renqiu, and Hengshui and arrived at Handan on 17 January, where he quickly set off the momentum of the attack.

(To be continued)