Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Defending Jehol

The Battle of Rehe was about to break out, but the Japanese General Staff Headquarters became uncharacteristically cautious.As the commander of the Kwantung Army, Muto needs to do everything possible to change the opinion of the staff headquarters.Zhang Xueliang dispatched troops and generals, and even all the Northeast Volunteers who had withdrawn from the Northeast participated in the battle. Why did they still fail? The attack on Shanhaiguan was the prelude to the attack on Jehol, but the Northeast Army's ability to command and coordinate defense is really worrying. Only He Zhuguo's subordinates can command and control 4 brigades. Why is there only one regiment responsible for guarding the pass in the end?

When the battle started, why couldn't the other reinforcements of the Northeast Army arrive quickly?If reinforcements can be made immediately, the situation will not be so bad. Shanhaiguan has always been known as the first pass in the world, and it is an important pass of the Great Wall. If the battle preparation is sufficient, how can it be impossible to withstand it in two days? The most worrying thing was the physical and mental state of the young marshal at that time. Huang Shaohong, then chief of staff of the Beiping Army Branch, once told people that before and after the Yuguan incident, the young marshal had almost become a complete patient. After a while, I couldn't hold on, and I had to go inside to get an injection every once in a while—of course, I didn't need a cold infusion, but a morphine injection.

Wouldn't it be dangerous if the war in North China was controlled by him? ! Naturally, the Northeast Army’s own people would not say anything, but all factions other than the Northeast Army, through various channels, asked Lao Jiang to go north to supervise the battle in person, and said that if he did not do so, “(North China)’s future is disastrous.” He was also emotionally moved ("When I spoke, I burst into tears, and my intention was very sincere"). However, at this time, Lao Jiang still had expectations for the young marshal. He believed that as long as the latter made up his mind, he could go to Rehe to command the battle. the point.

After these considerations, Chiang Kai-shek defied all opinions, and on January 5, 1933, he formally appointed Zhang Xueliang as a member of the Standing Committee of the Beiping Army Branch, acting as chairman of the committee, and taking overall responsibility for the North China military command. . There is Song Ziwen who is really worried about the young marshal. Most people have varying degrees of misunderstandings about Song Ziwen. One kind thinks that he got into a high position purely by kinship, Jiang Song Kongchen; In fact, it is not true.Speaking of which, Song Ziwen was a well-known politician in the Republic of China. Otherwise, based on Lao Jiang's face, he would not have been able to serve as the vice president of the Executive Yuan, and then preside over government affairs after Lao Wang left in anger.

Song Ziwen has always been a resolute fighter, and at the same time he and Zhang Xueliang are close buddies. The air in North China is so tense that he can smell it in Nanjing. It's urgent. Of course he supported Lao Jiang's opinion, and he also patted his chest in front of the latter, promising: Don't look at my brother's poor health, there is still a way if you really make up your mind. But the words were just splashed water. At the beginning of February, there was still no movement from the young marshal, and Song Ziwen couldn't sit still.No, I have to check it out.

On February 11, the acting dean of the Executive Yuan rushed to Peiping. After finding the young marshal, he wanted to take him to Jehol with him for pre-war preparations and deployment. Unexpectedly, a word from his buddy almost made him faint—war needs money, I don’t have any money now, how about this, if you give 3 million a month, the army will be guaranteed to fight ("that is, raise 5 million, Raising Rehe 3 million per month"). In fact, Xiao Zhang didn't mean to try to cheat Xiao Song. At that time, the local government had become accustomed to dealing with the central government.From Zhang Xueliang's point of view, this is not enough. In the past, no matter whether it was changing flags or entering customs, which one was not worth eight million, the market was already depressed enough.

Of course, Xiao Song is the God of Wealth, and this Xiao Zhang also knows it, so he wants to say this. Song Ziwen was a little confused for a moment: Rehe is your territory, I am here to help you, and you asked me for money, did you make a mistake? But now is not the time to argue, he gritted his teeth: I don't have 3 million, 1 million. make a deal. Some people may be very angry: the national crisis is at stake, the fire is going to burn your ass, you still ask for money, are you sick? ! If drug addiction is not a disease, then Xiao Zhang is not. To be fair, he was actually forced.After the Kwantung Army occupied the Northeast, he lost a big source of income. Not only could he not receive money, but he had to spend it. What made him even more unbearable was that the money spent was not flowing water, but tidal current.

There are too many mouths to feed. In addition to the Northeast Army, exiled college students, and subordinates, the Northeast Volunteer Army led by or secretly supported by the Peking Salvation Association also had to pay a large part of its military expenses and expenditures from his own pocket. It's not easy. I said hurry up, brothers, the Kwantung Army is about to enter the house. Five days later, Japan's land minister Sadao Araki made a speech, saying that attacking Jehol had become the government's immediate plan and goal. This sets the tone: I will eat this piece of meat in Rehe no matter what.

At this time, the League of Nations has entered the countdown stage of voting on the ruling report of the "Nineteen Nations Committee", and the situation on Matsuoka's side is very bad.It happened that the Kwantung Army had basically ended its Manchurian combat plan. Attacking Jehol at this time was the same as acknowledging "Manchukuo", and to some extent it was to demonstrate to the international community. Therefore, as soon as the League of Nations advised Japan not to cause trouble in Jehol, the latter became even more enthusiastic: I can do whatever I want, and you have no control over it!

The Saito cabinet held an emergency meeting and resolutely took the lead in the battle, taking the voice of the League of Nations as a fart.But at this time, the General Staff Headquarters became uncharacteristically cautious. Deputy Chief Masaki’s Special Staff Headquarters Umezu Yoshijiro (Chief of the 23rd Saber Group of Luda) Colonel went to the Northeast, and asked the Kwantung Army Commander Muto to carefully consider: it’s not that we don’t want to fight, but it seems a bit early to fight now, should we make preparations? ? Muto's answer was: the most important thing is to use troops to win by surprise, and now is the best time to fight, so what else do you need to prepare.

Among the Japanese, whoever has the greatest strength has the highest voice. Muto, who had just made "distinguished achievements" in "Operation Manchuria", immediately suppressed Meijin and a group of people from the General Staff Headquarters as soon as he let go. General, we all listen to you. Muto believes that winning Jehol has at least three benefits: We are reunited—according to the Japanese, the three northeastern provinces plus one Jehol are the complete Manchuria. It's safe—the traffic inside and outside the customs has been completely cut off since then, and the "security operations" in the Northeast can be guaranteed for a long time. In the future, there will be more momentum - Rehe is a strategic base, occupying it is equivalent to inserting a wedge in North China, and poking it forward is just a matter of little effort. Muto himself had considerable confidence in winning the Battle of Rehe. It can even be said that he was more confident than he was ordered to deal with Ma Zhanshan and the Volunteer Army the year before. Because he judged that the central army fighting the Red Army in Jiangxi could not be transferred to North China on a large scale. His main opponent was just the scattered local troops in North China. Why do you say this way? In addition to being unable to withdraw from combat needs, the most important thing is: local forces do not want the central government to send troops over! Muto can be said to have seen through the narrow-mindedness of the local princes in China.Their unanimous opinion was roughly like this: Lao Jiang, we welcome you to come alone, but if you bring a large army, then everyone will be disgraced (who knows if you came to this little territory of the brothers?). In addition, the commander of the Kwantung Army bet his treasure on one person - Tang Erhu. The "underground staff" of the Kwantung Army's intelligence department had already opened up the situation in the Tang Department. The middle and senior officers who had reached a private agreement with the Kwantung Army were all young and old. Once the battle broke out, Tang Erhu's place was the best breakthrough. Despite his confidence, an experienced commander never dares to be sloppy before going into battle.The same goes for Muto. In our words, this is called: despise the enemy strategically, and pay attention to the enemy tactically. Muto fully estimated how difficult the battle might be. In the past, the Kwantung Army fought in the Northeast, and the strongest opponent they encountered was Ma Zhanshan, but Ma Zhanshan didn't have many troops, and they couldn't compare with these troops in North China in terms of numbers.After his second comeback, it was even worse. He didn't even have regular troops, so he relied on some volunteers and guerrillas to go around in circles.To deal with him and those Northeast Volunteers, the Kwantung Army bullied the small with the big ones. To be honest, even if they won, it was nothing big, and the victory was not happy. But it is different in North China. For example, if a person wants to go home by car, if he has two dollars and is stolen by a thief, at most he will feel distressed. After all, he still has one dollar to take the bus. If you are timid, you can even ignore it completely. Continue on his way.But if the thief gets emboldened and goes on to steal another dollar from him, he may be going crazy. Travel expenses, you have to stay with me! From a psychological analysis, this person is very likely to fight the thief desperately in a hurry. The same is true for the Northeast Army. North China is their last dollar. If Rehe can't hold it, life will be difficult. Muto estimated that the Northeast Army would fight him desperately, and in this world, desperate Saburo is always the most troublesome. In addition, once Rehe is attacked, other heavy troops in the Chinese Pass will inevitably join the battle group, and then they will face not only the Northeast Army, but also the Jinsui Army and the 29th Army. Compared with the Volunteer Army, these are all well-equipped and trained regular troops, and their combat effectiveness must not be the same as that of the Volunteer Army.Especially the Jinsui Army and the 29th Army. The predecessors of these two troops participated in the Central Plains War. At that time, they almost tied with the Central Army, and even had a slight advantage. Although the current army is not the original version, it should not be underestimated before the official confrontation. You have to be prepared for the worst. Under the command of Muto, the Battle of Rehe became the largest battle launched by the Kwantung Army after the "September 18th" Incident. A total of 2 divisions (Hongsaki Division, Kumamoto Division) and 3 brigades were used. (Hatori Mixed Brigade, Zhongke Mixed Brigade, Motegi Cavalry Brigade). Of the 9 squadrons of the Kwantung Army Flying Corps, 7 came this time. In addition to the 30,000 puppet troops, the Kwantung Army dispatched 80,000 troops this time, more than half of the total number of Japanese puppet troops in Northeast China. The Jehol Operation Plan was reported to the Emperor by the General Staff Headquarters. At this time, Yuren was immersed in the joy of the expansion of the empire's territory and the "invincible power" of the imperial army due to the "pacification" of Manchuria. Seeing that cakes were about to be sent to him again, he was naturally happy, without saying a word, "I will play." Since the "September 18th" Incident, the first imperial decree issued by the emperor himself on the invasion of China was born in this way. In any case, the young marshal needs to take it seriously this time, and he also knows that this time is no different than before, so he dispatched troops and made some deployments near Rehe. Before the war, the Northeast Army prepared a total of 14 armies with more than 200,000 horses.What is striking is that all the Jiliao Black Volunteers who retreated from the northeast participated in the battle (Feng Zhanhai, Tang Juwu, Deng Wen, Li Haiqing, etc.), with nearly 20,000 people, and in the Jinxi Mountains, there are still 6,000 volunteers supporting the enemy's rear . In addition, the Jinsui Army and the 29th Army also took orders to cooperate. But the defense arranged by the young commander has an obvious flaw, that is, the distribution of troops is unreasonable, the number of troops is too large, but they cannot be squeezed into a fist, and they mainly stay in the Pingjin area, not in the core area of ​​the Rehe area. He also sent someone to Rehe: "Assistant Commander" Zhang Zuoxiang. This old man is not a bad person, but fighting is really not a material, he can be called nothing. One no, ignorant and incompetent. Five no ones, no coercion to control others, no wisdom to convince others, no confidence, no determination, no preparation. He himself was not very willing to take on this job, it was the young marshal who forced him to do it.How can you win such a battle? Rehe, who was supposed to be the protagonist, has now turned into a foil instead, and basically left it to Tang Erhu to take care of it alone. Everyone knows this bastard, can he hold on? Even if you don't have a stab, a veteran fighter like Muto can pick it out for you, not to mention such a big loophole. Going straight to the heart and capturing Rehe is the best plan. Of course, before that, if he didn't play some tricks, he wouldn't be called Muto. Just like when Shirakawa commanded the Shanghai-Songhu Battle, Muto also resorted to the strategy of attacking the east and attacking the north. Isn't the Northeast Army large in number, then I will disperse your troops. He first created all kinds of illusions. After the capture of Shanhaiguan, he simply made the Northeast Army mistakenly believe that he would land on the Bohai Bay on the Shanhaiguan side. In this way, the two main forces of the Northeast Army-He Zhuguo and Yu Xuezhong were restrained Luandong. Then the Manchurian puppet army was allowed to swagger in the east of Chahar and the north of Rehe, which attracted at least 5 divisions of the Northeast Army. Well, the calculations are almost done, a frontal attack. On February 23, the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933), the Hongqian Division was the main force, and the other troops made a north-south detour to outflank and cover. As soon as the battle started, China fell into a passive position. Zhang Zuoxiang, the commander of Rehe appointed by the young marshal, hadn't even pulled up half of the originally planned troops, and the so-called defense system was even more messed up. As expected, Tang Yulin's troops surrendered one after another under the instigation of the "underground workers" of the Kwantung Army.Although it was only a part of the army, their surrender to the enemy immediately caused great damage to the morale of the front line. When fighting, each army does not fight alone, it must rely on coordinated protection.There are friendly troops next to you, so you can fight with peace of mind, but if they were friendly two minutes ago and become enemies in the blink of an eye two minutes later, can you still fight with peace of mind? Uncertainty, lose cleanly.This sentence is not false at all. Once the morale of the army is disturbed, it will be difficult to lead the team, and if the team is difficult to lead, it will have to retreat.This withdrawal will be messy, everyone pushes me, I squeeze you, you don't need the Kwantung Army to shoot, you can trample your own people to death. In fact, what are you afraid of? The Kwantung Army is still far away, and they encountered a considerable difficulty, that is, the harsh natural conditions. The menacing Kumamoto division was the first to be hit.This division comes from Kyushu, the southernmost part of Japan. They are not cold-resistant, and they never thought of bringing extra thick clothes before leaving, but they were stupid when they appeared.Because their mission was to launch an attack from northern Inner Mongolia to support the Hongqian Division into the center of Jehol.But at this time, the Inner Mongolia grassland was as cold as an ice hole. We remember that the Sendai Division also encountered this kind of ghostly weather during the Battle of Jiangqiao, and was immediately frozen to the ground.However, Inner Mongolia is even more powerful than Qiqihar. Compared with the two, it is simply insignificant. At Jiangqiao, Qiqihar was minus 20 degrees. How much here? 30 ° C! There is really no coldest, only colder. Before the war, the Kumamoto division was too trembling to move, and a large area was frozen to death and frostbite. The weather is sometimes fiercer than all armies. Napoleon must have been arrogant enough back then, but he was completely devastated by a blizzard in Moscow. Let the cold be more violent. Upon hearing the news, the Kwantung Army Command quickly informed the flight team: Put the bomb aside first, and quickly install cold-proof equipment. Of course, the plane could not carry out the bombing mission, so it flew to Inner Mongolia, unloaded the anti-cold equipment, and then carried the frostbitten Japanese soldiers to the rear hospital. You said it was a lot of trouble, why did you all go so early. In fact, it was very simple. Just like when Jiang Qiao was fighting, logistics and logistics were considered lowly work in the Japanese army. Even if someone thought of it, no one would do it. The Kumamoto Division was frozen, and the Hirosaki Division advancing in the middle was also struggling. At this time, the snow in the north had not yet melted, and the Hirosaki Division, which was good at mechanized combat, was one foot deep and one foot shallow, and it was extremely difficult and slow to advance. The Hirosaki Division was originally not prominent in Japan. Although it participated in the Russo-Japanese War, it only entered in the later period of the war. It had no actual combat experience. At best, it could only be regarded as a cleaner who cleaned the battlefield. It is said to be a "northern fellow" with the Sendai Division, and its hometown is in the northeast of Japan, but the latter once became the main division of the Kwantung Army. Just look at it—even China's Northeast, isn't it too late to send it there? It's really damn good to compare people, and toss it when you compare goods. The Hongqian division couldn't swallow this breath, and vowed to strive for self-improvement. How do you keep striving for self-improvement? Practice hard. The place I was looking for was a mountainous area in northern Japan called Hakkoda Mountain.It was winter when I went there, and it was terribly cold. The colder the better, that's what I want.Everyone gritted their teeth and practiced freezing together. It would be good if this kung fu is really practiced. In that case, the Hirosaki Division may become the unique "God Turtle Division" in Japanese history.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But it was so unlucky, it was probably due to the cold training that froze the brain, and some officers and soldiers of the 5th Regiment who were training here lost their way in the snow, and a sudden avalanche happened to find them, and the result was crooked. , One guy was buried with 210 people, and when they were dug out, only one was found alive. This incident is very famous in Japan. Takakura Ken later acted in the movie "Hakkoda Mountain", which tells about this past event. The Hongqian division wanted to practice "magic skills", but they almost "passed the palace" themselves, not to mention how aggrieved they were. But the Battle of Jehol gave this unlucky division a chance to turn around. As mentioned earlier, before the Kwantung Army arrived, the Rehe northern defense area was in chaos. The surrender of surrender, the retreat of retreat, did not take the order of the young commander seriously at all. In addition, the Kwantung Army also encountered a person who took the initiative to "help". Not a puppet army, nor a traitor. Let me tell you, it is the people of Rehe. You can't blame the common people for not being patriotic. It's purely because Tang Erhu is too stupid. He didn't give the subjects under his rule a way to survive, so things turned against each other, which led to this astonishing phenomenon. When the Kwantung Army, whose face was blue and purple with cold, arrived "in the wind and snow through hardships and dangers", many defenders' positions were already empty, and they were waiting for them to "receive". Lieutenant General Nishi Yoshiichi (the 21st issue of Luda), the head of the Hongqian Division, quickly captured this change on the battlefield and readjusted the deployment. Aren't large troops moving slowly, so I'll send small troops. He drew one and a half brigades from the 16th Brigade (Kawahara Brigade), transported by more than 100 vehicles, and supported by a small number of cavalry, to form a rapid advance team.The team leader is Major General Kan Kawahara, head of the brigade. Xiyi's task for this small army is, don't worry about the main force of the division, just remember to keep running forward and drill forward. This is a truly elite army: the head of the dignified brigade has become the captain of the brigade, and the captain of the regiment has become the squadron leader.Under normal circumstances, no one would think of using troops like this.But this is just general, the current situation is very special, the opponent has fallen into chaos.At this time, a capable small army can often play a role that a large army can hardly play, and Rehe is trapped in the hands of this small army. Bing is expensive and strange, and it is not suitable to fight. How can you win without a strange move. On February 24, the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933), Japan's diplomacy in the League of Nations suffered a major defeat, and the ruling report of the "Nineteen Nations Committee" was overwhelmingly approved.But the next day, the Japanese army opened up the situation in North China. Kailu, the gate of Rehedong, fell. The Kwantung Army believed that they could vent their dissatisfaction and resentment to the international community in this way: so what if we don’t vote for us, we vote with guns ourselves. On February 26, seeing the critical situation in Rehe, Lao Jiang had to issue a warrant to the generals (including the young marshals) in command of the battle, demanding that Rehe be killed ("Today, only sacrifice everything"), and at the same time ordered to be stationed in The 25th Division of the Central Army (Guan Linzheng Division) in Xuzhou and Bengbu immediately went north that day. However, the situation at this time has become difficult to control. The failure on the front line was almost catastrophic. After the opening of Kailu, the fall of the entire Rehe continued to spread at a rate of one major town a day, and the Japanese army was getting closer and closer to Chengde, the provincial capital. Loess Liangzi, located east of Chengde, was known as dangerous, but its main positions were voluntarily abandoned and occupied by the opponent without bloodshed.As a result, there was no barrier in front of Chengde, and the city fell into a panic. Faced with the questioning from his superiors, Tang Erhu was quite calm, saying that this was not a retreat, but his strategy, the so-called "lure the enemy to go deep, and fight to the death". If you lure him again, he will be lured to Chengde by you. Tang Erhu said that everyone should not be afraid, he had a big scar on his head, and I will go to the front line to supervise the battle. This bastard's gene is mutated? no.He has other plans. Tang Erhu mobilized 200 large trucks that day, but they were not heading towards the front line, but to the Tianjin Concession.The trucks were not loaded with weapons, ammunition and reinforcements, but gold, silver, treasures and opium. He himself slipped off on a three-wheeled motorcycle the next morning. From the beginning of the war in Rehe to the present, if you ask him what the Japanese devils look like, he doesn't even know.Never seen it. Once the immediate boss leaves, the subordinates are not fools either.Let's let go and run away. On March 4, the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933), 128 cavalrymen from the Kawahara Advance Team of the Hongqian Division entered Chengde without hesitation.At this time, not to mention the large troops of the division, even the follow-up troops of the advancing team were still far away. In less than 10 days, one and a half brigades of the Kwantung Army rushed forward, and finally ended the huge Rehe Province with more than 100 cavalry. The Northeast Army also completed their another "September 18" "Classic" is no longer a "classic" case. After this battle, the status of the Kwantung Army, especially the Hirosaki Division, in Japan was rapidly improved, and Xiyi also began to rank among the "famous generals".