Chapter 73 Chapter 73 High-level wrestling 2

On May 25th, Jun Hata put his fat body into the plane and left Nanjing for Wuhan with Lieutenant General Takuma Yamashita, commander of the Japanese 5th Air Force.After the plane took off, Hata Toshiroku looked back at Nanjing city full of melancholy.But after the heavy rain, the Yangtze River is turbid and mighty, and it goes around the city; the Qinhuai River and Mochou Lake are faintly glowing, shrouded in smoke, not very clear, as if the mission of this trip is unpredictable, it is unpredictable .He was going to the newly established Chinese Expeditionary Army Advance Command Post in Wuhan to personally command the second phase of the operation to open up the mainland communication line.Blessings and misfortunes, winning or losing, is naturally in the mind. Ever since his old subordinate Hideki Tojo implemented the so-called "unified" dictatorship, Hata Shunroku felt inexplicably that the war might be over.Therefore, even though there were frequent successes in various battlefields in the first stage, he couldn't get excited anymore.I am getting old and my heart is not very good. I feel drowsy and drowsy as soon as I get on the plane.

The 11th Army Commander Yokoyama Isamu was not very happy when Hata Toshiro came to Wuhan to command operations.Because he had to give up his 11th Army Command.From the bottom of his heart, Hengshan looked down on this potbellied immediate boss, and even blamed the defeat of the battle on this old trash.Isamu Yokoyama is a shrewd general with great personality, knowing that the matter has come to this point, he can only reluctantly do it, knowing that he can't do it.However, he is also a very confident person. He believes that everything depends on human efforts. As long as he works hard, he may be able to create a brand new situation locally.If Hata Junroku is still conducting the remote control in Nanjing, maybe he can give it a go, and the chances of showing his face may be much more.Now that a boss with a fat stomach, old age, conservativeness, and even incompetence comes in, he suddenly feels in the way, how can this battle be fought happily?

Although he was very worried, he still couldn't offend his immediate boss Mingli.Isamu Yokoyama went to the airport early to welcome the arrival of the veteran Hata Jun six generals.The sun was scorching hot and the heat was overwhelming. Hengshan unconsciously opened his neckline to breathe, and paced back and forth anxiously on the side of the track. As soon as Hata Toshiro got off the plane, Isamu Yokoyama quickly saluted the military, and greeted with a smile: "The commander-in-chief has worked hard!" Hata Toshiroku squinted at Yokoyama Isamu, and said jokingly, "Yokoyama-kun, I heard that you have to polish your leather shoes ten times a day, and you are always meticulous in your military appearance. I still want to learn from you, because my collar button has never been buttoned properly. I don't want to, but after seeing him today, I realized that the rumors were false, and it turned out that Mr. Hengshan is also a man of informality!"

Hearing the words, Hengshan quickly buckled the discipline button, stood at attention again and bowed: "Hengshan is rude, please forgive me, Commander!" Hata Junliu laughed and said: "Joke, joke, why do you take it seriously!" Yokoyama knew that Hata Junroku still remembered his disobedience and disobedience, so he couldn't help frowning.Hastily guided Hata Shunroku into the car to the headquarters in the city. That night, Hata Junliu convened a meeting of the heads of the participating divisions to arrange combat tasks. "Every division commander is here, and the first thing I want to say is: for the victory of the holy war, for the sake of the emperor and the Great Japanese Empire, we must fight the largest battle in the Chinese battlefield!" Commander-in-chief Junliu Hata spoke first: "In this battle of Changheng, our army will invest a total of 150 brigades. In the Changheng area, our army will fight against 60 divisions of the Chinese Army. Judging from the strength of our troops, our army will undoubtedly win. This battle involves Several front army units, this commander will personally command this battle. Yokoyama-kun, you will be the commander in chief on the battlefield."

Yokoyama felt a little relieved, stood up and replied loudly: "Yes!" However, Hata Toshiro changed the subject, apparently out of respect, but in fact faced a problem: "The 11th Army has attacked Changsha three times, but none of them broke the city. Mr. Hengshan, what do you think the chances of winning this battle are? Do you have a good strategy in mind to defeat the enemy?" ?” Yokoyama stood up again and said: "There is an old saying in China: There are only three things. This time the attack on Changsha, our army will undoubtedly win! One is that the troops are sufficient; the other is that when the troops are assembled, they are concealed quickly and the secrecy work is done well. As far as the current situation is concerned, Jiang and Xue Yue in China still don't know the combat intention of their army; third, the enemy fought our army three times, and seeing that our army failed to capture Changsha, they were already proud and underestimated the enemy, and the arrogant soldiers were bound to lose; It is our army that has carefully studied the experience and lessons of the previous three attacks on Changsha, and formulated a two-echelon wave-like alternate combat plan based on Xue Yue's so-called Tianlu tactics in the ninth theater. Therefore, I believe that Changsha and Hengyang must be attacked. !"

Seeing Yokoyama's bravery in his heart, Hata Junliu asked again: "Okay! Yokoyama-kun, can you explain in more detail?" So, Yokoyama went to the battle map, picked up the baton and pointed, and said: "In this battle, I plan to move the powerful main force to the two wings. The topographical characteristics of Xue Yue and the consistent strategy and tactics of Xue Yue's Ninth War Zone. When the first echelon of our army attacks, the Chinese army will use its elite main force to flank from both wings. This is their usual practice. In this way, our army moves to the The main force can encircle the Chinese army, but it has no mobile corps on the periphery, and Changsha will immediately become an isolated city, so why not break it!"

Hata Junliu was very excited and had to admit that this was a wonderful and thoughtful battle plan. He further asked: "The Chinese expeditionary force to fight in Burma is all elite troops with American equipment. Suppose they return to save Changsha and Hengyang, what do you think? How to deal with it?" Yokoyama replied: "This is indeed the biggest crisis of our army's current operation. Our 15th Army is preparing to launch a large-scale offensive operation in Burma. If the situation of the battle develops in favor of the 15th Army, the Chinese Expeditionary Force will return to China." The possibility of assistance is very small. If the 15th Army’s attack is unfavorable, even if the Chinese Expeditionary Force returns to aid Changheng, from Yunnan to Hunan, thousands of kilometers, blocked by rivers, mountains and rivers are far away, it will take at least a month. It is difficult to rescue the fire near the fire. Therefore, as long as our army advances aggressively and takes Changheng within a month, this item will not be enough to worry about!"

Hata Junliu was overjoyed and praised repeatedly: "Good! This plan is very good! I think the time for the attack is set for the day after tomorrow, which is May 27 - this is one of the most glorious days of commemoration of the Imperial Army. On this day, Russia The Baltic Fleet was completely wiped out by our Japanese Imperial Army Navy!" Xue Yue is indeed responding to all changes with the same.The reason why he made such a decision was misleading by two wrong judgments: First, he believed that the Japanese army would not have an unprecedentedly large force to attack the Hunan battlefield, because the Central Plains War had not yet ended.How did he know that Japan equipped another 34 divisions, of which 15 divisions were put into the Chinese battlefield.The second is that he still stubbornly believes that the mountains in Hunan are still the same, and the water is still the same. When the Japanese army attacked Hunan, they had to capture Changsha; and to capture Changsha, there was only one way to go. I tried it twice, both with remarkable results, and this time it is still available.

In fact, it is impossible to keep a large corps like the Japanese army assembled in northern Hunan to keep it absolutely secret.Chiang Kai-shek and Bai Chongxi finally learned of the strategic intentions of the Japanese army on May 20. Lao Jiang asked: "What is the purpose of the Japanese army's large-scale assembly this time?" Bai replied: "The purpose of the Japanese pirates' gathering this time is to open up the communication line in the mainland, directly attack Hunan and Guangxi to reach Vietnam and Burma." Lao Jiang asked again: "If so, how should we deal with it?"

Bai analyzed: "The enemy's massing of such a large-scale force is not only enough to capture Changsha, but also to attack Hengyang in one breath. If Changsha is defended, it will be defeated one by one; The strategy fluctuated even more. I secretly thought that after a brief defense in Changsha, it would be appropriate to concentrate the troops of the Ninth Theater to stick to Mount Heng in central Hunan, and to fight the enemy decisively on the south bank of the Lushui River." Jiang looked at the military map at the time, noncommittal.Afterwards, he conveyed Bai's intentions to Xue Yue in the Ninth War Zone.

In terms of the situation of the Chinese and Japanese armies at that time, Bai Chongxi's battle plan was undoubtedly in line with the time.However, Xue Yue refused to accept it, thinking that Bai was commanding blindly, and another general came out, and the king's order was not accepted. He was determined to fight the Japanese army in the area north of Lushui, and he still wanted to use his Tianlu tactics to protect himself. Changsha, hope to create another great victory in Changsha.Xue Yue is a great hero and the supreme commander of the front line, with the power to make decisions on the fly.Bai Chongxi had nothing to do with him.Xue Yue's only change was that on May 24, he moved his head office 200 kilometers south from Changsha to Leiyang, not far south of Hengyang. From this point of view, the battle has not yet begun, and Xue Yue's defeat is already doomed. On May 27, Isamu Yokoyama issued an order to attack the first-line offensive divisions at the front-line command post in Puqi, Hubei.The battle curtain slowly opened.The 68th and 116th divisions on the middle road attacked the front and went south from Yueyang.Xue Yue still asked to defend against the enemy according to the old routine of Tianlu warfare.The 20th Army of the National Army did not put up a serious resistance because it wanted to lure the enemy deep, and the defense line was immediately breached by the Japanese.The 40th Division, the 5th Independent Brigade, and the 17th Brigade on the right set out from the waters of Dongting Lake, and under the cover of the naval fleet, they attacked southward.The main forces of the 3rd and 13th Divisions on the left quickly penetrated southward from Chongyang, Hubei along the dense forests along the Hunan-Jiangxi border, and the 27th Division followed up as the army reserve. On June 6, the Japanese Army Corps on the Right side occupied Yuanjiang; two divisions on the first line of the Central Road broke through the defense line of Xinqiang River.The 20th Army of the National Defense Army could not resist and retreated to Pingjiang. On June 8, the 68th and 116th Divisions of the Japanese Army arrived in the suburbs of Changsha City, leaving only 1/3 of their forces to attack the city. On June 13, the 34th and 58th divisions of the second echelon followed by the middle road advanced quickly on the road after the first echelon had been cleaned, and assaulted the city of Changsha. On June 16, it occupied Ningxiang, a strategic place west of Changsha. When Xue Yue, the commander of the Ninth Theater of the National Army at that time, commanded the four mobile troops of the theater to detour north, he encountered the most elite left-wing corps of the Japanese army.The four armies of the national army were unprepared, and they fought indiscriminately in a hurry. Unexpectedly, they were defeated at the first touch and fell to Jiangxi. On June 18, Yuelu Mountain, the last barrier in Changsha, fell.On the same day, Changsha fell. Once Changsha was lost, all Xue Yue's ministries were defeated, and it was impossible to gather at all. The Chinese army could no longer organize an overall defense in the Changheng area.Hengyang became the mainstay of the expectations of the national army camp. In fact, it has become an isolated city surrounded by the Japanese army's strategic siege, the focus of the world's attention, and the eye position of the war vortex.Life and death, in one fell swoop!