Chapter 25 The twenty-fifth chapter of the flag in the flames (1)

China's transnational expedition seems to be a huge adventure. During the first expedition, a total of 60,000 elite troops were lost, and all the supplies and equipment of the first mechanized army in the country were lost. The old fifth army, which was the trump card army, disappeared. In the second expedition, hundreds of thousands of the main force entered Yunnan and India. After the war, the well-trained and combat-effective troops of the Chinese General Reserve Army were almost completely consumed in the two battlefields in northern Myanmar and western Yunnan. When the heavy troops went on an expedition and the main force was transferred elsewhere, a storm far beyond people's imagination finally blew up on the domestic battlefield.

mountains and rivers meet At the beginning of 1944, Neiji Okamura, who was the commander of the "North China Front Army" at the time, gave himself a divination. The "Master Fortune Teller" who gave him fortune-telling is very famous in Japan. It is said that every year he predicts good and bad luck for the famous Japanese businessmen for a year. However, for people who rely on fortune-telling for a living, this result is not bad. Just like fighting a war, a person can have a 50% winning rate in his life, which is enough to be a "famous general". The "Master Fortune Teller" made a big show and left two divination words, one of which is: Although the battle situation has not changed much so far, there will be signs of a big battle from mid-year to autumn, and the battle location seems to be in the southwest.

After the divination, Okamura did not take it seriously, because this commander of the Japanese army in North China, who was called "the most powerful in history" by Peng Dehuai, made the Eighth Route Army into an extremely passive state since he launched the "May 1st Sweep".In his opinion, the Hundred Regiments War was a long time ago, and there is no "sign of a war" in front of him. In February 1944, Okamura was taken aback when he received a new order from the Japanese High Command. The divination came true. According to the order, Japan is about to launch a super-scale war in the pass, and the northern commander is himself.

The code-named "Operation No. 1" for this war was to take advantage of the opportunity of China's transnational expedition to open up lines of communication on the mainland so that strategic resources from the south could be transported to Japan to maintain the operation of its war machine. For the "Operation No. 1", the Japanese High Command spent a lot of money. It mobilized a total of 19 divisions successively, and its strength exceeded any time since the "July 7th Incident". Since there is going to be a war, recruits must be recruited and the defense handed over. For this reason, a large-scale mobilization was carried out in Japan, with a total of 510,000 people mobilized, more than twice the Russo-Japanese War. expedition".

Okamura had been looking forward to such an order for a long time. He is a theory of strength, and he has always been opposed to inducing surrender. He even found it boring to lure Wang Jingwei. What kind of temptation, you have wiped out the "Chongqing Army", what strength does Chiang Kai-shek have to fight against us? It's too late to make such a decision now. But it's better to be late than never, and if there is no Chinese expedition, Okamura may not even be able to get such an opportunity. Okamura's task is to cross the Yellow River and take Henan. After the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain that year, the Chinese High Command reorganized the first theater in Yu Province, with Jiang Dingwen and Tang Enbo as the chief and deputy commanders.Jiang Dingwen was a member of the "Old Five Tigers" of the Central Army in the early days, but Okamura didn't care. He still paid attention to Tang Enbo.

During Okamura's tenure as the commander of Wuhan's 11th Army, Tang Enbo was always one of his biggest rivals. From the Battle of Wuhan to the Battle of Suizao, the two super-class generals from China and Japan confronted each other twice, and Okamura failed to lead by a single move. It became a heartache and regret when he left Wuhan. Mountains and rivers meet again, and we meet again. Among the Japanese generals, Okamura is known for trusting his staff and letting go of his hands and feet. He usually only focuses on major issues and decisions. The staff are responsible for drafting the battle plan and rarely intervene. An explanation.

What Okamura said was his understanding of Tang Enbo. Do you know what kind of person Tang Enbo is?Let me tell you, this is a very brave Chinese general with deep tactical qualities. He likes to fight mobile warfare. During the battle with Zao, I stormed a corner of his front and surrounded a part of his army. Guess what, he dared to lead the main force to rescue himself, and took the opportunity to send the 11th Army We fell into a heavy siege, and for this reason, our army suffered a lot of losses. No one naturally likes to lose a battle. When Okamura "recovered", he was obviously very uncomfortable.

The staff looked at me and I looked at you, and couldn't help but feel hairy. Tang Enbo is so elusive, you can't catch him, and you can't catch him. Once he appears, he can still make you float. Don't make the same mistakes this time! Okamura seems to have a plan in mind, "I have my own calculations." After taking the draft battle plan, Okamura pointed to the establishment of one of the special forces: temporarily hide it and do not use it. Because it will be the unique secret skill to defeat Tang Enbo! "Tiger Division" On April 18, 1944, the Twelfth Army of the "North China Front Army" suddenly forcibly crossed the New Yellow River from the Yellow River Iron Bridge.

This iron bridge over the Yellow River was originally an important hub of the Ping-Han Railway, and it was blown up long before the Huayuankou burst its embankment.Before the war, Japan transferred special equipment from the Kwantung Army and completed the repair in three months. At the same time, it also built a small bridgehead on the bank of the Yellow River. Since the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, there have been no major battles along the banks of the Yellow River, and even the repair of the iron bridge and the appearance of the bridgehead have not attracted enough attention from the First Theater, which has planted a huge hidden danger.

When the Japanese army launched a forced crossing, it was this small bridgehead that was used as a stronghold to ensure that the troops and luggage could pass through quickly. On April 29, the Twelfth Army had arrived at the city of Xuchang. The Japanese are most familiar with China's "Four Great Masterpieces".Lieutenant General Uchiyama Eitaro, the commander of the Twelfth Army, was the one who was beaten by Chen Cheng and almost committed suicide by caesarean section during the counterattack in Yichang. At first, he thought that Xuchang was the famous "army capital" since the Three Kingdoms, and the place where Cao Cao made his fortune. It is here, so he did not hesitate to use the third division and the second brigade to besiege Xuchang.

Tang Enbo, whose whereabouts have always been uncertain, was not in Xuchang. After learning that Xuchang was besieged, he sent three armies to rescue, but none of them could enter the interior. Xuchang has become an isolated city, but even so, the city is not so easy to attack. Guard General Lu Gongliang, graduated from the sixth batch of Whampoa, he is a warrior who is very particular about military appearance. It is said that his jacket is always buttoned neatly in hot weather, and he never puts his hands in his trouser pockets to keep warm in the cold winter months. Lu Gongliang was also very strict in governing the army. His staff often said that he had the demeanor of Cao Cao cutting his hair and acting as the leader in Xuchang. In the war against foreign aggression, I will do my duty as a soldier." As long as there are generals, there must be soldiers. Lu Gongliang's New 29th Division is only a newly organized division, and its strength is not strong, but they still showed extraordinary courage and will to fight in the face of the heavy siege of the Japanese army. When the battle was in full swing, the officers took the lead and refused to retreat even a little, the battalion commander cut down the Japanese soldiers rushing into the city with a big knife. A day later, Commander Uchiyama found that the casualties of his troops were increasing, but the defenders were extremely tenacious, showing no sign of retreating. Uchiyama served as the artillery commander of the Kwantung Army, and tried many times to move the artillery forward to directly support the infantry.After the attack was frustrated, he pushed the mountain cannon forward and fired directly at it, so that Xuchang City was finally opened up. The city could no longer be guarded. On May 1, Tang Enbo agreed with Lu Gongliang to break out of the siege. Before breaking out of the siege, Lu Gongliang had tears in his eyes and ordered the flag of his division to be burned to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Japanese army and humiliating the troops. Most of the senior officers, including Lu Gongliang, were later killed in the breakout. The Japanese army built a tomb for Lu Gongliang. When the captured soldiers of the New 29th Division passed by the tomb, they all fell to the ground and cried bitterly. The Japanese guards who guarded them could not stop them. . Okamura said that the only way to know where Tang Enbo is is to surround his subordinate troops, and it is impossible for him not to rescue him at that time. If Tang Enbo wanted to save Xuchang, he had to communicate with Lu Gongliang by telegram, all of which were intercepted and deciphered by Okamura, and it was these telegrams that revealed Tang Enbo's battle plan and location. Tang Enbo's real intention was to split the Tang Group into two. The South Group, including Lu Gongliang's New 29th Division, was responsible for holding back the main force of the Japanese army from Xuchang, while the North Group, as the main force, attacked Zhengzhou from the Dengfeng Mountains. There is the back of the Uchiyama Twelfth Army. The troops are weak and can be hit with one blow. It turns out that the main force of the Tang Group is in Dengfeng, and it already has the chance to win. There is no doubt that this strategy can make Okamura feel cold when he sees it.If it can be implemented smoothly, even if Tang Enbo can't save Xu Chang, he can hit him from behind until he vomits blood. Okamura immediately changed his strategy and ordered Uchiyama to send some troops south along the railway to paralyze Tang Enbo after Xuchang was captured. At first, the Japanese army's combat process in the Dengfeng Mountains was not smooth, and they were hit repeatedly. Among them, the combat effectiveness of Tang Enbo's Thirteenth Army once again left a deep impression on Okamura. The Thirteenth Army is well equipped, with four to five Czech light machine guns in each company and twelve heavy machine guns in each regiment. Therefore, when they fight, they like to attract the Japanese army to the front of the position first, and then use frontal and crossed machine guns. The dense firepower kills, and once the inferior small troops are caught by it, it is almost a dead end. In addition, this army has the kind of arrogance usually possessed by elite main forces.During the retreat, officers and soldiers who were wounded and unable to walk would rather commit suicide collectively with hand grenades in order not to be captured by the enemy, which is usually difficult for ordinary Chinese troops. If you can't stand it, you have to use a trick. Okamura had prepared this trick long ago, and that was the special forces he had hidden when revising the draft battle plan: the third chariot division. This heavy armored corps had actually crossed the Yellow River a long time ago, but Okamura has always hidden it in the north of Zhengzhou, in order to wait for the main force of the Tang Group to show up. For a long time, Japanese tanks were used by divisions. Even when Okamura formed a tank group for the first time during the Battle of Nanchang, it was only an occasional flash of inspiration. Later, Germany launched a blitzkrieg in Europe, and Japan sent an army inspection team to take a look, and all their tongues stuck out. It's so exciting. Compared with others, we are nothing short of insignificant. Hurry up and merge, the tanks are no longer used one by one, a bunch of envoys have to be gathered, this is the "Chariot Division". The 3rd Chariot Division was called the "Tiger Division". It had been stationed in Baotou before, and it was prepared to fight against the Soviet Union.The chariot group formed during the Nanchang battle had 135 tanks, which is already staggering. The number of tanks owned by the third chariot division reached 225, and the tanks were thick, fast, The firepower is unprecedented. A tank can carry 70 rounds of shells, and there are almost no opponents on the plain. After the "Tiger Division" and another hidden cavalry brigade joined the attack, they suddenly cut off the Tang Group's retreat, and the battlefield situation immediately changed drastically. The emergence of the "Tiger Division" changed the battle situation in Henan On May 8, when the main force was surrounded by four sides, Tang Enbo had to order to break out of the encirclement in order to prevent the entire army from being annihilated. At this time, the breakout turned into a tragedy and farce that no one expected. From 1942 to 1943, catastrophes broke out in Henan for two consecutive years. At this time, it happened that the rear of the Anti-Japanese War was also struggling economically. The supplies of 100,000 troops have caused thousands of miles of devastated land, devastated people everywhere, and the relationship between the army and the people has also deteriorated extremely. The Henan provincial government accused Tang Enbo of being the chief culprit, and even listed him as the fourth disaster after "floods, droughts, and locust plagues", calling it: soup disaster. In fact, Tang Enbo is not the top leader in the military and government, and the Tang Group is only a part of so many troops, and it is somewhat exaggerated to say that the "Tang Disaster" is in it. It can only be said that Tang Enbo himself has ruined his own image. As the saying goes, the people do not suffer from scarcity but from inequality. Both famous generals, Xue Yue and Zhang Zizhong have always been hard and simple in their personal lives. No matter how hard or poor the common people are, they will not say anything when they look at their luck. However, Zhuang Tang still can't forget to put on a show in this difficult situation. He always tolerates himself with the standards of American generals. When the Tang Group broke through, almost every village was shooting at them. The mules and horses were frightened and ran around, and the captured men also took the opportunity to escape. The most fortunate thing is that there is a problem with the Japanese blockade. Eitaro Uchiyama is good at infantry and artillery coordination, but he didn't know anything about tanks before, let alone infantry and vehicle coordination and how to concentrate on using tank troops. He asked the chariot division to patrol back and forth on the road for a long time, thinking that this would block the Tang Group's retreat, but he didn't know that there are only so many tanks and chariots, and there is no way to take care of the road, so he had to line up one by one On the road, without turning on the lights or firing cannons, I watched the Tang Group pass through the gap. Uchiyama was anxious, saying why didn't you attack when you saw it? The "Tiger Division" was so angry that its mouth was twisted, "There is no time to concentrate, and besides, you let us keep walking back and forth, and the gasoline is almost consumed, so we can't run fast if we want to." Thanks to Neishan's mistakes, the Tang Group was able to break out of the encirclement and retreat into the Funiu Mountains in western Henan, but its vitality was severely injured. Tang Enbo and Ning Okamura fought three times, and finally lost to his old opponent for the third time. Of course, it can also be said that he lost to himself. During the breakout, there was only one spy company left beside Tang Enbo, and the radio station he was carrying was also lost. The situation was extremely embarrassing.The more he thought about it, the more sad he became, and the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. Every time he waded across the river, he couldn't help crying. In retrospect, Tang Enbo took the initiative to take all the responsibility for the failure, and even often "face shame".