Chapter 18 1. The high-level Japanese army germinates the feeling of failure

From the very beginning, there were different voices for the Japanese Empire's foreign invasion and expansion, but the main combat faction overwhelmed the main peace faction. The defeat in the Pacific battlefield in 1944 and the impeded communication lines in the mainland of the Chinese theater caused high-level conflicts in Japan, leading to the resignation of the war madman Hideki Tojo.The Xiaoji cabinet, which had just come to power, collapsed in early April this year.Japan's domestic political situation is turbulent, making senior Japanese military personnel worried. Now Admiral Suzuki Kantaro forms the cabinet.Suzuki has always been regarded as a leader of the peace faction in the Japanese military.Before Suzuki formed a cabinet, the Japanese emperor had disputes among various factions at the meeting in order to select a prime minister.Hideki Tojo proposed Army Hata Shunroku as Prime Minister, but was opposed by the Navy and a large number of political figures.Hata Toshiroku is a hardliner in the military country. He advocates carrying the war to the end, while Suzuki has an ambiguous attitude and plays tricks in the political circle. He wants to find another way out, but he has to pretend to support the war.

The Suzuki cabinet knows that once the war machine is launched, no one can stop it, and it must be stubbornly resisted.Suzuki advocated contraction and a decisive battle with the Americans at home. He decided to organize the National Volunteer Team. Men aged 15 to 55 and women aged 17 to 45 must participate. Neiji Okamura, the commander of the China Dispatch Army, knew in his heart that once Okinawa fell, the National Volunteer Team must go to the battlefield.The 32nd Army of General Ushido, who guarded Okinawa, has suffered heavy losses, and the northern and eastern parts of the island have fallen into the hands of the US military.What's more serious is that the situation in the European battlefield is grim. The armies of the United States and the Soviet Union meet at the Elbe River in the west of Berlin, and the demise of Germany is imminent.

The entire war situation in the world will undoubtedly affect the determination of the Japanese army to fight in China. Even the most stubborn Commander-in-Chief Okamura Neiji expressed deep concern about the future of the war.What is even more frightening is that this sentiment has already been expressed on the front line in western Hunan.Judging from the battle reports from the front, Japanese soldiers committed suicide, were captured, and escaped many times. There were even anti-war slogans "Put down your guns and go back to Japan!" Japanese soldiers and officers surrendered, which was never heard of before. thing!

Ningji Okamura was dissatisfied with the front line in Western Hunan, mainly because of Naozaburo Okabe's dissatisfaction, which was caused by Okabe's ineffective guidance to the front line.Commander-in-Chief Okamura of course knew Okabe's attitude towards this battle. He also heard that since the start of the Zhijiang operation, this Okabe has been admiring Chinese antiques at home all day long, and he has leisurely recited poems and paintings instead of focusing on the battlefield. superior. On the front line of the Zhijiang battle, Ichiro Sakanishi is in charge of the situation alone. What does this mean?Okabe, do you want to see my Okamura jokes?That's not okay.Neiji Okamura asked Lieutenant General Kobayashi, chief of staff of the China Dispatch Army, to go to Wuhan and western Hunan.

Lieutenant General Kobayashi, Chief of Staff, supported Commander Neiji Okamura in this battle. If Zhijiang Airport is not knocked down, there will be no peace in Japan.So Kobayashi is willing to take a trip on behalf of Okamura to find out Okabe's attitude, and to inspect the front-line headquarters to encourage the 20th Army. Chief of Staff Kobayashi and Okabe did not talk speculatively. Okabe believed that Suzuki’s original intention was to end the war as soon as possible, but some people in the country still supported Tojo’s view. Even Commander Okamura still held Tojo’s opinion. From my point of view, this is probably not in line with the will of the Suzuki cabinet government.

Yes, Chief of Staff Kobayashi knows the details of Naozaburo Okabe, he is a veteran soldier.Originally, he had a higher position than Okamura Neiji, but he was unlucky and always missed the position of commander-in-chief of the dispatched army, which may be related to his attitude towards this war.Kobayashi thought about it and said: "For the Chinese army, Commander Okamura has confidence in victory." Okabe sighed, with an unhappy expression on his face, he felt his blood pressure rise, and rubbed his temples with his hands.Chief of Staff Kobayashi took advantage of this to leave, he was afraid that something unpleasant would happen if the conversation continued.Okabe knew that Kobayashi was going to Hengyang, and wanted to instill Okamura Ningji's strategic intentions in Sakanishi Ichiro.

Therefore, Okabe sent Nakamura, the combat staff officer of the Sixth Front Army, to the front line in advance. Staff Nakamura explained Okabe's opinion to Ichiro Sakanishi. If the 20th Army advances to the Yuanjiang area, it can stop at this line. If it is difficult to reach Yuanjiang, it must not go further.There is a great contradiction between Okabe's instructions and Okamura's instructions, or even the opposite.Sakanishi realized Okabe's good intentions, which was to preserve the vitality of the 20th Army.But it's hard to explain to Commander Okamura.Sakanishi Ichiro is thinking about countermeasures.

Ichiro Sakanishi is smart. He purges the main lineup of the entire army with excuses and slows down the pace of attack. At the same time, he telegraphs Commander Neiji Okamura: Nanjing, His Excellency Commander Neiji Okamura: The enemy concentrated its main force to fight against Zhijiang, which was far beyond expectations. At present, it is best to increase the strength of two or three divisions to deal a thorough blow to the enemy. Sakanishi knew that Neiji Okamura did not have mobile forces, and this was intentionally trying to create problems for him. At the same time, he could also shirk responsibility for the defeat. With insufficient troops, 80,000 troops could not resist the resistance of China's 200,000-odd army.Although the high-level Japanese have contradictory views on the war, the Japanese army that is attacking in western Hunan is still desperate, because the division commanders commanding the front are all militants, especially a group of young commanders and majors. It's even more arrogant.

Sakanishi Ichiro is actually a militant, but the situation is complicated now.He is in the middle of the conflict between Okamura and Okabe, and it is difficult to deal with both ends, so he wants to make his own way, hoping to win a few battles on the front line and consolidate the occupied positions as the forward positions of the follow-up army.But the attacking front-line army couldn't even do this. Not only was the terrain of Xuefeng Mountain complicated, but the regiments could not communicate with each other in the valley, as if they were fighting alone.Besides, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army has been greatly improved. Not only are the weapons excellent, but the fortification positions are also very cleverly constructed according to the terrain, so that the attacking troops have no advantage to take advantage of.

Due to the tenacious resistance of the Chinese army in the Zhijiang operation, from the initial smooth attack to the current difficulties, from the mutual coordination during the initial battle to the current fighting alone, one level complains one level.Sakanishi Ichiro believed that Takiji Yasuzaburo was greedy for meritorious deeds and disrupted the coordination of Zhijiang's operations.On the other hand, Long Temple believed that it was caused by the embarrassment of the troops on the right. They lacked the fighting spirit of the Great Japanese Empire in the battle against Zhijiang, and could not break through the enemy's defense line in one go.

When the offense is not smooth, all problems are exposed.The Takiji Wing was besieged in the valley by the Chinese army, including the brigades of the 133rd Wing and the 120th Wing.They don't know who to listen to well, and they often have conflicts about the direction of attack. In the chaos, Yan Yongwang, the head of the 116th Division, was almost buried in the sea of ​​flames, but was attacked by a Chinese Special Forces. The Chinese Special Forces attacked the division headquarters at night, fired countless rockets, and burned a small village called Guanzhuxi to the ground. into scorched earth. This ranger was organized by Zhong Xiongfei, head of the 57th Regiment of the 19th Division. He could speak Japanese and had listened to Ye Jianying's guerrilla tactics in the Nanyue guerrilla training class.He very much agreed with Ye Jianying's "grab and go" tactic, so he formed a special task force with a company of troops to attack the Japanese command post, which dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army. The Chinese Rangers made the Japanese army's joint command post, brigade command post, and squadron first-level officers feel uneasy, and they had to change places to sleep at night.Yan Yongwang once suffered from the night raid team of the Eighth Route Army. He never expected to fight against the Chongqing Army.Yan Yongwang cursed the Chongqing Army viciously.Soldiers don't engage in such tricks, they fight with real swords and guns on the battlefield. Sakanishi Ichiro has already expressed dissatisfaction with Iwa Yongwang's command, and Okabe also wants Iwa Yongwang to rest and replace him with Hishida Hara Shiro.Yan Yongwang felt that he had changed his generals before the battle, that his breath was exhausted, and the general situation was over.Before Hishida Hara Shiro was in place, Iwanaga had to be responsible for commanding the 116th Division to continue fighting. In the telegram sent by Ichiro Sakanishi to Ningji Okamura, Ningji Okamura agreed. He instructed Okabe to withdraw two or three divisions, but he was dissuaded by Miyazaki, the director of the war room of the dispatched army.Recently, Miyazaki has specifically studied the forces of the Chinese army in the Zhijiang operation, all of which are under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Army General Command, which means that these troops are direct descendants of Chiang Kai-shek.What is direct lineage?Lifeblood.Afraid that the explanation would not be clear, Miyazaki added, like a son or grandson.Neiji Okamura let out a "squeak".Miyazaki also said that the troops of the direct line are fully equipped with American equipment. The planes, cannons, and guns are better than those of the Imperial Japanese Army, and the logistics supply is also unimpeded. According to intelligence reports, there are no less than 100,000 migrant workers. The troops of 7 divisions have to be mobilized, and less than 7 divisions will not win. Neiji Okamura hesitated. The Chinese Expeditionary Force currently has 1.5 million troops, but the nearly 1 million Kwantung Army cannot be deployed. They must contain the Soviet army in Manchuria, otherwise the Northeast will not be able to protect itself, and Japan will not be able to protect itself.In such a huge China, 500,000 troops are scattered like a handful of sesame seeds in the same hectare of land. Okabe is now bluntly calling for the end of the Zhijiang operation. He has good reasons and has a relatively correct judgment on the world situation. On April 24, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed that an early attack on Japan's mainland was the best strategy to induce Japan's unconditional surrender.The Americans believed that the resistance of the Japanese army at home would not cause difficulties for the US military to attack, because they were getting deeper and deeper in the Chinese battlefield, and they were unable to extricate themselves. The judgment of the United States on the situation of the decline of the Japanese military and the defeat of Xishan really made Neji Okamura feel chilled.As the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, he knew the current situation of the Japanese army. It was impossible to deploy seven divisions to strengthen the Zhijiang operation. Okamura recalled what a staff officer around him told him. talk: The important thing now is to consider the needs of the country, not the moment when things can be considered. It is necessary to take into account the methods and conditions. It will not become possible. How does Okamura want to make the impossible possible?Perhaps the addition of two divisions will turn things around, the chariot can't stop, you must grit your teeth and get through, everything will be fine.Neji Okamura cheered up, feeling lucky, hoping that a magical fairy tale would appear in front of him in reality. Naozaburo Okabe took the dispatch telegram sent by Neiji Okamura and said only two words: Crazy!