binnovel Chapter 177 Counterattack (3)
Chapter 177 Counterattack (3)
Colonel Fukuei Shinpei led the remaining Japanese troops around him and ran to a field camp three kilometers away from Taierzhuang, where there was a field hospital and material transfer station set up previously. As soon as he arrived at the camp, Colonel Fukuei Shinpei gathered all the wounded soldiers who could still fight and the baggage soldiers in the camp, and quickly dug trenches and built fortifications to prevent possible attacks by the Chinese counterattack army.
From all directions of Taierzhuang, Japanese troops escaped through the previous gaps in the city wall and continued to gather in this temporary position. Colonel Fukuei Shinpei counted the combat forces at his disposal, and the result made him almost have an urge to commit suicide. There were only more than 400 Japanese officers and soldiers who successfully evacuated from the village. Together with the wounded soldiers who could fight in the hospital and the logistics soldiers, his current defensive position could barely gather about 1,100 defensive forces. However, all the field artillery and mountain artillery had been lost in the city, and he now only had a few infantry guns and two heavy howitzers farther away.
After evaluating the forces in his hands, Colonel Fukuei Shinpei had no choice but to bite the bullet and send a telegram to the brigade commander Seya Kajima requesting tactical guidance. In the telegram, Colonel Fukuei Shinpei gave a general report on the losses of the troops and analyzed the situation of the Chinese counterattack army. He believed that the Chinese army should have concentrated at least one well-equipped army-level combat unit to launch a night attack on his troops, and stated that he was leading the remaining troops to hold the position outside Taierzhuang, and as soon as reinforcements arrived, he would lead his troops to launch a counterattack first.
When Lieutenant General Liansuke Isogai, commander of the 10th Division, received this telegram, his first reaction was that the telecommunications personnel had translated the message incorrectly. Where did this well-equipped Chinese army-level combat unit come from? The intelligence department had not received any information about the Fifth War Zone receiving support from new combat units.
"Ti Bujun, what is the number of this newly emerged Chinese army? Why doesn't the intelligence department have any news about it?" Lieutenant General Rensuke Isogai asked the division chief of staff Major General Fukaki Tsutsumi with a very ugly look.
Major General Tsutsumi Fukaki also frowned and said, "Your Excellency, the division commander, the intelligence department has not received any information about the large-scale reinforcement of the Fifth Theater of Operations of China. As for this Chinese force that suddenly appeared, we currently do not know anything about this force, nor do we know the unit's number or the name of the commanding officer."
"Damn it, are the intelligence departments just for show? They didn't even notice that such a large-scale army arrived in Xuzhou? Weren't they always keeping an eye on the Xuzhou Railway Station? Did this Chinese army fall from the sky?" Lieutenant General Rensuke Isogai angrily waved the telegram in his hand and cursed.
The Chief of Staff, Major General Tsuchiya Bujiagui, was also helpless. At present, he had no information about this Chinese unit and he couldn't say anything. He could only ask the intelligence department to investigate quickly.
After being angry for a while, Lieutenant General Isogai Lianjie looked at the chief of staff, Major General Tsutsumi Fukata, who was still standing in his office. He also knew that now was not the time to lose his temper and hold people accountable. He had to quickly find a way to send troops to reinforce the remaining officers and soldiers of the 63rd Regiment. So Lieutenant General Isogai Lianjie said to his chief of staff: "Ti Bujun, tell Seya Kei to send one or two battalions from the 10th Regiment in Yi County to reinforce the 63rd Regiment in Taierzhuang. Also, send a telegram to Commander Nishio Hisazo, asking him to urge the Sakamoto Detachment of the 5th Division to arrive in Taierzhuang as soon as possible to join the 63rd Regiment. Tell the commander about the large-scale counterattack by the Chinese army, and ask him to go to the intelligence department to inquire which unit of the Chinese army it was."
Chief of Staff Tsutsumi Fukaki recorded the orders and left the office quickly. He needed to execute these orders quickly. Who knew how long Fukuei Shinpei of the 63rd Regiment could hold out? According to Fukuei Shinpei's report, his more than 1,000 troops could not withstand the attack of an elite army-level unit of China.
In the headquarters of the Fifth War Zone, Commander Li was wearing a military uniform and looking at the map on the wall. He was urgently awakened from his sleep by his Chief of Staff Xu. When he learned that the 102nd Division had launched an all-out counterattack against the Japanese army without authorization, he jumped directly from the camp bed in the office to the ground.
When he took the telegram from the 102nd Division from Chief of Staff Xu and read it, he was sure that he was not dreaming. Commander Li said angrily: "Nonsense, how can Huang Jinxian take the initiative to launch an all-out attack? His mission is to defend Taierzhuang, and his troops still have a few people. What effect can be achieved by relying on those tired officers and soldiers to fight back? This is a waste of their own combat power. It is simply a disregard for military discipline."
After Commander Li finished his rage, Chief of Staff Xu explained helplessly: "Commander Li, don't be angry. Now the 102nd Division has begun a full-scale counterattack. Huang Jinxian previously asked the theater to ask the th Army in the Linyi direction. He thinks that the Japanese Fifth Division may withdraw troops to reinforce the battle in Taierzhuang. He is worried that when the th Corps turns around, the reinforcements of the Japanese Fifth Division will appear on the side and rear of the th Corps, making it impossible for the th Corps to launch an attack on the th Division in Taierzhuang as required. In that case, he believes that with the current officers and soldiers, they will not be able to hold on until that time, so he plans to launch a full-scale counterattack in the hope of driving the Japanese out of Taierzhuang."
After hearing Chief of Staff Xu's introduction, Commander Li also put on his military uniform and walked to the map to look at it carefully. After analyzing it in combination with what Chief of Staff Xu had just said, he found that if the Fifth Division dispatched reinforcements to join the Taierzhuang battlefield, they would indeed appear on the side and rear of the 102th Corps. So he frowned and asked, "Yan Mou, has there been any news of Japanese troop movements from the th Army in Linyi? On what basis did Huang Jinxian make this judgment? In addition, where did the troops of their nd Division come from to launch the counterattack?"
"Commander Li, according to Commander Huang, this is a hypothesis proposed by an officer named Zhang Wenwu in their division. I have also read the explanatory telegram they sent, and I personally think that the possibility of such a thing happening is relatively high. In addition, the 102nd Division has been blatantly recruiting wounded officers and soldiers from various units in major hospitals in Xuzhou in recent days, and then organized them into a supplementary brigade. Zhang Wenwu is the commander of the newly formed supplementary brigade." Chief of Staff Xu said as he handed the explanatory telegram sent by Commander Huang to Commander Li.
Commander Li took the telegram and read it carefully. After reading the content of the telegram, he felt that Zhang Wenwu's analysis made sense, but this matter was just a guess. However, the 102nd Division acted on its own without the permission of the theater based on this guess. He was still very unhappy about this. This obviously showed that they did not take the theater command seriously.
"Commander Li, what do you think we should do now? Should we let the 102nd Division stop the counterattack?" Chief of Staff Xu was also having a headache now.
"Stop? How to stop? Now even if the 102nd Division pokes a hole in the sky, we will have to bear it." Commander Li replied unhappily, then stared at the map and began to think. He needed to think quickly about how he could fill this hole if the 102nd Division's counterattack failed.
Zhang Wenwu is unaware that his action has brought so much trouble to the bosses on both sides. He is now commanding his troops to clear out the remaining Japanese troops in every yard and house.
Ouyang Heng placed a regiment of troops near the city wall of Taierzhuang for defense to prevent the Japanese troops outside the city from launching an attack on Taierzhuang. The remaining troops were all deployed to encircle and suppress the Japanese troops who had been divided and surrounded in more than fifty houses and courtyards.
"Go, push the cannons up and directly bombard these Japanese. Tell everyone not to charge head-on to avoid unnecessary casualties." Zhang Wenwu, wearing his military cap askew and holding a Mauser pistol in his hand, ordered the officers behind him viciously.
He is very rich now. At that time, the Japanese army withdrew from the village in a panic, but the artillerymen of the Japanese army could not keep up with the speed of the infantry's retreat. They originally relied on manpower to push the artillery out of the city, but the Chinese army fired at them from the houses on the roadside along the way, causing great casualties to the artillerymen. Later, the remaining Japanese officers and soldiers discovered that as long as they did not get close to the artillery, they were basically safe. Therefore, the remaining Japanese artillerymen had to abandon the artillery and flee out of the city.
After rough statistics, Zhang Wenwu directly seized 35 field and mountain artillery of the Japanese army this time, and another 20 artillery pieces were destroyed by the Japanese army. But it didn't matter. These captured artillery pieces were enough for Zhang Wenwu to destroy the Japanese troops who were divided and surrounded.
Zhang Wenwu asked people to gather all the officers and soldiers in the division who could use artillery, and asked them to push the artillery to the vicinity of the houses and courtyards occupied by the Japanese army, and directly learn to shoot arrogantly like the Japanese army did before. It doesn't matter if you can't hit the target, just shoot a few more times. In addition, Zhang Wenwu stipulated that the troops must not charge before the houses or courtyards are destroyed. The brothers have suffered enough casualties, so it is better to avoid casualties if possible.
When had the Chinese officers and soldiers ever fought such a rich war? Compared with the previous one, the current battle to encircle and suppress the remaining Japanese troops was simply too easy. The artillery bombarded the houses and courtyards occupied by the Japanese troops with shells until the houses were blown down. The infantry went up to clean up the mess, mainly to replenish the guns or bayonets on the Japanese soldiers who were not dead. If the Japanese troops rushed out of the houses and courtyards they were occupying, it would be even simpler. The light and heavy firepower waiting outside would ensure that no Japanese soldier could escape.
Zhang Wenwu asked Ouyang Heng to take people to clean the battlefield carefully and collect all the Japanese army's belongings. Ouyang Heng and his people carried out this order very well. The Japanese soldiers' bodies were stripped clean by the officers and soldiers. The bodies of the Japanese soldiers wearing loincloths were piled together. The scene was very spectacular.
Commander Huang is now very excited. His previously nervous heart has now relaxed. This time, Zhang Wenwu's counterattack completely exceeded his expectations. Not only did he drive the Japanese army out of the village, but he also surrounded hundreds of Japanese troops. The most surprising thing was that Zhang Wenwu's troops actually captured more than 300 Japanese prisoners. This was simply a miracle at the time.