ushernet Chapter 406: The Sad Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke
Chapter 406: The Sad Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke
Inside the Fifth War Zone Headquarters, Commander Li was also listening to Chief of Staff Xu's report on the battle situation on all battlefields today.
"Commander Li, today the 31st Army first defeated the defense of the Japanese 9th Regiment, forcing the remnants of the Japanese 9th Regiment to retreat in a hurry. The 31st Army also sent troops to outflank the Japanese 20th Regiment, blocking its retreat route. With the cooperation of the 2nd Army and the new 22nd Army, the Japanese 20th Regiment was completely annihilated, and a seriously wounded Japanese colonel-level officer was captured. Preliminary judgment is that the officer should be the commander of the 20th Regiment, Ono Nobuaki. Now the remnants of the Japanese 16th Division have been surrounded by us and compressed into a small area." Chief of Staff Xu first reported on the battlefield situation in the direction of Zaoyang.
"In addition, in the direction of the Xiang-Zao Highway, the Japanese reinforcements are still attacking in the same way as before. The artillery fire is very fierce, but the infantry attacks are just for show. Currently, the enemy and us are still maintaining a delicate balance." Chief of Staff Xu gave a brief account of the battle situation in the direction of the Xiang-Zao Highway in a relaxed mood.
"Well, tell the new 100th Division that the Japanese army may launch a fierce attack at any time. Tell them to stay vigilant and never be ambushed by the Japanese army at the last moment, causing the battle situation to collapse, otherwise they will be subject to military law." Commander Li also first gave combat instructions on the Xiangzao battlefield.
Then Commander Li continued, "Order the 31st Army, the 2nd Army, and the New 22nd Army to organize their troops as quickly as possible and launch a full-scale attack on the remnants of the Japanese 16th Division at 12 o'clock tonight. Tell all attacking troops that they must not stop the attack for any reason until the Japanese 16th Division is completely destroyed. Without the order of the theater headquarters, any unit must attack according to the combat plan. Those who disobey the order will be subject to military law."
"Okay, I will pass your order to each unit right away." Chief of Staff Xu also knew that they were racing against time, which was why Commander Li ordered the attacking troops not to stop.
Inside the headquarters of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army, the division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, looked at the porridge in the military lunch box in front of him, but he had no appetite to taste it. All he was thinking about now was how he could hold out for two to three days under the attack of the Chinese army.
Originally according to the plan of the division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, the 9th and 20th Regiments were supposed to hold out until tomorrow morning, so that they could persist for the two or three days of the original defense plan. However, when the 9th Regiment ran away, not only did it lose its original defensive position, but the 20th Regiment was also surrounded and destroyed by the Chinese army.
This time, he lost nearly twenty hours of defense time in vain, and the Chinese army surrounded the division headquarters much earlier than he expected.
"Mr. Division Commander, you should eat something." After inspecting the troops' defensive positions, Chief of Staff Major General Mitsuo Nakazawa walked into the division headquarters. Seeing the division commander staring at the military lunch box in front of him in a daze, he walked over to the division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, and whispered to comfort him.
"Mr. Nakazawa, you're back. It's okay, I'm not hungry yet. What's the situation of the troops now? The defensive positions have been completed, right?" The division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, tried hard to force a smile that was uglier than crying, and asked the chief of staff, Major General Nakazawa Mitsuyoshi.
After hesitating for a moment, Chief of Staff Major General Mitsuo Nakazawa decided to tell the division commander, Lieutenant General Keisuke Fujie, the true situation.
"Your Excellency the division commander, the situation in the troops is very bad now. All the officers and soldiers have only had two meals of thin porridge today. The officers and soldiers are also very tired. Moreover, the morale of the officers and soldiers in the troops is very low. Many people are writing suicide notes to their families. The officers and soldiers are not confident in resisting the attack of the Chinese army." Chief of Staff Major General Nakazawa Mitsuo told the division commander Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke about the actual situation he had seen.
After listening to the report from the chief of staff, Major General Mitsuo Nakazawa, the division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, sighed deeply, stood up and paced slowly in the division headquarters. He had already anticipated that the morale of his troops was definitely not very high.
After all, most of the defensive forces now are officers and soldiers of the quartermaster corps and the engineering regiment. The original combat forces only have the 600 people of the 9th Regiment and the guard squadron of the division headquarters. These two forces together have only a little over 1,000 troops, which cannot even make up the number of a battalion before the war.
Not to mention the lack of morale among ordinary officers and soldiers, even the division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, had no illusions about the upcoming defensive operations. He knew very well how much combat effectiveness his current troops had.
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Nakazawa. We don't have any choice now. We can only ask all units to hold their positions. As for the soldiers' low morale and lack of confidence in combat, we don't have any good way to solve it. We can only try our best to comfort the soldiers. I hope we can hold on until the arrival of reinforcements." After wandering around the command center for a long time, the division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, slowly spoke to the chief of staff, Major General Nakazawa Mitsuyoshi.
"Also, let the officers and soldiers in each unit's position take turns to rest. The Chinese army has just occupied our outer defense positions today. The Chinese army should not launch a night attack on us tonight. Let the officers and soldiers have a good rest and restore their physical and mental strength." The division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, issued an order to the chief of staff, Major General Nakazawa Mitsuo.
In the view of the division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, as the commander of the 16th Division, he must come up with some way to ease the poor morale of the troops at this time.
The only thing I can do now is to allow the officers and soldiers to have some rest and buffer time, which can not only restore their physical strength, but also ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops in subsequent defensive operations. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
Chief of Staff Major General Mitsuo Nakazawa actually wanted to remind his division commander Lieutenant General Keisuke Fujie that at this moment, if the commander of the Chinese army was not stupid, he would definitely organize a night attack tonight.
The Chinese army hoped to end the battle before Lieutenant General Ogisu Rikuhei arrived with reinforcements. In this way, the Chinese army would have no reason not to launch an attack at night.
(Thanks to Li Ruofei who likes deciduous trees, Wei Guogong who loves beef jerky, 1980s and 1981s, the director of Shenlong Library, and the one who only eats dumplings without vinegar for their gift support! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)