sbdcsierra Chapter 1044 The Emerging Army
Chapter 1044 The Emerging Army
Li Shaoyi didn't intend to do anything to Commander Han, but the situation was different for the Nanjing National Government.
I've given you several orders in a row, instructing you to continue holding out in eastern Shandong. But each time I received an order, you had already traveled dozens of kilometers. Now you're on the border between Jiangsu and Shandong provinces. I must say, you're quite a talent.
Since the start of the war, some people have been unable to resist effectively in various places. However, they have either failed because their own armies are inadequate or because of insufficient supplies. In any case, they have tried their best to resist the Japanese. It is only because the disparity in strength between the two sides is too great that they have begun to retreat.
But your Third Army Group is different. It fought two battles with the Japanese in Dezhou and suffered considerable losses, but the main force did not move at all. It retreated all the way from the Yellow River to the border between Jiangsu and Shandong, a distance of several hundred miles, giving up the entire central and western Shandong to the Japanese. Only you, Commander Han, could have done that.
News has already spread from the Nationalist government in Nanjing that the old man intends to severely punish this guy.
The situation in Pujiang has finally stabilized. If the southward-bound army causes tension in Pujiang, it would be tantamount to disrupting the national war effort. You would be punished a hundred times over.
The Ministry of Military Affairs has urgently ordered the troops of the Fifth War Zone to move north and make every effort to block the Japanese army within Shandong Province.
However, most of the troops in the Fifth War Zone had not yet arrived; some had been intercepted and taken to Pujiang. This was because the fighting in Pujiang had been so fierce. Now, troops in various regions were facing shortages, so the Fifth War Zone's response to the Ministry of Military Affairs' orders wasn't a mere formality; they simply couldn't muster the manpower.
Fifth Theater Command
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, Li, the commander of the Guangxi Clique, took command and became the commander of the Fifth War Zone.
However, even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice. Although the Fifth War Zone was established, the troops came from all over the country and were not under its control, nor could they be assembled whenever it was requested.
Now that the Ministry of Military Affairs is sending telegrams one after another, are they supposed to let the Fifth War Zone stop them with their words?
“Since the establishment of the war zone, the higher-ups have never asked a single question. Now that the Japanese have crossed the Yellow River, they immediately ordered us to head north to intercept them. But the question is, how do we intercept them?”
Chief of Staff Huang of the Fifth War Zone said with a wry smile that although some troops from the Fifth War Zone had arrived, there were two menacing Japanese divisions in front of them, and the 14th Division had also set off from Tianjin. According to the North China Expeditionary Army Headquarters, since they could not break through to the west or the north, they might as well go south.
Three divisions, plus some miscellaneous troops, totaling nearly 100,000 men, came from the north.
Let alone the current Fifth War Zone, even if all the troops in the Fifth War Zone were gathered together, it would probably be difficult to stop these people.
When Commander Li heard his chief of staff complaining, he could only shake his head with a wry smile. The whole headquarters was in the same mood, and Commander Li didn't blame them.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, he knew that many thorny problems would arise, but he did not expect that the enemy in his own war zone would come so quickly. The war zone command had just been established and many troops were still on their way when 100,000 troops had already marched south.
The Third Army Group was originally the main force of the Fifth War Zone. If they could hold out in eastern Shandong for one to two months and buy time for the other armies of the Fifth War Zone, it might be acceptable.
But now this guy surnamed Han is leading his troops south without any intention of resisting. When you call him, his secretary answers. He knows he's made a mistake.
What are the latest developments of the Japanese military?
Commander Li breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that even if he became depressed, he couldn't change the current situation. He had to first see where the Japanese army was and make a long-term plan. Even if things came to that, they had to keep working.
"Reporting to the commander, ten minutes ago we received a telegram from the Military Intelligence Bureau. The Kimura Battalion of the Japanese Isogai Division was attacked southeast of the provincial capital of Shandong. The entire battalion of more than a thousand men suffered heavy casualties. They were the vanguard of the Isogai Division. We still do not know which army attacked them."
The messenger picked up the top telegram.
what?
Several people in the headquarters asked this question.
The news I've received these past few days has been nothing but good news. It's all about where the Third Army has retreated to, and where the Japanese have committed atrocities again, killing countless civilians and prisoners of war.
Everyone's been hearing similar news so much they're practically driven to despair, but today someone actually attacked the Japanese vanguard.
A standard Japanese infantry battalion has over a thousand combat personnel. Especially in a standing division like the Isogai Division, a single infantry battalion could sometimes take on an entire ragtag infantry division of ours.
Where in eastern Shandong could you find an army capable of attacking them and inflicting heavy casualties?
After the Third Army retreated, only some local police remained.
"Immediately inquire with them, help them overcome their difficulties, make sure to find out which army it is, and try to establish contact with them."
Commander Li immediately perked up. There was no army left for him to command in the entire eastern Shandong region. If the Japanese army were to advance unimpeded, they could reach southern Shandong in an instant, putting the entire heartland of the Fifth War Zone under their guns. Therefore, if this army could hold out for a while, it would be tantamount to saving the entire Fifth War Zone.
"Could it be the 4th Infantry Division of the 72nd Army?"
Chief of Staff Huang studied the map for a long time. Apart from them, there were probably no other troops in the entire eastern Shandong region. Even if there were, they couldn't possibly inflict heavy damage on a Japanese battalion right away.
Although these men did not directly engage the Japanese, they knew the situation on the battlefield very well. A full-strength Japanese infantry battalion was extremely difficult to deal with. Even if a German-equipped division of the Central Army came, it would take at least two regiments to defeat it.
"It shouldn't be them. They used to be a strong and well-equipped army, but after the Battle of Pujiang started, they had to transport soldiers and various supplies to Pujiang almost every day. I've heard from some people that they've all become thin from hunger."
A young staff officer shook his head, and the others agreed with him. Everything was stable at the Qingdao base, but after the outbreak of the war in Pujiang, dozens of transport planes were flying between Qingdao, Pujiang, and Nanjing every day.
It's been going on for a month now, who has the energy to pay attention to the war in the provincial capital...