"But once the Eighth Route Army occupies these fortresses, it will be difficult for the Imperial Army to reoccupy these fortresses," Yoshimoto said with a frown.As the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, he understood better than anyone how strong these fortresses were.Yamada Otozo shook his head and said, "Yoshimoto-kun is too worried, those dirt eight roads may not know the existence of these fortress groups at all, even if they do.They did not have engineering drawings and could not fully utilize these forts.And the Imperial Army did not retreat completely, reducing the defenders to a minimum, and then abandoning some less important fortifications and holding only some important fortifications.These abandoned fortifications were partially destroyed and hidden, so that the Chinese could not find and enter them, so that they could not use them to resist the imperial army. ”Yoshimoto Sadachi frowned and thought about it, then sighed helplessly and said: "In this way, it will take a lot of preparation time, but at present, the main force of the Eighth Route Army is launching a large-scale offensive in the Heilongjiang region, and I am afraid that the time is not enough." ”Yamada Otozo frowned and thought for a while, and then said with a serious face: "First transfer the main forces of the 123rd Division and the 124th Division to the east as soon as possible to stop the attack of the Eighth Route Army, and as for the defenders in the border area, they can gradually retreat."
Judging from the current situation, the purpose of the Eighth Route Army's offensive in Heilongjiang was to contain the strength of the imperial army and to counter the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Liaoning battlefield.Now that the Seventh Column has captured Harbin, the focus of their offensive will definitely be to the south.In this way, the border defenders will have enough time to shrink their forces to defend the area east of Yichun. ”"Your Excellency Commander Hai is wise.But now that the Eighth Route Army has defeated the 12th Division and the Changtian Brigade, and successfully occupied Harbin, in case the main force of the Seventh Column moves south, the troops near Changchun are relatively empty, and it may be difficult to resist the offensive of the Eighth Route Army. ”Yoshimoto said with a frown."
Baga" Yamada Otozo couldn't help but scold angrily, and said angrily: "The lack of troops is the biggest problem of the imperial army now, if we can have another 100,000 troops, only need another 100,000 people, the situation in Manchuria will not develop to the current situation." ”After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the strategic center of gravity of the Japanese army began to shift southward, and in order to capture the Nanyang region, the Japanese army also invested a large number of troops.Although Japan itself can still recruit a large number of troops and expand more troops.However, it always takes time to expand the troops, train new recruits, etc.However, the front-line battle is urgent, and the Eighth Route Army will never give the little devil enough time to prepare.Yamada Otozo stood up angrily, walked to the front of the sand table, stared at the sand table in front of him for a moment, frowned deeply, thought for a while, and then said with a serious face: "Now that the situation is urgent, in order to ensure the safety of Changchun, I can only give up Baicheng."
The 1st and 8th Divisions were immediately ordered to retreat overnight from Baicheng.The 1st Division set up positions from Songyuan to Changling to block the enemy attack in the direction of Changchun from Baicheng.The 8th Division moved east from Songbara and built a defensive line along the Songhua River to block the Tuba Road heading south.In addition, the 12th Division and the Changtian Brigade can abandon Buyeo and retreat to the south bank of the Songhua River if necessary, and use the Songhua River as a support to assist the 8th Division in blocking the 8th Road from Harbin to the south.In addition, all the troops that can be mobilized in Changchun and Jilin should be mobilized to assemble near Changchun to ensure the safety of Changchun. ”"Hai," Sadachi Yoshimoto immediately responded respectfully.Yoshimoto Sadachi was about to turn around to convey the order, when a devil staff officer hurriedly ran over and said with a respectful face: "Report to Your Excellency Commander, I just received an urgent telegram from the Matsubara defenders, the main force of the Eighth Route Army has arrived at Matsubara City, and the Matsubara garrison is empty, requesting urgent tactical guidance." ”"How is this possible, how can the people of Yagaya arrive in Matsubara so quickly," Yamada Otozo couldn't help but widen his eyes and shouted in disbelief on his face."
Report to Your Excellency Commander, according to the report of the Songyuan defenders, this Chinese army should be the armored division of the Eighth Route Army."
The devil staff officer replied cautiously."
Yagaya Road" Yamada Otozo gritted his teeth and scolded loudly: "These dirt eight roads are really hateful.In any case, Matsubara must not afford to lose, and immediately ordered the defenders of Matsubara to stand by for reinforcements, even if all the jade was broken, it was necessary to ensure the safety of Matsubara Castle.In addition, the 1st Division and the 8th Division were ordered to withdraw from Baicheng overnight and rush to the aid of Matsubara Castle. ”"Hai" Yoshimoto Sadachi responded respectfully, not daring to slack off, and hurriedly turned around and hurriedly ran to convey the order.According to Li Guotao's order, after the Eighth Route Army defeated the Japanese 12th Division and the Changtian Brigade on the banks of the Lalin River, the Panzer Division immediately advanced westward and rushed to the city of Songyuan that night.The special operations team captured a bridge east of Matsubara in advance, and the armored division crossed the Songhua River in one fell swoop and directly surrounded Matsubara Castle.After resting for the night outside Matsubara Castle, the Panzer Division launched a full-scale assault on Matsubara Castle the next morning.At this time, there were less than 2,000 Japanese troops stationed in Songyuan City, and under the fierce attack of 20,000 troops of the armored division of the Eighth Route Army, although the little devils in the city resisted desperately, they could not stop the fierce offensive of the Eighth Route Army.At the same time, a group of special combat personnel had already taken the opportunity to infiltrate the city of Songbara, and while the army was attacking the city, the special combat team members attacked the Japanese army inside the city, deliberately creating chaos, and advantageously supporting the main force outside the city.The fierce battle lasted less than three hours, and the Eighth Route Army successfully broke through the fortifications of Songyuan City, and a large number of soldiers of the Eighth Route Army took the opportunity to enter Songyuan City and launched a more tragic street battle with the little devils in the city.The fierce battle lasted until more than two o'clock in the afternoon, and the gunfire in the city finally gradually stopped, and the Japanese troops in Songyuan City were basically wiped out, and the armored division of the Eighth Route Army recaptured Songyuan City in one fell swoop.At this point, Yamada Otozo's intention to use Songyuan as a fulcrum to build a defensive line along the Songhua River and block the southward movement of the Eighth Route Army was completely bankrupt.After Yamada Otozo learned the news, he was naturally annoyed and angry, but the matter has come to this point and there is nothing to be done, but Yamada Otozo will naturally not give up easily, at this time, the main force of the Japanese 1st Division and the 8th Division has withdrawn from Baicheng, and the new 1st Division and the 2nd Division of the Eighth Route Army have recovered Baicheng in one fell swoop, and completely annihilated the 2,000 Japanese troops left in the city.Yamada Otozo was forced to readjust his deployment, but the Eighth Route Army had already mastered the initiative, and the Japanese army had fallen into disadvantage, and it became even more difficult to turn defeat into victory.aa2705221: