Chapter 1489 When Enemies Meet, They Are Extremely Jealous!

Tanzhou Yuelu Mountain!

While the Chinese troops in Hengyang were desperately trying to earn a glimmer of hope for themselves, Yokoyama Isamu was also staring at the large map of Hengyang in a trance.

Colonel Shimanuki Takeshi walked in from outside the door, holding the intelligence just delivered by the Intelligence Department.

"According to intelligence, the Chinese garrison in Hengyang this time is the 10th Army, the Four-Line Regiment, and a guard regiment in Hengyang City. The current strength is unknown." Shimanuki Takeshi said to Yokoyama Isamu, who was staring at the map in a trance, with a little excitement.

Yokoyama Isamu was not a general named Xue. After conquering Tanzhou and heading straight for Hengyang, he immediately asked the intelligence department to find out the number of the Chinese garrison and the name of the commander before the war. Knowing yourself and the enemy is a basic operation.

The Japanese intelligence department was also very hardworking. In less than three days, they had investigated the Chinese troop sequence in Hengyang City. That is, even the 9th War Zone Command and the Military and Political Department were not very clear about the strength of the 10th Army and the Four-Line Regiment. This mistake that should not have happened made the Japanese confused at this time.

"The Four-Line Regiment is also there?" Yokoyama Yong turned back suddenly, and the shock in his eyes was ready to come out.

Shimanuki Takeshi was also stunned. He didn't expect that his commander was not concerned about the opponent's fuzzy troop strength, but an infantry regiment number.

Moreover, based on his understanding of Yokoyama Yong during this period, he actually felt that this lieutenant general of the army who was famous for his "bravery" was afraid.

Afraid of an infantry regiment?

Shimanuki Takeshi didn't understand!

"Yes, the Four-Line Regiment was originally an engineering corps. It was built in the Hengshan area under the order of the Chinese 9th War Zone Command. This time, it should be that Hengyang was short of troops, so it was transferred to Hengyang City to serve as a garrison." Shimanuki Takeshi still suppressed the doubts in his heart and answered.

"If the Four-Line Regiment is there, Mr. Shimanuki, I'm afraid we have to re-formulate our plan for the main attack direction of Hengyang." Yokoyama Yong took a deep breath and turned his eyes back to the Hengyang map on the wall.

"Re-formulate? But that was carefully planned by the General Staff, and the Expeditionary Army General Staff also guided and approved it. Even the commander said two days ago that this plan is most suitable for my 11th Army to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese in Hengyang?" Shimanuki Takeshi was shocked.

When a large army fights, the most taboo is to change orders every day. Let alone that this battle plan was carefully planned by himself and his men, even yesterday the battle plan had been passed to each division, and each division was marching towards Hengyang from three directions according to the battle plan. How can it be changed?

"Mr. Shimanuki, I wonder if you have seen the battle report of the Four-Line Regiment?" Yokoyama Yong suddenly asked.

"I have heard a little about the battle record of the Four-Line Regiment, but that was a few years ago. In recent years, the regiment has become an engineering corps for some reason, and it has long been unknown and not a threat." Shimanuki Takeshi thought about it and answered honestly.

The glory of the past does not represent the present. No matter how powerful a unit is, if it is abandoned for a few months, it will lose its combat effectiveness. Moreover, it has been several years since the last time the Four-line Regiment participated in the war.

"Yes! Time flies. It has been more than three years since the Battle of Shipai." Yokoyama Yong suddenly sighed.

Shimanuki Takeshi wisely did not respond this time. He certainly knew that the Battle of Shipai was the biggest Waterloo in the military career of the lieutenant general in front of him. If it were not for the defeat in the Battle of Shipai, he might have been promoted to the general of the army, or at least the commander of a higher-level front.

"Shimanuki-kun, sit down!" Yokoyama Yong suddenly stretched out his hand to let his chief of staff, who had experience in large-scale combat, sit down.

He personally made tea, sat cross-legged opposite the Japanese army colonel who had already prepared the battle, sipped the hot tea, and then said slowly: "Mr. Shimanuki should also know that I, Yokoyama Yong, have rarely lost in my life. Although I lost two battles in a row under Tanzhou City, that was because I judged the situation and thought that Tanzhou City would sooner or later be in the hands of the empire, and it was not worth paying a large number of casualties for it!

But I was determined to win the Battle of Shipai, and that was also the biggest defeat in my life!"

Listening to his superior's heartfelt words, Shimanuki Takeshi was a little embarrassed. He knew that for a soldier, a defeat is a shame in life, and the biggest trauma in the heart can never be healed by comfort alone.

The only way to heal this scar is to defeat the opponent who once defeated him.

"Many people say that the Battle of Shipai was the masterpiece of the 18th Army, one of the five elite infantry armies of China. Even when the Expeditionary Forces Headquarters reported to the headquarters, they specifically wrote about how the 30,000 Chinese 18th Army soldiers were fearless and brave. The Lieutenant General Hu under his command became famous because of this battle!

Haha! But history is always written by the victors, this is true. Chinese newspapers are full of praise for the 18th Army and the Lieutenant General Hu, but they don’t know that in my heart, Hengshan Yong, the 18th Army is at most a tough opponent, but it is still a long way from defeating my 11th Army.

What really caused my 11th Army to lose in Shipai was not the 18th Army, but the Four-line Regiment that quietly entered the battlefield to deploy defenses before the war, and their commander Tang Dao." At this point, Hengshan Yong's voice was not actually loud.

But Shimanuki Takeshi clearly heard the sound of teeth colliding.

That was real gnashing of teeth when the name Tang Dao appeared.

“If the Four-Line Regiment had not held the left wing of Shipai tightly, our 11th Army would have broken through the area long ago. No matter how brave and fearless the 18th Army was, under our two-pronged attack, all the more than 12,000 Chinese in the main position of Shipai would have died on the spot, and Shipai would have become a bridgehead for the imperial army to capture the mountain city.

If they just blocked us, it would be fine. Tang Dao was extremely treacherous and ruthless. They took advantage of our disadvantageous attack and evacuated. They took advantage of their familiarity with the terrain and chased us closely, surrounding more than 6,000 officers and soldiers of our 11th Army in the mountains.

Not only did they obstruct our negotiations, but they also used the Americans to hype up the battle in an attempt to undermine the morale of our Chinese Expeditionary Force. Fortunately, our 6,000 officers and soldiers of the 11th Army did not lose face for the Empire and fought to the last moment. "Yokoyama Isamu lowered his eyelids, and his low voice echoed in the small room.

Shimanuki Takeshi felt that his hair seemed to stand up.

He had studied the Battle of Shipai, but the Imperial Headquarters seemed to have concealed something about this battle. The information available to him at this level only said that the Chinese side used a large number of troops to surround the 6,000 Imperial officers and soldiers who could not evacuate in time. The 11th Army tried to rescue them several times but failed. They could only watch as the 6,000 Imperial officers and soldiers were surrounded in the mountains for more than 40 days and the entire army was destroyed.

The so-called fighting to the end The next moment, it would be better to say that they were starved for more than 40 days, and finally all starved to death in the mountains of China.

Who would have thought that the cause of all this was the Four-Line Regiment and their leader who was called "devil" by the imperial officers and soldiers on the battlefield in North China.

No wonder, when Mr. Yokoyama Yong heard the name of the Four-Line Regiment, his expression was strange!

"If, as you said, the defeat in the Battle of Shipai was caused by the Four-Line Regiment, then this time they are in Hengyang, our 11th Army must annihilate them completely to wash away the shame of the defeat!" Shimanuki Takeshi raised his head and said forcefully.

"If possible, our army will kill all the Four-Line Regiment from the Tangdao Colonel down, leaving only this one person, and send him to the headquarters of the Nanjing Expeditionary Force for trial, and then execute him at the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum on the charge of war crimes, and order all the Chinese in Nanjing to go to watch the whole execution process. "

This move by Shimanuki Takeshi was extremely vicious. It could not only help the 11th Army to avenge itself, but also deal a heavy blow to China's anti-Japanese morale. His words showed that Hengyang had long been in his pocket.

Of course, Shimanuki Takeshi had enough confidence to say this. The 11th Army had more than 100,000 soldiers this time and had already conquered Tanzhou, the capital of Hunan Province. More than 100,000 troops were marching towards Hengyang with a winning momentum. They were no longer considering conquering Hengyang, a small piece of land, but besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements. They were seeking a decisive battle with the main force of China in Hengyang, and one battle could determine the war between Hunan and Guangxi.

To put it bluntly, conquering Hengyang was just a small point in this round of war, and it was not even that important. The 11th Army did not take Hengyang too seriously from the beginning. Shimanuki Takeshi's eyes were full of the main force of China that was about to approach the periphery of Hengyang.

For example, the elite Chinese division 7 from Guangxi Province The 4th Army, that was the ‘Iron Army’ that had fought against tens of thousands of imperial troops in the Battle of Changde with the strength of one division and attacked on the 16th. Not only did the Chinese side award it the Flying Tiger Army Flag, but even the Chinese Expeditionary Army Headquarters was extremely wary of it. It was generally believed that at least two divisions would be needed to completely annihilate it in a battle with it.

But Yokoyama Yong was obviously not as confident as his ‘brave’ chief of staff. He shook his head slightly and said: “The equipment of the 4th Army is very different from that of ordinary Chinese troops. In the Battle of Shipai, there were even light tanks and large-caliber heavy artillery. According to the investigation of the Imperial Intelligence Department, it can only be found that these weapons and equipment were imported from Europe, and many of them were even purchased from a famous German arms company. However, how they were transported from Europe to China and finally arrived in North China, the intelligence department can no longer find out.”

“Baga! Damn it! If we check the German Empire’s arms company, everything will be clear. "Takeshi Shimanuki's reaction was very fast, and he quickly grasped the key point of the problem.

But soon, the Japanese army colonel also took the initiative to keep silent. Even Yokoyama Isamu didn't want to say the name of the arms company, which must undoubtedly occupy an extremely important position in the military industry system of the German Empire.

The alliance between the Empire and the German Empire is based on the needs of the global grand strategy. If a rift occurs because of an arms company, it will be too much of a loss.

"No matter how sophisticated the equipment of the Four-Line Regiment is, it is only a mere infantry regiment. A brigade can't deal with them, so we can take a division. If one division doesn't work, then two." Yokoyama Isamu spoke again.

"But the leader of the Four-Line Regiment, Tang Dao, is indeed a difficult person. I wonder if Shimanuki still remembers the assassination case in Jiangxia City in June 1942?"

"Is it the case of the murder of Major General Tanabe Moritake? Didn't I hear that the whole city was searched, and more than 400 Chinese intelligence personnel were arrested or killed to settle the case? "Takeshi Shimanuki was slightly startled.

Takeshi Shimanuki had worked in the military department on the Japanese island for a long time, and had even traveled to the European battlefield in the past two years. He did not have a special understanding of the Chinese battlefield, and he only knew a lot of information after he tried hard to make up for it before coming to China.

But he had read the war report of the famous assassination in Jiangxia. Major General Tanabe Moritake, then Deputy Chief of Staff of the China Expeditionary Army, was shot and killed by a sniper at a distance of more than a mile under heavy protection. It was simply unbelievable.

"So, what you see in the information will never be the truth.

The truth is that those Chinese intelligence personnel are just small shrimps of the Chinese Military Control Commission. They were caught by us. How could they have the ability to kill a general in the room with a single shot from 700 meters away, and they could also successfully escape under the siege of thousands of people, and swagger into the Jiangxia Security Command that night and strangled a lieutenant general of the army to death with their bare hands!" Yokoyama Yong's voice was faint.

"It was not until a long time later that the assassin was reported by a high-level Chinese intelligence officer. It was reported that the assassin was no one but Tang Dao, the leader of the Four Lines Regiment. His purpose was to avenge the assassination of the Eagle Special Forces by the Empire, which resulted in the death of 13 guards.

It is said that he once told someone that if it were not for the lack of time, he would go to Nanjing, and the head of Chief of Staff Shiro Itagaki would be what he wanted most."

"This" Shimanuki Takeshi was speechless, and it was difficult to express his overly frightened emotions at this time.

This was indeed a bit beyond his acceptance. He really couldn't imagine that a commander-level soldier with a rank similar to his was actually a super assassin. For a dozen ordinary guards, he actually risked breaking into the city to attack senior generals. How crazy was this person?

"Do you think he is crazy?" Yokoyama Yong took another sip of tea.

"Perhaps the first reaction of people who hear the truth of this matter is to think that this man is a madman, but if you carefully study this man and the political whirlpool that the Four Lines Group encountered at that time, you will find the deep meaning behind his crazy behavior.

Facts have proved that Tang Dao's crazy behavior directly deterred both China and Japan, and no one dared to easily attack his troops. He is like a dozing tiger, showing his sharp fangs to warn anyone who dares to covet him in the dark forest. Whoever dares to aim at him, he will kill him. He has the ability to do so."

"This is indeed a very scary person. I understand what the commander means." Shimanuki Takeshi nodded.

Tang Dao was able to sneak into Jiangxia City to assassinate and successfully escape, which has already proved that he has enough wisdom and super manpower. A person with enough brains, but also a madman, will naturally not play by the rules.

If the 11th Army had followed the previous plan and used the south of the city as the main attack direction, it would have fallen into the opponent's calculations. Shimanuki Takeshi's little brain was working fast.

So, two days later, the divisions that were marching towards Hengyang received the revised battle plan.

Several division commanders stared at the Hengyang map again and again, all of them were confused!

If they hadn't repeatedly sent telegrams to the Army Staff Headquarters to ask, they really thought that Commander Yokoyama Yong was crazy.

Otherwise, who could make such a weird tactical plan?

Three main attack directions, are you kidding me?

That's right, in Shimanuki Takeshi's tactical plan, in addition to the Xiangjiang River natural moat east of Hengyang as a feint attack direction, the south, west and north of the city are all main attacks.

For this reason, the original three divisions encircled Hengyang, and two divisions attacked, but changed to four divisions encircled and three divisions attacked, with one division each in the west, south and north, with a total of more than 70,000 troops.

This was nearly 20,000 more than the 55,000 troops that besieged Hengyang City in the past, all because of the entry of the Four-Line Regiment into Hengyang City.

Shimanuki Takeshi was not only good at military affairs, but also had a good understanding of people's hearts. After clearly hearing the sound of Mr. Yokoyama Yong who wanted to bite his back teeth, he forcibly drew a main division from the 100,000 troops that the Expeditionary Force Command had already planned to seek a decisive battle with the Chinese army on the periphery to encircle Hengyang.

I wonder if the officers and soldiers of the Tang Dao and the Four-Line Regiment would all laugh when they knew about it.

Really, given the scale of the killing fortifications that are currently being built crazily, it's really not satisfying if the Japanese come less!

Tang Dao had already informed the whole regiment during the pre-war mobilization that the scale of the Japanese army besieging Hengyang was even larger than the 100,000 Japanese army that besieged Songjiang City.

It was just 100,000 devils. Didn't the battalion, company, and platoon leaders of the Four-Line Regiment fight their way out of the sea of ​​blood and corpses?

The veterans who participated in the Songjiang battle and are still alive are now at least third-class sergeants or second lieutenants. How many life and death separations have they witnessed in the seven years of war?

For life and death, there is a saying "Don't care about life and death, just fight if you don't accept it!" If you are alive, you will burn incense and pour wine for your old friends and comrades, and live for them; if you die, you will wait in the underground for the brothers who are not dead yet to come down and continue the friendship of comrades.

Life is only a few short decades, and we will meet in the end!

Just like the captain Gu Xishui who lost his lover, he will now be sad for a while when looking at the items left by the youngest sister, and the rest of the time he smiles.

'We will meet in the end! ', this is what Gu Xishui often said.

However, the young and handsome army captain rejected at least five courtships from the beautiful female nurses in the medical company!

His smile never meant that he had forgotten the woman with crescent eyes when she smiled!

He never wanted to live like he does now, not because he was afraid of death, but because he wanted to return to the Four-Line Regiment Martyrs Cemetery to tell her about the victory.

The Four-Line Regiment had already made plans to live and die with Hengyang City!

What's more, now it's not just the Japanese who are secretly increasing their troops, Hengyang City is also facing a counter-current army.