vstars Chapter 186: The Destruction of the North China Expeditionary Force 2
Chapter 186: The Destruction of the North China Expeditionary Force 2
"Catch up with these little Japs! Don't let them get away!"
Accompanied by the roar of engines and the sound of tracks rolling, a well-equipped armored squad was chasing the fleeing Japanese soldiers in front.
The team consisted of seven armored personnel carriers and three tanks, followed by four supply trucks.
In past battles, this team of less than two hundred people has successfully eliminated nearly a thousand Japanese defeated soldiers and captured more than a thousand prisoners.
There are more than a dozen teams like this, distributed on various fronts, and each one has achieved remarkable results.
As a commander, Fang Zheng always remained highly vigilant. Once he encountered a large-scale Japanese army that was beyond their ability to bear, he would immediately contact the Air Force and request fighter jets to come for support.
After nearly three months of fierce fighting, the Japanese army attempted to withdraw from the battlefield, but ended up in a complete rout. This situation was beyond the expectations of the commanders of both China and Japan, but it actually happened.
The direction of this war has become confusing and no one can predict its future development trend.
The armored squad led by Fang Zheng continued to pursue the fleeing Japanese troops. They were determined not to let these enemies escape and to deal them a heavy blow.
The battlefield was filled with smoke and dust, and the sound of gunfire and artillery fire resounded through the sky.
Originally, Wang Chun and Li Delin felt that the Japanese army still had at least the strength to fight, and if they wanted to completely swallow up the more than 300,000 people of the North China Expeditionary Army, it would probably take a lot of effort.
After all, although the Japanese troops were divided and surrounded, they still had a certain degree of combat effectiveness and organization. If they were to attack by force, they might encounter stubborn resistance and even increase their own casualties.
If you are not careful, you might even break your teeth, but the war situation is so unpredictable. The battlefield, which was originally in a stalemate, collapsed because the Japanese army attempted to transfer some troops to support the southern front.
The Japanese army's mobilization triggered a series of chain reactions, causing loopholes in their originally relatively stable defense line. The Chinese army seized this opportunity keenly, launched an attack quickly, and broke the Japanese army's defense system.
As a result, the situation of the Japanese army became more passive and they had to face the full-scale attack of the Chinese army.
The Chinese army took the opportunity to expand their victory and further squeeze the living space of the Japanese army, putting them into an even more difficult situation.
After half a day's rest, Xu Ren's armored brigade set out again on the journey eastward.
This time, their goal was clear: to cut off the Japanese army's way back north! At this moment, the North China Expeditionary Army had fallen into unprecedented chaos. Xu Ren decided to seize this opportunity to give the enemy a fatal blow. They advanced all the way to the northeast, determined to approach Shanhaiguan.
The Japanese troops on the southern front had originally planned to gather some elite troops to compete with the independent armored brigade of the 2nd Armored Division, but at this time they received an urgent telegram from the expeditionary force headquarters, requiring them to immediately withdraw all lines and absolutely not engage in a head-on confrontation with the Chinese armored forces.
At this time, Yokoyama Isamu, who was stationed in Tianjin, could no longer sit still. He began to pack his luggage and prepare to escape.
Although the Japanese army frequently suffered bombing from the Chinese Air Force on the Jiaodong Peninsula at sea, these aircraft usually only bombed valuable ports and large fleets.
And because Tianjin is located at the deepest part of the Bohai Bay, only large bombers can attack here.
Therefore, as long as there was no large-scale air raid, the Japanese army could still live a decent life.
Ordinary escort fighters cannot fly such a long distance, and the fighter planes taking off from Jiaodong are not very willing to bomb their own ports.
After all, that is their own land and their own people, and no one wants to do something that would destroy their own homeland.
The areas of Japan close to China suffered the most, with bombers flying over them almost every three days.
Although these bombers did not cause much damage to them, they made the local residents feel very uneasy.
Although Yokoyama Isamu had made outstanding military achievements, he was not stupid. He knew that if things continued like this, the people of the empire would fall into panic.
Moreover, although the news of the complete defeat on the northern front had not yet spread widely, as senior generals of the army, they had already known it very clearly.
If effective measures are not taken in time to save the situation, the consequences will be disastrous.
If the North China Expeditionary Army does not take any action in three or four days at most, they will be trapped in the jar by the Chinese.
Once surrounded, they would be unable to escape and would eventually be wiped out, which would undoubtedly be a huge blow to the empire.
Therefore, Yokoyama Isamu decided not to wait any longer, but decided to withdraw to Manchukuo and look for an opportunity to break through.
Chief of Staff Maki Watanabe looked at the commander who was packing his bags and could only remind him in a low voice.
"Watanabe-kun! Do you think the Empire still has hope of turning the tables in North China? Hundreds of thousands of Imperial troops have collapsed! Who has the ability to regroup after such a great defeat?"
"You? Me? Or Commander Okamura? Even if His Majesty were to go there in person, I'm afraid there would be nothing that could be done to save the situation!"
"The only thing we can do now is to retreat to Manchukuo, join forces with the Kwantung Army, and use the fortifications we have built in Manchuria over the years to fight against the Chinese!"
"The empire's defeat is already very obvious! The Chinese are no longer the beggar army that was defeated at the first blow and fled thousands of miles away!"
"Look at the strongest tank division in the empire. No matter how hard it fights on the battlefield, it will eventually be annihilated!"
"Watanabe-kun! It's not that we don't work hard, but the situation is different now! You and I should think more about the more than 100,000 imperial citizens living in Tianjin!"
Chief of Staff Watanabe, who originally wanted to persuade Yokoyama Isamu, was unable to utter a word despite having a lot to say after hearing the commander's words.
Yes! The current situation! Anyone with a normal brain knows it! As long as the Chinese people don't make any earth-shattering changes, the fate of the North China Expeditionary Force is already determined.
The entire Tianjin City was in chaos at this moment. The troops withdrawing from outside the city and the Chinese people who tried to escape to the countryside blocked the city gates tightly.
At this moment, Japanese soldiers no longer dared to slaughter Chinese people at will like they did before, just like pigs and dogs.
Now, just a few dozen kilometers outside the city, hundreds of thousands of China's powerful mechanized troops are approaching.
Those Chinese people who escaped from the city were not actually too afraid. Instead, they felt a sense of emotion they had never experienced before.
They left the city simply because they didn't want to become victims of war, just like what those leaflets floating all over the sky said.
We hope that everyone can leave the city if possible. Once a war breaks out, no one can guarantee whether civilians will be harmed. Therefore, a large number of fighter jets were launched from the Northern Theater Command, dropping many leaflets in the Beijing-Tianjin area.