kvmb Chapter 189 The devil calls this mechanization? Seriously?
Chapter 189 The devil calls this mechanization? Seriously?
The origin of the 23rd Division is quite legendary. It was wiped out by the Soviet Army during the Battle of Nomonhan in 39. Because the division's flag was not captured, they refused to acknowledge that the entire army was annihilated.
After learning from the lesson of the 23rd Division, one thing the Japanese liked to do was to mix the forces of several divisions.
No matter how the battle goes on the front line, there will never be a problem of an entire unit being wiped out.
The 108th Division was special. The Kwantung Army did not expect Ding Wei to be so good at fighting, nor did they expect that the main force of the entire division would be wiped out in just a day and a half.
The 23rd Division belonged to the 3rd Regiment Division in the early days. It was a low-ranking group and died miserably in the Battle of Nomonhan. The main force of the division was about 1.3 people, with 3300 people in each infantry regiment.
In order to adapt to modern warfare and learn from the European battlefield, the Japanese decided to form a mechanized division.
Unlike other divisions used in fighting on the southern front, the 23rd Division was an important division used to guard against the Russians.
A mechanized division specially reorganized to adapt to the severe cold weather in Siberia.
The plan was to fully mechanize it, but when it was actually implemented, the army did not have enough money, so it was only equipped with a mechanized search corps, a field artillery corps, and a logistics corps.
The other three main infantry regiments still used pack horses and were equipped with a small number of vehicles, and had not yet completed mechanization.
However, the 23rd Division had a large number of troops, with each regiment having 5500 men, making it the largest infantry regiment among the Japanese.
The entire division has more than 2.6 people, a huge division.
This is the period of special exercises, and the elite troops are ready to confront the Russians head-on.
As I just said, the Japanese like to organize the main forces of multiple divisions to fight together on the front line to avoid the annihilation of the troops as a whole.
The infantry of the 23rd Division did not move, while the elite search regiment, field artillery regiment, and baggage regiment came over in a mighty force.
In particular, the tank squadron and armored vehicle squadron also rushed to the Chifeng area.
In front of Ding Wei was the deployment of the three troops of Gao Qing, Zhang Dabiao and Sun Desheng.
As well as the attack directions of the three Japanese infantry regiments, the puppet Mongolian army, and the 23rd Division's mechanized forces.
"Commander, the 23rd Division is an elite mechanized force. We must be careful in dealing with it."
Zhao Gang reminded that combat deployment was not his forte, so in this situation, it would be better for him to talk less and listen more.
Ding Wei looked at Zhang Dabiao and Zhou Weiguo and asked them to express their opinions.
Da Biao is proficient in infantry tactics, and Weiguo is proficient in armored tactics and infantry-artillery coordination.
"Let Commander Zhang speak first. He is experienced and is also the main force in this operation."
Zhang Dabiao was not polite and expressed his opinion.
"Since its establishment, the Kwantung Army has never experienced any large-scale battles. The only time it was defeated by the Soviet Union at Nomonhan."
"After the defeat, this group of people conducted crazy training exercises. The result of the special exercises was the construction of a large number of fortresses in the border areas."
"These people have a deep-seated fear of the Soviet Far Eastern Army. Similarly, the Far Eastern Army has 150 million troops but has been reluctant to take action against the Kwantung Army."
"It can be seen that the advantage gained in Nomonhan was not big enough. We hurt the Japanese, but we were also frightened by their fanaticism."
Zhang Dabiao's remarks went a bit too far. What he wanted to express was very simple. The Kwantung Army and the Japs were like a stick fighting a wolf, both of which were feared. They were all empty talk.
"In terms of terrain advantage, our army relies on the mountains to block and defend. No matter how many people the enemy has, once they enter the dangerous Yanshan area, their mechanized vehicles will not be able to move."
"Give full play to the means of guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare, pull them to areas we are familiar with, and annihilate the invading devils."
This is consistent with Zhou Weiguo's opinion. If he were to command the so-called mechanized troops, he would never come to the Yanshan area.
It is entirely possible to pass through the Greater Khingan Range and attack from the Chabei area, which is a grassland and desert area that is endless and suitable for mechanized troops to launch offensives.
Letting a blind man fish and a lame man go up the mountain is a stupid thing the Japanese could do.
Zhou Weiguo's idea was similar to Zhang Dabiao's, to let some of the Japanese soldiers into the mountains to paralyze their mechanized troops.
Once you get into the mountains, there are a million ways to crush their skulls.
The plane was roaring, and Ding Wei and others listened to the buzzing sound through the air defense facilities.
Due to the pressure from the air, we have to fight in the mountainous areas.
"Follow your tactics and crush these devils. I don't care if they are elite or not. If they run into my Ding Wei's troops, we will eat them up."
In the event of an intentional retreat of the column, minefields were laid around the original fortifications.
Lay mines in advance, abandon positions on the edge of the mountain area, and retreat to the interior of Yanshan Mountain.
The active reconnaissance troops were responsible for deploying blockade minefields, placing large numbers of mines, box after box, on the road leading into the mountain.
It took time for the Japanese army to gather its forces. The so-called mechanized troops were so powerful that they did not reach the front line until five days later.
The 23rd Division's heavy firepower configuration is quite good, with the Type 90 field gun and the Type (Type , I can't help but like this word ) howitzer.
There is no need to say much about the Type 90 field gun. It uses French technology and its biggest feature is that it is equipped with a French high-efficiency muzzle brake and has added wooden and rubber tires to facilitate towing by mules and horses and traction by cars.
However, the Japanese lacked rubber and mostly used wooden tires, which limited their mobility.
This field gun has a good range, with a maximum range of 13 kilometers, providing excellent fire support.
So as soon as they reached the firing position, they deployed artillery positions under the order of the division commander and launched a fierce attack on the first-line positions of the Eighth Route Army defenders.
The shells whistled, the field artillery fired 6-7 shells per minute, and hundreds of shells swept across the battlefield.
The area near the mountain area was turned into a sea of fire.
Division commander Fukutaro Nishiyama put down his binoculars. He had just been transferred from the South Pacific battlefield to take over the 23rd Mechanized Division.
Having experience in fighting against the US military was very popular in the Kwantung Army Headquarters.
He wanted to use his rich experience in fighting the enemy to improve the Kwantung Army's combat tactics, enhance its strength, and be able to better compete with the Russians.
The current style of play does have a bit of American flavor.
The artillery shells are free, just cover the combat area first.
The key is that you have to investigate first. The Eighth Route Army has strategically retreated and retreated to the mountainous area. Are they just sitting there under the artillery fire?
Have you only learned the basics of the American style of play?
I don’t know how Nishiyama Fukutaro fought, but Ding Wei was certainly startled by the sound of gunfire.
There was intensive artillery fire at the front line. The Japanese fired hundreds of shells, bombing the empty positions along the mountain, leaving him confused and unable to understand the Japanese's intentions.
"Da Biao, have the brothers withdrawn?"
"We have already evacuated yesterday and have retreated to the mountainous area. We have deployed our troops in strategic locations. At your request, we have also placed explosives under several bridges leading into the mountain."
This is puzzling. The front-line troops have all withdrawn to the mountainous area and the front-line positions have been abandoned.
What are the Japs attacking with artillery?
This is Zhang Dabiao's fault. He made a lot of straw dummies out of torn clothes and placed them in easily detectable positions to create the illusion that there were still troops stationed there.
When the Japanese first arrived here, they believed it and covered the hilltop with artillery fire.
I guess it was just a lonely fight!