The heavens start from Changjin Lake

Chapter 635: The Unused Hindenburg Line of Defense
Falkenhausen continued: "The Hindenburg Line of Defense must first build cement plants and steel plants. Cement plants and steel plants can be used for military purposes in wartime and for civilian economic construction in peacetime. This is a double-edged sword. Why not do it."

After being encouraged by Falkenhausen, the bald head stomped his feet and made up his mind: "Okay, in order to protect the safety of the capital, we must go bankrupt and build the Hindenburg defense line. I will immediately order the most reliable people to do it."

After the Chinese version of the Hindenburg Line was completed, the cannons just imported from Germany were transported into the fortifications, and military exercises of the defense forces were even arranged. The bald head saw the solid fortifications, fully equipped weapons and regular military exercises. He said with great satisfaction: "Very good, very good. Once war breaks out and the enemy wants to enter the capital Jinling, it must be more difficult than reaching the sky."

However, after the Battle of Songhu broke out, the master of micro-management took charge personally.

After the fall of Shanghai, the micro-operation master called Falkenhausen over again and asked how to defend Jinling. Falkenhausen proposed to use the already built Hindenburg Defense Line to resist the Japanese army.

However, during the Battle of Songhu, this master of micromanipulation transferred all twelve divisions originally defending the Hindenburg Line to fight in Shanghai.What kind of battlefield was the Battle of Songhu? One division could be swallowed up in three days, and twelve divisions were put into it. In a month, they were basically disabled.Then, after the troops left, it happened to rain heavily. All these fortifications were filled with rainwater and basically unusable.

It took several months and a lot of manpower and material resources to build the Hindenburg Line, but it didn't even have a chance to be put to use.

In fact, when the Battle of Songhu broke out, Baldhead's hopes were not pinned on the various armies participating in the Battle of Songhu, nor on the Hindenburg Defense Line proposed by Falkenhausen. His hopes were completely It relies on international mediation.

When the Japanese army captured Luodian and then attacked in the direction of Zhongzaobang and Dachang, he gave the troops an order to defend their positions, causing countless Central Army troops to die firmly on the crude positions and the entire army was destroyed.

When the news that one division after another and one corps after another was crippled and completely annihilated was sent to his desk, this micro-manipulation master never thought about letting the troops retreat to the point where he spent a lot of manpower and The Hindenburg Line of Defense built with material resources.

Until the end of the Songhu Battle, the international military mediation he relied on did not appear.

As the Hindenburg Defense Line was flooded by heavy rains, the subsequent Battle of Jinling was doomed to fail.

On August 29, Falkenhausen personally went to the front line to inspect the enemy's situation and submitted a new report to Bald Head. The report believed that if the national army retreated immediately, the defense line could be shortened and the pressure on the front line would be reduced, but the Japanese army would also receive Taking a breather, the Japanese army can not only take this opportunity to improve transportation conditions and transport more artillery and tanks to Shanghai, but at the same time, the temporary airports built by the Japanese army at the Gongda Cotton Mill and other places will also be put into operation, and the air force's advantages will become more obvious. Therefore, Falkenhausen suggested that the national army should deploy more troops to defend the current defense line, and it would be best to drive the Japanese troops near Wusong into the sea.

At the same time, the national army should also build second-line fortifications in the rear, relying on fortifications to resist steadily around Shanghai in the future and stick to it for a long time.

Falkenhausen's suggestions had a great influence on Baldhead. On the [-]th, the new combat policy was approved. The Nationalist Government stepped up the mobilization of troops from across the country, sent reinforcements to Shanghai, and began to build second-line fortifications in the rear.

This has also become the basis for the future national army to shift from offensive operations to positional defense operations.

It can be said that Baldhead's combat order to stick to the defensive position depends more on Falkenhausen. At present, the national army is still focusing on counterattack and has not yet started a more difficult positional battle.

As for the Japanese army, despite the fact that the Japanese No. 11 Division and the [-]rd Division fought fiercely with the National Army in the early stages of the Songhu Battlefield, the resistance of the National Army actually shocked Japanese Commander-in-Chief Matsui Iwane, who launched a full-scale invasion of Japan. Before the war in China started, they had already begun to investigate China's national conditions and found that China was in chaos, warlords were fighting incessantly, and there was a flow of red bandits in the country. It could be said that China was not yet able to unite.

Now is the opportunity for a full-scale invasion of China, taking advantage of China's domestic chaos to capture the entire country in one fell swoop.

The No. 11 Division and the [-]rd Division landed in Shanghai after the July [-]th Incident. The Japanese army was in China's important economic zone in the east. It was not until half a month after the war that Matsui Iwane realized that he had seriously underestimated the combat effectiveness of the national army. and determination to fight, it is simply impossible to achieve the combat objectives with the strength of two divisions.

As a result, the Japanese Army canceled the operational plan to land in Jiao'ao and returned the No. 11 Regiment of the No. 12 Division to its organic form. At the same time, the Japanese army also decided to return the No. 18 and No. 30 Regiment of the Third Division as soon as possible. The team was shipped to Shanghai.

But other than that, the Army Central Committee represented by Ishihara Kanji and others did not agree to send additional troops to Shanghai.

Because at this time, the national army had just signed a non-aggression treaty with the Soviet Union. Although the treaty did not stipulate the military alliance obligations between China and the Soviet Union, the Japanese were very worried that the Soviet Union would directly interfere in the Sino-Japanese war. Therefore, at the meeting at that time, it was decided The main focus is to increase troops in North China. If the Soviet Union joins the war, these troops can return to the four eastern provinces in time to resist the Soviet army.

As China and Japan further mobilized their forces, the competition for Luodian became more intense, and the Japanese army also began a new round of combat.

The battle in Luodian has been going on for a week. The Japanese No. 13 Division was surrounded on three sides. Although the Chinese army could not fight in, they could not fight out. With the expected capture of Luodian and Jiading, cutting off Beijing and Shanghai Railway, there is a huge and obvious difference in the idea of ​​cutting off the retreat of the national army.In addition, there was no domestic agreement to increase troops to Shanghai for the time being. There was talk of retreat within the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, advocating that the No. 11 Division should abandon Luodian, which was besieged on three sides, and retreat to the coast of the Yangtze River to make a long-term defense. Intend.

However, after some weighing, Matsui Iwane believed that as long as Wusong and Baoshan were captured, and the No. 11 Division in Luodian was connected with the Third Division in Shanghai, we could gain a foothold on the north side of Shanghai.

Therefore, the Japanese army's offensive center was placed on Wusong and Baoshan, and a firm plan was adopted in Luodian, allowing the national army to launch counterattacks against Luodian again and again.

In the huge flesh and blood mill of Luodian, the brutal Baoshan Battle will also begin.

Xia Yuan, who lives in Lin's house, is not interested in the surrounding affairs. The defeat of the Shanghai War has become a foregone conclusion and cannot be changed or reversed by himself. He can only try his best to change some of the war or the fate of some soldiers.

For example, Zhao Shiguo, Zheng Dayong, Scholar, Lao Lei and Xiao Liu, perhaps in the original time and space, they did not even have names. They were sent to the battlefield and served as cannon fodder. They were included in the casualty statistics after the war. One of those cold numbers.

Xia Yuan couldn't change the overall situation, but he changed the fate of some people.

The next day, there was a shimmer in the sky.

The soldiers of the third company had just entered the combat position and were alert to the Japanese troops attacking during the day.

"Today is a little unusual. The Japanese army did not attack. In the past, the Japanese army basically showed up at dawn." Lu Jingguang put down the telescope and looked at the time on his watch. He was quite surprised: "Why are the Japanese army so unusual today?"

Xia Yuan still doesn't know.

As Lu Jingguang said, daytime is the time for the Japanese army to counterattack, and they will not give up this opportunity. But now, it is past seven o'clock, the sun is rising on the horizon, and the red light is reflected on the spiers of the ruins, which is dazzling and bright.

The Luodian battlefield seemed to have fallen into silence.

After attacking all night last night, early this morning, we should have encountered a fierce counterattack by the Japanese army, but it did not happen. The national army's defense line was eerily quiet, and the Japanese army seemed to be brewing something.Xia Yuan was clear about the battle, but he was not clear about the internal mobilization of the Japanese army.

Half a month was relatively short. If you want to understand the war history of New China, you can't understand it in detail in a few days. He learned about the history of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, and then went on to understand the history of the War of Resistance Against Japan and what happened before in the history of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

I can only roughly remember the major events in history.

He only knew that Luodian was a huge flesh and blood mill. The Japanese army captured Luodian in order to attack from the Jiading front line, cut off the Beijing-Shanghai railway, and further cut off the westward retreat route of the national army in Shanghai.

Xia Yuan knew very well that the Japanese army's suspension of attack was definitely not giving up on Luodian. It was most likely that they were planning to open up the current situation of Luodian being besieged from three sides from other directions.

Different from what Lu Jingguang thought, Xia Yuan was thinking about where the Japanese army would choose to open up the situation if they would not give up when their attack in Luodian was blocked.

Or waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

From Xia Yuan's point of view, the only possibility is to wait for reinforcements.

The Japanese army dispatched troops to Shanghai only had two divisions, while the strength of the National Army had increased to five or even six divisions, and reinforcements were still coming from all over the country. If the Japanese reinforcements were still Not yet. Once the national army reaches a large scale and forms a solid defense line on the Songhu battlefield, it will be difficult for the Japanese army to advance forward with the strength of two divisions.

"It is estimated that the Japanese army is waiting for reinforcements."

It seems that there is only one explanation that can explain it.

"Waiting for reinforcements?" Lu Jingguang thought for a while, "Your inference may be correct. The Japanese army and we have formed a state of stalemate. On this two-kilometer-long deep front, they have been pulling back and forth for several days. They are getting closer and closer. If we can't defeat them, they will become more anxious, so they will definitely send reinforcements to Luodian."

Speaking of this, Lu Jingguang looked a little worried.

He actually hopes that the Japanese army can launch an attack on their defense line, at least the two sides can still be in a stalemate, but once the Japanese army starts to reinforce, their situation will become more dangerous.

On August 31, at 08:30 in the morning, the Japanese navy anchored at Wusongkou conducted concentrated shelling on Wusong Town. At 55 minutes, the Japanese army released smoke bombs to obscure the view of the national army, and large forces began to launch landing operations.

The Japanese army launched a fierce offensive against Wusong Town.

The 60st Brigade of the [-]th Regiment of the Japanese No. [-] took a small boat to land south of the Fort Station, the [-]rd Brigade landed north of Wusong Town, and the [-]nd Brigade forced a crossing near the railway bridge. Except for the Japanese Matsui Squadron who attacked the Fort Station, they were attacked. Apart from resistance and attack setbacks, the Japanese amphibious offensive went very smoothly.

The 61st Regiment of the [-]st Division of the National Army was stationed near the railway bridge. However, due to lack of preparation for the Japanese landing, they were unable to organize effective resistance. It only took the Japanese army an hour to capture Wusong Town along the river and capture the town. Advance forward, occupy Jinjiazhai, Gujiazhai, Zhengjiazhai and other national army positions, and continue to break forward.

The second brigade of the Japanese army captured Wusong Town very smoothly and began to attack Yong'an Spinning Mill.

The [-]st Regiment was defeated by the Japanese army and chose to retreat.

The [-]st Security Regiment stationed in the area south of the Fort Station tried to organize a counterattack, but under the fierce Japanese artillery fire, the counterattack had no effect.

For three days in the afternoon, the Japanese army basically completely captured Wusong Town. At [-]pm, the Japanese army successfully captured Tongji University, Zhoujiaqiao and Paotai Station and other areas, and surrounded the Wusong Fortress.

That night, the 31th Brigade arrived in Wusong around 33 o'clock and launched a night attack on the Japanese army. The [-]st Regiment repelled the Japanese army eastward and contacted the security group of Wusong Fort. The [-]rd Regiment stabilized the defense line near Tongji University and fought with the Japanese [-]rd Army. The three teams fought and fought for each other in Tongji University.

In the Tongji University building, the Japanese army firmly occupied the second floor, and the Chinese army occupied the first floor. They fought until dawn and finally withdrew from the battle.

The next day.

The Japanese army has occupied Wusong across the board, and the 61st Division's defense line in Wusong is like a piece of loose sand, which will collapse at the first touch.

In just one day, the extremely important place of Wusongkou was easily occupied by the Japanese army.

Then, the Japanese Third Brigade advanced in an attempt to cut off the Wusong Fort Security Regiment 31 and 17 Regiment from the outside world. The No. [-] Brigade resisted tenaciously and the Japanese attack was slow.

That afternoon, the captain of the Japanese army arrived at the front line to supervise the battle. The 31st regiment suffered heavy casualties and was reduced to a battalion and began to retreat. The Japanese army successfully occupied the front line of Bojia Village and Xiaocaojiazhuang. The Japanese army continued to fight, Dacaojiazhuang fell, and the security regiment suffered heavy losses, so they withdrew from the battle that night.

Another day later, the national troops on the entire Wusong defense line suffered heavy casualties and began to retreat. Wusong was completely occupied by the Japanese army.

At this time in Luodian, the Japanese army and the Chinese army were in a complete confrontation. The Chinese army launched an attack on the Japanese defense line for two consecutive days, but was not able to make effective progress.

September [-]st, early morning.

A new moon.

Xia Yuan had not yet fallen asleep. He stood in the second-story building and looked into the distance. After joining the third company and becoming the deputy company commander, he had nothing to do. The third company also stayed at Lin's house to rest. The fifth company that entered Qiao's house did not encounter Japanese troops. The counterattack may be because the Japanese army believed that there was no need to counterattack Qiaojiazhai. Even if the national army sent a large force to reinforce Qiaojiazhai, that position would not have the slightest impact on the Japanese army across the board.

After all, it was a forward position, so if it was lost, the focus of the Japanese army's defense was still in Luodian Town.

(End of this chapter)