When the Japanese troops in Lighthouse learned the news, they were shocked. They reported it to the division headquarters and rushed out in full force along the railway line toward Sujiatun.

The previously dispatched team lost contact, and the Hunhe River Railway Bridge was bombed, so the Sujiatun garrison squadron could not be contacted. No matter how stupid the Japanese were, they could guess that something had happened in Sujiatun.

Liaoyang Japanese 12th Division Headquarters, Lieutenant General Sugiyama Gen, the current commander of the 12th Division, said with a surprised face: "What did you say? Sujiatun might be attacked?"

"Your Excellency General, it is very possible that the Sujiatun garrison squadron has not contacted us since last night. An infantry team sent by the 14th Infantry Regiment of the 12th Brigade stationed at the lighthouse also lost its way not long ago.

connect,

The 14th Regiment currently discovered a section of railway that had been vandalized not far from Sujiatun." Colonel Toshio Ogawa, then Chief of Staff of the 12th Division, nodded.

After hearing this, Sugiyama Yuan walked towards the map, stared at it for a moment, and said: "Who are so bold and dare to attack Sujiatun at this time? What do they want to do?"

Ogawa Toshio did not answer the call, but waited for Sugiyama Moto's decision.

After pondering for a moment, Sugiyama Gen finally made a decision: "Telegram to the 14th Infantry Regiment that no matter what happens in Sujiatun, we will take it back immediately."

"Hai!" Toshio Ogawa put his feet together and lowered his head suddenly, then turned and left.

Naturally, Sugiyama Yuan still couldn't figure out which force the Chinese army was attacking Sujiatun and what its strategic purpose was.

However, his keen military intuition told him that no matter what, Sujiatun must be recaptured first.

After receiving the order from the division commander Gen. Sugiyama, the 14th Infantry Regiment of the Lighthouse, which had already rushed out, immediately accelerated its march towards Sujiatun under the leadership of the commander.

It took less than two hours to arrive at Sujiatun, but the Armored Company of the Army Division, which had been waiting for a long time, immediately launched a head-on attack on them.

Sabli's cavalry regiment also launched a surprise attack from both wings, and Guo Zhong led two infantry battalions, the Guard Battalion and the 701st Regiment, to launch the attack along with the armored company.

Sudden and fierce assault by armored troops, and also being besieged and attacked by cavalry on both wings, the 14th Infantry Regiment was unable to resist at all.

As a large number of ** Division infantry kept up, the firepower advantage gradually came into play, and the 14th Infantry Regiment was defeated step by step with almost no ability to fight back.

An hour later, less than 500 people from the 14th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army fled in panic along the railway line back to Dengta County.

Zhang Xinghan ordered the troops to stop the attack and withdraw to collect food, grenades, ammunition and other items from the Japanese corpses along the way.

The news that the 14th Infantry Regiment suffered a sudden head-on attack and was nearly wiped out quickly spread to Liaoyang.

Sugiyama Gen was so shocked that he quietly dropped the cigarette in his hand. He looked up at Chief of Staff Toshio Ogawa with a horrified face and said in disbelief: "What did you say? The 14th Infantry Regiment was almost wiped out?"

"Yes, it can be confirmed that Sujiatun has been captured by the enemy, and I have a humble guess. The Chinese army that attacked Sujiatun is most likely the Chinese army that attacked the 9th Division before.

Because on the ground in the Northeast, this Chinese army is the only one with a large number of tanks and chariots and an astonishing number of rapid-fire weapons. They are also the only ones who are accustomed to using tanks and chariots to carry out frontal assaults on the imperial army with assault force, and defeat the imperial army with powerful assault firepower.

Army." Toshio Ogawa nodded and analyzed.

Sugiyama Moto suddenly took a breath of air, "If this is the case, then we may be in big trouble."

"What do you mean, General?" Toshio Ogawa looked at Moto Sugiyama uncertainly.

"Ogawa-kun, look at the overall situation of Sujiatun on the entire battlefield between us and the enemy. Its strategic position is now beyond doubt. All the weapons, ammunition, food, medicine and other supplies needed by the five divisions of the Imperial Army north of the Hun River must pass through.

Transport to Sujiatun Station and Hunhe River Bridge.

Now the China Air Force suddenly launched an air attack on the Hun River Railway Bridge, and at the same time, their armored assault force also attacked Sujiatun. Isn't its purpose self-evident?" Sugiyama Genbetsu pointed at the map meaningfully.

Look at Toshio Ogawa.

"The China Army has such a big appetite, do they want to eat five divisions of the Imperial Army in one go?" Toshio Ogawa took a breath of air and said with a face full of shock.

"It's not that easy to kill the five divisions of the Imperial Army in one go. However, if we don't recapture Sujiatun and repair the Hun River Railway Bridge, the logistics supplies of our five divisions on the north bank of the Hun River will be exhausted.

.

Once such a situation occurs, the imperial army will no longer be able to attack Tongliao, and it will be impossible to eliminate the Japanese division.

As soon as the Imperial Army broke away, they had to find a way to cross the Hun River, Liao River and Liu River, but the Chinese Air Force would not sit back and watch the Imperial Army successfully cross the river and retreat.

The Yiben Army was blocked from crossing the river and retreating south. If the Chinese Army's ** division took advantage of the situation to attack, the consequences would be really disastrous. Although we, the warriors of the Imperial Japanese Army, are brave and good at fighting, no one can defeat hunger."

Before Sugiyama Yuan finished speaking, another communications staff officer came in with a hurried look and a message in his hand. He put his feet together and saluted: "Your Excellency, General, the commander of the 14th Division, General Shunroku Hata, sent an urgent message. A large number of people have appeared north of Shenyang."

China Army, General Shunroku Hata is currently commanding the troops to attack,

Please ask our department to immediately clarify the situation in Sujiatun, coordinate with the engineers of the 14th Division to repair the Hun River Railway Bridge as soon as possible, and keep the Imperial Army’s logistics supply lines open.”

"Huh?" Sugiyama Yuan's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and he said: "It seems that the ambition of the China Army this time is really great. They actually want to finish their work in one battle and eat five of the Imperial Army's troops north of the Hun River and Liao River in one bite.

A division? Aren't you afraid of bursting your stomach?"

"General, we should quickly mobilize our troops to retake Sujiatun first. As long as Sujiatun is retaken and everything is still under the control of the imperial army, our divisions on the Tongliao front can continue to attack Tongliao. Victory is still possible.

It will definitely belong to our Imperial Japanese Army." Ogawa Toshio suggested.

"Yoshi, you're right. As long as Sujiatun is recaptured, the Chinese conspiracy will have no chance of success." Sugiyama Yuan nodded happily and immediately ordered: "Pass my order, 24th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Brigade

Of

The 46th and 48th Infantry Regiments, the entire 2nd Heavy Artillery Brigade, the 24th Field Artillery Regiment, the 4th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment, the 1st Tank Regiment, and the 12th Cavalry Regiment immediately assembled towards the lighthouse and prepared to attack Sujiatun

."

The 12th Division is a relatively special division among the 17 permanent divisions of the Japanese army. First of all, it is assigned a heavy artillery brigade that other divisions do not have.

You must know that by 1937, the entire Japanese army that invaded China had only formed five such heavy artillery brigades.

In addition to the heavy artillery brigade, the 12th Division is also equipped with an anti-aircraft artillery regiment and a tank and combat vehicle regiment.

Of course, historically, by 1937, the local remaining troops of the 12th Division were also equipped with a 4th Air Force, which was regarded as a land-based aviation force directly under the division.

Not only that, the 12th Division also quickly formed an 18th Division with local troops left behind after Japan invaded China in the 26th year of the Republic of China.

The 18th Division showed strong combat effectiveness in future wars against China, whether it was the Battle of Songhu, the Battle of Nanchu, or the subsequent British and French armies that swept across Southeast Asia.

It can be seen from this that the 12th Division is by no means worse than the 5th and 6th Divisions in terms of combat effectiveness. For now, it is even slightly better.

Because the anti-aircraft artillery regiment and the tank and combat vehicle regiment are not available in the current 5th and 6th divisions.

This is why Nanjiro dared to leave only one 12th Division in such a vast area south of Shenyang. You must know that there are hundreds of thousands of Zhang Xiaoliu's troops in Jinzhou.

It's just that historically, the 12th Division has been stationed in Manchuria and China, and has hardly participated in any battles against China, so its reputation is far less than that of the notorious 6th and 5th Divisions.

In addition, the current commander of the 12th Division was Gen. Sugiyama, who later became the Japanese Marshal and the Commander of the North China Front. This old Japanese had a pretty good strategic vision.

Therefore, Sujiyama Yuan would definitely not be able to sit back and watch Sujiatun fall.

In a word, Sujiatun must be recaptured, because it is related to the logistical supplies of more than 100,000 imperial troops, whether the battle plan of attacking Tongliao and annihilating the Japanese division can be completed, and more importantly, the life and death of more than 100,000 imperial troops.

After receiving the order, all units of the 12th Division began to assemble in the direction of the lighthouse. Naturally, such a big movement could not be concealed by the reconnaissance planes of the ** Division.

After Zhang Xinghan learned the news, he immediately ordered the Air Force to dispatch some fighter planes to assist Li Du and Feng Zhanhai in fighting the Japanese army in Shenyang, and another part of the fighter planes to assist the main force of the Japanese Army in holding the Qinglong Mountain defense line.

Most of the bombers immediately rushed out to carry out air strikes and bombings on the gathering 12th Division, killing as much of the 12th Division's effective forces as possible.

However, since the 12th Division was assigned an anti-aircraft artillery regiment and some anti-aircraft machine gun units, the ** Division's air raid did not go very smoothly.

The results also failed to meet expectations.

Sujiatun Station, ** Division Assault Force Temporary Headquarters.

Shen Xingye saluted Zhang Xinghan with a solemn expression: "Master, the investigation is clear. The Japanese 12th Division stationed in Liaoyang is the only active Japanese division equipped with strategic artillery such as wing-level air defense units and heavy artillery brigades.

The division of the army.

The total strength exceeds 30,000, and the only one we defeated before was an infantry regiment of the 12th Division, which was not able to damage its roots at all."

More than 30,000 people, a regiment-level air defense unit and a heavy artillery brigade? Zhang Xinghan couldn't help but feel heavier after hearing this.

It seems that I have encountered a tough situation this time.

"Master, the Hunhe River Bridge has been blown up anyway, and the Japanese cannot repair it in a short time. Should we avoid the Japs first?" Shen Xingye advised tentatively. (To be continued. If you like this
Chapter completed!