12dz Chapter 471 All-out Attack
Chapter 471 All-out Attack
Ningji Okamura began to pace back and forth. He now had to be fully prepared. Although the plan formulated by the Army General Staff was too bookish, it still had some merits apart from the troop deployment plan that was accurate to the hour.
Therefore, Okamura Neiji had to launch the attack as scheduled. Otherwise, once the independent column gained a foothold in Datong, the difficulty of capturing Datong would increase exponentially.
As for the details that need to be polished in the plan, let's use the lives of the imperial warriors to polish them!
Okamura Neiji made up his mind. The 4th and 5th tank divisions had already arrived in Ulanqab. They would launch an attack on Datong under the cover of the remaining 200 aircraft!
The 100,000-strong Kwantung Army will attack from east to west in three routes from Zhangjiakou!
"The terrain in the east of Datong is rugged and not suitable for tank cluster operations. Our infantry deployed there will have certain advantages!"
At Okamura Neiji's command, all troops set out immediately, striving to arrive at the attack launch location by six o'clock tomorrow morning.
Because according to intelligence, due to the long journey, the Independent Column's 5th Armored Division, 7th Armored Division and Infantry Division were still on the way.
And in Datong, there are only five infantry divisions!
Although this number is astonishing enough, for General Okamura Yasuji, this is the weakest time of the independent column!
The Kwantung Army and the newly formed 4th and 5th Tank Divisions demonstrated extremely high combat qualities.
Sure enough, at dawn the next day, the 30th Tank Division and the th Tank Division arrived at Fengzhen, kilometers away from where the nd Armored Division and the th Armored Division were stationed.
The 39th Division, 125th Division and 138th Division of the 30th Army of the Kwantung Army approached Jule Township, Yunzhou and Huairen respectively.
The 148th Division, as the general reserve force, temporarily followed the 138th Division and moved closer to Huairen.
At six o'clock in the morning, the Japanese planes took off quickly from the airports in Ulanqab, Zhangjiakou and Peiping, and arrived at the battlefield twenty minutes later. Although the Independent Column Aviation Division took off at the same time as them, it took another half an hour to arrive due to the long distance.
The 4th and 5th Tank Divisions in the north took the lead in launching the attack.
Each division had 100 Tiger tanks and 200 Tiger tanks, which attacked Fengzhen from the left and right wings respectively.
The observation post sent out by Zhang Dabiao and Kong Jie quickly sent back news: a large number of Japanese tanks appeared 20 kilometers north of Fengzhen.
"Humph, they still dare to come, wasn't the beating they received yesterday enough?"
"Division Commander, the tanks of these little devils today are different from those of yesterday. Their tanks seem to be the same as ours, including Tiger tanks, Type 5 tanks, and everything in between! And my preliminary estimate is that there are at least 500 of them!"
When Zhang Dabiao heard this, he couldn't believe his ears.
"What? Tanks as advanced as ours, and 500 of them?"
"Just a little more!"
"Continue investigating!"
Zhang Dabiao did not dare to hide such important news and immediately reported the situation to Li Yunlong and Wang Meng.
At this time, the two of them were very busy because Kong Jie's scouts also discovered the Japanese tanks, and the situation was basically consistent with what Zhang Dabiao reported.
"Old Li, it looks like this is the German tank that the Japanese spent a lot of money to buy! It's here after all!"
"Well, I didn't expect them to arrive so quickly. It seems that we destroyed the railway, and they didn't just sit and wait, but went around to Ulanqab!"
"Ningji Okamura isn't as stupid as I thought!"
When Li Yunlong and his friends were halfway through their conversation, several staff officers rushed in.
Wang Huaibao's First Armored Division sent intelligence from Jule Township, northeast of Datong, saying that the observation post had discovered a large number of Japanese troops approaching.
Shen Quan's Third Armored Division also discovered a large number of Japanese invaders in Yunzhou, southwest of Datong.
Kong Jie's Fifth Armored Division also discovered in Yungang, south of Datong, that the Japanese were attacking Huairen through the mountain roads, threatening Yungang.
"My goodness, the Japanese are really out in full force! According to the intelligence they reported, there are at least three divisions of Japanese! It seems that the Japanese are preparing to fight a Datong battle!"
"Okamura Neiji wants to solve the problem once and for all. However, if he wants to swallow up our independent column in one bite, he must have good teeth!"
Li Yunlong and Wang Meng divided the work and decided that one of them would stay in Datong to command, while the other would lead all the tank regiments to support Fengzhen and resist the Japanese tank cluster.
"Mengzi, you are good at commanding armored groups, so you go to Fengzhen. I will stay in Datong and command the infantry!"
"Okay! I'll leave the airborne regiment and the artillery division to you! Take care!"
"Wait, you take the self-propelled howitzer regiment, and the aviation division is left to you!"
The two of them did not have their usual playful smiles on their faces. Instead, they shook hands solemnly and began to prepare separately!
Li Yunlong and Wang Meng both put in their best efforts. No matter who wins the battle first, they will free up their hands to help the local government solve urgent problems.
The tank regiments of the 1st Armored Division, the 2nd Armored Division and the 3rd Armored Division, with a total of more than 80 Tiger tanks and more than 160 Type 5 tanks, formed the left-wing armored group.
The tank regiments of the 4th Armored Division and the 5th Armored Division, with a total of 60 Tiger tanks and 120 Type 5 tanks, formed the left-wing armored cluster!
"Order the 2nd Armored Division and the rear of the 2nd Armored Division to lay anti-tank mines on the positions!"
Fengzhen became lively for a while. The engineers began to bury a large number of anti-tank mines, not in the hope of destroying many Japanese tanks, but to delay the attack of the Japanese tanks.
The large force retreated twenty kilometers, joined up with the reinforcements led by Wang Meng, and then reorganized.
"Lao Ding, Lao Zhang, leave an armored reconnaissance battalion and an anti-tank battalion in your hands. The other artillery regiments, mechanized infantry regiments, and armored infantry regiments should report to Lao Li. They are under a lot of pressure there!"
"Yes!"
After the division of troops was completed, Wang Meng quickly convened a combat meeting, divided the tank regiments he brought into the left and right wing armored groups, and gave the command to Zhang Dabiao and Ding Wei respectively.
"Lao Ding, Lao Zhang, have your armed reconnaissance battalion go to the transport battalion's vehicles in the back to get weapons. These are all good stuff, specially designed to deal with tanks! The method of use is similar to the 40 rocket launcher! You will be able to learn it after a simple study!"
"Chief of Staff, why didn't you take out these goodies earlier?"
"We have just started mass production. There are only 600 of them. How can we equip you with them? If you don't know how, you can learn now. This thing is very simple!"
After assigning the task, Li Yunlong took Zhang Dabiao and Ding Wei to the truck compartments and lifted the tarpaulins.