funbook-pk Chapter 266 The Proud 12th Division
Chapter 266 The Proud 12th Division
"The headquarters are a bunch of idiots. They actually made us wait again. This will waste at least five or six days. The 72nd Brigade is not an ordinary army. In these five or six days, they will definitely send out a large number of reinforcements."
Goro Yamane sat on an ammunition box, with soldiers setting up tents behind him and two temporary lines of defense set up in front.
"Senior, have a drink of water. This is an order from headquarters, sent directly over our division commander. They must know something we don't. Let's just wait and see. This 72nd Brigade is very strange. The Miyazaki Regiment's combat effectiveness is no less than you and me, but they were wiped out in such a short time. We still have to be cautious."
It turned out that during the forced march, Tanaka Ryohide was very nervous. He didn't know about other people, but he was very clear about the combat effectiveness of the Miyazaki Regiment, which was much stronger than his Tanaka Regiment.
As a junior in the Japanese army, he was very good at analyzing these things. He did not think that he was stronger than the Miyazaki Regiment, so it might be a good thing that he met the 72nd Brigade later.
"What's there to be afraid of the Dragon Nation army? As long as we're well prepared and can fight them head-on on the battlefield, they're far inferior to us in terms of courage. The reason that bastard Miyazaki failed was because he was too careless."
Goro Yamane obviously disagreed with this, but he did not dare to change the order of the headquarters and could only order the army to stay here. Moreover, although he was the commander, Tanaka Ryohide was of the same rank as himself. When executing orders, Tanaka Ryohide would be obedient and respect him, but if he disobeyed the order of the headquarters, he was afraid that the Tanaka Regiment would not go with him.
“Maybe there is a reason for this.”
Tanaka Ryohide nodded in agreement, but he had other thoughts in his mind.
Is it just pride and carelessness?
Is there no difference in combat effectiveness between the two sides? A fully staffed infantry regiment of more than 3,000 people was wiped out in such a short time. The combat effectiveness of the two sides must be extremely different, otherwise such a result would never have happened.
In the past, when the Japanese army and the Dragon Army clashed, as long as we had more than 1,500 people on our side, we were able to deal with the enemy's army of more than 10,000 people.
The 72nd Brigade's troops entering Rehe had less than 10,000 men in total.
However, the Kwantung Army Headquarters mobilized a reorganized division, plus the men under Commander Nomura, nearly 40,000 soldiers, of course including some puppet troops. Using so many people to deal with a Dragon Country army, don’t you think about what is going on?
You only call those people in the headquarters useless on the battlefield, but if they are really useless, why can't you go to the headquarters?
"Reporting to His Excellency, the artillery battalion has been deployed. There is an artillery position on each side of our defense line, and there is another artillery position 500 meters behind our defense line."
The commander of the artillery battalion, Major Heiji Miyagawa, ran over to report the situation.
Based on the records of previous defeats, they believed that the Japanese army either did not have artillery or did not play their role, so after this deployment, they immediately deployed artillery in strategic positions.
"Well done. We are very close to Chengde now. You must ensure that at least one-third of the people are on duty."
Goro Yamane enjoyed this feeling very much. It was as if he had already become a brigade commander. Among all the company commanders of the 12th Division, he should have the most experience. If a brigade commander was to be promoted, he should be at the top of the list.
"Ha Yi, please rest assured, senior. I will go back and make arrangements immediately."
Goro Yamane was somewhat dissatisfied when he heard the title of "senior", but he did not bother with the people below.
They all graduated from the same military academy, and Goro Yamane was their senior. This was one of the reasons why the superiors let Goro Yamane take command, but this guy preferred that the people below call him "Sir, the Brigade Commander."
After a few hours, the Japanese army's tents were almost set up. After the long journey, many people were very tired. Most of them went to the tents to rest, and only a small number of people stayed in the trenches.
This is also very normal. According to their combat staff's speculation, the people of the 72nd Brigade had just captured Chengde and must have been very tired. Only a group of old, weak and sick people were left. If it were not for the order from the headquarters, we would have gone over and annihilated them.
So how could the people from the 72nd Brigade come to attack us?
The officers and soldiers didn't have such thoughts either. Their only thought was that the remaining troops of the 12th Division should run away quickly, seize the opportunity to reunite with us, and then take back Chengde and let those bastards of the North China Expeditionary Force see how war is fought.
As night fell, Goro Yamane gathered his officers and drank some sake in his tent.
Rehe had been occupied by Japan for a while, so there were izakayas in the nearby towns. Some people who knew how to flatter had already asked these izakayas to send some Japanese food.
Goro Yamane was so happy after drinking that he jumped up in the middle.
The other officers followed him and began to dance drunkenly, a common phenomenon among Japanese soldiers.
"Thank you, no need."
Colonel Tanaka had declined several times. Although he was drinking and eating sashimi, he did not indulge himself in getting drunk.
After all, this place is very close to the war zone. If you get so drunk, if something unexpected happens, you won't be able to do anything.
Just now, when Colonel Yamane ordered the entire military camp to rest, he ordered his Tanaka Regiment to take turns to rest. Only half of the people could rest, and the rest all had to wait in the trenches.
Although his subordinates had many complaints, they all carried out their tasks very well.
No one in the entire military camp said anything about the cautious Colonel Tanaka. He was able to hold his current position at such a young age because of his cautiousness, so it was normal for him to do so.
"You don't have to be so cautious. I've already sent investigators to Chengde. They haven't made any moves, so don't worry."
Colonel Yamane shook his body. What he couldn't stand the most was the upright appearance of his junior fellow apprentice. Everyone else was so drunk, but you were the only one sitting here with your head held high. Who were you performing for?
"Junior brother is not good at drinking, senior, please drink as much as you want."
Colonel Tanaka was neither anxious nor impatient, and seemed unaware of the sting in Goro Yamane's words.
"Enemy attack..."
Faintly, Goro Yamane seemed to hear these words: Which bastard is talking nonsense?