Phi-Fic Chapter 1069: The 2st Army
Chapter 1069: The 2st Army
Japanese Second Army Headquarters
Normally, Japan would not have established an army-level organization until after the Battle of Wuhan. However, due to the rapid changes in the battlefield situation, Japan established this organization ahead of schedule.
When the Second Army was first established, it consisted of only the Isogai Division, the Itagaki Division, and some other local auxiliary units, totaling about 64,000 men.
However, after Ma Leizi's army occupied the provincial capital of Shandong, the Japanese side immediately realized that with only these two divisions, it would probably be impossible to open up the Jinpu Railway. They now had to increase their forces, thus the Second Army's strength reached four divisions.
In addition to the Itagaki Division and the Isogai Division, the Kondo Division and the Tanaka Division were urgently transported from Korea.
The Second Army was led by General Toyotomi, who was originally the Vice Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army.
The headquarters was located in Dezhou. The short-term goal was to open up the Tianjin-Pukou Railway, and the long-term goal was to occupy the section between Tianjin and Pujiang.
Air support was provided by more than 300 aircraft from the newly formed Fifth Flight Division.
In addition to these Japanese troops, there were also more than 20,000 men from the Second Garrison Division of Korea, who were also under the command of the Second Army.
The original Jidong Autonomous Government's Third Division had more than 6,000 men, and the Independent Second Brigade had more than 4,000 men. These men were part of a "pacification" force established by a large number of traitors under the instigation of the Japanese after the fall of North China. They were originally only responsible for maintaining local order and were not told to go south to fight.
However, due to insufficient manpower, these troops were put in charge of the logistics and transportation of the Second Army.
"His Excellency the Commander has arrived."
Upon hearing the voice of the officer on duty, the senior officers of the Second Army around them stopped their conversation, straightened their clothes, stood at attention, and watched General Toyotomi walk to the east end of the long table.
"Please have a seat, everyone."
Although General Toyotomi was well-dressed, he could not hide the weariness in his expression.
The people around them were the same. Although the main force had not yet fought against Ma Leizi's people, they had already heard about what was happening on the banks of the Yellow River. Don't be fooled by the strength and power of our Second Army; it would probably not be so easy for them to cross the Yellow River.
"Before the meeting, I will inform you of the decision that General Headquarters has just made. In addition to the existing four divisions, General Headquarters will add two more divisions to the Second Army, namely the newly established 38th and 39th Divisions. Both of these units have been trained according to the Class A organization and will complete their training by the middle of this month. They will be transported to the vicinity of the battlefield by the end of the month."
Seeing that the people present were in low spirits, General Toyotomi thought of the telegram he had just received that morning.
Actually, this wasn't what he really wanted. What he really wanted was to mobilize the two divisions that had already been established, not these newly trained ones.
However, the field divisions that were established earlier are now engaged in fierce battles all over China. There are indeed idle troops in Pujiang, but the Dragon Kingdom's forces in Pujiang are the strongest. Moreover, Li Shaoyi has recently launched small-unit operations, causing heavy losses to the various armies in Pujiang.
Therefore, it is probably unlikely that troops could be transferred from Pujiang.
The defenses in Beiping have reached their limit. If the number of troops were any smaller, the 72nd Army, located to the northwest and west of Beiping, would probably have to launch a war to retake Beiping. Under these circumstances, the only option is to rely on the newly trained troops in China.
"Commander, please forgive my bluntness, but my Jigu Division suffered heavy losses in the battle. This is partly due to my personal command ability and partly due to the poor performance of my subordinates. However, this does not prevent me from making a suggestion to everyone: increasing our troops at this stage is not very useful. We should increase our heavy firepower and air power instead."
Division Commander Isogai was the first to speak up. His divisions had already suffered more than half their losses, and under these circumstances, they had not achieved any results. Instead, they had brought a sense of defeat to the entire Second Army.
So when he spoke, many people looked at him with disdain, but he was right about one thing: under the current circumstances, simply increasing the number of ordinary infantry units would not solve the situation on the battlefield.
If we want to resolve the current situation on the battlefield, we must increase heavy firepower, especially artillery, aircraft, and even anti-tank artillery, which are urgently needed now.
"What Lieutenant General Isogai said is what I said. You may not have fought against the 72nd Army, but you can take a look at the combat records of our two divisions. Even if you laugh at our defeat by the Chinese security regiment, you should still read the battlefield records."
The second to speak was Division Commander Itagaki. After they withdrew from south of the Yellow River, they had been constantly ridiculed by their colleagues. Now, they had only one thought: to send these men with their troops to charge and see if they could gain an advantage against the 72nd Army.
You keep saying we're useless and have brought shame to the empire, but didn't you feel ashamed in the past? Can you guarantee you'll gain an advantage over them?
The newly arrived troops and the earlier troops had conflicts, a fact that General Toyotomi, as the commander, was well aware of. However, he did not want to mediate some matters and let them fight amongst themselves, which was a good thing for the army commander.
"Regarding the reinforcement of artillery, the General Headquarters and the Tianjin Command have given us a clear answer that they will increase our artillery numbers in the near future, by a ratio roughly equivalent to one and a half divisions."
Upon hearing this number, no one present showed any improvement in expression. A Japanese division already had a limited number of artillery pieces, which naturally gave them an advantage against the original Chinese army. But now, facing the 72nd Army, would increasing their numbers by 50% be of any use?
According to current regulations, a Class A division possesses twelve 75mm field guns, twelve 75mm mountain guns, forty 70mm infantry guns, and eight 105mm howitzers.
The original Japanese divisions were not equipped with 1.5mm howitzers, which was added later at the strong request of the division commanders.
With over fifty mortars of various types, Japan's firepower was indeed impressive against other armies on its own, but it was somewhat inadequate against the 72nd Army.
Even though the troops in front of them are all second-line units of the 72nd Army, they shouldn't embarrass themselves by showing off their artillery. Right now, 150mm howitzers are ready on the other side of the Yellow River...