mtl008 Chapter 526: The Battle Ends
Chapter 526: The Battle Ends
Commander Chen's telegram also brought silence to the originally lively and bustling New 22nd Army headquarters. After hearing the order to stop the counterattack, the commanders of various units were stunned for a moment, and then everyone's first reaction was that they had traveled such a long way to Yichang, is there no battle to fight again? Was it a wasted trip?
At the same time, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After all, from the reconnaissance of the Japanese army in Yichang in the past few days, the Japanese army had built relatively complete defensive positions outside the city of Yichang. These defensive positions, with the support of Japanese artillery, would cause heavy casualties to the counterattacking Chinese troops.
Now, there is no need to launch a counterattack. Many officers and soldiers in the army can live much longer. As for why the Sixth War Zone Command and Commander Chen suddenly ordered the troops to stop the counterattack, no one raised any questions.
This must be the result of some unexpected situation or the theater command has made some new discovery. Now is wartime, and you should never ask too much about things that you shouldn't know. If any problems arise, it will be difficult to explain clearly. This kind of thing will naturally be known to you in a certain period of time, so there is no need to rush to satisfy your curiosity.
Sure enough, the next day, Commander Chen sent a secret telegram to Commander Huang, which detailed the Japanese occupation time and intentions. At the same time, Commander Chen also asked Commander Huang to inform the commanders of the divisions below so that everyone would be aware of the situation and avoid causing any bad emotions.
After the Japanese army retook Yichang, the Japanese government and the headquarters were also very happy. They believed that now was the best time to persuade the Chinese government to surrender. With the military threat, the Chinese government would definitely meet Japan's armistice conditions and surrender to the Empire of Japan.
However, what the Japanese government and the headquarters did not expect was that the Chinese government in the mountain city was very tough. It clearly stated that it would not negotiate with Japan before the Japanese troops completely withdrew from China, let alone agree to the peace terms proposed by Japan. This made the bigwigs of the Japanese government feel very uncomfortable. As a result, the bigwigs of the Japanese government asked the headquarters to order the Japanese troops in Yichang to continue attacking westwards, posing a real threat to the Chinese government.
But this time, as soon as the order from the headquarters was conveyed to the 11th Army Headquarters, it received a telegram strongly opposing it from Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army.
In the telegram, Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, clearly stated that occupying Yichang was already the limit of the combat forces of the 11th Army. If they wanted to continue to attack westward, the headquarters must send at least five divisions of troops to meet the headquarters' requirement to continue to attack westward.
Moreover, Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, commander of the 11th Army, also stated that the supply lines and rear of the front-line troops were being harassed by the Chinese government's troops at all times, and it was difficult to effectively guarantee the supplies of the front-line troops. Moreover, the 11th Army's current reserve materials were almost exhausted, and it had no strength to carry out the headquarters' combat mission of continuing to attack westward.
At the end of the telegram, Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, even suggested whether the time to occupy Yichang could be shortened a little. Now the officers and soldiers of the front-line troops are very tired facing the constant harassment of the Chinese army. A lot of supplies have been destroyed by the Chinese army on the way of transportation. The supplies of the front-line troops may be cut off by the Chinese army at any time.
When the headquarters and the expeditionary force saw that the attitude of Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, Commander of the 11th Army, was so strong, they thought about it carefully. They found that according to what Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, Commander of the 11th Army, said, it was indeed no longer suitable to continue attacking westwards.
Even in the military flag simulation at the headquarters, the 11th Army's more than three divisions on the front line might really face the situation described by the 11th Army Commander Lieutenant General Sonobe Kazuichiro, where their supply lines were cut off by the Chinese army and they were then surrounded by the Chinese army.
If such a situation really occurred, it would definitely make the entire army lose face. A battle that was originally a victory would eventually turn into a shameful battle. Such a polar reversal would definitely make everyone collapse.
In addition, if Lieutenant General Ichiro Sonobe, the commander of the 11th Army, had to go west to continue the attack, where would the five divisions they needed come from? Where would the required combat supplies and ammunition come from? If reinforcements were not sent to the 11th Army, it was estimated that the commanders of the three divisions on the front line would not agree to continue the attack.
Therefore, the bigwigs in the base camp also felt that they should focus on stability now and first of all, they should preserve the fruits of victory in this battle. There was no need to be too radical for the government's uncertain "political means". Moreover, the bigwigs in the government did not allocate more military funds and supplies to the base camp because of this excessive combat mission.
In this way, the leaders of the headquarters told the leaders of the government directly in front of the Emperor at the Imperial Conference that the current military strength and material reserves did not meet the combat goal of continuing to attack westward. Moreover, the Minister of the Army also stood up and made it clear that at the previous Imperial Conference, the leaders of the government only asked the army to occupy Yichang for a month, and now they could not suddenly ask the army to continue to attack westward. Moreover, where should they attack westward? Occupy the mountain city? Or do they need to continue to go west? What about the "Southward Plan"?
When the bigwigs of the Japanese government saw that the headquarters had a tough attitude, they immediately stated that they were just making a proposal. If the headquarters felt that the time was not ripe, they would follow the headquarters' wishes and stop attacking westwards.
As for what the headquarters said about how to increase funding and allocate supplies, the government leaders automatically chose not to hear it. As for the issue of forcing the Chinese government to surrender, they would take it one step at a time. If the Chinese government did not surrender, and if His Majesty the Emperor asked about it at that time, they would push the problem onto the fact that the headquarters did not agree to continue attacking westwards and continued to impose military threats on the Chinese government.
In this way, the Japanese government and the headquarters reached an agreement to stop attacking westwards and maintain the current front line. After reaching the deadline, the 11th Army can arrange whether to withdraw from Yichang based on actual conditions.
Three days later, the highest level of the government called Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone and Commander Chen of the Sixth War Zone, ordering the troops of the two war zones to confront the Japanese army on the outer line of Yichang, Dangyang, Jiangling, Jingmen, Zhongxiang, Suixian and Xinyang, and at the same time announced the end of the Zaoyi Campaign.
(Thanks to the gift support from Weiguogong, who only eats dumplings without vinegar and loves beef jerky! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)