Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Inside the headquarters of the North China Area Army in Beiping.

In the huge war room, the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood. Okamura Neiji sat at the head of the table. Although his face was still gloomy, there was a rare hint of ease in his eyes and brows.

The initial attack was very successful, giving them a few days to catch their breath.

Currently, all units are ready for combat.

What remains is a contest of raw strength between the two sides.

Inside the operations conference room, long conference tables were filled with senior officers of the Japanese North China Area Army.

"Gentlemen."

Major General Shinichi Kitajima, Chief of Staff, stood before a huge battle map, holding a command baton, his tone tinged with barely concealed pride: "According to the latest battle report from the front, our preemptive artillery bombardment of the Luxi China Army assembly area has achieved brilliant results!"

"The vanguard of the 88th Army Group of China suffered heavy losses. Its armored assembly areas and artillery positions were covered by our special ammunition. As of now, it has been unable to launch an effective offensive."

Shinichi Kitajima drew a sharp line on the map with his command baton: "Commander's preemptive strike has not only disrupted the overall deployment in North China, but also bought us valuable time to adjust our defenses, especially to consolidate the Tianjin-Pukou defense line!"

"Yoshi!"

Lieutenant General Tsuchibashi Ichijō, commander of the 12th Army, immediately stood up and flattered with a beaming smile, saying, "Commander, you are truly the most outstanding general of our great Japan!"

"The Chinese often say 'strike first, win later,' and your powerful punch has hit Chu Yunfei right where it hurts!"

"The Eighth Division is the elite of our army, well-equipped and with high morale."

"With the strong field fortifications surrounding Liaocheng, coupled with the deterrent effect of 'special ammunition,' even if the Chinese army recovers, it will inevitably lose all its fighting spirit!"

Okamura Neiji nodded slightly, picked up his teacup, and took a small sip: "But we must not let our guard down. Chu Yunfei is cunning and treacherous; he will not easily admit defeat. Order the 8th Division to strengthen its defenses."

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, as the Chinese military strategist said, 'Strike while the iron is hot,' 'A second attempt will be less effective, and a third will be exhausted.' The Chinese..."

He didn't finish his words.

"boom!"

The door to the operations room was violently kicked open.

A communications staff officer stumbled in, his face ashen, clutching a telegram as if it were a hot potato. He looked as if he had just been pulled out of the water, his uniform soaked with sweat.

"idiot!"

"Why panic?!"

Shinichi Kitajima shouted sternly, "Do you even have the demeanor of an Imperial soldier?!"

"Report to the Commander!"

The communications officer didn't even bother to salute; his voice trembled like a leaf in the wind, and his eyes were filled with unknown fear: "Urgent telegram from the 8th Division! Top Secret!"

"Read!"

Okamura Neiji's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition instantly enveloped his entire body.

"Yes!"

The communications staff officer took a deep breath and read in an almost tearful voice: "At nine o'clock this morning, the 88th Group Army of the Chinese Army, under heavy artillery fire and air cover, launched a full-scale attack on the positions of our 17th Regiment!"

"The enemy used hundreds of new armored vehicles and retaliated by dropping a large number of special munitions!"

"also."

The communications officer's voice grew even more alarmed: "Report from the front! The Chinese Air Force has dropped a new type of incendiary bomb that we've never seen before!"

"A new type of incendiary bomb?" Okamura Yasuji frowned. "Another white phosphorus bomb?"

"No!"

It's not white phosphorus!

The communications officer shook his head frantically, reading aloud the description from the telegram: "According to survivors, this bomb, when it explodes, does not produce shrapnel like a regular bomb, but instead sprays out a viscous, glue-like fluid!"

"This fluid has extremely strong adhesion. Once it gets on a person or work site, it sticks like glue and cannot be extinguished no matter how much you slap or roll it!"

"If you try to extinguish the fire with water, it will only make it burn more fiercely!"

"The flames are an eerie orange-red color, extremely hot, capable of burning soldiers to charcoal in an extremely short time, and even steel can be heated until it glows red and deforms!"

"Many of the Locust Army warriors in the trenches were burned alive!"

"The entire position felt like a flowing lava hell!"

"The 17th Regiment's defensive line collapsed completely in less than two hours!"

"Commander Colonel Yusuke Ikeda has died a glorious death!"

Dead silence.

Deathly silence.

Lieutenant General Tsuchihashi, who had been talking at length just moments before, now stood there with his mouth agape, his face ashen.

"A flowing flame cannot be extinguished!"

In the corner, a senior staff officer in charge of intelligence suddenly stood up, his voice shrill: "Commander! This is exactly the same as the description in the last telegram sent by the 46th Division on Qiongzhou Island before its annihilation some time ago!"

"At that time, American bombers also dropped these incendiary bombs on the outskirts of Haikou!"

"Intelligence analysis suggests that this is highly likely the latest type of chemical incendiary weapon developed by the Americans!"

"It is clear that the Chinese army has now deployed this weapon on a large scale!"

"This incident is enough to prove the extent of cooperation between the Chinese and the United States nowadays, with their new weapons being prioritized for deployment to the Nationalist Air Force."

The staff officer paused, took a deep breath, and continued, "The Chinese Expeditionary Force is very likely to cooperate with the United States to launch the next offensive."

"Snapped!"

Okamura Neiji slammed his hand on the table, making the teacup bounce and spill tea onto the map.

"Bagaya road!"

He suddenly stood up, his face turning from gloomy to deathly pale, and for the first time, deep fear showed in his eyes.

Since the outbreak of the war.

For the first time, Okamura Yasuji felt a sense of dread towards the Chinese army.

It wasn't just because of the annihilation of the 17th Regiment, but also because of the meaning behind this weapon.

The United States possesses an absolute industrial generational gap and technological lead over Japan.

The sale of scrap iron and oil alone supported Japan's resource consumption in the first few years of the invasion of China.

Now that the two sides have become enemies, the Japanese are even more acutely aware of the despair brought about by the disparity in strength between them.

"If this weapon were used on a large scale in the Kanto Plain..."

Most buildings in Japan are made of wood.
Looking at the densely packed strongholds and cities on the map, Okamura Neiji felt a chill run down his spine.

If North China cannot be defended and the Japanese mainland is attacked, the losses will be even more severe!
"quick!"

"too fast!"

Okamura Yasuji muttered to himself, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead: "How could the Chinese army advance so quickly? They broke through an elite regiment in just two hours."

"Your Excellency Commander"

Shinichi Kitajima cautiously reminded him, "What do we do now?"

Okamura Neiji took a deep breath, forcing himself to regain his composure from the shock, but his voice still trembled slightly: "Immediately! Send a power to headquarters right now!"

His voice was slightly hurried: "Reporting to headquarters, we have confirmed once again that the Chinese army used the latest high-tech incendiary bombs from the US military!"

"This weapon poses a devastating threat to the Locust Army!"

"If a solution is not found soon, or if a strategic adjustment is not made soon,..."

Okamura Neiji didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

That would be a catastrophe that would lead to the destruction of the nation and the extinction of the race!

"in addition!"

Okamura Neiji turned around abruptly: "Tsuchibashi-kun! No matter what weapons the enemy uses, Liaocheng absolutely cannot be lost!"

"That's the hub of Luxi!"

"Once Liaocheng falls, the armored torrent of the Chinese army can advance unimpeded!"

"No matter what method we use, even if it costs the lives of the Locust Army, we must keep them outside the Liaocheng defense line!"

"Hai!"

The meeting ended abruptly.

Sitting silently in place, Okamura Neiji issued a new order half an hour later, demanding that frontline combat troops and rear ammunition depots destroy special ammunition immediately.
Upon hearing the order to "destroy special ammunition," Kitajima Shin froze on the spot, instinctively asking, "Commander? The frontline forces are stretched thin right now. If we destroy the decisive weapons, how will Liaocheng be defended?"

Okamura Neiji slowly raised his head, his once sinister eyes now bloodshot: "Foolish!"

Why did Chu Yunfei dare to so recklessly deploy special munitions and incendiary bombs?

"Because he's waiting for a reason!"

"The American strategic bomber fleet is lurking in the south."

"If we continue to use poison gas on a large scale, we will give the Allies an excuse to drop these 'napalm bombs' on Tokyo and Osaka!"

"Just think about it, can those wooden houses in our country really withstand this kind of unextinguishable gelatinous fire?!"

"The nature of this battle has changed. This is no longer a contest at the tactical level; it is an absolute crushing of industrial scale."

Okamura Neiji waved his hand weakly: "Go and carry it out."

"Destroying inventory does not mean we should give up the fight."

"Tell Tuqiao to demolish all the trucks, and even the houses in the city, and build barricades!"

"Hai!"

"In addition, I suggest that General Headquarters immediately launch a protest to condemn the enemy's use of such inhumane weapons. Furthermore, in the name of the North China Area Army, send a telegram to the mountain city and the North China region stating that we will evacuate the local population." "Your Excellency, Commander."

Okamura Yasuji sighed: "Go and draft the plan. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility."

"Hay."

On the highway leading to Liaocheng in the western Shandong Plain.

The dust kicked up by the tracks blotted out the sky.

The armored vanguard of the 88th Group Army—Yin Chongyue's armored brigade—is advancing eastward with unstoppable momentum.

The M4A3 Sherman tank spewed black smoke from its exhaust pipe, and the sandbags and track plates temporarily attached to its body looked particularly ferocious in the sunlight, resembling a group of armored steel behemoths.

"Brigade Commander!"

"A Japanese and puppet army stronghold has been discovered two kilometers to the right! It's a brick and stone pillbox, and it looks like there's a platoon stationed there!"

The reconnaissance battalion commander's report came through the communications channel, accompanied by a few sporadic gunshots: "Requesting permission to open fire and eliminate them!"

Yin Chongyue sat on the turret of the command vehicle, not even raising his binoculars, but coldly glancing at the lonely pillbox in the distance.

"Never mind it!"

Yin Chongyue's voice came through the radio to all the surrounding vehicles: "Our destination is Liaocheng."

"Leave these rotten sweet potatoes and rotten eggs from the roadside for the infantry to clean up!"

"Full speed ahead!"

"Go around!"

"Yes!"

The steel torrent surged past the stronghold without stopping, not even the turrets shifted.

The puppet troops inside the pillbox were so frightened that they huddled in the corner, trembling, and didn't dare to fire a single shot until the roar of the tanks faded into the distance.

The rapid advance of armored forces.

They took full advantage of the road network that Okamura Yasuji had built to deal with the Eighth Route Army.

In order to deal with the Eighth Route Army, a large number of highways and railways were built in North China to enable brigades and regiments to move quickly.

Nowadays, these roads allow armored forces to move quickly.

If it were still the same muddy ground as before.

Even without enemy resistance, an armored brigade would take a whole day to advance.

Along the way, the armored brigade encountered several outposts and blocking positions of the Japanese and puppet troops.

In addition to using firepower to clear the bridges and intersections that must be crossed.

Yin Chongyue resolutely implemented the tactical intent of "infiltration"—avoiding the strong and attacking the weak, and advancing at high speed.

5:30 pm.

The city walls of Liaocheng finally appeared on the horizon.

In the afterglow of the setting sun.

The Japanese flags on the city walls were particularly glaring, and the trenches dug outside the city resembled ugly scars.

The armored brigade slowly came to a stop about five kilometers from its outskirts, the idling roar of its engines merging into a low rumble of thunder.

"Brigade Commander!"

"According to the reconnaissance company's report, the Japanese defenses of the city are extremely weak!"

Before the jeep had even come to a complete stop, Xing Zhigang, the commander of the 1st Armored Regiment, jumped out of the passenger seat.

This fierce general, nicknamed "Iron Head Xing," had oil-stained goggles around his neck, and his uniform sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing a section of his dark arm.

He strode up to Yin Chongyue, his excitement barely contained, and gave a slightly "rough" military salute:

"Brigade Commander!"

"Just now, my reconnaissance company practically pressed their noses into the Japanese city gate!"

"There are only a few scattered guns on the city wall. I think the main force probably hasn't withdrawn yet, or isn't here at all."

Xing Zhigang's eyes lit up as he pointed to the distant city wall of Liaocheng, spittle flying everywhere: "I request an immediate attack."

"If our regiment fails to break into the city before sunset, I'll cut my head off and give it to you as a chamber pot."

"No."

Yin Chongyue took off his goggles, wiped the grease off his face, and spoke in a calm but unquestionable tone.

"Brigadier!" Xing Zhigang stamped his foot anxiously, the veins on his neck bulging: "Speed ​​is of the essence in war! This is our armored force's specialty!"

"If we don't charge now, the Japanese will block the city gates tonight, and we 'Iron Turtle' will be left starving outside the city!"

"I said, no way!"

Yin Chongyue whirled around, pointed to the empty road behind him, and asked sternly, "Xing Tietou! What else is on your mind besides charging around?"

"Where are your infantry? Where are your covering forces?"

"Hey! How can those two-legged guys keep up with our tracks?" Xing Zhigang slapped his thigh and said nonchalantly, "Apart from the armored infantry in the accompanying M3 half-tracks, even if the main infantry regiment has trucks, they're still at least twenty kilometers away eating dust!"

"But doesn't this just showcase the capabilities of our armored regiment?"

"Confused!"

Yin Chongyue pointed at Liaocheng and scolded him with exasperation, "Look carefully, that's a city, not a place for you to have a field battle on the Luxi Plain."

"Without infantry cover, tanks entering the city are going to their deaths."

"This is a lesson our allies learned with blood on the European battlefield!"

"You should have understood this when you broke through the enemy lines in Nanjing driving a Vickers tank!"

"If the Japanese just throw a few Molotov cocktails on the rooftops, or hide a few suicide squads carrying explosives in the alleys, your Sherman armor, no matter how thick, will be brought to a standstill!"

"Even if you, Xing Zhigang, think your life is worthless, I can't trade an expensive Sherman tank and well-trained armored soldiers for a moment of pleasure!"

After being thoroughly reprimanded by Yin Chongyue, Xing Zhigang's initial enthusiasm finally cooled down.

He shrank his neck, took off his military cap, scratched his sweat-drenched buzz cut, and muttered, "This subordinate was reckless."

"I was just thinking of saving you two cannonballs."

Yin Chongyue took a deep breath and softened his tone: "Order each regiment to deploy in a semi-encirclement formation, block the city gates, and monitor the movements of the Japanese army."

"Immediately construct field fortifications, inspect vehicles, and replenish fuel and ammunition."

"Xing Zhigang, listen to me carefully! Without my orders, if your tank dares to cross the warning line even half a step, I will report it to the North China Joint Command, remove your regimental commander, and send you to the mess hall to take the blame!"

"Yes!"

Xing Zhigang stood at attention and saluted. Although he was still somewhat unwilling, his eyes showed obedience to his superior. "Don't worry, without your order, I'll make sure the tank tracks stay in the ground!"

Episode 88: Frontline Command Headquarters.

"Sir, Yin Chongyue is calling."

Fang Ligong took the telegram and walked to Chu Yunfei's side, a hint of approval on his face: "The armored brigade has already reached the outskirts of Liaocheng, but he did not choose to launch a full-scale attack. Instead, he stayed in place and waited for the follow-up infantry. Yin Chongyue is indeed a steady man."

Chu Yunfei looked at the blue arrow on the map that was stopped outside Liaocheng and nodded slightly: "Your studies in Germany were worthwhile. You know where the weaknesses of armored forces lie. You haven't been blinded by victory. You have the makings of a great general."

"Brother Ligong, this operation has also exposed a major problem we currently face."

"Short legs?"

Chu Yunfei nodded: "Our armored forces are advancing too fast, and our motorized infantry, while called motorized, actually suffers from a severe shortage of trucks, so they can hardly be called motorized infantry."

"Although a lot of American aid trucks have arrived, they need to be distributed to the logistics department to transport artillery shells and food, and to ensure the long supply line from the rear to the front."

"There are still too few that can be allocated to the infantry to pull people."

“Except for a few elite regiments that can travel by car, most of the brothers still have to run on foot.”

"An armored brigade can run for an hour, but an infantryman would have to run for most of the day."

"The firepower vacuum during this period would be extremely dangerous if the Japanese launched a premeditated flanking attack."

"The Japanese commanders are all capable, and they will likely realize this soon."

"Furthermore, the only terrain suitable for armored assaults is the small Luxi Plain. In attacking Shandong, we will most likely have to rely on infantry to take it by force."

Fang Ligong was silent for a moment, then tapped his fingers lightly on the table: "Yes, this is the biggest weakness of our North China combat troops."

"We are far from being mechanized, we haven't even achieved mule and horse-based systems."

"If only our cavalry were here," he added with some regret. "The two cavalry corps of the North China Mobile Corps are highly mobile and have strong firepower. They would be perfect to fill this gap and accompany the tanks to cover the flanks."

"such a pity."

Chu Yunfei shook his head, his gaze falling on the edge of the map: "There are only two cavalry armies, one of which is stationed in the northwest to suppress bandits, ready to move north at any time."

"The 2nd Cavalry Corps was assigned to the 31st Army Group on the southern front."

“Wang Zhonglian’s side is all infantry, and the right flank is still the Guangxi clique troops of the Fifth War Zone. The contradictions between the two sides are very serious. If we don’t have some cavalry mobility, it will be easy for the Japanese to penetrate and then they will drag each other down.”

"We really don't have any extra mobile forces available right now."

Chu Yunfei turned around, looked at Fang Ligong, and said with a firm look in his eyes: "However, there's nothing we can do about it."

"War is never a time when everything is ready."

"Eat your food one bite at a time and walk your journey one step at a time."

"Since the infantry can't keep up, let the tanks wait."

"Reply to Yin Chongyue: You did the right thing!"

"Don't be impatient!" (End of Chapter)