Rise From Eight Hundred

Setouchi did not start a fire when he took office, but he worked very hard.

After obtaining the command, he immediately summoned the four infantry battalion captains who were still on the front line to return to the temporary command post for a combat meeting.

First, he declared his leadership, and second, he naturally felt that Kanda Masatane's current combat method was too reckless.

Because it was a night battle, the Empire's artillery advantage was not fully utilized, and it blindly used infantry to attack the enemy. Although there were certain effects, such as conquering the hills and highlands that were extremely important to the Chinese, it was completed at great sacrifices, and an infantry battalion was almost consumed there.

When did the victory of the Imperial Army rely on the lives of the Imperial Warriors? Nogi Maresuke's desperate and crazy attack tactics are already decades old.

The Army Lieutenant Colonel believed that the reason why Kanda Masatane was deprived of command was closely related to the huge consumption of troops. Perhaps Ushijima Mitsuru, who was in a hurry to contact the various divisions of the Tenth Army, had lost all patience with him.

As the successor to the front-line commander, he would not make such a stupid mistake again.

Besides, the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade was finished, and their current tactical goal had changed from breaking through this position to eating up all the Chinese on this position, including the hundreds of reinforcements they had just arrived.

While waiting for the four majors to return from the front line, Seto Uchida once again studied the terrain of the Jiashan area in China, and had formed a feasible strategy in his mind.

The chief of staff of the 36th Infantry Brigade, who had been suppressed by Ushijima Mitsuru, was not only a top student who had studied at the Army University, but his resume was even more amazing.

After graduating from the NCO Academy, he served as a second lieutenant in the engineering corps, then a lieutenant in the transportation corps, then a lieutenant in the infantry, and later a captain in the infantry. Because of his excellent performance, he was transferred to the division headquarters staff, and his military rank was promoted to major, and then he entered the Army University for further studies. After graduation, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the army. After serving in the division headquarters of the 6th Division for half a year, he was transferred to the 36th Infantry Brigade as chief of staff.

The resume of serving as an officer in various branches of the front-line troops in the early days shows that Setouchi is a staff officer with extremely solid grassroots combat experience, not a person who can only talk about war on paper.

However, the ancestors of China have long seen through human nature. "The tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind." The more excellent the resume, the more people will be cautious and guarded, especially for a brigade-level commander like Ushijima Mitsuru who is outstanding in ambition and talent.

However, when the war situation was deteriorating, Setouchi finally got the opportunity to show his strengths. Although he cursed Ushijima Mitsuru and Kanda Masatane in his heart, the army lieutenant colonel was actually happy.

Therefore, he cherished this hard-won opportunity and tried very hard to pull off this fig leaf for the generals of the Tenth Army.

Especially Lieutenant General Ushijima Sadao of the 18th Division. If he could take out the bodies of more than 1,000 or even more than 2,000 Chinese in front of him and put them in the battle report, the lieutenant general who made a serious mistake could still shamelessly report to the bigwigs in the headquarters: The Chinese relied on shameless night attacks to cause the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade to die, but my 10th Army killed the enemy in the field, and the enemy's corpses were thousands!

As for the "number", anyway, one thousand or two thousand are numbers. If you want to know, come to the battlefield and see it for yourself!

As long as Ushijima Sadao does not fall, he will be much more useful than Ushijima Mitsuru, a self-willed and ruined major general of the army, especially after he can get his gratitude.

It can be said that Setouchi's little calculations in his heart have been frantically opened the moment he was appointed as the commander of the front line.

Setouchi's tactics are not like Kanda Masatane, who relies on the advantages of manpower and artillery to crush the enemy, but it is absolutely insidious.

Even this smart Japanese Army lieutenant colonel thought of the possibility that the opponent who had defeated the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade would lead his troops back to rescue the soldiers on his own blocking position, although even Ushijima Mitsuru, who was 1,000 meters away, thought that this idea was extremely unlikely.

That was because they were still proud enough. Even if they suffered continuous blows on this night, how could the pride of being the "strongest division on the surface of the earth" be so easily worn away? And their pride was accumulated from the continuous victories since the establishment of the division, not blind arrogance.

Whether it was the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 or the Russo-Japanese War, the vanguard of the Japanese Army always had only one division, numbered 6.

In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, under the leadership of Kuroki Tamemasa, they landed on the Jiaodong Peninsula and captured Weihaiwei in one fell swoop. In the Russo-Japanese War, they were assigned to the 2nd Army led by Oku Yasuo, participated in the Battle of Shahe and the Battle of Fengtian, and defeated the Russian army.

From 1923 to 1925, they were stationed in Manchuria. After returning to China, they sent troops to Shandong for the second time in March 1928, causing the Jinan Massacre.

After the September 18th Incident, they were reorganized at the end of 1932 to participate in the Rehe Campaign and defeated Shang Zhen's 32nd Army at Lengkou of the Great Wall.

Such a strong army is naturally qualified to be proud. Even in the face of the current predicament, the middle and senior officers of the 36th Infantry Brigade still unanimously believe that even if the Chinese army attacking the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade wins, its losses will never be small. Naturally, it is impossible to maneuver another ten miles to confront the thousands of troops that once chased them so embarrassedly under the condition of huge loss of manpower and physical strength.

The most correct thing for the Chinese should be that their main force has already fled in the direction of their main force at the Jiashan defense line. They should now allocate some troops to block their way before dawn.

In this case, although they lost the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade in this sudden night battle and it was a defeat, they also killed all the elite Chinese, which not only saved some face, but also made the commander of the other side heartbroken.

At this time, if they still don’t know that the thousands of Chinese they are chasing are actually the elite selected by the Chinese army, then they are really stupid.

If they are not elite, how can they stop their infantry brigade for two hours with a force of thousands of people? If they are not elite, how can they make a "side attack" on the way to escape and smash the unprepared 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade to a bloody mess?

If all the Chinese are so awesome, let alone the 10th Army will never set foot on this land, the term North China Expeditionary Army may not even exist.

Killing such a group of Chinese elites is more useful than killing Chinese who are several times their number.

This is the pride of the 6th Division. Failures once or twice are only short-term frustrations, which do not undermine their determination to win the final victory. At this moment, they are also thinking about how to wipe out the elite enemy forces on the opposite side.

But Seto Uchida didn't think so. From the defeat of the bomber group composed of more than 20 fighter planes of the Navy to the constant harassment of the infantry brigade on the way of pursuit, the Chinese are taking advantage. On the surface, it seems that it is all the fluke of the Chinese struggling to survive.

But combined with the current ending of the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade, Seto Uchida actually felt that this seemed to be planned by the Chinese commander long ago. The ultimate goal of this series of operations is to kill the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade.

They thought so a week ago.

If it is really as he thought, how amazing is the wisdom of the Chinese commander who has never met on the opposite side? How can such a person design tactics according to the ideas of his defeated generals?

If those idiots can guess his thoughts, do they still need to squat in the bushes and talk? Shouldn't that be a place for toilets?

Setouchi had to spend ten minutes convincing those unruly majors. He was the one who made the decision, but didn't the specific command of the front line depend on them? If you pretend to obey the commander, the tactical execution will be greatly reduced. The Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel who had been in the grassroots troops for seven or eight years knew the ins and outs of it too well.

As for Ushijima Mitsuru, Setouchi didn't have to report so hard. The already exhausted Major General Brigade Commander should be busy with the 18th Division's research on how to get away with it!

The nearly 100 heavy artillery pieces of the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade are the Empire's heavy weapons. Once lost, not to mention the 10th Army, even the North China Expeditionary Army Command could not suppress the news that was enough to shock the headquarters.

In other words, Ushijima Mitsuru was basically a general who had to stand aside. Perhaps he couldn't wait for the end of the last battle in Songhu, and he had to say "Baga! Sayou Lala!"

Setouchi's efforts paid off, and several majors accepted his opinion.

Although the 36th Infantry Brigade has suffered heavy losses, the baggage soldiers that followed can be added to the front-line combat troops at any time. The addition of nearly a thousand baggage soldiers can restore a lot of blood, basically solving the problem of insufficient manpower.

The existing two infantry regiments and six infantry battalions, leaving four half-crippled ones, replenishing baggage soldiers while continuing to maintain a high-pressure offensive against the Chinese army in front of them, and the other two moving three kilometers away from the two wings respectively.

It is equivalent to forming a big pocket with the Chinese defense line in front of them as the mouth of the pocket. If the Chinese reinforcements do not arrive, the pocket will close, and no Chinese on the battlefield in front of them can escape. If the Chinese army that attacked the heavy artillery brigade is bold enough to come, then they will be surrounded together.

If you can't bite it off in one bite, then wait until dawn to bite it slowly.

When the 12 mountain guns of the lost division artillery battalion arrive, even gods can't escape.

Of course, these two infantry battalions that still maintain sufficient combat effectiveness also undertake the task of vigilance, just to prevent the Chinese from making a detour and attacking again.

Seto Uchiri had experienced the ghostly tricks of the Chinese at night a few days ago, and he would not give Tang Dao any chance at this time.

It is said that God favors hard-working children. The Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel who arranged all this was looking forward to a good result in the next period of time.

However, Seto Uchiri obviously forgot one thing. The major general, colonel, and major of the 36th Infantry Brigade were all fooled by Tang Dao, so was he, the lieutenant colonel?

How could Tang Dao fight this battle according to his ideas?

What's more, Seto Uchiri had 75 mountain guns and infantry guns, and Tang Dao now had guns.

Cannons!

Heavy guns!

150 caliber.