During the entire war of aggression against China, Japan built a total of 17 large-scale military fortresses in Northeast China.

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese prisoners of war and laborers died for these fortresses. After the fortresses were built, the surviving laborers and prisoners of war were ruthlessly massacred. There were several mass graves next to each fortress.

The fortress, which took hundreds of thousands of people and took several years to build, is extremely strong. The important fortifications are all made of reinforced concrete, and the underground passages are crisscrossed, giving it the feel of an underground city.

The command room, rest room, bathhouse, grain storage, ammunition room and other facilities are extremely complete. Each fortress is equipped with a large number of ventilation holes, exhaust holes and counterattack channels.

In order to enhance the firepower of these fortresses, the Japanese Kwantung Army even frantically transported 300mm and 400mm coastal defense cannons from Tokyo Bay to the Northeast.

In addition to the coastal defense artillery, the defenders of each fortress are also equipped with a large number of 150mm howitzers, 100mm cannons and infantry artillery.

In 1941, the Kwantung Army's firepower and military strength reached their peak in history. The soldiers were armed to the teeth, and the fortress was a steel behemoth.

The Kwantung Army called the fortress between the high mountains the Maginot Line of the East.

17 fortresses surrounded the entire Manchuria area from east, west, north and west. If you want to enter the hinterland of Manchuria, you must pass through the fortress defense lines.

Strong fortresses and super firepower are what the Japanese Kwantung Army relies on, and it is also an important reason why they continue to seek active attack rather than defense.

From the perspective of Ueda Kenkichi's Japanese Kwantung Army, with the fortress as a barrier, any attack would be blocked.

Manchuria is already fortified, and what they want to pursue is Sakhalin Island and the Kamchatka Peninsula.

With the most elite soldiers, the strongest fortress, and a plan of 2 million pieces of jade, the enemy would not be able to move the Kwantung Army without 3 million troops.

Looking at the entire Northeast Asia region, no military force exceeds 3 million.

This is also the pride of the Japanese Kwantung Army that Kodō mentioned before.

When formulating the Songhua River action plan, Koto and the staff took into account the impregnable fortresses of the Japanese Kwantung Army.

In order to break through the Japanese fortress, Jiangdong gave the two generals to the West Route Army. General Chui No. 3 also secretly transferred to the East Route Army in Shuangchengzi after completing the task of attracting the enemy's attention.

The three-door general's hammer is far from enough to deal with the Japanese fortress.

The Academy of Military Sciences has successfully developed napalm bombs, white phosphorus bombs, cloud burst bombs and cluster bombs.

For this Songhua River operation, the military factories worked overtime, stored a large amount of ammunition, and all of them have been transported to the front line.

In addition, the armored group assault was carried out simultaneously with the airborne troops' actions to seize the airport. This tactic was adopted to weaken the power of the Japanese fortress as much as possible.

The Japanese Kwantung Army has a total of 17 fortresses that have been built or are under construction. After using new tactics, there are only five fortresses blocking the front of the Sixth Corps.

Fortresses such as Aihui Fortress, Heihe Fortress and the famous Hutou Fortress will all be directly bypassed by the Sixth Corps.

On August 14, 1941, it was less than 20 hours before Operation Songhua River officially began.

On the Chita front line, Zhang Shengqing, commander-in-chief of the West Route Army and commander of the First Army, looked at the Japanese fortress on the sand table and frowned.

It is more than 600 kilometers from Manzhouli to Longjiang (Qiqihar). In addition to crossing the Greater Khingan Mountains, it is also necessary to break through the Japanese Hailar and Wunuoer fortresses head-on.

The construction of Hailar Fortress has been completed, and Wu Nuoer is behind Hailar, located in the hinterland of Daxinganling.

Soldiers are extremely valuable, and to implement the new strategy and tactics, it is necessary to break through the Japanese fortress as quickly as possible. Once blocked, the airborne troops and the Young Guards who penetrate deep behind enemy lines will be in danger.

The battle plan of the West Route Army was that after the operation began, the armored troops would bypass the front of Hailar and engage in close combat in the city of Hailar, clear the auxiliary fortifications and surround the Japanese invaders in the mountains.

Of course, before that, the generals and air force fighter planes must be allowed to bomb the Hyrule Fortress indiscriminately.

The Japanese army's fortifications were extremely strong. Zhang Shengqing kept Jiang Dong's words in mind,

Directly use absolute firepower to flatten and blow up the mountain, turning the fortress into a living coffin for the Japanese.

Yang Fugui, commander of the First Army of the 1st Group Army, walked into the headquarters from outside and happened to see Zhang Shengqing’s frowning expression. He said:

"The commander-in-chief, the armored division, the airborne division and the Young Guards have all been prepared, and the general's hammer has also been secretly transported to the front line and entered the artillery position!

The most important Aobao Mountain and Henan Taiwan positions of Hailar Fortress have entered the range of our General Hammer. The artillery shells used by the General Hammer have been newly modified and can penetrate at least three meters of reinforced concrete fortifications!

According to intelligence, the thickest reinforced concrete area of ​​the Japanese Hailar Fortress is no more than three meters!

There are also various new types of bomb support from the Air Force, Commander-in-Chief, don’t worry, the little devil’s fortress cannot stop our attack!”

Zhang Shengqing looked back at Yang Fugui with a smile on his face. This simple farmer who wanted to avenge his wife and children had grown into an excellent commander in the flames of war.

Newly grown officers like Yang Fugui filled all the units of the 6th Corps. They injected vitality into the 6th Corps and gave this unit a completely new look.

In front of these young officers, Zhang Shengqing felt that he lacked confidence. He shook his head and asked:

"Is the Japanese negotiating team still in Chita?"

"It should still be there, the Soviets are dealing with them."

"Yeah." Zhang Shengqing nodded,

"Tomorrow at 8 o'clock in the morning, the Commander-in-Chief will broadcast a protest message to the entire army, the whole country, and the world, and wait until the Japanese negotiation team listens to the protest message and then all of them will be detained!"

Yang Fugui has also learned a lot of culture over the years, and he knows what a slogan is. At that moment, his face showed excitement, and he subconsciously asked:

"Why not broadcast it today? The commander-in-chief's words will definitely inspire the entire army!"

"Hey..." Zhang Shengqing shook his head,

"When it comes to the commander-in-chief, your brains will become unclear! The power of the commander-in-chief's speech must be as powerful as one of our armored divisions. You don't even think about it. If it is broadcast today, our combat intentions will not be the same.

Totally exposed!

Even if the little devils don’t know the direction of our attack, they will be prepared in advance and they won’t be able to achieve the effect of a surprise attack!”

Yang Fugui slapped his forehead and laughed a little ashamedly.

Zhang Shengqing continued:

"Broadcast at 8 o'clock this morning, by that time we had been fighting against Japan for several hours! As soon as the statement came out, the whole country and the whole world would be in high spirits, while Kenkichi Ueda, Hyoutarou Kimura and others of the Kwantung Army would be so angry that they vomited blood.

!

It can boost the morale of soldiers and civilians across the country, and it will also be of great benefit to fight with our army!"

"Understood!"

Zhang Shengqing patted Yang Fugui on the shoulder and said softly:

"Let the soldiers not think about anything and have a good sleep. When we wake up, we will go to recover the Northeast!"
Chapter completed!