On August 23, one day later than planned, the main force of the West Route Army joined forces with the Young Guards and the Airborne Division in Longjiang Victory.

At this point, the northern section of the China-Eastern Railway and the territory west of the Greater Khingan Mountains were all recovered by the Western Route Army.

When hundreds of armored vehicles and mighty motorized infantry divisions appeared in Longjiang with very few casualties, it was clear that the most important step in the Songhua River operation had been achieved.

The transport planes in the sky have never stopped transporting supplies, and there are already mountains of various supplies near Longjiang Airport.

After the West Route Army arrived, the two armored divisions took the time to replenish the tanks with fuel and repair some faults at the same time!

After receiving supplies, several armies of the 1st Group Army deployed near Longjiang, waiting for the next attack instructions.

The wounded were transported by transport plane to hospitals with better medical conditions in the rear!

Everything was going on in an orderly manner, and although there were hundreds of thousands of troops gathered, there was no chaos at all.

Longjiang Airport!

Zhang Shengqing, Lu Zhuoran, Xiao Jiang and others can finally have a hot meal!

After the two sides successfully joined forces, the battle situation was basically stable, and the next step was a flat push. Everyone was in a relaxed mood, and it was rare to talk and laugh at the dinner table.

"Although it is one day later than planned, we arrived before the deadline required by the commander-in-chief." Zhang Shengqing put down the bowl and chopsticks, lit a cigarette for himself and continued:

"Wang Laohu is almost reaching Harbin, our next task is to attack south and east from Longjiang!

Previously, due to the obstruction of the Greater Khingan Mountains, the advance speed of the armored forces was unsatisfactory!

South and east of Longjiang are the vast northeastern plains. The armored division will take a day's rest to replenish all supplies and repair all faults. The blitz operation will officially begin tomorrow!"

Zhang Shengqing looked at Xiao Jiang:

"We will first cooperate with the East Route Army to capture Harbin, and then the two armies will gather together and head south collectively to gather the Kwantung Army and annihilate it!

Your two armored divisions will advance from Longjiang to the outskirts of Harbin within three days, using all the tactics taught by the commander-in-chief, and the infantry will also give you full support!"

Lu Zhuoran interjected:

"According to intelligence, the Japanese have gathered 100,000 regular troops and 150,000 armed expatriates around Harbin!

Their troops and weapons and equipment are at an absolute disadvantage. Under such circumstances, the only thing we have to guard against is a Japanese suicide attack!"

The officers all nodded.

Someone repeated in a low voice:

"Those who are not of my race must have different hearts!"

Zhang Shengqing looked at Air Force Commander-in-Chief Zhou Yingshan and said:

"The Liaodong Peninsula has been recovered. Can the Air Force use its main combat power in future operations against Harbin?"

Zhou Yingshan thought carefully before replying:

"Send up to 300 fighter planes to support you, and another 200 to support the southern line and the direction of the Sanjiang Plain!"

300 fighter planes were a lot, and the officers of the West Route Army were all happy.

"Okay!" After seeing that everyone had finished eating, Zhang Shengqing clapped his hands and said,

"The air force is mainly responsible for reconnaissance and cover, trying to clear obstacles for the two armored divisions to advance!

The ground forces, with the armored division as the core, are advancing towards Harbin with a mopping up force. Regardless of whether they are regular troops or expatriates, as long as the Japanese have weapons in their hands, they will be killed without mercy!

Everyone goes back immediately and prepares to attack Harbin with the whole army at dawn tomorrow!!"

"yes!!!"

Most of the expatriates and Japanese soldiers captured by the West Route Army were transferred to the hands of businessmen in various ways!

The businessmen are somewhat dissatisfied with the compulsory transactions of the West Route Army. What they want are the factories, shops and land in the Northeast. Although the Japanese are free labor, the value is still too low compared to the previous ones.

Some.

Lu Zhuoran had experience in land reform twice. Under his order, there were not 1,000 but also 800 households of local tyrants and evil gentry who had their homes confiscated. He acted decisively and resolutely.

It was impossible for the businessmen to seek greater profits. They could only accept Lu Zhuoran's forced buying and selling.

After dumping a big burden, it was easier for the entire West Route Army to advance in a light assault.

The First Army and the two armored divisions have a large number of tanks and wheeled vehicles, but the Young Guards of Jiangdong's direct line landed at Longjiang Airport and all their vehicles were left behind, making them the slowest after the attack began.

of a troop.

The young soldiers were not convinced at all. They were able to hold on to Longjiang Airport for several days and annihilated 4 Japanese divisions. They would definitely be able to catch up with the 1st Group Army and the Armored Division on their own feet.

We have been fighting for many days, but our morale is still high.

On the 24th, the West Route Army set up its posture and attacked Harbin with all its strength.

Under the cover of Air Force fighter planes, the armored division was unstoppable and galloped across the plains at top speed.

The Japanese Kwantung Army would not sit back and watch the Sixth Army's eastern and western armies converge. They dispatched two divisions and tens of thousands of foreigners to intercept along the way.

Aerial fighter planes dropped various incendiary bombs, white phosphorus bombs and high-explosive aerial bombs at the gathering place of Japanese soldiers!

The plain terrain was open, and the Japanese army had almost no hiding place, and suffered heavy losses under the attack of fighter planes.

Since the Kwantung Army's previous defense focus was on the periphery, the fortresses in the mountains, they built very few solid fortifications on the northeastern plains, only a few gun towers used to defend farms and supervise the Chinese.

These gun towers were reduced to powder by the indiscriminate bombardment of fighter planes, and the tanks of the armored division did not hesitate to crush the Japanese who resisted in the ruins into pulp.

The Western Route Army advances at least 100 kilometers every day. Behind them are billowing smoke, broken fortifications, and countless exposed corpses.

People from the Political Department and the Administrative Office followed behind the army. They cleaned the battlefield, took over the county seat, stabilized the grassroots political power, and used the fastest speed to get the rich Northeast Plains out of the war.

The Japanese army was like a chicken and a dog in the face of China's steel torrent, and was completely vulnerable. Ueda Kenji kept mobilizing troops and generals, hoping to use the city of Harbin to hold back the pace of China's east and west armies and give them a blow.

Reinforcements from Goryeo entered the country to buy time.

…

Xiyuan(***).

"The Japanese have noticed that the code has been leaked. They have changed two sets of codes in a row. The Military Intelligence Bureau is already deciphering the latest set. It may take 4 to 5 days!"

Song Li stood up straight and reported to Jiang Donghui.

"This is a matter of time!" Jiang Dong waved his hand and didn't seem to care much.

"I'm very surprised that they didn't find out until now. All the information they wanted has been obtained, and what follows will be a roar of strength!"

Jiang Dong smiled at Song Li and said,

"The Military Intelligence Bureau has done a good job. Most of the factories we recovered are intact, and the skilled workers are still there!

You must continue your efforts and do your best to ensure the industrial integrity of Harbin, Changchun and Fengtian!

What I want is three central cities, not three big ruins!"

Song Li was very happy to hear Jiang Dong's praise, and he repeatedly promised:

"Don't worry, Commander-in-Chief, the Military Intelligence Agency and the Hunter Brigade will do their best to ensure the integrity of the city!"

The siege operation was about to begin. If we wanted to ensure the integrity of the city, we could only act inside and outside the city at the same time, annihilating the Japanese invaders with lightning speed, and preventing the battle from entering the brutal urban street fighting stage.

To achieve this is even more difficult than reaching the sky.

However, various departments of the Sixth Corps have accumulated some experience, and Lushunkou and Dalian were successfully captured, and the war's impact and damage to the city was not serious.

Xie Chengrui came over and said to Jiang Dong seriously:

"Commander-in-Chief, judging from the last Japanese telegram we intercepted, the Japanese base camp is going to use all its strength this time! The three Japanese divisions stationed in Goryeo are dispatched together and are rushing to the Northeast region on a starry night!"

Jiang Dong nodded to Song Li, indicating that the latter could leave. Then he turned his attention to the combat sand table and said:

"The Kwantung Army's special large-scale exercise plan has clear requirements. The Northeast region is the barrier to Japan's mainland and cannot be lost under any circumstances!

The victory at Pearl Harbor and Southeast Asia made the Japanese base camp not consider Manchuria for the time being, but it does not mean that they do not know the importance of this region!

What we can do now is to defeat the Kwantung Army as quickly as possible and make the Japanese base camp realize that even if they pay 2 million pieces of jade, Manchuria will not get it back!

The Japanese Army has limited troops. After realizing this problem, they will definitely send their main forces to Southeast Asia to plunder resources! At the same time, they will build a maritime and air defense network on the west coast to protect the homeland from air attacks!"

"After regaining the Northeast, do we need to take advantage of the situation and take over the Goryeo area?" Xie Chengrui asked, looking at Jiangdong.

"Goryeo is a vassal state of the Celestial Empire and should be protected by us. We are also capable of taking over the Goryeo region!

But Goryeo is too close to the Japanese mainland. Attacking Goryeo hastily may cause the Japanese Emperor and Tojo to jump over the wall, give up conquering Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and mobilize the whole country to deal with us. That is not a good thing!

In order not to irritate little Japan, and in order for us to obtain greater benefits from other aspects, we will not touch Korea for the time being, and let the people of Korea continue to coexist harmoniously with the Japanese!"

Xie Chengrui had some guesses about other aspects of Jiang Dongkou, nodded and said:

"Then we must prevent the Japanese base camp from increasing its troops in the Northeast. Taking Anton is the key! The nearby Japanese troops are already gathering at the transportation hub along the Yalu River. I think Ueda Kenkichi is also aware of this problem!"

The southern part of Liaoning, including the area within the Liaodong Peninsula Station, has fallen into the hands of the Southern Route Army, and Li Zhaoying is about to launch a general offensive against Fengtian.

Jiang Dong looked at the situation between the enemy and ourselves for a while, then touched the stubble on his chin and said:

"Only the 200,000 troops of the 5th Army are needed to capture Fengtian. Order Jia Dalin to lead the 4th Army to advance along the railway line to Dandong and other transportation hubs along the Yalu River, cut off the communication channels between Northeast China and Korea, prevent the entry of Japanese reinforcements, and also prepare for

The Kwantung Army fled!"

"yes!"

Jiang Dong pondered for a moment and then ordered:

"Let the 50,000 cavalrymen of the cavalry group enter Liaoning from Rehe. They will be mainly responsible for mopping up the Japanese stragglers on the East Road of Daxinganling and the expatriates scattered in various places!"

The cavalry group is the last force in Jiangdong's hands, and King De, Li Shouxin and others are also asking for battle every day.

Using cavalry to deal with scattered Japanese expatriates is cheaper and more efficient than directly driving tanks to crush them.
Chapter completed!