Chapter 193 The Enemy's Ruthless Plan

Although the Special Operations Brigade twice launched sudden attacks to occupy the airports on Wan Island and in Shanghai, withdrawing in a very short time each time, the shock these rapid occupations brought to the Japanese army lingered.

The Special Operations Brigade's complete annihilation of the Japanese Fifth Fleet also terrified the Naval Headquarters. Now, none of their naval fleets dared to rest in port without any defenses, as they had done before.

This was also why there were no large warships in the port when the Special Operations Brigade's air squadron launched a surprise attack on the Japanese warships at Wusongkou.

A few days prior, Vice Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku had ordered the main warships of the Third Fleet to be under strict air defense protection.

The main force of their Third Fleet was now docked in Jiujiang. Along the Yangtze River, the Japanese only left a small number of inland gunboats in each port.

This order saved the entire Japanese Third Fleet, preventing them from suffering significant losses in this attack. However, the Japanese Navy was clearly unwilling to live in constant fear.

They also had the idea of completely eradicating the Special Operations Brigade's base in Jurong. In their view, the Special Operations Brigade's current combat power was inseparable from the current prosperity of the Jurong base.

If they could seize all the industrial enterprises, steel plants, and mines in the Jurong base, both Yan Junliu and Yamamoto Isoroku believed that their long-term combat capabilities would be greatly increased.

It was with this idea that the Japanese made a decision at the Imperial Conference: to mobilize the First and Third Fleets to assist the army in launching a sweeping operation against the Jurong base.

The Central China Expeditionary Army was responsible for the sweeping operation against the Jurong base, the North China Area Army was responsible for the sweeping operation against the Lunan base north of the Yangtze River, and the Eleventh Army was responsible for the sweeping operation against the Jiangbei base.

Among all the forces, the most crucial was the Central China Expeditionary Army's sweeping operation against the Jurong base.

Although the Central China Expeditionary Army had a strong force, the Sixth, Sixteenth, 101st, and 106th Divisions, including the Second, Eleventh, and newly formed Thirteenth Armies, were all on the front lines confronting the National Revolutionary Army.

They were preparing for the next offensive against Changsha and Nanchang.

Only the Ninth and Thirteenth Divisions were left behind to maintain law and order. According to Yan Junliu's idea, relying solely on these two divisions would not be enough to complete the sweeping operation against the Jurong base.

Therefore, he ordered Okamura Neji to transfer the Sixth and Third Divisions from the front line to participate in the operation to encircle and suppress the Jurong base.

This time, Yan Junliu, commander of the Central China Expeditionary Army, personally served as the commander-in-chief of the encirclement and suppression of the Jurong base. He specially transferred the Sixth and Third Divisions from the front line.

Of course, he valued the combat power of these two divisions. The Sixth Division, commanded by Inaba Shiro, was now the strongest division in the Japanese army, without exception.

The Third Division, commanded by Fujita Susumu, was also not a rookie. The division number was even ahead of the Sixth Division, which showed its combat power.

This was a force that had been fighting on this land since its formation. In the Sino-Japanese War, it participated in the landing in Korea and the battles to capture Pyongyang, Haeju, and Niuzhuang.

In the war with Russia, it participated in the Battle of Nanshan, the Battle of Liaoyang, as well as the Battle of the Sha River and the Battle of Mukden.

During the Siberian intervention, it fought against the Soviet Red Army while rescuing the Czech Legion.

This was a Type A division of the Japanese army that had been constantly fighting. This time, it was also transferred back from the front line by Yan Junliu.

He wanted to solve the big problem of the Special Operations Brigade once and for all.

The Central China Expeditionary Army's force for sweeping the Jurong base was definitely not limited to these four elite infantry divisions, but also included the assistance of the Japanese Third Fleet.

At the same time, there were twice as many puppet troops as Japanese infantry acting together, preparing to launch a sweeping operation against Jurong.

Lin Fan had no way to hide the Japanese's actions in the Central China region. He did not know that they would launch a large-scale sweeping operation against the Special Operations Brigade's several bases when the Japanese high command formulated their plan.

The Special Operations Brigade only learned about it when the Japanese Sixth and Third Divisions retreated from the Wuhan front to Nanjing.

After the Battle of Wuhan, the Special Operations Brigade was prepared to deal with the Japanese sweeping operation. When the intelligence of the retreat of these two main divisions from the front line reached Lin Fan, he immediately judged that these Japanese were heading for Jurong.

There was only one reason: although the Battle of Wuhan had ended, the Japanese had not achieved their goal of annihilating the main force of the National Revolutionary Army in this battle.

Although Wuhan was occupied by the Japanese, the National Revolutionary Army around Wuhan had been defending and looking for opportunities to launch a counterattack against the Japanese.

Under such circumstances, the Japanese must have a more important combat mission to transfer two main divisions from the front line.

What kind of combat mission did the Japanese have now? Of course, it was the Special Operations Brigade!

In particular, the Special Operations Brigade's air force had made the Japanese suffer a lot during this period, and it had also shown the world the achievements of the War of Resistance.

The Special Operations Brigade's proactive attacks during this period not only bankrupted Chiang Kai-shek's plan to negotiate peace with the Japanese in private, but also changed the attitudes of Western powers towards the Japanese.

After seeing the Special Operations Brigade's powerful combat capabilities, the United Kingdom and the United States were finally prepared to decide to aid the National Revolutionary Army's War of Resistance in the League of Nations.

The Japanese were becoming increasingly isolated internationally. They believed that all this was because of the Special Operations Brigade. Although the Japanese tried their best to conceal the fact that the Fifth Fleet had been completely annihilated.

However, there were too many people who witnessed this scene in Humen that day. When facing interviews from reporters, those ordinary people, given the large amount of cash, of course, told the truth and said whatever they saw.

This allowed everyone in the world who should know the real situation to know. Only those people in Japan were still immersed in the lie that their brothers and sisters were constantly winning the war of aggression abroad.

Japanese Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro resigned because of this incident. The newly appointed Hiranuma Kiichirō formed a new cabinet, which had just been formed on January 5th.

He could not wait to push forward the sweeping operation against the Special Operations Brigade. They believed that as long as the Special Operations Brigade's base in Jurong was swept away, the League of Nations would succumb to their force and change their aid to the National Revolutionary Army.

Due to the hasty nature of this operation plan, the Japanese Third and Sixth Divisions had already arrived in Nanjing, but their specific operation plan had not yet been worked out.

Although Yan Junliu, commander of the Central China Expeditionary Army, was anxious, he was, after all, an experienced old fox. He still gathered the four division commanders and Commander Hasegawa Kiyoshi of the Third Fleet to formulate a plan together.

According to the intelligence the Japanese had gathered, the Special Operations Brigade had a military airport in Jurong and a military airport in Guangde. These were the two largest military airports within the Special Operations Brigade's Jurong base.

Commander Yan Junliu was so afraid of the Special Operations Brigade's air force that it had seeped into his bones. He proposed, "Our first operational goal is to destroy these two airports."

This time, the meeting was for officers above the division commander level. The commander of the Japanese Fifth Air Brigade, which was assigned to this sweeping operation plan, was not qualified to attend the meeting.

Commander Hasegawa Kiyoshi of the Third Fleet immediately said, "The Third Fleet now has more than 250 combat aircraft of various types, which can complete the attack mission on any one of the airports."

Inaba Shiro, commander of the Sixth Division, pondered and said, "The Sixth Division only has one squadron of combat aircraft, and it cannot independently complete the mission of attacking a Special Operations Brigade airport."

He was clear about the combat power of the Special Operations Brigade. In Huangmei, his men were completely overwhelmed by the Special Operations Brigade.

Although the Special Operations Brigade did not use fighter planes to engage in aerial combat that time, its anti-aircraft guns annihilated all of his planes.

Now, thinking of this scene, Commander Inaba Shiro still felt a faint pain in his heart.

Fujita Susumu, commander of the Third Division, had only heard of the Special Operations Brigade's power from battle reports and did not quite believe it. He immediately said, "The Third Division also has an aviation squadron with thirty-six aircraft. If it has the cooperation of the Sixth Division's aviation squadron, it can also attack a Special Operations Brigade airport."

Commander Yan Junliu thought for a moment and said, "We must use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Yamamoto Taro's Fifth Air Brigade has more than 100 aircraft, and the aircraft of the four infantry divisions total 100 aircraft.

In this case, the army's aircraft will bomb the Special Operations Brigade's Jurong Airport, and the Third Fleet's aircraft will bomb the Guangde Airport."

There was a reason for his arrangement. If the Japanese planes took off from Nanjing, it would only take them a dozen minutes to appear over the Jurong Airport, which could achieve a surprising effect.

As for the Third Fleet, it could completely enter Taihu Lake, with the aircraft cooperating with the naval landing force, plus the assistance of the Japanese infantry divisions, landing simultaneously from Changxing, Wuxing, and Yixing, and driving straight into Guangde.

This would definitely make the Special Operations Brigade lose sight of the other and not know where to defend.

The division commanders present, although they felt that Commander Yan Junliu's arrangement of using nearly 500 aircraft to bomb the two airports in the Jurong base was indeed using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, they still agreed with it very much.

Inaba Shiro's division had the strongest combat power, so he had the most say. He said, "If we just smash it down like this, we will blow up their will to resist in one go, and it will be much easier for the infantry to advance later."

Commander Yan Junliu was still not at ease. He ordered, "Let the staff department make a plan. It would be best to lure all the Special Operations Brigade's aircraft in Jurong out on the day we launch the bombing."

As soon as he said this, the division commanders present were a little confused: What does this mean?

Commander Yan Junliu said, "Judging from the previous few times that the Special Operations Brigade bombed the Fifth Fleet, bombed Wan Island, occupied Taoyuan Airport, and occupied the Happy Valley Racecourse Airport, they are a team that dares to take risks and is very greedy.

If we deliberately set a trap to lure them to bomb it, and then launch a fierce attack on these two airports.

Wouldn't it be foolproof?"

Although Fujita Susumu, Inaba Shiro, Yoshizumi Ryosuke, Ogiwara Tatehei, and Hasegawa Kiyoshi all believed that 500 aircraft could complete the mission.

But Yan Junliu was their direct superior, and his suggestion was also very feasible. Several division commanders did not speak.

Hasegawa Kiyoshi asked, "How should we set the trap? Where should we set the trap?"

Commander Yan Junliu said, "Nagasaki! We will set a trap in Nagasaki to lure the Special Operations Brigade's air squadron to go. When their planes arrive in Nagasaki.

We will launch an attack immediately."

Division Commander Yoshizumi Ryosuke hesitated for a while before saying, "The Special Operations Brigade has put a lot of thought into protecting its base, and they have built anti-aircraft blockhouses in various places."

When he said this, all the Japanese present laughed: "Are the ones flying in the sky afraid of the blockhouses they built on the ground?"

With a rhetorical question, Yoshizumi Ryosuke did not dare to continue speaking. He thought for a moment: Even if there are blockhouses, it doesn't matter. An airport has more than 200 aircraft going to attack it.

Even if those blockhouses can shoot down ten or twenty planes, there are still two hundred planes behind that can complete the mission.

Thinking of this, he felt relieved.

It was just that these Japanese were worried again: Is the price of using such an important military-industrial city as Nagasaki as bait too high?

Commander Yan Junliu said with a smile: "It is true that Nagasaki has our arsenals and shipyards. It is precisely because there are these important factories and mines that if the Special Operations Brigade discovers that there is an opportunity to attack, they will definitely go.

If the bait is not enough, they will not risk going there."

"But Nagasaki has millions of imperial citizens. Should we evacuate them in advance?" Division Commander Inaba Shiro asked.

"No! It is their honor to be able to dedicate themselves to the rise of the Empire," Commander Yan Junliu said.

Several division commanders did not have any other reaction after hearing this sentence. In their opinion, Commander Yan Junliu was right.

Yan Junliu continued to analyze: "Even if Nagasaki is bombed, millions of citizens will not all die. After all, most of them can still survive.

We can use the factories in the Jurong base to make up for those factories that have been bombed. I believe you have all heard of the current wealth of Jurong, right?

Some people call it Little Shanghai, and some even think that Jurong is now more prosperous than Shanghai. There are not only arsenals there, but also aircraft and engine factories, steel plants with an annual output of millions of tons, oil refineries, and fertilizer plants.

So many factories will all be ours in the future.

What is a small Nagasaki?"

"The Fifth Fleet has two main battleships that are being rebuilt in Nagasaki. Should we move them away?" Hasegawa Kiyoshi was in the navy, and he was still on the navy's side.

"No! I want to use these two main battleships as bait," Commander Yan Junliu said.

"We have recently been isolated internationally and have suffered so many losses at the hands of the Special Operations Brigade. I plan to have the mainland cooperate and hold a press conference at the Nagasaki Shipyard.

At the meeting, we will announce that we will build two of the most advanced warships and let the reporters take pictures.

As long as their news is reported, I believe the Special Operations Brigade will take action. We only need to pay attention to their aircraft deployment to know if they have taken the bait."

Division Commander Inaba Shiro immediately said, "We can also deploy a large number of aircraft in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Saga, and Kumamoto to prepare for interception."

Commander Yan Junliu said, "Their airports in Shanghai and Hangzhou have just been bombed. If too many aircraft are sent over, it will definitely arouse their vigilance.

If too few aircraft are sent over, it will easily cause them to attack immediately. In these days, the airports in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and other places will still strengthen the deployment of air defense forces and airport reconstruction work.

A large number of aircraft can be deployed in Saga and Kumamoto. If Nagasaki is found to be attacked, the aircraft in these two places will immediately take off to attack.

These two places are 60 kilometers away from Nagasaki, and the planes can reach the battlefield in just ten minutes. The time is completely sufficient.

We will also immediately launch attacks on Jurong Airport and Guangde Airport, and the divisions will also begin ground offensives."

After hearing Commander Yan Junliu's operational plan, the division commanders finally understood why the level of attendance at today's meeting was so high.

This plan was really high, too high!

Ruthless to himself, and even more ruthless to the Special Operations Brigade! Yan Junliu did not hesitate to use Nagasaki's millions of citizens and all the arsenals and two main battleships as bait.

To lure the Special Operations Brigade's air squadron to attack, and then destroy their lair, and also launch a land offensive.

As for how many routes the land would be divided into and how to attack?

That was what Commander Yan Junliu and several division commanders and the staff were going to discuss next.

Commander Yan Junliu's idea was to attack from multiple routes. This time, to sweep the Jurong base, he mobilized a total of four divisions and 250,000 puppet troops, adding up to 350,000 combat troops.

In addition, there were laborers and others who assisted in the operation. In total, more than one million Japanese, puppet troops, and laborers participated in this operation.

The Japanese were collecting laborers on a large scale along the Nanjing, Changzhou, Wuxi, and Suzhou lines, and concentrating puppet troops from various places to the front lines.

These intelligence reports immediately made the reclamation groups stationed in these places in the Jurong base aware, and news from various places was sent to Lin Fan's headquarters here like raindrops.

The entire combat force in the base was mobilized. In the Jurong base, Li Xian had been preparing to deal with the Japanese attack. Jurong had 50 standing regiments, each with 3,000 people, which was 150,000 regular troops.

There were also 100 garrison regiments from various places.

In this situation, half of the garrison regiments had also been assembled, which was another 150,000-man reserve force. In addition, 300,000 civilian labor teams were organized in various places.

According to Lin Fan's requirements: Whether it was concentrating 50 garrison regiments or organizing 300,000 civilian labor teams, it must not affect the normal production of various industries in Jurong.

It was January now, which was the slack farming season. In the Jurong base, there were a large number of agricultural workers. At this time last year, they were also concentrated to repair canals and roads.

This year, when they were organized to transport various supplies for the combat forces, people signed up very enthusiastically. They all knew that the Special Operations Brigade's laborers would definitely be paid.

In the beginning, the Special Operations Brigade summoned laborers in the base to build roads, dig canals, and clean up rivers, and paid them on the same day.

Now it was no longer so troublesome, and everyone believed in the Special Operations Brigade's credibility.

Now, accounts were settled every seven days, which reduced a lot of workload. It also made those managers a lot easier.