Rise from the sword

Chapter 416 If you want to eliminate Li Yunlong, you can only...but...

"General?"

Shinozuka Yoshio's attitude caught Yamamoto by surprise.

Four and a half years under Yoshio Shinozuka, this was the first time he saw his general so nervous.

"What is the scale of Li Yunlong's road construction? Are there any other actions? How is the strength of his troops restored? Are there any new weapons?"

Yoshio Shinozuka completely forgot about his leisurely attitude and the idea of ​​planning to retire for the elderly. He stood up, staring straight at Kazuki Yamamoto, speaking in a hurry.

"Li Yunlong organized about 3 to [-] civilian husbands, and started to widen the horse trails and build roads within a range of [-] miles around the Independence Regiment's station."

Yamamoto reacted quickly, lowered his head slightly and replied:

"In addition, the two Eighth Route Army regiments on Li Yunlong's two wings are also building roads, but they are not as large as the independent regiments. The three regiments plan to connect the roads."

It only takes a plane to fly around, and this information can be detected, so Yamamoto is very clear.

The height of the reconnaissance plane is about 2000 meters, which is far beyond the reach of the anti-aircraft machine gun. Therefore, almost every few days, Yoshimoto Teichi will send a reconnaissance plane to hang around the head of the independent regiment.

"Three regiments?"

"A radius of thirty miles?"

Shinozuka Yoshio repeated several numbers with a serious tone.

"In terms of strength recovery, the independent regiment is somewhat beyond our expectations."

Yamamoto continued:

"Not long ago, they ambushed a full imperial brigade on the road, and they showed very good combat effectiveness, which shows that morale recovered quickly, and weapons and equipment were fully replenished."

"The recruitment of recruits is also very fast. At present, more than [-] to [-] recruits have joined the independent regiment."

"And the other side continues to recruit recruits."

There were seven spies lurking in, as well as special high-tech cannon fodder spies, and all of them were in the recruit camp, so Yamamoto still had a clear idea of ​​the size of the independent regiment's recruits.

"That is to say..."

Yoshio Shinozuka shook his head, his tone full of emotion: "In just a little over two months, in terms of military strength, the independent regiment has returned to its size before the security war."

"Even, there are plans to expand further."

"Correct."

Yamamoto nodded, acknowledging the fact.

"In terms of new weapons."

Yamamoto continued:

"The independent regiment bombarded Taiyuan Airport for the third time, using a 75-caliber mountain cannon with a range of [-] kilometers. With the big mule that can maneuver in the mountains, we failed to catch the opponent."

"No other new weapons have been found for the time being, but the number of large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns has increased, and a dive bomber of the Empire was shot down."

"A mountain cannon with a range of [-] kilometers."

Hearing this, Shinozuka Yoshio was stunned for a while, then sat back on the chair again, and let out a long, relieved sigh.

At this moment, he was very fortunate that after the Battle of Shou County, he left the position of the commander of the First Army in time and did not fight too much. Otherwise, he would be the one who was unlucky when the airport was shelled for the third time.

I'm afraid it's not that my head hurts to death.

Yamamoto continued:

"Li Yunlong obtained a large amount of food from that Chen Fan. He paid each of the recruited men as wages. When food was provided, each person received six to ten catties of food per day, and it was distributed on the same day without delay. "

"You said before that Li Yunlong recruited about [-] to [-] civilian husbands, right?"

Shinozuka Yoshio looked at Yamamoto and couldn't help asking.

"Hi."

Yamamoto bowed his head.

"Unbelievable, incredible."

Yoshio Shinozuka couldn't help shaking his head.

This news shocked him a bit.

Calculated on the basis of the minimum 2 people, and the minimum amount of grain, six catties of grain per person per day, that is 2 tons of grain per day, which does not count the consumption of [-] people.

Even Yoshio Shinozuka, who was once in charge of the First Army, could hardly accept this number for a while.

Food, in this war-torn era, is more useful than money. Li Yunlong dared to do this, which shows that he has extremely sufficient food.Sufficient food represents a firm supporter and a solid rear.

"How does General Gibbon plan to deal with Li Yunlong?"

Yoshio Shinozuka asked Yamamoto.

"General Yoshimoto intends to use planes to carry out long-term bombing of Li Yunlong's residence after the airport regains its strength." Because it was not highly confidential information, and because the opponent was a Lieutenant General of the Empire and the former commander of the First Army, Yamamoto answered truthfully.

"That's it?"

After waiting for a while, seeing that Yamamoto had no intention of continuing to speak, Shinozuka Yoshio looked at Yamamoto, full of disbelief:

"Just sending planes to bomb Li Yunlong?"

"No other military action?"

"The garrisons in the two counties around Li Yunlong have also been strengthened to maintain the strength of about one regiment."

Yamamoto went on to answer:

"As for the military offensive, the First Army is still facing a serious shortage of troops. General Gibbon plans to wait for the arrival of the new domestic supplementary division before launching the next military operation against Li Yunlong."

Yamamoto did not say directly about Yoshimoto's food-based battle plan, nor did he reveal any spy information.

"Wait for the newly formed division in China?"

Shinozuka Yoshio shook his head, suddenly sneered, and his tone was full of sarcasm: "How long do we have to wait? When will it be the first army's turn to replenish? I'm afraid it will be too late."

"General."

Seeing Yoshio Shinozuka's tone, Yamamoto couldn't help saying:

"Li Yunlong and his independent regiment are indeed very strong, and their combat effectiveness is not weaker than that of the empire's second-line divisions of the same size, and even surpasses them, but he is only a regiment after all, and it is only some lightly equipped mountain infantry. artillery."

"No matter how strong he is, he is only a wing or brigade-level force, and to the empire as a whole, he is just a bigger grasshopper."

"Moreover, he is still building roads stupidly, which is completely a wedding dress for the empire."

"When the new reinforcements arrive, the empire can launch an attack along the road he built. With tanks as the vanguard and heavy artillery and aircraft as cover, it can completely defeat Li Yunlong and completely destroy the solid rear base that Li Yunlong has worked so hard to build."

"In my opinion, delaying the attack for a period of time can cause a greater blow to Li Yunlong."

"Even if it can't eliminate him, it can still severely hit his confidence."

Yamamoto originally thought that his former general would be persuaded by him, but out of his expectation, Shinozuka Yoshio looked at him with an unprecedented look, which was extremely disappointed.

"Yamamoto-kun."

"You have let me down too much."

After being silent for a long time, Shinozuka Yoshio let out a long sigh, then continued to look at Yamamoto with disappointed eyes, and said in a disappointed tone: "I never thought that you, who have been with me for more than four years, would think so of."

"Do you really think that Li Yunlong and his independent regiment are only slightly better than the empire's second-tier division?"

Yamamoto froze for a moment, then lowered his head and remained silent.

What he said just now was largely exaggerated, which Yamamoto himself knew very well.

"Humph."

"I think you should be very clear about this."

Yoshio Shinozuka snorted coldly:
"The troops of the Independent Regiment, in terms of light weapons, are far superior to the second-line divisions of the Empire in terms of quality and quantity. They are equipped with a large number of submachine guns, large-caliber heavy machine guns, and battalion-level mortars. The entire regiment is equipped with a large number of medium and large-caliber Mortars, the overall firepower is about half stronger than that of the Imperial Division A Division."

"At the brigade level, our only firepower advantage is grenades."

"But the independent regiment is just a little less equipped."

"In the past, troops at the level of the Imperial Wing had the advantage of being able to handle artillery, but now the opponent is equipped with Bofors mountain cannons, which makes up for this shortcoming, and even has a longer range than the Empire's [-] mountain cannons."

"Yamamoto-kun, if you still fight Li Yunlong with this mentality, then one day, you will die in his hands."

"Hi."

Yamamoto bowed his head: "The general taught me that."

"As for Li Yunlong, he is just a grasshopper to the empire."

Speaking of this, Shinozuka Yoshio couldn't help laughing:

"The logistics supply channel of this grasshopper has been investigated by the empire for more than two years, and no clues have been found, not even the transportation channel of the other party."

"This grasshopper blocked the attack of the [-] imperial army equipped with heavy artillery."

"Also, after losing more than half of the team, this grasshopper recovered its strength in just over two months."

"If this is also a grasshopper, then what is the imperial army of the empire?"

"Hi."

Yamamoto still lowered his head, but there was obvious displeasure in his tone.

"Yamamoto-kun."

Shinozuka Yoshio smiled and said: "If you have any ideas, just say it. Now we are no longer a relationship between superiors and subordinates. We can discuss equally as friends."

"General."

Yamamoto raised his head: "What you said are all facts. I did understate Li Yunlong's strength. As for me calling Li Yunlong a grasshopper, it is indeed inappropriate."

"I still think that it is not difficult to eliminate Li Yunlong."

"No matter how strong Li Yunlong and his independent regiment are, they are only brigade-level troops, while our imperial army is a modernized army. With the ability to fight three-dimensionally, as long as our imperial army uses tanks as the vanguard and heavy artillery as the firepower Cover, use the air force to bomb the rear position, cover its support supply line, and defeat Li Yunlong will be very easy."

"Building roads in the base area, this behavior, Li Yunlong is really stupid. Even if he blows up bridges and damages the road surface, the roadbed is still there, and the empire can easily repair it."

"Yes."

Shinozuka Yoshio smiled: "If the empire uses all its strength, it will be very easy to defeat Li Yunlong. It will be very easy to send out a full-scale A-type division at will to wipe out Li Yunlong."

"But with the current situation, Mr. Yamamoto, tell me, how long will it take for the empire to gather the troops needed to attack Li Yunlong?"

Yamamoto thought for a moment and said:

"The shortest period is six months, and the longest period is one year. At present, the strategic focus of the empire is on the Pacific battlefield. In the Southeast Asian battlefield, there are resources needed by the empire, and it is necessary to maintain pressure on the Chongqing government. It is difficult to mobilize enough troops and weapons in a short time. equipment."

"Yes."

Shinozuka Yoshina let out a long sigh: "That's the problem. It's very difficult for us to mobilize enough strength to deal with Li Yunlong in a short time, but Li Yunlong's development speed is far beyond our imagination."

"As for building roads..."

"Yamamoto-kun, do you think Li Yunlong is stupid?"

Having said that, Shinozuka Yoshio looked at Yamamoto and asked.

"Very clever, very cunning, very good at thinking."

Yamamoto nodded.

After fighting with Li Yunlong for more than three years, Kazuki Yamamoto had to admit that Captain Li is a very smart and difficult guy.

"Then, would such a cunning and even cunning opponent not know that the road he built would become a helper for the empire to attack his base?"

Shinozuka Yoshio shook his head again, and then his face suddenly became solemn:
"He must have known, even very well."

"Then why is he still doing this?"

Yoshio Shinozuka paused here for a moment, looked at Yamamoto for a while, and continued without waiting for Yamamoto's answer:
"It must be that the construction of roads is more beneficial to Li Yunlong and his independent group than harmful."

"I'm afraid that Li Yunlong will soon even have a lot of cars, transport trucks, and even soon, he will have heavy guns with a caliber of more than [-] calibers, and even tanks, and the number will not be small."

"Otherwise, why would he spend such a huge price building the road?"

"is it possible····"

Yamamoto didn't know how to answer the conversation for a while, and looked at Yoshio Shinozuka in a daze.

"After half a year or even a year, when the empire mobilizes enough power to destroy Li Yunlong, how far will he develop and how powerful will he be?"

Shinozuka's tone became more serious:
"As for the elimination of Li Yunlong, how much will the imperial army have to pay?"

"If Li Yunlong is not eliminated, let him retreat with the backbone of the army again..."

"Humph."

"Can we catch that Chen Fan? Can we cut off his material transportation route?"

Yoshio Shinozuka's tone was full of sarcasm.

"That···"

Yamamoto finally lowered his head completely here. He was silent for a long time before asking:

"What does the general think we should do?"

After Li Yunlong recruited tens of thousands of people to build roads and showed his terrifying food reserves, Yamamoto realized that General Yoshimoto's move against the Eighth Route Army's food production might not be effective against Li Yunlong.

"How to do?"

"There is an old saying in China that short-term pain is worse than long-term pain."

Shinozuka Yoshio picked up the teacup he dropped on the ground, shook his head:
"The only way now is to immediately mobilize at least [-] or even [-] troops regardless of other areas, and use all our strength to eliminate Li Yunlong. Before he has a firm foothold and his strength has not recovered, eliminate or drive him away, and do not allow him to develop. Great time."

"pity."

Before Yamamoto could answer, Shinozuka Yoshio sighed:

"it's out of the question."

Yamamoto was silent.

He somewhat agreed with Yoshio Shinozuka's statement.

But the problem is.

The command given by the base camp to the North China Front Army was to maintain law and order in the North China region and ensure the import of supplies to the country. For this reason, all the troops of the North China Front Army were restrained on the lines of communication and various cities.

If you mobilize [-] troops, it is indeed possible.

However, when the whole body is mobilized, [-] garrisons are lost, which means that there will be a large vacuum area, and other Eighth Route Army troops and even the troops of the national government will definitely take the opportunity to seize the territory occupied by the empire, and the empire will suffer a lot of losses.

This is the North China Front Army, and it is impossible for the base camp to accept it.

"General."

"So, what should I do?" Yamamoto asked.

"Collect information on the independent regiment with all our strength, always pay attention to changes in the strength of the independent regiment, and report it to Yoshimoto Teiichi and... General Okamura."

Shinozuka Yoshio said.

"Hi."

After Yamamoto bowed his head and saluted, he left.

And Shinozuka Yoshio continued to drink tea in this small courtyard, just looking at his dignified expression, he was completely gone from the indifference before, and kept muttering in his mouth:

"Li Yunlong has a huge amount of food supplies."

"Li Yunlong is building roads, and it is still on a large scale, which shows that he is bound to usher in a wave of great development."

Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore, stood up abruptly, walked out of the small courtyard, and said to the guard at the gate of the courtyard:
"Go to the headquarters, let's see General Gangcun."

　next chapter see you in an hour

　　
　
(End of this chapter)