Rise from the sword

Chapter 441
Chapter 60: What to do now?
04:30am.

Inside the Taiyuan Command.

Perhaps because of the unstable voltage, the incandescent lamp on the ceiling flickered on and off, and the dim light that flickered on and off made the atmosphere in the whole room gloomy and dignified.

It seems that in order to match this atmosphere, the people in the headquarters are almost frozen.

Teiichi Yoshimoto, the commander of the First Army, was seated directly above him, holding a samurai sword in his hands, and lowered his head slightly. Because of the cover of the brim of his military cap, his expression was almost invisible.

In front of him, the table had been overturned and covered with knife marks, the telephone wire was torn off, and the phone was smashed to the ground.

The three staff officers of the headquarters stood at attention on the side of the hall, bowed their heads in silence, like sculptures, and with the help of the lights, they could vaguely see the blood dripping from the corner of one of the staff officers' mouths.

In late May, the headquarters was like an icehouse.

Time passed slowly in this frozen atmosphere, Yoshimoto Sada did not move, and the rest of the staff dared to act like sculptures, until a white belly appeared on the far horizon, and Yamamoto walked in from the entrance of the command department, and the frozen atmosphere in the room gradually dissolved .

"How's it going?"

Gibbon raised his head, showing a pair of expressionless eyes.

Too many things happened last night and the impact was too great, so he ordered Yamamoto to do an intelligence analysis and summary.

"General."

Kazuki Yamamoto stood at attention, opened the folder in his hand, and began to briefly describe what happened:
"Last night, Li Yunlong led about 500 people with a large number of carts and other means of transportation, passing through the mountain horse road near Panxian County, and went to Xixiang, Yejiacun and other subway lines between Yuxian County and Niangziguan Railway Station to snatch the tracks."

"The guard posts deployed near the base of the Independence Regiment discovered this group of troops for the first time, but they didn't arouse alert at that time, and they didn't even report it. The troops stationed in Pan County and other places just shrank their defenses."

"It wasn't until Li Yunlong's troops approached the railway at [-] o'clock in the evening that they were discovered by the railway patrol team, and they reported to the regiment headquarters in time. Immediately, Commander Shimagawa ordered the three brigades in Yuxian County and the three brigades in Niangziguan Railway Station to immediately go to support and send Order Yu County to block Li Yunlong's retreat route."

"But this incident, Li Yunlong obviously premeditated."

"It sent about 500 troops to block the reinforcements in Yu County, and secretly dispatched 2000 people from the New Second Regiment to attack Yu County to open up a retreat route, and sent 2000 people from the New First Regiment to attack Niangziguan Railway Station, forcing the three brigades at the station Forced to come back."

"From [-]:[-] to [-]:[-], during the four-hour period, Li Yunlong stole a large number of rails from the Zhengtai Railway, dismantled a train and retreated back to his base along the original route."

"Then the New Second Regiment and the New First Regiment also retreated one after another and returned to their respective bases."

"Afterwards statistics show that Niangziguan Railway Station suffered serious losses. Trains could not be stopped within a week, 1000 kilometers of tracks were lost, and one train was lost. The total casualties were 720 and [-] people, and [-] people were broken."

Having said this, after finishing everything, Yamamoto closed the folder in his hand and bowed his head slightly.

"It was a well-planned operation."

There was silence in the headquarters for a while, and Yoshimoto moved his hands holding the samurai sword before slowly speaking:
"Yamamoto-kun, what are you doing?"

"General."

Yamamoto lowered his head and raised his tone slightly:

"With all due respect, although we have attached great importance to Li Yunlong and the independent regiment under his command in our report to the independent regiment."

"The official document clearly states that under the same scale, the independent regiment has stronger firepower than the imperial army, and its combat experience and will are not weaker than the imperial army's elite troops. If there is no force advantage, the imperial army is not the opponent of the independent regiment."

"but···"

Yamamoto's blunt tone was raised again:

"In our hearts, especially the high-level commanders, we have never given up the arrogance that has been formed for a long time, and we have never faced Li Yunlong and the independent regiment squarely. "

"That's the real reason for this failure."

"We paid attention to the equipment of the independent regiment, but not to the people of the independent regiment."

"go on."

Gibbon's eyes and expression remained unchanged, and neither did the tone of his voice.

Yamamoto glanced at the commander, paused for a while before continuing:

"We can know the information about Li Yunlong and his independent regiment, and know that its total strength is about [-] people. Then, Li Yunlong, who is a local snake, naturally knows that the total strength of the imperial army is also about [-] when Niangziguan reaches Yu County. I also know the positions of the various brigades of the imperial army."

"I think it's not difficult for him to know the situation of our First Army Flying Brigade. The arrival of dozens of planes must be discovered by the intelligence personnel of the Eighth Route Army."

"Under such circumstances, he still chose to carry out this operation of stealing the rails, which shows that Li Yunlong is fully prepared."

"When we didn't think about these things at the time, we just thought that the victories made Li Yunlong arrogant, and then mechanized mobilized troops to deal with it. As a result, the battle situation was completely under Li Yunlong's control, which eventually led to this big defeat."

There was another long silence, and finally, Gibbon sighed deeply:

"What Yamamoto-kun said makes sense."

"Whether it is Dazuo Shimagawa of Yuxian County or me as the commander of the First Army, although I said that I should pay attention to Li Yunlong, I never regarded him as an equal opponent in my heart."

"This time, just like the old Chinese saying, a proud soldier must be defeated."

"The general is wise."

At the right time, Yamamoto came to flatter him.

"go on."

Gibbon was noncommittal, and even his expression didn't change.

After half a year of contact, he has already seen Yamamoto clearly. This person is very capable in all aspects, including intelligence and military capabilities, but it is his ability to flatter horses...

Yamamoto continued:

"Another main reason for our failure in this battle is that the intelligence misjudged the two Tuba Road troops around the Independence Regiment."

"In our previous investigation, the two regiment-level troops of the Tuba Road around Li Yunlong were considered to be ordinary Tuba Road troops. The purpose was to provide elite soldiers and officers, as well as to stabilize and manage their bases. The one that falls is the main one."

"Similar to the imperial association army of the empire."

"However, the battle last night proved that the combat effectiveness of these two units is not much worse than Li Yunlong's independent regiment. They have strong firepower, well-trained, and are also equipped with a large number of artillery units, including a large number of heavy mortars."

"The reason for the intelligence misjudgment is that apart from the excessive concentration of the intelligence department on Li Yunlong, there is also the deliberate weakness of the two troops for nearly half a year."

"After the public security war last year, these two forces have been very low-key. They have never launched a squadron-scale military operation, and the only few times they have only attacked the empire's small-scale transport team. The combat was also very poor, poor weapons, poor combat experience, hundreds of people attacked a small squad, and most of them were retreated."

Having said that, Yamamoto suddenly lowered his head again:

"In the final analysis, we did not regard the Eighth Route Army entrenched in the occupied area as a real opponent."

"We lacked an in-depth analysis of the Eighth Route Army intelligence we obtained, and only looked at the problem from the surface, thus being deceived by the other party. The lowly intelligence work here has made major mistakes, and the general should be punished."

"Yamamoto-kun, this is not your problem, but a common problem among the top leaders of the First Army."

Gibbon's tone remained unchanged:

"We have to learn from this failure, and we must use all our energy to deal with Li Yunlong and his independent regiment, as well as the new first regiment and the new second regiment, to surround the Zhengtai Railway and maintain law and order in North China."

Then Yoshimoto said to Yamamoto:

"You keep talking."

The overall analysis is completed, and the next step is the detailed intelligence analysis. Today's Gibbon is very patient.

Yamamoto glanced at the general, and found that although Yoshimoto's face was a bit haggard at this time, but still bloody, he continued with confidence:
"In just four hours, Li Yunlong stole more than 5000 meters of imperial railroad tracks, and also dismantled a whole train, probably using some kind of portable gasoline-driven steel cutting machine. smell."

"More than 5000 meters of rails and the entire train weighs nearly [-] tons. It can be transported away at one time, which shows that the carts it carries have a strong carrying capacity, and it also shows that it has excellent mules and horses on a large scale."

"Professional equipment, huge transport capacity."

Gibbon shook his head suddenly, with deep emotion in his tone.

In four hours, more than 5000 meters of steel rails, an entire train was completely disassembled. This ability, even if the North China Front Army's full-staffed engineering unit came, it would not be able to do it.

And a troop of 500 people can transport nearly 170 tons of materials on the mountain road without using a car, with an average of [-] kilograms of materials carried by a single person. With such a transportation capacity, there is no mule-like Imperial Infantry The team can compare.

"General."

Yamamoto suddenly looked at Yoshimoto:

"In this battle, Li Yunlong also showed more powerful artillery firepower."

"From the analysis of the battlefield where the Yu County reinforcements were blocked, the blocking force was [-], including an infantry brigade, which is their infantry battalion, and an artillery battalion. The total number of mortars was about [-]. And most of them are mortars of medium caliber and above."

"Finally, there is one more thing to note. The total projectile volume of this battlefield alone is about [-] tons."

Yamamoto is indeed a bit powerful. He did not personally conduct on-the-spot investigations. He obtained very in-depth preparation information from the news sent back from the phone or telegram, as well as the on-the-spot investigation and re-reporting of the subordinates of his secret service team.

"Thirty tons."

Gibbon silently repeated a sentence.

What is the concept of thirty tons of shells?
For the Imperial 75 Mountain Cannon, the weight of the projectile is about 4000 kilograms, and [-] tons is equal to more than [-] two hundred mountain artillery shells.

A mountain artillery regiment has a total of 36 cannons, and the ammunition base is [-] pieces. In a general battle, each artillery has a base of ammunition. shells.

Moreover, it is a mere 500 troops.

"However, the accuracy of the opponent's gunner's shelling seems to be poor, and a large number of shells are offset. This is also the reason why the casualties of the Yuxian support force are only a partial brigade."

Yamamoto continued:

"From this point of analysis, it seems that the gunners of Li Yunlong's army are all newbies, but combined with the shelling of the Panxian barracks and the shelling of Niangziguan station before, it can be concluded that this is Li Yunlong's intentional training of new gunners."

"That is to say."

Gibbon exhaled:

"Li Yunlong intends to continue to expand his artillery force."

"Hi."

Yamamoto bowed his head.

After waiting for a while, Yamamoto continued:
"Last night's battle, combined with the information collected before, can be analyzed. The total strength of the two regiments, the New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment, is about 500 people. They are equipped with four large-caliber mortars and more than ten medium-caliber mortars. Mortars, the number of other weapons is unknown, but the standard equipment has been unified."

"Including the 1 troops of the Independent Regiment, it means that there are [-] Eighth Route Army troops stationed in the area centered on Zhaojiayu, extending to Luliang Mountains in the west, Ping'an County in the south, and Pan County in the east."

As for the north, it was the core base area of ​​the Eighth Route Army, so Yamamoto didn't say anything about it, and it would only make him sadder.

"Twelve thousand people."

Gibbon sighed leisurely:
"The overall combat effectiveness of these 1 people is comparable to half of the Empire's Type A division, and they are still continuing to expand their army at a high speed."

This time, Gibbon did not use the second-tier division, but used the first-class division as a metaphor.

Yamamoto was silent.

Although large-scale operations are different from small-scale operations, a simple one-plus-one comparison cannot be made.

The imperial division level has 105 or even 150 heavy artillery, as well as air force support, which can form a three-dimensional battle. Theoretically, the more people there are, the greater the advantage is, but the opponent also has a large number of anti-aircraft weapons, and there are also solid large-depth bunker groups, which can offset the empire. Advantage.

Coupled with the familiar terrain, tenacious fighting will, sufficient logistics supplies, and abundant reserve forces, the so-called construction brigade, in Yamamoto's view, is absolutely the best reserve force.

In a real fight, the attacking side will suffer a lot.

Will Li Yunlong attack?
It can be seen from this battle that he retreated despite having the upper hand, which means that Li Yunlong did not want to confront the imperial army head-on, but only wanted to cause damage and take advantage of petty theft.

"How long has it been since Li Yunlong retreated from Shou County?"

asked Gibbon suddenly.

"Five and a half months, close to six months."

Yamamoto replied immediately.

"Li Yunlong and his independent regiment have grown from 500 to over 7000 in just half a year. They are an elite force equipped with unified standard weapons and a large number of artillery."

"Even during this period, a construction brigade of more than 5 people was organized, and it supported the development of two surrounding regiment-level troops to a full-fledged wing."

Gibbon said:

"By the way, a large-scale explosives factory, a firearms parts factory, and a strong air defense capability have also been established."

Saying that, Gibbon put down the samurai sword in his hand, stood up, and took off the military cap on his head.

Yamamoto was surprised by Yoshimoto's strange tone, he looked up, it was already daylight, and through the light coming in from the window, Yamamoto could clearly see Yoshimoto's appearance.

It was only then that Yamamoto realized that his General Gibbon had changed drastically, and he also understood why General Gibbon did not vomit blood today.

At this moment, Yoshimoto Teiichi's original black and white hair was already full of snow white, crystal clear white.With a hunched waist, the whole person looks as if he aged ten years overnight, like an old man who is dying and dying.

Mouth moved, Yamamoto remained silent.

The Independent Regiment, the New First Regiment, and the New Second Regiment, with a total of 1 elite troops, took root in the mountainous area of ​​Northwest Shanxi.

Li Yunlong's momentum has come.

Next, it will be the most difficult period for the First Army.

Regarding Li Yunlong, General Gibbon's plan was originally to reserve troops, wait for a division of mobile troops to launch a sweep, wipe out the independent regiment in one fell swoop, and solve the security problem in Shanxi.

But plans don't always keep up with changes.

In the Pacific, the Imperial Navy suffered successive defeats and the situation was grim.

Southeast Asia was also not going well. The vast area consumed a large amount of troops, and the Republic of China Expeditionary Force began to counterattack again. The Empire was forced to continue to deploy elite troops from the Chinese Expeditionary Army to participate in the war in Southeast Asia, resulting in the weakening of the Chinese Expeditionary Army's combat effectiveness.

The establishment of the new domestic divisions was not smooth, not only was the number of soldiers exhausted, but the quality of the recruits had also declined, and the production capacity had also reached its limit. The new divisions did not even have enough weapons and equipment.

Under such circumstances, the First Army did not have enough mobile troops as expected.

Moreover, Li Yunlong is much stronger than expected.

If you want to wipe them out, or take a step back and force them to be transferred, you must use two to three elite second-line divisions, or one Type-A division plus one second-line division.

The scale of this force, not to mention the First Army, is not available to the North China Front Army. This requires the headquarters to issue an order, and then the China Expeditionary Army Command will transfer troops from other places.

But as soon as the news was reported, the stubborn old people in the base camp would probably ignore it.

Now even Gangcun General still doesn't know how terrible Li Yunlong is, let alone his base camp in China.

Those stubborn old people will definitely scold them, and then let the North China Front Army solve it by themselves.

Therefore, there is no need to think about eliminating or seriously injuring Li Yunlong for the time being. The next thing they have to do is how to deal with Li Yunlong's follow-up actions to ensure the smooth flow of the Zhengtai Railway.

It's not easy.

The First Army faced not only the 1 people of the Independent Regiment and the two surrounding regiments, but also the Jinsui Army, and a large number of Eighth Route Army entrenched in Shanxi.

Recently, the strength of that group of Tuba Road has also risen very fast.

Under such a great pressure, it is no wonder that the general turned gray overnight and instantly aged ten years.

Gibbon waved his hand suddenly, and let the staff officer, whose legs were all ischemic, leave, and then said to Yamamoto:

"Yamamoto-kun, tell me, what should we do? How will we deal with this Li Yunlong next?"

He then added:

"At the beginning of next month, our First Army will receive reinforcements from a newly formed wing with a total strength of 4000."

Yamamoto took a deep breath, and already had a countermeasure in mind.

Although the situation is grim, things are not yet desperate.

still have a chance.

Empire still has a chance.

Before Yamamoto could continue to answer, a staff officer rushed in again:

"A telegram from Commander Gangcun."

　Water chapter. o(╥﹏╥)o
　　Forgot to write the chapter name.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)