Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 163 Yoshio Shinozuka: Promotion to general is just around the corner!
After the fight over food ended, the situation in central Hebei stabilized again.

The Japanese began to systematically build strongholds and artillery towers, gradually squeezing the Eighth Route Army's range of activities.

The Eighth Route Guerrillas also began to harass these strongholds and artillery towers, and various mines began to appear around the strongholds and artillery towers.

Faced with the Japanese raids, the guerrilla militia in various villages also used the tunnels that were gradually being repaired to fight back.

The endless harassment made the Japanese more and more confused.

Just as the tunnel warfare in Central Hebei was in full swing, a transport plane landed at Taiyuan Airport in Shanxi.

After the hatch opened, a Japanese soldier wearing glasses walked out.

Seeing this person, Katsuki Seiji immediately walked forward.

"Lieutenant General Shinozuka!" "Lieutenant General Xiangyue!"

The two men saluted each other and after a few pleasantries, Seiji Katsuki introduced the officers present to Yoshio Shinozuka.

At this time, all the officers above the rank of colonel in the First Army were basically gathered here. If a bomb dropped, the First Army would be paralyzed on the spot.

The current Chief of Staff of the First Army is no longer Naosaburo Okabe, but Michifumi Yamaoka.

However, unlike Katsuki Seiji who was transferred back to the General Staff Headquarters to intervene in the reserve, Okabe Naosaburo was transferred to become the commander of the Mongolian Army.

After briefly introducing the officers present, Seiji Kazuki took Yoshio Shinozuka back to the First Army Headquarters by car.

In the headquarters lounge, Seiji Kazuki and Yoshio Shinozuka sat opposite each other, with a set of tea sets on the table in front of them.

"Please." Katsuki Seiji poured a cup of tea and gestured.

"Thank you."
After the two drank a few cups of tea, Kazuki Seiji said, "Shinozuka-kun, I have compiled all the information about Shanxi's current situation into a book, and Yamaoka-kun will hand it over to you when the time comes."

"That's great, thank you for your kindness, Mr. Katsuki." Yoshio Shinozuka bowed.

Yoshio Shinozuka was transferred directly from the commander of the 10th Division to the commander of the First Army. If he could get the assistance of Seiji Kazuki's information, it would be helpful for him to carry out his next work.

"You're welcome, Shinozuka-kun."

"But I still want to say one more thing, don't underestimate the Eighth Route Army!" Katsuki Seiji said seriously.

Before taking office, Yoshio Shinozuka learned that the enemies of the Locust Army in the entire Shanxi Province were mainly the Shanxi Suiyuan Army, the Central Army, and the Eighth Route Army.

The Shanxi-Suiyuan Army occupied a corner of the southwest. Although its military strength had recovered, most of its troops were conscripted men and lacked combat effectiveness.

The Eighth Route Army was scattered everywhere, without even enough clothes, let alone weapons and equipment. Swords and spears were still common weapons on the battlefield.

At this time, the Locust Army's most powerful enemy was the 20-strong central army led by Wei Junru, which was entrenched in the Zhongtiao Mountains.

However, Seiji Katsuki pointed out the problems of the Eighth Route Army to Yoshio Shinozuka.

"I'd like to hear the details!" Shinozuka Yoshio perked up.

After the Battle of Wuhan, the 10th Division had been clearing out the remaining enemies in southern China. Yoshio Shinozuka had read the battle report of the 18th Army in the newspaper, but he was not clear about the specific situation.

"The Eighth Route Army is different from the Guo Army. They are widely present in the vast rural areas and have been trying their best to avoid direct combat with the locust army. Although they are short of weapons and ammunition and seem vulnerable, they are actually very difficult to deal with."

When Katsuki Seiji talked about the Eighth Route Army, his face was full of resentment. The reason why he was transferred back to the mainland reserve was thanks to the Eighth Route Army.

The First Army was invincible when fighting against the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Central Army, but when faced with the Eighth Route Army that was everywhere, it was like a head full of lice and had no idea where to start.

If a large force is transferred into the mountains, the Eighth Route Army will disappear without a trace. When you retreat, the Eighth Route Army will jump out again, pecking you here and there, which is extremely annoying.

After listening to Katsuki Seiji's rambling about the Eighth Route Army, Shinozuka Yoshio nodded and said, "Thank you for Katsuki-kun's reminder. I will pay more attention to the Eighth Route Army."

After the two of them talked, Katsuki Seiji did not stay long, but flew to Peking. He would take a boat back to Italy from Tianjin.

That evening, officers at all levels of the First Army held a grand welcome banquet for Yoshio Shinozuka.

The next day, after Shinozuka Yoshio officially took office, he immediately summoned Yamaoka Michifumi to his office. Although Kazuki Seiji explained a lot, he still needed to look at various documents to understand the specific situation.

Yoshio Shinozuka looked through the documents sent by Michifumi Yamaoka and found that the enemy and our situation in Shanxi was indeed not optimistic.

Although the locust army occupied all major basins and transportation routes in Shanxi, the vast mountainous areas were a mixed bag with all kinds of armed forces.

"Mr. Yamaoka, I see that various places are recruiting Locust Army. How many troops does the Locust Army have now?" asked Yoshio Shinozuka.

"According to reports from various places, not many troops have been recruited. Apart from the troops that came over from the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, there are less than 3 of them now. The total force should not exceed 1 at this time."

"The Locust Alliance has too few troops, and we must increase our recruitment efforts," said Yoshio Shinozuka.

Although the First Army now has more than 20 troops, half of them are in Shangdang and Linfen areas confronting central troops. There are not many troops that can be mobilized from other places.

Michifumi Yamaoka felt somewhat embarrassed when he heard Yoshio Shinozuka's order.

It is really difficult to recruit soldiers in the county. As long as they can survive, no one wants to be a soldier.

However, because the Japanese frequently raided and confiscated laborers, the vast majority of people in the rural areas would hide when they saw the Japanese.

Of course, the Japs also issued death orders, requiring the Locust Army in various places to recruit a certain number of troops.

In response to the devil's death order, the puppet army officers could only resort to the method of conscripting able-bodied men. However, Shanxi was different from Hebei. When they went into the mountains to conduct a sweep, a man might disappear with his gun at a turn.

At this time you cannot take revenge on his family. After all, he is missing and there is no way to tell whether he joined the Eighth Route Army or died.

You sent someone to serve in the army, and if he died, you have to kill his entire family? This is totally unacceptable.

Shinozuka Yoshio also saw the embarrassment of Yamaoka Michifumi, so he suggested: "We can send people to absorb more bandits and local armed forces from various places, and we can also incite the Jinsui Army and the Central Army in various places to rebel. We can arrange more official positions. I think this will be useful."

Yoshio Shinozuka was relatively familiar with China. He knew that a black hat was enough to make those bandits who had never seen the world accept the leadership of the Locust Army.

If those bandits and local armed forces could accept the leadership of the Locust Army, they would threaten the activities of the Eighth Route Army.

Even if these bandits were wiped out in a short time, the locust army would have to pay only a letter of commission and some captured light weapons, which was completely insignificant compared to the trouble caused to the Eighth Route Army.

"Ha! I'll do it right away!" Yamaoka Michifumi stood at attention.

This is the first order issued by Yoshio Shinozuka, and it must be carried out well.

"Also, order the Intelligence Department to intensify its infiltration into the Eighth Route Army and find the approximate location of the Eighth Route Army headquarters," added Yoshio Shinozuka.

Now both the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Central Army have clear battle lines with the Locust Army, but the Eighth Route Army is everywhere, which is a major test for the public security of the Locust Army.

If they can destroy the Eighth Route Army's headquarters, the Locust Army can then clear out the Eighth Route Army in various places one by one.

A big reason why the First Army’s previous mopping-up operations had suffered repeated failures was that it was attacked from all sides.

As soon as the locust army mobilized a large force to go into the mountains for a sweep, the county towns that were short of troops would be harassed by the Eighth Route Army. Moreover, these Eighth Route Army troops would not attack the county towns, but specifically the pro-Japanese regimes around the county towns.

Even if the locust army returns and rebuilds the regime, after seeing the fate of the previous regime, the new regime will cooperate with the locust army, but it will obviously be restrained, which will have a great adverse impact on the locust army.

"Hai!"

In August, Yoshio Shinozuka had already understood the specific situation of the First Army, and the Intelligence Department had also roughly locked down the approximate location of the Eighth Route Army headquarters and the 8th Division. Therefore, Yoshio Shinozuka decided to start his first move after taking office.

In order to make the first fire burn more vigorously, Yoshio Shinozuka mobilized all the mobile forces of the First Army, intending to wipe out the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi.

For Yoshio Shinozuka, among all the Eighth Route Army entrenched in northwestern Shanxi, northeastern Shanxi, and southeastern Shanxi, the one that would be most significant was to defeat the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi.

In addition to the Eighth Route Army headquarters being here, after destroying the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi, the locust army will be able to march straight into Shaanxi.

At that time, not only will we be able to capture the Communist Party's northern Shaanxi, but we can also take Xi'an, advance into Hanzhong from Xi'an, and then threaten the Kuomintang government's headquarters, which may very likely force Chiang Kai-shek to surrender.

In that case, my promotion to general is just around the corner!

(End of this chapter)