Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 177 I'm afraid I won't be able to wait until the ice freezes

"Why are there so many?"

Yoshio Shinozuka looked at the battle reports of the attack sent by Michifumi Yamaoka, which were piled up on the table, and suddenly felt overwhelmed.

When I took office as the commander of the First Army, I had just completed a sweep of the Eighth Route Army. It had been a long time since we had peace, but reports of attacks in various places began to increase day by day.

Although the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi was distributed in northwestern Shanxi, northeastern Shanxi and southeastern Shanxi, the First Army mainly fought with the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi and southeastern Shanxi, while the Eighth Route Army in northeastern Shanxi mainly operated in the direction of North China.

Therefore, after the mopping-up operation in northwest Shanxi, the number of attacks by the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi dropped significantly. Unexpectedly, it started again in less than two months.

"Sir, many of them were not attacked by the locust army, but by the puppet army during a sweep. However, most of the troops did not suffer any casualties, except for the heavy loss of ammunition," explained Michifumi Yamaoka.

Due to the shortage of manpower, the First Army has been actively recruiting Locust Army soldiers and reorganizing bandits, local armed forces and Guo Party armed forces in various places. Now there are nearly 2 Locust Army soldiers in Shanxi.

At present, the locust army in Shanxi is mainly deployed in strongholds in major county towns and major transportation locations. The rest of the unimportant positions are handed over to the Locust Association and the pro-Japanese regime. These people are the main ones who have been attacked recently.

"Ammunition is not a problem. Mr. Yamaoka, please draft a telegram to request North China to allocate some production materials. Although a lot of equipment has been removed from the Taiyuan Arsenal, the remaining equipment is enough to sustain the First Army's consumption."

The Taiyuan Arsenal already had 6.5mm and 7.92mm bullet production lines, as well as a number of gun-making equipment. These ordinary equipment were not used at all by the Shenyang Arsenal, so naturally they were all retained.

As long as some of the production lines can be put into operation, there will be no problem with the First Army's ammunition supply.

"By the way, how is the 'cage policy' implemented by the North China Command going now?" asked Yoshio Shinozuka.

"At present, strong strongholds have been built near towns, stations, bridges and tunnels along the railway, and each stronghold is guarded by dozens to hundreds of troops."

"We have also built a first-line of outer outposts at key points 10 to 15 kilometers on both sides of the Shotai Line," reported Michifumi Yamaoka.

"Railways are pillars, roads are chains, and bunkers are locks." This is the core blockade policy being implemented by the North China Front Command. As part of the North China Front, the First Army naturally has to cooperate.

There are two railways in Shanxi, the Tongpu Line and the Zhengtai Line. The Tongpu Line is mainly in the plain area, and the probability of being attacked is relatively low except for the section from Fu'an to Pinggang.

The First Army mainly guards the Zhengtai Line, which is also the most important route for transporting resources out of Shanxi.

This is also the reason why the First Army is becoming increasingly insufficient. Compared with the railways, those corners and crevices in the mountains are obviously much less important.

"Yoshi." Yoshio Shinozuka nodded with satisfaction.

In this way, the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi was divided into three parts, which could effectively prevent the Eighth Route Army from supporting and cooperating with each other during the sweep.

"Mr. Yamaoka, we must speed up the construction of the strongholds on the road. As long as the cages are completed, we can start the sweep again." Shinozuka Yoshio ordered.

In previous mopping-up operations, the Eighth Route Army would run away without a trace as soon as the Locust Army entered the mountains. Now that the division is completed, the Locust Army can mop up the area piece by piece. Although it may not be able to mop up the area so thoroughly, the damage caused to the Eighth Route Army will definitely be greatly increased.

"Sir, winter mopping-up is more conducive to our army's mobility. Should we wait a little longer?" said Yamaoka Michifumi.

It’s only October now, and although the weather is starting to get cooler, it’s still some time before winter.

In winter, rivers and the ground will freeze, which is good for the locust army's heavy firepower operations. At that time, the locust army will not need to use bridges and can launch surprise attacks from anywhere. "Mr. Yamaoka, get ready first. The specific time of the sweep must be coordinated with North China." Shinozuka Yoshio did not explain, but just asked Yamaoka Michifumi to get ready.

As a senior army leader, Yoshio Shinozuka has a better understanding of Ichiban's future strategies.

In the first half of this year, the Italian headquarters was still debating the strategy of "going north" and "going south".

The northward advance plan was mainly based on the army, launching an offensive against Soviet Siberia, with the goal of attacking the Lake Baikal area.

The Southward Advance Plan was mainly based on the navy, with the goal of seizing strategic materials in Southeast Asia, especially the oil resources in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), the rubber resources in Malaya (Malaysia), and mineral resources such as chromium ore in the Philippines.

However, due to international pressure, especially from the United States, the headquarters is more focused on Italy's northward advance plan. After all, more than 80% of Italy's oil and steel are imported from the United States. If it really breaks up with the United States, it will be very difficult to deal with.

However, with the end of the Battle of Nomonhan in September, the Kwantung Army was defeated and fled in panic, and the plan to advance northward basically failed.

According to Yoshio Shinozuka's judgment, domestic resources will inevitably be diverted to the southward advance plan centered on the navy. However, the navy's shipbuilding is relatively slow, so the army should still have about two years.

This is also the reason why the North China Front Army implemented the cage policy. In the past two years, if the locust army can seize a large amount of wealth in China and achieve the goal of fighting to support the war, then the headquarters must redistribute resources.

After all, we can't use the money earned by the army to help the navy, right? That would be outrageous.
If one wants to seize wealth, one must maintain the stability of the security zone, so frequent raids will inevitably be launched.

After all, Yamaoka Michifumi is only a major general. If he were to be on the front line, he would only be a brigade commander, so he has no idea about the strategic direction of the empire.

Seeing that Yoshio Shinozuka didn't want to explain more, Michifumi Yamaoka could only stand at attention, step back and follow orders.

Sure enough, by the end of October, the Japanese North China Front Army officially issued a mopping-up order.

整个华北方面的鬼子，出动了第26师团、109师团、110师团、36旅团、独立混成第2旅团、独立混成第3旅团各部分兵力，加上配合的伪军共计10万余人，同时对晋绥、晋察冀和太行根据地展开了大扫荡。

In Wuyi County, at the city defense headquarters, the Japanese captain Terauchi Isamu held a combat meeting.

"Gentlemen, the headquarters has issued an order requiring a unified march on the 25th. I have decided to split the troops into two groups, one starting from Wuyi County, and the other starting from Pingshe Stronghold, to launch a surprise attack on Yangjiabao!"

Wuyi County has a very important geographical location and serves as a barrier to the north of Taiyuan.

Yangjiabao is located 30 miles southwest of Wuyi County, on the edge of the hilly area of the Zhongyun Mountains.

This area and Baizi Mountain in the north are important hubs connecting the Jinsui and Jin-Cha-Ji base areas, and are also the main activity areas of the Wuyi County Brigade and Guerrilla Team 4.

Terauchi Isamu had long been fed up with the frequent harassment from the Eighth Route Army, so this time he launched a large-scale sweep and decided to clean up this place first.

"This sneak attack must be covert and sudden, and no one must leak the news!" Terauchi Isamu said after looking around.

He was not worried about the Locust Army soldiers, but the Locust Alliance Army. Once the sneak attack plan was known to the Locust Alliance Army, it would be equivalent to everyone in Wuyi County knowing about it. There would be no point in keeping it secret.

"Hayi!" Everyone stood up and stood at attention.

(End of this chapter)