Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 275: In order to better fight against the Eighth Route Army, I suggest firing less ammunition

At the Taiyuan First Army Headquarters, Yoshio Shinozuka held a combat meeting.

"Gentlemen, the North China Front Army Headquarters has sent an order to launch a large-scale sweep."

"According to the plan, there will be three divisions of troops to support the First Army."

"Commander Okamura asked the First Army to carefully study the tactics of the Eighth Route Army and innovate its own tactics."

"Based on Commander Okamura's Three Alls Policy, I formulated Plan A specifically for the Eighth Route Army."

"Everyone take a look and see if you have any comments."

Yoshio Shinozuka signaled to the staff officer next to him and distributed his plan.

In fact, his Plan A is not complicated. In addition to continuing to strengthen the established cage policy, he proposed "capture the leader first."

The many mopping-up operations launched by the First Army in the past had never produced any significant results.

Therefore, Yoshio Shinozuka decided to use Yamamoto Ikki's statement.

Pursue and encircle the Eighth Route Army headquarters.

With the support of aircraft, the troops can adopt multi-echelon, multi-level and deep deployment.

Then carry out a dragnet sweep, searching forward step by step.

As a result, the Eighth Route Army's headquarters and main force would inevitably be unable to move.

As long as the Eighth Route Army cannot break out and fight head-on, Yoshio Shinozuka is not afraid of them, no matter how many of them there are.

"General, I have a suggestion." Takeshita Shun said from the side.

"Oh? Go ahead." Yoshio Shinozuka didn't expect that there would actually be someone who had an opinion.

"I suggest that we reduce the amount of ammunition soldiers carry," said Takeshita Shun.

"Nani?"

When this was said, not only Shinozuka Yoshio, but also other participants were surprised.

Everyone looked at Takeshita Shun with disbelief.

"Colonel Takeshita, I hope you know what you are talking about." The Japanese officer next to him said sternly.

Compared with the Eighth Route Army, the Locust Army relies on powerful firepower.

Without ammunition, what's the point of fighting?

Could it be that they would do the same as the Eighth Route Army, firing three shots before charging?

"Takeshita-kun, can you tell me what you think?"

Yoshio Shinozuka was not angry, but asked Takeshita Shun to explain the reason.

"Everyone, after the battle, did you go back to the battlefield and take a close look?" asked Takeshita Shun.

Without waiting for anyone to answer, Takeshita Shun spoke again:

"I have visited many battlefields and found that it is difficult to find bullet shells on the battlefield."

"Did both sides fight without firing any shots?"

After hearing what Takeshita Shun said, everyone started to take it seriously.

When they fought, they only paid attention to the casualties on both sides.

At most, they would care about the damage of weapons, but they have never paid attention to the discarded bullet casings.

"Based on the bullets found on the wounded and the scattered shell casings, I can conclude that the Eighth Route Army is using reloaded bullets on a large scale."

"That is to say, the Eighth Route Army is seriously short of ammunition." Takeshita Shun confirmed.

No matter how well the reloaded bullets are made, their quality is still inferior to that of new ammunition.

Not to mention that many of the shells he had seen had been reloaded several times.

"Mr. Takeshita, you have a sharp eye." Yoshio Shinozuka nodded.

Even if the Eighth Route Army had an arsenal, the supply of raw materials would not be enough to supply ammunition to so many troops.

"Let's do as Takeshita-kun suggested."

"When sweeping the Eighth Route Army base, the amount of ammunition each infantryman carried was reduced from 120 rounds to 60 rounds."

"In addition, after the battle, you must pick up the bullet casings you fired to prevent them from being used by the Eighth Route Army," said Yoshio Shinozuka.

"Hai!"

After the Japanese made the plan, they immediately began to mobilize their troops.

At the same time, the Japanese also launched a small-scale raid on the outskirts of the Eighth Route Army base in advance.

They also continued to dig blockade ditches, build artillery towers and bunkers, and overhaul roads.

The headquarters of the New Second Regiment looked at the reports from various places about the recent actions of the Japanese invaders.

Chen Chengxing knew that from this moment on, the Eighth Route Army would have to spend the winter.

"Old Chen, what are the Japanese doing? Do they want to blockade us?" Luo Ping asked puzzledly.

If the Japanese really want to complete the blockade, it will definitely have an impact on the economic development of the base.

However, in the entire Zhongyunshan base, covering thousands of square kilometers of land, the people can already complete basic material circulation.

That is to say, materials such as salt still need to be transported in from outside.

However, this is not a big problem for the new second regiment.

As long as we want, we can open any passage at any time to pick up the smuggling team back to the mountain.

"Blockade is one thing, but I think the devils are planning a large-scale sweep."

"Completing the blockade before the large-scale sweep will facilitate the Japs' sweep," said Chen Chengxing.

"If we want to blockade the militia guerrillas, the Japanese will definitely have no problem, but if we want to blockade the New Second Regiment, isn't that a bit unrealistic?" Luo Ping said. Not to mention the mountain artillery and infantry artillery, the 12 heavy mortars alone can blow up the Japanese artillery tower.

In order to pursue speed, the Japanese are currently building basically earthen artillery towers. When attacking such artillery towers, heavy mortars do not need to be converted to flat firing.

"It's better not to take it lightly." Chen Chengxing said.

He was not so optimistic after the Japanese shifted most of their attention.

The pressure that the Eighth Route Army has to bear is definitely not small.

"Send orders to each unit and have them launch a raid."

"When the Japanese built roads, we dug them. When the Japanese dug ditches, we filled them up. We also cut the telephone wires."

"We can't let the Japanese overly squeeze the living space of the New Second Regiment." Chen Chengxing ordered.

Ever since the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the Japanese have been building artillery towers crazily.

In less than two months, the number of artillery towers in the Zhongyun Mountains increased by more than 2.

And this number is increasing every day.

Because they were far apart, Chen Chengxing didn't say anything.

But now the Japanese were building their towers further and further ahead, and Chen Chengxing couldn't allow the Japanese to build their towers so comfortably.

Although these artillery towers will not have any impact on the main force, the militia's space for activities will definitely be restricted.

After receiving the instructions, the various troops of the New Second Regiment began to attack continuously for the next period of time.

In just half a month, more than 80 battles of varying sizes took place in the Zhongyun Mountain area.

The Japanese soldier, who was hit hard on the head, woke up again.

They all recalled the fear of being dominated by the New Second Regiment.

The progress of the Japanese in building artillery towers and digging trenches unconsciously slowed down.

Anyway, the superior just ordered the repairs, there is no regulation on how much to repair.

It’s better not to risk your life.

Just as the New Second Regiment launched the raid, the Japanese completed all troop and material deployments.

The "Iron Wall Encirclement" sweep has officially begun.

"Report, we have received intelligence from local comrades."

"The enemy's 3rd and 22nd Regiments of the 4th Brigade and the 4th Independent Mountain Artillery Battalion have begun action."

"The total number of Japanese troops, including puppet troops and forced laborers from enemy-occupied areas, was about 2."

"We are now sweeping from Fu'an, Luye, and Xinkou, from north to south."

"At the same time, Wuyi County, Ping'an County, Luyang, Anqiu and other places also dispatched troops."

"In addition, the military district also received a telegram saying that thousands of enemy troops from Taiyuan and Luyang are sweeping westward. Si Jinshi speculated that they were trying to split up the bases in northwestern Shanxi."

The operations staff reported all the intelligence they received.

"The Japanese are making such a big move?" Luo Ping was a little shocked.

Not to mention anything else, the total strength of the Japanese Fourth Brigade and the Mountain Artillery Battalion alone exceeded 8.

This is something the New Second Regiment is simply not capable of.

And judging from the movements of the Japanese, they did not choose to advance suddenly, but instead advanced step by step.

The distance between them is not far, so if any route is attacked, the nearby troops can provide support at any time.

Each of the Japanese armies had one to two thousand men, and even if the New Second Regiment gathered all its strength, it would be impossible to end the battle in a short period of time.

"Old Chen, what do you think?" Luo Ping asked.

With his military capabilities, he was still somewhat overwhelmed by such a large situation.

"Judging from the movements of the Japanese, they should be divided into two or three lines." Chen Chengxing said, pointing to the map.

"According to intelligence, the enemy troops on the front line are mainly Japs, with only a small number of traitors leading the way."

"If my guess is correct, the Japanese should adopt the tactic of dividing and attacking together, with the goal of engaging in a decisive battle with our main force."

This is basically an old trick of the devils.

Whenever it is a large-scale raid, we must first divide and attack together.

If the main force cannot be found, they will split up and conduct another sweep.

However, this time the Japanese moved the subsequent troop mopping-up operations directly to the front and carried them out simultaneously with the divided and coordinated attack.

"Following the front-line troops are the second-line troops, who are mainly responsible for clearing out the enemy, that is, burning houses and looting things. These people are mainly puppet troops."

"There are some devils in the second-line troops. Let's call them the third-line troops."

"We are responsible for scattered sweeps, mainly searching for small units and scattered personnel that have broken out."

After Chen Chengxing's explanation, the battlefield, which was originally a mess on the map, suddenly became clear.

The biggest threat to the New Second Regiment immediately became apparent.

"The enemy's goal of attacking in a coordinated manner is to find the main force of the New Second Regiment, so we cannot expose ourselves easily."

"I decided that the main force would not move, and the guerrillas would split up into smaller units and cooperate with the local militia to deal with the enemy."

"Like tunnel warfare, mine warfare, sparrow warfare, use everything you can."

"In a word, keep the Japanese under attack at all times!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)