Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 291 The Political Commissar of the New Regiment!
Shanxi.

Taiyuan.

First Army Headquarters.

Yamamoto Ikki had just gotten off the bus when a messenger suddenly ran up to him:

"The commander wants to see you and asks you to go to the headquarters."

When Yamamoto arrived at the First Army Headquarters, Yoshio Shinozuka was already waiting for him on the armchair.

"General."

Yamamoto Kazuki was wearing military uniform. He stepped on his feet together with a crisp sound and then bowed his head to salute Yoshio Shinozuka.

"Yamamoto-kun."

Shinozuka Yoshio looked at Yamamoto Ikki deeply and said:

"Major General Hirata reports to me."

"You disobeyed orders and failed to lead the special forces team to deal with the Eighth Route Army Special Forces. As a result, the 39th Infantry Battalion of the 6th Brigade was ambushed by the Eighth Route Army Special Forces mid-route, resulting in over half of the troops being killed or wounded."

"This is the telegram Major General Hirata sent to headquarters. Major Taniguchi's efforts to save him were unsuccessful, and he has died a loyal soldier for the locust."

Major Taniguchi was the captain of the 6th Infantry Battalion.

A 7.92mm rifle bullet hit his chest, just one centimeter away from his heart. He died of severe bleeding after surgery.

The responsibility for the complete annihilation of the 3rd Brigade does not lie with Yamamoto Ikki or Hirata Kenkichi.

However, Yangquan was captured by the Eighth Route Army, and food and combat supplies were looted, and the responsibility had to be borne by Kenkichi Hirata.

However, Kenkichi Hirata shifted some of the responsibility to Ikki Yamamoto.

Yamamoto took the telegram and read it, his tone unchanged: "Major General Hirata made the same mistake as many imperial officers: he was arrogant and complacent, never listened to others' opinions, and thought he could easily defeat the Chinese army."

"I had already warned Major General Hirata and Colonel Uwagawa to be on guard against the Eighth Route Army's surprise attack on Yangquan and the mutiny of the Locust Army, but they simply didn't listen."

Yamamoto didn't want to take the blame for the failure of the southern campaign in the Jinzhong Campaign.

Yoshio Shinozuka nodded. He was primarily responsible for the annihilation of the 3rd Brigade, while Kenkichi Hirata was primarily responsible for the defeat of the 39th Brigade. There was no denying that.

However, Yamamoto Ikki's disobedience still needs to be criticized.

"Yamamoto-kun." Shinozuka Yoshio's face darkened. "I have suppressed your disobedience and have not reported it to the North China Front Command, but I hope there won't be a next time."

Insulting one's superiors is an old tradition in the Japanese Army, and the matter can be big or small.

If you disobey orders and win, you will not only not be punished, but will also be rewarded.

But if you lose the fight, things will usually get serious.

"Hi." Yamamoto bowed his head. "Thank you, Commander."

"Commander, with all due respect, Major General Hirata is unqualified to command the special forces."

"Only you are qualified to command a strategic-level force like the Special Forces."

Shinozuka Yoshio nodded and changed the subject: "What did you gain from your trip to Yangquan and Wangjiawan? Did your special forces just go for a ride?"

Shinozuka Yoshio sounded somewhat dissatisfied and asked Yamamoto to lead the special forces team to behead Li Yunlong, but the special forces team didn't even see Li Yunlong.

Instead, they were taught a lesson by the Eighth Route Army Special Forces. The 39th Brigade fought a few battles, but there was no exchange of fire between the special forces and the Eighth Route Army.

Yamamoto said, "General, the special forces discovered the Eighth Route Army and reminded the 39th Brigade of how to deal with the Eighth Route Army, but they ignored it. Although the special forces did not engage in a firefight with the Eighth Route Army, but..."

Yamamoto paused, then added, "The performance of the Eighth Route Army Special Forces in this battle should be enough to demonstrate the value of special forces in modern warfare. A modern special forces unit that has received special training, is equipped with automatic firepower, has strong individual skills, and has tacit coordination can definitely change the course of a battle by launching a surprise attack at a critical moment."

"Yes," Shinozuka Yoshio said with a hint of sarcasm, "The Eighth Route Army's special forces did change the course of the battle, but the Locust Army's special forces didn't play a role in changing the course of the battle."

The performance of the Eighth Route Army Special Forces in this battle truly amazed Yoshio Shinozuka.

This was also one of the reasons why he suppressed Yamamoto's telegram of disobeying orders.

Yamamoto's special agents were all selected from soldiers with combat experience and higher education. After intensive training, they were further trained at the Munich Military Academy in Germany. They are well-equipped and have extremely high combat qualities. I think they should be no worse than the Eighth Route Army Special Forces.

With such a force in hand, it can indeed be used as a strategic-level force.

But Shinozuka Yoshio knew very well that Yamamoto Ikki was too arrogant. He always wanted to behead Chairman Chiang and Yan Xishan. He was too ambitious but lacked the ability to achieve his goals.

However, Yamamoto had a different opinion: "General, have you heard of the story of Tian Ji's horse race?"

"Of course I've heard of it." Shinozuka Yoshio nodded. "This is an allusion from the Warring States Period in China."

Yamamoto Ikki said in a deep voice, "The Eighth Route Army Special Forces and the Locust Army Special Forces are both top-grade horses. If you want to defeat the enemy, you can use top-grade horses to deal with the enemy's medium and low-grade horses. Top-grade horses fighting top-grade horses will only result in both sides being injured."

"Okay." Shinozuka nodded. "Then I look forward to Yamamoto-kun leading the special forces to deal with the middle and lower-quality horses of the Eighth Route Army."

After a pause, Shinozuka Yoshio took a deep breath, his eyes cold:
"This time, I underestimated this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers trapped in the ravine by the locust army. Their strength was far beyond my expectations."

His tone was cold and murderous as he spoke.

Shinozuka Yoshio and the 20th Division believed that many Eighth Route Army soldiers and civilians in Jinzhong had starved to death. Therefore, Shinozuka Yoshio sent the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade and the 39th Brigade to Jinzhong to reap the harvest, while the main force of the First Army was sent to fight in southern Shanxi.

But no one expected that the Eighth Route Army and the common people not only did not starve to death, but their strength was greatly enhanced.

"Your Excellency, Commander, should not blame yourself."

Yamamoto Ikki still had a cold expression on his face, without any surprise:

"The Eighth Route Army must have received military assistance from the Soviet Union. None of us expected that the Soviet Union would not only provide them with weapons and ammunition, but also a large amount of food."

"In addition, the speed at which the Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong expanded has exceeded expectations, and it's almost like everyone is a soldier."

"What's puzzling is when exactly the Soviet Union transported such large quantities of weapons, ammunition, and food to the Jinzhong area."

"This needs to be investigated by the intelligence department as soon as possible."

Although there is no solid evidence, Yamamoto is certain that it was the Soviet Union that provided military assistance to the Eighth Route Army.

The reason is simple. The Nationalist government would not provide the Eighth Route Army with such good equipment and food, let alone a large amount of ammunition.

The only country in the surrounding area that had the ability to assist the Eighth Route Army was the Soviet Union.

Yoshio Shinozuka took out a photo, which was a spy's photo of the Soviet Army's latest equipment, the M1938 120mm mortar, confirming Yamamoto's guess. The scout took the photo during the battle and the Eighth Route Army equipped the fake mortar position with this mortar. It cannot be said to be exactly the same, there is almost no difference.

"Damn the Soviets."

Yoshio Shinozuka rubbed his head and felt a dull pain in his head.

If the Soviets had not provided the Eighth Route Army with weapons, equipment and food, the Locust Army would not have lost so many officers and soldiers.

"Commander." Yamamoto Ikki's eyes flashed with murderous intent: "If necessary, I can personally lead the special forces team to decapitate the Soviet Far East Command."

Special forces' favorite thing to do is to destroy enemy conspiracies and behead enemy commanders.

The corners of Shinozuka Yoshio's mouth twitched, and Yamamoto's tone was as loud as ever.

"First, we need to investigate how the Soviet Union transported weapons, ammunition, and food to central and southeastern Shanxi."

"The Empire's current army strength and prepared combat supplies are not suitable for a two-front war."

Once the special forces team goes to decapitate the Soviet Far East Command, whether successful or not, it will be equivalent to the Japanese army declaring war on the Soviet army.

The Soviet army's combat effectiveness was far stronger than that of the Chinese army. Even though the Japanese knew that the Soviet army was providing military assistance to China, they did not dare to provoke the Soviet army easily.

"Yamamoto-kun, I heard that you took an intelligence major when you were studying at the Munich School in Germany."

"From now on, Lieutenant Colonel Mizuno and the intelligence department are under your command. Make every effort to investigate the location of the Jinzhong Eighth Route Army Headquarters and the Eighth Route Army's assistance channels."

"General Terauchi has given us an opportunity. He will mobilize combat supplies and manpower for our First Army."

"Let our First Army eliminate Li Yunlong and the Jinzhong base within three months."

"The next time the First Army attacks the Jinzhong base, we'll need strong intelligence support."

After learning from the painful experience, Yoshio Shinozuka felt that the biggest reason for the failure of the last operation was insufficient intelligence.

If he knew that the Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong not only did not starve to death, but instead greatly increased in strength, he would never agree to Mutaguchi's battle plan.

"Hi."

Yamamoto Ikki lowered his head:
"I will rebuild the First Army's intelligence network as quickly as possible to gain an intelligence advantage."

Shinozuka Yoshio: "Yoshi."

Yamamoto Ikki: "General, there's one more thing. During the Wangjiawan Battle, Colonel Matsuo, commander of the 77th Regiment, was sniped and killed by the Eighth Route Army from 1.5 kilometers away. The Eighth Route Army likely possesses an extremely skilled sniper and a powerful sniper weapon. Commander, please limit your outings during this period. The special forces will provide you with 24-hour protection."

Shinozuka Yoshio's anus tightened. "The Eighth Route Army actually has such a powerful sniper and sniper rifle?"

A bullet blew up his head from 1.5 kilometers away. It was impossible to defend against it. Yoshio Shinozuka was a little panicked.

A sharp gleam flashed in Yamamoto Ikki's eyes. "Such a formidable sniper has emerged from the Eighth Route Army. Killing a Locust Army colonel from 1.5 kilometers away will probably be widely publicized. By then, the intelligence department will know who this person is."

……

Yamamoto miscalculated this time.

Although Zhao Gang killed Colonel Haruhige Matsuo and was awarded the second-class individual merit, the Eighth Route Army did not publicize it.

This is Zhao Gang's request; he likes to keep a low profile.

Otherwise, Zhao Gang's deeds would definitely be reported in the "Xinhua Daily" and "Border Region Daily", allowing the Japanese to obtain intelligence.

Li Yunlong sent a telegram to his superiors requesting Comrade Zhao Gang to serve as the political commissar of the New 1st Regiment.

As expected, the superiors agreed to Li Yunlong's request, but required Comrade Zhao Gang to go to the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University in Yan'an to study for four months.

In addition, the headquarters also transferred Xiong Shanglin to the Jindongnan Headquarters to serve as the captain of the special forces directly under the headquarters.

(End of this chapter)