Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 433: No battle plan!
Tieshishi Hutong, Peking.

North China Front Army Headquarters.

"General, this is the report on the battle in Northwest Shanxi, as well as the preliminary battle plan for the next attack on Northwest Shanxi!"

The commander of the First Army, Yoshio Shinozuka, carefully presented a stack of documents to Sugiyama Gen.

Sugiyama Gen nodded and took the document and started reading it.

After the defeats in northwestern and central Shanxi, Sugiyama Gen had already severely criticized Shinozuka Yoshio and Yamashita Tomoyuki.

Tianhuang was furious when he learned that the Imperial Guards Mixed Brigade was completely wiped out.

However, Tianhuang would not blame Yoshio Shinozuka and Ikki Yamamoto, but would think that he, the commander of the North China Front Army, was incompetent, and asked the headquarters to send a telegram to scold him.

Sugiyama was very angry at the time, but has calmed down now.

As the commander of the Japanese North China Front Army and the supreme commander of the Locust Army and Locust Coalition Army with a total strength of 30, he had to remain calm at all times.

This time, in the attack on the base areas in northwestern Shanxi and central Shanxi, the North China Front Army dispatched four divisions and six brigades, including a Type A division and the elite brigade of the Type A division, but they were unable to defeat the Eighth Route Army in central and northwestern Shanxi.

This put a lot of pressure on Sugiyama Gen.

The combat effectiveness displayed by the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi and central Shanxi was truly astonishing, especially the enemy's artillery firepower, which reached the level of at least ten artillery regiments. It was truly astonishing.

How powerful is the firepower of ten artillery regiments?
That's two artillery divisions plus one artillery brigade.

And there is at least one heavy artillery division-level firepower among them.

The defeat of the attacking force was also understandable.

Compared to Sugiyama Hajime's pressure, Shinozuka Yoshio's pressure was even greater, so great that it made him nervous and unable to sleep.

Because Jinzhong and northwest Shanxi are very close to Taiyuan where the First Army Headquarters is located.

Ten artillery regiment-level Eighth Route Army troops were lurking around Taiyuan.

How can I allow others to sleep soundly beside my bed? How can Yoshio Shinozuka sleep well?
So he immediately asked Yamamoto Ikki to draw up a preliminary battle plan.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to report the battle to the North China Front Army Headquarters, he also presented Yamamoto's plan to Sugiyama Gen.

Although the Eighth Route Army in Northwest Shanxi won the anti-mopping-up operation after this period of time, in the eyes of Yoshio Shinozuka and Ikki Yamamoto, it was also a miserable victory for the Eighth Route Army and it could not threaten the First Army in the short term.

However, Li Yunlong has channels for aid. In three to six months at most, the three regiments in northwestern Shanxi will definitely recover their strength, and even the main force will grow to 30,000 to 40,000 people.

By then, the First Army might not just be having a hard time.

Li Yunlong is a madman when it comes to fighting. He has 30,000 to 40,000 main force troops under his command, and he most likely dares to attack Taiyuan.

then.

Yoshio Shinozuka and Ikki Yamamoto did not intend to sit and wait for death, but to take the initiative to attack and eliminate Li Yunlong and the New 1st Regiment.

Soon, Sugiyama Gen finished reading the battle report of the battle in northwestern Shanxi, which was similar to the oral report given by Shinozuka Yoshio before.

The greatest responsibility for the failure of the battle in northwestern Shanxi must of course be borne by Yoshio Shinozuka and Ikki Yamamoto.

but.

The Mongolian troops, Takeshi Sakurada and Mitake Tsuda are also responsible. Since Takeshi Sakurada and Mitake Tsuda died in battle, it is naturally impossible to hold them accountable.

However, at present no Type A division commander is willing to get involved in the mess of the First Army, so the headquarters and the North China Front Command are not in a position to remove Yoshio Shinozuka.

"Shinozuka-kun, what's your battle plan?"

After reading the battle report, Sugiyama went on to look at the battle plan. There was only the word "battle plan" on the document, nothing else. This made Sugiyama frown. How dare you, Shinozuka Yoshio, tease me, a general?
"Your Excellency, General."

Shinozuka Yoshio's voice remained even, "The plan for this battle is no plan."

Sugiyama's frown could kill a fly: "No plan?"

If Yoshio Shinozuka couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation, Sugiyama Gen planned to slap him twice to teach him a lesson.

"Hi."

Shinozuka Yoshio lowered his head: "This time, the First Army General Staff has formulated a battle plan without a plan."

"The Eighth Route Army's intelligence capabilities are too strong. Whether it is the combat plan of the First Army Headquarters or the combat plan of the North China Front Army, the Eighth Route Army can know it."

"In this battle in northwest Shanxi, I have reason to suspect that the First Army's battle plan has been leaked."

"Otherwise, the main force of the New 1st Regiment should be in Xing County, not on the road from Jiangjunling to Ping'an County."

"Since the Eighth Route Army was able to obtain detailed intelligence on the Locust Army's battle plan."

"Then the locust army won't formulate a battle plan, and the Eighth Route Army will never be able to grasp the locust army's battle plan."

Sugiyama Gen's brows relaxed a little when he heard this. This explanation was quite acceptable.

Lieutenant General Yamashita Tomoyuki, Chief of Staff of the North China Front Army, said with a cold expression, "Shinozuka-kun, this doesn't conform to the laws of warfare. Without a battle plan or contingency plan, how will your First Army fight? How many troops and supplies will you need to mobilize? You can't just do whatever you want, right?"

In the battle of Jinzhong, the troops led by Yamashita Tomoyuki were forced to withdraw due to lack of artillery shells.

The First Army took 7000 tons of combat supplies but was defeated faster than the Japanese troops attacking Jinzhong.

This made Yamashita Tomoyuki very dissatisfied.

Sugiyama Gen nodded. As the commander of the North China Front Army, he had to be responsible for the locust army soldiers and the consumed combat supplies.

We can't agree with Yoshio Shinozuka just because of what he said.

Such a large-scale battle involving tens of thousands of people requires tens of thousands of tons of combat supplies and results in tens of thousands of casualties.

"General, Chief of Staff, it's not that we don't have a battle plan," Shinozuka Yoshio explained, pointing to his head. "It's that the battle plan is all in our heads, just not written down. This way, the Eighth Route Army would never know the Locust Army's battle plan in advance."

"In that case," Sugiyama nodded and said, "Then please allow Shinozuka-kun to dictate the battle plan."

Yoshio Shinozuka looked around, and Sugiyama Gen ordered several staff members in the headquarters to leave and ordered the guards to strictly prohibit anyone from approaching the door.

Only when Sugiyama Hajime, Yamashita Tomoyuki and Shinozuka Yoshio were left in the headquarters office did Shinozuka Yoshio begin to explain his battle plan.

This battle plan mainly relies on artillery suppression.

That is, artillery units were selected from the various divisions and brigades of the North China Front Army to form a special artillery division to go to northwestern Shanxi to fight.

A heavy artillery brigade was also transferred from the Kwantung Army to participate in the battle. These artillery units suppressed the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire during the battle.

Anyway, there is no war in the Kwantung Army, so transferring a heavy artillery brigade to North China will not have much impact on the situation outside the Great Wall.

"Your Excellency, General."

Shinozuka Yoshio's battle plan coincided with Yamashita Tomoyuki's. Yamashita Tomoyuki told Sugiyama Moto, "One of the main reasons for the failure of the battles in northwestern Shanxi and central Shanxi this time is the lack of intelligence and insufficient artillery firepower. If these two problems can be solved, the Locust Army will definitely be able to defeat the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi and central Shanxi."

Sugiyama's eyes flashed. "The Imperial Guards Mixed Brigade was completely destroyed in northwest Shanxi. His Majesty is very angry. The consequences are very serious. I will apply to the headquarters and Tianhuang to mobilize the heavy artillery brigade to fight in North China."

(End of this chapter)