Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 470 Solve the problem fundamentally!
Shanxi.

Taiyuan.

The Japanese Army's First Army Headquarters in North China.

Yamamoto Ikki walked into the yard carrying a colonel's sword.

"I beheaded the 3rd Division of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army without authorization. I beg your pardon, General."

Yamamoto Ikki first lowered his head, then stood up straight, his voice without any fluctuation.

Yoshio Shinozuka was practicing swordsmanship in the yard. When he heard Yamamoto Ikki's voice, the lieutenant general's sword flashed a cold arc in the air, and the next second it was placed on Yamamoto Ikki's neck.

"Yamamoto-kun, why don't you avoid it?"

"Because I'm not afraid."

"Why aren't you afraid?"

"Because I know that your Excellency the General's swordsmanship is superb, and it is so perfect that no one in the First Army can match him."

Recently, everyone in the First Army Headquarters has been talking about the Commander's rapid improvement in swordsmanship.

Nonsense, if I chop down dozens of vases and ten long tables every month on average, how could my knife skills not improve rapidly?

But with Yamamoto's swordsmanship, he could chop off Yoshio Shinozuka's head within ten moves.

However, Yoshio Shinozuka was very kind to him. Although Yamamoto did not like to flatter others, Yoshio Shinozuka was an exception.

"Yoshi."

Yoshio Shinozuka nodded with satisfaction, danced with Lieutenant General Tianhuang's sword, and put it back into the scabbard.

He handed the lieutenant general's sword to the guard soldier.

Shinozuka Yoshio wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and said, "Originally, I wanted you to take out the headquarters of the 3rd Division of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, but a mere division headquarters wasn't worth the special forces' effort, so I didn't give the order."

"And Yamamoto-kun, you were too impatient. You took down the 3rd Division headquarters and didn't really hurt Yan Xishan enough."

"If we send an infantry regiment and have your Yamamoto Special Forces take action to wipe out the entire 3rd Division of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, then Yan Xishan will feel the pain."

Yamamoto Ikki said in a deep voice: "General, if you hadn't stopped me, I would have chopped off Yan Xishan's head."

"This decapitation plan is indeed a rare opportunity for the special forces, but I don't understand why General Sugiyama let Yan Xishan go."

In name, Yan Xishan was still the commander of the Second War Zone. He had hundreds of thousands of troops under his command from the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Eighth Route Army, and could be considered a frontier governor.

Killing this man would be enough to make Yamamoto's special forces famous, and even those imperial generals who looked down on the special forces would take notice of them.

"Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the 11th Army, drafted a 'Guidance Outline for Shanxi Operations'."

Yoshio Shinozuka threw a booklet he was carrying to Ikki Yamamoto.

Yamamoto Ikki took it and saw that it was the "Shanxi Combat Guidance Outline", and a look of realization appeared on his face.

"It turned out to be Lieutenant General Okamura."

Yamamoto narrowed his eyes and hesitated to speak.

Shinozuka Yoshio: "Yamamoto-kun, do you have a different opinion?"

Yamamoto said, "This guidance outline is very good. The strategic and tactical level is very high. The plan against the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Central Army is very feasible. However, I have different opinions on the strategy and tactics against the Eighth Route Army."

Shinozuka Yoshio's face was expressionless: "Please continue."

Suddenly, Yamamoto Ikki threw a piece of ocean into the air, and then a cold light flashed in the air, and the ocean was split in half.

Yamamoto Ikki put the colonel's sword back into the sheath.

Yamamoto Ikki: "General, how is my swordsmanship?"

Shinozuka Yoshio narrowed his eyes and said, "In the martial arts world, nothing is invincible if it is fast. Yamamoto-kun's swordsmanship is as fast as lightning and has reached the pinnacle of perfection."

"During the Republic of China, there were two sayings: No matter how good your kung fu skills are, you're still afraid of a kitchen knife."

"Within three steps, the gun is fast; beyond three steps, the gun is fast and accurate."

"Even ten sword masters, no matter how skilled they are, cannot defeat an enemy wielding a fully automatic firearm."

Yamamoto Ikki's eyes narrowed as he spoke. Shinozuka Yoshio continued, "Swordsmanship is a spiritual state. Those skilled in swordsmanship are naturally physically strong, capable of outfighting five, or even ten, opponents on their own in hand-to-hand combat."

"General." Yamamoto Ikki's mouth twitched, "Perhaps, times are changing."

Shinozuka Yoshio frowned slightly: "Yamamoto-kun, what exactly do you want to say?"

Yamamoto said, "General, haven't you noticed that the Eighth Route Army's weapons and equipment are getting better and better? From the Hanyang and Zhongzheng rifles of two years ago to today's heavy artillery, heavy tanks, and large trucks, it can be said that now the Eighth Route Army has basically all the heavy weapons except for planes and warships."

"That's true," Shinozuka Yoshio nodded, his face solemn. "These peasants from the mountains are growing stronger and stronger, but their good days are coming to an end. General Sugiyama Moto has received guidance from tactical master Lieutenant General Okamura. He will soon take command and gather a large force to destroy the main forces of the Eighth Route Army in southeastern and northwestern Shanxi."

"When the time comes, your special forces team will also participate in the battle and decapitate the Eighth Route Army headquarters and Li Yunlong's command headquarters."

Yamamoto secretly sneered when he heard this. The locust army had attacked the Eighth Route Army so many times, but which time did they win?

After each attack on the Eighth Route Army, the Eighth Route Army's strength would have a qualitative leap.

Sugiyama Moto's ability is average among the admirals, and Yamamoto doesn't think this time will be an exception.

Shinozuka Yoshio's face remained expressionless as he continued, "Lieutenant General Okamura's analysis is consistent with ours. The main reason for the Locust Army's previous defeats was that the Eighth Route Army had mastered the Locust Army's battle plan. This time, the Locust Army won't have to formulate a battle plan, so they're bound to win."

Yamamoto nodded expressionlessly, but even so, he still wasn't optimistic.

"General, to deal with the Eighth Route Army, I believe that in addition to armed attack, the Locust Army must also solve the problem fundamentally."

"Solve the problem fundamentally?" Shinozuka Yoshio pondered. "You mean, cut off the Eighth Route Army's aid?"

"That's just one of the reasons," Yamamoto nodded. "Although there's no evidence at the moment, it's certain that the Soviet Union is behind the Eighth Route Army's support, and it must be the Soviet forces in the Far East. The Kwantung Army should march north to attack the Soviet forces in the Far East. If the Kwantung Army intends to attack the Soviet forces in the Far East, the special forces can decapitate the Far Eastern Soviet headquarters and cooperate with the Kwantung Army's attack."

If the Soviet army is driven back to Siberia, the Soviet Union will no longer be able to provide assistance to the Eighth Route Army.

Shinozuka Yoshio nodded. "I will make this proposal to the North China Front Army Headquarters and the Imperial Headquarters. This will be a good opportunity to assess the Soviet Army's strength. What about the second option?"

"Secondly, there's the issue of the locust army's equipment."

Yamamoto's eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, and his face was expressionless:

"Commander, look at the weapons production officials have equipped the Locust Army warriors with. They have five-round Type 38 rifles, and each round requires manual bolt ejection. Some squads are only equipped with a light machine gun. Their firepower is truly inadequate."

"But what weapons were the Tubalu troops in southeastern and northwestern Shanxi equipped with?"

"Each squad has one general-purpose machine gun, one anti-tank rocket launcher, and one submachine gun. The rest are equipped with Mauser rifles."

"Although the Locust Army has grenade launchers, the Eighth Route Army has a large number of 60mm and 82mm mortars."

"The Locust Army has Type 75 infantry guns, and the Eighth Route Army has a large number of mm mountain guns."

"The Locust Army has 20mm anti-tank guns and 37mm rapid-fire cannons, and the Eighth Route Army has a large number of 20mm machine guns."

"The Locust Army has 75mm mountain guns and 105mm howitzers, while the Eighth Route Army has 105mm howitzers and 150mm howitzers."

"The Locust Army has Type 95 light tanks and Type 97 medium tanks, while the Eighth Route Army has medium tanks and heavy tanks."

After using the German Hitler MP38 submachine gun, Yamamoto realized the difference in individual firepower between bolt-action rifles and fully automatic weapons.

Except for airplanes, almost every weapon used by the Japanese First Army was suppressed by the Eighth Route Army.

At the moment, air superiority may be the only advantage the Japanese army has.

However, the air advantage was limited. There was a shortage of aircraft, pilots, aviation fuel, bombs and other supplies. The Eighth Route Army's own air defense firepower was very strong, and this air advantage was far from enough to decide the outcome of a large-scale troop battle.

Yamamoto remained expressionless and continued to talk:

"The weapons of the Locust Army are barely adequate to deal with the Nationalist government's army, but their firepower is far from ideal."

"The Battle of Wuhan is an example. The locust army assembled so many troops, weapons, equipment and combat supplies, but they failed to overwhelm the Chinese army with firepower, allowing the main force of the Chinese army to escape."

"The ordnance department should provide the Locust Army with automatic firearms, or at least semi-automatic weapons. The current Type 38 rifle simply cannot meet the Locust Army's combat needs."

"Artillery firepower must also be strengthened. At the battalion and squadron levels, the equipment of 60mm and 80mm light mortars should be comprehensively enhanced."

"At the wing and division levels, the firepower of 75mm mountain guns and 75mm field guns should also be comprehensively strengthened."

"As for tanks... we should mass-produce medium and heavy tanks, and increase the production of anti-tank weapons."

Yamamoto had studied at the Munich Military Academy in Germany and had seen the world. The gap between the equipment of the Japanese and German armies was even greater than that between the Chinese and Japanese armies.

(End of this chapter)