Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Taiyuan.

Japanese First Army Headquarters.

The expressions of Japanese officers including Yoshio Shinozuka, Renya Mutaguchi, and Ikki Yamamoto were solemn.

"General."

At this moment, the Japanese communications staff officer Kasai Toshimatsu walked in quickly and reported:

"The commander of the North China Front Army, Sugiyama Motohiro, has just called."

"Currently, the Eighth Route Army in Northwest Shanxi has mobilized more than 12 artillery regiments and launched a full-scale counterattack. They can only dispatch one flying squadron to reinforce the First Army."

"Also, according to the reconnaissance aircraft report, the main force of the Eighth Route Army's Jinzhong base has captured Yangqu County."

"At present, our First Army has been trapped in a situation where it is surrounded by the Eighth Route Army on both sides."

The North China Front Army conveyed all the situations in northwest Shanxi and north of Taiyuan to the First Army Headquarters.

Yangqu County is less than 30 kilometers northeast of Taiyuan.

Yoshio Shinozuka stationed an infantry battalion there.

Although the main force attacking Yangqu County was not from the Jinzhong base area, the Eighth Route Army that attacked Yangqu County had heavy artillery and tank units, and it didn't take long for it to wipe out this battalion of Japanese infantry.

Heavy artillery and tank units appeared in Yangqu County. The Japanese soldiers of the First Army had no doubt that Yangqu County was the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

"Nani?"

"The Eighth Route Army in northwest Shanxi launched a counterattack with firepower at the level of 12 artillery regiments?"

Yoshio Shinozuka's anus suddenly tightened.

Mutaguchi Ren'ya and Yamamoto Kazuki on the side also changed their expressions and became more solemn.

The 12 artillery regiments made the three old Japanese soldiers envious.

If they had 12 artillery regiments, they would have swept through the Eighth Route Army, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Central Army long ago.

If fighting in the wild, the First Army would certainly not be a match for the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi.

However, if the First Army was in a defensive posture, the Eighth Route Army in Northwest Shanxi would have to deploy at least 2 to 3 times the number of troops as the First Army to have a chance of destroying the First Army.

At present, the Eighth Route Army in Northwest Shanxi is still weaker than the First Army.

"It's outrageous. Where did the Eighth Route Army get so many artillerymen?" Mutaguchi Ren'ya cursed.

The expansion of the Eighth Route Army in the past two years has been made up entirely of authentic farmers. They have not received long training and have never fought a decent battle.

A technical soldier, especially an artilleryman, needs some cultural background.

Assuming that one artillery regiment had 2,000 artillerymen, the Eighth Route Army had at least 40,000 to 50,000 artillerymen.

Judging from the situation of fighting with the Eighth Route Army, the artillery quality of the Eighth Route Army was very high. They did not look like farmers at all, but were all elite gunners like the Japanese Army's Type A Division Artillery Regiment and the Japanese Army's Field Heavy Artillery Regiment.

"This is indeed strange." Shinozuka Yoshio nodded.

Yamamoto Ikki said: "Most artillerymen are just coolies. A real artillery crew only needs about 10 elite gunners. An artillery regiment of the Eighth Route Army has 36 mountain guns and at most 400 elite gunners."

After a pause, Yamamoto Ikki added solemnly, "Although the individual quality of the Eighth Route Army is currently inferior to that of the Locust Army, once the Eighth Route Army has fought a few large-scale battles, it will undoubtedly complete the transition from guerrilla warfare to large-scale combat. The individual quality of the Eighth Route Army's soldiers will improve by leaps and bounds. By then... the Locust Army will probably be in big trouble."

The Eighth Route Army's artillery has strong firepower and sufficient ammunition, which are advantages. However, the Eighth Route Army's individual soldiers are not good enough, and the grassroots officers and soldiers lack experience in large-scale combat. This is a shortcoming and an important reason why the battle between the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army and the First Army has reached a fever pitch.

If the individual quality of the 129th Division can reach the level of the average combat backbone of the Volunteer Army during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, it will only be a matter of time before they defeat the First Army.

Boom boom boom...

The Eighth Route Army's artillery began bombarding again, and the Taiyuan city walls and fortifications outside the city were suffering from intensive artillery fire.

"What does this method mean?" asked Yoshio Shinozuka with a serious expression.

How could he not know this?

The strength of the Eighth Route Army has increased dramatically in the past two years.

Two years ago, after the July 7 Incident, during the Battle of Taiyuan, the total strength of the Eighth Route Army was only more than 40,000.

but!

In just two years, the total strength of the Eighth Route Army increased more than tenfold. Now, one regiment of the Eighth Route Army can defeat two Type A divisions of the Locust Army. One division of the Eighth Route Army dares to go north to attack Taiyuan, and the First Army is helpless.

However, this is probably not the true strength of the Eighth Route Army. There must be more Eighth Route Army troops in southeastern Shanxi.

In addition, in the two battles of Taiyuan and Northwest Shanxi, the Eighth Route Army still had troops from several military regions that had not been dispatched.

In just two years, the Eighth Route Army had acquired the combat capability to confront the North China Front Army head-on.

When the battle in northwest Shanxi ended and the main force of the North China Front Army retreated, the pressure faced by the First Army was extremely great.

Now, we can only hope that the main force of the North China Front Army will destroy the main force of the Eighth Route Army in northwest Shanxi.

However, even so, the main force of the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi still had to be dealt with by the First Army.

Yamamoto immediately replied, "First, we must address the Eighth Route Army's aid problem at its source. Although we don't know how the Soviets aided the Eighth Route Army, no other force could have provided the Eighth Route Army with such a large amount of combat supplies. Only by having the Kwantung Army eliminate the Soviets in the Far East can we completely resolve the Eighth Route Army's aid problem."

The First Army investigated for such a long time, including the intelligence department of the North China Front Army, which investigated for a full two years.

However, at present, the Japanese army has only found a person named Lin Feng, who provided a large amount of weapons, ammunition and combat supplies to the Eighth Route Army by air transport, and very little other information is known.

The Japanese Imperial Headquarters Staff speculated that this person was most likely an agent of the Soviet Army.

Yamamoto’s idea is very simple. Since the problem cannot be solved, then solve the person who created the problem.

Shinozuka Yoshio nodded and said, "That makes sense. I have already reported this plan to General Sugiyama Hajime, commander of the North China Front Army, and General Sugiyama Hajime has also submitted this plan to the headquarters."

"The headquarters also intends to advance northwards and capture Siberia in search of oil, which would be a good opportunity to gauge the strength of the Soviet army."

"The Eighth Route Army is expanding really fast!"

"However, expanding the army too quickly is not a good thing."

"Without an industrial base, they couldn't even be self-sufficient in weapons and ammunition. Although they received some Soviet support, it was just someone else's."

"By the time the Kwantung Army dealt with the Soviets in the Far East and the Locust Army destroyed the Eighth Route Army's arsenals, the Eighth Route Army would no longer have the ability to resupply its supplies."

"The larger the number of troops, the greater the consumption."

"By then, the overall combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army will inevitably decline significantly, and it will fall into a passive state."

The two old Japanese had great trust in the Kwantung Army and believed that the Kwantung Army would not have much trouble dealing with the Soviet Army.

"Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. What should we do now?" Mutaguchi Renya, who had been silent until then, spoke up. "If our First Army cannot withstand the attack of the Eighth Route Army, you, Mr. Yamamoto, I, and the Commander-in-Chief, must all be loyal to His Majesty Tianhuang."

Yoshio Shinozuka looked at Ikki Yamamoto.

Yamamoto Ikki took a deep breath and said, "Right now, the Locust Army's artillery firepower is weak, while the enemy's artillery firepower is strong. We can only play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses."

"Oh?" Shinozuka Yoshio's expression changed. "Yamamoto-kun, how can we play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses?"

"Fight the Eighth Route Army in night and close combat," Yamamoto Ikki said, "to disable the Eighth Route Army's artillery firepower. Furthermore, my special forces can be dispatched to decapitate the Eighth Route Army's frontline headquarters."

"Yoshi." Shinozuka Yoshio nodded. "Our First Army will not sit idly by and wait for death. We will not simply take a beating without fighting back. Yamamoto-kun, please discuss the specific plan."

Immediately, Yamamoto Ikki and Shinozuka Yoshio began to plot, while Mutaguchi Renya stood aside, looking awkward and like a lackey. (End of this chapter)