Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 568 The price exceeded expectations!

"Commander, the Japanese sent out planes to bomb Beitongpu Road and Pingsui West Road."

Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang received this information the day after the Japanese bombing.

"How is the damage to the railway?" Zhao Gang asked hurriedly.

The two men had expected the Japanese to send planes to bomb the railway.

But I didn't expect the Japs to react so quickly.

"Many parts of the railway were severely damaged, and several bridges were destroyed."

The intelligence officer replied.

"This is a bit troublesome."

Zhao Gang frowned slightly.

The railroad tracks were destroyed by aerial bombs, but the engineers were able to repair them quickly using spare tracks. However, the bridge was destroyed and it was impossible to repair it within a few days.

Moreover, after the bridge is repaired, the Japanese air force will continue to come and bomb.

"As expected." Li Yunlong's expression remained unchanged. "Since rail transport is not possible, then road transport is the only option."

"Can the fuel consumption be sustained in road transportation?"

Zhao Gang looked worried, then began to calculate carefully:
"The New 4st Regiment's Jiefang brand trucks, when fully loaded with 30 tons, consume liters of fuel per kilometers."

"The distance from Ping'an County to Baotou is about 450 kilometers. A large truck travels 900 kilometers and uses 270 liters of fuel."

"One thousand trucks travel back and forth, and that's 270000 liters of oil, or about 202 tons of fuel."

"It can deliver 3500 to 4000 tons of ore to the arsenal."

"After receiving the goods, our fuel reserves will be 5000 tons."

"That's only enough for 25 trucks to make trips."

"And our tanks also need a lot of fuel, and other large trucks also need fuel."

If transported by rail, the cost would be much lower.

A train can transport 1000 tons of iron ore, and it only needs to burn coal and water. Shanxi doesn't have much else, but it has a lot of coal, so the transportation efficiency of trains is extremely high.

"We have to hold on even if we can't!" Li Yunlong said, "We have no other choice. If we had air superiority, rail transportation would definitely be more convenient."

"That's true. Our arsenal hasn't been completed and is not in operation yet, so the demand for ore isn't very high." Zhao Gang nodded. "Once we have airplanes and gain air superiority, we can use rail transportation."

Li Yunlong said: "This time we killed Lieutenant General Masao Baba, the commander of the Japanese cavalry group. It is estimated that it is worth several thousand tons of gasoline."

Afterwards, Li Yunlong personally drafted a telegram to Lin Feng, inviting Lin Feng to come to the headquarters of the New 1st Regiment to discuss the price and receipt of goods, and gave it to Xiao Zhang to send out.

Although only one Japanese cavalry brigade was annihilated this time, a mosquito, no matter how small, is still meat.

The thousands of military horses that were killed were pulled back to the base by large trucks to be used as nutritional supplements for troop training.

As for the captured Japanese and puppet soldiers, they received no preferential treatment. They were all forced to undergo labor reform and work in mines for the Eighth Route Army.

"How could I forget about this?" Zhao Gang's eyes lit up.

With the additional intake of several thousand tons of fuel, the pressure on the troops in terms of strategic fuel materials will be much less.

"Wuyuan County has been recaptured by Fu Zuoyi's Suiyuan Army. What are you going to do?"

Zhao Gang looked at Li Yunlong and asked.

"Old Zhao, what do you think?" Li Yunlong asked back.

"I think we can ask the headquarters to negotiate with Fu Zuoyi first." Zhao Gang thought for a moment and said, "After all, Wuyuan County was recaptured by the Sui Army, so we can't force it."

Li Yunlong snorted and said, "Okay, then please ask the headquarters to negotiate with Fu Zuoyi. I, Li, always believe in using courtesy before force. If he doesn't understand, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Zhao Gang quickly drafted a telegram, and after Li Yunlong signed it, he asked Xiao Zhang to send it to the headquarters.

……

In the afternoon, Lin Feng arrived in Ping'an County, and Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang personally went to the north gate to greet him.

When the two sides met, they couldn't help but congratulate each other on their prosperity.

Then, Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang invited Lin Feng into the regiment headquarters.

A banquet was set up in the regiment headquarters.

"Brother Lin, Shanxi cuisine is not up to standard, and we are almost tired of Shandong cuisine. This is a table of Sichuan cuisine made by the chef I specially invited from Yan'an," Li Yunlong introduced.

"Brother Li is thoughtful."

Lin Feng's eyes lit up. It's true, he really likes Sichuan cuisine.

Zhao Gang brought a bottle of Fenjiu, and the three brothers began to clink glasses.

Li Yunlong squinted his eyes while drinking and asked:

"This time, our troops completely wiped out the main force of the Japanese 4th Cavalry Brigade in Wuyuan and Baotou, killing Lieutenant General Masao Baba, the commander of the Japanese cavalry group, and Colonel Toriyama, their chief of staff. Brother Lin, you should have received the intelligence, right?"

The cavalry group is composed of the 1st Cavalry Brigade and the 4th Cavalry Brigade.

Last time, the main force of the 1st Cavalry Brigade was completely wiped out in Datong.

This time, the main force of the 4th Cavalry Brigade was completely wiped out by the New st Regiment in Baotou.

The commander of the cavalry group was killed, but the commanders of the 1st Cavalry Brigade and the 4th Cavalry Brigade both escaped and saved their lives.

However, its main force was completely wiped out, so it was useless for the brigade commander to escape.

"I received the intelligence." Hearing the hidden meaning in Li Yunlong's words, Lin Feng nodded, "In the battle of Baotou, your unit wiped out more than 10,000 Japanese puppet troops. Not bad."

"The Japanese Army's 4th Cavalry Brigade consists of two cavalry regiments with a total strength of approximately 4000 men."

"Then the price will be calculated based on the equipment for 4000 cavalrymen and 4000 Japanese horses."

"In addition, we destroyed more than 30 armored vehicles and tanks, which is equivalent to the price of 36 M4 tanks."

"In addition, we also killed some lieutenant colonels, which allowed us to obtain 32 M4 tanks."

"Over 300 Japanese trucks were destroyed or captured, so the total is calculated as 360 trucks."

"correct."

"The price for killing Vice Admiral Masao Baba is cannons, or production lines and fuel?"

Hearing the price quoted by Boss Lin, Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang immediately smiled.

Before the Northern Expedition, Li Yunlong had not communicated with Boss Lin, but he did not expect the price to be so generous this time!

Although he could exchange it for 12 203mm howitzers, Li Yunlong chose the production line and fuel without hesitation.

These two things are currently the most scarce things for the Eighth Route Army.

As for the 203mm howitzers, of course the more the better, but the last batch of 203mm howitzers received have not yet formed combat effectiveness!

"Brother Lin, the price for killing Lieutenant General Masao Baba is 120mm mortar shells, a production line for 105mm shells, and fuel."

At present, the Eighth Route Army Huangyadong Arsenal has discovered several high-quality copper, iron and manganese mines in northern Henan, and has the ability to produce 105 artillery shells and 120 mortar shells.

After the Battle of Taiyuan, more than half of the 120th Division's 105mm and above heavy artillery shells were consumed.

Although Li Yunlong recruited Zhang Wanhe, he did not kill Li Yunlong, but made a request to him.

That is to solve the logistical supply problem of the 129th Division's artillery shells above 105 mm.

Li Yunlong had originally wanted to solve this problem, so naturally he would not refuse.

林峰点了点头：“可以获得2条105炮弹生产线、2条120炮弹和4000吨燃油，原材料供应充足的条件下，每条炮弹生产线可以月产5000发炮弹。”

"Thank you, Brother Lin!"

Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang expressed their gratitude repeatedly, with smiles on their faces growing wider. The price tag of this Northern Expedition troops far exceeded their expectations!
(End of this chapter)