Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 251 Four Divisions Prepare for Deployment! Okamura Seeks Revenge
"Sir, the battle is not over yet, and the Japanese have not been driven out. I am not ready to consider these things for the time being."

Faced with Chen Ming's order, Ding Wei said helplessly.

"You think I'm discussing this with you? This is a mission, and it must be carried out!"

Chen Ming said firmly.

"I'll ask someone to help you make arrangements first. If you're still not satisfied, I'll have to ask the teacher for help," Chen Ming continued.

Upon hearing Chen Ming's words, Ding Wei felt a chill run down his spine.

What merit or ability did he possess to warrant Chen Ming's request to persuade his teacher?

It seems Chen Ming is serious this time.

If I really don't find anyone I like, that person might actually make a move.

"Yes, I promise to complete the mission."

Ding Wei had no choice but to bite the bullet and say it, intending to take it one step at a time.

After giving instructions to Ding Wei and Kong Jie, Chen Ming then gave instructions to each of the officers in the Independent Detachment.

They didn't see everyone off until it was almost noon.

After seeing the people off, Chen Ming convened a meeting with the remaining cadres to clarify their respective roles and responsibilities for the coming period.

The Independent Detachment now has a complete command system, which can ensure its normal operation even if the three main military commanders of the Independent Detachment leave.

The military commander left, and the chief of staff took over command.

If the chief of staff also leaves, the deputy of the military commander will take over command.

In short, the military can function normally even without any one of its members.

After the meeting, Chen Ming clarified the command issues of each unit and set the general direction for the next period of time.

Continue to strengthen the development of Suiyuan, Chahar and other places to enhance the stability of the base areas.

The Japanese 3rd Tank Division continued its siege of Baotou, taking advantage of the weakness of the Japanese armored forces being unable to deploy in winter, and wore the unit down in Baotou.

At the same time, we tried to use the Japanese troops in Baotou to attract Japanese troops from other places to come to the rescue, and then besiege the enemy's stronghold to eliminate their manpower and further expand the results of the battle.

The artillery detachment also needs to accelerate its training and prepare for combat operations in the spring of next year.

While the Independent Detachment was making preparations in full swing, inside the headquarters of the North China Expeditionary Army.

Okamura was still extremely anxious.

The 3rd Tank Division in Baotou sent telegrams requesting reinforcements every day, constantly reporting the situation.

Because the local armed forces in the Fourth District were very active, even in the period after the autumn harvest, the Japanese in Baotou did not manage to seize much grain.

In addition, the Ping-Sui Railway was constantly being choked by Ding Wei and Xu Desheng, so the Japanese were not able to transport much of the grain they were transporting from other places to Baotou smoothly.

Now that the Ping-Sui Railway has been completely cut off, the Japanese troops in Baotou have completely lost their means of obtaining food.

It's better now that the ground hasn't frozen over yet, as we can still find some food.

If the snow covers the ground, then there won't be any food to be found.

Without resupply and transportation, the 3rd Tank Division will have a hard time holding out until the thaw next spring, even if it produces its own supplies.

Okamura could only repeatedly reply to the 3rd Tank Division's requests for reinforcements:

"Hold on firmly, there will be a way."

Given the current situation, Okamura was helpless; he simply didn't have enough troops to break through the Independent Detachment's defenses and rescue the Tank Division.

The only option was for the 3rd Tank Division to continue holding its ground and wait for an opportunity.

If the 3rd Tank Division had enough fuel, it could have used the armored forces' breakthrough capabilities to directly break through to the north and take a detour.

The problem now is that Baotou does not have enough fuel stored.

The Japanese are also short of fuel these days, and they won't store large quantities of fuel in any one region.

Previously, the Japanese troops in Baotou could still obtain fuel from Guihua, but now that Guihua and Jining have fallen into Chen Ming's hands, it is no longer possible to replenish fuel.

The current oil reserves in Baotou are insufficient to support its breakthrough of the Independent Detachment's defenses.

The only option at present is to either wait until next spring to gather forces and rescue the tank division.

Either the 3rd Tank Division abandons its armored forces and its light infantry breaks out.

However, given the Japanese's scarce resources, even if all the soldiers in this division were to die, they would not easily give up their equipment.

Of course, if the target of the siege is the well-funded U.S. military, then there are many more options.

With its powerful air transport capabilities, it can hold out for as long as it wants.

The problem is that the Japanese don't have many usable planes left in North China, and relying on airdrops to maintain control of Baotou will be extremely difficult.

Therefore, the Japanese troops in Baotou now only have one option: to continue holding out and wait for reinforcements.

However, Okamura was not wrong. In order to deal with the decline in North China, the Japanese had formed four divisions from their homeland: the 58th, 60th, 65th and 68th.

If they can hold out until these divisions are replenished, Okamura will be able to free up resources to rescue this tank division.

However, it takes time to assemble the team, time to rotate and transfer personnel, and even more time to prepare supplies.

At least until next spring, Okamura will still be unable to resolve the predicament of the 3rd Tank Division.

All we can do is ask them to hold out, relying on the firepower of the tank division and the city's defenses, until next spring.

"I hope the 3rd Tank Division can hold out until reinforcements arrive. When we have the strength of four divisions, I don't believe we can't solve the predicament in the north."

"Okamura murmured."

The four divisions he mentioned were not newly formed divisions.

The newly formed divisions were weak in combat; sending them to fight against elite independent detachments would be suicide.

Therefore, Okamura never considered using these divisions as the main force.

Instead, the main force consisted of the two existing divisions of the North China Expeditionary Army, plus two divisions reinforced by the Kwantung Army.

The four newly formed divisions were intended to fill the defensive gaps left by the withdrawal of two divisions.

The newly formed divisions are not good at offensive field battles, but they can't be incapable of defending cities or fighting counterinsurgency wars either, can they?
As for why the two divisions of the Kwantung Army came to reinforce, there were two factors at play.

First, the current commander of the Mongolian Garrison is a former member of the Kwantung Army, and the Independent Mixed Brigade No. 2 is also a former member of the Kwantung Army, which later came under the command of the Mongolian Garrison.

The troops stationed in Mongolia were badly defeated by the Independent Detachment in Chahar, Suiyuan, and northern Shanxi.

When the North China Expeditionary Army was unable to provide reinforcements, the commander of the Mongolian Army, Shichida, and the commander of the Independent Mixed Brigade No. 2, had to beg and plead with the Japanese Kwantung Army to agree to temporarily send two divisions to provide reinforcements.

The second reason was that the Independent Detachment posed a threat to the Kwantung Army.

Now that the Independent Detachment has taken control of most of Chahar, it has begun to infiltrate the Rehe region.

At the border between the two provinces, several small-scale battles have broken out, resulting in casualties on both sides.

Even in the Chifeng area, an armed group emerged and inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese Kwantung Army's Ninth Independent Garrison.

That unit has now grown to over 1,200 people and is quite powerful.

According to the investigation, this unit is most likely a force dispatched by the Independent Detachment.

The Japanese Kwantung Army learned the unit's designation from a traitor and named it the Northeast Vanguard.

Their purpose was obvious. Thus, the Japanese Kwantung Army realized the threat posed by the Independent Detachment.

If no countermeasures are taken soon, the threat will increase significantly once this Chinese force gains a foothold.

The Japanese Kwantung Army always regarded the Soviet Union as its hypothetical enemy, and these hundreds of thousands of troops were also for the purpose of defending against the Soviet Union.

The Japanese deployed heavy troops and fortresses in the eastern, northern, and western parts of Northeast China.

However, the defenses on the flank of Rehe in Chahar were weak.

Previously, the Japanese Kwantung Army had troops stationed in Mongolia to control the Mengjiang region as a warning system, so they were not worried about the Soviet Union entering from there.

Furthermore, if the Soviet army were to attack from this direction, logistics would be a major problem, and the long supply lines would cripple the Soviet army.

However, once the troops stationed in Mongolia are destroyed, and the independent detachment gains a foothold in Chahar and infiltrates Rehe, the possibility of the Soviet army attacking from this direction will greatly increase.

The independent detachment could establish a solid logistical supply base here, ensuring the logistics of the Soviet army.

This would solve the Soviet army's logistical supply line problem.

In addition, the defenses in this direction are weak and the control is even worse, so if the Soviet army launches a surprise attack, it can penetrate into the Northeast from the flank more quickly.

With the combined forces attacking from the front and launching a pincer movement, the Japanese Kwantung Army would be in danger of annihilation.

This possibility has now increased considerably in the minds of the Japanese Kwantung Army generals.

The German invasion of France, bypassing the Maginot Line, is a prime example of this.

The Dongning Fortress Complex and Hulin Fortress, built by the Japanese Kwantung Army in Northeast China, were massive in scale and were referred to by the Japanese as the "Eastern Maginot Line".

The Japanese didn't want to repeat the mistakes of France.

If the Soviet army could actually obtain supplies from the Chahar region, it might very well be able to bypass the "Eastern Maginot Line" again.

Therefore, for two reasons, mainly the latter, the Japanese Kwantung Army agreed to send two divisions to provide support.

"Four divisions' main forces, more than 50,000 main forces, just wait, I will take my revenge next year!"

"Looking firmly in the direction of the Western Independent Detachment," Okamura said.

Independent Detachment Command Post.

At this time, Chen Ming was unaware that the Japanese had already planned to deploy the main forces of four divisions to attack him in the spring of the following year.

He was still handling various affairs of the base area from the command post.

"The advance team is doing well so far. That kid Liu Tengjie has lived up to my expectations."

"When we enter the Northeast, he should be credited with the greatest contribution. However, the advance team is still short of winter clothing. We should send a batch of winter clothing to the Chifeng area."

Chen Ming approved a note and sent it to the logistics department, instructing the logistics department to transfer a batch of winter clothes from the clothing factory to the logistics department.

"Six more technical backbones have emerged? Hmm. Assign them some apprentices to spread the technology."

Chen Ming looked at the report from the arsenal and pondered.

"A batch of 60mm and 82mm mortars that have been produced will also be sent to headquarters for distribution."

The independent detachment no longer lacks infantry support weapons like mortars, and they can continue to be valuable when used to support other units.

"Is another batch of students graduating next week? Time flies! Another graduation ceremony is coming up. Batch after batch, how many talented people has our school cultivated?"

Chen Ming sighed inwardly.

Besides the year, the number of students graduating from each batch of schools in the four districts is one of the benchmarks by which he feels the passage of time.

One batch every three months, and four batches can be trained in a year.

Thanks to Chen Ming's set of badges, such as the Level 5 Learning Badge (which increases learning speed by 100%), even after only three months of study, the effect is still very significant.

In addition, the independent detachments have a lot of opportunities for real combat testing, so the quality of these personnel is top-notch.

Today, the school includes departments such as command, artillery, engineering, armored vehicles, mechanical engineering, communications, medicine, manufacturing, and metallurgy.

Of course, the core training directions are still artillery, engineering, medical, command, and armored systems, which are related to combat.

After graduation, they directly entered the corresponding military units as technical backbone personnel.

The command department involves further training for existing basic cadres, who then return to the grassroots level to serve as deputy positions for evaluation, and are promoted to full-fledged positions after passing the assessment.

The other departments are all auxiliary disciplines. After graduation, outstanding students are assigned to the rear for further study or transferred to the corresponding troops to serve as key personnel.

Those who are not in the primary positions will be assigned to grassroots levels to improve their basic skills and solidify their foundation.

Watching another batch of students graduate, Chen Ming was filled with mixed emotions.

As the principal, I should take the time to attend their graduation ceremony and send them off to their new battlefield.

"It seems I need to submit an application to headquarters; I'm planning to keep most of these trainees," Chen Ming thought to himself.

In the past, Chen Ming was the one who sent out talent, but now that the independent detachment is in need of manpower, he will not send out many for the time being.

The next batch will be delivered to other units.

"Da Biao, if anyone comes looking for me these next few days, just tell them I'm out and don't let them find me."

Chen Ming spoke to Wang Dabiao at the door.

"Yes."

Wang Dabiao responded, unsurprised.

When each batch of trainees graduated, many officers from other units would come to recruit them, and Chen Ming had to receive them every time.

But this time he was determined to take the lion's share, so he couldn't let those who tried to build rapport or play the emotional card find him.

Here Chen Ming wants to specifically mention the brigade commander, who always comes to the training camp after each student graduates.

They've become regular guests. If the brigade commander doesn't come one time, Chen Ming would probably wonder if something happened to delay him on the way.

This time, Chen Ming had already planned to send the report directly to headquarters and then remain secluded, refusing to let anyone find him.

Once the dust settles, it will be too late to find yourself again.

If Chen Ming doesn't budge and submits the report to headquarters, headquarters is unlikely to reject it.

After all, the learning takes place in the fourth district, and most of the teaching staff, teaching equipment, and students come from the fourth district.

In terms of student allocation, the four divisions should have a certain say.

Chen Ming wasn't worried about the headquarters; he was worried about the leaders he had good relationships with coming to him.

Should we give it to them or not?

Giving it to myself wasn't enough, but it was awkward to ask for it back.

Rather than putting yourself in a difficult position, it's better to simply stay home and avoid people, and enjoy some peace and quiet.

After considering the trainees' situation, Chen Ming then proceeded to handle various affairs at the base.

Chen Ming carefully reviewed and approved all the documents that required his approval.

As for those less important matters, they will be handled by other comrades.

After everything was resolved, Liu Tengjie from Chifeng suddenly sent back a message.

(End of this chapter)