Taiyuan.
First Army Headquarters.
Yoshio Iwamatsu summoned almost all the remaining senior officers of the First Army to a meeting in the Taiyuan inner city war room.
at the same time.
Iwamatsu Yoshio also invited Lieutenant General Matsui Tairo, the commander of the 5th Division stationed in Taiyuan, Lieutenant General Nemoto Hiroshi, the commander of the 24th Division, and Ishiguro Sadzo, the commander of the 28th Division, to observe.
The Fifth Division, the 24th Division and the 28th Division do not belong to the order of battle of the Japanese First Army.
Now the First Army only has an elite unit of the 41st Division, the Yamada Regiment directly under the First Army, some remnants, and thousands of military police.
If there is no Fifth Division, the 24th Division and the 28th Division will go to Taiyuan.
The small number of troops in the First Army had long been eaten up by the Eighth Route Army.
The commander of the fifth division, Matsui Tairo, looked gloomy.
The Fifth Division had just won a great victory in the attack on Malaysia and Singapore in Southeast Asia, and its morale was high.
The Fifth Division, which was preparing to rest and recuperate, was immediately transferred to Shanxi by the base camp.
Shanxi is very familiar to the Fifth Division.
When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, the most elite force among the main Japanese forces attacking Shanxi was the 21st Brigade of the Fifth Division.
Moreover, the Fifth Division fought against the Eighth Route Army at Pingxingguan. Although it suffered a loss, the Fifth Division still did not take the Eighth Route Army seriously.
Even the British and American coalition forces were defeated, so the Fifth Division is still afraid of Tubal Road hiding in the ravine?
Although the combat effectiveness of the current Fifth Division is no longer what it was back then, it is not something that the Eighth Route Army can defeat.
Isn’t the Fifth Division just a handful to deal with Tubal Road?
Then.
The Fifth Division was bombed by Eighth Route Army aircraft, and about 2 infantry brigades were lost.
The arrogant Fifth Division finally realized that it had encountered a difficult situation, and immediately realized that the Eighth Route Army's combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of the British and American coalition forces.
When he first arrived in Taiyuan, Matsui Tataro saw the First Army being beaten like this and thought the First Army was useless.
However, after being bombed by the Eighth Route Army, Matsui Tairo finally realized that he had seriously misjudged the strength of the Eighth Route Army.
After studying the battle records between the North China Front Army and the Eighth Route Army in recent years, the division commander Matsui Tataro finally came to a conclusion.
The strength of the Eighth Route Army, unknowingly, has far exceeded that of the North China Front Army.
Even the Fifth Division may be eaten.
In the conference room, all the officers, including Yoshio Iwamatsu and Tataro Matsui, all looked solemn.
After a long silence, Yoshio Iwamatsu spoke.
"You must have read the clear telegram sent by Li Yunlong of the Eighth Route Army, right?"
"That's right!"
"Li Yunlong's unit of the Eighth Route Army destroyed 22 generals of the Locust Army in just two years!"
"They are: Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio, Lieutenant General Miyano Michichi, Lieutenant General Muto Akira, Lieutenant General Hirata Kenkichi, Lieutenant General Iseki Ren, Lieutenant General Furhisao, Major General Tsuda Mitake, Major General Hattori Naoomi, Koshio
Major General Toranosuke, Major General Hirata Shoga, Major General Miura Saburo, Major General Aio Imoto, Major General Toshikaze Omura, Major General Ito Shinpei, Major General Yoshio Ande, and I meet Major General Yun Sanxiong again."
"Lieutenant General Amakasu Jutaro, Lieutenant General Nishihara Issaku, Lieutenant General Adachi 23rd, Lieutenant General Sakurai Shosan, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi, and Major General Hironaka Tadao."
Everyone in the war room fell into silence.
The strength of the New 1st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army is simply terrifying, and they can be called the killers of imperial generals.
Every Japanese general who went to Shanxi, or even North China, was always on tenterhooks for fear of being beheaded by the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army.
Matsui Tataro, Nemoto Hiroshi and Ishiguro Sadzo were even more frightened.
If they had not arrived in Shanxi together with the main forces of the five divisions, but arrived in Taiyuan by plane, I am afraid that even the ashes would have been wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.
After Iwamatsu Yoshio finished speaking, the faces of the Japanese officers became increasingly ugly.
After a pause, Yoshio Iwamatsu continued:
"General Okamura Neiji, commander of the North China Front, is preparing to mobilize troops next month to attack the bandit areas in central Hebei."
"I am worried that the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi will take this opportunity to attack Taiyuan, so I summoned all the gentlemen to discuss countermeasures."
"You must have a deep understanding of the strength of the Eighth Route Army, so I won't go into details here."
"In a word, once the Eighth Route Army gathers its main force to attack Taiyuan, we will be at risk of being wiped out."
"If you have any suggestions or opinions about Taiyuan's defense, everyone can speak freely."
Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, but no one spoke for a moment.
"Matsui-kun, what do you have in mind?"
Yoshio Iwamatsu looked at Matsui Tataro, the only commander of the Class A division present.
Matsui Tataro said in a deep voice: "The Eighth Route Army has large-caliber heavy howitzers. The permanent fortifications ordered by Iwamatsu-kun to be built may not be able to stop the Eighth Route Army's large-caliber heavy howitzers."
"What Matsui-kun said is true." The commander of the 41st Division, Qing Shui, felt the same way. "The Eighth Route Army's firepower is so strong that even the permanent reinforced concrete fortifications, let alone the civil engineering works built by our four divisions, can't stop it."
If we cannot withstand the Eighth Route Army's large-caliber heavy artillery, not to mention that the Eighth Route Army has now gained air superiority, we must change our current defense thinking."
At this time, Qingshui Rules was also in a panic.
At the peak of the First Army's strength, there were the 33rd Division, the 36th Division, the 37th Division, the 2nd Guards Division and the 41st Division, as well as several mixed brigades, with a total strength of nearly 100,000.
However, those divisions were all wiped out and the division commander was killed.
Only the 41st Division and his division commander, Lieutenant General, were left.
Judging from the current situation, he, the commander of the 41st Division, Lieutenant General, is also in danger.
Once the Eighth Route Army takes advantage of the North China Front's sweep of the Jizhong area to attack Taiyuan...
"Of course it needs to change."
The speaker was Hanatani Masaru, Chief of Staff of the First Army, with a harsh tone:
"To deal with the Eighth Route Army, I suggest using our strengths and avoiding our weaknesses. Since field battles are no match for the Eighth Route Army, all troops should retreat into Taiyuan City to engage in street fighting."
"The Locust Army has 75,000 people. If the Eighth Route Army wants to occupy Taiyuan, it will have to pay at least 75,000 people!"
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "No!"
Miyazaki Masao was the first to speak out against:
"If all the locust troops withdraw into Taiyuan City and the Eighth Route Army surrounds them but does not fight, after three months, all the food of the locust troops will be exhausted."
"After all the locust troops in the city starve to death, the Eighth Route Army can occupy Taiyuan without firing a shot."
"Impossible." Hua Guzheng said, "There are still Chinese people in Taiyuan City. The Eighth Route Army claims to be the people's army and will not just watch these people starve to death."
"This is just a propaganda slogan of the Eighth Route Army." Miyazaki Masao said, "What if the Eighth Route Army encircles but fails to fight? Moreover, Taiyuan City cannot hold so many locust troops. By then, the Eighth Route Army's aircraft and
Heavy artillery is bombarding Taiyuan City indiscriminately, what will the locust army do?"
"Miyazaki-kun, what do you think we should do?" Hanatani asked with a cold look on his face.
Masao Miyazaki, an old devil, always refutes his views, which makes Hanatani feel unhappy.
"I haven't thought about it yet," Miyazaki Masao said, "but your tactics are definitely not good."
Hua Guzheng: "You..."
Matsui Taitaro, commander of the Fifth Division, frowned and said: "Conventional field civil fortifications and reinforced concrete fortifications cannot stop the Eighth Route Army's attack. How about using fortifications like Tiger Head Fortress?"
"Matsui-kun is joking." Iwamatsu Yoshio twitched the corner of his mouth, "The defensive capabilities of Tiger Head Fortress are indeed super strong, but for such a large-scale military project as Tiger Head Fortress, the Locust Army spent hundreds of millions and requisitioned more than 100,000 laborers.
It took six years to complete, and with the Eighth Route Army's attack imminent, it would definitely be too late to build fortifications like Tiger Head Fortress, not to mention that the First Army did not have so much steel and cement."
"Steel bars and cement are available in Southeast Asia."
Matsui Tataro said:
"But it's too late now. If the locust army can defend Taiyuan in this battle, I hope Iwamatsu-kun will apply to General Okamura Neiji for a large amount of steel bars and cement to build stronger permanent fortifications."
Yoshio Iwamatsu was worried: "We have to wait until the locust army can defend Taiyuan against the fierce attack of the Eighth Route Army."
After a pause, Iwamatsu Yoshio looked at Yamamoto Kazuki: "Yamamoto-kun, do you have any good strategies in the face of the Eighth Route Army's attack?"
When the Japanese officers were speaking before, Yamamoto Kazuki had been frowning and thinking. Just now, his brows were slightly relaxed, and he seemed to have an idea.
"Your Excellency, Commander."
Yamamoto Kazuki has sharp eyes and a serious expression:
"For the defense of Taiyuan, relying solely on civil fortifications, city walls and permanent fortifications will never be able to defend Taiyuan. I recommend using tunnels and reverse slope tactics."
Iwamatsu Yoshio was slightly startled: "Tunnel and anti-slope tactics?"
The three old Japanese soldiers, Matsui Tataro, Nemoto Hiroshi and Ishiguro Sadzo, looked at each other in confusion. They had never heard of this tactic.
Kuribayashi Tadamichi strongly recommended this tactic when he was in Taiyuan.
But Tadamichi Kuribayashi was not a member of the First Army after all, and he was only a major general, a man of low reputation.
At that time, Yoshio Iwamatsu did order some First Army troops to dig some tunnels in the mountains around Taiyuan, but he did not pay much attention to them. He placed his treasure on these permanent reinforced concrete fortifications.
However, these permanent reinforced concrete fortifications are now difficult to block the Eighth Route Army's attack.
Masao Miyazaki explained.
Only several lieutenant generals, including Matsui Tataro, knew what tunnel and reverse slope tactics were.
"Since this tunnel and anti-slope tactics are so easy to use." Matsui Tairou frowned and said, "Why didn't you use it earlier? The Locust Army lost so many soldiers in vain."
Iwamatsu Yoshio nodded and glanced at everyone: "For the current plan, the only way is to adopt tunnel and reverse slope tactics. Your divisions will look for favorable terrain around Taiyuan to quickly build tunnel fortifications."
"The remaining troops of the 14th Brigade, the 18th Brigade and the Yamada Regiment formed the 3rd Composite Brigade. Major General Yamamoto Kazuki served as the brigade commander and was under the direct command of the headquarters."
"Gentlemen, we will face the most cruel test."
"His Majesty the Emperor is onboard!"
"His Majesty the Emperor is on board!" All the Japanese officers shouted in unison, and then walked out.
This chapter has been completed!