The Japanese and puppet troops stationed in the First Army in Shanxi ushered in an unprecedented decadence.
In Taiyuan City, at the headquarters of the Japanese First Army in Shanxi, Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the Japanese First Army, is currently listening to a summary of the final casualties of the Japanese attack on the Independence Regiment in the West Village and Zhangjiazhuang areas.
"The total number of casualties in each brigade was more than 7,500, of which more than 3,600 were killed in battle. In addition, the final death toll due to wounded and sick people was more than 400, and the total death toll was more than 4,110
People."
"There were more than 2,400 casualties in various units of the Imperial Association Army, of which more than 1,200 were killed in battle, more than 1,000 were captured, and more than 200 were missing."
"Baga!"
Yoshio Shinozuka was angry. Although he had always had a calm temperament, and even though he had been mentally prepared before hearing the report on the casualties, when the matter came to a head and heard the specific casualty data, Yoshio Shinozuka couldn't help but break the news.
Guard, anger suddenly arises.
He no longer even wants to know the casualties of the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army.
Even if the entire Independent Regiment is wiped out, the Independent Regiment only has a few thousand troops. Compared with the casualties of the Imperial troops this time, in the eyes of Yoshio Shinozuka, it is already a humiliating defeat.
After looking at the data in detail, I finally came to the conclusion that the casualty comparison between the Empire of Japan and the Eighth Route Army Independent Regiment this time was even higher than 10:1.
The great shame made Yoshio Shinozuka furious at the post-war military meeting held immediately, and said on the spot:
"This spring sweep and the battles in Xicun and Zhangjiazhuang are the greatest shame of the Japanese Empire's war against China since the Manchuria Incident!"
"This is the biggest shame in the history of our First Army!"
"If this great shame and humiliation is not washed away, one day, everyone from me to everyone will have to commit suicide by disembowelment to apologize to the emperor."
Amid Shinozuka Yoshio's angry voice, all the Japanese officers of the First Army who participated in the meeting lowered their heads.
Yoshio Shinozuka was even more angry: "Baga, lift your heads, do you still look like an imperial soldier?"
"A soldier should have the backbone to be unafraid of anything. Now that I have suffered humiliation, what should I do as an imperial soldier?"
"Destroy the Independent Regiment, General, we must completely eliminate the Independent Regiment and avenge our shame!"
A Japanese captain said through gritted teeth that several of his other friends were all killed in the battle to reinforce Xicun and Zhangjiazhuang.
Other Japanese officers also spoke one after another, all hating the Independence Regiment.
Only then did Shinozuka Yoshio feel a little relieved. He looked around at the officers who raised their heads again and said: "After this battle, the independent regiment will be more dangerous to our First Army again.
You should work together and if you can destroy the Independent Regiment in one fell swoop, I will never hesitate even if you join three more regiments."
"Hi!" the Japanese officers responded in unison, feeling the firmness of Commander Yoshio Shinozuka's determination to destroy the independent regiment.
After the meeting, Yoshio Shinozuka summoned Kazuki Yamamoto.
Nowadays, Yamamoto has been defeated by Kong Jie and has no spirit. He looks much more humble. When he sees Yoshio Shinozuka, Yamamoto respectfully salutes, "General!"
"Here you go, sit down!"
"Hi!"
After Yamamoto sat down, Shinozuka Yoshio said: "Yamamoto-kun, let me get straight to the point. This time our army reinforced nine Japanese army brigades and jointly attacked the independent regiment with the fourth mixed brigade. The result was a disastrous defeat. You
Do you know where the key point lies?"
Yamamoto frowned slightly and said: "General, you mean, that small group of Eighth Route Army combat troops that penetrated behind enemy lines during the battle between the two sides and attacked the temporary joint command headquarters in one fell swoop?"
"Yes, the temporary joint command headquarters was destroyed, and all nine captains, including Yamaguchi-kun, were shattered. This was a fatal blow to our army and led to the overall defeat.
This is undoubtedly the infiltration behind enemy lines and beheading tactics that Mr. Yamamoto often mentioned. I originally wanted to see this scene on the special agent team, but I didn’t want to see it on the enemy."
Yoshio Shinozuka said calmly with a little dissatisfaction.
Yamamoto lowered his head: "It was Yamamoto who failed the general's high hopes!"
Yoshio Shinozuka glanced at Yamamoto, stepped forward and patted Yamamoto's shoulder gently, then returned to the seat and sat down, and continued calmly:
"There is an old saying in China, which is to know one's shame and then be brave. There is also the principle that defeating an enemy will lead to victory. It doesn't matter if you fail a few times. As long as you can learn from the lessons of failure and finally eliminate the opponent in one fell swoop, that is victory."
"Although the Eighth Route Army has backward equipment, scarce ammunition, and poor personnel quality, they have this quality. They will not be ashamed to learn from the enemy, as many of our army's tactics can be seen from their troops soon.
The figure shows that the Eighth Route Army has been learning combat experience from our imperial troops."
"Only when you know yourself and your enemy can you survive a hundred battles. China's art of war has studied this very thoroughly."
"Yamamoto-kun, it's time for us to calm down and learn from the Eighth Route Army's strengths."
"Hi! Yamamoto is taught!" Yamamoto responded.
Shinozuka Yoshio said: "Continuing this topic, although the Eighth Route Army is not good at equipment and military quality, they are better at familiarity with the mountain environment, guerrilla warfare, mobile warfare, sparrow warfare, mine warfare, etc. in the mountains and forests.
”
"These are things we should learn from. In recent years, when the Eighth Route Army has been raided again and again, why are they always treating the symptoms rather than the root cause?"
"The most important point is that the forces of the Eighth Route Army are more dispersed, and the vast mountainous areas serve as guerrilla zones.
Each of our raids consumes a lot of manpower, material resources, and time.
And they only need to hide a little to avoid our front.
If this continues, we will only become more and more tired, but Eight Road can still maintain strong energy.
In the final analysis, we spent too much energy to deal with the Eighth Route Army, but did not improve much efficiency.
Some cannons are meant to fight mosquitoes, but untargeted attacks will never be effective."
Yamamoto said thoughtfully: "General, what do you mean?"
Yoshio Shinozuka said: "I have thought about the complete elimination of the Eighth Route Army for a long time. A large-scale raid that consumes a lot of manpower and material resources and is launched blindly will always treat the symptoms rather than the root cause.
If we want to completely eliminate the hidden danger of the Eighth Route Army, we need to launch more targeted offensive methods.
And in all of this, I see hope from your Yamamoto special team and the Eighth Route Army's penetration of enemy lines and the destruction of the temporary joint command headquarters.
It's very simple. The Eighth Route Army likes to fight guerrilla warfare, so we use guerrilla warfare against guerrillas. The Eighth Route Army likes to fight sports warfare, so we use sports to fight sports. The Eighth Route Army likes to fight sparrow warfare, and we can also use sparrows against sparrows.
Can the combat troops trained with the resources of our empire to target the Eighth Route Army guerrillas be no better than the Tubal Army who don’t even have enough to eat?”
Yamamoto suddenly said: "General, what do you mean, instead of using large-scale troops to sweep away the Eighth Route Army, you will cultivate small groups of elite combat troops to eat up the Eighth Route Army's guerrilla troops one by one?"
Shinozuka Yoshio smiled and nodded, and then said: "Yes, I have this idea, which is why I asked you to come over."
"After this battle, in response to the increasingly difficult situation of the Eighth Route Army, I applied to the Commander-in-Chief for a more special unit. All members of this unit have undergone special training and have lived with the Chinese for a long time. They can speak
He speaks Chinese quite fluently and even knows many local dialects. He also has a good understanding of local folk customs, culture, traditions, etc."
"They can easily disguise themselves and lurk inside the Eighth Route Army's base areas."
"Waiting for an opportunity to find the location of the Eighth Route Army headquarters, and at the same time carrying out the mission of assassinating Eighth Route Army officers and spying on military intelligence."
"You spend some more time to conduct some special military training on them, enhance their combat effectiveness, and then infiltrate the enemy's interior."
"In addition, our army will also train a group of plainclothes teams to coordinate operations to target the Eighth Route Army's guerrilla operations."
"The focus is on dealing with the Independent Regiment. If the headquarters of the Independent Regiment can be destroyed in one fell swoop, I think it will definitely be an irreversible blow to the Independent Regiment."
"Hi!" Yamamoto responded.
……
……
As the Japanese army was defeated by the Independence Regiment in Xicun and Zhangjiazhuang, the influence of this battle was far from over.
The morale of the Japanese and puppet troops was low for a while, and the anti-Japanese sentiment of the Chinese troops throughout Shanxi was high, so I won’t mention it for now.
But it was said that because of the unprecedented fiasco of the spring sweep, it even led to what Yoshio Shinozuka called, the biggest humiliation of the Japanese army on the battlefield against China since the Manchuria Incident.
High-level Japanese military officials accused the North China Front of unfavorable operations.
Not long after the spring sweep ended on the 12th, Jun Tada, the former commander-in-chief of the Japanese army in North China, was dismissed by senior officials because of the failure of the spring sweep, especially the disastrous defeat of the Japanese army in the battles of Nishimura and Zhangjiazhuang.
Accused of poor command, he was transferred from North China, and Lieutenant General Okamura Neiji took over as commander-in-chief of the North China Front.
Compared with the previous Commander-in-Chief Tada Shun, the newly appointed Okamura Neji has always been known in the military for being ruthless, arbitrary, and cunning.
When it comes to various methods of dealing with the Eighth Route Army, Neji Okamura is undoubtedly on a higher level.
……
The Japanese commander-in-chief of the North China Front had been replaced. When the news reached the Independent Regiment, the soldiers were having a meeting at the regiment headquarters.
Kong Jiezheng proposed to commend the commando team for their achievements in penetrating behind enemy lines, destroying the Japanese temporary joint command headquarters in one fell swoop, and even forcing the Japanese army to retreat voluntarily.
For this reason, even the sniper platoon leader Huang Baiyang had to give Ye Min a thumbs up and said in admiration: "Now I, Lao Yang, am convinced. As the most elite combat unit of our independent regiment, you assault
The team recognizes second place, but no one dares to recognize first place."
"Good guys, the two sides are fighting fiercely. You penetrated behind enemy lines and directly took over the Japanese headquarters. If we really encounter troops like you in a war, why not give them a hammer!"
The humorous jokes made the cadres burst into laughter.
Then, Wang An, the Minister of Enemy Industry, arrived and reported the news. The battalion and company commanders did not realize the seriousness of the problem and even joked about it.
"The Japs have suffered too many defeats. We have no choice but to replace him. I don't think he is very good at that old Japs Tada Shun. The one he replaces this time is probably more powerful."
First Battalion Commander Wang Leihu said with unabashed ridicule.
"That's right, there's just a new commander in chief! Let's beat this little devil as hard as we want!"
The cadres were chatting and laughing. As time went by, the chatter and laughter quickly subsided.
Because everyone noticed that the group leader had not smiled all the time, and his face was ugly and his brows were deeply furrowed.
"Captain, is this Okamura Neji some kind of powerful person?"
Shen Quan guessed the reason and asked tentatively.
The war criminal Neiji Okamura is naturally powerful, but what is even more powerful is his ruthlessness and cunning. Among the commanders-in-chief of the Japanese army, Okamura Neiji is the most difficult to deal with.
The numerous crimes committed during the war of aggression against China are too numerous to describe.
Kong Jie knew this very well.
But what was supposed to come would eventually come. Kong Jie calmed down and was not afraid. He smiled and said: "The little devil is not stupid either. This Tada Shun is not good. He can't be replaced by someone more useless. So this Okamura Neji , definitely more powerful than Shun Tada."
"But it doesn't matter. As the saying goes, when the soldiers come, they will be blocked, and when the water comes, the soil will cover them. The little devils are powerful. Our independent regiment is more powerful than those little devils."
When Kong Jie said this, he naturally despised the enemy strategically, but tactically, Kong Jie attached great importance to his opponents.
The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief. Why should the regiment leader be worried?
After the meeting, Kong Jie immediately racked his brains to recall all aspects of his impressions of Okamura Neiji, as well as the various insidious means that Okamura Neiji had done against the Eighth Route Army.
Think of ways to deal with and resolve them one by one.
I just kept thinking like this until the sky fell.
After combing everything that needed to be combed, Kong Jie stretched himself, walked out of the regiment headquarters room, and moved around.
Adequate preparations allowed Captain Kong to regain his confidence.
Looking at the increasingly gloomy sky, Commander Kong said domineeringly to himself: