The chief of staff was a little worried about the plan proposed by Wang Xuexin. He said: "It might be possible if it is the Japanese mechanized troops. The Japanese mechanized troops usually train not far from the defense line, but the airborne troops..."
The chief of staff's concerns are not unreasonable.
Because the combat goal of the Japanese mechanized troops is to tear apart the Eighth Route Army's defense line and then launch an attack into the hinterland. If the mechanized troops are too far away from the defense line, there will be several problems:
First, the deployment was not timely during wartime.
If there is an urgent need for mechanized troops but they need to be mobilized from dozens or even hundreds of kilometers away, it will delay the fighter aircraft.
Second, it is difficult to keep transfers confidential.
If mechanized troops are mobilized from far-off bases to the front line, they will be carrying both shoulder and tanks. Every node they pass along the way may reveal their whereabouts.
The Eighth Route Army will learn its combat intentions very early and make preparations.
Therefore, from the perspective of battlefield needs and even the training itself, mechanized troops are more suitable for the front line.
But the airborne troops are different. They fly over the defense line by plane and then parachute. They are basically not restricted by the region or the defense line and have a lot of freedom.
If the Japanese airborne troops are training in its hinterland, for example, in Taiyuan, can the mechanized troops of the Eighth Route Army attack Taiyuan? Is there any hope of success?
The chief said: "We can start with intelligence first. If the conditions are suitable, we will fight. If the conditions are not suitable, we will not fight!"
Wang Xuexin actually means the same thing.
This is actually one of the core elements of "Blitzkrieg": flexibility.
With the support of intelligence, carry out rapid strikes against the enemy's key targets, rather than doing it knowingly that nothing can be done.
As a result, the reconnaissance results were indeed confirmed by the chief of staff. The Japanese airborne troops were training at an airport hundreds of kilometers away.
But the good news is that the Japanese mechanized troops are training in a place called Laoyang Village, which is only 20 kilometers away from the Yuncheng defense line.
Wang Xuexin frowned when he looked at the map.
No wonder the Japanese dared to train their mechanized troops in Laoyang Village. This place called Laoyang Village faced the Eighth Route Army with Laoyang Mountain, which stretched out like two goat's horns and became a natural barrier.
Obviously, the Japanese chose this place to prevent being bombed by the Eighth Route Army... It is difficult to carry out precise bombing from such a high position on both sides, especially rockets fired by Eighth Route Army rocket fighters.
For example, the Japanese dive bombers can dive vertically from high altitude to the target area and then drop bombs into the center of the "goat's horn".
But the Eighth Route Army rockets cannot be launched like this... The "Hawker 81" is not a dive bomber. It can indeed dive, but the airflow is very unstable and the air resistance is very large during the dive. At this time, the launch is greatly affected by wind resistance.
Rockets are not only difficult to hit the target, but also very dangerous.
And the rocket hits a parabola. It is difficult or even impossible for it to cross the high ground and hit the basin between the two corners...that is the blind spot of the rocket's firepower.
This needs no elaboration.
Because the Eighth Route Army originally did not want to use rocket fighters to attack the Japanese mechanized force.
The problem is...
The terrain of Laoyang Village is very suitable for defense. It only exposes the southern side as a gap, and the other three sides are all dead ends... As for mechanized troops, they are dead ends.
How to attack?
The chief executive was also in trouble at the same time.
The chief of staff was a little annoyed. He said: "Those of us who always run to the mountains are actually afraid of mountains today!"
"One moment, another moment!" The leader said with a self-deprecating smile: "Who asked us to use wheels instead of iron feet!"
This is the shortcoming of using wheels instead of iron footplates, which is what others call "an inch is long but a foot is short". Mechanized troops are limited by the terrain.
The chief of staff looked at the map and retreated: "Chief, how about... let's use the reconnaissance company to conduct a sneak attack!"
The reconnaissance company is basically the special forces of the Eighth Route Army. They can do anything, and sometimes even penetrate into enemy defense areas to fight.
But the leader shook his head: "Chief of Staff, that is the Japs' mechanized force, and it is a mechanized force composed of elite ground forces. They are very good at ground combat. Even if our reconnaissance company reaches Laoyang Village and enters Laoyang Village,
How much damage can Yangshan cause to the Japanese?"
The chief of staff was speechless when he heard this. It was really not a good idea to use a reconnaissance company to go head-to-head with the Japs' mechanized troops. This would mean killing eight hundred enemies and damaging one thousand at one's own expense... Maybe one thousand people could not replace eight hundred enemies.
.
To say the least, even if they can be replaced, the Japs' troop losses can be quickly replenished from other troops. This loss is almost negligible for the Japs' mechanized troops.
In other words, what the Eighth Route Army wants is to uproot the mechanized force that the Japs are forming, including equipment, soldiers, etc.
Even if they can't annihilate them all, their vitality will be severely damaged.
But for the Eighth Route Army, it would have to invade at least several regiments with tens of thousands of troops to achieve this.
However, the Eighth Route Army's tens of thousands of troops penetrated deep into the enemy's hinterland, but they were seeking death.
Just when the commander and chief of staff were looking gloomy and unable to do anything about it, Wang Xuexin called.
The telegram was received by the chief of staff. He took the telegram and came to the chief with confusion and said: "Is Xiao Dongbei crazy? He has a half-track car, and he wants to form a mechanized force with shoulder straps!"
"What? Mechanized troops?" the leader asked doubtfully.
"Yes!" the chief of staff handed the telegram to the chief and said: "And the scale is not small. It requires a thousand people and ten tanks... If even the armored troops with half-track cars can't break in, what's going on?
Can you still break in?"
The chief was stunned for a moment, and then burst out laughing: "Chief of Staff, don't tell me, they might actually be able to break in!"
"What?" The chief of staff looked confused. He shook the telegram and said, "Chief, please stop joking with me. Don't I understand what a shoulder strap is? One shot can hit a target, and even more
Forget about the machine guns in the hands of the Japanese, are you still trying to break in?"
The chief chuckled and explained: "But what I want to do is not to break in, but to lure the snake out of the hole. Do you understand?"
The chief of staff said "Oh" and understood instantly, then slapped his thigh and shouted: "Good idea, if we can't get in, we can lure the Japanese out! The Japanese think we are following their example to form a mechanized force.
It's a fight against a shoulder, and there are only ten T26s... The Japanese are not under any pressure at all, so of course they will send out mechanical troops to intercept them, and at the same time practice their reaction speed!"
The chief smiled and nodded: "Once you come out, I'm afraid you'll never go back!"