There was silence in the conference room for a while, and then Kong Jie asked doubtfully: "So, the Japanese are planning to subjugate China again? Is this... possible?"
The leader nodded solemnly: "It's possible. If the Japs really think they can't defeat Eagle Sauce, from a long-term strategic perspective, it's indeed possible!"
Others thought that the Japanese had always done whatever they could and had planned to destroy China from the beginning. It was not surprising that they would think of destroying China at this time.
Others only think it is possible, but Wang Xuexin is very sure.
Because this is what the Japanese did in history. This is actually what the Japanese call "Operation Plan No. 1"... This plan was proposed in 1943 and was not approved until 1944.
In other words, the Japanese realized that they could not defeat Yingjiang in 1943, and planned to go back and fully occupy China to solve this "worry".
To be precise, it is not to solve this "worry", but that the Japanese have planned to rely on China to fight Eagle Sauce from the beginning.
The main reason is that the Japanese are an island nation.
The characteristic of an island country is that it must defeat the enemy in terms of navy and air force. Otherwise, as long as the enemy blocks the island country with warships and aircraft carriers, the island country can be half-dead without fighting.
Therefore, the Empire on which the sun never sets tried its best to develop its navy and air force, but even so, it was still in a state of semi-blockade after being beaten by Hans' submarines, which made it miserable.
The Japanese high-level strategic decision-makers actually know the problems of the island country, so when the navy and air force are retreating steadily on the Pacific battlefield, they will of course think about one question:
If this continues, the Eagle Navy will one day defeat the Imperial Navy and attack the mainland. At that time, the Eagle Navy will surround the mainland... No matter how powerful the Imperial Army is, it will not be able to play its role and will only be blocked in the mainland and wait to die.
But China is different.
China is not an island but a continent, bordering many countries and having many complex terrains.
If we could open up the north and south and fully occupy China, and use its inland as a battlefield to deal with Yingjiang, wouldn't the army be able to play its role? But Yingjiang's powerful navy and air force would be difficult to engage in the battle!
Therefore, the Japanese decision-makers actually had such a plan in 1943.
They have even started an immigration plan, planning to transfer all important local resources and focus to China.
It was just that China had been unable to win, so the plan could not be further implemented.
Although it is still only 1942, the situation in 1942 with Wang Xuexin's participation is not much different from the situation in 1943 in history. It is common sense that the Japanese decision-makers have the idea of shifting the focus to China in advance.
Even if it doesn’t happen in advance, it will definitely happen in the future.
Therefore, in Wang Xuexin's view, this is "certain" and not "possible" like others.
At this time, Ding Wei seemed to be completely convinced by Wang Xuexin. He nodded and said: "This is right from a strategic perspective. So... we have to prepare for a more severe battle!"
The leader nodded: "And I believe that the Japanese will not only focus their attack on the direction of the stubborn army. They also cannot tolerate the strength of our army!"
Everyone in the conference room nodded.
This is obvious. If the enemy's goal is to destroy China, then the stubborn army will be fine. The Eighth Route Army is the most difficult stone in their way to move.
But that's not all the chief thought about.
Because he knew that after the Eighth Route Army stabilized the defense line from Daqingshan, Luliang Mountain to Zhongtiao Mountain, it was like driving a nail into the Japanese logistics supply base from the northeastern production base to the front line.
Especially at this time, the Eighth Route Army still had fighter planes.
Although the "La-5" fighter jet has a very short range, its combat radius is only 300 kilometers.
But the Japanese didn't know this, and even if they knew it, they wouldn't dare to let it go easily... The three-hundred-kilometer blow to the Japanese's logistical supply line was already unbearable.
Therefore, how could they accommodate the Eighth Route Army?
As long as the Eighth Route Army takes a step toward the defense line at any time, or uses fighter planes to attack the Japanese railway...the Japanese campaign to open up the north-south communication line will be greatly affected.
Can the Japanese tolerate this?
If not, then we must definitely defeat the Eighth Route Army, or capture the Eighth Route Army airport, or at least push the Eighth Route Army back several hundred kilometers, so as to ensure that the logistics supply line will not be threatened.
This is actually the two sides of things: the Eighth Route Army has indeed occupied a strategic location, but another way of saying that occupying a strategic location is that it is not tolerated by the enemy, so the enemy can only fight for you.
Kong Jie took a few puffs of cigarette and said: "I don't know how the Japanese will attack this time. Attack the steel plant? Or attack Yuncheng? The problem in these two places cannot be solved by having more soldiers!"
Wang Xuexin only said one word: "Fighter!"
The leader and chief of staff nodded in unison.
Air superiority can be said to be the enemy's Achilles' heel.
To be precise, the Japanese are not very used to fighting in China without air superiority. Most of the North China Front has adapted to fighting with its own aircraft to protect and bomb the enemy.
Now, the situation on the battlefield suddenly changed... air control was in the hands of the Eighth Route Army.
So all the troops didn't know how to fight this battle. Especially the Eighth Route Army was familiar with the terrain. It can be said that the time, location, people and people were all on the Eighth Route Army's side, making it difficult for the Japanese to win.
Therefore, if you want to defeat the Eighth Route Army, you can only seize air supremacy from the Eighth Route Army.
"But..." Kong Jie added: "Can the Japanese defeat our plane?"
As he spoke, Kong Jie turned his attention to Wang Xuexin: "Don't we have x1? I heard that the fighter planes bought from Mao Xiong are better than the Japanese fighter planes. How can the Japanese surpass them?"
"Nothing more than two points!" Wang Xuexin replied: "One is to improve one's own equipment level, and the other is to use quantity to make up for the gap in quality!"
The chief asked: "Which one do you think it is?"
The chief of staff raised his head and said: "It must be the latter. The Japanese have many 'zero battles', and they are sent in swarms to gain an advantage with sheer numbers!"
For the Chief of Staff to say this, it shows that he does not know much about air combat.
Air combat is not like land combat.
In land warfare, you can attack in groups, but in air warfare, it is difficult to do this.
For example, the speed of "La 5" is more than 600 per hour, and the speed of "Zero War" is more than 500 per hour.
If one "Zero Fighter" can't catch up, can two, three or more "Zero Fighters" catch up?
If the range of a "Zero War" machine gun cannot match that of an x2, can two or three be comparable?
No matter how many "zero battles" there are, they can still only stare blankly in the face of the speed and range advantages of "Pull 5".
Therefore, Wang Xuexin believes that it is the former, that is, the Japanese will find ways to improve their equipment.
but……
Is it possible for the Japs to upgrade their equipment to the level of "pull 5" plus x2 in a short period of time?