Because he believed that with the current strength of the Japanese army, it was impossible to defend the long communication lines in the rear and attack the Eighth Route Army, and also completely destroy those villages and uproot them.
If you want to "eliminate the roots", you must at least double or even triple the number of troops and prepare for a long-term blockade. Otherwise, it will just be a larger-scale "mopping up", which is meaningless to the Japanese army.
At the same time, Okamura Neji believed that during the preparation period, we should try to keep a low profile. Only in this way can we catch the Eighth Route Army by surprise.
What Okamura Neji didn't expect was that his so-called "unpreparedness" didn't actually exist.
To be precise, it existed, because the commanders of the Eighth Route Army, including the commander and chief of staff, did not know what Okamura Neiji would do.
I don’t know what Neji Okamura will do and I can’t cope with it.
But if you can't deal with it, you have to dig a tunnel as Xiao Dongbei said... Anyway, it's better to be prepared than not to be prepared. There will be a tunnel to prepare you for trouble.
And Xiao Dongbei was the only one who knew what Nei Okamura wanted to do, so it was equivalent to the Eighth Route Army making comprehensive preparations in a targeted manner.
The chief and several others discussed this.
"I think the urgent need to delay is to build as many tunnels as possible." The chief of staff looked at the map and said: "Based on the past experience of the Japanese 'mopping up', they rarely attack villages located on the edge of mountainous areas. Isn't it cost-effective to do so?"
, considering maximizing profits with the limited troops of the Japanese, a village built on the edge of a mountainous area
First, the terrain is difficult to defend and difficult to attack. Second, soldiers and civilians can flee into the mountains as soon as they turn around. For the Japanese, it is a loss-making business that costs money and cannot grab anything! Therefore, I don’t think there is a rush for tunnel warfare and reverse slope fortifications.
On the contrary, the villages in the plain areas should build tunnels immediately to prepare for the upcoming raids by the Japanese!"
The chief of staff's proposal has been recognized by most people, and judging from the current situation, this is indeed the case.
Then the staff officer continued: "Now...it is probably too late to organize guerrillas from each village to learn tunnel warfare and then return to each village to build. We can print hundreds of copies of the tunnel drawings and distribute them, and we can also send 035 engineering personnel to on-site guidance.
, each person is responsible for several villages, and tells them the importance of tunnels and the key points of construction, so that they can build more tunnels quickly, well, and in large numbers, and make every effort to deal with adverse situations that may arise in the future!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Tunnel warfare is not difficult in terms of tactics. Drawing a drawing to indicate the key points, and having someone on-site to provide guidance can indeed solve most problems.
The difficulty lies in adapting measures to local conditions.
Different geological conditions and climate conditions require different strengths of support.
For example, some places don't need support at all, just dig holes like a mouse.
In some places, it is necessary to dig and support at the same time, otherwise it will collapse immediately... This can cost lives.
Lao Hei is the best at this, so it would be perfect for him to go on-site to provide guidance.
But that was not what Wang Xuexin was thinking about.
What the chief of staff said does make sense, but he is still thinking about the problem with the old thinking.
Tada Shun's raids were just raids, that is, burning, killing and looting. The purpose was just like what the Chief of Staff said, to grab as much as possible at the minimum cost like a bandit to maximize profits.
Okamura Neiji's raids were aimed at trapping the Eighth Route Army in the mountains and isolating it from the villages and towns in the plains to achieve the goal of "separating the people from banditry"!
The difference in strategic purposes determines that the former rarely attacks mountainous areas, while the latter mainly focuses on villages on the edge of mountainous areas. Not only does it focus on them, it also kills, robs, and burns all nearby villages to form a no-man's land.
From this perspective, the Chief of Staff's consideration is wrong.
The chief did not speak. Seeing that Xiao Dongbei looked wrong, he asked: "Comrade Wang Xuexin, tell me what you think? You are good at this!"
Wang Xuexin didn't know how to answer. He couldn't say that Okamura Neji's strategic goal is this and this, and then we should respond like this and this!
The chief of staff only needs to ask back: "How do you know what Neji Okamura's strategic goals are?"
Then it was over, and the only way to explain it was "being a traitor".
After thinking for a while, Wang Xuexin replied: "I basically agree with the chief of staff's opinion. Most areas do have to do this. But I also think that while we are building tunnels, we will not affect the construction of tunnel fortifications in mountainous areas..."
"That's right!" The chief nodded and said, "We can do it together! If we don't do it in the mountainous area and can speed up the progress in the plains, then we can let the mountainous area go first. But don't the troops in the mountainous area still have to be stationed in the mountainous area?
The mountainous areas can't help the plain areas, so they just watch the plains build tunnels and do nothing?"
At this point, everyone was speechless.
There is indeed no conflict between building tunnels in mountainous areas and building tunnels in plains. If there is any conflict, it is that the distribution of instructors is somewhat tense.
But this aspect can be solved by using more drawings, more correspondents, and telephone communication, and it doesn't take much time to learn.
The leader continued: "In particular, I think tunnel fortifications are not inferior to tunnel fortifications at all. Fighting in plain areas relies on tunnels, and mountainous areas rely on tunnels! Usually the Japanese rarely attack mountainous areas, so we take it for granted that they will not attack mountainous areas now?
Are the Japanese attacking the mountainous areas this time? Are they going to retreat to the mountains to fight guerrillas as before? Are they being passive?"
Zhang Wanhe, who had been silent, expressed his opinion at this time: "I agree with the statement of the chief and Comrade Wang Xuexin. We have a lot of personnel and equipment in the arsenal. If we are attacked by the Japanese, we cannot evacuate immediately."
, a lot of equipment can’t go into the mountains with the troops yet, what will we do then?”
If you say this to the chief of staff, then there will be no problem: "Okay, let's do it together. I suggest..."
The chief of staff took a look at the roster and said: "Zhang Fugui (Lao Hei) and seventeen mining experts are responsible for guiding the tunnels in the plain areas. Comrade Wang Xuexin is responsible for guiding the tunnel fortifications in the mountainous areas!"
As he spoke, the chief of staff turned his attention to Wang Xuexin and asked, "Comrade Wang Xuexin, do you have any objection to this arrangement?"
"Promise to complete the task!" Wang Xuexin stood up.
The leader smiled and pointed at the map and said: "Comrade Wang Xuexin, I think we can start from Zhaojiayu. The geographical location of Zhaojiayu is very important. If you take the independent group to do it together, you can also return to the construction, lest that Li Yunlong comes to ask me for rent! I