Okamura Neji is right. The AK47 is indeed not something that should exist in this world.
Because once a piece of equipment wants to be developed and perfected, it must first go through an evolution process, secondly it needs time to be verified, and finally it must be continuously improved after being tested in actual combat on the battlefield.
The AK47 of the Eighth Route Army is very perfect as soon as it comes out. Although it is simple and rough, it is easy to operate, has high safety, and the range can meet the combat requirements...
Although Okamura Neiji felt strange in his heart, he felt somewhat calm about accepting it now because he was mentally prepared for several things before.
But acceptance is one thing, problems still have to be faced.
Okamura Neji stared at the map and fell into deep thought. After a period of choice and thinking, he finally made a difficult decision.
"Stop the conflict with the Eighth Route Army for the time being!" Okamura Neiji ordered: "Keep bombing the Daqingshan Steel Plant with 'human missiles' or 'Sakura bombs'!"
"Yes!" Yoshio Shinozuka responded.
After Shinozuka Yoshio left, Okamura Neiji said to Kono Shinta: "Kono-kun, you should mention this to Hans. I think we will also use this kind of rifle in the future, so...
...Even if we can’t produce now, we can still prepare for the future!”
"Yes!" Kono Shinta replied.
Kono Shinta can actually understand Okamura Neji’s approach. What if the empire has the ability to produce this technology?
In fact, Kono Shinta's idea was not completely correct.
Okamura Neji thinks further ahead.
He was thinking about a question: If this intermediate-power bullet perfectly solves the problem of excessive power and continuous fire of bolt-action rifles, does that mean that this kind of rifle is the future?
In other words, in the near future, all rifles in all countries will be replaced by this type of repeating rifle.
Of course, this includes the wealthy Yingjiang... Yingjiang aims to destroy the enemy without considering the issue of ammunition. Therefore, if there is such a rifle, they will definitely want to equip it as soon as possible.
The empire's main rival in the future is Eagle Sauce.
So Okamura Neiji was thinking: If the Empire successfully occupied the entire territory of China and turned it into a base to defend Hawk Sauce, and then Hawk Sauce was equipped with repeating rifles but the Imperial Army did not... then what would happen?
Meaning? Didn’t the imperial army collapse like autumn leaves swept away by the firepower of Eagle Sauce?
Therefore, if you want to defend against Eagle Sauce, you must master the technology of this gun and find a way to install it.
In order to prevent the situation from changing and the empire not being able to obtain Hans' technology, the safest way is to obtain this technology from Hans now.
However, Okamura Neji took it for granted.
Even if he can understand this, his superiors in Tokyo cannot understand it.
At this time, the empire's high-level officials were still in a rather stubborn and conservative tactical mindset. They were not even willing to equip their troops with continuous-fire weapons like submachine guns that used pistol bullets, let alone an assault rifle.
Therefore, if Okamura Neiji wants to successfully install an assault rifle, the first person he must convince is his superiors.
To achieve this, I am afraid it is more difficult than obtaining high-precision machine tools.
Shinta Kono then asked: "General, have you thought of a way to deal with the Eighth Route Army?"
After a pause, seeing that Neji Okamura did not answer, Shinta Kono added: "What I mean is, if we deal with the stubborn army with all our strength at this time and put the Eighth Route Army aside first, will this give the Eighth Route Army the opportunity to develop?"
Time? I’m afraid the Eighth Route Army will be more difficult to deal with by then?"
Okamura Neiji sighed and replied: "Kono-kun, why haven't I thought about this? But, what can we do now?"
Shinta Kono nodded slightly, the current situation is indeed a bit tricky.
In fact, it is not only difficult, but also impossible to start.
Whether to fight the Eighth Route Army or the stubborn army, there must be a key point, right?
If both are the focus, it means that nothing is the focus, and you will get nothing in the end.
If the focus is on the Eighth Route Army... it means that the troops that attacked the stubborn army must be brought back, and at least a few divisions must be brought back.
Because with the current strength of the Eighth Route Army, especially after it is equipped with repeating rifles, it is estimated that reinforcements from a few divisions will not have much effect.
But this means that the empire's offensive in the direction of the stubborn army will be in vain, and the "No. 1 Plan" of opening up the north-south communication line is basically impossible to realize.
If we focus on the recalcitrant army... the Eighth Route Army will buy time, and there will be more and more repeating rifles and more and more fighter planes. By then, I am afraid it will no longer be controllable by the empire.
Shinta Kono prefers to focus on the Eighth Route Army because he feels that the Eighth Route Army is too terrible and cannot be allowed to develop like this.
Okamura Neiji seemed to have seen through Kono Shinta's thoughts. He said: "Actually, I focused on the Eighth Route Army and put them aside first!"
This made Kono Shinta confused: "General, since you focus on the Eighth Route Army, you give them time to develop..."
Okamura Neiji pointed at the map and said: "Kano-kun, please see: the Eighth Route Army occupies Daqing Mountain, Luliang Mountain, and Zhongtiao Mountain. These three mountain ranges are connected to each other to form a natural defense line on the north, east, and south sides to prevent the Eighth Route Army.
Base area. It is impossible for our army to enter the mountainous area to fight with the Eighth Route Army, as it will cost huge casualties and achieve little results!"
This is reality.
The main reason is that this is China. Places like Luliang Mountain, Daqing Mountain, and Zhongtiao Mountain can be called almost barren land. It is particularly important to get the support of the people on the mountain.
Of course, the people would choose to support the Eighth Route Army, so the Japanese would have difficulty moving in the mountainous areas. Not only would they have difficulty in supplying supplies, but they would also be subject to repeated sneak attacks. If a large group walked in, only a few would be able to come out, and they would not be able to occupy any land.
Okamura Neiji continued: "There are only two places that can be attacked, one is Daqingshan Steel Plant and the other is Yuncheng."
Shinta Kono continued: "But these two places are difficult to be occupied by our army at this time, because the Eighth Route Army will send troops equipped with repeating rifles to garrison them!"
Okamura Neiji nodded: "Even if we can capture it, the Eighth Route Army has the advantage of repeating rifles. It will be easy to take it back. Then the battle will develop into a tug-of-war. The defense line will not change, only the enemy and ourselves will change.
The number of casualties...and when the enemy has repeating rifles, our army's casualties will probably remain high!"
Shinta Kono agreed.
Although the empire had mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops from China at this time, it was still in short supply and could not compete with the Eighth Route Army.
"So!" Okamura Neiji pointed his finger at Xi'an and said, "If we can destroy the stubborn army in a short time, we can go around to the rear of the Eighth Route Army..."