While the Eighth Route Army was actively preparing for war, Okamura Neiji had already transferred the troops and equipment of three divisions from the frontal battlefield.
The Japanese army has railways to use, so it can mobilize troops very quickly, especially when moving frontline troops to the rear... When trains go to the front line, they are loaded with various strategic supplies, but when they return, they only transport some wounded and letters. Many trains are
Return empty.
This allowed Okamura Neji to mobilize these three divisions in only one week.
With these three divisions in hand, Yoshio Shinozuka confidently drew up a combat plan and presented it to Neji Okamura.
Neji Okamura read the plan very carefully, page after page.
Yoshio Shinozuka tried to guess how satisfied Okamura Neji was with the plan from his facial expression, but unfortunately failed.
Okamura Neji neither frowned in displeasure nor nodded with satisfaction. He looked like an old monk reading scriptures and doing something unrelated.
It would be strange if Yoshio Shinozuka could see it. Neji Okamura had served as an intelligence attaché in China, and he knew how to control his expressions and emotions.
After a while, Okamura Neiji finally finished reading. He closed the plan and fell into silence.
Yoshio Shinozuka felt an invisible pressure coming from the direction of Okamura Neji like a tide.
After a while, Okamura Neji said: "I remember Shinozuka-kun said that you were once an excellent student, right?"
"Yes!" Yoshio Shinozuka responded. He seemed to be used to Okamura Neji's nonsensical words.
"Sometimes!" Neji Okamura, who was sitting above, nodded politely and said, "I think Mr. Shinozuka should look at the problem from the perspective of a teacher. There is a Chinese idiom called 'teaching students in accordance with their aptitude.'
, Shinozuka-kun, do you know what this means?"
Yoshio Shinozuka hurriedly replied: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, please make it clear!"
"It means that different students need to be educated in different ways." Okamura Neiji explained patiently: "I have been an instructor in Japan for several years and I have a deep understanding of this. You must be kind to some students.
Please advise; for some students you need to encourage them with words; for other students, you just need to use your fists and kicks! Each of them has his own personality, right?"
"Yes!" Shinozuka Yoshida responded, but in fact he still didn't understand what Okamura Neji's words had to do with the battle plan.
Okamura Neiji asked: "Does Shinozuka-kun think it is feasible to use one education method for all students?"
"So!" Neji Okamura slowly pushed the battle plan in front of Yoshio Shinozuka with an expressionless face, and asked: "Why do you think that the same army, the same tactics, and the same attack method can be used against different enemies?
Is it feasible?”
Only then did Yoshio Shinozuka understand what Okamura Neiji meant. He looked at Okamura Neiji in surprise and said: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, I don't understand. Aren't our enemies the same? They are all the Eighth Route Army..."
"Shinozuka-kun!" Neji Okamura interrupted Yoshio Shinozuka. He stood up, walked calmly to the map on the wall on the right, and said: "Although we are dealing with the Eighth Route Army,
That's just a name. Our enemy, you should split it into three parts
: One part is the area that can be controlled by our army, I call this part the 'security area'; the other part is the area under the cross control of both sides, this part is called the 'quasi security area'; and the other part,
It is an 'unregulated area' controlled by the Eighth Route Army and difficult for our army to reach."
Only then did Yoshio Shinozuka realize his mistake.
He simply regarded the Eighth Route Army as an opponent, and never divided it like Okamura Neji.
At this time, when he was reminded by Okamura Neji, he realized that the situation was indeed as analyzed by Okamura Neji. There were obvious differences in the people, enemies and situations in the three districts.
Okamura Neiji turned around and asked Shinozuka Yoshio: "Isn't your battle plan to educate different students in the same way?"
"Yes!" Yoshio Shinozuka responded, feeling very ashamed.
Although it is a very simple principle, he does not know how to translate it into military applications.
At the same time, I couldn’t help but sigh, Lieutenant General Okamura’s wisdom is really impressive!
"Now." Neji Okamura planned to test this subordinate. He moved a position in front of the map and said, "I think Shinozuka-kun knows how to deal with the enemy!"
"Yes!" Yoshio Shinozuka stepped forward and replied after thinking for a moment: "We don't have much combat pressure in the 'security area'! The main difficulty is the enemy's intelligence personnel lurking among the people. We should invest in military police
Team and Guards!"
Seeing that Okamura Neji had no objection, Shinozuka Yoshio continued:
"In the 'quasi-security area', what we face are more enemy guerrillas and militia forces. We should use mixed brigades to clear them up!"
"Near the 'unregulated area' is the scope of activities of the main force of the Eighth Route Army. We should launch a surprise attack with the main force to find the main force of the Eighth Route Army and fight decisively with it!"
Okamura Neiji nodded with satisfaction. Shinozuka Yoshio's ability in specific implementation was quite good, but his response measures were not quite in place and he was not courageous enough.
"Shinozuka-kun, do you still remember what I told you about eradicating the roots?" Okamura Neiji said: "The Eighth Route Army's military resources, financial resources, and material resources mainly come from ordinary people in unsecured areas. If..."
As he spoke, Okamura Neiji took his baton and drew a line between the "quasi-security areas" and "un-security areas" on the map, and said: "If we separate them from here, then the Eighth Route Army will not be far from destruction."
Got it!"
Yoshio Shinozuka asked in surprise: "But, Lieutenant General, how to separate them? Should we send troops to station them for a long time? That would require too many troops, and it would also consume a lot of financial and material resources. This is something we cannot do at this stage!"
"
Yoshio Shinozuka is right.
In the special terrain of mountains, the defending side may take advantage, but in plain areas, it is often the attacking side that takes advantage.
The reason is that the defender does not know which point the attacker will attack, so it needs to spread its troops evenly across the long defense line to defend every point.
However, the attacker can concentrate his forces, secretly find the defender's weaknesses, and then launch a sudden attack.
This was the situation of the Japanese army at this time. If they wanted to completely blockade the Eighth Route Army and separate it from the people, they would have to invest at least double or even more troops.
But Okamura Neiji smiled and shook his head. He looked at the imaginary line drawn on the map coldly and said: "We just need to... turn this area into a no-man's land, that's it!"