In this way, the problem of transport aircraft has been basically solved. The two Tachikawa transport aircraft previously captured from the Puppet Peace Founding Army, plus the 23 L2D transport aircraft, total 25.
They travel between the Iron Factory Airport and Datong Airport, which is enough to supply the independent regiment with ammunition.
However, there may still be problems with supply during wartime. After all, the consumption of bullets is different during wartime. At the same time, transport aircraft will also have to face the threat of interception by Japanese fighter jets and the threat of enemy ground anti-aircraft artillery. Pressure on all aspects will increase.
However, this problem doesn’t seem to be a big problem. If it doesn’t work, let the “La 5” fighter jets transport the ammunition... To a certain extent, the “La 5” transports ammunition even though the carrying capacity is small, but it is safer.
Because the maximum flight speed of the L2D transport aircraft is only more than 200 kilometers per hour, the pilot can easily be overtaken by the Japanese "Zero Fighter" during the transportation, and must be escorted by "La 5" during transportation.
"La 5" transportation is different. Its speed exceeds that of "Zero War" and its threat can be ignored.
Therefore, it can be said that both have their own advantages and disadvantages. It depends on whether the Japanese have the ability to compete with the Eighth Route Army for air supremacy.
Just when Wang Xuexin arranged for the ground crew to fly to Daxing, Chen Songyong came up and reported: "Captain, the situation has changed!"
Chen Songyong reported while handing over the telegram: "The Japanese have stopped attacking on the front line of Luliang Mountain, and the fighting in the direction of Yuncheng has also slowed down!"
This was what Wang Xuexin expected.
If Datong is lost, the Japanese supplies on the front line of Luliang Mountain cannot be guaranteed... To be precise, it is not impossible to guarantee but it is very difficult to guarantee.
Because supplies could originally be transported to the Japanese frontline troops via the Tongpu Line, a railway line that runs vertically through Shanxi. At this time, they can only take a detour from Beiping, SJZ direction, arrive at Yuncheng, and then transport supplies back. This not only increases the distance
problems, as well as the inability to arrange train times and low transportation efficiency.
Without supplies, the Japanese plan to attack across the Luliang Mountains, especially the key breakthrough in Yuncheng, would definitely not go smoothly.
It can be said that Wang Xuexin came here to pull the trigger and force the Japanese to give up their plan to attack the Eighth Route Army.
Another brilliance of attacking Datong is that it will hardly affect the Japanese supply lines for fighting against the stubborn army.
The Japanese supply line to the recalcitrant army mainly went south through Beiping, and Datong had little influence on it.
If there is any impact, it is that the straight-line distance between Datong and Peiping is only about 300 kilometers, which is exactly within the combat radius of "La 5".
In other words, as long as the Eighth Route Army is willing to concentrate the "La 5" at Datong Airport, it can immediately bomb the railway lines around Peiping to cut them off.
But Wang Xuexin would definitely not do such a stupid thing.
Wouldn't this kind of attack lead all the Japs to the Eighth Route Army, while the stubborn army could just sit back and watch the fight between tigers and tigers?
Regarding this issue, Wang Xuexin thinks this way: This line of communication cannot be completely opened, nor can it be completely closed. Fight it when necessary, such as when the stubborn army is about to be unable to withstand it. At other times, it should be opened
Once released, for example, when the enemy's supplies are running low.
Only by releasing and closing in this way can the Japanese and the stubborn army fight to the point of fighting each other. Historically, the Japanese and the stubborn army fought for eight months. Now it is best to fight for a year or even longer...
During this period, Wang Xuexin believed that the Japanese must have thought about giving up.
Because the Eighth Route Army had already reached Datong, there was a fire in the backyard and we had to go back and give emergency treatment.
However... once the Japanese gave up the frontal battlefield, months of war preparations and the manpower and material resources invested in the battle were all in vain.
What’s more serious is that if you give up the frontal battlefield and open up the communication lines between the north and the south of China, then why talk about occupying the entire territory of China, annihilating the Chinese army, or using China as a base to fight against Eagle Sauce?
This giving up means that the Japs have to go back and face Eagle Sauce again!
Therefore, Wang Xuexin believed that the Japanese would not give up the attack on the stubborn army until the last moment. The Japanese would hope to ensure frontal combat while mobilizing troops to solve the problem of Datong.
Wang Xuexin's guess was correct.
When the Eighth Route Army occupied Datong, Okamura Neji once hesitated.
He didn't just lose confidence after losing a few battles. He thought about it further: If the empire couldn't even deal with the Eighth Route Army, and not only couldn't deal with it, but also let them basically control the air and hit Datong, then how could they complete the total annihilation?
The Chinese army’s plan to occupy its entire territory?
If this plan is destined to fail, what is the point of fighting against the stubborn army now?
It should be said that Okamura Neiji saw it relatively clearly. This was related to his intelligence work and command operations in China for so many years. He knew China very well, so he was very pessimistic about the goals to be achieved by the "No. 1" operational plan.
That's been the case from the beginning.
However, he knew that this was useless, and Tokyo did not know this.
After thinking about it, Okamura Neiji believed that the most critical thing at the moment was to take back Datong. Otherwise, it would get stuck in the throat like a fish bone and make the imperial army very uncomfortable.
Okamura Neiji thought for a while and then ordered: "Order the 110th Division to withdraw from Luliang Mountain and rush to Datong immediately!"
Okamura Neiji thought this way. Although the Eighth Route Army's occupation of Datong was a failure for the empire, it was not a bad thing.
In the past, the Eighth Route Army could hide within the defense line and rely on favorable terrain for defense. Even if there were two gaps, the imperial army would often be unable to penetrate deeply because supplies would be cut off.
Now, the Eighth Route Army came out from the defense line and occupied Datong... This made the Eighth Route Army's supply line more than 300 kilometers long.
Can the Eighth Route Army garrison along these more than 300 kilometers?
It's best that way.
So, as long as the imperial army attacks from this supply line, can it attack the main force of the Eighth Route Army stationed along the way?
Isn't this much simpler than attacking its defenses?
Yoshio Shinozuka was a little worried after hearing this order. He asked: "Your Excellency, General, if the 110th Division is transferred to the northern front to attack Datong, then the strength of the Luliang Mountain defense line will be very empty. In this way..."
Okamura Neiji's approach is actually demolishing the east wall to make up for the west wall.
The west wall has been repaired, but what about the vacancy in the east wall? Won't the Eighth Route Army take advantage of the gap?
However, Okamura Neiji had already planned this. He said: "Shrink the defense line, give up some of the assault department's control areas to straighten the defense line, and retreat to the plains to garrison!"
Yoshio Shinozuka was stunned for a moment, then said "Yes!" and went down to deploy.
Before delivering the order, Shinozuka Yoshida secretly sighed. This was the first time that the Imperial Army had abandoned a quasi-security area on a large scale.
This is a kind of helplessness and obviously a kind of failure.
But now this is the only way to solve the current crisis.