I accidentally lost a chapter of my manuscript today. There are only three chapters left. I will continue with four chapters tomorrow.
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Yoshio Shinozuka believed that this operation was an unprecedented victory for the North China Front.
He thinks so based on the following two considerations:
From a tactical perspective, the Japanese army generally blocked the enemy in mountainous areas and divided "quasi-security areas" and "non-security areas". Although they did not achieve complete separation, they were at least on the way to success.
From a strategic perspective.
Usually when the Japanese army raided "quasi-security areas" or "non-security areas", it was very difficult to find the main force of the Eighth Route Army, let alone fight a major battle with them.
However, after Nei Okamura took over as commander and adopted new tactics, the Japanese army immediately fought a solid battle with the main force of the Eighth Route Army.
Perhaps it's because he has been looking for the main force of the Eighth Route Army for many years, and now that he has found it, Yoshio Shinozuka is relieved!
This is what he said to Okamura Neiji: "Your Excellency Lieutenant General, we forced the main force of the Eighth Route Army to fight. This in itself is a success and a victory! Next, what we have to do is to mobilize our troops and fight in the decisive battle.
Defeat them!"
Yoshio Shinozuka indeed thinks so.
Many Japanese commanders have a "decisive battle" mentality. They believe that as long as they completely defeat the enemy's belief in victory and defeat the enemy's confidence in continuing to fight in a "decisive battle" on the battlefield, they can win. This part
The enemy will disappear accordingly.
This sounds a bit unbelievable, but many combat examples have supported this thinking. For example, the Maginot Line led to the surrender of a powerful country in more than a month... This was not that the army was wiped out, but that confidence and morale were destroyed.
The Japanese also hoped to achieve a similar victory, that is, to win a decisive battle at a very small cost and force the enemy to surrender. They even brought this thinking to the Pacific battlefield.
But of course, the Japs didn't succeed.
At this time, Yoshio Shinozuka had this idea. He believed that Okamura Neji had forced the Eighth Route Army to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army.
The Japanese army was obviously stronger than the Eighth Route Army.
So after the decisive battle, the Eighth Route Army will disappear, and they will no longer need to face this terrible opponent.
Okamura Neiji was not so optimistic. He replied: "Shinozuka-kun, I am very grateful for your recognition of my command. But do you really think that we have achieved our goal?"
"Of course, Lieutenant General!" Yoshio Shinozuka replied: "The reason why we failed to achieve a complete victory was because the Eighth Route Army temporarily changed its tactics. On the other hand, I think it was the sudden appearance of the Jinsui Army that disrupted us.
The army’s plan!”
Okamura Neji nodded.
Although he did not agree with what Yoshio Shinozuka said before, this sentence was correct.
Especially the appearance of the Jinsui Army... This caught Okamura Neji off guard, and the 37th Division did not dare to attack because of this.
"Your Excellency Lieutenant General!" Yoshio Shinozuka suggested: "My subordinates believe that we should put some pressure on the Jinsui Army. For example, order the 37th Division to attack the Jinsui Army!"
This is the ultimate goal of Wang Xuexin's alienation plan... He knows that the Japanese and the Jinsui Army are just flirting with each other at this time, and there is a lack of effective communication between the two, so it is likely that the dispute will get bigger and bigger because of some kind of "misunderstanding".
Irreconcilable.
If Yoshio Shinozuka was commanding this battle, he would have fallen into the trap at this point.
But this proposal was rejected by Okamura Neji.
Okamura Neiji did not answer directly, but asked: "Shinozuka-kun, have you ever heard of the saying 'the enemy of your enemy is your friend'?"
"Yes!" Shinozuka Yoshio stood up and replied: "I have never heard of it, Lieutenant General, please clarify!"
Okamura Neiji said: "The Jinsui Army is the enemy of the enemy, so we should regard it as a friend. If we attack it as an enemy, then... it will completely fall to the enemy! We cannot act emotionally.
, this is war, understand?”
"Yes!" Yoshio Shinozuka bowed his head respectfully, feeling secretly ashamed.
Okamura Neiji considered the issue more like a politician, considering the overall situation and the overall situation, but he was indeed acting emotionally and planned to launch an attack because of his anger at the Jinsui Army's breach of contract.
After a pause, Yoshio Shinozuka asked again: "So, Lieutenant General, how should we solve this problem?"
Okamura Neji knew what Yoshio Shinozuka was referring to.
Because of the Jinsui Army, the Japanese army had a five-mile-wide gap in their blockade of the Eighth Route Army, and since the Japanese army could not attack the Jinsui Army, should they just leave this gap alone?
This will obviously affect Neji Okamura's entire strategy.
Okamura Neiji thought for a while and replied: "I plan to give the Jinsui Army a brigade of equipment in exchange for their blockade of the Eighth Route Army!"
"Your Majesty Lieutenant General!" Yoshio Shinozuka was shocked.
The equipment of a brigade is no small matter, especially when the Japanese army is short of equipment. If the Shanxi-Sui army gets the equipment and then points its guns at the Japanese army, wouldn't it be...
Okamura Neiji did not explain much, but asked an innocuous question: "Shinozuka-kun, do you think the Jinsui Army will accept it?"
Yoshio Shinozuka thought for a while and replied: "Maybe I will accept it!"
"Why?" Okamura Neji asked again.
Yoshio Shinozuka was stunned. He just answered casually without thinking deeply. He didn't expect Neji Okamura to ask further questions.
After thinking about it, Yoshio Shinozuka suddenly realized: "I understand, it's not a possibility, but a certainty! The Jinsui Army will definitely agree!"
After a pause, Yoshio Shinozuka explained: "The Central Army also does not want the Jinsui Army to deal with the Eighth Route Army. Therefore, this has the following benefits for the Jinsui Army: First, it can show goodwill to the Central Army and even claim credit. Second,
Obtain equipment. Third, restrict the development of the Eighth Route Army."
Okamura Neiji nodded, and then asked: "So, does Shinozuka-kun know what benefits this move will have for our army?"
Yoshio Shinozuka replied without thinking: "We will blockade the Eighth Route Army in exchange for the equipment of a brigade!"
Okamura Neiji laughed loudly: "Is that all? If the Jinsui Army blocks the Eighth Route Army as we ask, will it break with the Eighth Route Army?"
Shinozuka Yoshio secretly said that this is so, this is a divorce plan.
Then Okamura Neiji said: "If the Jinsui Army reaches some kind of agreement with us, then the Central Army..."
Only now did Yoshio Shinozuka truly understand.
The Central Army also did not want the Jinsui Army to get too close to the Japanese army, and Okamura Neji equipped the Jinsui Army to give the Central Army the illusion that the Japanese army was equipping the Jinsui Army.
Therefore, the equipment of a brigade not only alienates the Jinsui Army and the Eighth Route Army, but also alienates the Jinsui Army and the Central Army. The result is likely to completely isolate the Jinsui Army. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.
However, these are only a small part of Okamura Neji's plan.
Okamura Neiji knew from beginning to end that Pingyuan could not effectively block the Eighth Route Army.
If the plain cannot be done, then he needs to use another method to block it, an invisible wall, an invisible hand, a method that is more effective than gun towers, barbed wire, etc.