The Supreme Deputy Commander quickly found a suitable speed, which was to order the Far Eastern Front to organize military exercises but did not mobilize reinforcements.
The intention of the Supreme Deputy Commander is very clear: the military exercise is to put a certain amount of pressure on the Japanese, but without reinforcements, it means they do not want to fight.
However, the Japanese's feelings were completely different.
Umezu Yoshijiro became nervous immediately when he received the information.
"Is the furry bear going to attack us?" Umezu Yoshijiro asked worriedly.
"It's possible!" Lieutenant General Yukio Kasahara, chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, pointed to the map and analyzed: "At this time, Mao Xiong has achieved a strategic victory in the battle with Hans and has an absolute upper hand. On the other hand, intelligence shows that
Yingjiang and Sun Bu Luo have also gathered a large number of troops on Sun Bu Luo's main island and plan to land in Gaul. In this way, Hans will have no power to fight back, and Mao Xiong will be free to attack Manchuria!"
"But..." the deputy chief of staff said doubtfully: "If Mao Xiong wanted to attack us, why didn't they mobilize reinforcements or transport equipment..."
The chief of staff interrupted the deputy chief of staff: "The Mao Xiong Far Eastern Front has more than one million people. Do they still need reinforcements? As for equipment, do you think we need them to mobilize advanced equipment for our tanks? What's more, we
There is also the Eighth Route Army behind us!"
Kasahara Yukio's words are correct. The Far Eastern Front troops at this time indeed numbered in the millions.
The reason why the Far Eastern Front Army has millions of soldiers is due to Mao Xiong's amazing recruiting ability.
The Far East Front Army originally had only over 700,000 men. These troops could only be placed in the Far East to confront the Japanese Kwantung Army. Even if the other side was about to be destroyed by Hans, these troops would not dare to move until winter entered the later stages of the Moscow Defense War and it was certain that the Japanese would not be able to do so.
Only when you know how to attack can you dare to mobilize more than 300,000 troops for reinforcements.
These 300,000 troops are well-trained veterans of the Far East Front, and they can also be said to be elites.
However, at this time, the strength of the Far Eastern Front not only did not decrease but increased to 1.3 million...that is, 900,000 troops were recruited in just a few months.
Later, some troops were transferred to fight on the Western Front, and the number of troops was reduced to the current 1.16 million.
If Mao Xiong's Far Eastern Front has a strength of 1.16 million, does it still need to deploy troops for reinforcements?
In terms of equipment, the Japanese were still using Type 97 tanks at this time. Even if there were a few "Tiger" tanks, they were all used up by the Eighth Route Army in Chifeng. So if Mao Xiong wants to attack the Northeast, does he need to add any additional equipment? Just rely on it.
The "Sherman" reinforced by Eagle Sauce is enough, and even T26 may win!
Thinking of this, Umezu Yoshijiro immediately ordered: "Order, move the troops to the defense line immediately!"
"Yes!" the chief of staff responded and went to organize.
Umezu Yoshijiro's idea is very simple. No matter whether the bear is really fighting or pretending to fight, the empire cannot relax at all, at least it must win in a posture.
This "posture" is not just a show, but to let the bear know the cost of attacking.
To be honest, the Kwantung Army at this time was not very impressive in terms of military strength. The total strength of the dozens of divisions of the Kwantung Army was only more than 700,000.
There is a big gap between more than 700,000 bears and 1.16 million fur bears.
Although most of Mao Xiong's 1.16 million soldiers have never fought in a war, and their training level may not be as good as that of the Kwantung Army, the Kwantung Army at this time has also transferred veterans to the front line again and again to fight and consume them, while new recruits have been added again and again.
At this time, the quality is not as good as before.
Therefore, what the Kwantung Army can rely on is the Kwantung Army Fortress, which the Japanese call Oriental Maginot.
The so-called Kwantung Army fortresses refer to the 17 large-scale underground military fortresses built by the Japanese on the borders of China-Soviet Union, China-Mongolia, and China-North Korea.
These fortresses are not in the western part of Northeast China, but start from Hunchun and HLJ Dongning in Jilin, along Suifenhe City, Hutou Town in Jixi, then to Fujin City, Sunwu County, HH City, and finally to Hailar and Aershan areas.
It is more than 5,000 kilometers long.
This line of defense mainly defends the north and east sides of the Northeast. The west side only defends a few limited areas such as Manchuria because of the natural barrier of the Daxinganling Mountains.
Umezu Yoshijiro hoped to frighten Mao Xiong with a combination of troops and tasks... If the offensive force is twice the defensive force and the combat effectiveness is roughly equal, then Mao Xiong's 1.16 million people are not enough to attack the Japanese Kwantung Army fortress.
In fact, the Japanese Kwantung Army fortress was useless. Historically, when the Mao Xiong attacked the fortress, it only took 6 days to successfully break through.
The reason is that the battles during World War II were no longer trench warfare like World War I. During World War II, all the fortresses built with huge amounts of money and manpower and material resources were broken through by the enemy, and it was far less difficult than imagined.
For example, the Maginot Line of Defense in Gaul, the Atlantic Barrier built by Hans, and the Japanese Kwantung Army fortress can also be said to be one of them.
This kind of passive defense is seriously outdated, and the waste of manpower, material resources and funds is completely unequal to the benefits obtained.
The reason why it was feasible in World War I was because there were no mechanized troops in World War I and air combat and transportation were not yet mature.
In the absence of mechanized troops, even if a certain line of defense is breached by the enemy, since the enemy is not advancing fast and is at a transportation disadvantage, the defenders can easily mobilize troops through cars and trains to block or even encircle and annihilate the enemy who breaks through the line of defense.
Therefore, during World War I, the enemy and we basically dug trenches to kill each other, and no one could even try to break through the enemy's defense lines.
But during World War II, things were different after mechanized forces were introduced and the aviation force matured.
The offensive side only needs to find a weak point in the defense line and then concentrate its forces to break through. After the breakthrough, it will use mechanized troops to quickly penetrate under the cover of the aviation force... The aviation force is responsible for reconnaissance, cover and bombing of the enemy's communication lines. If necessary, it can also airdrop supplies to the intervening troops.
If the defender does not have air superiority, it will fall into complete passivity. The rear supply bases will be captured by the enemy's mechanized troops one by one, and the supply lines will be cut off one by one. As a result, the entire defense line of garrison will be surrounded. If they do not surrender, they will have to wait until they run out of ammunition and food.
Absolutely.
At this time, the Japanese had not yet realized this in terms of tactical thinking, so they still built the so-called "Kwantung Army Fortress" in the Northeast.
But of course, this "Kwantung Army Fortress" was built with the blood, tears and lives of the Chinese people.
With Umezu Yoshijiro's order, three of the seven divisions stationed in Fengtian were immediately transferred away.
A week later, another division was transferred.
As a result, there were only three divisions left in Fengtian. In addition, plus the 39th Division, which was confronting the Eighth Route Army in Chifeng, there were only four divisions with a total of about 90,000 troops.