Taiyuan, Headquarters of the First Army of the North China Front.
Different from the usual orderliness, the First Army Headquarters at this time fell into busyness and chaos as if it was hit by a storm:
The radio station was beeping, sending and receiving messages almost non-stop. Several staff members were calling loudly on the phone, but they were always interrupted after a few calls.
Pieces of intelligence and documents flew into Yoshio Shinozuka's hands like snowflakes. Yoshio Shinozuka was busy signing and issuing various instructions. The desktop was in a mess, and several documents were scattered on the ground without anyone paying attention.
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Okamura Neji stared coldly at the sand table in front of him and the small red flags on the traffic line that represented danger, and fell into deep thought.
In the past month, the Pinghan, Tongpu, Zhengtai, Beining, Pinggu, Cangshi railways controlled by the North China Front, as well as the roads supported by the railways, have all been extensively damaged.
Preliminary estimates indicate that 474 kilometers of railways, 1,500 kilometers of highways, and 261 bridges, stations, and tunnels were damaged. Traffic in the entire North China was paralyzed. Only the heavily guarded locations around Taiyuan suffered less damage.
However, the purpose of transportation lines is to connect other cities and regions, to continuously transport materials produced in the Northeast to the front line, and to allow various regions to reinforce each other. What is the use of having only Taiyuan safe!
Okamura Neiji was a little frustrated. The sudden counterattack of the Eighth Route Army caught him off guard. As a result, almost all the materials accumulated by the North China Front Army in the past three years of poor operations were exhausted. Within a month, they returned to the dilapidated state they were stationed in when they entered North China.
What's more important is...
Okamura Neiji felt guilty. Even if he won this victory and overcame this crisis, would he still be able to build transportation lines in the future? Invest a lot of money in construction for three years, and then the Eighth Route Army would launch another major attack?
Just as he was thinking about it, a communications soldier hurriedly reported: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, the Jingxing Coal Mine has been attacked by the main force of the Eighth Route Army, requesting reinforcements!"
Yoshio Shinozuka was shocked and ordered without thinking: "Order the Yamaguchi Brigade for reinforcements immediately!"
"Yes!" The communications soldier responded and was about to convey the order, but was stopped by Okamura Neji.
"Shinozuka-kun!" Okamura Neji called.
Shinozuka Yoshio hurriedly stepped forward and responded: "Yes, what are your orders?"
"We can't continue like this!" Okamura Neji said.
"Your Excellency is saying... we will not reinforce Jingxing?" Yoshio Shinozuka was very confused.
No wonder Yoshio Shinozuka was puzzled.
The Jingxing Coal Mine is one of the three largest coal mines in North China. Its coal is of high quality and can be used to extract oil. Its daily coal output is 6,000 tons. It is an important energy base for the North China Front Army. If this coal mine is lost, the losses will be immeasurable.
Okamura Neiji did not answer Shinozuka Yoshio's question. He never left his eyes on the sand table and said thoughtfully: "I am thinking about a question. At this time, our army's strength has reached more than 300,000. Compared with the Eighth Route Army's 400,000
It’s not that far apart. At the same time, our army is well-equipped and brave and capable of fighting, but it is in a state of disarray in this battle. Does Shinozuka Yoshio know why?”
Shinozuka Yoshio was stunned for a moment. He had never considered this issue. Now when Okamura Neji told him, he discovered that the fact was indeed what Okamura said.
After thinking about it, Yoshio Shinozuka replied: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, I think there are far more enemies than we estimated. Although the Eighth Route Army only has 400,000 people, there are still many Chinese people who are also helping the Eighth Route Army to participate in the war.
The destruction of railways and roads, that’s why there is such a situation!”
Okamura Neiji shook his head: "This is not the main reason, Shinozuka-kun. It is that we made a mistake that we should not have made! We have been on the defensive, with more than 300,000 troops... but we have to defend thousands of kilometers
There are many railways, highways, and countless military depots, strongholds, coal mines, etc., so that it is difficult to take care of the scattered troops!"
"Yes!" Yoshio Shinozuka nodded in agreement.
Okamura Neiji's analysis is reasonable. The Eighth Route Army is the attacking party. They can concentrate their forces to attack a weak point, thus giving the illusion that they have much more troops than the North China Front.
"So..." Neji Okamura concluded: "We should no longer be led by the enemy, but should actively seek fighter opportunities to attack instead of defend. Only in this way can we alleviate the crisis in front of us, do you understand?"
"Yes!" Yoshio Shinozuka stood up and responded.
He felt suddenly enlightened.
This principle is actually not difficult, but often people cannot extricate themselves from this thinking when they are deeply involved in a battle.
For example, just now, he thought he had to reinforce Jingxing immediately, but now that Okamura Neji analyzed it, he found that reinforcing Jingxing would fall into the trap of the Eighth Route Army.
Jingxing is indeed important, but what if the Eighth Route Army attacks a certain bridge next time?
Or which tunnel?
Or which station is full of supplies?
For the North China Front, there are too many points that need to be defended or must be defended, one after another without end.
If this continues, the situation will only get worse and worse, and we will be unable to cope with it.
After hesitating for a moment, Yoshio Shinozuka asked: "So, Lieutenant General, where should we start our counterattack?"
Okamura Neji did not speak, but focused his gaze on a point on the sand table, which was being besieged by two regiments of the Eighth Route Army.
At the Lujiagou headquarters, the headquarters received several unusual pieces of information.
"Chief!" the chief of staff reported happily with the telegram: "Our troops attacking Jingxing reported that no Japanese reinforcements were found, and other places seemed to have relaxed! The Japanese seemed to be afraid of us!"
The commander frowned when he heard this. He walked back and forth in front of his desk for a few steps, then shook his head and said, "This is the time when the Japanese have come to their senses. They are probably gathering their forces to launch a counterattack!"
"Counterattack?" The chief of staff looked surprised: "Organize a counterattack at this time?"
It's no wonder that the chief of staff didn't believe it. The Japanese's offensive relied heavily on communication lines. This was determined by the high degree of mechanization of the Japanese.
But at this time, all transportation lines have been destroyed in a mess, and the raids along the railway are still continuing. Will the Japanese ignore their own danger and launch a counterattack?
The leader nodded firmly, and said solemnly: "Using offense as defense is a good move. Moreover, in order to save some face, the devils told their master that the momentum of this counterattack is likely to be very high.
fierce."
"So..." the chief of staff asked, "should we take the troops back?"
The leader thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "It is too late to pull back the troops at this time. If we retreat in a hurry and the Japanese are chasing after us, we will probably suffer even greater losses!"
Speaking of this, the commander ordered: "Let all units do reconnaissance work and beware of the Japanese counterattack. We will make the next step after we understand the focus of the Japanese attack!"