When Yamamoto Kazuki hesitated, Yoshio Shinozuka, who knew Okamura Neji quite well, immediately understood that Okamura Neji had another plan, so he asked: "So, Lieutenant General, how should we attack?"
Okamura Neiji analyzed: "The enemies in Lujiagou may be stronger than we thought, and they are well-defended. In addition, many mines are likely to be laid. This cannot be achieved by relying on a small force to make a surprise attack!"
These words were mainly analyzed for Yamamoto Kazuki.
Okamura Neji, a former spy, is not only ingenious in the use of tactics, but also very good at psychological tactics, both for his enemies and for his own subordinates.
Okamura Neiji knows that if his subordinates need to fight with all their strength, they must make them believe that Okamura Neiji, as the commander, values him.
For example, at this time, if Okamura Neiji vetoes Yamamoto Kazuki's request without any reason, Yamamoto Kazuki may think that this is because he does not believe in the combat effectiveness of the special agent team and Yamamoto Kazuki's special operations tactics.
"Yes!" Kazuki Yamamoto nodded in response.
What Neji Okamura said is true.
Although his special agent team has regained its strength after absorbing supplementary troops and undergoing rigorous training during this period, the Eighth Route Army headquarters has at least one guard battalion whose combat effectiveness is not weak. In addition, there is another one that is still unknown.
With such a terrifying opponent's identity, it is indeed difficult for the special agent team to complete the mission independently.
Especially mines...
The members of the special forces may be able to block the enemy ten times, but they are no different from ordinary troops in front of landmines. If they step on them, they will be injured and lose the ability to move.
If it's a normal battle, fine, the special forces still have time to clear mines.
However, the special agent team's battle is about quick raids and the end of the battle in a short period of time. This makes the special agent team unable to do anything in the face of landmines that may delay time.
After hesitating for a moment, Yamamoto Kazuki said: "However, if you want to send more troops to intersperse, it may not be realistic. First, the scale is too large and easy to be discovered by the enemy, and second, you need to climb mountains and ridges along the way. This is not all
Anyone can do it!”
Okamura Neiji secretly praised Yamamoto Kazuki, who was worthy of being the captain of the special agent team. He guessed part of the plan so quickly based on his attitude and analysis.
Okamura Neiji replied calmly: "Yamamoto-kun, we don't necessarily need to go over mountains and ridges!"
"Your Excellency, you mean...disguise?" Yamamoto Kazuki asked.
Okamura Neji nodded slightly.
Regarding this kind of problem, Shinozuka Yoshio usually only "recited and listened to the teachings", but Yamamoto Kazuki was able to take the lead.
It seems that Kazuki Yamamoto is much better than Yoshio Shinozuka, at least in local battles.
"But, Lieutenant General!" Kazuki Yamamoto glanced at the map, a trace of doubt flashing in his eyes: "The Eighth Route Army, in order to prepare for our army's attack and the French currency offensive, has built a large number of fortifications on the front line and set up layers of checkpoints.
, if our army wants to get through...it's almost impossible!"
Okamura Neiji's answer was simple: "I didn't say sneaking in through the Eighth Route Army's defense line!"
Yamamoto Kazuki was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized.
Not sneaking in from the Eighth Route Army's defense line means sneaking in from the Shanxi-Sui Army's defense area.
It's indeed a good idea.
First of all, the Jinsui Army's defense and inspection were not strict... At this time, the empire was negotiating with the Jinsui Army.
This made many people in the Jinsui Army think that the war with the empire was coming to an end, so they were unwilling to fight and their defenses were lax.
Under such circumstances, it would not be too difficult for the imperial army to disguise itself as civilians and enter the Shanxi-Sui Army defense zone.
On the other hand, the Eighth Route Army and the Jinsui Army had not completely turned against each other, and the defense at the junction of the two armies was not tight, which allowed the imperial army to easily bypass the Eighth Route Army's defense area.
At that time, the imperial army will disguise itself as guerrillas or reinforce the Eighth Route Army on the front line... Wouldn't that be much easier than crossing the mountains?
Thinking about it, Kazuki Yamamoto stood up and answered with conviction: "Yes, Lieutenant General, you have thought deeply about it, and I admire you!"
Yamamoto Kazuki's guess was correct, Okamura Neiji indeed planned to organize a special task force to penetrate from the Shanxi-Sui Army defense zone.
This special task force is composed of two squadrons plus Yamamoto Kazuki's special agent team, with a total strength of more than 500 people.
Okamura Neiji estimated the number of troops in Lujiagou to be about a thousand.
According to common sense, the Imperial Army has a clear advantage with a one to three ratio. Now with a one to two force ratio and it is a sneak attack, even a force attack is not a big problem.
What's more, this special team of more than 500 people are all elites:
The main force is Yamamoto Kazuki's special agent team of several hundred people. The last time they entered Lujiagou with more than a hundred people against the enemy guard camp, they almost succeeded, which is enough to prove their combat effectiveness.
The second main force was the members of the mainland advance team led by Koike Ichiro, with a force of 60 people per team.
To be precise, there are two platoons... Everything in the Mainland Advance Team follows Chinese customs, even the troop organization is no exception. Otherwise, it is very likely that the two sets of organizations will be confused and their flaws will be exposed.
It goes without saying what the mission of the mainland advance team is. They are responsible for helping the troops sneak into the enemy's defense area and take care of everything to prevent the troops from being suspected by the enemy.
The main body of the special task force is two selected squadrons of the independent mixed second brigade, with a total strength of 360 people.
Although the Second Independent Mixed Brigade is a mixed brigade that deals with guerrillas, its status in the imperial army is very special and quite famous.
The main reason is that when the so-called "mountain warfare expert" Abe Norihide served as the brigade commander, this unit hoped to learn from its allies to build a mountain unit as a model to comprehensively upgrade the mountain combat capabilities of each mixed brigade.
Therefore, Abe selected people from various departments with excellent physical fitness and rock climbing and mountain survival skills to form a unit and strengthen mountain warfare training.
But on the one hand, Abe Kihide copied the mountain tactics he learned from his allies... The allies' mountain warfare tactics were aimed at the Alps, and the combat targets were enemy regular troops. Abe Kihide moved them to the hilly areas of the Yellow River Basin to deal with them.
Guerrilla tactics are bound to be acclimatized to the local environment.
On the other hand, Norihide Abe was killed by our army in the battle, so the formation and attempts of the Imperial Army in mountain troops came to an abrupt end.
At this time, Okamura Neiji transferred two squadrons from this mixed brigade and merged them into the special task force.
The Second Mixed Brigade has always maintained the customary backpack weight of mountain troops of 45 kilograms (compared to 25 kilograms for ordinary troops). Together with weapons, ammunition, engineering shovels and other equipment, the average weight per person is more than 70 kilograms. The training is very arduous.
Okamura Neiji believes that this alone can enable the special forces to carry more ammunition.
Then, after three days of training, the special team set off under the command of Kazuki Yamamoto.