Elastic defense is a defense method that Rommel was good at using.
When Rommel faced off against the enemy on the African battlefield, he also had the problem of insufficient troops. He was unable to hold an overly long line of defense with much fewer troops than the enemy.
However, Rommel was indeed a legendary general. He quickly found a solution. He placed only a small number of infantry in the defense lines and trenches for defense, while the main armored forces were placed on the second line.
Once the enemy broke through the defense line somewhere, Rommel's armored units relied on the mobility of the armored units to swoop in with lightning speed and repel the enemy.
In this way, under Rommel's command, the defense line that originally required more troops to hold was driven back again and again with fewer victories and more enemies.
But of course, the Eighth Route Army had no armored troops and even very few cars, so it could not copy Rommel's elastic defense.
"We can use the terrain to combine guerrilla warfare and regular warfare." Wang Xuexin explained: "If the Japanese go from the Shanxi-Sui Army defense area to the north and penetrate deep into our army base area, the terrain along the way is dominated by mountains and hills. We will give up these places.
But at the same time, don’t give in…”
At this time, Li Yunlong asked: "Xiao Dongbei, are you going to give in or not? Please tell me clearly, don't go around like this with me!"
"Captain!" Wang Xuexin replied: "Of course we have to give way, but we are only giving in part. For example, highways, mountain roads, etc., highlands on both sides, etc., are temporarily not building fortifications and not holding on, letting the Japanese in. If we don't give in,
Even deep in the mountains along the way, our troops are hiding to fight guerrillas with the Japanese. These troops can jump out at any time to attack their weak rear areas or transportation routes after their regular troops pass by!"
Li Yunlong said "Oh", then nodded and said: "That makes sense. If we really fight like this, it will be the Japanese who are in trouble."
Li Yunlong is right.
According to Wang Xuexin's style of play, the ones in trouble would really be the Japanese.
There was a mountainous area in front of them, and they could not find an enemy. Even if they wanted to fight a good battle, they could not find an opponent.
The roads are all open, but we dare not go deep.
Because once a battle goes deep into battle, logistical supplies will be cut off by the enemy at any time and the battle will be difficult.
But if we don't fight in depth, the results will not be expanded, which is equivalent to the Eighth Route Army blocking their attack.
At this time, there is only one way, and that is to clear this mountainous area and set up camps step by step to protect the safety of the supply line.
Therefore, the Japanese had to search hilltop by hilltop, garrison troops, and build fortifications.
The result was that the Japanese who were supposed to be attacking became the defending side, and the Eighth Route Army that was supposed to be defending became the attacking side.
Can the Japanese defend a two-hundred-kilometer defense line?
Not to mention that the Eighth Route Army was a veteran in fighting guerrilla warfare. It was impossible to eliminate the Japanese who were wandering around in the mountainous areas.
Even if the Japanese can be wiped out, even if all the 100,000 Japanese soldiers are piled on the flanks of the Eighth Route Army, attacking every inch of the 200-kilometer defense line... there is an average of one Japanese every two meters.
With such a force, aren’t there loopholes and weaknesses everywhere?
The Eighth Route Army could slowly find loopholes in the dark, and then seize the opportunity to concentrate its forces and attack the Japanese.
As a result, what was originally a problem for the Eighth Route Army turned into a problem for the Japanese.
The commander immediately understood the benefits of Wang Xuexin's tactic and nodded repeatedly: "This is a good method. It uses the terrain to advance and retreat, like a spring to engage in a tug-of-war with the enemy. No wonder it is called elastic defense!"
Then the chief turned his attention to the cadres attending the meeting and asked: "What opinions do comrades have on this method of play?"
"Chief!" Ding Wei stood up, glanced at Wang Xuexin, and said, "I agree with this style of play. The style of play proposed by Xiaodongbei is very novel. It makes full use of our army's strengths in guerrilla warfare and the terrain advantages of our base area.
.However... this kind of tactic that combines guerrilla warfare with regular warfare is very difficult in command and coordination, and it is feared that it will turn into a chaotic war!"
What Ding Wei said is this.
In the past, this problem did not exist when the whole army fought guerrillas. The various units did not need to coordinate with each other and could do whatever was convenient for them.
But now it is a combination of regular warfare and guerrilla warfare.
If the main force at the front comes into contact with the Japanese and the guerrillas at the rear need to attack the Japanese supply line, how can the order be passed on?
However, this problem was quickly solved.
The chief said: "We can set up contact points along the way. We can use message trees during the day and flashlights at night to pass them down station by station. We can also use carrier pigeons!"
The message tree was a way of early warning for the people during the Anti-Japanese War. Sentinels guarded a dead tree on the hillside. Once they found that the Japanese were coming, they would knock the tree down, so the villagers knew that the Japanese were coming.
This method soon became the way for the Eighth Route Army to transmit intelligence, and its functions were also expanded, such as what does hanging a white cloth mean and what does tilting mean.
Because these methods of transmitting information are very primitive, it is difficult for the Japanese to detect them. The disadvantages are that they are not timely and can easily be mistransmitted.
The chief of staff added: "It's just that in order to deliver messages in a timely manner, each contact point must be guarded by correspondents. It's best for these correspondents to dig tunnels and hide them in advance!"
The chief nodded in agreement.
Once the contact point is discovered by the Japanese, it is likely to cause communication interruption, so you must protect yourself.
The tactics were decided upon, and the leader then ended the meeting and asked the regimental commanders to go back and organize their troops to await deployment.
Wang Xuexin was originally supposed to return to Zhaojiayu to make preparations, but after thinking about it, he found the commander's headquarters again.
The chief was a little strange at first, but he soon realized that this guy must have something on his mind that he couldn't express at the meeting.
So the chief quickly ordered the people around him to stay away. When only the chief of staff and him were left, he lowered his voice and asked, "Comrade Wang Xuexin, do you have any other ideas?"
"Chief, Chief of Staff!" Wang Xuexin said: "You said at the meeting...that the Japanese had assembled many planes this time?"
"Yes!" The leader nodded: "The initial estimate is that there are more than two hundred aircraft. However, this has little to do with our army. These aircraft should be used to block the logistics supply line in Zhongtiao Mountain!"
Wang Xuexin also thought of this, and it was used to bomb the front line of the Yellow River.
"Chief!" Wang Xuexin said, "I think so. The Japs are a resource-scarce country, especially now that there is an oil embargo. They must do everything possible to save fuel. You said, if this war breaks out, the Japs airport will still be there."
Located in Taiyuan?”
The commander was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said: "You're right, Taiyuan is four hundred kilometers away from the Yellow River. If the Japanese have to return to Taiyuan every time to land to replenish ammunition and fuel, they will have to cover an extra eight hundred kilometers on the way back and forth."
The chief of staff saw this and agreed: "It will not be located in Linfen. Linfen is nearly two hundred kilometers away from the Yellow River. It would also be a huge waste to locate it there. In other words..."
Then the leader and chief of staff understood that the Japanese would probably find a place to urgently build an airport after capturing the Jinsui Army defense area, so as to shorten the bombing trip to the Yellow River as much as possible and save fuel and time.