Okamura Neiji's idea is correct, using artillery for defense is the best choice for Yuncheng.
Because the artillery stored in Yuncheng by the Japanese was not used in the Zhongtiao Mountain battle, let alone against the Eighth Route Army... Zhongtiao Mountain was already under the control of the Japanese. The mountainous area was not suitable for large-scale use of artillery. The Eighth Route Army did not have many artillery, and the 92nd Infantry
The artillery is enough to provide fire support to the enemy, and large-caliber artillery is not needed.
The artillery in Yuncheng was intended by the Japanese to be transported to Zhongtiao Mountain to confront the stubborn troops south of the Yellow River.
Therefore, most of these artillery have the characteristics of long range and high accuracy... The enemy's target is on the other side of the Yellow River, at least a few kilometers away. If the range is too close, these artillery cannot even cross the Yellow River and will not be effective.
For example, most 75mm caliber artillery pieces are Type 90 field guns.
This kind of field gun has a barrel length of 2.8 meters and a range of 14 kilometers. Its ballistic trajectory is relatively straight and has great penetrating power. It has been used by the Japanese as an anti-tank gun and was later converted into a combat vehicle gun.
The Japanese planned to use this artillery to destroy the bunker fortifications built by the stubborn army on the other side of the Yellow River.
Another 105mm caliber artillery is the Taisho 14th-year-old field cannon.
This artillery is one of the heavy artillery used by the Japanese for suppression purposes, with a maximum range of 15 kilometers. The Japanese plan to use this artillery to suppress the artillery of the stubborn army, and at the same time, it can also complete the task of destroying the bunker fortifications, important buildings and military facilities of the stubborn army.
At this time, these artillery pieces were all in Yuncheng, and there were dozens of them.
It can be imagined that after the Ninth Mixed Brigade is equipped with these artillery, it can immediately expand the defensive circle to more than ten kilometers.
For a distance of more than ten kilometers, it takes half an hour for the T26 to move forward at the highest speed.
This means that T26 has to withstand the Japanese bombing for half an hour. Unless the Japanese shells are exhausted, it will be treated as a target and unable to fight back.
Furthermore, the closer T26 is to Yuncheng, the higher the accuracy of the Japanese artillery will be.
By then, let alone using tanks to clear out the group of bunkers outside the city, whether these fifty T26s can reach their destination is still a question.
Therefore, if it was just the Eighth Route Army, then Okamura Neiji would be 90% sure.
The Eighth Route Army had neither air power nor much artillery. The tanks in their hands were just targets for the imperial artillery!
Wanting to capture Yuncheng is a wishful thinking!
But now, with the addition of the Jinsui Army, things are different.
The Jinsui Army has 88mm field guns and 150mm howitzers. The range of these artillery can reach 10 kilometers.
When the artillery of the Imperial Army concentrated its firepower on the tanks of the Eighth Route Army...if the artillery of the Jinsui Army followed the Imperial Artillery and covered it with firepower, it would cause heavy casualties to the Imperial Artillery.
Artillery battles are no joke. If the enemy accidentally figures out the artillery position, the whole army will be wiped out.
This is also the reason why Okamura Neji mobilized the tank regiment for reinforcements.
What Neji Okamura didn't know was that his worries were somewhat unnecessary.
The Jinsui Army would not be as powerful as he imagined, and Wang Xuexin had no intention of relying on the power of the Jinsui Army from the beginning to the end.
On the surface, the Shanxi-Sui Army had done enough. They sent the 358th Regiment led by Chu Yunfei and three artillery regiments led by Artillery Commander Zhou Zhen, with a total of 72 artillery pieces of various types.
You must know that when the Jinsui Army was at its strongest, it only had nine artillery regiments... Its so-called ten artillery regiments actually had only nine, numbered from the 21st to the 30th regiment, leaving the 29th regiment missing.
Since the war started, many artillery regiments of the Jinsui Army have retained their designations, but they have actually existed in name only, because all the artillery pieces were lost during the battle. Some artillery regiments only have single digits of artillery left, and they are actually used as infantry.
At this time, there were only four strong artillery regiments left in the Jinsui Army, and the Jinsui Army dispatched three of them in one go to attack the city... leaving only one artillery regiment to save lives.
From this we can see that Yan Laoxi attached great importance to the Yuncheng battle.
But Yan Laoxi had his own little plan in mind.
When Artillery Commander Zhou Zhen was leaving, he whispered in his ear: "Commander Zhou, do you know how to cooperate with the Eighth Route Army in combat?"
Zhou Zhen nodded understandingly: "Commander, don't worry, my subordinates understand!"
Of course Zhou Zhen understood what Yan Laoxi was thinking.
In the land of Shanxi, whether the Japanese become stronger or the Eighth Route Army becomes stronger, it will not be a good thing for the Shanxi-Sui Army.
Now that the Japanese are too powerful, out of the need for balance of power, the Jinsui Army must stand together with the Eighth Route Army to fight together.
But if the Eighth Route Army is allowed to have so many tanks that overwhelm the Shanxi-Sui Army, this is not what Yan Laoxi wants to see.
Yan Laoxi told the officers of the Jinsui Army in the previous meeting: "The Eighth Route Army will be willing to give up all of Yuncheng, probably because they think they can control Zhongtiao Mountain. If the Eighth Route Army controls Luliang Mountain and Zhongtiao Mountain,
Mountain, then Yuncheng is actually surrounded by the Eighth Route Army. At that time, we will become a turtle in the urn and do whatever the Eighth Route Army does. Therefore, the battle of Yuncheng is very crucial!"
Zhou Zhen heard this and felt it in his heart.
The reason why it is "key" is to cause the Eighth Route Army to suffer as many losses as possible while ensuring that Yuncheng can be taken back.
In this way, the Jinsui Army can sit firmly in an invincible position in Yuncheng... The Jinsui Army has artillery, and the range of the artillery is not weak. The artillery in the hands of the Eighth Route Army are just some crudely made "ghost cannons", or there are no
A rocket launcher with an accurate range of barely six kilometers.
The Jinsui Army's heavy artillery has a range of ten kilometers. This range advantage can keep the Eighth Route Army out of Yuncheng, just like the Japanese plan to use artillery to defend the Eighth Route Army.
This is one of the reasons why Yan Laoxi dared to take over Yuncheng even though he knew it was a hot potato. The other reason was that Yan Laoxi had no choice. Only by winning the Shanxi-Sui Army in Yuncheng could he have any prospects for development.
but……
Zhou Zhen, who was riding a horse, looked far away in the direction of Yuncheng, then looked back at the long line of troops marching behind him, and sighed in his heart:
You can’t keep the tanks of the Eighth Route Army!
If the Eighth Route Army had tanks, it could cut off the Jinsui Army's logistics supply line at any time.
If the supply line is cut off, it will be useless no matter how many artillery the Shanxi-Sui Army has in Yuncheng... Without artillery shells, the artillery is just a pile of scrap metal.
Therefore, Zhou Zhen's goal was very clear. In this battle, the tanks of the Eighth Route Army were to fight against the Japanese. At that time, it would not be too late for the artillery of the Shanxi-Sui Army to take action.
The problem is that Okamura Neiji doesn't know this. He and Ikegami Kenkichi both think that the artillery of the Jinsui Army is hiding in the dark waiting for the imperial artillery to fire first...
Once the imperial artillery fires, the location of the artillery position will be exposed, and then the artillery shells of the Shanxi-Sui Army will come over.
Therefore, although Ikegami Kenkichi had prepared his artillery, he did not dare to act rashly. He planned to bring the Eighth Route Army tanks closer and then attack. At that time, he could use the least number of shells and the fastest speed to destroy as many Eighth Route Army tanks as possible, and then turn around to deal with them.