The commander and the chief of staff were looking at Zhongtiao Mountain on the map, looking puzzled.
There is a saying that "it is easier to attack a city than to defend it", and this also applies to Zhongtiao Mountain.
The reason why the Eighth Route Army was able to successfully capture Zhongtiao Mountain was mainly because it caught the Japanese by surprise... After the battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the Japanese had pushed the main force forward to the north bank of the Yellow River, leaving the rear fortifications basically to the military police brigade and the puppet army.
As mentioned before, the Japanese gendarmerie brigade is similar to Hans's SS. After the frontline captures a certain place, the tasks of public security and "bandit suppression" are left to the gendarmerie brigade, and the frontline troops can concentrate on fighting the enemy.
The military police brigade was firstly short of troops and secondly lacked heavy equipment, plus a large number of puppet troops mutinied. Therefore, Zhongtiao Mountain was successfully captured with almost no decent resistance.
Mountainous areas are the combat environment where the Eighth Route Army is best at and where the Japanese have the most trouble.
But this is just because the casualties of the Japs fighting against the Eighth Route Army in mountainous areas will increase significantly. It does not mean that the Japs cannot compete with the Eighth Route Army in mountainous areas.
In fact, the Japanese's combat effectiveness in mountainous areas is still stronger than that of the Eighth Route Army, but the Eighth Route Army can often rely on the terrain and advantages of the mountainous areas to deal with the Japanese.
While flipping through the documents, the chief of staff analyzed: "Chief, Zhongtiao Mountain is different from Luliang Mountain! When it was in the hands of the stubborn army, the Japanese had almost investigated the fortifications of Zhongtiao Mountain. In addition, Zhongtiao Mountain
The Japanese captured many more stubborn prisoners during the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain. After interrogation, they had basically figured out the terrain of Zhongtiao Mountain, and even had traitors as guides, so our advantage of being 'familiar with the terrain' no longer exists!"
The chief nodded heavily.
In fact, not only did they not have the advantage of being "familiar with the terrain", because Zhongtiao Mountain had always been an area controlled by the stubborn troops and was not the main combat target of the Eighth Route Army, so they didn't know much about Zhongtiao Mountain.
At this time, the Japanese were probably more familiar with the terrain of Zhongtiao Mountain than the Eighth Route Army.
The chief of staff continued: "If the Japanese take action, I think they are likely to rely on a large number of spies and traitors to disguise themselves as civilians and sneak into our defense zone before the war. After the war, they will cooperate with the outside or seize the commanding heights and important places to attack us."
The army carries out the attack!”
The leader pointed his finger and thought for a while before he remembered and said: "That's the one, 'Continental Advance Team'!"
"Yes, it's the Mainland Advancement Team!" said the Chief of Staff: "This unit has attacked the headquarters before. Fortunately, it was blocked by Xiaodongbei, otherwise I don't know what trouble would have happened!"
When the Japanese attacked Zhongtiao Mountain where the stubborn troops were stationed, they actually used special operations tactics. This tactic is particularly effective in mountainous areas because there is a lack of heavy equipment in mountainous areas, and a small number of troops can block a large number of enemy troops by occupying favorable terrain.
The recalcitrant troops were not familiar with this kind of special operations. They often discovered that the supply lines and commanding heights were in the hands of the Japanese as soon as the battle started. Sometimes they could not even tell whether the enemy was an enemy or a friend, so they were defeated by the Japanese in a short time.
This is what Wang Xuexin said, the Japanese are likely to attack with a combination of special operations and conventional operations.
Although the commander and chief of staff did not know the term "special operations," they knew this style of fighting. After analysis, they found this style of fighting increasingly difficult to deal with.
"If it were before!" the chief of staff continued to analyze: "Our army used the terrain to fight guerrillas against the Japanese, or had a relatively complete line of defense in the Luliang Mountains, maybe we didn't need to worry about the Japanese tactics. But now... we are in China
Tiaoshan must defend various key points, and each key point does not have many troops. If the Japanese's 'Continental Advance Team' observes in secret, they can discover many weaknesses and exploit them..."
This is also "offense is greater than defense".
The defensive side is in a passive position in terms of strategic situation, and the attacking side can secretly observe and grasp the enemy's activity patterns, and then formulate targeted combat plans to hit the target with one hit.
Therefore, the commander and the chief of staff know in their hearts that passive defense cannot be defended.
If you cannot defend passively, you must take the initiative to attack or defend actively, but this is easier said than done.
How can the Japanese take the initiative to attack when they are still outside the mountainous area?
Should we give up the favorable terrain in the mountains and go to the plains to fight the Japanese?
This is obviously unrealistic.
What kind of defense method is active defense?
Just when the leader and chief of staff were thinking hard about how to deal with the situation, a telegram was sent from the Independent Regiment.
The staff officer reported: "Chief, the independent regiment came to ask for troops and said it wanted to form a new army!"
The leader thought that Li Yunlong was here to take advantage again, and he cursed without raising his head: "What the hell are you doing? You are asking for soldiers at this time! Tell Li Yunlong that you don't have any soldiers. If you have the ability, recruit them yourself!"
"Yes!" the staff officer responded and was about to call back, but was stopped by the chief of staff.
"Wait a minute!" the chief of staff asked, "He said he wanted to form a force? What kind of force?"
The staff officer handed the telegram to the chief of staff and said: "It was Xiao Dongbei's idea to form a mountain combat force to deal with possible Japanese attacks in the future!"
The chief of staff couldn't help but turned to look at the chief in surprise when he heard the words. The chief who was looking at the map couldn't help but raise his head after hearing the words, took a look at the telegram from the chief of staff, and then laughed happily: "Chief of Staff, Xiaobei Northeast
Do you want to go ahead of us?"
"I think that's probably the case!" The chief of staff nodded: "I don't know where this guy got so many clever ideas. We are still worrying about this matter, and Xiaobei Northeast has to start making preparations!"
Then the chief of staff frowned again and said: "Can we form a mountain combat force...to deal with the Japanese tactics?"
The leader thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "I think it's okay. I think this kind of mountain combat unit is likely to perform similar tasks to the 'Continental Advance Team'."
"But... can this kind of force be able to defend against the Japanese's 'Continental Advance Team'?" The chief of staff was still skeptical.
The leader raised his head and replied: "We should not always think about defense, we should think about offense. When the time comes, the Japanese will also have regular troops entering the mountainous area, and it will be time for this force to play its role."
The chief of staff said "Oh": "The Japanese "Mainland Strike Force" will attack us, and our mountain troops will fight the Japanese. We will not suffer any loss from each other!"
"That's probably what I mean!" The leader nodded and said, "In addition, if we determine which key area the Japanese 'Continental Advance Team' will hold on to, our mountain troops can give them a surprise!"
"That's right!" The chief of staff's eyes lit up after hearing this. He looked at the telegram and said: "If this is the case, one hundred people will definitely not be enough, at least one battalion is needed! And every regiment requires a battalion like this.
The troops must be formed as soon as possible!"
The best way to deal with special operations is actually special operations.
This is a familiar conclusion in modern times, but it was explored through blood and sacrifice during World War II when special operations were just taking shape.
But with Wang Xuexin here, this process can be avoided.