The chief of staff's wish is good, that each regiment should form a mountain camp...but in fact it is difficult to realize.
Mainly because the Eighth Route Army had insufficient soldiers at this time and their quality was uneven.
If a large regiment of 3,000 people or more than 5,000 people like Chu Yunfei's group could form a mountain camp, it would be possible. However, the Eighth Route Army's regiments often numbered more than a thousand, and some could not be replenished in time or even less than one.
With thousands of people, it is unrealistic to assemble a battalion of mountain troops.
On the other hand, this kind of mountain troops are required to be small and precise.
The reason is that steep mountain warfare often does not require a large number of people. A few people can suppress dozens or even hundreds of enemies from the commanding heights.
Having too many people means that they are not of sufficient quality and may even be easily discovered by the enemy and may even have difficulty maneuvering.
For example, for a rock climbing sneak attack, platoon or even squad units are enough. If a company is sent to climb the rock from the rear... the probability of being discovered by the enemy is very high.
Therefore, when the chief of staff sent a message saying that Wang Xuexin could transfer a battalion, Wang Xuexin politely declined.
Wang Xuexin answered this way: "Chief, the mountain combat troops are expensive but not expensive. If each regiment can set up a mountain battalion, then it will not be much different from the conventional troops. Moreover, with such a large establishment, our army will be very difficult."
Maybe I don’t have the ability to equip it!”
Wang Xuexin had previously told Sun Erwei that he only needed a thousand sets of rock climbing equipment, which were prepared for the formation of mountain companies in all regiments of the army.
So the total size should be about a thousand people.
Some discrepancies have little impact, and it is not difficult for the climbing equipment arsenal to produce some. Not to mention that there will be problems such as wear and loss in the future, so we cannot rely entirely on imports.
Of course, rock climbing equipment alone was not enough. Wang Xuexin took some time to consider the combat method of this mountain unit.
If we put this in modern times, it goes without saying that mountain combat is dominated by helicopters and drones... A mountain with an altitude of 1,200 meters above sea level may take a person half a day or even a day to climb, but helicopters only need
few minutes.
From this mountain to that mountain, if you use two legs to go up and down, the straight-line distance may be only one kilometer, but it may take several days to walk, and the helicopter also only takes a few minutes.
Therefore, the helicopter can be said to be an artifact of mountain warfare.
However, in this era, helicopters had not yet been used in actual combat, especially for the Eighth Route Army, which had difficult conditions. Wang Xuexin could only think of a combat method suitable for this era.
The equipment must be mainly Springfield rifles.
This is not only because the Eighth Route Army can produce ammunition at this time, but also because this rifle has a sniper type... Just add a scope, which has to be purchased from Yingjiang. Two snipers in a squad are equipped with a sniper rifle, and a company can also
There are only about ten of them, which is still an affordable amount to equip.
In addition, what is more important is the deflection weapon.
The characteristic of mountain combat is that there are many obstacles, such as stones, mounds, etc. If the target is hiding behind the cover and firing, such as grenade launchers commonly equipped by the Japanese, this cannot be dealt with by rifles and sniper rifles, and must have direct fire.
equipment.
Fifty-zero cannon?
Wang Xuexin frowned.
Although the 50 cannon was developed by Wang Xuexin to fight against Japanese grenades, and it was also effective in actual combat.
But it is not suitable for special forces such as mountain companies.
The main reason is that the quality of the 50 small gun is not up to par, and the barrel is toughened and easily damaged.
This is nothing when used in conventional troops, but if it is used in mountain companies... those who have to go through so much hard work carrying cannons and shells over mountains and rivers, if they are really found to be broken or even exploded when they are used, it will have a negative impact on morale and
Confidence has serious consequences.
Therefore, the equipment of the mountain company must be well-supplied, otherwise it would be better not to carry it.
But besides the 50 cannon, what else can you bring?
Use a Japanese grenade?
Does that mean that all grenades must be used by Japanese soldiers?
What if it is not seized and there is no time to replenish it?
Suddenly, Wang Xuexin slapped his thigh... Damn it, doesn't Yingjiang have rifle grenades? And they are used by Springfield rifles. You only need to install a small device on the muzzle to launch rifle grenades, with a range of more than 300 meters.
More importantly, if you use this thing, you don't even need to carry a cannon, which can save a lot of weight and not occupy the establishment. This is not a trivial matter for mountain troops.
Thinking of Wang Xuexin, he immediately wanted to find Sun Erwei.
Unexpectedly, Sun Erwei came looking for him before he even got up.
"Wang, I have something to discuss with you!" Sun Erwei said.
"Oh, it just so happens that I have something to ask you for!" Wang Xuexin replied: "You tell me first!"
"That's it!" Sun Erwei naturally sat down on the office chair in front of Wang Xuexin, shook an English telegram in his hand, and said: "I just received a telegram from the colonel. Because of your tactics and
The suggestion is effective in air combat, so it is foreseeable that we will soon enter the battle to seize the island with the Japanese. And the battle to seize the island is something our army is not good at. The terrain on the island is complex and full of mountains and jungles. This situation seems to be similar to
The Eighth Route Army’s Zhongtiao Mountain battlefield is very similar!”
Wang Xuexin said "Oh", and he roughly guessed what Sun Erwei meant.
Sure enough, Sun Erwei continued: "Therefore, my superiors hope that I can participate in your army's training and operations as a military observer, and then send tactical key points to the country, so as to avoid unnecessary casualties in our future operations."
!”
Because of the low pressure of the war, especially the land warfare tactics, which were very backward, a considerable part of the troops deployed in the Pacific battlefield were recruits with no war experience.
Wang Xuexin pretended to hesitate: "This... I'm afraid it's not appropriate?"
In fact, this is also in the interests of China. After all, the Japs are the common enemy of both countries. Anything that is not good for the Japs is good for China.
The reason why Wang Xuexin hesitated was just to add some chips to his own hand.
"What's inappropriate?" Sun Erwei asked, "Worried that we can't keep it secret? Don't worry, Wang! We will do a good job in keeping it secret!"
"No, Sun Erwei!" Wang Xuexin replied: "The issue of confidentiality is only secondary. Of course I believe you. But I don't know if you have considered this issue. There is a huge difference in firepower between our army and your army. Our army is basically still in the state of millet and rifle.
Our army's tactics are formulated based on our army's firepower situation, and may not apply to your army!"
Sun Erwei nodded slowly. When Wang Xuexin said this, he also felt that this was indeed the case. The firepower of the Eighth Route Army was too far behind that of Yingjiang, and its tactics might not be useful for reference.
Wang Xuexin saw some disappointment on Sun Erwei's face, so he pretended to be thoughtful and said: "Unless..."
"Unless what?" Sun Erwei asked.
"Unless we equip a force of about a thousand people!" Wang Xuexin said: "According to the firepower configuration of the Yingjiang Army, the equipment will be provided by your army. We will fight the enemy on the battlefield and study the tactics before..."
Before Wang Xuexin could finish speaking, Sun Erwei replied ecstatically: "No problem! That's it!"