Another lack of preparation is the soldiers' night fighting capabilities.
The command vehicle modified from an armored vehicle that Gangzi rode in was pretty good. The armored vehicle's external perception capability was much better than that of a tank.
The other tanks either went the wrong way or hit the wrong target at night. On the first day of training, they were like a swarm of bees. Two tanks drove to the side of the road and got stuck in the mud. It took a long time to get out.
Then they were dragged out.
The training situation will be better the next day, but I am still confused by the fire everywhere.
Gangzi raised a question about this: "Battalion Commander, is it good to use firelight to guide the direction, but with so many tanks following the target, each one firing a firelight to guide the direction, the driver and gunner don't know which firelight to follow!"
"
Wang Xuexin thought it was right. This thing was a bit too much, so he immediately stipulated that in addition to guiding the tanks to the target during combat, the direction of the flames was reduced to three groups, and each tank used one flame guide, so that the driver could basically judge.
Where should I go?
Finally, Wang Xuexin hurriedly sent the map of Yuncheng to the tank drivers so that they could memorize it. Then he used wooden boards and stakes to block the simulated streets of Yuncheng on both sides of the ground, and asked them to run through them twice before he was done.
This kind of terrain training originally took at least a month to ensure that there would be no trouble on the battlefield, but the soldiers only had three days, which made the soldiers feel a little hung up. Some soldiers even still couldn't do it after driving twice between the wooden stakes.
Confused.
Things got better on the third day.
Later, Wang Xuexin found out that the drivers were all awake and had memorized the map. They even thought of a way to memorize it, which was to walk blindfolded and say "turn left" and "turn right" while walking...
…The other person looks at the map and compares it, and if he makes a mistake, he memorizes it all over again.
As a result, every driver remembered his attack route clearly, and the day went smoothly.
Wang Xuexin sighed in his heart, maybe this was the pressure of the war. If he didn't write it down, he would probably lose the battle. The result of defeating the battle would probably be the annihilation of the entire army. Or to put it simply, it would just take time and energy to write it down.
Just a little more hope of coming back alive, can you not remember it carefully?
But what Wang Xuexin thought was not entirely right.
The Eighth Route Army soldiers of this era generally had a spirit of "not afraid of sacrifice, not afraid of death." Their pressure was not "for survival," but "for victory," "for the independent regiment," and "for the motherland."
This is what they said during the discussion:
"No matter what, we can't hold back. If we lose this battle, wouldn't it be a disgrace to our battalion commander?"
"We are driving a tank. I never dreamed that I would be able to drive a tank on the battlefield in this life! I don't want it to be blown up by the Japanese. I have to drive it back no matter what!"
"Aren't you short-sighted? You should think about it. If you lose this battle, it will not be a matter of losing face and losing tanks, but a matter of losing Zhongtiao Mountain and having tens of thousands of comrades and hundreds of thousands of people surrounded! So there is nothing to say.
, I’ll chew this map off even if I chew it!”
…
In their minds, face, or to be precise, the honor of the troops, and the interests of the tanks and troops, are all above their lives, and they rarely take themselves into consideration when they say or think.
Wang Xuexin didn't know the reason for this, and it was something he had always found difficult to understand.
Thinking about it carefully, Wang Xuexin thought that this might be the generation gap between him who lived in peacetime and the soldiers who grew up in wartime.
Especially at this time, China has reached a life-and-death moment, and the quality of its equipment lags behind that of the Japanese. Therefore, the Eighth Route Army soldiers are faced with this choice:
If you put your life and death aside and fight against the Japanese, you will have a chance of survival.
Otherwise, there will be no way to survive.
They knew this truth when they were in it, so a culture of not being afraid of sacrifice was formed in the whole army.
On the fourth day, Wang Xuexin asked the soldiers to have a good sleep.
The training period made them very tired. They trained at night and memorized maps and discussed tactics during the day. Some of them didn't sleep for days and nights. As soon as they got the order to rest, they immediately lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
Li Yunlong took the time to visit the tank base. He looked at the dormitory where people slept all over the place and asked, "How are you preparing?"
Wang Xuexin stepped forward and replied: "Report to the leader, no problem! I promise to complete the task!"
Having said that, I feel a little uneasy because there are too many uncertain factors.
Li Yunlong actually knew this, but he still nodded, patted Wang Xuexin on the shoulder, and said: "This battle is over, I'll give you a holiday. Go back to the three stores and have a look. Someone is waiting for you there!"
"Yes!" Wang Xuexin stood up and responded, feeling a little warm in his heart, not because of the holiday, but because he didn't expect that Li Yunlong had such a rough and delicate side.
While the Eighth Route Army was making intensive preparations, the Japanese actually received some news.
After receiving the telegram, Takeda Kamie hurried into Anda 23's office and reported: "Your Excellency Lieutenant General, we have received information that the Eighth Route Army in the direction of Luliang Mountain is gathering in the Longfengping area. Yamaguchi-kun believes that they are likely to attack us.
Launch a sneak attack on the supply line!”
This is the inertial thinking of most Japanese soldiers towards the Eighth Route Army.
The reason is that usually whenever the Eighth Route Army is dispatched, it will definitely be a sneak attack on the supply line, such as blowing up bridges, blowing up roads, etc. There are almost no formal operations. Even the Hundred Regiment War is to attack the Japanese supply line.
So as soon as the Eighth Route Army gathered this time, Yamaguchi immediately determined that it was targeting the supply line.
And this is also very reasonable. At this time, the Jinsui Army was being beaten back by the imperial army. As an ally of the Jinsui Army, the Eighth Route Army should create some trouble on the supply line to allow the imperial army to divide its forces.
But Anda Twenty-Three looked at the map, shook his head and said: "No, they are not targeting the supply line, but..."
As he spoke, Anda Twenty-Three pointed to the location of Yuncheng on the map and said with certainty: "Yuncheng, they want to attack Yuncheng!"
Takeda Kamie hesitated for a moment, and then said: "But, Lieutenant General, we have set up an additional line of defense outside Yuncheng. They should know that it is impossible to defeat Yuncheng. Will they still fly into the flames and seek death?"
"You are wrong, Mr. Zhutian!" Anda Twenty-three said: "This is the Eighth Route Army's biggest struggle. The copper mines and iron mines in Zhongtiao Mountain are crucial to them. These mines may be important to us.
It’s just icing on the cake, but for them it’s a matter of yes or no. If they lose these mines, what use is the production line they got from Eagle Sauce?”
Speaking of this, Anda Twenty-three showed a proud smile on his face: "Therefore, they can only give it a try, even if they know it is a moth flying into the flame, they have to do it!"