Kanemitsu Keijiro coughed lightly and could only speak as plainly as possible: "Your Excellency, Commander, it's like this. If the main force of the North China Front withdraws to Shandong, then it doesn't matter whether the situation in Shandong can be maintained, but the situation in Shanxi
The First Army will definitely not be spared, because after the Eighth Route Army recovers North China, it will definitely use the Chahar Independent Regiment as the vanguard to return to Shanxi to deal with the First Army stationed in Shanxi. Do you understand?"
"I understand this." Anan nodded slightly.
Under the siege of hundreds of thousands of the Eighth Route Army and the Chahar Independent Regiment, even the main force of the North China Front Army was unable to gain a foothold in Peiping. The First Army in Shanxi was even more difficult. After all, the First Army in Shanxi faced enemies other than the Eighth Route Army.
There are also hundreds of thousands of Chinese Central Army troops led by Wei Lihuang. Maybe the Jinsui Army will also take advantage of it.
Therefore, if the main force of the North China Front withdraws to Shandong, the First Army stationed in Shanxi will be doomed.
Kanemitsu Keijiro continued: "After the First Army stationed in Shanxi was collectively defeated, Shanxi and even the entire North China basically became the territory of the Eighth Route Army. Then there will no longer be any obstacles from Baotou to North China. At this time, even if the Far East Front Army fights
After winning the Far Eastern Battle and then returning to the army, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do."
"Why is this?" Anan Weiji disagreed, "The Far East Front Army came back to help, but it was powerless?"
Kaneko Eijiro put his hand on his forehead and cursed for a long time before he said patiently: "Your Excellency, Commander, although the total strength of the Far Eastern Front is very large, the empire may not have the financial resources to launch a large-scale offensive.
So when the time comes and we are exhausted, we will allocate three or five divisions plus one armored division."
After a slight pause, Kanemitsu Keijiro continued: "Then, Commander, you think that when the Eighth Route Army is well prepared in the North China Plain, especially when there is the Chahar Independent Regiment, it can only rely on the reinforcements from the Far East Front.
Is it possible for these three or five infantry divisions plus one armored division to retake North China?"
"This..." Anan Weiji's face changed slightly and he said, "It's difficult."
Standing next to him, Kasahara Yukio couldn't help but sneered, "It's really hypocritical. What do you mean it's difficult? It's obviously impossible, right?" The three main divisions of the front army and so many directly affiliated troops were all defeated by the Chahar Independent Regiment.
How do you think the Far Eastern Front wants to take back North China with only three or five infantry divisions and one armored division?
Wake up quickly, stop dreaming, the Far East Front is not that strong yet!
"So, if the main force of the front army withdraws to Shandong, it will not be difficult to preserve its effective strength, but it will be very difficult to fight back to Peiping." Kaneko Eijiro paused here, and then continued, "However, heading west
When we break through and join the First Army stationed in Shanxi, the situation will be completely different."
After a pause, Kanemitsu Keijiro continued: "First of all, the ammunition reserve of the First Army is slightly more sufficient than that of the main force of the front army. Currently, it still has at least two and a half months of combat needs. Even if some are allocated to the main force of the front army, there will still be enough ammunition.
needed for the forty-day operation; secondly, with the addition of hundreds of thousands of main troops of the front army, the situation in Shanxi will be greatly alleviated; finally, Shanxi has mountains and rivers inside and outside, and there are also mountainous areas in the north and south, which is not conducive to the development of mechanized troops, so the imperial army is completely
If there is an opportunity to rely on the terrain to block the tank troops of the Chahar Independent Regiment, there will be no problem in holding on for at least forty days."
"Yo Xi." Anan Weiji said happily, "What happens next?"
Kanemitsu Keijiro said: "Then the Battle of the Far East will be over without waiting for forty days, and the Far Eastern Front Army will be able to mobilize troops for reinforcements. At that time, the Eighth Route Army in North China and the Chahar Independent Regiment will not only have to face the frontal attack of the Far Eastern Front Army
, we must also beware of our sneak attacks. More importantly, by that time, the Chahar Independent Regiment’s logistics supply line has been cut off by the imperial army, and its long-term combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced! It will not be difficult to recapture North China.”
"Yo Xi, I understand!" Anan Weiji said happily.
At this time, Kasahara Yukio questioned: "The problem is that the Taihang Mountains are so steep. When the imperial army invaded Shanxi, it took a lot of effort, but now it has been defeated. Who can guarantee that they will be able to defeat the Taihang Mountains? Wan
Once we are blocked in Taihangdong, wouldn't the situation be even worse than now?"
Anan only listened to the truth, nodded and said: "Yes, wouldn't the situation be worse by then?"
"That's why I said this is a wonderful move!" Kanemitsu Keijiro smiled slightly and continued, "Because the Taihang Mountains are steep and difficult to navigate, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the Chinese would never have imagined that we would break through to the west. This has the ability
It meets the conditions of surprise and surprise as mentioned in Sun Tzu's Art of War."
"Surprise attack?" Anan Weiji suddenly said, "Is this a surprise attack?!"
"Hai! Of course this is a surprise attack!" Kanemitsu Kejiro paused and said, "So before the real breakthrough, the imperial army must do a good job of keeping secrets and deceiving! Moreover, the deception work must be designed as a game within a game. When the Chinese think
When you have seen through our intentions, you have actually been fooled by us!"
"Yo Xi!" Anan Weiji said happily, "Jin Guangjun, this task will be left to you."
"Hai!" Kanemitsu Keijiro nodded heavily and said, "I promise to complete the mission due to my humble position."
…
In the next few days, the Japanese North China Front began to make frequent tactical feints.
After receiving another battle report just returned from the forward position, Xu Rui decisively summoned He Shuya, Mei Jiuling, Leng Tiefeng, Du Junjie and several staff officers from the regiment to hold a combat meeting.
Xu Ruiran said: "The Japanese's tactical moves are getting bigger and more frequent, which shows that their breakout is ready and will start soon! However, the specific direction in which the breakout will be taken has not been revealed until now.
It’s not clear. The Sixth Battalion, the Ninth Battalion and the Third Battalion all sent telegrams saying that there was something strange happening to the Japanese on the opposite side. What do you think about this?”
There was a moment of silence in the war room, and finally it was Du Junjie who spoke first: "Captain, the Sixth Battalion, the Ninth Battalion and the Third Battalion all reported that the little Japs on the opposite side had made strange movements, which just shows that the Japs will not come from Dagukou, Shanhaiguan and other places.
To break through the Ping-Han line, I still think the Japs will break out from Chahar."
Xu Rui said: "Tell me your reasons."
Du Junjie said: "The reason is that the Japanese are playing a false and real game."
After a pause, Du Junjie continued: "The little Japs first made noise opposite the Sixth Battalion, the Ninth Battalion and the Third Battalion, making us mistakenly think that they were going to break out from one of these three directions. But in fact, these three
All directions are imaginary, and their real breakout direction is still in the direction of Chahar!"
"Why can't it be one of these three directions?" Mei Jiuling questioned.
"The reason is very simple." Du Junjie said, "If it were you, and you really planned to break out from one of these three directions, would you deliberately make such a big noise? Remind the other party to take precautions in advance?"
Mei Jiuling shook his head and said: "The regiment leader often said that soldiers are unpredictable and water is unpredictable. We cannot blindly adhere to dogma. We must learn to use divergent thinking to think about problems. The Japanese are deliberately big in the Sixth Battalion, the Ninth Battalion and the Third Battalion.
Isn't the massing of troops on the opposite side also a tactic to bully the enemy? Who can be sure that this is not a tactic to bully the enemy?"
After a short pause, Mei Jiuling said again: "If you were our leader, Ajie, you would have been tricked by now."
"Nonsense!" Du Junjie was obviously unconvinced and said angrily, "This can't be a tactic used by the Japanese to bully the enemy. If the Japanese really want to break out from one of the three directions, they will never make such a big move."
"Absolutely? Ajie, don't be so absolute." Mei Jiuling said, "What the Japanese want is this mentality of yours. In a sense, this is basically in line with Sun Tzu's art of war: surprise and surprise.
Conditions, so from this level, it is possible to break through from any of the above three directions."
Seeing that He Shuya didn't speak much, Xu Rui couldn't help but ask him: "Bookworm, why don't you speak?"
He Shuya made a soft sound, raised his head and said: "Captain, I didn't speak just now because I was thinking about a question. Are the Japanese really willing to give up North China? Isn't there a better countermeasure?"
Xu Rui said: "Then have you thought of a better countermeasure?"
"I thought of it just now!" He Shuya said, "There really is a better countermeasure!"
"Oh, really? Tell me quickly." Xu Rui smiled, "What is your countermeasure?"
He Shuya picked up the pencil, drew two arcs on the map, and drew a sharp point on one side of the arc, which instantly closed into a big arrow, and then said: "My strategy is to climb over the Taihang Mountains and head towards
Breakout west!"
"What?"
"Breakout to the west?"
"Crossing the Taihang Mountains?!"
Mei Jiuling, Du Junjie and several other staff members looked at each other in confusion.
Obviously, Mei Jiuling and the others had not thought of this at all.
Xu Rui started to applaud without hesitation, and then said to Mei Jiuling and others: "Learn a little. I told you many times when I was in the youth training team, don't always think about problems from your own standpoint."
, you must learn to think from the enemy's standpoint and perspective, only in this way can you gain a keener battlefield insight!"
After a pause, Xu Rui continued: "Shu Ya did a very good job. He just considered the problem from the Japs' point of view, so he can judge the situation more calmly and comprehensively. I can tell you with certainty now.
, there is at least 80% chance that the Japs will break out to the west this time! This is almost an inevitable result!"
Xu Rui made a judgment, and Mei Jiuling and others had to be convinced even if they were not convinced.
After a pause, Xu Rui picked up the pencil and drew a big circle at the tip of the big arrow that He Shuya had just drawn, and then said with a sinister smile: "As long as nothing happens, this place, Yi County, will be North China."
The burial place of hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers from the front army! North China will soon be able to recover all of it!"
