Taiyuan.
First Army Headquarters.
News that the 36th Division had suffered a heavy loss reached the First Army Headquarters.
As the saying goes, a new official takes office with three fires. Just a few days after Iwamatsu Yoshio took office, this fire did not burn the enemy, but burned himself.
Although the loss of more than a thousand soldiers from a brigade was nothing, it made him feel hot and ashamed.
When he became the commander of the First Army, he wanted to achieve some achievements, rather than being hung up and beaten by the Eighth Route Army like Yoshio Shinozuka when he was in office.
Therefore, Yoshio Iwamatsu held the first staff meeting at the Taiyuan headquarters.
In addition to the staff officers of the First Army Staff Department, the meeting was attended.
There are also the commander of the 41st Division Nori Shimizu, the captain of the special agent Kazuki Yamamoto, the commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade Tadamichi Kuribayashi and others.
The 4th Cavalry Brigade that participated in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain has returned to Inner Mongolia, but the 1st Cavalry Brigade was detained by Yoshio Iwamatsu.
Iwamatsu Yoshio really wanted the 1st Cavalry Brigade to be under the First Army. After all, the Taiyuan Plain and the Xinzhou Basin were more suitable for the cavalry.
However, Shigetaro Amakasu of the Mongolian Army refused to give in. The 1st Cavalry Brigade had a very strong combat effectiveness and was too important to the Mongolian Army.
Fu Zuoyi's troops were eyeing the Mongolian Army in the Suiyuan area, like a hungry wolf that would pounce and bite them at any time.
Therefore, the 1st Cavalry Brigade was only temporarily loaned to the First Army by Yoshio Iwamatsu to strengthen the First Army's defense against Taiyuan.
In the conference room, Yoshio Iwamatsu ordered his close staff to prepare sumptuous food.
The worst people attending the meeting were all at the rank of lieutenant colonel. A group of senior Japanese officers were eating, drinking, and discussing.
First, Commander Yoshio Iwamatsu delivered a speech, talking about the current situation of the First Army, and then said:
"Right now, the Eighth Route Army has become a serious threat to the Imperial Japanese Army in North China, especially Li Yunlong's new regiment, which is very rampant."
"Yesterday afternoon, a battalion of Li Yunlong's New Regiment fought against the 36th Division led by Lieutenant General Jingguan in Dagu Town, northwest Shanxi."
"According to Lieutenant General Jingguan's report, the new regiment used the same anti-slope and tunnel tactics as Baozishan in this battle."
"As a result, the 36th Division lost an Imperial Army brigade."
Yoshio Iwamatsu waved his hand, and several guard soldiers brought in the sand table built by the staff.
The location of Dagu Town, the mountain tunnels and positions of the Eighth Route Army, and the location of the 36th Division's attack were all mapped on the sand table.
"Gentlemen, please take a look."
Iwamatsu Yoshio raised his hands, pointed at the map and said:
"This is the forward and reverse slope positions of the Eighth Route Army. This is the headquarters of the 36th Division. This is the location of the 36th Mountain Artillery Regiment."
"The Eighth Route Army's artillery position is 5 kilometers away from their position. The specific location is unknown, but the artillery firepower of two mountain artillery regiments can provide artillery support to the Eighth Route Army at any time."
The artillery fire from two mountain artillery regiments was heard.
Several assistant officers and staff present gasped in unison, and even their pupils couldn't help but shrink slightly.
Even a three-unit division of the Japanese army was equipped with only one mountain artillery regiment, and many of them were understaffed and lacked a few 105mm howitzers.
A regiment in the Eighth Route Military Region is actually equipped with two mountain artillery regiments. Is there any reason for this?
Yamamoto Kazuki and several Japanese officers above the rank of major general stared at the sand table with solemn expressions.
Iwamatsu Yoshio added: "Among the gentlemen present, only Major General Miyazaki, the deputy chief of staff, has fought against this tactic of the Eighth Route Army. I would like to ask Mr. Miyazaki to tell you about this tactic of the Eighth Route Army."
Everyone immediately turned their attention to Masao Miyazaki.
As we all know, Masao Miyazaki was originally the major general commander of the 3rd Brigade. Because he was defeated by the Eighth Route Army at Baozi Mountain, he was transferred to the First Army as the deputy chief of staff with little say.
In fact, with his qualifications, he is more than enough to be the chief of staff of the First Army.
Miyazaki Masao's cheek suddenly twitched slightly when he heard this. The battle at Baozi Mountain was a painful memory that he never wanted to mention.
In order to open the passage to Taiyuan as soon as possible, Miyazaki Masao sent the soldiers of the 3rd Brigade to the slaughterhouse-like battlefield.
It was a massacre. In the frontal battle, the Japanese army actually outnumbered the Eighth Route Army by eight to one, which was simply a shame. It was his luck that the base camp did not let him have a caesarean section to apologize.
However, Masao Miyazaki had no choice but to bite the bullet, stood up, picked up a slender wooden pole and said:
"The so-called tunnel tactics of the Eighth Route Army are to build artillery positions on the reverse slope of the mountain and infantry positions on the front slope."
"Then dig a tunnel in the mountain, connecting the front slope and the reverse slope. When the imperial army's artillery fires on the Eighth Route Army's front slope position, all the Eighth Route Army's infantry will hide in the tunnel."
"When the infantry of the Imperial Army began to attack, the infantry of the Eighth Route Army came out of the mountain tunnel and opened fire on the Imperial Army."
"The artillery positions of the Eighth Route Army were set up on the reverse slope. They marked the distance and fired at Zhu Yuan in advance. When the Imperial Army's infantry attacked, the Eighth Route Army's artillery fired at the same time to bombard the attacking Imperial Army Infantry."
At that time, when attacking Baozi Mountain, Miyazaki Masao had not yet recovered.
After the battle, the Eighth Route Army withdrew. Masao Miyazaki personally set foot on Baozi Mountain for repeated reconnaissance. Even though the Eighth Route Army filled in the tunnels, he still saw some clues.
Major General Tadamichi Kuribayashi was also able to see the secret, and he was also very interested in this tunnel tactic.
However, since the headquarters of the First Army was taken over by the Eighth Route Army, and even the commander of the North China Front resigned, the various units of the First Army were far apart and had little contact with each other, nor did they share intelligence.
The 36th Division only knew that the 3rd Brigade was defeated, but it did not know the specific situation and had no specific tactical research on the tactics of the Eighth Route Army, so it suffered a heavy loss in Dagu Town.
As soon as he finished speaking, Chief of Staff Hanatani Masaru began to sarcastically say:
"Forget about attacking once or twice, Miyazaki-kun actually ordered the soldiers to attack five or six times and sent the soldiers of the 3rd Brigade to die. What a talent."
These words seem to say, you Miyazaki Masao is really a fucking talent.
After glancing at Hanatani Masao, Miyazaki Masao's cheek suddenly twitched twice and said coldly: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, said it lightly. Taiyuan was in danger at that time. General Shinozuka sent three telegrams within 15 minutes, ordering the 3rd Brigade. Reinforce Taiyuan at full speed, in that case, I am afraid that the Chief of Staff can only make the same choice as me."
Despite the situation at the time, even if the 3rd Brigade arrived in Taiyuan, there was a high probability that it would be completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.
Shinozuka Yoshio's order was obviously intended to make the 3rd Brigade a scapegoat.
However, if the destruction of the 3rd Brigade can save Taiyuan and the First Army Headquarters, Miyazaki Masao will still execute the order without hesitation.
However, the reality is cruel. Not only was the 3rd Brigade crippled, Taiyuan and the First Army Headquarters were not saved.
It can be said that he lost his wife and lost his troops.
Hanatani Masaru asked: "Don't Miyazaki-kun want to take countermeasures? In one offensive battle, with a mountain artillery brigade and air support, more than 3,200 imperial soldiers were killed or injured. This is almost a third-line regiment. of troops."
Miyazaki Masao retorted: "Of course they thought of countermeasures. The imperial army used chemical bombs. Everyone on the Eighth Route Army wore gas masks, which had no effect at all. In the end, they adopted the tactic of infantry and artillery attacking together, but the firepower of the Eighth Route Army was too strong. The troops I have are limited, the artillery shells have been used up, and there are no logistical supplies, so it is difficult to capture the Eighth Route Army positions."
Hanatani Masaru said angrily: "Miyazaki-kun is still the most powerful. He can even explode his own soldiers if he is so ruthless."
Masao Miyazaki couldn't refute this, because some of the more than 3,000 soldiers killed and wounded were indeed killed by their own artillery shells.
Masao Miyazaki sat back down with an ugly expression. The atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became tense, and no one dared to speak for a while.
Yoshio Iwamatsu smoothed things over and said with a smile: "The purpose of bringing everyone together today is to debate. As long as the counter-tactics to the Eighth Route Army's tunnel tactics are debated, the goal will be achieved and everyone can speak freely."
Then, Yoshio Iwamatsu looked at Kazuki Yamamoto and said, "What is Mr. Yamamoto's opinion on this tactic?"
Kazuki Yamamoto was reused by Yoshio Shinozuka.
As the saying goes, once the emperor is equal to his courtiers, Yoshio Iwamatsu did not alienate Kazuki Yamamoto because of this.
Yamamoto Kazuki led the special agent team to make great contributions in the Battle of Nakajo Mountain, which also attracted some attention from the commander of the front army, Okamura Neiji.
Naturally, Iwamatsu Yoshio also valued Yamamoto Kazuki's opinion.
Kazuki Yamamoto still had a paralyzed expression on his face, and said in a deep voice: "This tunnel tactic is indeed novel. It can use its strengths and avoid its weaknesses, prevent the soldiers in the position from being hit by the imperial army's artillery fire, and give full play to the strengths of the Eighth Route Army."
Since the outbreak of the war, the Japanese army has been able to occupy half of China in a short period of time, largely because of its superior artillery fire.
On the Shanghai battlefield, a naval gun with a diameter of over 200 mm can kill a battalion of the Chinese army with one shot.
Even when fighting from the coast to the inland, the Japanese army's tactics of attacking the infantry after the artillery bombardment, and then charging the infantry with the artillery bombardment, resulted in more victories than fewer defeats.
However, this tunnel tactic, which allowed the artillery to bombard the infantry and then the infantry to attack, was invincible, turned into a tactic where the artillery bombarded the infantry and then charged, and the infantry died after the artillery bombardment.
The heavy losses of the 3rd Brigade and the losses of the 36th Division are proof of this.
If counterattack tactics cannot be found, the Japanese army will suffer greater losses in future battles.
"but."
Kazuki Yamamoto changed the subject: "The tunnel tactics are not without solutions."
As soon as he finished speaking, Iwamatsu Yoshio and a group of Japanese officers suddenly became interested and turned their attention to Yamamoto Kazuki.
"Yamamoto-kun, please speak freely, we are all ears." Iwamatsu Yoshio said with his hands down.
Kazuki Yamamoto pointed to the Eighth Route Army position on the sand table and said: "Please see, tunnel tactics rely on geographical advantages. As long as we set the battlefield to plain terrain, the Eighth Route Army will naturally be unable to use tunnel tactics."
The Japanese officers were a little disappointed when they heard this, and they looked like they were just doing it.
If the Japanese army could choose the battlefield, they would not suffer in tunnel tactics.
Iwamatsu Yoshio was also a little unbelievable. He didn't expect Yamamoto Kazuki to hold this in and immediately said: "Yamamoto-kun, in many cases it is not the imperial army that can decide where the battlefield is. The imperial army is the attacker, and most of Shanxi is mountainous. , very suitable for this kind of tunnel tactics.”
The Eighth Route Army's guerrilla tactics have not yet been cracked. Following the guerrilla tactics, there is a tunnel tactic, which also makes Yoshio Iwamatsu a headache.
Yamamoto Kazuki's eyes flashed sharply: "If you can't choose the battlefield, there is another way to deal with the Eighth Route Army's tunnel tactics."
(End of chapter)
