Although the 36th Division built thickened reinforced concrete bunkers and gun towers.
But Jingguan Ren knows very well that there is no unbreakable fortress in this world.
The Eighth Route Army has been fighting against the Japanese blockade for a long time, and it is unique in its combat experience in bunkers and gun towers.
As the ace unit of the Eighth Route Army, the New Regiment is equipped with mountain artillery and howitzers, making it more powerful in attacking difficult situations.
If the new regiment does not hesitate to shell and the lives of soldiers, it can completely break through such a turret.
Ishikawa Harishui's tone was quite confident: "There are more than 10,000 people in the new regiment. Even if all the artillery shells are fired and all the soldiers are used up, it will not be possible to remove all the bunkers and gun towers."
Jingguan Ren let out a long sigh of relief, and the stone in his heart finally fell.
Li Yunlong and Xinyi Tuan put a lot of pressure on him.
In just over a month after arriving in northwest Shanxi, the 36th Division lost more than 3,000 soldiers.
The 36th Division fought against the Central Army in southern Shanxi for two years without losing so many soldiers.
In Jingguan Ren's opinion, in the case of frontal combat, the combat effectiveness of the 36th Division is not inferior to that of the New Regiment.
However, the New Regiment did not engage in a decisive battle with the 36th Division at all, and Commander Yoshio Iwamatsu strictly ordered the 36th Division to take the initiative, so it was so passive.
Coupled with the fact that the new regiment was well equipped, more than 2,100 people were lost if they were not careful.
If there were another wave, he might end up as the division leader.
Fortunately, Commander Yoshio Iwamatsu convinced Commander Neiji Okamura to allocate a large amount of steel bars and cement to build stronger bunkers and gun towers.
Jingguan Ren asked: "Ishikawa-kun, when the fortifications were being built recently, did the new regiment send a small force to harass them?"
"Reporting to the division commander, the new regiment did not send small troops to harass!"
Ishikawa Zishui guessed: "I guess Li Yunlong is thinking that after the imperial army has repaired the artillery towers and bunkers, he will send out troops to destroy the imperial army's artillery towers and bunkers."
"Hmph!" Jingguan Ren snorted coldly and said, "This is the best. After these bunkers and gun towers are repaired, Li Yunlong and his new regiment can taste the power of the imperial army!"
If the new group still uses the tactics of the previous two times, it will definitely suffer.
Dozens or hundreds of companies attacked hundreds of bunkers and gun towers at the same time, but they were unable to defeat them.
But it is obviously unrealistic to rely on these bunkers and gun towers to create a new group.
Because Li Yunlong was not a fool, after the Eighth Route Army soldiers attacked some gun towers and bunkers, they realized that these bunkers and gun towers were tough nuts to crack, and they would definitely give up the attack by then.
However, Jingguan Ren did not want to rely on these bunkers and gun towers to create a new group.
Now the task of the 36th Division is how to hold on until the start of the big sweep under the attack of the new regiment and preserve more troops to cooperate with other divisions in the sweep.
"What a pity!" Ishikawa Hari said, "The New Regiment defended the base area too tightly. After our intelligence personnel entered the base area, it was as if they were lost in the sea. It was difficult to send out information. So how many troops did the New Regiment have? When did they start taking action? We all know nothing..."
"Ishikawa-kun, you have reminded me."
Jingguan Ren said in a deep voice: "My fishing plan failed last time. It was probably because the intelligence was leaked."
"Your Excellency, Division Commander." Ishikawa Zhi Shui said, "Do you suspect that... there are intelligence agents from the Eighth Route Army hiding in the county, and that Li Yunlong knew about the imperial army's troop deployment in advance?"
"That's right!" Jingguan Ren nodded, "The New Regiment just occupied Heyuan, Pingan and Anhua counties not long ago. They must have left intelligence personnel behind when they retreated, and they probably have radio stations."
The main roads and highways from the county seat to the Xinyi Regiment base area have been blocked.
Regarding the mobilization of the Japanese army, if the intelligence personnel of the New Regiment did not have a radio, the information would definitely not be sent out.
Jing Guanren said: "Also, when we attacked Dagu Town on the day we arrived in northwest Shanxi last time, the new regiment seemed to know in advance that the 222nd Regiment and the 36th Mountain Artillery Regiment were going to attack Dagu Town. Isn’t it suspicious that we are well prepared for defense?”
"The division commander is indeed very suspicious!" Ishikawa Zhishui said, "It seems that Li Yunlong has indeed placed intelligence personnel in the county."
"Ishikawa-kun!" Iguchi Ren's eyes narrowed: "Immediately after returning to the county town, apply to the intelligence department of the headquarters for a radio reconnaissance vehicle to monitor the Eighth Route Army radio signals. We must dig out the underground party lurking in the county town."
"Hi!" Ishikawa Jisui paused.
…
"Based on intelligence."
"The 222nd Regiment of the Japanese 36th Division is stationed in Anhua County, the 223rd Regiment is stationed in Ping'an County, and the 224th Regiment and the Mountain Artillery Regiment are stationed in Heyuan County."
At the headquarters of the New Regiment in Zhaojiayu, Wang Dehou pointed to the map and said.
Regiment leader Li Yunlong, political commissar Zhao Gang, and deputy commander Xing Zhiguo were also there to discuss the battle plan.
Wang Dehou continued to introduce the current enemy situation: "In addition, based on the number of enemies wiped out, the 222nd Regiment suffered the most serious losses. First, we killed a brigade in Dagu Town, and we killed hundreds of people in two night attacks. , the 222nd Regiment is estimated to have only half of its troops left."
"The 223rd Regiment and the 224th Regiment each lost about 700 people."
"The current strength of the 36th Division's combat troops is approximately 7,000."
Li Yunlong nodded and said: "You only counted the combat troops, and they are all infantry. What about the Japanese service troops, artillery troops and puppet troops?"
Wang Dehou said casually: "The 36th Division is a three-unit B-level division. The combat troops of the three regiments are about 10,000. The total strength of the engineering regiment, baggage regiment, artillery regiment and logistics troops totals 5,000. People, including the logistics troops and artillery, the 36th Division still has 12,000 people, plus the 7th Mixed Brigade of the puppet army, the total strength is 15,000."
Total strength 15,000?
After hearing this data, Zhao Gang and Xing Zhiguo showed a solemn look on their faces.
If it was a field battle, the new regiment would have an advantage in both strength and firepower.
But this time the Japanese and puppet troops were huddled in the county town, fighting hard battles and street battles, and most of the troops in the new regiment were recruits who had just joined the army for more than a month and had never fought in a major battle.
There is a saying in the art of war: surround an enemy ten times, attack it five times, and fight it twice.
Although the new group has an advantage, it is not huge.
If the new regiment loses too much and becomes weak due to eating the 36th Division.
Then once the Japanese attack the base area, there will be big problems.
Li Yunlong nodded and said: "So, the issue we have to consider now is how to kill the 36th Division with the minimum cost of casualties."
Wang Dehou analyzed: "The enemy seems to have a lot of troops, but there are only 7,000 combat troops. In the next battle to attack the artillery towers and bunkers, if we can kill another 2,000 Japs, then the Japs will have only 7,000 combat troops left. There are 5,000 people, and there are also logistics troops and puppet troops totaling 8,000 people."
"These 13,000 people seem to have a lot of troops, but they are actually distributed in the three counties of Heyuan, Ping'an and Anhua. Moreover, most of the troops are puppet troops and logistics personnel, and their combat effectiveness is not strong."
"I think that if we adopt the tactic of dividing and encircling and defeating them one by one, we will have a chance to eat the 36th Division."
Li Yunlong nodded slightly.
During this period, Li Yunlong thought of three combat plans in total.
The first battle plan was to divide, encircle, and defeat them one by one. That is, after taking down all the Japanese fortresses and artillery towers outside the county town, the three county towns were surrounded.
Then concentrate the superior forces and gnaw down one county town after another.
The advantage of this tactic is that it can take advantage of the new regiment's strength and firepower advantages.
The disadvantage is that if troops and firepower are concentrated to attack one of the counties, the Japanese and puppet troops in the other two counties will easily break through and escape.
Moreover, the combat time span is large, and it is likely that it will last until the Japanese reinforcements arrive.
The second combat plan was for the New Regiment to cause friction with the 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Sui Army, and then develop into a war between the two sides.
Giving the Japanese an opportunity to catch the cicada and the oriole behind, attract the Japanese to be fooled, and gather the main force of the Japanese to annihilate them in the wild.
But the Japanese may not be fooled, and Li Yunlong doesn't want to cooperate with Chu Yunfei. This guy is always thinking about his American equipment.
Li Yunlong has other helpers. Are Ding Wei's New Second Regiment and Kong Jie's Independent Regiment not more powerful than Chu Yunfei's 358th Regiment?
The third combat plan is to encircle the point and provide reinforcements.
Li Yunlong told Wang Dehou the shortcomings of dividing the siege and defeating them one by one, and proposed a plan to encircle the points and mobilize reinforcements.
The core of the plan is for the new regiment to concentrate its superior troops and firepower to storm Heyuan County.
Heyuan County is the headquarters of the 36th Division. Once Heyuan County is violently attacked, the Japs in Ping'an County and Anhua County will definitely try their best to reinforce.
This gave the Eighth Route Army the opportunity to annihilate the main Japanese forces in the other two counties in the wild.
Once the main force of the Japanese was wiped out in the wild, there were not many Japanese and puppet garrison troops in Pingan County and Anhua County, so these two counties would be easily accessible.
In the end, all we need to do is concentrate our troops and firepower to capture Heyuan County.
Zhao Gang, Xing Zhiguo and Wang Dehou all agreed with this combat plan.
Zhao Gang raised a question and said: "We also have to consider the Japanese reinforcements. The Japanese 41st Division and the 1st Cavalry Brigade in Taiyuan, the 37th Division in Yangquan, the 3rd Brigade in Datong, and the Japanese Army in Mongolia. The legion may be reinforced, and these factors must be taken into consideration, and corresponding emergency plans must be formulated."
Li Yunlong had already taken these issues into consideration and said: "We can apply for the headquarters to transfer troops from southeastern Shanxi to the north and make a posture to attack the 37th Division and Taiyuan."
"In this way, the Japanese will not dare to send out all their troops for reinforcements."
"According to intelligence, the Japanese 3rd Brigade has not yet been replenished after losing 3,000 people in Baozi Mountain. At most, it can only dispatch one regiment of troops."
"As for the troops stationed in Mongolia further north, as long as we move quickly enough, by the time the Japanese arrive, the battle will be over."
Zhao Gang said: "So, we must win this battle quickly!"
Li Yunlong nodded and said: "According to the information from the county seat, the Japanese are not only building thickened and reinforced bunkers and gun towers outside the county seat, they are also reinforcing the city walls and building barricades and other thickened fortifications inside the county seat. They are clearly trying to defend the city." Prepare for city and street fighting. In addition to a quick victory, this battle must be launched as soon as possible!"
Xing Zhiguo asked: "Commander, when are you going to launch a battle?"
Li Yunlong's tone was unyielding and fierce: "When the Japanese build more than 100 thickened bunkers and gun towers, that's when the battle will begin!"
(End of chapter)
