Beiping.
North China Front Army Headquarters.
"Hi!"
"Your Excellency, General."
"I brought the battle plan prepared by the First Army Staff Department on the elimination of Li Yunlong and the Eighth Route Army in Northwestern Shanxi!"
While speaking, Yoshio Iwamatsu handed over a folder in his hand.
Okamura Neiji did not answer, but asked: "Have you brought the documents about the defeat and losses of the 36th Division?"
"I've brought it. General, please take a look."
Iwamatsu Yoshio quickly handed another folder to Okamura Neji.
Okamura Neji picked up the folder and opened it to read.
Soon, Okamura Neji's face gradually turned ugly. The situation of the 36th Division was much worse than he expected.
The division headquarters of the 36th Division was almost completely wiped out. The 224th Regiment, the 36th Engineer Regiment and the 36th Mountain Artillery Regiment were completely wiped out. The 36th Division's battle losses were as high as 90%.
The only good thing is that the flags of the 222nd and 223rd Regiments were brought back.
Otherwise, the 36th Division would have been completely wiped out.
However, this is not much different from being completely wiped out. The Japanese soldiers are no longer enough to be allocated, and it will be impossible to rebuild the 36th Division in a short time.
But what makes Neji Okamura angry is that the folder contains a very detailed record of the defeat of the 36th Division. It is basically the contents of the telegram sent by the 36th Division Headquarters to the First Army.
Okamura Neji said calmly: "Iwamatsu-kun, you disappoint me."
Yoshio Iwamatsu: "Hi!"
Okamura Neiji said: "In this report, there is not even a detailed battle process between the 36th Division and the Eighth Route Army. For example, how did the Eighth Route Army break through so many thickened reinforced concrete bunkers and gun towers in a short period of time? After advancing to Heyuan County, if you don't understand these things, you won't even know how you were defeated by your opponent's sword."
Yoshio Iwamatsu hurriedly lowered his head and said: "Your Excellency, General, the main reason why the Eighth Route Army broke through the thickened bunkers and gun towers so quickly and advanced to Heyuan County is because Lieutenant General Jingguan Ren cut corners and reduced the thickness of the bunkers and gun towers originally planned. 0.5 to 1 meter, and the new regiment was equipped with large-caliber heavy artillery, which led to the breach of the bunkers and gun towers."
Hearing this, Okamura Neji glanced at Yoshio Iwamatsu coldly.
He turned around, picked up a stack of photos, and threw it in front of Iwasatsu Yoshio: "Iwasatsu-kun, take a look for yourself."
"this……"
Iwamatsu Yoshio picked up these photos and looked at them. Cold sweat flowed from his back into his buttocks.
Although these photos are all black and white and taken from a high altitude, it can still be distinguished that the photos are thickened bunkers and gun towers built by the 36th Division in northwest Shanxi.
Traces of the battle can be seen from the photos, which means that these photos were taken by reconnaissance aircraft observers from medium and low altitudes after the battle.
Most of the bunkers and gun towers were structurally intact, which meant that the Eighth Route Army's large-caliber heavy artillery did not destroy these bunkers and gun towers.
How did the Eighth Route Army bypass these bunkers and artillery towers and arrive at the gate of Heyuan County?
This made Yoshio Iwamatsu think deeply and fearfully.
Iwamatsu Yoshio asked tentatively: "Could it be that...the Eighth Route Army's large-caliber heavy artillery shells killed all the Imperial Army soldiers in the bunkers and gun towers?"
Neji Okamura said with a gloomy face: "I have ordered people to test it. The shells of the 150mm howitzer can injure people in 3-meter-thick bunkers and gun towers, but they will never kill them!"
"Then what's going on?"
Yoshio Iwamatsu stared at the photos and frowned. These were bunkers and gun towers that the Japanese army spent a lot of steel and cement to build.
There were a lot of repairs around Taiyuan. If he didn't figure out how the Eighth Route Army did it, Iwamatsu Yoshio wouldn't be able to sleep well.
"What's going on?" Okamura Neji snorted coldly, "I still want to ask Iwamatsu-kun?"
Although the Japanese reconnaissance plane observers took photos from the air, the charred corpses of the Japanese were all cleared away.
So Okamura Neji didn't know that the Japanese in the bunkers and gun towers were burned into roasted pigs by flame guns.
Neji Okamura asked coldly: "After the Battle of Northwest Shanxi, didn't Mr. Iwamatsu send spies to Northwest Shanxi to conduct on-the-spot reconnaissance of the battlefield?"
"I'm sorry, General!" Yoshio Iwamatsu said with a serious look on his face, "When I return to Taiyuan, I will immediately send special forces to northwest Shanxi to find out this matter."
"Special Forces?" Neji Okamura's expression changed and he asked, "Is it the special agent team in the hands of General Shinozuka?"
Iwamatsu Yoshio said: "Yes, the captain is Yamamoto Kazuki Daizuo. Does the general know about this elite team of less than a hundred people?"
"General Shinozuka once promoted his special agent team to me before his death." Okamura Neiji nodded, "He also said that Yamamoto Kazuki was a very good imperial soldier."
Yoshio Iwamatsu said: "Yes, the special agent team and the advance team led by Yamamoto Daizuo performed well in the Central Plains battle. They took two shots in total, and beheaded them both times successfully."
At that moment, Yoshio Iwamatsu had sent the Yamamoto Special Forces to southeastern Shanxi, and reported to Neji Okamura about fishing to snatch an anti-tank loudspeaker weapon from the Eighth Route Army.
After finishing speaking, he explained for himself that the reason why he did not send special forces to conduct battlefield reconnaissance in northwestern Shanxi was because he sent the special forces to southeastern Shanxi.
Okamura Neji's expression softened slightly, Iwamatsu Yoshio finally did something serious.
Okamura Neiji asked: "Iwamatsu-kun, you also did intelligence work on China in your early years. This time the Northwestern Shanxi Eighth Route Army attacked the 36th Division, didn't you notice it at all in advance?"
In fact, Okamura Neiji also did espionage work in his early years, and he did it with great success and was quite successful.
Iwamatsu Yoshio said: "I was aware of it, but the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi and the Central Army south of the Yellow River also made big moves, which caused the staff to make a wrong judgment..."
However, Okamura Neiji did not want to listen to his explanation and said: "We must do a good job in intelligence work, especially the intelligence work of the Eighth Route Army in the Northwestern Shanxi Province."
The Importance of Intelligence.
For a war, that is crucial. If you can know the enemy's direction of action in advance, you can reduce your own casualties, and you can prepare relevant resistance strategies in advance.
Iwamatsu Yoshio obviously also understood this truth, and he hurriedly lowered his head and said: "Hey, after returning to Taiyuan, I will order the intelligence department to strengthen infiltration into northwest Shanxi."
Okamura Neiji added: "In addition, according to the reconnaissance plane report, the Eighth Route Army organized people to build roads in northwestern Shanxi. They obviously want to connect the entire northwestern Shanxi. There is also the most important issue, the new regiment Under the blockade of the 36th Division, where did so many foreign weapons and ammunition come from?"
Iwamatsu Yoshio said: "About this, the First Army has been investigating, but so far, no clues have been found. Even the base camp sent an investigation team to the First Army to investigate, but still found nothing."
But Okamura Neiji shook his head and said: "I suspect that the Eighth Route Army received assistance through airdrops, and even built an airport in northwestern Shanxi."
"airdrop?"
"Is there an airport built in northwestern Shanxi?"
Yoshio Iwamatsu was surprised. He had never thought about this. After all, the airspace in North China belonged to the Japanese aviation, and it was difficult for enemy aircraft to pass through silently.
However, what Neji Okamura said is very possible, otherwise there is no way to explain that weapons can be transported in under a blockade.
"That's right." Neji Okamura said, "The Eighth Route Army's air defense firepower in northwestern Shanxi is very strong, and reconnaissance planes are not convenient for low-altitude reconnaissance. Iwamatsu-kun, after you return, you must send intelligence personnel to penetrate into northwestern Shanxi, find the Eighth Route Army's airport, and then send Fighters and bombers went to blow up the Eighth Route Army's airport."
"Hi!" Yoshio Iwamatsu responded with his head lowered.
Okamura Neiji then said: "Iwamatsu-kun, show me your First Army's mopping up plan."
"General, please take a look." Yoshio Iwamatsu then handed over the battle plan drawn up by the First Army Staff Headquarters against the Eighth Route Army in Northwestern Shanxi to Okamura Neiji.
Okamura Neiji picked up the battle plan and looked through it.
Yoshio Iwamatsu stared at Okamura Neji carefully.
This battle plan was mainly formulated through consultation between Masao Hanatani and Masao Miyazaki.
There is nothing surprising in the content. The level of Hanatani Masaru and Miyazaki Masao is just that, and the combat plan they made is even worse than the previous chief of staff of the First Army, Kusuyama Hideyoshi.
This battle plan was exactly what Li Yunlong thought. The Japanese army assembled more than two divisions from the east, north, and south directions to carry out sweeps, separate attacks, and iron wall encirclement.
Then planes were dispatched to blow up the Yellow River ferry. If the Eighth Route Army did not surrender, the Eighth Route Army and the Chinese people would be driven out of the Yellow River.
In this battle plan, if Japan wants to completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army in northwest Shanxi, it must prepare at least 7 divisions and 1 cavalry brigade.
The 6 divisions were divided into 2 divisions and swept from three directions respectively. The remaining 1 infantry division and 1 cavalry brigade served as reserves.
After reading the battle plan, Okamura Neji frowned slightly: "Iwamatsu-kun, just to sweep away the Eighth Route Army in northwest Shanxi, we need 7 infantry divisions and 1 cavalry brigade to defend against the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi and the Yellow River. The Central Army in the south also needs at least 6 divisions. Do you think the imperial army can provide so many troops and supplies now?"
In central China, the Japanese Eleventh Army, led by Anan Weiji, was preparing to attack Changsha for the second time, and it also needed to mobilize troops and material supplies.
There are not many divisions and supplies left for the North China Front.
Iwamatsu Yoshio hesitated: "This..."
Okamura Neiji said: "The base camp has decided to transfer one A division and two B divisions from the Kwantung Army to the pass to eliminate Li Yunlong and the Eighth Route Army in northwest Shanxi."
The Guante exercise plan has been terminated. Since the Soviet Far East troops have moved very little westward, the Japanese base camp has given up the plan to attack Siberia.
The Japanese base camp focused on the south and stepped up its southward policy.
"The combat plan to eliminate Li Yunlong and the Eighth Route Army in Northwestern Shanxi was personally designed by me."
"It just so happened that I recently developed a new tactic specifically designed to deal with the Eighth Route Base Area, the iron rolling sweep."
"This time, I will personally direct the raid on the bandit areas in northwestern Shanxi!"
Okamura Neji's eyes narrowed behind his round glasses, filled with murderous intent.
