Shanxi
Taiyuan.
Headquarters of the First Army of the North China Front.
Kazuki Yamamoto walked into Yoshio Iwamatsu's office with a saber in hand.
Behind Yamamoto was communications soldier Goro Oga, who carried a bazooka rocket launcher on his shoulders and a rectangular ammunition box under his arm.
"General, Yamamoto lived up to his mission and led the special forces to snatch the big horn anti-tank weapon from the Eighth Route Army."
In front of the rectangular table, Yamamoto Kazuki lowered his head first, then stood up straight, his voice not rising at all.
Iwamatsu Yoshio was writing a letter to Yan Xishan again. He raised his head when he heard Yamamoto Kazuki's voice, and then he turned his attention to Ogagoro who was behind Yamamoto Kazuki.
To be precise, what caught Yoshio Iwamatsu's attention was the bazooka rocket launcher carried by Goro Oga.
Yoshio Iwamatsu asked: "Is this the big-horn anti-tank weapon?"
"Yes, General!"
Yamamoto Kazuki waved his hand, and Oga Goro stepped forward and placed the bazooka rocket launcher on the long table.
Then he placed the rectangular ammunition box next to the rocket launcher on the table and opened it, revealing a rocket in the ammunition box.
Yoshio Iwamatsu could tell that this ammunition box should be able to hold 3 rockets, but 2 of them had been consumed.
"Thank you for your hard work, Yamamoto-kun."
After complimenting him, Iwamatsu Yoshio approached the rocket launcher to observe, then picked up the rocket launcher and looked at it.
Yoshio Iwamatsu sounded suspicious: "Can this thing penetrate the tanks and reinforced concrete bunkers of the Imperial Army?"
The Type 94 37mm rapid-fire gun currently equipped by the Japanese army is an anti-tank gun that can penetrate 40mm thick steel plates at a distance of 500 meters.
But the Type 94 37mm rapid-fire gun weighs more than 600 kilograms.
Yoshio Iwamatsu picked up the rocket launcher in front of him and weighed it with his hands. It only weighed more than 10 kilograms and could be operated by one or two people.
"Yes, General!" Yamamoto Kazuki said, "I saw with my own eyes that an Eighth Route Army soldier holding this weapon penetrated the reinforced concrete turret of the Imperial Army. No one in the Imperial Army inside was spared. Its power is equivalent to that of a 105mm howitzer. It’s easy to operate and only requires two people to operate it.”
This time Yamamoto Kazuki led a special agent team on a long-distance raid to catch the Eighth Route Army's fish, but it did not go well.
Although the fishing was successful and the bazooka rocket launcher was grabbed, it happened just in time for the Eighth Route Army to launch a major attack.
On the way back to Taiyuan, Yamamoto led the special agent team to encounter firefights with the main force of the Eighth Route Army many times. Even though the special agent team had strong combat effectiveness, it could not withstand the large number of the Eighth Route Army. Yamamoto's special agent team was almost surrounded.
This time we went fishing in southeastern Shanxi, and the special team lost eight more members.
Is it so powerful?
Yoshio Iwamatsu's eyes flashed sharply. It seemed that some time ago, the reinforced concrete bunkers and gun towers in northwest Shanxi were destroyed by this weapon.
It has devastating damage to tanks and can destroy reinforced concrete bunkers and turrets. It is as powerful as a 105mm howitzer.
More importantly, it is easy to operate and carry, and can be operated by only two people. The old Japanese who have experienced battles can immediately see the value of this anti-tank.
"Yoshi!" Yoshio Iwamatsu said, "Yamamoto-kun, you have made great contributions to the imperial army this time. I will pay tribute to General Okamura. I will arrange for these weapons and shells to be sent to the Ordnance Department of the base camp as soon as possible. , experts in the Ordnance Department’s firearms production will dismantle and imitate it.”
"Thank you, General!"
Yamamoto Kazuki lowered his head first, and then asked: "How long will it take to successfully imitate it and put it into use on the battlefield?"
Yamamoto Kazuki, who participated in the Battle of Nomonkan, still has lingering fears about the Soviet army's steel torrent.
An important reason why the Kwantung Army did not dare to attack the Soviet Union was because it was afraid of the Soviet army's torrent of steel.
If the Japanese army had hundreds or even thousands of this anti-tank weapon during the Battle of Nomenkan, the outcome of the battle might have been very different.
"It's hard to say," Iwamatsu Yoshio said, "It can take as little as half a year, as long as one or two years. This weapon looks very simple, and it shouldn't be difficult to imitate it."
"I hope officials from the Ordnance Department can imitate this new weapon as soon as possible." Kazuki Yamamoto said: "This time on the mission to southeastern Shanxi, the special team exchanged fire with the main force of the Eighth Route Army several times, and I made major discoveries."
"Oh?" Yoshio Iwamatsu's expression changed and he asked, "What kind of important discovery has Yamamoto-kun made?"
Yamamoto Kazuki said: "A year and a half ago, the Eighth Route Army's firepower was very sparse, lacked training, and its tactical command was very primitive. Except for its commendable fighting will, such an army was vulnerable. But this time the special agent team and the main force of the Eighth Route Army were numerous. After going through the firefight, I found that the Eighth Route Army's equipment was far better than before, its firepower was more ferocious, its ammunition was sufficient, and its tactics were skillful."
"Some elite troops are equipped with automatic firepower such as submachine guns."
"Even the main battalion and company-level troops of the Eighth Route Army are equipped with heavy weapons such as mortars and infantry artillery."
"The Eighth Route Army is changing in all aspects, including its strength and weapons and equipment, and its combat effectiveness has increased exponentially."
"But the equipment of the imperial army is still the same as before. Type 38 rifles, Type 92 heavy machine guns, Taisho 11-year light machine guns, grenade launchers, and even the newly produced Hundred Type submachine guns are reluctant to equip them in large quantities."
"With all due respect, General, the Eighth Route Army has been changing and its combat effectiveness has been improving."
"But the First Army and even the North China Front have been standing still. There are even some divisions and brigades whose combat effectiveness has dropped significantly compared to the Imperial Army in 1937."
"If this continues, I will be pessimistic about the imperial army's security war in North China."
Hearing this, Yoshio Iwamatsu paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, his eyes showing deep thought.
In the past, the Eighth Route Army had poor equipment, used inferior weapons, and was extremely short of ammunition. Capturing a piece of 38 pieces of Japanese equipment was probably considered first-class equipment.
The Eighth Route Army simply did not dare to fight the Japanese army head-on. In the case of a front-on battle, the battle loss ratio between the Japanese army and the Eighth Route Army was about 1:3.
However, the Eighth Route Army rarely fought head-on with the Japanese army. Most of them used sneak attacks and ambush tactics. The Japanese army suffered greater losses than the Eighth Route Army.
But since the Eighth Route Army's equipment improved, the Japanese army's losses were much greater than those of the Eighth Route Army.
Even the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army, such as the battle at Baozishan, could achieve an astonishing battle loss ratio of 1:8 with the Japanese army.
This is even more exaggerated than the 1:5 battle loss ratio between the Japanese army and the Chinese army on the frontal battlefield.
The combat staff of the First Army have estimated that today's new regiment of the Eighth Route Army should be the most combat-effective unit in the entire battle sequence of the Chinese army.
Its combat strength is close to that of the Japanese Army's Class A Division.
The quality of the individual soldiers of the New Regiment is weaker than that of the soldiers of the Japanese Army's Type A Division, but the individual equipment of the New Regiment can make up for the shortcomings.
Iwamatsu Yoshio nodded: "Yamamoto-kun is right. Such troops are indeed terrifying. We must not allow them to continue to develop. We must completely eliminate them and eliminate them at any cost. The Army Headquarters Staff Headquarters has issued a Order to mobilize three divisions from Manchuria to deal with Li Yunlong and the New Regiment, one of which is a Category A division."
"First deal with Li Yunlong and the New Regiment in northwestern Shanxi, and then deal with the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi!"
"This battle will be personally commanded by General Okamura!"
"Yo Xi!" Yamamoto Kazuki's eyes flashed sharply, "With General Okamura commanding the Class A division to attack, Li Yunlong will not survive long."
"However, before that, there is something that needs your special team to investigate."
Taking a deep breath and suppressing his fear of Li Yunlong and Shinichi, Yoshio Iwamatsu said:
"The imperial army built more than a hundred thickened bunkers and gun towers around the bandit areas of the New Regiment in northwest Shanxi. However, in this battle, the New Regiment failed to destroy these thickened bunkers and gun towers in a short period of time. After capturing these fortifications and approaching the gates of Heyuan County, you send a combat team to penetrate into northwest Shanxi for on-the-spot investigation and find out the matter as soon as possible!"
"Hi!"
Yamamoto Kazuki lowered his head: "I will send the first combat team to northwest Shanxi to investigate."
…
Commander Li Da has been very busy these days. He has been conducting on-the-spot reconnaissance of the terrain in northwest Shanxi and has begun to arrange the locations of tunnels and bunkers.
The soldiers from the main battalions and divisions were not idle either.
Each battalion organized civilians to dig tunnels and build thickened bunkers at each intersection entering the base area according to the situation.
The bunkers built by the New Regiment were different from the Japanese bunkers and gun towers except for the shooting holes.
The Japanese bunkers and gun towers were often exposed on both sides of the highway, while the new group of bunkers were camouflaged, with tunnels dug into them, connected to the tunnels in the mountain.
Once the battle goes wrong, the soldiers in the bunker can retreat along the tunnel.
Moreover, there are usually two to three bunkers guarding the horns, forming side fire and cross fire with the tunnels.
Regardless of whether it is a major road or a small road into the base area, Li Yunlong is ready to build tunnels and bunkers to block the attack at all levels, first consuming a wave of Japs' vitality.
However, Li Yunlong also knew very well that no matter how powerful the tactics and fortifications were, there were ways to break them, and these fortifications might not be able to stop the enemy's advance.
It is a high probability that the Japanese invade the base area. At that time, people will definitely be organized to go into the mountains and clear the country.
See if there is a chance to lure the enemy deeper and annihilate another division.
If there is no chance, send some troops to break out to the periphery and cut off the enemy's food route. The enemy will not be able to hold on for long before retreating.
What Li Yunlong is really worried about is how the people will survive if the Japanese and puppet troops take away all the food in northwest Shanxi.
It's time for the Sword Squadron to expand.
Select the best warriors from more than 20,000 people in the regiment to join the Sword Squadron for training.
In addition, the main infantry battalion of the new regiment must also be expanded as soon as possible. The number of troops in each division of the new regiment is now about 2,200.
Each main infantry battalion only has more than 1,000 people and needs to be expanded to about 2,000 people.
Setting up more than 2,000 people in each district is also an experiment by Li Yunlong. Although the organization is relatively bloated, there is no way around it.
He only had one regiment, but now the new regiment has more than 20,000 regular members alone.
If there are 400 people in a battalion, then he must have at least 50 battalion commanders, 50 deputy battalion commanders and 50 instructors to allocate so many people.
But in that case, the army's organization will become more bloated, not to mention that Li Yunlong does not have so many battalion commanders, deputy battalion commanders and instructors.
Based on the performance of each divisional unit in this battle, Li Yunlong felt that 10 companies per battalion was suitable for the current structure of the new regiment, including 8 infantry companies and 2 artillery companies, with each battalion having about 2,000 troops.
The New Regiment is a special combat unit, and its troop allocation obviously cannot follow the conventional organization.
When it came time to command operations, Li Yunlong could just directly command these battalions as regiments.
Li Yunlong was inspecting the terrain somewhere when he received the news from the regiment headquarters that Boss Chen had arrived. He looked overjoyed and hurried to the regiment headquarters in a jeep.
(End of chapter)
