Xinzhou Basin.
The sun was blazing.
"Captain, do you want to take the horse meat back?"
The cavalry battalion commander Cao Jiang rode a military horse to Li Yunlong, got off his horse, saluted with a military salute, and then asked.
Li Yunlong's expression changed: "How many military horses were killed?"
Cao Jiang replied in a happy tone: "About 400 military horses were killed and injured, and there were about 300 more military horses that were captured by us."
Although the cavalry battalion suffered more than 100 casualties, the Japanese cavalry regiment suffered more than half of its casualties.
The strength of the Japanese cavalry regiment is more than twice that of the cavalry battalion.
This is mainly due to the 40 light and heavy machine guns in the jeep platoon.
Without the 40 light and heavy machine guns arranged by Li Yunlong, the cavalry battalion alone might not be able to defeat the 13th Japanese Cavalry Regiment.
Although the machine gunner on the jeep tried his best to shoot at the Japanese cavalry on horseback.
But after all, they were on a jeep, and the jeep was moving at high speed. Later, the Japanese cavalry pressed their bodies against the horse's back, making it harder to control the accuracy of the machine gun.
This resulted in more than 400 military horses being killed and injured, plus the horses of the New Regiment Cavalry Battalion that were shot and killed, a total of nearly 500 horses.
"What a good army horse." Deputy commander Xing Zhiguo sighed, "What a pity."
Li Yunlong did the math and estimated that dozens of horses were killed in the cavalry battalion this time.
However, about 300 of the little Japanese's army horses were captured. The number of captured army horses minus those that were killed was more than 200 more.
Now the strength of the cavalry battalion can be expanded to more than 800 cavalry, which can be regarded as a level to strengthen the cavalry regiment.
This battle also made Li Yunlong see the importance of cavalry.
In plain terrain, cavalry still has advantages, with strong mobility and assault capabilities, and fast reaction speed.
Without the restraint of the cavalry battalion and 20 jeeps, the Japanese cavalry would definitely go back and attack the infantry, and the situation would be very bad.
Even when surrounded by enemy troops, the cavalry's mobility can be used to break out.
War horses have a strong ability to attack. If a cavalry has two or three war horses, he can even run thousands of miles long distances and then launch a surprise attack.
In the Second World War, the Soviet Union, Britain, and Germany all had considerable cavalry.
Several Soviet marshals were cavalry generals, such as Marshal Zhukov, who had great military exploits.
Of course, if the cavalry is used improperly, it will be another story. For example, the Polish cavalry had a head-to-head confrontation with the German armored forces, or the Japanese cavalry had a head-to-head confrontation with the Soviet tanks in the Battle of Nomonkan.
At present, the new regiment is equipped with not many tanks, and after the counter-mopping operation, Li Yunlong still has to hand over a tank battalion.
Therefore, it is still necessary for the new regiment to develop cavalry.
"Take all the horse meat away!"
With a chuckle, Li Yunlong added: "When the horse meat is transported back to the base area, the whole group will be able to eat fresh horse meat."
"yes!"
Cao Jiang stepped forward to respond.
Immediately afterwards, according to Li Yunlong's order, the staff headquarters notified the motor battalion to come over to pull horse meat.
These shot and killed military horses were relatively scattered, and they needed to be driven over to be towed.
Fortunately, most of the cars from the car camp are here, and the transportation capacity is sufficient, so there will be no problem of not being able to take away the horse meat.
Although the taste of horse meat is not as good as the canned meat provided by Boss Chen, it is still meat and can supplement nutrition.
The nearly 500 military horses that were shot and killed totaled three to four hundred thousand kilograms of horse meat.
The battlefield at the Japanese 39th Regiment was quickly cleared by the First and Second Battalions.
It has to be said that the A-type divisions are much better equipped than the second-line divisions. They not only use Type 96 light machine guns, 20mm anti-tank guns, 37mm rapid-fire cannons, 70mm Type 92 infantry cannons, and even 75mm mountain cannons. All are equipped.
The firepower is powerful.
If the New Regiment hadn't been equipped with two tank battalions, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the New Regiment would have had to go through a lot of trouble to defeat the 39th Regiment.
And the casualties will be huge.
On the frontal battlefield, if the Chinese army wanted to annihilate Japanese troops like the 39th Regiment, it would have to pay at least three times the lives of Japanese soldiers.
】
But the new regiment had heavy artillery and medium tanks and defeated the 39th Regiment within half an hour.
Although the equipment of the Japs in the Class A Division is very good, the main force of the new regiment has long looked down upon the Japs' equipment, but these equipment can be used by the militia.
The militiamen are equipped with first-class equipment, and their combat effectiveness will not be much worse.
After training and accumulation of actual combat experience, these militiamen will become the main reservists of the new regiment in the future.
As for the Japanese 108 Artillery Regiment and the Japanese who were killed by aerial bombs, they basically had no intact weapons and ammunition, and even the mountain guns and howitzers were blown to pieces.
However, these broken mountain cannons and howitzers can also be taken back by car and repaired. The ones that cannot be repaired are made of good steel, and they can be melted down by the Shanxi Southeast Arsenal to re-produce cannons.
Before Li Yunlong could lead his troops back to the base area, a call back from the headquarters was sent.
In addition to commendations and instructions, the boss also said that after the anti-mopping operations are completed, he will be well rewarded...
After reading the telegram, Li Yunlong thought to himself, why did he feel like he was about to be congratulated and make a fortune?
After cleaning up all the battlefields, Li Yunlong led his troops to the base area in northwest Shanxi.
…
The next morning.
Beiping.
A Japanese transport plane slowly landed at Peiping Airport.
Lieutenant General Moritake Tanabe and Major General Tadamichi Kuribayashi stepped off the transport plane.
Then, under the protection of guards, the two people got into a bulletproof armored vehicle and headed to Iron Lion Alley.
Originally, Tanabe Moritake was going to fly back to the headquarters from Taiyuan yesterday, but Tanabe Moritake canceled it before leaving.
The reason is that he doesn't understand the process of the Xinzhou Campaign, and he can't explain it even if he returns to the headquarters.
Therefore, Tanabe Moritake waited for Major General Tadamichi Ribayashi to return to Taiyuan, and then took a transport plane to Peiping together.
After the armored train Miyano Michichi was riding on was attacked, the Japanese army stepped up protection for officers above major general.
Several armored vehicles stopped at the gate of No. 3 Tieshihutong in Beiping City. Tadashi Ribayashi and Moritake Tanabe stepped out of the armored vehicles and walked quickly into the headquarters with their swords in hand.
The defense here is particularly tight, with five steps, one post, three steps and one sentinel, and there are countless hidden sentinels.
Even if someone drives by nearby, they can't help but be on tenterhooks because you don't know how many pairs of eyes are staring at you upstairs and how many sniper rifles are aiming at you.
Tanabe Moritake was familiar with the family and walked into the office of Commander Okamura Neiji with Kuribayashi Tadamichi.
Arriving in front of Okamura Neji, Tanabe Moritake and Kuribayashi Tadōdō paused and said: "Your Excellency, General!"
Okamura Neji gave Tanabe Moritake and Kuribayashi Tadamichi a cold look.
Although the fishing plan was personally planned by Okamura Neiji, and he was planning to give the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army a severe blow before officially launching the raid, but the battle ended like this, and the Kuribayashi detachment returned in defeat. Tanabe Moritake and Kuribayashi Tadamichi Can't shirk responsibility.
I have to say that the fishing battle plan is very beautiful.
The good news is that the fish took the bait, but the bad news is that the fish not only bit the hook, but also almost ate the fisherman.
Okamura Neji's tone was cold: "Tanabe-kun, Kuribayashi-kun, don't you have anything to explain to me?"
Tanabe Moritake glanced at Kuribayashi Tadashi.
Kuribayashi Tadamichi quickly took the combat report under his arm and handed it to Okamura Neji with both hands: "Report to Commander, this is the combat report I wrote on the plane!"
Okamura Neji glanced at Kuribayashi Tadashi again, took the battle report and read it.
Although Tadamichi Kuribayashi had ordered the Communications Department to send the battle damage report to the front army headquarters, there were no specific combat details.
It only took more than an hour to fly from Taiyuan to Peiping, and the Xinzhou battle ended in one morning. It was not complicated, so Tadamichi Ribayashi wrote the battle report in more detail.
After reading the combat report, Okamura Neji looked at Kuribayashi Tadashi: "So Kuribayashi-kun, you still insist that the intelligence has been leaked?"
"Hi!"
Tadashi Kuribayashi lowered his head and spoke with an extremely certain tone: "Your Excellency, Commander, I firmly believe that the fishing plan has been leaked. There are definitely Eighth Route Army spies among the top brass of the North China Front or the First Army!"
At this time, even if the plan had not been leaked, Kuribayashi Tadamichi would have said this.
Otherwise, he would have to take the blame for the disastrous defeat of the Xinzhou Campaign. If he took the blame, it would be difficult for him to be promoted to lieutenant general, let alone general, unless he could make great contributions in the future.
After reading the battle plan, Okamura Neiji was almost certain that the real reason for the fiasco in the Shinju Battle was that the battle plan was leaked.
Who is the mole?
Okamura Neji's eyes narrowed behind his round glasses.
Tanabe Moritake asked: "Your Excellency, General, could it be Ohashi Changan who leaked the information?"
Kuribayashi Tadamichi's expression changed. He didn't know that Neji Okamura's cronies were collaborating with the enemy, but he couldn't help but feel happy in his heart.
As long as there is a scapegoat, although he cannot escape responsibility, it is fine as long as the main responsibility does not lie with him.
Of course, superficial work still needs to be done. You must take the responsibility for the defeat on yourself and ask for punishment. The more you do this, the lighter the punishment will be.
"It shouldn't be him!"
Okamura Neji looked thoughtful: "It is impossible for Ohashi Changan to come into contact with the fishing plan. The only people at the front army headquarters who know about this plan are me, you Tanabe-kun and Arisu-kun."
Tanabe Moritake's eyes flashed. The secret spy couldn't be the deputy chief of staff, Arisu Seizo, right?
He himself is definitely not a spy, and Commander Okamura Neiji is even less likely to be one, and Sue Seizan...
Arisu Seizo was a senior officer of the front army who knew both the fishing plan and the schedule of the Hayate armored train riding on Lieutenant General Miyano Michichi.
But it is just speculation. After all, Yumo Seizo is the deputy chief of staff of the front army. Without evidence, Tanabe Moritake dare not say nonsense.
Okamura Neiji suddenly looked at Tanabe Moritake, which made Tanabe Moritake tense up. General, you won't doubt me, right?
Tanabe Moritake hurriedly said: "General, in addition to the three of us, there are also Kuribayashi-kun and the five captains participating in this battle who know about the fishing plan."
When Tadashi Kuribayashi heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart. Why did you drag me in?
Okamura Neji fell into deep thought after hearing this.
The old devil with rich experience in espionage work has no clue now.
Seeing this, Tanabe Moritake asked: "Your Excellency, General, since the fishing plan has been leaked, the autumn raid plan for northwestern Shanxi may also have been leaked. Will we still launch a raid on the bandit areas in northwestern Shanxi according to the original plan?"
