This was a small oversight, intentional or unintentional, but it allowed Colonel Smith to immediately come up with the concept that the Ping An Cluster had eight artillery battalions. More than 100 artillery pieces were not what he was interested in. What he was interested in was that Gao Jianwu and the others could directly deploy them. Enough skilled artillerymen were produced to form the artillery force of this new expeditionary force.
In the eyes of Colonel Smith, this was a huge difference compared to the new recruits just recruited by the government.
Colonel Smith believes that by pulling out the team in front of him and equipping them with weapons, they can directly fight against the little devils and fight beautifully!
"Colonel Gao, I have to say that you did a very good job. You are indeed well-deserved for being able to drive the little devils out of most of Jin." Colonel Smith praised.
"But can you tell me now, how many troops like yours can be dispatched to Nanyang?"
"We are not in a hurry to talk about this issue, Colonel Smith. We haven't finished reading it yet. There will be something that will surprise you later." Gao Jianwu avoided talking about this topic.
He was not prepared to talk about such a thing before he completely conquered Colonel Smith with his strength. There would be no advantage in talking about price before the heat was up.
Next, the Independent Regiment directly demonstrated in front of Colonel Smith how to use the walkie-talkie equipped with the platoon to command the troops to coordinate attack and defense, and to find real-time fire support on the battlefield.
"Colonel Gao, you are actually equipped with a walkie-talkie!" Colonel Smith saw the mystery at a glance and couldn't help being shocked.
Colonel Smith was shocked again when he saw that the independent regiment of the Ping An Group used walkie-talkies that were almost identical to theirs!
"Yes, Colonel Smith, our researchers independently developed the walkie-talkie after seeing the principles of your country's walkie-talkies.
You see, because we lacked sufficient battery equipment, we had to develop a hand-operated generator to continuously power the walkie-talkie, using a person to continuously generate electricity so that it could work continuously.
Although it is somewhat inconvenient, it can solve the communication problem from command to platoon on the battlefield. "
Gao Jianwu explained half-truthfully.
Speaking of directly imitating other people's products, this involves a bit of infringement, but Colonel Smith understands.
In the current state of globalized war, no country does not work hard to continuously study the technology in the hands of friends and even enemies to enhance its war capabilities.
He knew very well that the cutting-edge communication technology of walkie-talkie communication would never be shared with these Orientals in China, so Gao Jianwu said that he developed it himself, and Colonel Smith also chose to believe it. After all, this technology could not fall from the sky.
However, Colonel Smith was still careless. Faced with the cheating, today he could only act as a shock tool.
The large-scale appearance of walkie-talkies in Gao Jianwu's team is not just a matter of equipment.
This made the well-informed Colonel Smith realize that the other party should also have a team of highly skilled electronic technology talents! They have developed some valuable military products.
This discovery not only surprised him, but also raised his interest to the extreme.
However, Gao Jianwu's arrangement was not just that.
Today he had to convince Colonel Smith completely.
So he was taken to a secret tank training base.
When Colonel Smith saw the two T-34s at the tank training base for the first time, he said, "What a bastard!" Colonel Smith blurted out his inner shock!
"Gao, you are already training tank drivers?! Tell me how many tank teams you have now that can go into battle?" Looking at the T-34 speeding past in front of his eyes, Colonel Smith confirmed that he had read it correctly. The training ground Above, two T-34 tanks avoid and observe before performing a skillful demonstration!
And turn the barrel to aim!
There is no doubt that Gao Jianwu has begun training tank drivers himself.
"Colonel Smith, this is still a highly confidential matter for us. I hope you will keep it in mind after reading it and keep it secret for us until one day you give the little devil a big surprise.
As you can see, here we started tank driver training using T-34 from the north. For this we got some help from our friends in the north, but not much.
Now there are only two training tanks, which greatly hinders our training speed, but even so, we still have 100 combat groups that can be easily trained and ready for combat.
If you give me 100 tanks, we can immediately form a tank regiment with super attack power!
You know what it means to have such a tank regiment in Nanyang, we can crush the little devils! Gao Jianwu said with pretense of regret.
In this demonstration, he only took out two T-34 tanks for display.
Colonel Smith was led to believe that this was just a reserve training exercise, not a combat unit.
Even so, Colonel Smith was shocked again. A regiment of tanks and armored soldiers had almost been trained, which convinced Colonel Smith that as soon as the equipment was in place, Gao Jianwu would be able to build a powerful armored attack team here.
In contrast, the Central Army had to spend a lot of time and effort to conduct a lot of training, because most of the soldiers they brought there were new recruits, and they were far behind in terms of technology and culture.
Not to mention armored forces and artillery, even basic infantry combat tactics require several months of training before they can be put into battle.
Comparing with Gao Jianwu, a force that has been tested in actual combat, the last doubt in Colonel Smith's mind disappeared.
Take 'em with you, be sure to take 'em with you! Colonel Smith was filled with this crazy idea!
...
But this is not the end!
Outside Lu'an City, General Gao Jian's forward command post was set up 2 kilometers outside Weiyuan Gate.
Colonel Smith, the observer representative of the Beautiful Country, followed Gao Jianwu, observing the guard situation at the west gate of Lu'an City, and quietly exchanged his views with Gao Jianwu. He was not at all proud of his identity.
In order to prove that his team is not just a show-off, Gao Jianwu put out the ultimate show - a real battle!
This time he brought four main infantry battalions, heavy artillery regiments and two artillery battalions to Lu'an, a large city in southeastern Shanxi. Under Colonel Smith's own eyes, Gao Jianwu skillfully demonstrated what infantry and artillery coordination tactics are!
At the main artillery position 8 kilometers away, Gao Jianwu commanded the 150mm howitzer and 105mm howitzer to accurately clear the light and dark bunkers of the Little Japanese city defense. Blast the little devil's outer position directly to open a road, and then blow down the city gate!
Next, the artillery battalion's 75mm mountain guns and field guns began to extend to clear the defending enemies on the city wall!
Like a precision-operated machine, Gao Jianwu used artillery to blast through almost all important defensive fire points and large obstacles of the Japs. Immediately afterwards, the infantry was dispatched, advancing to the front 1 kilometer under the cover of artillery fire, and establishing layers of new mortar positions. , call through the walkie-talkie of the advance troops to provide close-range artillery support!
Methodically flatten the little Japanese's defensive positions!
And in such a process, the casualties were minimal compared to other teams!
Colonel Smith's eyelids twitched when he saw it!
Because he suddenly discovered that if it was a pure infantry duel, he might not be able to defeat Gao Jianwu's army with the same amount of heavy firepower field troops!
This discovery made Colonel Smith a little shocked! These Easterners have almost reached a peak in the coordinated use of infantry and artillery!
Fortunately they don't have an air force or navy, and it doesn't look like they will for a long time.
Colonel Smith said thankfully.
If this is the case, then everything is still under control. After all, the current war has entered the era of the trinity of sea, land and air.
Only the army is lame no matter how strong it is, but it is just right to deal with the Japanese little devils!
Thinking of this, Colonel Smith had a new surprise that he couldn't suppress.
This inspection trip was completely unexpected. Colonel Smith, who originally had little hope for the Eighth Route Army, now became the most determined person to promote cooperation.
He submitted a top-secret on-the-spot report, showing his experiences with pictures and texts. Not only did General Qiao, Chief of Staff of the Nanyang Theater of the United States, attach great importance to this report, but with his promotion, it even made the Joint Chiefs of Staff It was unanimously agreed to select elites from the Eighth Route Army to go to Nanyang to carry out the combat mission of recovering Nanyang!
For this reason, Colonel Smith was assigned to carry out the specific negotiation work, and General Qiao vigorously promoted this matter and was responsible for clearing all obstacles at the top. Even so, the negotiations were also very difficult. The master of micro-management, the principal, insisted on unified command, unified organization and unified treatment. The three unified forces actually want to control the command and future control of the newly formed team!
This is a condition that is absolutely unacceptable to the Eighth Route Army, and the negotiations reached a deadlock for a time. However, Gao Jianwu is convinced that the Beautiful Congress will give priority to the battlefield, and will definitely exert pressure to force the principal to make concessions at the critical moment!
Therefore, the negotiating team on the Eighth Road side is not in a hurry at all. After Gao Jianwu went to persuade Chu Yunfei, Chu Yunfei went all out to fight for it in the second theater. Since Gao Jianwu promised to keep the 358th regiment number unchanged, Commander Yan could not find a reasonable reason to refuse. At the same time, he also thought that Chu Yunfei had just He won a county seat because of his long face, so Chief Yan pinched his nose and recognized it.
At the same time, he also began to use his influence to promote the expedition. When Gao Jianwu showed Colonel Smith that he had indeed mobilized 30,000 people to prepare for the expedition, General Qiao of the beautiful country became unusually tough. Using the ultimate move to cut off military aid, the principal had to slap the table and grit his teeth in recognition.
The subsequent negotiations progressed very quickly. Faced with the weapons and equipment proposed by Gao Jianwu, Colonel Smith agreed without hesitation. For them, what they lack is not weapons and ammunition, but people who can pick up these weapons and ammunition to win the war. , the equipment for a mere 30,000 people is still provided in the South Asian subcontinent. This beautiful country really does not lack this.
The four parties reached an agreement to send troops.
General Gao Jian serves as the commander-in-chief of this expeditionary force attack group.
After learning that the Japs had a new plan to attack South Asia, the Allied Command in South Asia was somewhat panicked. In order to allow the Gao Jianwu Expeditionary Force attack group to quickly reach the battlefield, General Qiao decided to launch a large-scale airlift plan to reach the rear through the hump route. The C-47 transport plane flew directly to Jinyang after unloading, and airlifted the expeditionary force attack group assembled in Jinyang directly to Imphal on the South Asian front line!
...
