The news that Japan decided to increase its troops to North Korea had already been informed by the end of November that Japan did not deliberately cover up the news. After all, in the case of unfavorable situation on the battlefield, some remarks that were conducive to combat and intimidating the enemy could more or less turn some of the situation around. At least it could add some morale to Shinyishu and Huiyama.

To this end, Cai E specially convened a meeting of chiefs of staff to analyze the situation of increasing troops in Japan and the adjustment of battlefield tactics.

It is expected that Japan's increase in troops from North Korea will be completed within two months, which is within the scope of large-scale emergency mobilization. The three divisions' forces have been transferred from Japan within two months. It has to be said that the project volume is very huge.

Although some people questioned this possibility at the meeting of Chiefs of Staff, no matter what, China's current battlefield advantages must not be lost. Not only that, we must take advantage of this unstoppable momentum to push the front line to southern North Korea. On the one hand, it is to comply with the pre-war strategy of rapid combat, and on the other hand, it is to give Germany a hope and strive to obtain more German economic support.

Currently, the troops that China is pressing ahead of the second Japanese defense line include the 33rd Division, the 35th Division and the 4th Division of the National Defense Forces. With a slight adjustment, these three units can launch an assault on the second defense line within one week through the already occupied Jiangjie Railway. In fact, the railways in Jiangjie can only connect to Pingcheng and Hamxing. Pingcheng is the outer position of the Japanese second defense line, and Hamxing is the stronghold in the easternmost part of the second defense line. Therefore, under the premise of using railway assault operations, the Chinese team is likely to be unable to launch an operation from the Mixshan Peak area.

In other words, the Fourth Division of the National Defense Forces, which was pressing at the front of the Mixed Mountain Peak, must retreat.

Chief of Staff Zhang Zongguang said: "The current situation of the Fourth Division of the National Defense Forces is, from a strategic perspective, they are indeed closest to the Japanese front line, and it also brings great deterrence to the Japanese second line of defense. However, the characteristic of the Japanese second line of defense is to use the rugged terrain of the Mie Mountain Peak and the Cut down area of ​​the Gaima Plateau to the Changbai Mountains to master the advantages of being condescending, firming the walls and struggling, and waiting for work. It can be said that the battlefield in the Mie Mountain Peak area is equivalent to multiple strongholds that are easy to defend and difficult to attack like Xiaohui Mountain."

Cai E looked at the large map hanging on the rostrum in thought. Several adjutants were adding various signs to the map according to geographical reports. The second line of defense of the Japanese army was indeed not a vegetarian. It formed a Great Wall-like stronghold in the continuous mountainous areas, occupying all the inherently favorable terrain, which really made people feel a headache.

Xu Yongchang said: "The latest information shows that the Japanese army currently has only one 10th Division stationed on the second line of defense, and the 10th Division's strength is still scattered near Pyongyang and Shariyuan. In other words, the Japanese army on the second line of defense is less than one division, and even less than half of it. Therefore, we cannot say there is no chance."

Zhang Zongguang nodded slightly and said, "It's true. But then again, there are three divisions in Seoul. Although these three divisions are generally disabled divisions, they have at least 20,000 or 30,000 troops. It is obvious that the Japanese army cannot give up the second line of defense just being repaired. In addition, they have obtained instructions to increase troops from North Korea and will do their best to defend the second line of defense. At that time, it will be difficult to fight." In addition, another staff officer said, "We can quickly attack Miaoxiangshan and Songshanli before the Japanese army's troops are increased from the rear. As long as these two strongholds are broken, the second line of defense of the Japanese army will inevitably collapse. Not only that, once we successfully open Miaoxiangshan and Songshanli, it will only take three or five days to attack Pyongyang, greatly reducing the distance of the front line."

Another staff officer of the Army Command said: "I think it is feasible. The Japanese 10th Division has very limited troops pressing on the second line of defense. In comparison, Ham-xing's geographical location is relatively remote from the overall structure of the second line of defense. The Ham-xing's railway directly connects the rear. Further inference is that the Japanese army will focus on Ham-xing for the time being. Therefore, the tenth national teams of Miaoxiang Mountain and Songshan will be even weaker."

Zhang Zongguang waited for the staff officers to finish his speech, and then he spoke again: "Your analysis is good, but the premise of your analysis is that our troops can successfully break through the two strongholds in Miaoxiang Mountain or Songshanli in a short period of time. However, what if the situation cannot go smoothly? We have a limited understanding of the second line of defense of the Japanese army and are not very clear about the operation of the Japanese army's rear. Once we fail in the battle, the Japanese army's subsequent forces will arrive in time. At that time, the front-line troops will not only find it difficult to continue to break through the defense line, but may even be dragged there."

Since we are going to launch a fierce attack to tear the enemy's defense line, the front-line troops must be closely attached to the frontline of the Japanese defense line. If the Japanese army has more and more troops, it will not be said that they can retreat if they can retreat. The Japanese army is condescending, and can attack and retreat or defend. Once they are bitten by the Japanese army when retreating, it will suffer great losses for no reason.

Not only that, by that time, the tactics of the entire combat will be invalidated, completely delaying the best attack time. If not properly done, it will really make the Japanese army defend the defense line and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

Xu Yongchang carefully analyzed Zhang Zongguang's words. He nodded thoughtfully and said, "Zhang Shenzu's words are not unreasonable, but if we do not take this risk to attack, should we let the troops deviate to the west and bypass the second line of defense?"

Zhang Zongguang shook his head and said, "It is not advisable. The detour is too long and the journey is long. Moreover, even the westernmost places have Japanese positions to deploy defenses. Once the Japanese army detects our movements, they are likely to launch a surprise attack and directly attack our rear to rescue the two divisions on the battlefields of Shinyizhou and Huishan."

Someone asked, "Then how should we make a decision?"

Zhang Zongguang stood up, walked to the front of the big map of the rostrum, picked up the command whip and pointed at the position of Ham Hing, and said loudly: "Since we have mastered the railway hub of the Jiangjie, the railway tracks between the Jiangjie and Ham Hing can play a major role. We can modify a train, install train cannons and armor, and then send a engineering team to follow the train, repair and lay the railway tracks along the way, and use train cannons to bomb directly into Ham Hing."

Everyone couldn't help but feel a little surprised. Although train cannons are not a rare thing now, Chinese arsenals had already mastered the information on such large weapons when they introduced a large amount of foreign cannon technology two years ago. Germany, as an ally, was very active in the development and use of such weapons. China once tried to replace naval cannons with cheap train cannons, but of course it was not possible in the end.

As early as the Civil War, the Guangdong Arsenal had already produced an armed train. The original plan was to use the transportation lines of the North-South Railway to let the train cannons exert its power. However, the North-South Railway had just been connected, and the armed train had not yet been put into actual combat use, and the Beiyang government immediately declared collapse.

Apart from being the escort mission of the Presidential Palace special train, the armed train has no effect now.

This time, Zhang Zongguang's sudden proposal to use an armed train assault was really refreshing. Taking down the Jiangjie has a railway, transporting materials from the domestic market to the North Korean front has become convenient and fast, not to mention letting a train come in!

Xu Yongchang said in admiration: "This is indeed a solution."

Zhang Zongguang continued: "Once we conquered Ham-xing, we will occupy a starting point of the second line of defense of the Japanese army. At that time, no matter whether we cross the second line of defense from Ham-xing to clear obstacles or continue to move south directly through the railway, there will be no problem."

Everyone immediately started to whisper and speculate on various possibilities and battlefield risks.

Someone asked, "Is there enough time? I remember that our armed train can be in Nanjing. If you go north, you must detour the Beijing-Han Line. It will take a long time to get here."

Zhang Zongguang shook his hand and said, "Our armed train is already in Beijing. It was transported by airships in September. At that time, he was planning to remove the 330 mm caliber main gun and use it alone. However, he could not find a suitable base, so it was put on hold in Beijing."

Xu Yongchang said: "There is such a thing? That's really God helping me."

At this time, Cai E, who had been listening to the opinions of the staff officers, stood up and said, "Just follow this method, but our primary campaign mission is not to destroy the second line of defense of the Japanese army."

Cai E's second half of the sentence surprised the audience again. If it weren't for destroying the second line of defense of the Japanese army, what would it take to do to attack Xianxing with train cannons? It would be better to confront him in front of the second line of defense of the Japanese army. Everyone suddenly seemed puzzled.

Cai E walked to the rostrum slowly, but did not look at the map, and instead faced everyone present, saying: "I hope you don't forget that even if we have reached the strategic task of the outstanding forces to fight, there are still two divisions of Japanese troops in Shinyizhou and Huishan in Shinyizhou and Huishan, who are fighting to the death. As long as we cannot eradicate Shinyizhou for one day, the Japanese troops in Huishan will always be dragged down. Therefore, the purpose of this attack on Hamhung is to hold back the main resources of the Japanese army and force the defenders of Shinyizhou and Huishan into a more difficult situation. After that, the 33rd and 35th Division each dispatched some troops to attack Shinyizhou from the rear. They must conquer Shinyizhou within fifteen days and wipe out the 7th Division."

Of course everyone understood what Cai E meant, but then they had another question.

If the 33rd and 35th Divisions cannot cooperate with the Fourth Division of the National Defense Forces and concentrate their superior forces to attack Ham-xing, can the Fourth Division of the National Defense Forces successfully break through Ham-xing?

Zhang Zongguang immediately raised this question and said, "Marson, Shinyiju and Huishan are actually already in the jar, and it will be a matter of time before they can take down these two places. The command post of the North Line even made a promise that Huishan would be broken within a month. Now we should focus on the front of the place, concentrate our troops, work hard, and attack directly to Pyongyang."

Cai E said solemnly: "If we could mobilize all the four divisions pressing in Xinyizhou and Huishan to the front line, wouldn't we be able to fight directly to Seoul in one go?"
Chapter completed!