Chapter 198: Three-pronged approach, draining fuel from the bottom of the cauldron
(This story is purely fictional, please do not imitate it!)
Wu Aihua stayed in the small study for more than two hours. There were already five groups of people waiting for him in the reception room. Not to mention people from the army, representatives of the Peking Chamber of Commerce, representatives of professors from various universities in Peiping, and representatives of foreign institutions in Peking.
They all came, some to invite Wu Aihua to a banquet, and some to ask for a message. In short, these were matters that Wu Aihua had to decide personally, and no one could help him.
"What have you realized?" Wu Aihua had just gone out when he saw Chen Siwei standing by the door, with concern in his eyes.
"It's nothing. However, some ideas have matured." Wu Aihua hugged Chen Siwei gently and walked to the reception room. At this time, it was not a good time to be intimate.
……#……
Japan, Tokyo. Cabinet meeting room. Japanese Emperor Hirohito sits high on the main seat, indicating the specialness of this meeting.
This was already the third day after the Battle of Peiping. The Japanese army ended its offensive in North China with the complete annihilation of two divisions and one brigade.
The meeting called "Continental Strategy Review", in addition to Emperor Hirohito in the chair, there were also Japanese Prime Minister Fumi Konoe (can't type), Land Minister Sugiyama Gen, Marine Minister Mitsumasa Yoneuchi, Internal Affairs Minister
Eiichi Baba, Tibetan Prime Minister Kaguya Yoshinobu, Foreign Minister Hirota Koki, Kwantung Army Commander Ueda Kenkichi, Chief of Staff Headquarters Kanji Ishihara, North China
Former Commander of the Front Army Juichi Terauchi, veteran of the Army Saionji Konobo, Matsui Iwane, En Shunroku, former Minister of the Navy Nagano Osamu, Vice Admiral of the Navy Isoroku Yamamoto, Undersecretary of the Army Umezu Mijiro, Arata Tanaka, Chief of Military Affairs Section of the Army Province
1. First Section Chief Shibayama Kenshiro, Third Section (Combat) Section Chief Muto Akira, Kwantung Army Chief of Staff Hideki Tojo and others.
This lineup can be called the strongest military and political meeting of the Japanese army.
Three days were enough for the acting commander of the North China Front, Lieutenant General Yamashita Tomofumi, to collect enough intelligence. This intelligence about the Chinese National Defense Force objectively alleviated Juichi Terauchi's responsibility for the defeat.
This information includes: the Chinese National Defense Force has three types of armored fighting vehicles, the lightest of which is stronger than the tanks currently prepared to be equipped by Japan; the number of combat aircraft of the Chinese National Defense Force is between 100-300, and is larger than that of Japan
The Chinese National Defense Force has advanced fighter aircraft; the total number of artillery pieces of the Chinese National Defense Force is one to two times that of the Japanese army at the same level. Its company (squadron) level combat troops are equipped with four 60mm mortars and four 37mm anti-tank guns, which are completely comparable to the Japanese army.
brigade (battalion)-level artillery; the National Defense Forces have 150mm caliber cannons, and there are a lot of them; the individual equipment of the National Defense Forces is also better than that of the Japanese army. Their squad of 12 people has one mg42 squad machine gun and two submachine guns.
The quality of firearms is not inferior to that of Japanese-made firearms; in addition, the National Defense Force is different from other Chinese armies in terms of lack of training. The training of the National Defense Force soldiers is not inferior to that of the Japanese army, and their military quality is even better than that of the Japanese army in some aspects...
"My dear friends, tell me, when did the Empire of Japan become weaker than the Chinese?" Emperor Hirohito was in a very bad mood.
"According to figures released by the Chinese government, the National Defense Forces has 20 divisions. Judging from the current situation, it is difficult for one division of our army to defeat one division of the National Defense Forces alone." Terauchi added.
The words of Juichi Terauchi made the hearts of the ministers here feel cold. There are only 30 divisions in Japan in the whole country, and they have to be stationed in Manchuria. This... seems to be no match.
"Therefore, our Army Ministry held an emergency meeting yesterday and formulated an army expansion plan, which will be submitted to the cabinet and His Majesty for approval. The army will be expanded from 30 divisions to 60 divisions within six months, and at the same time, each division will be strengthened.
The number of artillery and tanks." Prime Minister Sugiyama Yuan rushed to say.
"Your Majesty, our Navy Ministry does not agree with the Army's opinion on troop expansion. The Army's current issue is not a large-scale military expansion, but a profound review of strategic failure. Only in this way is it consistent with the theme of today's meeting." Marine Minister Mitsumasa Yoneuchi immediately retorted.
This shows that Japan's navy and army are at odds.
"Your Majesty, China is a continental country. To conquer a continental country, the only way is to strengthen the army." Sugiyama Gen said slowly. He had a truth, that is, since Japan has determined the national policy of conquering China, it must
Take the path of strengthening the army.
"Sugiyama-kun, I have studied the tactics of the Chinese National Defense Forces. They move very fast and attack very fast. Do you have any good ideas for this?" Ishihara Kanji, the first minister of the General Staff Headquarters, asked aloud.
Ishihara Kanji has always regarded himself as a "military strategist". In the past, he has always advocated that China should be conquered by "boiling the frog in warm water" and did not advocate excessive resorting to force; however, the sudden rise of the Chinese National Defense Force made him feel that he
The original idea seems to be a bit wishful thinking. To boil a frog in warm water, it must be based on the situation that China is in a state of disunity. Now, although China is still in disarray, a strong force has emerged. This force must be nipped in the bud, otherwise, it will be
Japan's big trouble.
"According to the actual combat between the North China Front Army and the National Defense Force, the National Defense Force's campaigns are often launched suddenly. In addition, its equipment is stronger than the Japanese army, so it has achieved some results; however, the command level of their middle and low-level commanders is far inferior to
During the battles of Langfang, Nanyuan, and Tongxian, the Japanese army's commanders at the regiment and brigade levels performed very well. They once severely damaged the Chinese army's armored fighting vehicle units. However, the Chinese soon realized that
Otherwise, it will be hard to say who will win." Sugiyama Gen did not directly answer Ishihara Kanji's words.
"Terauchi-kun, as a person in authority, what do you think?" Hirohito ordered the general personally.
"Your Majesty, everyone. As a general of the defeated army, I have some experiences, and I would like to share them for your reference. First, the armored fighting vehicle unit of the National Defense Force is very strong. It is difficult for us to match it at present. We must find a way to restrain it. Otherwise, even if
If we fight again, it will be very difficult for us; secondly, China's artillery caliber and number of artillery obviously exceed our army, and every battle is covered by artillery shelling, then tanks clear the way, and finally infantry enters the city to resolve the battle; thirdly
Judging from the Jidong tragedy, the Chinese already have a large number of special forces. When encountering this force, you must be particularly careful. It is not impossible to defeat the National Defense Forces. For example, under the current conditions, if
With the cooperation of the aviation force and the cooperation of the navy in coastal cities, the army may not be incapable of fighting!" Juichi Terauchi seemed to be still resentful of the Kwantung Army's failure to dispatch aircraft to rescue the 109th Division.
"Here, I want to tell you some good news. The Chinese fighter plane salvaged from Tanggu Port by General Terauchi Juichi has made significant progress through our research. In another month, we will also produce an aircraft that can carry out night battles.
At that time, the air superiority of the Chinese military will be completely lost." Ishihara Wanji interjected. But his words are still a bit exaggerated. Imitating other people's things and trying to completely establish an advantage is a bit reluctant.
"Ah, that's great!" Many people echoed.
"Ishihara-kun, please tell me what you think." Emperor Hirohito nodded again.
"Okay, Your Majesty. Everyone, according to my research on the Chinese National Defense Forces, although they are strong, they are also very limited. The reason why our army suffered setbacks is due to many factors. The main reason is that the base camp and the North China Front Army are attacking China.
The combat strength of the National Defense Force is not estimated to be sufficient, and it is not very adaptable to the opponent's style of play. I believe that if the two armies collide again, there will be no consequences.
The situation was like a few days ago. However, the more than two months of the North China War also made me discover a problem, that is, our strategy is outdated. In the past, our strategy was to conquer China, because China did not have any army.
It is an opponent of our army. So, now that this opponent has appeared, we must destroy it first before we can achieve the goal of conquering China.
How can we eliminate the National Defense Force? In fact, as long as we carefully study the history of the National Defense Force, we will find its weaknesses. The National Defense Force originated in western Fujian, and later occupied eastern Guangdong and Jiangxi, and then gave away Jiangxi. Now only Fujian is left
and eastern Guangdong. That is his industrial base and supply base. As long as the base is destroyed, what else will the National Defense Force have to fight for? This move of mine is called "drawing fuel from the bottom of the cauldron".
Of course, to achieve this goal, we need to make some preparations. Here I have some suggestions for your Majesty and everyone's reference: First, Sugiyama-kun's military expansion plan is necessary, because this is a national war between two countries, and it is a matter of
The decisive battle for the fate of the Japanese Empire! However, we have no choice but to
In addition to expanding 20 divisions at home, we can also train 5 divisions in Taiwan and North Korea, or even train more divisions. The Manchurian army can also use it. They also have a certain combat effectiveness, but each company must send
Imperial soldiers should serve as advisors and control them;
Second, when our new aircraft equipment units and the Army's 30 divisions are trained, it will be time for a decisive battle with the National Defense Forces. My idea is to have a three-pronged approach: the Kwantung Army will be responsible for the north, and the Manchurian Army will be driven as the vanguard to threaten Chaos.
Har; South Road forms South China
The front army is responsible for attacking Fujian and eastern Guangdong. Among them, the naval fleet must cooperate with the activities of the South China Front Army. On the east route, the Shanghai dispatch army is formed. Starting from Shanghai, it is necessary to quickly take over Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the richest place in China, to Japan.
Strengthen our military strength.
The third is a tactical issue. In fact, when we fight in China, we don’t have to shrink at all. Everything we break is Chinese. Therefore, the Army Aviation and Naval Aviation must bomb the cities and villages in the territory controlled by the National Defense Forces.
, in order to completely eliminate their will to resist. For the task of dispatching troops to Shanghai on the east road
, if the Chiang Kai-shek Group is willing to cooperate with the Empire of Japan, that would be the best and can support it in fighting against the National Defense Forces; no matter what conditions Chiang Kai-shek proposes, we can agree to it. As long as the National Defense Forces are eliminated, Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army will not be a big force at all.
The opponent of the Japanese Imperial Army will not be decided by us at that time."
(PS: There are many things going on, so I made a mistake. However, the king promised that the 90 chapters this month must be more than enough. There are 2 chapters in total today.)