Chapter 491 This time, I will take charge personally!
Peking.
North China Front Army Headquarters.
"Hi!"
"Your Excellency, General."
"I brought the battle plan prepared by the First Army Staff Department to eliminate Li Yunlong and the Eighth Route Army in Northwestern Shanxi!"
While speaking, Yoshio Iwamatsu handed over a folder in his hand.
Okamura Neiji did not answer, but asked: "Have you brought the documents about the defeat and losses of the 36th Division?"
"I've brought it. General, please take a look."
Yoshio Iwamatsu quickly handed another folder to Neji Okamura.
Okamura Neji picked up the folder and opened it to read.
Although these photos are all black and white and taken from a high altitude, it can still be distinguished that the thickened bunkers and gun towers built by the 36th Division in the photos are in northwest Shanxi.
Okamura Neiji said: "In this report, there is not even a detailed battle process between the 36th Division and the Eighth Route Army. For example, how did the Eighth Route Army break through so many thickened reinforced concrete bunkers and gun towers in a short period of time?
After advancing to Heyuan County, if you don't understand these things, you won't even know how you were defeated by your opponent's sword."
Soon, Okamura Neji's face gradually turned ugly. The situation of the 36th Division was much worse than he expected.
"General, please take a look." Yoshio Iwamatsu then handed over the battle plan drawn up by the First Army Staff Headquarters against the Eighth Route Army in Northwestern Shanxi to Okamura Neiji.
However, what Okamura Neiji said is very possible, otherwise there is no way to explain that weapons can be transported in under a blockade.
“Is there an airport built in northwest Shanxi?”
Okamura Neiji added: "In addition, according to the reconnaissance plane report, the Eighth Route Army organized people to build roads in northwestern Shanxi. They obviously want to connect the entire northwestern Shanxi. There is also the most important issue, the new regiment
Under the blockade of the 36th Division, where did so many foreign weapons and ammunition come from?"
"Hi!" Yoshio Iwamatsu responded with his head lowered.
Neji Okamura asked coldly: "After the Battle of Northwest Shanxi, didn't Mr. Iwamatsu send spies to northwest Shanxi to conduct on-the-spot reconnaissance of the battlefield?"
The only good thing is that the flags of the 222nd and 223rd Regiments were brought back.
Okamura Neiji then said: "Iwamatsu-kun, show me your First Army's mopping up plan."
Iwamatsu Yoshio was surprised. He had never thought about this. After all, the airspace in North China belonged to the Japanese aviation, and it was difficult for enemy aircraft to pass through silently.
Okamura Neiji asked: "Iwamatsu-kun, you also did intelligence work against China in your early years. This time the Northwestern Shanxi Eighth Route Army attacked the 36th Division, didn't you notice it at all in advance?"
The 6 divisions were divided into 2 divisions and swept from three directions respectively, and the remaining 1 infantry division and 1 cavalry brigade served as reserves.
There were not many divisions and supplies left for the North China Front.
After finishing speaking, he explained for himself that the reason why he did not send special forces to conduct battlefield reconnaissance in northwestern Shanxi was because he sent the special forces to southeastern Shanxi.
This battle plan was exactly what Li Yunlong had in mind. The Japanese army assembled two or more divisions from three directions: east, north, and south to carry out a net-like sweep, attack separately, and encircle the enemy with an iron wall.
There is nothing surprising in the content. The level of Hanatani Masaru and Miyazaki Masao is just that, and the combat plan they made is not even as good as Kusuyama Hideyoshi, the previous chief of staff of the First Army.
Okamura Neji said calmly: "Iwasatsu-kun, you disappoint me."
Okamura Neiji picked up the battle plan and looked through it.
Although the Japanese reconnaissance plane observers took photos from the air, the burned corpses of the Japanese were all cleared away.
Iwamatsu Yoshio picked up these photos and looked at them. Cold sweat flowed from his back into his buttocks.
Iwamatsu Yoshio hesitated: "This..."
Yoshio Iwamatsu: "Hi!"
Iwamatsu Yoshio said: "I was aware of it, but the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi and the Central Army south of the Yellow River also made big moves, which caused the staff to make a wrong judgment..."
At that time, Yoshio Iwamatsu had sent the Yamamoto Special Forces to southeastern Shanxi to prepare for fishing to snatch an anti-tank horn weapon from the Eighth Route Army, and reported it to Neji Okamura.
The division headquarters of the 36th Division was almost completely wiped out. The 224th Regiment, the 36th Engineer Regiment and the 36th Mountain Artillery Regiment were all wiped out. The 36th Division's battle losses were as high as 90%.
Iwamatsu Yoshio carefully stared at Okamura Neji.
But Okamura Neiji shook his head and said: "I suspect that the Eighth Route Army received assistance through airdrops, and even built an airport in northwestern Shanxi."
He turned around and picked up a stack of photos and threw them in front of Yoshio Iwamatsu: "Iwamatsu-kun, take a look for yourself."
How did the Eighth Route Army bypass these bunkers and artillery towers and reach the gate of Heyuan County?
This made Yoshio Iwamatsu think deeply and fearfully.
"That's right." Neji Okamura said, "The Eighth Route Army's anti-aircraft firepower in northwestern Shanxi is very strong, and reconnaissance planes are not convenient for low-altitude reconnaissance. After you return, Mr. Yansong, you must send intelligence personnel to penetrate into northwestern Shanxi, find the Eighth Route Army's airport, and then send
Fighters and bombers went to blow up the Eighth Route Army's airport."
Iwamatsu Yoshio obviously also understood this truth, and he hurriedly lowered his head and said: "Hey, after returning to Taiyuan, I will order the intelligence department to strengthen infiltration into northwestern Shanxi."
Yoshio Iwamatsu said: "Yes, the special agent team and the advance team led by Colonel Yamamoto performed well in the Central Plains battle. They took two shots in total, and beheaded them both times successfully."
But what made Neji Okamura angry was that the folder's record of the defeat of the 36th Division was not very detailed. It was basically the contents of the telegram sent by the 36th Division Headquarters to the First Army.
The Guante exercise plan has been terminated. Since the Soviet Far East troops moved very little westward, the Japanese base camp gave up the plan to attack Siberia.
In fact, Okamura Neiji also did espionage work in his early years, and he did it very successfully and achieved quite a lot.
In this battle plan, if Japan wanted to completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army in northwest Shanxi, it would have to prepare at least 7 divisions and 1 cavalry brigade.
After reading the battle plan, Okamura Neji frowned slightly: "Iwamatsu-kun, just to sweep away the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi, we need 7 infantry divisions and 1 cavalry brigade to defend against the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi and the Yellow River.
The Central Army in the south also needs at least 6 divisions. Do you think the imperial army can provide so many troops and supplies now?"
"Special Forces?" Okamura Neiji's expression changed and he asked, "Is it the special agent team in the hands of General Shinozuka?"
Iwamatsu Yoshio said: "Yes, the captain is Yamamoto Kazuki. Does the general also know about this elite team of less than a hundred people?"
In central China, the Japanese Eleventh Army, led by Anan Weiji, was preparing to attack Changsha for the second time, and it also needed to mobilize troops and material supplies.
Neji Okamura said with a gloomy face: "I have ordered people to test it. The shells of the 150mm howitzer can injure people in 3-meter-thick bunkers and gun towers, but they will never kill them!"
Otherwise, the 36th Division would have been completely wiped out.
"I'm sorry, General!" Yoshio Iwamatsu said hurriedly with a serious look on his face, "When I return to Taiyuan, I will immediately send special forces to northwest Shanxi to find out about this matter."
"General Shinozuka once promoted his special agent team to me before his death." Okamura Neiji nodded, "He also said that Yamamoto Kazuki was an excellent imperial soldier."
This combat plan was mainly formulated through discussions between Hanatani Masaru and Miyazaki Masao.
Iwamatsu Yoshio asked tentatively: "Could it be that...the Eighth Route Army's large-caliber heavy artillery shells killed all the Imperial Army soldiers in the bunkers and gun towers?"
Traces of the battle can be seen from the photos, which means that these photos were taken by reconnaissance aircraft observers from medium and low altitudes after the battle.
Iwamatsu Yoshio said: "About this, the First Army has been investigating, but so far, no clues have been found. Even the base camp sent an investigation team to the First Army to investigate, but still found nothing."
"airdrop?"
So Okamura Neji didn't know that the Japanese in the bunkers and gun towers were burned into roasted pigs with flame guns.
For a war, that is crucial. If you can know the enemy's direction of action in advance, you can reduce your own casualties, and you can prepare relevant resistance strategies in advance.
"this……"
The Japanese base camp focused on the south and stepped up its southward policy.
Yoshio Iwamatsu hurriedly lowered his head and said: "Your Excellency, General, the main reason why the Eighth Route Army broke through the thickened bunkers and gun towers so quickly and advanced to Heyuan County is because Lieutenant General Jingguan Ren cut corners and reduced the thickness of the bunkers and gun towers originally planned.
0.5 to 1 meter, and the new regiment was equipped with large-caliber heavy artillery, which led to the breach of the bunkers and gun towers."
The importance of intelligence.
Most of the bunkers and gun towers were structurally intact, which meant that the Eighth Route Army's large-caliber heavy artillery did not destroy these bunkers and gun towers.
However, Okamura Neiji did not want to listen to his explanation and said: "We must do a good job in intelligence work, especially the intelligence work of the Eighth Route Army in North Shanxi."
There were a lot of repairs around Taiyuan. If he didn't figure out how the Eighth Route Army did it, Iwamatsu Yoshio wouldn't be able to sleep well.
Yoshio Iwamatsu stared at the photos and frowned. These were bunkers and gun towers that the Japanese army spent a lot of steel and cement to build.
"Then what's going on?"
"What's going on?" Okamura Neji snorted coldly, "I still want to ask Iwamatsu-kun?"
Hearing this, Okamura Neji glanced at Yoshio Iwamatsu coldly.
Then planes were dispatched to blow up the Yellow River ferry. If the Eighth Route Army did not surrender, the Eighth Route Army and the Chinese people would be driven out of the Yellow River.
However, this is not much different from being completely wiped out. The Japanese army has insufficient personnel to distribute, and it will be impossible to rebuild the 36th Division in a short time.
Okamura Neiji said: "The base camp has decided to transfer one A division and two B divisions from the Kwantung Army to the pass to eliminate Li Yunlong and the Eighth Route Army in northwest Shanxi."
"The combat plan to eliminate Li Yunlong and the Eighth Route Army in Northwestern Shanxi was personally designed by me."
"Just recently, I have developed a new tactic specifically for dealing with the Eighth Route Base Area, the iron rolling sweep."
"This time, I will personally direct the raid on the bandit areas in northwestern Shanxi!"
Okamura Neji's eyes narrowed behind his round glasses, filled with murderous intent.