Headquarters of the First Army of the North China Front.
Kazuki Yamamoto walked into Yoshio Iwamatsu's office with a saber on his shoulder.
Behind Yamamoto was communications soldier Goro Oga, who carried a bazooka rocket launcher on his shoulder and a rectangular ammunition box under his arm.
"General, Yamamoto lived up to his mission and led the special team to snatch the big horn anti-tank weapon from the Eighth Route Army."
In front of the rectangular table, Yamamoto Kazuki lowered his head first, then stood up straight, his voice not rising at all.
Iwamatsu Yoshio was writing a letter to Yan Xishan again. He raised his head when he heard Yamamoto Kazuki's voice, and then he turned his attention to Ogagoro who was standing behind Yamamoto Kazuki.
To be precise, what caught Yoshio Iwamatsu's attention was the bazooka rocket launcher carried by Goro Oga.
Yoshio Iwamatsu asked: "Is this the big-horn anti-tank weapon?"
"Yes, General!"
If there is no chance, send some troops to break out to the periphery and cut off the enemy's food route. The enemy will not be able to hold on for long before retreating.
…
Yamamoto Kazuki lowered his head first, and then asked: "How long will it take to successfully imitate it and put it into use on the battlefield?"
Then he placed the rectangular ammunition box next to the rocket launcher on the table and opened it, revealing a rocket in the ammunition box.
"Thank you for your hard work, Yamamoto-kun."
Its combat strength is close to that of the Japanese Army's Class A Division.
Even the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army, such as the battle at Baozishan, was able to achieve an astonishing battle loss ratio of 1:8 with the Japanese army.
If a battalion is set up with 400 people, then it must have at least 50 battalion commanders, 50 deputy battalion commanders and 50 instructors to allocate so many people.
It's time for the Sword Squadron to expand in size.
More importantly, it is easy to operate and carry, and can be operated by only two people. The old Japanese who have experienced battles can immediately see the value of this anti-tank.
Is it so powerful?
Yoshio Iwamatsu's eyes flashed sharply. It seemed that some time ago, the reinforced concrete bunkers and gun towers in northwest Shanxi were destroyed by this weapon.
See if there is any chance to lure the enemy deeper and annihilate another division.
The bunker built by the New Regiment was different from the Japanese bunkers and gun towers except for the firing holes.
It has devastating damage to tanks and can destroy reinforced concrete bunkers and gun towers. Its power is comparable to that of a 105mm howitzer.
"If this continues, I will be pessimistic about the imperial army's security war in North China."
It is a high probability event that the Japanese invade the base area. At that time, people will definitely be organized to go into the mountains and clear the country.
"However, before that, there is something that requires your special team to investigate."
Yamamoto Kazuki lowered his head: "I will send the first combat team to northwest Shanxi to investigate."
Taking a deep breath and suppressing his fear of Li Yunlong and Shinichi, Yoshio Iwamatsu said:
"The imperial army built more than a hundred thickened bunkers and gun towers around the bandit areas of the New Regiment in northwest Shanxi. However, in this battle, the New Regiment failed to destroy these thickened bunkers and gun towers in a short period of time.
After capturing these fortifications and approaching the gates of Heyuan County, you send a combat team to penetrate into northwest Shanxi for on-the-spot investigation and find out the matter as soon as possible!"
Select the best warriors from more than 20,000 people in the regiment to join the Sword Squadron for training.
Regardless of whether it is a major road or a small road into the base area, Li Yunlong is ready to build tunnels and bunkers to block the attack at all levels, first consuming a wave of Japanese troops.
"With all due respect, General, the Eighth Route Army has been changing and its combat effectiveness has been improving."
He only had one regiment, but now the new regiment has more than 20,000 regular members alone.
An important reason why the Kwantung Army did not dare to attack the Soviet Union was because they were afraid of the Soviet army's torrent of steel.
But since the Eighth Route Army's equipment improved, the Japanese army's losses were much greater than those of the Eighth Route Army.
The Eighth Route Army simply did not dare to fight the Japanese army head-on. In the case of a front-on battle, the battle loss ratio between the Japanese army and the Eighth Route Army was about 1:3.
Once the battle goes wrong, the soldiers in the bunker can retreat along the tunnel.
Each main infantry battalion only has more than 1,000 men and needs to be expanded to about 2,000 men.
However, Li Yunlong also knew very well that no matter how powerful the tactics and fortifications were, there were ways to break them, and these fortifications might not be able to stop the enemy's advance.
But the Type 94 37mm rapid-fire gun weighs more than 600 kilograms.
Commander Li Da has been very busy these days. He has been conducting on-the-spot reconnaissance of the terrain in northwestern Shanxi and has started to arrange the locations of tunnels and bunkers.
This is even more exaggerated than the 1:5 battle loss ratio between the Japanese army and the Chinese army on the frontal battlefield.
Hearing this, Yoshio Iwamatsu paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, his eyes showing deep thought.
What Li Yunlong was really worried about was how the people would survive if the Japanese and puppet troops took away all the food in northwestern Shanxi.
Yamamoto Kazuki waved his hand, and Oga Goro stepped forward and placed the bazooka on the long table.
The Type 94 37mm rapid-fire gun currently equipped by the Japanese army is an anti-tank gun that can penetrate 40mm thick steel plates at a distance of 500 meters.
Yoshio Iwamatsu sounded suspicious: "Can this thing penetrate the tanks and reinforced concrete bunkers of the Imperial Army?"
Moreover, there are usually two to three bunkers guarding the horns, forming side fire and cross fire with the tunnels.
Yoshio Iwamatsu could tell that this ammunition box should be able to hold 3 rockets, but 2 of them had already been consumed.
"I hope officials from the Ordnance Department can imitate this new weapon as soon as possible." Yamamoto Kazuki said: "This time when we were on a mission in southeastern Shanxi, the special team exchanged fire with the main force of the Eighth Route Army several times, and I made major discoveries."
However, the Eighth Route Army rarely fought head-on with the Japanese army, and mostly used sneak attacks and ambush tactics. The Japanese army suffered greater losses than the Eighth Route Army.
"But the equipment of the imperial army is still the same as before. Type 38 rifles, Type 92 heavy machine guns, Taisho 11-year light machine guns, grenade launchers, and even the newly produced Hundred Type submachine guns are reluctant to equip them in large quantities."
After complimenting him, Iwamatsu Yoshio approached the rocket launcher to observe, then picked up the rocket launcher and looked at it.
"But the First Army and even the North China Front have been standing still, and the combat effectiveness of some divisions and brigades has dropped significantly compared to the Imperial Army in 1937."
"Even the main battalion and company-level troops of the Eighth Route Army are equipped with heavy weapons such as mortars and infantry artillery."
"Some elite troops are equipped with automatic firepower such as submachine guns."
This time we went fishing in southeastern Shanxi, and the special agent team lost eight more members.
But in that case, the army's organization will become more bloated, not to mention that Li Yunlong does not have so many battalion commanders, deputy battalion commanders and instructors.
"Yes, General!" Kazuki Yamamoto said, "I saw with my own eyes that an Eighth Route Army soldier holding this weapon penetrated the reinforced concrete turret of the Imperial Army. No one in the Imperial Army inside was spared. Its power is equivalent to that of a 105mm howitzer.
It is easy to operate and only requires two people to operate it.”
Iwamatsu Yoshio nodded: "Yamamoto-kun is right. Such troops are indeed terrifying. We must not allow them to continue to develop. We must completely eliminate them and eliminate them at any cost. The Army Headquarters Staff Headquarters has issued a
Order to mobilize three divisions from Manchuria to deal with Li Yunlong and the New Regiment, one of which is a Category A division."
In addition, the main infantry battalion of the new regiment must also be expanded as soon as possible. The number of troops in each division of the new regiment is now about 2,200.
"The Eighth Route Army is changing in all aspects, including its strength and weapons and equipment, and its combat effectiveness has increased exponentially."
"This battle will be personally commanded by General Okamura!"
In the past, the Eighth Route Army had poor equipment, used inferior weapons, and was extremely short of ammunition. Capturing a Japanese 38 was probably considered first-class equipment.
"It's hard to say," Iwamatsu Yoshio said, "It can take as little as half a year, as long as one or two years. This weapon looks very simple, and it shouldn't be difficult to imitate it."
"Oh?" Yoshio Iwamatsu's expression changed and he asked, "What kind of important discovery has Yamamoto-kun made?"
On the way back to Taiyuan, Yamamoto led the special agent team to encounter firefights with the main force of the Eighth Route Army many times. Even though the special agent team had strong combat capabilities, it could not withstand the large number of the Eighth Route Army. Yamamoto's special agent team was almost surrounded.
"Hi!"
The quality of the individual soldiers of the New Regiment is weaker than that of the soldiers of the Japanese Army's Type A Division, but the equipment of the individual soldiers of the New Regiment can make up for the shortcomings.
"Thank you, General!"
This time Yamamoto Kazuki led a special agent team on a long-distance trip to catch the Eighth Route Army's fish, but it didn't go well.
The Japanese bunkers and gun towers were often exposed on both sides of the highway, while the new group of bunkers were camouflaged, with tunnels dug into them, and connected to the tunnels in the mountain.
Although the fishing was successful and the bazooka rocket launcher was obtained, it happened just in time for the Eighth Route Army to launch a major attack.
The combat staff of the First Army have estimated that the current New Regiment of the Eighth Route Army should be the most combat-effective unit in the entire battle sequence of the Chinese army.
Yoshio Iwamatsu picked up the rocket launcher in front of him and weighed it with his hands. It only weighed more than 10 kilograms and could be operated by one or two people.
Soldiers from various main battalions and divisions were not idle either.
Yamamoto Kazuki, who participated in the Battle of Nomonkan, still has lingering fears about the Soviet army's steel torrent.
Setting up more than 2,000 people in each district was also an experiment by Li Yunlong. Although the organization is relatively bloated, there is no way around it.
Each battalion organized civilians to dig tunnels and build thickened bunkers at each intersection entering the base area according to the situation.
"Yo Xi!" Kazuki Yamamoto's eyes flashed sharply, "With General Okamura commanding the Class A division to take action, Li Yunlong will not live long."
Kazuki Yamamoto said: "A year and a half ago, the Eighth Route Army's firepower was very sparse, it lacked training, and its tactical command was very primitive. Apart from its commendable fighting will, such an army was vulnerable. But this time the special agent team was more powerful than the main force of the Eighth Route Army.
During the firefight, I found that the Eighth Route Army's equipment was far better than before, its firepower was more ferocious, its ammunition was sufficient, and its tactics were skillful."
"Yoshi!" Yoshio Iwamatsu said, "Yamamoto-kun, you have made great contributions to the imperial army this time. I will pay tribute to General Okamura. I will arrange for these weapons and shells to be sent to the Ordnance Department of the base camp as soon as possible.
, experts in the Department of Ordnance’s firearms production will dismantle and imitate it.”
"First deal with Li Yunlong and the New Regiment in northwestern Shanxi, and then deal with the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi!"
If the Japanese army had hundreds or thousands of these anti-tank weapons during the Battle of Nomenkan, the outcome of the battle might have been very different.
Based on the performance of each divisional unit in this battle, Li Yunlong felt that 10 companies per battalion was suitable for the current organization of the new regiment, including 8 infantry companies, 2 artillery companies, and each battalion's strength of about 2,000 men.
The New Regiment is a special combat unit, and its troop allocation obviously cannot follow the conventional organization.
When it came time to command operations, Li Yunlong could just directly command these battalions as regiments.
Li Yunlong was inspecting the terrain somewhere when he received the news from the regiment headquarters that Boss Chen had arrived. He looked overjoyed and hurried to the regiment headquarters in a jeep.