Having said this, Yang Jicai looked at Wang Guangyu's somewhat solemn face after listening to his words, hesitated and continued: "So, I think even if the Guan Nei troops are not able to compete head-on with the 23rd Division for the time being, But using the guerrilla warfare and mountain warfare that we are good at, we can definitely compete with the Japanese army in the Jehol Mountains."
“Rehe is located at the junction of the southernmost foothills of the Daxingan Mountains and Yanshan Mountain, Qilaotu Mountain, and Nurul Tiger Mountain. In addition to some grasslands and desert landforms, the terrain is mostly dominated by mountains and hills. This situation is suitable for full play. The Guanchi troops are good at guerrilla warfare in mountainous areas, and with our airdrops, the issue of ammunition, food, and medical supplies can be completely ignored."
"Without the logistical constraints, I think the gap between the combat effectiveness of the Kanai troops and the Japanese army may not be as big as we imagined. As long as the Japanese Mongolian garrison does not join in, the 23rd Division alone will be able to fight independently in Rehe." The garrison, coupled with the current strength and equipment comparison between the two sides, as well as the terrain of Jehol, it is not necessarily the troops within the pass who are suffering."
"Although the situation of the Guan Nei troops in Rehe, especially in the Rebei area, is not as stable as in the Guan Nei, the Guan Nei troops have been active in Rehe for a long time. It was only due to the heavy encirclement and suppression by the Japanese and puppet troops and the innate deficiencies. , it just failed to develop as quickly as Guannei, but the troops in Guannei are not unfamiliar with Rehe at all."
"Commander, please don't forget that the Hebei Re-Liao Advance Army is currently being reorganized. It turns out that the Guan Nei Army already had a Hebei Re-Liao Advance Army operating in the Renan area, and in the Jidong and Pingbei areas adjacent to Rehe. , as well as the military division troops of the Guan Nei Army, which are one of the stable bases of the Guan Nei Army."
"Also, the old leader No. 1 who is now the commander of the newly formed Hebei Reliao advance army in Guan Nei is called the God of War. He once served as the chief of general staff of the Red Army. He has rich practical experience and a high level of military theory. Extremely high, to be rated as highly as No. 1, his command level is definitely top-notch in contemporary China."
"Commander, you know that No. 1 does not rate anyone easily, but he speaks very highly of his old leader. This is the first time I have seen him speak so highly of a certain person. He commands the troops heading north from Guan Nei. Even if the 23rd Division moves south, I don’t think the troops in Guan Nei will suffer big losses, at least not in a short period of time."
"So I think that from all aspects, judging from the current equipment and strength of the Kanai troops, they still have the ability to at least fight a few battles with the Japanese 23rd Division. As long as the Kanai troops play to their strengths and try to avoid fighting with the 23rd Division, The Third Division will not suffer too much losses if they go head-to-head. If that doesn't work, they can use their expertise in mountain warfare and guerrilla warfare to hold the 23rd Division in the mountainous areas of Rehe for a period of time."
"So I think our previous worries were somewhat too taken for granted. We were a little too dismissive or distrustful of the Kannai Army's large-scale combat capabilities and its ability to compete head-on with the Japanese army. Commander, I suggest you contact the Kannai Army. one time."
"And while communicating, we can also listen to their suggestions and ideas. After all, our understanding of their own strength and true combat effectiveness is far less than their understanding of themselves. If there is no change in them, it will not matter. When encountering the main force of the Japanese army, especially since the 23rd Division has not yet moved south, it would be better for us to implement it according to the original plan."
"Because even though we have been delayed a lot of time on the road, we are now only one-third of the way away from the roundabout route specified by the headquarters. According to our current traveling speed, we can only be faster than the route specified by the headquarters at most. The time is six hours late.”
"Perhaps six hours, when every second counts on the battlefield, is enough to change the outcome of a battle, or even the outcome of a battle. But judging from the current situation, I think the situation is far from developed. In such a bad situation, as the second-line deep defense division of Hung Yen South Province, the 23rd Division's enemies are more likely to be us."
"As long as the frontal offensive of our army in the Aershan line does not stop, and as long as the momentum of the roundabout troops commanded by Commander Chen Hanzhang does not stop, I think the 23rd Division will not go south easily. Compared with their poor equipment in their eyes, For the poorly trained customs forces, we, who can surround them in Hung Yen West Province at all times, are their biggest enemies right now."
"And Commander, what is the scariest situation on the battlefield? I think besides being defeated, the scariest thing is that you know your opponent has a large tank force, but this force suddenly disappears. Yes, because you don’t know where your opponent will eventually put such a powerful force that will bring a fatal blow to you."
"The later it appears for us, the more advantageous it may be to us, because the Japanese army does not know where our next attack target will be, which is the flank of the 51st Division to the north of the 23rd Division. , or in other directions, will the Japanese army anticipate that we will detour into Outer Mongolia and directly kill Benxing'anxi and Rehe, targeting the 23rd Division deployed in these two places?"
"Commander, we haven't shown up for a long time. Maybe we can take advantage of the situation and show up with surprise troops when we are really needed. It is better than our current situation of directly inserting the East Ujimqin Banner and the Bahrain Left Banner and fighting hard from the front. Duo, Commander, in this roundabout operation, we are not facing just the 23rd Division, but also several Japanese divisions in the Puppet Fengtian Province. We will even face the Japanese army if possible. If the Mongolian troops stationed in Xinjiang suffer excessive initial losses, they will be unable to carry out the follow-up operations."
Wang Guangyu was slightly startled by Yang Jicai's words, and then he realized that what Yang Jicai said was correct. If the 23rd Division had not gone south into Rehe to participate in the battle against the Guan Nei troops, it would still have maintained its original posture. Then the few hours lost will not be a waste.
For the 23rd Division, attacking southward from the Aershan front line and detouring from their own flanks, Chen Hanzhang's troops were their real threats and opponents. In their view, a unit that was short of guns and ammunition was extremely poorly equipped. For the army, the threat is far less than the frontal resistance. As long as the internal troops are not attacked, they will not be mobilized easily.
And compared with the Jehol Independent Garrison, which is a local garrison, the 23rd Division, as the regular field division of the Kwantung Army, is not that simple to take action. Now the current commander of the Kwantung Army, Umezu Yoshijiro The general's style is completely different from that of his predecessor. He will not be merciful in dealing with those subordinates who suppress their superiors and act without authorization. Since taking over as the commander of the Kwantung Army, the Kwantung Army, which has become accustomed to acting without permission, rarely appears to suppress its superiors again.
For the Kwantung Army Headquarters, as long as the Jehol War situation is not irreversible, they will not easily mobilize the 23rd Division to go south. After all, judging from the entire Northeast War situation, the north of Xinjing is more important. As long as the crisis in Xinjing is not resolved, the possibility of the 23rd Division participating in the battle of Jehol is unlikely.
If the 23rd Division did not move for the time being, in order to save the time lost on the road, there would be no need to change the original interleaving plan. The breakthrough point of the headquarters' original interleaving plan was the entire deployment situation of the 23rd Division. In the middle position, if you break through there, you can cut the 23rd Division into two sections.
However, changing the plan can only form the intention of a frontal attack, which is very detrimental to achieving the strategic intention required by the headquarters. The 23rd Division is different from other divisions of the Kwantung Army. This division has certain advantages in the Battle of Nomenhan. Through experience in fighting against large-scale armored clusters, once it is allowed to form a shrinking defense, it will be difficult to solve the problem in a short period of time.
If the 23rd Division has already gone south and turns inland now, it will only be able to catch the tail of the 23rd Division. Moreover, once the 23rd Division finds itself under attack from both sides, it might shrink into a ball. In this way, it will be very detrimental to your next battle situation.
Instead of being passive and turning a surprise attack into a critical battle, it is better to calm down now and wait for the most fatal blow to the Japanese army. Wang Guangyu, who has a large number of armored troops in his hands, is naturally unwilling to fight the Japanese army to the death. What he preferred to do was to mobilize the Japanese troops and annihilate the enemy on the move.
Thinking of this, Wang Guangyu thought carefully for a long time, then looked at the watch on his wrist, and after estimating the marching speed of the troops, he turned to Yang Jicai and said: "Just listen to you kid, turn on the radio and communicate with the troops leaving the border." Let’s get in touch, and at the same time report our intelligence here to the customs troops, and hope they can provide us with some face-to-face enemy information and progress.”
After receiving this order from Wang Guangyu and hearing that the commander accepted his suggestion, Yang Jicai, who looked very calm, took out a pen and paper, quickly drafted a telegram, handed it to Wang Guangyu, and waited for Wang Guangyu to review and sign it. It was transferred to the communications department for dispatch, but this telegram was sent out quickly, but you would have to wait for a reply.
The troops inside the customs do not have the high-power radio communication vehicles that each division of the Anti-Japanese League uses American-made trucks to carry out 24-hour uninterrupted communication while marching. It has its own small diesel generator and can only be used during marching breaks. , or when they are stationed in a certain place, they can only add a radio station to make contact, so they still need to wait for this reply.
After the telegram was sent, Wang Guangyu looked at his watch, thought about it for a while, pointed at the map, and said to several combat staff around him: "Order the troops to speed up and wait until they reach the line from Hongol to Dariganga. The entire army rested for three hours to make final adjustments and inspections of ammunition and equipment."
"Tell the commanders of each unit not to fool me. Once we cross the border, no matter which unit has a problem, I will hold their commanders at all levels accountable. If there is a problem at that level, I will hold those commanders accountable. The responsibility of the first-level commander is that if there is a problem with the division, the division commander will be held accountable. If there is a problem with the brigade, the brigade commander will be held accountable. I, Wang Guangyu, am not as capable as I am, but I still have the ability to kill Ma Su with tears."
"Order the first cavalry brigade to restore its horsepower, replenish water and feed when necessary, and tell the armored brigade that if there is another tank failure that delays the entire army's operations, he, the brigade commander, will
Just be more conscious and don't wait for me to remove him from his post."