Looking at the brigade commander's ashamed and aggrieved face, the commander could only shake his head. He didn't know that the troops were almost out of food. Now even the entire headquarters of Jireliao could only guarantee to drink a day. After two meals of gruel, the situation of the troops below can only get worse.
He also knew that sending troops to disperse to collect food was a helpless choice. What he was angry about was not that the brigade went out to collect food on its own, but that when collecting food, there was no overall detailed plan and they fought independently. The three regiments acted independently, resulting in the original situation. Superior military strength becomes a disadvantage in battle.
But you have three infantry regiments in your brigade, not counting the direct team. Why can't you act in a unified manner when collecting food, and let each regiment disperse to do it? During the short rest period, why can't you concentrate on garrisoning? You consider that the soldiers' bodies cannot bear it. In a short period of time, it takes more than ten or dozens of miles of mountain road, so why not gather all the troops to garrison together.
Now that food has been cut off and it is extremely difficult to raise food locally, there is no need to concentrate or disperse it, because at present, Rehe is basically a new area, and the entire army is fighting without a rear area, and the local area has been forcibly implemented by the Japanese army. Policy, and in a sparsely populated situation, even if you disperse the guerrillas, you cannot solve the problem of food for the troops.
And since the troops have run out of food, why not ask for help from the headquarters? Although the headquarters is also very nervous, it is not without the ability to squeeze out a small amount of food to supplement you and solve some of the urgent needs. Besides, even if the headquarters is short of food and the headquarters is hungry, Nor can the combat troops be completely deprived of food.
You are not afraid of getting food, and mobilizing troops is not a problem, but after knowing the situation, why not adjust your deployment and mobilize troops to replace those who are going to get food? You have three regiments of troops in your hand, can you completely mobilize a whole regiment to do it? Even if it is convenient for coordination, because they are familiar with each other, they should cooperate more tacitly. Can the remaining two regiments move closer to each other and concentrate their forces to prepare for battle?
What's even more serious is that in the subsequent counterattack, the overall tactics were not even satisfactory. As a senior commander, no one requires you to be proficient in everything, but why don't you go where you don't understand? Able to listen to reasonable suggestions from others.
There is also the command of artillery. Since I don’t understand it, why don’t I leave it to professionals to command? Why do I have to have it in my own hands? There are more than a dozen artillery pieces, and each battalion of the troops participating in the counterattack is divided into parts. Do you think this is a division? As for clothes, even if you divide clothes, you can't just divide them randomly without even caring about the size.
The Anti-Japanese Federation has transferred a large number of personnel to assist you in tactical training. Why don't you listen to their opinions? Your brigade chief of staff was transferred from the Anti-Japanese Federation. He once served as the deputy chief of staff of the division. In this situation, others will take command. He has more experience than you, why not listen to his opinions and ideas.
If it weren't for the Japanese and puppet troops fighting in the mountains and taking advantage of the sneak attack. With the flanks collapsed and the core position exposed, I would have felt guilty at first if I found that the opponent's equipment was almost the same as my own, and reinforcements were coming back one after another. If you take the initiative to retreat, the consequences of this battle will be quite serious. Maybe the main force of your brigade will be eaten.
In fact, there are some deep-seated reasons. How could this veteran commander not understand in his heart that he allowed his troops to act without authorization without unified deployment? On the surface, it was due to the physical strength of the troops. In fact, The most fundamental reason is one sentence: "Guerrilla habits cannot be changed."
When the Eighteenth Group Army crossed the Yellow River eastward to open up an anti-Japanese base area behind enemy lines, in addition to retaining part of the main force, the rest of the troops were divided into different organizations according to the enemy's situation, and their respective guerrilla zones were drawn on the map. Areas of jurisdiction of each military unit.
As for how to make troubles and whether they can develop and pull up the troops, you have to look at the abilities of your commanders at all levels. At that time, the Japanese army, which was busy attacking cities and territories behind enemy lines, only occupied towns and could not take care of the vast countryside for the time being. The National Government Various county governments followed the troops in withdrawing southward, leaving the vast countryside completely blank. This was a great opportunity to build base areas.
However, although it is a blank, it is not peaceful either. The people from all over the country spontaneously, the national government's various numbers of defeated armies, the local powerful organizations, and even the teams formed by the mountain kings from all over the world are everywhere, even in a county, there are There were seven or eight commanders-in-chief, a dozen army commanders, and there were plenty of civilian guns anyway, as well as the weapons discarded by the national army when they retreated. At that time, as long as someone pulled together a team, it was not too difficult.
Although there are many truly anti-Japanese teams among them, most of them take the opportunity to expand their own power, send money under the banner of anti-Japanese, and make a lot of money from the national crisis. Many of them surrender as soon as the Japanese army comes and become the emperor. Army, under this situation, it is undoubtedly a very good time to establish a base area.
When superiors give you policies, they will also provide you with some troops. Of course, they will also give you some organization. Independent regiments and new regiments were all developed at this time. Your superiors will provide you with organization, but other things, including weapons and ammunition, Military uniforms and expenses must be raised by oneself. Not only must everything be raised by oneself, but part of it must also be turned over to superiors to help the main force expand.
There is no way. The Eighteenth Army does not have enough capital. If it does not seize the time to develop and strengthen itself, it will rely on the three organic divisions allocated by the National Government for one group army, but only have the funds for one division. It will be difficult to survive behind enemy lines, let alone fight. , can’t even eat.
In an extremely complicated situation, these people not only expanded their base areas behind enemy lines, but also formed teams. However, the guerrilla habits they developed and the habit of fighting on their own will be difficult to get rid of in a short period of time. There is no way. In such a severe situation behind enemy lines, if you want to survive and develop, you should use whatever method works.
Weapons and ammunition are easy to say. Thanks to more than ten years of warlord fighting and social unrest, the number of civilian guns in North China is still higher than that in Northeast China. Although there are not many good guns among them, the actual number is still very large, and the National Government has When North China fought with the Japanese army, the number of guns lost was also quite huge.
There is no way. The national army has not learned how to retreat on the battlefield since the day it was formed. It often retreats and retreats, and the troops disintegrate inexplicably. Although they have suffered repeated defeats, every defeat always turns into a rout in the end. , this problem was not corrected until the late period of the Anti-Japanese War. In the Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi, most of the troops were not defeated, but ran away.
Not to mention the light and heavy machine guns of these defeated troops, these relatively bulky weapons and equipment, even rifles, were also thrown everywhere. Even when the 115th Division was originally formed and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area was divided, one company was in one place. Hundreds of Czech-made light machine guns and Czech-style rifles abandoned by the 29th Army during its southward retreat were recovered.
The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region has grown from a few companies when it first divided its forces to more than thirty regiments now, with a main force of tens of thousands. It has made a lot of sense by collecting weapons discarded by the defeated army and civilian guns. Otherwise, relying solely on seizures and the meager output of one's own arsenal, even if an army is formed, there will be no weapons for use.
It is not too difficult to collect weapons by dispersing the various guerrilla units, but other supplies are not so easy. The local snakes will not let you easily gain a foothold on their territory, and although guns are not difficult, Yes, but ammunition is hard to come by.
Without ammunition, the gun in hand is not even as good as a fire stick. Do you still have food, military uniforms and all the necessary materials to maintain combat effectiveness? You need to make enough food and clothing by yourself. In order to survive and continue to fight the Japanese army, what can these troops do? All have been used.
In order to obtain urgently needed ammunition and funds, some troops even became kings of the mountains and engaged in kidnapping business. Of course, the kidnappers were not ordinary people, but the families of puppet officials and wealthy businessmen who had defected to the enemy and puppet forces. In a few years During the arduous struggle, the troops did grow stronger and their base areas expanded, but these troops also developed the habit of fighting independently and lacking effective cooperation.
This is better among the main forces and fist forces of each military region. After all, these troops, as the mobile forces of the military region, have always maintained their integrity, and their supplies are also uniformly provided by the military region. However, those troops are provided by the military divisions. This problem is particularly prominent in newly formed regiments and independent regiments promoted from regiments and local county brigades.
He raised his head and looked at the leading brigade commander in front of him, as well as other cadres above the regiment level. The old commander said in a serious tone: "I'm not complaining that you indulged the troops in independent activities in order to raise food and caused such serious losses to the troops. But think about it for yourself, the various determinations you made during the battle and the loopholes in your deployment."
"It is not a problem to raise food, but the troops below acted without permission. You, the brigade commander, not only failed to stop it after discovering it, but also did not adjust the deployment according to the situation. Instead, you maintained the original deployment unchanged, and even While you still have a regiment in your hands, you haven't increased the strength of your flanks."
"You are also a veteran of the Red Army, with rich experience in actual combat. In the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, you were also the commander of a military division responsible for a strategic direction. You should be very clear that the tasks that originally required a regiment were reduced to a battalion after the troop strength was reduced. We have to defend such a long cordon, and what will happen when we face a strong enemy?"
"Especially when the troops' physical strength and combat effectiveness decline extremely quickly due to food shortages, your entire flank is only equipped with a battalion of troops. This unit itself is neglected to be vigilant, and has formed a local strength advantage in the day. How long can we hold out under a sneak attack by the puppet army?"
"If the Japanese and puppet troops hadn't made their own mistakes after the successful sneak attack, once they ignored the harassment of our remaining troops and continued to forcefully advance towards your deep attack, you wouldn't even have time to mobilize your troops for a counterattack. This brigade will be completely defeated by others, and it is possible that the entire army may even be destroyed. As a brigade commander, can you still sit here and have a meeting now?"