Chapter 122: The Difference Between Inside and Outside the Pass
Having said this, the commander clicked on the location of Zhangjiakou on the map and said: "So we must not only be prepared for the Japanese troops in Rehe, but also prevent the Japanese troops behind us in Chahar from reinforcing eastward. Little devil Although the 26th Division, the main force of the Mongolian garrison, is stationed in the direction of Datong, they still have an independent mixed second brigade and a cavalry group with two cavalry brigades in Zhangjiakou."
"Especially this cavalry group, with its extremely strong maneuverability and good equipment, poses a great threat to our army. We only have four cavalry regiments on hand, two of which were formed after the departure. Not to mention that the combat effectiveness is far from being formed. , but the current horses are not fully equipped, and these two regiments cannot be used for the time being, so we can only use two old cavalry regiments."
"But fortunately, we have favorable terrain to take advantage of in the direction of Duolun. In this way, we can allocate and strengthen a brigade of one or two regiments along the mountainous areas from Duolun to Paddock, and build fortifications along the way for accurate defense. At the same time, the headquarters will have two more To the strength of three brigades, as a mobile force."
"The terrain of Rexi is mainly mountainous, and the dividing line between the upper and lower dams is very obvious. Our location is at the junction of the remaining veins of the Yanshan Mountains and the remaining veins of the Daxingan Mountains under the dam. Although it cannot be said that the mountains are high and the forests are dense, But it suits the characteristics of our army’s operations.”
"Once the Japanese cavalry group of the Mongolian garrison stationed in Zhangjiakou is dispatched, the terrain of this generation is our army's biggest advantage. In mountain warfare, the cavalry will still not be able to play its role. As long as we are well prepared, we will not Without the ability to defeat the Japanese army, wouldn't the vanguard brigade have fought very well in the first battle?"
"On this kind of terrain, we can give full play to our expertise in mountain warfare. To put it bluntly, we are at a disadvantage on this kind of terrain. That is really an eighty-year-old woman who is overstretching her child. I still say the same thing, Let’s make more use of our own strengths in battle.”
"Make more use of the terrain to set up ambushes, concentrate troops and firepower, and attack the enemy flexibly. I think as long as we implement these points to the end and get sufficient food supplies, we can win another battle in Jehol. At least the Japanese and puppet troops in Rehe are restrained from going north to reinforce the 23rd Division to ensure the follow-up operations of the Anti-Union comrades."
Regarding the relatively experienced deployment of the old commander, the political commissar who also had both military and political skills thought for a while, then nodded and said: "I think it's absolutely fine. Your deployment is already thorough enough, and I don't have anything to strengthen." Yes, but the chief of staff should not go. The war is about to be complicated and you need him to assist you in the deployment of the troops. It is better to choose another cadre to lead the team, but you must choose it well."
But as soon as the political commissar's voice fell, the deputy commander and chief of staff of the advancing army next to him did not speak, but the chief of staff of a brigade who came to participate in the meeting stood up and said: "Two chiefs, for the commander I have no opinion on the overall deployment, but I would like to add a few points in view of the current situation."
"Commander, political commissar, when I was in the Northeast, I had dealt with these puppet Manchukuo military police for a long time. I know more about them. I can provide some supplements. In the first battle, we can say that our victory was relatively lucky. The victory in the first battle was relatively lucky. The second battle is the real comparison of the combat effectiveness between us and the puppet Manchukuo army. These puppet Manchu army are absolutely different from the imperial association army and security army in the pass."
Seeing the man standing up, the commander and the political commissar, two experienced veterans, far from being angry, actually said with interest: "Okay, what do you think? We really want to hear it. After all, you anti-Union comrades have been dealing with the Kwantung Army and the Puppet Manchukuo Army much longer than we have, and you know them better than we do, so I’ll let you explain.”
When the two bosses said this, the man who had just had the audacity to interrupt the conversation between the two chiefs felt a little embarrassed. He scratched his head, stood up and said, "I don't have any opinion, but the two chiefs are right. I I just wanted to come up with some additional suggestions based on some of the experiences we gained from long-term battles with the Kwantung Army and the Puppet Manchukuo Army in the Northeast."
"But two chiefs, when I was working in the Anti-Japanese Alliance, my superiors always required us as chiefs of staff to complete our homework on the map with our own ideas at the same time when analyzing and making judgments. Look at me Can you describe my thoughts on the map so that I can explain it in more detail?"
This chief of staff of the vanguard brigade who was so bold and dared to interrupt the conversation between the commander and the political commissar who were discussing matters above was the former Third Division who was selected by the Anti-Japanese Federation to work in the Guan Nei army and led a group of backbones selected from the Anti-Japanese League to assist in the training of the Guan Nei army. Deputy Chief of Staff Lin Zhiqiang.
Lin Zhiqiang was one of the first batch of cadres of the Third Route Army to be merged into the Jidong Military Region, the predecessor of the Northeast Military Region. He served as a company commander when he was in the Third Route Army, and actually served as the director of the regiment political department as a political commissar. He has rich practical experience and is capable of fighting against the enemy. He is also more determined and is a rare commander with both military and political capabilities.
On the eve of the Western Expedition, he was seriously injured and stayed in the Xiajiang area to recuperate. Later, along with Gao Yumin, the current director of the political department of the field army, and the remaining troops, he was integrated into the independent division of the Jidong Military Region at that time. In the independent division, he served as battalion commander and brigade commander. The deputy section chief of the Combat Training Section and the section chief of the Third Section of the Operations Division of the Military Region Headquarters were transferred to the Fifth Division as deputy chief of staff before the battle last summer in order to strengthen the staff strength of each division.
He had studied in high school for one year before joining the army. He was one of the few senior intellectuals among the army's mid-level cadres. In addition, he had rich practical experience. Yang Zhen and Guo Bingxun were the first to serve in the Military Region Training Team that year. The most proud disciple among the second batch of students.
Not only is he rich in actual combat experience, he also has excellent military quality. Under the painstaking training of Yang Zhen and Guo Bingxun, he has a very high level of formulation of combined tactics at the division level and regiment-level combat command. The most important thing is that he is very capable. What's more, during the long period of fighting against the puppet Manchukuo military and police, they developed rich combat experience against the puppet Manchukuo military and police.
When Yang Zhen entered the Customs last year and studied with the central government this year's plan to cooperate inside and outside the customs and open up communication lines inside and outside the customs, in accordance with the requirements of the central government, a group of grassroots cadres and squad leaders with rich practical experience and excellent military quality were transferred from the Anti-Japanese Alliance. When the Sekiguchi troops are scheduled to be deployed as tactical basic instructors in the Sekitsu combat troops.
He was selected by Guo Bingxun as the team's chief instructor because he ranked first in the staff major and regiment-level combat combined tactics in various tests last winter. If he had not been transferred to the customs, he would have been appointed as the new leader. He served as deputy division commander and chief of staff of the 18th Division.
Later, due to the request of the central government, he and the personnel transferred from the Anti-Japanese Federation stayed in the newly formed Hebei Reliao Advance Army to work. After the advance army was reorganized, he was specially appointed by the new commander as the Chief of Staff of the Forerunner Brigade. , taking advantage of his familiarity with the strategies and tactics of the Kwantung Army and the Puppet Manchukuo Army, as well as his innate advantage of being familiar with the cadres at all levels of the Anti-Japanese Alliance through long-term work in the Anti-Japanese Alliance, to open the way for the entire army.
In fact, although Lin Zhiqiang is highly valued by his superiors, he still has a lot of anger that he can't get out. It turned out that when he was a tactics instructor, things were better, and he trained the company platoon commanders and combat backbones of the Guan Nei army in rotation. Although I was a little tired at work, the work went smoothly, and the squad leaders also listened.
Although they somewhat complained about their orders due to the heavy training, their obedience was relatively good. After all, the discipline was there, and these people also knew that these things could save their lives on the battlefield, but they could not resist The basic infantry tactics used by the alliance are completely different from those of the customs troops.
They are all tactics such as one point and two sides, three-by-three system, four groups and one team, four fast and one slow, company-level attack and defense deployment, firepower arrangement, and the use of squad tactics. These tactics have never been heard of by the internal troops before. The original form of a skirmish line attack was completely abandoned.
Instead, each combat squad uses a combat mode of alternating cover, frontal assault, and two-wing penetration. Even when a squad attack is launched, cover and attack groups must be assigned. These tactics allow those who originally had no priority during the attack. , the company and platoon squad leader who frequently attacked with all his troops felt extremely fresh, and at the same time he also understood that these tactics would greatly reduce their casualty rate in future battles.
Therefore, although these people are tired due to too much training, they are still very motivated to learn. Of course, for some cadres with low educational levels, the identification of compass and map is a headache for them. Yes, the arrangement of company and platoon-level defensive tactical fortifications for different terrains also gave them a headache.
But ever since he became the chief of staff of this brigade, he has been feeling frustrated because his suggestions were not recognized by others, or no one listened to his words at all. At work, he felt that as the chief of staff, he Rather than being the chief of staff, he is better described as the general manager.
In addition to coordinating the food, drinking, sleeping, sleeping, etc. of the troops, which was originally the responsibility of the logistics minister, he also trained most of the staff officers at the brigade headquarters who did not even know how to do basic tactical sandboxes. He also acted as a senior herald, connecting the two military and political leaders. Tasks assigned by officials are passed down from one level to the next.
The rest of the work is basically nothing. As for the formation of troops, training arrangements, and formulation of combat plans that the chief of staff is responsible for daily during the Anti-Japanese War, he, the chief of staff, basically has no right to interfere. These matters are within the customs. The military commander has the final say in the army, and the political commissar sometimes intervenes.
The brigade commanders and political commissars of various units within the pass, including commanders at the regiment level, direct operations more based on their past habits and experience. The long-term operations without supplies and disparity in equipment have made most of these cadres develop The habit of relying on one’s past experience to fight.
Even since crossing the Yellow River eastward, they need to establish their own bases and living space. The military commanders of the Guan Nei army are more independent, which means that they have to have the final say on everything. When encountering some powerful military commanders, Not to mention the opinions of his chief of staff, even the opinions of the political commissar were not listened to.
As for staff work, they generally do not take it seriously, let alone take advantage of it. Some cadres even do not believe in any analysis of the battle situation at all, and only trust their own intuition, except for some high-level headquarters and some troops. , most of the army's staff work is done by things that are basically irrelevant to the actual work.