As early as when the internal customs troops scheduled to leave the customs were changing uniforms, they had adopted quite strict confidentiality measures at the request of the central government. When most of the troops were changing uniforms, whenever possible, they were transferred to the same place as Shaanxi-Gansu. Ningbian District is only separated by a river from the Shanxi-Sui Military Region.
Even a considerable number of troops from the Taihang Military Region and the 129th Division who were scheduled to participate in the war simply transferred them back to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region for reloading because their activity range was relatively close to northern Shaanxi, so as to minimize the equipment transportation process. As for some of the equipment that needed to be transported, we also found ways to disguise it, and mobilized all underground connections to cover it during transportation.
Fortunately, the troops scheduled to participate in the war were all drawn from the Taihang and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei military regions, which are adjacent to the Shanxi-Sui Military Region. The amount of equipment that needs long-distance transportation is not too much. In addition, the Eighteenth Group Army itself has strict internal arrangements. According to the confidentiality regulations and methods, all the participating troops were not even noticed by the Japanese and puppet troops until they had all completed the change of uniforms.
At the same time, the troops who completed the reloading have been gathering and hiding in the deep mountains of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Beiyue region. The required food and materials are secretly gathered and secretly transported. All pre-war adaptability training is also placed in the mountainous areas. Before leaving the customs, we would never engage in any combat with the Japanese and puppet troops. When moving north, we also tried our best to march in mountainous areas and at night, avoiding all densely populated areas.
Fortunately, in the first half of this year, the Japanese and puppet troops in North China focused their main efforts on mopping up the National Army troops in the Zhongtiao Mountain area, as well as the Taiyue area adjacent to Zhongtiao Mountain, and the remaining troops in Taihang and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei areas. The number is not too large, and the remaining troops will focus mainly on the Jizhong Plain, which is the main grain-producing area, and pay insufficient attention to the Beiyue Mountains and Taihang Mountains.
Throughout the spring of this year, and even until the beginning of summer, the Japanese North China Front did not launch a large-scale raid on the mountainous areas. Even the small and medium-sized raids were limited to shallow mountainous areas and the number of times was limited. As a result, the troops of the two major military regions were gathering There was not much disturbance during the changeover process.
The internal troops themselves adopted strict confidentiality measures, and the Soviet Union could not make trouble by publicizing major events. The Anti-Japanese Alliance airlifted how many weapons and ammunition to Yan'an through its own territory and occupied Outer Mongolia. The focus of the Japanese military's strategic objectives shifted in the first half of the year.
Therefore, before the advancing army broke through the Japanese and puppet blockade at the Great Wall, even the intelligence department of the North China Front of the Japanese army, which claimed to be all-pervasive, did not find out that their opponent had a completely new look at this time. It was no longer the one with broken equipment, guns and no ammunition. The army is not only well-equipped, but also has considerable artillery.
Although the amount of equipment and ammunition of the advancing army has long been surpassed by Wu Xia Amon, not to mention Yasuhiro Takada, the senior combat staff officer of the Independent Ninth Guards, even the North China Front Army, which was originally directly responsible for fighting against the Eighteenth Group Army in Guannai, has After the advance army was fully deployed, it was not clear where the Tuba Road got the equipment and ammunition.
Although after the advance army was fully deployed, both the Kwantung Army and the North China Front Army somewhat guessed that the Anti-Japanese Alliance transferred it to the Eighteenth Army in North China, how much equipment and ammunition was transferred to the Eighteenth Army in North China, and by what means. , still don’t know anything.
There is no way that the Kwantung Army lost too much weapons, equipment and ammunition during its previous operations against the Allied Forces, especially in the key areas of northern Manchuria that were originally the focus of the war against the Soviet Union. Now they have all been lost. The weapons and ammunition stored there, especially There are not many small arms and ammunition that can be rushed out.
Although Qiqihar, one of the most important transportation hubs in the North Manchuria region, had several arms warehouses bombed before it was destroyed, other areas were not so lucky. Harbin alone was destroyed due to the Anti-League raid. , more than ten arms and material warehouses were lost, and a large amount of materials and equipment fell into the hands of the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
According to the information currently available to the Kwantung Army, there are more than 30,000 brand-new Type 38 rifles, more than 2,000 light and heavy machine guns, Type 11 infantry cannons and Type 92 infantry cannons in stock in Harbin. , there are hundreds of Type 41 mountain guns and various mortars. Although the number of artillery shells is not large, the quantity of small arms ammunition and other supplies is huge.
Not counting all kinds of artillery, the light weapons among them are enough to equip more than 50,000 people. If the Anti-Japanese Alliance transfers all this equipment to the pass, then it is entirely possible for the entire 18th Army in the pass to replace shotguns with cannons. If together with Adding all the equipment discarded by the Kwantung Army last year, the quantity is enough to re-equip the entire Eighteenth Army in North China.
However, these are just speculations of the Japanese army. There is currently no way to confirm it. The Japanese army, who did not expect that Yang Zhen would spare no effort and use all the transport aircraft that can fly to transport equipment to the pass, can only guess, because even if they think that their national power far exceeds The whole of China, let alone the Anti-Japanese Alliance that only occupies a corner of Jiangbei, does not have the courage to spend such a high price to transport such a large amount of equipment by air.
Therefore, the Japanese army is still unable to further judge what method the Anti-Japanese Alliance adopted to transport this equipment all the way to the hinterland of China. The Japanese army also does not know how much role the Soviets played in this, because they are hidden in China. Spies within the government have clearly told them that all Soviet equipment transportation to China has been stopped.
Since the beginning of this year, except for a small amount of oil, not a single rifle or bullet has been transported into China through the Soviet aid route. After the Soviet-German war broke out, the only oil transportation was also terminated. However, Although they did not obtain any effective intelligence, the Japanese thought that it would be crazy if the Eighteenth Army in North China could get so much new equipment without any trace of the Soviets among them.
It's just that because of the special characteristics of Yan'an and the tight security, the Japanese have been unable to achieve effective results in infiltrating Yan'an. In addition to knowing from the battlefield that there are anti-Japanese aircraft in Yan'an, they basically have all the other effective information. They have never been able to get a clue of even the most basic personnel activities.
It is already public information that the boss has been transferred back to Yan'an and has appeared in public many times. However, the intelligence system of the North China Front Army still shows that the commander-in-chief is still in the Taihang Mountains. What the deputy commander-in-chief and other senior generals who commanded the operations look like are still a mess. As for the abilities of these senior generals, I have been dealing with them for many years, but my understanding is still limited.
So how did the Anti-Japanese Alliance transport this equipment all the way from the Northeast to the hinterland of China with a large number of Japanese-occupied areas across the middle? When did the advancing troops currently participating in the war, that is, the original North China Communist Army The Japanese army can only guess at this key information regarding the change of equipment.
It's just that although it's still unclear how his opponent went from a low-income family to a nouveau riche all of a sudden, with Yasuhiro Takada's ability, he can still see at a glance the biggest weakness of the current advance, that is, unless a decisive victory is achieved. Victory, through the means of seizure, a large number of weapons and ammunition were seized.
Otherwise, the advancing army, which is currently alone and without rear supplies and without a stable source of ammunition, will still be unable to sustain a long-term operation after depleting its reserves. Now that they are far away from the so-called base area, even the original ammunition of extremely poor quality It is difficult to obtain loaded bullets, because it is impossible for them to carry a large arsenal on their backs for long-distance marches and operations.
From what is known so far about the means of transportation possessed by the advancing army, the troops of the 18th Group Army, who are used to suffering and have never known what it means to fight with open ammunition in battle, used the All available means are used to carry ammunition, and even each regiment allocates a battalion to carry ammunition. Even some troops do not need luggage and food, and they must carry as much ammunition as possible. After the expansion of Rehe, each Each regiment retains a certain amount of ammunition reserves.
Yasuhiro Takada, who also calculated based on the Japanese army's ammunition carrying capacity, as well as ammunition consumption and transportation standards, also speculated that under the circumstances of long-distance marches and the need to pass through the Japanese blockade, they could not carry too much ammunition at one time. Because in the absence of transportation means, the number of people carried is limited unless they can be sure that they will not encounter unexpected situations along the way.
It's just that although there are errors on the basis of judgment, in other directions, this guy's judgment is still quite good, and he can even see the real weakness of the advancing army itself at a glance. In his opinion, although the current situation is very Marching on the Tubal Road is no longer the same as in the past with guns and bullets.
However, in the eyes of Yasuhiro Takada, these troops who do not have a complete industrial base and can only rely on manual operations to reload some bullets, or rely on a small amount of ammunition seized on the battlefield, still cannot sustain long-term combat consumption. If they were originally A certain amount of supplements can be obtained from the Resistance Alliance, and the situation of equipment and ammunition has been greatly improved.
However, the current Jehol battlefield is not connected to other battlefields. Even though it is close to the Linxi battlefield and can support each other on the surface, the Linxi battlefield is fighting fiercely with the 23rd Division, and it is also alone. The anti-alliance forces who are deep in combat are unable to provide them with support, at least for now, especially in terms of ammunition.
It seems that unless there is a fundamental change in the battlefield situation in Western Manchuria, the possibility of this so-called advancing army being able to obtain a steady stream of supplies is very low, and this situation is basically impossible at present. For the current situation Yasuhiro Takada is still very clear about the situation on the entire Western Manchuria battlefield.
Although he did not know why the Kwantung Army Headquarters did not increase reinforcements to the 23rd Division, in order to take advantage of the main force of the Anti-Alliance on the central battlefield and be dragged into a stalemate, and defeat the Anti-Alliance roundabout troops in Western Manchuria in one fell swoop, completely solving the current situation. All the problems of the Western Manchurian battlefield.
But one thing he stubbornly believes is that the so-called roundabout detachment of the Anti-Japanese Alliance has extremely slim hope of defeating the 23rd Division in a short period of time, which has solid fortifications to rely on, and the Western Manchuria battlefield cannot achieve a decisive victory. Victory will not open the land lines of communication. In addition to relying on the ammunition on hand to fight, these advancing troops will not be able to obtain any supplements from the outside world.
As a senior combat staff officer and a graduate of Army University, Yasuhiro Takada knows very well that after a war, the ammunition consumed is astronomical, and there is no stable military production in the rear to provide sufficient and continuous supplies for the troops fighting in the front. No matter how brave the troops are in fighting, they do not have the ability to continue fighting. Their current offensive is at best a one-shot deal.