Having said this, Yoshimoto Teiichi took the Anti-Union standard automatic rifle that Tanaka Shinichi had been playing with before. After removing the magazine from the gun, he took out the bullets and placed them on the table. Although it is not unusual for the new light machine gun equipped to use the Soviet-Russian 7.62mm Mosin-Nagun ammunition, it can also obtain certain supplements not only from the Soviet Russia behind it, but also from the Chinese government."
“Since the outbreak of the China Incident, in order to achieve its strategic goals, Soviet Russia has given the Chinese government a lot of military assistance. In addition to the aircraft, tanks and artillery that are most urgently needed by the Chinese government forces, Soviet-made rifles and light and heavy machine guns are also A large number of these Soviet-made arms are mostly equipped to the most elite troops of the Central Army of China. The Chinese government will not replenish these elite equipment with the Communist Army, which was their sworn enemy before the outbreak of the China Incident. .”
"So we don't think that among the armed forces of various factions in China, the Chongqing government, which has the largest amount of this kind of ammunition and has the ability to produce it on its own, will give them a certain amount of supplements. Even if we take a step back, Chongqing will launch this operation We have to supply them with a certain amount of ammunition, but neither Chongqing nor Yan'an are capable of supplying them with the ammunition they need through the imperial blockades."
"And judging from the current internal political situation in China, Chongqing, which claims that the Central Army cannot provide sufficient supplies, will never send a single shot or bullet to Yan'an, even if there are a small amount of Soviet-style light weapons and ammunition used by Chongqing. Ammunition flowed into the hands of the Communist army, but the quantity was definitely not enough to sustain a campaign."
"In addition to the Soviet-style Mosinagan bullets required for machine guns, the most common 7.62 mm x 39 short bullets they are equipped with are also not available in any country in the world. So far, except for The Empire has not found this ammunition in any army other than their own use."
"Even among the Soviet and Russian armies using the same caliber, similar ammunition with an effective range of only four hundred meters has not been found. In other words, except for their own production, they have no way to use any means. , to obtain this necessary ammunition from outside their so-called base area."
"And this kind of rifle is their common equipment. Coupled with the extremely fast rate of fire, the daily ammunition consumption is huge. If we say that with a base of 120 rounds of bullets, an imperial soldier can last two days of fighting, then in After using this kind of rifle, one hundred and twenty rounds of ammunition can only last for one day, or even half a day."
"Although this rifle has basically achieved an effective combination of fire rate and accuracy through improved ammunition. Although the range has dropped to only half of the manual rifles used by the empire, it is not intolerable, and this rifle has a range of 400 meters. The internal accuracy is quite good. Although it is not as good as our Type 38 rifle, it is at least not inferior to the Soviet Union’s Mosinagan rifle and the medium-sized rifles used by the Chinese government forces.”
"And they use this unique ammunition not only for individual rifles, but also for their so-called squad machine guns. According to their standards, each infantry squad is also equipped with a squad machine gun equipped with a drum magazine. , this kind of machine gun also has the same problem."
"Among the ammunition used by infantry, rifles and light machine guns are the largest consumers. Once the supply source of ammunition is lost, its basic combat troops will lose most of their combat effectiveness. You must know that infantry, as the main component of an army's combat troops, Once the combat effectiveness is lost, the threat is far more dangerous than the artillery without artillery shells. If the artillery has no artillery shells, the infantry can still continue to fight, but if the infantry has no ammunition, then I am afraid that even the most basic combat effectiveness cannot be maintained."
"There is also the 57mm direct-aiming artillery that they put into use in this battle. The equipment is huge. We have also not found similar weapons and ammunition in other countries. The 14mm direct-aiming artillery they are equipped with Large-caliber machine guns and this kind of ammunition are not used by any army except their own."
"Not to mention their allies in North China, they do not have decent military industrial capabilities to support their operations. Even if they do, the 79 bullets and imperial standard 65 bullets they mainly use cannot be used on their light weapons. This means , they can only rely on themselves to replenish all the supplies, especially ammunition, needed for their operations southward."
"Coupled with the general-purpose machine guns, portable machine guns, various large-caliber machine guns, and various caliber mortars and artillery, one of its combat divisions, not counting all the personnel, only consumes ammunition every day. The amount reached hundreds of tons. You must know that almost everyone in this anti-Japanese armed force that has hardened its body is equipped with light weapons."
"The style of this army is very unique. Although their weapons have a strong Soviet-Russian style, the weapons they equip should be developed by themselves, and these weapons are not available in other countries. And they are very particular about infantry firepower, and all weapons are basically automatic weapons."
"In order to improve the firepower of the infantry, they put a lot of thought into it. When the firearms could not be strengthened, they turned their brains to ammunition. Although the effective range was reduced by half, as infantrymen, we should It is clear that the effective range of four hundred meters is enough."
"But a high rate of fire means high ammunition consumption. As long as the supply line is lost, the rifle in their hands will become a pile of scrap metal without any source of ammunition. When the ammunition cannot be replenished from other sources, When fighting far away from the rear, ensuring the amount of ammunition for these infantry's basic weapons becomes something they must solve."
"That is to say, whether they are willing or not, in order to maintain their most basic combat capabilities, they must maintain a long supply line. And if they go south to try to open up a communication line with the hinterland of China, judging from the empire's troop deployment in North China, Then the scale of the troops they invest will be no less than any battle in Manchuria."
"Judging from their current total number of troops, this will inevitably affect their deployment of troops in the rear. Even if these troops of their so-called advancing army are integrated into the Anti-Japanese Alliance, they will not be able to play a big role. This means that they This supply line, which will be quite long by then, will be extremely fragile."
As long as we are willing to concentrate our forces to carry out a large-scale sweep, we can cut off their supplies at any time. Once we cut off the supply line, their southward troops will be in a desperate situation because they cannot count on their allies in the hinterland of China. We will provide them with any help in terms of supplies."
Yoshimoto put down the bullet in his hand and looked at the expressionless Major General Tanaka Shinichi after hearing his words. After a few glances, he ignored whether he listened to his words and continued: "In addition to ammunition, In addition, there are so many tanks, the daily gasoline consumption of the cars, and the food supplements required by tens of thousands of horses, which is a heavy burden."
"As for its so-called allies within the customs, it is impossible and has no conditions to provide them with the ammunition, gasoline, and various materials necessary for combat. Even if they may rely on the rear to supply the least food, the communist army in North China is also very difficult. It’s difficult to provide sufficient quantities.”
"During the multiple sweeps launched by our North China Front Army last winter and this spring, the so-called base areas of the Communist Army in North China have suffered heavy losses, especially after losing the richest Jizhong Plain. Judging from the current situation of the barren mountainous areas, I am afraid that we will not be able to provide them with sufficient food supplements."
"The farther away any army's combat area is from the location where it can provide supplies, the faster its combat capabilities will decline, and the lower its logistical support capabilities will be to maintain combat needs. At the beginning of the China Incident, the empire was attacking Nanjing. At that time, there were many incidents where supplies were cut off, which affected operations."
"At the beginning of the China Incident, during the Nanjing pursuit and attack battles, the battlefield was basically close to the Yangtze River. The Central China Expeditionary Army took advantage of the empire's absolute advantage in the navy and could use water transportation to supply the Central China Expeditionary Army, even though it faced so many predicament, then they can only rely on poor roads for supplies, and the difficulty can be imagined."
"On the battlefield in China, there have been many occasions when we had to give up the planned combat objectives due to supply reasons. However, the supply capabilities of the imperial army are still far beyond those of the so-called resistance alliance. The follow-up combat support is obviously not comparable to that of these so-called anti-Japanese armed forces, and even their Chinese government does not have this capability."
"In addition, the opponent they face when going south is the North China Front Army, which has completed the clearing of the China Army in Zhongtiao Mountain and is now free. And its so-called North China Anti-Japanese Base Area has been destroyed by the North China Front Army's many major battles since the beginning of this spring. After the raids, we were no longer able to cooperate with them in fighting."
"And without taking over Liaoxi, their entire operational depth in Western Manchuria is quite narrow. Once their main force moves southward, if the Kwantung Army attacks westward from Shenyang, it will easily be able to wipe out their entire The strategic deployment is divided into two to completely cut off its already fragile supply line."
"The North China Front has deployed several elite divisions in Hebei and Shanxi, and it controls the Jinpu, northern section of the Pinghan Line, Zhengtai, Tongpu, Pingsui and other railway lines. Once it goes south, the imperial army can completely Use the modern means of transportation at your disposal to mobilize reinforcements in the shortest possible time."
"So if they are really preparing to go south, then facing the many elite divisions of our North China Front Army, the number of troops they send will definitely not be small, and based on the current so-called total number of troops, a considerable number of them will be left behind. With the strength of our Kwantung Army under control, there will definitely not be too many troops left behind them."
"It is true that the main forces of the two major bases of the Communist Army in North China have already moved northward, but judging from the current performance on the battlefield, this part of the Communist Army is far from comparable to their comrades in the Northeast in terms of combat effectiveness and equipment. Moreover, its senior commanders obviously lack experience in frontal combat with our army, and their synthetic combat command capabilities are also extremely unfamiliar."
"If they want to fight head-on with our Kwantung Army, they will not be able to truly enter the battlefield without long-term training. Therefore, although there are many enemy forces in this part, we can just send a small number of troops to monitor them. However, it does not involve much of our energy, so once they go south, they will leave a fatal weakness behind them, which is their supply line."