Three hundred and eleventh chapters repeat the past
The huge number of tanks and trucks currently on the battlefield in northern Shanxi are all oil-drinking tigers. Although the amount of oil seized in Guisui is quite large, under such huge consumption, the inventory is declining very quickly. And the average daily consumption
The amount also exceeded Chen Hanzhang's original judgment.
The huge consumption of oil every day, in the words of the boss, makes people feel frightened just looking at the consumption report without going to the warehouse to see it every day. And as the front moves southward, the daily oil consumption
It's still increasing.
Under the increasing consumption, the oil that had been responsible for the main oil supply in the northern Shanxi battlefield was now running out of oil seized in Guisui. When Yang Jicai moved to Taiyuan City, only half of the oil and aviation fuel seized were transferred
In addition to being used as reserves in northern Shaanxi, the actual number transferred to the battlefield in northern Shanxi is not very large.
And the most important thing is that the amount of diesel required for the T-34 tanks is very small. Only a hundred tanks were seized in Guisui, and no diesel was seized in Taiyuan. Although the amount of fuel seized there was large, it was all gasoline and aviation
Fuel. All the fuel required by this kind of tank itself depends on transportation from the rear.
There are still some reserves of gasoline, but they cannot last long. There is only a reserve of 150 tons of diesel fuel, which cannot even meet the needs of the troops for one day. The original method was to support the war with war and partially solve the problem through seizures.
, it is now difficult to operate. And the amount of urgently needed aviation fuel shipped from the rear has now dropped to half of what it was before.
Most of the transportation force is now used to transport more needed food. Even so, the need for food can only barely meet the requirements. At present, in order to ensure the supply of the battlefield in northern Shanxi, the headquarters has reached the point where it is at all costs. In addition,
Chen Hanzhang is very aware of the pressure on the logistics department due to the loading of ammunition and the increased amount of fuel transportation.
Although he didn't know how much fuel the headquarters had stored before the war, Chen Hanzhang knew that the headquarters' inventory must be running low now. Otherwise, there would be no call on the 1st. In order to ensure the supply of ammunition, fuel and food for the northern Shanxi battlefield, the headquarters
The Northeastern battlefield has gradually begun to reduce combat intensity, and most battlefields have switched from offense to defense.
Except for the operations around Siping Street, combat operations have even been suspended across the board in Dongman. All troops on the battlefield in Dongman have been transferred to a defensive posture. As for the advancing army's offensive in Chanan, in addition to the siege of Zhangjiakou,
Other directions also began to gradually weaken.
What kind of troops are the newly added 10th Division transferred this time? The two battalions of the headquarters guard regiment, the guard troops of the own armored training bases, the guard troops of the artillery and aviation training bases, plus the current headquarters
The only mobile engineering corps in hand.
This shows that the effective strength in the hands of the headquarters has basically been exhausted now, and it can no longer provide additional troops. Otherwise, the headquarters would not have switched from offense to defense in the Northeast battlefield before achieving the intended combat purpose.
Part of the front line has been turned to defense.
Judging from the current situation of the entire battlefield, it should be time to speed up the battle process and put the end of the battle on the agenda. But Chen Hanzhang also knew that they would not give up the counterattack in a short time unless the Japanese army was completely hurt.
Thinking about northern Shanxi, the battlefield in northern Shanxi will not be stable for a day.
In this case, Sui Changqing intervened and launched a counterattack against the main force of the 21st Division in Ying County. Although it caused a certain passivity in the overall layout, it was not necessarily a bad thing. As long as he was defeated and served as the main attacker,
With these two divisions, the Japanese counterattack was completely disintegrated.
Especially the 21st Division, which was supporting the middle of the battlefield in northern Shanxi, once it was defeated, it would mean that the connection between the two wings of the Japanese army had been cut off. Therefore, Chen Hanzhang did not intend to hold Sui Changqing responsible for his unauthorized attack. On the contrary,
According to the progress of the war situation, some of his troops were increased.
Since Yi Liangpin could not mobilize troops, he allocated the most urgently needed tank troops from Du Kaishan's battlefield in northeastern Shanxi to allow him to completely eliminate the enemy forces in front of Yingxian County in the shortest possible time.
In Mayi and Zhangzhuang front lines, the progress of the war also accelerated.
Chen Hanzhang has made up his mind to completely defeat these two Japanese divisions before the arrival of the Japanese Fifteenth Division and subsequent reinforcements. That is to deter any possible follow-up troops from the Japanese army, and at the same time speed up the process of the battle.
Be prepared to end this battle.
Although he is also very clear that this will bring some troubles to the counter-mopping up and operations in the Taihang and Jinsui regions. Especially the inability to contain the 15th Division will bring considerable trouble to the operations in the Taihang and Jinsui regions.
pressure. However, under the current unsustainable situation of logistics and military strength, he believed that it was more appropriate to defeat these two divisions and terminate the battle.
After completing all deployment adjustments, Chen Hanzhang drafted a telegram to the headquarters. He gave a detailed report on his determination and considerations, especially the thoughts and intentions of terminating the battle, as well as the possible consequences.
Chen Hanzhang's report was quite detailed.
After receiving Chen Hanzhang's telegram, Yang Zhen did not reply immediately. Instead, after repeated deliberation, solving these two Japanese divisions first would have an impact on the war situation. In particular, ending the Northern Shanxi campaign early would have consequences for other directions on the Shanxi battlefield.
After the danger came, Yang Zhen finally approved Chen Hanzhang's suggestion.
However, Yang Zhen requested that after solving these two divisions, Mu Changqiu's troops deployed in Nao County should immediately go west to join the battlefield in northwest Shanxi. Speed up the settlement of the Zuojian detachment to prevent the Japanese army from going north to regain northern Shanxi.
Under such circumstances, he turned around and entered the battlefield in northwest Shanxi.
And ordered Chen Hanzhang to find a way to mobilize all available forces to speed up the repair, widening and lengthening of Datong Airport. Now it is too late to convert it into a concrete runway. However, the take-off conditions must be as heavy as possible.
Conditions for the take-off and landing of bombers. At the same time, the security and air defense work of Datong Airport will be strengthened to prepare for the take-off and landing of bombers.
After drafting the order to Chen Hanzhang, Yang Zhen personally called the Air Force Headquarters and ordered all its B-17 heavy bombers currently stationed in Western Manchuria to be ready for attack at any time. Except for the air force supporting the Taihang District operation, the rest
All bombers and attack aircraft currently use high-yield bombs and napalm bombs.
After sending the telegram to Chen Hanzhang, Yang Zhen walked to the map and looked at the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the Northeast battlefield. He was silent for a long time before saying to Guo Bingxun next to him: "Lao Guo, do you think we should be ready now on the Northeast battlefield?"
Shift to a full-line defense posture?”
In response to Yang Zhen's question, Guo Bingxun pondered for a moment and then said: "If we follow our current material reserves and soldier recruitment, we should switch to defense not only in the Northeast but also on the entire front. But the current situation, no matter which one
Neither side can stop the offensive. In the Northeast battlefield, even if you grit your teeth, you must persevere."
"On the 1st, our remaining fuel reserves, based on the current daily consumption, can last for at most half a month. Since the launch of this campaign, we have received a total of two thousand tons of fuel from foreign aid. And these two
Considering our current consumption, one thousand tons of fuel is basically a drop in the bucket."
"What's more, since the battle started, the external fuel we have received is mainly aviation gasoline. The rest is mostly diesel. The gasoline actually used for vehicles and gasoline tanks basically relies on
They are all our reserves before the war."
"Because there are enough railway lines as the backbone transportation force in the Northeastern battlefield, the intensity of automobile use is far from that of the Western Front. The current amount of fuel consumed is generally not too large. Except for the consumption of our fuel in the Northern Shanxi battlefield
Except for the largest one, most of the rest are consumed in transporting supplies to the battlefield in northern Shanxi."
"The hundreds of kilometers of supply lines from northern Shanxi to Tongliao are like a bottomless pit, constantly devouring our fuel reserves. Coupled with the poor road conditions, the roads were muddy in the spring of the previous spring, which further increased our fuel reserves.
Consumption. Either we get a lot of assistance in a short period of time, or we can only give up cars, tanks and other mechanized equipment now."
"In addition, since the launch of the campaign, the troops have been fighting continuously for nearly two months without any rest or replenishment. Not counting the huge number of casualties, the front-line combat troops are already extremely tired. Moreover, our troops are on various battlefields.
, there is no longer a fully-staffed division. Not counting the troops that have been withdrawn for replenishment, the current front-line combat troops generally only have 70%, or even half have only 50% strength."
"This does not include the consumption of ammunition and the loss of other equipment. The inventory of artillery shells, especially the inventory of heavy artillery shells, is running low. Several tank shells, except for the British 40mm shells,
The remaining artillery shell reserves have been exhausted. In particular, there is a lack of 45mm, 76mm, and 50mm high-explosive grenades."
"The Japanese army has very few tanks and armor left on the battlefield. Our tanks mainly face the Japanese infantry and various fortification groups. Without high-explosive grenades, our tanks can only crush and ram.
tactics. Or use vehicle-mounted machine guns to destroy enemy troops."
"The situation we are facing now is that the reason why we terminated the battle last year is very likely to happen again this year. From this point of view, we have now reached the point where we have to switch to defense across the board. But the current battle situation requires us to
This last breath must not be relaxed."
"In the Northeastern battlefield, as long as other battles continue, our offensive cannot be slowed down, but even strengthened. If we switch to defense in advance, the Japanese base camp is likely to transfer reinforcements from the Northeastern battlefield to reinforce the North China battlefield. That way
The war between Chanan and Northern Shanxi battlefields is likely to be delayed indefinitely."
"Once the war in northern Shanxi and southern Shanxi drags on, it will be a real disaster for us. Needless to say, if it drags on for a month, our supply line on the western front will be completely collapsed. And the base areas in the pass have already been
If we are unable to afford our army's supplies, or are unable to afford our army's supplies at all, once the supply line completely collapses, our army will collapse without a fight on the battlefield in northern Shanxi."
"Without guns and artillery, we can use bayonets. But without food, our troops will completely collapse from hunger, let alone fighting or marching. The collapse of the most critical battlefield in northern Shanxi will cause a series of chain reactions.
It is even possible that all the achievements of our army on the Western Front will be in vain. It will even involve the Advance Army and the Shanxi-Sui Military Region, as well as other base areas in North China."
"For the Japanese army, Southern Manchuria is far more important than northern Shanxi. As long as our army maintains the momentum of attack on the Northeast battlefield, the Japanese army, which has also reached its maximum strength, will still have to ensure the success of Southern Manchuria.
Under such circumstances, it will be difficult to deploy too many troops to reinforce the North China battlefield, so that we can avoid the risk of prolonging the war on the Western Front."