Chapter 436: The twenty-ninth division that slipped away
"As for what supplies we need, I have already thought about this. Military trucks are a must. The United States is a big country in the automobile industry. It produces millions of cars a year, and the quality is far better than the cars in Jiangbei. "Those cars in Jiangbei are just imitations of old-fashioned products from the early 1930s."
"Not only is the load capacity not as good as that of American trucks, but it is also much bulkier. American Ford, Dodge, and IWC trucks far exceed Soviet-made trucks in terms of performance and load capacity. However, without their own production capacity, these trucks This is very important to us.”
"Cars are a must for the materials used by the United States to cover the bill. The army has been greatly expanded, and it is increasingly dependent on logistical supplies. There are also more and more heavy equipment. Now these Soviet-made cars are obviously not enough. We We just took advantage of this rare opportunity to purchase a batch of American Dodge, Ford and IWC trucks."
"In this way, we will spend 5 million of the 300 million US dollars to purchase trucks and two truck production lines at the same time, and set aside 10 million of the remaining portion to purchase American-made C46 and 47 transport aircraft. In addition, we can spend another 5 million US dollars to purchase trucks and two truck production lines. One million US dollars to purchase a complete set of P-39 fighter jets from the American Bell Company, drawings of the engines used in them, and production equipment."
"If they can help us purchase military aircraft, I think in addition to continuing to purchase a batch of P-39 fighter jets, we can also purchase a batch of US-made B-25 bombers and TBD dive bombers. In addition, we must do whatever it takes. , use the funds to purchase a steel mill and a large modern chemical plant, as well as a batch of oil extraction equipment and oil refining equipment."
"As for the remaining funds, buy all steel, rubber, copper for bullet cases, smokeless gunpowder and various machine tools for the military industry. Buy as much as you can. The more of these, the better. Before June next year, we must A certain amount of material reserves must be established.”
Li Yanping estimated the list listed by Yang Zhen, but shook his head and said: "I estimate that according to the current American policy, we have little hope of directly purchasing equipment that can be used in combat, but if we use this funds to purchase There should be no major problems with some trucks, military raw materials, and machinery and equipment."
"In order to support this negotiation, the central government got us the unit price of similar materials imported by the National Government. This way we don't have to fight an unprepared war. With this information, we can make the best use of this money." Funds, but Lao Yang, the central government repeatedly explained it before I came back, so all the funds are reserved for our own use, and we are not allowed to turn over any money to the central government."
Regarding the attitude of the central government, Yang Zhen waved his hands and said: "No, we still have to hand over part of it. If there is still insufficient money, we can use the gold on hand. In this way, our minimum requirement is not to ask them to pay 200 million US dollars in cash. Well, we and the central government will each keep half of this money."
"The central government has considered it for us in detail, and we must also be more considerate of the central government's difficulties. The Nationalist Government has stopped disbursing all funds to the central government this year, and the central government is now in serious financial difficulties. No matter what the central government says, the part that should be handed over Still have to pay it.
"As for combat aircraft, let's try our best to fight for them. If we really can't fight for them, we can transfer the money to the purchase of trucks and steel, and the construction of steel plants. We will leave 50 million US dollars in our hands as emergency fund reserves. Okay, wait until next year to wait until next year for these things. Let alone whether they can be bought. Even if they are bought, they may not be able to be shipped. The situation of the European War is so complicated. We must prepare for Jiangbei's involvement in the war as early as possible, especially Prepare for foreign aid channels to be cut off."
"So no matter how much it costs, we must establish our own raw material production base and put the blood vessels in the hands of others. For us, it is crucial at critical moments. Things like rubber require special places to produce We have no choice but to be self-sufficient in the production of other basic military industries such as steel, smokeless gunpowder, and high explosives."
When Yang Zhen and Li Yanping were discussing what supplies they could exchange for from the Americans, they should have arrived earlier than Yang Zhen according to the distance, but they still didn't show up, which made Yang Zhen a little worried about whether they were heading towards Bo Li. Guo Bingxun finally came back when the war situation changed.
Seeing Guo Bingxun, Yang Zhen smiled and said: "Lao Guo, you arrived a little late. You are in Boli much closer than I came from the south of Mishan. How did you get here? You must have let go You came back from a run instead of riding in the car. You are not such a stingy person."
Hearing Yang Zhen's teasing, Guo Bingxun shook his head and said: "No. 1, I am closer, but after your order, I have to hand over the work to Tao Jingfei and the others. You are far away, but you have always been a The shopkeeper can leave as soon as he wants, which is much more convenient than me."
After making a joke, Guo Bingxun's face was not as relaxed as Yang Zhen imagined. Seeing Guo Bingxun's face looking a little gloomy, even with a hint of annoyance, Yang Zhen frowned slightly, always showing emotion and anger. Guo Bingxun showed such a look, but it was really rare to see anything happen that would make the usually steady Guo Bingxun so angry.
Seeing the concerned expressions of Yang Zhen and Li Yanping, Guo Bingxun took off his military cap. He wanted to throw it away but resisted saying: "No. 1, political commissar, the 29th Division ran away. Just last night, the 29th Division ran away." The Ninth Division left one unit each of the 18th Regiment and the 50th Regiment, as well as most of the artillery behind. The main force took advantage of the heavy rain on the Boli line last night and escaped under the cover of the rainy night."
"Due to continuous battles and excessive fatigue of the troops, Tao Jingfei and Li Mingfeng in front were not aware of the movements of the 29th Division. When they reacted in the morning, they only cut off the two infantry brigades of the 18th Regiment and the 50th Regiment. Four infantry squadrons of the regiment, a tank squadron of the search regiment, and five squadrons of the artillery regiment surrounded the area east of the Guokui River, but the main force of the 29th Division was allowed to escape."
"Grandma, I only surrounded such a small number of Japs, but let the main force of the Japs slip away from my nose. This is the first time that I, Old Guo, have fought such a humiliating battle." It is obvious that Guo Bingxun is not interested in the current war on the Guokui River. He was quite dissatisfied, especially when the other fronts were reporting frequent good news, he had indeed allowed the main force of the Little Devils' division to slip away. In his opinion, this was a very embarrassing thing.
Hearing that the 29th Division actually slipped away under Guo Bingxun's nose, Yang Zhen was slightly startled, but after a brief surprise, Yang Zhen acted very calmly: "Old Guo, tell me about the Guokui River With the battle situation on the front line these days, Toshichi Uemura can slip away under your nose, Lao Guo, I’m afraid this idea was not made for a day or two."
Hearing this, Guo Bingxun smiled bitterly and said: "No. 1, this Uemura Toshichi is too cunning. When he launched the offensive on the Guokui River line, this guy only used the 18th Regiment and the 50th Regiment to attack alternately, while the 16th Division The 38th Regiment that turned around was tightly held in his hands, and he absolutely did not separate the troops during the battle, tightly binding the two regiments together."
"After Tao Jingfei launched an attack on his flank, he did not hesitate to weaken the frontal attack force, leaving only the 18th Regiment and part of the assigned border garrison to fight against Li Mingfeng. He even removed the 50th Regiment from the front without mobilizing these three troops. The 18th Regiment and its 38th Regiment have been deployed to his side and rear, and not a single soldier was deployed during the entire battle."
"After the frontal group offensive was frustrated, he used the previous frontal group charge tactics, and instead adopted a large number of flanking and roundabout tactics. After Tao Jingfei completed the turn, this guy stopped all offensives and arranged all the troops. We will seize the opportunity to hold on to our current position and refuse to take another step towards the north."
"Li Mingfeng once took advantage of the rare opportunity to divide his troops when the 50th Regiment was transferred to the flank to block Tao Jingfei's westward advance. He used the reserve team to launch multiple counterattacks on its front. However, because the Japanese defense was too tight and the troop deployment was too strong, all positions They formed a line, but could never disrupt their defensive posture."
"In previous battles, Uemura Toshimichi mostly used squadrons drawn from the Border Guards. His main force only mobilized part of his troops to participate in the battle. Therefore, although there were heavy casualties in the previous offensive, for the twenty-nine As far as the division is concerned, it is far from being said to be a physical injury."
"Originally, I was planning to send both Li Mingfeng and Tao Jingfei into the battle when the Baoqing battle was over and the flanks were safe. Unfortunately, before we could take action, Uemura Toshidō had already taken the lead and escaped. He was The main force escaped and only caught a bunch of shrimps, soldiers and crab generals. What's the point?"
"Let the 29th Division escape, and the rest will have nothing. However, the 29th Division almost retreated completely. It is a quite uncertain factor for our next operation, and it will involve us greatly. If we let the 29th Division run away, the Japanese army will have an extra mobile force that can reappear on the battlefield at any time in our next battle."
After listening to Tao Jingfei's description, Yang Zhen pondered for a moment and then said: "Old Guo, we have underestimated the cunning level of this Uemura Toshidao. I'm afraid this guy should have already lost contact with the 11th Division. He had already begun to think of escaping, and our actions in defeating the Eighth Division at the junction of Baoqing, Mishan, and Hulin finally made him make up his mind."
"He knew very well that without the flanking support of the 11th Division and the 8th Division having been defeated by our army, he was left with only the 29th Division in the center line, which could be surrounded by our army on all sides at any time. It is dangerous, especially if our army on the eastern front, after defeating the Eighth Division, forcibly penetrates from Mishan to Boli, it can cut off its retreat at any time."
"We were also careless. We didn't expect that Uemura Toshichi would act so cautiously and retreat so quickly. But there is no use regretting it now. For us now, the focus should be on our next battle. That’s where the goal should be.”