bookrandom Chapter 1141 Okamura's Plan
Chapter 1141 Okamura's Plan
Comrade Zhang wiped the sweat from his brow and pulled Chen Youdi to the edge of the field.
There was a large earthenware pot on the ground, filled with cooled boiled water, and sprinkled with a handful of wheat chaff.
Next to them was a rough earthenware bowl, which everyone took turns using to drink water. There was no concern about hygiene; working in the fields in the sweltering heat was the hardest and most tiring job, and no one had time to think about anything else.
Comrade Zhang poured a bowl of water and handed it to Chen Youdi, saying, "Drink it, blow on the chaff while you drink it, don't upset your lungs."
Chen Youdi smiled憨厚ly, took the water and drank it.
"You're from a wealthy family, aren't you? You're only sixteen this year, right?"
"Commander Zhang, don't try to shut me down with your age. I've seen it all. There are plenty of guys around my age in this unit! Besides, I'll be sixteen soon, or seventeen by the traditional Chinese age reckoning. I'm old enough to get married and have kids, so why can't I fight alongside you!"
Comrade Zhang laughed, "You, you actually know about getting married and having kids! Well, let me tell you, it's not that we don't want to take you with us, but we have a better plan. You're the only son in your family, and you don't have any children. How about this, next year, you should ask your father to find you a wife and have a baby as soon as possible, and then we'll take you with us!"
Looking at Chen Youdi in front of him, Comrade Zhang felt a genuine fondness for him.
This child is very hardworking and meticulous, unlike some young people who are impulsive.
Although he is only sixteen years old, he is already the pillar of the family!
If Chen Youdi weren't the only son in his family and unmarried, Comrade Zhang would really have wanted to take him away!
Looking at Chen Youdi, Comrade Zhang couldn't help but think back to how he joined the ranks in Qin Province...
Chen Youdi lowered his head, finished drinking the water, and went back to work without saying a word.
Comrade Zhang shouted again, "Comrades, fellow villagers! Let's all work harder and have a competition to see who can harvest faster! We must bring every grain into the granary; we can't leave a single grain for the Japanese devils!"
.................
"Kill them all, burn them all, loot them all! All grain, livestock, and those who disobey the Imperial Army's orders must be eliminated!"
On the evening of June 13th, Okamura Ninji secretly arrived at Shimen by car.
Subsequently, he declared martial law in Shimen, with a relaxed exterior but a strict interior. All military police were deployed to stand guard, and only entry was permitted in the city, with no one allowed to leave. He also ordered Lin Ze to arrange a large number of military police to strengthen patrols and inspections day and night.
Lin Ze had the Chamber of Commerce office vacated so that Okamura Tsutomu could live and work there.
On June 14th, several trains arrived at Shimen Station one after another, and many high-ranking officers disembarked here and were picked up by cars.
Meanwhile, in the station's dispatch room, the people sent by Niu San'er were recording which officers had arrived at Shimen.
The 41st Division, the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade, the Shirataki Unit of the 110th Division, the Sakamoto Detachment of the 26th Division, the 13th Cavalry Regiment, and the Ogawa Unit of the 7th Independent Mixed Brigade.
Okamura really went all out this time.
Lin Ze knew several of these people; they were all people who had fought in the Zhongtiao Mountains back then.
Needless to say, the 41st Division was Lieutenant General Shimizu Kiyoshi's division. Those damned Japanese soldiers were extremely capable fighters. They inflicted heavy casualties on the southern army at Zhongtiao. If it weren't for Lin Ze's intelligence support, it's hard to say how many people would have died in the south.
Back then, Shimizu followed the same rules, practically pointing his finger at Okamura and scolding him for poor leadership. But Okamura didn't utter a single word. There was nothing he could do; this guy was indeed capable.
Then there was Kenkichi Ikegami, who was part of Okamura's group and was later transferred to the Ninth Brigade as its commander. The Ninth Brigade was extremely powerful, arguably the unit with the highest proportion of veterans among the Japanese troops in North China, and it also had an artillery regiment with formidable firepower.
The last one worth mentioning is Shirataki Rishiro. This guy was from the 110th Division, but he independently commanded four battalions. He belonged to the younger generation of the army, graduated from the Army War College, and was a prominent figure at the time.
At the Chamber of Commerce headquarters, Okamura, without allowing everyone to rest, immediately convened a strategy meeting.
Moreover, Okamura was quite cunning this time. He actually had the 239th Regiment send accompanying technical personnel to conduct a thorough inspection of the Chamber of Commerce!
Lin Ze had the military police cooperate with them, and was also relieved that due to equipment problems, they had not installed a large-scale eavesdropping device at the Chamber of Commerce. Otherwise, if it had been discovered, although Lin Ze would not have been suspected, Okamura would have ordered everyone to be investigated, and might even have suspended radio activities in Shimen to investigate enemy stations, which would have been another troublesome matter.
Chamber of Commerce, meeting room.
The Japanese soldiers at the front were almost all heavy smokers, and soon the conference room was filled with smoke.
Shimizu Kiku first said, "Since we occupied the north side of Zhongtiao Mountain, I have been governing and reorganizing the area. I have deeply felt the stubbornness and difficulty of the Red Area guerrillas and base areas. This time, our target, the Jizhong base area, can be said to be the most prosperous and important Red Area base area east of Taihang Mountain. It covers nearly 10,000 square kilometers and has millions of people. It is an important source of food for them. However, the enemy strength concentrated in the base area is not comparable to that in other base areas. According to our intelligence, the Red Area troops with official designations concentrated in the base area number about 14,000, and the guerrillas number another 3,000 to 4,000..."
At this point, Shimizu Kiku took a deep drag on his cigarette. “The Eighth Route Army’s military equipment is not very good, it can even be said to be very poor, but their fighting spirit is very strong, and they are elusive and like to strike unexpectedly. We have experienced this firsthand, so even if we have several times the number of enemy troops, we cannot let our guard down.”
He was the only one present who was qualified to speak first; the others would not speak without Okamura's permission.
Okamura nodded, agreeing with what Shimizu had just said.
"General Shimizu is right. We have launched several security sieges in central Hebei, but all of them have failed. Instead, their numbers have increased and the territory they have occupied has expanded. So this time, I have personally formulated a new battle plan. Decades ago, there was a war in China between the Qing Dynasty and the rebels. A general named Zeng proposed a strategy of building strongholds and fighting a protracted war. We can learn from that strategy this time."
Then, Okamura went to the huge map hanging on the wall.
"Since they like to repeatedly shuttle and outflank, and engage in guerrilla warfare, then we will use strongholds to divide our base into small pieces, leaving them nowhere to hide! I have already arranged for the 37th to 39th Infantry Regiments to carry a large amount of specialized supply equipment to establish strongholds and fortifications in all county towns, market towns, and larger villages, while digging blockade trenches to suppress their mobile warfare capabilities to the greatest extent possible!"