bookrandom Chapter 547: These damn Japanese devils are so difficult to deal with. They actually use guerrilla t
Chapter 547: These damn Japanese devils are so difficult to deal with. They actually use guerrilla t
Taiyuan City, the headquarters of the Japanese 12th Army.
"Your Excellency General, I just received a call from Ito Battalion. Li Yunlong successfully captured Liangjia Pass yesterday afternoon, and all the defenders at the pass were killed. Ito Battalion is pursuing the enemy based on their marching traces, and requested that we mobilize the air force to provide intelligence to the pursuing troops." Mitsui Ippei said listlessly.
Yoshio Shinozuka had anticipated this matter and did not feel too surprised. If he had not been forced to do so, he really did not want to mobilize more troops to intercept Li Yunlong's breakout. The reason was very simple, that is, the input and the return were not proportional. If the losses continued like this, even if he added another brigade, it would be difficult to achieve much results.
"Mr. Sanjing, you and I have to admit one thing, that is, the enemy's armored forces can indeed suppress our infantry. Relying on the flesh and blood of the warriors, they can never resist the enemy's steel torrent. We have always had a wrong idea, that is, the armored forces are the vassals of the infantry. But in fact, this idea is wrong. The infantry should be the vassal of the armored forces. This time Li Yunlong taught us a good lesson, making us understand how much destructive power and how strong the combat effectiveness of the armored forces can be after concentrated use. We must learn a lesson from it, otherwise my 12th Army will suffer a great loss."
"Before, I had always thought that digging up the road would bring a lot of trouble, but now I feel that digging up the road cannot just remain on paper, but must be implemented. The anti-tank weapons I applied to the headquarters were not approved by the headquarters because our current anti-tank weapons have been sent to the Nanyang battlefield. If our 12th Army wants to get them, we have to wait at least a month."
"The only anti-tank weapon we have right now is the anti-tank grenade, but this grenade is very dangerous and will put our warriors at risk of their lives. However, this is our only solution at the moment. In three days, two thousand anti-tank grenades will be delivered to Taiyuan City. Send someone to receive them and distribute them to the various combat units as soon as possible."
"As for the replenishment of fighter planes, it will take another two days to arrive. Originally, the North China Front Army planned to support us with a batch of fighter planes for emergency use, but because the anti-mopping-up operation at the front did not go smoothly, the matter was put on hold."
"The air defense of Taiyuan City is very weak now. In order to prevent Li Yunlong from making a surprise attack, I have ordered all the surrounding roads to be dug up. All our external transportation depends on railways. Fortunately, the first batch of 36 fighter jets sent by the Guanzhong Army have left Fengtian Airport this morning. After three transfers, they will arrive in Taiyuan City in three days. By then, our safety will be truly guaranteed."
"Now we have to focus on the oil fields and continue the pursuit of Li Yunlong. We don't need to destroy Li Yunlong's armored regiment. What we have to do is to constantly weaken Li Yunlong's strength and fight a war of attrition with him. Only in this way can we create a suitable opportunity to strike Li Yunlong hard at the critical moment. Maybe we can take this opportunity to severely injure Li Yunlong."
Shinozuka Yoshio had a bold plan in mind, which was to use the onion peeling tactic to smash Li Yunlong's tortoise shell bit by bit. As for the effect, he was not sure, so he planned to test it first.
Li Yunlong had no idea that the crisis was approaching. Early in the morning he ordered the armored regiment to leave Liangjia Pass and began marching day and night towards the base. They encountered many obstacles along the way. What gave Li Yunlong a headache this time was the harassment by small Japanese units. Every time the Japanese units were defeated after a single attack, they brought great trouble to the armored regiment's march and caused a sharp increase in casualties.
When it was time for dinner, Li Yunlong's face darkened. He took the casualty reports from each battalion and angrily cursed, "Damn it, the damn Japanese devils really turned into flies, constantly disgusting me. Just today, we were attacked by more than a dozen Japanese squads, and lost a tank, two armored vehicles, and six three-wheeled motorcycles. The casualties reached hundreds."
"If we continue to suffer casualties like this, even if we can return to the base, I'm afraid that the casualties of our troops will directly reach 1/3, which is equivalent to losing two reinforced regiments at once. Who can bear this?"
Lin Zhenhua took the casualty report from Li Yunlong and looked at it. He then contacted the battalion commanders on the radio and learned about the situation. His face turned grim and he said in a low voice, "There are not many enemy strongholds on the road we are taking today. By tomorrow, the number of enemy strongholds on the march will at least double. I am afraid we will encounter more harassment."
"The casualties of our troops will increase dramatically. The Japanese are using guerrilla tactics to deal with us. On the one hand, they can continuously increase our casualties, and on the other hand, they can also slow down our marching speed. We were originally planning to march at night, but now this has happened. Once the Japanese launch a night attack at night, our casualties will become even greater, which forces us to stay and camp at night."
"But this will seriously delay our trip. It would take us four days to get back to the base, but now it will take eight days. It takes twice as long, and the journey home will become more dangerous. The more time we spend, the more likely it is that something unexpected will happen. The Japanese are just stalling for time. The most terrifying thing is that every time they raid, they just assassinate us again and again. After the fight, they retreat directly. In just three minutes, they have already evacuated. We can't catch up even if we want to."
"If we continue to fight as we are now, I estimate that even if we can reach the vicinity of the base in eight days, I'm afraid the soldiers will be extremely exhausted. If we are surrounded by the Japanese army at this time, even if we can successfully break out, I'm afraid the casualties will be very heavy."
"We have always overlooked one point, that is, the Japanese have indeed withdrawn a large number of troops from the front line to support us, but so far, the troops they have withdrawn are only 30% at most. They are fully capable of blocking our retreat when we return to the base. We have to be on guard."
"I thought about asking Lao Kong and Lao Ding to send someone to pick us up, but then I thought better of it. That would be exactly what the Japanese want. For the current predicament, I think there is only one way, and that is to rush back regardless of the cost of casualties. Setting up camp like tonight must never happen again."
"We can't start to hesitate because of a small loss. There is no war without casualties. No general can bring back all the soldiers intact. We have to accept this cruel reality. The only thing we can do now is to reduce our current losses. We should not hesitate or linger, which will only make us miss the best time to retreat and put more soldiers in danger."
A loud drum needs a heavy hammer. This time, Lin Zhenhua wanted to be the bad guy. He didn't want any soldiers to die, but if they didn't withdraw to the base as soon as possible, more and more people would die. Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang looked very gloomy. They knew that what Lin Zhenhua said was right. They were also somewhat helpless about the current predicament. This was simply an unsolvable problem.
"College student, I originally wanted to ask you for some advice, but I didn't expect you to scold me. I really don't have any good solution for the current dilemma. You are absolutely right in one point, that is, we really don't have the slightest chance of choice now. We can only bite the bullet and go on. No matter how much it costs, we must reach the vicinity of the base within four days. Otherwise, once the Japanese air force reinforcements arrive, it will be very difficult for us to withdraw to the base."
"Lao Zhao, immediately arrange for someone to deliver all the rations to me. In addition to the necessary water supply, the troops will not stop midway. We must withdraw to the base in the shortest possible time. As for the fuel problem, there is no need to worry about it. The transport plane has already dropped a batch of fuel for us yesterday. Our engine performance is still relatively good, and it is not time to replace it yet."
"Plus, we have enough spare parts. As long as the engine is not scrapped, you have to run as fast as you can. There are too many bumps on the road now, and our vehicle can't run fast at all. Otherwise, the engine will reach the limit of its life in two days. But according to the current situation, I estimate that even if we run to the base, the engine does not need to be replaced, and there will be no problem." All the hesitation on Li Yunlong's face disappeared, and he gave the order in a firm tone.
Lin Zhenhua did not object to this. The condition of the engines was indeed better than expected. In addition, the life of this batch of engines had been extended after the use of rare metals, so there would be no problem using them back to the base.
Seeing that Lin Zhenhua did not object, Zhao Gang knew that what Li Yunlong said was true, and he was no longer as anxious as before. The heavy stone in his heart finally fell to the ground, and he replied in a light tone: "I will arrange for people to distribute rations, and ask the kitchen team to hurry up and boil some hot water. Let each soldier fill up the kettle. By the way, we also need to fill up our six water trucks with water to ensure that drinking water can be replenished at any time during the march."
Under Li Yunlong's arrangement, the armored regiment temporarily stopped for five hours and then set out on the journey back to the base. They also took some measures to deal with the Japanese sneak attack. They installed all the steel plates that had been placed previously on the carriages, which immediately achieved immediate results and greatly reduced personnel losses.