Bright Sword Military System

Chapter 1841 Continue the Attack
Thinking about the war from the perspective of Umezu Yoshijiro, although he was always unwilling to believe that the Eighth Route Army could produce such a terrifying fighter plane, the battle would continue.

The first thing Umezu Yoshijiro did was to contact Tokyo.

He asked in the telegram: "Now that the Eighth Route Army has more advanced 'Meteor' fighters, it means that our army has no air supremacy over the attack on Xinjing and Ping'an Village! In this case, how should our army face the Eighth Route Army's air pressure and mechanization?" Pressure from the troops?”

Umezu Yoshijiro said this out of practical considerations.

At this time, the Kwantung Army's tanks and planes were unable to fly due to a severe shortage of fuel. The remaining fuel was used to drag artillery and shells for the artillery.

Even so, the artillery still had a serious shortage of vehicles. Many artillery pieces and artillery shells were carried by mules, horses, or even wheelbarrows or manpower like the previous Eighth Route Army.

Of course, a large number of Chinese people were brought up to serve as the logistics team.

However, using Chinese people as coolies to transport supplies can barely function and support the frontline battle, but this transportation line is both slow and fragile.

The mechanized troops of the Eighth Route Army only need to make a casual detour, and the entire transportation line will collapse.Those Chinese people who were used as coolies would even flee to the Eighth Route Army with their equipment, ammunition and supplies!
So how to fight this battle?
Without air superiority to suppress the Eighth Route Army's artillery and mechanized troops, the Kwantung Army's rear would be full of loopholes and weaknesses, and it would be defeated in one strike.

Umezu Yoshijiro's words meant to protest against Tokyo and to shirk responsibility: Where is the promised air control?Now don’t blame me if we lose the battle without air superiority!Should we retreat now?
Umezu Yoshijiro wanted to retreat.

He believed that the lack of air supremacy almost meant the failure of this battle, because the area where they fought was a vast plain. Air supremacy was decisive.

At this time, the empire should postpone the attack at least until it understands the situation before launching an attack.

But Tokyo did not think so. Its telegram to Umezu Yoshijiro used a questioning tone:

"Is it impossible to fight without air supremacy?"

"When did the Kwantung Army fall to this point?"

"If everyone thought like you, the Eighth Route Army should have surrendered long ago and we wouldn't be in such trouble today!"

"At the beginning, the Eighth Route Army had neither fuel nor aircraft, but they have persisted until now!"

"But what about you?"

……

What these words mean is that the Eighth Route Army still persists despite the extremely different equipment conditions. It was like this in the past and is like this now, and it will be like this in the future on the battlefield of the Volunteer Army in history.

This is a spirit, a spirit of not admitting defeat, not yielding, and daring to face powerful enemies.

However, what Tokyo did not consider was that when the equipment was disparate, the Eighth Route Army could only obey objective laws and go into the mountains to fight guerrillas with the Japanese. But now the Kwantung Army was asked to launch an attack on the plains against the Eighth Route Army, which had superior equipment and a favorable location.

This is exactly what Wang Xuexin wants.

Wang Xuexin obtained Tokyo's order to Umezu Yoshijiro from telegram deciphering.

When Chen Songyong handed the contents of the telegram from the file to Wang Xuexin, Wang Xuexin was not surprised at all.

The reason is that the Japanese are short of oil. The Japanese are short of oil all over the country, and they will even run out of oil soon!
The oil in Ping'an Village can be said to be the only hope for the devils.

For this hope, Tokyo will sacrifice the Kwantung Army without hesitation.

Wang Xuexin has painstakingly worked out so many tricks, all he wants is for the Japanese to sacrifice the Kwantung Army!Wang Xuexin nodded and ordered: "Proceed as originally planned and order Ping'an Village to clear the artillery positions of the Japanese in the shortest possible time!"

"Yes!"

Then the ball was kicked to Umezu Meijiro again.

When Umezu Yoshijiro received the order to "continue the attack" from Tokyo, he had a feeling of impending disaster.

At this time, the total strength of the Kwantung Army is estimated to be only more than [-]... The reason for using estimates is because the battle to attack Ping'an Village last night suffered heavy casualties. The troops were used to consume the Eighth Route Army's ammunition, and the casualties have reached more than [-].

In addition, the battle to attack Xinjing was also very fierce, and the military strength may have dropped below 40 at this time.

With this small force, especially without fuel, how could the Kwantung Army resist Mao Xiong and attack the Eighth Route Army internally?
Just when Umezu Yoshijiro had a headache, Hashimoto Toranosuke suggested: "General, I think... it's time to urgently recruit troops!"

"Emergency recruitment?" Umezu Yoshijiro looked at Hashimoto Toranosuke in confusion.

This is China, where can we recruit troops?
The puppet army conquering China?

That's almost like helping the Eighth Route Army to fight on behalf of the army!

But Umezu Yoshijiro understood in the next second, he said: "Pioneering team?"

Hashimoto Toranosuke nodded and said: "The pioneering group may be able to recruit [-] people and arm them to protect our army's supply lines! Although there may be problems with combat effectiveness, it is much better than being completely exposed to the enemy!"

After a pause, Hashimoto Toranosuke added: "In addition, we can replace the elites in the fortress with new recruits from the pioneering regiment. Mao Xiong can't tell whether the people stationed in the fortress are veterans or recruits. They don't dare to know that there are troops defending the fortress. Attack easily..."

Umezu Meijiro nodded helplessly: "This is the only thing we can do!"

Umezu Yoshijiro knew in his heart that if another 10 people were recruited from the pioneer group, almost all the men, including the elderly, in the pioneer group would be recruited.

This means that the empire's "Pioneering Corps" plan has completely failed.

(Note: In history, when the Mao Xiong attacked the Kwantung Army, the Japanese Kwantung Army's claim of one million was actually a bluff. It was a so-called all-people army that included all the men, women, and children in the pioneering regiment. Most of them didn't even have equipment.)
After the emergency recruitment of the "Pioneering Regiment", Umezu Yoshijiro did two more things:
The first is to order the frontline troops to continue attacking Ping'an Village and Xinjing, and to capture these two places at all costs.

This is because Umezu Yoshijiro also knew the importance of Heian Village Oil.

In fact, he not only knew it, but also felt it personally: at this time, the Kwantung Army was in a serious shortage of fuel. If it could not occupy Ping'an Village and seize oil control, the entire empire would be like the current Kwantung Army in the near future.

Umezu Meijiro didn't know that he had fallen into the trap set by Wang Xuexin...

The second thing is to contact Naosaburo Okabe in the hope that he can continue to provide air cover for the Kwantung Army.

Umezu Yoshijiro’s reasons are very good:
"Okabe-kun, all the hope of the empire now lies in Heian Village!"

"Whether our army can capture Heian Village depends on the aviation force in Okabe-kun's hands!"

"Even if the aviation force cannot compete with the Eighth Route Army, if it can contain the Eighth Route Army and its mechanized units, our army will have great potential!"

In short, it’s just one sentence: Even if you can’t beat him, you still have to bite the bullet!Otherwise, the entire sky belongs to the Eighth Route Army, and the Kwantung Army is still not allowed to fly out?
(End of this chapter)