The Sword of Swords is a Guard for Kong Jie

"Is there any movement of the puppet army stationed in Taiyuan!" The brigade commander asked seriously.

"According to the usual practice, the devils will definitely dispatch a lot of puppet troops to sweep up Northwest Shanxi together and use them as cannon fodder!"

"The two regiments of the Taiyuan Garrison Brigade were suddenly under martial law, and the Japanese army sent them a large amount of ammunition... They should also be planning to go to Northwest Shanxi to join the war!" The chief of staff thought for a moment and replied.

The expression on the brigade commander's face became more and more serious. After receiving the information, he read it twice in a row before continuing: "Young devils from nine infantry brigades, two independent artillery brigades, one heavy mortar squadron, and two regiments from the Royal Association Army. ...Combined with the supporting troops and cavalry troops...more than [-] people were dispatched from Taiyuan alone..."

"This is not counting the mobile troops that the Japanese and puppet troops in Northwest Shanxi can deploy!"

"Yoshio Shinozuka, the old devil, is really polite... He is willing to dispatch so many troops for the three main regiments of our army!"

After finishing his emotion, he stared at the chief of staff and continued to ask: "Can you find out the specific combat plan of the Japanese and puppet troops to sweep Northwest Shanxi..."

"Are they going to launch a full-scale attack or a focused attack!"

"If it is a key attack, which regiment will the Japanese army attack first?"

"Do you know how many mobile troops the Japanese and puppet troops in Northwest Shanxi can deploy to join the battle!"

Nervous and anxious, the brigade commander asked four questions in one breath, and then looked helplessly at the chief of staff, waiting for him to answer.

Unfortunately, the Chief of Staff didn't have an answer in his head either.

Shaking his head, he replied, "Time is too tight... I heard that the little devil's army hasn't even formulated a battle plan... It must be difficult to find out in a short time!"

"The Japanese and puppet troops in Northwest Shanxi suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Ping'an. Under the condition of ensuring the safety of the county town and large strongholds, they should be able to mobilize three to four infantry brigades... six to ten regiments of the Imperial Association Army..."

"If all these mobile troops participated in the battle...the total strength of the Japanese and puppet troops sweeping Northwest Shanxi would definitely exceed [-]...or even reach [-]..."

The more the brigade commander listened, the more serious his expression became. He put down the information and stared at the map on the table for two minutes before frowning: "The disparity between the enemy and our forces is too great. The combat pressure is very high, and if they are not careful, the situation they have finally opened in Northwest Shanxi will be destroyed!"

"Far water can't quench near thirst..."

"We can't deploy troops to support them, we can only give them some intelligence support!"

"From now on, as long as it's information about Northwest Shanxi, don't ask me for instructions, just forward it to Kong Jie and Li Yunlong!"

"Then ordered several main regiments in the base area to assemble secretly. After the Japanese and puppet troops started their sweep against Northwest Shanxi, several main regiments broke out of the base area at the same time..."

"We can take this opportunity to expand our base area and expand our army's influence, and we can also put pressure on Shinozuka Yoshio by attacking the rear of the Japanese and puppet troops, forcing him to send troops back from Northwest Shanxi to help relieve Kong Jie's combat pressure!"

"These are the only two things the brigade department can do, so go ahead and execute them immediately!"

Taiyuan Japanese Army Headquarters, the chief of staff is referring to the map of Northwest Shanxi to introduce the prepared battle plan to Yoshio Shinozuka.

"Your Excellency, Commander, considering that the mopping up lasted too long, the Eighth Route Army may send troops to reach behind the mopping up troops and cut off the supply line. We believe that all participating troops must carry at least half a month's supply of ammunition!"

"The ammunition supply for the artillery unit will have to be increased!"

"I have studied the investigation report of General Yamamoto on the Eighth Route Army Independence Regiment, and combined with the just-concluded Ping An Campaign, I think there are three main methods for the Independence Regiment to deal with us!"

"The first is layer upon layer blocking, building a large number of blocking positions and machine gun bunkers in the base area, and slowly consuming our strength through continuous blocking battles!"

"The second is to lay an ambush: look for favorable terrain, gather superior forces, ambush and sweep the troops!"

"The third way is to hold us back with guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare. The main force penetrates behind us, cuts off the logistics supply line of the mopping up troops, and forces us to retreat!"

"Aiming at these three anti-sweeping methods, Beizhi has specially formulated targeted countermeasures in the sweeping plan!"

"The sweeping troops carry ammunition supplies for half a month, which can make their third anti-sweeping method useless!"

"Continue to increase the amount of ammunition carried by the artillery units, specifically targeting their first anti-sweeping means."

"As long as the mopping-up troops enter the Eighth Route Army base area, they will give full play to their artillery advantages, and bombard the blocking positions and bunkers...Ordinary artillery can't do it, so they can use large-caliber mortars and heavy mountain artillery, and if it doesn't work, they can call for air support. Can occupy those blocking positions with the minimum cost!"

"The Eighth Route Army's goal of depleting our troops through layers of blocking cannot be achieved!"

"The second counter-mopping method is the easiest to deal with the Eighth Route Army."

"As long as the mopping-up troops enter their base areas without splitting up their troops, and don't advance alone, and strengthen their guard, the Eighth Route Army will have no chance to ambush us!"

Shinozuka Yoshio looked at the map while listening, and couldn't help but praise after listening: "Your idea is very good!"

"Eat a fall, gain a wisdom, the imperial army of the Imperial Japanese Empire must not stumble on the same problem twice!"

"The main attacking force will advance to the base of the independent regiment according to your battle plan!"

"Tell me about the blockade force arrangement!"

"Ha Yi!" The chief of staff turned over two pages of the battle plan and continued to introduce it.

"The blockade forces are mainly mobile forces operating in the northwest of Shanxi, supplemented by the Taiyuan garrison!"

"They are more familiar with the terrain in the northwest of Shanxi, so if they fight against it, they can achieve the greatest victory with the least cost!"

"For this big raid, we sent a total of [-] troops, including [-] imperial troops and [-] imperial alliance troops..."

"The [-] Imperial Army plus four regiments of the Royal Association Army were divided into two groups, and went straight to the junction of the Independent Regiment, the New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment, to prevent the Independent Regiment from escaping from the base area, and at the same time prevent the possible dispatch of the New Second Regiment and the New First Regiment. Reinforcements to the Independence Regiment!"

"In a safe battle, the Xinyi Regiment and the Independent Regiment will consume a lot of our troops with blocking battles!"

"In this big raid, we will definitely retaliate with an eye for an eye, and in turn consume the strength of the Eighth Route Army with blocking warfare!"

"The remaining [-] imperial troops, six regiments of the imperial association army, divided into three groups, each with [-] soldiers... along the three roads, swept across the base of the independent regiment, burned all the villages encountered on the road, and robbed all food and livestock , kill all ordinary people who show signs of supporting the Eighth Route Army... completely destroy their base areas..."

"Let the common people in northwestern Shanxi no longer dare to support the Eighth Route Army!"

Shinozuka Yoshio felt that the chief of staff's battle plan was too cruel and bloody when he first heard it, and wanted to change it a little bit.

But when he thought of the humiliation brought by the Independence Regiment to the Shanxi garrison, the kindness in his heart was immediately replaced by anger, and he decisively swallowed back the words on his lips, and ordered murderously: "Just do as you say!"

"Those Chinese who support the Eighth Route Army must pay for what they did..."

"At eight o'clock in the morning the day after tomorrow, the Taiyuan garrison will leave on time..."

"Take the railway, and all the movements will be in place within two days..."

"The mobile troops operating in the northwest of Shanxi are also ready for battle...the two armies will join forces and immediately intersect..."

"Try to spend a day interspersed in place..."

"Before the Shanxi Northwest Eighth Route Army reacts, build a blocking position and cut off all connections between the Independent Regiment and the New First Regiment and New Second Regiment!"

At the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, the chief of staff hurried in with a serious expression on his face: "Boss... the Japanese and puppet troops in Taiyuan City have moved..."

"There are more than [-] people, except for the two regiments of the Imperial Association Army, the rest are all little devils!"

"Equipped with twelve large-caliber mountain cannons, twelve field cannons, countless mortars and heavy machine guns..."

"There are [-] tanks and [-] armored vehicles to help out. We left Taiyuan early this morning and headed straight to Northwest Shanxi!"

"What shocked me the most was the amount of ammunition carried by the Japanese and puppet troops...it's amazing..."

"There are nearly [-] cars alone, and [-] to [-] large vehicles have been requisitioned..."

"There is also a train carrying ammunition supplies to Northwest Shanxi at the same time, mostly shells..."

"The streets from the Taiyuan Arsenal to the railway station were directly put under martial law by the devils. Yesterday, we transported ammunition for a whole night... There are not only large-caliber mountain artillery shells, but also field artillery and infantry artillery shells..."

"I feel that the heavy artillery and shells carried by the Japanese army were prepared for machine gun bunkers!"

"They have suffered a lot in front of our earthen fortress, and the earthen fortress was first built by the independent regiment. They will definitely build a large number of them in the base area."

"Ordinary mortars are difficult to destroy the bunkers in a short period of time. Only a large number of mountain artillery and large-caliber mortars can destroy the bunker tactics of the independent regiment!"

"Preliminary inference, the mopping up troops carried ammunition supplies for at least half a month!"

"Our opponents are becoming more and more difficult to fight..." the deputy commander sighed.

The chief of staff deeply agreed: "We are making progress, and the devils are also making progress..."

"The sweeping troops carry ammunition supplies for half a month at a time, obviously to prevent us from cutting off their ammunition supplies and forcing them to retreat!"

"If the heavy artillery destroys our bunker tactics, Kong Jie and the others will have fewer anti-mopping methods, and the pressure will increase exponentially!"

The deputy commander-in-chief thought for a while and then began to issue an order: "Immediately forward the information we have collected to Kong Jie, Li Yunlong, Ding Wei..."

"We also sent the judgment we just made to let them prepare for the anti-mopping up immediately..."

"It's really impossible. The headquarters allows them to break up into pieces and withdraw to the mountains to fight guerrillas..."

"Wait until the big sweep is over before going out to recover your strength..."

"At the same time, contact other Eighth Route Army units in Shanxi and ask them to organize an offensive against important towns around the base area within five days..."

"If there is an opportunity, it is best to seize the opportunity to take down a few counties. The bigger the momentum, the better, so as to reduce the pressure on Kong Jie and the others!"

The deputy chief of staff immediately said: "We also have tens of thousands of troops in Shanxi. If we use it well, it will definitely put a lot of pressure on Yoshio Shinozuka. I will send a telegram now!"