My client Li Yunlong

That evening.

Beiping,

Inside the underground headquarters of the North China Front.

"Commander, only one of the seven aircraft that carried out the first round of air strikes on the Eighth Route Army's bases returned. The remaining six were shot down by the Eighth Route Army, and the six pilots were shattered."

"According to the report of the pilot who escaped."

"The Eighth Route Army also has fighter jets, and their performance is very advanced. Just two of them shot down six Imperial fighter jets in just ten minutes, while the opponent was unscathed."

"Based on the battle situation, it is speculated that the Eighth Route Army base area has equipment that can remotely detect and locate aircraft."

When the staff officer reported the news to Okamura Neji,
He was silent for a long time.

Although he had little hope for the effectiveness of the air raid,
Okamura Neiji knew very well that with the technical level and industrial capabilities of the forces behind the Eighth Route Army, it was almost inevitable to support the Eighth Route Army's advanced fighter jets that far exceeded the technical level of the Locust Army.

Therefore, the real purpose of his air strike plan was to draw out the Eighth Route Army's means of dealing with the air force and to consume its air defense power.

Casualties are not broken pieces, but the total number including missing, broken pieces, and injured.

"The gap is so huge..."

He had a premonition that the Locust Army's air attack would fail because of the technological gap, but he did not expect that the technological gap would be so huge.

Gangcun sighed.

"The first army controls the area and faces the enemy's Taiyue base area."

"Shinozuka-kun."

"General."

Okamura Neji sighed.

Yoshio Shinozuka answered seriously.

Okamura Neji's tone was gentle, as if he were talking to a family:

"One team every week..."

"How is the situation in the First Army recently?"

"Hi."

···
"General."

One brigade was killed or wounded every week,
That’s nearly five hundred casualties every week.

In just one and a half years, let alone one division, perhaps two or three divisions, may not be able to enter the Eighth Route Army base area.

"Let Ghana stop its air strikes on the Eighth Route Army base areas."

Okamura Neji whispered to himself.

"The Independent Regiment and its 386th Brigade are stationed in the Taiyue Base Area. The defensive pressure on our First Army is enormous."

Before Ishihara Wanji came over, Okamura Neji answered Shinozuka Yoshio's phone.

"Excuse me for speaking frankly."

And now...

Yoshio Shinozuka, who has not been seen for a long time, stood at attention in a standard posture, holding a phone and speaking in a serious tone.

"The current situation of the First Army is very bad."

But now this result is still far beyond his expectation.

The changes are huge,

"A year and a half!"

"You and I haven't seen each other for a long time, right?!"

"Since it was attacked and destroyed in late August, the Shotai Line has not yet been fully opened to traffic. The transportation capacity has dropped by 70% compared with last year. The First Army has a serious shortage of supplies."

Yoshio Shinozuka's tone remained serious:

Okamura Neji changed the subject.

a year and a half ago,
Although the Eighth Route Army was a nuisance, causing considerable casualties to the Locust Army's transport teams and baggage troops, before it became a problem, a single brigade could run amuck unimpeded deep in the Eighth Route Army's so-called base area.

"Answer Yoshio Shinozuka's call for me."

Seven versus two,
In just ten minutes, not only did the game win, but the locust army even escaped with just one plane.

"Although no large-scale fighting occurred, it was just a security conflict. Small-scale fighting still resulted in the casualties of one brigade of our First Army almost every week."

Okamura Neiji was stunned.

"Since August 39, when the Republic of China dispatched military headquarters group meeting, I have not seen the general for half a year."

Inside the First Army Headquarters.

After Okamura Neji issued the order to stop subsequent attacks, he waved his hand and signaled the staff to leave.

Then a staff officer was called again:
"Go and ask Ishihara Wanji to come over."

The staff officer left.

According to the recent experience of fighting the Eighth Route Army, especially the casualty statistics from the battle with the Eighth Route Army stationed in the Taiyue base area, generally half of the casualties of the Locust Army were broken jade, and the remaining half were slightly injured and the other half were seriously injured.

This ratio is wrong.

The ratio of broken jade is too high.

Gangcun had been surprised by this ratio before.

In recent battles, the Eighth Route Army is the attacker and the Locust Army is the defender. The main battlefields are also within the control areas of the Locust Army, and the Locust Army reinforcements can arrive quickly.

The ratio of about half of the jade fragments should not be seen.

The casualty ratio was one to one, of which only 25% were minor injuries. Let alone a defensive battle, even an offensive, or even a retreating unit, should not have this kind of casualty ratio.

In the Battle of Nomenkan, facing the powerful armored and aviation forces of the Bear in the North, the casualty ratio of the Imperial Locust Army did not reach such a terrifying level.

However, after detailed investigation by the staff department, a conclusion was finally reached:
Although this ratio is very abnormal, there is no problem with its authenticity.

Gangcun originally attributed it to the gap in weapons and equipment.

But after detailed investigation, there was a reason that Gangcun didn't know how to evaluate - the Eighth Route Army, especially the 386th Brigade in the Taiyue base area, during the battle with the Locust Army,
Extremely cruel!

Facing the locust army, they often kill directly without mercy.

But this cruelty is only for the locust army!
"Yes, one brigade casualty per week."

Yoshio Shinozuka reiterated:

"The current strength of the First Army is seriously insufficient."

“There’s a lot of pressure on defense.”

"In addition." Shinozuka Yoshio knew Okamura Neji's purpose:
"The Eighth Route Army in Taiyue, Lümeng and other mountainous areas has recently been planning to train new troops in actual combat, and even pulled out the so-called militia reserve team to participate in the battle."

"Train new recruits."

Gangcun said to himself.

Although actual combat is the best training for recruits, even low-intensity actual combat will cause considerable casualties to recruits.

Therefore, the best way is to go through a period of military training and then go to a low-intensity battlefield for actual combat simulation. This time should not be too short, preferably about half a year.

Military training for new recruits in the Empire lasts for half a year.

The Taiyue base area is a relatively stable base area on Tubal Road.

There is enough manpower and space, space for training.

According to what Neji Okamura knows, the Taiyue base area only started large-scale training of militia troops in May. Although it has been more than half a year now, most of them are not due to off-the-job training.

The actual training time is only equivalent to three months.

Even if you select elite troops among them and participate in actual combat, now is not the best time.

The international consensus is that the best training time for new recruits is one year. The empire only trains for half a year because of the huge demand for military expansion and the serious shortage of frontline soldiers.

It is impossible for the Eighth Route Army to not understand.

At this time, actual combat training for new recruits begins, presumably for the upcoming war.

"Although the number of rifles and other weapons is still small, they are of poor quality and of various types."

Yoshio Shinozuka continued:

"But there are a lot of machine guns."

Today, the independent regiment does not have many advanced technical equipment and does not occupy many establishments.

Under the method of equipping each class with two Czechs, the independent group of 5,000 people can get up to 1,000 Czechs every month. With sufficient parts, damage can be repaired in time.

In core base areas such as Taiyue, Taihang, and southern Hebei, most regular combat troops can still have machine guns spread throughout their squads.

"Are there any new weapons?"

Okamura Neji asked.

"Not yet."

Yoshio Shinozuka answered.

"I see."

Okamura Neji nodded, his tone solemn.

He hung up the phone.

His face was still solemn.

Although the Eighth Route Army has not come up with new weapons recently, which is good news, it may be that the First Army has put too little pressure on the Taiyue base area, so that the Eighth Route Army in the Taiyue base area does not need to use advanced weapons at all.

···
"commander."

After a while, Ishihara Wanji arrived.

"Ishihara-kun."

Okamura Neji valued Ishihara Kanji very much, and he got straight to the point:

"This time, can we annihilate the main force of Tubal Road and destroy the Tubal Road base area?"

"Give your opinion."

Currently, the attack on the Jinan base area has entered the final stage of preparation.

"commander."

Ishihara smiled and sighed:

"IMHO."

"Even if we have assembled a force as powerful as the Eleventh Army this time, it is impossible to destroy the Eighth Route Army's base area."

"We can destroy the base areas in southern Hebei and destroy the industrial equipment and factories in southern Hebei, but it is impossible to eliminate the main force of the Eighth Route Army, and we will be blocked in southern Hebei and cannot advance even an inch."

"reason."

Okamura Neji asked.

Ishihara smiled and took a deep breath:

"Currently, the strength and armament of our offensive forces are based on the scale of the 11th Mobile Corps."

"But we have to understand something."

"This time, what we have to deal with is not the preserved fruit troops, but the Eighth Route Army."

"Compared with the preserved fruit troops, although the Eighth Route Army's combat strength is somewhat insufficient. The three base areas of Taiyue, Taihang and Southern Hebei have less than 400,000 troops, but its reserve force is very sufficient, with more than one million reserve troops."

"But the Locust Army only has 110,000 troops."

"Furthermore, the Eighth Route Army's artillery can almost be said to be superior to the Empire's in all aspects."

Ishihara Wanji used the word superior.

"Yes!"

Okamura Neji also sighed.

Agree.

Although the Locust Army has a lot of artillery, if it is an offensive operation, if the battlefield is in the complex mountainous terrain of the Eighth Route Army base area, it is really not as suitable as the large number of advanced mortars on Tubal Road for combat.

And the quantity can make up for the quality of the pressing.

Even based on what is known, the Eighth Route Army has more than two hundred 120mm mortars.

of course,

If it were ordinary mortars currently equipped by various countries, the Locust Army would have the advantage.

But the problem is that the Eighth Route Army's mortars are very advanced. While further improving their mobility, they can also greatly increase their range and accuracy, and their shells are also more powerful.

"Moreover, our combat readiness supplies are seriously insufficient."

Ishihara Wanji continued:

"Although the Eighth Route Army lacks rifles and other weapons, it has sufficient reserves of personnel and artillery shells, as well as sufficient food and other supplies. This will definitely be a large-scale war of attrition."

"Our supplies only support a short-term battle."

"Rather than a war of attrition."

"So, we need more troops and more supplies." (End of Chapter)