My client Li Yunlong

"What are these little devils doing..."

Position south of Ze County.

An artillery company commander of the Eighth Route Army was looking at the Japanese position through a telescope, and the corner of his eye twitched.

The Japanese laid minefields and built anti-tank concrete piles here.

They came to the front line to investigate the situation on the spot.

Although tank units have the ability to deal with mines and anti-tank fortifications on their own, the logistics requirements are very high and they need to be prepared in advance.

The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, so the artillery also has tactics for dealing with mines, and the superiors sent two people over for this purpose.

After all, whether it is dense artillery coverage to destroy minefields, or heavy artillery to destroy anti-tank barricades and concrete pile positions, actual map information data is needed, and these things are really not something that ordinary officers can handle.

Although most of the company and platoon-level officers in the army have undergone six months of military education in the rear, their professionalism is still not enough to meet the army's requirements for the cultural level and military capabilities of officers.

But at this time they saw the enemy's position and the enemy's minefield deployment observed by the scouts...
"Take us as fools?"

"Or, have they never studied the captured Sherman tanks carefully?"

The artillery company commander couldn't help but complain.

"do not know."

An artillery company commander who came over with him was also speechless.

It stands to reason,
As a modern and professional army, the Japanese completely crushed the Eighth Route Army in terms of professionalism. This is a fact even now.

Decades ago, the Japanese organized a large number of professional military schools to train senior and mid-level officers, train technical personnel needed by the troops, train staff officers, and systematically train soldiers.

And our own troops,
Even now, the training system is still not perfect.

Specifically, due to the lack of talent and insufficient number of instructors, we can only train batches from the troops.

As for the Japs, that's true. All their officers were trained in military academies, and they have a lot more military knowledge and theory than them. Although they are a bit outdated, they shouldn't be so stupid.

“These devils…”

"Do you really think that tanks can only move along the road?"

"Do you really think that a one-meter-high slope can stop a tank?"

The artillery commander was stunned.

He was just an artillery company commander and didn't know much about tank troops, but he also knew that the Sherman tank's vertical slope-climbing capability was definitely more than one meter. With the assistance of a terrain shovel, it could even cross a steep slope of two meters or even higher.

As for rocky terrain.

Please.

Is terrain blasting difficult for the military?

The Japs didn't know that the 155mm artillery that had just been equipped to the troops could destroy any civil engineering works with one shot, but it could also destroy the terrain and create a passage for tanks to pass through.

120 mortars can do it.

Not to mention tank guns with stronger armor-piercing capabilities, or the 2 monster on the KV152.

It’s not the same army as it was a year ago!

The Japanese had captured quite a few Sherman tanks, and even a Tiger tank. They shouldn't have been so lame as to fail to test out the most basic off-road and obstacle-crossing capabilities?
Moreover.

The Eighth Route Army has begun to study the Battle of the Ardennes Forest extensively, and it is a compulsory course. As an ally of the Germans, the Japanese would not have done any research on it, right?
Surprisingly, there were not only some bunkers and fortifications, but also some minefields laid only in important sections and core areas.

Did the Japanese think tanks were trucks?
"do not know."

The armored company captain's eyes twitched.

He felt very unhappy.

As an old Red Army soldier, he once thought that the Japs were a powerful army. In the early stages of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Japs indeed performed as such, surpassing the rest of the army in terms of both command and soldier levels.

This is an irrefutable fact.

The brilliance brought by some elite officers, such as Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, Brigade Commander Chen, etc., cannot cover up the massive gap compared with the entire army.

It's actually quite normal.

How could it be possible that the command level and military quality of the military system built by the Japs over decades were worse than those of the troops?
but··
It is really hard to imagine that these fortifications in front of us were deployed by the Japanese.

"It seems."

The first artillery company commander figured it out and said with disdain:
"The Japanese haven't adjusted their attitude yet and are still thinking about living a frugal life."

"It seems so."

The second company commander nodded in agreement.

The war in southern Hebei has been going on for more than half a year, during which both our side and the Japanese have paid a heavy price.

The Japs were not quite sure about the actual loss figures, but it was said that the total number of casualties was comparable to the entire North China Front Army's former peak strength. The number of people who died in battle exceeded the strength of the First Army at its peak.

But our side,
They will understand clearly.

The loss of tanks exceeded 1,300!
lost heavily!

The troops also suffered many casualties. In half a year, nearly 10,000 soldiers were killed and the number of casualties reached more than 60,000.
The casualties were equally heavy.

Fortunately, the military’s medical level is very high nowadays, and the medicines are in sufficient supply. Most of the wounded can receive timely treatment and return to the army in good condition.

After experiencing such a huge loss, the troops have taken it very seriously. Tactical summaries are conducted almost every week, and the headquarters personally sends people to supervise. Even the deputy commander has personally discussed tactics at the company level in the Rain of Ammunition Battalion several times.

And the devils...

According to intelligence,

After being bullied by tanks for nearly half a year, new anti-tank artillery has still not been put into service, and new tanks have not left the factory, but the Japanese have recently replenished a large number of anti-tank mines and more sting mines.

There is also a lot of cement.

They thought the battle would be more intense.

But I didn't expect it.

The Japs did not seem to realize that in this war of attrition that seemed to have no end, people were actually more valuable than weapons, ammunition and supplies.

"The attack has begun." Under the watchful eyes of two artillery company commanders, fifteen tanks and more than a thousand people launched an attack on the Japanese positions on a five-kilometer-wide position south of Ze County.

rear,

Four 120 mortars fired continuously, launching heavy artillery shells into the Japanese positions, creating a series of exploding fireballs.

···
"Fifteen tanks."

Colonel Jingxia received the report from the front line at the first time.

The enemy dispatched fifteen tanks and more than a thousand ground troops, and under the cover of several heavy artillery, began to attack the position.

"Order."

After giving the order, Colonel Jingxia suddenly fell silent for a while.

He was reminiscing in his mind.

During the six-month-long battle, although the locust army in North China suffered heavy losses,

Nearly 100,000 soldiers were killed and wounded, exceeding the number of the North China Front Army at its peak. The weapons, ammunition and supplies consumed exceeded the annual consumption of the Imperial Republic Expeditionary Force in previous years.

But the empire's strength is increasing.

New steel mills, artillery factories, and tank factories began to go into production, new tanks rolled out of the factories, and new cannons entered service in the Locust Army.

And the enemy is changing.

More tanks.

The organization of the troops is more mature.

as well as,

More and more elite, more and more tank crews.

and also.

The offensive became increasingly powerful and fierce, and the tactics gradually changed.

"Fifteen tanks."

Without continuing to say his next order, Colonel Jingxia repeated in a serious tone the number of enemy tanks participating in the attack.

It's mid-October.

It has been six months since the other side first used tanks in April.

Over the past six months, the Eighth Route Army has been attacking in a scattered manner, with one or several tanks and some ground troops, and the attacks were sporadic and the depth of the attacks was very low.

They rarely concentrated their tanks, but instead learned the European blitzkrieg tactics of deep penetration.

A lot of things were discussed during the military meeting held in the rear.

Why the enemy doesn't use blitzkrieg.

Some say that the logistical capabilities are insufficient.

Some say that the roads in North China are not sufficient to support it.

There are also those who say that the quality of personnel cannot meet the requirements.
Colonel Jingxia didn't know which one was true, but he knew that just because the enemy didn't use it now didn't mean they wouldn't use it in the future. For example, now that the enemy began to increase the number of tanks in a single attack.

Fortunately, the Empire has also adapted to how to deal with tank attacks, even large-scale tank attacks.

Although it was still far from being able to cope with a cluster tank attack, such as the Germans' attack intensity of using hundreds of tanks in a cluster, the enemy, although they had enough tanks, did not seem to be able to organize such a large-scale offensive capability.

Colonel Jingxia breathed a sigh of relief.

"Order."

He continued to issue orders:
"The First Infantry Battalion, hold the first line."

"The second and third infantry battalions are deployed at the second and third positions."

How to defend against enemy tank attacks.

Colonel Jingxia has been thinking about this problem all along.

Tanks have powerful firepower and thick armor, and with the support of infantry, they have extremely strong offensive capabilities. They cannot be stopped by one or two bunkers and fortifications, some mines, or some concrete bunkers.

Especially groups of tanks.

It can only be delayed and consumed.

Unless, he has anti-tank artillery...

However, after fighting the enemy for half a year, the Locust Army discovered that the attack distance of tanks was limited, the ammunition that tanks could carry was limited, and tanks were prone to malfunction.

Therefore,
As long as there is enough depth, one layer of positions, two layers of positions, three layers of positions... the tank offensive will be weakened by layers of fortifications, which will give the suicide squad enough opportunities and they will be consumed one by one.

Eventually it was submerged.

Previously, the troops lacked the ability to build anti-tank fortifications and mines, so they were unable to implement similar tactics - at least, they had to have enough weapons to pose a threat to tanks.

Although the sting mine is effective, it is too simple, easy to defend against, and requires extremely high positioning.

but now··

He had the mines, enough concrete bunkers, enough spike mines.

This time...

"After the enemy occupied the first position, the First Infantry Battalion immediately retreated to the fourth position."

"Artillery battalion, be ready to provide fire support at any time."

Colonel Jingxia continued to give orders.

This time, he prepared more than just four positions.

This does not include the subsequent artillery positions - with the improvement of domestic production capacity, his company was equipped with six Type 105 mm howitzers!
Although howitzers are unlikely to pose a threat to tanks, they pose a great threat to infantry.

A tank without infantry is like a plucked chicken.

No threat at all. (End of this chapter)