My client Li Yunlong

mid-October.

"The underground detachment at the position south of Ze County has been surrounded?"

Shimen.

Ningji Okamura received the news first.

"what happened?"

His expression changed drastically.

The position south of Ze County is very important.

Due to factors such as time pressure, large project volume, and lack of mechanized equipment, the large-scale transport highway built by the Eighth Route Army starting from the Taiyue Base Area and connecting the Shaanxi-Gansu Border Region, Taihang, and the Southern Hebei Base Area only reached Ze County and did not go deep into the Southern Hebei Base Area.

Therefore, the Eighth Route Army did not continue the attack, and the armored group stopped at the north of Ze County and could only infiltrate on a small scale. In addition to the insufficient training of the soldiers, another major reason was because of this road.

The armored forces are indeed very strong. Once hundreds of them attack in a cluster, the locust army is currently unable to stop them. However, there are also prominent problems. The demand for supplies is very large.

The logistics are very stressful.

Once the logistical supplies are cut off, it will be like an iron coffin.

The huge Taihang heavy trucks, with a single load capacity of more than 50 tons, that were responsible for carrying supplies to the Eighth Route Army could only reach Ze County at best.

However, the southern part of Hebei is a flat plain.

Compared with the mountainous areas of Taiyue and Taihang, there are many routes suitable for truck transportation.

Among them, the road south of Ze County, as well as the subsequent Chi County, Nan County, etc., is a road that can accommodate heavy-loaded Taihang trucks. Even if it is a bridge, it only needs a little reinforcement.

Therefore, the areas south of Ze County, as well as the subsequent Chi County and Nan County were positions that the locust army had to defend, and they were heavily armed. After obtaining a large amount of military cement from the country, he immediately allocated it to these three positions.

They thought that if these positions were lost, the southern Hebei region would fall completely into the control of the Eighth Route Army.

This means that the logistical supply lines of the Eighth Route Army will continue to advance, and the attack range of its tank units will extend to Shimen and even important cities controlled by the Locust Army such as Baoding.

This is absolutely unacceptable to the Locust Army.

This is also unacceptable to the base camp.

The reason why the Economics and Business Departments can currently collect a large amount of funds every month, and even collect massive amounts of resources to transport back to the country, is that the locust army controls most of the commercial core areas and densely populated areas, and surrounds the bases of the Eighth Route Army, thereby making huge profits.

It's not just money, but also huge amounts of food, cotton and other supplies.

As a result, even though there were 70,000 to 80,000 casualties in North China each month, domestic support for the war was growing.

All of this is thanks to the funds and resources - people in the country, whether they are capitalists or ordinary people, have actually gained benefits from the war and will naturally support the war.

Therefore, the area south of Ze County was the most intense fighting on the front lines of both sides.

The previous garrison was the Yamazaki Battalion, which was the Imperial Locust Army's unit with the most mature anti-tank tactics and the highest level of tank combat command. There was also a regiment reserve later.

And now.

The troops stationed south of Ze County are the underground regiment of the 6th Division.

How could a regiment be surrounded?

"The enemy deployed thirty tanks and attacked in two directions."

Staff introduction occupied.

"The troops are divided into two groups?"

Ningji Okamura was puzzled.

Faced with a solid, complete defensive position with support troops on both wings, how can we divide our troops and attack in two directions?

Isn't this a waste of offensive power?
Logically, we should concentrate our strength, attack one point hard, and try our best to break through the front line of defense.

He had seen the position deployment map south of Ze County. Colonel Jingxia was worthy of being the commander of the Imperial Type A Division and an elite warrior. The position deployment was very reasonable and the terrain on both wings was impossible to pass through.

We can only attack from the front.

"They went around the flank position."

The staff officer's answer made Ningji Okamura's face change.

He immediately thought of the Ardennes Forest.

"Nani"

Ningji Okamura shouted.

He got it!

Their staff underestimated the assault capability of the opposing tank forces.

It can actually pass through complex terrain with many ditches and even anti-tank trenches.

"How is it possible that he can pass?!"

Okamura Neiji asked.

They had studied the Sherman tanks and there was no way they could get through that terrain, absolutely no way.

"General, according to reports from the front, they have dispatched an engineering tank equipped with a large number of buckets that can directly destroy the anti-tank trenches or even fill them up."

"As for the terrain, the enemy used a cluster of heavy artillery to completely destroy the terrain, thus forming a road that tanks could pass through."

The staff officer explained.

"I see."

Okamura Neji sighed.

Once again, he felt the huge gap brought by equipment.

The tactics that a unit can use are based on the equipment of the unit. Unless you have the same level of equipment or most of the intelligence about the enemy's equipment, you will never know what tactics the other side will use, let alone how to defend against them. At the same time, I also felt the power of the armored cluster.

It was absolutely impossible for a single Sherman to pass the flank of the Locust Army's position south of Ze County, but the enemy tanks passed through it easily, even bringing the evil infantry with them.

Ningji Okamura didn't understand before, but now he can understand.

Just like a squadron can't pass the river.

But for a battalion, it is very easy to cross a river, because the battalion is usually equipped with engineers and has the ability to build bridges.

"Strengthen Chi County's defenses."

"Especially the positions on the two wings."

Okamura Neji ordered.

It was inevitable that the underground brigade would suffer heavy losses, although the underground brigade commander reacted promptly and immediately ordered the troops to abandon their equipment and retreat to both wings, thus saving a part of the equipment.

But defeat was already done.

As for support, retake the position.

Just forget about it.

The main positions south of Ze County were all flat terrain. After being captured by the Eighth Route Army, the positions were no longer solid, and no matter how many infantrymen rushed forward, they would all die in vain.

The observation group was completely wiped out before because most of the Eighth Route Army tanks were grounded and there were too few accompanying infantry. The Yamazaki Battalion fought desperately and had to give up the position voluntarily, so he was able to recapture the position.

Even if the locust army gathers together now, we can’t take it down.

Air supremacy is in their hands.

The locust army’s only advantage is its artillery.

"Mechanized?"

Okamura Neji sighed.

Once again, he felt that the Empire had no chance of winning.

The enemy's strength is visibly growing stronger. This time, the cluster attack of thirty tanks is the best proof of this. It can be predicted that there will inevitably be attacks of one hundred or three hundred tanks in the future.

By then, will the North China Front Army be able to stop them?

If the situation continues to deteriorate, with tens of thousands of losses every month, how long can the empire withstand it?
Does the Empire really have a chance to turn things around?

But...

Ningji Okamura also knew it.

If the Empire doesn't persist, is there any other way?
Surrender to the United States?
Or, leave the mainland of the Republic of China and allow the Eighth Route Army's strength to continue to grow?

Not to mention Tian Huang, grassroots officers, domestic citizens, even Ningci Gangcun who was handcuffed on the fire, was unwilling.

The empire still has a trump card, the navy, and the army is still strong. Including overseas expatriates, it can organize an army of more than eight million, of which elite troops can reach 3.5 million.

Although the losses in North China were heavy, in fact, the total number of troops lost was only over 100,000 troops killed in action, more than 20,000 disabled and other losses, and most of the losses were second-line troops.

The empire's elite still exist.

If the domestic mobilization capacity is exhausted, the empire can still organize more than two million elite troops.

This does not include the one million naval troops,

The Empire's latest Type 105 medium tank, modeled after the Sherman, has also begun service. The new fighter jets designed and manufactured by Jue Yue have also begun testing, and the new anti-tank artillery has also been put into testing.

perhaps,

Does the Empire still have a chance?

That day, Ningji Okamura was silent for a very long time.

···
The end of October.

North China Front Army Headquarters, inside the General Staff Room.

Chief of Staff Omatsu looked at the data in his hand in silence.

Since the middle of the month, when the positions south of Ze County were captured by the Eighth Route Army, the battle situation that had been repeated for half a year has changed.

The Eighth Route Army changed from attacking with one, two or three tanks and no more than a squadron of infantry deployed at a time to attacking with fifteen tanks and a battalion of troops.

Very tricky.

Faced with clusters of tanks and infantry, the stingray was almost useless.

Even if the suicide squad hid in a hidden bunker and launched a charge from more than ten meters away from the tank, it was useless and they could only give away their lives in vain.

As a result, in the following half month, the locust army was almost unable to effectively destroy the enemy tanks.

The final statistics showed that only thirty enemy tanks were destroyed, as evidenced by the wreckage.

However, the locust army lost more than 10,000 people.

When the scale of the battle expanded, the locust army was almost defeated with an overwhelming force and had no ability to resist at all.

"The situation is very bad..."

Chief of Staff Oomatsu looked solemn.

It takes more than three hundred people to destroy an enemy tank... The Locust Army can't afford it even if they count three-year-old children!

As for the anti-tank mines that were highly anticipated...the enemy also dispatched an anti-mine tank that could easily destroy all anti-tank mines. The anti-tank concrete piles did cause some trouble for the enemy, but they were just some trouble.

Made the enemy tanks take a few more steps?
That's all. (End of this chapter)