Comrade, Your Ingredients Are Too Complicated

Fourteen days later, late at night, Cao Bang Viet Minh headquarters.

After two weeks of advanced military training, Brother Wen's sense of superiority had long since disappeared, and he was even more convinced of the plans formulated by the advisory group.

Before this, their battles had always been based on guerrilla harassment, and positional combat with large groups of enemies was almost a knowledge blind spot.

Now that I have learned from the experience and lessons of my allies, I naturally feel like I have a sudden enlightenment.

"Director Xiao and Colonel Cheng, thank you very much for your meticulous and patient teaching during this period. Both I and several senior commanders have gained a lot from these two weeks of courses."

"We cannot thank you enough for a great favor. In the days to come, the Viet Minh will continue to work hard and vow to live up to the advisory group's expectations of us."

"By the way, we plan to use a battle to test the learning results we have learned some time ago. This is a plan I made overnight, and I asked the two of you to give me some guidance."

Although Brother Wen speaks politely, his appetite is really not small at all.

In this combat plan, the Viet Minh was ready to concentrate nearly 6,000 troops from two main divisions to launch an attack on the enemies stationed on the inland border.

According to what the other party said, the Indochina Peninsula has been suffering from Siam for a long time, and they are bound to annihilate the 1,500 defenders in the salient in one fell swoop.

Attack with four times the strength, the advantage is mine!

As soon as these words came out, Director Xiao and Cheng Shifa immediately received the report from their allies. The two of them didn't say any polite words, they just opened the document and started to check for omissions and fill in the gaps.

But after just one glance, the consultants put on masks of pain.

"Well, there is absolutely nothing wrong with comrades' idea of ​​testing their learning results. I personally support it. However, there is a big loophole in this combat plan."

"Since you are determined to fight a big battle, why didn't the combat troops investigate the enemy's deployment in advance?"

"Only when you know yourself and your enemy can you win a hundred battles without danger. I suggest that the main force should not be too anxious. It is best to fight steadily."

Before leaving, the border region and the headquarters specifically emphasized that the advisory group is essentially a staff. All actions in the Indochina Peninsula cannot be arranged and replaced, let alone the emperor directly issuing orders.

This resulted in Xiao, Cheng, and Ding theoretically only being able to make suggestions and not be able to directly command the Viet Minh troops.

Although his battle plan did not pass the review of the advisory group, Brother Wen did not have any negative emotions because of it. He lowered his head and thought for a while, and then added:

"What you all say makes sense, but we, the Viet Minh, have our own national conditions here."

"In order to win the first battle, everyone has been gearing up for a week, and even mobilized tens of thousands of people to build roads and deliver supplies. The commanders are also ready for a general offensive, and even the grassroots soldiers know the latest decisions of the headquarters. "

"A temporary change in decision-making may cause the morale of the troops to plummet."

Hearing this, the senior members of the advisory group frowned.

The implication of the other party's words, to put it bluntly, is that the plan remains unchanged and the pre-war reconnaissance is completed. It's really hard to persuade the damned one with good words.

At this point, Director Xiao and Cheng Shifa even had the idea of ​​causing the Viet Minh to suffer a big loss. However, keeping in mind the importance of Indochina and the new route, they still planned to patiently advise them.

After all, if you lack even the most basic tactical reconnaissance capabilities, why would you launch a complex large-scale attack?

Just as the two were talking, the savior appeared.

A disgraced Ding Wei and several staff members pushed open the door of the combat conference room, and then said straight to the point:

"I just came back from the border. Siam has stationed three infantry battalions in their northwest military district. Moreover, the Viet Minh has made too much noise. The enemy has noticed it and has stepped up alerts across the board."

"In order to prepare for a possible war, the other side not only strengthened the existing fortifications, but also laid a large number of mines along the best attack routes."

"If we attack by force, the vanguard will definitely suffer heavy losses."

When he heard that the plan was exposed, Brother Wen's first reaction was that there was a mole within his own party. But when he thought about it carefully, he smiled awkwardly.

Siam is not a fool. It mobilizes local people and builds roads to transport military supplies needed for the war. How could the enemy not see such a big movement?

Besides, it was Tukhachevsky's blessing that the combat plan, which was known to even the grassroots soldiers, did not reach the ears of the Japanese.

After realizing the idea, Brother Wen no longer cared about morale issues and turned his attention to the senior members of the advisory group for help.

In the past two weeks, Director Xiao was in charge of the political education of middle and high-level cadres of the Viet Minh, while Cheng Shifa was responsible for training the three main divisions of the allies. In terms of understanding of the border, it has to be Ding Wei.

Facing the probing eyes of everyone, Lao Ding walked toward the strategic situation map with vigorous steps. He pointed his finger to the southeast of his original target and said confidently:

"Now that Siam is aware of our plan, we might as well take advantage of the enemy's inertial thinking and change the target to a defense zone with weaker defenses."

"Comrades, please see, the straight-line distance between these two strongholds is only 40 kilometers, and they happen to be located on the main traffic arteries." "And this was once the territory of the French. We can learn about the local topography and terrain from them. Depending on the weather and the distribution of fortifications, encircling the point for reinforcements is the most appropriate choice at the moment.”

Ding Wei's plan made the comrades in the advisory group nod in agreement.

Attack stronghold B first to force the enemy defenders at stronghold A to send troops for reinforcements. In this way, as long as an ambush is set up along the way, there is a high probability that one can eat two fish.

This style of play, which can not only reduce the difficulty of critical battles, but also train the coordination ability of combat troops, is indeed a good plan that kills two birds with one stone.

After everyone in the advisory group patiently explained the revised combat plan, Lao Hu and Brother Wen finally made the decision.

"Okay! Then adopt Commander Ding's plan. Send me an order to have the two main divisions, 304 and 308, attack stronghold B from the east and west. Four thousand against seven hundred, and we have heavy weapons, so we can only win. No defeat allowed!”

"The 312th Division plus two regiments will set up an ambush on the main road between the two strongholds, preparing to encircle and annihilate the reinforcements coming out of Stronghold A."

"This battle must bring out the spirit of the Viet Minh and set an example for the people of the entire Indochina Peninsula. As long as we unite Laos, Cambodia, and the Viet Minh, we will definitely defeat imperialism!"

"yes!"

In the following time, the advisory group and Brother Wen convened the middle and high-level commanders of the three main divisions. It took them four hours to answer the question, and the meeting didn't end until three in the morning.

Fortunately, everyone's efforts were not in vain. After a thorough analysis of the pros and cons, everyone finally unified their thinking at the pre-war meeting.

This kind of high-intensity and difficult work once made Director Xiao and others dizzy. At this moment, they finally understood the helplessness of Lao Cui and Falkenhausen.

However, compared with the Central Army, it seems more difficult to guide allies.

······

Early the next morning, the troops set off on time.

The distance between Gaoping and the destination is nearly 200 kilometers. This stretch of road is naturally nothing to the current Eighth Route Army. But for the fledgling main force of the Viet Minh, it was an extremely difficult test.

That's all, with the French giving the green light and the help of local people along the way.

Watching the allies' troops depart, Cheng Shifa and Ding Wei, who were accompanying them, sighed involuntarily. If the infantry's march can still be regarded as barely passing, then the artillery is really a bit unfavorable.

"At the current pace, we may not be able to reach the assembly point next week."

"Hey, I feel so tired. Fortunately, I took the advice of Director Huang from the headquarters before setting off. Otherwise, if we only relied on manpower and a small amount of animal power to drag us, the number of non-combat attrition would probably not be in the thousands."

"Let's go. I hope everything goes well on the way and I don't encounter any nosy spy planes."

In order to strengthen the firepower of the main Viet Minh force, in addition to carrying mortars and Type 92 infantry guns, this advisory group also specially prepared three battalions of Japanese mountain artillery.

The range and power of these 36 Type 94 mountain guns are indeed not as good as Miss 75, but their lighter weight is extremely friendly to pure armies.

Unfortunately, the situation in Indochina was worse than the advisory group expected. The local hot and humid climate conditions were not suitable for raising pack horses, so most of the allies' main force could only rely on manpower to pull cannons.

As a result, the mountain artillery unit, which was originally known for its mobility, could only crawl at a crawl in the jungle. This was the main reason why the representatives of the advisory group were worried and in trouble.

Fortunately it's not all bad news now.

After this operation is over, the three main divisions responsible for the attack plus two regiment-level units do not need to return to Gaoping. They will stay and continue fighting until the disputed area is completely retaken.

Hearing the complaints from his old comrades, Cheng Shifa suddenly remembered the "happy time" for two full weeks. Looking at the slowly advancing artillery, he said in a resentful tone:

"During training, I repeatedly emphasized the need to shoot at close range. Since I lack experience, I should trade distance for hit rate. This is a traditional skill of our Eighth Route Army, so it is not difficult to understand."

"Guess what they said?"

"Those three artillery battalion commanders believe that shooting at close range is suicide. They would rather consume doubled artillery shells than advance a few hundred meters. What a big deal."

Hearing this, Ding Wei rolled his eyes involuntarily.

"Director Huang is right. For countries that have been completely colonized, they should be beaten severely. The lost blood and national self-esteem can only be repented at the cost of life."

"For the next action, let's be prepared to wipe the Viet Minh's butt."

"I have a hunch that there will definitely be trouble." (End of Chapter)