Chapter 285: Commander Chen's Concept
All I can say is that a brigade commander is a brigade commander.
When Qin Yangming and Li Yunlong were discussing, they only thought about how much help it would be for the Eighth Route Army's subsequent battles if Ping'an County was captured, and how much benefit it would bring to their four regiments.
Even Ding Wei only thought that if he could take Ping'an County and then Shuiquan, then the Taihang Military Region, Wutaishan Military Region, and Yi Zhong Military Region could be directly connected.
Maybe the three military regions can be directly merged into another larger military region.
I never expected that launching an attack on Ping'an County and how big a reaction the capture of Ping'an County would cause.
But it was different for Brigade Commander Chen. He made a detailed analysis of the situation across the country and then inferred how much benefit the Eighth Route Army could gain from it.
What a great help it was to the national anti-Japanese struggle.
After listening to Brigade Commander Chen's battle plan and analysis of the situation, the boss couldn't help but nodded, indicating that he agreed with Brigade Commander Chen's analysis.
Brigade Commander Chen spoke out a long paragraph about his battle plan and the results of his analysis in one breath, then quickly snatched the cup from the boss's hand and took two sips.
"No, Boss, I just don't understand. Xiao Qin seized so much good tea, and I must have been entrusted with delivering a lot to the headquarters... Why is yours still crumbs? And this must have been steeped for a day.
I don't believe that Xiao Qin has never sent you the tea leaves that he entrusted you to send... Where are your tea leaves? I remember that when we attacked the Fourth Brigade last time, Xiao Qin seized several batches of good tea leaves, and he sent all of them to you.
Have you finished drinking it all?"
Brigade Commander Chen drank the tea in the cup without any tea flavor. He looked at the things in the cup that were broken into unknown shapes. He didn't even know if they were tea leaves. He looked at the boss in surprise.
Seeing that Brigade Commander Chen disliked his tea, the boss snatched the cup from Brigade Commander Chen's hand and refilled it with water.
"Drink shit, you still want to drink good tea? It's good enough to have water for you to drink, what? The war hasn't ended yet, and you, Brigade Commander Chen, have already started to enjoy it? This is high-quality tea leaves, and you still despise this thing?
Still want to drink good tea? Do you want me to send someone to Fujian to get you some Da Hong Pao? Or maybe some Mingqian Longjing or Junshan Maojian?"
The boss already had complaints about Brigade Commander Chen taking the risk of agreeing to Qin Yangming and others to attack Ping'an County. Now that he saw that Brigade Commander Chen disliked his tea, it was naturally impossible for him to speak to Brigade Commander Chen in a nice tone.
"No, Boss, it's just a moment, you won't make a big deal out of it, right? I just..."
"Okay, okay, there's only so much tea. I've used up all my monthly allowance and can't afford any good tea. If it weren't for Xiao Qin sending me some cigarettes every now and then, the chief of staff and I would have started smoking pipes.
I can't even afford cigarettes, so naturally I can't afford any good tea. The daily consumption of tea alone at the headquarters is about ten cents.
If I use those good tea leaves, how can I afford them? Besides, if there are guests coming to the headquarters, if I don’t have good tea leaves, won’t they look down on me? Plus, those few people come to me from time to time to ask for money, and I don’t have much stock.
So the remaining good tea leaves are stored for future use.”
Listening to the boss's words, Brigade Commander Chen couldn't help but joked: "Oh, boss, I didn't expect you to start caring about face.
Fortunately, Xiao Qin didn’t have any requirements for tea, otherwise the tea would never have been delivered to us.
You don't know, the cigarettes at Xiao Qin's place are all good ones, Lao Dao, Xuan He Men and so on, they have everything. When we have time, we can go to Xiao Qin's place to ask for some money..."
"That's enough, enough chatting and gossiping. I'm not sleepy yet, and I don't need you to interrupt with something else to wake me up.
Only you can think of and do something like this, asking for money from the younger generation."
"Okay, let's stop talking about this and get back to business."
When the boss saw that Brigade Commander Chen wanted to change the subject and talk about other things, he quickly raised his hand to stop Brigade Commander Chen from speaking and told him not to talk about other things and to continue talking about the original battle plan.
After the boss made two more bowls of tea, he gave one cup to Brigade Commander Chen and then spoke to him.
"Your analysis is very accurate, but it is only theoretical. Theoretically, if the situation develops according to this, our Eighth Route Army can indeed gain great benefits.
But it's only in theory... Never mind, I'll talk after you finish.
You just said that if Ping'an County sent reinforcements to support Zhangzhuang, then the troops would be mobilized like that.
What would you do if the Japanese in Ping'an County did not send troops to support the Zhangzhuang stronghold? How would you attack Ping'an County and how would you mobilize the troops? "
The boss thought that Brigade Commander Chen's initial combat plan and subsequent analysis were all based on the premise that the Japanese in Ping'an County would send reinforcements to support the Zhangzhuang stronghold, and the planning, troop deployment and analysis of subsequent situations were carried out.
So he asked Brigade Commander Chen how he planned to deploy his troops and launch the attack if the Japanese in Ping'an County did not support the Zhangzhuang stronghold.
Listening to the boss's questions in response to his words, Brigade Commander Chen raised his hand to take the tea handed to him by the boss and spoke again.
"If the Japanese in Ping'an County don't provide support to the Zhangzhuang stronghold.
Then the independent regiment would move directly between Ping'an County and Shuiquan Luyang to block the Japanese reinforcements coming from Shuiquan, Luyang and other directions.
After the Vanguard Regiment launched an attack on the Zhangzhuang stronghold, if Ping'an County did not choose to support the Zhangzhuang stronghold, it would also notify the Japanese in Shuiquan and Luyang and other places.
If the Zhangzhuang stronghold realizes that it can no longer withstand the attack of the vanguard group and can no longer be defended, it will definitely ask for help.
Because with the strength of the vanguard regiment, they can definitely surround and attack the Zhangzhuang stronghold.
In this situation, the tactic of surrounding three sides and leaving one behind is actually not that effective.
Even if a gap was left and the Japanese soldiers inside the Zhangzhuang stronghold escaped, they would not be fooled.
They could rely on fortifications inside the stronghold to fight against the Vanguard Regiment, or run out to fight the Vanguard Regiment in the field. Apart from anything else, the artillery of the Vanguard Regiment alone was enough to kill all the Japanese in the entire Zhangzhuang stronghold.
Therefore, the Japanese soldiers in the Zhangzhuang stronghold will definitely choose to hold on and wait for help.
If the Japanese in Ping'an County do not send reinforcements, then the Japanese in Shuiquan and Luyang will definitely send reinforcements.
Even the Japanese might have realized that the real purpose of the Eighth Route Army was to attack Ping'an County, not Zhangzhuang.
That is why Ping'an County did not choose to send out reinforcements. Instead, our Eighth Route Army surrounded and attacked the reinforcements and defeated the troops leaving the city.
In view of this situation, the Japanese troops in Shuiquan are likely to send the 11th Brigade to Ping'an County for support. The Independent Regiment needs to block the Japanese reinforcements coming from Shuiquan and Luyang for at least two days... while the New 2nd Regiment will keep an eye on the county seat of Ping'an County.
If the Japanese in Ping'an County took advantage of the fact that the Independent Regiment had tied up their troops coming from Shuiquan and Luyang, they would take the opportunity to launch an attack from the rear of the Independent Regiment.
Then the independent regiment would be in danger of being attacked from all sides.
It was already very difficult for the independent regiment to stop an entire brigade of the Japanese with its manpower and weapons and equipment. If it was attacked from both sides, the independent regiment would be in danger of being wiped out.
Therefore, the New Second Regiment is needed to keep an eye on the county seat of Ping'an County.
If Ping'an County sent troops, whether to support the Zhangzhuang stronghold or to prepare to attack Shuiquan and Luyang, the Japanese troops coming from Luyang would attack the independent regiment from the front and back.
Then the New Second Regiment must delay the Japanese troops coming out of Ping'an County. It would be best if they could completely wipe them out. In any case, the troops in Ping'an County must not be allowed to interfere with the battles of the Vanguard Regiment and the Independent Regiment.
At the same time, we must never allow the Japanese troops coming out of Ping'an County to return to the county.
After the vanguard regiment eliminated the Zhangzhuang stronghold, it immediately rushed to Ping'an County, and then used the fastest and strongest firepower to capture Ping'an County before the reinforcements could no longer hold on.
As long as the Vanguard Regiment captures the Zhangzhuang stronghold, then we will have a much greater chance of capturing Ping'an County. I can also directly transfer troops from the Taihang Military Region to support the Vanguard Regiment in attacking Ping'an County, and at the same time request the Yi Zhong Military Region to send troops to support the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment.
However, the prerequisite for all this is that the Vanguard Regiment has the strength to capture the Zhangzhuang stronghold and continue to launch attacks on the Ping'an County seat.
At the same time, the New 1st Regiment, the Independent Regiment, and the New 2nd Regiment can block the Japanese reinforcements... Otherwise, the remaining troops can only continue to defend their defense zones and cannot be mobilized at will. Even if they can provide support, they can only support one or two regiments, about three or four thousand people in total, and the support strength is not great.
We can send troops to attack the Japanese occupied areas to contain the Japanese troops, and the Japanese can also attack our bases and then contain our troops.
If the vanguard regiment's attack is not smooth and other troops are mobilized, the Japanese will definitely mobilize troops to attack our base.
Even if we don't mobilize troops, the Japanese will choose to attack our base in order to prevent us from supporting Ping'an County.
They're blocking our troops and preventing us from supporting the Vanguard Regiment... Well, in the final analysis, it's because we don't have enough troops on hand, there are too few troops, and the four regiments haven't all recovered to their strongest state yet.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so difficult.”
Brigade Commander Chen originally planned to send troops to provide support as soon as the vanguard regiment captured the Zhangzhuang stronghold.
However, considering that the Taihang base is currently surrounded by enemy forces on three sides and there are many places that need to be defended, the military force is originally insufficient.
If other troops were mobilized for support, what if the Japanese suddenly launched an attack on the Taihang Military Region?
Then Brigade Commander Chen would not have many mobile troops at hand to support the various defense lines.
If an unexpected situation occurs, the Taihang Military Region, which has been operating for a long time, is likely to face a crisis.
Something happened in the Taihang Military Region. Even if Qin Yangming and his men took over Ping'an County, it would be of no use to the Eighth Route Army.
Without the Taihang Military Region, Ping'an County would be worse than a piece of chicken ribs in the hands of the Eighth Route Army.
"Well, this battle plan is quite interesting. Although the plan is well thought out, the possibility of its implementation is not high... Have you told others about it yet?
What's your other battle plan? Tell me about it."
After listening to Brigade Commander Chen’s first combat plan, the boss nodded.
Brigade Commander Chen's first combat plan was relatively conventional. The only risky point was what would happen if the Japanese in Ping'an County did not provide support to the Zhangzhuang stronghold.
Li Yunlong was dispatched to lead the independent regiment to the north to block the Japanese reinforcements that might come south from Shuiquan and Luyang.
If something goes wrong, the Japanese will leave a small number of troops to defend Ping'an County, and most of the Japanese troops in Ping'an County will go directly north to attack the independent regiment.
They formed an encirclement from the north and south against the independent regiment, attacking it from the front and back.
The independent regiment will be in danger by then.
The New Second Regiment can tie down the reinforcements in Ping'an County.
Then the Japanese troops in Ping'an County could also send out a small force to contain the New Second Regiment.
After the independent regiment is destroyed, the Japanese troops coming out of Ping'an County and the troops coming from Shuiquan Luyang and other directions can quickly eliminate the New Second Regiment.
After all, the combat effectiveness of the New Second Regiment is there. The current strength of the New Second Regiment is only slightly stronger than the local forces. The reason why it can be considered the main force regiment is because it has the help of the New First Regiment, the Independent Regiment, and the Pioneer Regiment.
Otherwise, relying solely on the combat effectiveness of the New Second Regiment, it would at best be a slightly stronger local regiment.
The main task of local forces is not to attack but to defend.
Therefore, the most important task of the New Second Regiment is actually to garrison Fu'an County.
Instead of having the ability to attack like the New 1st Regiment, the Independent Regiment, and the Vanguard Regiment.
Therefore, if the Japanese wanted to tie up the New Second Regiment, they didn't even need a battalion. They only needed a squadron plus a group of puppet troops to tie up the New Second Regiment.
The Eighth Route Army can fight blocking battles, and it is very good at doing so. But that does not mean that the Eighth Route Army is the only army in the world that can fight blocking battles.
The Japanese were also quite good at fighting blocking battles.
Once the New Second Regiment is caught by the Japanese blocking forces, it will not be able to escape even if it wants to.
If the Japanese really did this, and the Vanguard Regiment could not quickly eliminate Ping'an County and provide support to the Independent Regiment.
Then the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment would most likely be killed and defeated by the Japanese.
By then, relying on the strength and combat effectiveness of a vanguard regiment, especially after the battle at Zhangzhuang stronghold, even the vanguard regiment would be able to capture Ping'an County.
Then the remaining combat power of the Vanguard Regiment might not be able to hold out until the reinforcements from the Taihang Military Region arrive.
(End of this chapter)
