Chapter 288: Commander Chen's Second Battle Plan
"Of course, if it were me, I would also choose to let the New 1st Regiment go. After all, the New 1st Regiment has enough numbers and combat effectiveness, and has the most veterans.
If the New Second Regiment was to be allowed to go, then Li Yunlong and his men would at least have to withdraw the new recruits from the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment and hand them over to Kong Jie.
Otherwise, Kong Jie's new Second Regiment would not have enough people to defend such a large area.
Now the new regiment is at the Xiaocaozhuang stronghold, so let me just say this.
The New 1st Regiment, with Xiaocaozhuang as its center, was responsible for blocking the Japanese reinforcements coming from these directions.
Brigade Commander Chen stood up and walked to the wall where a map of the entire Shanxi Province was hung, and began to work on the map with a wooden stick in his hand.
“Boss, you see, this area and Luyang are all open space… If it were me, I would place the temporary cavalry regiment here.
At that time, even if an emergency occurs, the mobility of the cavalry regiment will be able to quickly provide support to the blocking forces in Xiaocaozhuang, Luyang and other areas.
At critical moments, it can also directly reach the middle area between Shuiquan and Ping'an County.
The Xinyi Regiment has temporarily made the following arrangements.
Then there are the arrangements for the Independent Regiment, the Pioneer Regiment and the New Second Regiment.
In my battle plan, the Independent Regiment, the New Second Regiment, and the Pioneer Regiment will first look for a suitable place in Fu'an County to build a pontoon bridge and cross the river from the mountainous area.
Among them, the independent regiment left a battalion of troops in Fu'an, and the other vanguard regiments and the new second regiment left behind a battalion of new recruits.
All the rest of the troops will cross the river. If time is tight, most of the heavy weapons of the three regiments will be left in Fu'an County.
After the main forces of the three regiments crossed the river using the pontoon bridge, the three regiments cut off communications as quickly as possible and captured all the artillery towers and ferry crossings built by the Japanese along the Dongzhang River.
With the strength of three regiments, plus a battalion of troops and a large amount of heavy weapons support on the other side of the Dongzhang River, it would take less than an hour for the three regiments to capture the artillery towers and other strongholds set up by the Japanese along the Dongzhang River.
And it can completely wipe out the defenders inside.
Finally, after all the heavy weapons had crossed the river, the Vanguard Regiment and the New Second Regiment set off first, and the Vanguard Regiment moved to the surrounding areas of Ping'an County.
The New Second Regiment moved between Shuiquan and Ping'an County.
Among them, the New Second Regiment must be equipped with a large number of submachine guns, pistols, light machine guns, grenade launchers, and mortars. The Pioneer Regiment has a lot of these equipment, which can be temporarily transferred from the Pioneer Regiment to the New Second Regiment for use.
The new Second Regiment does not need to be equipped with heavy weapons such as heavy machine guns, mountain cannons, and infantry guns. All these heavy weapons can be left behind for the Vanguard Regiment to use.
I calculated that it would take seven hours for the two regiments to move to these positions. In reality, because the vanguard regiment had a large number of mules and horses, the time could be shortened.
But considering that the Vanguard Regiment and the New Second Regiment had to move to the designated locations without being discovered by the Japanese, I gave them seven hours.
If they want to be more secretive, the Vanguard Regiment, the New Second Regiment and the Independent Regiment can temporarily refrain from attacking the artillery towers built by the Japanese along the Dongzhang River.
The Vanguard Regiment and the New Second Regiment can set off first, and after arriving at the designated location, the Independent Regiment will then eliminate the Japanese artillery towers and strongholds beside the Dongzhang River.
Of course, in this case, unless the pontoon bridge is built strong enough, the Vanguard Regiment and the New Second Regiment can only carry some direct-fire artillery such as mountain artillery and infantry artillery to cross the river. The Vanguard Regiment cannot take away all the heavy weapons in the army.
Unless the vanguard group intends to move it slowly, bit by bit.
But they don’t have that much time now. At most they have five days. Within five days, their four regiments must either capture Ping’an County or withdraw.
Otherwise, if we get into a protracted war, it will be disadvantageous to us. The Japanese may also launch an attack on our Eighth Route Army in advance. "
"Similarly, the new regiment at Xiaocaozhuang stronghold also moved to the vicinity of Xiaocaozhuang at the same time.
Then the New 1st Regiment and the New 2nd Regiment took advantage of this opportunity to quickly explore the nearby terrain. This reconnaissance work can be completed in the early preparation stage.
After completing the reconnaissance work, the New 1st and New 2nd Regiments quickly built fortifications at various locations suitable for blocking.
Especially the New Second Regiment. There is less space on the New Second Regiment's side, and suitable blocking positions are definitely not as many as those on the New First Regiment's side. There is no way to block in steps, so the New Second Regiment can only build stronger fortifications at the blocking locations so that they can hold out longer.
While building fortifications, both the New Second Regiment and the New First Regiment needed to lay a large number of mines along the way and use the terrain to reasonably destroy roads, bridges, etc.
At most, the New 1st and New 2nd Regiments will have a little more than one day to make these preparations.
After the preparations are completed, or if they are discovered by the Japanese on the way, the Vanguard Regiment and the Independent Regiment must be ready to attack as soon as possible.
At the same time, the New 1st and New 2nd Regiments had to build fortifications as quickly as possible, make preparations, and send troops to various blocking positions.
The independent regiment must eliminate the strongholds and artillery towers built by the Japanese along the Dongzhang River within an hour.
With the strength of one regiment of the Independent Regiment, plus the heavy weapons left behind by the Vanguard Regiment and troops from the recruit battalion, it would not be difficult to capture the Japanese strongholds and artillery towers beside the Dongzhang River within an hour.
The strongholds and artillery towers built by the Japanese along the Dongzhang River were all simple brick and wood structures.
A single shot from a mountain cannon would destroy the reinforced concrete fortifications at the Zhangzhuang stronghold.
Finally, the Independent Regiment, carrying the heavy weapons left behind by the Vanguard Regiment and its own heavy weapons, launched an all-out attack on the Zhangzhuang stronghold.
If the Japanese in Ping'an County sent reinforcements when the Independent Regiment attacked the Japanese near the Dongzhang River, or when attacking the Zhangzhuang stronghold, the Vanguard Regiment would give priority to defeating the Japanese reinforcements and then launch an attack on Ping'an County.
At the same time, the vanguard regiment's mule and horse team quickly moved south to join Li Yunlong's independent regiment.
After the independent regiment captured the Zhangzhuang stronghold, it received support from the vanguard regiment's mule and horse team.
In two hours at most (the Vanguard Regiment and the New Second Regiment had taken a long detour before, so it took six hours, and the Independent Regiment is now taking a direct route, so two hours is enough), the Independent Regiment will be able to reach Ping'an County and join the Vanguard Regiment in attacking the county seat of Ping'an County.
Among them, the first to launch the attack must be Li Yunlong's independent regiment, and Li Yunlong must first launch an attack on the Japanese soldiers near the Dongzhang River. If the Japanese soldiers did not notice that the Eighth Route Army was preparing to attack the county seat of Ping'an County when the independent regiment attacked the Dongzhang River artillery tower and stronghold, and did not take it seriously.
Then we have an extra hour of free time.
If Li Yunlong led the independent regiment to launch an attack on the Zhangzhuang stronghold.
Then the Japanese would definitely guess that we might attack Ping'an County.
Of course, if the Vanguard Regiment or the New Second Regiment that entered the Ping'an County area in advance were discovered, then the Japanese would also know in advance that our Eighth Route Army was preparing to attack Ping'an County.
Among them, Shuiquan Luyang is the closest to Ping'an County. If the road is unobstructed, it will take at least four hours for the Japanese troops coming out from Shuiquan to support Ping'an County to reach Ping'an County.
This is based on the assumption that the Japanese only carry light weapons and are all traveling in trucks and on horses.
If we also need to bring along puppet troops and a large number of heavy weapons, this time can be extended to eight hours, or at least seven hours.
However, it would be too difficult to capture the Zhangzhuang stronghold and Ping'an County within seven hours...so the New Second Regiment needs to delay the time as much as possible...at least thirty hours...The fortifications of Ping'an County and Zhangzhuang stronghold are very strong.
Even though the vanguard regiment's artillery fire was sharp, the power of the 75mm mountain cannon was still not enough.
Therefore, the New Second Group needs to delay the time as much as possible, starting from thirty hours.
Only by delaying the battle to thirty hours would the Vanguard Regiment and the Independent Regiment have a chance to capture Ping'an County, or at least ensure the capture of the Zhangzhuang stronghold.
As long as we can capture the Zhangzhuang stronghold and the Vanguard Regiment, the Independent Regiment and the New 1st Regiment do not suffer too much loss, then we will win this battle.
If the New Second Regiment failed to stop the Japanese reinforcements, then no matter how far the Vanguard Regiment and the Independent Regiment had advanced in attacking Ping'an County, they would have to retreat immediately and absolutely could not continue to attack the county seat of Ping'an County.
The Japanese reinforcements have arrived, making it more difficult to continue attacking the county seat of Ping'an.
Moreover, because of the attack on the county town, both the Vanguard Regiment and the Independent Regiment would suffer heavy losses.
By then, the two tired troops, the Vanguard Regiment and the Independent Regiment, would encounter the Japanese reinforcements which were in relatively good condition and had sufficient supplies. Then, even if the Vanguard Regiment and the Independent Regiment had just captured the county seat of Ping'an County, they would not be able to defend it.
Instead of staying in Ping'an County and fighting the Japanese to the death, it is better to quickly retreat back to Fu'an County after destroying various defensive fortifications in Ping'an County.
Just hold on to the Zhangzhuang stronghold that has already been captured.
If Ping'an County lost the gate of Zhangzhuang stronghold, and all the most troublesome fortifications in the county were destroyed, it would not be so difficult to attack Ping'an County again.
After all, the reason why the Japanese were able to make Ping'an County and Zhangzhuang strongholds so strong was largely because the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army had built a lot of fortifications in these two places.
As a result, all the benefits were given to the Japanese, who did not build any more fortifications but only reinforced the original foundations.
Destruction is always easier than construction. To build so many fortifications, especially the fortress complex in Zhangzhuang stronghold, it would take at least three months, if not half a year.
But if they wanted to destroy it, the Eighth Route Army could just use a large amount of explosives and place them directly in key positions of the fortifications, which would allow them to be destroyed easily.
With the capabilities of the Vanguard Regiment, those fortifications can definitely be destroyed to the point where they are no longer worth repairing.
If the Japanese wanted to rebuild it, even if they worked overtime and overnight, it would still take more than a month.
But is it possible for our Eighth Route Army to give the Japanese time to rebuild their fortifications? Absolutely impossible!
Therefore, as long as those fortifications are destroyed, Ping'an County will just be an ordinary county town. We can completely rely on the Zhangzhuang stronghold under our control as a bridgehead and launch an attack on Ping'an County town at any time.
Of course, if we can successfully capture Ping'an County and rely on it to block the attacks of the Japanese, that would be great."
After Brigade Commander Chen finished speaking about his second combat plan in one breath, he strode over with a smile and sat down in front of the boss who was thinking.
"Boss, what do you think of my second battle plan? I think if Li Yunlong and his men hadn't encountered any unexpected situations, they would most likely have used this battle plan. But now, there have been some unexpected situations, so the details will depend on subsequent developments.
The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly and plans can never keep up with the changes. Now it depends on how Xiao Qin talks with the Japanese soldier named Murakuchi Saburo.
It would be great if we could capture Ping'an County without bloodshed.
Xiao Qin sent a telegram saying that the Japanese soldier named Murakuchi Saburo had handed over the Xiaocaozhuang stronghold to our Eighth Route Army in order to show his sincerity.
We have also arranged people to help the guy named Qingquan Muyi deal with his little tail. Now it depends on whether Xiao Qin can take the county seat of Ping'an County from the hands of Qingquan Muyi and Murakuchi Saburo, the two Japanese devils.
Then the New 1st Regiment entered the Xiaocaozhuang stronghold and officially took over the Xiaocaozhuang stronghold.
The Vanguard Regiment and the New Second Regiment were also hiding in the Taihang Mountains under the leadership of Kong Jie and Zhang Ye, waiting for news from Qin Yangming.
Li Yunlong is also a rare guy who has the patience to wait for the result from Qin Yangming. "
Brigade Commander Chen looked at the boss who was in deep thought, and told him the information he knew so far.
I listened to Brigade Commander Chen’s second combat plan, and also listened to Brigade Commander Chen’s latest intelligence about the four regiments.
The commander pondered the second battle plan proposed by the brigade commander again, and then spoke.
"I think your battle plan is no longer a risk-taking plan... It gives me the feeling that you are sending the New Second Regiment to die and letting the Vanguard Regiment fall into the encirclement of the Japanese. If things go wrong, the Vanguard Regiment and the New Second Regiment may be swallowed up by the Japanese."
It was obvious that the boss strongly disagreed with the battle plan proposed by Brigade Commander Chen.
Listening to the boss's words, Brigade Commander Chen shook his head helplessly.
"Boss, I also know that this battle plan has a big problem... Boss, don't you know who I am? Would I use such an extremely risky battle plan that has no confidence at all?
But from what I know about them, although this battle plan is very risky, I think if there were no Qingquan Muyi and Murakuchi Saburo as a small episode, then Li Yunlong and his team would have an 80% chance of using this battle plan! "
(End of this chapter)
