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Zhao Gang said: "Although the devils are going to take the initiative to attack, it is best to have the battlefield outside the Great Wall. At present, the people in the North China base have finally settled down. If they are involved in the war again, many people will definitely be killed and injured."

Like Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang would always be the first to care about the safety of the people every time he went to war.

Not only Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang, but also ordinary soldiers of the Eighth Route Army put the safety of the folks in the base area first.

Now the land reform in the North China base area has just begun and the spring planting has just ended.

Although the Japanese invaders attacked North China, the Eighth Route Army could use this opportunity to better mobilize the masses.

Let the devils who attack North China be trapped in the vast ocean of the people.

However, with the current strength, equipment and logistical level of the Eighth Route Army, it does not need to mobilize too many people to defeat the Japanese.

"The prerequisite for setting up the battlefield outside the pass is that we can get out of the pass." Chief of Staff Wang Dehou said, staring at the map.

Li Yunlong nodded, his eyes thoughtful.

If the Japanese want to attack North China, they will have to attack from the east to the southwest, and the Japanese in central China will have to attack from the south to the north.

After he finished speaking, Li Yunlong pointed at Shanhaiguan and said:
"Whether the devils are building castles or fortresses in Shanhaiguan, our Father's Hammer can destroy all fortifications."

Li Yunlong added: "But in this case, we must allocate a group of elite soldiers to surround the devils in Chengde City to prevent them from attacking us from behind and stabbing us in the ass."

"That's right!" Li Yunlong nodded and pointed to the area north of Chengde. "Let the paratroopers drop to the north of Chengde to attack the enemy from both sides and drive all the devils of the First Army into Chengde city."

In the Huailai Campaign, paratroopers played a crucial role.

There was nothing that could be done about it, since the Eighth Route Army was fighting on its own soil.

"Bypass Chengde?" Xing Zhiguo was stunned, but immediately understood Li Yunlong's intention. "Captain, do you mean to occupy the outer positions of Chengde, leave a troop to surround Chengde, and then bypass Chengde?"

"Since the devils from the First Army like to be cowards, let's bypass Chengde!"

Although the firepower of the Eighth Route Army is strong, the Japanese and puppet troops cannot be defeated. Won’t they run away?
"Captain, what do you mean?"

The Eighth Route Army of the Shandong Provincial Military District will deal with the Japanese invaders along the Bohai Sea coast, considering that there is still a lot of room for improvement in the combat effectiveness of the troops of the Shandong Provincial Military District.

Therefore, during this expansion, Li Yunlong expanded the paratrooper unit from the original 2500 people to 8000 people, and the number was the New st Regiment Heavy Paratrooper Battalion.

He could send some troops to the Shandong Military Region to assist and provide sufficient logistical supplies.

However, after occupying the outer positions of Chengde, the Eighth Route Army's heavy equipment could be moved to the outside of the Great Wall via the highway outside the city wall.

"However, I think we can be more aggressive and take down the Japs' 4th Army in Shanhaiguan."

Based on Xing Zhiguo's report, Li Yunlong carefully analyzed the current situation between the enemy and us.

"Moreover, the area north of Chengde is still in the hands of the devils. The main force of the Kwantung Army can provide continuous reinforcements."

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Sangui, the commander of Shanhaiguan, opened the gate and let more than 300 ferocious Qing troops into the pass, leading to the Qing Dynasty's rule for nearly years.

"Commander." Chief of Staff Wang Dehou immediately became interested. "How do you plan to defeat the Japanese 4th Army?"

Xing Zhiguo has the most say on this point. He said:
"Since the enemy lost their barrier positions in the southeast and southwest, they have deployed their large forces inside Chengde City, attempting to engage in street fighting with us. The cost of capturing Chengde is relatively high."

The Japs' First Army was stuck in Chengde like a nail.

Otherwise, Li Yunlong would have directly used artillery shells and aerial bombs to wipe out the Japanese in Chengde City.

The Japs were planning to build a fort similar to the Hutou Fortress in Shanhaiguan, but it has not been completed yet.

In order to prevent the Eighth Route Army from attacking, General Umezu Michiro, commander of the Kwantung Army, even sent an army to defend here.

Of course, it is nominally a heavy armored parachute battalion, but in fact it is Li Yunlong’s parachute division.

"As for capturing Shanhaiguan, that will be much easier!"

As well as the devil's transport ships, they landed at ports along the Bohai Sea and attacked the Eighth Route Army in North China on three fronts.

"And here in Shanhaiguan, the Japanese have built a large number of strong fortifications and are constantly increasing their troops."

"It's not particularly difficult to capture Chengde and Shanhaiguan, but it's not that easy either."

The Japanese troops defending Shanhaiguan were also an army group, the 4th Army of the Kwantung Army, which had 3 divisions and 2 mixed brigades under its command.

Then Wang Dehou stared at the map and found it was not difficult to pry open Shanhaiguan with his father's hammer.

Li Yunlong narrowed his eyes and spoke harshly.

After the Japanese army captured Shanhaiguan, they strengthened their defenses and recently built a fortress here.

Shanhaiguan is a pass with a long history and great fame, and is known as the No. 1 Pass in the World.

In 1933, even though the Japanese army used modern weapons such as airplanes, artillery, and tanks, it still took them two full days and a bloody battle to finally capture Shanhaiguan.

In the south, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army was fighting against the Japanese invaders advancing northward.

In addition to airdropping paratroopers, the New 1st Regiment's strategic transport aircraft can also airdrop mountain artillery and armored vehicles, and has strong combat capabilities behind enemy lines.

Shanhaiguan City is 14 meters high and 7 meters thick, and has always been a place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

In other words, the Japanese relied on the fact that there were Chinese people in Chengde city.

According to reliable intelligence, the total strength of the Japanese and puppet troops defending Shanhaiguan was about 60,000 to 70,000 people, and they had established a deep defensive position before and after Shanhaiguan.

Li Yunlong said: "If our troops want to seize the initiative on the battlefield, we must first capture Chengde and Shanhaiguan."

As for the main force of the Kwantung Army attacking from Manchuria, it was Li Yunlong who led the New 1st Regiment, the Independent Regiment and the New 2nd Regiment to fight against it.

If we can counterattack Japan in the future, we won’t have to worry so much and can directly use artillery shells and aerial bombs to destroy the city.

Xing Zhiguo asked:

"Send out some paratroopers and drop them into the area behind Shanhaiguan to cut off the passage of the 4th Army?"

Currently, the Eighth Route Army has about 8000 paratroopers, of which 2500 are veteran paratroopers and 5500 are new paratroopers.

At present, the old and new paratroopers are still in training and have been training for more than three months. Although they have not yet conducted actual combat training, they have initially formed combat effectiveness.

"You guessed half of it."

With a chuckle, Li Yunlong continued:
"The Paratrooper Battalion also has to take care of the Japanese First Army in Chengde. If we divide it in half in Chengde and half in Shanhaiguan, there will be insufficient manpower on both sides!"

"For this battle, I plan to use our transport ships to land along the coast behind Shanhaiguan."

"One part will seize Huludao, and the other part will go around and stab the 4th Army of the Japanese at Shanhaiguan."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes lit up slightly.

Tactical command is all about taking the enemy by surprise.

The development of the navy by the Eighth Route Army was top secret. The Japanese would never have imagined that the navy of the Eighth Route Army had already formed a preliminary scale and combat effectiveness.

It was also absolutely unexpected that the Eighth Route Army would land on the beach from the rear of Shanhaiguan and form an encirclement of the Japanese invaders in Shanhaiguan.

Shanhaiguan is not a big city like Chengde, and the Japanese didn't even have a chance to engage in street fighting.

The Japanese strengthened their defenses at Shanhaiguan and attacked fiercely, but to no avail.

Because the Eighth Route Army was already equipped with transport ships and warships, and many of the first batch of naval cadets had already learned how to drive ships.

Although aircraft carriers still need training, transport ships do not, and can even be equipped with frigates.

Zhao Gang said: "Old Li, your tactics are very good."

"Of course." Li Yunlong raised the corner of his mouth proudly, "Otherwise, do you think that we, Old Li, have read "Beach Landing and Airborne Operations" in vain?"

Li Yunlong studied the various military theory books sent by Boss Chen and gained a lot. Until now, Li Yunlong often takes out those military theory books and reads them over and over again.

In this operation, Li Yunlong used both beach landing and airborne tactics together.

Li Yunlong was looking forward to this beach landing, and he believed it would definitely give the Japanese a big surprise.

No, it's fright.

Zhao Gang then asked, "When do you plan to attack?"

"About a month later," Li Yunlong said, "We must recapture Shanhaiguan and Chengde before the Japanese start Operation Plan No. 1. This way, we will have the initiative on the battlefield and can attack or defend."

Then, Li Yunlong looked at Chief of Staff Wang Dehou and gave the order:
"Chief of Staff, your staff should immediately formulate a combat plan and emergency plan based on this idea as soon as possible."

"Yes!" Wang Dehou said solemnly, "Captain!"

Afterwards, Wang Dehou discussed the ideas of the battle plan with Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang and Xing Zhiguo.

Everyone started brainstorming, and everyone contributed their ideas, quickly enriching and perfecting the operational ideas.

……

at the same time.

The Japs are also preparing for Operation Plan No. 1.

No. 557, Xinfa Road, Changchun.

Japanese Kwantung Army Headquarters, Conference Operations Hall.

General Michijiro Umezu, commander of the Kwantung Army, was dressed in military uniform and staring at the map on the wall with a worried look on his face.

The current situation of the Kwantung Army is not very good!
Although the Imperial Headquarters recently allocated more than 100,000 troops to the Kwantung Army, and a steady stream of troops and combat supplies are arriving in Manchuria.

but!

To the east, hundreds of thousands of Soviet Far Eastern troops were eyeing the situation covetously, and to the southwest, hundreds of thousands of North China's Eighth Route Army were ready to take action.

If the Soviet army in the Far East launched a massive surprise attack from behind while the Kwantung Army was implementing Operation No. 1, the Kwantung Army would face the dangerous situation of being annihilated.

If it were last year, the Japanese army would not have to worry about the Soviet army launching an attack because the Soviet army could hardly protect itself.

But now the situation on the Eastern Front in Europe has changed. A few months ago, the Soviet army won the Battle of Stalingrad and breathed a sigh of relief.

Although after the Battle of Nomonhan, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a non-aggression pact.

But Umezu Mijiro knew very well that there were only eternal interests between countries.

Once the benefits outweigh the risks for the Soviet army, the other side will definitely unilaterally tear up the treaty without hesitation. After all, the bear in the north has been eyeing the fat piece of meat in the Northeast for more than a day or two.

Compared with other fanatical officers, Umezu Yoshijiro was not optimistic about the Japanese army launching Operation Plan No. 1 at this time.

This is equivalent to putting most of the Japanese Army's chips on the gambling table.

It would be good if we could win.

but…

If Operation No. 1 fails, the consequences will be disastrous. Not only will a large area of ​​land be lost, but the locust army will suffer heavy casualties and consume countless combat supplies. From then on, they will no longer have the ability to launch large-scale attacks and can only passively take the beating.

Umezu Mijiro frowned even deeper, thinking that this year, 1943, would probably not be easy for both Germany and Japan.

When Umezu Mijiro turned around, the sadness and frown on his face had disappeared, replaced by an expressionless face.

Mijiro Umezu sat upright in a chair in military uniform. On both sides of him sat the commanders of the various army groups of the Kwantung Army, the commanders of various flight divisions, staff officers and others.

Meijin Mijiro glanced at the Japanese officers and said, "Gentlemen."

"The headquarters has officially issued the order for the preparation of Operation Plan No. 1 to our Kwantung Army."

"Prime Minister Tojo ordered us to immediately formulate a battle plan and emergency plan, stockpile battle supplies, and complete the preparations within two months."

As soon as the words fell, except for a few sober-minded officers, the expressions and eyes of most Japanese officers became fanatical.

Lieutenant General Uchiyama Eitaro, commander of the Third Army, asked expectantly, "General, how many troops will our Kwantung Army deploy for Operation Plan No. 1?"

Uchiyama Eitaro was an artilleryman and served as the brigade commander of the 5th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade.

When he was the commander of the 13th Division, he led his troops to participate in the Second Battle of Changsha, killing a large number of innocent Chinese people.

"At least 60."

Umezu Mijiro's tone was serious.

Among the Japanese armies, the Kwantung Army was the most powerful and best equipped.

At its peak, the Kwantung Army had 31 infantry divisions, 11 infantry and tank brigades, 1 suicide brigade and 2 air forces, with a total strength of approximately million.

During the Kwantung Artillery Campaign, the total strength of the Kwantung Army was approximately 70.

With the rise of the Eighth Route Army and the outbreak of the Pacific War, the elite troops of the Kwantung Army were gradually transferred to the North China and Pacific battlefields for consumption.

However, the Kwantung Army was used by the Japanese Imperial Headquarters as the general reserve of the army.

Every time troops were transferred from the Kwantung Army, the Japanese military headquarters would replenish the Kwantung Army with new combat troops, so that the Kwantung Army's troops always remained above 50.

Currently, the total strength of the Kwantung Army is still around 70.

"Yoshi!"

Uchiyama Eitaro's voice suddenly rose, and the fanaticism in his eyes became more intense.

"In this case, the headquarters still needs to allocate 30 troops to our Kwantung Army?"

Lieutenant General Toshimichi Uemura, commander of the 4th Army, asked.

While fighting against the Eighth Route Army in North China, it is necessary to leave at least 300,000 to 400,000 troops in Manchuria to guard against the Soviet Army in the Far East.

"Yes!"

Umezu Mijiro nodded and said.

Uemura Toshimichi was delighted: "In this way, our Kwantung Army will have 100 million elite troops. With 100 million elite troops, the Kwantung Army will be invincible!"

"Not enough!"

Umezu Mijiro shook his head:

"The Eighth Route Army, like the Soviet Army, is a force with extremely strong combat effectiveness and firepower. We must not take it lightly."

"Order to temporarily recruit Japanese expatriates into the army in Manchuria. Anyone who dares to disobey the order or resist will be killed without mercy!"

Since 1937, Japan has relocated more than two million people, in entire villages and in batches, from its own land to the puppet state of Manchukuo.

Umezu Michijiro has ordered the General Staff to make a careful calculation and has predicted that 25 overseas Chinese can be recruited to join the Kwantung Army.

Although they are seriously short of weapons, they are still a considerable force and can supplement the main elite troops of the Kwantung Army when necessary.

As a result, the total strength of the Kwantung Army will be close to 130 million.

Thinking of this, Umezu Mijiro finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The Eighth Route Army had been beaten by the Japanese into a fear of insufficient firepower.

But if the firepower is insufficient, we can make up for it with manpower.