Rebirth of the National Marshal

During the First World War, although the Air Force appeared, it was only an auxiliary branch of the military and did not directly participate in the war. Most of the tasks it performed were reconnaissance missions. Although there were some air-dropped bombs by the Air Force, those bombs were all dropped manually and the number was not large. The effect was very limited. But now it is different. With the improvement of aircraft engines, the flight altitude and speed of the entire aircraft have been greatly improved, especially the increase in bomb load, making aircraft a very important combat tool, even surpassing the army's artillery.

During the Battle of North China, the Japanese planes gained a great advantage. At that time, Mao Yuanshan had not yet unlocked any aircraft, and had no anti-aircraft weapons. At most, they had some large-caliber machine guns. They were okay against bombers, but they could not keep up with the speed of fighter planes.

At that time, the Japanese planes had a great advantage and also harmed many Chinese soldiers, but now the situation has changed.

In just one year, the Chahar Air Force's aircraft not only surpassed the Japanese in quality, but also in quantity.

If the Chahar Air Force transferred their First Flying Division in Mongolia back, their numbers would completely crush the Japanese, unless the Japanese dispatched a flying division from their own country. But now the Japanese only produce about two thousand aircraft a year, and all of them are old models. The output of new aircraft is only dozens. Their Zero aircraft has already come off the production line, but the problem is that it has not been tested yet, and all the parameters have not been recorded. If this aircraft is put into service immediately, there will most likely be many problems, so if you want the latest aircraft, you will have to wait for a while.

Originally, in the minds of these Japanese devils, their army pilots were not very useful, and the naval aviation might be more powerful. But now they have shown in central China that the naval aviation is not very useful when facing these BF109 fighters. Of course, the difference between the naval aviation and the army air force is that for every two planes lost by the army, the navy loses one plane, while the Chahar Air Force on the opposite side is almost intact. This is the difference between the two.

Although the battle plan had been finalized, General Yan Junliu was still a little worried. Should he use the heavy artillery brigade? He knew very well that if the heavy artillery brigade was used, its position would be exposed. At that time, he didn't know what tricks the Chahar region would have.

If the enemy had been targeting the heavy artillery brigade earlier, then their only heavy firepower group would most likely have been wiped out. In the following battle, they would most likely have no heavy artillery support. How could they fight this battle without the air force and heavy artillery support!

Hideki Tojo understood his concern very well. The main reason was that when the Japanese devils fought normally, they only needed some 75mm artillery. Most of their field artillery regiments were equipped with 150mm artillery and Type 203 infantry guns. They basically did not have such heavy artillery because their opponents were even worse. For example, China's central army and local warlords did not have many artillery at all. They could be beaten around by Type infantry guns. Why would they need these mm and mm heavy artillery!

They had never thought that such an opponent would appear on the land of China. When they were waging war against China, they already had a very clear understanding of the entire China. In the past, through some economic and military aid projects, they had sent a large number of spies to China, and they had already understood the troops of the Central Army and local armies of China. They did not have much heavy firepower, so there was no large-caliber heavy artillery produced in the country.

Unexpectedly, it was because of their mistake that they felt embarrassed today. The number of heavy artillery was too small. There were only five heavy artillery brigades in the whole country, which was absolutely impossible in the eyes of European countries. Their artillery over 150 mm was no match for the Germans, let alone the Italians. The Italians had twice as many artillery over 150 mm as them, and the Germans had more than six times as many as them.

It sounds like the difference in these numbers is not that big. Italy's army is only about 60% of Japan's army, and Germany's army is only about 70% of Japan's army. After all, the two countries are not yet in a state of war and have not recruited soldiers on a large scale. They are just maintaining their normal standing armies. If they were to encounter the German army, they would have been beaten into a state of disarray by the German army.

Although they were planning to import some heavy artillery from some European countries after the war broke out, the Japanese expansion had already caused dissatisfaction among European countries. Although you invaded China, we also have our own interests in China and there is no way to guarantee our interests. Why should we export artillery to you?

So, in the whole of Europe, only the Italians exported artillery to the Japanese. Originally, the Germans had promised to give them a batch of artillery, but later the Germans took advantage of the situation and abandoned the Japanese. Not only did they not sell artillery to the Japanese, they also sold their artillery to the Chahar region. The local army in Chahar used these heavy artillery to fight the Japanese, which was something the Japanese had never expected.

The Italians agreed very readily, but he was very clear about Italy's production capacity. At most, they could provide the Japanese with five to ten heavy artillery pieces each month, and these artillery pieces had to travel halfway around the world. They were far inferior to those made by the Japanese themselves. If the Germans had not torn up the contract, their country would now be able to manufacture this special steel.

The special steel used to make artillery is basically the same as that used to make warships. Currently, Japan only has one steel plant that can make it. So for a country like Japan that is surrounded by sea on all four sides, the development of the navy is far more important than the army. Although the army can grab resources, if there is no navy, no matter how many resources you fight for, you can't transport them back, right?