Bright Sword: Follow Kong's fun and build the strongest military industry

At one o'clock in the morning, the Japanese indeed sent out an armored patrol vehicle, but before the enemy could get close, it was destroyed by the recoilless gun of the New Second Regiment.

Then, the Japanese railway patrol team also rushed over after hearing the news, but they were easily defeated by the 1st Battalion of the New 2nd Regiment with superior forces. The battle lasted for three hours. The enemy did not achieve any results, but instead lost a lot of troops and two armored patrol vehicles.

In order to avoid suffering greater losses, the enemy finally had to withdraw all its forces to the railway station to defend it to the death, and sent a distress telegram to the First Army Command for help.

Yoshio Shinozuka had insomnia to begin with, and with the bad news coming every day during this period, he finally took some medicine and fell asleep, only to be urgently woken up by his adjutant.

Tonight, not only Li Yunlong's three regiments were dispatched, but also many troops from other bases were dispatched in large numbers. The main purpose was to paralyze the enemy's railway, transport the rails back, and burn all the sleepers. They had no choice but to prevent the Japanese from transporting supplies on a large scale via the railway.

This is a combination of punches, which is to beat the Japanese in Shanxi Province so hard that they see stars at this critical juncture. For a long time, the enemy's First Army will not take any major actions.

Moreover, the main task of our troops is to break the enemy's blockade and collect a large amount of raw materials. They will not take the initiative to attack the enemy's heavily defended counties and big cities.

To describe it in one sentence: Although we hurt the enemy, the injuries they suffered were basically internal injuries, which cannot be seen in a short period of time.

For the sake of his position as commander and the interests of his family, Yoshio Koshinozuka would find a way to cover up the truth no matter how hard he was beaten. At most, he would bury his head in the sand and act like an ostrich. It's not like he has never done that before.

Besides, as long as the major cities in Jin Province are in the hands of the First Army, everyone can go on playing music and dancing.

Taiyuan City is guarded by the 4th Division, which is absolutely impregnable. This is an old permanent division with very strong combat effectiveness, but its willingness to fight is not strong.

If they are pushed into a corner, then with the support of their money, the Fourth Division will definitely unleash terrifying combat power.

The leaders of the headquarters are also well aware of this. In the short term, we should focus on accumulating strength and will not attack large cities where the enemy is heavily guarded.

The commander of the Takahashi Regiment was named Takahashi Ryo, a typical professional soldier who graduated from the Japanese Army University. He had an arrogant personality and looked down on all Chinese soldiers.

However, he also has capital to be proud of. Back then in Luodian, Shanghai, he led a battalion to withstand the attack of an infantry division of the Central Army of China. Even though half of the troops were killed or wounded, they did not retreat.

It was precisely because of that battle achievement that Takahashi was promoted to the rank of colonel, and he also brought his old subordinates and the remnants of the Sakata Regiment to form the Takahashi Regiment.

The strength of the Takahashi Regiment is not weak. It has a total of about 3,300 people, 144 light and heavy machine guns, an artillery squadron and an anti-tank squadron.

With this strength, they will not be defeated even against a division of the Central Army. Their predecessor, the Sakata Regiment, once defeated two infantry divisions of China. This proves that the combat power of their regiment is equal to that of an entire Chinese army.

When Captain Takahashi learned that there were only two regiments of the Eighth Route Army attacking the railway in his jurisdiction, Commander Shinozuka ordered him to lead the main force of the regiment and 3,000 Imperial Army troops to jointly break the siege of the railway station.

He wanted to refuse at that time, thinking that only one infantry battalion was enough to complete the mission and there was no need to mobilize so many people, not to mention the Imperial Army, which he always regarded as a burden.

It was not until Yoshio Shinozuka informed him through a telegram that their opponent was the Independent Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, led by Li Yunlong, that Takahashi Ryo took notice.

After all, the previous Sakata Corps and its captain were both defeated by Li Yunlong, so he must be quite capable.

Although the current Takahashi Regiment is no longer the original Sakata Regiment, he believes that his strength has completely surpassed his predecessors and he will never make the same mistake again. However, to be on the safe side, he still brings a brigade of the Imperial Army with him, just in case they step on landmines and block bullets on the road.

However, as soon as the Japanese moved out, they were discovered by our intelligence personnel, and then the information was passed to Li Yunlong via the radio.

The Second Battalion of Shen Quan was responsible for blocking the enemy on the Independent Regiment's side. If the troops led by Zhang Dabiao were good at attacking, then the troops led by Shen Quan were best at defense.

Before the Gaoqiao Regiment arrived, Li Yunlong went to the Second Battalion's position specifically to check the construction of the defensive position. This was a habit he had developed over his many years of military career. He would be there in person on the eve of every major battle, and would not feel at ease until he saw it with his own eyes.

"Shen Quan, do you have the confidence to withstand the attack of the Gaoqiao League?"

"In order to confuse the enemy and create an opportunity for the other two regiments to encircle us, your Second Battalion must pretend to be a regiment and hold off the attack of the Gaoqiao Regiment. We must not let the enemy break through our position, otherwise all our battle plans will be in vain."

Hearing the leader's question, Shen Quan quickly patted his chest and assured:

"Captain, don't worry. My Second Battalion is now strong and powerful. The number of soldiers has reached more than 1,800. The actual combat power has exceeded that of an ordinary infantry regiment. My battalion alone is more powerful than the previous independent regiment."

"In addition, we have already dug a defensive position in advance and reinforced key locations with cement. The Japanese only have a regiment of more than 3,000 people. It's no big deal."

In fact, with the rapid development of the arsenal industry, we have been able to make preliminary imitations of low-tech equipment such as cement plants. Based on our actual situation, we mainly use the model of brick kiln factories to produce some key equipment.

The output does not need to be too large, only about 800 tons can be produced per month. It doesn’t matter if the quality is a little worse, as long as it can be used.

At present, three cement production line equipment have been copied. In addition to one at the headquarters, two have been built in other bases. The energy used is the old-fashioned coal-fired steam engine.

Although the monthly production capacity of all our cement plants combined is less than 5,000 tons, which is less than the capacity of a medium-sized cement plant abroad, it has already made the leaders extremely satisfied.

After all, all things are difficult at the beginning. As long as we can imitate the first set and put it into production smoothly, we can directly increase the production capacity.

For example, six sets of the old-fashioned steam equipment have been produced and distributed in various bases of the Eighth Route Army, which can be regarded as a reflection of industrialization.

The old-fashioned steam engine developed by the arsenal transmits relevant power to lathes, grinders, drilling machines, various forging machines and casting equipment through belts, gears and crankshafts to drive the overall operation of the production line.

However, the disadvantage of this thing is also very prominent, that is, the thermal efficiency is very low, generally only about 10%, far behind internal combustion engines and electric-driven machines and equipment.

However, in Shanxi Province, the thing that is least lacking is coal, so if we waste it a little, then it’s better to waste it a little. Even if the thermal efficiency of the steam engine we developed is only 5%, it is still a treasure among treasures for our base.

The first industrial revolution began with the steam engine. China has fallen far behind, and now is the time to catch up. Only when accumulation reaches a certain level can we start the next stage of industrial development.