Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

"Even if the rocket launcher is equipped with armor-piercing shells, it won't work?"

Commander Yang said to Shake in the command center.

"Yes, although the bazookas produced by the Taihang Military Factory are powerful, they are still unable to completely destroy the city defenses reinforced by Kuribayashi Tadamichi."

Shake said in a deep voice,

"According to reports from the front, the Japanese built multiple layers of concrete on the outer layer and set up steel plates for protection at key firing points. Our armor-piercing shells can only destroy parts of the wall but cannot completely tear a gap."

"Where is the explosive pack?" Commander Yang thought of something and asked quickly.

"We have tried increasing the amount of explosives in the bombs. Although they can cause damage, they are still unable to blow up the fortifications built by the Japanese army," Shake said with a serious expression.

“That is to say, this is the current situation.

The Japanese fortifications are more defensive than our existing conventional firepower, and our men are stuck outside the inner city, caught between a rock and a hard place. "Commander Yang frowned.

There was a brief silence in the command center.

At this time, in the underground fortifications in the center of the county town, the face of the commander of the 109th Division, Tadamichi Kuribayashi, no longer had any anxious look on his face.

Kuribayashi Tadamichi looked at the Chief of Staff Takaishi Masaru beside him:

Mr. Gao Shi, how long will it take for the 139th Regiment to arrive?

"

Although Gao Shizheng did not look anxious at this time, he looked a little unhappy.

"Your Excellency, the 139th Regiment is currently being held up by the Eighth Route Army in the Zhangtuohe area and has not advanced a single step.

However, the commander of the Xinzhou 41st Division, Qingshui Noriyuki, had already arrived with two infantry regiments.

We'll probably be able to meet up with the 139th Regiment at 1:00 PM."

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Kuribayashi Tadamichi's face.

Seeing the division commander smile, Takaishi Masaru beside him was also infected and felt a little relieved.

I couldn't help but ask:

"

Your Excellency, Division Commander, did you foresee this?

"

Hearing the question from his chief of staff, Kuribayashi Tadamichi's expression suddenly turned serious:

Mr. Gao Shi, do you think the Eighth Route Army won't target us?

"

At this time, Gao Shizheng looked confused.

Seeing the expressions of Takaishi Masaru and the surrounding staff, Kuribayashi Tadamichi's expression gradually became serious: "

Gentlemen~

Don't look at the Eighth Route Army with the same eyes as before.

Don't even compare this army to the army in the south! Think about what equipment they had before and what equipment they have now!

The sound of gunfire outside~That's the sound of Soviet gunfire from the north!

"

"In just three years, the Eighth Route Army has grown from a force with no logistics, no weapons, and no training to what it is today. Isn't this worthy of our deep reflection?

These are just the other troops under the Eighth Route Army. What about Zeng Jiwen’s troops that caused the failure of our North China Expeditionary Army?

How much they have grown!

"

Kuribayashi Tadamichi spoke seriously to the people around him.

At the same time, he felt a little relieved that after taking office, he did not blindly launch a sweep against the Eighth Route Army.

Instead, he focused on strengthening the city's defenses.

Ever since the entire senior commander of the 109th Division was wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, even after more than a year of recovery, the entire division still began to fear the Eighth Route Army.

Especially Zeng Jiwen’s 389th Division.

This phenomenon was discovered after Kuribayashi Tadamichi took office.

After reviewing the battle reports from all previous battles with the Eighth Route Army, Kuribayashi Tadamichi had to sigh that they had encountered a tough opponent in North China.

At that time, Kuribayashi Tadamichi even suggested to Shinozuka Yoshio and Tada Shun that the main goal of the China Expeditionary Force should now be changed.

The troops in the south should be withdrawn to wipe out the Eighth Route Army in North China with all their strength.

This was a terrible army. Like the troops in the north, they were not like the troops in the south, who were full of internal intrigue, withholding and beating soldiers.

Even in desperate situations, one is full of faith.

If such an army were given the opportunity to gain momentum, who knows what would happen.

Then after I submitted my report, it fell on deaf ears.

Kuribayashi Tadamichi immediately realized that the situation ahead for their North China Expeditionary Force would be very difficult.

Sure enough, what happened next was exactly what Kuribayashi Tadamichi had expected.

Even last year, a 20,000-man force of the 389th Division of the Eighth Route Army was able to capture Yuncheng with ease and then join forces with troops in the south to encircle two divisions of the Locust Army in Zhongtiao Mountain.

The Eighth Route Army in their own area also relied on the complex terrain in the wild to repeatedly launch sneak attacks on the locust army that came out of the city to sweep.

Kuribayashi Tadamichi immediately had a premonition that if a large-scale war broke out in North China with the Eighth Route Army, Wutai would be the focus of the Eighth Route Army's attention.

Even the Eighth Route Army would try to encircle its own division.

Therefore, Kuribayashi Tadamichi immediately changed his combat method from offensive clearing to strategic defense.

At the same time, under the pretext of Wutai County's reconstruction, all the Chinese in Wutai County were driven out of the county, and then the opportunity was taken to transform Wutai County into a military fortress extending to the front line of the Wutai Mountain area.

This will make it convenient for the locust army to use Wutai as a base to sweep the entire Beiyue area.

Kuribayashi Tadamichi had thought about placing Chinese civilians in the city and using them as hostages.

However, judging from the battles between the locust army and the Eighth Route Army in Yangquan, Zhengding, Shijiazhuang and other places, Kuribayashi Tadamichi did not dare to gamble.

He did not trust these Chinese people, and even did not allow the puppet army member Kuribayashi Tadamichi to be stationed in the city.

He was afraid that the Eighth Route Army troops would sneak in without anyone noticing and then attack from the inside.

After all, Kuribayashi Tadamichi was also familiar with the special operations of the guy next to Commander Shinozuka.

At the same time, it also became clear that the Eighth Route Army might have gone further in this regard than Yamamoto Ikki.

The 389th Division had used the same tactics before, whether it was capturing Xingtai, Handan, or even Shijiazhuang.

Tadamichi Kuribayashi also understood why the 389th Division had risen so quickly before.

The result of the guy's action against the 389th Division was not beyond Kuribayashi Tadamichi's expectations. When he learned the news of Yamamoto Ikki's failure, Kuribayashi Tadamichi even snorted.

This thing was proposed by someone who was studying abroad more than ten years ago and has been used in North China for several years. The locust army suffered great losses. It would be strange if it would be effective for you who have only studied abroad for a few years.

Based on the battle reports from the previous battle with the 389th Division, Kuribayashi Tadamichi quickly analyzed that conventional fortifications would be difficult to defend.

In the previous Battle of Shijiazhuang, a large number of military fortresses and strongholds outside the city were all eliminated in less than ten hours with the help of a mysterious weapon of the Eighth Route Army.

Moreover, according to the current intelligence from Peiping, the Eighth Route Army is not short of large-caliber artillery, and conventional fortifications can be easily destroyed.

Therefore, based on the combat methods of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Eighth Route Army, Kuribayashi Tadamichi decided to build the Wutai County into a solid fortress.

The outer layer of the entire fortification is constructed with multiple layers of concrete, and steel plates are set up at key shooting points.

At the same time, a large number of tunnels were built underground, all filled with concrete and covered, and a large number of bunkers were set up.

All these actions are used to defend against the Eighth Route Army's inexplicable weapons.

Kuribayashi Tadamichi believed that once the Eighth Route Army launched a large-scale military operation in North China, Wutai would find it difficult to escape the attack of the Eighth Route Army.

He just wanted the Eighth Route Army to suffer a bloody defeat here.