Canteen System Assistance Notes

He put the hand-rolled Peninsula cigarette he had just received into his mouth and waited for a while before remembering to light it with a match. But this time, the Communist artillery shells that would have screamed and smashed into the front of the city wall, or even flew into the city from afar,

There was no further attack. Instead, after the false extension of the artillery fire, a group of long-pole artillery shells with tail fins covered the city again.

Under the dull gaze of Captain Kanemoto, their voices were brisk and their movements were agile, and their 41-kilogram bodies fell down in a highly curved, large-angle trajectory, like a fish jumping in the water.

Then, the sound of a bursting explosion and the charge rang out together.

Chapter 792: Pressure is like a seesaw, one side is high and the other side is low

......The Communist Army's combat objective this time was determined to be: breaking through the barrier of the Taihang Mountains and entering the North China Plain.

"According to the current intelligence summary, the Communist Army is concentrating its forces on the southern part of Shoushou and northern Henan, while gathering troops to attack the Hebiji-Puyang line in the north, and at the same time deploying troops to

On the Yanzhou front, they attacked Taijiazhuangji and other places to disrupt transportation, hoping to prevent the Chinese army from going north to provide assistance.

"Taking into account the Communist Army's habit of concentrating its forces in one place, I respectfully judge that before the battle situation in northern Henan and southern Shandong becomes clear,

The possibility of further breakthroughs in the direction of the Gate and Zhangyuan is small..."

Okamura Yasuji placed the long telegram, which took the telegraph soldier more than two hours to receive, on the map on the wall beside him, and then looked down at the sand table in front of him.

"The Second Staff Department actually thinks this way?"

The battle report and analysis he had just received came from the General Staff at Imperial Headquarters. It was sent by the Second Staff Department, the organization responsible for directing the current operation. The head of the Second Staff Department was an old acquaintance of Okamura's, Arisue Seizo, who had previously served as Chief of Staff of the North China Army. The report briefly outlined the bombing of the Xuzhou ammunition depot, forwarded by the Central China Army, and also included the Second Staff Department's assessment of the current situation.

"They are indeed the ones who declared the occupation.

Hankou could end the ZN Incident, but after occupying Hankou, they announced that after research, occupying Hankou could not end the ZN Incident. Now...”

but now.....

Now.....

Okamura Neiji had to admit that he really wished he could believe everything they said.

Okamura Neiji hadn't gone fishing in the past few days, or perhaps he knew he wouldn't catch any fish if his mind was distracted. So, he retired the expensive German fishing rod and line he'd bought for Japan, and retired to a corner to enjoy his retirement.

But General Okamura couldn't just let go of what he was doing.

The internal version of the battle report provided specifically to the commander was quite straightforward. After being verified with the internal report of the North China Army, the basic

This can cover the current situation and give him a basic understanding of the situation.

On March 9, 1943, the situation had changed significantly compared to just the day before.

By his own self-destruction, he called for help, and the Kancheng Army from the Great Palace of Mimi began to gather and head north. However, on the night of March 7,

The "Military Incident" plunged the comrades, who had originally held a glimmer of hope, into an abyss of despair. The lack of ammunition required the Chinese military to redistribute ammunition from Hankou and Tucun, delaying the dispatch of reinforcements by approximately ten days. At the same time, the Chinese military clearly stated that they would at most

They will only preserve the Xuzhou area, the gateway to the central China region, and send a small number of reinforcements to the North China Plain.

The delay in reinforcement and the evaporation of logistical supplies made Taijiazhuang Jihe

The pressure on the 32nd and 21st Divisions of the North China Army in the Chongzhou area increased dramatically. The logistics plan was disrupted, and the morale of the troops was also affected. Okamura immediately ordered the commander of the 12th Army, Kita Makoto, to send a letter to the steel cave. This also had a severe impact on the two divisions. One of the important means for them to stop the Communist Army was to rely on the stockpile of ammunition and

The defensive forts, which had measured the artillery parameters in advance, continued to fire, launching a powerful offensive. Now, the ammunition supply—cut off…

As expected, in just two days, the headquarters of the 323rd Division in Yanzhou and part of the 21st Division in Taijiazhuang were destroyed.

During the battle, the Communist army used earthworks to advance, artillery cover, and super-heavy indirect fire to break through the defenders' last defense.

segment, and ultimately caused the collapse of the troops.

The only difference was that the commander of the 32nd Division, Ishii Yoshiho, was a bit more resolute. After ensuring the burning of the flags of all three regiments, he led his staff in a "Banzai Charge" against our vanguard, armed with pistols and sabers, ultimately fulfilling his last wish to die at Kudanzaka. After the 21st Division's garrison was annihilated, its reinforcements decisively turned back, successfully avoiding further ambush and interception.

At the same time, on March 8, the Communist Army's "Mechanized Corps" in northern Henan finally completed its protracted final operations in Henan Province and began to move north from Xinxiang to attack the Hebi Ji-Puyang line.

Through his connections, Okamura Yasuji requested the Kwantung Army in the northeast to send two "Hyaku-style" reconnaissance aircraft, which finally broke through the Communist Army's air defense interception network and conducted reconnaissance on the corps whose composition was still a mystery. As a result, after waiting for a whole day, he finally got the reply he wanted: "There is a large-scale mecha unit in the enemy's army, and the number is determined to be more than 30 aircraft, which is determined to be the main force of the Communist Army."

call......

Okamura Neiji moved the cushion under his butt, looked at the lifting rod and bucket that had not seen any fish for several days, and looked at the samurai sword that fell from the wall because the hook broke and was hammered back into the wall by a nail.

He thought of the "Communist Army Stuart Mecha Special Unit" that finally appeared on the battlefield, and the "Communist Army Stuart Mecha Special Unit" that had never appeared before in northern Henan.

I remembered the "powerful Communist cluster jettisoning artillery" I had seen before, and the 36th Division that was instantly wiped out in a week - and that was when the enemy was "playing it safe"...

This time, it should be confirmed that it is the real main force of the Communist Army.

He took several deep breaths, suppressing his nervousness and relief, but also his suspicious and neurotic mood due to repeated stimulation, and began to give new instructions to the staff: Since he was determined to use tiered defense to stop the main force of the Communist Army, he should not be stingy with the money.

"Have the Yingduan Corps (82nd Division) prepare to move south along the Pinghan Line within two days to reinforce the front line."

he ordered.

"19430309, 1638, sent from the Japanese Army Sanhe County Headquarters, received

A letter to Iimura Jou, commander of the Seventh Army. Okamura Yasuji ordered the 82nd Division to advance south along the Pinghan Line within two days, bringing its main forces and a special anti-aircraft machine gun squadron to reinforce the Anyang defense line. The special anti-aircraft machine gun squadron... oh, that's the Type 92, deployed at the headquarters in the Anyang area.

"Currently, the Japanese forces within the Hebiji-Puyang-Anyang-Handan defensive emplacement include: approximately one regiment of the remnants of the 106th Division, the 50th Division (formerly the 1st Independent Mixed Unit), and the newly formed 83rd and 82nd Divisions, with call signs Yi, Dao, Yingduan, and Yingmai, respectively. The 106th Division's headquarters has withdrawn northward to Qingyuan, while its remaining search regiment and the 145th Regiment have been deployed in Junxian, supplemented by Japanese expatriates and supply troops. The 83rd and 50th Divisions each have two regiments deployed in Hebiji and Puyang, forming the first line of defense. The remaining units are located along the railway, outside the Hebiji-Anyang area. The 82nd Division plans to be deployed in Handan and surrounding areas to assist the remaining troops of the 50th Division in strengthening the defense."

"The Japanese defensive positions were arranged in echelons. Among them, the Hebi-Puyang defensive

The line is a simple fortification along the road, river and railway station, lacking deep offensive; the Anyang-Nanle area defense line is earthen trench fortification, including a

A certain number of civil engineering fire points and a small number of semi-permanent support points; the Handan area is a classical ring defense system based on city walls, villages and moats.

There are stone and cement bunkers on some commanding heights, which are quite strong...”

The combat staff used both hands to type rapidly on the keyboard, compiling the Japanese military telegrams that were "deciphered" in seconds and the intelligence collected from other channels into a briefing on the current enemy deployment, and reported it to several commanders of the General Front Committee.

With the liberation of Yanzhou, the clarity of the battle situation at Taijiazhuangji, and the repair of the Zhengxian Iron Bridge, the Eighth Route Army's frontline staff could finally relax a little from their intense shifts, and several commanders at the frontline could also take turns getting some extra sleep. The operations staff checked their watch and realized their shift was almost up. After finishing the document at hand and transferring it to the automatic encrypted transmission module, they stood up, grabbed a pack of coffee from the tea table behind them, and poured water into the thermos.

The large supply of various coffee products has made this kind of Anggong drink, which is usually only available in Shanghai, Shanghai and other places, popular. It has become the "foreign soy milk" of the Eighth Route Army commanders and the "coffee" of the frontline soldiers.

Toothpaste". Of course, because most people in China still regard coffee as "Western Chinese medicine", the main refreshing beverage is still various types of tea.

The staff officer blew on the sugar and carefully took a sip of the sugar in the cup. He closed his eyes and felt the euphoria and satisfaction brought by the sugar.

Feeling, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

--------

The brain needs sugar to function, and a strong spirit needs a solid material foundation to work with it. After finishing half a cup of coffee, the combat staff began to automatically think about the current battle situation.

Now, the Japanese have adopted a three-layered tortoise shell formation, hoping to use it to deplete our offensive momentum. This delay, on the one hand, allows time for the arrival of reinforcements from central China and the border regions to gather and maneuver, and on the other hand, it may also be a product of the "inertial decision" of the veteran Japanese, General Okamura Yasuji.

After all, the current situation was not caused by a single battle, but rather stemmed from years of construction, development, and struggle. The operations staff had read the report of the "Enemy Commander Psychological Analysis Group" and knew about the Japanese pursuit of "splendid death" and "honorable defeat." He felt that Okamura Yasuji and Iimura Joi, two guys who couldn't be stupid, had chosen this defensive strategy until now, probably because of the inertia of "the war must continue."

"Telegram from the Shandong Province Jiaodong War Zone: The Japanese troops surrounding Fushan and Yantai have been completely cut off!"

At the other staff seats, a telegram from the Shandong Province war zone came in. The operations staff glanced at the map on the wall, looked at General Liu and Political Commissar Zhang Hao who were discussing the battle situation, and turned confidently to his own seat.

A train rushing towards a cliff, no matter how much "inertia" it has, is just a trapped beast fighting desperately before death.

Chapter 793 Battlefield Meals (Part 1) Drink Something Hot

(Update)

"Woo——"

The train blew its whistle and passed through the repaired section of the bridge at 15 kilometers per hour. Due to the outdated design of the bridge and the shoddy workmanship of the Belgian builders, the Zhengxian Yellow River Bridge, nestled in a layer of silt, was inherently weak and could not compare to the newly constructed Wuzhong and Yumenkou Yellow River bridges by the Eighth Route Army and domestic civil engineering teams. Therefore, even with the prefabricated bridge deck repairs and Bailey beam reinforcements, train speeds still needed to be limited.

However, it remained a railway bridge capable of handling freight trains. In China, the combination of rails and trains meant abundant transportation and sufficient logistical supplies. Naturally, once the Zhengxian Bridge was opened by the diligent engineering corps, the Eighth Route Army and the Mobile Corps had a more solid foundation for their next offensive.

However, Captain An Guojiang, who was sitting on the flatbed truck, felt that this ancient iron bridge, after being reinforced with horizontally and vertically laid Bailey beams and metal trusses, had a rather confusing mix-and-match feel.

As a "mechanized unit" commander, a relatively rare one in the Eighth Route Army, Captain An was promoted from the Mobile Corps. He once served as the motorized brigade (later changed to a "division") under the Mobile Corps.

The company commander of the combat unit received training in battalion-level tactics and motorized unit tactics, and was transferred to the newly formed mobile unit in mid-1942.

He served as the battalion commander of the independent tank regiment of the regiment.

Based on experience from previous campaigns, even on the plains, the Eighth Route Army's tanks, combined with their accompanying infantry units, could control vast swaths of the battlefield with only a handful. The previously copied "10-plus tank company, 40-plus tank battalion" structure of other countries proved unwieldy. Therefore, Battalion Commander An now commanded only 20 diesel-powered American-made M3A3 modified Stuart light tanks, two high-powered battalion headquarters vehicles, several CMP diesel trucks, the Eighth Route Army's own modified "light truck chassis diesel medium jeep," and several "special vehicles," totaling approximately 100 men.

Captain An and his instructor are the "housekeepers" of these hundred or so people.

Managing a unit with a number of troops similar to that of an infantry company is much more troublesome than managing an infantry company...

“Woo, woo, woo—”

The train blew its whistle again and passed through the controlled section of the Zhengxian Iron Bridge. The train passed by a train waiting on the siding, leaving behind the anti-aircraft gun positions responsible for guarding the important areas, and continued to head further north. An Guo leaned the battalion commander against the edge of the commander's hatch, wanting to scratch his inexplicably itchy head, but found that his hand was blocked by the tank cap; he wanted to take a long sigh, but found that his throat microphone was too tight and uncomfortable, so he pulled the air tube to adjust it, and finally made himself feel comfortable.

Well...if nothing else, at least...it is not an easy task to feed so many people.

According to the pre-war plan, after departing from Luoyi and arriving in Zhengxian, they needed to transfer from the passenger car to the tank, and then advance to the "Qixian Station" controlled by our army in a combat deployment posture, and get off the car to assemble, ready to cooperate with the brother units to launch a powerful blow to the Japanese.

This area has long been an active area for our guerrillas and local forces. Now, local forces, having long since transitioned from "road-breaking" to "road-protecting," are working alongside the field army's vanguard units, which arrived earlier, to attack Japanese squadron-level units attempting to sabotage the railway and their mobile defensive operations. Thanks to their efforts, armored units relying on the railway for long-distance maneuvers can now safely unload approximately 20 kilometers from the enemy's frontline positions. This not only shortens assault distances and allows for rapid strikes against the enemy, but also saves tank and armored vehicle motor hours—a truly two-pronged approach.

However, this meant that the tank soldiers had to exercise in the vehicle for an extra three hours, and they just missed their lunch time.

But this means I'll have to make do with a meal... No! Why do I have such a strange resistance to "making do with a meal, eating something simple"? Why do I feel surprised and disappointed, even a little vaguely "unhappy"?

Did I eat too well before?

Think about the veterans who took the Long March! Think about the good comrades who persevered in the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army! What did they eat back then, and what do I eat now to "get by"?

General An Guo suddenly came to his senses. He looked at his watch, put his hands together, and went back through the commander's exit of the turret.

Unlike the first M3 Stuarts that arrived in the border region, the Armored Regiment's M3s were of the "A3" design and fitted with a diesel engine. They were slightly more spacious than the M3 prototypes used for training crews. However, the command vehicle's turret, crammed with an extra high-power radio and a 37mm gun, made it appear considerably more cramped.

As Captain An got back into his driver's seat, he saw the gunner next to him holding a strange thing wrapped in oil paper and eating it with relish.

He ignored the narrowness and crampedness inside the turret, and skillfully and instinctively avoided objects such as the breech, valves and pipes. Like a hardworking old ox, he buried his head in the oil-paper wrapped golden hamburger bun, large slices of Duozi meat - when passing through Zhengxian for rest, the logistics department supplemented a lot of Zhengxian Duozi meat sent by support units - and the "Zhengxian-style Chinese hamburger" consisting of pickled leeks, raw onions and tomatoes.

He took a big bite happily and chewed it even more happily, not caring at all that the burger was actually cold.

The garlic sauce, mingled with a strong garlic aroma, seemed like the gunner's satisfaction, surging through the turret, reeking of motor oil, creating a palpable atmosphere of joy, and even left residue lingering on his lips. Perhaps feeling unsatisfied by the ready-made garlic sauce, he held a handful of garlic cloves, chewing them between bites of his strange burger. Every time the tender, white garlic, preserved in salt water, popped into his mouth, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he took a few quick breaths, as if trying to absorb the unintentionally released aroma back into his stomach and savor it once more.

Within a few minutes, the burger turned into food and was swallowed by him.

Then, when he reached out to the storage box on the side of the turret and was about to take out another hamburger, the gunner's eyes met with General An Guo who was staring at him.

"Uh, hiccup."

The gunner burped at an inopportune time, loud and long, causing the driver and the heading machine gunner in the vehicle to laugh.

"It's not even dinner time yet, and Pengge'er is already eating his steamed bun!" "What steamed bun? It's a hamburger!"

"It's only fifteen minutes! A quarter of an hour early doesn't count as stealing! Battalion Commander, please judge for yourself, these two idiots..." The gunner brother named Zhao Mingpeng blushed and wanted to kick the driver on the left shoulder. "The kitchen team has already prepared it. They said each of us can take three, which is enough for lunch... These old hamburgers are left in the car. How can we die of suffocation for a quarter of an hour?"

The command vehicle was immediately filled with a joyful atmosphere.

what......

Battalion Commander An Guojiang suddenly realized that he was thinking too much.

He recalled his childhood in the Taihang Mountains, the time when he first signed up to join the Red Army, and the time when he was selected to return to the border area to study, train, and eventually serve in the mobile corps.

The ever-improving material conditions and the gradually perfected regularized construction have given our army increasingly powerful combat capabilities, enabling it to fulfill the mission of arming workers and peasants on a wider and more difficult battlefield. However, these things have never changed the basic style of this team - we can eat good and abundant military rations and raid thousands of miles away, we can run hundreds of miles day and night with only a few pieces of unleavened bread, and we can rely on snow water and wild vegetables to deal with the enemy in harsh environments, until we approach or even break through the physiological limits of the human body.

"Eat now, and don't complain of hunger before dinner."

He turned around, took out his thermos and stuffed it into the gunner who was dismantling the second "hamburger", then climbed out of the commander's hatch again - in the sky, four fighter planes with inverted gull wings were overtaking the military column from behind them and flying towards the battlefield ahead.

"Come, have something hot to drink," said Captain An.

Chapter 794: Battlefield Meals (Part 2) Eat Something Good

It was six forty in the morning, just after dawn.

Having just finished their morning exercises, the brigade staff of the "Hebei Central Military Region (Super Spring Edition) Mobile Brigade" were eating lunch with the brigade's guard company. Comrade Wang Tiechui also pulled a spoon and lunch box from his backpack and stood behind his political commissar, Lei Zhende, lining up with the other soldiers who were also cooking.

According to the Eighth Route Army's custom, the brigade headquarters usually cooks together with the assigned guard troops. As a Communist army, the commanders naturally have to eat the same meals and line up in the same rows as ordinary soldiers.

"Two columns from the second and third platoons each will receive their meals. Platoon one will wait. Those returning from duty will eat first—staff members will go last!"

The squad leader of the kitchen squad placed a large insulated bucket on a millstone and knocked on the metal rim of the bucket with a large spoon, making a clang clang clang sound - now, he was the well-deserved "commander" here.

"We're not in the camp right now. We're going to fight the Japanese and the traitors soon, so you'll need the supplies. Move quickly!"

At this time, Wang Tiechui and the "Mobile Brigade" were not in the camp in the Hejian area of ​​central Hebei, but in "Quzhou County" of the "Southern Hebei Anti-Japanese Base Area" hundreds of miles away.

About three weeks earlier, he had received an order from the base's military district requiring the mobile brigade to assemble within 12 hours and immediately march to Wuyi County, dozens of kilometers away, to await orders. After a long and arduous march, they encountered a "blue truck" transport company reinforced by the military district and received further orders.

"I order your troops to move south immediately and arrive at Quzhou County, Ji'nan Military Region, before March 6th."

"After arriving in Quzhou County, the troops will be under the command of the Ji'nan Military Region. The time for their return to base is yet to be determined."

It’s coming! But...

Frankly, the moment Commander Wang Tiechui received the order, his mind raced with thoughts of a whirlwind. A cross-regional mobilization of this magnitude clearly meant that our main force would be deployed, launching a massive campaign near their destination—the Handan area. He and his comrades would be fortunate to participate in this crucial battle and contribute significantly to the liberation of China.