Bright Sword: Technology is the primary productive force in war

Chapter 178 The Commander’s Distress!

After hearing Chen Yan's words, the commander perked up a little.

"Oh, go on."

At the same time, the commander passed over a cigarette.

Chen Yan quickly circled Xingtai, Shahe and Yongnian on the map, and then connected two surrounding points together.

Finally, set the pencil aside.

"Commander, now it's clear.

The purpose of the Japanese's battle this time should be to make a tentative tactical cut in the occupied area.

As long as they take these five places, the plains within a radius of 50 kilometers will be their territory, which means our people will have to move to the mountainous areas."

Chen Yan looked up at the commander and continued:

"Do you still remember the two pieces of intelligence I brought back from Hebei a while ago?"

More than a month ago, Chen Yan, angry about the Japanese massacre of a village, rushed to Hebei and destroyed ten artillery towers in one night to vent his anger. He brought back a Japanese confession and a top-secret document of the Japanese army.

After returning to the headquarters to report, Chen Yan submitted the two pieces of information to the commander.

"Commander, although the first piece of information is just a confession from the Japanese and cannot be verified. But I, Chen Yan, dare to guarantee with my life that there is absolutely no doubt that General Okamura Yasuji will go to North China to take office."

The commander just snorted and said, "Go on."

"You can imagine that before that old bastard Gangcun arrived, he had already transferred two divisions from the Northeast to cause trouble, which means that this old guy must be quite powerful in the Japanese army.

And as far as I know, he has been very successful in his career in recent years, so this kind of person must be arrogant and don't take others seriously."

The commander frowned, "What exactly do you want to say?"

At this time, Chen Yan knocked the table heavily and said, "This Xingsha battle was definitely deliberately instigated by Ningci Okamura."

The commander asked indifferently: "Then what is his purpose?"

Chen Yan blew out a smoke ring, "He is testing, making preparations before the war.

In other words, as long as he comes to North China, we will have no good days."

At this moment, the commander threw a document on the table.

"Look for yourself. This is the top-secret intelligence you seized from Hebei. The text inside is all encrypted.

After reporting it to the central government, our UN intelligence department took almost half a month to decipher it."

Chen Yan opened the file and asked, "What is this?"

"A local route map and troop deployment map within Hebei Province."

Chen Yan's mind was spinning rapidly, but he still didn't understand what the commander meant.

"After more than a month of intelligence collection and analysis by the Central and Nationalist intelligence departments, and with the addition of this top-secret Japanese military document you brought back, it was finally confirmed that your guess was correct.

The new commander of the Japanese Army's North China Front was Ningji Okamura.

Hearing this, Chen Yan's eyes were filled with anger.

"Then this top-secret information is the route that Ningji Okamura took after arriving in North China."

"That's right. We analyzed that Gangcun should take the train to North China. As for where to get off, it is not clear, but he will definitely pass by the Laomaoshan Artillery Tower."

The Laomaoshan Artillery Tower was where Chen Yan seized this intelligence.

"The Japanese were very meticulous in their work, breaking up the route of Gangcun and distributing it to the Japanese commanders in their respective areas, thus avoiding the risk of intelligence leaks to a large extent.

So it’s a pity that we can’t fully grasp Gangcun’s route.”

Having said that, the commander sighed helplessly again.

After a while, the commander perked up again and continued:

"Your analysis of the Xingsha battle just now is exactly the same as that of the headquarters. We also believe that it was Gangcun who adopted the cutting tactics."

Suddenly Chen Yan looked up and stared at the commander, "Since you knew that, why did you let the troops withdraw?

Don't you know what we will face once the troops move to the mountains? "

The commander was stunned for a moment, but still said patiently:

"We have no choice but to withdraw. The troops can no longer bear the pressure. What's the point of increasing our troops now?

Gangcun's tentative move caused such a big fuss, one can imagine his layout in North China.

That is to compress our living space to the greatest extent and drive us into the mountains.

Can the fundamental problem be solved by wasting troops and engaging in a war of attrition and attrition now?"

At this moment, Chen Yan was listening to Commander Kao's words, and his soul was trembling deeply.

Indeed, after Okamura Neiji took office, he launched five consecutive "security strengthening campaigns" in North China. He divided North China into "security areas", "quasi-security areas" and "non-security areas", and implemented the policies of "clearing the countryside", "nibbling" and "sweeping" respectively.

In particular, they carried out a "large-scale mopping-up" operation of "stationing and clearing" the anti-Japanese base areas, implemented an extremely brutal "three-light" policy of burning everything, killing everything, and looting everything, and allowed their soldiers to burn, kill, loot, and commit all kinds of atrocities.

Chen Yan's eyes were bloodshot and he slammed the table helplessly.

Will history repeat itself?

Is there really no solution?

Then what is the meaning of my existence?

Chen Yan repeatedly interrogated himself with these three sentences, but could not find any answers.

After a long time, the commander came over, patted him on the shoulder, and said meaningfully:

"This battle in China cannot be resolved by one person, you don't need to torture yourself."

At this time, the commander was choked by the smoke and coughed continuously, "Last year we fought the Hundred Regiments Campaign, which was said to be a great victory, but it also hurt the vitality of our army.

First of all, there is the loss of manpower, weapons and ammunition, which cannot be replenished at all. Until now, many troops have not yet recovered from this loss.

To be frustrating, it's not that Xing Sha doesn't want to fight this battle, it's that he simply can't fight.

The aftermath of the Hundred Regiments Campaign was very serious. In order to avoid the enemy's attack, many of our troops moved to the western Hebei region where supplies were scarce and resources were poor. Coupled with the blockade of the Japanese and puppet troops, the economy of the base area, especially the supply of food, became the most serious problem.

In fact, many troops have lost the ability and material basis to actively attack the enemy."

Listening to the commander's incessant chatter, Chen Yan suddenly threw out a sentence.

"So how do you plan to counter Gangcun's moves?"

The commander crossed his arms, sat opposite Chen Yan, thought for a moment, and then said:

"Since ancient times, when you are in a passive situation during a war, you have two choices.

First, if you can’t beat them, join them; second, of the thirty-six strategies, retreat is the best.

You said I still have a choice!"

Chen Yan said with resentment in his eyes:

"Or let's have another fight with Ningji Okamura."

The commander smiled bitterly and shook his head, "I will use the entire army to try and make mistakes!

Our days will be extremely difficult in the future, and what we need to do now is to consider how to solve future difficulties."

Chen Yan's heart sank, and he slammed his hands on the table:

“Commander, you called me here today to finally get to the point.

Just tell me what you want me to do.

With just one word from you, even if the sky falls, I, Chen Yan, will still hold it up."