Comrade, Your Ingredients Are Too Complicated

Jiyuan, Xuema Village.

Outside this village with a permanent population of only dozens of people, a company of Eighth Route Army soldiers are escorting the captured Japanese and puppet army prisoners.

The comrades have firm eyes and full of momentum, and they don't look like a tired army that has experienced several battles.

After the cavalry units that arrived one after another received all the "burdens", the entire Armored Second Regiment quickly completed the full set of preparations before departure, and then set off for the next combat target.

In the regiment command vehicle, while checking the latest intelligence from the Air Force reconnaissance aircraft, Commander Liu pretended to ask casually:

"Old Tian, ​​where has the First Regiment broken through? Have they encountered any tough bones? Compared with us, who is faster in specific progress?"

Hearing the commander's question, the chief of staff of the Second Armored Regiment smiled and shook his head.

His own regiment commander is good in everything, but he is a little "competitive" and has to compete for the first place in everything he does. Similar situations are particularly strong when performing tasks together with the First Regiment of the same sequence.

But this is not a bad habit.

As long as you don't get carried away and don't rush for quick success, it is a calm and healthy competition, which is a good thing for the overall strength of the troops.

A high morale is better than a stagnant pool of water.

A moment later, the chief of staff took out a telegram from his bag and reported calmly: "Coincidentally, the rear command just sent the latest news, and I was just about to tell you."

"The first regiment directly burned to death the Japanese defenders around Kejing County. The combat plan proposed by the French is not bad. Crossing the forest is indeed a convenient option."

"When the fire is slightly weaker, they can continue to move towards the next stage of the goal."

As soon as these words came out, Captain Liu's eyes widened immediately.

Without saying a word, he opened the military map, and then his fingers began to calculate the time along the attack route of the friendly forces. Anyone could see his desire to win.

"It's over. It looks like we're going to lose to the First Regiment in terms of speed!"

"Pass my order and contact the armored reconnaissance company in front immediately. Let them find a way to avoid the river. We have limited time and can't delay on the road any longer."

"Yes!"

The terrain in the Jiyuan area gradually flattens from west to east.

Special terrains such as mountains and hills that limit the mobility of armored units are mostly distributed in the west, north and southwest.

Theoretically, the combat environment is located in the plains. The Second Armored Regiment, which has the terrain advantage, should have a breakthrough progress that is naturally better than that of its brother troops.

But!

However, there are many tributaries of the Mother River on their offensive route. In non-essential or emergency situations, the troops need to constantly bypass and break through, otherwise they will have to pay a price to forcefully cross the river.

This is Jiyuan. In later generations, there are more than 20 large and small reservoirs, including the famous Xiaolangdi.

With such a dense network of water systems, if the Second Armored Regiment crosses the river one by one, even if the Air Force continues to provide firepower support, it is likely that they will have to dry up their own resources.

Therefore, it is wise to adjust the offensive route in real time according to the deployment of the Japanese defenders.

······

In the relatively flat combat area, Shandong Kong Fuzi 222 is like a fish in water.

With its mobility and passability far exceeding the average level of the Asian battlefield, the armored reconnaissance company under the Second Regiment "completed" the task assigned by its superiors in just over half an hour.

After getting off the car, Captain Li sighed with a sad face. Then he adjusted his mood and trotted to the command tank of the regiment.

"Captain, according to the results of our company's reconnaissance just now, there is now a good news and a bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Hearing this, the commander of the Second Regiment and the chief of staff looked at each other at the same time, and they both saw some uneasiness on each other's faces.

"Don't keep it a secret, tell it together."

"Yes!"

After receiving the order, Captain Li of the Armored Reconnaissance Company immediately took out a military map from his pocket, on which there was a river outlined with red lines.

"Our company just fought back and forth between the source and the end of the river ahead. The river is 29 kilometers long, with the widest part of the river being 31 meters and the narrowest part being 17 meters."

"The bad news cannot be circumvented, because its upstream area is directly in the suburbs of Jiyuan County, which is already the absolute core area of ​​the Japanese defense circle."

"As for the end point, the river eventually merges into the mother river, and there is no area where the flow is cut off."

Having said this, the good news is naturally self-evident. It's nothing more than that the width of the river is not outrageous, and the overall difficulty of crossing the river is lower than expected.

After learning the truth, Captain Liu frowned, but immediately rekindled his fighting spirit.

It's just a small river with a width of only 17 meters. It's not even in the top ten in his military career.

When the large army forced to cross the Wujiang River, the cliffs on both sides were turbulent, and the ferry was washed away as soon as it entered the turbulent river. In desperation, the commander could only order to force piles and ropes in the water to build a floating bridge.

The huge floating bridge was twisted like a centipede by the water.

But even so, it still did not stop the brave comrades.

Now the Eighth Route Army has close support aircraft and bombers in the sky, and professional engineering support companies on the ground. It's just a small tributary of the Yellow River, not worth mentioning.

With thoughts coming true, Captain Liu no longer hesitated. He picked up the communicator on the command vehicle and said in the whole regiment channel:

"Comrades, do you remember what the deputy commander-in-chief and Director Huang once said? The two leaders emphasized several times that every river crossing battle should be regarded as a rehearsal for crossing the river in the future."

"In the future, the armored forces will definitely not be absent when we go south."

"So today, let's test the results of past training and break the stereotype that northerners are not good at water battles!"

"Everyone, get ready to cross the river!"

"Yes!"

Due to the strong intrusion of Mr. Huang, the current combat effectiveness of the Fourth Master and the Eighth Master can be described as changing with each passing day and making great strides.

With the surge in strength, the vision of the bigwigs in the border area has naturally become broader. This has led to everyone discussing the strategic trends in a few years in their spare time.

Going south is one of the hot topics.

Considering that the troops are likely to cross the river in the future, elite trump cards such as the armored forces and the First Marine Brigade have added targeted training in their daily lives.

This is why Captain Liu is full of confidence in the next action.

······

On the east side of the river bank, the 8th Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, the 3rd Infantry Battalion.

Compared with the high-spirited 2nd Armored Regiment, the atmosphere on the side of the Japanese defenders has almost dropped to the freezing point.

The command post in the rear was even more depressed. Except for the major and the captain, no one else dared to speak.

There was no way, because they were short of manpower and the pressure of river defense was too great.

Because he was not sure from which direction the enemy's armored forces would cross the river, the captain Nagashima Ryuya could only divide the limited forces into several parts, mix them with the Imperial Army, and set up a long snake formation along the river to passively take the beating.

In the absence of accurate intelligence, the only way to fight was to rely on the mobility of trucks. This was the best corresponding strategy that the old Japanese could come up with.

"Alas, there is only one battalion and two thousand Imperial Army troops defending the river of more than 20 kilometers. The leaders of the brigade and division are really ambitious."

"Notify the troops at all levels to strengthen their reconnaissance capabilities. Even if we can find the enemy's traces one second in advance, our chances of winning will be better."

"Hey!"

Hearing the complaints of his own major, the staff officer Tsuchiya Nobuhiro hurriedly comforted him:

"Nagashima, we are not without a chance in this battle."

"After all, crossing the river has always been a difficult point for the attacker in land wars. At the same time, for the defender, it is an important opportunity to strike a strong opponent."

"There is an old Chinese saying, called attacking the enemy halfway across the river. As long as we use our troops properly and prevent the enemy from taking advantage of their equipment, we will be able to defend the dangerous area and successfully block the enemy."

Hearing this, Nagashima Ryuya shook his head helplessly.

Everyone understands the truth, but the gap between the enemy and us is too big. The Eighth Route Army has 105 howitzers and bombers, while our river defense works don't even have a few semi-buried bunkers.

Once the war started, he could only count on three high grounds and four 75mm mountain guns.

Seemingly seeing that his commander was in a bad mood, the staff officer Tsuchiya Nobuhiro had an idea and tentatively expressed his inner thoughts.

"Nagashima-kun, when I was studying at the military academy, I happened to see a battle similar to the current situation, which was a battle experienced by the predecessor of the Eighth Route Army."

"If the enemy wants to cross the river, they must first send light infantry to the other side to establish a bridgehead. In this way, the opponent's tank troops will be out of touch with the infantry, leaving a lot of gaps in the formation."

"If at that time, we risked a part of the elite to suddenly cross the river and directly charge the tanks that lack infantry protection, we would definitely have a big harvest!"

As soon as these words came out, Nagashima Tatsuya's eyes suddenly sparkled, and his mind was filled with various disadvantages.

Once the above-mentioned combat plan is successfully implemented, the infantry of the Eighth Route Army will not have time to return to support even if they turn around on the spot. This tactic of winning big with a small investment is very much in line with his appetite.

As for failure, what should we do?

Sorry, Nagashima Tatsuya really doesn't care. Anyway, we are already at the bottom of the valley, how bad can it get?

"Okay! He crossed the river! I will cross the river too! Today, my Third Battalion will put its past honor on the line and give it a try!"

"Pass my order, let the First Squadron take 500 Imperial Army soldiers and set off immediately, cross the river and wait for orders to the east of Qiangou Village! Whether the mission succeeds or not, it all depends on them!"

"Hi!" (End of this chapter)