Rise From Eight Hundred

Let two lieutenant generals and a brigade commander, with more than 30,000 troops under their command, listen to the command of a small army colonel.

If this was said by someone else, even if he gave a big gift first, it would probably be exchanged for a word "GUN".

Especially, Zhao and Li, Tang Dao had only met for the first time, and considering the dinner just now, it was just a casual meal at best.

It was equivalent to a few people eating fast food together in the future.

This is a huge risk.

But Tang Dao stood in front of the map and openly put forward this unrealistic condition.

"You, let Zhao, Li and me listen to you? Are you sick? I have to be responsible for thousands of officers and soldiers. How can I listen to a little kid like you? No, no, no, no matter how many guns you give me." Brigade Commander Cheng glanced at the two lieutenant generals and division commanders who looked a little strange, and winked at Tang Dao while speaking.

The intention of the brigade commander Cheng was to help Tang Dao, and the subtext was that you were making conditions before you even showed anything. Those two were both foxes who had been around for a hundred years, and they would not release their eagles until they saw the rabbit.

"Hehe! Brother Cheng, you don't want a gun, right? What if I say, there are cannons?" Tang Dao continued to smile and continued to speak along with the words of the brigade commander Cheng. "This time I was in Linfen, but I emptied the arsenal of the Shanxi Provincial Ordnance Department. There were 24 75mm mountain cannons made in the 17th year of Shanxi, 100 82mm mortars, and 8,000 rounds of shells for each of the two types of artillery. If any superiors don't believe it, they can go to the warehouse of my Sihang Regiment's arsenal to check it out now."

"Puff!" The tea that the commander of the 104th Division, Li, had just taken a sip of to calm his nerves, sprayed out.

No wonder it cost 2 million silver dollars to buy weapons! Damn, these cannons and shells alone are probably worth half of it.

He was not very clear about the specific price of the 75 mountain gun, but he knew one thing, in this era, even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it. Just like before their group army swore to go to war outside the suburbs of Chengdu, do you think the Sichuan Army generals were stupid and didn't know to buy some arms?

These veterans who can be regarded as professional soldiers have already smelled the breath of a full-scale war as early as the July 7 Incident. Even if they are in the hinterland, they will inevitably be unable to avoid it. If they want to survive in the war, they must strengthen themselves.

In the past, they took empty salaries and sucked the blood of soldiers. The actual number of registered personnel in an infantry division was often one-third less than the reported number. In other words, the original establishment of 12,000 people actually had only 8,000 people or even less.

This also forced these generals to recruit soldiers, but they had soldiers, but no guns in their hands. The key is that they had money but nowhere to buy. In Sichuan Province, except for a second-rate ordnance company in Shancheng that could produce some guns and ammunition, where else could they make them?

Forget about mountain cannons and mortars. It is good enough for Sichuan Army generals to equip new recruits with bird guns and single-handedly. This is also one of the main reasons for the variety of firearms in Sichuan Army.

As soon as Tang Dao came up, the temptation of 24 75 mountain cannons and 100 82 mortars fell. I don’t know if Zhao, the commander of the 17th Division, can withstand it. Anyway, the 104th Division can’t withstand it.

If it weren’t for being a little cunning, Master Li, who spit out a mouthful of tea, wanted to agree to Tang Dao at that time. You can fight as you want. Anyway, the final decision is in my hands.

"There are so many cannons! I can consider it." How many people in the world can turn faster than Brigade Commander Cheng?

His 683 Brigade is not short of light weapons now, but heavy firearms. Let alone 75 mountain cannons, as long as he is given a dozen mortars, it doesn’t matter if he is commanded by a higher level. Anyway, he firmly believes that Tang Dao will not pit him to death.

"Captain Tang, your gift is really tempting." The white-headed general who had remained silent finally spoke. "If it was half a year ago, my 17th Division would have accompanied you to make a fuss for this batch of arms, but now, it is difficult for me to agree to you."

General Bai Tou's meaning was very clear. If it was half a year ago, his 17th Division was strong and fearless of any opponent, and could fight in any way, but now, his 17th Division, which had been completely crippled, had only just been repaired for half a year and had not yet recovered its vitality, and had lost that qualification.

Or, what he wanted to express was that he had seen a tragic sacrifice once, and this time, he didn't want to see it again.

To put it bluntly, he couldn't believe in Tang Dao's command ability. Even though Tang Dao had several glorious battles, those were only battlefields with thousands of people, not like this time, both sides had to invest tens of thousands of troops.

Tang Dao's age and qualifications, no matter what aspect, did not have the conditions to command such a large-scale battlefield.

"Captain Zhao, you don't have to rush to refuse. Why don't you listen to my tactical intentions first and then decide if it's okay?" Tang Dao seemed to know his reaction, and pointed to the map of southeastern Shanxi without changing his expression. "I know you care about the lives of the brothers of the 17th Division, but do you want to avenge the 8,000 brothers who died in the Battle of Falulu Ridge? Maybe Tang Dao can do it for you this time?"

The white-haired general narrowed his eyes slightly.

If the arms displayed by Tang Dao only made him excited, then Tang Dao's last words really pierced the deepest part of his heart.

The nearly 200 days and nights since the Battle of Falulu Ridge may be the most difficult period in the life of this lieutenant general.

He is a native of the northwest, and more than half of his 12,000 officers and soldiers are from his hometown. As a result, after that battle, 8,000 soldiers died.

When he thought of those gray-haired parents looking for their youngest son and the young children looking for their father, how could he, as a division commander, return to his hometown with dignity?

But even so, he also paid tribute to writing his name in every death notice. He would not escape even if he had no face to return home.

He would not be like Xiang Yu, who had no face to face the elders of Jiangdong and committed suicide to thank them. His biggest wish now was to avenge the 8,000 soldiers, fight back to Falulu Ridge, and collect their remains.

"Okay, if your tactics can convince me, then I, Zhao, will go crazy with you once, which is not a bad idea." The white-haired general said with a firm look in his eyes.

"If the Japanese army invades southeastern Shanxi this time, they will definitely use heavy troops." Tang Dao first set the tone for this battle.

The three generals nodded slightly.

They were all veterans of the battlefield. They knew that the Japanese changed their generals during the war because they were dissatisfied with the command of the room shroud, who made many mistakes. The new commander of the North China Front Army would not give himself the opportunity to make mistakes again.

If he wanted to use troops against southeastern Shanxi, he must ensure victory, so increasing the number of troops was imperative.

The think tank of the Second War Zone Command also realized this, otherwise they would not have hurriedly transferred the 17th Division, which had not yet been repaired, to southeastern Shanxi, and delegated the command to the general of the 80th Army Group. That was all to prepare for the Japanese invasion.

"The southeastern Shanxi area seems vast, but in fact most of it is mountainous. If we want to use heavy troops, we can't deploy troops effectively from only one or two directions. It is also beneficial for our defense along the mountain. Even if the Japanese are powerful, they will bite the hard bones of one mountain after another. It is estimated that they will almost exhaust their troops in a short time." Tang Dao drew a big circle along the entire southeastern Shanxi map.

"If they want to fight, they must surround us from all sides and form a situation where we can be defeated everywhere.

There are several advantages to doing this. Not only can we deploy a large force, but we can also use a long front line to prevent us from forming a defense with superior forces, and we can also use their familiar roundabout combat methods to make our defenders attacked from both sides.

After the initial strategic goals are achieved, they will take advantage of the situation that our army is either shrinking its defense or being forced to withdraw, and they will gather heavy troops to attack our army.

Our army has only two choices, either to fight them to the death, or to temporarily retreat in order to preserve its strength, and then return after they withdraw.

After all, the Japanese army cannot stay in the mountains all the time. With their logistical capabilities, 10 days is their limit."

Tang Dao's analysis all comes from the choices of the future Japanese army. In the past, 30,000 Japanese troops did this, not to mention twice as many.

Thousands of people staying on the narrow mountain road are crowded, and the long marching team is thousands of meters long. If there are tens of thousands of people, it would be too good to look at if the Chinese army has artillery.

One shot, blood and flesh flew everywhere, but there was nowhere to hide.

As long as the Japanese hadn't been kicked in the head by a donkey, they would never deploy a division's heavy troops in one direction.

"Well, Commander Tang, you make a lot of sense." General Baitou nodded. "So, this time when I go to the theater staff meeting, I will definitely put forward my point of view. We must not deploy heavy troops on the outer defense line of southeastern Shanxi, but should use limited troops inside. Contraction defense is what our army should do most.

Otherwise, we will fall into the trap of the Japanese army to break through one by one."

It can be seen that General Baitou, whose face has been extremely relaxed, still agrees with Tang Dao's initial analysis. He also believes that the Japanese army will encircle with its superior force.

"Brother Zhao is right. With contraction defense, our army can support each other. No matter how strong the Japanese army is, it can't penetrate all our defense lines and attack our army from the rear." Commander Li of the 104th Division also nodded, biting his back teeth, and his cheeks bulged high. "Even if the Japanese come with 50,000 or 60,000 troops, we have 100,000 soldiers in southeastern Shanxi, and there are dangerous mountains. Even if we waste lives, we can kill them."

"That's right. Even if we can't win, the mountainous area is vast, and no one can block all the passages. We still have hunters as guides here, and we can evacuate at any time. This is called attacking when advancing and defending when retreating. We can evacuate at any time, and we don't have to worry about being surrounded by the Japanese." General Baitou nodded.

Good guy, these two sang the same tune, and no one was allowed to speak.

A certain regiment commander who was shouting in his heart that good guys just wanted to roll his eyes at this moment.

He really underestimated these two middle-aged uncles. They were tempted by mountain artillery and mortars, but they didn't want to hand over the lives of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers to Tang Dao, a young man who was still wet behind the ears.

Tang Dao's analysis now makes sense, but after these two people followed Tang Dao's thinking and said one thing and another, it basically became their own strategic thinking. Tang Dao said it himself, but he couldn't say it, right?

How to say this? They just wanted to get the benefits, but they didn't want to agree to the conditions proposed by Tang Dao.

Didn't you see that Brigade Commander Cheng didn't say a word? He was helping Tang Dao! If he joined in and analyzed it, then Tang Dao would have nothing to do. All the strategies and tactics were discussed by these three people.

At the military meeting of the theater staff, these three people would definitely steal the show.

"The strategy of shrinking defense is correct, but what you just said, Commander Zhao, that you can evacuate at any time, Tang Dao cannot agree with it, because there is a huge hidden danger." Tang Dao shook his head and interrupted the heated discussion between the two lieutenant generals.

"Commander Tang, please continue." General Baitou was a mature man. After listening to Tang Dao's words, he knew that this was an excuse to express his dissatisfaction, so he immediately stopped talking and pointed at the map to let Tang Dao continue.

After all, Tang Dao now has arms in his hands, and that's the sponsor's father. Even he doesn't want to offend.

Commander Li is also an old fox. Even though the Four Elements Regiment is now affiliated with the 22nd Army, it is under the direct jurisdiction of the Army Headquarters. He, the commander of the 104th Division, has no command authority over it. Tang Dao gave him the honor to call him "Sir", if he is young When the man's temper got worse, he would call Mr. Li coldly and tell him to go away slowly, but there was nothing he could do.

Seeing that the two thick-faced uncles finally stopped talking, Tang Dao continued: "In this battle, our army is destined to be unable to withdraw. It is not because we are afraid that the Japanese invaders will use this to threaten Linfen's flanks, but because the Japanese may have more than just this on their mind. I am Linfen City.”

"What do you say?" General Baitou's eyes narrowed.

The retreat he was talking about was not retreating from the Taihang Mountains, but jumping out of the Japanese encirclement and continuing into the mountains. If the Japanese army turned around and fought against Linfen, the tens of thousands of troops still hiding in the mountains would be around them and could pop out at any time. How dare the Japanese attack Linfen with all their strength after stabbing him with a knife.

Strictly speaking, that is not called a withdrawal, but a tactical transfer. The battlefield has changed, but the battle continues.

Tang Dao just said that the Japanese didn't just think that way, but he really hadn't thought about it.

"The Japanese army probably has two wishful thinking in this operation. On the one hand, it is to attack our troops in the southeastern Shanxi region. They will destroy them if they can and drive them away if they can, so as to clear the obstacles for them to march into Linfen.

On the other hand, if our army moves, they will inevitably raid the divisions, brigades and regiments located deep in the hinterland of the Taihang Mountains, 'killing them all, robbing them all, and burning them all', leaving no humans or animals behind.

Even if we come back someday, the village where we are stationed has been completely destroyed, and the foundation of materials and personnel will no longer exist. We can't just live by chewing stones, can we?

If the skin is gone, the hair will remain. The Japanese want to completely tear off the skin of the Taihang Mountains so that our troops can no longer stay in the mountainous areas for a long time.

What's even more frightening is that if this plan succeeds, they will definitely use this trick to deal with many Chinese soldiers and civilians who have retreated into the mountains for defense. By then, there will definitely be a bloody storm. Tang Dao said solemnly.

"Hiss!" All three generals gasped.

The so-called awakening of a dreamer with one word, based on the current brutality displayed by the Japanese army, what Tang Dao said is not very likely, but has a 99% possibility.

What does the army rely on to survive in the mountains? The food grown by the mountain people is the main source, and external supplies are only part of it. If the food supplies in the mountains are lost, no troops can stay in this natural defense for a long time.

No matter how iron your will is, it is nothing in the face of hunger.

What's even more terrible is that if the Japanese army tastes the sweetness of the so-called "Three Lights" trick and does this to all resistance areas, millions of people will die.

"So, our contraction of defense this time is not just to simply shrink the defense line and defend it, nor to take advantage of the geographical advantages of mountainous areas and guerrilla operations, but to implement flexible defense tactics based on the number of people on the marching route of the Japanese army. In some areas, we can I gave up tactically, but there were some areas that I had to defend even to the last man, leaving the Japanese commanders confused and forced to disperse their operations.

Then the Japanese army will inevitably form a situation. Some are fighting hard and exhausted in the mountainous areas, while some are not hindered much. They go deep alone and continue the tactics they formulated previously.

Only in this way can we have a chance to give him a hard blow.

For example, in the hundred-mile defense line of our Fourth Army, we used geographical advantages to hold back several units, and then surrounded them with heavy troops, eating up one unit and inflicting heavy damage on it. Both psychologically and physically. "Tang Dao looked at the three of them with a solemn gaze.

"But this requires a united group. Some people need to die, even if they know the outcome. It's not that I don't trust the three officers. I can clearly tell them that our Four Elements Group will become the most important part of my tactical plan. The key point is that I need comrades who will carry out my military orders unconditionally. Only in this way can I have no worries."

The beating candlelight reflected in Tang Dao's bright pupils, flickering slightly, like two scorching fires.

The three generals who held their breath were stunned for a moment.

The biggest purpose of everyone is to think about how to survive this upcoming extremely terrifying large-scale attack by the Japanese army.

But what this young man envisioned was to wipe out all the Japanese invaders.

However, even after all the events in the world, even the 'sky-high price' arms that Tang Dao just threw out only made them excited but they would not act rashly.

But after asking themselves, they had to admit that they were really moved by the idea that Tang Dao proposed.

Otherwise, why would the breathing suddenly become heavier?

Kill the Japanese!

Avenge your brother!

My parents are sorry, my son is gone!

In countless dreams, the roars from those positions where the entire army was wiped out are still lingering.

A general should not be weak, but at that time, there were no tears in his eyes, but his heart was like a knife!