Liang Jian: Lao Li, I'm really not a military expert

Chapter 552: Zhuzi, protect the heavy artillery for me. If anything goes wrong, I will chop off your

Yoshio Shinozuka was determined to avenge his humiliation and had turned the biggest thorn in his side into the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. As for Li Yunlong, he had long been regarded as a trapped turtle in a jar and had been supplemented with a large number of fighter planes. He was full of confidence and directly reorganized two flying divisions, the 17th and 18th flying divisions, with Ichiro Sato and Ichiro Fujiwara as the division commanders respectively. This was also the result of compromise among several parties.

"General, we have verified Li Yunlong's current location. He is currently stationed in the Yushugou area. Xie Baoqing's strength is not enough to stop Li Yunlong's armored regiment. Unless we use a large number of troops to intercept him at Erchaling, it will be difficult to stop Li Yunlong from returning to Fortress No. 1."

"According to the estimate of the General Staff, we need to deploy a brigade of troops on the Erchaling line to block Li Yunlong's retreat. We currently have no good way to deal with Li Yunlong's fierce firepower. We can only mobilize 116 fighter planes. If we fight with the Independent Regiment Air Force Battalion, it will be hard to say who will win." Mitsui Ippei said with some distress.

Shinozuka Yoshio looked at the map on the wall, which showed the current locations of the 17th and 18th Flying Divisions and the number of fighter planes they had. As for the number of fighter planes owned by the Independent Regiment Air Force Battalion, it was still unknown. In addition, its arsenal was constantly producing new fighter planes. Due to the lack of intelligence, the Japanese were completely in the dark.

"Yoshi! It seems that we have indeed underestimated our opponents. I just looked at the map. With our current strength, it is very difficult to destroy the enemy's air force airport. It's not that our bombers can't do it, but our enemies have already built a large number of cement roads in their bases. The most hateful thing is that these cement roads are built very wide and can be directly used for fighter planes to take off and land. Even if we bomb the enemy's airport, we can't stop the enemy from taking off and landing."

"Unless we have overwhelming air power, the consequence of a hasty war would be mutual destruction. But now we have been forced into a corner. Li Yunlong wants to return to the base. We will definitely fight at Heiyunling and Erchaling. Even I am not sure what the final result will be. There are too many variables. The 358th Regiment, which we have been ignoring, has also suddenly made a move, aiming directly at Shentouling."

"I have reason to suspect that Chu Yunfei wants to help Li Yunlong withdraw to the base. Once the two sides join forces, it will cause huge trouble to the Aoki Division on the front line. These days, I have withdrawn two divisions from the front line, making the front line's troops weaker."

"As for the soldiers of the security corps, they are not reliable at all. It is impossible to expect them to stop Li Yunlong. At most, we can only send them to fight for food and guard the stronghold. This is also what makes me feel most powerless. Our troops are really insufficient. The occupied area is too large. One-third of the troops have been transferred to block the border between the two provinces. Even if we get some reinforcements, our dilemma of insufficient troops is still not solved."

"It will take half a month for the two divisions supporting the headquarters to arrive. This speed is already very fast. We can no longer rush them. To solve the current dilemma, we have to use the power of the aviation force and launch an air strike against the enemy armored regiment at all costs."

The reason why Yoshio Shinozuka said so much to Ippei Mitsui was because he was a little undecided and wanted to hear Ippei Mitsui's opinion.

Mitsui Ippei originally didn't intend to say more. After all, he had little combat experience and was very likely to give Shinozuka Yoshio the wrong warning. However, looking at the other party's expectant eyes, he could only bite the bullet and reply: "General, I think we can combine the two battles into one. The Shuiquan Oilfield is very important to both of us. This war is inevitable. No one will stop until the winner is decided."

"According to the intelligence we have received, the Shanxi Suiyuan Army will dispatch 14 troops to launch a counterattack from the southwest of Shanxi. If they want to fight all the way to Shuiquan County, it will take 15 days of marching. By that time, the two divisions that will supplement us from the mainland will have arrived, and we will be able to catch up with the decisive battle."

"I think the most important thing for us right now is to completely blockade the Zhaojiayu base and prevent Li Yunlong from retreating. We will gradually deplete the enemy's armored regiment's strength and adopt a step-by-step nibbling tactic to peel off Li Yunlong's onion layer by layer. As long as we can kill the armored regiment, the Zhaojiayu base will hardly pose a huge threat to us. The most important thing is that Li Yunlong has lost the ability to take the initiative to attack and will be firmly locked in the base. Over time, his development will be greatly affected."

"There is one more thing. I don't know if you have noticed it, General. The Central Plains is experiencing a large-scale drought, which will produce at least 10 to 20 million victims. We can make use of these victims and drive them to Li Yunlong's base. We can completely bankrupt Li Yunlong. If there is nothing to eat at that time, we only need to instigate them to cause chaos in the Zhaojiayu base."

"I have always felt that this is our most effective tactic at the moment, but it takes a long time, at least three months, to be effective, and we may not have that much time to make this plan."

Shinozuka Yoshio had heard about this plan two months ago, but the headquarters did not give him the opportunity to implement it, so he had to use force to resolve the Zhaojiayu base. According to his plan, he was going to send more than 100 million disaster victims to the Zhaojiayu base, which would definitely be enough to bankrupt Li Yunlong. However, the plan could not keep up with the changes, and the blockade operation had just been implemented when he had to stop it midway. He could only stare blankly, and he was indeed powerless.

"Mitsui-kun, someone has proposed this plan before, but we don't have that much time to waste, not to mention that some things can't be done just because we want to."

"I understand what you mean. It seems that we really can only send out bombers to intercept Li Yunlong's armored regiment. Apart from this, there is really no better way."

Yoshio Shinozuka was forced to make a decision, and his inner goal became clear. A combat plan was quickly drawn up and issued to the newly formed 17th and 18th Flying Divisions.

After receiving the order, Ichiro Sato and Ichiro Fujiwara did not dare to shirk their responsibility. They acted quickly and formulated a bombing plan. They even made arrangements for the cooperation between the two sides in advance to prevent any flaws in the battle.

The armored regiment, which had just rested for a night in Yushugou, started its operation early in the morning. After a simple breakfast, the troops immediately set out. The air force battalion sent a squadron of fighters to escort them, and prepared to dispatch hundreds of bombers to launch a bombing operation on Erchaling at noon to cover the armored regiment's breakout operation.

"Sanwazi, you guys in the air defense battalion, keep your eyes open and pay attention to the incoming Japanese fighter planes. Whether our armored regiment can return to the base wholeheartedly depends on you guys in the air defense battalion."

"Zhang Dabiao, immediately pass on my order. All battalions should set up their machine guns and cannons. If there is not enough space, have some soldiers walk down. We must ensure that our anti-aircraft firepower covers the entire area. There must not be any blind spots."

"Zhu Zi, you better be careful, you must protect my heavy artillery, don't let the Japanese blow it up. If there is any problem with the heavy artillery, I will chop off your head!"

After arranging the anti-aircraft alert, the armored regiment's march speed suddenly accelerated. They had to reach Erchaling within five and a half hours. In order to block Li Yunlong's armored regiment, Jun'ichi Aoki sent out his elite Yoshiwara Brigade. This was a reinforced main force division with a total of 8200 people, five infantry battalions, two artillery battalions, a cavalry battalion, and a brigade headquarters of 600 people. Its combat effectiveness was very strong.

Erchaling, the blocking position of the Yoshiwara Brigade.

"Your Excellency the Brigade Commander, we have just received an urgent telegram from the Taiyuan Command. Li Yunlong's armored regiment has set out from Yushugou and is expected to arrive at Erchaling within six hours. Our troops are required to successfully intercept Li Yunlong's armored regiment at all costs." The communications adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Harada, bowed his head in anxiety.

Yoshihara Jiro did not check the contents of the telegram. He gently placed the command knife in his hand on the table, and the mustache at the corner of his mouth moved slightly. He ordered in a serious tone: "Yoshi! Tell Ma Wenqing to speed up the digging of trenches for me. The anti-tank trenches must be dug before Li Yunlong's armored regiment arrives."

"Order our engineers to bury the mines within two hours and build dense anti-tank minefields to severely damage the enemy's armored forces."

"Order the Okahara Battalion to serve as the death squad for this attack. Concentrate all our anti-tank weapons in their hands. Instruct Colonel Okahara to stop Li Yunlong's armored forces at all costs!"

Yoshihara Jiro cleared his throat and said worriedly: "Call Taiyuan Headquarters immediately and request support from the 17th and 18th Air Force Divisions. Otherwise, it will be difficult for our Yoshihara Brigade to stop Li Yunlong's armored forces!"

"At the same time, we must ask the division commander for help and ask him to defend the rear of our brigade at all costs. We must not allow our Yoshiwara Brigade to be attacked from both sides."