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

Chapter 286 Li Yunlong is bold and careful, and is more cunning than a monkey when it comes to deali

"We can't stay in western Shanxi any longer. We can only rush to the border between the two provinces and temporarily enter the mountains to escape the enemy's pursuit. Otherwise, with the few people left, once we are caught by the enemy, we won't be able to retreat. Notify all troops to prepare to enter the mountains immediately. We must get rid of the enemy's pursuit within two days. Only then can we be truly safe and find the next way out!"

"What worries me now is Li Yunlong's troops. I got news before that they were besieged by a large number of Japanese devils. Although I mobilized the New 1st and New 2nd Regiments to support them, I am not sure whether they can hold on in the end! According to the current situation, it will be difficult for us to return to the western Shanxi area within one or two years, and it is even more impossible to provide any support to Li Yunlong and his men. In addition, the radio station of the independent regiment is damaged, so we can't get in touch with them at all!" The brigade commander said worriedly.

The chief of staff advised, "Commander, the Japanese's summer sweep this time is different from the past. Its purpose is to drive us out of Shanxi Province. According to the information we received from the headquarters, the losses of various troops are very heavy, and some have even been directly destroyed. Our situation is relatively better. At least we have retained the skeleton. This is a blessing in disguise!"

"The Japanese sent out more than 13 troops this time than the intelligence we received in advance. Adding the additional puppet troops, the total number is nearly . This is beyond our current response capabilities. In addition, the troops have been expanded many times, and their combat effectiveness has been greatly weakened."

"Not to mention that this raid was conducted less than four months after the last one, and many troops were forced to join the battle before they could recover. Logically speaking, even if the Japanese raided again, they wouldn't be able to mobilize many troops. After all, they suffered a lot of losses in the last raid. But this time, the Japanese didn't play by the rules and directly mobilized the Kwantung Army outside the Great Wall, catching us off guard."

"What's more, we are not out of danger yet. We can't stay here any longer. There is a brigade of Japanese soldiers following us closely. If we don't retreat quickly, we may be blocked by the Japanese soldiers halfway into the mountain."

"As for the safety of the independent regiment, there is no need to worry too much. Li Yunlong is a brave and careful person. He is more clever than a monkey. With the help of Ding Wei and Kong Jie, if they find that something is wrong, they will enter the mountains immediately and get rid of the pursuit of the devils. Although they will suffer huge losses, they can retain the backbone forces. After the devils retreat, they can develop rapidly again!"

The brigade commander was not so optimistic, but he was powerless at the moment. He could only sigh heavily and lead his men into the Taihang Mountains to escape the Japanese pursuit.

Compared with the situation of the brigade commander, the situation of the headquarters was not much better, especially after Yoshio Shinozuka released the Yamamoto Special Forces, who, with the help of a fake military expert, found the location of the arsenal and the headquarters and launched a night attack, forcing the headquarters to move overnight. The arsenal also lost most of its belongings. If the deputy commander-in-chief had not made a timely decision, the headquarters would have been in danger of being surrounded by the Japanese.

"Chief of Staff, immediately give orders to all troops to break out on their own and split up into small groups to fight guerrilla warfare in the mountains. Now we can only rush to the border between the two provinces. This time we suffered from insufficient intelligence. The enemy has deployed more than twice as many troops as we expected, and also deployed a large number of fighter planes. In addition, the interval between the two raids was relatively short, and the combat effectiveness of each unit has not yet recovered. It seems that the enemy has a master, otherwise they would not choose this time to attack us!"

"We will probably have to endure a long period of hardship. I estimate that the Japanese will strengthen their blockade of us and control our development. In addition, we have lost a large number of bases this time. It will be very difficult to take them back in a short period of time. We can only temporarily go into the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare to recover our strength."

The chief of staff replied with a bitter face: "Boss, we dispatched more than 100 regiments before, showing our strength to the devils and causing them considerable losses. But the devils were not pushovers, and they quickly formulated a counterattack plan, mobilizing a total force of nearly . Although about half of them were puppet troops, it can be seen that the devils have regarded us as their number one enemy."

"In addition, the false information passed by the intelligence personnel made us mistakenly believe that the several Japanese divisions passing through Taiyuan City would not stop at all. Who would have thought that the Japanese took advantage of our mentality and taught us a hard lesson. The lesson is profound!"

"To be honest, this battle was too frustrating. The disparity in strength between us and the enemy was too great. It was not easy for us to withdraw. What really impressed me was that Yamamoto's special forces had found the location of the headquarters again without alerting the outer garrison. If the guard battalion had not fought desperately, the consequences would have been disastrous."

"But even so, our losses were huge. The arsenal fell into the hands of the devils, and we didn't bring out any military equipment. The only good news is that most of the workers have withdrawn, which gives us the confidence to rebuild the arsenal. The military expert you asked me to keep a close eye on before, I always thought he was a devil spy, but he performed well in this battle, which makes it even more difficult to distinguish the truth from the false!"

The deputy commander-in-chief had no good ideas for the time being regarding the chief of staff's concerns. The truth was that Lin Jungong performed very well in the headquarters' military factory, and no one would believe that he was a Japanese spy. Even the deputy commander-in-chief was unable to make a decision, so he could only temporarily suppress his doubts and solve the current dilemma first.

"Let's think about these things later. We have already rested here for two hours. We need to leave quickly. Yamamoto's special forces have been following closely behind us. We need to get into the mountains quickly to get rid of them!"

Under the leadership of the deputy commander, it took six days to get rid of the pursuit of Yamamoto's special forces. Shinozuka Yoshio did not expect Yamamoto Ikki to achieve such a good result, so he called Mitsui Ippei and expressed his gratitude.

"Chief of Staff Mitsui, your previous suggestion was correct. Yamamoto Ikki is now like a dragon entering the sea. He has achieved a great success and almost destroyed the enemy's headquarters. It's really a pity. Fortunately, the enemy's arsenal was destroyed, which is better than nothing. In this way, I have an explanation to both my superiors and subordinates, and I can continue to use resources to expand the size of the special forces. Maybe the special forces will really play a role in changing the situation in the future. I have high hopes for the special forces!"

Mitsui Ippei drank the sake in his glass in one gulp and replied with a happy face, "General, the biggest contributor should be the changes made by the headquarters. I didn't expect that the headquarters would use this method to test the new recruits. This is completely beyond my previous expectations. Through this large-scale public security sweep, four or five hundred thousand new recruits have experienced the baptism of war. This makes me full of confidence in the public security during the occupation period and the southward operations."

"Those bastards in the headquarters have finally started to face up to the problem and are no longer as arrogant as before. I like Mr. Ishihara's continental strategy the most, but the headquarters has shelved it and launched this all-out war, trapping us in the quagmire of war. It is very difficult to extricate ourselves!"

"These days, the external steel and oil embargo on the Empire has gradually made the Empire's war machine unable to start. If we want to break the current deadlock, we have to launch a southward operation plan. The expansion of pilots and the army began gradually a year ago, but after this year, the pace has accelerated. I was very worried at first, but when I heard that the Empire was preparing to convert the Yamato into an aircraft carrier, it strengthened my confidence. I am a firm aircraft carrier faction. The era of giant ships and cannons is over. If the Empire wants to gain control of the Pacific Ocean, it must vigorously develop aircraft carriers."

"I have to say that Lin Zhenhua has helped us a lot. From his friends and the few words and manuscripts he left behind, we clearly understand the important role of aircraft carriers in future naval battles. We should thank our enemy for this. If we can catch him, I will definitely treat him with courtesy. He is a great talent and deserves our sincerity!"

Lin Zhenhua never expected that his original self, who he traveled through time and space, was actually a staunch supporter of aircraft carriers. He collected a lot of information and conducted some arguments, but he didn't expect that in the end he would benefit the Japanese.

"Yes! This is also the reason why I suspended the attack on the Independent Regiment Arsenal. On the one hand, I can't spare the troops, and on the other hand, I want to continue to steal their military information, especially the production technology of rockets, which is very similar to our jet missiles. I have handed the information to the military department of the empire, hoping to give them some inspiration!"

Mitsui Ichiro said with a smile: "General, this sweep went very smoothly. In the next year, our occupied area will become very peaceful, which will make it easier for us to implement the headquarters' plan of fighting to support the war. Let us toast to the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere!"

Compared to the relaxed and comfortable two Japanese soldiers, Lin Zhenhua was busy in the arsenal. His eyes were fixed on the roller press, which was performing the final pressing on the seamless steel pipe. As the red-hot steel pipe was continuously rolled through the roller press, it was pressed into a suitable size. After it cooled down, Lin Zhenhua immediately arranged for its inspection.

"College students, after our preliminary inspection, the seamless steel pipes we produced basically meet the design requirements. We will then conduct a series of tests on them, which is expected to take three days. As long as the tests are passed, we will have the ability to produce seamless steel pipes, and thus we will be able to manufacture mortars in large quantities and solve our current problem of insufficient mortars." Huang Yiming said with a happy face.

Lin Zhenhua's face was also full of smiles. As long as the mass production problem of seamless steel pipes can be solved, mass production of mortars will be a piece of cake. He said in a light tone: "Hurry up and test it. Notify me as soon as the results come out. Test it according to the various specifications I set. No steps can be omitted in the middle. This is related to the mass production of our mortars in the future. There can't be any mistakes!"