The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 312 Commander and Operation Plan

That night, in Hu Biao's cave dwelling in Zhangjiayu, all the time travelers except for Annie and AT gathered together again.

Oh, right! Several senior cadres of our Party, including Zhao Zheng, were also involved.

In no time, the small cave dwelling was packed with people; they were preparing to hold an important pre-battle meeting in the coming days.

As for meeting rooms? Sorry, the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment is so poor that it doesn't even have the concept of a meeting room.

"Good heavens, I've actually become a division commander! I mean, are you guys all turtles in the Chinese zodiac? You managed to come up with such a big move without making a sound."

Looking at the newly released personnel statistics report in his hand, Hu Biao couldn't help but mutter a complaint.

Faced with Hu Biao's complaints, Mr. Nan Ze and the other transmigrators who had split up chuckled, seemingly not ashamed but rather proud, looking quite smug.

That's right! Although Hu Biao only holds the rank and position of lieutenant colonel and regimental commander under the bald principal, in terms of the number of troops under his command, he can at least be called Division Commander Hu.

Because the statistical report in his hand clearly showed:

The battalion currently consists of one reinforced infantry battalion, five companies directly under the battalion headquarters (including guard, engineer, and supply units), and eight supplementary companies, totaling 1968 personnel.

Among the reinforced infantry battalion, the more than one hundred veterans from the Central Army made Hu Biao envious.

The Second Battalion currently has one full-strength infantry battalion, 12 companies directly under the battalion headquarters, including a rare artillery company, with a total of 2038 personnel.

Unfortunately, this artillery company only had one 75mm Italian gun and a mere four shells.

There were originally 5 rounds, but during one of Lao Yu's battles against the Japanese, he fired one at a key machine gun position.

The Third Battalion currently has one full-strength infantry battalion, and its headquarters directly subordinate units consist of only six companies. However, it has ingeniously created seven affiliated guerrilla units.

The so-called guerrilla forces were actually the same as the county brigades and district squads of our Party, just with different names.

In any case, the total strength of the three battalions is 1977 men.

The Special Service Battalion currently consists of one full-strength infantry battalion, one attached cavalry battalion, three directly subordinate units, and six so-called security teams, totaling 2051 people.

Damn it! Hu Biao even rides a mule when he goes out normally, and these guys even have a cavalry battalion.

No wonder when I asked them for the detailed organization of the troops, these guys either stammered or changed the subject; none of them would give a clear answer.

So it turns out they were secretly preparing these amazing moves.

The four battalions mentioned above together have a total strength of over 8000 men, which is more than the strength of most Nationalist Army divisions.

After all, they have 8000 to 12000 people on official payroll, but in reality, due to various reasons, they are severely understaffed.

It's not uncommon for some divisions to have only three or four thousand people.

Moreover, in addition to the four main battalions that were divided into four groups, the regimental headquarters in Zhangjiayu is also constantly recruiting soldiers.

Especially after the great battle with Colonel Yamamoto Ichiki and others, he accelerated the pace of recruiting soldiers.

As a result, the regimental headquarters now houses a large number of subordinate guard companies, garrison companies, and other units, totaling 2107 people.

When all the above units are added together, the total strength of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment is 10141 men.

I remember when we were at the Dunwu Temple in Songhu, Hu Biao and his men joined the 20th Army of the Sichuan Army under Yang Sen. The entire force numbered only 12000.

Therefore, in terms of troop strength alone, Hu Biao can now command at least one division commander.

If one were a little shameless, they could all be called Commander Hu; other transmigrators could also be called Commander-in-Chief, Brigade Commander, and so on.

Overall, despite his complaints, Hu Biao was secretly quite pleased to have so many troops at his disposal...

******
After looking at the statistical report three times, Hu Biao finally put it down completely. He had calmed down and his emotions had become quite composed.

He coughed loudly a few times, which attracted the attention of others.

When he finally spoke, his expression had become extremely serious: "Alright, the meeting is starting! Everyone, quickly calm down."

First of all, everyone has worked hard during this period. It is indeed a very happy thing that our Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment has grown to tens of thousands of people.

With so many troops, I will have greater confidence in the upcoming battles against the Japanese. However, we must be soberly aware of our own shortcomings and the huge gap between us and the Japanese.

For example, in terms of actual combat effectiveness, the Japanese had an overwhelming advantage in terms of equipment and individual soldier quality.

The Japanese recruits nowadays have all undergone 10 months of training.

What about us? Many new recruits haven't even been in the army for a month, and they don't even have a proper rifle.

In addition, according to Annie and her team's latest intelligence, the Japanese have transferred a number of aircraft to the Taiyuan South Suburb Airport; the number of various fighter jets and bombers has now reached as many as 38.

At the same time, the Japanese also used trains to transport large quantities of fuel and bombs.

Without a doubt, the air support provided by the Japanese during this operation was substantial.

Our goal in this battle is not just to defeat the Japanese, but to win decisively and minimize casualties.

Therefore, a consensus must be reached: a tactic of direct confrontation with the Japanese is absolutely unacceptable.

Upon hearing Hu Biao's statement, the expressions of the group, who had initially thought they had successfully put on a show, immediately became serious.

Just as Hu Biao said, if it were a positional war, the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment should be able to hold off the Japanese Ninth Independent Mixed Brigade thanks to its advanced civil engineering capabilities.

After inflicting heavy casualties on them, they were forced to retreat.

But who knows how many casualties they would suffer after the war, so a direct confrontation is absolutely out of the question.

After thinking for a while, Van Gogh asked the key question: "Let's get straight to the point of today's meeting. What is the general plan and strategy for this operation?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Biao immediately walked to the wall on one side of the cave dwelling, where a map had already been hung.

Holding a stick, Hu Biao began to explain the fruits of his and Zhao Zheng's long-term research, which included multiple communications with Chief of Staff Annie via radio:

"To put it simply, we will first adopt a scorched-earth tactic."

He led the Japanese troops to wander around the mountain valleys of Pingding County and even some neighboring counties, forcing them to divide their forces and preventing them from concentrating all their strength.

Furthermore, during this process, we will also employ various methods to harass them.

Once we've exhausted and weakened them, we can find opportunities during the movement to use superior forces to eliminate one of their forces.

After the Japanese troops have been continuously annihilated and weakened to a certain extent, a general offensive will be launched to completely wipe out Fujioka Takekumura, this Japanese soldier.

In fact, the above tactics are quite simple, but simplicity does not mean poor effectiveness, because our Party used these tactics to achieve many victories in the subsequent anti-"mopping-up" battles.

Therefore, no one raised any objection to the above tactics.

However, tonight's meeting still lasted almost the entire night.

There's no way around it! Implementing a simple tactic involves too many details and requires strong organizational skills to do it well.

Even just the scorched earth part requires a lot of meticulous planning to achieve good results.

The wells had to be blocked, the houses had to be demolished, and all the villagers had to be moved away and hidden, leaving the Japanese with not a single grain of food or a house to spend the night in.

If we don't do a good job of working with the villagers, explaining the reasons to them, and making them believe that the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment will definitely compensate them afterwards, whether they will be willing to move away is one aspect.

If you destroy what little wealth they already have, believe me or not, they'll fight you to the death.

Although Pingding County has many caves, which makes it convenient for villagers to hide inside, it's not enough to hide inside for just a few days; it takes at least half a month.

During this period, fires cannot be lit to avoid exposure. So how do we solve the problems of heating, drinking water, and eating?

If Hu Biao hadn't been confident in his reputation, the villagers wouldn't have believed his claims; the key issue was that with Zhao Zheng and other comrades from our Party busy, the sheer amount of work and difficulty involved in such a task would have driven people crazy.

Finally, after all the above arrangements were made, it was already broad daylight.

Stepping out of the courtyard, Hu Biao scooped up a handful of snow and rubbed it on his face, instantly perking up.

Seeing this, others followed suit, for a simple reason: with so much to do in such a rush, they had no time to sleep...

(End of this chapter)