Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"The main force also suffered heavy casualties this time, and we need to replenish them as soon as possible. Teacher Li, you will be responsible for this matter."

"it is good."

Chapter 093 Summary

"This time we achieved our goal, preventing the Japanese from obtaining food and severely striking a blow to their arrogance. However, we also suffered heavy casualties. Now let's discuss what we should do next and how we should fight to reduce our casualties."

Post-war summary.

It is a very fine tradition of the Eighth Route Army.

Good experiences need to be promoted, and mistakes need to be corrected. The casualties in this battle were so heavy, and the troops must make a thorough review.

After the battle, more than half of the independent detachment's troops lost their combat effectiveness.

Since its establishment, the independent detachment has never fought such a brutal battle.

"Commander, Political Commissar, I'll go first."

Yu Ping, captain of the county brigade, stood up.

The County Brigade and the First Recruit Battalion suffered the heaviest casualties in this battle. Their casualties each exceeded 160 men, representing nearly 40% casualties. If it weren't for the Special Forces Battalion's arrival, the County Brigade and the First Recruit Battalion would have been on the verge of collapse.

Yu Ping was angry.

I think this battle was fought in the wrong way.

So, without concealing his thoughts, he directly launched into a rant: "I believe that with the combat effectiveness of our troops, we should not fight the regular Japanese troops on such a flat ground, let alone a head-on battle. Facing the Japanese infantry artillery and grenade launchers, we are at an absolute disadvantage. Our grenade launcher, heavy machine gun, and light machine gun positions have all been targeted and destroyed by the Japanese infantry artillery and grenade launchers. As long as our grenade launcher and heavy machine gun positions are exposed, the Japanese will be able to blow them up quickly. And we have no way to deal with their infantry artillery, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and light machine guns. In addition, the Japanese army's marksmanship is better than ours, and they can easily suppress our firepower in combat. In face-to-face exchanges, our casualties far exceed those of the Japanese. In such a face-to-face battle with the Japanese, we are at an absolute disadvantage, and the casualties are very high. The independent detachment must avoid such a situation in future operations. We have limited resources and cannot afford such casualties.

Yu Ping was really angry.

Yu Ping had been training the county brigade for the past two months. The brigade had just begun to make some progress, but after one battle, it completely lost its fighting power. Seeing the soldiers he had trained fall on the battlefield one after another, Yu Ping's heart ached.

It is wrong to fight a war like this.

The Eighth Route Army has no money to squander.

"I think so too."

Wang Quan, deputy commander of the First Recruit Battalion, echoed Yu Ping, saying, "Since the Red Army era, our Eighth Route Army has been engaged in mobile and guerrilla warfare, not this kind of hard-fought positional warfare. Many of our commanders are unfamiliar with this kind of positional warfare. Furthermore, our independent detachment has more recruits than veterans, and our training is inadequate. Straight into this kind of positional warfare, many of our soldiers were overwhelmed. They were quickly hit by the Japanese, and many died without even firing a shot. I admit that we commanders share some of the blame, and our command was flawed. However, this type of battlefield is inherently disadvantageous to us, and we shouldn't be fighting this kind of battle."

This battle left all the cadres of the independent detachment with lingering fears.

Face to face with the Japanese army, the Japanese combat effectiveness is too strong. If the Japanese army has one more squadron of devils, the outcome of this battle is unpredictable. The independent detachment could lose its entire base.

"It is right to recognize the strength of the Japanese army and avoid fighting this kind of battle with them in the future. Because we do not have such resources. If this kind of battle is fought twice, our independent detachment will be completely wiped out. Therefore, we should reflect and summarize, and avoid fighting this kind of war of attrition in the future.

"Our independent detachment has been winning battles for a while now, and everyone in the unit has been overly optimistic, believing that the Japanese army is no match for us. This battle has completely awakened us, making us realize that the Japanese army is very powerful. We must be cautious and prudent in future battles. However, your fear of fighting is a bad sign. The Japanese army is powerful, but not invincible."

Wei Hongjun both affirmed their opinions and criticized their emotions.

Wang Qiuyun continued, "The political commissar is right. We should avoid this kind of battle. But if it happens, we can't retreat. Like this time when the Japanese wanted to seize food, are we going to just sit there and watch them replenish their supplies? This battle is not in our favor, but we must fight it. Strategically, we should avoid this kind of battle, but when it's unavoidable, we have to fight it anyway. If we don't have the determination to fight this tough battle, then our troops will lose their courage. What we are discussing now is what problems we have in this battle and how to improve our tactics."

Yu Ping and Wang Quan sat down helplessly.

They are the two most distressed.

One of them was a county brigade, and the other was a battalion of new recruits. They had both planned to receive thorough training and then receive a regular designation, but in the first battle, both units were crippled.

"Let me talk about the district team's problems."

Zhang Dahu spoke.

"Our troops have been fighting in the mountains. There's plenty of good cover there, allowing us to harass and launch surprise attacks at any time. And after that, we can retreat calmly. But in areas like Areas 1 and 2, with their wide views and lack of cover, our surprise attacks become easy prey for the Japanese. If we're too far away, the District Squad can't hit the Japanese with their guns. If we get too close, we won't have time to retreat. The Japanese are incredibly fast and can easily catch up. In open areas, we're no match for their marksmanship. So, we need to rethink how to harass the enemy in these open areas. We can't blindly organize surprise attacks, as they won't harm the enemy and will only result in heavy casualties. By the way, the District Squad's most successful method of harassing the Japanese this time was landmines. Landmine warfare is incredibly effective, not only inflicting heavy casualties but also slowing down their advance. I suggest we develop more tactics for using landmines."

"This is indeed a problem. In the past, whether we were conducting ambushes or guerrilla warfare, it was always in mountainous areas. We are familiar with guerrilla warfare in the mountains, but how to conduct guerrilla warfare in an area with wide views is a new topic. Although Sheng County is mountainous and densely forested, it also has a lot of open areas. How to fight in open areas is something we should carefully consider."

Wang Qiuyun nodded.

Zhang Dahu's question hits the nail on the head.

How to fight guerrilla warfare in open areas is a new problem.

No one has experience, so we can only keep learning.

Wei Hongjun also spoke up, "The mine warfare the Chief of Staff mentioned is indeed worthy of our careful consideration. It's not just about burying mines on the road. We can also bury mines in some villages in the future. We can even secretly bury mines around where Japanese troops are stationed. But we still need to plan carefully how to use mines. Let me give you an example. We don't necessarily have to use special mines. We can also use our grenades. Hang the grenades on the door, and as long as the door is opened, the grenade will explode. When the Japanese army raided, they entered the village to steal food. They had to search the houses, so we hung grenades everywhere in the village and exploded when the door was opened. The district squad's combat effectiveness is insufficient, and this deficiency can be compensated by mine warfare. Chief of Staff, please find a few people to study carefully how we should use mines to attack the enemy.

"Yes."

Zhang Dahu nodded.

Li Wanfu, the commander of the first battalion, said, "Commander, political commissar, I think one of your words makes sense. We should try our best to avoid this kind of battle, but sometimes we have to fight it. If we have to fight, then what should we do? This time we faced a Japanese squadron face to face. We have nearly three times as many people as they do, and our weapons and equipment are not bad, but we are at an absolute disadvantage. After returning, I thought about it carefully. This problem cannot be solved in a short time. The Japanese army's Zheng bomb tube is very good. If we are a little slower, the grenade launcher, heavy machine gun, and light machine gun positions will be destroyed. I think the special forces battalion, the county battalion, and the first battalion of recruits have all felt this deeply. This is just a squadron, and we are already at such a disadvantage in face-to-face positional warfare. What if it is a battalion? If we ambush a Japanese battalion in the future, if they attack our positions like this, can we guarantee that we will not be overwhelmed by them?"

"Yes. When we ambushed the Japanese before, we used the terrain and sudden ambushes to greatly reduce the power of the Japanese grenade launchers. But in this face-to-face positional battle, their grenade launchers posed too great a threat to our machine gun positions. We lost the machine gun positions in just a few hits. And their infantry artillery is much more powerful than grenade launchers. Not only does it have a high hit rate, it is also powerful. If we don't think of a way to deal with this situation in the future, we will suffer the same fate as this time." Wu Qinghe, the battalion commander of the special forces battalion, also supported Li Wanfu.

Kong De continued, "Commander, Political Commissar, we are definitely not complaining. In this battle, the Japanese used grenade launchers to perfection. As long as our machine gun positions were exposed, their grenade launchers could lock on us. And our grenade launchers, although trained, could not match the effectiveness of the Japanese. If we don't solve this problem, we will still suffer losses in the future if we encounter such a situation."

Both Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun frowned.

Even the Nationalist troops, whose weapons and equipment were far superior to those of the Independent Detachment, frequently suffered losses in positional warfare, let alone the Independent Detachment. Wang Qiuyun thought for a moment and said, "There's not much we can do about this. We can only increase training to make our grenade launchers more capable of holding their own against the Japanese."

"Then let me say a few words."

Wei Hongjun spoke.

Looking at everyone, he said, "This time, we were able to defeat the Japanese army, half of which was due to the front and back attacks. It required the troops to quickly move back from the flank, bypass the enemy and attack them from behind. Then, the front and back attacks caused heavy casualties to the Japanese army. So I was wondering, in this kind of non-mountain warfare, is our only choice to fight head-on? Can we find a way to bypass the enemy and catch them at their rear end?"

"Commissar, what can we do?"

"Tunnels. Let's work harder and mobilize everyone to dig tunnels in the rural areas of Districts 1 and 2. Dig from west to east, from south to north, and connect the important areas of Districts 1 and 2 with tunnels. These tunnels can accommodate many people. During the war, leave troops behind to fight against the main force of the Japanese army. Then send troops to use the tunnels to quietly bypass the enemy and directly catch the Japanese army. Dig the tunnels into the village, and when the Japanese army arrives, we will withdraw. Once the Japanese army enters the village, we can also quietly enter the village through the tunnels and give the Japanese army a central attack. What do you think?

"That sounds interesting."

Wang Qiuyun became interested.

This tunnel warfare is eye-opening.

If we can really dig a tunnel between Area 1 and Area 2, then there will be many tactics that can be used in the future.

Looking at Wei Hongjun, he said, "Political Commissar, your idea is very innovative. This kind of tunnel warfare can be used not only by our main force, but also by the district squad. If we have a good tunnel, we can harass the Japanese from all directions. As long as we don't let the Japanese rest, even if we don't cause many casualties to the Japanese, it will be a success. We can plan this. As long as everyone works hard and uses a few months to dig the tunnel, we will have another tactic to fight the Japanese in the future."

Chapter 094 Support

The battles of Wangling Village, Wei Village, and the ambush in Xuegou constituted this "anti-grain looting battle."

The independent detachment suffered its heaviest casualties since its founding, totaling nearly 900 men. Over 300 were killed, with over 100 seriously injured. Given the current shortage of medical care and medicine, no one knew how many of them would survive. Even if they did, how many would survive without becoming disabled?

Of course, the independent detachment also caused nearly 500 casualties to the Japanese and puppet troops in this battle, with 400 of them killed.

For such a big thing, the independent detachment must report it to the military region and the independent division as quickly as possible.

"The independent detachment really honored our independent division commander."

After receiving the telegram, Yang Quanwu was overjoyed.

Since the Eighth Route Army crossed the Yellow River, it had fought numerous battles, even ambushing a Japanese force of one or two thousand men. However, after the main force of the Eighth Route Army was divided, these large-scale ambushes gradually became less common.

Because after the troops were divided, it was no longer the case that the main force of seven or eight thousand would act and fight together.

The troops were divided into groups to develop bases. Each base initially consisted of only a few companies, a few hundred people, and thousands of main forces.

Their mission was to establish new bases, so the troops in each base were busy expanding and training. Because the troops were expanding so quickly and had too many new recruits, everyone tacitly agreed to reduce the scale of their ambushes. They usually ambushed a single Japanese squadron or squadron. This was how they trained the troops.

But the independent detachment killed nearly four hundred Japanese and puppet troops in one fell swoop, which was truly a great victory.

Chanan has an independent detachment that can hold the fort. No wonder even the Chairman and the headquarters praised them.

The First Division currently has the First, Second, and Third Regiments, the third of which was recently formed. The original Third Regiment has now been relocated to the Pingxi base, becoming the main force of the Pingxi Detachment. In addition to these three main regiments, the First Division also has numerous local units. The independent detachment, fighting independently, has become one of the most formidable forces in the First Division.

Although it is not as powerful as the main regiment, it performed very well in Sheng County.

Luo Renfa said: "As long as a regiment doesn't go all out to encircle and suppress the independent detachment, the independent detachment will be able to survive.

In our independent division, the first regiment and the independent detachment are the strongest.

"Ok.

Yang Quanwu nodded.

Even the 1st and 2nd Regiments, the two main regiments of the 1st Division, did not achieve such results as the independent detachment.

Yang Quanwu suddenly thought of something and said with a smile, "They captured two Type 92 infantry guns. This is a first for our First Division. I, the commander of the First Division, don't even have a Type 92 infantry gun. But they don't know how to operate the guns, so they asked us to send them an artillery expert. Tell me, who in our First Division can operate that gun?

What a shame about that gun.

Luo Renfa also had a headache.

Capturing two Type 92 infantry guns was a great feat. The problem was that no one in the entire independent detachment knew how to operate them. They could fire them without any problem, but no one in the independent detachment knew how to use them accurately and hit their targets.

Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun hoped that the division headquarters could help and send an artillery commander over.

But Yang Quan and Yang Wu also had a headache.

Not to mention the independent detachment, even if all the troops in their division were combined, no one could currently handle this. But if these two guns were not used, it would be a waste. Not to mention that the independent detachment had ambushed the Japanese transport convoy and captured so many artillery shells.

“It’s not impossible.

Yang Quanwu thought for a while and suddenly laughed.

He said, "The Yi County Guerrilla Detachment we just reorganized this time has a commander named Song Zhiyuan, who is a former artilleryman of the Northeast Army. I was planning to send him to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military and Political Cadre School for intensive training, and I wanted to use him after he returned. This Song Zhiyuan not only understands artillery, but also leads a very strong guerrilla detachment. He is also very enthusiastic about our Eighth Route Army and took the initiative to bring his troops to join us. Since the independent detachment has two infantry guns, I will send him over."

"If we can send him over, the independent detachment's strength will increase significantly. Two infantry guns are simply no match for ordinary bunkers."

“So I can only reluctantly let go.

Luo Renfa thought for a moment and said, "Since the independent detachment was established, it has been developing on its own. Aside from sending some local cadres there initially, we haven't provided any support to them. Furthermore, that group of local troops were trained by the Pingxi Prefectural Committee. The military district supported a senior officer like Han Weiguo to serve as the political director, but our division headquarters showed no support at all. I find it unacceptable."

"That's true. The independent detachment is part of our independent division.

Yang Quanwu is very proud.

After all, the independent division's predecessor was the troops of the Autumn Harvest Uprising and the troops that came down from Jinggang Mountain. In terms of bloodline, it is very orthodox.

The commander and political commissar of the independent detachment were both veterans of the independent division. Yang Quanwu himself had a strong sense of territory.

Later criticism of Yang Quanwu for "factionalism" was not without basis. Many of the generals Yang Quanwu favored were his fellow townspeople from western Fujian or were his longtime subordinates. Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were not only his fellow townspeople from western Fujian, but also his longtime subordinates.

Now the military region attaches importance to this unit, and as an old leader, he cannot but support it.

"Haven't they been saying they're short of military cadres? I'll send them two people at once."

"Commander, who are you going to send?

How is Chen Zuning?

"He's a skilled trainer, a veteran of the Long March. The anti-Japanese volunteer corps he trained is rapidly improving its combat effectiveness.

"Yes. This time, I was planning to reorganize the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Corps he led into a main battalion and let him be the battalion commander. But this time, I'm also going to be generous and support their independent detachment."