Many years later!

When Zhao Shoushan, who was already successful and famous, was invited to give a speech at the graduation ceremony of a certain Army University in China.

The high-spirited and heroic young people in the audience who were about to enter the military camp mustered up the courage to ask this general who participated in the Great Patriotic War: "Chief, what are the most memorable battles in your life?"

Zhao Shoushan pondered for a moment and replied solemnly: "Just saying that the memory is the most profound is not accurate enough. I, Zhao, have been in the army for nearly thirty years. The most heartbreaking battle is the Niangziguan Fululing. In that battle, our Northwest Army's No. 1

The 17th Division suffered more than 8,000 battle losses and lost all its essence. It did not recover until it participated in the Battle of Southeast Shanxi half a year later!

But if we talk about the wise things that Mr. Zhao has done in his life, the Battle of Southeast Shanxi where I led 8,000 troops in the division in 1938 definitely ranks among the top two!"

This made the young soldiers in the audience very curious. Zhao Shoushan was originally from the Northwest Army. He joined the 80th Army after the victory of the Great Patriotic War. This must be the first of his wise actions, but it seems that in this person's opinion, participating in the Shanxi Army

Why is it that the Battle of the Southeast can go hand in hand with such an important decision?

"Chief, in which battle did you make outstanding contributions?" Someone couldn't help but asked curiously.

"Haha! No, it was during that battle that I was persuaded by a young soldier who was about the same age as you. I made a decision that I couldn't even believe, and implemented that seemingly impossible tactical plan.

However, facts have proven that the young man was right. That’s why I said in my speech just now that you young people are the future of our China and the future of our Chinese army." Zhao Shoushan replied with a smile.

After hearing what Zhao Shoushan said, the young soldiers in the audience were dumbfounded. If they were not strictly disciplined, they would have become a mess.

You must know that the man in front of them was already a lieutenant general and division commander at that time. A young man about the same age as them, even in the war years, was only a platoon leader or company commander at most! The lieutenant general was persuaded by a lieutenant.

, and execute his tactical plan, is this possible?

"However, what convinced me was not really his unorthodox tactics and his promise to help our division's equipment. Here, I will throw a question he once asked me to everyone and see if everyone can give the correct answer.

"Zhao Shoushan did not say the young soldier's name, but continued with a smile.

"Can any of you tell me what is the basis for China to win this war?"

Many young people at the scene raised their hands.

“The military’s national defense is strong!”

"wrong!"

"Industrial level improvement!"

"wrong!"

"educate!"

"wrong!"

"economy!"

"wrong!"

Facing a series of enthusiastic answers, Zhao Shoushan shook his head repeatedly, but the smile on his face did not diminish.

These young people are the same age as that young man, but their experience is not comparable to that young man. At their age, that young man is already the leader of a group and has annihilated nearly ten thousand Japanese pirates. No, since that day

After the war, this number was rewritten.

Who at this age can have his knowledge and structure? At least in Zhao Shoushan's military career, he has never seen it.

"The vast land area is the basis for us to win this long Patriotic War." Zhao Shoushan stood upright and replied with a serious face.

The scene was completely silent.

"In our neighboring country, the landed American soldiers advanced 200 kilometers in just three days. The mechanized marching speed was astonishingly fast, but this is not important. What is important is that such a marching speed only takes one or two more days.

Within days, we can cross their country and reach the border of our country.

The so-called strategic depth is a textbook term for this country with a land area of ​​only 120,000 square kilometers.

In our Lion City on the edge of the South China Sea, the capital is the country and the country is the capital. It only took three days for the Japanese army to capture it.

As for my country, we have a land of 9.6 million square kilometers. The Japanese army used more than 2 million troops and 80% of the national strength. It took eight years and still only occupied 50% to 60% of the land, including the southwest and northwest. In our hands, this also creates the possibility for our country to accumulate strength and continue counterattack to stop supply.

So, classmates and comrades-in-arms, are you proud of owning such a vast land? Can you defend it to the death like your ancestors? Like them, when given an order, will you stand up and die?" said the silver-haired man.

The general stood on the stage, his eyes sharp and his voice like a bell.

"Chief, we are willing!"

"Chief, this is the duty of Chinese soldiers!"

"Chief, please believe in the promises of your comrades!"

The young soldiers in the audience who had not yet been awarded the title all stood up and saluted the old general on the stage.

There were no slogans like mountains roaring and tsunami rising, but Zhao Shoushan got the answer he wanted from the firm eyes of the young soldiers.

Rows of figures standing as tall as green pines made him feel like he was back twenty years ago.

His soldiers also did the same, solemnly saluting in front of him, and then rushed to the battlefield with guns on their backs without looking back.

I don’t know how many familiar faces I will never see again!

That was the day before the Battle of Southeast Shanxi was about to begin.

May 20, 1938!

As Lieutenant General Xiang Yue Qingshi, then commander of the First Army of the Japanese North China Front, arrived in Lucheng, the battle that would be named the Battle of Southeast Shanxi officially began.

Just as Tang Dao expected, the Japanese North China Front attacked the southeastern Shanxi region from roughly ten directions. But beyond Tang Dao's expectation, the Japanese army mobilized three divisions, the 108th, 109th and the 16th, with a total of about 70,000 troops.

, in addition, a second mixed brigade with more than 10,000 troops was mobilized from Pingbeicheng to participate in the battle.

In addition to the approximately 10,000 Japanese troops remaining in various counties, the total number of Japanese troops responsible for the offensive was as high as 70,000, a number that was almost as high as the Chinese military strength in the Taihang Mountains.

Some people may think that China is defensive and Japan is offensive. China has an absolute geographical advantage. What's the big deal about having similar military strength?

People who think so must not understand how big the equipment gap between China and Japan is.

In terms of light weapons equipment, the Chinese main force is equipped with Hanyang-made rifles. Although the range is slightly closer than the 38-type rifles used by the Japanese main force, the range of 300 meters and 400 meters is not the so-called era difference. To be honest,

The difference is that there is a slight difference in the training of the soldiers on both sides.

The Japanese side is currently mostly veterans with accurate marksmanship. After continuous wars on the Chinese side, many troops are like the 17th Division. The veterans have been consumed in large numbers and replaced by new recruits who have just been recruited into the army. Many of them have not experienced actual combat.

I only fired a dozen rounds of live ammunition.

But in general, there is a gap, but it is not to say that it is being beaten.

To really widen the gap in combat power between the Chinese and Japanese armies, heavy weapons are needed.

If an ordinary Chinese infantry division has seven or eight mortars or four mountain guns, it has good heavy firepower. However, a Japanese infantry brigade that can compete with an infantry division is often equipped with more than 20 artillery pieces.

, this does not include the artillery regiment directly under the division. If half of it is assigned to the brigade for combat, the number of artillery that the infantry brigade can possess will reach a terrifying nearly 40 pieces.

As for the artillery alone, the Chinese army could hide by digging trenches. After all, 40 artillery pieces could not achieve a carpet-covering attack, and at least two-thirds of them could survive the artillery fire.

But the Japanese army still has fighter planes to help, and there are no traces of Chinese fighter planes in the northern sky. They can drop bombs at low altitudes without restraint. If an aerial bomb of more than 200 pounds hits the position, it means that an infantry platoon or even

It was the infantry company that disappeared.

Dozens of strong men! His parents spent eighteen years raising him until he grew up. However, when a bomb dropped, he was completely destroyed.

This is not even the most painful thing. China can tolerate just sacrificing human lives against the Japanese bombs. If one-on-one is not enough, let’s go ten-on-one, but the Japanese still have tanks.

Japanese tanks are not as big as those in the West. The Type 89 main battle tank only weighs more than a dozen tons. It is a scumbag on the Western battlefield. But on the Chinese battlefield, facing the Chinese army that is extremely short of anti-tank guns, they

There are almost no natural enemies.

However, the 30mm thick armor is enough to withstand any bullets, but the 57mm short-barreled gun can destroy almost all field fortifications. Facing this steel behemoth, the only countermeasure the Chinese army can have is to use manual blasting.

But where Japanese tanks will easily give you a chance to get close? The two 7.7mm machine guns have a very wide range of fire, and there are accompanying Japanese infantry behind them. If you are not fighting in the city, if you want to blow up a tank with explosive packets, except

In addition to having the courage to die, you also need to have enough luck.

At this time, the Japanese army already had an almost three-dimensional attack method in the air and on the ground. For the Chinese army, it was a dimensionality reduction strike.

This is also the main reason why China gathered more than 300,000 troops and even more than 300 artillery pieces in the Battle of Xinkou, but still could not stop the 70,000 troops under the command of Itagaki Shiro.

Under normal circumstances, even in a defensive war, the military strength ratio between China and Japan must be approximately four to one or even five to one to ensure that the defeat will not be too ugly.

This is almost a consensus reached by senior generals from China and Japan after a half-year-long war.

Therefore, when he learned that the Japanese army had deployed 70,000 troops to besiege the southeastern Shanxi region, the old Shanxi man in the operational conference room of the Second War Zone Headquarters in Linfen City looked dejected and heartbroken.

Although Tang Dao reminded him, he still underestimated the determination of the Japanese North China Front Army Headquarters. In his original idea, it would be good if the Japanese army could invest 30,000 people. However, he deployed nearly 100,000 troops in the Taihang Mountains in southeastern Shanxi.

With a comparison of military strength, coupled with the danger of the Taihang Mountains, even if they could not win, it would still consume part of the Japanese army's strength. Then he could justifiably transfer the elite Jinsui Army under his command to the Taihang Mountains.

Unexpectedly, if the Japanese army did not move, it would move like thunder. It would frantically invest three divisions plus a mixed brigade. Its strength was almost the same as that of the Chinese troops in the southeastern Shanxi region.

If the southeast part of Shanxi is lost, Linfen City will lose an important barrier, and the destruction of the city is almost inevitable.

The key is that he did not dare to move the more than 200,000 troops he deployed on another line of defense. The Japanese 20th Division, 5th Division, 114th Division, and 10th Division moved one after another, from eastern Shanxi, northern Shanxi, and Shanxi.

Coming from west to southeast, there are up to 100,000 troops.

Although no attack was launched, it was like dark clouds pressing down on the city, making the Chinese generals feel as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

This time, the Japanese North China Front actually used most of its troops for the sake of a small southeastern Shanxi province.

"Order all the ministries of the theater headquarters and all government ministries to pack up and secretly evacuate Linfen in batches!" The old Shanxi man who had been sitting there until late at night finally spoke.

Although he knew that the secret evacuation of the theater headquarters might shake the morale of the military during the war, the Shanxi old man finally had to make this painful decision.
To be continued...