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Chapter 775 The Eighth Route Army must be defeated, and the locust army must win!

Amakasu Shigetaro, the commander of the garrison in Mongolia, frowned even more when he heard this.

Since the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937.

The firepower of the Japanese army was to suppress the Chinese army in an all-round way. The weapons, equipment and logistical supplies of the two sides were not at the same level.

Even the national army on the frontal battlefield was no match for the Japanese army, let alone the Eighth Route Army in the ravine.

The Mongolian Army also often fought against the Eighth Route Army.

Although the Eighth Route Army has repeatedly succeeded in road and railway raids, it has never dared to confront the main force of the Mongolian Army.

Although the Eighth Route Army fighting against the Mongolian Army was large in number, they were poorly equipped and lacked ammunition.

However, the Eighth Route Army in Northwest Shanxi and Shanxi, with the same strength, had five times the firepower of the locust army.

Can you believe this?

Of course, the letter is definitely believed, but it is a little unbelievable.

After a pause, Shigetoku Kuroda continued: "A few months ago, the Eighth Route Army ambushed the 1st Division on the road, using more than 1000 artillery pieces and a tank regiment."

"The more than 1 main force of the 2st Division was surrounded by the Eighth Route Army for several hours, except for more than 5000 people who escaped, all the rest were broken."

"Moreover, the five times the firepower was only a few months ago, and now the firepower of the Eighth Route Army in Northwest Shanxi is probably even stronger."

Amakasu Shigetaro nodded, with a solemn tone: "Yesterday, the North China Front Army Command sent a telegram saying that the main force of the Eighth Route Army attacking Datong seems to have heavy artillery fire from an artillery division."

"Only one round of shelling destroyed more than 1000 locust soldiers in a brigade."

"This shows how strong the firepower of the Eighth Route Army is."

Although Ningji Okamura, the commander of the North China Front Army, ordered the Mongolian army to go to Datong as soon as possible to relieve the siege of the 1st Division.

But Amakasu Shigetaro is not a fool. Compared with the Japanese First Army, the troops stationed in Mongolia are not many.

He didn't have any capital in his hand, and he would feel very uncomfortable if he wiped out all the capital in his hand because of reinforcements to the First Army.

"The heavy artillery firepower of an artillery division?"

Shigetoku Kuroda suddenly opened his eyes wide and was short of breath.

Two months ago, the artillery firepower of the Eighth Route Army in Northwest Shanxi was not so powerful.

It has only been two months now, and the Eighth Route Army actually has the heavy artillery firepower of an artillery division.

A heavy artillery division, according to the establishment of the Japanese army, is at least 2 heavy artillery brigades, and 1 heavy artillery brigade governs 2 heavy artillery regiments.

1个重炮联队装备的火炮，至少是20门150毫米加农炮，10门240毫米重型榴弹炮。

Calculated in this way, a heavy artillery division has at least 1 cannons with a caliber of 120 mm or more.

And this is at least, according to the wealth of the Eighth Route Army and the firepower to kill a large group of locust troops with a round of shelling, the artillery of the Eighth Route Army may exceed 200 heavy artillery pieces.

Seeing Shigetoku Kuroda stunned, Lieutenant General Issaku Nishihara, commander of the 3rd Chariot Division who had been silent all this time, spoke.

"Your Excellency, Commander, I think it is unlikely that the Eighth Route Army will have a heavy artillery division."

"Oh?" Amakasu Shigetaro's expression changed, "Why did Nishihara-kun say that?"

Lieutenant General Nishihara Yice said in a deep voice: "If the Eighth Route Army really has a heavy artillery division, let alone the First Army stationed in Shanxi, even the North China Front Army will have to avoid the edge for the time being."

"The entire Imperial Japanese Army has a total of 6 heavy artillery brigades, and according to the establishment, there are only 3 artillery divisions."

"I guess that the Eighth Route Army attacking Datong must have 150mm heavy artillery, but the number will not be too many, at most one heavy artillery regiment."

Major General Kanji Changoka, head of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, said: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, then the 1st Division reported to the North China Front Army Command that the Eighth Route Army has a heavy artillery division. How do you explain this?"

"That's easy to explain." Said Nishihara with no expression on his face, "It is likely that the 1st Division was afraid of being wiped out by the Eighth Route Army and deliberately exaggerated the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery firepower so that it could ask the North China Front Army Command for tactical guidance. If the Eighth Route Army really has Heavy artillery, such a large heavy artillery position, will the aviation of the North China Front Army not be able to find it?"

Amakasu Shigetaro nodded: "What Nishihara-kun said seems to make sense."

After a pause, Amakasu Shigetaro asked, "Nishihara-kun, can your 3rd Tank Division destroy the heavy tanks of the Eighth Route Army?"

at the moment.

Amakasu Shigetaro's artillery unit includes 26 field artillery, howitzers and cannons from the 3th Mountain Artillery Regiment and the 36rd Tank Division.

and an artillery battalion of the 2nd Mixed Brigade.

In addition, the 1st Division also has a heavy artillery unit. In terms of artillery firepower, the main force of the Mongolian Army and the 1st Division combined are still a bit behind the Eighth Route Army.

But the real trump card in Amakasu Shigetaro's hand is the 3rd Chariot Division.

The 3rd Tank Division has the 5th Tank Brigade and the 6th Tank Brigade under its jurisdiction.

The 5th Tank Brigade has jurisdiction over the 8th Tank Wing and the 12th Tank Wing.

The 6th Tank Brigade has jurisdiction over the 13th Tank Wing and the 17th Tank Wing.

Among them, the 13th tank regiment was wiped out once by the new regiment, and the 17th tank regiment was also severely damaged once by the new regiment.

When the 3rd Tank Division was formed, the 13th Tank Wing and the 17th Tank Wing were also rebuilt.

In addition, the 3rd Chariot Division also has jurisdiction over the Mechanized Artillery Wing, Mechanized Infantry Wing, Rapid Fire Artillery Team, Search Team, Air Defense Team, Engineer Team, Maintenance Team, and Baggage Team.

The total force is 1.4.

Each tank wing is equipped with 14 light tanks and 57 medium tanks, about 300 tanks, most of which are medium tanks.

Also equipped with nearly 100 armored vehicles.

It seems that the fighting power is very strong, and the actual fighting power is also very strong.

Of course, it is limited to the Chinese battlefield.

The 3rd Chariot Division is mainly stationed in the Soviet-Mongolian border area to guard against Soviet troops in the Far East.

However, this time the First Army stationed in Shanxi was mortally threatened, so Okamura Ningji ordered that the 3rd Tank Division be transferred to reinforce the First Army.

At present, there are only three tank divisions in the entire Japanese army.

In November 1941, the Japanese Army Observer Group went to Germany for investigation, and the team included many Japanese military celebrities such as Yamashita Fufumi.

After witnessing the power of the German armored "Blitzkrieg", these Japanese officers were shocked.

Immediately after returning to China, it is recommended to use the tanks intensively to take advantage of their fast maneuverability and strong assault capabilities.

Coupled with the fact that the Eighth Route Army used what the Japanese thought were heavy tanks on the battlefield, the Japanese army formed the 1st Tank Division, the 2nd Tank Division, and the 3rd Tank Division overnight.

Issaku Nishihara spoke solemnly: "My 17th Tank Regiment fought against the tank unit of the Eighth Route Army's Xinyi Regiment. The main guns of our Type [-] medium tanks cannot destroy the armor of the Eighth Route Army's heavy tanks."

At the beginning of the Battle of Xinzhou, the heavy tanks of the Eighth Route Army directly hit the 17th Tank Regiment severely.

Had it not been for the 108th Artillery Regiment in the rear to fire in time, the 17th Tank Regiment would have been wiped out.

Amakasu Shigetaro frowned: "Can't even penetrate the turret?"

"Yes!" Nishihara said helplessly, "The armor of the Eighth Route Army tanks is very thick. Our tank's main guns can't even penetrate the turret armor of the Eighth Route Army tanks. According to the analysis of tank soldiers of the 17th Tank Regiment after the war, The armor thickness of the main battle tank can reach up to 100 mm, but the armor-piercing projectile of the main gun of the eight-way tank can destroy the tank of the locust army from any position."

Under normal circumstances, the sides of the turret are where the tank armor is relatively weak.

Tank engagement generally moves to the flanks, penetrates the turret of the tank from the side, and then the metal turbulence of the shell explosion causes damage to the enemy tank soldiers in the tank.

Amakasu Shigetaro's face darkened slightly.

Armor thickness 100mm?

The 47mm main gun of the Type 50 tank can only penetrate [-]mm thick steel armor with armor-piercing projectiles.

The Leopard tanks equipped by the Xinyi Regiment and the Eighth Route Army Headquarters are not only optimized in terms of power system, but also optimized in terms of armor, with strong defense capabilities.

Even on both sides of the upper turret, the armor thickness is 60 mm thick.

It can't be pierced, it can't be pierced at all.

"As far as I know." Nishihara said again, "The Eighth Route Army is also equipped with a large number of weapons called anti-tank rocket launchers, which can easily destroy the tanks of the locust army."

"but……"

Issaku Nishihara changed the subject:
"Our troops are equipped with Type 150 anti-tank thorn mines. Although not many of these thorn mines are equipped, they can penetrate [-] mm of armor and can definitely destroy the heavy tanks of the Eighth Route Army."

Amakasu Shigetaro's eyes lit up slightly.

The Japanese Army's Ordnance Department gave 100 thorn mines to the First Army, and then gave 3 thorn mines to the 100rd tank division, and then added 200 more thorn mines.

After all, the main defense of the 3rd Tank Division was the torrent of steel from the Soviet army.

The Battle of Nomenkan, the torrent of steel from the Soviet army, taught the Japanese army a lesson.

However, Amakasu Shigetaro did not pay too much attention to this weapon, after all, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a non-aggression treaty.

Nishihara Yishi paid some attention to it, after all, this is one of the few anti-tank weapons of the Japanese army.

Therefore, Nishihara Issei formed an anti-tank brigade with a strength of more than 600 people, and every two soldiers carried a thorn mine.

In addition to stabbing mines, soldiers of the anti-tank brigade also carry Molotov cocktails.

At the beginning of the Battle of Nomenkan, the Japanese army used Molotov cocktails to attack Soviet tanks and achieved certain results.

These soldiers are full of fanaticism and admiration for the locust, and their minds are full of the spirit of bushido. They can be loyal to the Empire of Japan and the locust anytime, anywhere.

Issaku Nishihara has even thought out tactics: "According to intelligence, the Eighth Route Army doesn't have many heavy tanks! My anti-tank brigade hides behind the tanks, approaches the Eighth Route Army's heavy tanks, and then destroys the Eighth Route Army's tanks with thorn mines."

Kuroda Shigetoku, head of the 26th Division, asked a question: "Nishihara-kun, the Eighth Route Army's main battle tank destroyed your tank a few hundred meters away. How did your anti-tank brigade get close to the Eighth Route Army's tank?"

"It's very simple." Issei Nishihara smiled slightly, "Using smoke bombs to obscure the Eighth Route Army's vision, the anti-tank brigade used stab mines and Molotov cocktails to get close to destroying the Eighth Route Army's tanks."

"As long as the tanks of the Eighth Route Army can be destroyed, our 3rd Tank Division will launch an armored cluster attack on the positions of the Eighth Route Army."

After a pause, Nishihara spoke confidently: "The Eighth Route Army will be defeated, and the Locust Army will surely win!"

(End of this chapter)