bookbashuk #286 - The Age of Great Expansion
#286 - The Age of Great Expansion
Taiyuan.
"Old Li, congratulations on your promotion! Now you are also a regional commander, a true master of thousands of troops!" Ren Zhong looked at Li Yunlong and his two companions who had come to visit, unable to suppress a smile. It had been quite a while since he had seen these three amidst the chaos of war.
If it weren't for these three coming to Taiyuan to attend the reorganization meeting today, he probably wouldn't have seen them.
Not only Li Yunlong, but Ding Wei and Kong Jie had also been promoted at the same time, all three becoming commanders of their respective columns.
After the war, the Eighth Route Army in North China underwent a full-scale reorganization. Taihang, Taiyue, Jin-Cha-Ji, and Qilu were now connected, and the entire force began a new integration.
Of course, at the grassroots level, the previous system was still in use. The lower-level establishments had undergone comprehensive testing and demonstrated strong combat effectiveness in the war, so there was basically not much need for adjustment.
However, in terms of Type A regiments and mechanized infantry brigades, the military sub-districts and military regions were too localized, making large-scale mobile field operations very difficult.
The higher-ups were naturally aware of this, but due to political reasons, they had always had some concerns. It was naturally inappropriate to act on their own and adopt a formal organization without official status.
After consulting with Chief of Staff Ye, Ren Zhong proposed adding a temporary column organization, which turned out to be just right!
This status not only avoided sensitive organizational issues but also solved the command problem of the increasingly large upper-level organization of the troops.
There were now too many regimental-level units, with hundreds of Type A, Type B, and Type C regiments of various sizes!
Due to different historical development situations, there were also too many military regions and military sub-districts with unbalanced strength.
When Ren Zhong discussed the reorganization of the army's organization with Chief of Staff Ye, he brought up the concept of a column from his own world's historical timeline.
This organizational concept was not a new invention in this world; it was just a common way of referring to a temporary organization. The GMD had used it before, and the Eighth Route Army had also used it. Now, picking it up again was perfect for use in the current stage of taking North China. It didn't seem like a sudden creation of a new term, making it clear to everyone at a glance, and at the same time, it avoided giving the enemy an excuse by not relying on formal organizations.
After all, according to the GMD's organizational roster, the Eighth Route Army was just a mere army with three divisions and six brigades in its formal organization.
However, after developing all the way to the present, it had long exceeded that by an unknown amount, resulting in temporary organizations like the Independent Regiment and the New First Regiment flying all over the place.
After a new reorganization plan, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Military Region (including Jiuyuan and Yikezhao League), Jin Sui Military Region, Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, Taihang Military Region, Taiyue Military Region, Qilu Military Region, plus the Central China Military Region, became the seven major first-level military regions.
Under the military regions, field armies were assigned column designations, divided into heavy-equipment columns and mountain columns according to different operational intentions.
A heavy-equipment column consisted of 2 mechanized infantry brigades, 2 mountain brigades (each mountain brigade comprising 2 Type A regiments and 2 Type B regiments), a heavy artillery regiment (32 105mm howitzers, 16 88mm dual-purpose anti-aircraft guns), a 107mm rocket artillery regiment (36 107mm rocket launchers, including a vehicle-mounted 107mm artillery battalion), a motor transport regiment, an engineer (mechanical repair) battalion, and a tank battalion (60 T-34 tanks, 5 battlefield recovery vehicles), a 20mm anti-aircraft artillery battalion. The entire column had over 50,000 personnel, ensuring that the heavy-equipment column had at least the powerful tank assault capability and units of 2 tank battalions, making it the preferred choice for attacking fortified positions.
A mountain column consisted of 1 mechanized infantry brigade, 3 mountain brigades, or 4 mountain brigades, a 75mm mountain gun regiment (mule-drawn), two 107mm rocket artillery battalions (mule-drawn), a mule-drawn transport battalion, an engineer battalion, and a 20mm anti-aircraft artillery battalion. The entire column had approximately 50,000 personnel, using mules and horses instead of vehicles for mobility, possessing strong mountain warfare capabilities.
In frontal field battles, due to the choice of portable cloud-explosive bombs and 107mm rocket artillery cloud-explosive bombs, they would not suffer losses against large-scale Japanese operations.
Therefore, whether it was a heavy-equipment column or a mountain column, they all had the ability to operate independently in one direction. Compared to the Japanese divisions, their strength was much greater, fully capable of single-handedly taking down one or two divisions.
In terms of firepower, the heavy-equipment column had at least the combat power of a Japanese army.
According to this organization, the commander-in-chief's forces were organized into 3 heavy-equipment columns and 3 mountain columns.
Li Yunlong, who started with the Independent Regiment, commanded the First Column, snatching the work of two original main force regiments.
Ding Wei of the New First Regiment was reorganized into the Second Column, Cheng Xiazi of the 772nd Regiment was reorganized into the Third Column, Xu Tuanzhang of the 771st Regiment was reorganized into the Fourth Column, and Kong Jie of the New Second Regiment managed to get into the Fifth Column.
"Don't talk about these nonsense, Old Ren, today you have to provide enough wine for us old Li, don't be stingy and not let us drink to our heart's content!" Li Yunlong had always been so straightforward and unceremonious with Ren Zhong.
"What, now that you've been promoted, you don't take the commander-in-chief's words seriously anymore?" Ren Zhong asked with a smile.
"Commander-in-chief, what's wrong with the commander-in-chief? Can't people even eat? La la la," Li Yunlong shouted, then stared blankly at the brigade commander walking out of the house.
"Commander, you're here too? I didn't expect you to think the same as Little Li."
As expected of Old Li, whose face changes like a dog, as soon as he saw the brigade commander appear, he could forcefully change the topic.
The brigade commander was naturally one of the main figures in this reorganization. The current situation was chaotic, and although it was quite favorable for the Eighth Route Army, it was not a guaranteed victory.
Due to their outstanding strength, their relationship with the GMD had become very delicate.
The brigade commander had his own views on how to respond, but the staff department often issued unexpected instructions, making the brigade commander, who knew everything, clear that it was right to listen to Ren Zhong's thoughts on the future direction first.
Especially in terms of the overall situation, Ren Zhong, although he looked young, had a behind-the-scenes think tank that should not be underestimated, and his grasp of the situation was amazing.
So after the meeting, the brigade commander went directly to visit, arriving a step earlier than Li Yunlong and the others.
Fortunately, the brigade commander was in a cheerful mood today. Not only had he won a victory, but he was also the absolute main force in this reorganization. Don't look at the fact that he didn't have the most columns, but his strength was the strongest!
Li Yunlong and Ding Wei had truly made a name for themselves, and the 771st Regiment and 772nd Regiment were not bad either. The brigade commander even had to work hard so that Kong Jie could also get into the heavy-equipment column. After all, he also had a mechanized infantry brigade under his command!
But the brigade commander couldn't do that. He had to balance things out. He had obtained 3 heavy-equipment column designations, but each of the 3 mountain columns had a mechanized infantry brigade, which meant he had 7 mechanized infantry brigade designations, which was already unique.
For example, the border region only had 1 heavy-equipment column, 2 mountain columns, and 4 mechanized infantry brigades. Jin Sui had 1 heavy-equipment column, 3 mountain columns, and 4 mechanized infantry brigades. Taihang had 2 heavy-equipment columns, 5 mountain columns, and 6 mechanized infantry brigades. Jin-Cha-Ji had 1 heavy-equipment column, 4 mountain columns, and 4 mechanized infantry brigades. The Qilu base area had 1 heavy-equipment column, 6 mountain columns, and 4 mechanized infantry brigades. Central China had 5 mountain columns and 1 mechanized infantry brigade.
There was no way around it. Mechanized infantry brigades burned too much fuel. Transportation was inconvenient in Central China. Even if a transportation corridor was opened through the Qilu base area, it was too difficult and costly to transport supplies.
They had to reduce the number of mobile units and reduce fuel consumption. Even the mechanized infantry brigade in Central China directly canceled its tank organization, temporarily removing this oil guzzler.
Central China was not engaging in large-scale attacks but was wholeheartedly managing Lianghuai and northern Jiangsu, striving to establish a direct connection with the Qilu base area.
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In this way, with the exploitation of oil fields near Zizhou and the construction of the petrochemical industry, Central China would have a reliable nearby supply of fuel.
Taking advantage of the fact that the brigade commander and Ding Wei were here, Ren Zhong explained his industrial layout and the general ideas for the Northeast strategy.
Because at the high-level commander's meeting after the reorganization, it was announced that the troops attacking the Northeast would formally establish a headquarters, and the brigade commander was also one of the main members.
The headquarters commander, division commander, and brigade commander, plus the Jin-Cha-Ji commander, formed a five-person command committee.
The First Column to the Fourth Column of Taiyuan were drawn as the first attack group, the First Column to the Sixth Column of Taihang were drawn as the second attack group, the First Column to the Third Column of Qilu were drawn as the third attack group, and the First Column to the Fourth Column of Jin-Cha-Ji were drawn as the fourth attack group.
Together with the nearly 80,000 troops of the Seventh Route Army, a total of more than 900,000 troops were mobilized, claiming to be a million-strong army, preparing to attack the Kwantung Army.
This time, the Rogue Eagle was also quite generous, readily agreeing to provide maritime supplies, sending 300 M3 tanks, 500 105mm howitzers, and 75mm mountain guns to Island City, along with over 200,000 rounds of various shells and 5,000 tons of fuel.
After all, being able to directly crush the Kwantung Army in the Northeast would be equivalent to saving the lives of over 100,000 young people for the Rogue Eagle.
In addition, they also agreed to provide air support from over 300 air force planes after the start of the war. To this end, they did not hesitate to slow down the fighting in Luzon, transferring 150 fighters north, plus the more than 160 fighters originally operating in the mainland, and the Eighth Route Army's 100 fighters, the Allied air strength in North China directly exceeded 400 aircraft, almost all of which were advanced P51 Mustang fighter models.
In this way, the Japanese air threat was infinitely reduced to zero! The Mustang fighter itself was the top fighter in this era. Concentrating so many advanced fighters formed an overwhelming advantage over the Kwantung Army.
Of course, for the mechanized infantry brigades in various military regions, few tank battalions were fully staffed. In fact, most did not reach the full allocation of 60 vehicles, but only had one tank company or two tank companies. Currently, only the 5 mechanized infantry brigades of the Taiyue Military Region had completed the full staffing of tank battalions.
With the addition of the Rogue Eagle's 300 M3 light tanks, at least the heavy-equipment columns lacking tanks were equipped with two tank battalions, totaling over 1,000 tanks!
This was unprecedentedly powerful.
Now, all these forces were being drawn out, preparing to launch the final decisive battle against the Japanese Kwantung Army!
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