allonlinenovel Chapter 1070 River and Ship Vessels
Chapter 1070 River and Ship Vessels
According to the configuration of the security regiment, their artillery was indeed not very good, but the problem was that they had dedicated artillery. Ma Leizi had just brought two artillery regiments from Jiaodong, one of which was a heavy artillery regiment. So at this moment, the artillery of the two sides on both sides of the Yellow River was not commensurate. The Japanese artillery was not good enough, and their stored shells were even less sufficient. They were in dire need of help everywhere.
"Regarding the air force, according to our reconnaissance personnel, there are two airports under construction in the southern and southwestern parts of the provincial capital. They are already capable of taking off and landing aircraft, but the various supporting facilities have not yet been completed. According to our estimates, these two airports will be completed in about a month. Their construction speed is really too fast. At that time, at least 400 aircraft will be able to support their operations in eastern Shandong. We need to strengthen our forces to at least 600 aircraft."
Division Commander Itagaki produced his report, stating that the previous defeats could not be blamed on others; they needed to examine the disparity in strength between the two sides.
We did indeed capture the provincial capital of eastern Shandong, but the problem is that we were no match for them in either field battles outside the city or street battles inside.
Especially in urban warfare, the enemy's light machine guns and submachine guns were so numerous that it was terrifying. We could only fight with Type 38 rifles. Even if we occupied a good position, it was impossible to win the final victory.
When the enemy's submachine guns opened fire, the overwhelming barrage of bullets caused all the soldiers to lose their will to resist and turn back. However, this exposed them to the enemy snipers, and most of the soldiers perished in this way.
"Regarding the flight divisions, these are the only aircraft we can currently provide. Three new production lines have been built within the Empire, but this is still insufficient to compensate for the losses on the battlefield. Although the fighting at the Pujiang battlefield has ceased, the loss of aircraft is still more than fifteen."
General Toyotomi, as the commander-in-chief, was at a loss for words. Japan's weak industrial strength had already been exposed in the early stages of the war.
Although the annual aircraft production has increased by 30%, it is still a drop in the ocean compared to the losses on the battlefield today.
"Besides producing them ourselves, can't we just buy them from abroad?"
Division Commander Tanaka thought of another way. Thanks to the rise of the Industrial Revolution, Japan has made a lot of money in recent years. If they could buy airplanes, it would indeed be a good channel.
“After the outbreak of war between us and China, Western countries have imposed a military embargo. Compared with China, our advantage is that we can produce our own aircraft. If they sell us aircraft, they will also find ways to purchase weapons and equipment, which would be a loss for us.”
Although the 72nd Army has all kinds of weapons, you can't go to the manufacturers about it unless you find evidence of weapons transactions.
However, if the arms embargo were to be broken, China's various warlords would have their own purchasing channels, and Japan would not have purchased many weapons and equipment. In the end, they would be the ones who would suffer if the arms embargo were broken.
"Commander, something terrible has happened! A large number of river vessels have appeared on the Yellow River..."
Midway through the meeting, a colonel-level staff officer strode in, and everyone present wanted nothing more than to slap him. Didn't he know there were rules for meetings?
But after he said those words, none of the people present wanted to slap him twice more.
When the Japanese army retreated, they destroyed most of the bridges across the Yellow River, in order to prevent the enemy from launching a counterattack north of the river.
But now that they have a large number of river vessels, things are completely different.
Nowadays, river vessels are all armed, allowing them to sail on the Yellow River to attack the Japanese army on the north bank, or to find a landing point undetected and tear through your defenses.
"Immediately ascertain the number of their river vessels, and at the same time order our river fleet to seek an opportunity to engage them in a decisive battle. Strengthen the defense along the river line and patrol 24 hours a day. We must not allow them to find any loopholes and enter the north bank of the Yellow River."
Commander Toyotomi was also a little nervous at this moment. He had thought that the advantage was in their hands, and that after these people took back the south bank of the Yellow River, they should be quiet for a while, at least giving everyone time to discuss things.
The military conference failed to come up with any solutions, and now that this has happened, they have to rush to the Yellow River to see the specific situation.
Of course, these people may seem to be in a hurry now, but they won't risk their lives. At most, they'll send their confidential secretary to the Yellow River to take pictures of the situation there.
These guys aren't stupid. If we went to the Yellow River now, and happened to be caught in an enemy artillery barrage, wouldn't we be doomed? One shell came and took out a Japanese lieutenant general. That artilleryman was having a great time.
At this moment, there are no more firing positions on the south bank of the Yellow River that can threaten them. It was not feasible to build river vessels here in the first place, as the Japanese heavy machine guns could fire over. Now, those heavy machine guns have all been turned into spare parts.
Moreover, as soon as a large number of Japanese troops appear on the north bank of the Yellow River, our artillery shells will immediately be fired upon them, giving them no chance to rebuild their defenses.
Therefore, a large number of workers and engineers built these river vessels weighing tens of tons on the south bank of the Yellow River.
This thing had already appeared in Li Shaoyi's system, but he had never had the chance to use it. Now that the Yellow River's flow was relatively good, especially since this was already the lower reaches, it was possible to use these river vessels.
Each riverboat is about 20 meters long and less than 4 meters wide. It has a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun at the front and two 7.9 mm machine guns at the rear.
It can carry thirty people and their various equipment. This is just one model. There is another model with two 100mm mortars and temporary machine gun positions on both sides, where machine guns can be transported up and temporarily installed.
This firepower is more than enough for the riverbank, since the Japanese don't have anything particularly powerful.
When the Japanese operations staff arrived at the riverbank, they were also stunned by what they saw. There were already about ten ships that had been assembled, and more and more parts were being dragged over from the bank.
How much did the 72nd Army actually buy?
They were convinced that China couldn't manufacture this thing.
But which country manufactured them for them? And how did they manage to transport them here without our knowledge?