Chapter 280: The Sorrowful Fourth Army (Asking for Subscriptions, Monthly Tickets, and Various!! ）

Soldiers, treacherous ways.

This is the opening sentence of "The Art of War", although this is more than 2,000 years of military thought, but in the view of Umezu Mijiro still has a very important guiding significance. He is not only a European expert, but also an authentic Chinese expert. Umezu served twice in Europe, and in March 1934 he became interested in Chinese culture when he sent Yoshijiro Umezu to replace Kotaro Nakamura as commander of the Chinese garrison.

Holding the oldest version of "The Art of War" that had just been plundered from the house of a landlord in Shina, Umezu Mijiro couldn't put it down.

There was a knock on the door outside the office.

"Come in!" General Umezu Mijiro said lightly.

The door of the office opened, and it was Major General Iida Shijiro, chief of staff of the First Army, who came in, only to see Iida Shijiro walking in with a happy face, still holding a few pieces of telegraphic paper in his hand.

"Izumi-kun, what's wrong?" Umezu Mijiro said.

"Your Excellency Commander, there is news from Lieutenant General Xia Yuan, they have quietly seized Xiao Loufeng and other important places, and the people of China have reached thirty kilometers on the west bank of the Wenyu River, and they will be able to enter the attack range of Xia Yuanjun tomorrow at the latest." Iida said excitedly.

"Yo Si! Under the order, Yuan Jun divided a brigade of troops to enter Gujiao with great fanfare, and its main force continued to ambush on the mountain road on the east bank of the Wenyu River. Umezu Mijiro said.

"Nani? Your Excellency, Commander, in this way, the army will not know that reinforcements have arrived. Then they are bound to march more cautiously, which is very unfavorable to Xia Yuanjun's side! Major General Iida asked in surprise.

"Hahaha, you should read more "The Art of War", otherwise you won't understand this problem." Umezu Mijiro said with a smile

"The Art of War? Is the commander talking about the book of war written by the same art of war more than 2,000 years ago? "Although Major General Iida Shijiro has not read "The Art of War", he is a military book of Zhilu Dao.

"Well, it's this military book."

"Your Excellency, Commander, I humbly believe that this military book was written to guide the cold weapon war, and for modern warfare, it is outdated, otherwise the people of China who are familiar with this great work will not be beaten by the Imperial Army. It was also impossible for the imperial army to capture most of China in such a short period of time. Major General Iida said disapprovingly.

"Izumi-kun. You're wildly wrong. The wisdom of the ancient people of China is beyond our imagination, and although this book of war was written more than 2,000 years ago, many of his ideas can still guide modern warfare. For example, in the chapter on stratagem, the great art of war says, 'Soldier. Sophistry, too. Therefore, it is possible to show that it cannot be. Use it and show it not to use. Near shows far, far away shows near. Profit and temptation, chaos and take. Be prepared, be strong and avoid, be angry and scratch, be humble and arrogant, work hard, and leave it. Attack it unprepared, take it by surprise. The victory of this soldier cannot be passed on first. ’”

"Your Excellency, Commander, what does this mean, does it also mean war?" Major General Iida Shijiro said.

The meaning of this passage includes two aspects, the first aspect is the specific use of tactics, the great military strategist Sun Tzu said that the use of soldiers to fight a war is a kaleidoscopic and unexpected technique, which requires the use of various methods to deceive the enemy. Therefore, they are able to fight well, but they pretend to be weak and incompetent to the enemy; was ready to use troops, but pretended not to be ready for war; To attack a target at a close distance, but to give the enemy the illusion of attacking a distant place; to attack a target at a distance, but to disguise it as an attack at a close distance; The enemy is greedy, so he lures him with small profits; When the enemy is confused, he takes advantage of the opportunity to attack him; If the enemy is strong, it is necessary to be cautious; If the enemy is strong, temporarily avoid its edge; The enemy, who is prone to impulsive anger, seeks to tease him and make him lose his mind; To a cautious enemy, we must do everything possible to pamper him and make him lose his vigilance; The enemy tried to harass him and make him tired; The enemy of internal unity must try to divide him and divide him. When the enemy is unprepared, launch a sudden attack and act when the enemy is not expecting it. The second aspect is the idea of war, in which he tells people that at any given time, the secret of a general's victory can only be applied flexibly and improvised, and cannot be taught in advance. Then Admiral Umezu Mijiro continued: "Izumi-kun, you must have already understood the idea of war contained in this passage, and it is really admirable that the thoughts of the ancient people of China more than 2,000 years ago can guide the war 2,000 years later. It's a pity that the people of China can't grasp the tactical thinking of their ancestors, and it's really a great fool to let this superpower weaken to such a point in two thousand years. Umezu Mijiro said.

"Your Excellency, the ancient people of China are indeed powerful, but does this have anything to do with the war we are fighting now?" Major General Iida asked with a frown.

"Of course, the commander of the Chinese army on the Luliang side is called Sun Weiru, and this person is a general under the command of Yang Hucheng, a warlord in Shaanxi Province, who is brave and thoughtful. This time, Sun commanded 3 armies, but Xia Yuanjun only had one division and another brigade, and the strength was only half of the Zhina's troops, so the only way to completely annihilate Sun Weiru's troops was to force him to divide his troops. Under the order, Yuanjun dispatched a brigade to Gujiao, just to let the people of China know that we are prepared, and to let them be cautious. In accordance with the usual marching and formation of the officers of China, they would divide the troops into three routes, the front, the middle and the rear, each separated by a certain distance, in order to deal with a possible sneak attack at any time, so that the first division and one brigade of the lower Yuanjun plus the chariot and heavy artillery units could easily destroy one of them. And when one of the Zhina troops is attacked, the Zhina people will inevitably order the other two roads to reinforce in time, as long as Xia Yuanjun is fast enough, the Zhina people will eventually be broken by our army. Otherwise, the three armies of the Sun Department marched together, and even if Yuanjun could defeat it, it might not be able to annihilate it completely. Admiral Umezu Mijiro said loudly.

"Your Excellency the Commander is wise and humble! It is a blessing for the imperial army to have His Excellency the commander in command of the First Army, and it is also a blessing for the humble position! Major General Iida said respectfully

West bank of the Wenyu River. Command of the former enemy of the Fourth Army.

For this operation, Sun Weiru, the commander of the Fourth Group Army, can be said to be full of confidence, the ratio of the strength of the enemy and us is 7:30, and more importantly, there is a fourth division in the composition of the 70,000 troops of the Japanese army, and the fourth division in Sun Weiru's view Its actual combat effectiveness can only be equivalent to that of an army of the national army, compared with the famous fourth division, the fifth division of the Japanese army is much more powerful, every time the second war zone fights, one point against the fifth division, Yan Xishan will at least take out at least 3 to 5 armies to fight with it, It can be said that the Fifth Division, one division and one regiment, is the top of the five armies of the Nationalist Government.

In this battle, the Japanese army was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of both strength and actual combat strength, and more importantly, Chen Feng, who was entrenched in Saibei, actually promised Commander Yan to send 150,000 elites to fight in the south. As the chairman of Shaanxi Province and the leader of the Guanzhong region, Sun Weiru still knows a little about Chen Feng's department, so he is very confident in this well-known Chinese army.

"His appearance (Li Jiayu's words), is there any movement on the devil's side?"

Li Jiayu, commander of the 47th Army, hurriedly replied: "General seat, I just received the news that the Japanese army has increased a brigade to Gujiao, and the 40th Brigade of the Japanese Army also set off from Shimen and rushed to Yangquan urgently, while the 39th Brigade of the Japanese Army in Yangquan rushed to Taiyuan in the starry night. ”

"Kawagishi Bunzaburo's 20th Division, this thief baby actually joined the battlefield, this time some of them will see." Sun Weiru sneered.

"General, the 20th Division of the Japanese Army is a first-class division of the Japanese Army, and its strength is more than 25,000 people, before this division had only one brigade in Shanxi, and now the entire division has joined the battlefield, and the strength of the Japanese army is now probably more than 80,000 people." Li Jiayu said.

"Don't worry, I dare to guarantee that Umezu Mijiro, the old devil, will suffer a big loss this time, you don't know the Hanwa in the north, that is not a loss-making master, since the Sino-Japanese war in the Republic of China in 26, the Hanwa has been planning and then acting every time, and Umezu Mijiro, the old devil, is arrogant and arrogant, and sooner or later he will suffer a big loss. This time, it seems that this handsome baby is talking about cooperation with Chief Yan about relatives, but in fact, none of us know what the idea of that handsome baby is, I think there is a chance that the guy has other arrangements. I have to say that Sun Weiru understands Chen Feng's temperament very clearly.

"So, what are we going to do?" Li Jiayu asked.

"According to the original plan, but the route of the march must be changed, and we can't get together, since the little devils have already increased their troops. Then our tactics of hiding our whereabouts and raiding are useless. Sooner or later, if you get together again, you will be bombed by the devil's plane, and you have to go separately, let Liu Enmao's 15th Army play the vanguard, your 47th Army will be in the center, and I will take Zhao Shoushan's 38th Army behind. Sun Weiru said.

"Commander, should we ask Commander Chen for help, and ask him to send a plane to escort us tomorrow in case we are bombed by the devil's plane. Our troops have a lot of new melons and eggs, and I'm worried that tomorrow the devil's plane will blow up the whole fucking nest, and that will be terrible! Li Jiayu reminded.

"Forget it, we don't know Commander Chen well, even if we send him a telegram, they don't necessarily pay attention to us. Besides, the battle in the direction of Yanmen Pass and Ningwu Pass has entered a white heat, and it is said that yesterday the two sides also engaged in artillery battles and air battles. Besides, once the Wenyu River is crossed, it is all mountainous, and the devil's mechanized troops can't be used here at all, so there should be no problem on our own. Sun Weiru said.

"Okay, just do it, the soldiers are fast, I'll pass it on."

"Okay, let's go down and arrange it!" What Sun Weiru didn't expect was that because the Japanese army had already learned the marching route and the composition of his troops and firepower, they had already set up a pocket formation on the mainland leading to Gujiao, waiting for them to get in. (To be continued......)