Chapter 941 Japanese Tactics 2
"Actually, even if two of our soldiers are replaced by one of our opponents, they won't be able to hold on first, right?" Akiyama Haogu thought in his mind. He has overestimated his opponent as much as possible.
"Don't the British have tanks? If it is night, it is estimated that it will be difficult for us to obtain tank fire support." Terauchi Juichi is still obsessed with the British mk1 tank.
"Don't count on British tanks. They only assigned us one battalion with about 36 tanks. If the British tanks were really that easy to use, then they wouldn't have been pushed here by the Germans." For these It is expensive and requires very high maintenance. Akiyama Haogu is quite disgusted with it. This reminded him of the hardships of being a cavalry unit. A cavalryman must have at least half the skills of a veterinarian to take care of his four-legged friends. What about the British tanks? They are more troublesome!
"But what to do with the German tanks? The opponent's depth is more than ten kilometers. It is very difficult to transport those heavy 75mm rapid-fire guns and 57mm guns for several kilometers in the mud without delaying the fighter planes." Terauchi Shouichi asked.
"Leave it to our infantry and prepare more cluster grenades and bombs. We have an absolute strength advantage, and the Germans' small number of tanks is not a problem." Akiyama Yoshiko said.
"So what to do with those strong defense points. According to the experience of the French, these defense points need to be approached with a 155mm howitzer and then fired flatly to kill them. If we let them go, our breakthrough will be a little small." Terauchi Juichi put forward the final suggestion one question.
"So, our troops need to be divided into several squads. In a night environment, the efficiency of small squads will be higher. Since one opening is not enough, it is better to open a few more. A brigade or even a squadron can be autonomous Penetrate deeply into the German positions. Then, destroy and kill as much as possible!" Akiyama thought for a while and said.
No matter how good the commander's plan is, it still needs the support of the grassroots officers and soldiers below. Relatively speaking, Akiyama Yoshiko believes that the Japanese soldiers are still very offensive. When the opponent is caught off guard, they will try their best to cause chaos and breaches on the battlefield. It is definitely the only way to collapse a line of defense. Therefore, after using night to block the heavy artillery advantage that the Germans might have, he decided to leave the rest to the junior officers of the Japanese army.
It has to be said that the combat effectiveness of the Japanese officers and soldiers who participated in the Russo-Japanese War was pretty good. Even the most picky French officers and soldiers could give an at least acceptable evaluation. Although some of these Japanese soldiers have been retired for some time. They worked hard to prepare for the night attack author, and tried their best to bring heavy weapons that they were not very familiar with.
In their opinion, the French 75mm artillery is a bit heavy, and it is difficult to follow the troops except for direct shooting at the beginning. The 57mm cannon, 47mm naval gun and mortar provided by the British are the Japanese's favorite. To reduce weight, they removed the gun's shield and chose a monopod with a poor shooting range.
Because the weight is relatively light. The French allocated some tractors to the Japanese, and the Japanese were also prepared to put them to use. Of course, they mainly relied on manpower and a small amount of animal power.
A total of 3 divisions launched the attack. Among them, the one who commanded the breakthrough in the middle was the Second Division of the Japanese Expeditionary Force commanded by Suzuki Takao. The Japanese division commander was an artilleryman and once served as the artillery regiment captain in the Russo-Japanese War. I still have a certain understanding of how to have sex correctly. He believes that artillery that can reach the opponent is a good artillery. Either you have an advantage or you have mobility!
Adhering to this principle, he first concentrated the 105mm howitzers and 155mm howitzers belonging to the division and used them for key assaults. At the same time, he greatly reduced the number of 75mm rapid-fire guns, and instead exchanged a large number of short-barreled howitzers with the French. The barrel length of the 75mm rapid-fire gun is about 36l, which can be regarded as a cannon in World War I, and a cannon must mean greater weight for the same caliber.
What Suzuki Takao finally got from the French was a short-barreled artillery that was only 12 times longer in length. The structure was very simple, more like an infantry cannon. The weight of this artillery minus the shield was only over 400 kilograms. It can even be easily disassembled and transported. And the height is less than 1 meter, so it can be easily covered by the terrain. Moreover, the elevation angle of this artillery is very large, with a maximum elevation angle of 55 degrees. It can be used as a mortar to some extent.
Of course, although this artillery is very light and has a very tricky angle, it also has some shortcomings. One is that the shell is too light, only 3.5kg. The power is not enough. On the other hand, the range is too short. The maximum range is only about 1800 meters. And because the barrel is short and the gun is small, the initial velocity is also very low. Even if it is fired flatly, it will not be able to hit simple civil fortifications, such as log roofs and rammed earth bunkers. .
But no matter what, at least the problem of artillery following is solved. For this reason, Suzuki Takao also believed that his artillery firepower was enough for a surprise attack, so he gave up the British armored forces originally assigned to him to friendly forces. According to him, it would only take half a day to coordinate. It would be better to do it himself. I don't expect it at night. These tanks can work. During the day, maybe I have captured the German position, and naturally I won't need these guys.
As for Taro Utsunomiya of the Third Division of Japan's European Expeditionary Force, he believed more in the infantry in his hands. As a captain who led the infantry to siege the Port Arthur Fortress during the Russo-Japanese War, he was familiar with the close-range firepower of machine guns and semi-automatic rifles. The Russian navy officers and soldiers concentrated a large number of semi-automatic rifles and Maxin machine guns. The shooting at a distance of about 300 meters caused his regiment to pay more than half of its casualties! For this reason, he firmly believes that bullets at medium and short range are more terrifying than artillery shells.
Although the French were not equipped with a large number of semi-automatic rifles, they did provide a relatively large number of machine guns, so the major general ordered that half of the division's Chauchat light machine guns be concentrated on the assault troops, and a special grenadier group was organized to assist in the assault. According to what he said, as soon as he is away from the enemy on the opposite side, he will drown the opponent with a massive amount of bullets!
In short, the Japanese divisions responsible for the attack each had their own plans and methods. Juichi Terauchi believed that the British tanks would bring him good luck, and Takao Suzuki made precise arrangements for the artillery. Taro Utsunomiya strengthened the firepower of the infantry. After arranging everything, all the Japanese officers and soldiers were a little nervous and a little expectant, waiting for the moment of attack to arrive.
Here comes the second update~! Please subscribe and reward~!