si-mexico Chapter 1274 No Way Out
Chapter 1274 No Way Out
Japan has indeed always harbored resentment towards the coastal areas of Jiaodong. Their previous offensive was thwarted, making them a laughing stock in Japan. Although they also want to avenge their defeat and chant this slogan every day, the question is, is it really that simple?
The naval base in Jiaodong didn't have many warships. Most had been deployed to Southeast Asia before the war began to support operations there. The remaining vessels were mostly small, but the problem was that they were all under the protection of shore-based aircraft and couldn't operate outside. Therefore, even though the Japanese navy was relatively powerful, it couldn't effectively utilize its strength.
Amphibious landings seem to be the only thing they can do. But the problem is, do they even have the capability for an amphibious landing? Previously, the elite Marines were all surrounded, helpless on shore. So many of them were working on the grasslands; are they going to repeat that experience now?
According to the war games conducted by the Japanese Navy, sending a few thousand people up there is essentially the same as not sending any. However, sending tens of thousands of people up at once is beyond our capabilities.
When the Japanese army occupied most of Shandong Province, they also considered occupying the entire Jiaodong Peninsula. If they had that capability, then the humiliation suffered by the navy would have been avenged by our army, which would have been the most gratifying thing.
However, after discussion, the North China and East China Army Groups ultimately abandoned this tempting idea, as our strength was simply insufficient. If you wanted to annihilate Ma Leizi's Fourth Army now, you would need to mobilize at least nearly 20 divisions. Even if you gathered all the troops from both Army Groups, it probably wouldn't be enough.
The most important issue is strategy. If all 20 divisions are lost, what will we do in North and Central China? Are we supposed to rely on those traitors? If that's the case, those traitors will probably be the first to stand up against us.
So even if they had a chance to bully the navy, they didn't know how to use it in the end, and could only watch as Ma Leizi led his army back to Jiaodong obediently, without even a pursuit plan.
Of course, small-scale pursuit plans did exist. However, none of the pursuing troops returned; most were ambushed by Ma Leizi's forces. Given the vast disparity in weaponry and equipment, the Japanese army was no match for them. Therefore, after Ma Leizi retreated, the Japanese army established a defensive line 30 kilometers away. Moreover, based on past experiences of defeat, their first line of defense was extremely rudimentary.
According to the conventional thinking of ordinary armies, the first line of defense should be set up quite solidly. However, the Japanese army had its own experience; no matter how our first line of defense was set up, it could always be breached by the 72nd Army in a very short time. So we simply set up our main defensive forces on the second and third lines of defense.
This way, we wouldn't have lost our forward positions so early in the war. For an army, losing its forward positions at the start of a war immediately throws everyone from commanders to soldiers into panic. No matter how well they train, if they can maintain 70% of their fighting capacity when the news spreads, that would be considered extremely lucky.
The Japanese army was also adept at summarizing their experiences. They discovered that in their various battles against the 72nd Army, the first line of defense was breached far too quickly, and this first line consisted of their most elite troops. With the breach in the defenses and the disintegration of their elite forces, subsequent troops were no match for the 72nd Army and could only suffer defeat after defeat.
Therefore, after summarizing these experiences, the Japanese army set up its first line of defense in an extremely rudimentary manner, consisting of only a few second-line garrison personnel. Their task was not to hold back the 72nd Army, but simply to report any attacks by the 72nd Army in a timely manner.
According to some Japanese garrison troops, moving us to the first line of defense was essentially abandoning us. They didn't expect us to do anything; frankly, they could just send a dog here to do the job.
Therefore, Jiaodong at this time formed an extremely rare isolated region. It had no contact with the outside world and relied entirely on air transport for communication. However, its defenses were extremely formidable, with over 100,000 troops from the Fourth Army and nearly 80,000 to 90,000 second-line troops. If the militia were included, the total number would likely approach 400,000.
Now, almost all able-bodied young men in the villages who don't work in the fields have joined the militia. They receive daily training, and their combat effectiveness is now comparable to that of ordinary Central Army soldiers.
Ma Leizi didn't need these men to actually go to the battlefield; he just sent them to patrol the coast. The hundreds of kilometers of coastline were Ma Leizi's biggest concern. If the Japanese didn't come to our key defense areas, they would definitely land in some remote locations, and then we'd have to rely on everyone's strength.
Li Shaoyi once told Ma Leizi that the power of the people is boundless. He said, "If you develop all the people in the coastal areas and have people patrol regularly every day, no matter where the Japanese land, we can detect them immediately. With our mechanized mobilization capabilities, unless the Japanese have wings, they won't escape our grasp."
Ma Leizi might not be good at strategy, but when it comes to carrying out Li Shaoyi's orders, he's absolutely capable. After returning, he used heroin to reach an agreement with the militia. The militia was divided into more than a dozen groups, with someone patrolling the coast every hour. Furthermore, the militia was equipped with high-powered binoculars for observation of the ocean. Fishing boats at sea were also equipped with these devices, ensuring that we could spot the Japanese fleet immediately.
Ma Leizi carried out this matter with great fanfare, knowing that there would definitely be Japanese spies in his territory; this was all for show. After learning of the situation, these Japanese spies reported it to the Navy and Army.
Ultimately, due to their reports, the operational plans of both departments were shelved, and they also learned the true situation in Jiaodong, realizing that a surprise attack was impossible.