kingnovel Chapter 903 is so exciting to think about!
Chapter 903 is so exciting to think about!
Our troops are well-equipped and well-trained, and their combat effectiveness, given the same number of troops, far exceeds that of the enemy.
In addition, the Nationalist government's central army and local troops have also obtained a large amount of weapons, ammunition and military supplies from our base areas in the past six months, which has greatly increased our strength.
Especially for the Sichuan Army, Yunnan Army, Shaanxi Army, and Guangxi Army, the soldiers had more bullets, were well-fed, and could even eat meat every now and then, so their morale was sure to be high.
With these troops becoming stronger, the Japanese will definitely need to increase their forces accordingly for defense; otherwise, if a good opportunity arises, the frontline commanders will certainly not be polite to the enemy.
The temptation to reclaim lost territory is immense. For any force, snatching back a county from the invaders would be a sensational event.
It's entirely possible to make the front page of any newspaper, gaining immense prestige and profit.
Most importantly, with the support of our arsenal, no matter how much ammunition the frontline troops consume, they can be replenished quickly as long as there is money.
This is the source of our confidence. The reason we didn't dare to fight a major battle with the Japanese invaders in the past was because we were worried about heavy losses to our troops, especially after we ran out of ammunition and had nowhere to replenish it.
Although the Nationalist government also had some arsenals, the weapons produced were mostly given to the Central Army, and many local troops had to find their own ways to obtain weapons and ammunition.
This also dampened the enthusiasm of many troops to launch offensives against the enemy. After all, the Nationalist government had a history of such actions, and if troops were wiped out or ammunition was depleted, the troop structure might be lost.
But now that we have a base industrial zone, everything has changed. With the current production capacity and inventory of our arsenal, we can fully support several major battles.
We can quickly replenish the troops we lose in the attack, and even send more based on the number of enemy troops we kill.
In addition, some special rewards were set up: whichever unit eliminated a Japanese company would receive fifty rifles, one hundred and twenty rounds of ammunition per rifle, two thousand cans of meat, or five thousand catties of soybeans.
If it's a large battalion, in addition to the increased supplies mentioned above, they will also be rewarded with mortars. A full-strength mortar company would definitely be very tempting for many people.
If an army were to pay a heavy price to recapture a county town occupied by the invaders, then it would be immediately met with 75mm mountain guns.
Furthermore, even if you kill one or two Japanese soldiers, as long as you bring something to the base area to prove your identity, you can still receive some material rewards.
One enemy soldier is worth fifty catties of grain and ten cans of meat, or can be exchanged for guns and ammunition.
Anyway, we're not losing out no matter how you look at it. Canned food can be obtained in large quantities through farming and hunting in the wild, tinplate is not lacking in our base, and energy is readily available.
Let alone ten cans of food per Japanese soldier, even a hundred or a thousand cans would be a worthwhile deal for China.
From Australia, a large transport ship can bring 7,000 tons of supplies. If one can is counted as one pound, then one ton is 2,000 cans, and one ship can bring back 14 million cans.
If we calculate based on one thousand cans of food per Japanese soldier, then a ship's worth of supplies could be exchanged for one enemy soldier. Wow, just thinking about it gets my blood pumping.
However, this is just the most extreme algorithm, which is impossible to achieve in actual operation. But with these supplies as a support, the enthusiasm of many troops to fight the Japanese will be aroused.
Even if large-scale battles are not feasible, and it is difficult to attack the enemy's strongholds, many front-line troops can still form elite squads to fight against the enemy.
For example, an infantry regiment might select a reinforced platoon of about fifty men, equipped with the regiment's best weapons and gear, to specifically enter enemy-occupied territory and ambush the enemy.
If fifty men are equipped with five Czech light machine guns and carry a large amount of ammunition, while the rest of the soldiers use Mauser 4-ring rifles, plus a 60mm mortar.
With this firepower configuration, ambushing an enemy combat unit would be as easy as a grandfather beating his grandson; annihilating the enemy would be a foregone conclusion.
An enemy combat squad consists of thirteen men, and according to our reward plan, they receive approximately 650 jin of grain and 130 cans of meat.
This is just the price for ordinary soldiers; the price for corporals and sergeants would be several times higher. These spoils alone would be enough to feed an infantry regiment several good meals, not to mention the enemy's weapons and ammunition that can be captured to improve the strength of the troops.
This has provided many local forces with a way to quickly improve their own strength. If sacrificing one of our people could get us the weapons and equipment to take down three Japanese devils, I estimate that many people wouldn't even bat an eye.
With the strengthening of China's national defense capabilities, a large number of enemy personnel have also been tied down.
At the same time, they also used small units to consume large amounts of the enemy's military supplies and well-trained soldiers every day.
It is precisely because of these prerequisites that we were able to build a large number of high-grade highways with the industrial zone as the center.
“If you want to be rich, build roads first.”
This rule applies in any era. Of course, during wartime, it should be changed to the principle that if you want industrial development, you need to build roads, and build a lot of good roads.
Currently, the base area has built several large cement plants and a large number of thermal power plants, so the energy supply is relatively abundant.
As for coal for power generation, Shanxi Province has plenty of it, so there's no need to worry about it at all.
The technology for small thermal power plant equipment produced in our base areas is now quite mature, and the production speed will become faster and faster.
The commanders' temporary plan was to repair the roads in the county towns of the base area using gravel and cement, so that military trucks could travel smoothly on the roads.
In this way, industrial products produced in the base area can be quickly transported to other counties.
After the county town road is completed, some larger villages and towns will also build roads one after another, although the level will not be as high as the existing ones, but they can be transported by modified bicycles or horse-drawn carriages.
These flat roads only have a small amount of cement used to reinforce dangerous areas, such as bridges and passes, while the rest are made of compacted gravel.
Like capillaries, it extends outwards from the industrial zone, allowing most of the people in the base area to enjoy the benefits of industrialization.
In fact, China used to have a small-scale peasant economy, and a large town could generally be self-sufficient.
Ordinary people grow their own grains and vegetables, raise chickens and ducks, and those who are better off raise pigs. Craftsmen also run blacksmith shops and soy sauce shops.
Many people still weave their own cloth, and the products they produce circulate internally, with little demand for industrially produced goods.