Lieutenant General Shibagoro, the commander of the cluster and the commander of the 12th Japanese Division, finally controlled the order in the conference room after such a roar and roar. The chief of staff of the cluster, Colonel Seishiro Itagaki, and the 12th Regiment of the ** Field Heavy Artillery Regiment Fujita knew very well that the Commander looked like he was scolding both sides, but in fact he was standing on Itagaki and Fujita's side and did not turn his elbows outward.
Inza, Kikveeze and Utis, the three former Soviet Red Army division commanders and now major generals of the Volga Federation, sat down angrily, but their eyes were still staring at Itagaki and Fujita opposite them. Speaking of Kikweize He and Utis were actually just helping each other. The 17th and 18th Infantry Divisions they commanded were mainly new recruits. Only the artillery battalion was equipped with 75mm field guns produced by the coalition forces in China. Handing over the artillery battalion was a good choice. The infantry division will undertake arduous and complex combat tasks in the future, so why not?
Inza's ideas are much more positive than those of Kikveeze and Utis. First of all, his 16th Infantry Division is the only main division of the Tsaritsyn Group Army. Not counting all of them being veterans, the commanders at all levels are also Ye. Gorov and Inza, who were old men of the Ninth Front of the Soviet Red Army, were equipped with new Chinese m1903 Springfield rifles, m1 Garand semi-automatic rifles, Browning light and heavy machine guns, and two sharp M60 and M81 rifles. Infantry mortars can be regarded as high-morale soldiers and strong horses!
Inza was just waiting to roll up his sleeves and lead his soldiers to show off their skills in the Ukrainian campaign. At this time, a reorganization took place and the two 75mm field artillery battalions that he regarded as his biggest reliance were taken away. Those were 36 cannons. , equivalent to the firepower of the six artillery batteries of the earlier Soviet Red Army Infantry Division, and the Japanese 38-type field artillery is lighter, more powerful, and has a longer range than the old Russian-made artillery!
How could Inza be able to swallow this breath? This is equivalent to pulling out two tiger teeth of his 16th Federal Infantry Division. Without artillery support in the future, fighting against the Germans who are armed to the teeth will have to use human lives to replace them. How can this be tolerated? Even if it is equipped with two field artillery battalions, the firepower of the Federal Infantry Division is much weaker than the artillery of the German Infantry Division's three 105mm light howitzer battalions and one 150mm heavy howitzer battalion. Without the artillery, it is impossible to fight!
"I say Maxim Alexeevich. Your Excellency the Commander is right. The Donetsk cluster is a complete collective. Sincerity and unity are the most important. Your two 75mm field artillery battalions cannot be counted. What, I believe that when you are really sent into battle, the 12th Heavy Artillery Brigade of the cluster can also be assigned to your infantry for use and combat! "
Alexander Ilyich Yegorov is the deputy commander and deputy chief of staff of the cluster, and is also the commander of the Tsaritsyn Group Army of the Volga Federation. As soon as this guy opened his mouth, he completely changed the atmosphere in the conference room. Shibagoro laughed. The interface said, "Lieutenant General Yegorov is right. The purpose of establishing the ** heavy artillery brigade is not to allow the artillery brigade to fight independently, but to use good steel on the edge of the knife. Major General Inza, maybe by then Your division has not lost two field artillery battalions, but has gained one more field artillery battalion and one heavy artillery regiment to cooperate with you in the battle?"
"I hope so! I have to say something ugly up front. The artillery unit must accept the unified dispatch of the commander of the frontline infantry unit. Otherwise, there will be trouble if coordination and cooperative operations are lost!" Inza hummed and then sat down and stopped arguing. .
"Everyone, time is very tight. Samara only gave us 2 days for mixed preparation work. The German Air Force is still huddled on the front line in Kiev. This is both good news and unsettling. The Germans Most of the fighter pilots are aces, and our coalition air force is basically still a rookie team. Good luck will not always favor one side on the battlefield. The difficulty of the battle in the future cannot be ignored! "
The commander-in-chief of the cluster, Lieutenant General Shibagoro, had his hands behind his back and stood in front of the operational map, lost in thought. Behind him were a group of brigade commanders and division commanders from the Japanese 12th Division and the Tsaritsyn Group Army, their heads bent and whispering. Chief of Staff Itagaki said again at this time,
"Your Excellency Commander, everyone, I think that although Samara asked our cluster to postpone the deployment so that when the Kharkiv cluster in the center attacks south, the German-Ukrainian forces in Donetsk dare to go north to reinforce and mobilize, but in my opinion Come on, if the Donetsk cluster remains so inactive, it will easily expose the target, and it will not be easy to maintain the morale of the troops, so I have a bold idea! "
As he spoke, Colonel Itagaki stood up and came to the combat map. He picked up his baton and pointed at the map and said, "Originally we attacked in two directions. The southern front used the 3rd Armored Regiment and the 12th Cavalry Regiment as mobile units. Now according to the In the mixed plan, this force can be called a clustered mixed armored brigade. Of course, it cannot be compared with the wealthy Kharkov cluster. We only have one armored regiment and one cavalry regiment. For this reason, I suggest using two field artillery regiments. After replacing the Dodge trucks, the packhorses and troops were replaced to form a new cavalry regiment. In this way, the strength of the 2nd Mixed Armored Brigade of the Donetsk Cluster became stronger!¡±
"Ha, this is a good feeling. However, Your Excellency Colonel, the 12th Regiment of Japanese Field Artillery and the ** Field HeavyThe mules and horses of the 12th Infantry Regiment are certainly useful for pulling carts, but they are a bit awkward for cavalry to use as mounts, right? "The speaker was Colonel Zhao Yikuan, commander of the 3rd Armored Corps Regiment.
This Zhao Yikuan was directly affiliated with Tianjin and came from a wealthy family. He entered the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School in 1914 and graduated from the cavalry department in 1915. After joining the war, he first served as the major and battalion commander of the division headquarters reconnaissance battalion of Wu Peifu's third division. During the battle in Outer Mongolia, he led the cavalry reconnaissance battalion and made a lot of achievements. Due to his merit, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. During the battle to recover Lake Baikal, the regimental commander was injured. This guy led the troops to fight bravely and tenaciously. After the war, he was promoted to colonel. Infantry regiment commander.
Later, the three divisions under Wu Peifu's Third Army were re-equipped and formed three division-affiliated armored regiments. This man became the commander of the division-affiliated armored regiment of the 20th Division. He was also considered a talented general. Because he studied at the Japanese Military Academy With his experience, this guy spoke Japanese very fluently, so when he saw that the infantry brigade commander dared to look down on the cavalry and armored troops, he couldn't help but jump out and speak to the Matsuki regiment commander.
It should be said that Zhao Yikuan only became a colonel at the age of 32. Based on his qualifications, he was not the fastest-rising among the Chinese soldiers who participated in the war. The reason is that because of the Revolution of 1911, this guy interrupted his previous service as a non-commissioned officer in Japan. The school courses were returned to China. Fortunately, the Japanese Army Military Academy retained the academic status of these Chinese students at that time and allowed them to return to school to complete their studies in the future. Among Colonel Zhao's classmates at the Military Academy at the same time, the most famous ones were Zhang Qun and Wang Boling.