The news that China's more than 70,000 elite troops had left the Taihang Mountains shocked the Japanese army in North China on the second day.
This time it was different from the last time when the 80th Group Army used its main force mixed with militia and sheep, it was real.
August 31st!
The Si Xing Regiment destroyed the road from Licheng to Shexian for more than 5 kilometers. The defenders of Licheng and Shexian occupied the city and stood in strict formation. The defenders of Changzhi and Lucheng gathered two infantry regiments and still did not dare to leave the city easily.
In order to prevent reinforcements, they only dared to send out a small team of light cavalry to reconnoiter along the road.
September 1st!
The main force of the 921st Division, nearly 6,000 people, suddenly appeared on the outskirts of HD City and stationed at the headquarters of the 105th Infantry Regiment under the HD108th Division, Kudo Town. Da Zuo was horrified and asked for help from friendly forces in the Xingtai area.
This is the first time that a Japanese infantry regiment with the advantage of a city and 3,000 troops has been so weak due to the threat of the Chinese army with a mere strength of 10,000 people.
It took time for reinforcements to arrive, which also resulted in the mining areas controlled by the Krupp Company of the German Empire in the suburbs being 'ransacked' by the Chinese army. Minerals and grain were transported away, and various types of machinery and equipment were damaged. It is said that the losses were as high as hundreds of thousands.
Beautiful knife.
Of course, the Japanese would not admit this account, but the Chinese also announced that this was not their fault, but a direct result of the Japanese shelling of the area.
In anger, Krupp simply sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and Japan through the embassy, claiming compensation from China and Japan amounting to one million US dollars. If neither company recognized it, both companies would have to pay compensation to me.
Just when the Three Kingdoms were quarreling over this matter, the main force of the 921st Division miraculously appeared on the outskirts of Xingtai, an important city in Hebei Province, more than 60 kilometers away from HD on the third day after the appearance.
An infantry regiment of the 20th Division was so frightened that it hurt.
Because of the order from the front army headquarters, they mobilized an infantry brigade to join the two infantry brigade of the 14th Division to reinforce HD. Why did the 921st Division come here again?
The 921st Division had no plans to attack the city, but the damage to the Ping-Han Line was huge. More than 15 kilometers of railway tracks were either pried away by the Chinese army or completely destroyed by explosives.
One has to suspect that the Chinese are crazy because of their poverty. The rails are considered steel after all. Even if they are pulled back, they can be used to make bayonets or something like that. But you are going to make hair out of those sleepers! Are they used as firewood?
Little did they know that the division commander, brigade commander, and regiment commander of the 921 Division now all have the simplest consensus. They don't have much use for sleepers, but the Four Elements Regiment needs them! This kind of wood that has been treated with antiseptic can only be brought back.
, it can be deducted from bills just like steel rails, and its value is about the same as that of Dayang.
What's more, isn't destroying the railway one of the goals of this attack? Since we want to destroy it, we must destroy it thoroughly, leaving no rails or sleepers for the little devils.
I am afraid that even the officers and soldiers of the 921st Division did not expect that these rail sleepers, which they thought could be replaced with equipment, would play a huge role in future battles with the Japanese army.
Combined with sandbags, these things can quickly form a strong enough fortification.
In order to protect the communication line, the 20th Division with its headquarters in Shimen, under the command of its division commander Lieutenant General Saburo Kawagishi, mobilized 5 infantry brigades, a cavalry brigade, an engineer regiment, two artillery brigades, and two
The nearly 10,000-strong tank squadron was engaged in an arduous 'resistance' with the 921st Division, which took the initiative.
It is true that the five infantry regiments dispatched by the 921 Division were too slippery and never stayed in one place for a long time. If the main force of the Japanese army did not appear, they would sabotage it. Once they detected more than 4,000 Japanese troops, they would immediately run away.
HD, there are plains and mountainous areas around Xingtai, but when tens of thousands of people hid in the mountains, the Japanese army did not dare to rush in without an infantry brigade or above, even if there were reconnaissance planes overhead to help point the way.
It’s true that the Japanese army themselves don’t dare to trust their own reconnaissance aircraft pilots. Those idiots were shot down by Chinese anti-aircraft machine guns in three days and three were injured. Now they only dare to stay at an altitude of 1,500 meters and use telescopes.
Looking down, it is easy to be caught by the Chinese lake.
On September 3, the pilot of a Japanese reconnaissance plane reported that he had discovered a Chinese infantry regiment fighting in the mountains. As a result, the captain of a certain left infantry regiment who hurriedly arrived was eager to win and went to kill the enemy with less than 2,800 people.
.
Then, there were actually four Chinese infantry regiments in that area. Good guy, 10,000 people surrounded the infantry regiment that could have been chasing a Chinese infantry division and beat them up.
Although the Chinese do not have heavy firepower such as mountain artillery and field artillery, they are equipped with a large number of mortars. More than 20 82-caliber mortars are extremely suitable for mountain warfare. Shells rain down on the infantry artillery and heavy firepower of the Imperial Army.
On the machine gun position, no matter how brave the imperial infantry or artillerymen are, they will cry!
By the time another infantry regiment arrived for reinforcements in the evening, the infantry regiment had been beaten for more than eight hours, with battle losses as high as 50%. It was really the type that was beaten to tears.
This is because the 921st Division was afraid of being entangled by the main force of the Japanese army and did not fight hard. Otherwise, the captain of the Great Left Alliance would have almost no chance of being scolded bloody by the division commander, Lieutenant General Saburo Kawagishi.
This kind of hide-and-cat style of play in the mountains is the biggest headache for the Japanese army. But at this special period, you can't ignore it. Saburo Kawagishi can't continue to mobilize the main reinforcements under his command. As for calling other divisions, forget it!
Now it's not just his family that's suffering!
The 108th Division stationed in the area from Licheng to HD has long been frightened by the Chinese army in the Taihang Mountains. It would be good to be able to defend the county where they are stationed. The 109th Division that could have reinforced them was also threatened by a Sichuan army and was unable to do anything.
.
It is unreliable to count on the First Army and the Fifth Division in western Shanxi, which are confronting the main force of China's Second War Zone. Not only are there 200,000 Chinese troops in front of them, but two elite Chinese infantry divisions are also coming from Hongdong County.
They sent troops from Zuojin, and their frontline was directed towards Pingyao and Jinzhong.
Moreover, these two infantry divisions are not war-loving at all. They use tactics that are almost the same as those of the 921st Division. They fight when they can and retreat when they can't. They don't give you any chance to mobilize the main force for encirclement, and you can't find them at all.
His true intention.
Perhaps they were just a form of support for the tens of thousands of Chinese troops who had made changes in the southeast of Shanxi, and had no substantive tactics, but strategically speaking, they were successful.
The 150,000 Japanese troops in western and southwestern Shanxi could not spare a single soldier to support the beleaguered eastern Shanxi.
As for waiting for the main support from the North China Front troops stationed in Pingjin and other places, Saburo Kawagishi would not be so foolish as to wait for those troops to arrive in a hurry by train, and the railway lines in Han, Xing and even Shimen would be stripped bare.
All over.
I can only grit my teeth and resist!
But as the war progressed, and the 921st Division was in great turmoil at the border of the two provinces, a piece of news dropped on Saburo Kawagishi's head like a bolt from the blue.
On the evening of September 6, a Chinese army unexpectedly appeared in front of Niangzi Pass.
How they got there, no one knows. They probably just walked by day and night. These are not important. What is important is what did the Chinese want to do?
Niangziguan is the most important gateway in eastern Shanxi. From here, you can go straight west through the vast Taihang River to Yuancheng, the capital of Shanxi Province. You can also go eastward through the North China Plain to Shimen, the heart of Hebei Province.
There, it is only less than 80 kilometers away from Shimen!
What's even more terrible is that as a large number of cities in Shanxi Province in northern Shanxi, central Shanxi, and eastern Shanxi were occupied by the Imperial Army, China's Second Theater retreated to southeastern Shanxi and western Shanxi, with only a few cities still in their hands, including Niangziguan.
No matter how dangerous this location, which can be called the gateway to and from Jin Province, is, it does not need to be heavily guarded.
An infantry brigade is stationed at Niangziguan and Jingxing County, 35 kilometers away, which is already taken seriously.
But now, it is obviously not enough!
But Saburo Kawakishi didn't have many troops anymore. He had already dispatched tens of thousands of troops before, and leaving aside the thousands of troops garrisoned in several big cities, the remaining troops that could be drawn out were only an infantry brigade.
Just as the distress telegrams from Niangzi Pass continued to fly to the headquarters of the 20th Division stationed in Shimen, the two Chinese infantry divisions, which were still 200 miles away from Niangzi Pass, turned around and performed a 90-degree drift.
In the early morning of September 7, it suddenly appeared in the eastern Shanxi area.
The Sichuan Infantry Division, which had been missing for more than two days, and the main force of the 921st Division, which was playing hide-and-seek with more than 10,000 Japanese troops, also appeared in the sight of Japanese reconnaissance planes.
"The target of the Chinese is actually Jingxing?" When the leftist chief of staff of the 20th Division summarized all the intelligence obtained by the staff in the past two days and marked its approximate location on the map, he couldn't help but gasp.
gas.
At first, the Chinese army seemed disorganized and seemed to be marching in a path of pure destruction. However, at this moment, it could not be clearer. They were all pointing at Jindong.
"No, what they are interested in is not Jingxing, but Shimen!" Saburo Kawagishi said with a gloomy look in his eyes.
"This is impossible. Aren't they afraid that the empire will use my 20th Division as a shield to block their frontline, and then deploy frontline troops to block them so that they can't leave the plains?" Chief of Staff Dazuo exclaimed.
The current situation is that at least tens of thousands of Chinese troops are far away from the main force in the war zone and entering the Japanese occupied areas. However, the Japanese side suffers from the overstretched military line and must leave garrisons in each city. There are still nearly 100,000 main force left.
On the North China Plain, these Chinese armies were like the Sun Wukong who got into the belly of Princess Iron Fan, tossing around to their heart's content!
But as long as the Chinese army has a clear goal, especially if it dares to walk out of the Taihang Mountains and point its sword at Shimen, the core city of the North China Plain, as Lieutenant General Saburo Kawagishi said, then they will really die without knowing how.
Only 20 divisions are needed to hold on for a few days, and another 30,000 troops are sent to block the gateway to eastern Shanxi. When Pingjin and Tianjin send one or two divisions, these tens of thousands of Chinese troops are seeking death.
"Do you think the Chinese are stupid? The Chinese army on the western Shanxi front line must have made frequent movements and even made counterattacks. Even if it is fake, the imperial army must not dare to ignore it. How dare they easily pull out a soldier? 108,109 Those two
It's already good that this idiot division can hold on to its current station, what else can you and I expect from them?" Saburo Kawagishi said coldly.
"Moreover, the Imperial Front Army has just dispatched two divisions to go south to support the Central China Expeditionary Force in operations. The mobile forces in Pingjin and Tianjin are already insufficient, and then they came.
All we can say is that the Chinese chose their timing very well and this was their long-planned tactic."
Slowly standing up, Saburo Kawagishi gently rubbed his brows that were wrinkled to the point of pain: "I also believe that with the Chinese mentality, the Chinese troops that attack must be the elite that China can gather. They are confident that they can take advantage of this opportunity."
When the front army is mobilizing its troops, break through our stone gate and return to the vast Taihang Mountains to escape!"
"They lack heavy weapons, how can they pose a threat to our city's heavy defenses? Even though our division currently has only two infantry regiments, there is still an artillery brigade and a tank squadron in the city, and all attack troops can be mobilized immediately.
If the army returns to the defense, no matter how many people they have, it will be in vain." After listening to the analysis of his division commander, the chief of staff of Dazuo was still full of confidence.
"Jiuzang-kun, have you forgotten how the Second Mixed Brigade was completely destroyed in the Battle of Southeast Shanxi three months ago?" Saburo Kawagishi, who was nearly sixty years old, glanced at his leftist staff officer with a gloomy face.
Take a long look.
It wasn't until the Japanese leftist immediately stood respectfully and said nothing more that he tried his best to slow down his tone: "Jiuzang-kun, the attack of the imperial front army and division was too smooth, which made many imperial officers and soldiers feel arrogant, but as a
Senior officers at the division level must have enough respect for their opponents, otherwise our division will surely have the Imperial Army follow in the footsteps of Yamashita and his ilk!"
"Hi! Thank you, Division Commander, for your teachings!" Japan's Chief of Staff, Left, bowed his head respectfully and said yes.
I also took the opportunity to hide the cold light flashing in my eyes!
Saburo Kawagishi is over 56 years old. He is considered older among the division commanders on the North China Front. He has not shown any special features on the Chinese battlefield. He was originally supposed to be transferred from the 20th Division back to his hometown in July, which can be regarded as a retirement.
of.
As a result, due to the setback in the Battle of Southeast Shanxi, in order to stabilize the situation, the base camp suspended the change of senior generals at the level of division commander of the North China Front.
Even Lieutenant General Xiangyue Qingshi, who is about to leave his post due to the defeat in the Battle of Southeast Shanxi, Lieutenant General Xiong Yuan, who made a major mistake in judging the enemy, and Lieutenant General Okabe Saburo, the Chief of Staff of the Front Army who is about to be transferred, are still at their current posts.
As the senior staff officer sent by the Front Army Headquarters to the 20th Division as the Chief of Staff, Kimura Kyuzo originally came with a gold-plated mission. If nothing unexpected happens, he will be transferred from the 20th Division and promoted to Major General before the end of the year.
The position of brigade commander may even be promoted on the spot, if Saburo Kawagishi 'leave' in time enough.
Such a person would put too much emphasis on the outgoing lieutenant general division commander, especially when the old guy criticized him with a condescending attitude.
However, the Japanese army was highly hierarchical, and no matter how unhappy the Japanese army's left wing was, they would never dare to slack off on Saburo Kawagishi.
Saburo Kawagishi may not be able to be promoted to his military position, but it is very easy to ruin his affairs.
Seeing the respect from his subordinates, Saburo Kawagishi, who has entered his twilight years, is also satisfied, and his voice softens two points: "As for the heavy firepower you mentioned, Jiuzang-kun, Yusui's second mixed brigade originally carried 24 75mm mountain guns!
"
"Your Excellency, the division commander, is saying that this group of Chinese troops may have captured these 24 mountain cannons and put them into the army?" The Japanese Army Chief Zuo was stunned for a moment, and then reacted. "No, they can defeat 24 mountain cannons."
The second mixed brigade, then they..."
"Yes, they were able to defeat the Second Mixed Brigade, so how could they not have enough artillery?" Saburo Kawagishi's face was filled with coldness. "In addition, if we add in the mountain artillery they captured, maybe they have more artillery than you and me.
There is more to imagine! Even if they have not shown it in previous battles."
"I will now order the attacking troops of the division to return with all their strength! At the same time, I will order the 7th Infantry Battalion to reinforce Niangziguan and hold on for at least three days! This will provide enough time for our division to gather its forces." The Japanese Army's left face changed greatly.
"It's too late. The returning divisions will be blocked by the Chinese army, and Niangziguan is bound to be heavily besieged. It will be a matter of time before it is breached." Saburo Kawagishi sighed.
If possible, the Japanese army's left winger would like to immediately step forward and cover the crow mouth of his division commander. If his memory is correct, in the Battle of Southeast Shanxi three months ago, when the Second Mixed Brigade was surrounded, he
It was predicted that the second mixed brigade would cause heavy damage to the Chinese side.
The result was not good, the entire second mixed brigade was shot to death by the Chinese, and almost no one was left.
Now, to predict their own divisions? The Japanese army's left wing was already panicking, even more panicked than when they saw five Chinese infantry divisions pointing at the headquarters of the division, which was defended by only more than 10,000 people.
As if to verify the crow's mouth of a certain division commander as quickly as possible, as soon as Saburo Kawagishi finished speaking, and Kushimura Kyuzo's little heart began to beat violently, a report from the staff of the Communications Department was heard outside the house.
It was sent from the headquarters of the 7th Brigade stationed in Jingxing.
"The 1st Squadron, the 2nd Squadron of the 7th Infantry Brigade, the 1st Heavy Machine Gun Squadron, the Infantry Artillery Squadron, Yusui Niangzi Pass!"
The dazzling "Jade Broken" telegram made the Japanese general Zuo's expression extremely hard to see.
They all thought that their wives would be lost, but no one thought it would happen so quickly, not even a certain person with a crow's mouth.
The position with advantageous geographical location and solid fortifications, as well as 2 infantry squadrons with nearly 400 men, 4 heavy machine guns and 2 infantry cannons, fell into the enemy's hands in less than 3 hours.
This speed far exceeded the most pessimistic estimate of Saburo Kawagishi.
Saburo Kawagishi's nickname of Crow Mouth has finally come true.
If possible, the Japanese army chief would never want to hear some bullshit prediction from a crow’s mouth again.
The good ones are not very effective, but the bad ones are 150% fulfilled, which is absolutely amazing.
"Immediately ask for reinforcements from the front army headquarters. We need at least one division of reinforcements in the direction of Shimen to ensure peace of mind!" Saburo Kawagishi no longer hesitated.
The Japanese army's left wing has not yet bowed its head and accepted the order.
The communications officer's report came from outside the house again. The Japanese generals looked at each other, their faces turning a little green.
The current situation is already very bad, could there be even worse news to arrive?
Fortunately, this time there is good news.
Can't wait to unfold the telegram signed by the commander of the North China Front, Gen. Daimyo Sugamigi. Saburo Kawagishi read the telegram as quickly as possible, and his expression quickly changed from gloomy to bright.
"Haha! Your Excellency, Commander, Zhuge Kongming is still alive! Now the Chinese have lost both their wives and their troops!" Saburo Kawagishi smiled loudly and handed the message to his confused subordinates.
Really, the Japanese army's leftists are a little scared. Zhuge Kongming has been dead for more than two thousand years, okay?
