Chapter 316: Discussion of the Battle of the City. Please subscribe.
In the evening, after dinner, everyone gathered in the headquarters again.
Everyone present was very interested when they heard that Zhou Weihan was going to explain his experience in the Handan battle.
Judging from the strength of the various units of the Eighth Route Army at this time, it is still too early to talk about urban offensives. The Eighth Route Army first launched attacks on large cities around 1944, and it was most common during the Liberation War.
But Zhou Weihan still wanted to explain that these are the experiences summed up based on the sacrifice of countless soldiers. It is not for anything else but to sacrifice fewer soldiers when needed.
Zhou Weihan stood in the front, the leaders sat in the first row, and the rest of the comrades crowded around in the back.
Zhou Weihan was a little nervous when facing so many people. He coughed twice and then said: "Comrades, our independent detachment captured Handan City some time ago. Now let me explain it to you!"
"The situation at that time was that because our Eighth Route Army was attacking everywhere, the Japanese blockade was leaking everywhere, and it was not possible to send troops everywhere for reinforcements."
"At that time, the Japanese troops in Handan and Xingtai were all empty of defense forces. After careful consideration before the war, they targeted Handan City!"
"There are three reasons. First, at that time, the troops were concentrated near hd. After repeated battles, the soldiers were physically exhausted, and the execution platform was far away. If they marched for a long time again, it would be a great disadvantage for the next battle. The other is
Second, the HD city defenses are weak, with only one wall fortification, and Xingtai City is divided into two inner and outer cities. Before the battle starts, I can’t guarantee whether the battle will go smoothly. Third, Xingtai City is the headquarters of the Japanese 108th Division.
, its defensive strength must be stronger than HD. In addition, once the attack on the execution platform reaches a stalemate, the surrounding Japanese troops will fight to the death to rescue them. When attacking Handan, the Japanese troops on the execution platform will first ensure the location of the division headquarters before supporting Handan."
“It’s hard to pick a persimmon, so after all the considerations, I chose Handan!”
"Before the war, I had six infantry regiments and one artillery battalion. In order to buy time for the siege troops, the siege troops consisted of two infantry regiments and one artillery battalion. The remaining four regiments were arranged in the east and west of Handan.
, in three directions to the south, and to the north are the brother troops of the New Ninth Brigade of the Jinan Military Region to provide reinforcements!"
"Because the troops arrived in the suburbs of Handan secretly, the Japanese troops in the city were not aware of it. As soon as the battle started, the strongholds and train stations outside the city were successfully removed. The Japanese and puppet troops there were basically wiped out and did not escape into the city. This
It is also equivalent to weakening the Japanese army’s defense force!”
"Since there is a large amount of supplies in Handan City, and we have the superior force, in order to prevent the Japanese army from blowing up the supplies and fleeing to Xingtai, we chose to attack the city from all sides and weaken the Japanese defenders. The goal was to attack quickly
Enter the city."
"The battle started. Twelve artillery pieces from the north gate quickly bombarded the Japanese city wall fortifications. With the help of the smoke generated by the artillery shells, a commando team of 300 people armed with submachine guns and short guns quickly climbed up the northern city wall from the collapsed city wall. It was clear
The enemy troops in the city wall fortifications in the north, and then the main force of the group as the follow-up force quickly followed up."
"It only took about ten minutes to occupy the northern city wall, and then the group was divided into two groups and quickly advanced along the east and west walls to eliminate the remaining enemies!"
"The commandos advanced rapidly along the rooftops of the city. The Japanese troops in the city were also very knowledgeable and deployed many firepower points on both sides of the streets. If our troops advanced along the streets, the consequences would be disastrous."
"As a result, the Japanese army's plan was ruined. The commando team and the remaining Japanese troops were involved in a fierce battle. There were also mistakes during the siege. First, the main regiment failed to detach a part of its soldiers in time to support the commando team, resulting in a stalemate between the two sides. The second commando team followed with more submachine guns, but the Japanese army mostly held long guns and their marksmanship was tricky, so the commandos suffered a big loss due to their short range."
When Zhou Weihan said this, he paused and looked at the people below.
"Captain Zhou, let me ask, how many Japanese and puppet troops are there in Handan City, and how many casualties did your unit suffer in the battle?"
Romance
"There are more than 400 Japanese troops and more than 600 puppet troops in the city. We have sacrificed nearly 600 people!"
"The battle loss ratio reached 1:2, this battle was really enjoyable!"
At this time, a regiment leader said: "Captain Zhou, with all due respect, when you relied on the advantage of artillery fire to blow down the city wall, this battle was already fought, but for the rest of our troops, this was a battle without hope. Way to imitate the battle!"
Zhou Weihan smiled after hearing this, and then said: "Yes, with the strength of our Eighth Route Army, it is indeed impossible to launch an offensive in the big cities occupied by the Japanese army in a short time, but ordinary small counties can always be done!"
"In addition to using artillery, another thing that can achieve unexpected effects is the combination of soil work and continuous blasting!"
"Urban attack has always been the most brutal form of combat. The defending side usually builds solid fortifications and various obstacles that delay the opponent's movement, conducts reasonable troop deployment and complete firepower coordination. Due to familiarity with the terrain and sufficient preparation time, the defense can One side will even try repeatedly to eliminate the blind spots of various weapons to the greatest extent. The attacking side has to clear obstacles while moving under enemy fire without cover, moving step by step and advancing step by step. This will cause serious consequences. One of the leading causes of casualties."
"Through earthworks and advancing closer to the city wall step by step, the effect of enemy firepower will be reduced by half, and then continuous blasting will be organized at the city wall. With a sufficient amount of explosives, the effect will probably be much stronger than unilateral bombardment, but this method It is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and comrades should use this method with caution."
"Also in urban operations, defenses will not collapse due to a single breakthrough. When a certain area of the city defense is breached by fire, the defender's usual approach is to quickly organize firepower on both sides to block it, and then use the reserve team to re-seal the breakthrough. Therefore, for the attacking side to achieve a real tactical breakthrough, it must be just right in three aspects: seizing the opportunity, investing troops and maintaining continuous assaults."
"First, in terms of timing, we must use the smoke, dust, shock and confusion caused by the firepower breakthrough to break in quickly. Once the enemy forces react, they will have missed the opportunity."
"Second, invest as many troops as possible at one time to ensure a strong first assault. If the group breaks through at the front and then forms an organic system and invests in the follow-up echelons one by one, this will become a fueling tactic, which is likely to add fuel to the siege. The troops have caused huge casualties. It is necessary to let as many troops as possible enter the city as if it were a big show, so that the enemy's counterattack troops will have difficulty in counterattacking our assault troops, so that our siege assault troops can not only firmly control the breakthrough, And it also has the ability to develop in depth and quickly form real breakthroughs!”
Zhou Weihan warned this point carefully and explained its harm in detail.
The most typical example is the Battle of Jinzhou.
After the Battle of Yixian, 101 was keenly aware of the huge advantages of soil work. 101 immediately dictated eight instructions to each column and division of Jinjin, requiring each division to use two-thirds of its troops to dig communication trenches.
5 or 3 trenches, each trench is 1.5 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep. All units are strictly ordered to resolutely implement the trenches and report the implementation status.
In the words of 101: By implementing the trench warfare method, the troops can lay a solid foundation in ideology and style, which will add a major victory factor in future battles; as long as the troops are willing to dig communication trenches, no matter how fierce the enemy's firepower is or how the fortifications are
If it is strong, it will greatly lose its function.
Therefore, before the Jinzhou general offensive was launched, each column completed more than 10,000 meters of communication trenches, and some dug more than 20,000 meters.
The infantry's communication trench is more than 1 meter wide and 2 meters deep, and the frontmost point is more than 60 meters away from the enemy, as long as the enemy cannot drop bombs.
The artillery's communication trenches can accommodate cars, and some push the artillery more than a hundred meters away from the enemy.
The army gathered together, and few people were seen walking on the ground, which not only increased the suddenness of the attack, but also reduced casualties.
Lieutenant General Fan Hanjie, deputy commander of the Kuomintang Army’s Northeast “Suppression General” and director of the Jinzhou Command Post, recalled after being captured: “Under the cover of artillery fire, the PLA siege troops worked day and night to build spider web-like traffic ditches to approach our defense.
We used explosives to blast the heavy machine gun fortress positions of the defenders' strongholds. We wanted to launch a counterattack, but when we saw the communication trenches, we had no idea and had to fire artillery as hard as we could. But we couldn't see anyone and could only fire randomly."
It can be seen that the People's Liberation Army's soil work operations at that time had become an effective means to reduce casualties and control the enemy's firepower advantage. Since then, the People's Liberation Army carried out large-scale soil work operations in several offensive operations against Jinan and Tianjin, allowing the Kuomintang army to
The fortifications that have been worked on for many years are in vain.
After Zhou Weihan finished speaking, the boss said: "Zhou Weihan didn't expect you to have so much experience in the battle against the city. Although our Eighth Route Army is currently engaged in guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare, it will definitely come in handy in the next two to three years! What you said today
The discussion will come in handy!”
"I usually think a little more and sum up these experiences. I hope comrades can put them to use in the future, and then the troops will not suffer so many casualties!" Zhou Weihan said truthfully.
"What Zhou Weihan said is very good, but comrades must not blindly imitate before they have sufficient strength. They can learn from it, but they cannot copy it. Specific issues should be analyzed in detail!" Political Commissar Deng nodded and said.
"In the past, our Eighth Route Army usually relied on force attacks when facing Japanese cities. The firepower could not be suppressed, and the troops suffered heavy casualties. If the situation allowed, it would not be practical to let the soldiers move above the sky, but let the soldiers move
It’s not difficult to hide it under the Nine Earths. This soil work is indeed an important magic weapon for the city’s fortification!” Mr. Liu also commented.
"Zhou Weihan, you can write a report later, and I will ask all the comrades in the staff department to study it. This was something that was not considered before. Since we will definitely face it in the future, we should make preparations in advance!" said the deputy chief of staff.