Pingshun is located in the east of Changzhi and is the eastern gateway of Changzhi. It borders Ci County to the east, Lucheng to the northwest, and Lin County to the southeast.
In the original negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Pingshun was used as the boundary, with the Eighth Route Army's activity area to the north and the territory of the National Army to the south.
Ci County and Pingshun border.
At this time, Zhou Weihan led his troops to rest and recuperate here. More than 3,000 of his troops marched south from Wu'an Lijiagou to Ci County, then turned east and marched toward Pingshun.
It was okay for the artillery battalion to ride on trucks, but the regiment marched on two legs. Even the horses of the cavalry regiment were a little overwhelmed by the long-distance attack.
"Lao Zhou, this is the telegram sent by the Fourth Regiment, please read it!" Xing Zhiguo handed over a telegram and said.
Zhou Weihan took a look and said in surprise: "Wang Yigong and the others are making good progress!"
"It was a great move to have the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Regiment stationed in Pingshun in advance. The foundation was laid immediately. The local comrades and people in Pingshun responded positively. I think the next step will be to use Pingshun as a forward position to confront the Japanese army in Changzhi.
, In this way, the strategic depth of the base area will be greater!" Xing Zhiguo suggested.
Zhou Weihan nodded. He originally sent Yang Xiansheng's Second Battalion to Pingshun. On the one hand, it was in response to the request of the Changzhi District Government to send a main force there to assist in the development of local political power. On the other hand, it was also to reduce the threat of the Japanese army in Changzhi.
Now, with the comrades of the local county brigade as guides and the Second Battalion, the Binh Shun Guerrilla Brigade, as the vanguard, the Fourth Regiment is attacking the city of Binh Shun. In just two days, it has destroyed 21 strongholds in the eastern part of Binh Shun, occupying half of Binh Shun.
The main reason why the Fourth Regiment was able to achieve such a record was that the Japanese army concentrated its garrison strength in the suburbs and south of Changzhi to guard against the national army in the first theater. In the Pingshun area, the Japanese garrison strength was empty, and most of the strongholds were dominated by puppet troops.
At the beginning of the war, the Fourth Regiment lacked the artillery to attack fortresses, so they still used the old method of encircling a point for reinforcements. They selected a large Japanese stronghold, the Second Battalion and Pingshun local armed forces to carry out the attack, while the main force of the Fourth Regiment was ambushing nearby.
The little Japs were not stupid. When they heard that a large group of Eighth Route Army troops had appeared in the eastern part of Pingshun, the Japanese and puppet troops in nearby strongholds did not dare to send reinforcements alone.
The Japanese and puppet troops from only a few strongholds jointly sent troops and gathered together as reinforcements. It looked like a large number of troops, but in fact there were only about 20 Japanese troops and 500 or 600 puppet troops.
Facing the ambush of the Fourth Regiment, the large number of puppet troops collapsed immediately, while the number of Japanese troops was too small to form resistance at all.
After initially annihilating some of the Japanese and puppet troops, the four regiments were divided into multiple groups. The third battalion attacked southward, the second battalion was in the middle, and the first battalion was led by Wang Yigong personally due to the absence of battalion commander Zhang Hao. Political commissar Gao Zhiheng led the regiment headquarters.
And the directly affiliated team followed behind, sitting at the regiment headquarters, handling prisoners, contacting local comrades, organizing young men, and transporting supplies.
...
The handover stronghold is located in the northern boundary of central Pingshun. This is the second day of the Battle of Lijiagou.
At this time, the first battalion led by Wang Yigong personally had just captured the surrendered stronghold.
"Captain, you have to use this iron guy to attack the Japs' stronghold. It's so damn fun. After a few rounds, go straight up to collect the corn!" The person who spoke was Su Baobao, commander of the third company of the 1st Battalion. This guy touched the gun in front of him.
Two Type 92 infantry guns are laughing.
These two cannons were captured from the Japanese reinforcements. After that, the Fourth Regiment's offensive became more intense, and they turned around and captured the large stronghold that the Second Battalion was attacking.
Wang Yigong was heartily happy when he saw these two cannons. Zhou Weihan concentrated all the artillery in the artillery battalion. You must know that in the independent detachment, only Wu Qin's third regiment had two Italian cannons, and even the most elite one had two Italian cannons.
The regiment also only has 82 mortars.
"The main force is about to arrive. Let the scattered troops assemble immediately. Our four regiments must concentrate their main forces to break through in the north of Pingshun and quickly get in touch with the new regiment from Lucheng, the 28th regiment!" Wang Yigong thought for a while and directly
ordered.
That afternoon, before the rest of the Fourth Regiment arrived, the battle defense artillery battery sent in advance by Zhou Weihan had already arrived to support them.
That night, all the commanders and fighters of the fourth regiment gathered near the handover point.
At the pre-war combat meeting, every battalion and company-level cadre of the fourth regiment was grinning like a flower.
"Looking at how restless you all are, you look like old haters when you seize some equipment!" Wang Yigong scolded with a smile.
"Captain, you may not think that the puppet army in Pingshun area is not very good in combat effectiveness, but it is different from the puppet army in other areas. They are rich and well-oiled. Each person is equipped with forty rounds of rifle ammunition, forming a company-level company."
The combat unit is actually equipped with one heavy machine gun and three light machine guns, don't you think it's annoying!" said a company commander of the fourth regiment.
"This is not surprising at all. After all, Pingshun is all supported by the puppet army. It is normal for the equipment to be better, otherwise the comrades of the local county brigade would not have been at a disadvantage against the puppet army many times!" Yang Xiansheng, the commander of the second battalion, explained.
"Okay, let's get down to business. Now the detachment leader and the others have arrived at Ci County, at the junction of Pingshun. Let's take a rest tonight and they can come over and join us tomorrow!" Wang Yigong said.
"Captain, I just saw the artillery battalion's combat artillery battery arriving. Can we let go now? Pingshun County is right in front of us. We are all here. Why don't we just knock down Pingshun County?" Yang Xiansheng
asked with a smile.
"What the hell, can't you tell the difference between primary and secondary tasks?" Wang Yigong cursed.
"Hey, now our Fourth Regiment's mission has been contacted with the New Regiment and other departments in Lucheng in a timely manner. We can't continue to destroy the Japanese strongholds one by one when all the detachment leaders arrive tomorrow!" Gao Zhiheng said.
Why Zhou Weihan was so anxious to let the Fourth Regiment open the passage was not because the artillery battalion was driven by trucks, and the infantry had no problem walking on the mountain trails, but the artillery battalion couldn't.
In Wu'an and Ci County, all highways are used. After arriving in Pingshun, of course, you have to take the highways occupied by the Japanese army to quickly reach Lucheng.
"The first battalion is responsible for the three strongholds of Langwo, Gujia Village and Damiao, the second battalion is responsible for Shangfen Village and Daliuzhuang, and the third battalion is responsible for the two towns of Tijuwu and Baozidian!"
"Each battalion of six combat defense guns has two guns. Let's go to bed early tonight. I don't care when you set off. Each battalion decides for itself. There is only one request. I want your battalions to be at the junction of Pingshun and Lucheng before twelve o'clock tomorrow.
Gather at the Xinzhuang stronghold!" Wang Yigong said.
"Yes!" everyone present responded.
The above-mentioned strongholds are located on both sides of the highway. The first battalion is responsible for attacking the farthest strongholds. Time is tight and the troops have to take small paths to reach the strongholds. There is no way for the three battalions to conduct unified operations.
Under the premise that the fourth regiment had the advantage, Wang Yigong simply let the battalions fight indiscriminately. In a word, it was necessary to ensure that the main force led by Zhou Weihan could move unimpeded.
