Sun Dianying led the New Fifth Army to surrender to the enemy. The direct consequence was that Lingchuan was completely lost, and a hole appeared in the tight defense line set up by the national army in the Changzhi area.
Changzhi’s gateway cannot be said to be open. There is still Huguan County in the north as a barrier to Changzhi. However, Huguan County is long and narrow from east to west and lacks strategic depth.
The Japanese army used Lingchuan as its advance base and attacked Huguan to the north. The Chinese army had no room to turn around and had to fight to the end. Going west, it could cut off the Chinese army's retreat to Zhongtiao Mountain in the Changzhi area.
After Zhou Weihan, who was still in Wu'an at the time, learned the news, he couldn't sit still. The Eighth Route Army worked hard to delay the Japanese army's march on the northern battlefield, but the National Army on the southern front was holding back.
On the day he received the news, Zhou Weihan rushed from Wu'an to Lingchuan via Pingshun and Huguan.
280th Regiment Headquarters.
In addition to Yang Han and Fu Weisheng, Xu Dali received the order from Zhou Weihan and led the second regiment to join them first.
"Master, this is Deputy Commander Xing of the New Fifth Army!" Yang Han introduced him first.
With a smile on his face, Zhou Weihan looked up and down, secretly thinking that this man had a broad face and big ears, which made him look very lucky.
"Commander Xing, I have long admired your name!" Zhou Weihan said with deep meaning.
Xing Zhaotang was stunned after hearing this. He had never met Zhou Weihan before, but he had long heard that Zhou Weihan was difficult to deal with, and Fan Hanjie didn't even give him face.
But then I thought about it, considering Zhou Weihan's level, I am afraid that his true identity has been known through the organization.
"Haha, Zhou **, this is the right thing for me to say to you. Your name is very familiar to me!"
"We are all friendly forces and should help each other. What is the situation in Lingchuan now?" In order to rush to Lingchuan as soon as possible this time, Zhou Weihan only brought two guards, monks, and a telegraph operator with him, and no other troops accompanied him.
"Yesterday, after learning that Sun Dianying led his troops to surrender to the enemy, our regiment fought twice with the Japanese army. Currently, we have pushed our position to the Sandaogou area at the junction of Lingchuan, Huguan, and Lin counties!"
"The Japanese army's main offensive direction was in the west of Huguan. More than 7,000 troops from the 89th Division of the Thirteenth Army who came for reinforcements took advantage of the fact that the Japanese army had not established a stable foothold in Lingchuan and pushed the front to the north of Lingchuan!" Yang Han reported
road.
After Zhou Weihan heard this, he nodded, but he did feel that the troops on hand were somewhat insufficient.
He has always been good at using force to overwhelm others. Looking at past battles, he often concentrated several times the enemy's strength, relying on his superiority in firepower and numbers to completely annihilate the enemy.
However, there were only two regiments on hand at this time, with nearly 5,000 troops. Fortunately, the follow-up troops of the 280th Regiment also arrived from Linnan. At the same time, Zhang Hao's supplementary regiment had to stay in Lin County to guard against the Japanese troops in Anyang westward.
Enter.
Perhaps seeing Zhou Weihan's worries, Xing Zhaotang immediately said: "Brother Zhou, the main force of our New Fifth Army was defeated, but I collected many defeated troops along the way. Among the officers and soldiers who surrendered with Sun Dianying, more than 400 people also fled.
, these officers and soldiers are currently being reorganized nearby!"
"Oh? There is another matter!"
Sun Dianying shamelessly called himself a traitor, but the remnants of the New Fifth Army who were stationed in the city were in an uproar when they heard the news. In particular, some grassroots officers and Lingchuan disciples reacted violently.
Among them, the real identity of Zuo Zheng, deputy commander of the Third Independent Regiment of the New Fifth Army, was a comrade from our side who had infiltrated the New Fifth Army and was a subordinate of Xing Zhaotang.
One of the conditions Sun Dianying offered to the Japanese was that the remainder of the New Fifth Army would not participate in the war in the Changzhi area. Kawamoto Ichiro readily agreed, and then sent a puppet army to send the New Fifth Army to Xinxiang for "rest and recuperation."
On the way, Zuo Zheng secretly contacted our comrades lurking within the New Fifth Army, and broke away from the large army while the puppet troops in custody were not paying attention.
This group of people was going to Pingshun to join the Eighth Route Army, but they happened to meet Yang Han and others.
"Master, if we send troops, should we contact the Thirteenth Army in advance to prepare for a pincer attack on the Japanese army?" Yang Han asked.
"No, let's not talk about whether the Thirteenth Army will give this opportunity. If something happens, don't get us into trouble!" Zhou Weihan knew clearly that as long as the Thirteenth Army reinforces it early, the situation will not change.
This is a passive situation until now.
On that day, in accordance with Zhou Weihan's order, the 280th Regiment deployed from Lingchuan, and the 279th Regiment deployed adjacent to it from Huguan. The two regiments were more than ten miles apart from the north and south, and they headed west together to attack the small Japanese and puppet troops on the advance route.
Encirclement and suppression.
Xing Zhaotang led the newly reorganized independent regiment and accompanied Zhou Weihan in the rear.
The main force of the Japanese army is mainly concentrated on the west side, fighting fiercely with the Thirteenth Army. Only a small group of troops is staring at the east side.
Now Zhou Weihan brazenly marched westward with nearly 5,000 troops in two regiments, showing an overwhelming posture. The pressure suddenly fell on the fighting Japanese troops.
Japanese frontline headquarters.
"Sir, the intelligence department has found out that there are two groups of invading enemies. One of them is the 280th Regiment of the 94th Division of the Central Army that fought with our department yesterday, and the other is from Pingshun, the Tainan Military District of the Eighth Route Army.
One unit, the internal designation of the National Army is the 279th Regiment of the Ninety-Fourth Division. The Eighth Route Army personnel left behind in Pingshun were bluffing, and the intelligence department just learned the news in Pingshun County!" reported the adjutant Hui on the side.
"Yo Xi, it seems that this 279th Regiment is most likely an old rival of the division!" Ichiro Kawamoto seemed to have remembered something.
"Kawamoto-kun, although our troops won victory in Lingchuan, they were blocked by the Thirteenth Army in front of us. However, the Eighth Route Army was approaching step by step. The front of its marching route was Lingchuan County. If Lingchuan County is lost again,
Our unit will be cut off from its retreat, and the current situation is very unfavorable to our unit!"
"The imperial troops starting from Handan have already arrived in Licheng. There is a high probability that they will arrive in Changzhi tomorrow and can launch an offensive against Changzhi. Since our initial strategic goal has been achieved, why not temporarily withdraw our troops and retreat to Lingchuan
, at the same time, it can contain the Thirteenth Army, and wait for the opportunity to make a surprise attack!" Compared with the other puppet army officers who had nothing to lose, Zhang Lanfeng had something in his stomach, and his words had weight, so Kawamoto Ichiro immediately ordered the attacking troops.
retreat.
Facing the sudden retreat of the Japanese and puppet troops, the soldiers of the 89th Division at the forefront of the battle took a rare breath of relief.
The puppet troops of Zhang Lanfeng's two regiments were quite powerful in combat. They did not need Japanese troops to supervise the battle, so they took the lead bravely. The equipment they used was almost the same as that of the Central Army troops, including heavy machine guns, mortars, and even a Jin soldier who accompanied the army.
Orogenic battery.
It was daytime at this time, there were a large number of Japanese and puppet troops on the ground, and there were also aircraft in the sky to assist in operations. The 89th Division at the forefront suffered heavy losses.