Changzhi is an important town in the hinterland of Shangdang. It was turned into a piece of iron by Fan Hanjie. Before attacking the city, the Japanese army launched an attack from the west and north, leaving the east and south sides empty. One of the reasons was that they waited for the 27th Army to abandon the city and escape.
, the Japanese army hoped to defeat the national army in the Changzhi area from the front through field battles.
Unexpectedly, Fan Hanjie made up his mind to hold on in Changzhi. As a result, both sides involved in the war suffered a lot of casualties.
Under the cover of night, several scattered small units of the Japanese army were distributed in the eastern suburbs of Changzhi. First, they kept an eye on the movements of the national troops in the city, while searching for strong men. Second, they monitored the movements of the Thirteenth Army in Huguan, which borders this place in the southeast.
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Eastern suburbs of Changzhi, Liujiahe Village.
A small-scale battle had just occurred here, and the bodies of more than a dozen little devils were left in the village.
"Company Commander, the folks have been evacuated, let's evacuate too!" a soldier from the reconnaissance company reported.
After the main force arrived in Pingshun, the reconnaissance company was sent by Zhou Weihan to the suburbs of Changzhi to investigate Japanese troop movements.
Although the people around the battlefield were ordered to evacuate in advance by Fan Hanjie, the little devils still sent people to capture the strong men from a distance in order to fill in the huge trench outside the city.
Despite the advance warning from the reconnaissance company, more than four strong men were kidnapped from several nearby villages.
Dong Jiang nodded when he heard this. The little devil also realized that a capable armed force was active in the eastern suburbs, but he had not yet determined which side it belonged to. However, the little devil had sent additional troops to this area in the past two days.
The purpose of this reconnaissance company was not to fight the Japanese army. Dong Jiang did not want to take the initiative to take the initiative. Just when Dong Jiang was about to give an order, in the corner of the corner not far away, the radio station hidden in the dark began to tick.
Soon after, the telegraph operator stood up and strode towards Dong Jiang: "Company commander, the second team is calling urgently!"
After Dong Jiang read the telegram, a smile appeared on his face: "Sure enough, the detachment leader guessed it right. The kid in Changzhi has moved after all!"
The reconnaissance company is divided into three teams, each team carries a radio station, and is active in the eastern suburbs in a triangle shape. The small team led by Dong Jiang happens to be on the easternmost side.
This partial division of the Japanese army first passed through the middle troops of the Third Squadron on the north side and the Second Squadron on the south side. Soon it would pass through the middle troops of the Second Squadron and the Small Squadron led by Dong Jiang, and then arrive at the border area between the southeastern suburbs of Changzhi and Huguan.
"Immediately send a message to the headquarters and tell them that the Japanese army will dispatch at least one brigade of troops in Changzhi, without heavy artillery accompanying them. Our reconnaissance company is determined to investigate in succession!"
"Send a report to the second squad at the same time. Don't participate in the battle during the investigation. The third squad will continue to investigate the movements of the Japanese troops in Changzhi!" Dong Jiang said to the telegraph operator.
After Dong Jiang finished speaking, he turned to look at the soldiers who had assembled. He saw that the soldiers were still holding captured weapons and equipment: "What are you doing with these cumbersome things? Replenish the ammunition and throw away the rest!"
If you hadn't thought about taking the captured weapons and equipment to the logistics department to exchange for supplies, the first thing to be thrown away were the two crooked handles and three grenades used by the little devils. The reconnaissance company soldiers all used Czech and 60
Mortars, I really look down on these little devils’ equipment.
The words are divided into two parts.
After Zhou Weihan received the telegram from the reconnaissance company, he immediately ordered his troops to assemble quickly in the south of the city and simultaneously sent warning telegrams to Fan Hanjie and Xu Dali.
The artillery battalion is stationed in the city, and the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 29th regiments are stationed outside the city. All officers and soldiers have always maintained combat readiness, and the assembly speed is very fast.
Just before departure, the reconnaissance company sent another telegram: The Japanese army had arrived at the border area between Huguan and Changzhi.
After reading the telegram, Zhao Gang couldn't help but said: "This partial division of the Japanese army is moving very quickly. It seems that it will pass through the defense area of the New 1st Division of the 13th Army soon. We have no time!"
Zhou Weihan was also a little unsure at this time. In his expectation, the battlefield was best in the Lingchuan area. Once a battle broke out, there would be no chance for the Japanese troops in the Changzhi area to reinforce.
"The Japanese army moved south west of Huguan, and we moved south in the middle of Huguan. We should hurry up and reach the outside of Lingchuan County in about time!" Zhou Weihan said.
That night, the Japanese army passed through the junction of the defense area of the 47th Army of the Sichuan Army and the defense area of the New 1st Division of the 13th Army in Huguan in the southern suburbs of Changzhi.
It had long been expected that the Japanese army would reinforce Lingchuan, and Zhou Weihan had sent an early warning telegram in advance.
The two national army units involved both intended to reduce their strength, and more than 1,500 Japanese troops passed through the junction of the two armies quietly.
Along the way, the little Japanese commander also mocked the Chinese army as a bunch of losers, but little did they know that shortly after they passed, the two armies immediately began to encircle them and organized their forces to advance towards Lingchuan.
Judging from the overall situation of the battle, the battlefield with Lingchuan County as the core contains eight regiments of the 13th Army, two regiments of the 94th Division, and an independent regiment of the New Fifth Army, a total of 11 regiments.
At the same time, a lone Japanese force with little knowledge of depth came in for reinforcements.
On the periphery, three regiments of the 178th Division of the 47th Army advanced from the west to the east, and two regiments of the New First Division were in the middle, pursuing silently from north to south. Zhou Weihan personally led four regiments on the east side, forming a three-sided
Encirclement.
From the perspective of strength analysis, the Central Army has the highest strength, with ten direct regiments, the Eighth Route Army has seven regiments, and the Sichuan Army has only three regiments, ranking last in strength.
There were more than 6,000 Japanese and puppet troops in the Japanese city, plus more than 1,500 reinforcements from the Kwantung Army.
The above is just the strength on paper. Both sides participating in the war in the Lingchuan area suffered many battle losses.
Outside Lingchuan City, even late at night, the fighting continued to put pressure on the Japanese army.
Inside the city, the Japanese military headquarters.
Ichiro Kawamoto stood in front of the map, thinking about the battlefield situation in front of him.
"Zhang Jun, the imperial army reinforcements from Changzhi will arrive outside Lingchuan City at dawn today as expected. The enemy troops outside the city should not know about it. Give the soldiers a meal and they will be able to fight with you by then.
The reinforcements should cooperate inside and outside to defeat the enemy forces outside the city in one fell swoop!" Ichiro Kawamoto said in a deep voice.
"Kawamoto-kun, from which direction should our troops leave the city?" Zhang Lanfeng asked.
"To the west of the city, in the direction of the 89th Division, fight the 89th Division first, and then sweep eastwards across the 110th Division and the Eighth Route Army troops in the east of the city!"
"Hey, I'm going to get ready!"
Choosing to stand firm in Lingchuan was not a wrong decision in Kawamoto Ichiro's opinion, although it was slightly conservative compared with the Japanese army's previous style.
Kawamoto Ichiro's troops did not even lack the strength to break out of the siege. The siege troops even adopted the strategy of encircling three and missing one, leaving the southern part of the city free, but the Japanese army was huddled in the city.
In the final analysis, Ichiro Kawamoto was unwilling to contribute to Yukio Imada's achievements, but what Ichiro Kawamoto did not expect was that the besieging National Army and the Eighth Route Army troops unexpectedly launched an attack regardless of casualties.
Although there was no heavy artillery to coordinate the operation, within a few days, even the Japanese and puppet troops defending the city suffered nearly a thousand casualties, not to mention the siege troops.
