Heze is located in the hinterland of the Hebei, Shandong and Henan regions. It is also an important town for the Japanese army, but its importance cannot be compared with Changzhi.
This can be seen from the Japanese garrison in Heze alone. According to intelligence from the enemy's engineering department, there are at most a hundred Japanese troops stationed in Heze City. The main force maintaining law and order on weekdays is the city's garrison.
In fact, the Japanese troops in Heze City included the headquarters of the 30th Independent Infantry Brigade, the infantry artillery squad, the machine gun squad, and the infantry squad.
[To be honest, I have been using Yeguoyuedu to read and catch up on books recently. I can switch sources and read aloud with many sounds. Yeguoyuedu is available for Android and Apple.]
There is also a baggage team and two infantry squads scattered in various towns and traffic arteries. In addition, Zhencheng, Dingtao, and Caoxian each have a squadron of Japanese troops.
In addition, the Japanese troops in various places also need to focus their forces in the peripheral areas south of Heze, Dingtao, and west of Caoxian County that confront the Southwest Shandong Army Division.
There were five or six Japanese troops in each township within the occupied area. Some large strongholds mostly had only two or three Japanese troops, and many more were purely puppet military strongholds.
This situation resulted in the Japanese army's blockade of various areas in southwestern Shandong and its dominance could not be compared with the Japanese-occupied areas in the Three Jin Dynasties.
Shuangmiao Village is located east of Shatu Town in Heze and north of the highway line, where troops from the New Third Brigade are gathering.
After receiving the telegram, Brigadier Han called over the main cadres of the New Third Brigade. In addition to the political commissar, they were mainly the commanders of the Seventh and Eighth Regiments and several battalion commanders.
"Comrades, according to the latest order from ** Zhou, our troops will immediately launch an offensive on Heze, and the assists will become the main attack. The more intense the offensive, the better!"
As soon as Brigadier Han finished speaking, everyone present immediately exploded.
"What? Brigadier, aren't we helping our brother troops in the southwestern Shandong Army Division? Why did we suddenly become the main attacker?" asked Long Shixing, leader of the Eighth Regiment.
"Yes, brigade commander, although we successfully arrived in Heze along the way and were not discovered by the Japanese army, this does not mean that we can attack Heze City with great fanfare!"
"Once we take action, the surrounding Japanese and puppet troops will inevitably swarm in, and it is inevitable that we will be surrounded by enemies on all sides!" said Yu Keqin, leader of the 7th Regiment.
Brigadier Han looked at everyone talking, and immediately said with a fierce face: "Okay, shut the hell up, I am conveying an order to you, there is no room for bargaining!"
According to the original plan, the New Third Brigade only needed to make some noise in the suburbs outside Heze to attract the local Japanese troops, and did not need to bear too much combat pressure.
Everyone was immediately silenced by Brigadier Han. Political Commissar Tan smiled upon seeing this and calmed the atmosphere: "Not long ago, the Eighth Route Army Headquarters and the Military Commission issued the latest instructions. Zhou ** conveyed them on his behalf and served as the commander-in-chief of the war against Japan.
Command, our New Third Brigade is one of the siege forces, and the independent regiment of the Southwest Shandong Military Division and two artillery companies are on their way!"
"Comrades, if we can successfully capture Heze and the surrounding areas this time, it will be of great benefit to our Liangshan Military Division!"
"Okay, let's get down to business!" Brigadier Han pointed at the map he spread out and said, "The distance from Shatu Town where we are currently to Heze City is only about fifty miles. At our marching speed, we can get there in half a day!"
"But the further west we go, the more Japanese and puppet troops stationed along the way, and the tighter the joint defense of each village. I'm afraid I won't be able to reach Heze City before being discovered by local traitors!"
"As Comrade Keqin said, it is not terrible that the Japanese and puppet troops from all over the country are swarming. I am afraid that these Japanese and puppet troops will get the order and all gather in Heze City. But it will be difficult for us to attack the city at that time!" Brigadier Han continued.
said.
"Brigadier, what should we do?"
"What should we do? There is only one way to use our advantages and rush directly to the west without giving the Japanese troops time to react!"
...
Even as Xin Tiebing led the independent regiment to quietly and cautiously advance toward Heze in the north, the battle to the east of Heze took the lead.
More than 4,000 troops of the New Third Brigade showed up in Shatu Town with great fanfare. Then the Seventh Regiment and the brigade were the vanguard, and the Eighth Regiment was divided into two parts to occupy the flanks.
They attacked and charged all the way to the west, sweeping the area east of the river.
Such a large number of Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared in the Japanese-occupied areas. Everyone in the Japanese strongholds along the way was in danger. The security teams in each village also stopped and disappeared without a trace.
Fortunately, the current intention of the New Third Brigade was not to attack the Japanese strongholds along the way, but to rush to Heze City first. Except for the Japanese and puppet troops who took the initiative to fight, the rest of the Japanese and puppet troops huddled in the strongholds were lucky.
Saved a life.
"Platoon commander, Eighth Route Army, Eighth Route Army!" In a stronghold along the way, a puppet soldier on the gun tower pointed into the distance and shouted.
The puppet platoon leader, who was drinking a small drink in the artillery building, felt very uncomfortable. When he heard the greetings from his subordinates, he immediately cursed: "Damn it, I really saw the devil. Can the guerrillas of the Eighth Route Army come to our place?"
"This is the credit that came to my door. Everyone on guard, cheer me up, kill a few Tubal, and ask for credit from the Japanese after the war!" the puppet platoon leader shouted.
"Platoon commander, something is wrong. Can you come up and have a look?" The puppet soldier on the top of the turret jumped up and down the stairs and shouted.
When the puppet platoon leader arrived on the top of the gun tower, he saw that under the pitch-black night, although the view was not very good, he could clearly feel a large group of figures passing by not far from the gun tower.
The puppet platoon leader took off his mask in a panic, and his forehead was covered with white sweat: "Squat down, squat down, there are at least four to five hundred Eighth Route Army soldiers here!"
"Quickly, call the Eighth Route Army in Shatuji and ask for reinforcements!"
In Heze City, the Japanese military headquarters.
In the office of Ichiro Tōgen, the captain of the 30th Independent Infantry Brigade, the phone calls kept ringing.
"Moxi moxi!"
"Sir, Shatuji has discovered a large group of Eighth Route Army troops, numbering more than 500 people. It is suspected that the main force of the Eighth Route Army is marching to the west!" Xiaojiizihui reported on the other end of the phone.
"Nani? Eighth Route Army?" Tengyuan Ichiro was shocked when he heard this.
"Hi, yes, it is indeed the Eighth Route Army?"
"Immediately send out a reconnaissance team to investigate and find out the intentions of this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers!"
"Hi!"
Just as Toyuan Ichiro hung up the phone, unexpectedly the phone rang again.
"Sir, this is Anxing Town. The security team of Fengmiao Village has sent people to report that the Eighth Route Army has passed through south of Anxing Town. The number is at least a thousand!"
"Baga, how is this possible?" Tengyuan Ichiro was furious when he heard this: "Don't you all report to me without checking the information?"
"If the Eighth Route Army mentioned by the Chinese people who came to report really exists, why was your Anxing town not attacked?"
"Hey, sir, the Eighth Route Army is most likely coming towards Heze County!"