Chapter 789: Mobilization of Central Military Forces
In mid-July 1942, Xiyuan City was as prosperous as ever. The upper class was living and drinking, while the people at the bottom were still working hard to feed their families.
Originally, after the joint talks began, the Eighth Route Army had the intention to end the joint talks as soon as possible and thereby end the confrontation between the two sides. However, after understanding the intentions of the Central Army, the senior officials instead instructed the people in the base area to start a massive support movement.
Although no more soldiers were sent to the front line, the momentum became more and more massive, transporting ammunition and supplies, assisting in the construction of fortifications, and it was very lively.
In order to delay the discussion, Hu Zongnan would hold a cocktail party that night after the day's discussion, and Zhou Weihan and the brigade commander naturally became the focus of the reception, and would return drunk every night.
During the cocktail party, Zhou Weihan met his eldest brother, who rarely showed up during this period, and asked why he could not see anyone else during this period. Zhou Weiguo excused himself by saying that soldiers did not want to get involved in politics.
It was night, Zhou Weihan and the brigade commander had just finished a cocktail party and were driven to their residence by special car.
"Our superiors asked us to cooperate with Hu Zhongnan, but if we continue like this every day, our body will not be able to bear it!" After Zhou Weihan got off the car, he stood holding the corner of the wall for a while.
"Just go and be happy. If this were in the base area, would you be treated like big fish, meat and wine every day? In order to win you over, Hu Zongnan had to send two female spies to your bed!"
"I'm telling you, you have to tighten your belt, and you can't make any mistakes!" The brigade commander's situation was not much better than Zhou Weihan's.
Hu Zhongnan used his status as an old classmate to make out with the brigade commander, which made Zhou Weihan feel disgusted.
After entering the house, the monk got a basin of cold water to refresh the two of them, and then each lit a cigarette.
The brigade commander sat down on the bed and exclaimed: "Don't tell me, Hu Zhongnan's little trick works quite well. After I come back at night, I just want to lie in bed and I am not energetic all day long!"
"What do the comrades in the office say? I guess the Central Army is almost ready!"
The two of them were in Xijian, the base camp of the national army, and could not obtain information in a timely manner as before. They could only relay it through comrades in the Xijian office.
During the dinner, the brigade commander was so entangled that Zhou Weihan could only find a break to understand the situation with the comrades in the office.
"This time the national army is acting very closely. We have conducted multiple investigations and can only infer from some details whether the Central Army in various places has been mobilized, but we are not sure!" Zhou Weihan said with a frown.
"Oh? We are tight this time. The First Army is the main force of the Central Army participating in the war. It is impossible that it will not move at this time?" the brigade commander stood up and said.
"On the surface, the 167th Division and the 78th Division of the First Army that were confronting our army in Luochuan, Huangling, and Yijun have not been mobilized, but our people have been keeping an eye on Tuji Town. On July 10, they were stationed in
The first division here secretly went south at night!"
"But people are still coming and going during the day, and the supplies delivered every seven days are all delivered the day before yesterday!"
"The atmosphere that had been somewhat relaxed between the troops on both sides suddenly became tense again, which is enough to show that the Central Army has begun mobilizing troops!" Zhou Weihan said one after another.
"Good guy, Zhou Weiguo really has a lot of skills and is very thoughtful. Now I think it is possible to defeat the Japanese army in this battle!" The brigade commander suddenly became interested as he put out the cigarette in his hand.
In fact, Zhou Weiguo's arrangements were far more than that.
Zhou Weiguo knew very well that the Chinese army lost more than the Japanese army in battles. In addition to the differences in weapons and equipment and personnel quality, there was also a problem in the command and arrangement.
Often before the battle began, the Japanese army obtained the national army's battle plan, troop layout and even marching routes.
The Thirty-fourth Group Army currently has 8 corps, 19 divisions, 65 infantry regiments, as well as directly affiliated units at the corps and division levels, with nearly 170,000 combat troops.
The 1st Army, its 167th Division is located in Luochuan, the 78th Division is located in the Huangling Yijun area, and the 1st Division is located in the rear as a reserve force and military headquarters.
The 1st Preliminary Division, the 3rd Preliminary Division, and the 109th Division under the 16th Army were arranged to confront the Longdong Army Division of our Eighth Route Army in the Longdong area.
The temporary 58th Division of the New 12th Army, which was originally stationed at the border of Shaanxi and Gansu, coordinated with the Majia Army to confront troops from the trilateral military division of our Eighth Route Army.
In August 1940, the 24th, 25th, and 26th divisions of the New 7th Army, which was reorganized from the Peaceful Founding Army, were stationed in southern Guanzhong and did not participate in the military operation to blockade the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia base area.
The 36th Army has two temporary divisions, the 52nd and 59th, the 57th Army has the 8th Division, the 97th Division, and the newly formed 34th Division. The two armies are located along the Yellow River, one in the north and one in the south.
Among them, the defense area of the 36th Army borders the River Defense Force of the Eighth Route Army, while the 57th Army is stationed near Tongguan, across the river from Zhongtiao Mountain.
The 24th Division and the temporary 57th Division of the 76th Army are stationed in southern Shaanxi, and the 9th and 10th Divisions of the 3rd Cavalry Corps are mobile in the Guanzhong area.
In order to prevent the news from being leaked, Zhou Weiguo decided that only the generals participating in the war had the right to know the battle plan.
The 499th Regiment of the 167th Division was transferred, the 500th Regiment, and the 501st Regiment were transferred with half of their elites and heavy weapons to be reorganized into a secret rearrangement. Only the supplementary regiments were fully staffed in place. The situation of the 78th Division was the same, with half of the main force being transferred.
Because during the confrontation between the two sides, the local security corps was sent to the front line, and the Central Army was pressing behind. At this time, both sides had turned off their fire, so the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side did not know that the main force of the Central Army had been secretly transferred, and even the security corps also
He was ordered not to go out on the battlefield.
The orders given to the middle- and lower-level officers and soldiers were not to go to the front line to fight the Japs, but to support the 16th Army in Longdong.
During the march, the military headquarters strictly ordered all ministries to march at night on the grounds of secret march. Soldiers who left the team without permission were shot on the spot.
At the same time, the main force of the 24th Division of the 76th Army stationed in southern Shaanxi carried artillery troops and secretly headed northward in the name of reinforcements. In fact, they headed northward to Guanzhong to join the First Army.
The New 7th Army stationed in Guanzhong was established relatively late. Zhou Weiguo was dissatisfied with the combat effectiveness of the New 7th Army, so he transferred the main force of the temporary 24th Division to Longdong, and the main force of the temporary 25th Division was stationed in Weinan to take on the task of defending Xijian.
All told, Zhou Weiguo now had 12 infantry regiments on hand, not counting the 10th Cavalry Division in Huayin, and the 36th Army and 57th Army along the Yellow River.
There were always Japanese lurking personnel in various departments of the Central Army, but the moles lurking inside the National Army did not receive specific orders. They just thought that the Central Army was really heading north to fight the Eighth Route Army.
After Yoshio Iwamatsu and other Japanese generals learned of this information, they even wavered in their plan to attack Nakatiao Mountain. However, the following news made the little Japanese firm in their thoughts and even felt that the mobilization of the national army's troops was too absurd.