It was a late July night in 1942, the heat was unbearable, and there was a heavy earthy smell in the air.
Hengling Pass was once the front line of the confrontation between China and Japan, but as the Chinese army regained lost ground in Zhongtiao Mountain and expanded the defense zone to the north, Hengling Pass also lost its role as a pass.
Stationed here is part of the 9th Army of the National Army, which consists of the 47th Division, the 54th Division and the newly formed 24th Division. It was originally affiliated to the 14th Group Army, but since the transfer of the Chief of Guards, Li Mo'an has reduced the number of troops.
Due to the strength of the Fourteenth Army, the Ninth Army was placed under the direct control of the theater.
The entire Zhongtiao Mountain generally runs in an east-west direction, and the national army's defense here is also very particular. If the defense is deployed from east to west along the mountain range, like a long snake formation, the garrison troops will not be able to look at each other from east to west because of the long defense area. In fact,
This is a taboo for military strategists.
Therefore, before the Chief of Guard left office, he determined the overall defense plan. The entire Zhongtiao Mountain area generally showed three major defense areas: west, middle, and east. Each large defense area was divided into several small defense areas running east-west.
Starting from Yongji County in the far west of Zhongtiao Mountain and ending at Pinglu County, north of the Maojin Ferry line, including Yuncheng, an important town on the Tongpu Line, as well as Wenxi, Xiaxian, Wanquan and other places as barriers, it is directly connected by the Chief Wei
Liu Maoen's 14th Army and Kong Lingxun's 80th Army were stationed.
The national army of this unit has important responsibilities. It not only needs to resist the Japanese troops moving south from Linfen along the Tongpu Railway, but also needs to hold on to Fenglingdu, an important ferry connecting Shaanxi Province, which is the core area of confrontation between the enemy and us.
According to the wishes of the chief of defense, part of the first theater south of the Yellow River should be mobilized to go north for support to fill the gap in military strength caused by the expansion of the defense zone.
However, the old man transferred the guard officer because he suspected that he had a self-respecting army. After Li Mo'an took office, not only did he not increase the number of troops, but he transferred the 9th Army that was stationed in the west from the west to the central part.
The central part is north of the line from Pinglu to Yuanqu County, with Hengling Pass in the central part as the hub, echoing from the north to the south, and is garrisoned by Zeng Wanzhong's 5th Army and Pei Changhui's 9th Army.
The east is north of the line from Yuanqu County to Wen County, including Jiyuan, Yangcheng and other places in the north, as well as the important town of Qinyang at the end of the Dao-Qing Railway. Stationed here is Sun Tongxuan's 3rd Army.
Strategically speaking, the National Army in the Zhongtiao Mountain area occupies a terrain advantage, and the National Army in the east and west can cut off the Japanese offensive railway lines at any time.
However, due to the complex and changeable terrain in the Zhongtiao Mountain area, although there were three group armies and two armies, the connections between the various departments were loose.
It was night, and the national troops at Hengling Pass were not stationed collectively in the sweltering barracks. Instead, with the tacit approval of the officers, more than half of the soldiers took turns to rest.
Although the local villages are some distance away from Hengling Pass, they are a good place for officers and soldiers to have fun. In every village, there are officers or wealthy families who provide places for soldiers to have fun.
"Come on, come on, damn it, we brothers need to drink to their heart's content. Why are the officials in the rear enjoying the hot drinks, while we brothers have to suffer here? After drinking, we can go to the brothel for a walk.
lock up."
"Company Commander, it's easy for you to say that. We don't have the reputation like you to get credit from Adjutant Wu's brothel. Brothers don't have much money a month, but they all spend it on women!"
As soon as these words came out, several people present nodded their heads. They must have wanted to sleep on the woman's bed, but they were short of money, so they started to make a fuss here one by one.
The leading company commander immediately showed dissatisfaction and slapped his wine bowl on the table: "Damn it, we brothers are here to cheer him up to give him face. No matter how capable Wu Shuzhong is, he will have to reciprocate when he reaches Hengling Pass."
How much respect do we have, otherwise he can still make money from our pockets?"
Wu Shuzhong was the adjutant of the regiment and ran several businesses in Xigou Village near Hengling Pass, but he was not the only one in the vicinity of Hengling Pass.
If you really offend this group of soldiers, although you don't dare to ruin your livelihood, you can switch to his family.
When it comes to business methods, this group of national army officers have figured out a way to do it. The western part is based on the Yuncheng Basin, which is rich in products and sufficient for self-sufficiency. In addition, they can rely on copper mines and trade with the Eighth Route Army to make a lot of money.
The national army in the east could exchange supplies with the 24th Group Army of Fan Hanjie in the Changzhi area in the north, and could also trade with merchants in the Japanese defense zone in the east. Life was also enjoyable.
Only the National Army in the central part had the most miserable life, although from a location perspective, the National Army in the central part was the safest, with friendly forces on the east and west sides, and troops from the Taiyue Military Region of the Eighth Route Army to the north.
However, the national army of this unit is stuck in the core mountainous area of Zhongtiao Mountain, and the land is barren. On the one hand, it needs to rely on the rear to allocate money and food. On the other hand, it has the Taiyue Military Region of the Eighth Route Army to the north. The two sides are sometimes at war with each other, and sometimes the relationship is relaxed.
This also led to the officers of the central army to make money from the soldiers in various ways, and at the same time squeezed the local people even more harshly, causing the people to suffer unspeakably.
In contrast, the lives of middle- and high-level officers are quite different. Division and regiment headquarters are generally located in various counties or wealthy towns.
Since the Japanese army has shown decline in North China, Zhongtiao Mountain has been at peace for a long time, and Li Mo'an only has the intention to defend the country and has no intention of making progress, the military discipline of the various ministries is very loose, and generals at the general level are even stationed in Luoyang instead of on the front line.
.
That night, a combat meeting was being held in the First War Zone. In order to promote joint operations, Hu Zhongnan arrived in Luoyang in person.
From an organizational point of view, the 34th Group Army also belongs to the battle order of the first theater. Hu Zhongnan and Li Mo'an are both alumni of the first phase of Huangpu, but in fact, both of them are quite bored.
However, Hu Zongnan was the only one in Shaanxi Province and only listened to the orders of the old man. Even though Li Mo'an was the acting commander-in-chief of the first theater, he could not be transferred.
Hu Zongnan was promoted the fastest among his first-year students in Huangpu. It was not until he was promoted to the commander of the group army that he was gradually overtaken by others. However, now Li Mo'an has hugged Chen Cheng's lap. It just so happened that the old man was dissatisfied with the chief of Wei, so he succeeded in taking the position.
He surpassed Hu Zhongnan in one fell swoop.
"Brother Shoushan, since we have the principal's instructions, please rest assured that as long as the Japanese army intends to cross the river, our troops will block their way out!" Li Mo'an said in a loud voice, as if to guarantee that he would give his full support.
Hu Zhongnan was quite impatient when he heard this. He had been hearing the same talk tonight for two nights, but he didn't see any real action from Li Mo'an.
Because the old man did not give formal orders, Li Mo'an naturally wanted to shirk, and would not help Hu Zongnan share the pressure until the critical moment.
Although the two national armies are not incompatible, it is common for them to hold each other back. In the past, Hu Zhongnan could watch the fire from the other side, but now Li Mo'an can naturally do the same.
