Xiaohuangji is located along the old route of the Yellow River in Caoxian County. This place is located at the junction of Caoxian County and Chengwu. The former Hebei-Shandong-Henan base area built a defense line along the old route of the Yellow River. There are hundreds of large and small strongholds and bunkers in Caoxian County alone.
These fortifications were constructed of large blocks of stone and played a significant role when the Japanese army attacked the base areas. The troops of the Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese army based on the fortifications along the line.
In the second half of 1942, as the Southwest Shandong Army Division fully occupied Cao County and developed towards Shan County and Yucheng areas, the Japanese troops continued to retreat and gathered their forces along the Longhai Railway.
The commander of the 35th Division, Harada Xiongyoshi, knew very well that the Eighth Route Army in the Hebei, Shandong and Henan regions had an organic artillery unit, and that the original masonry strongholds and artillery towers could no longer effectively contain the Eighth Route Army.
In order to prevent the Eighth Route Army from further invading the Longhai Railway, large-scale civil construction was carried out on the railway line within the division's jurisdiction, and the stronghold towers were all built as permanent fortifications of reinforced concrete structures.
According to the design drawings, the thickness of the wall is two and a half meters. Before large-scale construction, the Japanese army conducted experiments with 105 and 150 caliber howitzers.
The 105-caliber howitzer only leaves a small crater on the wall using armor-piercing projectiles. Although the 150-caliber howitzer can cause considerable damage when hit head-on, it requires at least ten hits in the same area to destroy it.
Completely destroyed.
A group of Japanese officers and assistants of the 35th Division were very satisfied with the test results. The headquarters of the 35th Division was responsible for the construction along the Longhai Railway from west to east, from Yangwu, Kaifeng to Minquan, and from Minquan, Shangqiu to Dangshan.
It was built by the Fourth Independent Infantry Brigade, and from Dangshan to Xuzhou by the 21st Division.
The Japanese army's defense layout is extremely complete. There is a large stronghold at ten kilometers and a small stronghold at five kilometers. Each stronghold contains three to five gun towers and is surrounded by bunkers.
However, the distance from Yangwu to Xuzhou is nearly 400 kilometers, and the building materials required are astronomical. However, the important raw material production base is occupied by the Eighth Route Army. In order to ensure the safety of the railway line, the Japanese army is waiting for the deployment of large quantities of construction materials from Shanxi, Pingjin, and Shimen.
Building materials.
Although Zhou Weihan was not in the base area at that time, the Eighth Route Army had been closely penetrating the Japanese railways. Naturally, the Japanese army's major actions on the railway lines could not be hidden from the Eighth Route Army.
However, the base area was experiencing a drought at that time, and the Southwestern Shandong Military Division had just expanded its defense area and was in a stable stage. At that time, it was unable to go south to interrupt the Japanese army's deployment.
The person in charge of the section from Minquan to Dangshan is Kuroshima Morita, the chief of staff of the Fourth Independent Infantry Brigade. He is the younger brother of Isamu Terauchi and an old acquaintance of the Eighth Route Army.
During the construction of the stronghold, due to insufficient building materials, the original wall thickness of two and a half meters was changed to two meters. Even under such circumstances, through the active coordination of Kuroshima Morita and the cooperation of Sun Liangcheng, the building materials were sufficient
Half of it flowed into the Hebei, Shandong and Henan base areas.
Tan Lin's idea was very simple. The base area happened to implement the work-for-relief strategy, and there were already cement plants and steel mills in the Heze area, so a large number of people were mobilized to invest in the construction of the base area.
With Heze as the center, the He, Ding, Cheng, Dan and He, Ding, and Cao highways have been completed successively. At the same time, reinforced concrete fortifications have been built along the highways. However, in the vast towns and villages, there are still ditches and masonry structures.
Mainly structural works.
The combination of the two not only ensures smooth traffic within the base area, but also improves the defense system. This is also the reason why the 28th Group Army actively avoids highways on its advance route.
After Zhou Weihan returned to the base area, Tan Lin reported at the meeting that after the beginning of spring, a large number of people would continue to be mobilized to build roads north of Heze.
Xiaohuangji is an important township connecting Caoxian and Chengwu. It is also on the edge of the old Yellow River route. If a road is to be built in the future, it will inevitably pass through Xiaohuangji.
Once the 92nd Army captures Xiaohuangji, it will not only break through the defense line along the old Yellow River route, but will also be able to march from east to west to the two counties of Caoxian and Chengwu, and to the north directly to Dingtao.
The battlefield north of the old Yellow River route in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan base area is under the overall command of the deputy chief of staff. The first regiment directly under the military region is stationed in Xiaohuangji. In addition, there is the Caoxian Independent Regiment to the east of Caoxian County. To the southwest of Chengwu County, close to Xiaohuang
An independent urban military regiment was assembled to assist in defense.
In addition, in the area between the two highways leading to Dingtao, there are also two regiments transferred from the Third Teaching Brigade and the Seventh Teaching Brigade to build a second-line defense system.
After the establishment of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Column, Wuqin 14th Brigade and Li Yunlong 16th Brigade were basically fully staffed on the basis of their original staffing. Jingdagang 13th Brigade and Dingwei 15th Brigade each lacked one regiment of personnel. In order to replenish the column as quickly as possible, the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Branch
Strength, two are directly selected from the military region's key regiments to supplement.
At the same time, all the basic units of the military region were re-designated according to the region where they were located. The larger ones were like the Caoxian Independent Regiment, and the smaller ones were like the Zhencheng Independent Battalion or a certain guerrilla brigade.
Late that night, the 92nd Army stationed in Qingtiji suddenly sent a unit to attack Xiaohuangji. The gunfire was fierce and the sound of artillery was loud on the battlefield.
In Xiaohuang Group, Chi Fengnian, the commander of the first regiment directly under the military region, was directing the operation, and suddenly the phone of the headquarters rang.
"I am Zuo Quan!"
Chi Fengnian was shocked when he heard this and immediately replied: "Member of the Communist Party of China, I am Chi Fengnian!"
"What's your situation like?"
"The Chinese army is attacking our front-line river position, with a strength of about one regiment. However, this group of Chinese soldiers carries an established artillery battalion. The situation is now at a stalemate. I am worried that the Chinese army will choose other locations to break through!" Chi Fengnian said.
The deputy chief of staff chuckled. The military region had already made arrangements for this. According to the battle plan reported to the Eighth Route Army headquarters, the 92nd Army needed to cross the old route of the Yellow River as soon as possible.
"You don't need to worry about this. It's two o'clock in the morning. Your regiment needs to hold on for two hours and then evacuate towards Gaocheng. If the 92nd Army divides its forces and marches towards Chengwu, it should launch a flank attack in time. If the 92nd Army gathers its main force and approaches,
Dingtao, your regiment can take a detour to Xiaohuangji and cut off the retreat route of the national army!"
Chi Fengnian was stunned after hearing this. The 92nd Army has not yet fully deployed its troops. Even a large-scale attack will wait until daytime. The fight is going well now, how can we just withdraw like this?
"Comrades, if we just withdraw like this, wouldn't it open up a hole for the 92nd Army and let them take advantage in vain?"
"Whether we can take advantage is a matter of debate. The retreat mission must be strictly implemented and a reasonable retreat posture must be adopted!"
"I understand, and I promise to complete the mission!" Chi Fengnian hung up the phone after saying that. The political commissar looked at the other people in the headquarters and asked in a low voice: "Let us withdraw?"
"Well, you need to carefully consider how to retreat. It would be a bad thing if the national army bites you. In this way, you can lead the third battalion into the position north of Xiaohuangji. I will continue to lead people to hold here. When the retreat time comes, I will lead people
Retreat to Gaocheng, and after a brief blockade by the Third Battalion, retreat to the direction of Dingtao!"
As time passed, the 61st Regiment of the 21st Division of the 92nd Army clearly felt that the firepower of the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side was significantly reduced from the beginning of the battle, which made the Chinese army very happy.
Li Xianzhou's order to the 92nd Army was to launch a probing attack, but when the order reached the 92nd Army headquarters, it was passed on level by level, but it ended up taking Xiaohuangji before dawn.
To this end, the 21st Division strengthened the artillery battalion directly under the division to the offensive troops. Division Commander Nie Songxi came to take command in person. From the beginning of the battle, artillery shells fell one after another on the Eighth Route Army positions.
The 21st Division is the trump card of the 92nd Army. It is a direct descendant of the 800-strong Central Army. Li Xianzhou was appointed as the commander of the division at the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War. After the establishment of the 28th Group Army, Chiang Kai-shek equipped the 92nd Army with some American equipment, most of which were equipped with the 21st Division, and a few
Equipped to the 142nd Division.
"Commander, the gunfire from the Eighth Route Army opposite seems to have stopped!"
"It seems that it has really stopped? What is the Eighth Route Army doing?"
The sudden cessation of fighting made the Chinese army a little uncomfortable. After a few minutes, the 61st Regiment sent a squad to quietly reach the other side. Only then did they find that not only was the river defense position empty, but even the Eighth Route Army in Xiao Huang's group had disappeared without a trace.
.
Division Commander Nie Songxi immediately reported it to the military headquarters and dispatched the main force to quickly cross the river and occupy Xiaohuangji. However, his reconnaissance unit responsible for searching for traces of the Eighth Route Army later encountered the blocking Third Battalion in the northern area.