Kenanpo, Ji County, Shanxi Province, Headquarters of the Second War Zone.
"It's a swordsman!" Commander Yan, who always pays attention to his image in front of his subordinates, rarely cursed. The reason is that Yan Laoxi deeply feels that the authority of the Second War Zone Chief's Department is in name only, and the people below him are disobedient.
The jurisdiction of the Second War Zone Chief's Department has been changed many times. At its peak, it had jurisdiction over the three provinces of Shanxi, Suzhou, Chazhou and northeastern Shaanxi, but now only the entire Shanxi province remains.
Even so, the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi, the Central Army in the Changjin area, and the Zhongtiao Mountains should obey the orders of the Second War Zone Commander's Department, but now each army is following its own orders, without paying any attention to the Second War Zone Commander's Department.
inside.
Former Yan Laoxi called the Eighth Route Army in the name of the Chief's Department. Although the reply from the Eighth Route Army headquarters was tactful, the meaning was self-evident. We, the Eighth Route Army, are fighting our own battles. You, Chief Yan, don't interfere.
Unwilling to continue sending reports to the Central Army, Yan Laoxi formulated a combat plan. The Shanxi-Sui Army moved south from Ji County to attack Hejin, Jishan, and Jiangxian County, and at the same time asked the Central Army to attack Wanrong north of Yuncheng. Wenxi.
Yan Laoxi's abacus was very clear, and the combat plan was very targeted, but the Central Army did not buy it. The area involved was adjacent to western Shanxi where the Jinsui Army was located, and belonged to the area north of the Yuncheng Basin, and the Central Army
The Ninth Army's Zhong Xinsheng Department and Cun Xingqi Department fought guerrilla attacks in Zhongtiao Mountain, east of Yuncheng.
Stationed in the Yuncheng area are the Japanese 69th Division and a large number of puppet troops. Once the two national armies join forces to capture part of the area north of Yuncheng, the Japanese army's communication channels will be cut off, making the Japanese 69th Division and puppet troops a lone force.
The World War II District Governor's Office and the Taiyuan Appeasement Office are one agency with two brands, and the seal of the Taiyuan Appeasement Office is used internally.
In the war room, the original Thirteen Taibos of the Jin-Sui Army were left with Yang Chengyuan, Wang Jingguo, Zhao Chengshou, Sun Chu, and Liang Peihuang. They had lost the nourishment of power, and Yan Laoxi seemed to be getting more and more senile.
"Commander-in-Chief, according to the latest intelligence, troops from the Taiyue Military Region of the Eighth Route Army have already marched towards Linfen and the southern section of the Tongpu Railway. Although the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army have their own combat plans, our army also has room to play!"
Yang Aiyuan stood in front of the map, drawing the wooden pole in his hand along the entire Tongpu Line: "There are wars everywhere along the Tongpu Railway, and the Japanese army has no time to look elsewhere. This is a good opportunity for our army to make progress!"
"Although the Central Army is unwilling to join forces with our army, according to current intelligence analysis in the area, the national army in the Shangdang area is also unwilling to miss the opportunity and has the intention to move south to invade Hanoi!"
"There are two ways for our army to counterattack. One is to go south from Xingxian and Xiangning according to the original plan and launch attacks on Hejin, Jishan and other places. The Japanese army on the northern line is pinned down by the Eighth Route Army and will not be able to reinforce it. Our army only needs to deal with
The national army in Yuncheng area!"
"Second, send troops from Jiaokou County and launch an attack northward against Xiaoyi and Fenyang around Luliang Mountain. However, the main force of the Japanese army is on the northern front, so the danger is greatly increased!"
After Yang Aiyuan finished speaking, everyone present turned their attention to Yan Laoxi. In the end, it was Yan Laoxi himself who could make the final decision.
It's just that Yan Laoxi was worried about two things at this time. Seeing the decline of the Japanese army, he was complacent and wanted to regain the lost territory, but he was also worried about the Japanese settling accounts in the future.
After the joint operation with the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army failed, Yan Laoxi thought that the Shanxi-Sui Army was weak, so he changed his mind and wanted to continue to wait and see the situation, but his generals used all their strength to encourage him to send troops.
"Ahem!" Yan Laoxi coughed slightly, and then began to complain: "Old man, of course I don't want to miss this opportunity, but the current financial situation is difficult, the officers and soldiers are not paid, and the weapons and ammunition reserves are insufficient, alas!"
There are 105 counties in Shanxi, but the Shanxi-Sui Army only has 7 complete counties in western Shanxi, including Ji County, Xiangning, and Xi County, and 16 incomplete counties.
Western Shanxi has always been a barren land with many mountains and little land. The seven complete counties controlled by the Shanxi-Sui Army have a poor population of only 530,000, and including other areas, the total is only 910,000.
Even if the policy of integrating military and peasantry is implemented, it is not easy for the Shanxi-Sui Army to persist. Although the National Government has given the designations of four group armies, eight armies, and twenty-four divisions, the actual financial allocation is less than 40%.
one.
After Chu Yunfei openly broke away from the Shanxi-Sui Army establishment, Yan Laoxi established a military reorganization committee and made up his mind to reorganize the army. Then he organized the 50,000 troops in western Shanxi into 10 temporary divisions and 4 artillery regiments.
On the surface, Yan Laoxi still has strong strength in his hands, but he himself is always reluctant to play cards. It is hard to say how much combat effectiveness the Jinsui Army can still have.
Hearing this, Yang Aiyuan and Wang Jingguo looked at each other with helpless expressions in their eyes. They had good words to say, but Chief Yan was really frightened by the Japanese, and finally Sun Chu stepped forward.
Although Sun Chu was one of the Thirteen Taibao, he was never trusted by Yan Laoxi and could not really take charge of the military. He only acted as a senior staff member.
Sun Chu knew what Yan Laoxi was taboo about, and pointed directly to the point: "Commander-in-Chief, our army's immobility will not hinder much, but the Yuncheng Basin is the essence of our Shanxi Province, and it is a major population and grain-producing area!"
"The first war zone south of Hu Zong in Shaanxi and south of the Yellow River may not be reconciled to the previous defeat in southern Shanxi. Once the Central Army takes military action, Yuncheng may..."
Yan Laoxi's face changed greatly when he heard this. He was obviously hurt, and he immediately changed his tone: "Send troops, and we must do our best to capture Yuncheng!"
The conversation was divided into two parts. Zhou Weihan and others held a combat meeting in Shangqiu from day to night, but the reconnaissance company brought unexpected information.
Although Isamu Terauchi served as an internal response, and the brother troops in northern Jiangsu and Huaibei provided information on Japanese troop movements, Zhou Weihan still asked the reconnaissance company to conduct reconnaissance in the direction of Xuzhou.
"You mean, the Japanese 14th, 57th, Guards and other divisions are all gathered in Xuzhou?" Zhou Weihan said in surprise.
Cao Dabao, who rushed back after a long journey, continued: "Yes, the main force of the 57th Division has already approached Dangshan yesterday, and the tank brigade marched westward from Xuzhou during the day today. At that time, I happened to be in the process of marching the Japanese tank troops!
"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "The Japanese army has at least about 150 tanks, and is also equipped with a large number of trucks and a considerable number of artillery. I clearly saw a 105-caliber howitzer in the marching column.
!”
Cao Dabao, a porter dressed as a porter, happened to be resting in a teahouse. Unexpectedly, he bumped into a Japanese tank troop dispatched.
Zhou Weihan frowned when he heard this. The Japanese army bizarrely deployed all its troops in Xuzhou. Not only that, the organization of the chariot troops was quite different from what Isamu Terauchi provided.
"I think the Japanese army wants to concentrate all its forces on the Longhai line. This will put our army in a very unfavorable situation!" Zhao Bingzhang said.
Excluding the 21st Division that originally defended the Xuzhou area, the Japanese army still had three infantry divisions and one tank brigade, with a total strength of about 70,000.
In terms of military strength alone, the Japanese army was more powerful than the Li Xianzhou 28th Group Army, and the two attacks on the Hebei, Shandong and Henan base areas were not comparable.
Li Xianzhou's troops were operating between the territory of the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese army. As a result, although there were more than 50,000 troops, the space they could exert was limited and they were hampered everywhere. However, this time the Japanese army had no scruples and could push forward all the way.
"If the Japanese army insists on annihilating the main force of our army, regardless of the life and death of the Japanese army in other areas, and no matter how our army mobilizes, it will not be defeated, then the difficulty of this battle will be greatly increased!"
Zhou Weihan fully agreed with this, and of course there were no countermeasures. The reason why the Third Teaching Brigade and the Seventh Teaching Brigade ceased fighting was to have more means to deal with the Japanese army.
Zhou Weihan said: "Give power to the military region and focus on teaching the main force of the Seventh Brigade to approach Jining. This news can be spread in a small area. Wang Zhiguo and the others are looking for opportunities to catch spies!"
After hearing this, Yang Bo understood Zhou Weihan's purpose of passing information to the enemy through the hidden Japanese agents, and responded hurriedly.
"Sun Tzu said in The Art of War that troops are impermanent and water is impermanent. While our army is trying every means to contain the Japanese army's strength, aren't the Japanese armies in various places trying to contain and distract our army's strength?"
"So everything is relative. The test is who can hit harder. The one with the lower endurance can only obey the instructions!"
"As we discussed during the day, now that Shangqiu has been taken, we must defend it!"
After Zhou Weihan finished speaking, Li Yunlong immediately stood up and expressed his position: "It goes without saying that all the commanders and fighters of our 16th Brigade will defend Shangqiu to the last soldier and fight to the end with the Japs!"
Li Yunlong spoke with great pride, but others present remained silent. Defending Shangqiu was not as simple as just talking, and there was a real risk of the entire army being annihilated.
"Haha, what are your expressions? I've promised you in advance that at the critical moment you can't just sit back and hide outside to watch the fun. You have to fuck me hard!"
The 16th Brigade has 10 regiments, 11 regiments, 12 regiments and the newly formed independent regiment, with a total of 11,000 troops, which is the largest among the four brigades.
Under normal circumstances, if the Japanese army wanted to capture Shangqiu, they would need to dispatch at least 30,000 to 40,000 people, but the 16th Brigade did not simply stick to Shangqiu County, but also included a peripheral defense system.
During this process, the troops will be greatly dispersed, and casualties will occur during the Japanese attack. It is hard to say how many troops will be left after the troops withdraw into the city.
Considering this, Zhou Weihan felt that it was necessary to strengthen the strength of the 16th Brigade: "Some comrades from the Shangqiu District Committee insisted on staying and led two thousand young men to help defend the city. Your 16th Brigade sent some backbones to strengthen the organization!"
"In addition, in addition to the American mountain artillery battalion assigned to your unit, I will dispatch another American mountain artillery battalion from the Second Artillery Regiment to you. The two basic regiments of the Southwest Shandong Military Division will be under your command at the same time. How about it?"
Li Yunlong laughed when he heard this and said: "That's great. The more money I have, the more confident I will be. Our 16th Brigade has been busy in Shangqiu these days. It would be better if you could allocate another batch of mines to me!"
"Here you go, that's easy to say!"
Only allowing the 16th Brigade to defend Shangqiu is something only a fool can do. Wu Qin's 14th Brigade and Jing Dagang's 13th Brigade will form support on the north and south sides, thus forming a divisive situation.