Chapter 84 Differences between inside and outside the pass
Not only did these puppet Manchukuo military and policemen owe heavy blood debts during their crusade against the Anti-Japanese Alliance in the Northeast, but after they were transferred to Rehe, the Japanese and puppet regime also tried to block the troops inside the customs from going out to fight and curb the infiltration actions of the troops inside the customs outside the customs. They are also taking the lead in establishing so-called no-man's land inside and outside the group tribes.
When the anti-Japanese guerrilla base area in Renan was raided, they were of course not allowed to do so. These puppet Manchukuo military and policemen were heavily indebted to blood. According to Yang Zhen, these people were considered war criminals if they were squad leaders or above. According to the promulgation of the Anti-Japanese League According to the regulations on the punishment of traitors, those who reach this level can be shot.
It is precisely for this reason that after last year's battle, the Kwantung Army had distrusted the Puppet Manchukuo troops who were either on the verge of collapse or surrendered on the spot, but they did not disarm them like other Puppet Manchukuo armies. Replaced by Koreans, these troops were converted into semi-coolie auxiliary troops.
They were simply transferred to Rehe to participate in the offensive against the Jidong Army Division of the 18th Group Army and the Pingbei Army Division, two military divisions close to the Great Wall, which were active in Rehe, as well as the original Hebei Reliao Advance Army established by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region in Rehe. They established guerrilla base areas to carry out encirclement and suppression operations, and the Kwantung Army was extremely satisfied with the performance of these people in previous activities.
These puppet Manchukuo military police, which were established and trained by the Japanese army with full Japanese equipment, are not only fierce in style, but also quite powerful in combat effectiveness. The full set of Japanese tactics made even the Kwantung Army have to admit the combat effectiveness of these puppet Manchukuo military police. , at least equivalent to the second-rate Japanese division.
The most fundamental thing is that these Puppet Manchukuo military police who acted as collaborators and regarded thieves as their fathers. When they participated in the establishment of no-man's land, they participated in the massacre of the people of Rehe and the anti-Japanese personnel many times. Because their hands were stained with the blood debt of the anti-Japanese comrades, There is no possibility of rebellion. These people treat the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians even more cruelly than the Japanese.
In the eyes of the Kwantung Army, these people are the so-called most loyal dogs that have been trained. The Kwantung Army trusts them much more than other Puppet Manchukuo troops. Even the Puppet Manchukuo guarding Xinjing The Emperor's Guards were far inferior, and the Kwantung Army even gave them a resounding name "Iron and Stone Troops". Its true meaning is self-evident.
These puppet Manchukuo military police who were trusted by the Kwantung Army caused great damage to the activities of the original Hebei Reliao advance army in Rehe. The original Hebei Reliao advance army in Rehe has never been able to develop and grow as well as in the pass. The main reason why we can only fight guerrillas in the mountainous areas of Renan is because of these puppet Manchu troops.
Different from the puppet troops within the Pass, these puppet Manchukuo soldiers and police not only served the Japanese army wholeheartedly, but also used more vicious methods to massacre the common people. Their combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of the puppet troops within the Pass, and their equipment was much better. Its company has twelve light machine guns, twelve grenades, the battalion has eight heavy machine guns, and the regiment has mortars and flat-fire artillery firepower configuration. It is almost the most well-equipped among the many puppet troops in China. .
Not to mention the Eighteenth Group Army, even the Central Army with the best equipment among the National Government was far behind. After the troops leaving the customs for the first time fought against these puppet Manchukuo military and police, except for the old men who were originally from the Hebei Reliao advance army, Even the famous commander of the 129th Division, who fought against almost all armed factions in China during the ten-year civil war, and also fought against various puppet armies in the Taihang Mountains, regarded his equipment as Excellent and well-trained. I was shocked.
After the first battle of the advance troops at the junction of Fengning and Weichang ended, the current commander of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region and the commander of the Hebei-Reliao Advance Army, who received the detailed battle report below, could not help but sigh. If it weren't for this puppet Manchukuo army, The army underestimated the enemy's aggressive advance and even brought out only part of the heavy machine guns and mortars, and each person only brought less than a basic amount of ammunition.
In addition, the commander of the advance force has rich experience in actual combat and used mountainous terrain to set up mobile ambushes to concentrate the greatest advantage of troops and firepower and achieve the greatest surprise in the battle. The troops now have sufficient ammunition and their equipment has been greatly improved. Win the battle in the shortest time.
Otherwise, once the two armies enter a stalemate, it will be almost impossible to defeat these two well-equipped and well-trained puppet Manchukuo troops in such a short period of time with the advance force only having the strength and equipment of three regiments. , although the battle may not be defeated, the price paid is much higher.
Compared with the seizure of three 90mm mortars, two Type 41 flat-firing cannons, one Type 92 infantry gun, and sixteen Type 92 heavy machine guns, more than fifty Type 96 Light machine guns, plus more than 800 Type 38 rifles as trophies, the commander of the advance force felt that he had made a fortune.
This famous general of the Red Army frowned deeply after personally asking about the progress of the battle and the equipment of the Puppet Manchukuo Army. If the equipment of the Puppet Manchukuo Army in the entire Jehol territory were so sophisticated and well-trained, So this battle of Rehe will probably not be easy to fight. Not counting the Japanese Ninth Independent Guards in Rehe, the nearly 10,000 puppet Manchu troops alone will be a tough nut to crack.
But now, these Puppet Manchukuo military police and the Kwantung Army's Ninth Independent Guard Corps, which once worried the general, are divided into two groups, starting from Chengde and Chifeng respectively to encircle the Weichang, Fengning, and Luanping lines. The focus is on It was the mountainous areas of Weichang and Fengning counties that had suffered heavy losses before, and they tried to completely encircle and annihilate the troops leaving the border in the Rexi Mountain area in one fell swoop to ensure smooth communication between the Kwantung Army and the North China Front Army.
At present, in addition to the equipment and combat effectiveness of the Rehe puppet army, which is far from comparable to the puppet army in the pass, what worries him even more is that the entire army is currently experiencing food difficulties, and some troops have only entered Rehe for a few days. There was already a food shortage, and the food collected locally was far from being able to meet the needs of the troops.
Before the war, in order to clear out the Eighteenth Army troops who were out of the customs in the pass, the Japanese army continued its policy in the Northeast and the tactics used in the crusade against the Anti-Japanese Alliance in Rehe. Even because it was close to the guerrilla base area in the pass, its suppression tactics were even more cruel. Not only A large number of uninhabited areas and group tribes have been created in the Renan and Rexi mountainous areas adjacent to the pass.
A large number of military police were also set up in various places, specially used to infiltrate and collect intelligence from the Renan guerrilla base area. Once an abnormality was discovered, brutal suppression methods were immediately adopted, and the common people who assisted the anti-Japanese troops were even killed. The people in Hebei Province did not dare to give any help to the customs troops.
In addition, the underground organization in Rehe was originally very weak, which made the intelligence gathering ability of the troops inside the pass on the Japanese and puppet troops in Rehe quite weak. The commander-in-chief did not expect that the situation here was only separated from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei old base area in the pass. The Great Wall was in such bad condition that not only could it not raise food, but even stretchers to carry the wounded could not be found. Even if they were hired in cash, no one would dare to do it.
Although he was very reluctant, after receiving Wang Guangyu's telegram, the old commander, who was facing a situation where his troops were almost out of food, could only find a way to ask Wang Guangyu for help. Knowing that the Anti-Japanese Alliance had many transport aircraft, he hoped to Received some food supplies from Wang Guangyu.
Compared with the old commander over there who was worried about supplies and the situation, from the news reported by the customs clearance troops about the dispatch of Japanese and puppet troops in the morning, although there was not much available information, Wang Guangyu still It was accurately judged that this was definitely because the Kwanai troops had come into contact with the Japanese and puppet troops who were advancing in the suppression campaign, and they might have suffered a small loss.
As for the following words, although the writing is a bit vague, Wang Guangyu still judged that the troops leaving the pass suffered considerable losses during the battle due to intelligence errors, and because of the Japanese army's previous return to the settlement and the mass production of useless weapons. In addition, the Japanese and puppets forced large-scale opium cultivation in Rehe and the local food production in Rehe was not high, the troops leaving the customs have now encountered difficulties in food supply.
After carefully reading the telegram sent by the troops inside the customs, Wang Guangyu looked at the map of Rehe captured by the Japanese army from Harbin in his hand, and pondered carefully. He did not expect that the troops leaving the customs would meet with the Japanese troops in Rehe so quickly. The main force of the puppet army came into contact, and food problems arose in such a short period of time. As for the Japanese army's response speed in Rehe, it did not surprise him. The Japanese army's response speed has always been first-rate.
It’s just that he didn’t know that the troops inside the customs carried very limited food when they left the customs. Some troops or even a regiment only carried 200 kilograms of millet and black beans. This small amount of food was enough to maintain a regiment of troops and maintain their strength. A few days, besides, black beans are an excellent test material for feeding to animals, but if people eat them, they won’t fight hunger, and they won’t have any nutrition.
It turns out that the troops dispatched by the Jidong Army Division had better experience in operating in Rehe. They preferred to carry less ammunition and prepare more food. However, they were mobilized elsewhere and basically did not operate in areas such as Guan Nei where the Japanese and puppet rule was extremely tight. Based on experience, the troops who thought they could raise food on the spot were much worse.
When this army was still called the Red Army, it didn't know what it meant to have enough ammunition. When fighting the Japanese and puppet troops inside the customs, most of the troops still needed to rely on captured supplies to survive. This time, they went out of the customs to fight as much as possible. To carry some ammunition, each unit used its limited transportation capacity to transport ammunition. As for food, it was still prepared to raise it on the spot in accordance with the practice when they were in the customs.
The limited transportation capacity mainly ensures the transportation of ammunition. After the Hundred Regiment War last year, the Japanese army carried out multiple retaliatory raids last winter and this spring, as well as the spring drought since the beginning of spring. The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region itself is also extremely short of food. The main food production area is Jizhong. The plains were unable to provide food for tens of thousands of people under repeated brutal raids by the Japanese army.
Moreover, when tens of thousands of troops secretly gathered in eastern Hebei, in order not to expose their whereabouts, they could only lurk in mountainous areas with low food production. In addition, there was a lack of certain transportation means, and the limited transportation capacity was mainly focused on carrying ammunition. Many troops were in battle. When I was lurking, the food supplies were almost exhausted.
After leaving the customs, the troops marched and fought in the mountainous areas again. Coupled with the barren land of Rehe itself and the brutal rule of the Japanese and puppet troops, they were unable to raise enough food. Although the Jidong Army Division, as the rear area, had done its best at this time, We tried hard, but it was too difficult for Jidong, which is mainly mountainous and rarely self-sufficient in food, to support these large armies.