In the telegram, Yang Zhen continued his previous promise. Once Wang Guangyu's troops seize the Linxi Japanese Airport, the Anti-Alliance Aviation Force will select the most elite troops to provide full air support to the troops leaving the customs. The Anti-Alliance Alliance is already preparing at the Wangye Temple Airport. With the supplies and transport aircraft fleet in place, as long as the advancing army requests it, ammunition and food supplies will be provided as soon as possible. However, because the range of the fighter jets cannot meet the needs, all airdrops can only be carried out at night.
With the support of Yang Zhen, the commander of the advancing army finally approved Lin Zhiqiang's suggestion. The vanguard brigade was reorganized on the spot and conducted three days of training under an invincible situation. However, there was one thing. When the puppet troops are dispatched, no matter how many troops they come, the leading brigade will not be allowed to retreat even if they fight to the death.
Judging from the progress of the subsequent battles, the vision of the two veterans at the headquarters is still quite accurate, and Lin Zhiqiang's judgment of the battle situation is still to a certain level. With all the troops of the advancing army deployed eastward, Rehe Instead of coming out to wipe out these daring bandits, the Japanese and puppet troops suddenly and uncharacteristically shrank their troops.
In the counties west of the Yechi Railway, the Japanese and puppet troops only defended strategic key points and some county towns, while abandoning the mountainous areas that were relatively difficult to defend, and concentrated their limited forces on Chifeng and along the Yechi Railway, as well as in the areas in Rehe. Main grain-producing areas.
Especially in Chifeng, six garrison brigades of the Jehol Independent Garrison, four of a mobile brigade, 60% of the artillery and all the tank troops, the main force of the so-called iron and stone troops of the puppet Manchu Army, and all the cavalry were concentrated. The Japanese aviation units stationed in Rehe were also transferred from Chengde to the two Japanese field airports in Chifeng.
At the same time, after receiving a telegram from the Kwantung Army's independent garrison stationed in Rehe requesting assistance, the Kwantung Army headquarters urgently transferred more than 2,000 Kwantung Army troops from Fengtian Province of the Puppet Manchuria and two newly formed brigades of the Puppet Manchukuo Army by the Koreans. Most of the Japanese troops and a brigade of the puppet Manchukuo army were left as mobile troops, and they were also concentrated in Chifeng.
While the Kwantung Army stepped up its action, the Japanese North China Front Army in the Kwantung was not idle. As soon as the advancing army entered the territory of Rehe, it mobilized two independent mixed brigades and most of the puppet security forces to march north to the Great Wall. Along the line, not only did an extremely brutal sweep be carried out against the Jidong Army Division, which was the rear area of the advancing army, but a strict blockade was also adopted along the inner and outer lines of the Great Wall.
The main force of its North China Front Army is also under the command of the new commander, General Okamura Neiji. In order to cope with the Kwantung Army's sweep and suppression of the 18th Group Army entering the Rehe area, it concentrated the First Army, the Mongolian garrison army, and a large number of The divisions directly under the front army, as well as all the puppet troops in North China, launched a brutal sweep against various anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines in North China, especially the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei anti-Japanese base areas separated from Rehe by a Great Wall.
The two major strategic groups of the Japanese army are acting simultaneously. Their main purpose is to contain the activities of the advancing army in Jehol at all costs, especially its recruitment of troops and the source of rear material supplies, so as to cooperate with the Kwantung Army to maintain the so-called security in North China. He was trapped to death and starved to death in Rehe.
After the North China Front had completed the blockade along the Great Wall in the south, it also carried out extremely cruel and even brutal attacks on the two major areas of Jidong and Pingbei, which were the rear areas of the advancing army, in just a few days. Repeated sweeps were carried out at all costs.
The two direct rear bases of the advance army suffered heavy losses in the Japanese army's successive sweeps. Especially in the Jidong District, the losses of food, livestock, and materials were extremely heavy. A large number of young and middle-aged people who could be used as reserve soldiers were captured, and even
Several counties were killed and left uninhabited for more than a hundred miles. Several townships in the hinterland of Panshan Anti-Japanese Base Area in Jixian County, where the party and government offices of the Jidong Army Division were located, were simply wiped out.
Although the troops left behind in the Jidong Army Division responded with all their strength with the support of the persistent troops left in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, there was still a certain gap in strength compared with the Japanese and puppet troops. In the anti-mopping battle, although they caused damage to the Japanese and puppet troops
He suffered quite serious casualties, but under the siege of the superior troops and equipment of the Japanese and puppet troops, more than half of them suffered casualties, and many senior commanders died.
The Jidong District, which already had insufficient grain production, found it even more difficult to maintain supplies to the advancing army. Moreover, even a small amount of food raised could not be transported to the advancing army through the large number of blockades built by the Japanese army on the Great Wall inside and outside. In other words, the
The idea of marching to replenish food through the rear had to be abandoned.
At the same time, in the Jizhong Plain, the main grain producing area in North China, the Japanese and puppet troops, under the command of their new commander of the North China Front Army, General Okamura Neiji, adopted the iron wall encirclement tactics, although they were still struggling to persevere.
, but the losses were quite heavy. The few regiments that stayed behind to fight suffered more than half of their casualties.
Due to command errors, the commander and political commissar of the Eighth Division were sacrificed in the anti-mopping up battle. The area of the entire Jizhong Military Region Anti-Japanese Base Area was reduced to one-fifth of its original size. A large amount of grain stored in the Jizhong District was either burned or destroyed.
It was snatched away by the Japanese army. The central government's original plan to mobilize grain from the grain-rich Jizhong region and transfer it to Rehe through Jidong District has been unable to be completed.
In the area west of the Yechi Railway, when the Japanese and puppet troops retreated, they forcibly moved all residents to the county town or east of the Yechi Railway. All materials and food that could not be taken away were burned.
The food was completely contaminated, or poison gas was used to contaminate all the food. Even the wells were either filled with poison gas bombs or filled to death. Some even simply filled the so-called anti-Manchu and anti-Japanese elements directly into the wells, that is,
It eliminates so-called hidden dangers and also pollutes water sources.
After the Japanese and puppet troops completed their adjustments and deployments, they did not control the troops of the advancing army that had penetrated into the counties west of the Yechi Railway. In addition to ensuring the various strongholds along the highways from Chifeng to Paddock, and from Chengde to Fengning, every other county
Except for one or two Japanese squadrons concentrated in the county town and one or two battalions of puppet Manchu troops stationed in the county town, all strongholds in the countryside were abandoned.
If the people were unwilling to be relocated, they were no longer forcibly relocated as in the past, but directly resorted to massacres, killing all the men, elderly and children in a village. Young women were captured and taken to various counties to serve as comfort women with the army.
If you don’t leave a single village, the same process will apply.
Throughout the counties west of the Yechi Railway, almost every village was covered in smoke. Except for a small number of local people who escaped into the mountains and escaped, many people were killed in many places. Even a few years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was still no inhabited area for dozens of miles. It turned out that
The group tribes were all emptied of people and houses, and all food and materials were rushed to various counties. Part of the land where crops were grown in Rexi counties, and all growing crops were directly burned with incendiary bombs.
.
The Japanese army's move to clear the country was quite ruthless. Although the various units of the advancing army dispersed and controlled a vast area west of the Yechi Railway line that the Japanese army had voluntarily abandoned, except for a few county towns, they could only capture one or two county towns. In addition, it is still impossible to solve even the most basic problem of eating, and even clean drinking water cannot be found in many places.
On the Yechi Railway Line, not only a large number of troops were mobilized for the blockade task, but also a large number of armored vehicles and even armored trains were deployed to patrol along the railway line 24 hours a day, and along both sides of the railway line All crops, trees, and even grass within three kilometers on the side were eradicated.
No matter who is not Japanese, anyone approaching both sides of the railway line within one thousand meters will be killed without mercy. On both sides of the railway line, a large number of civil fortifications were built on the basis of the original fortifications. Every five hundred meters, Just set up an infantry fire point that shoots crosswise with each other. If there is any disturbance, use firepower to carry out crazy strafing.
After taking various measures to restrict the activities of troops leaving the customs, the Japanese army concentrated four infantry brigades, two puppet Manchu Army infantry brigades and two cavalry regiments, starting from Chifeng and heading directly towards the junction of the besieged city and Keshiketeng Banner. The purpose is to cut off the direct connection between the advancing army and the Anti-Japanese Alliance, and completely trap the advancing army and starve to death in the mountains of Rexi.
Before Lin Zhiqiang finished reorganizing his troops, the leading brigade, which was busy training, received a notice from its superiors. Most of the Japanese troops in Chifeng had been dispatched. The troops were divided into three groups and were sweeping towards the western mountains of the paddock. The troops had just arrived at the junction of Keshiketeng Banner and Paddock.
The marching army headquarters gave the leading brigade only one order, which was to hold on to the mountainous area west of the paddock at all costs before the reinforcements arrived, ensuring the safety of the road from Keshiketeng Banner to the paddock behind them. Even if the entire brigade was exhausted, Hold on until the Anti-Alliance detachment passes and reinforcements arrive.
The headquarters' operational plan is very simple. Weichang County is used as the dividing line. The northern part is under the responsibility of the leading brigade. The south part is under the control of another mobile unit controlled by the headquarters. The Sixth Brigade of the Second Column is responsible for the two units. The county is the boundary between the two units, and each is responsible for half. On the battlefield, one half belongs to one family, and the division of labor is clear.
At the same time, the headquarters formed a cavalry detachment from the two remaining cavalry regiments that were not even equipped with horses and could only be called mounted infantry and deployed them east of Weichang County. These troops were already in the headquarters. After all the troops deployed to Ningcheng, Pingquan, Longhua, and northern Chengde in the hinterland of Rehe, they were the only mobile forces in hand.
There are certain reasons for this consideration of the headquarters. The brigade commander of the Second Column and Sixth Brigade is Bao Sen, the former deputy commander of the Jidong Army Division, and Shan Degui, the leader of the main regiment of the brigade. These two people are the actual commanders of the main force of the Jidong Army Division. , with rich experience in fighting the Kwantung Army and the Puppet Manchukuo Army, allowing them to cooperate with the vanguard brigade can play a complementary role.
In order to strengthen the leading brigade that suffered heavy losses in the previous battle, the headquarters transferred two mortar companies, a mountain artillery company, a rapid-fire artillery company, and an infantry artillery company from the third column, as well as a batch of mines and ammunition. The vanguard brigade, but the headquarters really cannot provide the additional troops that the vanguard brigade needs most right now.
The situation is very unfavorable for the vanguard brigade, because they are currently in the same position as the vanguard brigade north of Weichang County. The direction they are in is likely to be the key direction of the Japanese and puppet troops' main attack. As long as they break through here, the Japanese and puppet troops can Directly cut off the road from Hexigten Banner to Paddock.