In the area under the jurisdiction of the First Army stationed in Shanxi, where the Japanese army is most likely to reinforce the Mongolian garrison, there are not only the troops left behind by the Taihang Military Region, but also the main force of the Taiyue Military Region that can be put into combat at any time, and the troops of the National Army's Second Theater Command, although At present, the main focus has been on preserving strength, and it has rarely participated in the battle against Japan, but it can at least contain part of the First Army's strength.
The extremely shrewd commander of the second war zone, although the current war against Japan has mainly focused on the most basic defense, and he lost a lot of troops, especially heavy weapons, in the early days of the war of resistance. The troops that suffered heavy losses no longer posed much of a threat to the Japanese army.
But after all, for the Japanese army, the hundreds of thousands of equipment under his command are not too bad. Although it is not as good as the Central Army at the moment, it is not too bad. The main reason is that the Jinsui Army, which has a large gap in heavy weapons, is like a It's not a small threat. It's an army of more than 100,000 people who have received military training and has barely adequate equipment, not more than 100,000 pigs.
Although the man's strength was greatly damaged and he could not regain his pre-war strength no matter how hard he worked, since he retreated to Shanxi, the number of times he took the initiative to attack can be counted with a slap. Thank God that the Japanese army did not come to attack him. He even dared to take the initiative to provoke the Japanese army.
But after all, there were more than 100,000 people, which was a considerable force in anyone's eyes. The Japanese army still had to deploy troops to guard against them. The Japanese First Army had to divide its forces to monitor the second theater and at the same time dispatch Part of the troops were stationed on the north bank of the Yellow River in southern Shanxi to prevent the troops from the First World War Zone that faced it across the river from counterattacking in the Zhongtiao Mountains.
In addition, at this time, three main regiments had completed the re-equipment, and other units had also been enriched with the re-installed weapons. On the original basis, an artillery regiment and an artillery battalion were formed using the received artillery. With the cooperation of the Taiyue Military Region and the remaining troops of the Taihang Military Region, the number of troops that the First Army could send north to reinforce the Mongolian garrison was limited.
The most critical thing is that in the eyes of the Japanese base camp, it is still unknown whether the Chabei area with barren land and poor people will become an area that the Japanese army desperately fights for. The Japanese Mongolian troops are mainly stationed in the Chanan area, and Chabei has always been its area. Weak areas of defense.
Because the Chabei area is close to Outer Mongolia and is subject to its desert and grassland terrain, it is conducive to the highly mechanized Soviet army to exert its firepower and mobility. As well as the Japanese army's own insufficient number of vehicles, the Chabei area is difficult to navigate between long-distance railway lines and large cities. Under the circumstances, it is relatively difficult to supply large corps.
Therefore, compared with the Chanan area, the Japanese and puppet troops in Chabei are much weaker. Choosing the breakthrough point here can achieve the greatest results in the shortest time. At the same time, one force can quickly move south to seize Yinshan before the Japanese and puppet troops. Various passes in the mountains were built to prevent the Japanese and puppet troops in Chanan from counterattacking towards the Chabei area.
In short, in one sentence, in Yang Zhen's opinion, either don't do it or do it to the end. Instead of placing the main target in the Cha'nan area, which has little room for maneuver and is surrounded by enemies on three sides, it is better to focus on the Cha'nan area north of the Yinshan Mountains. The northern region is the main operational target. At the same time, we strive to capture the entire Suiyuan in one go and directly open the communication line with the Shanxi-Suiyuan Military Region.
Taking the Shanxi-Suiyuan Military Region and the Northwestern Shanxi Anti-Japanese Base Area as the entire transfer station, the Northwestern Shanxi Anti-Japanese Base Area is adjacent to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region to the west, facing the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region across the Tongpu Railway to the east, and only across the Zhengtai Railway from the Taihang Military Region.
Although its geographical location is not as good as the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region in the middle of the four anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines in North China, it is not much different from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.
In terms of contacting the central government, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Military Region, which is only separated by the Yellow River from the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, still has a certain advantage. The only disadvantage is that it is relatively far away from the Shandong Anti-Japanese Base Area behind enemy lines and the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Anti-Japanese Base Area to the south.
It is far away, but its role as a transfer station is still sufficient, and the enemy situation around Jinsui is better than that in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei.
The reason why Yang Zhen did not choose Cha'nan was that, in addition to the narrow terrain and little room for maneuver, another reason was that he would launch an attack directly from Rehe to Cha'nan. Regardless of whether he wanted to or not, he would have to face the strong defenses of Zhangjiakou and Datong.
A city with many defenders.
Although there is only one independent second mixed brigade in Zhangjiakou, and the strength of the Japanese army is not as good as that of Datong, Zhangjiakou is not only the location of the Japanese Mongolian garrison headquarters, but also is quite close to Baoding, Chengde, and Peiping in a straight line. If Zhangjiakou is
When the attack was launched, not only the Kwantung Army, but also the Japanese North China Front Army would be fully involved.
In other words, the Japanese North China Front not only maintains the current state of sweeping the rear bases of Jidong and North Hebei, as well as the rear bases of the advancing troops, and sealing off the Great Wall inside and outside, but will inevitably involve all of them, leaving Zhangjiakou behind.
The important territory outside the mouth was impossible for the Japanese army, whether it was the Kwantung Army or the North China Front Army, to accept it.
You must know that if you break through the Zhangjiakou line, there will be no barriers in the entire north of Peking. From here, you can threaten Peiping to the southeast, tear up the Great Wall to the south, and invade Shanxi to the west. After the July 7th Incident, the Japanese army was
They started from Zhangjiakou and attacked westward. After capturing Datong, they quickly went south to engage with the Second Theater in the Xinkou area to launch a large-scale Battle of Xinkou.
Zhangjiakou is only a hundred kilometers away from the Sino-Mongolian border. It has been a military center since the Qing Dynasty entered the customs. Even until decades after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was a place where heavy troops were hoarded. During World War II, the Japanese army used to prevent the Soviet-Mongolian army from cutting off
The connection between the Japanese Army in North China and the Kwantung Army was that they spared no effort in manpower and material resources to build a large number of permanent fortifications. Choosing Chanan as the main breakthrough point will undoubtedly lead to a long-term battle, which is not what Yang Zhen wants to see.
Yang Zhen was not too worried about the involvement of the Japanese North China Front Army alone, but if the Kwantung Army was also involved, then Yang Zhen did not want to see it because he did not want to weaken the Japanese military's combat capabilities too much before the Pearl Harbor Incident.
Yes, and once the two major Japanese military strategic groups are deployed, even if they have the advantage in equipment, the troops in their hands are still insufficient.
As for Datong, although the surrounding Japanese troops can mobilize less troops and the speed of reinforcements is not as good as that of Zhangjiakou, the Japanese troops stationed in Datong themselves are far more powerful than those of Zhangjiakou. The 26th Division is the only field station of the Mongolian garrison.
The division was stationed in Datong.
If you want to open up a straight line with the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, it is impossible to go west to northern Shanxi or east to Zhangjiakou and Datong in northern Hebei, two cities where the Japanese army is heavily stationed and has built a large number of solid fortifications. To avoid it, instead of wasting troops and wasting time under the two fortified cities and the Japanese military fortifications north of Zhangjiakou, it is better to shift the strategic target to Chabei.
Taking advantage of the grassland terrain in Chabei that is conducive to mechanized operations, and taking advantage of having a large number of tanks and other mechanized equipment on hand, they adopted ground-air coordination tactics to engage in a decisive battle with the Japanese garrison in Mongolia in the field, striving to defeat the Japanese army in one go. The main force of the Mongolian troops stationed in Xinjiang has completely opened up the communication line through Chabei, Suiyuan, and northwest Shanxi.
After listening to Yang Zhen's idea, the commander and political commissar of the advancing army over there gave him this wild and wild idea. He was shocked. Even the political commissar who was drinking water spurted out the water in his mouth. His plan The basis for this is to completely defeat the Japanese garrison in Mongolia.
Although there is only one field division of the Mongolian garrison, there are also several independent mixed brigades. Although this strength is the smallest among the Japanese troops in North China, it is not easy to shake, let alone its ability. Received rapid reinforcements from Shanxi's First Army.
Yang Zhen's idea of counting on the left-behind troops in the Taihang Military Region and the Taiyue Military Region to hold back the main force of the Japanese First Army is probably quite difficult in the eyes of the two veterans. Even the best of the Taiyue Military Region are there. , I am afraid that those who want to hold back the main force of the First Army are motivated but unable to do so.
As for the idea of completely defeating the Mongolian garrison, let alone the Shanxi-Suiyuan Military Region and the advancing army, which directly faced the battle, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, which was responsible for part of the combat mission, was left in the Beiyue area to persist. In addition, it does not have this ability.
You must know that the current Chinese army, even the most well-equipped Central Army, may not be able to annihilate a single regiment of the Japanese army by concentrating more than a dozen regiments. However, in last year's Hundred Regiment Battle, the 129th Division concentrated More than ten regiments of the main force were unable to encircle and annihilate a Japanese brigade based on the favorable geographical situation.
On the contrary, it suffered a lot of casualties, and more than half of the participating troops even lost the battle. After this battle, due to the heavy casualties of the troops, and the main force resting and redressing, and preparing to go north to join the battle, the troops left behind in the base area were Due to their own reasons, they were actually unable to fight the Japanese army.
It even happened that when the Japanese army was mopping up, a brigade of troops dared to run rampant in the base area. The equipment was too poor and ammunition was scarce. The quality of the troops declined rapidly after the expansion, especially when the main forces were transferred northward. Most of the remaining troops were left behind. The local armed forces were newly upgraded and their combat effectiveness was relatively weak, making the Japanese army extremely arrogant.
The lessons learned from the past made the commander of the advancing army extremely cautious when setting up the march when they first entered Rehe. Even at the beginning, the goal was to concentrate the forces of a regiment to encircle and annihilate a squadron of the Japanese army or a battalion of the puppet Manchukuo army. According to the plan, if the Japanese army dispatched an infantry brigade, then at least one brigade of troops would be concentrated. Only due to subsequent changes in the situation, the main force was concentrated to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese and puppet troops.
Of course, this has a lot to do with the fact that the equipment has been greatly improved after the army changed its equipment. Not only does it have its own artillery at all levels, but the ammunition supply is still quite sufficient at least for now, but it is also a kind of helplessness due to the pressing situation. Otherwise, if this situation continues, the troops will starve and collapse.
Moreover, the Anti-Japanese Alliance has now reached Linxi. If the problem cannot be solved in Rehe for a long time, it will also affect the next strategic deployment. Of course, this foundation is based on the fact that the Japanese army in Rehe has only one independent garrison at the brigade level, and the rest of the direction The Japanese troops were attracted by the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
Even though the equipment of the troops has been greatly enhanced, on the basis that the military quality has not been fundamentally improved, the two veterans believe that more caution is needed during the battle. If the Japanese troops deployed by the Kwantung Army in Rehe are one division, If the strength of the regiment is not high, then the two veterans will never deploy it like this.
Now Yang Zhen wants to concentrate his main force to defeat a Japanese field division, plus the Japanese First Cavalry Group stationed in the Guisui area, and the Second Independent Mixed Brigade. In the eyes of the two veterans, this is indeed a bit too much. Toda, in their opinion, without a year of training, even if the main force has completed the re-equipment, the customs troops plus the advancing army will not have this capability at all.