Yang Zhen believed that the Japanese army could accept the loss of Suinan as long as they were able to retreat when necessary. However, if Datong in northern Shanxi was lost, the Japanese army would not accept it anyway. Even if the Japanese army gave up Suinan , and will definitely not sit back and watch the Anti-Japanese Alliance enter Shanxi.
Chen Hanzhang's move can be said to have really stabbed the hornet's nest of the entire Japanese army in North China, and it is bound to cause a chain reaction. Although Chen Hanzhang was a bit aggressive, Yang Zhen was not angry. In his opinion, Chen Hanzhang had finally understood what it means to be an armored force. The essence of deep combat.
Although Yang Zhen was indeed a little dissatisfied with Chen Hanzhang's division of troops into three groups before, Yang Zhen believed that Chen Hanzhang's division of his troops into three groups was too spread out in the face of the small Japanese army in Suinan. Well, the focus of the entire Suinan battle is on the two ends of Jining and Guisui. As long as these two ends are blocked, Zhuo Zishan's Japanese army will not matter at all.
Chen Hanzhang divided his troops into three groups, which spread his strength too much. No matter which group, he could not cope with unexpected situations. At the same time, if Yi Liangpin had more troops, his surprise victory might be greater. At least it won't be like now, where the assault force is insufficient and the fight can only be a stalemate.
This kind of diversion operation itself shows that Chen Hanzhang was somewhat unprepared for the unexpected situations that he might encounter, especially in the direction of Jining, which was the only way for the Japanese army in Shanxi to reinforce Suidong and Chaxi battlefield. The new enemy situation that would appear was not fully anticipated, so Yang Zhen was very dissatisfied with Chen Hanzhang's action of dividing the troops into three groups in Wulanhua.
Just considering the battle situation in Suinan, the deployment of Japanese troops, and possible situations, Chen Hanzhang adopted a method of dividing his troops with heavy emphasis on the two ends and light in the middle. At least Chen Hanzhang's choice of focus was quite good, although it made him very worried. Not satisfied, but still acceptable, Yang Zhen didn't say much.
This time, Chen Hanzhang, having already captured Guisui, concentrated his troops from the eastern and middle routes on the Jining and Fengzhen lines, controlled the Jining-Fengzhen section of the Pingsui Railway, and deployed troops from the west to use the Japanese troops in northwestern Shanxi to carry out air strikes. , the plan to penetrate directly into Datong University really satisfied him.
Yang Zhendao was not very worried about whether Datong could be captured. After the Sixty-ninth Division entered Suinan to fight, there was only an independent mixed third brigade left in Datong, and part of the strength of this brigade was still there. It was divided in Suinan, and a considerable number of troops were stationed in Yanggao, Tianzhen, and Huairen. The one left in Datong was only an infantry brigade at this time.
As long as the roundabout troops commanded by Mu Changqiu can get in place in time before the new enemy reinforcements arrive, it will not be difficult to capture Datong. Of course, the city walls around Datong are also a difficulty for Mu Changqiu. But judging from the Battle of Guisui, there is always a solution to the problem.
The key issue in this long-distance attack is the word "quick". That is to say, after entering Shanxi from Shahukou, there must be no stop along the way. Datong must be captured before the Japanese army south of Datong can react. Otherwise, Datong must be captured. Once a stalemate occurs, the entire attacking force will be in an extremely dangerous situation.
However, in this long-distance attack, as long as you enter the front line of Shahukou, Youyu and Zuoyun along the way are the base areas of the Shanxi-Sui Military Region. Although the county seats and main roads of the two counties are still in the hands of the Japanese army, they are controlled by Suinan. Due to the war situation, the total number of troops deployed was not large, and Yang Zhen did not pay attention to the remaining puppet troops such as the Xingya Emperor's Association Army and the Shanxi Suppression of the Communist Army.
The entire vast countryside of Youyu and Zuoyun is firmly in the hands of the Jinsui Military Region. During last winter's great sweep, the Jinsui Military Region abandoned all county towns and suffered considerable losses in stored materials, but the vast However, most of the countryside is still controlled by the Jinsui Military Region.
At present, the number of Japanese troops in the counties in northwestern Shanxi is insufficient. The remaining Hingya Imperial Alliance Army, Shanxi Communist Suppression Army, and miscellaneous pseudo-security forces, garrison and other wandering armed forces, Yang Zhen really doesn't pay attention to In my eyes, without the support of a backer, these guys are not even a ragtag group of people.
Although these puppet troops armed with the equipment of the Jinsui Army captured by the Japanese army are still well-equipped, and a considerable part of them are composed of a small number of former Jinsui Army troops who surrendered to the enemy plus captured personnel, and are fairly well trained, these The morale of the puppet army is very low, and a considerable number of them only use it as a means of making a living. Compared with the puppet Manchu army, the actual combat effectiveness is negligible.
The circuitous interspersion along the way can basically be said to be equivalent to the internal interlude. With the cooperation of the left-behind corps of the Jinsui Military Region who are familiar with the terrain and enemy conditions, Yang Zhen is not worried about what difficulties he will encounter along the way. As long as Mu Changqiu is there If you act decisively, there shouldn't be any big problems.
The most critical issue is that after capturing Datong, facing the surrounding enemy forces, the Japanese First Army stationed in Shanxi, and the subsequent chain reaction of the Japanese North China Front Army, Datong is an extremely important strategic location, and the Japanese army is bound to launch a counterattack in order to Retake Datong.
The most critical thing now is that the entire Jining, Datong, and Fengzhen front lines, with Chen Hanzhang's detour troops alone, are definitely not enough to cope with the situation. At the very least, Mu Changqiu's two infantry regiments and one cavalry brigade alone are enough to cope with the situation. It is absolutely difficult to fight against the comprehensive counterattack of almost the entire Japanese First Army, and solving the dilemma on the Jining battlefield is definitely not something that Yi Liangpin can solve with the two regiments in his hands.
The Jining battlefield is easy to say. The entire front line with the white flag has been broken through. The 26th Division has been surrounded. The troops on the western front are currently in the Huade territory with the yellow flag. They are independent from the 110th Division that the Japanese army has invested successively. During the fierce battle between the 9th Mixed Brigade and the Western Front, if an additional division was added to the Western Front, they would be fully capable of deploying part of their troops to reinforce the Jining battlefield in a short period of time.
If Mu Changqiu can seize Datong, then Chen Hanzhang's troops who have reached the front line of Fengzhen can completely turn around from the south, attack directly behind the Jining battlefield, and join the Jining battlefield. The key issue now is Mu How should Changqiu increase their military strength after capturing Datong?
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Zhen sent a telegram to the two veterans of the advancing army who were commanding operations on the southern front, requesting that no less than one division of troops be mobilized from the Cha'nan battlefield and forcibly mobilized from Zhangbei to Shangyi. Xiangtianzhen and Yanggao are advancing through the front lines. At the same time, we hope that the political commissar of the advancing army, who is also the commander of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region at this moment, will coordinate the remaining troops of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region to cooperate with the interspersed operations.
The Beiyue and Pingxi bases under the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region are the closest base areas behind enemy lines to Datong in northern Shanxi besides the Shanxi-Suiyuan Military Region. If they can participate in the war, they can at least contain some of the troops south of the Pingsui-Sui Railway and the Tongpu Railway. The speed at which the Japanese and puppet troops in the east and west of the Taihang Mountains reinforced the Datong battlefield.
After receiving Yang Zhen's telegram, the two veterans of the advancing army, although they were surprised by such a bold interspersed action by the Anti-Japanese Alliance, still met Yang Zhen's needs and mobilized soldiers from the Anti-Union troops assigned to their command. A division, plus a cavalry brigade from the advancing army formed a detachment and forcibly interspersed in the direction of Tianzhen and Yanggao.
Ordered Beiyue District to deploy no less than three regiments of troops and immediately deploy them along both sides of the Sanggan River. These three main regiments were Beiyue District's efforts to disperse the troops as much as possible after last year's sweeping campaign that lasted from summer to winter. During the activities to solve the problem of supplies, there were only three main regiments that survived intact.
Since the brutal sweeps carried out by the Japanese army last winter, the remaining troops in all major areas of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region had no choice but to retain part of their mobile combat strength due to the unsustainable supply of winter supplies. Some of the main forces were divided into parts and dispersed activities to solve the problem of insufficient winter supplies and food.
During the winter sweeps that lasted for two months, the Japanese army was different from the previous summer and autumn sweeps in which they tried to annihilate the main force of the Kannai troops as much as possible. The actual combat goal was very clear. Aren't you strong in survivability? Aren't you particular about the so-called Is it a guerrilla war where people's war is fought when there is an opportunity, and when there is no opportunity, I withdraw?
I will no longer act stupidly and find your main force for a decisive battle. I will destroy your reserve supplies and completely destroy your base area. Even if you escape my attack, you will only starve to death and sleep to death because you have no food to eat and no winter clothes. They froze to death in the deep mountains and old forests. They killed, burned and robbed them all, causing serious losses to various base areas in North China.
In particular, the Beiyue District in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region, which was the focus of the Japanese raids, suffered heavy losses. After the Japanese raids ended, 80% of the food in the district was robbed, and all the original winter supplies were burned. Almost no house in the area is intact, a large number of young and middle-aged people were robbed, and a considerable part of the population was forcibly moved out of the mountainous area.
Under the brutal sweep, in order to preserve the effective forces, in order to solve the problem of feeding and clothing the troops when a large amount of supplies were destroyed and the base area was severely damaged by the Japanese army, Beiyue District could only The troops dispersed their activities as much as possible, and began to gather gradually before the launch of this battle.
These three regiments transferred by the political commissar are the three most complete main regiments in Beiyue District that have been preserved through hard work. Moreover, except for these three regiments, the rest of the troops in Beiyue District this time were concentrated because they were unable to provide supplies. The pace is very slow, and the rest of the troops can only wait until April if they want to concentrate on participating in the war.
It can be said that in addition to the troops mobilized from Cha'nan, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, whose political commissar also serves as commander, took out these three regiments in order to cope with Chen Hanzhang's detour operation, which was to take away all the capital of Beiyue District. came out, and the Beiyue District, with most of the Pingxi base area already lost, is now the main force of the entire Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.
Taking out these three regiments is equivalent to basically transferring them to the scattered guerrilla Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, and taking out all the most combat-effective troops. You must know that most of the current troops in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region have already The battalion-level organization was abolished and all regiments were reduced to five infantry companies.
Even these small regiments usually carry out dispersed activities organized into companies. Coupled with the backward communication methods, lack of radio stations, and scattered activities in a wide area, it is not easy to concentrate. These three integrated regiments , is already the only main force regiment in the entire Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region. In order to support Chen Hanzhang's detour, the political commissar spent the last bit of capital in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.
In the directions of Jinsui, Taihang and Taiyue, after receiving Yang Zhen's telegram, the remaining troops of the Jinsui Military Region also concentrated the main force of the only five regiments, as well as the guerrillas from some counties and districts, and immediately entered Zuoyun. Within the territory of Youyu, control the highway from Guisui to Datong, and launch large-scale raids and harassment operations on Japanese military strongholds along the route.
The main forces of the Taihang and Taiyue regions have also begun to gather in preparation for the attack on the Tongpu and Zhengtai railways, and mobilize all forces in the base area to prepare for the rescue of the anti-alliance pilots. The troops of the Hebei, Luyu and Jinan military regions The troops are also heading north, preparing to enter Shanxi to support the Taihang and Taiyue District troops who suffered serious losses in the counter-mopping up.