After explaining Wang Minggui's thoughts, Du Kaishan looked at the map and pondered for a long time, but suddenly raised his head and said to Wang Minggui, who was looking at the map of northwest Shanxi to straighten out his battle ideas: "Old Wang, the line between Kangbao and Huade has already been reached. Divided, the Japanese troops on the Huade front line were left with less than one regiment."
"I still have an entire division in my hand that has not been used. Let alone a regiment, even if there is another regiment, there is no need to worry at all. You said that under such a favorable situation, we are waiting for Kangbao County to get it What’s the point of coming down? Isn’t this a waste of time?”
"In this case, Lao Wang, don't wait for Kangbao County to be taken. You immediately rush to the front line of Ciying Temple and let the westward troops gather there. As soon as the troops complete the assembly, you will set off immediately. As for Su Yingqi, tell him to let him He is just northeast of Kangbao waiting for his new troops to take over."
"As for the final battle on the Kangbao front line, I asked the deputy commander of the 21st Division to take over the command. Taking Kangbao now is no longer to open up the westward passage. At most, it is to protect the flanks of Chaxi and Suidong battlefields. , it is meaningless to completely separate the Japanese troops in the Chanan and Suidong battlefields, and to send reinforcements westward and wait for Kangbao to be completely resolved."
"Yang Jicai, let him sleep for a while first. After the troops are assembled at Ciying Temple, I will send a car to send him there directly. After waiting for this period of time, he will not have much chance to sleep. On the battlefield A commander cannot do without a clear head."
"But Lao Wang, before you set off, I have one more thing to say to you. Although after arriving in northwest Shanxi, it depends on you as a front-line commander how to fight, but I suggest that after you arrive at the reserved battlefield, , instead of relying on the mountains to defend, we should rely on the mountains in northwest Shanxi to fight a mountain offensive against the Japanese army."
"Northwestern Shanxi is all mountainous. How many roads are there in the middle for the troops to detour. The troops of the Jinsui Military Region know it, and the Japanese army may not know it either. Holding tightly can only allow us to give up the initiative on the battlefield to ourselves. We can defend and wait for the attack, and cooperate with Mu Changqiu, who is facing Datong, fighting an offensive battle will reduce the pressure on the use of our troops."
"Our firepower is superior. Even if some of the troops are divided and surrounded by the Japanese army, there will be no problem in persisting for a period of time. On the contrary, it will allow us to fully mobilize the Japanese army's forces and at the same time attract the Japanese army's attention from the surrounding areas of Taiyuan to you. "
"This can be regarded as covering Yang Jicai's rescue operation within a certain range. Although the northwest front line of Shanxi is under the control of the Shanxi-Sui Military Region, Pianguan County, including the county seat, is under the control of the Shanxi-Sui Military Region. But I'm still a little worried about the pressure he may face."
"The main force of the 15th Division whose location has not yet been identified, as well as the follow-up reinforcements that the Japanese army may mobilize, make people worried about his operation. The Zhengtai Railway has not been able to be completely cut off, which means that the Japanese army can at any time According to changes in the war situation, troops will be mobilized from other battlefields to reinforce Shanxi."
"If we can't attract some of the Japanese army's attention from around Taiyuan, Yang Jicai's rescue operation may be quite troublesome. Maybe the people are not rescued, and we will probably bring this army in. Mu Changqiu If what happened to him happened to him, the result would probably be even worse."
Wang Minggui had no objection to Du Kaishan's proposal to set off the westward marching troops early. In fact, according to his opinion, when Du Kaishan made up his mind to adjust the deployment, he should take action immediately, but dispatching that unit and mobilizing supplies and vehicles were all It took time to prepare. It turned out that Liu Changshun had no plan in this regard even though his superiors had orders.
The army moves forward without using food and grass. This is the experience left by the ancients. The troops of the two divisions, plus the attached artillery, armored troops, and strengthened equipment adjustments, and now plus the rescue force commanded by Yang Jicai, total two and a half If the division's troops want to reach the designated location in the shortest possible time, they can only rely on full motorized advancement.
If we had to march entirely on foot, the day lilies would have been cold by the time we reached the front line of killing tigers. With so many troops, plus the fuel, ammunition, and food needed for Chen Hanzhang, as well as the same things the troops needed for their own operations. For supplies, at least 80% of the trucks on the frontal battlefield on the Western Front must be mobilized to meet the needs.
Fortunately, Du Kaishan seized a battalion and a half of a truck regiment from the headquarters to transport reinforcements. Otherwise, after allocating so many trucks, the transportation force on the frontal battlefield on the Western Front would no longer be able to meet its own needs. The maneuverability will have a great impact, and even directly affect the troops left to fight, and the encirclement and annihilation of the 110th Division.
The reason why Du Kaishan set the time at six hours before was not because he was completely worried about what kind of burden the remaining Japanese troops on the Kangbao front line would cause to him. More importantly, he had to consider dispatching such a large number of trucks. , the impact on one’s own mobility.
But after the newly reinforced division arrived and seized these trucks, the problem of insufficient cars has been improved to a certain extent. As he continued to wait, Wang Minggui had long thought that there was no great need and attacked a minute earlier. Chen Hanzhang's dilemma could have been solved a minute earlier.
As for his intention to enter northwest Shanxi, Wang Minggui had no intention of staying there and passively defending, waiting for the Japanese attack. If he was that kind of rigid person, he would not mobilize without permission from the military chief. Troops will reinforce Kang Bao and will not launch a general attack in advance.
Both of them were resolute and resolute people. Since they had already planned to take action in advance, Wang Minggui did not delay and immediately rushed to Ciying Temple, where the troops were gathering. As for the Crusader tank battalion promised to be allocated to Yang Jicai, it was actually in Baimiao now. Ganzhu Temple in the back is on standby.
As early as after receiving the telegram from the headquarters, Du Kaishan had already considered the requirements for the mobility of tanks to perform this task according to the headquarters' orders. The Matilda II tanks and T-26 tanks currently deployed on the frontal battlefield on the Western Front are one mobile tank. The capabilities are too poor, the requirements for combat terrain are too high, and the armor on other parts of the armor is too thin except for the front.
Moreover, excluding the heavy battle losses in the past, the T26 tanks currently equipped by the 1st Armored Brigade can only be reduced to two battalions. The strength is no longer enough to divide the troops. Considering that the Matilda II tank moves too slowly, If reinforcements were assigned, it would affect the speed of the troops, so Du Kaishan requested the headquarters to transfer to him a battalion equipped with Crusader cruise tanks assigned to the advancing army.
After receiving Du Kaishan's request, after careful consideration, Yang Zhen finally approved his request and allowed the battalion stationed on the Shangdu River line as the general reserve force of the advancing army to immediately rush to the Ganzhu Temple line to stand by.
The two old commanders who were advancing on the army there also happily let go after learning about the mission assigned by the central government.
The straight-line distance between Shangdu River and Ganzhu Temple is less than a hundred kilometers, and the terrain is also conducive to the rapid maneuvering of tanks. When Yang Jicai received the order and returned to the Baimiao headquarters, the battalion had already gone through two hours of forced
The army rushed to Ganzhu Temple to stand by, otherwise Du Kaishan would have agreed to his request so readily.
Wang Minggui rushed to the front line of Ciying Temple, waiting for the mobilized troops to assemble. Du Kaishan, who stayed in the Baimiao headquarters, was constantly considering adjusting his deployment according to the changes in the current development of the war situation. Under Wang Minggui's advance general offensive,
The last remaining resistance of the Japanese 26th Division had been completely disintegrated in less than half an hour after Yang Jicai returned from the Kangbao front line.
Lieutenant General Kenshiro Shibayama, the commander of the 26th Division, was stunned by the shell and captured in a collapsed bunker. The chief of staff of the 26th Division and the commander of the 26th Infantry Regiment were killed. The entire Sunit
, the fighting in the territory of Zhengxiangbai Banner has completely subsided. At this time, the 21st Division has already marched westward and is forcibly intersecting the highway between Huade and Shangdu.
Now that the 26th Division has been completely resolved, it means that the worries of the entire frontal battlefield on the Western Front have been completely relieved. Facing the changes in the battle situation in front of him, Du Kaishan has nothing to hesitate and immediately resumes operations according to the changes in the battle situation.
Deployment adjusted.
Despite some hesitation, Du Kaishan used the 31st Division newly transferred from the headquarters and had just been transported by road to replace the 21st Division that was cutting off the road from Huade to Shangdu and attacking north of Huade.
The flanks penetrated directly into the battlefields around Huade, completely encircling the main force of the Japanese 110th Division on the Huade battlefield, and containing the Japanese troops on the front line of Shangdu.
The reason why Du Kaishan was hesitant was because the 31st Division was one of the largest new divisions formed before this battle, consisting of partially upgraded local armed forces, additional recruits, and a battalion transferred to the advancing army.
, it turns out that the old anti-alliance forces can only use one company from each of the main divisions as the backbone.
Although the entire division is fully staffed and equipped with various weapons, although the division artillery does not have a 100mm howitzer battalion, there are two divisional mountain artillery battalions and a field artillery battalion is not much different, and as the final formation
division, the regimental artillery of this division has been strengthened compared with other units.
Each regiment also has an additional infantry artillery company consisting of four German-made 75mm infantry guns. This organization is unique in the entire army. The only drawback is that most of the soldiers in this division are not on board.
On the battlefield, the entire division generally lacked combat experience, and the number of veterans was not large. Under such circumstances, Du Kaishan did not dare to transfer them to the main battlefield.
But this division is currently the most complete division on the frontal battlefield on the entire Western Front. Du Kaishan cannot let this division leisurely serve as a reserve force in the rear while other troops are suffering casualties. Du Kaishan has not done so before.
I thought about dismantling this division, leaving only one skeleton to be transferred to the rear for reinforcement, and all the remaining troops were replenished to other divisions to supplement the casualties.
It's just that his idea was firmly opposed by Political Commissar Ouyang Jishan. Under the current situation where the casualties of the troops were not light, Ouyang Jishan did not object to the approach of downsizing the organizational structure and replenishing the front-line combat troops, but this kind of direct transfer of a Ouyang Jishan did not agree at all with the new editor's approach of disrupting the order and adding supplements to each division.
A new division was dismantled as soon as it arrived on the battlefield. This clearly shows the distrust of this unit. It will have a considerable impact on the morale of the division's cadres and soldiers. If you let the division's cadres and soldiers , how can I raise my head in front of my brother troops in the future?
Moreover, the troops have come step by step from the newly formed troops. The old troops did not fall from the sky. You disrupt the formation and replenish it to other troops without even giving them a chance. What does this mean? It is true that the new troops are inferior to the old troops in terms of combat experience, but they are not necessarily inferior to the old troops in terms of combat effectiveness.