Ouyang Jishan believes that as the saying goes, newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. You will know if you don’t let others try it. If you don’t have combat experience, can you pick a soft persimmon first and let this unit practice it? And cooperate with the old units of the two divisions. Under this situation, even if there are some problems in this division, it will not cause too much trouble.
Under Ouyang Jishan's firm opposition, Du Kaishan had no choice but to follow suit and transfer the division to the north of Huade, replace the 21st Division with the 110th Division north of Huade, which had been replaced by the 20th Division. The 1st Division separated the strength of one and a half infantry brigade from the main force of the 110th Division to train this unit and at the same time serve as the general reserve force for the frontal battlefield on the Western Front.
The 21st Division, which had been replaced by the 31st Division, continued to detour across the entire Huade and Shangdu battlefields to the west. Du Kaishan now did not add additional troops to this unit, but it gave the 21st Division a very important task. The mission is to follow the entire left flank of the battlefield with the 110th Division, penetrate directly into the Shangdu line, and completely separate the entire front of the 110th Division.
And seize the front line of Shangdu, encircle and annihilate the two Japanese brigades remaining in Shangdu, the rear material reserve base, and prepare for the next step of the headquarters' complete encirclement and annihilation. Although the 21st Division now only has five battalions left, Du Kaishan still I think these five battalions basically have no problem dealing with the two Japanese infantry brigades.
As for the 17th Division, after the transfer of Su Yingqi's headquarters and the heavy casualties in the previous battle, the remaining troops were reduced to two battalions with the remaining troops of the two remaining regiments. Du Kaishan organized one of them into the 30th Division. The key to the First Division lies in the word "老". Without the old troops being incorporated, what else can we call it "leading the new with the old"?
The remaining battalion after the reorganization of the 17th Division, together with some of the backbones retained from the pre-war adjustments, were transferred to the rear for reinforcement. Not only did the 17th Division make certain adjustments, but the troops from the other divisions participating in the war also made some adjustments. The adjustments have reduced some of the organizations that suffered excessive losses and enriched the front-line combat troops.
After intense adjustments, Du Kaishan concentrated the forces of the two divisions and cooperated with the 21st Division that forcibly penetrated the front line of Shangdu. Using the tactic of killing a chicken with a knife, Du Kaishan used tanks, two squadrons of combat aircraft, and some heavy artillery. Under the cover of fire, a general attack was launched on the 110th Division.
After the 26th Division was finally resolved, he had lost the patience to continue fighting with the 110th Division. Solving the 110th Division would mean that the Suidong and Chaxi battlefields had completely completed the combat mission. , the freed-up troops could be used in other directions. He felt that too much time had been wasted by involving the two divisions for such a long time.
As he said himself, his thoughts are not limited to the two Japanese divisions of Chaxi and Suidong. For Du Kaishan, who has always advocated offense, among the Japanese troops on the Chaxi and Suidong battlefields, two The Sixteenth Division had reached its final doom, and he really couldn't arouse that interest. The three regiments of the 110th Division also made him lack of interest.
The 110th Division alone cannot satisfy his relatively large appetite. At this moment, his eyes are now set on Northern Shanxi, which is basically certain to be the focus of this battle, and go to Chen Hanzhang's pot. Grabbing meat to eat is his most real thought now.
Even though the Seventeenth Division had to withdraw from the battlefield and return to the rear for replenishment due to excessive losses, Wang Minggui reinforced northern Shanxi and took away two more divisions from the battlefield in Suinan, but among the remaining three divisions, there were still One of the divisions was a newly transferred division, and its combat effectiveness made people very worried. However, the current battle situation still whetted Du Kaishan's appetite, and he set his sights directly on the battlefields in northern Shanxi and Suinan.
In fact, after Du Kaishan and others took over the command, one thing they still couldn't figure out was why, in such a favorable situation, with five divisions, one armored brigade, and three tank battalions in hand, Liu Changshun's attack rhythm was so poor. Always slowly rising.
Even though the independent ninth brigade and a regiment of the 110th Division have never participated in the war, they must ensure a certain amount of reserve and mobile forces. However, the existing forces in his hands have not been increased at the headquarters. Even with reinforcements, he can still deal with the battle situation calmly.
Although the previous divisions that participated in the war suffered heavy casualties during the battle, the 1st Armored Brigade and the 17th Division suffered particularly heavy casualties, but the Japanese army in front of them suffered even greater casualties, even if the independent ninth brigade was included. He doesn't have enough troops to mobilize even one division.
A depleted 26th Division and a tightly entangled 110th Division actually restrained him for such a long time without accomplishing anything. Although the Japanese army had fortified areas to rely on, it was not possible for them to rely on it. For Liu Changshun, his heavy artillery and tanks are not just decorations.
Liu Changshun's approach was almost unimaginable to Du Kaishan, who was always accustomed to advocating the offensive. If it had been him, he would have launched a leaping attack and directly rushed to the battlefield in Suinan and northern Shanxi to go to Chen Hanzhang. After eating the meat, it will be here and there, hesitating for such a long time.
Just as Du Kaishan was adjusting the deployment of troops on the frontal battlefield on the western front, the 26th Division had been completely destroyed. The two divisions preparing to reinforce Chen Hanzhang were gathering. When the Kangbao front line received the order, they had already entered Kangbao. Su Yingqi in the county seat was not in a hurry to hand over command.
Taking advantage of the time lag before the deputy commander of the 21st Division who succeeded him arrived, he mobilized the available troops and used the company as the organization to launch simultaneous attacks from all directions to attack the last remnants of the Japanese independent mixed ninth brigade in Kangbao City. total attack.
In order to ensure a smooth attack, Su Yingqi split up the artillery units assigned to him and strengthened each attacking company with a 76mm cannon. He also split up the tanks sent by Wang Minggui and fired with direct fire from the tanks. , carry out precise strikes on the remaining firepower points on the periphery of Kangbao, and cover the direct advance of the infantry.
At this time, there were not many Japanese defenders in the city. Under his simultaneous offensives from all directions, the entire Kangbao City defense was broken through in full, even within half an hour. Two hours later, the Japanese troops in the city were defeated. has been divided.
In the previous two nights and one day of fierce fighting, the reinforced battalion led by Su Yingqi plummeted to half a company. The southern front troops directly controlled by Yang Jicai also suffered heavy losses. The strength of a strengthened regiment participating in the battle was only reduced after the reinforcements arrived. Four companies of troops remain.
But two days and one night of fierce fighting also filled most of the troops of the Independent Mixed Ninth Brigade. Coupled with the huge power of more than a dozen air-fuel bombs, when Su Yingqi launched a general attack, the entire Independent Mixed Ninth Brigade was completely destroyed. There is not much blood left in the brigade.
The battle for the hilly road due north that overlooked the entire Japanese fortification area severely damaged the vitality of the independent mixed ninth brigade. When Wang Minggui's reinforcements arrived, they were already unable to hold on. Even Su Yingqi only moved backwards. They retreated five kilometers, but were no longer able to pursue.
In addition, during the two days and one night of fierce fighting, most of the defenders in the city were gradually transferred outside the city to participate in the battle as the battle situation developed. Under the attack of the air-fuel bomb, the entire army was basically destroyed. When Su Yingqi took over from Yang Jicai to command the Kangbao battle, there were already very few Japanese troops available for defense in the entire Kangbao city.
Thanks to Yang Jicai's careful calculations, although the entire Kangbao City did not suffer any major losses, the walls on all sides had completely collapsed due to the huge shock waves generated by the large-yield air fuel bombs. , when Su Yingqi launched the attack, he was already naked and exposed in front of Su Yingqi.
Su Yingqi's long-term guerrilla career behind enemy lines has made Su Yingqi develop the habit of not fighting. If you want to fight, I will beat you to death and never give you a chance to breathe. Let him suspend the attack at this time and hand over the command. Don't say The one who came was a deputy division commander, even the full division commander, he would not stop at this time, let alone when the battle situation was so favorable.
When his successor arrived at the Kangbao battlefield, he had already completed the final attack on Kangbao City. After four hours of fierce fighting, a complete Japanese infantry squadron, two infantry squads, and a heavy infantry squadron in the city were wiped out, plus A military police unit.
Major General Kenkichi Ikegami, commander of the 9th independent mixed brigade, shot himself when the attacking troops had reached his headquarters at the puppet county office. All the wounded either stabbed each other with bayonets or fired grenades and died together. The entire independent mixed 9th brigade The brigade, with more than 5,000 men in Kangbao, only captured less than a hundred prisoners.
This independent mixed ninth brigade performed much more tenaciously on the battlefield than ordinary field divisions, but no matter how tenacious it was, as the last gunshot fell in Kangbao City, it meant that this so-called center of the entire North China Front Army This independent mixed brigade of the fire brigade, the main force remaining on the Kangbao battlefield has been completely destroyed.
As the gunfire on the Kangbao front line completely subsided, of the three Japanese troops in the Chaxi and Suidong battlefields, only the 110th Division, which had suffered heavy losses at this time, was left to fight alone, and the fighting on the Kangbao battlefield stopped. , representing the Japanese army’s battlefields in Suidong, Chaxi, and Chanan, as a whole front no longer exists.
The Japanese army on the entire western front battlefield was divided into two parts. The Japanese army's important town in Zhangbei in Cha'nan has been exposed to the guns of the Anti-Alliance. If Du Kaishan wants to compete with the advancing army for food, he will do it now You can mobilize your troops and attack in the southwest direction to seize Zhangbei directly.
Su Yingqi captured Kangbao County in four hours and pulled out the last nail on the right wing of the entire frontal battlefield on the Western Front. This naturally increased Du Kaishan's effective strength. However, the last gunshot on the Kangbao battlefield died down. After coming down, Du Kaishan gave the order to the troops participating in the Kangbao battlefield to switch to defense on the spot.
Not only did Kang Bao's participating troops, except for the tank troops and the regiment led by Su Yingqi, be reduced into a battalion and transferred together with Su Yingqi, the rest of the troops were transferred to defense on the spot. He also transferred them from the 31st Division One regiment, plus the reserve of the last regiment remaining in hand, was also placed in the direction of Kangbao.
Under the unified command of the deputy commander of the 21st Division, who did not delay anything after receiving the order, but by the time he arrived at Kangbao, everything had been completed. Before receiving the order, in addition to expanding part of the defense to the south, Besides, no rash actions are allowed.
Du Kaishan's move was to ensure the safety of the main flank of the advancing army, which was fighting fiercely with the Japanese army in Chanan, and to cut off the Japanese army's attempt to reinforce the Suidong battlefield through Zhangbei. Before the advancing army failed to capture Zhangbei, he would temporarily remain in this direction. There can be no rash actions.
Although the current battle situation of the Jinjin Army does not require him to worry about it, Du Kaishan believes that as long as Zhangbei has not been captured, the Japanese army may pass through Zhangbei at any time to send more troops to Suinan and Suidong battlefields. If Kangbao is captured, the Japanese army will Moving the troops away would leave a rather unstable factor on the flanks of himself and Chen Hanzhang. He did not want the Japanese army to turn around and give him another chance because of his carelessness.