Taiyuan City, where the First Army Headquarters is located, is not only a factory, but also a logistics base for the entire Japanese army stationed in Shanxi. This time, most of Taiyuan City was captured, and the materials seized were piled up. In the major military warehouses throughout Taiyuan City, steel, The quantities of fuel, military uniforms, weapons, ammunition, and military rations are huge.
In just one Japanese warehouse at Taiyuan Railway Station, tens of thousands of boxes of canned beef were seized, more than 10,000 boxes of precious canned fruits, more than 200,000 bags of white flour and rice, and hundreds of thousands of bags of cotton. At Wusu Airport, several hundred barrels of aviation fuel were seized, and more than 20,000 barrels of gasoline were seized at the Japanese military warehouse in Dongshan.
Except for gasoline, Yang Jicai didn't care about the rest of these supplies. Even if he blew them all up, compared to the task to be completed, no one would say that he was wasting it. However, the Eighth Division of Jinsui refused to let go and was determined to blow up all these supplies. Transported back to base.
The Jinsui base area itself is located in a barren mountainous area with relatively scarce products. Coupled with the brutal and continuous raids by the Japanese army last year, so many supplies can greatly alleviate the current situation where the people in the entire base area are extremely exhausted. At least this much food and supplies, This can alleviate the burden on the base area for a long period of time and allow the people in the base area to take a good breath.
In desperation, Yang Jicai distributed weapons and ammunition as much as possible. Steel, oil, cotton, grain and other materials were transferred to the base area. No matter whether cadres or soldiers, each person was provided with four cans a day, and each prisoner with no combat mission could receive two cans a day. to provide them with supplies to restore their bodies.
In addition to ten pieces of compressed biscuits and six cans as food reserves, all participating troops had three meals a day during the Taiyuan battle. They had canned meat stewed with potatoes, radishes, cabbage, or simply cooked in a big pot. Stewing frozen meat, dried vegetables, and staple food of rice and white flour in the Japanese cold storage, all the customs troops participating in the war received raincoats and gas masks for the first time.
So many cadres and soldiers of the customs troops who participated in the war still recalled decades later that the period of fighting in Taiyuan City was the best period of their entire Anti-Japanese War career, and it was also the only period when food was widely available. With time, the rescued prisoners of war recovered quickly within a short period of time.
Even so, such a large batch of supplies could not be fully digested in a short period of time, and the quantity was too large to be taken away. Yang Jicai ignored the firm opposition of the commander of the Eighth Division and, except for the gas masks, the rest All supplies that could not be transported were loaded with explosives and prepared to be blown up during the evacuation.
In order to ship as much supplies as possible before the Japanese reinforcements arrived, all the troops in and around Taiyuan City were put into operation. In the industrial zone in the north of the city, equipment was being dismantled in full swing, and the people in the city were mobilized as much as possible. , transporting materials outbound.
In the face of difficulties in mobilization, they even resorted to force to force the situation. Of course, they paid for it afterwards with banknotes withdrawn directly from the pseudo-Shanxi Bank, 200 trucks brought by Yang Jicai, and 110 trucks seized in Taiyuan. Ten Japanese army trucks were transporting supplies and personnel to Gu almost without stopping.
Drivers don't have to worry. All the scouts participating in the war can drive, so they can alternate driving with the drivers to achieve the maximum transportation volume. Moreover, the gasoline seized in Taiyuan City will not be used up even if these trucks are scrapped, but regardless of
There are many transportation methods, but transporting these things and a large number of people also requires a lot of time.
After all, the Japanese army would not wait for Yang Jicai to finish all the work quietly, and then evacuate smoothly. While Yang Jicai was doing his best to rush to transport supplies and personnel, and under the constant urging of Yoshimoto Sadichi, the Japanese 41st Division
Using various means, including releasing a large amount of poisonous gas, one of them finally got rid of the entanglement in the Taiyue Military Region and arrived at the Jinyuan line on April 18th.
Faced with the urging telegrams sent by Yoshimoto Sadai almost every hour, the 237th Regiment of the 41st Division that arrived in Jinyuan strengthened the four squadrons of the 239th Regiment, as well as engineers, baggage troops, and artillery.
Rest and recuperate, and immediately concentrate the main force to attack Taiyuan.
Under the command of Major General Hanji Okumura, commander of the 41st Infantry Regiment, the troops were divided into two groups and launched an attack south of Taiyuan along both sides of the Fen River and the Tongpu Railway. In the early morning of April 19, the two armies first attacked Xiaodian and Dicun.
, Mingqian Town came into contact on the front line, and on the west bank of the Fen River, the two armies also engaged in fierce battles along the Xishan Mountains of Taiyuan.
The 41st Division of the Japanese Army, urged by Sadatari Yoshimoto, launched an extremely fierce offensive. Under the cover of artillery fire, they launched a group charge, covering Xiaodian, Dicun, and Mingqian Town, and fell within an hour.
There were more than 700 rounds of artillery shells from the 92nd Infantry Artillery and above, and they took advantage of the wind to continuously release large amounts of poisonous gas during the battle.
The entire defensive position in the south of Taiyuan City and all the fortifications were almost blown to the ground by Japanese artillery fire. The Japanese army organized in squadrons and launched successive group charges under the cover of poison gas and artillery shells.
Mask, under the Japanese poison gas offensive, I am afraid that the entire southern position of the city cannot be defended for even one day.
In Taiyuan City, the Japanese troops trapped in a position of less than 700 square meters around the First Army Headquarters seemed to have returned the sun. However, there were not many puppet troops left in the city. After learning that Japanese reinforcements had arrived,
, also played with his life under the supervision of the Japanese army.
Since the battle started in Taiyuan City, the lower-level puppet army officers and soldiers did not care. Surrenders abounded. However, the senior officials of the puppet army, especially the senior officials of the Shanxi Suppression of the Communist Army and the Xingya Yellow Army, knew very well that the people below could
Surrender, but you must never surrender.
Especially Cai Xiongfei, the commander of the Xingya Yellow Army who led his troops to surrender to the enemy when he was the deputy division commander of the 19th Army of the Jinsui Army. He knew that no matter whether it was the Central Army, the Jinsui Army or the Eighth Route Army, he would not end well.
No matter who it is, it is difficult for him to save his life, let alone the Eighth Route Army who is fighting in front of him, so he cannot surrender.
Over the years, I have cooperated with the Japanese army in raiding the Eighth Route Army base areas, and I have owed more than one blood debt. On the lists of several major military districts of the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi, I have been listed as a hard-core traitor who must be killed quickly. If I fall into these
In the hands of Tubalu, he was afraid of the consequences just thinking about it.
In order to save his own life, he commanded his hard-core troops to resist desperately, and even publicly shot dozens of officers and soldiers who wanted to surrender. Facing these puppet troops who were struggling to death, Yang Jicai did not want his troops to suffer too much loss.
, so he didn’t pay too much attention to it, and even consciously made way for him to retreat to the First Army Headquarters.
However, after learning that the Japanese reinforcements had arrived in the south of Taiyuan City, this group of puppet troops took the lead in launching a counterattack, trying to show off the Japanese army behind them in front of the most senior officials in Shanxi and drive the Anti-Japanese Alliance and Eighth Route Army out of the city. Go, the shameless behavior of these puppet troops made Yang Jicai very angry.
Gritting his teeth, Yang Jicai decided to kill these bastards first. He used firepower to block the connection between the rushing out puppet troops and the following Japanese troops, and concentrated a battalion of troops to attack this group of more than a thousand soldiers. The two wings of the puppet army were outflanking him. He knew that with the Japanese reinforcements already arriving, the remaining Japanese and puppet troops would not allow him to live in peace if he did not kill this leader.
As for the puppet army in front of him being more powerful than him, Yang Jicai didn't care at all. In his opinion, it would be no problem for one of his battalions to defeat an infantry brigade of the Kwantung Army face to face, let alone facing thousands of puppet troops. Since these The puppet troops are not afraid of death, so it is just a good idea to use them to intimidate other Japanese and puppet troops in the city, so that they can stay quietly during this period of time and less disturb you.
The common people around the area where the Japanese army was stationed had been mobilized long ago, and each of them received 10,000 counterfeit coins seized from the Taiyuan Bank as compensation. Therefore, Yang Jicai invested artillery at the beginning of the battle, without any concern for the safety of the common people. No worries, he won't have any hesitation.
Facing the swarming puppet troops, the first round of counterattack fired by the Anti-League's two 76mm cannons hit the heads of the puppet troops accurately. The troops responsible for encircling both sides and the one attacking from the front The tank company and the infantry company, with the street as the dividing line, and the first fierce offensive under the cover of several flat-firing anti-aircraft machine guns, will completely defeat the puppet army's counterattack, and in the subsequent counterattack, the enemy in front of them will be defeated. The puppet army was divided.
Under attack from three sides, the puppet army lacked confidence and launched a counterattack under the pressure of high-level officials. Although they had the advantage in strength, they were defeated within an hour. If Yang Jicai didn't want to cause too much trouble, The troops who launched a counterattack even rushed directly into the Japanese positions.
As for some of the puppet troops who retreated into a few houses and tried to resist, Yang Jicai simply knocked down the houses with tanks, crushing these die-hard traitors and a small number of Japanese soldiers who participated in the war to death, or mobilized artillery and fired at close range to kill these hardcore traitors. The guy who wanted to see God with his granite head, together with a small number of Japanese officers and soldiers inside to supervise the battle, were sent directly to the West.
Not only did this puppet army fail to show off in front of their masters, they also joined two small groups of Japanese troops, plus more than 200 Japanese armed foreigners. They originally agreed to this puppet army to launch a counterattack, trying to use the puppet army to consume some of the anti-alliance forces. In order to cooperate with the reinforcements to attack from inside and outside, Yoshimoto Sada was dumbfounded.
Yang Jicai neatly eliminated the more than a thousand Japanese puppet troops. This killing of chickens and monkeys completely calmed down the Japanese puppet troops in the city. He was worried that the already limited defensive forces would be wasted bit by bit in this unnecessary counterattack. Yoshimoto Teiichi ordered to stop any counterattack.
He stayed in his limited defensive position honestly and did not dare to take a step out. Fortunately, after the counterattack, the Anti-Japanese Alliance mobilized all artillery and tanks outside the city, leaving only some infantry. , looking at the Japanese and puppet troops in the city whose actual strength far exceeded their own.
During the entire battle, they were constantly facing Yang Jicai's troops in the city. The Anti-Japanese Alliance did not launch an attack, and they definitely did not launch a counterattack. They just watched the Anti-Japanese Alliance orderly move into the city and were willing to follow the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
People gradually evacuated and dismantled industrial equipment.