Although forced passage, these wooden bridges may not really be unbearable, but Yang Jicai really did not dare to take this risk, and regardless of forcing through these numerous small bridges, which were only a few dozen meters long, he could only take The method of passing through sections made the speed far behind the original plan.
Even the last wave of covering troops that set off more than ten hours later, because they were traveling by road, did not need to consider the load-bearing capacity of the bridge. On the contrary, they did not have so much trouble. They rushed ahead of them at the speed of travel and got ahead of them. When the train convoy led by Yang Jicai arrived at Shiling Pass, Su Yingqi had been waiting for him here for nearly two hours.
If Yang Jicai had not sent out the reconnaissance troops in advance and secretly controlled various Japanese strongholds south of Xin County on Tongpu Road, at the same time Chen Hanzhang sent cavalry and armored groups southward to Yuanping to support the front line, seizing the opportunity before the Japanese reinforcements arrived. Xinkou and Yuanping ensured the safety of the retreat route north of Yuanping.
There were stops and starts along the way. Yang Jicai, who had walked for two full days on the more than 300 kilometers of railway from Taiyuan to Datong, might not be able to evacuate safely, because the train fleet that Yang Jicai was retreating had just passed Xinkou. , less than three hours after Yuanping, Japanese reinforcements had arrived here, completely blocking the Beitong-Pu Railway.
As for the covering Jinsui troops and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei troops, when the convoy arrived at the Shilingguan line, they all got off the vehicle and withdrew to their respective bases. The entire convoy except for a basic battalion of the Jinsui Military Region and Su Yingqi. Apart from the troops he led, there were no more covering troops.
Even if it is only three hours at night, what he will face is not a squadron or a regiment of Japanese troops, but an entire brigade of Japanese troops equipped with a large number of artillery and poison gas bombs. With his With less than two battalions of troops on hand, very little ammunition left in the entire army, and only eleven remaining tanks that have almost run out of shells, it is impossible to protect so much equipment no matter what. At the same time, safety stands out.
Just when Yang Jicai was delayed a lot in his retreat due to the load-bearing of the bridge, behind him on the Shanxi battlefield, the situation was already changing. Just as Yang Jicai was slowly retreating to Datong, a new wave of Japanese reinforcements arrived , but wasted no time in galloping toward Taiyuan and the entire Shanxi battlefield at night and under the stars.
Reinforcements drawn from the Chinese Expeditionary Force in East China had already broken through the Niangziguan line and entered Shanxi on the day Yang Jicai evacuated Taiyuan. The mountain village detachment, as the vanguard, forcibly entered Xin via Wutai three hours after Yang Jicai passed through. County, Yuanping line.
At the same time, although the Japanese army is unable to build the Zhengtai Railway for the time being, it has opened the road from Jingxing to Yangquan and is seizing the time to mobilize food, ammunition and supplies to the Shanxi battlefield. The Japanese army stationed in Changzhi and Linfen are also moving along the Nantong-Pu Railway , and the Baijin Railway transports grain to Taiyuan.
If Yang Jicai was delayed even for a day when retreating, until all the Japanese reinforcements and supplies arrived, he would really be unable to leave even if he wanted to. Once the Japanese reinforcements arrived, they would surround him from all sides and cut off the north. On the Tongpu Railway, other than the entire army being annihilated under Taiyuan City, he had almost no other option.
The Japanese reinforcements that appeared on the entire North China battlefield at the same time as this mountain village detachment, as well as the division-sized Takeuchi detachment, also got off the train at Handan and passed through Wu'an, Shexian, Licheng, and Liaoxian toward Yushe and Taigu. If we were not worried about unnecessary losses due to the congestion and bombing of the Zhengtai Highway, we would advance quickly.
And Okamura Neiji had other plans for the use of the Takeuchi detachment, so that the Takeuchi detachment chose the southeastern part of Shanxi, which is relatively far away, instead of taking the Shotai Highway. If the Takeuchi detachment took Jingxing, Yangquan, and Yangshou, I have arrived at the Taiyuan front line a long time ago.
At the same time that the main force of the Takeuchi detachment had arrived at Yushe, the Forty-seventh Division, one of the two divisions that the Japanese base camp had transferred from the Southeast Asian battlefield, landed in Tianjin without any rest and was marching through Pingsui. The railway is heading towards Zhangjiakou at full speed.
The division was not only fully equipped, but also carried a regiment of Taisho 4-year-old 150mm howitzers brought from the Philippine battlefield. At the same time, the division also strengthened the 13 field guns captured from the Philippine battlefield. , a temporary field artillery brigade was formed.
The 69th Brigade, which landed in Tanggu earlier, strengthened two mountain artillery squadrons, a field artillery squadron, plus four rapid-fire artillery squadrons drawn from the mainland, and had already reached the line from Laiyuan to Lingqiu.
Okamura Neiji, who had received a large number of reinforcements, ignored the actual situation that the Datong war was basically over at this moment, and the main force of the 15th Division and the independent 3rd independent mixed brigade stationed in Datong had been completely destroyed. They are mobilizing troops and generals, looking for a breakthrough, and trying to defeat all the anti-alliance troops in northern Shanxi and the main force of the advancing army in one fell swoop, in order to restore the current defeat.
After the reinforcements of the Japanese army in East China arrived at the Shanxi battlefield first, Okamura Neiji seemed to be in no rush to transfer the two divisions from the Southeast Asian battlefield and immediately put them all into front-line operations. Except for the 47th Division, which was fully reinforcing Beyond the Zhangjiakou front line, he left the 21st Division behind and stationed at the Huolu, Zhengding, and Shimen lines.
In addition, Okamura Neiji is mobilizing supplies, replenishing this division with a large number of mules and horses and other transportation capabilities necessary for mountain operations. He has also mobilized the last four mountain artillery squadrons from the artillery directly under his front army to replace the division's Field artillery, which is not suitable for mountain operations, is also equipped with the last 120mm howitzer battalion directly under the front army to this division.
At the same time, the remaining forces of several independent mixed brigades left behind by the Japanese army in Hebei are also being mobilized frequently. After suffering heavy losses during the bombing and returning to Shimen, the 15th Division withdrew to Qingfengdian for reinforcements and also received a field supplementary team. Although the supplement has not been completed, the strength has been restored to some extent.
Facing the new changes in the enemy situation in Chanan and Shanxi battlefields, Yang Zhen, who had returned to the Anti-Japanese Alliance Tongliao headquarters at this time, was also constantly adjusting his deployment. He had captured Huade and Shangdu, and the main force of the 110th Division had already been Du Kaishan's headquarters was completely defeated, except for leaving a force to clean up the battlefield and completely eliminate the few remnants of the 110th Division trapped between Huade and Shangdu.
The main force immediately went south across the Pingsui Railway and spread across the entire line west of Zhangjiakou to coordinate with the advancing army. At the same time, after the troops mobilized from the Rehe battlefield arrived at the northern Shanxi battlefield, they were immediately deployed along the line from Hunyuan to Guangling in northeastern Shanxi, with Dukaishan heading south formed an overall combat posture.
But considering that this battle was all in the mountains, Yang Zhen except for leaving an independent tank battalion to cooperate with the Huade and Shangdu battlefields to clear out the remaining enemies, the rest of the Matilda II tanks were all transferred back to the Northeast battlefield. , but Yang Zhen mobilized two howitzer battalions that were more suitable for combat in the battlefields of northern Shanxi and southwestern Chacha.
Yang Zhen knew very well that although the 32nd Division is currently unable to go north due to supply problems, once the supplies are completed, the main force of the division will immediately go north to cooperate with the Japanese reinforcements that have arrived in Shanxi and move toward northern Shanxi, which our army currently controls. A large-scale offensive was launched in the area.
With the troops already stretched to the limit and it was impossible to send a large number of troops to northern Shanxi, Yang Zhen could only find ways to increase firepower and equipment for the northern Shanxi battlefield. At the same time, after capturing Datong, the main battles in the northern Shanxi battlefield were concentrated. Under the circumstances of the Western Front, we seized the opportunity to transport a large amount of ammunition and oil to northern Shanxi.
At the same time, Chen Hanzhang was telegraphed not to stick to various key points when conducting defense, but to make full use of the complex terrain between the inner and outer Great Wall, adopt a mobile defense posture, and use the deep mountains to turn the entire inner and outer Great Wall into a burial ground. Japanese soldier's grave.
Considering that the Japanese reinforcements were available for the battlefield in northern Shanxi, Yang Zhen did not restrict Chen Hanzhang's hands and feet in command. In addition to telegraphing Chen Hanzhang to be flexible during the battle, Yang Zhen also told Chen Hanzhang that there was no need to do anything. Take action after asking for instructions in advance. If necessary, you can take action first.
But Yang Zhen also told Chen Hanzhang in the telegram that he should pay attention to the cooperation and coordination with the brother troops, handle the relationship with the brother troops well, and pay attention to the use of brother troops to give full play to their specialties and not use them with resistance. To meet the standards of the alliance, ask the brother troops within the customs.
After giving the order to Chen Hanzhang, taking into account the equipment and adjustments of the 21st Division and the location of the remaining units of the 15th Division, I always feel that this adjustment by Okamura Neiji is not completely targeted at the northern Shanxi battlefield. Yang Zhen sent three urgent telegrams to the boss and deputy commander-in-chief.
In addition to notifying the central government and the two of them of their doubts, they also hope that the troops from the Hebei, Luyu and Southern Hebei Military Regions who have already entered the Taihang region will not continue to move northward, but stay on the spot to cooperate with the remaining troops from the Taihang and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Regions to deal with extreme situations. There may be unexpected situations. Yang Zhen believes that it is better to be more careful and have more escape routes when doing things.
At the same time, Yang Zhen repeatedly reminded his boss and the commander of the Jinsui Military Region who had arrived in northern Shanxi to beware of the Japanese army taking advantage of the current emptiness of the Jinsui Military Region to carry out a large-scale raid on our Jinsui base area in order to reduce the supply lines behind the Japanese army when fighting in northern Shanxi. The pressure must be endured to avoid the recurrence of the situation where our army continuously ambushed Japanese transport convoys behind enemy lines during the Battle of Xinkou, causing massive difficulties in supplying the Japanese army.
Yang Zhen suggested that if that didn't work, the original plan to deploy the main force of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Military Region on the left flank of the battlefield in northern Shanxi should be changed, and all the main forces of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Military Region, which were gradually returning, should be withdrawn to the base area in northwestern Shanxi to ensure that the base area in northwestern Shanxi and Shaanxi-Gansu Safety in Yongbyon-gu.
At the same time, the Taihang, Taiyue, and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Regions must once again be prepared for counter-mopping up. If the situation permits, they may, as appropriate, place a portion of the troops of the Central Hebei Military Region currently in the Taihang Military Region under the command of successful personnel and return at the appropriate time. During the battle in the Jizhong Plains, the Jizhong District, which had become the core area of the Japanese army at this time, caused chaos in the Heavenly Palace, dispersing the Japanese army's forces and reducing the pressure in the base area.
While adjusting the deployment on the ground, Yang Zhen transferred most of the Il-4 bombers that were still capable of flying and two-thirds of the A-20 attack aircraft to northern Shaanxi and several aircraft in Guisui and Jining. field to make up for the shortage of ground troops and firepower, and one-third of the aerial bombs currently in stock in Northeast China will also be transferred to northern Shanxi.
In order to take advantage of the fact that most of the aviation force, especially the bombers, had been transferred to the northern Shanxi battlefield to participate in the war, Yang Zhen sent the US-made B-25 bombers that landed in the Northeast base area after the US air raid on Tokyo on April 18, together with The original crew members were also requisitioned.
In Yang Zhen's view, no matter what kind of army you are, since everyone is now a grasshopper on a rope, then there will definitely be no friendly troops fighting hard here. You can rest and recuperate in the Anti-Union base area, pat your butts and leave. It's a good thing. Now that it's here, if we don't do something, wouldn't it be a waste of the excellent performance of the B-25 bomber?