Speaking of this, Chen Hanzhang thought for a while and then said: "Also, the battle is about to enter a critical node. Now the entire northern Shanxi, northeastern Shanxi and northwestern Shanxi have actually formed a unified battlefield. Can the cooperation between the various battlefields be smooth? , is crucial to whether we can win this battle that will determine the fate of the Western Front."
"There is no unified coordinating organization like now, and it is impossible for each army to always fight on its own. Boss, I ask you to personally send a telegram to the boss of Jinsui, asking him to come back first, and we can come up with a combat plan together, at least It is necessary to clarify the scope of operations in the three areas to avoid confusion in command."
"Our three strategic groups cannot fight independently like we did in northeastern Shanxi before. Now that the entire battlefield in northern Shanxi has become a whole, the goals of each strategic group must be clear, so that we can better exert our The own advantages of each strategic group of the military."
Regarding Chen Hanzhang's ideas and suggestions, the boss thought about it for a while and then said: "Comrade Chen Hanzhang, in principle, I agree with your deployment, but I think Comrade Yang Jicai's ideas also have many merits. There are some points in your entire plan. I suggest Make some fine-tuning, and I think the newly formed Shanxi-Sui Sixth Column will not go south for the time being."
"They only have such a small number of troops. Moving the entire army south will not solve any problems. On the contrary, it will reduce the strength of your troops on the western front. Moreover, most of these troops are upgraded from local troops. Command structures at all levels have just been established, and most of them have not yet fought. If you survive a tough battle, it will be easy to make mistakes if you go south."
"My idea is to keep this sixth column in northern Shanxi. On the one hand, it will conduct training, and on the other hand, it will serve as the general reserve force in northwestern Shanxi. And if they stay on the battlefield in northern Shanxi, you will have a certain amount of mobile troops in your hands, at least in the front. For combat, we have security forces in the rear."
"In this way, based on your opinions and some of Comrade Yang Jicai's ideas, the newly formed Shanxi-Sui Sixth Column will all stay in northern Shanxi to fight. The main force of the Shanxi-Sui Military Region will immediately go south, using the strength of the two brigades that have already gone south. , follow the route you mentioned and secretly travel south to the designated location to stand by."
"At the same time, the main force will move south immediately after the arrival of the entire army. As for the insufficient strength of the two brigades, as you said, all the rescued captured personnel will be given priority to these two brigades to supplement the remaining personnel. , then immediately go to the front line of Baode and wait for orders, and wait for the arrival of the main Shanxi-Sui units before being incorporated into the combat troops."
"As for the review, I think we can stop it for the time being. Whether these captured personnel have withstood the test in the concentration camp will be clear when they arrive on the battlefield. We will wait until the battle is over for the rest. The most important thing now is to The establishment of the troops of the Jinsui Military Region has been completed."
"Not only the captured personnel in our various units were all transferred to the main force of Jinsui, but also the captured personnel of the national army, I think the officers and soldiers below the company were temporarily replenished into the army. I immediately telegraphed the Jinsui Field Army All ministries should immediately reduce the size of their direct-affiliated teams and replenish non-combatants to front-line combat troops."
"Except for the current unit north of Fangshan, the remaining troops have also been assembled in the south of Lan County to prepare to be incorporated into field troops to participate in the war. As for the World War II area, you don't have to worry. The King of Shanxi has a very clear plan. If we are defeated in this battle, the Japanese will take care of him next."
"Unless he is ready to completely surrender to the enemy and become a traitor, he will not and does not have the strength to take advantage of others' danger at this time. He knows very well that even if he gets a temporary advantage, you have tanks and a large number of aircraft. He doesn't worry about us dealing with him afterwards. Don't worry, this Shanxi king, who was born as a young shopkeeper, is very smart in his calculations. He will not intervene before the outcome of the battle is determined."
"As for the encirclement and annihilation of the Zuojian detachment, we see that your two regiments should not take on combat tasks. Our troops have rarely fought large-scale movement annihilation battles like yours, and seriously lack experience in large-scale movement operations. The Red Army The experience accumulated during this period has basically been lost now.”
"In the past, we did not have the conditions or the strength to engage in large-scale corps movement operations against the Japanese. In addition, as we went deep behind enemy lines, all units expanded on a large scale, and the quality of the troops declined rapidly. Compared with the Japanese military's military quality, it was relatively difficult to resist the war. During the initial reorganization, it did not shrink with the size of the army. Instead, it was gradually enlarged due to the restrictions of conditions."
"In the past, we tried our best to avoid face-to-face confrontations with the Japanese army and mainly resorted to mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare. However, we cannot fight this kind of battle for a lifetime, and our troops cannot always be limited to this kind of scattered guerrilla fighting. The team battle gave us a lot of warnings."
"It turned out that the guns had no bullets and lacked heavy firepower. Not only did they lack artillery equipment and corresponding personnel, but they also lacked the number of light and heavy machine guns. Whether it was firepower or military literacy, they were unable to carry out large-scale mobile operations. With guerrilla warfare and small-scale There is no other way to focus on mobile warfare."
"But now that the army equipment has been upgraded, if we continue to stick to the previous tactics, this means that we ourselves are not enterprising. The main force of the Jinsui Army is currently only directly under the artillery, with two field artillery regiments and thirty-six field artillery pieces, and An anti-aircraft artillery regiment equipped with sixteen anti-aircraft guns."
"Each column also has an artillery regiment attached to the column, equipped with twelve mountain guns and four field guns. The brigade has two mountain guns, four 92 infantry guns and four rapid-fire guns each. The regiment has a mortar company. , the battalion's organic artillery battery, in terms of firepower configuration, although the overall firepower configuration is still weaker than that of a Japanese division, the firepower configuration of a column is no less than that of a division of the Central Army of the Chongqing Front before the war."
"A force is created by fighting, not raising. There were no conditions before, but now there are conditions, but it does not mean that the combat effectiveness will also increase, and the comprehensive combat capabilities will improve. If we do not seize the opportunity according to the development and changes of the situation, Time changes itself, and we are not only wasting ourselves.”
"Only fire can make real gold. Without actual combat testing, we will never be able to train a group of troops. The combat styles of various troops in the pass have changed. I think starting from this battle, I have decided to fight against the Zuojian detachment. It will all be borne by the Jinsui Military Region."
"Although the main force from Jinsui returned to northwest Shanxi, there are only more than 30,000 troops, but in terms of strength comparison, they also have a six-to-one advantage. Coupled with the local armed forces left behind, this advantage can only be greater, and in terms of firepower , also has an absolute advantage. Since there are so many advantages, then use this left center detachment as a whetstone."
"Even if the price we pay in this battle may be higher, as long as we train a group of high-quality commanders and train a group of troops, I think it is worth it. The price is cost-effective. This is not only My thoughts are also the chairman’s attitude.”
"We cannot worry about casualties and just tie our hands in the use of troops. In this battle, your two regiments are still mainly responsible for providing peripheral support and blocking Japanese reinforcements. Once Japanese reinforcements appear, we have to rely on You two groups, try your best to buy them some time."
"Actually, I now understand the true intention of why Taihang District concentrated its forces to attack the two divisions of the puppet army first. It is not simply because the combat effectiveness of the puppet army is weaker than that of the Japanese army. Attacking the puppet army first can solve the main force of the Japanese army's mopping up. The real intention is to use these two puppet military divisions first to train the troops' ability in large-scale mobile warfare."
"Gradually start to prepare the army's operational thinking from a dispersed guerrilla state to mobile warfare, and lay a solid foundation. First, take these two puppets, whose combat effectiveness and equipment are not weak, but are worse than the Japanese army." After all, the military advisor has single-handedly brought out the veteran generals of the Fourth Front Army, and his vision is very long-term."
"They concentrated their forces and attacked the two puppet army divisions who were leading the way first. This exercised their troops' ability to concentrate on movement and combat. They would not suffer too many casualties against the puppet troops who only had two brigades of Japanese troops supervising the operations. It can be said that they killed two birds with one stone. It's just that Here in Jinsui, we don't have that prerequisite. Since the Japanese army didn't help and left us with a hard bone, we'll start with the hard bone."
"As for the coordinated command issue you mentioned, my opinion is that the battlefield in northern Shanxi and the frontal battlefield in northeastern Shanxi will be under your unified command. The battlefield in northwestern Shanxi will be under the unified command of the Shanxi-Sui Military Region. I will sit here and act as the general dispatcher for you. Coordinating with the general commander, the deputy commander-in-chief is responsible for the operations behind enemy lines in the Northeastern Shanxi battlefield, as well as coordinating other battlefield operations."
"As long as I'm here, you can command with confidence and boldness. Don't be restrained, like an old lady with little feet, worrying about this and that. Our entire army is a chess game, whether it is the 18th Army or the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces. There is nothing to say about a brotherly army under the same banner. With the chairman and me as your backstage boss, you can do it with confidence and boldness."
The boss made the final decision. Chen Hanzhang hesitated for a long time and finally nodded in agreement. However, considering the current situation of the Jinsui Army, Chen Hanzhang still added one, two and two rocket launcher battalions and one 150mm howitzer battalion to strengthen the main force of the Jinsui Military Region. , and the boss also asked Chen Hanzhang for Yang Jicai and asked him to go to the Jinsui Military Region to cooperate with the command.
Considering that it involves air support when necessary, coordination of artillery firepower allocation and command, and coordination of the command relationship between the main force of the Jinsui Military Region and the two regiments participating in the Anti-Japanese War, Chen Hanzhang not only nodded in agreement to the boss's request, but also gave Yang Jicai was assigned two communications staff officers and two artillery staff officers to form a light staff coordination group.
When the boss of the Jinsui Military Region rushed to Chen Hanzhang, after hearing the boss's request, although he hesitated slightly, he finally agreed with the boss's idea. Chen Hanzhang knew the reason for the boss's hesitation. In the first battle of Baotou, the Jinsui Field Army The strongest team was crippled, which made the boss very distressed.
This time we faced another regular division of the Japanese army. The strength and combat effectiveness of the Japanese army we faced were far from comparable to the Battle of Baotou. The boss was always the one leading the troops. The losses he might face in this battle were still in his mind. Undoubtedly, he was worried that after this battle, the Jinsui Military Region, which had a weak foundation, would be severely damaged.
But the commander-in-chief said that all the troops in the Jinsui Military Region were disabled, but as long as the troops were trained, this battle would be worth it, which made him understand the determination of the central government. The boss gritted his teeth, even though he knew that his troops I was afraid that the foundation I had accumulated over the past few years would be exhausted, but in the end I accepted the order unconditionally.
After accepting the task and studying the general combat ideas, facing the current situation in northwestern Shanxi, especially when it came to the safety of northern Shaanxi, the boss did not make any stop, and did not even bother to drink water. With one mouthful, he led the team directly to leave northern Shanxi, took the truck provided by Chen Hanzhang, and traveled southward at starry night.