Just after sending off the Jinsui troops, before the boss and Chen Hanzhang could take a break, or even before the two of them could take a breath, Su Yingqi, who was escorting the artillery of the Taihang Military Region troops to the south, arrived at almost the same time as the acting commander of the Jinsui Military Region. electricity.
Su Yingqi called to report that the troops heading south to Taihang under his leadership had crossed the Hutuo River east of Fanzhi and entered the Wutai Mountains. They suddenly encountered a large number of Japanese troops between Doucun and Nantai, north of Wutai County. Judging from the numbers, the Japanese army in front of them had at least two infantry brigades with strengthened artillery.
Although the tanks and cavalry were fully covering the two wings, and using intensive firepower from rocket launchers, they dispersed the Japanese troops in the front and opened a passage for rapid passage. Not long ago, we fought side by side at the foot of Taiyuan City, and fought side by side in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Division. With the support of a regiment, they broke through the Japanese interception line and rushed through the Tongpu railway branch line from Wutai to Xin County. However, the covering troops also suffered certain losses because of the large number of Japanese troops.
In the melee, in order to cover the troops to open the breach as soon as possible, ensure the safety of the breach, and cover the rapid passage of equipment and personnel, Su Yingqi commanded the escort troops to conduct a surprise attack on both wings under the cover of artillery fire. In the hours of fierce fighting, three tanks were lost, one-fifth of the cavalry was injured, and one-third of the 107 rockets they carried were used intensively.
Fortunately, the escorting personnel and equipment did not suffer any losses and were brought out basically intact. A regiment attached to Beiyue District was also brought out basically intact. In addition to the losses of the escorting troops, The biggest loss to the escorted personnel and equipment was that a horse carrying artillery shells was frightened by the sound of gunfire and had to be shot in order to get through the battlefield as quickly as possible.
Su Yingqi reported in the telegram that this group of Japanese troops suddenly crossed over from east to west. However, when the two armies encountered each other, because they were moving too fast, it was obvious that the Japanese troops themselves were unprepared, and it was obvious that they would rush over at the beginning. The tanks and cavalry regarded them as their own troops. It was not until the tanks rushed in front of them that they realized that the Anti-Japanese Alliance was rushing over.
But Su Yingqi told Chen Hanzhang in the telegram that not only did the Japanese army not expect a resistance force to suddenly rush out from the north when they encountered it, but also the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Second Division was responsible for responding and covering this sudden Japanese army. The troops obviously did not receive any intelligence in advance.
The commander of the second division who personally led the team to respond was an old acquaintance with Su Yingqi. During the Red Army period, they had fought together in the West Route Army. Although one was the chief of staff of the army and the other was just an ordinary company commander, at that time There is not such a strict hierarchy, and the two of them are relatively familiar.
During the few days at the gate of Taiyuan City, although the two men had a very different status at the time, they also had a good talk about their comrades-in-arms. After all, they had fought in the same army. Su Yingqi could also be regarded as an old subordinate of the commander of the second division. , especially Su Yingqi, the Second-Pole Wannian Company Commander who was famous throughout the entire Fourth Front Army of the Red Army, and was a famous name in his army.
Among the regimental cadres in their army, at least six were his old subordinates. Although the chief of staff of the army at that time was a military-level cadre, he also knew Su Yingqi very well. In addition, in the past few days under Taiyuan City, he had met with Su Yingqi. When the old leader experienced fighting side by side again, the relationship between the two people grew quickly.
After receiving the order this time, the commander of the second division personally led the regiment with the best equipment and the most familiar terrain among all the troops in his division to come to respond. Of course, it was also the last regiment in his hands. , and they also promised steadfastly along the way that there was basically no large-scale enemy situation along the way.
The appearance of this Japanese army was beyond his expectation, and judging from the direction in which this Japanese army came, the marching route almost ran through his entire divisional area. When such a large group of Japanese troops entered his area, he was He didn't receive any information at all, which made him quite surprised.
Moreover, judging from the direction of its march, there was no information from the three divisions of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region that its marching route must have taken. The only division commander who graduated from Huangpu in the entire Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region also felt that something was very wrong. This was not One hundred or two hundred Japanese troops, but two entire Japanese infantry reinforcement groups.
Judging from the posture of its actions, it is obvious that there are follow-up troops. At the same time, after breaking through the Japanese army's marching sequence and quickly passing through its so-called blockade, the Japanese army did not pursue it. It was obvious that its target was not itself, and it could even be Say it's not Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei.
After being out of danger, the commander of the second division directly sent a report to the third division to inquire about the enemy situation in the territory of the third division. However, the third division called back and never found any large Japanese troops passing through his area. After receiving the call back from the third division, , Su Yingqi and the commander of the second division looked at each other, and they had a bad premonition in their hearts.
Su Yingqi immediately sent a telegram to Chen Hanzhang, reporting the latest enemy situation in detail. In the telegram, Su Yingqi, who knew the priorities of the matter, only briefly mentioned how he broke through the Japanese blockade, but reported the direction of the Japanese army in extremely detail. .
Moreover, Su Yingqi judged from the telegram that these Japanese troops were definitely not acting alone, because as soon as the gunshots were fired, the number of surrounding Japanese troops was obviously increasing. Although the number of reinforcements was not large, the speed of reinforcements was very fast, indicating that the Japanese reinforcements were They didn't come from somewhere else. They might even have crossed over on their own, right in the middle of the Japanese army's marching sequence.
All the Japanese troops participating in the war were all veterans. They were not equipped with the Type 38 rifles and crooked light machine guns that were commonly equipped by the Japanese army in the pass. They were all Type 99 rifles and Type 99 light machine guns. Their weapons and equipment were, Even better than the Kwantung Army in the same period.
Su Yingqi also specifically mentioned in the telegram that the number of new 47mm rapid-fire guns equipped by this division far exceeded that of ordinary Japanese field divisions. The several tanks that were lost were killed by this in the melee. A rapid-fire cannon was destroyed at close range.
After receiving Su Yingqi's telegram, Chen Hanzhang immediately realized that this Japanese army was definitely not an ordinary Japanese division. It was definitely the 21st Division that had been waiting on the Pinghan Line, because now there is only this 21st Division in the entire North China battlefield. The regiment was able to mobilize so many troops to participate in the war in such a short period of time.
It was just the time and location of the appearance of the 21st Division that made Chen Hanzhang somewhat uneasy. If nothing else, the 21st Division moved from Hebei to the current area, almost crossing the entire Jincha. The areas under the jurisdiction of the Hebei 2nd and 3rd subdivisions even include a corner that passes through the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei 1st subdivision.
Such a large force could actually penetrate the Wutai Mountains from Hebei directly into Shanxi, which is within easy reach of the entire northern Shanxi battlefield, without attracting any attention from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei subdivisions. This is abnormal. Even most of the troops in the first and third divisions of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Division are now fighting in the northern part of the first division to cooperate with the advancing army.
But this is in the core area of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region. Even if the field troops of the military region do not respond, then there is no response from the local armed forces in the entire region. If Su Yingqi hadn't unintentionally interfered like this, it would have been this two-man army. The 11th Division had all reached the south of the Inner Great Wall, but they themselves were still in the dark.
Thinking of this, Chen Hanzhang couldn't help but feel chills on his back. If he had waited until the 21st Division was discovered before his eyes, he would have been really passive. If the 21st Division gave him another If a black tiger came to rip out the heart, then the entire northern Shanxi battlefield would be in danger of being cut off.
I really don't know whether I should be lucky or grateful. The failure of the intelligence system in this battle has brought me considerable trouble more than once. If Su Yingqi had set out a day later, I'm afraid this information would not have been transmitted. , then you will really become passive.
In fact, Chen Hanzhang did not know that after the Japanese army's extremely cruel and continuous raids last year, especially the winter raids, the losses caused to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Beiyue District operating in this area were as great as those in the central Hebei grain-producing areas. In terms of mopping up, northeastern Shanxi is where the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region is located, and it is the top priority of the Japanese army’s mopping up the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region.
Eighty percent of the local government was destroyed, and most of the base area has become a guerrilla zone. Under the brutal sweeps of the Japanese army, uninhabited areas abound within dozens of kilometers of Beiyue District. Local work in the entire base area , in fact most of them have been paralyzed, and a considerable part of the local armed forces have been defeated.
Especially in the first and third divisions operating in northeastern Shanxi, the losses were particularly heavy. The old areas were basically destroyed by the Japanese army. A considerable part of the entire mountainous area in northeastern Shanxi and northwest Hebei has now become no man's land, and the troops have not been able to rest for a long time. And replenishment, even supplementary soldiers could not be recruited.
The losses suffered in intelligence were particularly heavy. During last year's raids, the Japanese army adopted a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, it mobilized heavy troops to carry out an unprecedented large-scale raid on the base area. On the other hand, it mobilized a large number of spies to target the underground party in the Japanese-occupied areas. Organize and carry out havoc.
Coupled with the fact that some weak-willed people were betrayed after the rebellion, some of the two-faced characters in the original relationship backed down and stopped providing intelligence, and even some relationships within the pseudo-system directly turned against each other, leading to the entire Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region. A considerable part of the intelligence system has been paralyzed.
Throughout the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei subdivisions, almost all intelligence stations in enemy-occupied areas were lost, a large number of intelligence personnel were arrested and sacrificed, underground relations were destroyed in every possible way, and almost all underground party organizations were destroyed. This is also why The main reason why the intelligence system repeatedly failed during this battle.
Although the local government and armed forces were re-established as soon as possible after the Japanese army's raids were over, this took a lot of time. Those local cadres who died also needed time to be retrained. The most important thing was the unprecedented scale of the Japanese army's raids last year. , causing a great loss in public sentiment.
The common people did not dare to give any help to the troops inside the customs, which resulted in the troops being short of food and clothing. After the troops from Beiyue District arrived in northern Shanxi, the first thing they did was to ask Chen Hanzhang for food. When they arrived in northern Shanxi, these troops had already run out of food. It's been two whole days.
And their entire march route, within the base area, and even a considerable part of it, was a consolidation area. It can be seen that the Japanese army's large-scale raids last year caused great damage and serious consequences. At present, local work is being re-launched and local armed forces are being rebuilt. The reconstruction of the intelligence system was extremely slow, which led to repeated failures in intelligence work during this battle.
In addition, the main activity areas are in the first and third divisions in Hebei. Most of the main forces are heading north to Cha'nan and are fully cooperating with the advancing army's operations in Cha'nan. The remaining troops and several regiments have been transferred to northern Shanxi to participate in the battle. In fact, The two divisions presided over by the commander of the third division are now an empty city. With only one detachment and two battalions on hand, he has almost no weapons to serve as guards.