After giving the order to the two division commanders to complete the camera retreat, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi sat in his new office and looked at the large combat map of the entire Shanxi battlefield on the wall, scanning his eyes from northern Shanxi to northwest Shanxi. Then he turned from northwest Shanxi to the ongoing large-scale raids in southeastern Shanxi.
But my heart is inexplicably hanging in the air, and I always feel like I have missed something. Which aspects of these things specifically involve, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi has never been able to grasp the feeling. These missed things The object of judgment flashed across his mind like a meteor, but this fleeting feeling passed by, and he still couldn't grasp it even if he tried to catch it.
Although he did not immediately understand what he had missed, his many years of career as a staff officer, as well as serving as chief of staff in many important areas, and his years of experience in the staff business, have cultivated Yoshimoto Teiichi's delicate mind, but there is a faint sense of it. I feel that this thing is likely to determine the fate of the entire Shanxi battlefield and determine the outcome of this battle, but I have missed it, and Yoshimoto Teiichi has never caught it.
After thinking for a long time, Yoshimoto Seiichi couldn't figure it out. Yoshimoto Seiichi, who had missed the calculation, was disturbed by this bad premonition. In the end, Yoshimoto Seiichi sent an additional telegram to the two division commanders. , let them immediately start deploying their retreat, the faster the better.
Compared to Yoshimoto Teiichi, who was suffering from a severe headache, after receiving the report from Sui Changqing that he had launched an all-out attack, completed the division of the main force of the 32nd Division, and was encircling the 212th Regiment, the main force of the Yingxian battlefield, the command post was now Chen Hanzhang, who was at the head of the gods, could only shake his head speechlessly.
The real purpose of placing the 10th Division in Ying County is not only to block the 32nd Division, but also to ensure that the entire battlefield is not divided by the Japanese army. The enemy troops that appeared on the battlefield, together with Mu Changqiu's two regiments in Nao County, became two emergency forces in the north and south, and firmly guarded the junction between the two battlefields in northeastern Shanxi and northern Shanxi.
Defending the two regiments of the 32nd Division alone, he can't afford to put them on the battlefield in northern Shanxi. It is currently the most complete and only full-strength infantry division. His 32nd Division does not have such a big reputation. The main force of the division is placed there to deal with new enemy situations that may arise.
In order to prevent new unexpected situations from arising before the battle outside Yanmen Pass here ends, that is to say, in fact, a considerable part of Sui Changqing's Tenth Division plays the role of the general reserve force on the battlefield in northern Shanxi, but now this guy will be killed first and later, They had already become entangled with the troops of the 32nd Division in front of Ying County before reporting for action.
Although he had merit in concentrating his forces to defeat the Japanese army in the middle, he made himself extremely passive. Even if he reported the action before taking action, he could have prepared himself mentally and be prepared for contingency. Now that he attacks without authorization, he is completely All contingency plans were disrupted.
If the Yingxian battlefield can be fought quickly and defeat the enemy before new enemy situations emerge, it will not be a big problem. However, Chen Hanzhang is very worried that his offensive will stick to the Japanese army, which will have a subsequent impact on the battle situation. But it cannot be solved by defeating the Thirty-Second Division.
Sui Changqing only sent five battalions to fight back in Yingxian County. He had to face the main force of the 212th Regiment, which was still in full strength, plus a section of the 211th Regiment. The strength of the troops was only roughly equal, but the artillery firepower was
Except for the 107th Rocket Battalion, the rest do not have an absolute advantage.
Under this situation, it is difficult to resolve the battle in a short time, and even if he defeats the two regiments of the 32nd Division in front of Yingxian, once the casualties are too heavy, there will be consequences for the next battle.
It had a great impact. After tapping the map, Chen Hanzhang's red and blue pencils expanded from the Yingxian battlefield to the two wings.
After hesitating for a while, Chen Hanzhang sent a report to Du Kaishan, asking Du Kaishan to immediately mobilize two tank companies, two infantry battalions, and one or two 122 rocket launcher companies from the Hunyuan battlefield to move eastward immediately, no later than
All troops arriving at the Yingxian battlefield at noon tomorrow will be assigned to the command of the 10th Division.
Order a regiment in Beiyue District currently constructing fortifications in Xifang City to immediately go south and cross the Beiloukou line, deploy vigilance to the southern camp and the Hesha line, and monitor Pingxingguan and Wutai. If any abnormalities are found,
Then switch to blocking on the spot and report immediately.
Mu Changqiu was ordered to immediately deploy his troops along the entire line from Naoxian County to Taiyuan. At the same time, he gathered two companies of tank troops, plus an infantry battalion, and assigned a capable commander to take charge of the battle between Fanzhi and Daixian County.
The Xiliu subordinates inserted themselves directly behind the 32nd Division of Ruyuekou. If they encountered Japanese troops along the way, they were not allowed to fight.
Fanzhi is the location of the headquarters of the 32nd Division of the Japanese Army, and Dai County is the location of the supply troops and division headquarters of the 21st Division of the Japanese Army. The 32nd Division is commanded in front by the commander of the 32nd Infantry Regiment, Major General Ishida Yasutada.
The commander of the 21st Division at the front was Major General Nagano Kameichiro, commander of the 21st Infantry Regiment. As for the two division commanders, one was in Fanzhi and the other was in Daixian, and neither of them came to the front line to command in person.
There are two divisions and regiment headquarters in these two counties, which are also important rear supply towns. Behind them, there are two regiments of Mu Changqiu in Nao County. Under this situation, although most of the troops have been deployed on the front line,
During the battle, the guard strength in the rear was slightly insufficient, but the location between the two counties was very critical, and there would definitely be Japanese troops deployed.
If the troops sent by Mu Changqiu were stuck by these Japanese troops, it would be easy to delay the major event. Therefore, Chen Hanzhang repeatedly told Mu Changqiu that the intersecting troops should use tanks as the guide to cover the infantry and force them to pass at high speed. If they encounter the Japanese troops along the way, they will definitely
Don't be reluctant to fight. If his reinforcements can arrive at Ruyuekou as early as one day, it will be an early response to the county's war situation.
The troops left behind in Guoxian County immediately made first-level combat preparations. Once the Japanese reinforcements arrived, they would have to hold out for at least three days even if the Japanese reinforcements arrived. They must not only pay attention to the direction of Wutai Mountain in front, but also pay attention to the defensive line in northwest Shanxi.
The safety of the rear of the main force of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Military Region that besieged the Zuojian Detachment.
After issuing the latest mobilization order to his troops, Chen Hanzhang sent a report to the deputy commander-in-chief in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei through his boss, hoping that the first and second divisions of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region would monitor all troops in Hengshan, Taihang, and Wutai Mountains as much as possible.
Highways and passes.
Although counter-mopping up is currently underway, there are still some troops from Liao County to Yushe, and the Taihang troops are on guard in the same direction. Strengthening intelligence communication between them, especially coordination capabilities, can monitor the battlefield in northern Shanxi at any time.
It also provides information on the movements of the Japanese 15th Division located in Liao County and surrounding areas.
After issuing several orders in succession, Chen Hanzhang hesitated for a long time, and personally called Wang Minggui, who was currently commanding the front line, and ordered the Zhangzhuang and Mayi forward troops to increase their attack intensity and strive to defeat the Japanese positions, at least in the Compress it by one-third to provide the headquarters with the final solution to the 21st Division and create the best fighter plane.
In fact, after receiving the order from the headquarters to compress the 21st Division as much as possible, Chen Hanzhang had vaguely guessed what the headquarters' plan was to deal with the main force of the 21st Division. The battle on the Suidong and Chaxi battlefields The carpet bombing had left a profound impression on him.
Only with such a plan, the headquarters would repeatedly order itself to compress the main force of the 21st Division into one group as much as possible, instead of ordering itself to adopt segmentation tactics more suitable for tank assaults and use the advantages of armored clusters to They were divided and encircled and then annihilated one by one.
For Chen Hanzhang, who has seen the power of this kind of carpet bombing with his own eyes, although the tactics planned by the headquarters are more expensive, they can inflict maximum damage to the Japanese army in the shortest time and shorten the progress of the war as much as possible. time.
Although in accordance with this order, he knew that the tank troops he invested on the front line might suffer heavy losses due to the Japanese army's more than twenty new anti-tank guns and their continuous meat-munition offensives, Sui Changqing responded. The county battlefield had such a horizontal position that it was no longer possible for him to fight steadily.
It is better to take risks than to delay the war indefinitely. If you can solve part of it first, try not to delay it as much as possible. If the 32nd Division is in danger, the Japanese army will definitely mobilize new reinforcements as quickly as possible. , if the problem cannot be solved before new enemy situations emerge, then the development of the entire war situation will also fall into a certain passivity.
Moreover, Chen Hanzhang adjusted his deployment in such a way, even at the risk of causing heavy losses, and he accelerated the offensive against the 21st Division not only because of Sui Changqing's adventure on the Yingxian battlefield, but also because he was preparing to deal with the Tenth Division. The Fifth Division was more because he was already considering ending the Battle of Northern Shanxi.
Not only the continuous fighting, the number of casualties of the troops has not been replenished, but also they are extremely exhausted. The wear and tear of heavy equipment is increasing. The most important thing is the huge consumption of logistics, which makes Chen Hanzhang somewhat out of breath. This feeling even affected his deployment to a certain extent on the battlefield.
Now the amount of food supplied to the battlefield in northern Shanxi by the northern Shanxi base area has become less and less. Moreover, with the return of the main force from Shanxi and Suizhou, the northern Shanxi base area is currently in a lean state and may no longer be able to provide any food. This also means that The combat troops in northern Shanxi lost at least one-third of their food sources.
The local food potential in northern Shanxi has been tapped into the embers. During the Battle of Datong, the dying Japanese army set fire to all the large amounts of food stored in the city. Although the Anti-Japanese Alliance occupied Datong, almost no food was captured on the Datong battlefield. Other areas in northern Shanxi are not grain-producing areas themselves.
If we continue to raise food locally, I am afraid that even the people's rations and seed grains will no longer be left. Continuing to raise food will not only hurt the people's support, but also be suspected of killing the people to support the army. And in Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei, not only cannot we provide food, but From time to time, some assistance was provided from northern Shanxi.
The conditions at Mu Changqiu's place in Nao County were better. Although the lone army was in enemy-occupied areas, this area was an area that had not been damaged by the Japanese army last year. The people still had a certain amount of food reserves. In addition, he continued to send soldiers The troops, taking advantage of the relatively empty situation of the Japanese army in depth, continued to attack to raise food, and could obtain part of the food supplement.
But all the troops in other directions in the northern Shanxi battlefield, not only the anti-alliance troops participating in the war, all the food, ammunition and materials needed need to be transported thousands of miles from the northeast. Even the troops staying in all aspects of the northern Shanxi battlefield have already The Northeast needs to supply food to maintain combat effectiveness.
As time goes by, the consumption on the battlefield is increasing, the food supplements available from other sources are getting less and less, and the problem of ammunition and food transportation conflicts is becoming more and more serious. Even in order to ensure food for the combat troops in northern Shanxi, Logistics have reduced ammunition supplies by one-third.
At the same time, as the oil captured in Guisui and Baotou gradually consumes the embers, the huge oil consumption required for a large number of tanks and mechanized troops in the Shanxi battlefield will now also occupy a certain amount of transportation force. This has further intensified the logistics itself. An overwhelming burden.