Yang Jicai looked at the two commanders in front of him, hesitated for a moment and then said: "When retreating north, all bridges and tunnels we pass through will be blown up. This time we must ensure that the Beitong-Pu Railway is at least
It cannot be used within a year. As for what the common people think, we don’t care at all now. During our army’s battle in Datong, cutting off the Japanese army’s strategic supply line is more important than anything else.”
"Before we prepare to evacuate, I will apply for large-scale air cover. Now I want to discuss a method of troop evacuation with the two chiefs. Are the two chiefs prepared to evacuate with us by train, or use counter-mopping forces?
Experience, get through the cracks in the Japanese army, and evacuate directly to the Dongshan area?"
"If you choose to slip through the gaps of the Japanese army, the troops of the Southern Hebei Military Region and the First Department of the Taihang Military Region on the periphery of the Japanese army can cover everyone's evacuation. I know that the two chiefs are cadres from the old Red Army. In this kind of enemy,
In a situation where we are strong and we are weak, there are many ways to slip through the gaps in the Japanese army."
"But I hope that the two chiefs can lead their troops to evacuate with us. This 32nd Division has dealt with our army in Shandong for many years and has rich experience in anti-guerrilla warfare. Don't backhand ambush us when the time comes.
We had so much fun.”
"Furthermore, our army must be very tired after a long battle. Coupled with the number of casualties, it will be difficult to fight another war of attrition with the enemy for a long time. Therefore, I still suggest that the troops in the fourth and eighth divisions evacuate with us via the railway line.
.Use the railway’s mobility advantage to break away from the Japanese encirclement as quickly as possible.”
Regarding Yang Jicai's words, the two old comrades looked at each other, and after a brief consideration, they finally agreed unanimously. Although the young man in front of them was not old, he was decisive in killing and had an extremely tough style. He also had a strong attitude towards the enemy.
His analysis and judgment are quite skillful.
This retreat was covered by the Anti-Japanese Air Force, so it was naturally a good thing. However, our troops had no experience in ground-to-air coordinated operations. It would be a complete injustice if we were bombed by our own people during the retreat. What about airplanes?
If you are not an artilleryman, it is not so easy to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy in the sky.
Seeing the two commanders nodding, Yang Jicai did not hesitate. Immediately, the commander of the Eighth Division personally called the Hexi troops to withdraw all the troops in Hexi to Taiyuan City and completely blow up the Fenhe Bridge from the piers. If the Japanese army wanted
It won't take more than a year to repair this bridge.
After the troops in the west of the city withdrew to Taiyuan, he placed the troops in the south and north of the city. At the same time, the troops in the city also began to plant explosives at various key points in the city, including water towers, coal yards, shunting yards, and freight offices in several train stations in Taiyuan.
, all installed a large number of explosives.
All carriages and locomotives that were not moving, whether they were passenger trucks or trucks, were all loaded with explosives. Even the roads outside the Japanese First Army Headquarters had explosives planted by them. However, Taiyuan Electric Light Company, Telegraph Bureau and other companies related to people's livelihood
Regarding public facilities, Yang Jicai hesitated for a long time and finally gave up the plan to blow them all up.
However, when preparing to blast the railway, all the explosives installed were placed under the roadbed. Yang Jicai's plan was to completely blow up the roadbed. The Tongpu Railway was an important transportation line for the Japanese army in Shanxi to plunder resources and mobilize troops.
, if it was bombed, the Japanese army would have to make all-out efforts to repair it.
If it explodes, the Japanese army will complete the repairs in a few days, which is meaningless. As for Yang Jicai, either don't do it, or do it more thoroughly. At least let this railway be completed within a year.
Traffic could not be restored to reduce the pressure on the Japanese army on the battlefield in northern Shanxi.
While making preparations for evacuation and completely destroying Taiyuan, Yang Jicai assigned Du Kaishan to his own reconnaissance troops and immediately released them all to the north. The changes in the enemy situation in the north were crucial to the evacuation work, and Yang Jicai did not dare
There is no need to take anything lightly.
Watching the Anti-Union Engineer Company choose the location, yield and method of installing explosives when preparing for blasting, the two commanders shook their heads. These are not ordinary engineers, they are simply dedicated to sabotage. If this explodes
, the Japanese army wanted to repair it, unless they completely demolished it and started over. Otherwise, it was almost impossible to repair it at the original location.
Especially the one who suffered from insufficient blasting skills during the Hundred Regiment War. The key positions of the mines and railways occupied by the Japanese army were unable to be completely blown up. Even though a section of the railway was barely blown up at a high cost, it was not possible because of the lack of explosives.
The commander of the fourth division of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, which was often repaired by the Japanese army within three days before it was completely blown up, shook his head and said nothing.
Of course, this is related to the general lack of high-explosives in the customs troops and their own tactical formulation. However, the lack of excellent blasting technology may not be the only reason. Explosion is a science, including the selection of explosive points and the calculation of equivalents.
There are strict standards. This cannot be solved by increasing the charge amount without limit.
People who can use explosives may not necessarily understand the technology of blasting. The selection of explosives, the calculation of the yield and the selection of the explosive point are particularly critical. Otherwise, even if a large-yield explosive is installed, it may not be able to completely destroy the object to be blasted.
The target. On the contrary, it exceeds the standard of the amount of explosives, and it is easy to accidentally injure one's own people.
When the sekiwani troops attacked or destroyed Japanese strongholds, they were often unable to completely destroy these Japanese fortifications. In the absence of high explosives, they could only resort to arson, which was unable to cause fundamental damage to the reinforced concrete fortification structures. This was one aspect.
The reason. But the lack of professional blasting technicians is also another reason.
As the two commanders who have always fought with the Japanese army on the front line, they know this very well. It was precisely when they saw the skills of the Anti-Japanese Engineers in installing explosives that they were amazed. If during the Hundred Regiment War, the Kanai troops also had such
With blasting technology and enough high explosives, the results will probably be much greater.
At least the Zhengtai-Tongpu Railway, which was the focus of the damage, would not be repaired so quickly by the Japanese army. The important stronghold on the Zhengtai Line, Jingxing Station, would also have a much greater damage effect. I dare not say more, and the Zhengtai Line would have been destroyed in half a year.
If there is no traffic inside, there is absolutely no problem.
There was not much time left for the two commanders to lament. After working out a rough retreat plan, the three of them divided the work. Yang Jicai was responsible for the Japanese troops in Taiyuan City and all artillery command. He also commanded the southern front operations.
and final relocation of remaining equipment.
The commander of the Eighth Division of Shanxi-Sui commanded some of the troops that had retreated to Hedong, as well as a basic battalion from the Taihang Military Region that had infiltrated, and immediately rushed to the line from Shicheng to Donghuang Town in the northeast of Niutuo Village. The troops of the Fourth Division of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei,
Then all the troops will be strengthened along the line from Niutuozhai to Mazhuang. All troops in the east of Taiyuan City will be under the unified command of the commander of the fourth division.
Considering that the radio stations in the Fourth Division of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei were lost during the winter anti-mopping battles and have not yet been replenished, Yang Jicai handed over the captured Japanese-made 15-watt radio stations to the two divisions of the Fourth Division and removed them from his own troops.
Three radio stations were allocated to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Fourth Division Army.
Although a retreat plan has been formulated and preparations have begun for the retreat, it does not mean that the pressure outside the city will be reduced in any way during this period. Although the anti-alliance air strikes are getting stronger and stronger during the day
, greatly compressing the activity space of Japanese troops outside the city during the day, and reducing the defensive pressure on Taiyuan's periphery.
But after nightfall, the Japanese army's offensive force became more and more powerful. Especially the Japanese army in Hexi that had occupied the Hexi Corridor area. Under the cover of artillery, they used rubber boats and rafts as river crossing tools to continuously launch attacks to the east of the river. And south of the city
The Japanese army, which finally reached the main force of the 41st Division, adopted the tactic of multiple attacks in turn. The defenders in the south of the city were not given any breathing space for almost the whole night.
Although the strength of the 41st Division that arrived at Taiyuan City was only half of its establishment, under the repeated orders from the two superiors of the North China Front Army and the First Army, they could only bite the bullet and attack desperately. The division commander
Lieutenant General Qing Shuigui came to the front line to command and supervise the battle.
The 41st Division rushed to the two and a half infantry regiments under Taiyuan City, organized into squadrons, and launched continuous attacks to the south of the city. Even during the day when the Anti-Alliance dispatched a large number of bombers, they took advantage of the opportunity of the Anti-Alliance aircraft to return to launch endless attacks.
Intermittent offensive. In the last two days of Yang Jicai's insistence, Japanese aviation units, which had never been seen since the battle began, also appeared over the battlefield one after another.
These aviation forces transferred from Wuhan, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hong Kong, with Kaifeng and Yuncheng as bases, constantly took off to try to intercept the anti-Japanese bombers. They also dispatched some Type 99 light bombers and some, taking advantage of their fast flight characteristics.
, constantly bombing the Anti-Japanese Alliance and 18th Army troops around Taiyuan. Trying to cooperate with the two Japanese divisions to retake Taiyuan City.
In other words, even though the performance of Japanese fighter jets was not as good as that of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the Japanese aviation force was still frequently dispatched, using grab-and-go tactics to provide air support to the Japanese troops around Taiyuan as much as possible. At the same time, with the results of the Southeast Asian battlefield
The outcome has been decided, and the Japanese army is mobilizing aviation forces from the East Indochina battlefield to China as quickly as possible.
Faced with the new situation of Japanese aviation reappearing on the battlefield, the Anti-Japanese Air Force immediately mobilized the fighter units responsible for air defense missions in Yan'an and entered the battlefield to compete with the Japanese for air supremacy. Although the scale of the air battle was small, it lasted for the entirety of the final battle.
Two days of fighting.
The aircraft dispatched by the aviation forces of both sides were superior in number and a generation ahead in performance. The battle between the aviation forces of the two sides was inextricable in the sky above Taiyuan. Its intensity was not inferior to that of the ground battle. Especially
The Japanese air force's tactics of using fighter jets to entangle anti-alliance aircraft and bombers to stealthily attack them brought a lot of trouble to Yang Jicai's defensive battle.
The fight in the sky was inextricable, but Yang Jicai on the ground felt the pressure was getting bigger and bigger. There was no rear support and no supplementary troops. Even after the Japanese aviation force entered the battlefield, due to the threat of the Japanese aviation force, the number of transport aircraft dispatched by the Anti-Japanese Alliance decreased.
The ammunition supply obtained from the air also gradually began to decrease, which made Yang Jicai's fight extremely difficult.
The appearance of the Japanese aviation force on the battlefield caused the Japanese army's daytime offensive to gradually increase in the last two days of fighting. The original small-scale assaults during the day and tactics based on flanking detours were also changed to frontal group assaults.
, the flanks are interspersed with large depths and roundabouts.
In the last two days of the battle, Yang Jicai spent almost every day under the desperate offensive of the Japanese army. Excluding casualties, the front-line troops were already insufficient, so he could only use the twenty trucks left behind to continuously
Mobilize troops to adopt mobile defense methods.
When there was a crisis in that direction, some troops were mobilized from other directions to support him. However, the Japanese troops approaching from three sides never gave him a moment to breathe. In the last two days of fighting, two Japanese troops outside Taiyuan City
The divisions have obviously strengthened their coordination. The offensive has made Yang Jicai increasingly stretched in the use of troops.