After most of the Japanese troops originally stationed in eastern Hebei were transferred to the battlefield in central Hebei, the number of Japanese troops in eastern Hebei and southern Hebei has dropped significantly. Except for a few central cities such as Kaifeng, almost all counties have
It was handed over to the puppet army. It is a very good opportunity for the main force of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region to attack at this time.
While the fighting was fierce on the ground, the sky was also engaged in a bitter battle. Whether it was the Anti-Alliance or the Japanese army, the aviation forces invested on the battlefield were all dispatched to support ground operations regardless of previous battle losses. Compared with air defense weapons at all levels
For the fully equipped Anti-Japanese Alliance forces, the Japanese ground troops were more affected.
The Japanese army dispatched a surprise light bomber group. Under the fierce ground firepower of the Anti-Japanese Alliance and the joint attack of fighter jets, it caused almost no losses to the Anti-Alliance attack troops. In order to make up for the lack of tactical aircraft, the Japanese army deployed some fighter groups to temporarily add bombs.
, replacing tactical attack aircraft.
Not only did it fail to achieve its tactical objectives, but its already valuable fighter jets also suffered considerable losses. After this battle, the Japanese aviation forces invested in North China caused heavy losses to their opponents. However, they themselves were also very energetic.
The wounded Japanese army, except for occasional sneak attacks, basically completely lost the ability to compete with the Anti-Japanese Alliance for air supremacy.
The PTAB cluster bombs attached to the Il-2 attack aircraft dispatched by the Anti-Japanese Alliance, coupled with the combination of aviation rockets and machine guns, caused huge losses to the Japanese army, which almost exceeded the endurance of the Japanese infantry on the ground. Ground fire points and artillery positions
, material assembly and transfer bases, and almost all strategic and tactical targets have become the targets of these Il-2 attack aircraft.
After the battle with the First Tank Brigade, this ptab cluster bomb showed great power when dealing with Japanese armored groups and infantry groups. Chen Hanzhang immediately requested the attack aircraft group of the Aviation Department to carry out the next step.
During combat, do not use this bomb for the time being.
Stockpile a batch as much as possible and save it for use after the battle has fully begun in order to exert its greatest power. At the request of Chen Hanzhang, the aviation force also exhausted its already limited inventory before the counterattack started.
Use this cluster bomb to bomb the Japanese artillery, command and logistics centers.
This kind of bomb became a nightmare for the Japanese infantry throughout the campaign. From the beginning to the end of the anti-alliance counterattack, Japanese trucks were under attack from rockets, aerial bombs and airborne machine guns.
When dispatched, the artillery also suffered considerable losses.
Although the Japanese aviation fighter group tried their best to provide cover, they were unable to deal with such a tough and fleshy attack aircraft. Not to mention the 7.7mm and 12mm machine guns, even the 20mm aircraft cannons were very powerful.
It is difficult to cause too much damage to such aircraft. What's more, these aircraft are also escorted by fighter jets when they attack.
The already weak ground firepower is helpless when facing this aircraft. Except for the occasional anti-aircraft weapons and ammunition, if it hits the weak part of the radiator of this aircraft, you can still score one or two with luck.
Outside the aircraft, there is basically nothing you can do with this kind of aircraft.
In fact, the performance of this aircraft is not very outstanding. It suffered great losses on the Soviet-German battlefield. In this battle, the combination with air-to-ground rockets, aircraft cannons, and cluster bombs became a black weapon that the Japanese army could not resist.
God of Death. Whenever the unique engine sound of this aircraft sounded, the Japanese troops on the ground fell into extreme panic.
Under the full cover of the aviation force, after the first day of counterattack, most of the anti-alliance forces have met the requirements of the campaign. The division of the front of the river and the various Japanese departments west of the river has basically been completed. Except for the Qingfengdian attack,
After the stalemate, the battle basically progressed smoothly.
As for the stalemate at Qingfengdian, this was not only because Xiong Botao, the front-line commander, did not pay too much attention to it and underestimated the enemy. He launched an attack hastily without conducting detailed reconnaissance. In addition, he put most of his troops on reinforcements.
In addition, too few troops were invested in the first attack, resulting in a complete failure of the first wave of attacks.
The main reason is the defense system of the Japanese army in Qingfengdian, which played a key role. Qingfengdian only had two infantry brigades of Japanese troops, although the defensive force was not large. Compared with Xiong Botao's roundabout troops, in terms of equipment,
In terms of military strength, there is no comparison.
However, as an important stronghold on the Ping-Han Railway, its fortifications are extremely strong. And not only are they strong, they are also quite unique. Whether inside or outside the town, all communication trenches are semi-underground, and the number of troops
You can basically exercise without showing your head.
The shooting ports of each field fortification group are very low. They are completely different from the defensive fortification groups built by the Japanese army in the entire Jizhong Plain. They are basically built according to the field fortification groups. Except for the one in the north of the town.
Apart from a watchtower, the entire town is surrounded by a group of plum blossom-shaped bunkers built using artificial terrain.
All the houses in the town have been reinforced and converted into fortifications. All the fortification groups are not only connected by underground and semi-underground transportation trenches, but also all firepower deployments are in a cross pattern. Not only are the firepower points for backfires quite complete,
, and the number is more than half of the field fortification groups. All peripheral positions have a large number of mines laid around them.
Not only were three blockade trenches, one wide and two narrow, built around the entire town, a large number of mines were not only buried in and on both sides of the trench, but also sharpened wooden sticks buried in reverse were buried at the bottom of the trench. The widest
The width of the blockade trench reached five meters, making it quite difficult for the infantry to build bridges for tanks.
Moreover, the ditch walls on both sides of the blockade ditch were basically artificially constructed to form a ninety-degree angle, and the two wings formed the shape of a high inner and outer bottom. Minefields and barbed wire fences were set up between the three blockade ditches. All of them
The blockade trenches are all under the control of firepower points on the outskirts of the town.
At the same time, all the trees around Qingfengdian were cut down, and all the houses within a few dozen miles of the surrounding area were completely dismantled. All the materials that were dismantled were taken to the town to build fortifications by the Japanese army.
.Even if you want to build a bridge at all costs, you won’t be able to find the wood.
Uchiyama Eitaro asked the two Japanese infantry brigades in Qingfengdian to stay here for three days to buy time for the Japanese troops to retreat in front of Baoding and ensure the retreat route of the Japanese troops in front. This is not unreasonable at all. The basis is the large number of fortifications built here and the hoarding
large quantities of ammunition and food.
This place has been rebuilt since this summer. After the start in the direction of Pingjin, the fortifications were reinforced and widened, which indeed gave him the courage. Moreover, after Chen Hanzhang's Western Group entered the Baoding battlefield, first according to Sakai Yasuzhong
Under the general's order, all surrounding trees and houses were demolished, and certain improvements were made to the fortifications.
After Uchiyama Eitaro arrived at Shimen, he ordered the surrounding blockade trenches to be widened and deepened. At the same time, two engineering squadrons were specially dispatched to carry out construction day and night, and the original fortification groups were focused on the anti-tank direction.
Certain transformations, the most critical of which is the construction of a large number of bunkers.
Eitaro Uchiyama didn't just give the order and then just let go of the boss. He had been keeping an eye on the Qingfeng Store, which might become the only retreat point on the Baoding battlefield at the critical moment. Not only did he transport a large number of mines, but he also left
Two infantry brigades transferred from the Third Division, plus three machine gun squadrons and a mortar squadron.
At the same time, a batch of machine guns were suddenly added to the defenders here. As a result, the machine gun density of the defenders here, even if it does not include three machine gun squadrons, far exceeded the standards of the Japanese field divisions after the July 7th Incident. And
Among the entire Japanese army, except for a few key divisions of the Kwantung Army, no Japanese division can reach the standards of those years.
Although the anti-tank gun power was very weak, Lieutenant General Eitaro Uchiyama still tried every means to mobilize a squadron and a half of anti-tank guns to the Qingfengdian front line. At the same time, the only three 50mm anti-tank guns that were withdrawn from Baoding City were
The artillery has also been strengthened to Qingfengdian.
Regardless of the firm opposition of the commander of the First Tank Brigade, the remaining troops of the First Tank Brigade, which was retreating towards Shimen, were all deployed to Qingfengdian. However, knowing that these 97 modified tanks,
Even the Type 97 tanks and Type 95 light tanks were no match for the Anti-Union tanks.
There was no thought at all of using these tanks to fight a tank battle with the resistance tank group. Instead, the remaining tanks were ordered to be absolutely not allowed to take the initiative. They were only allowed to stay in the town and use the houses and some of the surrounding areas.
It is used as a cover for underground fortifications and as a mobile firepower point and an anti-tank firepower point.
Qingfengdian has been painstakingly managed by the commander of the Japanese North China Front and down to the division commander. In addition, the Sixth Regiment of the Third Division as a defense force carried out emergency repairs after taking over the defense. Its fortifications are so strong that
It is not even inferior to Shimen, a strategic town in the south.
Basically, the entire town has been fortified into a large-scale fortification group. Moreover, the number of blockhouses and bunkers far exceeds that of any other area in the entire Jizhong Plain. The third division responsible for the defense is also currently
Elites drawn from the only two established field divisions in the entire China Expeditionary Force.
Its combat effectiveness and combat literacy are also the highest among all China's dispatched troops. Although they suffered a certain amount of losses during last year's battle because they were urgently deployed to reinforce the Kwantung Army, their vitality and backbone did not suffer too much. After the Battle of Changde
, this division is not the main front-line force, so its combat effectiveness remains quite intact.
Although there are only two infantry brigades, their combat effectiveness is even greater than that of the 66th Brigade that is currently fighting hard in Renqiu. That 66th Brigade is not the 66th Brigade to which the 63rd Division originally belonged.
Regiment. The Sixty-sixth Brigade was the first wave of Japanese troops to be defeated on the Pingbei battlefield.
The Sixty-sixth Brigade was a temporary expansion of the Chinese Expeditionary Force from a field supplementary team. Because it had not yet had time to get a designation, and the person who served as the commander of this brigade was originally prepared to take over as the commander of the Sixty-sixth Brigade. But it was
The new brigade commander of the 66th Brigade, whose entire unit was wiped out before he could take office.
Therefore, this temporarily expanded independent mixed brigade was temporarily given the designation of the 66th Brigade. This brigade is not only a newly formed brigade, but its combat effectiveness is because not only the soldiers are mobilized recruits in their thirties, but also
Even the officers are generally reserve officers who have been mobilized for the third time.
As for the equipment, it is even worse. In addition to the crooked light machine gun, the rifles and heavy machine guns are still old-fashioned 30-type rifles and Taisho 3-year-old heavy machine guns. The equipped mountain artillery brigade, except for one equipped with the old Meiji
Except for the Type 38 120mm howitzer squadron, the rest of the artillery only had some mortars.