A strong opponent, an army with extremely strong combat effectiveness. This evaluation can be said to be given by Yang Zhen, who gave the highest evaluation among all the participating armies and generals at all levels in the Chongqing counterattack. Compared with this
During the battle, his performance seemed to be a bit high-minded and low-handed, especially for the emperor's first disciple in the eighth theater. This motley military general who had just been transferred to the first theater made Yang Zhen pay more attention and look sideways.
However, despite the high evaluation, Yang Zhen did not put much thought into this person. The first battle zone had actually ended early. The battle was not exciting, and it was even an anticlimactic counterattack, which caused subsequent consequences.
Although Yang Zhen had anticipated the chain reaction, he still had to adjust his deployment according to the development of the situation.
Although everyone is still in a stalemate on the battlefields around Kaifeng regarding the counterattack operations of the First Theater Command in East Henan, it is now a certainty that the First Theater Command has actually shrunk back to the west of the New Yellow River. Any battle must be carried out in one go and then weaken again.
After three attempts, the morale weakened.
In addition, central Henan is the hinterland of the First War Zone, which not only stores a large amount of military supplies, but also has a large number of family members of various departments participating in the First War Zone. In central Henan, the Japanese troops can come and leave whenever they want. The troops currently dispatched to eastern Henan are probably
The military's morale is already unstable and it has no will to fight.
Yoshimoto Sadashi's headquarters, which has now withdrawn to northern Henan, has completed the task of reorganizing the fully-organized brigade into five detachments in the shortest possible time and began to move south one after another to attack all the First Theater Commands east of the New Yellow River.
From a military perspective, the original advantageous fighter opportunity has been lost.
Judging from the current situation, even a fool can see that this counterattack will not be very interesting if it continues. No matter how stubborn the old man in Chongqing is, his subordinates will not completely follow
Implement his ideas. There are policies from above and countermeasures from below. The Chinese have many ways to deal with their superiors. If during this battle, they really follow his orders and execute them meticulously.
Judging from the troops and equipment invested in both directions, even if these two counterattacks cannot be fully effective, at least they should not be so complete. At the moment, I am afraid that he insists on continuing the fight, but the battlefield situation is already filled with people's hearts. I'm afraid.
It's not something he can control.
Once the war in eastern Henan stopped, judging from the overall performance of the major war zones in Chongqing since 1939, the strategy of the major war zones in Chongqing has basically been defensive. As long as the Japanese army did not attack, they basically did not carry out any strategic or tactical counterattacks.
It must be a posture that cannot be defended.
In this way, in the subsequent Japanese counterattack on the Hebei battlefield, there will no longer be any worries on the entire flank. Of course, some precautions must be taken, but there will definitely not be too much attention. In other words, the Japanese army will not pay much attention to the battlefield in East Henan.
, only a part of the troops will be left, but not too many troops will be deployed.
Yang Zhen knew very well that after all the troops in the First Theater Zone in eastern Henan were retracted back to central Henan and the Bohai Bay was civilized, I am afraid that the Japanese army would definitely take action in southern Hebei, northern Hebei, and the Hebei-Shandong-Henan border area. The Japanese First Army wanted to
They tried their best to escape from the Shanxi battlefield, even abandoning a division, staying to hold back the Taihang and Taiyue military region troops in the southeastern Shanxi battlefield, and cover the main force to retreat to northern Henan for rest. They would never stay there honestly without doing anything.
.
Looking at the entire breakout operation of the First Army, Yang Zhen had to sigh that Yoshimoto Teiichi was so courageous and dared to do it. Originally, Yang Zhen thought that after he captured Shimen, the First Army would definitely find a way to withdraw from Shanxi.
battlefield. But for the Japanese troops in the Shanxi battlefield, the preferred direction to break out should be southern Shanxi.
Southern Shanxi is connected with eastern and northern Henan, which are still in the hands of the Japanese army, and are at odds with each other. And judging from the situation on the battlefield in Shanxi, retreating to southern Shanxi will not only be able to deal with the thirty-year-olds who are currently being beaten and trapped in Changzhi.
The Sixth Division can also control the Zhongtiao Mountain area and be integrated with the north bank of the Yellow River behind it.
In this way, even if Chongqing regains Yuncheng and Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Yu regain the entire southeastern Shanxi, they will still be under the threat of the Japanese army at all times. Especially when the Japanese army still firmly controls northern Henan, the Taihang Military Region in southeastern Shanxi will still be under threat.
There is no escape from the situation of facing attacks from both sides.
When the time comes, the Japanese army will be condescending, whether in southwestern Shanxi or southeastern Shanxi, they will have to contain a large number of Chinese troops. Choosing the direction of southern Shanxi as a breakthrough point will undoubtedly be the most beneficial to both the current Japanese army and the entire next step of the Japanese army.
A choice.
Therefore, in terms of pre-war deployment, the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region still placed its Taihang and Taiyue Military Region troops to cooperate with it in operations along the Nantongpu Railway and the Baijin Railway, and used most of its forces to attack
Changzhi implemented a siege campaign to cut off the connection between the Japanese troops in southern Shanxi and the front-line Japanese troops in Taiyuan.
The Japanese troops forcing Jinzhong chose the retreat route along the Nan-Tong-Pu Railway. In fact, the current deployment situation of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region also achieved this. But whether it was Yang Zhen or the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region,
No one among the leaders of the military region expected that Yoshimoto Seiichi's breakout route would take another strange route. He did not take the Nantongpu Railway, nor did he rescue the 36th Division.
The main force of the First Army will choose the Taihang Mountains, which has the most complex terrain. Although it is familiar to the Japanese army, it is not suitable for its heavy equipment operations. It will not have any entanglement with the Taihang Military Region armed forces along the way, and will not even hesitate to attack some key areas.
place, took a detour to avoid the obstruction of local armed forces in the Taihang Military Region, and forcibly retreated to eastern Henan.
At the moment, the main force of the Taihang Military Region, which is concentrated along the Baijin Railway and around Changzhi, receives the news and returns to the base area. Use your own absolute advantage in strength and firepower to face the local armed forces of the Taihang Military Region who are left behind. Their equipment and training are poor.
.With a good time difference, it can be said that we safely evacuated to the eastern Henan area all the way.
Regardless of the struggling Japanese troops along the Nantongpu Railway who were under siege by the Taiyue Military Region, a large number of troops diverted to the hinterland of the World War II zone in southwest Shanxi and made a forced penetration of hundreds of kilometers to rescue the Japanese troops trapped in Yuncheng.
The main force of the Thirty-seventh Division broke through the Shanxi battlefield, which was originally quite unfavorable to the First Army, and brought most of the remaining troops of the First Army out of Shanxi.
After withdrawing from the Shanxi battlefield, although there were casualties in the previous Shanxi battlefield, nearly half of the troops were lost, and it can even be said that they have been injured. But in addition to being trapped in Changzhi and along the Baijin Railway,
Except for the 36th Division and the few troops north of Taiyuan that could not be withdrawn, the basic structure of the main troops is still there.
Not counting the 37th Division that suffered heavy losses in central Henan, and the 36th Division that was besieged in Changzhi, the remaining troops of the two divisions that had withdrawn from the Shanxi battlefield, plus half of the mixed brigade, can be completely recovered in a short time as long as they are replenished in time.
The combat effectiveness will be restored within time. At present, the battlefield in eastern Henan has actually calmed down, which also indicates that the Japanese troops participating in the war in eastern Henan can be transferred eastward at any time to participate in possible counterattacks that may follow.
Yoshimoto Teiichi's move exceeded everyone's expectations and caused great chaos within the entire Taihang Military Region. Fortunately, the Japanese army was eager to retreat and did not make any stops along the way. Although a man came inside the Taihang Military Region
It was a heart-to-heart battle, but it didn't cause much damage.
Only the Taihang Military Region stored a grain warehouse near Licheng. Because it was on the retreat route of the Japanese army, it was looted by the Japanese army, resulting in the loss of more than 100,000 kilograms of grain. However, it was precisely because of this batch of grain that the only ones carrying
The Japanese army, which had only seven days of food, could hold on until they left the Taihang Mountains.
Faced with the current situation, Yang Zhen had to start preparations earlier. In order to be as prepared as possible before the Japanese army counterattacked Hebei on all fronts, Yang Zhen urgently transferred a 150 Artillery Regiment from the Hebei battlefield, plus a part of the Seventh Army
A 16mm cannon battalion, plus an independent tank regiment, will be sent to Shanxi as soon as possible.
Transfer to the Shanxi battlefield, which is currently still fiercely fighting in Changzhi, and have basically calmed down, to strengthen the support firepower of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region. This will allow the main force of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region to deal with the enemy in Changzhi as soon as possible and free up its hands as soon as possible.
.At the same time, let the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region complete its combat mission as soon as possible before the Japanese army may make their next move in southeastern Shanxi.
Yang Zhen, who knew the Japanese army too well, did not think that the main force of the First Army would completely abandon the Thirty-sixth Division after breaking out. Judging from what Yoshimoto Sadichi did on the Shanxi battlefield, who could guarantee that he would
The actions on the battlefields in northern and eastern Henan will not be bluffing, but are just a smoke screen for the offensive and defensive battles in the first theater in eastern Henan.
Since the battlefield in eastern Henan has not changed much, will it be diverted to the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi? Northern Henan is close to the battlefield in eastern Henan, but it is not far from Changzhi, the current main battlefield in southeastern Shanxi, in a straight line. It is just that it is relatively close to Henan.
To the east, the terrain along this line is a little complicated.
We must know that the line from Jincheng in southeastern Shanxi to Qinghua in northern Henan is still controlled by the Japanese army. Although most of the 14th Mixed Brigade originally deployed in the Zhongtiao Mountains has withdrawn to Yuncheng. However, from Jincheng to northern Henan,
However, it still maintains a reinforced infantry brigade and a puppet army, and firmly controls Tianjing Pass.
At the same time, although the line from Xingtai to Yongnian has been captured by the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, the Japanese army still firmly controls Handan, an important city at the junction of Hebei and Henan in southern Hebei. Relying on the support of the Japanese army from the Anyang line in northern Henan, they still maintain a relatively strong position around Handan.
It has more troops and controls Fukouxing, the transportation chokepoint between southern Hebei and Shanxi.
The troops of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region concentrated the strength of two brigades, and tried many times to regain Handan and constantly compete for Fukouxing. However, due to the stubborn resistance of the Japanese army and the support and reinforcement of the Japanese army in Anyang, many organized storms failed.
Successfully, they entered a confrontation with the Handan Japanese army on the Linming Pass line north of Handan.
Tianjingguan and Fukouxing are two of the eight passes in Taihang. They have been the main east-west transportation routes connecting Shanxi and Hebei since ancient times. The Japanese army controlled these two passes that connected the east and west of Taihang Mountains, so they could rescue the 36th Division of Changzhi at any time.
Regiment. Judging from the performance of the Japanese army since the all-out war between China and Japan, neither Okamura Neji nor Yoshimoto Teiichi will completely give up on the Thirty-sixth Division.
As long as the Thirty-sixth Division is still resisting, they will definitely do their best to rescue them. If the Thirty-sixth Division cannot be eliminated as soon as possible, the Taihang Military Region troops participating in the war are likely to face front and rear attacks. Yang Zhen mobilized a group of heavy firepower into the Shanxi battlefield
, placed under the command of the Taihang Military Region.
The purpose is to assist the Taihang and Taiyue Military Regions, speed up the battle process, and solve the Thirty-sixth Division in the shortest possible time. Not only to be prepared for possible changes in the battle situation in the future, but also to speed up the battle along the Changzhi and Nantong-Pu Railways
The process, especially the Changzhi battlefield, must not be delayed any longer.
While mobilizing troops to move into Shanxi to speed up the battlefield in the southeast of Shanxi, Yang Zhen considered sending a telegram to the heads of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region and the Taiyue Military Region. He hoped that the Taiyue Military Region could dispatch a force to the south to attack Jincheng.
The Japanese army launched an offensive and seized Tianjing Pass to ensure the safety of the flanks of the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi.