While deploying troops to join the war in Shanxi, Yang Zhen also made final preparations for the Japanese army's basically certain follow-up counterattack, constantly adjusting the deployment of troops and the allocation of firepower. He seized the time to allocate supplies, especially ammunition.
of reserves.
According to Yang Zhen's request, the logistics department is also using the railways it controls to transfer materials and ammunition to the Jizhong battlefield. The entire Pinghan Line and Pingcheng Railway have a military train running almost every fifteen minutes. From the Northeast
Ammunition, recruits, and supplies were transported to Jizhong via railway.
By late February, the entire Jizhong battlefield had stockpiled 150,000 rounds of 150mm artillery shells, mountain artillery shells and more than one million rounds of mortar shells of various calibers. Each of the two calibers of rocket shells also had a reserve of ten
More than 10,000 rounds of light weapons and ammunition were all delivered to designated locations in central Hebei based on the fifteen base number standard.
The fuel, ammunition, and accessories required by the tank unit have also reached the prescribed reserve standards. All battle-damaged tanks that cannot be repaired on the battlefield have been brought back to the Changxindian Railway Locomotive Factory in Peking as an overhaul location. At the same time, they were transferred from the Northeast
Three hundred and seventy additional tanks also arrived in Jizhong as supplementary tanks.
It's just that among this batch of supplementary tanks, the number of German-made Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks drawn from the reserves is not large, and the total number is only 140. These German-made tanks have just been transferred from the Panzer IV tanks.
At the end of three years on the battlefields of North Africa and the Soviet Union, the parts picked up were pieced together one by one.
These scrap iron and garbage in the eyes of the Soviets, Americans, and British were priceless treasures in the hands of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. The Anti-Japanese Alliance used armored prisoners of war among German prisoners of war, and pieced them together from scrap iron piles in North Africa and the Soviet Union.
A batch of tanks came out. Although these tanks were pieced together, the performance of these tanks was not much different given the excellent performance of the prototypes.
Moreover, as the firepower and equipment of both sides on the Soviet-German battlefield continued to change, the Germans, who had awakened from a dream, not only invested in new tanks, but also greatly improved the number of powerful 75mm long-barreled artillery.
Production of Panzer IV tanks. Among this batch of tanks, those brought back from the Soviet-German battlefield were basically Panzer IV tanks.
Among them are more than ten battle-damaged Panther tanks, as well as two Ferdinand tank destroyer cannons, two Tiger tank turrets, and a chassis. For these new German-made equipment, Yang Zhen can be said to be
It was like finding a treasure. It was immediately handed over to the Polytechnic University for use as a teaching tool and for research work.
However, although this batch of tanks is mainly American-made light tanks, the German-made tanks are all pieced together. However, with the arrival of these tanks one after another, several armored units on the battlefield in central Hebei have reached full strength. And in the interim
In Beiping Changxindian, which was converted into a tank overhaul factory, and in the Ping-Han Railway Locomotive Overhaul Factory, there are still nearly a hundred tanks undergoing emergency repairs.
After the emergency repairs of this batch of tanks are completed, the entire Jizhong battlefield force will be able to maintain a certain amount of equipment reserves. Once there is greater battle damage in subsequent operations, this batch of tanks can be filled at any time. With this batch of tanks
Tanks are undoubtedly a very good thing for the coming battle.
Along with the ammunition, there were 50,000 new recruits who had completed training in the Northeast. After arriving in Jizhong, this batch of recruits was immediately replenished to each division. Several shelf divisions that were originally transferred to the Northeast for replenishment were also replenished.
After completion, they were all transferred back to the Jizhong battlefield.
At the same time, the reorganized Jizhong Military Region also helped the Anti-Japanese Alliance mobilize more than 30,000 recruits on the spot in Jizhong. The Bohai Navy Region also mobilized local armed forces from three regiments under the unified coordination of the Shandong Military Region. Together with the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region,
The seven regiments were integrated into the Anti-Alliance Forces. The Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region also mobilized 10,000 new soldiers for the Anti-Alliance in southern Hebei and the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region.
The Shandong Military Region also mobilized 20,000 new soldiers for the Anti-Alliance, as well as nine independent regiments and a group of county armed forces, and arrived in Jizhong under the cover of the cavalry brigade sent by the Anti-Alliance. But this totaled more than 60,000 from top to bottom.
, and the military uniforms they wear are all new. Without half a year of training, new recruits who would not be able to enter the battlefield at all will not be able to count on this battle.
Even though the nine independent regiments transferred from the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region and the Shandong Military Region from the Lunan, Lunan, and Jiaodong military regions, as well as the county armed forces, are all basic troops, they are all from local armed forces. The training methods and the resistance
The alliances are different, and the tactical standards are also very different. If you want to be incorporated into the army, you can only retrain them, and you will not be able to replenish the army in a short period of time.
In addition to some of this batch of recruits being trained on the spot in North China, half of them were all transported back to the old base in Northeast China for training by Yang Zhen using military trains to transport supplies. Although the Jizhong Plain has been mostly restored, but here
The training conditions in Northeast China are far inferior to those in Northeast China. Therefore, Yang Zhen believed that it would be better for these new recruits to be transferred back to Northeast China for training.
However, the troops coming from the Shandong Military Region were not just troops and recruits to supplement the Anti-Japanese Alliance. There were also a group of company and platoon-level cadres drawn from various units, as well as a large number of squad leaders and pre-provisioned backbones, sent to the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
Training is being conducted here. Yang Zhen accepted all the requests from the Shandong Military Region without hesitation.
At the same time, Yang Zhen returned to the Shandong Military Region troops and replenished all the Japanese-made light and heavy machine guns captured on the Tianjin battlefield. He also coordinated with the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region to provide supplies to the Shandong Military Region from his own inventory, as well as from the Japanese combat readiness material warehouses in Peking and Tianjin.
The troops coordinated 7 million rounds of 65 rifle and light machine gun bullets, 2 million 77 heavy machine gun bullets, and 1 million 79 bullets.
Five hundred grenade launchers, 150,000 grenade launchers, 90 Japanese-made mortars and 30,000 mortar shells, 60 92 infantry guns, and 15 Type 41 mountain guns were also mobilized.
, plus 17,000 Japanese-made 92 infantry artillery shells and 75mm mountain field artillery shells, and 25 tons of yellow explosives.
With this batch of ammunition, plus some of the trophies that were handed over at the beginning of the campaign and during the campaign, the total amount is enough for all the troops in the Shandong Military Region to use for one year. Even in the Jizhong, Hebei-Shandong border battlefields and the Shandong Military Region
Contact was cut off in a short time, and the Shandong Military Region did not need to worry about the shortage of ammunition.
This is also Yang Zhen's preparation in advance in order to deal with the subsequent counterattack of the Japanese army. The Shandong Military Region occupies a very important position in his next combat plan. Increase the strength of the Shandong Military Region as much as possible and enable it to hoard ammunition to
A sufficient quantity will be of great help to your next battle.
While the ground forces are stepping up preparations, the aviation force is also constantly adjusting its deployment, transporting fuel, aerial bombs, and napalm to several airports in central Hebei. It also organizes a group of battle-damaged aircraft personnel to return to the Northeast to receive new combat aircraft.
.A batch of P40K fighter jets provided by the United States have been assembled.
Except for the remaining part of this batch of fighter jets to supplement the Northeastern battlefield, the rest were allocated to the North China battlefield to supplement the battle losses in the North China battlefield. In the next battle, air support is very important. Therefore, the aviation force raises as many aircraft as possible
, giving priority to replenishing battle losses on the North China battlefield.
At the same time, in accordance with Yang Zhen's order, since the battle turned to rest, the aviation force has been organizing fleets to continuously attack from Hejian and Zhengding. It has increased the intensity of the strict blockade of the Japanese roads and railways in eastern Henan and Shandong.
At the same time, cooperate with the Shandong Military Region troops in operations.
Whether it is the Jin-Pu Railway, the Ping-Han Railway in eastern Henan, or the Jiao-Ji Railway, as well as all roads in the Japanese-occupied areas north of the Huaihe River, every Japanese marching column and even a military truck are within the range of fire.
Within the Bohai Bay, the air reconnaissance and warning range will be extended as far as possible toward the Bohai Strait.
A portion of the force was transferred to Taiyuan and Lincheng airports to provide air support for the operations in southeastern Shanxi. As the ground operations entered a short-term rest period, the intensity of the aviation force's attacks continued to change with the changes on each front.
It is strengthening. The combat scope is getting bigger and bigger.
Compared with the extremely active Anti-Alliance Air Force, it is currently facing the pressure of the Sino-US Joint Air Force on the Western Front, as well as the huge battle losses in the previous war. The Japanese Air Force in China has been dispatched less and less, and the Anti-Japanese Air Force has been dispatched less and less.
The aviation arm of the United Southern Army has basically mastered the air superiority in eastern Henan, Shanxi, Hebei and Shandong theaters.
However, Yang Zhen's plan to seize Jincheng and pass Tianjing Pass to the First Department of the Taihang Military Region failed. After receiving Yang Zhen's telegram, the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region responded. The Shanxi-Sui Army in southwest Shanxi was in the First Department of the Central Army.
With the cooperation of the Taihang Military Region, the main forces in the Taihang Military Region are currently concentrated on the battlefields around Changzhi, and they cannot take care of southern Shanxi at all.
Taking advantage of the evacuation of the 14th Independent Brigade of the Japanese Army, it moved very quickly. Not only has it basically controlled the Zhongtiao Mountain area, one of its divisions has already arrived in the area west of the Dan River. In addition to the county seat and the road connecting Tianjingguan, the entire Jincheng area has
The surrounding key points of Donggou, Macun, and Gaodu are already within the control of the Shanxi-Sui Army.
The speed with which the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army seized territory this time was beyond the expectations of the central government and the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region. Although the actions of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army were only along the Shanxi-Henan border, they basically did not defeat the Shanxi-Henan border area.
Some actions did not cross the Wangwushan line.
The speed of the Jinsui Army's action was quite rare. As soon as the Japanese army began to shrink its forces, they immediately followed the Japanese army to seize the defense area. The Japanese army in the Zhongtiao Mountain area was eager to retreat and did not pay attention to the Jinsui Army following behind them.
It was a bargain-hunting move. They only stuck to a few county towns south of Zhongtiao Mountain, and most of them quickly retreated to Yuncheng.
In accordance with the pre-war central government's requirements to avoid conflicts between the World War II zone and the Central Army as much as possible on the Shanxi battlefield in this battle. The Taihang Military Region will originally operate around Jincheng, with an independent battalion in one of the eight divisions of Taihang and an independent battalion in Jincheng County.
It has already withdrawn east of the Dan River.
Unless there is a direct conflict with the Jinsui Army, it is basically impossible to control Jincheng and the Zhongtiao Mountain area at the moment. The Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region proposes to temporarily maintain the status quo on the Jincheng front line. The focus is on the direction of Handan, but on the Tianjing direction of Jincheng
We must also focus on guarding the front line. It is obvious that the old commander in the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region is a little worried about the combat effectiveness of the Shanxi-Sui Army.
Now that things have come to this outcome, Yang Zhen can only accept it no matter what. However, he also repeatedly reminded the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region to focus on guarding the Tianjingguan and Fukouxing front lines, and to resolve the battle on the Changzhi front line as soon as possible.
At the same time, the Taiyue Military Region is urged to solve the problem as soon as possible. At present, the Japanese troops can only be trapped in the last few strongholds along the Nantongpu Railway.
While the Anti-Japanese Alliance continued to replenish supplies and reorganize troops on the battlefield in central Hebei, the troops of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, which had completed the battlefield operations in Shanxi, transferred all Taiyuan and surrounding battlefields to the Shanxi-Sui Military Region in accordance with the unified deployment of the central government.
Luliang Military Region Troops.
All the main forces participating in the war were unified into three infantry columns, with a total of eleven brigades. Together with all the directly affiliated artillery units, they began to move south one after another. They were preparing to engage in the second phase of the Jizhong battlefield to supplement the Anti-Japanese Alliance.