While giving certain suggestions to Yang Zhen, the old commander also made certain adjustments in the Shanxi battlefield, taking into account the overall battle situation and the needs of the Hebei battlefield. The enemy defense in Changzhi was already barely surviving and there was no need to invest too many troops.
Next, they have begun to gradually mobilize troops from the Changzhi battlefield, and two of the columns have begun to return to southeastern Shanxi to deploy.
The current battlefield in Changzhi is dragging on, which actually makes this old commander very dissatisfied. After the Japanese army occupied Changzhi, they built a large number of permanent fortifications inside and outside the city, as well as a large amount of materials and ammunition reserves, especially a large number of
The stubborn resistance to chemical weapons gave the old commander a headache.
The reason why the Japanese Thirty-sixth Division guarding Changzhi was able to persist for such a long time, apart from the lack of experience in attacking such a well-fortified city for the first time, is the large amount of chemical weapons stored in the hands of the Japanese army. Once the situation in that direction
If it's critical, fire gas shells in that direction regardless of cost.
And along the various offensive routes of the troops, chemical poisons were spread in large quantities. Even all the wells in the city, except for a few in the core positions, were also sprinkled with poisons. Or the corpses of Chinese people who were massacred were thrown directly into them.
Completely pollute the well water.
Although the troops are now equipped with a large number of gas masks, they are no longer helpless against the Japanese poison gas shells and smoke tubes. However, with only gas masks, the troops with too single method of dealing with the Japanese chemical warfare will not be able to deal with the large amounts of chemicals spread by the Japanese army.
Poison, but there is nothing you can do about it.
The most critical thing is that when the Japanese army reduced its troops and retreated into Changzhi City, they also took all the residents of the surrounding villages into the city as hostages, which made the attacking troops very vulnerable. Not to mention mountain artillery and infantry artillery, even rapid fire
Cannons, mortars and recoilless rifles were not dared to be used. In many battles, even light and heavy machine guns were unable to be used.
They invaded Changzhi many times, but either the Japanese army used poison gas and poison to re-block the breach, the troops who entered the city were eaten by the Japanese counterattack because they had no chance to follow up, or they were killed by the Japanese army using Chinese people as shields because of the rat trap.
Forced out.
Although after hard fighting and paying a heavy price, a small half of Changzhi City has been captured. However, due to the Japanese army's repeated damaging moves and dirty and shameless defensive tactics, the Japanese army repeatedly defended the half of Changzhi City.
Attacks, but always fall short, unable to completely end the battle.
In addition, the army equipment has been upgraded, but it is the first time to attack such a solidly defended city. There is a serious lack of actual combat attack experience, so there are certain mistakes in the use of tactics. This is how it happened.
It has been more than half a month since we directly attacked the city, but we still have not been able to completely capture Changzhi.
However, we are still dissatisfied with the delay in completely resolving the battle. The remaining troops of the 36th Division, huddled in half of Changzhi City, cannot use many troops at the moment. The Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region is concentrated in Changzhi
The surrounding troops, even if they kill chickens with a knife, are a bit too much.
Moreover, with the recapture of Linfen, a strategic town on the South Tongpu Railway, the remaining Japanese troops along the South Tongpu Railway have been completely eliminated. The main force of the Taiyue Military Region troops fighting along the Tongpu Road and the first section of the Taihang Military Region have also been freed up.
, allowing the old commander to have a lot of available troops.
A large number of troops can be mobilized from the Changzhi battlefield and the Nantong-Pu railway battlefield. In this way, coupled with the remaining troops of the Taihang Military Region, the troops of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region can invest two columns and two more on the line from southeastern Shanxi to southern Hebei.
brigade, plus the strength of nine independent regiments.
Coupled with the terrain in southeastern Shanxi that is conducive to defense, there is no need to worry too much about the flank security in southeastern Shanxi. After the Linfen battle, the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region's Etaihang Independent Brigade and the Taiyue Military Region's Death Column Brigade,
In addition, three independent regiments from the Taiyue Military Region were reorganized into a column.
In other words, the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region has enough troops that can be used on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi. There are three main columns plus six independent regiments in the four divisions of Taihang. With the southeastern Shanxi District already tightly fortified, the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region has
The troops can fully share a considerable part of the pressure on the battlefields in northern Hebei and southern Hebei, and undertake some major combat tasks.
After the veteran commander expressed his stance, Yang Zhen was able to adjust the combat plan without considering all aspects. After returning to Hejian from Chen Hanzhang's headquarters on the eastern front, Yang Zhen summoned the head of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region to Hejian. After several studies, he finally decided
Agree with part of the combat plan proposed by the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region.
After the Japanese counterattack began, the Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region used a force to delay the Japanese troops from Yongnian to Nanhe and Wu'an to Huangsi on both sides of Pinghan Road. The main force moved to the Taihang Mountains in the Shahe River Basin to hide and wait for the main force of the Japanese army.
Crossing the Linming Pass line, the main force of the Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region, hidden in the Taihang Mountains of the Shahe River Basin, launched a full-line attack from the flanks.
At the same time, the two military divisions of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region in northern Henan launched an attack on the Ping-Han Railway behind the Japanese army. The two brigades deployed in northwest Shandong followed the Linqing to Guantao and Wei County highways.
Blockades were carried out at all levels to protect the flanks of the Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region fighting in Yongnian.
Of course, this premise is that the Japanese army's troop deployment to southern Hebei does not exceed two divisions. If it exceeds two divisions, then the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region will still have to launch according to Yang Zhen's plan. It will not be a one-time annihilation.
Target the number of enemies and look for opportunities in movement.
In fact, for Yang Zhen, this combat plan is quite awkward. The battle in southern Hebei cannot completely open up the gap between the Japanese army, especially in the two directions of southern Hebei and northwest Shandong.
Create enough gaps. This will bring considerable inconvenience to your own insertion and outflanking.
The water network area north of Handan has become an obstacle that limits his mobility. What troubles him the most is that once the Japanese army forms a group, it will inevitably delay the time for the troops to solve the problem. Moreover, the straight-line distance between southern Hebei and northern Henan is also long.
It's too close. Once this battle of annihilation is fought in southern Hebei, if the Japanese troops in eastern Henan desperately send reinforcements, it will easily become a stalemate.
If this situation occurs, it is the last thing Yang Zhen wants to see. The entire battle plan is a chain of links. Once the main force on the Western Front is contained, it will inevitably affect the investment of troops in other battlefields. But there are some problems in various aspects.
, Yang Zhen had to consider it.
The biggest feeling that Yang Zhen felt during this battle in North China was not the number of enemy troops on the battlefield, but the awkwardness and restraint in command and deployment. In order to straighten out the command relationship, all aspects of the problem must be considered. Let Yang Zhen
In terms of command, I was not as comfortable as I was on the Northeast battlefield.
This is the first time for the anti-alliance cadres who are used to the vigorous and resolute actions of No. 1 to encounter such repeated revisions of a combat plan. However, the current battle situation is exactly the one that Yang Zhen does not want to see. The Japanese army is in Henan.
Two divisions will be deployed in the north, which means that the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region will implement the first set of plans.
This caused Chen Hanzhang to be too nervous if he wanted to complete his plan step by step on the battlefield in northwestern Shandong. On the frontal battlefield in northern Shandong, Chen Hanzhang could no longer allocate troops.
You can choose one of the two.
But in fact, his ambitions on the battlefield are not much smaller than Du Kaishan's. But relatively speaking, his style is not as rough as Du Kaishan's. In some aspects, he is still very relaxed. He still wants to completely solve the problem of the Japanese army in northwestern Shandong in one go.
of Chen Hanzhang.
Therefore, despite the shortage of troops, he still made tactical adjustments as much as possible. Not only did he find ways to mobilize a large amount of firepower, but also strengthened all the artillery units transferred by Yang Zhenxin to the battlefield in northwest Shandong. He also renewed the attack on the west of Dezhou.
The battlefield has been tactically adjusted.
Try to solve the 72nd Division in the shortest possible time so that we can free up our hands in northwest Shandong as soon as possible and prepare for follow-up operations. As for the next step, we will first cooperate with the Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region to solve the 118th Division.
, Chen Hanzhang still has to decide according to the situation, whether to attack the enemy in Texas from behind.
However, Chen Hanzhang, who could only act according to his ability at the moment, did not know that Yang Zhen had already considered the possible shortage of troops on the eastern front after this adjustment. Although he did not continue to mobilize reinforcements for Chen Hanzhang, he also did some follow-up deployment.
Some consideration was given.
Since the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region insisted on participating in this battle as the main force, although it made it impossible for the main force of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region to be transferred eastward, the invisible movement of the battlefield to the south also made the Western Front deploy in the upper reaches of the Fuyang River.
Line clustering can free up some troops.
He had already deployed two divisions from the overall deployment on the western front and deployed them secretly along the Fuyang River. At the same time, Tao Jingfei in Tianjin also received an order to have two divisions in his unit and also to serve as a reserve force.
responsibility. Once the Japanese counterattack begins, we must be ready to move south at all times.
But Yang Zhen's adjustments to local deployments, in a short period of time, can only be counted on the two divisions he adjusted from the western front. As for Tao Jingfei's two divisions, as long as the Japanese landing operation does not start for a day,
For the time being, it can only be done on the Tianjin battlefield.
Although Tianjin is not as important to the current battlefield in Hebei as Qikou, its position is extremely critical to the entire war situation in North China and Northeast China. It is the strategic hub connecting Northeast China and North China. When the Japanese troops landed
Before the war started, Yang Zhen was easily unable to mobilize the troops participating in the Tianjin battlefield to go south.
The sea is not land, and the Japanese navy still controls the entire Bohai Sea. At least for now, they can have unimpeded access to the sea and can go wherever they want. With such a large Bohai Bay, I cannot put all my bets on Qikou.
.So before the Japanese landing operation has begun, Tianjin's troops are not yet able to mobilize a single soldier.
However, despite having made certain preparations, considering that the war situation is changing at any time, Yang Zhen has not yet made it clear to Chen Hanzhang. The issues that Chen Hanzhang needs to consider are only part of the Eastern Front. What he has to consider is the entire North China battlefield. There are some things
It's too early to say, and if there are major changes, it will be easy to be passive in subsequent adjustments of military strength.
Chen Hanzhang, who didn't know that No. 1 had already prepared two divisions for himself, and that he might transfer two more divisions from the Tianjin battlefield to the south and assign them to his command. Faced with the continuous shortage of available troops at hand, he carefully calculated each step.
An infantry regiment and each artillery battalion are used.
After the Japanese army launched an all-out attack, he focused his attention on the battlefield in northwest Shandong. Whether the troops currently in northwest Shandong can attract the Japanese army to the preset positions in Zaonan is what he is most concerned about. At the same time, northwest Shandong
Whether the Hebei, Shandong and Yu troops on the battlefield could attract the 118th Division to the front of Guantao was also what he was most worried about.
However, after the Japanese attack was fully launched, his worries soon became a reality. The development of the battle did not develop according to Chen Hanzhang's original vision. The intensity of the Japanese attack had three postures in three directions. Chen Hanzhang planned
The plan, at least for a short period of time, turned into a fantasy.