Yang Zhen's judgment on the Japanese army's actions in northwest Shandong was quite accurate. According to Okamura Neiji's intention, the 118th Division and even the 72nd Division were all used by Okamura Neiji.
Fishing is the bait that attracts the Anti-Japanese Alliance troops deep in the Western Front to fight south.
The offensive of the 118th Division in the direction of Guantao certainly included the factor of taking the opportunity to open up the connection with the battlefield east of the Ping-Han Line. However, it was mainly a false shot, used as a bait to lure the Anti-Japanese Alliance into taking the initiative, so as to give the enemy an opportunity to attack.
The Japanese army created fighter planes in operations in northwest Shandong.
Okamura Neiji's intention is very clear. In order to attract the Anti-League who are good at outflanking and outflanking, in order to pull away the entire deployment of the Anti-League. He will use the situation around the 118th Division that is not actually prominent to lure the Anti-League to take the initiative.
Attack, and then focus on annihilating the main group of the Anti-Alliance forces on the western front who are trying to encircle and annihilate the 118th Division.
Taking out a division as bait, Okamura Neiji's deployment can be said to be quite well-intentioned. Just as Yang Zhen originally expected, the 118th Division was in a position where it looked like it was a lone intrusion. However,
On the Zhouqu line east of Pinghan Road, there is a Japanese division. Behind it, on the Wucheng battlefield, there is the 72nd Division.
In Jinan to the southeast, there is also a Japanese division. As long as the Anti-Japanese Alliance tries to swallow this bait, its participating troops will immediately be attacked from three sides. In order to avoid stealing the chicken but losing the rice, they will outflank the troops and catch up.
Before coming over, this bait was swallowed by Kang Lian.
Okamura Neiji strengthened a large number of anti-tank guns and heavy artillery to the 118th Division. At the same time, he required the 118th Division to use brigades as an organization as much as possible during operations. In addition to using no more than
To strengthen the strength of the brigade, except for operations in the northwest direction, the main force should not be divided and used as much as possible.
This plan was specially researched and formulated by Okamura Neiji in response to the first phase of the Anti-Japanese Alliance's habit of using large depth, large roundabouts, and outflanking tactics on the battlefield. Although it seemed a bit hasty due to time constraints, Okamura
At the beginning of the campaign, Mura Ningji also gathered all the combat staff of the Front Army and the Twelfth Army, and after repeated deductions on the sand table, it was finally determined.
Unlike the base camp, which is always thinking about opening up the Jinpu Railway and reestablishing contact with the Kwantung Army, Okamura Neiji is more concerned about mobilizing so many troops and concentrating such huge weapons and equipment this time. Even the navy has sent marines to participate in the battle. Can
We cannot take advantage of this favorable situation to annihilate more of the anti-alliance forces used as the main combat force on the battlefield in Hebei.
He insisted that the only solution was to achieve a complete solution. The current strength of the Anti-Japanese War troops in the Hebei battlefield, and the use of the rare concentration of various communist armies in Hebei to defeat its main force in one fell swoop, would make the rest of the matter relatively easy to handle. If the Hebei battlefield could not be defeated,
With the effective strength of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, even if the Tianjin-Puzhou Railway is opened, Tianjin is recaptured, and the Japanese troops dispersed to defend the city, it will be difficult to hold it.
Therefore, he adopted a strategy of cooperating with each other in strategic deployment, advancing east and west, and attacking in multiple directions. Using a division as a bait, he mobilized the Anti-Japanese Alliance who like to adopt large-depth and roundabout tactics to take the initiative to attack in the northwestern Shandong and Hebei-Shandong border areas.
, fight a war of annihilation, and strive to destroy the enemy's main effective forces in the Hebei battlefield in one fell swoop.
Not only did he deploy two divisions of mobile troops on the battlefield in Shandong for the bureau he set up, he also arranged a division east of Pinghan Road. He deployed two divisions in eastern Henan, in northern Henan and
A division on the front line in Kaifeng can also be mobilized to participate in the war at any time.
Unexpectedly, instead of being fooled, the Anti-Japanese Alliance simply gave way to the Guantao front line, directly suspending Okamura Neji's entire plan in mid-air. In desperation, under the desperate urging of the base camp, Okamura
Ningci could only ask the 118th Division to turn in advance, cooperate with the Japanese division east of Pinghan Road to expand northward, and adopt a head-to-head approach with the 72nd Division.
But faced with the current situation, Okamura Neiji did not completely give up the original plan. He ordered the 118th Division to complete the turn and attack in the direction of Wei County, Guangzong, and Julu. To the east of Pinghan Road
The divisions cooperated with each other to attack the troops of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region, which was currently the weakest link on the entire Hebei battlefield.
Take the direction of attacking and rescuing them, forcing the anti-alliance forces deep in the western front to rescue them. In order to mobilize the anti-alliance forces on a large scale, they can create opportunities for themselves to encircle and annihilate the first unit of the anti-alliance forces in northwest Shandong and southern Hebei. If the anti-alliance forces are not fooled again, they will
The division is located in such a way that it can penetrate directly into Nangong to the east, and it can complete the forcible crossing of the Fuyang River to the west and penetrate directly into the Ning-Jin line.
When the 72nd Division implemented this combat plan, it was not only one of the main mobile strike divisions, but its location was also used as a decoy. Because in the battle with the Anti-Japanese Alliance in the previous two years, it was beaten to a
Neji Okamura, who had a long memory, could not figure out which direction the Anti-Japanese Alliance counterattack would choose first when the 118th Division attacked in the direction of Guantao.
Therefore, Okamura Neiji adopted a chain-linked approach in this strategic deployment. No matter which one of the 72nd Division and 118th Division the Anti-Japanese Alliance attacked first, they would face him on all sides.
Encirclement. Coupled with the attacking forces on both sides of Lubei and Pinghan Road, the forces in other battlefields of the Anti-Japanese Alliance were restrained from being able to reinforce, giving him the confidence to achieve this goal.
What's more, his two divisions on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi are definitely not just to rescue the remnants of the 36th Division. He just wants to use these two divisions to fight a heart-breaking battle in southeastern Shanxi and make a detour from southeastern Shanxi.
Behind the cluster on the Western Front of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. The route he chose out of Shanxi was not Junji Pass or Huangze Pass, but the Malingguan line further north. To rescue the remnants of the 36th Division was just following the trend.
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Okamura Neiji did not think that the Eighteenth Group Army in the southeast of Shanxi would cause too much damage to the roundabout operations of his two divisions. What's more, he had another division on the battlefield west of Pinghan Road to cooperate with Shanxi.
Actions on the southeastern battlefield. He stubbornly believed that as long as these two divisions could successfully leave Malingguan, the initiative of the entire battle situation would be firmly in his hands.
Moreover, he also added two layers of insurance for the operations of these two divisions in southeastern Shanxi. The Shexian enemy's attack on Fukouxing was only the first layer of insurance. The real trump card he hid in southeastern Shanxi was
Because it has not yet reached the critical moment, it has not been exposed yet. In order to achieve his strategic purpose in the southeast Shanxi battlefield, Okamura Nejiko tried his best.
Therefore, for Lieutenant General Chiba Kumaji, who clearly understood the entire battle plan of the front army, he had to be mentally prepared for the counterattack of the Anti-Alliance. But neither he nor Neji Okamura thought of the Anti-Alliance.
They would choose the most impossible target at a time they thought was most inappropriate.
Moreover, the momentum of the counterattack and the intensity of the firepower were beyond their expectation. When the Anti-Union counterattack really came to the head, the 72nd Division felt like the sky was shattering from top to bottom.
Chen Hanzhang's breakthrough troops deployed on both wings, under the cover of tanks and a mixed attack aircraft group each, ignored the blocking forces deployed by the 72nd Division on both wings and forced a rapid penetration deep into it.
The first round of counterattack artillery fire was fired from the front, directly hitting the 134th Regiment that was attacking Zaonan County via Encha, Zhangxiutun, and Sanlangnan. It used intensive artillery fire to attack Encha and Zhangxiutun, the two Japanese troops
The focus of the attack was on the Japanese positions and the starting point of the attack. There was a heavy rain of artillery shells.
In order to let the 72nd Division enter the ambush circle as early as possible, Chen Hanzhang not only spent a lot of effort and painstaking disguise, but also used artillery very sparingly on the battlefield from Wucheng to Zaonan. After leading the 70th Division,
When the main force of the Second Division moved north, it did not use any artillery with a caliber above 75 mm.
The artillery involved in the battle were mainly divisional 76mm cannons, 75mm mountain guns, and 82mm mortars. Even the 120mm mortars were not used in large numbers. They were conscious in terms of firepower.
Showing weakness, he successfully confused Lieutenant General Chiba Kumaji.
Although it is known from the intelligence that the Anti-Japanese Alliance invested a large amount of artillery in this North China battle. Although it is also clear that in the previous battles, the Anti-Japanese Alliance was never able to match the intensity of artillery fire of the 72nd Division. There must be something in between.
tricks. But after truly seeing the intensity of firepower displayed by the Anti-Japanese Alliance, Lieutenant General Chiba Kumaji was still stunned when he was beaten immediately.
The two squadrons of the 1st Battalion of the 134th Regiment, which were still attacking in the direction of Encha, were not prepared at all when faced with the intensive artillery fire that suddenly came from the depths of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. Their offensive formation was beaten by the two 122nd Rocket Artillery Battalions.
The two volleys hit the target solidly, causing him to be paralyzed by the explosion.
Facing the two anti-alliance battalions that almost followed the extended line of artillery fire and were covered by a group of half-track armored vehicles. The remnants of the first battalion had not yet recovered from the heavy rain of steel caused by the dense rocket shells.
, before they had time to switch to defense, the entire position was disrupted.
The situation of the third brigade of the 134th Regiment in the direction of Zhangxiu Tun, west of Encha, was no better than that of the first brigade. In the dense anti-alliance area, the Japanese army even had nowhere to hide under the first round of counterattack artillery fire.
, the brigade suffered casualties of nearly one-third of its troops.
Before the unit could wake up from the so-called unprecedented artillery attack, more than twenty anti-Union attack aircraft used napalm bombs to completely set the area where the brigade was on fire. Two consecutive waves of open space were
After the firepower attack, the loss of this brigade was even higher than that of Encha's first brigade.
The two regiments of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region facing them took advantage of continuous air-to-ground attacks to cause chaos to the Japanese army. Before the sky-high fire ignited by napalm bombs was completely extinguished, they outflanked them from both wings. Under the regiment's artillery and
Under the cover of horizontal firepower from light and heavy machine guns, especially four four-unit 14mm anti-aircraft machine guns strengthened by the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the remaining members of the brigade were divided and surrounded in Zhangxiutun, as well as the three villages of Zhangjiazhuang and Miaoqianli to the north.
The Third Battalion, which is located on the right wing of the entire front of the 134th Regiment, is in a slightly better situation because it is not the focus of the fire attack. In the first wave of the counterattack in Zaonan, they only suffered a heavy meal of artillery shells and aerial bombs. However,
Unfortunately, the location of the brigade happened to be the area where the Anti-Japanese Alliance split the connection between the two Japanese regiments.
The brigade had just woken up from the artillery attack. The two mechanized infantry battalions of the Anti-Japanese Alliance in front of them had already rushed over with the cooperation of a tank battalion. The brigade was on an unobstructed plain, facing
It is impossible to effectively intercept the mechanized troops rushing towards the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
Its temporary defense line was riddled with holes in just one hour. Fortunately, the first unit of the Anti-Japanese Alliance that rushed over, after tearing apart its temporary simple defense line, ignored them at all and rushed directly through the brigade.
The defense line rushed towards the joint between the regiment and the 152nd Regiment behind it, and blocked it with a force, which was moving closer to the 155th Regiment on the right.