At present, in the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi, except for the few brigades resting in Changzhi, most of the remaining troops are concentrated on the battlefield south of Changzhi and the Dongyangguan line. The middle line from Shunping to Lingchuan appears to be quite large.
Empty. Even in order to ensure sufficient troops for operations in the north and south directions, except for county armed forces, no military divisional troops were deployed in this area.
Although the terrain in this area is extremely complex and the mountains are extremely steep, it does not mean that the Japanese army will not choose this breakthrough point, whether it was the Japanese army's several large-scale raids on Linxian, Shunping, and Lingchuan in the past, or their raids on southeastern Shanxi
The 24th Group Army of Chongqing and the Hebei People's Army attacked, and the natural dangers of the Taihang Mountains in this area failed to act as a barrier to stop the Japanese army.
Once the Japanese army in northern Henan inserts a force from Lin County to Shunping, avoids the Junjiguan and Huangzeguan lines where the main force of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region is currently concentrated, and chooses to launch an attack from the direction of Lin County, then the two areas in southeastern Shanxi will
They blocked the middle of the battlefield and struck a blow. If the Japanese army simply wanted to disrupt the deployment of our troops in the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi and coordinated the actions of the two Japanese divisions south of Changzhi, then they would not need to mobilize too many troops.
Now the entire war situation has entered a critical moment. Often, the calmer the place, there are often more dangers hidden under the water. At present, the northern and southern fronts of the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi are in a tug of war, but it can be regarded as a lively fight.
.And the entire right wing of the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi seemed too calm as the Japanese army was already familiar with the terrain of this area.
What on earth is the Japanese army doing on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi, including on both sides of the adjacent Pinghan-Han Line? If their two divisions south of Changzhi really want to leave the Taihang Mountains eastward, it stands to reason
He said that he definitely shouldn't act so slowly. He, Yoshimoto Teiichi, still knew very well the importance of speed in fighting.
The two divisions on the Pinghan-Han Line, especially the division west of the Ping-Han Line, have been immersed in attacking northward regardless of the gap between them and the battlefield east of the Ping-Han Line.
In addition to using one detachment to hold on to the troops of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region, they also intensified their attack on the front line of Shahe.
Could it be that the Japanese army is preparing to repeat its old tricks on both sides of the Ping-Han Road? To lure all its troops deployed deep in the western front to go south? At the same time, with the two divisions advancing hand in hand, they mobilize the main force of our army in the southeastern Shanxi battlefield to weaken the flanks of the southeastern Shanxi battlefield.
defensive strength.
Judging from the current situation of the entire battlefield, this is quite possible. Because there is one thing on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi that Yang Zhen has always paid attention to. That is the two Japanese divisions on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi. They seem to be a bit aggressive, but in fact
On the other hand, things are going steadily.
These two divisions attached great importance to the supply lines behind them. They cooperated with the Japanese troops stationed in Jincheng and kept extremely tight vigilance on the road from Boai through Tianjingguan to Jincheng. Not only did they organize a team of cavalry, armored vehicles and more than a hundred trucks
, a mobile force composed of.
Moreover, a large number of blockhouses and bunkers were built along both sides of the highway. A large number of minefields were even laid out on both sides of the highway. The terrain on both sides of the highway was also greatly modified by artificial means, and arrests were made along the way.
A large number of civilians are dedicated to maintaining this stretch of road.
My old commander organized troops many times to go deep behind the Japanese army south of Changzhi, trying to launch a raid on their supply lines. However, due to the tight security of the Japanese army and the lack of cooperation from friendly forces, it was never possible to cut off the Japanese army in southeastern Shanxi.
The supply lines of these two divisions.
Although the two Japanese divisions on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi are both lightly armed divisions. But this lightly armed mainly refers to the relatively small number of heavy weapons, and the artillery they are equipped with are all mountain artillery. But these two divisions also increased at the same time.
Equipped with light and heavy machine guns that are more suitable for mountain warfare, as well as mortars and infantry artillery.
Although the artillery regiments of the two divisions only sent out mountain artillery and four artillery squadrons each, and none of the artillery above the field artillery was dispatched. However, in these two artillery regiments, one mortar was added to each.
The organization of the artillery brigade. At the same time, the artillery and infantry guns belonging to the brigade were increased from two to four, and two 90mm mortars were strengthened.
These two divisions are indeed considered light-armed in terms of heavy weapons, mainly field artillery. However, the number of mortars, which are more suitable for mountainous operations, has increased significantly. Even one of the divisions is directly equipped with
Mortars replaced the insufficient number of 92 infantry artillery. In other words, although these two divisions are nominally light divisions, in fact their overall firepower is not weak.
In addition, the supply line was always open, so Yang Zhen thought that the actions of these two divisions were abnormal. They seemed to be waiting for something? On the two wings of the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi, the left wing is now firmly controlled by the Guanneri troops. Although the right wing has natural dangers
, but the force is relatively weak. Could it be that the Japanese army is preparing to take action at Lingchuan, Huguan, and Licheng on the right flank of the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi?
Thinking of this, Yang Zhen took the telegrams from the central government, the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region and the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region in the past few days, and read them carefully. Especially the telegrams sent by the main force of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, Yang Zhen was almost word for word.
I was pondering the words. It took a long time before Yang Zhen turned his attention back to the map.
He tapped the pencil in his hand on the table in front of him. Yang Zhen turned his head and said to Chai Shirong: "Old Chai, please send a report to the Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region and ask if there has been any change in the enemy situation in northern Henan. Especially in the direction from Lin County to Xiuwu.
And whether there are any major changes in the enemy situation in the directions of Hebi and Tangyin."
"Tell Chen Hanzhang that I agree with his opinion. But I also asked him if we can launch an attack on the 100th Division and at the same time concentrate a force, plus the first unit of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region in that direction, to attack the 118th Division.
regiment to carry out encirclement and suppression in order to mobilize the Japanese 50th Division east of the Ping-Han Line?"
"It does not mean the two brigades of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region currently surrounding the 118th Division, but all the troops of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region on the battlefield east of the original Ping-Han Line. In this way, our army can concentrate on one in front of the 118th Division.
The division has three other brigades plus five regiments. Although the organization is a bit more complicated, the strength is still sufficient."
"If it is feasible, when launching a counterattack against the 100th Division, we will take action against the 118th Division at the same time. If not, the focus will still be on the 100th Division."
"When encircling and annihilating the 100th Division, we must pay attention to the follow-up strength of the Japanese army. Now that we are determined to fight, we should fight hard and strive to completely and completely solve the 100th Division in one go, and assign it to fight the independent war.
The fourth tank brigade. However, we must pay attention to the subsequent deployment of troops by the Japanese army and the second independent tank brigade that has not yet appeared."
"Especially on the left wing, we must pay more attention. According to the current strategic intentions of the Japanese army, at least in the northwest direction of Shandong, the Japanese army cannot only invest two divisions. As for the Japanese 50th Division east of the Ping-Han Line, it is impossible to
The cluster is in charge, and the main operational direction of the East Cluster is still east of the line from Guangzong to Xinhe."
"In addition, in the frontal battlefield in northern Shandong, we must also adopt multi-channel counterattack tactics at the same time. We must tightly contain the Japanese divisions east of the Dezhou battlefield and the front line from En County to the old city, which is bound to cause a chain reaction. This
In this direction, not only will the Japanese army invest follow-up troops, but they may even increase their offensive in Dezhou and Ningjin to respond to the battlefield west of Dezhou."
"While solving the 100 divisions, we should start to deal with the enemies of Dezhou according to the situation. If necessary, we can transfer a force from the southwestern battlefield of Nangong to join the battlefield of Dezhou. But in the next step, how to consider the deployment of the entire battlefield around Dezhou?
Yes, we must report it as soon as possible.”
After Chai Shirong quickly drafted the telegram and sent it out, Yang Zhen turned his attention back to the map. After hesitating for a long time, he made up his mind to launch a full-line attack on both wings of Pinghan Road. No matter what the movements of the Japanese army were, as long as they started on their own side, a chain of Japanese troops would be triggered.
Any reaction will expose all hidden actions below to the surface.
At present, a division secretly mobilized by Tao Jingfei has arrived to the west of Shimen. A column from Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei has also secretly arrived at the designated combat area. No matter what the Japanese army has planned in southeastern Shanxi, he has enough strength to deal with it. Since everything is ready,
Then there's nothing left to say, let's beat him first and then talk.
The focus is on the 117th Division west of Pinghan Road. As long as the 117th Division is defeated, the Japanese army will not be able to hide in the battlefield in southeast Shanxi no matter what they think. The 117th Division
Isn't a detachment clinging to the troops of the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region and not letting go? Then let's do surgery on him first.
No matter what tricks the Japanese army is playing on the battlefields on both sides of the Ping-Han Line and the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi, as long as one of the two Japanese divisions on both sides of the Ping-Han Road is defeated. No matter what tricks they have, they must do it thoroughly.
Expose it. In this way, the problem will be solved.
Determined, Yang Zhen immediately ordered all the troops to move south to launch a comprehensive counterattack against the Japanese army on both sides of Pinghan Road. Especially the 18th Division, which had arrived at the Shahe line, entangled the 50th Division at all costs. To the west of Pinghan Road
The main force of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region on the battlefield immediately launched an attack on a detachment of the 115th Division that was holding on to it.
At the same time, Yang Zhen also sent a telegram to the deputy commander. In addition to informing him of his determination, he also suggested that since the Japanese army did not divide the troops and hugged the two divisions together, then the two divisions should fight together. As long as they can cause serious damage
Two divisions, causing them to lose the ability to continue heading north. In terms of overall effect, there will not be much difference from completely encircling and annihilating one division.
As for the direction of the Taiyue Military Region, Yang Zhen believes that at this time, it is enough to retain only one security force. At this time, that aspect cannot afford to take the initiative to stir up trouble. Since there are basically no major threats along the Nantongpu Railway
If a war breaks out, the first unit of the Taiyue Military Region can be mobilized to participate in the war.
In this way, the number of our troops on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi is twice that of the Japanese troops south of Changzhi. At the same time, in terms of firepower, it is no worse than the two Japanese divisions. The most important thing is that under the mountainous terrain, the Japanese troops
There are no gaps between the two divisions and themselves.
As long as we can concentrate our superior troops and firepower to attack him, we may not really be unable to find fighter planes. In mountainous combat, our army is at least as good as the Japanese army. As long as we can severely damage these two Japanese divisions and pay a certain price, it is not impossible.
Yes. So Yang Zhen suggested to the deputy commander that since the two Japanese divisions are inseparable, they should be fought together.
If these two divisions of the Japanese army are severely damaged, even if there are some storms in the entire southeast Shanxi battlefield, the entire southern front can be said to be stable. No matter what tricks the Japanese army pulls out, they will have sufficient contingency measures, at least they will not fall into three sides.
An enemy situation.
In Yang Zhen's opinion, compared to the actions in the direction of Shexian County, which obviously diverted the troop deployment and attention of the 18th Army in the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi, the two Japanese divisions in the battlefield south of Changzhi were among the entire deployment of the Japanese army.
The top priority. Weakening these two divisions to the point where they have no offensive capabilities is tantamount to removing one of the strongest arms of the Japanese army in the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi. And the troops currently concentrated on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi may not be