In fact, if we look at Yang Zhen's true thoughts at the moment, he believes that as long as the two Japanese divisions are controlled within a certain route, he thinks that the two Japanese divisions should be allowed to go northward at the moment. With the troops currently deployed around the Changzhi battlefield,
The troops adopted frontal attacks to weaken the Japanese army's strength, and the flanks continued to adopt tactics of division and outflanking.
Taking advantage of the relatively complex terrain in southeastern Shanxi, they gradually bled the Japanese troops along the way. When the Japanese troops entered the Taihang Mountains on the Hebei-Shanxi border, they used a division they transferred to attach to the First Division of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region and used the junction of Hebei and Shanxi.
In the Taihang Mountains, it is more suitable to fight a clean and tidy encirclement and annihilation battle.
The terrain of the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi is messy, with large and small basins in the mountains, as well as deep and undulating mountain canyons. At present, it is still possible for the Japanese army to advance in groups in the Jinzhou Basin or Changzhi Basin. But crossing Changzhi, which was called Shangdang Basin in ancient times,
Along the line, whether heading northwest towards Taiyuan or developing according to your own ideas, there are mountains all along the way.
Shanxi has been called "river and mountain" since ancient times, and it's not for nothing. At present, Shanxi, except for the plain area in central Shanxi, is almost a graveyard for mechanized operations of large corps. Especially the battlefield in the southeast of Shanxi, it is almost a natural place.
A battlefield set up for an ambush.
At present, these two Japanese divisions are backed by Jinzhou and the Japanese-controlled areas north of the Yellow River, and their supply lines are relatively short. If the deputy commander wants to cut off their supply lines, it will be difficult to find suitable fighters. But if these two are released
The Japanese divisions moved north, gradually widening the distance between them and the Japanese in Jinzhou and extending their supply lines. At that time, it would be relatively easy to cut off their supply lines.
The terrain in southeastern Shanxi is complex. Except for some mountainous basins, it is almost all mountainous terrain. There is also a lack of effective road transportation, and most of them are temporary highways or mountain roads in the mountains. The two Japanese divisions gradually moved northward, opening up with
The distance between Jinzhou and Jinzhou either requires a large amount of troops to maintain the supply line, which will inevitably spread the troops.
Either they can carry combat supplies for a certain period of time and forcefully march north regardless of the logistics supply line. Judging from the terrain in southeastern Shanxi, this will dispatch a large number of personnel to carry supplies, but this will undoubtedly weaken the ability of the combat troops. Even if the food is raised locally, that is
Fight openly and only carry ammunition.
But the time that can be maintained is relatively limited. No matter which method the Japanese army chooses, it will be more conducive to finding fighters in the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi. At that time, the 129th Division successively fought in the battles of Shentou Ridge, Xiangtangpu, and Changle Village, and the Hundred Regiment
Wasn't the Battle of Yuliao in the Great War a very beautiful ambush battle that took advantage of the terrain in the southeast of Shanxi?
If the distance between the Japanese army south of Changzhi and Jinzhou is widened and it is introduced deep into the mountainous areas of southeastern Shanxi, fighter planes can still find it. As long as the Japanese army crosses the Changzhi line, the terrain along the way will make it impossible for the two Japanese divisions to
Maintain the current situation. No matter what the deputy commander-in-chief thinks, you can calmly look for fighter opportunities when the time comes.
Yang Zhen had a vague feeling that these two Japanese divisions that were supposed to move quickly towards Changzhi, when they attacked Changzhi, they burned, killed and looted along the way. They did almost everything, just to completely anger the entire Southeast Shanxi Province.
The anger of the Eighth Army troops thus attracted at least most of the main force in southeastern Shanxi to the line from Jinzhou to Changzhi.
Burning, killing, and looting were indeed the norm for the Japanese army. Whether it was attacking or raiding, they committed all kinds of evil along the way. If the Japanese army did not kill, set fire, or rob, it would be very strange. But now these two people in southeastern Shanxi
It was a bit abnormal for a Japanese division to find time to rob and kill people while it was supposed to be moving quickly.
On the contrary, it is like consciously irritating the 18th Army troops on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi and attracting most of their troops to their side. If the 18th Army troops were still short of guns and ammunition, they would still be unable to compete with them. But at the moment, several major strategies in North China
In the region, whether it is the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu, or Shanxi-Suiyuan troops, they have all replaced their guns with cannons.
Both equipment and combat effectiveness have been greatly improved. The days of lack of guns and ammunition in the past are long gone. If we look at infantry equipment alone, it is even better than the Japanese army. This situation has made the pass
It was difficult for the troops to tolerate the Japanese army's behavior of burning, killing and looting.
This also means that the troops on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi will come out to fight the Japanese army without the Japanese army searching everywhere. In order to mobilize enough troops, the entire Taihang base area must adopt an empty city strategy. If the Japanese army uses a force at this time
With all the troops out of Lin County and attacking Huguan, the entire battlefield in southeastern Shanxi is bound to be shaken across the board.
At present, the equipment and training level of the Sekiuchi troops have been improved. I am afraid that Yoshimoto Teiichi has already experienced it deeply in the previous battlefield in Shanxi. If it is still the same situation as before, it is still short of guns and ammunition, and it is impossible to eat up nearly half of his First Army.
With half of the troops, they were forced out of Shanxi.
The actions of the two Japanese divisions in the southeastern Shanxi Province were probably based on the current changes in the mentality of the Guannei troops. They intended to completely anger the participating troops in the southeastern Shanxi battlefield, so as to open up the defense posture of the 18th Group Army in the southeastern Shanxi battlefield. In order to
Take your next step and look for a favorable opportunity.
But Yang Zhen is still not sure whether the Japanese army's actions on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi lead the emperor into a trap. But Yang Zhen still believes that since there are no good fighters at the moment, it is better to fight in the mountainous area south of Changzhi.
If we fight hard, we might as well let the Japanese troops enter the Shangdang Basin.
It's just this suggestion that Yang Zhen has no way to express yet. His final judgment on the actions of the two Japanese divisions in southeastern Shanxi has not been confirmed so far. Who can guarantee the actions of these two Japanese divisions on the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi?
, just to outflank his troops on the Western Front and make a deep penetration?
This kind of large-depth penetration has not been carried out by the Japanese army according to previous battles. However, the operation is mostly based on the brigade, organized into a detachment for action. Or a regiment is transferred to strengthen part of the artillery and engineers to implement large-scale penetration operations. The maximum
Several times on a large scale, they only took out a division.
Under the current situation, knowing that the strength of the opponent has been greatly enhanced, taking two divisions into the mountainous southeast of Shanxi and carrying out a large-scale penetration is undoubtedly a bit contrary to the rules. A single day on the Shexian battlefield
Puppet troops cannot be used as strong evidence. If Yang Zhen wants to convince the deputy commander-in-chief and his old superiors, he must provide at least some evidence.
But Yang Zhen is unable to prove his judgment at the moment, at least he cannot produce favorable evidence. Because the next move of these two divisions, if they attack northeast, can indeed prove his judgment. But these two divisions
At least where we are now, we can attack the Nantong-Pu Railway to the west, or we can go northwest towards Taiyuan.
Although the possibility of the Japanese army attacking in these two directions is basically non-existent in the current war situation. But who can guarantee that the Japanese army's actions in southeastern Shanxi are not to recover Taiyuan? It is not difficult to convince the deputy commander to accept his judgment.
, as long as the corresponding intelligence or evidence is presented, the deputy commander will still accept it.
But the key problem is that this judgment is just a guess made by Yang Zhen based on the current situation of the entire North China war. This makes it difficult to convince the deputy commander to accept Yang Zhen's suggestion at the risk of a complete overturn of the situation in Shanxi.
After all, it is not an easy task to control the Japanese army's course of action when the target of the Japanese army cannot be truly determined.
Although various tactical deployments can be used to force the Japanese army to follow the route they have planned for them, this approach is undoubtedly very difficult for opponents like the Japanese army. At the same time, it also risks the entire Taihang base area being completely destroyed.
Risk of breakage.
And once the Japanese army enters Taihang, with the Japanese army's mountain combat capabilities, who can guarantee that there will not be a battle at Guanjianao? After all, the entire mountainous area in southeastern Shanxi is not only suitable for the Eighteenth Army to fight, but it is also not suitable for the Japanese army.
Very strange.
After several considerations, Yang Zhen finally gave up persuading the Deputy Commander-in-Chief and followed his own strategic intentions. He just suggested that the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, if he really couldn't find a fighter plane, simply let go and use the Jinquan Mountain and Danzhuling lines of Changzhi to completely
A big fight.
Judging from the troops and equipment currently concentrated on the battlefields around Changzhi, as long as the combat operations of various departments are coordinated and the troops and firepower are concentrated, even if the tactical objectives cannot be achieved, at least they will not suffer heavy losses. Once the battlefield in southeastern Shanxi really reaches a stalemate
, the Japanese army is bound to speed up its actions. Then its entire strategic intentions will have no secrets to keep.
But regarding Yang Zhen's suggestion, the deputy commander-in-chief did not reply for a long time. However, Yang Zhen did not ask too many questions. There were the deputy commander-in-chief and his old commander, the commander of the 129th Division and the commander of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region.
You two military masters are here, so you'd better be more cautious.
Compared with the deputy commander-in-chief who had not responded to the call for a long time, Chen Hanzhang's call back was very fast. In the telegram, Chen Hanzhang believed that if all the troops of the Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region on the battlefield east of the Ping-Han Line were transferred to the battlefield east of Dezhou, then he would
It still has the strength to launch a general attack on the 118th Division while taking down the 100th Division.
The 118th Division is now active, but has been greatly weakened. The original strength and equipment were far inferior to those of the 50th and 72nd Divisions on its wings. The current combat effectiveness of this division has dropped to one-third of its original strength.
1. If the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region troops can increase their penetration, this division may even be eliminated earlier than the 100th Division.
However, after these days of fierce fighting, the 118th Division was indeed exhausted and suffered heavy casualties. However, the Resistance Alliance Division in front of it suffered heavy casualties during the fierce fighting. At least one regiment was needed to restore its general strength.
If the 118th Division is attacked first, then the tactical counterattack against the 120th Division will be temporarily stopped after the 72nd Division is eliminated.
However, Chen Hanzhang believes that if we concentrate our forces to attack the 100th Division first, if the war progresses smoothly, it will inevitably trigger a chain reaction throughout the entire northern Shandong battlefield. For the Anti-Japanese Alliance, if they complete the encirclement and annihilation of the 100th Division, it will be equivalent to
Open the road to outflank the battlefield in southern Hebei, or to outflank the battlefield in northern Shandong.
But for the Japanese army, once the 100th division is lost, the entire Texas battlefield, including the flanks of the Japanese divisions on the battlefield east of Texas, will be fully exposed. Unless the Japanese army has new divisions arriving, the Japanese army will
We will face a deep and outflanking attack by our army.
According to his judgment, if a comprehensive counterattack is carried out against the 100th Division on the battlefield west of Dezhou, the Japanese army will definitely not remain indifferent. In addition to the subsequent increase in troop strength of the Japanese army, the Japanese army will definitely send all-out reinforcements to the battlefield west of Dezhou. Therefore, he believes
Right now, we still strive to kill as many Japanese troops as possible on the battlefield west of Texas.
Use the One Hundred Division as bait to suck the surrounding Japanese troops to the battlefield west of Texas like a sponge. At the same time, connect the Texas battlefield and the battlefield west of Texas in a line. While encircling and annihilating the One Hundred Division, decide the next step based on the direction of the battle.
The battle plan. At present, considering the strength of the Eastern Front troops, they are still unable to eat too many Japanese troops in one bite.