Speaking of this, Du Kaishan hesitated for a moment and then said: "But No. 1, judging from the current intelligence, there is only one border guard team in the entire Banjiehe Fortress Group. I always feel that something is not right. Look, from the edge of Xingkai Lake The line of Honey Mountain on the top of the mountain, from Miaoling to Banjie River, traverses almost the entire southern border of Mishan. This fortress group is only marked on the map and is dozens of kilometers long. It only has a garrison of 1,500 people. This may be ?”
"I think it's better to send someone to conduct reconnaissance to see if we can find the laborers who built this fortification area. One is to understand the internal structure of this fortification group in detail, and the other is to understand how much troops and firepower there are. Regarding the distribution situation, the most important thing is to find out how many workers are inside, so as to avoid unnecessary accidental injuries when our army attacks."
"After I captured the counties of Dong'an and Mishan, I asked the locals to learn more about the situation of the so-called Banjiehe fortress group. The situation I learned from the local population was not optimistic. Only the line from Miaoling to Honey Mountain, There were about a thousand Japanese troops, and some people saw with their own eyes that the Japanese troops were transporting heavy artillery inside.
"If we follow this standard, then all the Japanese troops from Banjiehe to Honey Mountain are concentrated in the northeast, and then the entire southwest is completely empty. No. 1, I don't think the Japanese army will do such a stupid thing and concentrate all their forces At one point, we gave up on other directions, so on the 1st, I think we should be more cautious and send people up to conduct reconnaissance."
"However, from the local people who served the Japanese army, we also learned that whether it was the Miaoling or Banjiehe area, the Japanese army's fortifications were not all completed, because the Japanese army was still pulling in laborers in truckloads, and every few days A train of laborers arrived."
"And judging from the amount of food demanded by the Japanese and puppets, and based on the food rations when we rescued the workers at Xingshan Fortress, there are now at least 20,000 workers working from Miaoling to Banjiehe, and Most of the food was transported to the fourth row, the two-man squadron, and the Xiaolutai front line, which meant that it was close to the so-called Manchurian-Soviet border area."
"It's just that the local people said that they only saw the Japanese army pulling laborers into the mountains and not a single laborer came out. This means that it is very likely that the Japanese army only completed the main position and the flank cover fortifications have not yet been completed. So It is impossible for the Japanese army not to send a large number of troops to guard a large number of workers. You must know that this line is connected with the Soviet Union's mountains and rivers, and it is easy to run across."
"However, even if the Japanese army only completed the main position, the strength of one regiment is still not enough, so I suggest that at least two regiments be used, with the two-person squadron as the dividing point, each focusing on one end, and Muling and Suiyang on the southern line. At least one regiment must be placed in the direction. No. 1, Suiyang has the strength of an entire division of the Japanese 12th Division."
"The location of the Banjiehe Fortress Group is important. Once a crisis occurs, according to the Japanese army's usual fighting style, it will be difficult for the Twelfth Division to die without saving it. If the Twelfth Division is dispatched and we do not have troops to defend ourselves on the southern front, it will be very difficult. It is dangerous. The Twelfth Division is a fully-organized force of the Japanese army, and its strength and organization are full."
Regarding Du Kaishan's doubts about his deployment and intelligence, Yang Zhen was not angry. Instead, he patted Du Kaishan's shoulder happily and said, "Well done, Old Du, for daring to doubt the decisions of superiors. You have your own judgment on the intelligence and do not blindly obey the instructions of your superiors. Well done, Lao Du, you have truly matured."
Du Kaishan, who thought that Yang Zhen would be angry, but whose confidence when speaking was somewhat lacking, was dumbfounded by Yang Zhen's compliments. Du Kaishan did not expect that the always arbitrary No. 1 would not only not be angry with him, but also praise him like this. Somewhat puzzled.
Looking at Du Kaishan's astonished expression, Yang Zhen, who knew what he was thinking, smiled slightly and said: "As a qualified commander, it is important not to blindly follow the decisions of superiors. The instructions of superiors must be implemented, but You kid is very smart about how to execute it, but sometimes you only see the point in front of you and don't care about the overall situation."
"But this time, you kid can look at the battle situation from an overall perspective, make correct judgments in the shortest time, not blindly act on the instructions given by your superiors, and have your own thinking and judgment. This time you really When you are mature, I will give you full command of the entire Banjiehe Fortress this time in the offensive campaign."
Du Kaishan, who was a little embarrassed by Yang Zhen's praise, scratched his head in embarrassment and said: "No. 1, actually I just had a premonition that we would definitely attack the Japanese fortress group in the Banjiehe area, so I made some preparations in advance. There are many in Dong'an City. Many people had worked as laborers for the Japanese army, so we found a lot of laborers and conducted certain investigations."
"It's just that the Japanese army strictly kept secrets and strictly controlled Chinese people's entry into the fortress. The internal and external construction were separated. The internal construction was built by laborers and prisoners of war transported from the customs. Local laborers could only do some peripheral work such as handling or transportation. Work, unable to enter the interior of the fortress."
"These foreign laborers have no access to the situation inside the fortress, and their descriptions are also contradictory. We only know a few words, and we can only roughly understand the number of Japanese troops. As for the inside of the fortress group, we have no knowledge at all. I couldn't find out clearly, so I wanted to send someone to get closer and check out the situation."
"No. 1, do you still remember the reconnaissance section chief of our fourth division? He is the young man who you inspected in the fourth division last time. He is smart and capable, skilled in techniques and tactics, and proficient in mapping, artillery guidance and radio operations, especially reconnaissance business. Extremely skilled.”
"When he first entered the reconnaissance camp directly under the military region, he was a cadre trained by Li Mingrui. If it weren't for the fact that he was injured and unable to bear the training load of the reconnaissance camp directly under the military region, he was transferred to the fourth division. Now he is at least the mainstay of the reconnaissance camp directly under the camp. Dong Ping once talked to me about wanting to transfer him to train new recruits, but I was reluctant to let him go, so there shouldn't be any big problem if I let him go."
In response to Du Kaishan's request for instructions, Yang Zhen waved his hand and said: "I said that this critical battle will be all directed by you. As for how you fight, I don't want to worry about it anymore. The whole battlefield is so big, and there is no way for me to do it one by one. Focus all my eyes on you, I am just an ordinary person, but I don’t have that much energy to take care of every corner of the battlefield."
"How to fight more battles depends on you frontline commanders. You have already had the ability to take charge of your own affairs, but your overall view is a little worse. As for now, I have nothing to worry about. I have to trust my own vision. and judgment, and more importantly, you must trust your subordinates, just like I believed in you back then. Well, go make a plan and seize the time to mobilize troops."
Du Kaishan and Sui Changsheng looked at each other, nodded slightly and said: "Please rest assured No. 1 and Headquarters, we will definitely follow your request and go all out to fight this battle and ensure that the entire Banjiehe Fortress area is completely annihilated. The Japanese defenders captured the entire fortress area."
Regarding Du Kaishan's promise, Yang Zhen waved his hand and said: "You know I don't like empty talk, I only look at actions. As I said, you will only know when the mule is pulled out by the horse. Go ahead and implement it. I want to see the results."
At this point, Yang Zhen suddenly paused and said: "When you mentioned the Twelfth Division, I remembered that you now have ten regiments of troops. When necessary, you can use all of them depending on the situation. The entire Eastern Front battlefield is now under your command. When the Baoqing War is over, your regiment will still be assigned to your command."
"The headquarters has decided that your unit will be based on the independent first brigade, plus the original three basic regiments of the fourth division and the two regiments allocated to you by the first division, plus the Baoqing County Brigade and the Yilan County Brigade to form a three-column group. You will As the commander, Huang Yuqing serves as the political commissar, and Comrades Sui Changsheng and Peng Shilu serve as the chief of staff and director of the political department. Of course, this staffing is only temporary and will be adjusted based on the situation after the war."
"The Chongshan Artillery Regiment currently assigned to you by the headquarters has been reorganized into the Artillery Regiment directly under the Third Column. After the arrival of the 105th Cannon Battalion transferred by Ma Qichang, it was also assigned to the Three Column organization. For now, the original organization will be maintained until you take it. After the Banjiehe Fortress, the other two brigades were formed after the war came to an end."
"You are right. Once there is a critical situation in Banjiehe Fortress, the Twelfth Division will definitely go north for reinforcements, so you must be prepared to deal with this Twelfth Division. I was negligent in this matter. I always thought that the Twelfth Division Because the Second Division is responsible for a wide range of operations, especially the defense from Mudanjiang to Dongning, it will not be dispatched easily, and Umezu Yoshijiro will not easily use this general reserve force."
"But dogs will jump over the wall when they are anxious. If Umezu Meijiro is really cornered and is struggling to his death, I have ignored the gambler character of the Japanese. If they are cornered, they will dare to do it, let alone a twelfth division. Such a general reserve team, you have to think of me in this matter."
Having said this, Yang Zhen turned his head and looked at the map for a long time and said: "In this way, your two regiments should not stay on the Pingyang and Yonghe lines, but continue to cross south to seize Muling County, and then go east to the Baishilizi line. We will rely on the so-called border highway from Muling to Dongning to block the 12th Division's northern aid route."
Yang Zhen looked at his watch and said: "But I still hope that you can capture half of the river fortress group before the Twelfth Division can react. I ask you to start taking action within eight hours. I will listen first within twelve hours." To the sound of artillery on the front line of Honey Mountain, I can only give you five days at most to capture half of the river fortress group. The entire battlefield is a game of chess, and there is no way it will be delayed just because of your direction."
Du Kaishan heard the time limit given by Yang Zhen, thought for a moment and said: "On the 1st, one of my regiments is now on the front line of Lianzhu Mountain. We can launch an attack within four hours, and the other several regiments are in Beigang. The front-line standby in the mountainous area was originally intended to support the north-south Wudaogang front-line encirclement and annihilation of the 15th Regiment. They have made battle preparations and can be dispatched at any time."
"But I hope to go to the front of Honey Mountain to have a look in person, so that I can have the best idea in my mind. On the 1st, before the battle begins, the commander will personally go to the front line to see the terrain. It is your request. I still have to go and take a look, so that I can rest assured.
, this is the first time we have a head-to-head battle, I think it’s better to go and have a look.”