The capture of the Xinzhaidian stronghold opened the door to the westward Pinghan Railway!

Qiu Wei, the commander of the first regiment, did not hesitate at all, and immediately led the whole regiment to the west, all the way like a broken bamboo, God blocked and killed God, Buddha blocked and killed Buddha, with the momentum of thunder, swept the Japanese puppet army strongholds along the way, straight into Pinghan Road, attacked and occupied the Yuanshi Railway Station on Pinghan Road and Nanyin Town on the highway, and completely cut off the north-south traffic. Vertex. Fastest updates

Cao Ming'an, commander of the second regiment, led his troops to set out from the junction of Gaocheng and Luancheng, where they had been concealedly assembled, and marched northward to seize Gangshang Town on the Deshi Highway, cutting off Shijiazhuang from Gaocheng, Xinji, Hengshui, Dezhou, and Cangzhou in the east.

Wang Meng, the commander of the third regiment, commanded the troops to bypass Luancheng County, and terminated the Yehe stronghold on the highway from Shijiazhuang to Luancheng, Zhaoxian, Nangong and Liaocheng, and approached Shijiazhuang.

For a time, the three main battle clusters of the eastward advance detachment of the Eighth Route Army were like three sharp arrows, shooting towards Shijiazhuang.

After the deployment of the troops was completed, Xiao Siming immediately ordered all battle groups to search and attack in the direction of Shijiazhuang, and the main force was placed behind to strike at the Japanese reinforcements from all directions.

At this time, the Japanese army was in full swing and had a strong spirit of active attack. Once it was learned that the key points leading to Shijiazhuang were captured, the Japanese puppet army in counties such as Zhaoxian, Luancheng, Gaocheng, and Yuanshi would send reinforcements to recapture the key points occupied by the Eighth Route Army without orders from their superiors.

There is a main reason for this, that is, the Japanese troops in the counties around Shijiazhuang have not yet determined that it was the eastward advance detachment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army that arrived at the periphery of Shijiazhuang, and they will think that the Eighth Route Army active in central and southern Hebei is attacking and harassing Shijiazhuang, so they will naturally actively reinforce it.

In the art of war, there is a plan to encircle the point and send reinforcements, but now the eastward advance detachment is insufficient, and it is impossible to completely besiege Shijiazhuang, so it can only put on a posture of attacking Shijiazhuang. However, Shijiazhuang also did not have elite field troops on the scale of divisions or brigades of the Japanese army, so Xiao Siming could let go of his actions to confuse the Japanese army and induce the Japanese troops in the counties and strongholds around Shijiazhuang to take the initiative to attack without knowing the reality of the Eighth Route Army, so that the three battle clusters could use the cover of night to annihilate these small reinforcements of the Japanese army who did not know whether they were alive or dead in the field battle, and expand the results of the battle.

In fact, what Xiao Siming wanted was just to let the Japanese know that he, Xiao Siming, led the advance detachment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, which was brave and good at fighting LinkedIn, to Shijiazhuang and wanted to capture Shijiazhuang!

As long as the Japanese army knew this, the Fifth Division and the Sixteenth Division, which were raging wildly in the Jilu border area, would be urgently transferred to Pinghan Road to reinforce Shijiazhuang. Xiao Siming's first step plan to mobilize the Japanese army and lead the Japanese army by the nose was successful!

Xiao Siming and Wang Lushui personally led the guard battalion, the first artillery regiment, the baggage battalion, the engineer battalion, and stationed in Xinzhaidian between Zhao County and Luancheng to command all units to fight.

The infantry guns, rapid-fire guns, anti-aircraft guns, and anti-aircraft machine guns of the heavy machine gun battalion and artillery regiment were basically organized into three battle groups to strengthen their firepower, and only the artillery regiment left some units to move with the headquarters.

After the first batch of recruits of the new regiment were incorporated into the army, another 2,500 recruits were recruited in the Jilubian area, all of whom were all children and good guys from the Jilubian region. There was no way, Xiao Siming had no choice but to order Huo Cheng, director of the Political Department, to strengthen the leadership of the new regiment, take most of the rubber trucks transporting ammunition from the new regiment and the baggage battalion, and secretly transfer them to the Huxi region through northwest Lu, and go to rendezvous with the Sulu-Yu detachment that the 685 regiment had expanded, relying on the Sulu-Yu detachment to train troops on the spot.

In fact, the new regiment can completely stay on the Jilu border and follow the internal line troops to counter-sweep. But Xiao Siming, Wang Lushui, and Huang Hua all insisted on taking away the new corps, and the reason was because the combat strength of the eastward advance detachment was only about 6,000 people, and the main forces were not satisfied. Some units, such as cavalry battalions, engineer battalions, and baggage battalions, are in dire need of expansion and need to be supplemented by new regiments. The artillery regiments, in particular, were seriously understaffed. If the new regiment is left on the Jilu side, it will definitely be incorporated into the eastward column that is about to be reorganized!

The headquarters was stationed in Xinzhaidian, and Huang Hua, deputy commander of the eastward advance detachment, commanded the guard battalion, the engineer battalion, the baggage battalion, the artillery regiment, and a battalion of Wang Naigui's detachment that cooperated with the operation, and immediately set up an ambush circle around Xinzhaidian, preparing to ambush the Japanese puppet army that had rushed from the county seat of Zhaoxian County and other surrounding strongholds to recapture Xinzhaidian.

As soon as the radio was turned on, it received a report from the cavalry battalion that it had blown up the Hutuo River railway bridge and highway bridge, and destroyed the Daguocun airfield.

Wang Lushui was happy with a smile on his face, and said to Xiao Siming: "Jinpu Road has been paralyzed by Wan, and Pinghan Road has also been paralyzed by us now, if Zhengtai Road can be paralyzed again, hehe, the North China Front doesn't have to do anything, bury yourself in building the railway!" ”

Hu Qingyun immediately said: "Commander, political commissar, I think you can order the cavalry battalion to destroy Zhengtai Road, don't miss the opportunity and don't come again, take advantage of the Japanese army's reaction, and then blow up one of his dogs!" ”

Xiao Siming shook his head and said no, he couldn't be washed away by victory. To the west of Shijiazhuang, there is no railway bridge in the near distance, and it is of little significance to destroy the general railway tracks, and the little devil will repair it in three days and two days. If you want to destroy the railway bridge on Zhengtai Road, you have to go to the west of Jingcheng and drill into Taihang Mountain. The cavalry battalion has too few troops, and there is no advantage in fighting in the mountains, on the contrary, because the target is large, it is easier to lead to a high battle loss rate, and the gains outweigh the losses!

It's not that Xiao Siming is cowardly and afraid of heavy casualties, but that he is cool-headed and not carried away by victory!

Wang Lushui immediately raised another question, that is, what if the 5th and 16th divisions of the Japanese army were unmoved? Do you really want to take Shijiazhuang?

Xiao Siming shook his head and said that if the Japanese army did not cooperate, the Fifth Division and the Sixteenth Division would not pursue Pinghan Road, and our army would not attack Shijiazhuang, but would launch it on the spot, sweeping the Japanese puppet regime in the surrounding counties of Shijiazhuang, and smashing the grassroots power of the little devils to pieces!

Hu Qingyun was eager to try, saying that Shijiazhuang was empty of troops, and he could take advantage of the weakness to capture Shijiazhuang. You must know that Shijiazhuang is the location of the headquarters of the First Army of the Japanese Army, the 14th Division, the 20th Division, the 108th Division, the 109th Division, and the heavy artillery brigade under the command of the First Army.

Xiao Siming said lightly that it was now impossible to use a sneak attack to occupy Shijiazhuang. If we attack, even if our army can capture Shijiazhuang, the casualties will definitely be amazing, maybe half of the 6,000 troops will be lost. Can we afford to lose?

Wang Lushui and Hu Qingyun never mentioned taking the opportunity to capture Shijiazhuang again.

Sure enough, the Japanese puppet army in Zhao County rushed to reinforce Xinzhaidian.

The funny thing is that the Japanese army that came to reinforce was only about one squadron, and the other was a puppet army of about 200 people.

This point of strength dared to come to death, which shows that Xiao Siming's judgment is correct, and the Japanese army has indeed not figured out the reality of the Eighth Route Army for the time being, and does not know that it was the eastward advance detachment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army that killed Shijiazhuang. If they find out the details of the Eighth Route Army, I am afraid that they will close the gate of the county seat of Zhaoxian County and wait for help.

Three or four hundred Japanese puppet troops, ignorant and incomprehensible, crashed into the ambush circle of the Eighth Route Army, the ending can be imagined, it was completely dead, and there was not even a living person who ran back to report the news!

Huang Hua immediately left the baggage battalion to garrison Xinzhaidian, and he led other troops to the east to attack and occupy the county seat of Zhao County.

The little devils in Zhao County reinforced Xinzhaidian, the Japanese puppet army in Luancheng also sent out to reinforce the stronghold of Yehe captured by the third regiment, and the Japanese puppet army in Gaocheng went to reinforce the Gangshang town occupied by the second regiment.

The strongest reaction was the Japanese puppet army in Yuanshi County, which went out to fight with a regiment for the Yuanshi Railway Station.

The Japanese puppet army in Gaoyi, south of Yuanshi County, also moved when they heard the wind, and quickly went north, cooperating with the Japanese puppet army in Yuanshi County to flank a regiment and fight for Yuanshi Railway Station and Nanyin Town.

The three battle groups of the eastward advance detachment were all in fierce fighting.

Fortunately, it was night, and the Japanese army couldn't figure out the reality of the Eighth Route Army, and the scale of the troops dispatched was not large, basically all of them were squadron-sized Japanese troops and puppet armies with battalion and company sizes. As a result, the ping-pong battles were indiscriminate, and the reinforcements of the Japanese puppet army from all walks of life were all bleeding, and few of them were able to escape back alive.

Fortunately, Xiao Siming was unwilling to let the troops increase casualties, and did not order the troops to take advantage of the situation to seize Gaocheng, Luancheng, and Gaoyi, and the Japanese puppet army in these counties was temporarily able to survive.

Only the Yuanshi county town by the railway, because it was too close to the Pinghan Railway and was an empty city, a regiment took advantage of the situation to occupy the Yuanshi county, opening the passage for the eastward advance detachment to enter the Taihang Mountains when it was in trouble.

After the units initially achieved their operational objectives, Xiao Siming and Wang Lushui immediately sent a report to the division headquarters, the headquarters, and Yan'an on the progress.

Shijiazhuang's strategic position was too important, and it had a large number of supplies for the Japanese army. If the eastward advance detachment can really take advantage of the situation to capture Shijiazhuang, it will be of great help to solve the problem of supply difficulties for the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Shanxi battlefield. Therefore, after receiving the telegrams from Xiao Siming and Wang Lushui, the headquarters of Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army came to inquire whether it was possible to take advantage of the situation to capture Shijiazhuang.

The telegrams from the headquarters of the Yan'an and Eighth Route Army even said that additional troops could be transferred to assist in the operation if necessary.

Xiao Siming called back and said very bluntly and clearly: there is no possibility of capturing Shijiazhuang!

The reason for this answer was because Xiao Siming knew that although Shijiazhuang and even the entire Pingjin area no longer had formed field troops at the brigade and division level of the Japanese army, the situation of the Japanese army was very complicated, and the Second Army had a supplementary team, and the supplementary team of the 16th Division was also in Zhengding. Among them, the replenishment team of the First Army, according to the structure of the Japanese army, should have the strength of four infantry brigades. The 16th Division was replenished, to say the least, with the strength of an infantry brigade. In addition to some units directly under the First Army, the Japanese army had a lot of troops in Shijiazhuang, and it may even exceed the strength of the eastward advance detachment. That's not even counting the puppet army forces in Shijiazhuang!

The attack on Shijiazhuang was just to put on a position to confuse the Japanese army. If you really want to storm Shijiazhuang, relying on the strength of the eastward advance detachment, you have to hit the head and bleed!

Only then did Yan'an and the General Headquarters call back instructing Xiao Siming and Wang Lushui to make arrangements as soon as possible, and once the Japanese Fifth and Sixteenth Divisions turned to the Pinghan Road, the eastward advance detachment should quickly gather its troops, withdraw from the battlefield, and continue to lure the enemy southward, so as not to fall into the encirclement of the Japanese army.

In fact, he can't take advantage of the situation to capture Shijiazhuang, and Xiao Siming is also unwilling! But there is no way, the strength of Mu Qian of the eastward advance detachment is not enough to capture Shijiazhuang, he can't take the egg and touch it hard, that's the so-called reckless man, not what he Xiao Siming can do! (To be continued.) )