readx;

Chapter 1511 The storm is rising

The weather in March, the wind and snow come and go quickly, the sun shines down for several days, the temperature rises rapidly, the mountains and rivers melt the snow, the branches and leaves of the green grass and trees swish outward, and spring suddenly descends on the land of northern Shanxi. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

On 7 March, after consulting with his staff, Yan Xishan decided to shorten the battle line and concentrate his forces on organizing a defense in the mountains north of Xinxian and its east and west sides. In view of the fact that it would take time to concentrate the troops withdrawn from Pingxingguan, Ruyuekou and Yanmen Pass, and that the Japanese army was very likely to take advantage of the victory to launch an attack, Yan Xishan strictly ordered Wang Jingguo's command post to hold on to Laoxian, and Chen Changjie was stationed in Yuanping as a reserve, and Wei Lihuang's department, which was responsible for the defense of Ningwuguan, was ready to respond to the battle.

At the same time, Yan Xishan demanded that the 18th Group Army immediately launch an attack on the flank and rear of the Japanese army, so as to delay the Japanese offensive and cover the deployment of the main force in the theater in the Xinkou area. The next day, Yan Xishan also invited Vice Chairman Zhou of the Central Military Commission to study the issue of defending Taiyuan together.

On 8 March, Commander-in-Chief Zhu and Deputy Commander Peng of the 18th Group Army ordered the 115th Division to coordinate with friendly forces to attack the enemy at Pingxingguan and Dayingzhen, attack Hunyuan and Yingxian, and cut off the communication between Ruyuekou and Fanzhi; He also ordered the 120th Division to dispatch the main force to the mountains west of Daiyue Town (now Shanyin) to cut off the communication between Datong and Yanmen Pass, and to use the main force of the 358th Brigade to cooperate with friendly forces to flank the enemy south of Ningwu.

On the night of 9 March, the independent regiment of the 115th Division captured Laiyuan County, and the 358th Brigade of the 120th Division attacked Ningwu County. After that, a sabotage battle was launched on the section from Tongpu Lushuo County to Datong. On the 13th, the 120th Division ambushed the Japanese convoy at Xinzhuang, and then approached Datong.

During this period, the Japanese army was not idle, and after the convergence of the middle and right flank armies, the strength soared to 400,000, and the arrogance was extremely arrogant, except for leaving the puppet army and part of the Japanese army stationed in various towns along the way, the Japanese army still had more than 300,000 troops available for maneuvering.

Hideki Tojo did not stop, led his troops south in the starry night, and attacked Lao County.

Wang Jingguo's headquarters is called a group army, but in fact, it has no more than four brigades under its jurisdiction: Du Fang, Tian Shumei, Duan Shuhua, and Jiang Yuzhen, and two other artillery regiments. But with such a small number of troops, Wang Jingguo simply blocked the Japanese army in Laoxian for a week.

At the beginning, Wang Jingguo took Daguo Village and Xiaohe Line in the north ten miles of Lao County as the first-line position, with the three brigades of Duan, Tian and Jiang, and the county seat of Laoxian County as the second-line position, with the Du Brigade and the field artillery regiment and the mountain artillery regiment as the support of the whole army.

Before the battle began, Jiang Yuzhen, who was stationed on the front line, suddenly received an order from Yan Xishan to lead his troops to Yuanping to assist Chen Changjie's headquarters in defending.

On 8 March, the battle began, and the battle on all fronts was fierce, and the battle lasted until 5 p.m. the next day, when the headquarters of the Liu Regiment of the Tian Brigade under Wang Jingguo near Beiguan was bombarded, and the regiment commander Liu Liang and the deputy regiment commander were killed. At midnight, almost all of the positions in Beiguan were destroyed, and the rest of the Tian Brigade retreated to the northern city wall.

The fighting on the 10th and 12th was extremely fierce, and many sections were repeatedly contested, and rivers of blood flowed. On the 13th, Shi Chengwen, the commander of the Tian Brigade, was killed in the battle of Beicheng, and when it was close to dusk, the Japanese army gained a foothold on the northern city wall. After Wang Jingguo sent a distress telegram to Chen Changjie and Wei Lihuang, he organized his troops to counterattack. First of all, the attack of Tian Shumei's brigade, followed by the attack of Lu Yiou's regiment of the Du brigade, all of which were ineffective. At this time, there were no surplus troops available under Wang Jingguo's command, and the follow-up troops of the Japanese army continued to march into the county seat of Laoxian.

When the subordinates pulled Wang Jingguo up and left, when he was in the south gate of the city, Wang Jingguo got rid of everyone, sat down and didn't leave, and said: "It's so defeated, I will die when I go back, and I will simply die in the city, and I can be a martyr!" ”

After the hard persuasion of Chief of Staff Liang Peihuang, he went on the road again, and after walking for about a mile, Wang Jingguo said again: "I'm not leaving, you can shoot me to death, if you can't bear it, wrap me in a quilt and shoot again." ”

At this time, Liang Peihuang, the chief of staff, had already reported the actual situation to Yan Xishan and Zhao Daiwen, the general staff, stating that the troops had fought to the end, and if they did not evacuate, they could only wait to be killed. Wang Jingguo got Liang Peihuang's explanation of the situation, and finally ignited the ** to survive, led the troops, crossed the Hutuo River eastward, entered the mountains, and evaded the pursuit of the Japanese army. Since then, Lao County has fallen.

Just when Laoxian was attacked, the front line of Ningwuguan was also under attack by the Japanese army day and night, and Xue Yue did not dare to send troops to aid Wang Jingguo. With the loss of Laoxian, the rear flank of Ningwuguan was already under the threat of the Japanese army, and Xue Yue had to lead his troops south to Xinkou (Xin) Pass through Yuanping to strengthen the first-line defense of Xinkou.

The Japanese army's three-way army converged on the line from Daniudian to Nanyang Village in the south of Yangwu River, and Hideki Tojo was proud to believe that the Shanxi operation had already won a decisive victory, and that fighting in the plains and valleys thereafter would be conducive to the development of the Japanese army, and the victory of the docking was inevitable.

Although the so-called "great victory" was not reported by the media in Japan, it was widely circulated among overseas Japanese in Korea, Northeast China, and North China, and with the movement of people, it also spread to Japan, and Tojo's fame greatly increased.

On 16 March, the Japanese attacked Yuanping.

Chen Changjie's 40th Group Army was responsible for garrisoning this place, with three divisions and four brigades, including Jiang Yuzhen's brigade under Wang Jingguo's headquarters. Many people may ask, since Chen Changjie has a troop allocation that far exceeds that of Wang Jingguo's ministry, why do he still have to transfer troops from Lao County? It turned out that Yan Xishan thought that the terrain of Laoxian County was too open to defend, so he deliberately strengthened the defense of Yuanping, and prepared to use the mountains on the east and west flanks of the county to set up artillery positions, in the hope of bringing huge casualties to the Japanese army.

Hideki Tojo adopted a piecemeal strategy, sending no more than one wing of troops to attack at a time, and gradually encroaching on the defensive positions of the 40th Army. At the same time, squadrons and squads infiltrated the mountains on both sides of the plain, and engaged in fierce battles with the infantry of the 40th Group Army guarding the artillery positions.

......

The moon is bright and the stars are scarce.

In Ruzhuang, northwest of Xinkou, Lu Yixuan observed the battle situation in Yuanping County in the northeast from the telescope, only to see that inside and outside the county, pillars of smoke rose into the sky, red firelight flashed from time to time, and the sound of fighting seemed to be faintly heard in his ears, and he couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

A week ago, when Yan Xishan ordered Lu Yixuan's troops to go north to relieve the siege of Lao County, An Yi personally telegraphed Yan Xishan and expounded the opinion of the Nanhua General Staff, believing that instead of fortifying everywhere and using refueling tactics to fight with the Japanese army, it was better to lure the Japanese army to the open area north of Xinkou step by step, and suddenly exert force to annihilate the opponent in one fell swoop.

Yan Xishan really couldn't imagine that he could eat such a large Japanese army in one go just by relying on the strength of the second theater, but An Yi said that the Japanese army fought fiercely for days and days, both physically and psychologically exhausted, and it was completely supported by a strong will. By the time the Japanese soldiers entered Xinkou, their physical fitness had reached their limit, and it was estimated that it would be difficult to exert even half of their combat effectiveness on weekdays.

During this period, the Anjia Army Air Force will send three more brigades into Shanxi to form absolute air superiority. When the Japanese army reorganized its forces and began to attack Xinkou, the air force suddenly attacked, launched a fierce bombardment of the Japanese artillery and armored units, and completely suppressed the Japanese army.

Yan Xishan was skeptical, but thinking that the Anjia Army had always maintained a super high victory rate against Japan, and at the same time, the full participation of the Anjia Army Air Force would also greatly alleviate the pressure faced by the Jin Sui Army, so he quietly revised the Xinkou battle plan. In view of the Japanese army's all-pervasive intelligence and espionage capabilities in Shanxi, Yan Xishan did not tell anyone about the plan, but only announced in a high-profile manner that he would defend Xinkou to the death, resist the enemy in the Jinzhong Plain, ensure the absolute safety of Taiyuan, and then dispatch troops to build layers of positions on the south bank of the tributary of the Yunzhong River in the north of Xinkou.

Five days ago, Lu Yixuan's troops were suddenly transferred to Ru Village, 12 kilometers west of Xinkou.

Ru Village, Nangang Village in the north, and Yadi Village in the south all stand on the Jinzhong Plain, although the mountain is not high, only three or four hundred meters, but it is extremely advantageous for defense. To the west of Rucun is a large plain valley, with a radius of more than ten kilometers, which is connected to the outside world through a narrow gap, and it is very easy to garrison troops.

For the sake of the safety of the flanks, Tojo Hideki should have divided a part to attack Ru Village, but it was only for the purpose of containment, and its breakthrough could only be Xinkou.

In a strategic sense, once Xinkou is broken through, Xinxian and Taiyuan will have no danger to defend, and the Japanese army can drive straight in, and the squadrons on both flanks of Xinkou have no choice but to retreat, and whoever runs slowly will be surrounded and eliminated by the Japanese army.

"Tomorrow, Chen Changjie's subordinates will abandon Yuanping under Yan Xishan's order, and the Battle of Xinkou will start soon. Old song, tell me, will the Japanese be fooled? ”

Lu Yixuan put down the binoculars, turned his head and asked softly.

Qu Muchen, who accompanied Lu Yixuan to check the enemy's situation together, said with certainty: "It's all been fought to this point, and Hideki Tojo has no choice but to attack." According to the plan, three days after the start of the Battle of Xinkou, we will suddenly fight from the flank, crush the enemy in front of us, penetrate directly into the enemy's command center, disrupt the Japanese command system, and then cooperate with friendly forces to divide and destroy the enemy.

"If we can do this step, then it will be an easy pursuit and annihilation battle, under the guidance of our superior air force, step by step to drive the Japanese army out of the north of Jin, recover the Inner Great Wall Pass and Hengshan defense line, this big battle should end perfectly!"

In fact, Lu Yixuan knew that the reason why he asked was just to use Qu Muchen's mouth to ease his heart.

"Report, HQ emergency!"

Colonel Hua Ruiming, the director of communications, came behind the two and whispered a report.

Lu Yixuan and Qu Muchen turned around, Lu Yixuan asked the guard to take the telegram and waved his hand: "Say, what's the matter?" ”

Hua Ruiming said: "The military and political leaders of the Far East have made a decision to start sweeping up the Soviet troops entrenched in Central Asia tomorrow, and our Mongolian Military Region has assembled in the border area between Mongolia and Kazakhstan as early as the beginning of the month, and it is expected that the troops will cross the border to fight in the next week. The General Headquarters asked us to carry forward the spirit of a model battalion that is not afraid of sacrifice in arduous struggle, guard against rashness and rashness, and drive the Japanese army out of northern Shanxi in one fell swoop without foreign aid. ”

Under the moonlight, a trace of haze flashed in Lu Yixuan's eyes, which was fleeting. After asking Ming to have nothing else to do, after asking Hua Ruiming to step back, Lu Yixuan said to Qu Muchen:

"Isn't it too hasty to face such a huge industrial country as the Soviet Union in this way? Now that we have no skills to deal with Mongolia, South China and domestic affairs, and we have to fight in Central Asia, I always feel that this is more like a gamble of death! In the event of a crushing defeat, the situation in Mongolia could deteriorate rapidly, and then the Japanese would take advantage of the situation, and North China would suffer as a result of this irrational action! ”

Qu Muchen comforted: "Lao Lu, you should trust the commander's judgment, after so many years, when did you see him make a mistake?" I think the headquarters must have a plan in place...... We just need to do the things in front of us well and not cause chaos to the headquarters......"

"It is precisely because we have never made a mistake that we should be more cautious ......"

Lu Yixuan sighed, and suddenly became interested: "Alas, forget it, don't talk about this, Lao Qu, I'll go back first." This battle must be fought well, otherwise it will affect the whole body, and once the situation collapses, it will be irreparable, and I don't want to be a scapegoat! ”

Seeing Lu Yixuan's back in the distance, Qu Muchen was a little strange, how could an old fellow who had always respected An Yi suddenly start questioning An Yi's decision? But then I thought about the current battle situation, and I was relieved, maybe the big war was imminent, and my spirit was too depressed and nervous, I believe that as long as he wins the next big battle, the original self-confident Lu Yixuan will come back.