Liu Yimin originally thought that history had partially changed, and perhaps Taiyuan City would not have fallen on November 9 as it had done in history. Therefore, the troops were ordered to hurry up and go north.

In fact, the situation in Taiyuan was already in danger at this time. Just when the headquarters telegraphed the instructors and reading teachers to go north, Vice Chairman Zhou and the others had already evacuated Taiyuan. Originally, he should not have ordered the instructor and the reading teacher to march to Taiyuan, which would directly hit the 100,000 army besieging the city. It may be out of dependence on Fu Zuoyi's name of good guarding, or it may be affected by a series of defeats, and he wants to let the most elite instructor of our army meet with the army and teach the arrogant army a lesson, or out of the morality of rescuing Fu Zuoyi's department, in short, I don't know what Mr. Zhu and Mr. Peng always think, or they gave the order of the instructor and the teacher to march to the vicinity of Taiyuan.

At this time, the loss of Taiyuan was inevitable. On the morning of November 7, the army had begun to officially storm Taiyuan. The Fu Zuoyi troops defending the city, although they have a lot of numbers, are actually less than 10,000 people after several consecutive battles. Coupled with the retreat of the Central Army and the Jin Sui Army, the main force of the Eighth Route Army began to expand behind the enemy, and other miscellaneous troops had already fled, and Taiyuan became a lonely city and a dead city. Only Fu Zuoyi led the soldiers to brave the enemy's planes and artillery fire to defend Taiyuan desperately. At that time, Zeng Yanyi, deputy commander of the 35th Army, and Ma Bingren, deputy commander of Taiyuan martial law, were greedy for life and afraid of death and fled from Taiyuan.

On the evening of the 8th, when the city was about to be broken, General Fu Zuoyi ordered a breakthrough and led the remaining 2,000 loyal and brave soldiers to break through the siege and cross the Fen River to the west.

Although the Battle of Pingxingguan, the Battle of Xinkou, and the Battle of Taiyuan did not achieve their objectives due to many reasons, they killed and wounded a large number of enemies and delayed the enemy's offensive speed, which won time for persisting in the Shanxi War of Resistance. Especially during the Great War, the Central Army, the Jinsui Army, the Eighth Route Army and other units cooperated in the battle and composed an ode to the War of Unity.

On November 9, Liu Yimin led his instructor to cross Linfen and camp on the front line of Hongdong after a three-night march.

Liu Yimin ordered the radio station to turn on and contact the headquarters. Mr. Zhu said on the telegram that Taiyuan had been lost last night. The original order to teach the tutor to rush to Taiyuan was canceled, and the instructor was to be deployed in the southwest of Shanxi, and he had the right to read and fight. The Reading Division concentrated in the southeast of Jin and joined up with the headquarters and the 129th Division. The 115th and 120th Divisions have been launched in the northwest and north of Shanxi Province to carry out guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines.

[***] also sent a telegram, pointing out that after the fall of Taiyuan, the task of our army was to establish base areas behind enemy lines, mobilize the masses, and carry out guerrilla warfare.

Liu Yimin felt uncomfortable, another famous Chinese city fell into the hands of Yue Kou, and it was too late to hurry up. The most regrettable thing is that Taiyuan fell so quickly, and I am afraid that most of the achievements accumulated by Yan Xishan in running Shanxi for so many years have fallen into the hands of the enemy and become the enemy's spoils. In particular, those factories and equipment will become a powerful support for the enemy's war of aggression in the future. It is necessary to think of ways to snatch these things out and break the enemy's attempt to use Shanxi's war resources.

As soon as this thought came to him, Liu Yimin couldn't sit still and wandered around the room in the temporary headquarters.

Luo Ronghuan and the others knew that he was thinking about the next battle plan of the troops, and they were afraid that some major decision was being formed, so they didn't bother him, and they all leaned on the stool to rest.

Chahar sent the corps, the Fifth Division, the Twentieth Division, the 108th Division, and the 109th Division, 300 aircraft, more than 200 combat vehicles, and a total strength of 140,000 troops. Among them, the puppet Mongolian army of the Chahar Corps was heavily damaged in the Battle of Pingxingguan, the Fifth Division was heavily damaged in the Battle of Xinkou, and the 20th Division of the Central Land in the Niangziguan Defensive Battle suffered a blow, although there is a dispute about the total number of losses in the Taiyuan Battle in history, but about 30,000 people should be there, at least 10,000 people, and the army in Taiyuan should still have 110,000 to 130,000 people.

Historically, after the army captured Taiyuan, it stopped the offensive when it marched south to occupy Pingyao, and the Battle of Taiyuan ended. Subsequently, the North China Army began to launch an offensive to the south, and part of the Taiyuan Army was transferred back to the original defense area, and the Fifth Division was divided into troops to attack Hebei. The situation in Shaanxi was relatively stable for a short time, and the Eighth Route Army took advantage of the situation to establish anti-Japanese base areas in the northwest of Shanxi, Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, and southeastern Shanxi. After that, the Eighth Route Army, the Jin Sui Army, and the Central Army kept fighting with the Yue Army, which plunged the North China Army into a disaster, failed to achieve the goal of supporting the war with war, and its strength continued to decline.

Now that Taiyuan has been occupied by the Chinese army, the Fifth Division is about to be transferred, and if effective measures are not taken, the Chinese army may be able to gain a firm foothold in Taiyuan.

It is necessary to stimulate Yue himself, make him angry, continue to attack, and transfer the Yue army from Taiyuan in order to attack and occupy Taiyuan and rush out those materials and equipment.

But how can we stimulate and mobilize the army?

Liu Yimin thought about it, he had to beat the army first, so that they could feel that the main force of the [***] team was still there, launch a retaliatory attack, and move the tiger away from the mountain before they could attack and occupy Taiyuan. Otherwise, the army is guarding the fortifications in Taiyuan, and there are aircraft and artillery to help, and it is undoubtedly a fool's dream to attack and occupy Taiyuan!

According to historical records, it was only a small group of cavalry of the Yue army that occupied Pingyao and Qi County, similar to the sentinels of a large army. Kill them, and then disguise the army to ask Taiyuan for help, set up a battlefield in Qi County, and kill at least one of his wings, Xiao Yueben will definitely send troops to retaliate. Then lead them to the west and south of Jin, let them disperse their forces, and create fighters for the Eighth Route Army, the Central Army, and the Jin Sui Army. When the main force of the army is exhausted, it will attack and occupy Taiyuan and rush to transport materials. Then concentrate the whole division to meet the army that returned to Taiyuan all the way, and strive to annihilate it all. Let these devils also know what it means to be painful to the marrow!

After making up his mind, Liu Yimin immediately woke up Zeng Zhongsheng, Zhu Zhexiao, deputy chief of the General Staff Office, Feng Feng, and Huang Lei, chief of the operations section, and told them about their determination and the current enemy situation, and asked them to immediately draw up a battle plan. At five o'clock in the afternoon, an operational meeting was held to carry out the deployment. Then I went to rest myself.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Zeng Zhongsheng woke up Liu Yimin and handed him the battle plan for him to review. Liu Yimin saw that these people were worthy of being professional staff officers, and that the operational plan had been drawn up in place, and after careful consideration and revision, Liu Yimin asked Zeng Zhongsheng to order the commanders of each brigade to go to the division headquarters at 5 p.m. to hold an operational meeting.

At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the instructor held an operational meeting in Hongdong.

In November, the weather has turned cold. The cadres sat around and listened attentively to Liu Yimin's talk about the operational arrangements: "Comrades: Since our army swore in to go north to resist the Japanese army, our 115th Division has inflicted heavy losses on the first part of the Yue army at Pingxingguan, and the great victory at Pingxingguan has shocked the world, breaking the myth of the invincibility of the army. The Chen Xi Regiment of our 129th Division made a surprise attack on the Yangmingbao airfield, destroying more than 20 enemy planes. Our 120th Division set up ambushes outside Yanmen Pass many times and dealt a powerful blow to the enemy's supply lines. In the Battle of Pingxingguan, our Jiang Yuzhen Brigade defended Yuanping, and the whole brigade was killed. I, Cheng Jixian, defended the Harrier Stream, and the whole regiment died. Our Liang Jiantang Brigade defended Ruyue Pass, and the whole brigade was killed. In the Battle of Xinkou, Commander Hao Mengling and Commander Liu Jiaqi took the lead in charging and sacrificing their lives for the country. In the entire Taiyuan Battle, tens of thousands of soldiers of our army sacrificed their lives for the country. They are all heroes of resistance and national pride! Now, our instructor has also rushed to Shanxi. People say, what are we going to do? ”

Cai Zhong immediately waved his arms and led the cadres to chant the slogan: "Learn from the 115th Division!" "Learn from the heroes!" "Down with imperialism!"

Liu Yimin nodded and continued: "After the army invaded Shanxi, it burned and looted all the way, many villagers were killed, and women were forcibly annihilated and annihilated. The inhumane devils, after forcibly annihilating the women, were all killed with bayonets, and hundreds of people dug a pit and buried them. The heinous crimes committed by this devil are too numerous to mention! Looking at the wars of modern countries around the world, there has never been such a barbaric and shameless army. Aren't we supposed to take revenge on them, they say? ”

The cadres were excited and shouted in unison: Revenge! Avenge!

Only then did Liu Yimin say: "I now announce four disciplines: First, we must not shout to the army to persuade them to surrender, and our army will not deliberately pursue the capture of prisoners. 2. Speak with bullets before the devil voluntarily puts down his weapons and surrenders. 3. The wounded soldiers of the Yue Army are the backbone of the fighting force of the Yue Army, their hands are covered with blood, and they will launch a suicide attack at any time, and no one is allowed to approach them before they surrender on their own initiative, and they will be greeted with bullets. Fourth, the expatriates and female medical personnel of the Chinese army all consciously and voluntarily took part in the war of aggression. These people are to be treated as soldiers. Did you hear me clearly? ”

As soon as the cadres heard this, the division commander was going to kill all the devils, okay! Immediately, there was a roar: "Understood! ”

Liu Yimin was satisfied, waved his hand, and said: "Now I announce the operational concept of our army's first battle in Jin: 1. The current situation of the enemy and us. Since the Qiqilougou Bridge Incident, the army has successively captured Pingjin, Shijiazhuang, Datong, and Taiyuan. At present, the troops of the North China Front are divided into three routes, attacking along the Jinpu Road all the way, and the front is directed at Shandong. Attack along Pinghan Road all the way, and the edge is directed at Henan. Attack Suiyuan and Shanxi all the way. The enemy we are now facing is the Fifth Division directly under the North China Front, the 20th Division, the 108th Division, the 109th Division of the First Army of the North China Front, the Chahar Dispatch Corps under the Kwantung Army, and the four mixed brigades of the Seven Cavalry Divisions of the Mongolian Army, with a total strength of about 110,000 troops. Now, with Taiyuan as the center, relying on the northern section of Zhengtai Road and Tongpu Road, the army has occupied the eastern Jin, northern and central Jinxi regions. The 120th Division of our army will be deployed in the northwest of Shanxi, the 115th Division will be deployed in the northeast of Shanxi, and the 129th Division and the Reading Division will be deployed in the southeast of Shanxi. The Second Theater Commander's Department and the Central Army's Wei Lihuang Department were retreating to southern Jin, and most of the Jin Sui Army was retreating to the mountains of western Jin. The headquarters ordered us to deploy in the southwest of Jinxi and gave us the right to read. 2. The operational objectives of our division. In view of the current situation between the enemy and us, I am determined to lead the whole division to attack and occupy Taiyuan, to deal a head-on blow to the arrogant devils, and to encourage the people of the whole country to resist and fight. 3. Specific operational concepts. The whole battle was divided into three steps, the first step was to provoke the enemy, the specific idea was to attack and occupy Pingyao and Qi County, and then preset the battlefield in Qi County, lure the enemy to come to help, and destroy at least one wing of the enemy in Qi County, so as to stimulate the Yue army to further pursue and retaliate, and strive to fight a few more battles in Qi County, so that the devils felt that the main force of our army was in the area of Qi County, and threatened Taiyuan at any time, so that they could attack with heavy troops. The second step is to lure the enemy, and the specific idea is to lure the enemy's heavy army group to the south of Jin, and after the enemy is dispatched, he will move in the west of Jin, attack and occupy Jiaocheng and Gujiao, and move the remaining enemy in Taiyuan further to the west, and then send a small force to blow up the Zhengtai Road in eastern Jin and the northern section of Tongpu Road in northern Jin, so as to basically empty the enemy in Taiyuan. In the third step, when the enemy in Taiyuan is trapped in the battlefield on all sides, the main force of our division will go all out to take Taiyuan and transfer key equipment such as the Taiyuan Arsenal to form our air force and armored forces in Taiyuan. Fourth, when the enemy understands that he has been fooled and turns around to seize Taiyuan, we will abandon Taiyuan, concentrate the main force to annihilate the enemy all the way, turn Taiyuan into an empty city, cut off all the traffic on all sides, and trap the army in Taiyuan. Of course, if the time comes, the Central Army, the Jin Sui Army, and the Eighth Route Army will cooperate effectively, we will concentrate all the forces in Shanxi, including the Central Army, the Jin Sui Army, the Shaanxi Army, and the Eighth Route Army, to fight a decisive battle with the enemy, and strive to leave all the Yue troops entering Shanxi as fertilizer. However, this situation is very difficult to appear, and the army is still very strong, so let's not have too many illusions. A sneak attack on Taiyuan and the evacuation of Taiyuan are the biggest goals of our campaign. Let's discuss it and see if this idea works. ”

The cadres immediately began to discuss and refuted the campaign concept put forward by the division commander one by one. The venue was very lively.

Zhou Yi, chief of staff of the First Brigade, proposed that the ambush in Qi County was too close to Taiyuan, and that it should be handled with reference to the method of setting up an ambush in Xiaoshui, with the first wave of ambushes placed in Pingyao, the second wave of ambushes between Pingyao and Qi County, the third wave of ambushes in Qi County, and the fourth wave of ambushes in Qingxu. In this way, it is impossible for the enemy's heavy army group in Taiyuan to think of it. Of course, this is a bit ideal, it is likely that the first wave of reinforcements of the enemy is only a brigade, and the second wave will be the size of a wing, if this wing can't go back and still ask for help, then at least one brigade will come. If one of the enemy's brigades and regiments were to be defeated, the enemy would inevitably be planes and tanks in battle, and heavy groups would swarm in.

Li Lingfeng pointed out that now everyone in the special operations brigade can speak Mandarin, and as long as they come into contact with the Yue Army, kill them, and put on the clothes of the Yue Army, it will be difficult for the devils to recognize them. Not to mention that it is no problem to attack and occupy Pingyao and Qi County, it is no problem to sneak into Taiyuan City to bomb the enemy's munitions. Is it possible to consider entering Taiyuan in advance and bombing the military airfield, so that this battle will be much easier to fight.

Feng Dafei, who attended the meeting, was reluctant immediately, saying that he had come so far with the students and instructors to follow him, and the purpose was to serve the military plane in Taiyuan. The division commander said that the first aviation unit should be formed in Taiyuan, and what will you use to form an aviation team after you bomb the plane? I think you're addicted to bombing airfields.

As a result, several brigade commanders supported sending special operations groups to infiltrate airfields and take out enemy aircraft. It was only when they saw that Liu Yimin did not speak that these brigade commanders knew that the division commander was bent on the army's plane, so they discussed other issues.

In the end, everyone believed that after the third step of the campaign was successful, it was necessary to contact the Second War Zone and even Chiang Kai-shek, so that all the [***] in Shanxi could be dispatched to fight with the enemy, so as to intercept the enemy's reinforcements on Zhengtai Road. As for the northern section of Tongpu Road, with our 115th and 120th Divisions present, as long as the headquarters gives an order, it is impossible for the army to smoothly reinforce Taiyuan.

Strangely, no one said that this plan was too bold and whimsical. Liu Yimin felt strange, thought about it for a while, and laughed himself, the reason is self-evident, one is because from the Eighteenth Regiment to the Seventh Army Corps, it can be said that they have fought risky battles, and they all won neatly, and the cadres and soldiers trust themselves. The second is where the strength of the instructor is there, Yan Xishan fought the Pingxingguan Campaign, mobilized so many armies, but there were only more than 80,000 people, and his own division was more than the strength of Yan Xishan's Pingxingguan Battle. And the weapons are also much more advanced than him, not to mention the training of fighters, the world is far away. More importantly, Yan Xishan's 80,000 or 90,000 people had difficulty coordinating, and it was not possible to shoot even a single army commander. And his own instructor is one and the command is as he wishes. The only drawback is that there is no air superiority, but it doesn't matter, when Taiyuan is occupied, the planes of the Yue Army will be the first air force of the Eighth Route Army.

Seeing that the cadres had unified their thinking, Liu Yimin asked Zeng Zhongsheng to read out the battle plan.

Zeng Zhongsheng stood up, pointed to the map, and introduced the basic geographical environment around Taiyuan, and then read out the battle plan and the organization of the troops: "1. The first special operations detachment is composed of the first squadron of the special operations brigade, the first and second squadrons of the blocking brigade, and the first regiment and one battalion of the first brigade, led by Li Lingfeng and Li Shanzhu, the commander of the first battalion, and the task is to attack and occupy Pingyao and Qi counties, lure the enemy to come to help, and form a field corps with the first brigade, the second brigade, the third brigade, the fourth brigade, the artillery brigade, the heavy machine gun regiment, the engineer regiment, and the guard regiment, and set up an ambush between Pingyao, Qi County, and Qingxu, continuous combat, focusing on striking the enemy. When the enemy's heavy army group attacked, it quickly concealed, gave way to the main road, and the cavalry division responsible for luring the enemy led the enemy to Jinnan. 2. With the 2nd Squadron and the 6th Brigade of the Special Operations Brigade as the Jindong Corps, they went out of Yangquan and blew up Zhengtai Road, disturbing and confusing the enemy's reinforcements in the direction of Hebei. 3. The Jinxi Corps was formed with the 3rd Squadron of the Special Operations Brigade, the 3rd Squadron of the Sniper Brigade, and the 7th Brigade, commanded by Chen Dayong, and inserted into the middle of Jiaocheng and Gujiao. When the army exchanged fire with the Jin Sui army in western Jinxi, they would leave the battlefield and rush back to the vicinity of Gujiao to hide and stand by. Fourth, use the cavalry brigade as the southern front to lure the enemy's troops, lead the enemy's heavy army group to the south of Jin, when the army will exchange fire with the Central Army and the Jinsui army, and when will it break away from the battlefield and fight in a mobile manner. 5. The Logistics Support Corps was formed with the Baggage Regiment and the Recruit Corps, led by Wu Zheng, to ensure the logistics supply of the whole division. ”

After Zeng Zhongsheng read out the battle plan, Luo Ronghuan made a brief pre-war mobilization: "Comrades, just now the division commander talked about the four-point battlefield discipline and the battle plan, and the chief of staff read out the battle plan. Very inspiring! What I want to stress is that the devils have invaded China in an all-round way, igniting wars in North China and Songhu, and poisoning innocent people. We are a team led by the party, a soldier of the people, who has the responsibility to resist and save the country and defend the territory. In the just-concluded Battle of Taiyuan, the 115th Division, the 129th Division, the 120th Division, and countless sacrificed [***] brothers set an example for us. As the elite of our Eighth Route Army, the instructor of the Eighth Route Army can be called the first in terms of equipment, training, and numbers, and he will never be left behind in killing the enemy and serving the country! We are going to use our bullets to tell the aggressor that the Chinese are not afraid of death! The Chinese can fight hard! Even if you die, you will die on the way to charge the enemy! ”

After Luo Ronghuan finished speaking, Liu Yimin emphasized several points: First, fight skillfully, give full play to the tactical level, defeat the enemy with combat technology, strictly prohibit hard charging and hard killing, expose the troops to the enemy's firepower, and let the soldiers die in vain. The second is to fight a ruthless battle, as long as the enemy enters the net, he must eat it cleanly, and there is no bone residue left. The third is to fight a firepower war, we now have steel mills, arsenals, artillery shells, bullets, grenades, mines, explosives packages, and we would rather give up 100 rounds of ammunition than a soldier. It is necessary to educate the enemy with firepower what a saturation strike is. Fourth, it is strictly secrecy; before occupying Taiyuan, all units must go out day and night, and they would rather be slower than expose our army's intentions. Not only to keep the army secret, but also to keep it strictly secret. In the event of a scattered [***] small unit and soldiers, all brigades will be taken in and taken away. The radio goes into radio silence and stops all contact. Contact can only be resumed after five days, but it must be timed. Fifth, the troops tasked with luring the enemy should carry forward our army's guerrilla tactics, stick to the enemy like kraft candy, and always lead them to the guns of the Central Army and the Jinsui Army, win the battle and escape, and absolutely not send themselves into the enemy's encirclement. Sixth, it is necessary to pay attention to reconnaissance and have a clear understanding of the enemy's situation. Deputy Chief of Staff Qian is responsible for collecting, sorting, and analyzing intelligence throughout the division, deciphering the Japanese army's codes as soon as possible, and assigning all units to telegraph operators who understand the Chinese language. Seventh, the battlefield should be cleaned, and the steel helmets, coats, and leather boots of the army should be captured, and only a piece of crotch cloth should be left for them. Eighth, it is necessary to pay attention to the use of new weapons, and directly knock out the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles with bazookas. Ninth, pay attention to air defense and anti-poison.

After the meeting, the cadres quickly returned to the troops, and the instructors divided into several routes, and under the guidance of the reconnaissance battalion and guides, they forcibly marched north by night.

Luo Ronghuan reminded Liu Yimin that he should report to the headquarters.

Liu Yimin shook his head: "The chairman, Mr. Zhu, and Mr. Peng all granted us the right to read and fight, just hoping that we can create miracles and surprise them." Now report it, only to provoke them to worry. In case someone informs Yan Xishan, it will be bad. Yan Xishan has studied abroad for many years, and he has had a lot of contacts with him in the past, so it is difficult to guarantee that he will not arrange early and arrange some spies around him, and his combat deployment or something, I am afraid that he knows better than us. In that case, let's not say that we are going to fight Taiyuan, we don't even dare to take a step in front of us. ”

Luo Ronghuan thought about it and felt that Liu Yimin's concerns were reasonable, so he didn't say more. Together with Liu Yimin, he led the division headquarters to advance northward.

(To be continued)