[Anti-Japanese Iron and Blood King] Chapter 117: The battle began in the northwest of Jin

The Commander's Department of the Second World War Zone also knew why the Japanese army attacked the northwest of Shanxi at this time, and the purpose was naturally to attack the remains of Hasunuma Pan and Shi Benyin. However, Yan Laoxi used the corpses of these Japanese generals to make several large-scale speeches and exhibitions during this time, so that he was sought after by many people in China, and he enjoyed flowers and applause for a few days.

By the way, the problems that had been criticized by the public in the past seem to have disappeared all at once, and life has become much easier. Because of this, knowing that the Japanese army was coming for those dead people, Yan Xishan was still unwilling to let go.

Yan Laoxi's idea is very simple, as long as he holds the heads of these Japanese generals, he will be a hero of China's War of Resistance and a hero of the famous nation. Even if Lao Jiang wants to do something to him, he has to weigh it, unless he dares to risk the world's condemnation.

Moreover, Yan Xishan knew better that the Japanese army was now besieging and killing the Kuomintang Central Army in the Xuzhou area, and the main forces had been transferred to the area south of the Yellow River, and there were not many troops in Shanxi. As for the troops stationed in Mongolia, not to mention, the lieutenant general commander was killed just now, and the people's morale is unstable, not to mention that the troops have suffered heavy losses, even if they barely gather troops, it is impossible to have much combat strength.

In addition to the four divisions of the Eighth Route Army, he now has more than 20 infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions, with a total strength of no less than 200,000 troops. Unless the Japanese army is attacking with all their might, don't want to reap the benefits of him.

With regard to strategic deployment, Yan Xishan deployed heavy troops on the front line of Ningwu Pass, a key military point in the northwest of Shanxi Province, in an attempt to rely on the dangerous terrain of Ningwu Pass to block the Japanese army. The specific arrangement was that Zhao Chengshou's First Cavalry Army was stationed in Jingle, the 71st Division was stationed in Ningwu Pass, and He Guozhu's Second Cavalry Army was stationed in the first line from Biguan to Ningwu, and the most elite 35th Army of Fu Zuoyi's department was stationed in Wuzhai to respond to various departments.

In addition, the headquarters of the Second War Zone Commander also ordered the main force of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army to concentrate on the Shuozhou line, ready to move south to flank the Japanese army at any time.

All in all, the headquarters of the Second World War Zone deployed more than 50,000 people on the front line in the northwest of Shanxi, and Yan Xishan intended to touch his arm and wrench his wrist with the Japanese army.

But what Yan Xishan didn't expect was that when the Japanese invaded, the departments in the Second War Zone had almost no intention of resisting. He Guozhu's cavalry Second Army itself is cavalry, and it is good at attacking, and now let them dismount as infantry to defend the city, and the result can be imagined. It took less than two days for Abe's department to defeat the Second Cavalry Army and capture the pass.

Then the army drove straight in, quickly captured Pinglu and Shenchi, and then marched to Ningwu Pass.

Ningwu Guancheng was built in the first year of Ming Jingtai, that is, in 1450 AD. Guancheng is located on the Huagai Mountain of the remaining veins of Heng Mountain, near the Hui River, overlooking the east, west and south sides. At the beginning of the construction of the pass, it was to resist the Mongol attack, and the danger was constantly set up in the north, and the defense line was built, forming the outer and inner borders. The inner side refers to the inner line of the Great Wall in Yanqing County, Hebei Province, which winds for more than 1,000 kilometers through Shenchi, Ningwu, Dai County, Shuo County, Wei County, Hebei Province and other places.

On this line of defense, a fort was set up at Chuangguan and the army was stationed. In the territory of Hebei, there are three passes along the line: Bauhinia, Fallen Horse, and Juyong, which are called the inner three passes. In the territory of Shanxi, set up three passes, Ningwu and Yanmen, which are called the outer three passes. Among the three outer passes, the head is the extreme edge, the Yanmen is the rush, and among the two passes of Ning Wujie, the control of the inner side is the head, and the situation is particularly important.

Therefore, the "Frontier Defense Examination" said: "With heavy troops stationed here, the east can defend Yanmen, the west can aid the partial pass, and the north can respond to Yunshuo, covering the land and gaining momentum." ”

Therefore, although it is a mountainous area, it has the advantage of being connected to all directions and the transportation is convenient. From here, you can go north to Datong, and go south to Taiyuan. It is known as the strategic role of "Datong in the north, Taiyuan in the south, partial pass in the west, and Yanmen in the east".

However, at such an important pass, the 71st Division stationed here was defeated in less than a day, and fled before Fu Zuoyi's 35th Army came to reinforce it. Without the protection of Ningwu Pass, the entire hinterland of northwest Shanxi Province was completely exposed to the guns of the Japanese army, so in a very short period of time, seven counties including Ningwu, Baode, Wuzhai, Shenchi, Biguan, and Hequ fell into the hands of the enemy.

On the southern front, the Japanese army was also very strong, and the chief of staff of the 109th Division, Kuramo Shuzo Daisa, also successfully defeated the defenders of the Second World War Zone in front of him and captured Lou Fu Pass.

At this time, Yan Xishan was anxious, if the Japanese 109th Division went north and attacked the defenders in the northwest of Jin with the Mongolian army, tens of thousands of people, including Fu Zuoyi's 35th Army, were likely to be annihilated by the Japanese army in the northwest of Jin. In desperation, Xu Yinglong had no choice but to send a report to the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, ordering them to immediately go south to fight and recover the 7 county towns recovered by the Japanese army.

However, the problem is that in the face of such a strong enemy, the 120th Division is also the first two big. The strength of the Japanese puppet army that attacked this time was as many as more than 16,000 people, almost as many as the 120th division. However, the Japanese army not only had an organized artillery regiment and a tank wing, but also a constantly reinforced aircraft in the sky, so the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was far stronger than that of the 120th Division, and it was impossible to defeat the Japanese army and recover these seven county towns whether it was a frontal attack or a flank attack.

But if you ignore it, you can't say it, after all, the Eighth Route Army is also subordinate to the battle sequence of the Second Route Army, and now tens of thousands of troops in the Second War Zone may be surrounded and annihilated by the Japanese army, and they are on the side but indifferent, which is obviously not appropriate, and the 120th Division has no choice but to ask the Eighth Route Army Headquarters for help.

After careful consideration, the head of the headquarters decided to cooperate with the troops in the second war zone to repel the Japanese attack, and in addition to mobilizing the 129th and 115th divisions to support the various battlefields, he also ordered Ma Zheng's headquarters, which was resting, to immediately dispatch favorable forces south to reinforce the 120th division.

After receiving the order from the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, Ma Zheng did not dare to slack off, and immediately convened a military meeting to arrange the deployment.

On May 29, Ma Zheng personally led more than 6,700 people from the division's cavalry brigade, guard regiment directly under the department, cavalry regiment, and special operations brigade to reinforce northwest Shanxi. Since this was a long-distance attack, all the troops were equipped with horses or cars.

The marching route of the troops was determined by Ma Zheng, leaving Jining and penetrating into Qingshuihe County through Daihai, and then going directly south to the northwest of Jin.

After a day and night of rapid marching, at 3:10 p.m. on 29 May, the troops finally reached the area of Honghe Town, Qingshuihe County, Suiyuan Province.

Since the troops marched rapidly for a day and night, both the soldiers and the horses were very tired, so Ma Zheng ordered the troops to rest in hid on the spot, and at the same time sent a reconnaissance force to collect the situation in the vicinity.

In a small forest that has just grown green leaves, more than 5,000 war horses, more than 100 cars, and more than 6,000 soldiers are quietly hidden inside.

As soon as it was dark, after a rush of footsteps, I saw Tie Niu walking quickly to Ma Zheng's side, and then said in a deep voice: "Report!" ”

"Well, you're back?" Ma Zheng looked up at the soldier and asked.

"It's back!"

"How's it going?" Ma Zheng asked again.

"Division commander, our current location is in Baoyin Gelgacha, Honghe Town, Qingshuihe County, Suiyuan Province, directly north of Qingshuihe County, about eighteen kilometers away from the county seat." Iron Bull replied.

"The little devil does have two brushes, and this map alone is much stronger than what we made ourselves, and we can come over it when we cross it like this, amazing!" Ma Zheng said in admiration.

"Division commander, we have already reconnoitred, this Honghe Town is a big town, so there are the strength of a squad of devils, and Qingshuihe County is stationed with a reinforced squadron of infantry of devils, equipped with a squadron of cavalry, a squad of artillery, a total strength of about four hundred and fifty people." Iron Bull said again.

"So much?" Ma Zheng asked in surprise.

"Well, it turns out that there are not many defenders in Qingshuihe County, only a squadron that is not fully staffed. However, the Qingshui River is an important passage connecting the two provinces of Jin and Sui, and this time the Japanese army attacked the counties in the northwest of Shanxi Province in a big way, and in order to prevent the defenders of the counties such as Biguan from escaping into Suiyuan, the headquarters of the army stationed in Mongolia temporarily transferred some troops to strengthen the garrison of Qingshuihe County. Iron Bull replied.

"That's right! Rest first, and serve these little devils at night! Ma Zheng said in a deep voice.

"Okay!"