Speaking of both ends, at this time, the defense battle of Baoding on the other side was vigorously launched. The Nationalist Army deployed the First Group Army headed by Song Zheyuan with the former 29th Army and the 53rd Army and local troops as the main force, and the Second Group Army headed by Liu Zhi with the former Northwest Army as the main force, and Wei Lihuang's 14th Group Army and Tang Enbo's 20th Corps also participated in the battle, with a total strength of about 100,000 troops.

The sources of these more than 100,000 combat troops are extremely complex, including the Northwest Army, the Northeast Army, the former 29th Army, local troops, the Central Army, the Jinsui Army, and the Sichuan Army. As a result, the various units have poor ability to coordinate operations with each other and have poor obedience to the command of their superiors, and the consequence of this is that often when the Japanese attack, the troops serving as the front-line defense are unwilling to fight to the death and hope that other troops will replace them, which has a great impact on the final outcome of the war.

However, due to the relatively good defensive preparations made in the early stage, the enthusiasm of the local people for resisting Japan was extremely high, and there were often incidents of ordinary people taking the initiative to go to the front line to help transport ammunition and dig trenches, and there were two elite units with relatively strong combat effectiveness, the 52nd Army of the Central Army and the 26th Army of the Northwest Army. The Japanese army also reached a stalemate with these troops for a while, but on the other side, Shanxi staged a scene that achieved the prestige of the Fifth Division.

- Celestial Town

At this time, the vast area of northern Jin from Tianzhen to Datong still had only a total of seven regiments of the 61st Army.

Li Fuying looked at the battle map, thinking about how to allocate troops after the reinforcements came up, and a soldier ran in out of breath.

Li Fuying looked at it and said in a panic, "What's the matter?" Why is it in such a hurry? ”

The signal soldier held a telegram and said, "Report -- report to the military seat that a large number of enemy troops have been found in Lijiazhai and Luojiashan. ”

Li Fuying broke out in a cold sweat when he heard this, he didn't need to look at the map to know these two places, these two places were the forefront of the entire Tianzhen defense line.

Li Fuying took the telegram and looked at it carefully, but a large number of cavalry units appeared to reconnoiter the two places, and planes appeared in the sky above the two places. Li Fuying has been in the army for decades, and of course he knew that this was the final preparation of the Japanese army, so he immediately picked up the phone and called the 402nd Regiment at the forefront.

Waited a while and connected. Li Fuying said, "Hey, hey, I'm Li Fuying, what's the situation on the front line now?" ”

Liu Yongzhi, the commander of the 402nd Regiment, complained, "Junzuo, our defensive position is really not very good, the fortress that was said to be good turned out to be all lumps, how can such a position be defended?" The devil is right in front of us. ”

Li Fuying said angrily: "Won't I know? I ask you about the situation at the front! If the original fortifications don't work, you can repair them yourself, what is there to complain about? ”

Liu Yongzhi sighed and said, "Military seat, you have to ask for materials for repair, and now only some cavalry break into our position from time to time." We have all driven them away, but when will the devils attack in a big way - lie down!! ”

Li Fuying was stunned for a moment, and then heard bursts of explosions on the other side of the phone, and then Liu Yongzhi's stammering voice, "Military seat, military seat, the devil has shelled, ask for support, we can't stand it here." ”

Li Fuying's mind immediately messed up, the speed of this Japanese army was too fast. How can I hold on to this little bit of people, so I asked, "How many Japanese soldiers are there?" ”

Liu Yongzhi's side was still constantly shelling, and he only heard him stammer, "The devil's artillery fire is too dense, and it is definitely the main force of the devil." I see one or two divisions. ”

Li Fuying scolded, "Put your mother's bullshit, there are two divisions, you can still live to talk to me, I tell you, Liu Yongzhi." If you don't order you to take a step back, I'll shoot you. ”

Saying that, Li Fuying hung up the phone fiercely. Li Fuying turned around twice and said, "Immediately send a telegram to Chief Yan, report that the Japanese army has launched a large-scale attack on our army, and it is initially suspected that it is the main force of the enemy, please send reinforcements immediately." ”

Chief of Staff Liu Jinsheng said worriedly: "Our army only has seven regiments, but only 20,000 or 30,000 people, once the Japanese army attacks." I'm worried that we're going to be able to stop it. ”

Li Fuying shook his head and said, "It can only depend on when our reinforcements can arrive." Order the troops below to defend first. ”

-- Taiyuan

Yan Xishan looked at the telegram, patted his thigh fiercely and said, "How can this be, how is it possible?" Is this Japanese crazy? Just a week after a big battle, they attacked again, didn't they need to rest? ”

Yang Aiyuan also didn't understand and said, "This is really unexpected by us, Chairman Yan, what do you say we should do?" As far as the 61st Army is concerned, Datong can't hold it. After all, there are 100,000 Japanese soldiers. ”

Yan Xishan looked at the map and said, "When will the other troops arrive?" ”

Yang Aiyuan looked at the book and said, "Liu Maoen's 15th Army is still on the way to Shanxi, Yang Chengyuan's 34th Army, Fu Zuoyi's 35th Army and other troops are still at the junction of Jinnan and Jinsui, and there is no way to catch up in a short time, only the 19th Army is closer to Datong and can support one or two." Chairman, I'm afraid the plan for this Datong battle is not good. ”

Yan Xishan patted his chair and said, "These guns are waiting for the crash, why is the speed so slow, then order the 19th Army to transfer a division to Datong, and order the 61st Army to defend to the death, and must wait until the arrival of reinforcements in order to start the Battle of Datong." ”

Before Yan Xishan could finish speaking, he saw a staff officer come in and say, "Report, the 143rd Division is in an emergency." ”

Yan Xishan and the two glanced at each other, and an ominous premonition welled up in their hearts, and Yan Xishan shouted, "Read! ”

The staff officer took out a telegram and said: "On September 4, a large number of Japanese troops were found in the forward positions of our department, and they have been identified as the main force of the Japanese Fifth Division. ”

Yan Xishan gasped when he heard this, and shouted, "Why is the Fifth Division also here?" Didn't he suffer heavy casualties at the South Exit? ”

Yang Aiyuan smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid it's because the Japanese army is a modern army and has a sound replenishment mechanism, and the lost troops have been replenished in this week." ”

Yan Xishan looked at the map, and said with a slow sweat on his head, "I know that person Seishiro Itagaki has, the combat effectiveness of the Fifth Division is not something that thousands of people in the 143rd Division can stop, once they break through Wei County, they can go straight to the back of Datong, and our Datong will be surrounded." ”

Yang Aiyuan also hurriedly said, "Chairman Yan, immediately order the troops to reinforce, otherwise it will be dangerous." ”

Yan Xishan nodded and said, "You're right, order Tang Enbo's department to support Liu Ruming." And the 15th Army also immediately went to Tanbao - Guangling to garrison the front line, damn it, our plans were all disrupted, and - let the 61st Army hold for three days first, let's see the situation, I am afraid that the situation of this Datong battle is different from what we thought. ”

Li Fuying received Yan Xishan's order to hold for three days, and immediately the chief of staff of the army, Liu Jinsheng, and the commander of the 200th Brigade held a meeting to discuss the defense plan.

In the end, he thought that since Yan Xishan asked them to defend for 3 days, it meant that Datong would definitely be abandoned and it would be impossible to defend it. Therefore, there is no need for long-term garrison on the periphery of Datong. There was no need to make a long-term defensive operational deployment, so he simply scattered the front line of the troops, sent a regiment to guard Tianzhen, a regiment to guard Gaoyang, four regiments lined up on the periphery of Tianzhen, and the last regiment was between Tianzhen and Gaoyang.

Li Fuying was arranging the defense plan, and Hideki Tojo was looking at the front line with a telescope, and the troops around Hideki Tojo were actually only 10,000 people in the 15th Brigade and two puppet Mongolian divisions.

Seiichiro Shinohara looked at the bombed position in the distance and wondered, "Is this the Datong defense line that the people of Shina are boasting about?" This is the line of defense that took a year to build? ”

Hideki Tojo, who was sitting next to him drinking sake, smiled, "Our information is really correct. The defense line here is just a must, Shinohara-kun, order the chariot brigade to attack. ”

Shinohara Seiichiro nodded in response, only to see one chariot after another creaking towards the Luojiashan position. The cavalry of the puppet Mongolian army also charged, followed by the infantry all over the mountains.

But unexpectedly, the counterattack was minimal, and the army simply ran all the way up the mountain.

Hideki Tojo also felt that something was wrong when he received the report, so he ordered the army to stop the attack for the time being. He and Seiichiro Shinohara, who came to the position to take a look at one or two, only to see that the countless bunkers were gone. The pillbox was also torn apart by the shelling just now.

Hideki Tojo suddenly kicked hard at a bunker next to him, and the wall of the bunker was kicked out of a big hole by Hideki Tojo, and everyone watching was stunned.

Seiichiro Shinohara's mouth grew and said, "It's so powerful, I didn't expect His Excellency Commander to have such profound martial arts attainments." ”

Hideki Tojo shook his head with a smile, took a Japanese grenade from his side, and stuffed it into another pillbox, only to hear a "bang", and the bunker was blown apart.

Only then did everyone react, it turned out that it was not that Hideki Tojo had strong legs, but that these bunkers were all like goods at all, and Shinohara Seiichiro was also curious to stab the bunkers with bushido, and found that these bunkers were built of mud at all, and they were not even compacted, and they had no defense at all.

Hideki Tojo laughed and said, "No wonder those Shina troops are unwilling to defend here, the defense line of the Shina people turned out to be like this." ”

Shinohara, Seiichiro also smiled and said, "Your Excellency, Commander, it seems that it is not a conspiracy of the Shina people, let's attack with confidence." ”

Hideki Tojo nodded and said, "Order, the whole army will attack!" Use the bayonets of our Yamato samurai to tell these people what kind of soldiers are called. ”

Li Fuying looked at the embarrassed Liu Yongzhi and scolded, "What's the matter? How did you lose your position. ”

Liu Yongzhi said with tears in his eyes, "Junzuo, it's really not that brothers don't work hard, it's really the devil's artillery fire is too fierce." One round of artillery fire will destroy all our fortifications. ”

Li Fuying took out a gun and pointed it at him and said, "I don't care, you go and grab the front line for me, if you dare to lose all the positions before my retreat order, you can give me your life here." ”

Liu Yongzhi stomped his feet, grabbed the submachine gun of the soldier next to him, and said, "Brothers, follow me and kill back." ”

At this time, another signal soldier came in and said, "Military seat, Li Zaixi, the commander of the 425th Regiment, sent a telegram saying that he was unwell and asked for sick leave, and asked the deputy regiment commander to take command in his place." ”

Li Fuying scolded: "What's sick? is greedy for life and afraid of death, tell him to tell him, either I will hold a gun and guard the position, or I will cut off his head to defend the position for him. ”

Hideki Tojo watched the resistance to the attack getting bigger and bigger, and said to the signal soldier next to him, "Immediately order the other two brigades to speed up and rush to the battlefield to join the battle." ”

Li Fuying led his troops to fight the Japanese army in the rudimentary fortifications, and Liu Ruming on the other side did not have such courage.

Liu Ruming and the Fifth Division are old rivals, they fought as early as the Battle of Nankou, and this time Liu Ruming's remnants of the army were only five or six thousand people, and they had already become frightened birds.

After Liu Ruming sent the telegram to Yan Xishan, he sighed and said to the adjutant next to him, "Order the troops to withdraw." ”

The adjutant hesitated and said, "Commander, it's not appropriate for us to retreat like this, in case we go up and track it down." ”

Liu Ruming snorted, "So what. One of my armies is actually only a division and a brigade, and now it is only a few thousand people, and I have put together tens of thousands of troops like this, who can say that mine is not, I, the chairman of Chahar, have come to Shanxi, what else can I do, withdraw! If we don't withdraw, we, thousands of brothers, will have to lose our lives here. When the time comes, the whole army will be wiped out, but no one will shed a tear for us except our families. ”

The adjutant nodded and went down to give orders.

On the other side, after Tang Enbo received Yan Xishan's order, he immediately ordered a regiment of Gao Guizi's 17th Army to rush to Wei County.

Seishiro Itagaki looked at the already empty Ul County. smiled and said, "Is there really no one in China?" Such an important place is unexpectedly guarded by heavy troops. ”

Toshishi Miura, who was next to him, said with a smile, "Your Excellency the division commander, since this is the case, let's speed up and strive to reach Yanmen Pass." ”

Seishiro Itagaki nodded and said, "Order the whole army to speed up the advance, if it is correct, the Shina people will soon send reinforcements to block us, and we will become the fastest sword to completely crush the confidence of the Shina people." ”

Gao Guizi's reinforcements rushed to Wei County, but found that the menstrual flag had been fluttering on the city tower, and he saw a large number of chariots and cavalry advancing rapidly. Frightened, he hurriedly retreated.

Tang Enbo, who received the news, immediately transferred the 3rd Army, Gao Guizi's 84th Division, and Li Xianzhou's 21st Division to block the Fifth Division. Once the Fifth Division completes the encirclement, half of Shanxi will be completely lost.

But these rushing reinforcements, without any fortifications, were the field opponents of the Fifth Division. In the next less than half a month, the Fifth Division was like a bamboo, breaking through Guangling, Lingqiu, Hunyuan, Laiyuan and other places. Four or five divisions were powerless in the face of the Fifth Division, and the name of the Fifth Division's steel army resounded throughout the Chinese battlefield.

-- Taiyuan

Yan Xishan looked at the battle report on the front line, anxious like an ant on a hot pot, in just a few days, the situation in northern Jin has been greatly damaged.

Yan Xishan said to Wei Lihuang, who had just arrived in Taiyuan, "Junru, what should we do now?" ”

Wei Lihuang immediately stood on the map and replied, "Sir Yan, come and see, now the north of Jin is crumbling, the biggest problem is Itagaki Seishiro's Fifth Division, he has pinned down too many of our troops, so that our troops can not reinforce the direction of Datong, although the Fifth Division is brave, but it is not without weaknesses, the biggest weakness is the logistics supply line of the Fifth Division, there is no railway on the Guangling line, and the intelligence shows that the Japanese army completely relies on trucks and pack horses to support the logistics line. Therefore, I suggest that the Eighth Route Army be sent at once, taking advantage of their ability to fight ambushes and guerrillas, and let them contain the Fifth Division, as long as the logistics line of the Fifth Division is eliminated, we can draw our hands to deal with Hideki Tojo's troops. ”

Yan Xishan nodded and said, "Okay, okay, I'll go find the Eighth Route Army immediately." ”

After listening to Yan Xishan's words, Mr. Zhu immediately nodded and said, "Resisting Japan and saving the country is our party's consistent proposition, of course it is no problem for us to go to the front, but Sir Yan, this emperor is not bad for hungry soldiers, and the supply problem of our army has not been solved!" ”

Yan Xishan's eyes widened, and he said incredulously, "Really? Impossible? The mistakes are all my brother's mistakes, so I immediately allocated 300,000 rounds of ammunition and 50,000 grenades. 500 tons of military rations for your army, I don't know when your army will be able to go out? ”

Mr. Zhu held Yan Xishan's hand tightly and said, "Thank you so much, Chief Yan." Our army can go to the front at any time, but our army is an infantry army, and I am afraid it will be too late. ”

Yan Xishan waved his hand and said, "What are these words, do you want to let our friendly troops go to the battlefield?" In this case, others must not say that we Shanxi people do not understand hospitality, so I immediately transferred the wagons to pick up your army, I don't know which unit your army is going to send as the vanguard? ”

Mr. Zhu said with a smile: "Lin Sanhu's 115th Division." ”

Yan Xishan said happily, "Okay, I have heard of the prestige of this Lin Sanhu for a long time, I hope that your army will rush to the battlefield as soon as possible, and the north of Jin is in danger." ”

Waiting for Yan Xishan to leave, Mr. Peng came out and said with a smile, "This Yan Laoxi is pretending to be quite similar now." ”

Mr. Zhu shook his head and said, "It's all for the sake of resisting Japan, forget it, the supplies we want are finally available, and immediately order Lin Sanhu to follow the instructions of the second theater and rush to the front line." ”

- Houma

After receiving the telegram, Lin Sanhu, who was stationed here, immediately ordered his troops to wait for the incoming train at the railway station.

Yang Dezhi, the commander of the 685th Regiment, looked at the railway and said, "Why does this Shanxi railway feel weird?" Doesn't it seem narrow? ”

Nie Rongzhen nodded and smiled, "You're right, this railway is much narrower than other railways, it doesn't use the broad gauge that is common to the whole country, but uses the Japanese-style narrow gauge." This is to prevent trains from other places from coming in directly, and the second is to save money. ”

Yang Chengwu, the head of the independent regiment, asked curiously, "How to save money?" ”

Nie Rongzhen replied, "The standard gauge of this railway is 1435mm, the narrow gauge is 1000mm, and the amount of steel used in the narrow gauge is only about half of that of the broad gauge, and the cost is about 1/3 of the broad gauge." At that time, in order to save money, Yan Xishan directly used soldiers to build iron mines instead of workers. ”

Lin Sanhu smiled, "This is really good at settling accounts, the car is here." ”

Everyone only saw a long train slowly driving in front of everyone, followed by three obviously different train sections.

An officer saluted Lin Sanhu and said, "On the orders of Chief Yan, I am here to greet you, there will be four trains behind, and these three luxury carriages are specially prepared for your superiors." ”

Zhou Kun looked inside the carriage through the window, only seeing European-style sofas and chandeliers, as well as books and other entertainment things, and couldn't help but say enviously, "This Old Yan, oh, Chief Yan will really enjoy it." ”

Lin Sanhu shook his head and said, "Order the troops to get on the bus, just squeeze one luxury carriage for our people, and give the other two to the soldiers with the most combat achievements in the army." (To be continued......)