"Hit Beiping?" Several officers in the war room of the Jicha Theater stood up in surprise.

Chief of Staff Cai Wenzhi walked to the map and said confidently: "That's right, it's Beiping!" Don't look at the center of Japanese rule here, in fact, there are not many troops stationed there. Originally, there were two divisions, but the 10th Division had been transferred to the Yellow River to guard against the First Theater, and the only one left in Beiping was the 21st Division. A three-unit regiment, full of 12,000 people. We have gathered the main forces of the three armies with every certainty that they will be taken. ”

A staff officer questioned: "There are not many Japanese troops in Beiping, but there are a lot of little devils around!" Zhangjiakou has the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, Tianjin has the 27th Division, and Baoding has the 110th Division. These places are connected by rail, so it's easy to get reinforcements! What if we can't attack for a long time and are blocked by the little devils under the city of Beiping? ”

Cai Wenzhi nodded and said, "Well, you're right!" However, we did not attack Beiping to occupy the city, but to force the Japanese army to relieve the siege of Baotou. If you can attract all the Japanese troops in the surrounding area, it will not be a victory. ”

Chief of Staff Zhou asked: "Dingwu, it would be good to be able to fight against the three divisions of the Japanese army with our strength, not to mention that there are still troops directly under the enemy's North China Front Army in Beiping and Tianjin." Rashly attacking, I am afraid that it is to put out the fire with salary, not only can not save Baotou, but will bring great danger to Jizhong. Have you thought about this? ”

Cai Wenzhi hurriedly said: "Sitting down, this point is also considered. Judging from the current situation, of course, it is beneficial to the Japanese army, so our army must mobilize the enemy as much as possible before attacking Beiping. Let it be impossible to take care of the beginning and the end, and then gather heavy troops to attack. In this way, even if you can't win everything, you won't be defeated. As he spoke, he took out a prepared battle plan from his briefcase, obviously having prepared for it.

Chief of Staff Zhou stretched out his hand to take it, took a cursory look at it, and then handed it to Zheng Weiguo, saying, "Please take a look!" ”

Zheng Weiguo watched it for a while and saw that the content was very informative. It is estimated that I won't be able to finish reading it for a while, so I will close the plan first. He looked up and asked, "Do the others still have a battle plan?" And they all shook their heads. Then he waved his hand and said, "Then the meeting is dismissed, and you go back first." He said to Director Cai Wenzhi: "Dingwu, your plan is here first, I have to take a good look!" ”

"Yes. Total seat! Several of the officers took their leave.

After everyone leaves. Chief of Staff Zhou asked tentatively, "General seat." Do you have an opinion on this plan? ”

Zheng Weiguo first sighed, then waved his hand and said, "No, the plan is very well planned!" It's just a violation of the strategy we had in place earlier. I had to fight with the Japanese army, which was very detrimental to the development of our army, and I was really unwilling! ”

The so-called previous strategy was to avoid the real and make mistakes, and try not to confront the main force of the Japanese army head-on, but to attack its weak underbelly. For example, supply lines, transportation facilities, factories and mines, these places are the weak links of the Japanese army's defense, which are easy to get their hands on, with small costs and great results. In this way, our army will become stronger and stronger the more we fight, and the enemy army will become weaker and weaker.

It's a pity that the Japanese army rushed to attack Baotou, which disrupted Zheng Weiguo's deployment at once. The current situation is that Baotou has to be saved. If you stand by and watch, not only will the supply line be cut off, but Fu Zuoyi and other allies may also be detached. If this happens, the "North China Alliance" system, which was formed with great difficulty, will fall apart, and Jizhong will have to face the situation of fighting alone.

Chief of Staff Zhou comforted: "General seat, this is indeed a difficult problem for our army, but why not an opportunity?" ”

Zheng Weiguo said: "What chance?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou explained: "An opportunity to prove our sincerity. ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said, "Not bad!" "Now Jizhong has a preliminary tacit understanding with Suiyuan and Zhongtiao Mountain, but this trust is only maintained by personal relationships and personal character, which is very weak. If you want the relationship between the two sides to go further and form a closer alliance, you have to manage it carefully. Of course, the premise is that the strength of the Jizhong side will not be greatly damaged. In this era of advocating guns, if you don't have the strength, even if others can look up to you, you are afraid that the waist pole will not be straight.

"Well, it looks like this battle has to be fought!" Zheng Weiguo was silent for a moment, and then said: "Old Zhou, then let's sum up this plan again and see how to act in the most advantageous way!" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou nodded and said, "Okay!" He also suggested: "General Seat, this plan needs the support of the Eighth Route Army, and it is best to coordinate with them to command, so as not to be exploited by the Japanese army due to inconsistent scheduling." ”

Zheng Weiguo agreed: "Well, I also have this idea, do you think it is the same as the last attack on the northern section of the Pinghan line, how about setting up a joint command?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou said approvingly: "This is the best, but this battle is related to the overall situation, and there are many troops participating in the battle, so we must invite a person who can speak well in all departments of the Eighth Route Army." ”

That night, the radio waves in North China suddenly became dense, like an invisible net enveloping the entire North China region. In particular, the radio staff of the Communications Section of the General Staff Office of the Jicha Theater were so busy that their hands were sore, and the interpreters had to take turns to go into battle, making the machines hot.

The next day, Division Commander Liu of the 129th Division hurried to the Jicha Theater Headquarters in Lixian County. As soon as Division Commander Liu met, he asked: "Commander-in-Chief Zheng, is the sabotage operation going to be canceled?" The action that Commander Liu said refers to the "North China Railway Sabotage Operation" that has been formulated before.

To this end, all ministries in North China have made full preparations. Especially in the Eighth Route Army, several main brigades were secretly assembled and on standby, just waiting for an order. But the current situation has changed dramatically, and everyone is not sure whether to continue to act. The reason is simple, this operation must be led by Zheng Weiguo. Without the elite under his command to contain the main force of the Japanese army, it would be difficult for the sabotage operation to be carried out smoothly.

Zheng Weiguo hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Of course not!" If the action is cancelled, you don't have to worry about driving. However, the specific action plan may need to be changed. ”

Division Commander Liu nodded in understanding and said, "Well, this is necessary, the enemy situation has changed, so it is natural to make adjustments." ”

Chief of Staff Zhou agreed: "Division Commander Liu is right, this is our reformulated operational plan. Please also set the axe straight! ”

Division Commander Liu hurriedly waved his hand and said with a smile: "Chief of Staff Zhou is polite, don't dare to be axe!" After looking at it for a while, he suddenly asked: "Do you plan to hit the Zhengtai line first, and then hit the flat Han line and the Tongpu line?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou explained: "Yes, after many deductions by our General Staff, it is believed that it is better to launch them one at a time than at the same time. "This is mainly due to the fact that our army's dispatch ability and coordination ability are far inferior to the Japanese army. Like in history, the "winter counteroffensive" carried out by the Nationalist Government at the end of 39. All major theaters across the country worked together, but they were broken by the Japanese army, resulting in losses and losses. Heavy casualties. For a time, the argument of defeatism was very loud. If it hadn't been for the slight improvement in the situation, he would have almost surrendered.

Senior Commander Liu pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "Well, it's not bad to deploy like this. I think this change is really necessary! However, the number of troops on the Zhengtai line seems to be slightly insufficient. I think we have to increase our troops! ”

It would certainly be best to be able to increase the number of troops. Like the "Battle of the Hundred Regiments" in history. Mr. Peng originally planned to ask the 120th Division to send several regiments to reinforce him, but this plan was not realized in the end. As a result, there was a shortage of troops on the Zhengtai line and failed to achieve the expected goals.

Chief of Staff Zhou was a little embarrassed and said, "But we are also very nervous about our troops. If too many troops are invested in the direction of the Zhengtai line, other battlefields, such as the Pinghan line, will be affected. ”

Master Liu smiled: "It doesn't matter, I'll figure out a way to do this." To fight the Zhengtai line, our Eighth Route Army is 200 percent supportive. ”

If the Eighth Route Army is the most "hateful" of which railway, it must be the Zhengtai Line. Because this railway cut the two largest strategic areas of the Eighth Route Army at that time, Jin-Cha-Ji and Jin-Hebei-Luyu, into two halves, and could not echo each other. Therefore, many battles of the Eighth Route Army in history took place in this area, such as the early battles of Qiqian Village, Changshengkou, and Niangziguan, the Zhengtailu Raid in the middle (that is, the prelude to the Battle of the Hundred Regiments), and the counteroffensive in the later 44 and 45 years, etc., all revolved around this railway. If you want to know whether the situation in North China is good or bad, look at the Zhengtai line to know the road. It can be said that the history of the War of Resistance behind enemy lines is also a history of the Zhengtai Railway.

Chief of Staff Zhou was overjoyed and hurriedly asked, "Division Commander Liu, I don't know how many troops your army can dispatch?" ”

Division Commander Liu thought for a moment and said, "How about two main brigades, one artillery regiment, and ten local regiments?" In addition, you can gather at least 100,000 people! ”

The two main brigades were each from Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei, and Shanxi, Hebei, and Luyu, and the artillery regiment was naturally an artillery regiment directly under the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, and the so-called local regiment was actually the main force regiment in history. It's just that a few main brigades have been reorganized in this time and space, and these regiments can only be counted as local troops aggrievedly. However, its strength is not bad, due to the abundance of ammunition, more adequate training, and its combat effectiveness is even better than that of the same period in history.

Chief of Staff Zhou suddenly closed his mouth happily, and said continuously: "Enough, enough!" ”

It is indeed enough, only a section of the Zhengtai Railway is guarded by the 4th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade. On the side of our army, there are the 49th Army, the 358th Brigade, the 2nd Temporary Brigade, as well as 10 regiments of local troops and a large number of people cooperating. By the way, the temporary second brigade is the newly formed main brigade of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.

At that time, the Eighth Route Army wanted to expand its troops, but Chang Kaishen didn't give a number, so he had no choice but to come by himself. The 115th Division began with the word Jiao, and formed the First Brigade and the Second Brigade...... The 120th Division began with the word "Du" and formed the Duyi Brigade and the Duyi Second Brigade...... The 129th Division began with a new character and formed a new 1st Brigade and a new 2nd Brigade...... Hehe, that's how the army of millions came out.

Because several divisions took the lead, Commander Nie had no choice but to start with a column (for example, the history of central Hebei is three columns, and the history of eastern Hebei is four columns), with a detachment under it, and a regiment under the detachment, this stall is actually larger. However, the detachment is always not as regular as the brigade, and the detachment is combined with the military subdivision, and it has the responsibility of defending the territory, so it cannot be easily transferred out of the base area. Therefore, Commander Nie took the opportunity of forming a regular army to form a new temporary first brigade and a temporary second brigade, and it is said that the temporary third brigade is also being prepared.

Two days later, the Zhengtai Road attack officially began, and the main points of the attack were mainly concentrated on the section of the road from Niangzi Pass in the west to Jingcheng Pass in the east, with a total length of about 30 kilometers.

Niangzi Pass and Jingcheng Pass are both famous passes in the world, easy to defend and difficult to attack. In particular, Jingcheng Pass, "Lü's Spring and Autumn" and "Huainanzi" are called one of the nine stops in the world. At the same time, it is the most important passage in the Taihang Eight Mountains, connecting the Fenhe Plain of Shanxi Province and the North China Plain. Historically, the "Battle of the Backwater" commanded by the Han general Han Xin took place outside the Jingcheng Pass. Niangzi Pass is to the west of Jingcheng, and in a broad sense, it is also part of Jingcheng Pass. It was named after Princess Pingyang of Tang Dynasty who led troops to garrison here.

On the night of February 20, 1939, the battle first started at Niangzi Pass. The commander of the temporary second brigade was Guo Tianmin, who was responsible for commanding this battle, and the unit directly involved in the battle was the Fifth Regiment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, which is the old Fifth Regiment often mentioned in film and television works. Most of the key commanders of this unit are old Red Army veterans, and some of them are veterans of the Eighth Route who have returned from injuries. Because the old Red Army and the old Eighth Road are more than other regiments, their combat effectiveness is among the best in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, and it is estimated that Yang Chengwu's independent regiment can compete with one of them. In fact, it is also the case, both troops are secretly clamoring to see who is the first regiment of Jinchaji!

Before the war, the underground party organizations and scouts had already put Niangzi in and the surrounding terrain. There is also a thorough understanding of the deployment of the Japanese puppet army.

The area around Niangziguan includes Weizeguan Village, Dongkou Village, Niangziguan Chengguan, Dakou Village, Niangziguan Railway Station, Dongbarracks, Mohetan Village, Hebei Village, Chengxi Village, Podi Village, etc. It crosses a Grand Canyon from east to west. That is, the western section of Jingcheng Canyon. The railway passes through the mountains, the highway runs along the water, and the pass just stands at the throat of the two mountains.

Its lady Guancheng Guan lives in the east, and 200 meters to the west is the Mohe Beach. Three villages are formed along the long and narrow river valley: Shangmo Hetan Village, Zhongmo Hetan Village, and Xiamo Hetan Village. To the west of the Mohe beach is the confluence of the Tao River and the Wen River. To the west of the river are Chengxi Village and Podi Village, and Niangziguan Railway Station is located in Zhongmo Hetan Village, with Mianshan Mountain in the south. It is bordered by the Mianhe River after the confluence of the Tao River and the Wen River in the north, and the north side of the Mianhe River is Hebei Village.

Niangzi Pass is located on the side of the cliff, there are many cliffs in the north, many steep slopes in the south, the peach river in the west, the Great Wall is built along the steep mountain in the east (it is the famous inner Great Wall, you can check it if you are interested), you can go straight to the mountain, the Great Wall has collapsed in many places, you can climb. There are two city gates in the city gate, namely the east gate and the south gate, both of which are arched with brick coupons. The east gate is the inner entrance, and there is no urn city. There are brick and stone steps on the north side of the city to climb the city tower, and the wall is full of bullet marks.

The south gate is the outer entrance of the city gate of the lady, the city gate is built on the cliff, the east side is by the mountain, the west faces the valley, it is the cliff of the deep hundred streams. There is no city wall on the cliff, and there is an endless stream of water under the cliff. The city platform of the south city is all built with huge stones, it is very solid, the door hole is the arch of the stone coupon, there is no urn city inside, and the door forehead is written with four large characters of "Gyeonggi Domain". After entering the city gate, climb the stone steps to the right to go up to the city tower. The name of the castle tower is "Su Jiang Lou", which is the place where the generals are stationed, and it was originally a hard hilltop building with a brick and wood structure.

The east side of the city pass is Mianshan, climb the city wall from the east side of the south gate, and then climb up the Mianshan mountain along the steep steps. It can be seen that this Mianshan is more dangerous than the city pass of Niangzi Pass.

Mianshan is the commanding heights of Niangziguan, and the nearby villages, railways, and highways are all under its control. When the national government was preparing for the Anti-Japanese War in the 30s, it built national defense fortifications at various points in the country, and built four reinforced concrete cylindrical bunkers on Niangziguan Mianshan Mountain, which were connected by traffic trenches. The four cylindrical concrete pillboxes on the mountain are connected by trenches, and barbed wire and trenches are set around them. After the devils occupied, they took advantage of these fortifications, and their machine gun fire could control the station under the mountain 700 meters away, and the grenadiers could bombard Niangzi Guanchengguan.

There were more than 50 Japanese troops stationed in Chengguan and Mianshan, equipped with 5 light machine guns and 4 grenadiers. Dakou Village, less than 500 meters north of the Guanbei Province (with more than 100 households), has more than 10 puppet soldiers.

Niangziguan Station is located about 1.5 kilometers west of Niangziguan Chengguan, southeast of Mohetan Village, is one of the key points of the Zhengtai Line, stationed in the 4th Brigade of the Japanese Army Independent Mixed Brigade Independent Infantry 15th Brigade 4th Squadron 4th Squadron, attached to the artillery and machine gun squadrons of the brigade, a total of 128 people, 17 puppet soldiers. Equipped with 1 70-mm infantry gun, 1 81-mm mortar, 10 50-mm grenadiers, 2 heavy machine guns, 7 light machine guns.

The railway station is also very well defended. The east barracks is a Japanese-style bungalow, 10 meters away from the barracks, a 1-meter-high earthen wall is built around it, and a shooting hole is opened in the wall.

A bunker is built 300 meters above the South Mountain, surrounded by improvised fortifications and a barbed wire, and the bunker fire can fully control the only path up the mountain.

Brick and wood machine gun and rifle bunkers were built on the northwest side, and the surrounding area was open and inaccessible.

There are low bushes in the west-northeast and north-west, which can be approached in concealment.

To the north is the Mianhe River, which is usually shallow and narrow, and the mountain floods rise sharply in the rainy season, and the water is deep and the river is wide. It's early spring, and the amount of water is not large, but the river is cold and biting, and it is enough to wade through.

Chen Zulin, the commander of the Fifth Regiment, set up the command post on the north bank of the Mianhe River, on the top of Xinjiayuan Mountain in the west of Hebei Village, where the terrain is higher and can overlook Niangziguan Station. To this end, Regiment Commander Chen also deliberately deployed mortars and heavy machine guns on the top of the mountain, preparing to provide fire support for the troops under the mountain. According to the deployment, the three battalions under his command will attack in three directions: west, north, and south.

The 1st Battalion and the Regimental Headquarters Combat Defense Artillery Company will launch an attack from the west, and the specific plan is to move from Shangmohetan Village to Niangziguan Station in a covert manner, and then take this point by surprise attack;

The 2nd Battalion was in the north, and according to the order, they had to first destroy the puppet army in Dakou Village, and then approach Chengguan from the north, attack and occupy it, and then climb the cliff from the side back to capture Mianshan;

The 3rd Battalion was in the south with the mountain artillery company, preparing to approach covertly, and then using artillery fire to cover it, it launched a direct attack on the top of Mianshan Mountain.

At about ten o'clock in the evening, about 500 people of the 1st Battalion of the unit quietly approached the station from the village of Shangmo Hetan. Due to the fact that it was night, and the terrain was undulating, the troops advanced very smoothly to a hillside about 300 meters west of the station. Further ahead was an open field, and the soldiers were about to touch forward a little further, but they didn't expect the searchlight on the station watchtower to suddenly shine on. The soldiers quickly lay down, but were still spotted by a Japanese sentry.

When the sentry saw the figure in the light, he knew that it must be the enemy, and he couldn't help but shout in horror: "Enemy attack! (To be continued......)

PS: Comrades, make more suggestions, the mountain people are absolutely good, and criticism is okay, hehe