Chapter 634: Capture Shijiazhuang

Zhang Hansheng, chief of staff of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps of the Independent Division, commanded more than 80,000 troops in seven brigades in accordance with the order of the division commander Tang Qiuli, closely pursued the more than 60,000 Japanese troops who retreated to the direction of Zhangjiakou, and pursued them from Fuping to Wei County, and arrived at the original Jin army's blocking line.

Finally heard the gunshots, but soon sparsely sparse, Zhang Hansheng couldn't understand what was going on, rushed to the forward position with the guard company, just arrived at the headquarters of the avant-garde brigade, the commander of the regiment sent out, covered in blood broke in, as soon as he saw Zhang Hansheng, a five-foot-tall man, howling and crying: "Chief of staff, we were fooled, there is no shadow of the Jin army in Wei County, when our regiment searched the periphery of Wei County, it was suddenly ambushed by the Japanese army, more than 1,000 brothers in the vanguard battalion, and less than 400 people came back. ”

When Zhang Hansheng heard this, his eyes suddenly burst into stars, his hands and feet were cold, and his chest was tight, he settled down and understood, the damn Jin army did not set up a blocking line in Wei County at all, or in other words, the Jin army did not send troops at all, and fought with more than 60,000 Japanese troops for two days and nights, chasing three or four hundred miles, and there were no such casualties at one time, not in the hands of the little devils, but in the hands of the Jin army, which made him feel even more uncomfortable.

The Jin army did not send troops, and he delayed for nearly an hour in vain, in this kind of situation, every minute is extremely precious, he was furious, that is, he hated the Jin army, this bastard, and regretted that he did not raise his vigilance, he should not stop for a minute, and did not give the little devil time to ambush the troops, and in the case of one-sidedness, let the little devil take advantage, more than 800 soldiers, and it was cut off.

Zhang Hansheng's face was pale, and he ordered the artillery unit to immediately bombard Wei County, and at the same time, truthfully reported the situation to Feng Jiwu, the commander of the corps, and the artillery filled Wei County with gunsmoke, and after the shelling stopped, the troops rushed forward like a tide, and did not see a shadow of the Japanese army, and the Japanese army who took advantage of it had already taken advantage of this gap and slipped away.

The troops passed through the smoke of Wei County, chased to the foot of Zhangjiakou City, and the Japanese army that retreated into Zhangjiakou had relied on the strong city fortifications to build several blocking lines, and the troops did not even breathe, and immediately began to attack the city, and were repelled by the intensive fire of the Japanese army, which increased a lot of casualties, Zhang Hansheng was furious, and after adjusting the deployment, he was ready to attack again, he not only let go of these little devils, but also did not take advantage of anything that did not make sense.

All the artillery, raising the thick muzzle, just waiting for the order of the chief of staff, the communication staff report, received the order personally issued by the division commander Tang Qiuli, immediately stop the attack on Zhangjiakou, leave a brigade of troops, monitor the Japanese army in Zhangjiakou, the main force immediately returned to the area of Niangziguan, assembled in Yangquan and stood by.

Zhang Hansheng's eyes were blood-red, looking up to the sky and sighing, this loss was extremely unwilling, since the time when he led the troops to fight, he had never been like this, if it weren't for the delay of the Jin army, the troops could have entered Zhangjiakou with their heels and feet, and they would have allowed the little devils to calmly deploy their defenses? Anyway, this arrow revenge will have to be avenged sooner or later, and those bastards of the Jin army, the troops withdrew from the siege, and the Japanese troops who fled into Zhangjiakou finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt like they had picked up a life.

Zhang Hansheng, who suffered a small loss from the Japanese army, was indignant, and received Zhang Hansheng's telegram from Feng Jiwu, Tang Qiuli was even more angry and wanted to kill, considering the overall situation, he was angry about losing this opportunity to change the situation in northwest Hebei, if Zhao Chengshou did not express his resolute implementation of his orders, he would not pin his hopes on the Jin army, and the battle would be another way of fighting.

It is impossible to guess Yan Xishan's psychology, Zhao Chengshou, the commander of the Datong front line of the Jin army, also saw that this was an extremely favorable opportunity, in his words, only to earn and not to lose, the Japanese have been driven by the 80,000 troops of the independent division like rabbits, as long as they face the head of the stick, this Japanese army does not want to escape, Zhangjiakou is the bag of the Jin army, he not only happily accepted Tang Qiuli's order, but also prepared to take out seven divisions of troops to block the Japanese army in Wei County.

The battle plan was reported to Chief Yan with Tang Qiuli's telegram, Zhao Chengshou waited for the old man's words, led the army to kill out, and the order did not wait, but poured a basin of cold water head-on, Yan Xishan not only scolded him for greedy for petty profits, and was ready to use the old man's family to cater to Tang Qiuli, but also asked him, is it possible to straighten up and talk to my old man after holding the military power for a long time? If this was a gun and a stick, Zhao Chengshou's eyes were full of gold stars, and he was terrified, trembling in his heart, and he didn't even dare to think about sending troops to stop the Japanese army.

Hurriedly sent a telegram to express his loyalty, he was confused by the small profit in front of him, his vision was not long-term, and he did not understand Chief Yan's intentions, whether it was in the past or in the future, only Chief Yan was the first to look forward, and the others ignored it, and after sending the telegram, he still didn't have the bottom in his heart, so he quickly packed up and rushed to Taiyuan overnight, ready to ask Chief Yan for his guilt in person.

Sitting in the bumpy car, Zhao Chengshou was still confused, and he couldn't figure out how the entire northwest Hebei region, connected to the grassland on the dam, carrying the strategic place of Zhangjiakou, how cheap it was, why did the old man still say that it was a small profit? He felt more and more unable to see through this Chief Yan who controlled his own destiny.

In fact, it is very simple, Yan Xishan's abacus is very loud, the importance of Zhangjiakou, he knows very well, it is precisely because he sees this, he doesn't want this hot potato, can the Japanese tolerate the strategically important Zhangjiakou, occupied by themselves? If you don't have to fight for it repeatedly, how many families are enough to fill the holes of dissatisfaction?

Tang Qiuli this doll, scheming unfathomable, cunning, he gave my old man a cheap on the surface, in fact, it was for me to have a face-to-face conflict with the Japanese, killing two birds with one stone, that is, consuming the Jin army, and consuming the Japanese, and when my old man and the Japanese were exhausted, he suddenly sent troops, picked up a cheap, a paper order, Zhangjiakou is a strategic place, should be considered in the overall situation, my old man can't grab it, can't fight, and don't eat dumb losses.

Yan Xishan twisted his beard with a sneer, as if he had seen through Tang Qiuli's intentions, not to be fooled, not a single soldier came out, Tang Qiuli was held accountable, and he had Zhao Chengshou on his own, and it was time to teach him a lesson, without my consent, he dared to take charge of the army, and besides, he was sure that Tang Qiuli would not let Shanxi fall into the hands of the Japanese at all, even if Tang Qiuli was offended to the end, Shanxi was in trouble, and Tang Qiuli had to go all out to rescue.

The so-called "living the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain", it is precisely because he thinks that he has seen through this point that Yan Xishan dares to repeatedly disobey Tang Qiuli's orders, and makes up his mind that in the future, all the wars, the Jin army will not participate lightly, don't you know, Yan Xishan's practices and ideas have laid the root of the curse for himself, and this incident in Wei County has made Tang Qiuli completely lose even a little trust in Yan Xishan and the Jin army.

At this time, in Tang Qiuli's heart, Yan Xishan and the Jin army have been removed, it is only a matter of time, and the force that will dominate Shanxi in the future is none other than the CCP's Eighth Route Army, he would rather hand over Shanxi to the CCP than let Yan Xishan do this bad thing, as for whether Tang Qiuli is as insidious and cunning as Yan Xishan thought, it is impossible to say, however, one thing can be guaranteed, the reason why Tang Qiuli did this, purely for the sake of the big picture.

Tang Qiusheng broke into the urban area of Shijiazhuang with the strength of two brigades, and the Japanese troops of a wing of Shijiazhuang could not defend such a large defense area at all, and in the peripheral positions, the troops of a brigade were swept away by the troops of the independent division at once, and the commander of the Japanese army saw that things were not good, and hurriedly shrank his troops, retreated into the urban area, and prepared to fight street battles with the Chinese army.

He received an order from Okamura Ningji, to defend Shijiazhuang, waiting for reinforcements, defense requires strength, with the strength of two brigades, to defend to the death, the Japanese wing captain muttered in his heart, it is almost like sending to death, the order of His Excellency the commander can not but be carried out, desperately, the Japanese soldiers under the command of the wing commander, fought extremely fiercely, every street, every house, has become the focus of contention.

The situation of the fierce street fighting in the urban area of Shijiazhuang was reported to Tang Qiusheng, who organized defense on the periphery, he frowned slightly, and with the strength of two brigades, he attacked Shijiazhuang, which was defended by only one wing, and fought so fiercely.

He ordered the two brigade commanders to change their fighting style, not to push flat on the front line, not to fight with the Japanese army point by point, and each unit to take the company as a unit, boldly interspersed, divide and encircle the Japanese army in the isolated stronghold, and then destroy it with artillery fire, and keep those cannons without use, will it not fight? At the end of the order, in a reproachful tone, he asked the two brigade commanders who commanded the operation.

The two brigade commanders who received the order were ashamed and immediately changed their tactics, this time, the battle was fought extremely smoothly, the attacking troops were divided into countless units, like sharp knives, ignoring the enemy behind them, never entangled, and divided the Japanese troops scattered in the city into isolated points, found a Japanese stronghold, immediately surrounded it, called for artillery fire to cover, and the mortars who followed the troops to attack showed their might, and the shells drilled into the houses like long eyes, and one by one the Japanese blocking points were cleared.

At about 4 o'clock in the morning, in the urban area of Shijiazhuang, the gunfire gradually subsided, only the burning buildings, still smoking and flames, everywhere there were traces of the fierce battle, a wing of Japanese troops, faithfully carried out the order of their commander Okamura Ningji, all buried in Shijiazhuang, from the wing commander below the 3,800 people, none of them survived.

This strategic place on the Jizhong Plain, the transportation hub of Cangshi Road and Pinghan Road, and the important strategic support point of the Japanese army in the central and southern parts of Hebei, since the July 7 Incident, once again fell into the hands of the independent division troops, and the city that the Japanese worked hard to run was cheaper than Tang Qiuli.

(To be continued)