The battle clouds are thick!

The headquarters of the Second World War Zone Governor's Office in Linfen has become a mess. Since learning from many sources (including intelligence from the North China Region and Shanxi Station of the Military Command) that the Sena Division and the Yamaoka Division of the Japanese Army were about to launch a large-scale offensive in Shanxi, the entire Second Theater became nervous.

Yan Xishan, who was sitting in the governor's department, was cursing the damned Japanese with hatred and anger at the moment. He originally thought that after the Battle of Taiyuan, Shanxi would maintain a stalemate of no war and no peace, after all, the number of Japanese troops was too small. According to the information he had, at present, the Japanese army has sent only 15 divisions and regiments in the entire Chinese battlefield, and the divisions and regiments subordinate to the North China Front Army are only eight. These eight divisions and regiments, at full capacity, will not exceed 180,000 people, and they are scattered in the five provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Chahar, Shandong, and Henan.

"The little devil wants to swallow our Sanjin in one bite, but unfortunately it doesn't have that much appetite." These are the words that Commander Yan has said on more than one private occasion after the defeat of Taiyuan, and his degree of pride seems to be a great honor to be able to occupy half of Shanxi with the Japanese.

However, Yan Laoxi, who was good at calculation, still sent people to cross the Yellow River in advance, and built a large number of buildings on the border of Shaanxi, and transferred schools and factories; In fact, he knew very well that the Japanese were not in Shanxi at present, but once they reconcentrated their heavy forces to seize the entire territory of Shanxi, with the existing strength of his commander of the Second Theater, he would not be able to resist it in any way.

Fortunately, there is the Yellow River moat, and fortunately, there is Shaanxi.

But what ordered Yan Xishan to leave the anger at the moment was that the Japanese, with only two divisions and regiments stationed in Shanxi and a mere 30,000 or 40,000 horses, wanted to expel him, the king of Shanxi—it was really too deceitful!

The commander dialed the brass abacus in his heart.

Now, on the territory of southwest Shanxi, the Jin Sui Army under his control includes Fu Zuoyi's 35th Army, Wang Jingguo's 19th Army, Chen Changjie's 61st Army, Guo Zongfen's 71st Division, Du Chunyi's 66th Division, and Zheng Yuan's 12th Brigade (which should be in the Lingshi area of Tongpu Road); These three armies have two divisions and one brigade, with a total strength of seventy or eighty thousand people (in addition, a cavalry army of Zhao Chengshou is far away in the area of Hequ and Baode in the northwest of Shanxi); These are all descendants who have followed him for many years, and although their combat effectiveness is average, it goes without saying that they are loyal.

At the same time, there was also Wei Lihuang, who was the deputy commander and former commander-in-chief of the enemy, and the Central Army under his command: Li Mo'an's 14th Army, Liu Maoen's 15th Army, and Gao Guizi's 17th Army, each of which is currently stationed in the towns along the southern section of the Tongpu Railway; Wan Fulin's 53rd Army was stationed in Jincheng in southern Jinnan (Deng Xihou's Sichuan Army, which was sent to the Fifth War Zone by Li Zongren at the end of last year).

And, of course, the Eighth Route Army! It doesn't matter if there are other troops, but Lin Biao is now wandering around under the nose of his Linfen Commander's Department with a brigade of the 115th Division.

Yan Xishan was crackling and dialing in the abacus, and thought angrily: The Jin Sui Army, the Central Army, and the Eighth Route Army add up to no less than 200,000, could it be that the little Japanese is blind and takes the initiative to provoke with two divisions? !

However, Yan Xishan, the chief of staff of the theater, was relatively calm, he stood in front of the huge military map of Shanxi hanging on the wall, stared at the Tongpu railway line outlined in thick dark strokes on the map, and did not speak for a long time. It wasn't until the commander had vented his anger that the chief of staff said:

"Director, I think that the reason why the Japanese army dares to attack the south on a large scale with less than two divisions and regiments is obviously to rely on their powerful mobility ability to forcibly split the defense line of our theater."

"How?" Yan Xishan still snorted angrily.

"Tongpu Road, they are bound to start from Tongpu Road," the chief of staff pointed to the conspicuous Tongpu Road on the map: "Seize the towns along the railway line one by one and hold them one by one, so that once our troops counterattack, they can rely on their mobility on the railway line to quickly transport troops to the relevant combat area."

"In other words, although the Japanese do not have many troops, they can rely on the railways to send a small number of troops to where they are needed."

"Exactly! In this way, they will be able to achieve superiority in forces in local battlefields, and thus reduce the disadvantage of the decline in combat effectiveness caused by insufficient troops. ”

"How many small trains can the Japanese have?" The commander of the Second War Zone rolled his eyes, before the fall of Taiyuan, he ordered almost all the trains on the platform to be taken away, and the front and carriages of the locomotives and carriages that the Japanese are now using on Tongpu Road should have been left near the Datong area in northern Jinbei and too late to drive away at that time.

"Don't forget that there is also Zhengtai Road," the chief of staff followed dryly: "The first theater of operations in Shijiazhuang almost retreated without a fight, and the Japanese North China Front drove almost all the small trains captured on the Zhengtai Line to Shanxi. ”

Zhengtai Road, like Tongpu Road in Shanxi, is a one-meter narrow gauge paved, which cannot be connected with the domestic standard track (such as Pinghan Line, Jinpu Line, etc.) at that time, but the two can communicate with each other.

"Damn! In this way, we spent a lot of money to repair Tongpu Road back then, which was convenient for these little Japanese! Yan Xishan's face became extremely ugly, and after a pause, he turned to ask: "Chief Wei is responsible for defending the line along the Tongpu Road, in your opinion, can his central army hold the railway line?" ”

The Wei chief that Yan Xishan said was Wei Lihuang.

The chief of staff shook his head, his expression was a little miserable: "Director, you should know that Chief Wei's subordinates are nominally the Central Army, but in fact they are all miscellaneous cards. In addition to Li Mo'an's 14th Army, which still has some combat effectiveness, the 15th Army and the 17th Army cannot fight a tough battle at all. ”

The commander of the Second World War Zone did not say a word, of course he knew what the chief of staff said, but he still had some luck. It is said that at the moment assembled in Wencheng and preparing to go south along the Tongpu Road, it is a mixed brigade of the Sena Division of the Japanese Army; Assembled in Fenyang and Xiaoyi, preparing to go south along the Taixi Highway (Taiyuan to Xi County, an important town in the southwest of Shanxi), it was a mixed brigade of the Shangang Division.

Sena Division, Yamaoka Division!

Yan Xishan was silent in his heart: It's an enemy, sooner or later, we will get together! These two Japanese divisions sent troops from Hebei last year and entered Shanxi after capturing Niangzi Pass; At that time, he and the troops of the chief of the guard were busy fighting the dog mongrel in Xinkou, but they were attacked from the flank and had to retreat. At that time, he was in a hurry, and he could not fight the two divisions who were stabbed in the back; Now, it is these two divisions that are coming to the door from the front!

"Xi County must be defended!" Yan Xishan's thinking began to jump, Xi County is the center of his territory in the southwest of Shanxi, radiating from all sides to control many counties and townships and highways, Yan's three armies and two divisions are currently stationed in Xi County as the core: "Tell Wang Jingguo that the Nineteenth Army will die to protect Xi County, and there must be no loss!" ”

Of course, the chief of staff also knew the importance of Xi County: if the towns along the Tongpu Road could not be defended, then it would be a matter of time before Linfen, as the location of the headquarters of the World War II Commander, was lost. As soon as Linfen is lost, Chief Wei can take the central army to hide in Zhongtiao Mountain, or even cross the Yellow River to Henan, but Chief Yan is going to Shaanxi - Qiulin Town on the other side of the Yellow River is building a lot of construction in order to be cunning rabbit three caves - and to Shaanxi, it is necessary to ensure that the barrier of Xi County is not lost, so as to ensure that the governor's department and the provincial government can calmly cross the river.

"Let Chief Wei deal with the Sena Division, let's do a job with the Yamaoka Division! Lao Tzu doesn't believe it, we have 70,000 or 80,000 guns, and we can't kill the 10,000 people of the Shangang Division! ”

When he said this, Chief Yan was arrogant, as if he had found the full confidence he had in the battle against Itagaki Seishiro in Xinkou last year.

The abnormal movement of the Japanese troops stationed in Shanxi not only alarmed the main forces of the Second World War Zone in southern and southwestern Shanxi, but also made the 391st Regiment of the Central Army in the Great Elm Mountain smell an unusual smell.

Ever since he sent the spy company commander Zhao Mutou to Fengdian to touch the bottom of the Japanese army defending the city, and reported the atrocities of the devil soldiers slaughtering the city behind closed doors, the regiment commander Qin Zhongxiao has been thinking about how to fight with the Otsuka Wing in the county town again.

The information brought back by Zhao Mutou basically established the hole card of the Japanese army in Fengdian. An infantry brigade, and a brigade that had just experienced the siege of Fengdian, excluding its battle losses, should have been around eight hundred soldiers; The heavy armament consisted of two 92 infantry guns and four 92 heavy machine guns.

So, where did the main force of Otsuka United's drive to?

Don't think about it.

Qin Zhongxiao compared the strength at hand: there was a slight advantage in numbers, but there were no heavy weapons; There should be a dozen, the key is to see how to fight?

If the Japanese brigade does not come out of the county seat, then it is obviously impossible to attack the storm with only one broken regiment of its own, without artillery. This annoyed the colonel of the Central Army: Damn, when he was defending the city, the little devil was bombarding the city with cannons; Now it's the turn of the Japanese to defend the city, and they can't even get a single shell themselves - it's fucking unfair!

It would be ideal if one of them could be lured out of the city and set up an ambush to fight. However, how can you attract the devil soldiers? Qin Zhongxiao discussed with the chief of staff and several battalion and company commanders for a long time, but he could not come up with a convincing reason to lure the enemy.

Then I had to go into the city and fight.

This time, the spy company commander and his subordinates successfully infiltrated the county seat, allowing Qin Zhongxiao to see an opportunity; The city gate is open to the north and south on weekdays, and the entrance and exit are free during the day. Obviously, the devils don't take the possible military threats around them very seriously.

Zhao Mutou said that the north and south gates that were opened during the day were also guarded by only a small team of Japanese troops. There are more than a dozen people inside and outside the gatehouse, and there are also more than a dozen people on the gatehouse and the city wall around the gatehouse, and the rest sleep in nearby houses (shops or houses) during the day, waiting for the night shift to carry out the star.

"Let's send people into the city first," Qin Zhongxiao had a preliminary plan: "The number of people is controlled at about a few dozen, and after entering the city, we will monitor the devils guarding the gate inside the city gate; Then, according to the appointed time, he suddenly attacked the defenders of the city gate from the inside and outside. After capturing a city gate, he let a company in, knocked out the Japanese squad guarding the gate, and then withdrew. ”

"If the little devil dares to chase him out of the city, he can take advantage of the situation to set up an ambush outside the city and beat it for a dog day!" The commander of the spy company excitedly agreed.