…… In the final autumn offensive, according to the results of the initial discussion by Kong Jie and other generals, the Eighth Route Army's combat methods should be like the original guerrilla warfare and movement warfare, with characteristics that the Japanese army could not control.

Therefore, the development of the autumn formula is the biggest gimmick of besieging Taiyuan City.

However, the actual combat mode does not completely revolve around Taiyuan City.

Instead, they want to lead the little devil by the nose and mobilize all the Japanese troops in North China and even in Central and East China, so that the devil's occupation area will fall into chaos and take the opportunity to expand the base areas.

It is necessary to open up the links between the various base areas and further strengthen the troops.

Therefore, the original Luliangshan base area was preparing to attack the troops in Taiyuan City, but due to the change of the battle plan, the number one main brigade, the 358th Brigade, was dropped in the direction of Datong, and was prepared to wait for the main force of the 26th Division of the Devils to come forward to reinforce after the siege of Taiyuan began, and completely destroyed the production base established by the Devils in Datong.

After the main brigade and several main regiments of the military region attached to it were transferred, most of the original 10 reinforced regiments of the first echelon responsible for the offensive were basically transferred.

At this time, the pressure was put on the commander of the 359th Brigade from Yan'an.

All his troops were dispatched, as well as several main regiments sent by the Yan'an Left-behind Corps, as well as more than a dozen ordinary regiments of the Luliang Military Region, and the new 32nd Division, the main force of the 35th Army, which Lao Fu came to help in the battle.

In order to withstand the pressure and carry out the operation according to the plan, we can only carry out offensive and defensive drills on the fortification group in the west of Devil City day and night, and strive to run in the troops.

Commander Wang sent the 359th Brigade to the first echelon, and Commander Yuan of the newly formed 32nd Division also sent the most elite special service group of the division headquarters to join.

The first echelon consisted of the 359 Brigade, the new 32 Division Special Service Regiment, and the 358 Brigade left two main regiments.

The main regiment of the new 32nd Division, the main regiment of the Yan'an Left-behind Corps, served as the second echelon.

The remaining dozen or so ordinary regiments of the Luliangshan Military Region serve as the third echelon.

The special service regiment, the mechanized infantry regiment, the second combat engineer regiment, the model regiment, the teaching regiment and other units directly under the military region serve as reserves.

The artillery support was carried out by the 2nd Heavy Artillery Brigade directly under it - the originally planned 1st Artillery Group was transferred to the Datong direction.

At the pre-war meeting, Commander Wang said: "The devils are as familiar with this mountainous area as we are, so in addition to hard training, we must also do a good job of fortification camouflage and fake fortification construction, and fake fortification construction should be done according to the habits of devils, and strive to deceive more shells."

At the same time, the heavy artillery units of the military region and the artillery units of all regiments should closely coordinate with each other, give unified command, divide areas well, and do a good job in communications work.

In addition, various units should cooperate with each unit to give full play to our superiority by coordinating with the mountain warfare training team and the ground-air liaison group, and this time the front-line troops will also have air reinforcements in addition to heavy artillery units, and everyone should be familiar with this new mode of operation. ”

Commander Yuan of the newly formed 32nd Division said: "Our troops have been temporarily adjusted to the first echelon, and in order to reduce the burden on the hearts of the soldiers, we can organize everyone to visit our heavy artillery units and familiarize themselves with the power of these artillery, and it is best to contact the air force of the air force to train them in a tacit understanding of mutual contact." ”

In the command headquarters, everyone agreed very much with this idea, and immediately organized actual combat drills to show the combat backbone of each unit the heavy artillery firing of the Eighth Route Army.

Even to observe the operation of an air detachment that came out at night to harass the devil's airfield.

In this way, although the 35th Route Army, which initially cooperated with the Eighth Route Army, may still have problems, it can at least dispel the doubts of the soldiers and make the troops full of confidence.

At this time, there was also an episode in the movement of troops.

Take the fighters of the 359 Brigade Main Assault Regiment as an example, when they arrived at Luliang Mountain, their equipment was changed, and the troops were all equipped with light and heavy machine guns and mortars for the first time, and there were even many grenade launchers, blow torches, recoilless guns, flamethrowers, shotguns, submachine guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, heavy mortars, and blast barrel launchers.

There are even heavy artillery and aviation units that can be called, and the eyes are almost dazzled, and bullets and grenades are even more hard to hold.

The soldier of the quartermaster department said regretfully: "It's a pity that the Weilong rocket artillery has been transferred to Datong, otherwise you can still see the big fireworks!" ”

Some of the commanders of the 359 Brigade were stunned.

shouted: "Didn't you rob the little devil's war arsenal, right?" ”

Eventually, the training began, despite the initial loopholes.

For example, during night training, the flamethrower team did not cooperate well and even burned friendly troops!

Of course, it's not really burned, it's sprayed dyed water to be used for military exercises, but if this is really on the battlefield, such a bad cooperation, it will really cause accidental injury.

In addition, the sappers did not break through the obstacles in time, which led to the fact that the attacking troops were bombed by minefields and suffered "heavy losses."

Some of the infantry rushed so hard that they even forgot to call in artillery or air reinforcements, resulting in unnecessary casualties.

There are also the newly formed 32nd Division, which originally did not trust the long-range artillery units, especially the second heavy artillery brigade, which was composed of the original artillery units of the Central Army in the prisoner of war camp that was previously rescued in the Luliangshan area.

They knew that during the Battle of Songhu, the heavy artillery units of the national army could not even hear a sound, and the shells did not know where to go.

Therefore, during the training, the coordination of the ground artillery was not very good, and the coordinates were reported incorrectly and almost blew up their own troops, and when they fired training shells, shrapnel still flew out, and even injured the people at the forward artillery observation post of the 32nd Division.

The cry of pain could be heard all over the mountain!

However, the generals knew very well that casualties could only be avoided if the tacit understanding was honed in advance during the pre-war military exercises, which were really on the battlefield.

It's okay to sweat and bleed a little during training, it's better than going to the battlefield and dying to death.

That is, now that the conditions are in place, military exercises of this scale can be carried out even before the start of military operations, when the situation is relatively stable.

All kinds of training equipment, exercise firearms, and even more varied.

This was unthinkable in the past!

Therefore, in the initial run-in, although there were many problems, the officers and men of various units devoted themselves to incomparable enthusiasm and actively trained and sharpened.

In the end, it was gradually confirmed on the battlefield how important military simulation exercises are before the war.

After the troops have trained each other tacit understanding, adjusted their mentality, and have absolute preparation and self-confidence, after they are officially put into battle, the overall combat effectiveness and momentum displayed are completely different.

After the autumn offensive was officially launched, all parties of the Eighth Route Army prepared troops to attack Taiyuan and besiege Taiyuan City.

Taiyuan was in an emergency overnight, and the old devil Iwamatsu Yoshio who was in charge of the headquarters couldn't sit still at all.

He never expected the Eight-Way Thunder Offensive to come so suddenly.

Just a few days ago, he also received news that the base areas of the Eighth Route Army were calm, and it seemed that they were still recuperating, and both sides were still in a state of temporary ceasefire!

Unbeknownst to him, the battle broke out so suddenly.

The Eighth Route launched a surprise attack that night, taking the most effective night battle offensive.

The defending Japanese army was in a mess, and it was completely unclear about the distribution of the Eighth Route Army's assembly areas and forward troops, so they could only blindly shell some of the assembly areas deliberately exposed by the Eighth Route Army, wasting a lot of shells, not to mention, and then they were counterattacked by the long-range cannon units of the Eighth Route Army, and the losses were not small.

Before the war, Brigade Commander Zhang said: "Attack at night, the devils are caught off guard, and when they want to organize a counterattack during the day, let's call the air team from the Taihang area to bomb the damn one, and after the air reinforcements are over, the second echelon will take over the attack and don't give the devils time to breathe!" ”

The plan for air supremacy drawn up before the war was to first bomb the poorly prepared devil airfields in the distance, use Taiyuan to attract devil planes from nearby airfields, and then use wheel tactics to defeat these nearest Japanese air teams.

At this time, the flying team of the devils flew from farther away, and then used wheel warfare to deal with them, even if it was a fighter formation composed of the most powerful ace pilots, in the home field of the Eighth Route Army, they were beaten by wheel warfare, and there was always a time when they were negligent and tired.

The P38 lightning fighter is the main force, the five fighters are assisted, one is medium-altitude, one is high-altitude, and the Zhong Kui fighter squadron is high-altitude guard.

The La-5 fighter changed its engine, strengthened its protection, and did anti-corrosion treatment. The P38 fighter has an improved cooling system that allows the two engines to cool independently for improved protection.

As Kong Jie said before the war: "According to our preparations, this time it is the devil's most advanced Zero fighter, and he will not be afraid of him." La Wu specializes in fighting with the Zero at low and medium altitudes, and has better mobility than them.

Then replace the cannon drum with a chain, in addition to the newly introduced mosquito bomber, and some are equipped with airborne radar, in the case of the limited investment of the Japanese army's flight troops, it is a tough encounter, and we may not be vain! ”

In terms of the 35th Route Army, Commander Fu is now more and more Wang Ba, and he is determined to fight against the Eighth Route Army.

Before the war, he also went to the Luliangshan training ground to do pre-war mobilization.

He held a flag in his hand, and said to the combat troops in a righteous and awe-inspiring manner: "When I was the commander of Taiyuan City Defense, I lost Taiyuan City with my own hands, I am ashamed of the country, ashamed of the nation, this military flag was brought out when I withdrew from Taiyuan City, this Taiyuan siege battle, who planted this flag on the Taiyuan City Gate Tower, I Fu someone not only gave him merit, but also poured wine for you warriors at the celebration banquet." ”

The troops participating in the battle immediately shouted: Eliminate the Japanese invaders and recover Taiyuan!

After the end of the oil field scuffle in the Mengxi area.

The northward advance detachment of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, the 35th Army in the Baotou area, the Daqingshan detachment in the Houhe area, and the Yanbei detachment outside Zhangjiakou gradually gained a firm foothold and drove the troops stationed in Mongolia to Datong, Zhangjiakou and Mengdong.

The territory of the troops stationed in Mongolia has shrunk significantly.

The 26th Division in Datong, the Southern Chariot Brigade in Zhangjiakou and the Independent Second Mixed Brigade defending the city, as well as the units directly under the military headquarters, as well as the Xitian Cavalry Group in the eastern part of Mengdong, were all severely damaged and closed off the city, and they did not go to war if they were provoked by the Eighth Route Army.

After Okabe took office, he was greatly dissatisfied when he learned that the troops stationed in Mongolia had shrunk like this.

He did not give priority to replenishing troops, heavy weapons, and supplies, so he parachuted in a group of officers and supplemented some bombers and fighter units, and asked them to organize flight teams, cavalry teams, and armored detachments to take turns to raid and harass the base areas of the Eighth Route Army in the area under his jurisdiction.

In a communication, Okabe told the headquarters of the army stationed in Mongolia, "In Shanxi, Shandong, and Hebei, the air force has been attacking everywhere very effectively, and you should also learn from it, organize the air force to raid the base areas of the Eighth Route Army and the 35th Army in an irregular manner, as well as those nomadic tribes who have betrayed the imperial army."

At the same time, secretly organize armored detachments and cavalry detachments, and go out of the city to raid the Eighth Route Army, but you can't defeat the large army of the Eighth Route Army. ”

Okabe has given orders in this way, and the commander of the army stationed in Mongolia has to carry it out no matter how unwilling he is, and the sneak attack of the air corps organized at the beginning has some effect, but it will not work after the Eighth Route Army strengthens its vigilance and strengthens its mobile air defense forces.

So the devil sacrificed the armored detachment again, and as a result, the Eighth Route Army had already been waiting for the devil to come out outside the city, and after losing several elite armored squadrons one after another, the commander of the devil was so angry that he scolded Okabe for being stupid, and it was clear that he was going out of the city to die.

In the end, they could only send cavalry units with small targets and good mobility, but before they set off, the air guerrilla tactics of the Eighth Route Army began to be implemented.

Those horses ran everywhere all night.

Since then, the Mongolian army has run out of axes, and although the results are not good, they have fooled the old devil Okabe.

Staff Officer Chen of the 35th Army, who rushed back to Baotou to command the troops and prepared to go south, also held a secret meeting with the top leaders of the 35th Army, the responsible persons of the Daqingshan Base Area, the responsible persons of the Northern Advance Detachment, the Lao Song of the Yanbei Detachment, and the responsible persons of the Inner Mongolia Guerrilla Corps.

Staff Officer Chen of the 35th Army said: "The devils in Zhangjiakou are afraid of being beaten by you, and they probably don't dare to attack, so we have to find some way to deceive them."

Simply I sent the 101st Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division to the direction of Houhe to guard against the devil cavalry group in the eastern Mengdong area; The main force of the new 31st Division and the main force of the 4th Cavalry Division passed through the area of Zhangjiakou in the south of Guisui; The rest of the provisional division remained in the Guisui area as a reserve.

The plan was for the first batch of the main forces of the army to go to Taiyuan to participate in the war; The second batch of troops went to Zhangjiakou to contain the devils stationed in Mongolia; The third group of troops went to the Houhe area to garrison.

In addition to the rapid action of the first batch of troops to Taiyuan, the follow-up troops could not act in a hurry, marching slowly all the way, and held anti-Japanese meetings in every place they went, and organized these vengeful youths of various tribes who had been persecuted by the devil's air raids and integrated them into the guerrilla corps.

While marching and training, it is to tell the devil that we are here, but we are here to feint, and we have walked for a week, and we have not walked a few miles.

In particular, the troops of the Fourth Division of the elite cavalry, together with the armored troops left in the Baotou area by the Eighth Route Army, were reorganized into armored units.

This time the armored corps and cavalry were dispatched, marching separately, ostensibly only cavalry.

The purpose is to wait for the main force of Jinchaji and the 386 Brigade to attack the Baoding area, and when the Japanese army in Zhangjiakou goes south to relieve the siege, let's go straight to Zhangjiakou! ”

This was the first large-scale joint operation between the 35th Army and the Eighth Route Army.

Commander Fu even said that after the battle was fought, each soldier would be paid an extra year's salary, so the morale was extremely high, and the soldiers said that they would be the first to rush into the headquarters of the Mongolian army.

The northward detachment assisted Brigade Commander Zhang in attacking Datong.

Lao Song of the Yanbei detachment said that they were responsible for arranging pockets in the base area, waiting for the main force of the devils to go south to surround them, and when Staff Officer Chen and his party attacked quickly, they would not only take down Zhangjiakou, but also eat all the main forces going south.

After a day of discussion, everyone expressed their full cooperation and completed the task after assigning the task.

"Comrades, when the time comes, everyone will see you at the headquarters of the Mongolian army in Zhangjiakou, and I will invite you to drink!" Heroic words echoed in the headquarters.

(End of chapter)