Chapter 205 The Battle of the Zhengtai Railway is Unfavorable
The number of reinforcements sent by the Mongolian Army was quite large. Their total strength could not exceed 8,000.
The Moon Army has two independent infantry brigades and two field infantry brigades.
The puppet Mongolian army has the seventh division and three garrison units.
But after continuous fighting, they have now paid heavy casualties.
The two independent infantry brigades were fully equipped with 1,600 men, and only about 1,300 men were left at this time.
The two field infantry brigades have a full strength of 2,500 men, and currently have 2,200 men.
The casualties of the Japanese troops were around 500, and a number of their heavy weapons and equipment were destroyed.
The 7th Division of the Puppet Mongolian Army has three cavalry regiments, one cavalry artillery regiment, and about 2,000 auxiliary troops in the east.
But now they only have more than 700 cavalrymen left, and they have suffered more than 400 cavalry casualties.
The three garrison units had a full strength of 2,100 men. After successive battles, their strength was reduced to 1,700 men.
The puppet troops suffered 1,400 casualties and losses, but they gained nothing, not even the whole village or town.
Of course, compared with the casualties and losses of the 48th Independent Brigade, it seems that the losses of the Japs were less than those of the Shanxi-Sui Army.
However, the independent 48th Brigade calculated the total casualties of the independent 48th Brigade after entering Xinxian County, and the independent mixed 4th Brigade, and the reinforcements of the Mongolian Army.
For example, the 1st Battalion of the 358th Regiment was not at full strength before they faced the troops stationed in Mongolia.
"Before fighting them, the 48th Independent Brigade had already fought continuously with the Independent 4th Mixed Brigade. Did they suffer any casualties themselves?"
"And based on what they learned before the battle, their overall military strength in the Qicun Town area is not very large, with more than 3,000 troops."
"Is it possible that all their main forces were dispatched, but they didn't gain anything and instead suffered such losses?"
"Do we want him to evacuate Xin County in embarrassment and return to northern Shanxi in disgrace just like he did here?"
Harada Kenzo looked at the officers of the Moon Puppet Army and said in a cold tone.
Of course, his anger has subsided a lot by now, and the relevant Yue puppet soldiers were also slapped repeatedly by him.
Most of the dozens of Yue puppet army officers present had red and swollen cheeks, and all of them had their heads lowered, with expressions of fear and uneasiness on their faces.
Especially the officers of the Puppet Mongolian Army, do they know how ruthless the little Japs are?
Therefore, those officers were afraid that Kenzo Harada would be angry, so they directly drew their sabers and begged for their lives.
"When Jiedong comes to fight, they can't continue to return without success."
"Gentlemen, the battle has now reached a critical moment, so they must strive for results."
"If they are still unable to achieve victory, then the joint operations of the Jinsui Army and the Eighth Route Army will bring them unimaginable losses."
"He believed that after that battle, we would learn lessons and the next battle from the east would definitely yield results."
Harada Kenzo took a deep breath and softened his tone.
He knew not to completely intimidate those officers, otherwise they would not be able to display their true strength.
Now he also needs to boost the morale of the Yue puppet troops. After all, they will play a key role in fighting in the east.
"Harada Taijun, please rest assured that if Jiedong comes to fight, they will definitely fight actively and cause heavy damage to the Jinsui Army."
"Their cavalry troops have learned their lesson and are asking to fight again. They will definitely let the Jinsui Army know how powerful they are."
"The Jinsui Army and the Eighth Route Army in the Xin County area will be completely annihilated by them sooner or later. They will not have any way to survive."
Lin Yunzhi, the commander of the 7th Division of the Puppet Mongolian Army, immediately raised his head and rushed to make a statement.
Other puppet army officers echoed the sentiment, saying that fighting in the east would definitely yield results.
After hearing the answers from the puppet army officers, Harada Kenzo nodded with satisfaction.
The four major commanders and captains of the Little Japs did not say that they would not let Harada Kenzo down if they came to fight in the east.
By four o'clock in the morning, Harada Kenzo began to issue combat orders.
He began to divide his forces, and the puppet troops fought separately with infantry and cavalry.
Harada Kenzo commanded the four-month army brigade, three puppet Mongolian army garrison, equipped with eight Liao-made field guns, and quickly advanced towards the hilly area.
Those infantrymen who wanted to be quickly and independently mixed into the Fourth Brigade troops would be integrated together to hold on to the hilly area with all their strength.
Lin Yunzhi commanded the main force of the 7th Division of the Puppet Mongolian Army, which consisted of more than 1,000 troops, otherwise he would conduct large-scale roundabout operations.
They refused to return to the Tongpu Railway, and then continued along the southeast along the Tongpu Railway to advance to the Xinkou Town area to start operations.
Li Yunlong's new regiment is currently building a position in Xinkou Town and continues to attack the hilly area to the west.
The purpose of Kenzo Harada's deployment was very simple. He wanted to gather all the troops and take the lead in destroying Li Yunlong's new regiment.
I'm actually wondering if there would have been greater risks in fighting the entire village without Lao Li commanding the new regiment to quickly attack the hills and form an independent fourth brigade.
The new regiment launched operations, and the independent mixed fourth brigade was unable to support the operation, which resulted in the Moon and puppet troops being very passive in subsequent operations.
After all, if only the nineteen artillery pieces were withdrawn from the battlefield, the offensive capability of the puppet troops would be weakened.
If those artillery pieces continue to provide support, even if Chen Ziyun personally directs them, it may be difficult to repel the Yue puppet troops so quickly.
Harada Kenzo had already received news from Tsuda Mitake. After learning that the Eighth Route Army had launched combat operations, he had his own ideas.
He planned to gather his troops in the hilly area and focus on attacking the Eighth Route Army.
Then they used the hilly terrain to hold on, attracting attacks from the Jinsui Army, and used defense to kill and injure Jinsui Army combatants.
Of course, the Jinsui Army could not stand still, and Kenzo Harada could use his full strength to attack the Eighth Route Army.
During the time it took to arrive from the east, the Yue puppet troops began to take action.
The puppet Mongolian cavalry unit set off first, with more than 700 cavalry equipped with eight Liao-made field guns and some auxiliary personnel.
More than a thousand troops, under the command of division commander Lin Yunzhi, quickly carried out large-scale roundabout operations.
After the cavalry left, the infantry of the Yue puppet army also began to set off quickly from Yanzhuang Town.
They advanced directly towards the hilly area, preparing to meet up with the independent mixed fourth brigade.
The puppet troops marched very fast, but they paid close attention to the situation on the battlefield.
At this time, they asked if there were troops attacking them, so that the puppet troops could respond immediately.
It was past four o'clock, and although the fiery red sun did not appear, the sky gradually became brighter.
It's August 26th now, and it's dawning very early.
The puppet army troops quickly moved towards the hilly area, while the two Little Japanese bombers came to Qicun Town in the air.
Aerial bombs were thrown directly into Qicun Town. With the sound of explosions, Qicun Town was completely turned into ruins.
After continuous bombing and shelling, there are no intact houses left in Qicun Town, and even the broken walls have been destroyed.
After Chu Yunfei and others received the report, their faces showed emotion.
Without Chen Ziyun's suggestion, the 48th Independent Brigade would have continued to arrange troops to defend Qicun Town, with disastrous consequences.
The Bunyue puppet troops, with the help of bombing, safely moved to the hills and made direct contact with the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade.
Harada Kenzo and Tsuda Mitake met for the first time, and whether there was any explanation from the First Army Headquarters.
The reinforcements sent by the Mongolian Army have arrived in Xin County. Can Harada Kenzo be able to conduct unified command of the operations?
What's more, at this time, the puppet troops brought by Harada Kenzo totaled more than 5,000 people, and the independent mixed fourth brigade only had more than 2,000 people at full strength.
"Tsuda-kun, he has established contact with the First Army Headquarters, and they have formulated a complete combat plan."
"Their combat focus will be to annihilate the Eighth Route Army in the Xinkou Town area of Tongpu Railway, and then make different combat arrangements according to the situation."
"He will deploy three puppet Mongolian army guards to fully cooperate with our operations. I hope you can quickly completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army."
"At the same time, the 7th Division of the Puppet Mongolian Army has also begun to set off. Once they appear in Xinkou Town, we can attack quickly."
"As for the Jinsui Army to the west of the hilly area, he will personally arrange the troops to defend and ensure that they will not threaten us."
Harada Kenzo brought Tsuda Mitake to the map, and he began to give orders.
Is the First Army Headquarters aware of Harada Kenzo's battle plan? Do Shinozuka Yoshio and Kusuyama Hideyoshi support it?
And they also made some changes to ensure that those troops could achieve results in Xin County.
Of course, as far as the First Army Headquarters is concerned, they are satisfied as long as the puppet troops there can contain the 48th Independent Brigade in Xin County.
As for the annihilation of the 48th Independent Brigade, the First Army Headquarters would not dare to think about it. After all, that unit is too strong.
Mitake Tsuda's face was calm on the outside, but he was full of reluctance on the outside.
As long as it doesn't hinder the order, he can nod and agree to Donglai.
The two young Japanese major generals divided their work, and the puppet troops were mobilized again.
Tsuda Mitake commanded more than 3,000 Yue puppet troops, gradually approaching the east side of the hills.
Eight field guns, eight Liao-made artillery pieces, and three mountain cannons also began to receive some ammunition replenishment.
When reinforcements from the Mongolian Army came, did they bring some ammunition to the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade?
As for Harada Kenzo, who commanded more than 3,000 Lunar Army troops and hundreds of puppet Mongolian artillery, he would not immediately deploy defensive positions.
They advocated a defense in the western part of the hills to contain the Shanxi-Sui Army troops and prevent them from rushing to support the new regiment to fight.
Mitake Tsuda also immediately contacted Lin Yunzhi, commander of the 7th Division of the Puppet Mongolian Army, through the communications corps.
They will soon conduct coordinated operations and attack Li Yunlong's new regiment with all their strength.
As early as six o'clock, the fiery red sun slowly appeared in the east of the sky.
It was at that time that the puppet Mongolian cavalry troops advanced to the Xinkou Town area.
The puppet Mongolian cavalry in Bu Nao did not attack immediately, but stopped hiding to rest.
After all, that unit cannot fight continuously or carry out large-scale maneuvers, so it will consume a lot of physical energy.
The Japanese and puppet troops contacted each other, and they decided to launch the attack at ten o'clock in the afternoon.
At seven o'clock, two reconnaissance planes arrived at Xin County.
They began to conduct reconnaissance, trying to pinpoint the specific locations of the Jinsui Army and the Eighth Route Army.
At this time, we were at the headquarters of the New Regiment in Xinkou Town.
Li Yunlong stood in front of the map, with a thoughtful expression on his face.
After the battle in the Pingdingshan area, the overall strength of the new regiment has not declined but increased, especially in terms of weapons and equipment, which has been strengthened again.
The local armed forces, which were originally tasked with providing heavy troops, began to be selected by Li Yunlong and suitable soldiers were quickly added to the army.
Now the new regiment has been reorganized on a certain scale. The regiment headquarters has artillery companies, machine gun companies, cavalry companies and other units directly under the regiment headquarters.
Do the troops directly under the regiment headquarters have six heavy machine guns, four 82MM mortars, three infantry cannons, two mountain cannons, and more than 100 cavalry troops?
There are three infantry battalions, each directly under the machine gun company, each machine gun company is equipped with four heavy machine guns.
And each of their infantry companies has nine grenades and nine light machine guns.
Zhang Dabiao's 1st Battalion is not the main battalion, so it has three infantry companies in the east, and each company has an extra 60MM mortar.
Li Yunlong gathered the requested artillery at the regiment headquarters so that the artillery could concentrate fire to provide artillery support for the infantry.
"Old Zhao, what's wrong? You're looking sad."
"I don't have to worry. There are more than two thousand little devils in the hills. We will eat them bit by bit."
"I heard that the Jinsui Army won the battle in Qicun Town, and the reinforcements of the Yue Puppet Army from northern Shanxi were directly repelled by them."
"Chu Yunfei and Chen Ziyun are both capable. We will definitely achieve results in that battle."
At this time, Li Yunlong was thinking about an attack plan, but when Zhao Gang came over, he said with a smile.
After Zhao Gang's several performances, Li Yunlong's attitude towards him changed a lot.
"Captain, it's not about what's going on here, it's about the message just sent by the brigade headquarters."
"The little devils over in Hebei Province have organized reinforcements, and they are advancing westward along the Zhengtai-Taiwan Railway."
"The brother troops in Ji Province fought with them one after another and suffered heavy casualties."
"In addition, at the Zhengtai Railway in Shanxi Province, there is an elite force of Japs. They have launched combat operations one after another."
"In our brigade alone, dozens of artillerymen were killed, and many cadres were shot coldly."
"The battle on the Zhengtai Railway was contained, and the casualties among various departments were considerable."
Zhao Gang took a telegram and handed it directly to Li Yunlong.
Of course, he also knew that Li Yunlong was illiterate, so he took the initiative to reveal the contents of the message.
Li Yunlong did not read the message, but looked at the map with a solemn expression on his face.
At this time, the Yue Army Front of Hebei Province transferred the 110th Division directly under the Central Government and assigned it to the heavy weapons troops directly under the Central Government for combat operations.
That multi-arms force could be said to be invincible in Hebei Province, which resulted in certain casualties among the troops fighting in Hebei Province.
Moreover, that unit will soon pass through the railway and directly enter Jin Province to fight.
At the same time, in Shanxi Province, the Yamamoto Special Forces took the initiative to attack one after another.
They mistakenly carried out sneak attacks on the Eighth Route Artillery Unit, and at the same time kept firing cold shots, causing casualties to some cadres.
Such operations reduced the strength of the 129th Division's attack force.
At the Zhengtai Railway, the battle gradually became unfavorable.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!