As a general of the Republic of China, General Shang Zheng also had some connections and ears in the military. As early as the Songhu Anti-Japanese War, he heard that there was an elite unit whose equipment and combat effectiveness far exceeded other troops.
It played a decisive role in the battle.
It is also rumored that the killing of the Japanese major general brigade commander and the sinking of the Japanese battleship Izumo were also the masterpieces of this unit.
However, the subordinates and followers of this unit are kept secret. There is no precise information, which leads to many rumors. Some say that it is a unit specially hired by the National Government from Germany, and some say that it is a guard unit secretly trained by the principal.
, some people even pointed out that it was a certain regiment of the Tax Police Corps, because during the Songhu Anti-Japanese War, this certain regiment disappeared for a period of time in the name of training.
However, General Shang Zheng disagreed. From the perspective of a politically minded Republican general like him, the first thing to judge was that this force could never be directly controlled by the principal.
why?
Because he knew the nature of the principal very well. This kind of troops were treasures in the eyes of every commander. At least the principal would not send them to the anti-Japanese battlefield to fight against the Japanese army from the beginning. Moreover, even if they were to go to the battlefield, they would not be sent to the battlefield.
It was also the civil war in Jiangxi that was more important to the principal than the anti-Japanese battlefield.
It's even less likely to be some kind of tax police group. If the tax police group really had such a strong combat effectiveness, the principal would have snatched this unit away from his brother-in-law.
When General Shang Zheng was chatting with General Song, the commander of the 29th Army who lived next to him not long ago, he heard that during the war in the Central Plains, there was such a small unit in the National Army, and its black guns could shoot accurately.
At that time, on the Longhai line where the Northwest Army was attacking, this ghostly and elusive force was specifically responsible for killing the mid-level and senior generals of the Northwest Army, causing panic throughout the entire front line and almost knocking down the morale of the Northwest Army.
However, after the end of the Central Plains War, this unit that had made tremendous contributions mysteriously disappeared. There was no official propaganda from the Nationalist government, and even many senior generals in the Nationalist Army were missing.
I'm afraid only the principal and a few senior officials of the Military Commission know what secrets there are.
General Song speculated at that time that the elite troops that were also appearing and disappearing on the Songhu battlefield, making the Japanese unable to find their way to the north, might be the mysterious small troops that disappeared.
Now, with this army right in front of him, General Shang Zheng began to gossip.
"Have you ever participated in the Central Plains War?"
Zhou Wen was stunned when he heard this, and thought about it carefully. Although he was on the opposite side of the Jin army at the time, he didn't seem to have killed any generals of the Jin army. The general suddenly asked what was the purpose of this?
General Shang Zheng's mind was so sharp that he knew the answer at a glance. He immediately said with a smile: "Don't get me wrong, Xiao Zhou. I only learned about the existence of an elite unit like you when I was chatting with Lao Song of the 29th Army."
Suddenly he seemed to remember something and asked again: "You were only 17 years old at that time, right?"
Zhou Wen smiled sheepishly again and said, "Yes, he just turned 17 during the Central Plains War."
General Shang Zheng sighed: "I only now believe that there are people in this world who are born with knowledge. At the age of 17, they can fight against thousands of troops and make the enemy have nightmares. It's amazing!"
Zhou Wen couldn't answer these words, so he could only respond in silence.
Otherwise, how can you explain it? You know how to lead troops to fight at the age of 17, and you can do it so brilliantly. What is it if you don't know it from birth? Could it be said that you started learning and training in your mother's womb?
General Shang Zheng satisfied his gossip mentality and turned around to leave. Suddenly he turned around and said with a narrow smile: "Xiao Zhou, you have to be careful. The troops deployed on our western flank are the 29th Army. They will be our neighbors in the future. It is inevitable that there will be
There are some contacts. Some of them are still obsessed with finding the person who shot the gun."
After saying that, he laughed and strode away, leaving a dumbfounded Zhou Wen in a daze.
I'm hot, isn't it? After so many years, the gangsters were just doing it for their own masters, so why are they being taken into consideration?
…
That night, General Shang Zheng held a pre-war deployment meeting of the 32nd Army in a requisitioned inn in Jianchang Camp.
This inn is located in the center of Jianchang Camp and now serves as the headquarters of the 139th Division.
The inn's courtyard buzzed with the roar of diesel generators, and the inn's original dining room became a conference room.
At this time, several high-wattage light bulbs were turned on in the conference room, illuminating the entire hall brightly. Dozens of officers were sitting on rows of long benches, listening intently to General Shang Zheng pointing at the wall.
The large map is carefully laid out.
"Because the area of Lenkou Pass is long and narrow and the mountains are dangerous, we do not use large forces to deploy. The model brigade defends the Phoenix Mountain of Lenkou Pass and Baiyangyuguan City to the west, and the 139th Division defends Cherry Orchard and Baili Mountain to the east. One of the 141st Division
The regiment will stay at Jianchang Camp as a reserve force, and other troops and the 142nd Division will be stationed in Qian'an County with the military headquarters. They can reinforce the pass at any time according to the war situation."
This order was issued, which immediately caused a commotion among the officers in the field. Some even whispered to each other and started talking softly.
It's not that they think there are any loopholes in the commander's deployment. After all, they are all veterans. They know that such narrow and dangerous mountainous terrain is indeed not conducive to the entire division being on the front line. It is necessary to retain a certain depth of defense.
.
They just felt that since they had just received many benefits from the Model Brigade, and even the humming generator in the yard was supported by them, the Army Commander's deployment was too cruel and obvious.
The Model Brigade, which is not a direct lineage, is placed on the most dangerous front line, and the defense is still the most important area, which means that it is the main attack direction of the Japanese army. Of course, it also means that the Model Brigade is under the greatest pressure, and the casualties are also low.
Probably the biggest.
Although these officers were already accustomed to this kind of arrangement pattern of non-direct troops, after all, they had just taken a lot of benefits from others, so they naturally felt a little bit regretful.
Shang Zheng saw a few officers who were about to make a move and wanted to stand up to speak, but he was stopped by him with a stern face and a wave of his hand.
"You may not know yet that the deployment of the main defense position of the Model Brigade was requested by Brigadier Zhao Changshu on his own initiative, and it was also the intention of Marshal Yan of Shanxi Province. We are all from the Jin Army, and we can be said to be brothers with the same origin as the Model Brigade. I still
Someone is not in the habit of holding his brother against a gun."
"But there are several reasons why I agreed to Brigadier Zhao's request. First, the model brigade is better than our 32nd Army divisions in terms of equipment and combat effectiveness. Don't be dissatisfied. They wiped out an advance detachment.