Zhengzhou, the headquarters of the Japanese Army's Northbound Group.
Lieutenant General Shun Tada is furious because he just got the news that the Yellow River Railway Bridge was bombed!
Although this was just an accident, it was just a group of Tubal roadmen who accidentally collided and detonated a truckload of munitions, but the terrible thing is that the truck detonated on the Yellow River railway bridge!
Now, the Yellow River Railway Bridge has been blown up, and there is no chance of repairing it until half a month.
What's even more terrible is that in order to quickly transport more than 40,000 personnel and equipment of the 6th and 13th Divisions to southern Hebei, all the wagons that can be mobilized have been gathered at Zhengzhou Railway Station. Now that the Yellow River Railway Bridge is exploded, these wagons will
All were stranded at Zhengzhou Railway Station, and the 6th and 13th Divisions could only march on foot.
To cross the Yellow River, a pontoon bridge must be built, and it must be a large pontoon bridge that can accommodate heavy equipment.
Although the 6th and 13th divisions each have an engineer regiment, they do not have the equipment to build a large pontoon bridge. It takes at least three days to allocate equipment from Xuzhou to build the pontoon bridge! Cross the Yellow River and then go to Shimen, and
Nearly 400 kilometers, the urgent march will take at least eight days. If you take into account the harassment along the Tubal Road, the time will only be longer!
Thinking of this, Shun Tada couldn't help but feel anxious. If the 6th and 13th divisions wanted to reach Shimen, it would take 11 days at the earliest, and the total time given to him by General Hata Shun was only 15 days!
These fifteen days are not given casually, but carefully.
Because the ammunition reserve of the Japanese army in the Wuhan battlefield is only enough to sustain continuous operations for half a month. Once the time exceeds half a month and cannot obtain supplies from the rear, the nearly 20 main divisions of the Japanese army in the Wuhan battlefield will be out of ammunition and food.
Dilemma, let alone defeating the Communist Party, maybe it will be defeated by the Communist Party in turn.
The Japanese base camp and Shunroku Hata bet all their treasures on the Ping-Han Line and Shun Tada.
Tada Shun originally thought that it would be easy to open the Ping-Han Line within half a month, but now, he is not so optimistic.
Although the 6th and 13th Divisions heading north have strong forces, they may not be able to reach Shimen within half a month. Although the 20th Division heading east is only two hundred kilometers away from Shimen, Tubal Road activities there are rampant, and
The terrain of the Taihang Mountains is also very unfavorable for the rapid maneuvering of the Japanese mechanized troops.
But now, Tada Shun can only count on Kawagishi Bunzaburo's 20th Division.
Shanxi, Shouyang County.
The armored car that Bunzaburo Kawagishi was riding in slowly passed through the county seat.
The Japanese 6th and 13th Divisions made slow progress, but the 20th Division made rapid progress.
On the afternoon of the day when the reorganization of the Baoshan Division was completed, the main force of the 20th Division had already entered Shouyang, and its forward force, the 39th Infantry Brigade, had already entered Yangquan, less than a hundred kilometers away from Shimen! If everything goes well,
By tomorrow evening, the 39th Infantry Brigade will be able to reach Shimen City.
Of course, this is only if.
In the carriage, Bunzaburo Kawagishi was playing chess with Colonel Kuzo Kimura, chief of staff of the 20th Division.
The little *** is still deeply influenced by Han culture. As one of the essences of Han culture, Go is quite popular in Japan. There are also many middle- and high-level generals in the army who are addicted to chess. Kawagishi Fumi
Although Saburo is not a chess fanatic, he will find someone to play a few games in his spare time or when he is in a good mood.
Bunzaburo Kawagishi is indeed in a good mood now.
Up to now, the progress of the 20th Division has been very smooth. Although Tubal Road tried their best to obstruct them along the way, they were unfortunately poorly equipped and there was no suitable terrain for them to ambush from Taiyuan to Yangquan. They were forced to intercept them several times.
Not only did it fail to stop the advance of the 20th Division, it actually suffered a lot.
Kawagishi Bunzaburo placed a piece on the chessboard and asked inadvertently: "Is it past your birthday?"
"Hai." Jiucun Jiuzang instinctively lowered his head suddenly and said loudly, "I will definitely reach Yangquan before dark."
"Well." Bunzaburo Kawagishi nodded lightly and said, "The 39th Infantry Brigade was ordered to station in Yangquan tonight and not to go any further. Going further from Yangquan is Niangziguan, and the road over there is not
It's easy to go, but we will probably be ambushed by the Baoshan Division. It won't be too late to wait until dawn tomorrow and the aviation reconnaissance to confirm that there is no ambush before moving forward."
"Hai." Kimura Jiuzou suddenly lowered his head and was about to get up when the car suddenly stopped.
The door opened, and a major officer from the communications department was already standing outside the door of the armored car.
"General!" the major officer suddenly put his feet back and stood at attention, and said to Kawagishi Bunzaburo, "General Tada Shun sent an urgent message, asking our 20th Division to seize Shimen within ten days!"
"Call back to General Tada Shun." Bunzaburo Kawagishi said calmly, "Within three days, the 20th Division will conquer Shimen, and within five days, the Hebei section of the Ping-Han Railway will be fully operational."
"Hai." The major officer lowered his head suddenly and immediately took the order.
At the foothills of Taihang Mountain, the headquarters of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army.
Commander Liu was carefully looking at the military map with a magnifying glass, and Political Commissar Zhang of the 129th Division was helping to smooth the map.
This map was captured by the Eighth Route Army from the Japanese invaders. It is very accurate and has high military reference value. It is not like the map sent by Yan Xishan, which was an old map drawn during the Beiyang period. Not only are the markings rough, but there are also errors.
It is tens of miles in length and has absolutely no military value at all.
Commander Liu was born in the Sichuan Army. He was brave, good at fighting and proficient in the art of war. He could be called a great military strategist!
In terms of military literacy alone, there is really no one better than Commander Liu in modern Chinese history.
But what is the saying? It’s hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. Although Commander Liu’s personal military literacy and tactical command ability are unmatched, the equipment of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army is really poor! Among the *** factions,
The Sichuan Army has always been famous for its poor equipment, but the equipment of the Eighth Route Army is much worse than that of the Sichuan Army.
In modern warfare, the quality of equipment undoubtedly has a great impact on the outcome of the war.
The 25,000 old Red Army soldiers who came over from the snowy mountains and grasslands are all soldiers and heroes. Whether it is physical fitness, technical and tactical ability, or fighting will, they are not inferior to the old Japanese soldiers of the 17 permanent divisions of the Japanese army. But
When we arrived at the front line of the Anti-Japanese War, we still couldn't confront the Japanese army head-on. Why? Because the equipment of the old Red Army was too poor!
The Japanese army was invincible and unstoppable on the Chinese battlefield. The soldiers armed with the spirit of Bushido regarded death as if they were dead. Their individual quality and fighting will were beyond the comparison of American soldiers. However, in the battle for islands in the Pacific, they were still defeated by American soldiers.
The fight was so futile, why? Because the Japanese army’s equipment was inferior compared to the US military’s!
Of course, the quality of equipment does not have a decisive impact on the outcome of a war.
For example, in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, the Chinese People's Volunteers relied on their rudimentary infantry and light weapons to fight to a draw with the seventeen-nation coalition armed to the teeth. Looking at the world for five thousand years, the army of one country can fight against the seventeen-nation coalition, and
It was a tie again on the premise of using the weak to defeat the strong. This is the only one with no semicolon!
Of course, although the equipment of the Volunteer Army is inferior to that of the Seventeen-Nation Allied Forces, it does not lack a rifle per man, and it can handle enough bullets to kill people. However, the current 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army is far behind. On average, two people can share one
Many of the rifles had old sleeves and no rifling, and the number of bullets per person was less than five.
You can imagine how difficult it would be for the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army to hold back the Japanese 20th Division, which had been recuperating for a long time, with such poor equipment and such a small ammunition reserve!
The only thing the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army could rely on was the mountainous terrain on the Shanxi-Hebei border.
However, from Taiyuan to Yangquan, there is no suitable terrain for guerrilla warfare.
However, it is different after passing Yangquan. It is the border between Shanxi and Hebei provinces and the intersection of the Taihang Mountains and the Central Hebei Plain. The terrain is complex and changeable, and the altitude difference is huge, making it very suitable for guerrilla warfare.
What Master Liu was observing was the terrain from the east of Yangquan to Niangziguan.
As for the area east of Niangziguan, it is now the sphere of influence of the Baoshan Division. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army will not enter this area.
While Commander Liu was silently looking at the map, Political Commissar Zhang suddenly said worriedly: "Old Liu, I just got the news that the forward of the Japanese 20th Division, the 39th Infantry Brigade, has entered Yangquan. Although the terrain from Yangquan to Niangziguan is
Yes, but the distance is only a few dozen kilometers after all, so it might not be easy to hold off the Japanese 20th Division for ten days."
"Ten days?" Commander Liu shook his head and said disapprovingly, "No, it will be enough for us to hold off the Japanese army for three days."
"Three days?" Political Commissar Zhang said in astonishment, "But the order from the headquarters is to hold the Japanese army back for ten days at any cost."
"The headquarters only issued this order at the invitation of Baoshan Division." Commander Liu waved his hand and said calmly, "However, in less than three days, Baoshan Division will definitely ask us to get out of the way and let the Japanese troops pass. If not
If something unexpected happens, Baoshan Division should also invite us to cut off the 20th Division's retreat."
"Ah?" Political Commissar Zhang asked in confusion, "Why is this?"
Commander Liu took a picture of the map and said with a smile: "Because three days are enough for the Baoshan Division to complete its training and restore its combat effectiveness. If I were Yue Weihan, I would definitely attack the 20th Division! Because of the terrain along the Shizheng Highway
, especially the terrain from the east of Niangziguan to Jingxing County, is very suitable for large-scale ambush battles."
Political Commissar Zhang said solemnly: "Old Liu, are you saying that Baoshan Division is really capable of eating up the 20th Division?"
Commander Liu pondered and said: "I don't know much about the strength of the Baoshan Division, but since they can easily annihilate the two Japanese mixed brigades in Qinghe and Shimen, they can almost go head-to-head with the Japanese 20th Division.
After a confrontation, if we use the terrain to stage an ambush, it is still possible to capture the 20th Division."
As a great military strategist, Commander Liu's words are not nonsense.
However, since Commander Liu said this, it means that the Baoshan Division really has the strength to eat up the Japanese 20th Division!