Chu Yunfei and Fang Ligong readily agreed, but it would take a day for them to seek approval from their superiors.
Chu Yunfei wanted to participate in this battle. In order to obtain approval from his superiors, he immediately left Guancheng County and drove to the headquarters of the World War II District Commander. He wanted to meet the commander in person and state the necessity of participating in this battle face to face.
Xu Dalong also asked the liaison team sent by the World War II District Chief's Department to report to the World War II District Chief's Department and strive to achieve cooperation between the two militaries and participate in this battle together.
The reason why Xu Dalong wanted to recruit Chu Yunfei's 358th Brigade this time was because he had obtained intelligence. According to various signs, the Japanese army had judged that the Mawushan guerrillas were about to transport supplies to the Taihang Mountain base area, and they deployed the 108th Division
The 215th Brigade of the Regiment conducted the interception.
In addition to the Japanese brigade, the Japanese 32nd Division can also dispatch an engineer regiment, an artillery brigade, and an infantry brigade to participate in the battle, with a total strength of about 14,000 people.
With such a huge force of the Japanese army, the five regiments of the Eighth Route Army plus the Mawushan guerrillas were also struggling. If the 10,000 people from Chu Yunfei's 358th Brigade were added, the battle would be much easier to fight.
Fendong County, World War II District Chief's Department.
Due to the outstanding performance of the 358th Brigade, the King of Shanxi specifically approved the 358th Brigade to be separated from the 68th Army of the Shanxi-Sui Army and placed under the direct jurisdiction of the Jinsui Army Headquarters. Chu Yunfei was therefore qualified to directly meet the King of Shanxi.
After Chu Yunfei arrived at the chief's headquarters, he first went to see the chief of staff and reported to him his intention to cooperate with Xu Dalong's troops in the battle.
In the past, the Jinsui Army would not have cooperated with the underground party's armed operations. The situation is different recently. The Jinsui Army has tasted the sweetness through cooperation with Xu Dalong. The chief of staff himself did not respond to Chu Yunfei's request.
Opinion, but this matter still needs to be consulted by the King of Shanxi.
The chief of staff called the King of Shanxi, and the King of Shanxi asked him to bring Chu Yunfei to the audience.
Before coming to the World War II District Chief's Headquarters this time, Chu Yunfei and Xu Dalong had already communicated. They knew that the Shanxi King had always been unwilling to do anything early. There was no benefit to letting the 358 Brigade cooperate with the Mawushan guerrillas. The Shanxi King was definitely not willing to do so.
willing.
Chu Yunfei reported the basic combat intentions with the Mawushan guerrillas led by Xu Dalong, and then said: "Chairman, (the King of Shanxi likes people to call him the chairman) this time we are fighting with the Mawushan guerrillas.
More than 4,000 cavalry troops, chariot troops and artillery troops will be dispatched. The troops are well-equipped and powerful. Xu Dalong has formulated a complete combat plan. The 358th Brigade will not suffer any loss if they fight together.
Xu Dalong has promised that after this battle, he will help the 358 Brigade to capture Dongping County, south of Xinhe County, which will be under the jurisdiction of the 358 Brigade. Not only can the territory of the 358 Brigade be expanded again, but it can also guard against enemy forces in the direction of Yangquan heading towards the World War II zone.
The attack by the commander-in-chief will be very beneficial to the Jin-Sui Army."
The King of Shanxi was not interested in how the 358th Brigade and Xu Dalong's Mawushan guerrillas fought. All he asked was that the 358th Brigade should not suffer heavy losses, and the other was that there should be money to be made.
The two points Chu Yunfei said were completely in line with his intentions, and he himself had great trust in Xu Dalong's commanding ability in combat.
The King of Shanxi said: "Since you are sure, go ahead and do it."
The king of Shanxi was so cheerful, which made the chief of staff and Chu Yunfei very happy.
After bidding farewell to the King of Shanxi, he returned to the World War II Area Headquarters. Chief of Staff, Chu Yunfei, Li Kun and others conducted some exercises on the sand table in the war room and felt that they were quite certain to win this battle.
The chief of staff warned Chu Yunfei again, wrote him a note, and went to the logistics department of the World War II zone to receive some supplies and ammunition.
Chu Yunfei returned to the 358th Brigade and sent a telegram to Xu Dalong to tell him the good news. Then he began to assemble his troops and headed to Guancheng County to meet up with Xu Dalong's troops.
Brigade Headquarters.
The brigade commander received a telegram from Xu Dalong and learned that the Japanese army would dispatch an infantry brigade and a reinforced regiment this time, with a total strength of more than 14,000 troops.
Originally, he thought that the five regiments he had here plus Xu Dalong's troops would still have a hard time dealing with so many Japanese troops. Therefore, the battle plan he formulated was to be able to block the Japanese attack and escort Xu Dalong's troops to deliver supplies to the Taihang Mountain base area.
, even if the task is completed.
Hearing that Chu Yunfei's 358th Brigade of the Jinsui Army also participated in this battle, the brigade commander gained confidence and gained a lot of appetite. He began to think about how to attack the Japanese army and try to eat up some of the Japanese army's combat plans.
After receiving the telegram that Xu Dalong and Chu Yunfei's 358th Brigade was about to depart, the brigade commander summoned the commanders of each regiment participating in the war to the brigade headquarters for a meeting.
After the heads, political commissars and chiefs of staff of each regiment arrived, the brigade commander introduced the basic situation of the battle.
When everyone heard that Xu Dalong's guerrillas would fight alongside them, everyone was very happy.
Needless to say, Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang and Zhang Dabiao had great trust in Xu Dalong. Kong Jie and Commander Cheng of the 69th Regiment also had great trust in Xu Dalong.
The leaders of the supplementary regiment had heard about the strong combat effectiveness of Xu Dalong's Mawushan guerrillas, and with their participation in the battle, they were full of confidence in this battle.
However, everyone is aware that the 358th Brigade of the Jinsui Army is also participating in this battle. Except for Li Yunlong, who knows something about Chu Yunfei, others are not very familiar with Chu Yunfei and think that the combat effectiveness of the Jinsui Army is very weak.
It is unreliable in fighting and may abandon its position and flee at critical moments, so it is not optimistic to cooperate with the 358th Brigade in combat.
They would rather fight the Japanese on their own than get involved with the Jin-Sui Army.
The question was first raised by Captain Cheng, and the heads of the two supplementary groups also expressed the same concerns.
Chu Yunfei's 358th Brigade was invited by Xu Dalong. To doubt the 358th Brigade was to doubt Xu Dalong, so Li Yunlong immediately stopped working.
He said: "Cheng Xiazi, what do you mean? Don't you believe Xu Dalong?"
Captain Cheng saw Li Yunlong not giving him face in front of everyone, and said angrily: "Li Yunlong, don't talk nonsense. It's not that I can't trust Xu Dalong, but I can't trust you, okay?"
The brigade commander said: "Based on the past experience of dealing with the Jinsui Army, it is understandable that you think that the Jinsui Army is unreliable. However, the situation of the 358th Brigade is different. Chu Yunfei is a very capable general. Unlike Xu Dalong,
The 358th Brigade has fought many tough battles together, and the 358th Brigade has performed very well.
Xu Dalong recommended the 358 Brigade to participate in the battle this time. You should rest assured about Xu Dalong. Since he can recommend the 358 Brigade, I think you don’t have to worry."
When the brigade commander said this, he didn't realize that Xu Dalong had such a high status in his mind, so that he no longer worried about things that Xu Dalong thought was feasible.
It is true that Xu Dalong has a high prestige among the underground party armed forces, and everyone trusts him. Since the brigade commander said so, Commander Cheng and others had no objection.
In order to completely dispel the concerns of the leaders of each regiment, the brigade commander also specifically shared the information reported by Xu Dalong about Chu Yunfei's headquarters.
When everyone heard that the 358th Brigade had 10,000 troops, was well-equipped, and had two artillery battalions, everyone also thought that such a large increase in strength would definitely be helpful in winning the battle, so they no longer had
Any advice is appreciated.
The chief of staff of the brigade introduced the battle plan, and after soliciting everyone's opinions, he saw that no one had any other questions, so he asked the brigade commander to issue the battle order.
The brigade commander issued the battle order, and all regiments marched towards Lingao City on time at eight o'clock this evening.
Guancheng County.
To transport supplies to the Taihang Mountain base area, the Mawushan guerrillas used 86 transport vehicles this time, marching on the road, forming a convoy like a long queue, plus a large number of tanks, armored vehicles and motorcycles as well as infantry-carrying vehicles.
The length of the truck and convoy stretched for several kilometers.
Even Chu Yunfei was a little stunned to see such a large scale. He recalled the first time he dealt with Xu Dalong. At that time, Xu Dalong only had a small cavalry team of a hundred people. Now he has such a large cavalry team.
The family fortune shocked even Chu Yunfei.
This area is the territory of the 32nd Division. Now the 32nd Division has been crippled by the Mawushan guerrillas. There are no large Japanese troops along the way. Therefore, the Mawushan guerrillas and Chu Yunfei's troops are arrogant.
, marching mightily on the highway, the small groups of Japanese and puppet troops along the way were invincible, and no one dared to come out to cause trouble.
According to the battle plan made in advance, Xu Dalong's troops and Chu Yunfei's troops began to divide into two groups after passing through Ping'an County. Xu Dalong's troops continued to advance towards the Taihang Mountains, while Chu Yunfei's troops took a fork in the road and detoured towards the Taihang Mountains.
Head towards Taihang Mountain.
After all, the 32nd Japanese Garrison Division had been operating in this area for many years and had its own intelligence network. It was impossible for Xu Dalong to march on such a large scale without the eyes and ears of Chiba Xunyi.
He immediately informed the Japanese 108th Division that the Japanese army had formulated a combat plan in advance. The 108th Division immediately dispatched the 215th Brigade to the direction of Lingao City, and together with the Japanese 32nd Division launched an attack on Xu Dalong's transportation team.