Chapter four hundred and eighty fourth: Not pleasing to the eye
Li Yunlong was a restless master, and after only a few days, he wanted to go out to fight again. The Mawushan Military Division had strong troops, sufficient ammunition, and a complete logistics and transportation system, which gave him the confidence to go out to fight.
On this day, Li Yunlong stood in front of the map. The staff had already outlined the base area with a red pen. He saw that the base area was generally circular, but it was shaped like a dog tooth in the northwest. Among them, Licheng County
It is sunken in the direction of the base area and looks so awkward.
He said to Xu Dalong and Zhao Gang: "Why do I look so displeased with Licheng County? Just take it down."
Zhang Dabiao had also been staring at this target. He said with some worry: "Commander, you are right. I don't like it there, but the situation there is more complicated. First of all, from the topography, Licheng County is surrounded on three sides.
Mountains, there is only one mountain road to enter Licheng County from our base area, and the Japanese troops are already guarding there, which affects the movement of our army's large forces, and it is even more difficult for logistics support to keep up in the event of a war.
The northwest of Licheng County is the Japanese-occupied area. The terrain there is flat and the Japanese army can quickly reinforce it at any time. Even if we can defeat it, it may be difficult to hold it."
Xu Dalong also agreed with Zhang Dabiao's opinion. He believed that Licheng County is surrounded by mountains on three sides, which is actually the natural dividing line between the enemy and ourselves. No matter which side wants to forcefully cross the dividing line to attack the other side, there will be huge difficulties in transportation.
They will be very passive when fighting.
Even if Licheng County is captured, they will directly face the numerous Japanese troops in the Japanese-occupied areas in the future. The battle between the two sides will probably be continuous. In the future, a lot of energy of the Mawushan Military Division will be restrained. Rather than doing this, it is better to send troops to other areas.
direction development.
From the perspective of logistical support, Zhao Gang also believed that taking Licheng County was an unwise choice. Therefore, he also agreed with Zhang Dabiao's opinion.
Li Yunlong's enthusiasm was poured cold water on by everyone, and he felt a little unhappy.
He said: "What do you mean, are you still afraid of difficulties in fighting the Japanese? I also admit that the terrain in Licheng County will cause great difficulties for the movement of large troops, but this is also a good place to fight the Japanese.
Licheng County is surrounded by mountains on three sides. If we control these mountains first, the Japs in Licheng County will be surrounded by us on three sides. We can condescendingly attack the Japs at any time, making it difficult for the Japs here to live in peace.
The battle is about to begin. If the Japs don't come for reinforcements or there are few troops, we will take the county seat and eliminate the Japs here.
If the Japanese reinforcements arrive in greater numbers, we will take the initiative to evacuate and retreat into the mountains. What can the Japanese army do to us? When the Japanese reinforcements leave, we will go down the mountain to fight them. The Japanese army will have to send troops forward again.
Come for reinforcements.
Just going back and forth like this, even if the little devil is a rabbit, he can't afford it. There are only so many little devils in Shanxi, if you kill them one by one, this is a real business, and we will definitely not lose money."
Hearing what Li Yunlong said, Xu Dalong also felt that it made sense.
He thought about it carefully and then said: "What the regiment leader said makes sense. As long as we control the surrounding mountains, the little devils can't figure out our strength, but we can attack the Japanese army at any time. This way we have a strategic advantage."
Great initiative.
Just like what the regiment leader said, if there are few little Japs, we will destroy them. If there are many of them, we will leave a small number of surveillance posts on the mountain, and the larger troops can retreat to rest.
The little devils can't figure out when we will launch an attack, but they have to be on guard every day. This kind of fear is definitely uncomfortable, so that they can contain a large number of Japanese troops. Generally speaking, it is beneficial to the development of our base area.
"
After being reminded by Li Yunlong and Xu Dalong, Zhang Dabiao also felt that it made sense. He came to the map, pondered it carefully for a while, and said: "This seems good. After we control the mountains on three sides, we can send troops to attack the Japanese army at any time.
Launching an attack is a good opportunity to train your troops.
We take turns to organize the troops and bring new soldiers to attack the Japanese army. After each unit fights a battle, it will be rotated. In this way, all units can be trained, saving us the need to find other targets to train the troops."
Seeing that the three military chiefs of the military division had unified their opinions, Zhao Gang also followed their thinking.
He said: "If we control the mountains on these three sides in advance, the road leading to Licheng County will be safe, and the difficulty of transportation will be reduced a lot. We can first transport the materials to the mountains by road, and then transport them to the mountains.
Each army will use manpower to transport it to the mountains and establish secret storage depots in several mountainous areas to ensure the supply of the troops. The problem of logistical support should also be solved."
Having said this, Zhao Gang thought about it carefully and added: "I suggest that we just attack Licheng County, and don't send troops to garrison it after we capture it. After seizing the supplies, we can quickly retreat and leave the county town to the little devils.
After they have transported weapons, ammunition and supplies, we will go down the mountain to grab them, and let the little devil be the captain of the transportation team for us. This will only be good for us, but it will reduce a lot of trouble."
The trouble Zhao Gang mentioned was that if the Eighth Route Army occupied Licheng County, all material supplies in Licheng County would have to be taken care of by the Eighth Route Army.
This is not an easy task. Although the Mawushan Military Division has sufficient supplies, transportation through the mountainous area is really stressful.
Occupying Licheng County is actually equivalent to carrying a heavy burden. It is better to leave it to the little devils and let them carry this heavy burden. When the little devils have accumulated enough supplies, the Eighth Route Army will capture the county seat. This way
The cycle repeats, which is equivalent to the little devils providing material supplies to the Eighth Route Army.
Of course, there are some things that cannot be said explicitly. All he can say is that it will save a lot of trouble.
Li Yunlong, Xu Dalong, and Zhang Dabiao all understood what he meant, and they all smiled knowingly without saying a word.
The matter was settled like this. As the chief of staff, Zhang Dabiao sent Zheng Xirong to arrange for people to go out to reconnoiter the situation, and then led the staff to start formulating a combat plan.
After more than half a month of preparation, the Battle of Licheng began.
The Mawushan Military Division organized four main regiments of the New First Brigade, one regiment of the Independent Brigade, eight squadrons of the Cavalry Brigade, two squadrons of the Chariot Troops, and two squadrons of the Special Operations Brigade, with a strength of more than 17,000 people. They secretly gathered in Yang
At the foot of the mountain at the junction of Cheng County and Licheng County.
After seeing all the ministries assembled, Li Yunlong issued the combat order.
Zhang Dabiao led two regiments of troops from the east, and Huang Jingzhong led a regiment of troops from the west. The troops were lightly equipped and carried only mortars and other light weapons across the mountains and lurks secretly in the valleys of Licheng County.
Wei Monk commanded two special operations squadrons to attack the Japanese troops stationed on the hills on both sides at night, annihilating a Japanese infantry squadron above. Li Yunlong led the main force to continue advancing along the road toward Licheng County.
Sun Desheng led eight cavalry squadrons to open the way ahead. Before the Japanese defenders in Licheng County could react, they surrounded the county and launched an attack on the Japanese in the early morning.
Stationed in Licheng County is an infantry brigade of the Japanese army. In addition to the infantry squadron that was annihilated by Wei Monk and others, there are also brigade headquarters and two infantry squadrons, puppet security forces and gendarmerie in the city.
Security brigade, etc.
After being attacked, the Japanese captain immediately ran to the city gate tower for observation. When he saw many Eighth Route Army troops coming outside the city, he ordered the troops to hold on to the city wall, and then sent a telegram to his superiors to request support.
Sun Desheng commanded his troops to launch several attacks against the Japanese troops defending the city, but they were all repelled by the Japanese troops. He organized his troops to continue attacking the county town.
Seeing the fierce offensive of the Eighth Route Army, the Japanese army sent a telegram to their superiors to urge them, hoping that reinforcements would arrive as soon as possible.
All this was arranged by Li Yunlong. At the beginning, he just wanted to capture Licheng County and get some advantages. Later, he felt that it was not enough, so he mobilized a large team of troops to prepare for a reinforcement and eat the Japanese army.
Reinforce troops and fight a great victory.
The surrounded Japanese army was a unit of the 217th Brigade of the 109th Division. After receiving the telegram asking for help, brigade commander Matsui Jiro reported to the division commander and led a strengthened infantry regiment to come for reinforcements.
Because the terrain along the road where the Japanese reinforcements passed was flat and open, the Eighth Route Army was unable to ambush on both sides of the road.
The battle plan formulated by Zhang Dabiao was to wait until the Japanese reinforcements entered the boundaries of Licheng County. Zhang Dabiao would lead the troops from the east, and Huang Jingzhong would lead the troops from the west. They would attack from both sides and cut off the Japanese army's retreat. Li Yunlong would lead the main force from the front.
Attack, surround the Japanese army in the wild, and annihilate it.
Matsui Jiro knew that the Eighth Route Army in this area was the army of the Mawushan Military Division and knew how powerful this army was. Therefore, during the march, he was also very careful and sent out guard posts in front, rear and left of the army. Because they passed through
The paths are all in plain areas, with high visibility and a wide field of view.
Along the way, they did not find any Eighth Route Army troops ambushing them, so they marched boldly and quickly.
The surveillance posts dispatched by the special operations brigade have been monitoring the actions of the Japanese troops from a distance and reporting to Li Yunlong at any time.
After Li Yunlong learned that the Japanese army had entered Licheng County, he immediately led the main force to bypass Licheng County and intercept the Japanese army from the front. At the same time, he gave orders to Zhang Dabiao and Huang Jingzhong to ask them to attack from both wings.
Outflank the Japanese troops.
Matsui Jiro was leading a large group of troops on the march. The scouts sent by the vanguard discovered anomalies in the front. Pegasus ran to him and reported to him that a large group of Eighth Route Army troops had appeared in front, and there were also armored troops.
Jiro Matsui had rich combat experience, and he knew that he must have encountered the main force of the Eighth Route Army. The Japanese army was good at fighting in the field, but the enemy had tank troops, which was obviously disadvantageous to the Japanese army in open areas.