There is only one update today because there is something going on at home, and four updates tomorrow!
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There is a saying that "never fight an unprepared battle."
Wang Xuexin also wanted to fight a prepared battle, but the time waited for no one.
This is the situation before us, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and there is no such store after this village.
Originally, Wang Xuexin had no plan to attack Yanmen Pass at all, because attacking Yanmen Pass was too difficult for the Eighth Route Army at that time and Wang Xuexin did not even dare to think about it.
The terrain of Shanxi is mainly an open space surrounded by a mountain range in the east and west, namely the Taihang Mountains and Luliang Mountains.
But the open space in the middle is not entirely a plain. The most special one is near Yanmenguan, where Yanmen Mountain, Mantou Mountain, Hengshan Mountain, Caoduo Mountain, etc. are intertwined together like a barrier across central Shanxi.
In the middle of the basin, there is only a gap of about three kilometers wide in Yanmenguan, and the only means of transportation is a winding road passing through Guancheng.
Its geographical importance is self-evident. As long as this pass is captured, the Eighth Route Army can at least save tens of thousands of troops to confront the Japanese in the south.
But precisely because of this, it was difficult for the Eighth Route Army to capture Yanmen Pass:
The two Japanese divisions built a defensive line north of Yanmen Pass with their advantageous geographical location behind them. Any troops attacking Yanmen Pass would be under attack from the Japanese artillery fire and troops. Even if the Eighth Route Army had air superiority, there would be nothing they could do against it.
But it would be different if the Japanese had plans to attack the Eighth Route Army.
Because if the Japanese plan this way and plan to launch a full-scale counterattack by attacking Longxi Airport to expand their results, they will inevitably move the main force away from the Yanmen Pass defense line and advance fifty kilometers to the north.
Only in this way can the Japanese counterattack the Eighth Route Army with the fastest and most violent offensive and achieve the greatest results.
Otherwise, if the mechanized troops penetrate deep into the hinterland of the Eighth Route Army to raid Longxi Airport while the main force is fifty kilometers away, there will likely be gaps in the attack, giving the Eighth Route Army a chance to breathe and repel the Japanese step by step.
So Yanmen Pass became the enemy's weakness: it was a choke point that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, but there were not many troops stationed there. If we didn't attack it at this time, how could we wait?
Wang Xuexin didn't even get enough intelligence... Although the Eighth Route Army's intelligence system was powerful, it was delayed due to the lack of communication equipment.
Then Wang Xuexin still believed that the risk was worth taking, even if it cost the entire airborne force!
Wang Shuheng was also shocked by Wang Xuexin's bold plan after hearing about it. He said: "Commander, the combat aspect is not a problem, it's just... can it be done like this?"
"What do you think is the difficulty?" Wang Xuexin asked.
Wang Shuheng thought for a while and replied: "Capturing Yanmen Pass is not a big problem, but it is easier to attack the city than to defend it!"
Wang Xuexin secretly praised him. He was worthy of being the battalion commander of the main force. He could see the key to this battle at a glance.
Although the Yanmen Pass garrison has a Japanese brigade... the previous information indicated that there was one brigade, but now it is estimated that there will be no brigade after being transferred to the north.
But no matter how many troops there are, as long as the Eighth Route Army airborne troops can successfully land near Yanmen Pass, with the Eighth Route Army's repeating rifles and rocket launchers and their unpreparedness, it will not be difficult to capture Yanmen Pass...
The difficulty is that the airborne troops still have to hold Yanmen Pass and wait for the main force.
It is conceivable that if Yanmen Pass is captured by the Eighth Route Army, the Japanese from the two divisions will be sealed north of Yanmen Pass and unable to return... If they want to return, they can only abandon their equipment and return through the mountain road, just like the previous encirclement and annihilation in the Luliang Mountains
war.
At this time, the Japanese will definitely try their best to break through Yanmen Pass.
So what Yanmen Pass has to face is the full force attack of the Japanese from the north and the south.
Compared with this, the difficulty of airborne landing in the dark, the difficulty of gathering troops to form combat effectiveness, and the difficulty of attacking Yanmen Pass are nothing.
Wang Shuheng said worriedly: "Commander, Yanmen Pass has been in disrepair for a long time and many of the city walls have collapsed. Some sections of the city walls no longer exist. To say that it is the best pass in the world is actually not worthy of its name. From the perspective of an airborne regiment of our army,
To guard..."
Wang Shuheng is right, the first level in the world is indeed somewhat inconsistent with its name.
However, this is not because the city wall is in disrepair, but because there is a huge difference between cold weapons and hot weapons.
In cold weapon warfare, as long as the city wall is high and thick enough, in principle it will be difficult for the enemy to break through or it will require several times the number of troops and huge casualties to break through.
Among them, "Guan" is the most difficult to break.
This is because buildings that can be called "passes" have mountains, mountains or rivers and lakes on both sides as barriers. A pass city is stuck in the gap to block the gap.
This determines that it is difficult or even impossible for the enemy to go around the rear of the pass and surround it, while the defenders can continuously deliver reinforcements and supplies to the pass from the rear.
To put it simply, the city can be besieged. At most, if it lasts for several years, it will eventually run out of ammunition and food.
Guan, however, cannot be surrounded, and its troops and supplies are almost endless.
Therefore, during the period of cold weapon warfare, Yanmen Pass was well deserved to be called the "No. 1 Pass in the World".
But in combat with hot weapons... you only need one artillery unit outside the city, and the artillery shells are fired into the city in pieces, just like plowing a field, going back and forth several times, or bombing it for days and nights, and stationed at the pass.
The city's defenders are almost exhausted.
Therefore, the advantage of Yanmen Pass for the garrison of the airborne regiment is not obvious. If it can have a Maginot Line like Gaul, it will be about the same.
Of course Wang Xuexin understood this truth, and he replied: "So after we capture Yanmen Pass, we cannot stay in the pass city!"
"Can't we defend the city?" Wang Shuheng couldn't help but be startled when he heard this. He thought, what's the point of seizing Yanmen Pass?
But the next second Wang Shuheng immediately understood: "Should we deploy the main force on the high ground on both sides?"
Wang Xuexin nodded and said: "Only a small number of troops are deployed in Guancheng. The main force seizes the high ground and builds anti-gun caves to defend it. Your mission... is to cut off the Japs' traffic, not to defend Yanmen Pass!"
Wang Xuexin's thinking is very clear. It is impossible and meaningless to defend Yanmen Pass.
What Wang Xuexin didn't say was that actually cutting off Japanese traffic didn't make much sense.
Because the Japanese equipment does not have much appeal to the current Eighth Route Army.
tank?
The "Sherman" of the Eighth Route Army is not better than the Japanese Bean tank?
car?
The Eighth Route Army has already been able to produce its own engines. Capturing them only saves trouble and steel.
Side three wheels?
Since the Eighth Route Army was able to produce half-track vehicles, the demand for three-wheeled vehicles has also been significantly reduced.
What's more, the Japanese would probably blow them up when they discarded the equipment, so all the Eighth Route Army could get was some scrap metal.
What Wang Xuexin wants is for the airborne troops to plant a few nails on the high ground on both sides of Yanmen Pass, so that when the main force arrives, they can easily capture Yanmen Pass and hold it.