However, the Independent Regiment did not delay the fighter plane for more than two hours, because even if he arrived at Duolun County early, he was still waiting there...
Three mechanized regiments rushed to Duolun County and surrounded it from three sides.
These three sides do not have a standard east or west direction, but three groups form a triangle and surround Duolun County in the middle.
Infantry cannot do this, because infantry is slow and has poor attack and defense. If the target is surrounded in a triangle, it is likely to be attacked by the enemy... If one party is attacked by the enemy, the other two parties are likely to be contained and
The distance was too far and there was no time for reinforcements.
There is no problem if the mechanized troops do this. They are mobile and encircled outside the city. Once any party is attacked by the enemy who has left the city, it does not attack them like infantry, but uses its mobility to retreat first so that the enemy cannot hit them.
At the same time, troops from the other two sides will come to reinforce and surround and destroy the enemies leaving the city.
The Japanese are indeed helpless against this kind of encirclement, although the Japanese have more troops than the Eighth Route Army... The Japanese have one division in Duolun County with more than 10,000 people, while the Eighth Route Army only has three regiments with about 7,000 people.
As for the Japanese airport in Duolun County, it had been bombed several times by the Eighth Route Army's "La 5" and was paralyzed.
This is not to say that the air combat capability of the Japanese fighter aircraft is inferior to that of the "La 5". For example, the air combat capability of the "Feiyan" is equivalent to that of the "La 5".
The problem is that the speed of "Pull 5" far exceeds the speed of the Japanese "Feiyan" and "Zero War".
On the other hand, Wang Xuexin also invested in this direction, the "Mosquito" bomber, which is known as the fastest bomber, and also installed a new rocket nest on the "Mosquito" bomber.
At this time, the Eighth Route Army had produced fifty "Mosquitoes".
The high speed and the use of rocket nest bombing made the Eighth Route Army's bombing in a very safe state: high speed meant that the Japanese fighter jets could not catch up, and the rocket nest meant that they could bomb without flying over the target, so
It can avoid being shot down by enemy anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns.
So they can safely bomb the Japanese airport, but the Japanese have advanced fighter jets but can't do anything to them.
After the Japanese airport was bombed several times, the fighter planes could only temporarily fly away from Duolun County... Fighter planes are extremely dependent on the airport. If the airport is always bombed and cannot be used, the fighter planes will never be able to take off. In the end, it will be equivalent to none. In the end, even
There is also the possibility of being blown up and captured by the enemy, so flying away is the best option.
The three mechanized regiments stayed outside the city and did not attack. In the eyes of the Japanese, they were waiting for the main force to arrive.
For example, Naosaburo Okabe thought so. He anxiously ordered to his staff: "Order the 26th Division to reinforce Duolun County immediately!"
The 26th Division is the Japanese army stationed in Chifeng. This is exactly what the Eighth Route Army wants, to mobilize the Japanese from Chifeng.
Can the Japanese not send reinforcements?
If Duolun County falls into the hands of the Eighth Route Army, it can become the forward base for the Eighth Route Army to attack Chifeng.
But once the Japs reinforce Duolun County, there will be only one regiment of more than 3,000 Japs left in Chifeng.
The Eighth Route Army continued to surround Duolun County calmly on the surface, and even immediately jumped into the battle to attack Duolun County when the main force arrived.
On the other side, a tank force including twenty-one Shermans and twenty T44s continued to move closer to Chifeng at night.
These twenty T44s are indeed a headache. Every 100 kilometers, four or five of them will definitely have problems. At most, seven of them broke down and were unable to move. This made the tank troops have to wait an extra day...
...If the seven cars that broke down were still on the road, the number of T44s that finally arrived in Chifeng might not be four or five but one or two.
One or two vehicles is obviously too few, and even if they have super defense and firepower, they may not be able to cope with it.
But in the end we were somewhat lucky, and six of them were still working normally before arriving at Chifeng.
The "Sherman" tanks were in sharp contrast to the T44s along the way. Of the twenty-one tanks that completed the journey, only two broke down.
Tank crews sometimes want to simply replace the T44's gun with the "Sherman".
While the tank troops were advancing, the Eighth Route Army secretly opened a temporary airport more than 100 kilometers away from Chifeng.
This airport is opened on Lunurhu Mountain.
The opening up work was done by the mountain troops that Wang Xuexin arranged to penetrate into this area.
It is not difficult to open up. You only need to find a relatively flat and open area in the mountainous area, then cut down the trees that need to be cut down, remove the stones that need to be moved, and then level the ground... "La 5" does not have many requirements for the airport.
high.
The difficulty lies in the fuel and ammunition needed for the fighter planes.
However, these can be easily solved with helicopter transportation.
The whole process only took three days, and the Eighth Route Army laid a nail near Chifeng without the Japanese's knowledge.
After everything was ready, suddenly one night three mechanized regiments of the Eighth Route Army disappeared.
Originally, the Japanese would never notice the departure of the three mechanized regiments of the Eighth Route Army, because at this time the main force of the Eighth Route Army was bombing Duolun County.
But because of a small accident, the Japanese discovered this.
Two regiments of the 26th Division that the Japanese rushed to Duolun County for reinforcements happened to arrive nearby. Their division commander Yuki Otani sent two small units to launch a trial-controlled attack on the Eighth Route Army in the hope of finding out the Eighth Route Army's troop deployment... It turned out that they
It was thought that the Eighth Route Army would send mechanized troops to counterattack, and they were even ready to counterattack with artillery fire, but surprisingly nothing happened.
"What's going on?" Yuki Kotani asked the commander of the 59th Division, Yukiyo Obata, who was trapped in Duolun County in the telegram: "Didn't you say that the Eighth Route Army has three mechanized regiments? But we don't even have a half-track.
I didn’t see any cars!”
"Impossible!" Yumiro Obata replied: "They were still outside the city before dark, and I could see them clearly!"
Yuki Kotani was silent. He had no reason to doubt Obata Yukiro's words, and Obata Yukiro had no need to lie to him.
So... the Eighth Route Army mechanized regiment moved its target, and three mechanized regiments moved at the same time.
What will be the goal?
Yuki Kotani searched on the map, but what surprised him was that there was nothing nearby worth seizing for the Eighth Route Army.
Finally, when he turned his gaze to Chifeng, he couldn't help but be stunned.
"It can't be Chifeng, right?" Yuki Otani was startled. He looked closely at the map, and then his eyes widened.
For an infantry march of 500 kilometers, it may take several days, but for a half-track vehicle, it may only take a day or two or even faster.
He took out his pocket watch and looked at it. It had been more than three hours since dark, which meant that the Eighth Route Army's mechanized troops had probably set off for a few hours.
You definitely won't be able to catch up, and even if you catch up, it's useless. The 26th Division only has cars, so catching up would be a recipe for death.
He quickly ordered to the communications troops: "Send power to the headquarters immediately. The Eighth Route Army plans to raid Chifeng!"