There is a reason why the Jinsui Army did not blow up the fortifications. They did not collapse from the beginning.
When the Japanese hit Tiaoshan, they tried to encircle Yuncheng from the beginning, that is, break through Chu Yunfei's defense line and then penetrate to the west of Yuncheng.
To the west is Yuncheng's only retreat...to the south is Zhongtiao Mountain, to the north is Luliang Mountain, and to the east is the direction of the Japanese attack.
Once the Japanese penetrated to the west of Yuncheng, it meant that Yuncheng's retreat was cut off, so all the arms, equipment and food that Yan Laoxi had in Yuncheng would be seized by the Japanese.
This is also the reason why Yan Laoxi deployed Chu Yunfei's 358th Regiment on the flank of Yuncheng... Only if Chu Yunfei can hold the flank will Yuncheng have time to evacuate.
Chu Yunfei did hold on for a while.
Yan Laoxi took this time to mobilize the whole city to evacuate supplies from Yuncheng. Of course, there was no time to blow up the fortifications at this time. At the same time, it would be meaningless for them to blow up the fortifications... Yan Laoxi thought that he could not fight back, even if he did, he would not be able to fight back.
It doesn't make any difference to him whether he can fight back with a tank or not.
Unexpectedly, these fortifications have now caused a lot of trouble to the Eighth Route Army.
After a moment of silence, Li Yunlong said unconvinced: "I don't understand this. How do the Japanese attack the city when they have tanks? They can capture it, but we can't fight it in our hands?"
"The enemy's method is to fill up the anti-tank trenches one by one!" Ding Wei replied: "This is the only way, otherwise the tanks will not be able to drive in anyway. If the tanks cannot be driven in, they will not be able to fill up the turrets one after another.
If we knock down the fortresses and blockhouses, our infantry will be decimated and wounded, and we won’t even be able to touch the city walls, let alone attack the city.”
Li Yunlong raised his head and said: "Then let's fight like this, and follow suit!"
Wang Xuexin shook his head and said: "We can't fight like this, because we have to fight quickly!"
"That's right!" The leader frowned and continued: "Once we start fighting, we must defeat it within one day, otherwise... the Japanese reinforcements will arrive. By then, the enemy will cooperate from inside and outside, and our army wants to capture it.
It’s getting more and more difficult!”
When the chief said this, the cadres became silent.
The Eighth Route Army's attack on Yuncheng and the Japanese's attack on Yuncheng are two different things.
When the Japanese attack Yuncheng, they take the initiative when their overall strength is far superior to that of their opponents. Therefore, they can take their time. After encircling the enemy, they can slowly push forward the anti-tank trenches one after another. They will eventually be able to defeat it one day.
The Eighth Route Army was different. The overall strength of the Eighth Route Army was not even close to that of the Japanese. This determined that this battle must be fought quickly and then defense fortifications built in Yuncheng, so that it would be possible to gain a firm foothold.
Otherwise, Yuncheng will become a Japanese encirclement. The Japanese can transfer a division from other places, two divisions or even more troops to surround Yuncheng... The Japanese are worried that there is nothing they can do to defeat the Eighth Route Army in the mountainous area. The Eighth Route Army has arrived.
How could they not eat it when it was delivered to their doorsteps in plain areas?
Therefore, the Eighth Route Army had no time to fill these anti-tank trenches unless it used a large number of troops to contain and block the Japanese reinforcements, but this was obviously not an easy task.
Kong Jie stared at the map for a while and then suggested: "Chief, the enemy's anti-tank trenches are not connected together, but are connected one after another. Can we pass through the gap in the middle?"
Having said that, Kong Jie turned his attention to Wang Xuexin. The tank battalion was trained by Wang Xuexin, and he had more say.
Wang Xuexin actually discovered this.
Wang Xuexin believes that this should be determined by the location and terrain of the gun towers and bunkers outside Yuncheng City... Some anti-tank trenches have to pass through bunkers and gun towers, and some anti-tank trenches have to pass through boulder mountains, so the anti-tank trenches cannot be connected.
into one piece.
Later, Wang Xuexin learned from Chu Yunfei that this was actually done intentionally by the Jinsui Army.
The reason is that if the anti-tank trenches are to be connected together, it means that a bunch of gun towers and bunkers must be laid behind the anti-tank trenches... The anti-tank trenches need to be strengthened with firepower, otherwise enemy engineers can easily fill up the anti-tank trenches, and the anti-tank trenches will
The trench is meaningless.
This will indeed make the anti-tank trenches tighter and without loopholes, but the shortcomings are also obvious...the defense line is too obvious, and the gun towers and bunkers must also follow the regular defense line.
At the same time, the artillery fire of the Jinsui Army was obviously inferior to that of the Japanese. Such regular fortifications would undoubtedly make it easier for the Japanese to bombard with artillery fire.
Therefore, the Jinsui Army built anti-tank trenches in this and that area, as well as gun towers and bunkers, and there were many bunkers among them. This kind of fortification layout was more suitable for the weak Jinsui Army to fight against the Japanese.
Wang Xuexin replied: "With this map, it is not a problem for our tanks to insert into the enemy's positions through the gaps in the anti-tank trenches. We only need to send the map to the tank crews so that they can memorize the map and practice it several times. The problem is almost there.
These passages are very narrow, and the enemy is likely to lay mines on these passages. On the other hand, when our army follows the infantry, it will inevitably be blocked by Japanese gun towers, bunkers and artillery. Once the infantry and tanks are separated..."
Others may not understand this, because Wang Xuexin heard someone whisper:
"If the infantry can't keep up, just replace it with another group!"
"As long as the tanks can get through, knock down the bunker first, then our infantry can get in!"
…
But the chief and chief of staff understood it.
The commander and chief of staff were not idle during this period. They were following Wang Xuexin's training progress and were also learning tank tactics.
This was proposed by the chief. He even held a meeting specifically for this purpose and emphasized at the meeting: "We usually don't have tanks, so we don't need to learn tank tactics, but now we have tanks, and there are quite a lot of them! If the commander
If no one knows how to use a tank, problems will arise in a war! Therefore, we should start learning from us, and then gradually spread it to all troops. Only in this way can we use these tanks well and correctly, and not be blind.
command!"
The chief's method is to have staff officer Chen Songyong report to the headquarters regularly, and have him return to the headquarters every few days to study intensively. The chief and chief of staff also become students, listen to lectures and take notes.
By now, the commander and chief of staff will know what Wang Xuexin said about infantry following.
Even though a tank has an iron shell, it is far more fragile than imagined.
If the attack was carried out as Kong Jie said, that is, by inserting into the Japanese position through a narrow passage, the Japanese could use mortars, grenades, or even directly use the bunker's machine gun to kill the infantry behind the tanks from the side.
The result is that the infantry and tanks are separated and the tanks lose the cover of the infantry.
Once the tank is not covered by infantry, it will have blind spots everywhere.
If the Japs want to blow it up, they only need to approach it from a blind spot and use a cluster grenade.
The chief of staff took this opportunity to popularize this knowledge with the soldiers.
Wang Xuexin felt a little helpless. If there was no way to deal with it, of course he would not use such important time for meetings to attend classes.