Having said that, at this time, the Baoding Defense Battle on the other side started vigorously. The National Army deployed the First Group Army headed by Song Zheyuan on the entire Pinghan Line, with the original 29th Army, the 53rd Army and local troops as the main force.
, the Second Group Army headed by Liu Zhi and based on the former Northwest Army, Wei Lihuang's Fourteenth Group Army and Tang Enbo's 20th Corps also participated in the battle, with a total strength of about 100,000 people.
The sources of these more than 100,000 combat troops are extremely complex, including the Northwest Army, the Northeast Army, the original 29th Army, local troops, the Central Army, the Shanxi-Sui Army, and the Sichuan Army. This makes the various units have poor coordination capabilities with each other and have little influence on the superior command.
Their obedience is also poor. The consequence of this is that often when the Japanese army attacks, the troops responsible for the frontline defense are unwilling to fight to the death and hope that other troops will replace them. This has a great impact on the final outcome of the war.
However, due to the good early defense preparations, the local people were very enthusiastic about resisting the Japanese. People often took the initiative to go to the front line to help transport ammunition and dig trenches. There were also the 52nd Army of the Central Army and the Second Army of the Northwest Army.
The Sixteenth Army, two elite units with strong combat effectiveness. The Japanese army was in a stalemate with these units for a while, but on the other side, Shanxi staged a scene that made the Fifth Division famous.
——Tianzhen
At this time, the vast northern Shanxi area from Tianzhen to Datong still only had a total of seven regiments of the 61st Army.
Li Fuying was looking at the battle map and thinking about how to allocate the troops after reinforcements arrived, when a soldier ran in out of breath.
Li Fuying looked at it and said in a panic, "What's going on? Why are you in such a hurry?"
The communications soldier took a telegram and said, "Report - report to the military base that a large number of enemy troops have been discovered in Lijiazhai and Luojiashan."
Li Fuying broke into a cold sweat when he heard this. He knew these two places without looking at the map. These two places were the most advanced positions of the entire Tianzhen defense line.
Li Fuying took the telegram and read it carefully, but he saw that a large number of cavalry troops appeared to conduct reconnaissance in the two places, and planes appeared in the sky above the two places. Li Fuying had been in the army for decades, so of course he knew that this was the Japanese army.
Make final preparations and immediately pick up the phone and call the 402nd Regiment at the front.
After waiting for a while, the call was connected. Li Fuying said, "Hey, hey, I'm Li Fuying. What's the situation on the front line now?"
Liu Yongzhi, commander of the 402nd Regiment, complained, "Military seat, our defensive position is really not that good. The forts we promised were all covered in dirt. How can we defend such a position? The Japanese are right in front of us."
."
Li Fuying said angrily, "Do I not know? I'm asking you about the situation on the front line! The original fortifications are not working, so you just repair them yourself. What's there to complain about?"
Liu Yongzhi sighed and said, "Military seat, Xiu also needs materials. Now there are only some cavalry who break into our position from time to time, but we drive them away, but when will the Japanese attack in a big way - lie down!!"
Li Fuying was stunned for a moment, and heard bursts of explosions coming from the other side of the phone, and then Liu Yongzhi's stammering voice: "Military seat, military seat, the Japanese are shelling, please support us. We can't withstand it here."
."
Li Fuying's mind was immediately confused. The Japanese army was coming too fast. How could he hold on to his small number of troops? So he asked, "How many people are there in the Japanese army?"
There was still constant shelling from Liu Yongzhi's side. I could only hear him stammering: "The enemy's artillery fire is too dense. It is definitely the main force of the enemy. I can see one or two divisions."
Li Fuying scolded, "Fuck you, you can still talk to me alive with two divisions. I tell you, Liu Yongzhi, hold on tight. If you dare to take a step back without an order, I will
Shoot you."
As he said this, Li Fuying hung up the phone. Li Fuying turned around twice and said, "Immediately call Commander Yan to report that the Japanese army has launched a massive attack on our army. It is initially suspected to be the main force of the enemy. Please send reinforcements as soon as possible."
Chief of Staff Liu Jinsheng said worriedly, "Our army only has seven regiments, with only 20,000 to 30,000 people. Once the entire Japanese army attacks, I'm worried about whether we can stop them."
Li Fuying shook his head and said, "We can only wait and see when our reinforcements will arrive. Let's order the troops below to defend."
——Taiyuan
Yan Xishan looked at the telegram and patted his thigh fiercely and said, "How could this happen? How is it possible? Are the Japanese crazy? They just fought a war and launched another attack just a week later. Don't they need it?"
Are you resting?"
Yang Aiyuan said incomprehensively, "This is really beyond our expectation. Chairman Yan, what do you think we should do? As for the 61st Army, Datong cannot hold it. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops."
."
Yan Xishan looked at the map and said, "When can the other troops arrive?"
Yang Aiyuan looked at the book and said, "Liu Maoen's 15th Army is still on the way into Shanxi. Yang Chengyuan's 34th Army, Fu Zuoyi's 35th Army and other units are still at the junction of southern Shanxi and Jinsui. There is no way to catch up in a short time. Only the 19th Army
It's close to Datong, so we can support one or two. Chairman, I'm afraid this plan for the Datong battle is not very good."
Yan Xishan patted the chair and said, "Why are these guns collapsing so slowly? Then order the 19th Army to deploy a division to move to Datong, and order the 61st Army to hold on until reinforcements arrive so that the Battle of Datong can begin."
."
Before Yan Xishan finished speaking, he saw a staff officer coming in and saying, "Report, the 143rd Division has an urgent call."
Yan Xishan and Yan Xishan looked at each other, with an ominous premonition in their hearts. Yan Xishan shouted, "Nian!"
The staff officer took out a telegram and said, "On September 4, a large number of Japanese troops were discovered in our forward positions. They have been identified as the main force of the Japanese Fifth Division. Our troops are afraid of insufficient strength and request support from the headquarters."
When Yan Xishan heard this, he took a breath of air and shouted, "Why is the Fifth Division here too? Didn't he suffer heavy casualties at the south entrance?"
Yang Aiyuan smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid it's because the Japanese army is a modern force with a sound replenishment mechanism. It has already replenished all the lost troops this week."
Yan Xishan looked at the map, sweating slowly on his head and said, "I know Seishiro Itagaki. The combat power of the 5th Division cannot be stopped by thousands of people from the 143rd Division. Once they break Yu County, they can
If it penetrates directly into the back of Datong, we in Datong will be surrounded."
Yang Aiyuan also said urgently, "Chairman Yan, please order reinforcements from the troops immediately, otherwise it will be dangerous."
Yan Xishan nodded and said, "You are right, order Tang Enbo's troops to support Liu Ruming, and the 15th Army will immediately go to Tanbao-Guangling to garrison at the front line. Damn it, all our plans have been disrupted, and
——Let the 61st Army defend for three days and see what happens. The situation in the Battle of Datong may be different from what we thought."
After Li Fuying received Yan Xishan's order to stay on guard for three days, he immediately held a meeting with Army Chief of Staff Liu Jinsheng and the 200th Brigade Commander to discuss the defense plan.
Finally, I thought that since Yan Xishan asked them to defend for 3 days, it means that Datong will definitely be abandoned and it is impossible to defend it. Therefore, there is no need to garrison the perimeter of Datong for a long time, and there is no need to make long-term defense deployments, so we simply dispersed the troops to the front line and dispatched
One regiment defended Tianzhen, and another regiment defended Gaoyang. The four regiments lined up outside Tianzhen, and the last regiment was between Tianzhen and Gaoyang. Then Li Fuying led a group of staff out of Tianzhen to the outer positions.
Prepare for frontline command.
Li Fuying was laying out a defense plan, while Tojo Hideki was looking at the front line with a telescope. At this time, the troops around Tojo Hideki actually only had the 15th independent mixed brigade and two pseudo-Mongolian divisions, numbering no more than 10,000 people.
Shinohara Seiichiro looked at the bombed-out positions in the distance and wondered, "Is this the Datong Defense Line that the Chinese people boasted about? Is this the defense line that took a year to build?"
Tojo Hideki, who was sitting next to him and drinking sake, smiled and said, "Our intelligence is indeed correct. The defense line here is just a superficial one. Shinohara-kun, order the tank brigade to attack."
Shinohara Seiichiro nodded in response and saw chariots squeaking one by one towards the Luojiashan position. The cavalry of the puppet Mongolian army also charged, followed by infantry all over the mountains and plains.
But unexpectedly, the counterattack was minimal, and the army simply ran all the way up the mountain.
After receiving the report, Tojo Hideki also felt that something was wrong, so he ordered the army to temporarily stop the attack. He and Shinohara Seiichiro came to the position to take a look. When they arrived at the position, they only saw that countless bunkers were already there.
There were no people left, and the bunker was blown to pieces by the recent shelling.
Tojo Hideki suddenly kicked a bunker next to him with force, and a big hole was made in the wall of the bunker. Everyone was stunned.
Shinohara Seiichiro opened his mouth and said, "It's so amazing. I didn't expect that Your Excellency, Commander, has such profound martial arts attainments."
Hideki Tojo smiled and shook his head. He took a grenade from a Japanese soldier beside him and stuffed it into another bunker. He only heard a "bang" and the bunker was blown to pieces.
Only then did everyone realize that it was not Tojo Hideki who had strong legs, but that these bunkers were all fake. Shinohara Seiichiro was also curious and poked at the bunkers using bushido, and found that these bunkers were basically made of mud.
, and it’s not even compacted, so it has no defense at all.
Hideki Tojo laughed and said, "No wonder those Chinese troops are unwilling to defend here. The Chinese defense lines are always like this."
Shinohara Seiichiro also smiled and said, "Your Majesty Commander, it seems that the China people are not plotting something. Let's attack with confidence."
Hideki Tojo nodded and said, "Order, attack with the whole army! Use the bayonets of our Yamato samurai to tell these Chinese people what a soldier is."
Li Fuying looked at the embarrassed Liu Yongzhi and cursed, "What's going on? Why did you lose your position?"
Liu Yongzhi said with tears in his eyes, "Military seat, it's really not that we brothers are not working hard, it's really that the Japanese artillery fire was too fierce. With one round of artillery fire, all our fortifications were destroyed."
Li Fuying took out a gun and pointed it at him and said, "I don't care, you go and seize the front line for me. If you dare to lose all the positions before I give the order to retreat, you just throw your life here."
Liu Yongzhi stamped his feet, grabbed the submachine gun of the soldier next to him and said, "Brothers, follow me and fight back."
At this time, another communications soldier came in and said, "Military seat, the commander of the 425th Regiment, Li Zaixi, sent a message saying that he was feeling unwell and asked for sick leave. He requested that the deputy commander of the regiment take command in his place."
Li Fuying scolded, "What's wrong? He's just greedy for life and afraid of death. Tell him, either he will hold the position with a gun himself, or I will cut off his head to defend the position for him."
Watching the increasing resistance to the attack, Tojo said to the communications soldier next to him, "Immediately order the other two brigades to speed up and rush to the battlefield to join the battle."
Li Fuying led his troops to fight the Japanese army in the crude fortifications, but Liu Ruming on the other side did not have such courage.
Liu Ruming and the Fifth Division were old rivals. They had competed against each other as early as the Battle of Nankou. This time, Liu Ruming's remnant army was only five to six thousand men, and they had already become frightened.
After Liu Ruming sent the telegram to Yan Xishan, he sighed and said to the adjutant next to him, "Order the troops to withdraw."
The adjutant said hesitantly, "Sir, it's not appropriate for us to retreat like this, in case the superiors track us down."
Liu Ruming hummed, "So what, my army is actually only one division and one brigade, and now it only has a few thousand people. I have put together tens of thousands of troops like this. Who can say that mine is not good? I
Chairman Chahar has come to Shanxi. What else can we do? Withdraw! If we don’t withdraw, thousands of our brothers will lose their lives here. When the whole army is wiped out, no one except our family will do it.
We shed a tear."
The adjutant nodded and went down to issue the order.
After Tang Enbo on the other side received Yan Xishan's order, he immediately ordered a regiment of Gao Guizi's 17th Army to rush to Yu County.
Itagaki Seishiro looked at the deserted Yu County and said with a smile, "Is China really deserted? Such an important place is not heavily guarded."
Miura Toshiji next to him smiled and said, "Your Excellency, division commander, in this case, let's speed up and try to reach Yanmen Pass."
Itagaki Seishiro nodded and said, "Order the entire army to speed up the advance. If this is correct, the Chinese will soon send reinforcements to block us. We must become the fastest sword to completely crush the confidence of the Chinese."
Gao Guizi's reinforcements rushed to Yu County, only to find that the menstrual flag had been flying on the city tower. They also saw a large number of chariots and cavalry advancing rapidly, and they were frightened and retreated quickly.
After receiving the news, Tang Enbo immediately mobilized the 3rd Army, Gao Guizi's 84th Division, and Li Xianzhou's 21st Division to block the Fifth Division. Tang Enbo knew very well that once the Fifth Division completed the encirclement, half of Shanxi Province would be destroyed.
It will be completely lost.
However, these rushing reinforcements did not have any defensive fortifications. They were no match for the Fifth Division in the field. In less than half a month, the Fifth Division was so powerful that it defeated Guangling, Lingqiu, and other places.
In Hunyuan, Laiyuan and other places, four or five divisions were unable to fight back against the Fifth Division. The name of the Fifth Division's Steel Army resounded throughout the Chinese battlefield.
——Taiyuan
Yan Xishan looked at the battle reports from the front line and was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. In just a few days, the situation in northern Shanxi had deteriorated greatly.
Yan Xishan said to Wei Lihuang, who had just arrived in Taiyuan, "Junru, what should we do now?"
Wei Lihuang immediately stood on the map and replied, "Sir Yan, look at it, northern Shanxi is already on the verge of collapse. The biggest problem is Itagaki Seishiro's fifth division. He has restrained too many of our troops, making it impossible for our troops to
In the direction of reinforcing Datong, the Fifth Division is brave, but it is not without weaknesses. The biggest weakness is the logistics supply line of the Fifth Division. There is no railway on the Guangling line. Intelligence shows that the Japanese army relies entirely on trucks and pack horses for support.
The logistics line. So I suggest that the Eighth Route Army be immediately dispatched, taking advantage of their ability to fight ambushes and guerrillas, and let them contain the Fifth Division. As long as the logistics line of the Fifth Division is eliminated, we can free our hands.
It’s time to deal with Tojo Hideki’s troops.”
Yan Xishan nodded and said, "Okay, okay, I'll go find the Eighth Route Army immediately."
After listening to Yan Xishan's words, Mr. Zhu immediately nodded and said, "Resisting Japan and saving the nation is our party's consistent stand. It is of course no problem for us to go to the front line, but Chief Yan, this emperor is not short of hungry soldiers. Our army's supply problem has not been solved yet."
Woolen cloth!"
Yan Xishan opened his eyes wide and said in disbelief, "Is it true? It's impossible? The mistakes are all my brother's mistakes. In this way, I will immediately allocate 300,000 rounds of ammunition, 50,000 grenades, and 500 tons of military rations to
Your army, I wonder when your army can go out?"
Mr. Zhu held Yan Xishan's hand tightly and said, "Thank you so much, Sir Yan. Our army can go to the front line at any time, but our army is all infantry. I'm afraid it's too late."
Yan Xishan waved his hand and said, "What are you talking about? Are we going to let our friendly troops go to the battlefield? In this case, others will not say that we Shanxi people do not know how to treat guests. In this case, I will immediately allocate carriages to pick up your army.
I wonder which unit your army is planning to send as the vanguard?"
Mr. Zhu said with a smile, "Lin Sanhu's 115th Division."
Yan Xishan said happily, "Okay, I have heard of Lin Sanhu's reputation a long time ago. I hope your army can rush to the battlefield as soon as possible. Northern Shanxi is in danger."
After Yan Xishan left, Mr. Peng came out and said with a smile, "This Yan Laoxi is actually pretending to look like him now."
Mr. Zhu shook his head and said, "It's all for the sake of resisting Japan. Forget it, at least we finally have the supplies we need. Immediately order Lin Sanhu to follow the instructions of the second theater and rush to the front line."
——Houma
Lin Sanhu, who was stationed here, immediately ordered his troops to wait for the incoming train at the train station after receiving the telegram.
Yang Dezhi, leader of the 685th Regiment, looked at the railway and said, "Why does the railway in Shanxi feel weird? It seems to be very narrow."
Nie Rongzhen nodded and smiled and said, "You are right. This railway is much narrower than other railways. It does not use the wide gauge common across the country, but the Japanese narrow gauge. This is to prevent trains from other places from passing by.
You can come in directly, and the second reason is to save money."
Yang Chengwu, leader of the independent group, asked curiously, "How do you save money?"
Nie Rongzhen replied, "The standard gauge of this railway is 1435mm, and the narrow gauge is 1000mm. The amount of steel used in the narrow gauge is only about half that of the wide gauge, and the cost is about 1/3 of the wide gauge. In order to save money, Yan Xishan also directly
We use soldiers to replace workers to build iron mines."
Lin Sanhu smiled and said, "This is really good at settling accounts. The car is here."
Everyone only saw a long train slowly driving in front of everyone, followed by three obviously different trains.
An officer came down and saluted Lin Sanhu and said, "On the order of Commander Yan, I'm here to greet you all. There will be four more trains later. These three luxury carriages are specially prepared for all the officers."
Zhou Kun looked inside the carriage through the window and saw only European-style sofas, chandeliers, books and other entertainment items. He couldn't help but said with envy, "This Mr. Yan, oh, Chief Yan really knows how to enjoy it."
Lin Sanhu shook his head and said, "Order the troops to get on the train. We can just squeeze into one luxury carriage, and the other two compartments should be given to the soldiers with the most merit in the army."