After Chief Qian learned about the fall of Chengde, he dispatched the only two Liao F1 fighter jets at Peking Airport to fly to Jehol in rotation for reconnaissance.
When the Japanese army formed the 14th Brigade and set off from Chengde, cars, carriages and marching troops meandered for more than ten miles. Even though the weather was gloomy, they were still spotted by planes in the sky.
The Liao F1 fighter is not a special reconnaissance aircraft, and it is a single-seat fighter. Naturally, it is impossible to take aerial photos. There is no transmitter on the aircraft. The pilot can only wait for the aircraft to return to Peking Airport and then make a verbal report. So what exactly did the Japanese army do?
How many troops were dispatched can only be roughly guessed, and it is impossible to clearly see the artillery.
But the information Zhou Wen needs is just to know the departure of the Japanese army. The specific direction in which the Japanese army will attack and which marching route is is not important at all. Just because it will spread a detachment between the two places where the Japanese army attacks Xifengkou or Lengkou.
It was only a matter of time before the Japanese troops were discovered in the mountains and fields in this direction.
In the entire Great Wall defense line, the three most likely points for Japanese attack were Gubeikou, Xifengkou and Lengkou.
Why do you say that?
From the map, the Great Wall, which is hundreds of kilometers long at the junction of Rehe and Hebei, is in the shape of a concave character. The two prominent locations are Gubeikou and Xifengkou, and the middle section is surrounded by dangerous mountains.
Blocked by steep mountains and rivers, it is simply not suitable for large armies to advance and deploy.
Moreover, Gubeikou and Xifengkou are connected by highways to Chengde, which is most suitable for the deployment and logistics supply of the Japanese army, which is semi-mechanized and semi-packhorse.
Lengkou is located to the east of Xifengkou, and actually protects the flanks of Xifengkou. The two passes rely on and protect each other.
There are also many trade routes connecting Lengkou with the outside of the pass. The Japanese army can gather heavy troops whether they divide their troops from Xifengkou in the west or come directly from Dushan.
Other passes were not suitable for large-scale attacks due to inconvenient transportation or steep mountains. At most, they could only be regarded as supporting attacks and could not be used as the main attack route of the Japanese army.
However, Gubeikou was too far away from Lengkou and Zhou Wen's team couldn't take it into consideration, so they could only focus on the dozens of kilometers between Xifengkou and Lengkou.
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That afternoon, the Japanese troops, who had been marching for six hours from Chengde, formed into the 14th Brigade. They encountered a little trouble when they were about to enter the Yanshan Mountains.
Yes, for the mixed 14th brigade, which rested overnight, replenished ammunition and was reinforced by an infantry brigade from the 6th Division, with a total strength of more than 5,000 people, the first brigade at the vanguard of the entire army was defeated by China
It's really not that troublesome to kill a few sharp soldiers with cold shots from stragglers.
At this time, Colonel Hattori Jiro, the brigade commander who was in the middle of a more than ten-mile march, heard that the Chinese troops were harassing the front and had lost several imperial warriors, but he did not issue any orders. He believed that these officers under him
We are fully capable of handling such emergencies.
Moreover, in the past year and more, in the Northeast and Rehe, there have been frequent incidents of stupid and reckless so-called anti-Japanese volunteers attacking imperial soldiers with a few simple guns. However, under the effective and resolute attacks of the imperial army, they either
They were beaten to death or captured and beheaded, and their bodies were hung on the roads leading to villages and towns as a deterrent and warning, or they were driven into the mountains and forests by the imperial soldiers to starve.
At this time, he was riding a gray war horse. He didn't pay attention to this matter at all. Instead, he estimated the marching distance in his mind and wondered whether it was necessary to march overnight to catch the Chinese army by surprise.
Originally, according to the usual battle deployment, after the Battle of Jehol, the entire army needed to rest and reorganize for a few days. One purpose was to let the imperial warriors who had been fighting for more than ten days relax. I heard that North Korea had urgently mobilized troops.
Many comfort women have come, and several temporary comfort stations have to be built in Chengde. Proper comfort can allow the imperial warriors to be more energetic in the next battle.
Another purpose is to wait for supplies from the rear.
Although the Japanese army is the king and hegemon in Asia, it is not a fully mechanized army after all. Its continuous combat capabilities are still far behind the armies of Western powers. The biggest obstacle is logistical supplies.
The ammunition and supplies carried by the trucks and packhorses of a division can generally only last for half a month, and then it needs to wait for replenishment from the rear.
This is also the reason why during the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese attack always revolved around the railway line. Occupying the railway line meant that the army could be mobilized quickly and a steady stream of supplies could be obtained.
In this Battle of Jehol, the Japanese 6th Division and the 14th Mixed Brigade were the main offensive forces. After more than ten days of fighting, although the Chinese army was vulnerable, a lot of shells and bullets were still consumed, especially
The consumption of military rations is very large. Without knowing how many days of fighting along the Great Wall there will be, it is necessary to replenish sufficient ammunition supplies before the attack.
However, due to the unexpected appearance of the entire Mishan Brigade, although the Kwantung Army High Command did not interfere with the deployment of the frontline headquarters, it was impossible for the 14th Hybrid Brigade, as the superior unit of the Mishan Brigade, to relax and wait as if nothing had happened.
supply.
So they just rested for the night, and after replenishing some of the remaining ammunition from other brigades, they formed the 14th Brigade and drove out of Chengde City early in the morning.
Hattori Jiro knew the importance of speed with troops. His original intention was to lead his troops to Lengkou Pass as soon as possible before most of the reinforcements from the Chinese army arrived along the Great Wall, and directly launch an attack while occupying Lengkou Pass.
, incidentally eliminate and defeat the model brigade that brought shame to the Kwantung Army.
I have to give a thumbs up to Hattori Jiro. This brigade commander who has entered the ranks of senior Japanese military officers has really good tactical awareness.
What he was thinking about was no longer how to occupy Lengkou Pass, nor how to eliminate the so-called model brigade.
For him, under the strong front of more than 5,000 troops composed of 4 infantry brigades, a field artillery brigade, a cavalry squadron, an engineer squadron and a baggage squadron of the 14th Brigade, he was able to eliminate and defeat a Chinese army.
Brigade, that's not a problem, even if this brigade is known as the elite of the Chinese army.
What he is considering now is whether to take the opportunity to attack the unsteady Chinese reinforcements from the flank after occupying Lengkou Pass. The so-called master of taking one step and seeing three steps is nothing more than this.
But something happened this morning that made him feel a little unhappy.
Just as the Huncheng 14th Brigade was marching in the vast wilderness outside Chengde City, an unexpected plane suddenly appeared in the sky above the marching team.
This aircraft, which may have belonged to the Chinese army, lacked the courage to attack. Even after seeing the imperial army's marching column from a distance, it immediately climbed into the hazy clouds, and then fled without a trace again.
