UGB #190 - Changes in North China
#190 - Changes in North China
Considering the infiltration of the Japanese devils, the detailed overall battle plan was only known within a limited scope of the Kuomintang's First War Area, greatly preserving the core secrets.
The First War Area successively mobilized the remaining troops滞留 in the north and began to assemble in divisions and brigades east of Lingchuan.
This side recklessly revealed flaws, and the Japanese reconnaissance planes discovered traces. The main force of the Japanese devils moved upon hearing the news. The Fourth Mixed Brigade in the Lingchuan direction, the Eighth Infantry Brigade of the 10th Division on the southern line of Huixian, and the Thirty-third Infantry Brigade of the 10th Division in Linzhou immediately formed a triangular encirclement to begin the siege.
However, to the Japanese devils' surprise, the main force of the Eighth Route Army's Taiyue Military Region suddenly emerged from Lingchuan. The Independent Regiment, the 772nd Regiment, the New First Regiment, the 16th Regiment, and the 17th Regiment, together with the military region's 107th Artillery Battalion, under the personal command of the brigade commander, encircled the Fourth Brigade of the Japanese devils in the Xiangmu River area overnight!
The general offensive was launched at dawn the next day. The brigade commander directed the artillery battalion and the 16th, 17th, and 771st Regiments to encircle and annihilate the Fourth Brigade's headquarters and the 22nd Regiment, while the Independent Regiment and the New First Regiment once again encountered their old nemesis, the 3rd Regiment!
In this battle, the brigade commander's artillery battalion had six 107mm guns, and each main regiment also had two 107mm guns. In addition, each battalion was equipped with six 82mm mortars. Against the Fourth Brigade's eight mountain guns, eight field guns, and twelve Type 92 infantry guns, the brigade commander rarely concentrated such powerful artillery to fight a rich man's war!
As soon as the 107mm guns fired, the first round of overwhelming rocket projectiles fell on the Japanese artillery positions. The six 107mm guns carried out a carpet-like cleansing, directly eliminating the Fourth Brigade's artillery battalion cleanly.
Before the Japanese devils could react, each regiment launched a general offensive. The 107mm guns and mortars aimed at the Japanese regiment's artillery company and the battalion's artillery squad and began shelling. At the same time, the front-line infantry battalions also aimed at the Japanese devils and launched a charge. The Japanese devils themselves did not have any fortifications to rely on, occupying several hilltops and wanting to resist stubbornly, but facing the main force of the Taiyue Military Region, which had already replaced a quarter of its equipment with 5G3 machine guns.
This was the first time the Japanese devils encountered the fully armed main regiment of the Eighth Route Army attacking with all its might. In terms of infantry firepower, they no longer had any advantage. In the grenade launcher duel, the effective range and power had been completely surpassed by the Eighth Route Army.
In terms of total strength, the brigade commander also achieved a 2-to-1 advantage in troops this time. Therefore, the offensive was unstoppable after the general offensive began. In less than half a day, the Fourth Brigade of the Japanese devils had suffered more than half of its casualties. By the time the Japanese warplanes flew over, the brigade commander had hidden the artillery battalion in the mountains. On the ground, the Eighth Route Army was already intertwined with the Fourth Brigade in a fierce battle. In addition, the air defense company of the Taiyue Military Region also appeared on the battlefield for the first time. After shooting down two Japanese warplanes, they never dared to fly in airspace lower than 1,000 meters again.
The Japanese devils' air support from Yuncheng could no longer play much of a role.
The battle lasted until dusk before it ended. By this time, the Kuomintang troops who had appeared to lure the enemy had already received new orders to go south with all their strength, arriving just in time as the Taiyue Military Region was cleaning up the battlefield.
The brigade commander directly gave the captured military rations to the Kuomintang friendly forces, letting them have a full meal. After resting for 2 hours, the army continued south together, heading straight for the Japanese devils' Zhongtiao Mountain defense line.
The five main regiments of the Taiyue Military Region lined up in a row, directly opening a gap more than 20 kilometers wide, and met with the Kuomintang receiving troops who were fiercely attacking across the river on the third day!
This group of Kuomintang troops, who had been wandering for several months and had less than 40,000 left, were finally sent across the Yellow River.
Although these remnant soldiers were all gaunt and emaciated, after persisting in the Taihang Mountains for so long, the fighting will of this unit was a notch higher than that of other Kuomintang troops.
Later, after being reorganized and replenished, this unit became the main force of the First War Area, giving the Japanese devils a "surprise" in Operation Number One, but these were changes that Ren Chong could not have foreseen.
He only knew that the Second and Third Battalions of the Independent Regiment were assigned to Kong Jie. After adding a local guerrilla battalion, they formed the New Second Regiment and the New First Regiment, and stayed in Zhongtiao Mountain with the 16th Regiment to open up the Zhongtiao Mountain base area.
Li Yunlong, with the First Battalion and Shen Quan and Wang Huaibao, returned to the Heyuan and Anping area, absorbing the local county brigade and district company to reorganize the Second and Third Battalions. Considering the importance of the Heyuan base, the brigade commander also approved the Independent Regiment to add a supplementary First Battalion, letting Zhang Dabiao form it as the Heyuan base's defense team.
The strength exposed by the Taiyue Military Region this time will inevitably cause the Japanese devils to conduct a full investigation.
Heyuan, as the main supply base for the Taiyue Military Region's weapons, even if the Japanese devils cannot find the specific arsenal address, they will definitely know the fact that a huge arsenal is hidden in Heyuan.
It's just that now there are the 358th Regiment, the Independent Regiment, and the 771st and 772nd Regiments and other main forces nearby. The Japanese devils are temporarily unable to do anything about this mountainous area where even the roads only reach the county seat.
Heavy weapons cannot enter the mountains. Against the Independent Regiment and the 772nd and 771st Regiments, these ancestors of mountain warfare equipped with superior infantry weapons, even sending a division would not work.
After all, on the brigade level, the brigade commander had just demonstrated a battle example of how to quickly annihilate a brigade. If the Japanese devils sent a brigade deep into the Heyuan mountainous area, the brigade commander would teach them how to repeat the successful battle example.
After the brigade commander's strong siege and annihilation of a brigade, the Japanese North China Front Army's staff finally realized the huge risk of continuing to disperse and encircle and suppress, and began to comprehensively withdraw their forces from the mountainous areas back to the transportation lines. The expansion of Operation Number Three has basically gone bankrupt at this point.
Although it seems that they have taken Jizhong as they wished, driving the eight main regiments of Jizhong from their base area.
However, the main force of Jizhong is still there, they have only retreated to the mountainous area on the edge of the Taihang Mountains for rest and replenishment.
Especially in terms of weapons, the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, based on the grand plan of launching the Jizhong Campaign to fight back after the main force of the Japanese devils retreated, not only spared no effort to replenish their weapons, but also prepared to let them take back a batch of machine tools to realize the production of light weapons.
In order to strengthen their strength, the headquarters temporarily transferred all the weapons from the Heyuan base. Even in the situation where the newly expanded troops of the Independent Regiment had not had time to equip them, eight 107mm guns, 800 Type 56 semi-automatic rifles, 40 82mm mortars, 80 grenade launchers, and 80 machine guns were given priority to the eight main regiments of Jizhong.
Although this amount of weapons is only a little bit for each regiment in Jizhong, the increase in their firepower has been several times!
It should be known that in terms of heavy firepower, their main regiments originally had no more than two mortars, and machine guns and grenade launchers were barely enough for one or two per company, which was too far from the headquarters in Taihang and Taiyue.
Now, each regiment can at least be allocated one 107mm gun, five 82mm mortars, 10 machine guns, and 100 Type 56 semi-automatic rifles. The firepower is simply unprecedentedly strong.
This allowed the morale of the Jizhong Military Region to quickly recover from the frustration of losing its base area, and they were all clamoring and waiting for the main force of the Japanese devils to retreat, and they would kill back to their hometown!
Third update