The health section chief said: "They seized them from the Japanese. I heard there were seven or eight of them. They even flew the captured planes to blow up the Japanese airport in Taiyuan."
Zhang Wanhe said with a smile: "I have long heard that Xu Dalong is very powerful. He did well in Mawushan. Now he even has a plane. He has become a genius."
In addition to being used as transport aircraft, Xu Dalong wanted to use their bombers' original role to carry out bombing operations against the Japanese army. But it's not easy, and it's too expensive.
In addition to the large monthly expenses incurred by the pilots, the cost of maintaining and using bombers is even greater.
Although in this era, airplanes only use high-grade gasoline, which is easy to solve, the amount of fuel required for a flight is staggering, and purchasing a large amount of gasoline requires a lot of money. The maintenance and upkeep of the aircraft is also a large sum of money. There are also aerial bombs. There is no place to buy them. You need to adapt to local conditions and find a way yourself.
The last time they attacked the Japanese airport, they directly chose to air-drop gasoline barrels. Inspired by this, in order to improve efficiency, Xu Dalong thought of a way to have the arsenal organize manpower to manufacture many 50-kilogram wooden barrels to hold gasoline. If a gasoline barrel is thrown from the air, it will cause fragmentation. The gasoline will be spread over a wider area and the destructive power will be stronger.
In order to increase the adhesion of the fuel, Xu Dalong also added a lot of crushed rubber particles into the oil barrel. After catching fire, it can have the effect of napalm.
Then there are the soil bombs. To put it bluntly, this type of soil bomb is an iron barrel with explosives inside, a mortar bomb installed at the bottom, and the mortar bomb's fuse is used to detonate it. This kind of bomb is divided into three types: 5kg, 15kg and 45kg. They are used to destroy different targets. After experiments, they can basically function as aerial bombs.
After some preparations, bombers piloted by Xu Dalong, Bob and others flew to Lingao City and bombed the headquarters compound of the Japanese garrison 32nd Division, causing more than 130 Japanese casualties. The headquarters buildings were largely razed to the ground.
Chiba Xunyi was almost crying, and now he was getting more and more troubled by the Mawushan guerrillas. In the past, he led his troops to surround the Mawushan guerrillas, but now it's the other way around. They can attack Lingao City at any time.
This made him uneasy all day long. He once again sent a telegram to Commander Yoshio Shinozuka, asking the Commander to quickly send a large army to wipe out the Mawushan guerrillas.
"The Sword Comes"
Yoshio Shinozuka was almost driven crazy by the Mawushan guerrillas, and he vowed to destroy the Mawushan guerrillas. He decided to mobilize the Japanese troops available in Shanxi to launch a large-scale attack on the Mawushan base area.
In order to prepare for the battle, Commander Yoshio Shinozuka flew to Peiping and went to the North China Front headquarters to request reinforcements.
Yoshio Shinozuka reported to the North China Front Army Headquarters the damage caused by the Mawushan guerrillas to the First Army Defense Area, which attracted the attention of the North China Front Army. They also believe that the Mawushan base area is now a cancer in the Japanese-occupied areas of Shanxi and must be removed.
In order to show support for Shinozuka Yoshio, the North China Front planned to allocate a heavy artillery regiment, a tank regiment, two cavalry regiments, a rapid-fire artillery brigade, and a large amount of ammunition to the Japanese First Army, and temporarily allocated them to the Japanese First Army. The First Army participated in the battle to annihilate the Mawushan guerrillas.
He also promised to dispatch his Japanese 39th Division in SJZ to cooperate with the First Army when necessary.
Not only that, they will also coordinate with the Air Force to mobilize a large number of fighter planes to enter the Shanxi battlefield.
After Yoshio Shinozuka received so much help, his confidence increased greatly. After he returned to Taiyuan City, while waiting for the arrival of troops and supplies allocated by the North China Front, he held another combat meeting to study how to besiege the Mawushan base area.
Taiyuan City.
In a Japanese restaurant, Zhou Mingde was eating with two Japanese officers. One of the two Japanese officers is Takahashi Hei, the intelligence officer of the Mawushan guerrillas, and the other Japanese officer, center left, is Kawashima Meikao, the section chief of the Logistics Barracks Section of the Japanese First Army.
Takahashi Heiwei was originally the deputy chief of the logistics and barracks unit of the 32nd garrison division, and he had a business superior-subordinate relationship with Kawashima Minkao. Not only that, the two are from the same hometown, so they have a very close relationship.
In order to obtain information from within the Japanese First Army, through Zheng Xirong's arrangement, Takahashi Bei took advantage of the opportunity when Takahashi Bei came to the First Army Headquarters to introduce Zhou Mingde to Kawashima Minkao, so as to facilitate Zhou Mingde. Able to spy information from him.
Among the Japanese army, many officers are also looking for various opportunities to make extra money. Zhou Mingde is a businessman in Taiyuan City, and Kawashima Minkao is also willing to make friends with such a person so that he can obtain extra income. He trusted Takahashi Bingwei very much, so he was also very polite to Zhou Mingde.
He said to Zhou Mingde: "Zhou Sang, you are Takahashi-kun's friend, that is, my Kawashima friend. If you need help with anything, just ask."
Zhou Mingde explained the purpose of his visit. He said that he had recently expanded his business. In addition to tea, he also dealt in seasonal fruits. His trading company did not have such a large warehouse to store these goods. He hoped to rent an air-raid shelter near his trading company as a warehouse. . On the one hand, this is because these goods need to be stored in a dry and cool place, and air raid shelters meet these conditions. On the other hand, they also hope to save inventory costs.
There are many air-raid shelters in Taiyuan City. These air-raid shelters were originally dug by the Guo army. After the Japanese army occupied Taiyuan, since the enemy had no air force, these air-raid shelters were of little use and remained idle.
Since these air-raid shelters were managed by the logistics department of the First Army, Takahashi Bingwei introduced Zhou Mingde to him.
This matter was a piece of cake for Kawashima Minkao. For Takahashi Bie's sake, he agreed without hesitation and said that he would take care of Zhou Mingde on the rental price.
Zhou Mingde took out two large yellow croakers and said that this was a small tribute from him to express his gratitude to Kawashima Minkao. He would pay the rent separately.
Kawashima Minkao was very happy to see Zhou Mingde's generous move. He said: "Zhou Sang, you are very good. I will make you a friend from now on. You can use those air-raid shelters and you don't need to pay any rent."
Zhou Mingde was also very happy and expressed his gratitude to Kawashima Minkao.
Zhou Mingde established contact with Kawashima Minkao through this incident. After having this relationship, he will gradually approach Kawashima Minkao and close the relationship between the two people in order to obtain important information.
From then on, Zhou Mingde approached Kawashima Minkao under various names and liked him, and the relationship between the two gradually became familiar.
That afternoon, Zhou Mingde came to take the Kawashima exam.
When he arrived at the gate of the First Army Headquarters compound, he saw that the security here had been strengthened, and there were at least twice as many sentries as usual. He believed that the Japanese army might have some major actions.
When Zhou Mingde came to the gate, a Japanese second lieutenant came forward, stopped Zhou Mingde and said, "This is an important military area, and you are responsible for clearing the way."
Zhou Mingde said in Japanese: "This Taijun, my name is Zhou Mingde, I am the shopkeeper of Hengtong Trading Company. I want to find Kawashima Taijun, the commander of your barracks section."
When the Japanese second lieutenant heard that Zhou Mingde was looking for the section chief, he did not dare to stop him, so he returned to his post and called to verify Zhou Mingde's identity.
Just as the Japanese second lieutenant left, Zhou Mingde took the opportunity to look inside from the gate. He saw many cars parked in the parking lot in front of the headquarters building. He had been here many times before and felt that the number of these cars was much greater than before.
Soon the second lieutenant came back and said, "Your Majesty, Section Chief, please come in, but you can't pass through here. Please take the side door over there."
Zhou Mingde came to the side door, and Kawashima Minkao had sent a Japanese soldier here to greet him.
This Japanese soldier Zhou Mingde had met and was an orderly soldier of Kawashima Minkao.
Zhou Mingde said politely: "This prince has caused you trouble."
As he spoke, he took out five dollars and handed it to the orderly.
The orderly liked Zhou Mingde's generosity very much when he saw it, and led Zhou Mingde into the door with a smile on his face.
Zhou Mingde came to Kawashima Minkao this time specifically to express his gratitude to him. Not long ago, in order to make it easier to enter and exit Taiyuan City, he asked Sichuan Islanders to apply for a special pass.
After meeting Kawashima Minkao, Zhou Mingde took out two more large yellow croakers and said a lot of thanks.
Kawashima Minkao was also very happy and started chatting with Zhou Mingde.
Zhou Mingde was very cautious and did not inquire into anything about the internal situation of the Japanese army. But his mouth was very sweet and he kept complimenting Kawashima Minkao.
Kawashima Minkao was very happy and started talking more.
Zhou Mingde learned from his conversation that the Japanese army was holding a combat meeting. This also confirmed Zhou Mingde's conjecture.
Although Zhou Mingde didn't know the specific content of the Japanese military combat meeting, it was still relatively important information after all, so he sent a telegram to Zheng Xirong to report the situation.
After Zheng Xirong received the telegram, he reported to Xu Dalong.
Guancheng County.
Although Xu Dalong did not know the specific content of this combat meeting of the Japanese army, based on his feeling, the issues discussed in this meeting of the Japanese army were probably aimed at the Mawushan guerrillas.
This is not a groundless conjecture. In recent times, the Mawushan guerrillas have dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army. The Japanese army has long been jealous, and it is inevitable to seek revenge from the Mawushan guerrillas.
Xu Dalong reported the situation to the brigade commander, and also sent telegrams to the underground party liaison station in Taiyuan City, the Shanxi-Sui Army Liaison Station and the military command Taiyuan working group, asking them to find ways to figure out this Japanese operation. content of the meeting.
Xu Dalong knew that sooner or later the Japanese army would launch a large-scale attack on the Mawushan base area, so he must take precautions and prepare for the battle in advance.
Just after the airstrip was built, Xu Dalong, Zhao Gang, Wang Limin and others discussed and decided to expand the engineering company of the independent brigade into an engineering battalion. After the engineering battalion was established, in addition to guiding other troops and county brigades to dig trenches at important locations in the base area, , Xu Dalong also arranged another important task for them.
A large area of Shanxi belongs to the Loess Plateau. There is a thick loess layer here, which is very suitable for digging tunnels.
Xu Dalong was inspired by an old movie called "The First Battle" and decided to dig a large number of tunnels in the base area to deal with the Japanese attack.
He personally drew a design drawing of the tunnel. The design of the tunnel is very scientific. It can hide troops, transport troops, attack quickly, and attack the enemy. It can also be waterproof, smoke-proof, gas-proof, and enemy-proof. It has complete functions and looks very good. practical.
This morning, a lot of people came to a village near Guancheng County, including people from the Mawushan guerrillas, the Independent Brigade, various county brigades, and people from the Zheng Mansion in the central county of Mawushan. They gathered here. To visit the demonstration tunnels dug in various villages by the Engineer Battalion of the Independent Brigade.
Led by the engineer battalion commander, they took turns visiting the tunnel.
The authentic exit first left a deep impression on people.
The engineer battalion commander led everyone into the yard of a farmhouse and asked everyone to look for the tunnel entrance. After searching for a long time, they found nothing.
Huang Jingzhong, chief of staff of the independent brigade, said to the engineer battalion commander: "The tunnel entrance is very hidden. Where is it?"
The engineer battalion commander said to the village militia captain: "You should tell the leaders."
The militia captain was a dark, lean and capable young man. He said with some pride: "Commanders, you can't find the tunnel entrance. I'm sure the little devils won't be able to find it even if they break their heads."
He went to the stable and lifted up the planks under the hay for the donkeys. The tunnel entrance is actually down here, and the location of the tunnel entrance is indeed beyond people's imagination.
"Oh, this tunnel entrance is so ingenious. It's really hard to imagine that the tunnel entrance is here." Everyone was talking about it.
The militia captain got into the tunnel entrance, covered it with wooden boards from the inside, and the tunnel entrance disappeared.
While everyone was wondering where he had gone, his voice suddenly came from the room: "Commanders, I am here."
The sound came from the kitchen. When everyone entered the kitchen, they did not see the militia captain. When they were wondering, the big iron pot on the stove was suddenly pushed up, and then the militia captain held up the big iron pot. He stood up and smiled at everyone.
"It's really amazing. This tunnel was chosen. It's really unexpected." Everyone was amazed again.
Sun Desheng asked with some confusion: "The mouth of this tunnel is under this big pot. Can we still cook?"
The militia captain smiled and said: "Chief, there is no problem. Come and take a look."
Sun Desheng walked forward and saw an iron plate with a hinge installed under the tunnel entrance. When the iron plate was closed, he could light a fire and cook on it without any problems.
Sun Desheng said happily: "This is a great idea, the little devil would never think of it."
The militia captain introduced the various functions of this tunnel. He entered a yard from the tunnel, and then took off a brick from the wall. The street was outside. If the little devils passed by the street outside, they could attack them directly.
The militia captain climbed onto the roof from the yard. This became a high-rise fortification that could control the entire street. If a machine gun was set up, the devils operating on the street would have nowhere to hide. There are many such high-rise fortifications in the village, which can create cross-fire. People who are not familiar with the situation will only be passively beaten when they enter the village.
What's even more amazing is that there is a large and thick willow tree in the village, which must be hundreds of years old. This big tree is already hollow, but strangely, the top is still full of branches and leaves. When the militia captain appeared again, he was in a tree.
This is the commanding heights of the village, making it easy to observe and set up machine guns to attack the enemy.
There is also a bunker in the middle of the street, which is a stone roller. The militia captain removed a brick from inside and stretched out the muzzle of his gun so that he could shoot from below. If the Japanese passed by, they would die without knowing it.
There is also a command system in the tunnel. Instead of using telephones, bamboos are connected together to become a microphone. Commanders can issue orders in the tunnels and direct the entire battle in the village.
Then the militia captain demonstrated various authentic functions such as waterproofing and anti-virus.
The engineer battalion commander said with a proud face: "Commanders, you have all seen that with such tunnel fortifications, no matter how many little devils come here, they will have to explain themselves here, and none of them can escape."
Wang Limin said: "Yes, such a tunnel is very effective for defense. However, it would be more ideal if the tunnel could be led outside the village, the troops could be moved out quietly, and the enemy could be attacked from behind."
The engineer battalion commander smiled and said: "Report to the brigade commander, this problem has been solved. There are two tunnels in the village leading to the outside of the village. The exit of one tunnel is in the cemetery in the west of the village. The exit of the other tunnel is in the abandoned brick kiln in the east of the village. Inside, the tunnels are dug wider so people can run around inside, which is very convenient for the movement of troops."
Wang Limin said with satisfaction: "Very good, these methods you have thought of are very creative. If our entire base area has such tunnels, we will not be afraid of how many people come from the Japs. Tell me, how did you come up with these ideas?" "
The engineer battalion commander said with some embarrassment: "This is not the idea we thought of. This is all constructed according to the design drawings drawn by the battalion captain."
No one was surprised to hear that the design drawings of such an awesome tunnel system were drawn by the captain. Everyone is now accustomed to Xu Dalong's awesomeness, and everyone cast admiring glances at Xu Dalong.
Lin Xueying looked at Xu Dalong with a smile on her face, her eyes filled with admiration. She suddenly had the urge to reach out and touch Xu Dalong's head, wondering why that guy was so smart and why he had so many things in his head.
Xu Dalong said to the engineer battalion commander and the militia captain: "You have done a good job. We must promote this set of tunnel digging experience. I will leave this matter to you two. The base area will hold a meeting of militia captains. It’s up to you two to teach them your experience.”
"Yes, I promise to complete the mission." The engineer battalion commander and militia captain puffed up their chests and replied loudly.
Militia captains from hundreds of villages in the Mawushan base area came to the headquarters of the Mawushan guerrilla brigade and learned how to dig tunnels. After they returned, a vigorous tunnel digging campaign began in the base area.
The combat meeting held by the Japanese First Army in Taiyuan City lasted for three days. Then the generals who participated in the meeting returned to their original posts one after another. Then various news continued to reach the Mawushan guerrillas. Various signs indicate that the Japanese army is deploying troops and generals in preparation for launching a large-scale attack on the Mawushan base area.
On this day, a telegram came from Wang Shuhuai, saying that Yan Guiwu, commander of the Fourth Division of Huang Xiejun, had received orders from his superiors to raise a large amount of food and grass to cooperate with the Japanese army in launching an offensive campaign, targeting the Mawushan base area.
In order to maintain confidentiality, the Japanese army did not disclose the details of the attack and the time when it was launched. Therefore, Yan Guiwu could only provide so much information to the guerrillas.
Zhao Gang said with some worry: "Captain, the tunnel in our base area has just been excavated for a short time, and it will not be useful in a short time. If the Japanese army comes to attack in large numbers at this time, the losses in the base area will probably be huge." .”
Xu Dalong said: "Your concerns are justified. We must buy time for the masses to dig tunnels. The enemy has not launched an attack yet, which means that their combat deployment is not ready yet.
My opinion is that we take the initiative to disrupt the enemy's combat deployment and buy time to consolidate the defense of the base area. "
Zhao Gang said: "This method is good, then I will send someone to notify each unit to hold a combat meeting."
Xu Dalong said: "If the Japanese army launches a large-scale attack on our base area, the 358th Brigade will also be the target of the Japanese attack. The two armies must conduct joint operations to repel the Japanese attack. Please invite Brigadier Chu and others to come and participate in the combat meeting." "
Zhao Gang said: "We want to go together. I will send a telegram to Brigadier Chu right away."
Chu Yunfei also received a notification from the World War II District Chief's Department. According to the news from the Shanxi-Sui Army Taiyuan Intelligence Station, the Japanese army had the intention to launch a large-scale attack on the Mawu Mountain area, and reminded the 358th Brigade to strengthen combat readiness.
They were also thinking about discussing joint operations with Xu Dalong and others. After receiving the telegram from the guerrillas, they immediately drove to Guancheng County.
