This old devil Tanabe has two skills. As the chief of staff of the Japanese dispatched army in North China, whether he is dealing with the Chiang Kai-shek troops on the frontal battlefield or the Eighth Route Army troops on the battlefield behind enemy lines, this old devil has always been beside Okamura to make suggestions. spare no effort.
It can be said that Okamura Neji's right-hand man.
The sudden siege of five cities including Licheng, Xiangyuan, Lucheng, and Shexian by the Eighth Route Army was originally not a good thing.
Tanabe raised a question from another angle:
"General, what do you think is more important between Licheng and Jizhong, or the destruction of the main force of the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop?"
After this question was raised, the Japanese officers participating in the meeting immediately fell into deep thought.
Then a staff officer replied: "Licheng is the transportation hub of our empire and an important military city, but if we can exchange for the destruction of the main force of the Eighth Route Army and destroy Jizhong in one fell swoop, it will indeed be worth it!"
Tanabe smiled and then revealed his innermost plan:
"Based on the current inspections in Licheng, Shexian, Lucheng, Xiangyuan and other surrounding areas, the Eighth Route Army is continuously increasing its troops to the Licheng area for unknown purposes.
The most puzzling thing is that it is completely different from the last battle to siege Licheng.
The Eighth Route Army actually focused on offensive and defensive battles this time. They openly occupied one defensive position after another and set up a long-term defensive formation.
According to the frontline investigation, these Eighth Route Army troops only stayed on the main traffic roads, occupying the terrain for defense, and even turned a blind eye to the encirclement of our imperial troops from all directions. "
He was silent for a moment:
“We still don’t know what the purpose of the Eighth Route Army is.
But one thing is clear, the main force of the Eighth Route Army is constantly appearing in our army's field of vision.
They occupied some strong fortifications. It was not easy to forcefully break through the Eighth Route Army's defenses, but it was not difficult to just besiege them from the outside.
In this case, it is better to use the strategy to completely encircle the main force of the Eighth Route Army in those fortifications, guard it with a certain amount of troops, and contain these main forces of the Eighth Route Army, and then continue to launch our army's follow-up raids in Taihang, northern Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan. The Eighth Route Army base areas in various parts of the north destroyed the battle plan of the Eighth Route Army Logistics Station Jizhong Base Area in one fell swoop.
As for the Eighth Route Army who were completely besieged by our army within the fortifications, they were nothing but turtles in a jar.
After completing this strategic goal, we can free our hands and slowly eliminate the completely besieged Eighth Route Army. "
For the Japanese army, the most troublesome thing was that they could not force the Eighth Route Army to engage in a decisive battle with them.
These cunning Eighth Route Army soldiers were running around in the vast mountainous areas. Their troops were scattered and the main force was hard to find. Even if the Japanese army had no strength, they could not reach any place at all.
However, this time the Eighth Route Army suddenly raided five cities including Licheng, Lucheng, and Xiangyuan, and directly sent the main force to occupy the positions, which seemed to be a decisive battle with the Japanese army.
The Japanese did not make clear the intentions of the Eighth Route Army, but this did not affect their eager ambition to eliminate the main force of the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop.
In the end, after consideration, Okamura decided to adopt Chief of Staff Tanabe's combat plan.
This is also based on the current battle conditions in Licheng, Lucheng, Xiangyuan Shexian and other cities.
According to the news coming back from the front line, these Eighth Route Army troops occupied strong defensive fortifications, and the firepower configuration was quite powerful. The Japanese army carried out many offensive operations, but still failed to break through the enemy's positions, and its own casualties continued. spread.
In this case, it is better to suspend the attack, encircle but not attack, and completely trap these Eighth Route Army troops in those cold fortifications.
After the order was conveyed from the Japanese Army Dispatch Force Headquarters in North China, the Japanese troops in various places quickly changed their response tactics.
There were battles in Shexian, Liaoxian, Lucheng, Xiangyuan and other places, and the situation also changed quietly.
The Japanese troops, who had been attacking the Eighth Route Army's fortifications with red eyes, gradually stopped.
The little devils seemed to have received special orders not to continue the attack. Instead, they tried to build defenses around the Eighth Route Army's position. It seemed that they were going to completely trap the Eighth Route Army in the position.
Time has come so quickly to May 1st.
According to the plan of the old Japanese soldier Okamura Neiji, the Japanese army had completed the overall defense change of the security forces in Shandong and Shanxi areas one day ago.
All field elites used in the mopping up plan were also ready and successfully arrived at the designated combat area.
At eight o'clock in the morning, Okamura Neji, who was at the North China Expeditionary Army Headquarters, issued the highest order, and the imperial sweep operation plan was officially launched.
It also determined that the combat policy for this time was: "Focus on attacking the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang area, focusing on mopping up the guerrilla forces of the Eighth Route Army in western and central Shandong areas, and at the same time, increasing troops to northern Shanxi and Inner Mongolia to carry out mopping up operations."
In one fell swoop, we stabilized public security and protected the final goal of raiding Jizhong.
To carry out a sudden attack and encirclement operation on the important military station and logistics center of the Eighth Route Army in the central Hebei area, eliminate the main force of the Eighth Route Army in central Hebei and completely destroy the Eighth Route Jizhong base area.
At the same time, various political, economic, and ideological strategies were used to transform Jizhong into a security area in one fell swoop, serving as the empire's operational goal to stabilize the rear in North China. "
Historically known as: May Day raids!
It can be said that the Japanese army had planned for this final large-scale raid on the Jizhong Military District of the Eighth Route Army Depot. Before the official battle began, the old Japanese Okamura made a series of preparations.
The advance arrangements made by the Japanese army for this long-planned May Day raid gradually emerged:
The Japanese First Army's operations in Shanxi included the Zhengtai Line, Licheng to Shexian, HD Highway, Yuncheng to Jincheng Highway, Shuozhou to Datong, and Baoding Highway to advance horizontally and blockade, and built 30 kilometers in one go. Deep blockade.
Along the way, fortification groups were set up based on medium-sized strongholds and large-scale strongholds, and no-man's land was set up in intervals. All towns and villages were demolished, and all farmland was burned down.
Split Shanxi into four regions from south to north.
This is the four horizontal lines!
Starting from Fugu County in the north and ending at Yuncheng in the south, relying on the Yellow River, three longitudinal blockade lines were built along the Tongpu Railway and Pinghan Railway to build a 30-kilometer deep blockade.
This is three verticals!
"With four horizontal lines and three vertical lines, the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi will be completely isolated and dispersed. The Eighth Route Army in Shanxi will not be able to protect itself, so it will naturally be difficult to take care of the Jizhong area."
Japanese Chief of Staff Tanabe said.
In addition, the security forces of the Japanese Twelfth Army in Shandong and the First Army in Shanxi have completed large-scale defense changes.
The Japanese and puppet troops in each blockade zone are divided into three parts:
The Japanese army is composed of one unit, the Northeast Traitor Crusade Team is one unit, and the local Shanxi traitors are one unit. They supervise each other and supervise each other's operations.
Each stronghold and defense line is divided into areas of responsibility, and the details of responsibility are assigned to individuals, and military orders are forced to be issued. Any failure in command that leads to the penetration or loss of the defense area will be dealt with according to military law.
Not only that.
Okamura knew that in this large-scale confrontation with the Eighth Route Army, the imperial forces such as the Twelfth Army and the First Army alone might not be able to handle it.
So the old devil lowered his face and asked for help from China's dispatched troops.
He also requested reinforcements from four field divisions in one go to assist North China in dispatching troops to jointly attack the Shanxi Eighth Route Army along the four horizontal and three vertical blockades.
The scale of the Japanese army's raids on the Eighth Route Army base areas reached an unprecedented stage.
Even in the direction of northern Shanxi, the old Japanese Okacun has made special preparations.
The Kwantung Army specially deployed two tank brigades. A large number of tanks and armored vehicles, in coordination with infantry and cavalry, were temporarily assigned to the Mongolian army to serve as mobile troops.
To guard against and attack the mechanized troops of Fu Yisheng's 35th Army.
The troops stationed in Mongolia tried their best to control the occupied areas and prevent the Eighth Route Army from coming out to cause trouble.
The Northern Shanxi Military Region also used considerable forces to completely suppress the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army operating in that area.
In the Shandong battlefield, the Japanese army followed the Jiaoji Line and the Jinpu Line in synchronization with Shanxi, and strategically located in central Hebei, heading north to the Baoding-Tianjin Highway, south to the Shide Line; west to the Pinghan Line, and east to the Jinpu Line, with all their strength to blockade...
These are the big aspects. As for the small aspects, the Japanese army has also done a lot of fundraising.
The little devil made a wishful thinking and planned to sweep away the Eighth Route Army base areas in Shanxi and Shandong, but left the Jizhong area alone for the time being.
I really thought that the Eighth Route Army was a fool and couldn't see the true intention of his little devil!
Of course, if the Eighth Route Army failed to fight effectively during the Japanese army's raids on the Eighth Route Army base areas in Shanxi and Shandong, the little devils would naturally not mind. By the way, all the Eighth Route Army base areas in Shanxi and Shandong would be destroyed before the final destruction of Jizhong. destroy.
…
A team headquarters.
Relying on the excellent communication links between the top and bottom of the detachment, combat news from various front lines and changes in the Japanese troops were all gathered into intelligence and reported to the headquarters.
Detachment leader Kong Jie, chief of staff Xu Guoan, deputy regiment leader Zhong and political commissar Li Wenjie and other generals were conducting military analysis on the military map in front of them.
Chief of Staff Xu Guoan was the first to speak: "Old Kong, it seems you are right. This little devil's retaliatory sweep is indeed coming!"
As early as a month or two ago, after the Eighth Route Army's winter counterattack came to an end, Kong Jie anticipated the retaliatory sweep that the Japanese army might launch.
In fact, other generals had already predicted this.
But they didn't expect that the Japanese army would launch another large-scale raid, just as Kong Jie expected, it would be quite large-scale.
Under the butterfly effect of Kong Jie's fanning.
Even though the winter counteroffensive ended with victory, the Eighth Route Army base was full of celebrations.
Even if the Pacific battlefield and the Southeast Asian battlefield broke out successively, the Japanese army needed to fight on multiple fronts, and a large number of elites were constantly transferred from China to the Pacific and Southeast Asian regions, resulting in a rapid decline in the Japanese military's military strength remaining in China.
Even the Eighth Route Army has developed rapidly in the past two years, especially the main combat force of the Eighth Route Army headed by a team, which has made rapid progress in both economic and military aspects.
In the end, it benefited from the special propaganda of a team and the idea of being prepared for danger in times of peace that Kong Jie constantly emphasized in many military meetings.
The Eighth Route Army base areas include Taihang Base Area, Zhongtiao Mountain Base Area, Taiyue Base Area, and Jizhong and South Hebei Military Regions.
The generals were not blindly optimistic.
Everyone is aware of and acknowledges it, and has made adequate preparations in advance to deal with the still severe anti-Japanese situation in North China.
…
Kong Jie nodded. Everything was as he expected, but there were also some unexpected things.
Judging from the scale of the raid launched by the Japanese army this time, the Japs' determination to wipe out the Eighth Route Army base area in one fell swoop and completely destroy Jizhong is stronger than Kong Jie imagined.
"According to the intelligence collected by our intelligence lines in various places, the Japs have spent a lot of money this time, cutting off and blockading almost the entire Shanxi Province, and especially strengthened the raiding force.
Coupled with the large-scale Japanese defense changes, we are indeed unfamiliar with the Japanese security forces coming from Shandong.
The informants and spies originally placed in the Shanxi Public Security Army are now useless. "
Chief of Staff Xu Guoan analyzed the situation and said with some helplessness: "No wonder the boss said that among all the previous Japanese commanders-in-chief, the old Japanese soldier Bianokancun was the most difficult to deal with.
This old Japanese is really awesome. In order to completely destroy our deployment around the base area for so many years and infiltrate the Japanese security forces, he actually exchanged all the security forces in the two theaters in one go.
His grandma is a ruthless character! "
At this time, the deputy detachment leader, Lao Zhong, suddenly smiled and said: "Old Kong, I'm afraid you don't know yet. In addition to these big actions, this little devil also has many small tricks!
There are even ones specifically for you! "
"Oh? How do you say this?" Kong Jie asked.
Deputy detachment leader Zhong said: "The little devil specially arranged a large number of spies to cooperate with the main force to infiltrate our base area.
These Japanese spies are very cunning, and many of them can speak Chinese. They disguise themselves as our military workers, guerrillas, local troops, and even militia troops, and harm our fellow villagers everywhere.
I just received the news that some folks in our guerrilla zone were not careful for a while and were fooled and deceived! "
"Deceived?"
"Yes! These little devils are so evil-minded that they deliberately disguise themselves as our military workers and guerrillas to harass the people and smear the reputation of our team.
Lao Kong, guess what?
The little devils have specially found a lot of guys who look similar to you, as well as the brigade commander and boss, and created a bunch of them to smear the image of you famous Eighth Route Army generals everywhere! "
Kong Jie said happily: "What's more, what kind of image do I have to dress up?"
"As for your image, Lao Kong..."
Deputy Captain Zhong paused and asked with a smile, "You really want me to tell you?"
"Tell me! Is it possible that his eyes are bigger than a copper bell and his body is eight feet long?" Kong Jie replied.
"That's not the case!" Deputy Captain Zhong said with a smile: "I heard from the comrade who led the charge that the fake Captain Kong has big yellow teeth, never leaves his smoking gun, is less than six feet tall, and has a ferocious look!"
After Kong Jie heard this, was this enough?
He was stunned for three seconds, and then cursed:
"Grandma, Ti~, this little son of a bitch dares to ruin my image. He deserves to be killed!"
