The main force of the Japanese First Army is only the 41st Division and 36th Division deployed outside Taiyuan City, and the 114th Division and 16th Brigade inside the city, with a total strength of about 50,000 people;
Since ancient times, defending a city must defend the field. If you don't defend the field, you will be trapped in a lonely city, completely losing the ability to maneuver in the field. The complete blockage of support, logistics, information, etc. will definitely cause military morale turmoil, which can be broken in a day or night.
Taiyuan is the seat of the capital of Hedong Province. It is surrounded by mountains to the north, east and west, and plains in the middle and south. Therefore, the entire terrain of Taiyuan is a "dustpan shape" with high in the north and low in the south, and the urban area of Taiyuan is located on the valley plain. , with Taihang Mountain to the east, Luliang Mountain to the west, and Yunzhong and Tiezhou Mountains to the north.
Therefore, the entire Taiyuan City looks like a huge fortress from a height, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Taiyuan has always been the property of the emperor, and Li Tang conquered the world based on Taiyuan.
The reason why Chu Xiong chose to launch the Taiyuan Campaign at this time was that the Eighth Route Army had already occupied the Taihang Mountains in the east and the Luliang Mountains in the west. It had just captured Yuci, known as an important town in the south, opening the southern gate to attack Taiyuan.
In order to defend Taiyuan City, the Japanese deployed the main force of the 41st Division at Wuyue Mountain, the commanding heights in the south, and the outskirts of the city. They relied on large depth and solid strongholds for defense, forming the eastern mountain as the "head", Wuyue Mountain as the belly, and the west of Fenhe River as the "feet". "The urban area is the tough defense line of the "heart", and nearly 60% of its troops are deployed in peripheral defense positions, forming a relatively hard "shell".
Especially in Dongshan to the east of the city and Wuyue Mountain to the south of the city, the Japanese built a large number of permanent fortifications, which became the main positions that can effectively cover the urban defense.
In this case, the hard "shell" of the defender's defense system must first be destroyed.
That is to say, first concentrate the troops to cut off the "heads" and "feet" of the defenders' peripheral defense system, and pierce the abdomen with one knife, so that the Japanese lose the barrier they rely on to resist, and strive to annihilate most of their main forces on the periphery and reduce the number of cities in the city. Huge losses from street fighting.
Wuyue Mountain, the headquarters of the Japanese 41st Division, the division commander Lieutenant General Abe Tingping was convening several regiment commanders for a meeting. The loss of Yuci City made the Japanese feel that the Chinese were about to attack;
Wuyue Mountain is the focus of Taiyuan's defense. The 41st Division is also an old friend of Chuxiong. It was crippled by the Independent Brigade before. Compared with the 35th Division and 37th Division that were completely wiped out, the 41st Division did a good job. Yes, at least they were not completely wiped out.
Abe Taiping had just taken over as division commander, a time when newborn calves were not afraid of tigers. He still lacked the necessary respect for Chu Xiong and the Eighth Route Army.
"Gentlemen, I heard that Chuxiong is known as the Tiger of China and the killer of imperial generals, but this does not scare my brave and invincible 41st Division;
This time, I will work with you all to be a tiger-fighting hero in Wuyue Mountain and meet Chuxiong, a Chinese tiger! "
Colonel Tatsuharu Yamaguchi, commander of the 238th Infantry Regiment, stood up with a whoosh like a small steel cannon and said through gritted teeth:
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, our 238th Regiment will definitely make the Eighth Route Army corpses litter the fields in Wuyue Mountain——"
At this moment, sharp air defense whistles interrupted his pretentious words.
As the saying goes, don't pretend to be cool, or pretend to be struck by lightning. Although the lightning did not strike, the Chinese bomber group came...
Abe Taipei was no longer in the mood to listen to Yamaguchi Tatsuharu's bragging, but took three steps at a time and hid in the bomb-proof cave;
Since the Chinese did not have an air force before, they had never been bombed by planes, so their headquarters was not built directly in the mountain tunnel, but was exposed outside the surface.
Just when Old Japanese Abe got into the bomb hole, dozens of bombers from the flying detachment were already flying over Wuyue Mountain. A string of heavy bombs poured down, and the entire Wuyue Mountain was almost set on fire. They Incendiary bombs were used...
"Boom boom boom..."
The Japs of the 41st Division finally tasted the taste of being bombed. Groups of Japs who had no time to hide in the bomb-proof holes were set on fire. The screams were horrifying, and the air was filled with the scent of the ignited Japs' flesh...
The Eighth Route Army's bombing lasted for half an hour. Taiyuan Airport had been blown up. If the Japanese wanted to compete with the Eighth Route Army for air supremacy, they could only transfer from other airports. Half an hour was not enough for them to respond.
Since the Japanese were executing the strategy of advancing north, most of the aircraft in North China were deployed to the Black Bear Battlefield. The remaining thirty to forty aircraft were not enough to protect themselves, so Commander Okamura could only pretend to be an ostrich when asking for help from the First Army. .
The flying detachment's bombing brought a devastating blow to the surface fortifications of the 41st Division, destroying at least 70% of the semi-permanent fortifications and causing more than 1,000 casualties.
"Bagaya Road is not a samurai's job!"
This kind of bombing lasted for three days, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, plowing up the Japanese defensive positions in Wuyue Mountain and Dongshan. From the beginning to the end, the Japanese planes did not come to support, which made Ferreira, who wanted to make a lot of money, very depressed.
(Ferreira: The poor will eat dirt!)
Three consecutive days of bombing not only destroyed most of the surface fortifications in Dongshan and Wuyue Mountains, but also greatly damaged the Japanese's self-confidence. The two main divisions responsible for peripheral defense, the 41st and 36th, suffered heavy losses, and no Eighth Route Army soldiers were seen. Well, we have lost more than 10% of our troops and weapons, which means we can surrender if we change it to Yingjiang standards.
The extraordinary resilience of the Japanese people in Dongfang allowed them to barely bear it. Zhong Guoliang, who was also in charge of logistics supplies, couldn't bear it anymore and protested to Chu Xiong:
"Old Chu, use your aerial bombs sparingly. Most of them have been used up and we haven't started attacking the main city yet."
After hearing this, Chu Xiong said belatedly:
"There are more than 20 aircraft loaded with aerial bombs, but there aren't many left?"
Zhong Guoliang felt a chill. He felt that this guy only wanted to enjoy the explosion. He didn't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt were. He could only nod his head speechlessly and didn't want to say anything to him.
Seeing Zhong Guoliang's petty attitude, Chu Xiong said nonchalantly:
"If you don't have any bombs, go to Stevie and ask him to send them directly from the west coast. Tell him that if you want us to regain Hedong as soon as possible and go back, don't be short of our supplies!"
It is really difficult to find Yingjiang, Chu Xiong is sure to take Stevie now.
When Zhong Guoliang heard this, he immediately became energetic and said to Chu Xiong:
"Lao Chu, I will implement it right now. You continue to count the beans. Is it enough? Is it enough to get you half a cup?"
This time it was Chuxiong's turn to hate the cold. Hundreds of tons of aerial bombs were exchanged for a little soybean, or half a cup. Who could eat it?
Thinking of this, Chu Xiong handed over the enamel cup that was almost bottomed out and said domineeringly:
"Full!"
Chuxiong is still leisurely, elegant and amusing. Lieutenant General Yoshio Iwamatsu, the commander of the First Army, is already too worried to eat. The bad news that comes like snowflakes makes him worry all night long.
"Miyamoto-kun, is there no practical reply from Commander Okamura?
Is he planning to abandon the First Army? "
