September 17, 1940, Peking City
When Wang Yue and his party returned from northwest Shanxi, everything seemed to have returned to calm.
In North China, the Eighth Route Army is shrinking with all its strength and seems to be resting. After all, it has fought too many tough battles during this period. Even without the Japanese raids on the Taiyue Military Region, the Eighth Route Army has suffered a lot of losses, not to mention weapons and ammunition. Feeding one hundred thousand troops every day is a big problem. Add in the civilians and logistics personnel, and the daily consumption is not a small amount.
The Japanese army also began to shrink, and the entire transportation network in North China was cut off. There were few railways with a distance of more than ten kilometers. The Eighth Route Army blew up the roadbed, moved away the rails, and even burned the sleepers. In history, although the Eighth Route Army launched The Great Destruction was carried out, but due to limitations in transportation capacity, not many rail tracks were transported.
But things are different now. The Eighth Route Army has more than 500 tractors alone, and with the mules and horses exchanged for weapons from elsewhere, the number is even greater, so a large amount of supplies have been transported back to the base area. If the Japanese want to repair the railway, they may have to transport rails and other materials from the northeast or the mainland, which will not be repairable in a short time.
The Japs not only need to restore transportation, but also need to stock up on supplies. After fighting for such a long time, the little Japs who are already poor have become even poorer. In many places, the Japs have begun to eat horse food when they cannot grab food. , it is said that there are even more cases of constipation-related deaths.
But just a few days later, a shocking news broke across the land of China - the Eighth Route Army, the Shanxi-Sui Army, and the Sulu Theater jointly launched a joint operation to mobilize nearly 300,000 troops to surround Peiping. When the news was revealed, the people outside Peiping City All the Japanese strongholds have been eradicated by the Chinese army. More than a dozen counties and hundreds of villages and towns have been recovered. Although the Japanese garrison resisted desperately, they were still forced to retreat into the city of Beiping.
Among the besieging troops, there are 30,000 troops from the Jinsui Army, 10,000 troops from the Sulu Theater, 120,000 regular troops from the Eighth Route Army, 20,000 troops from the Juntong guerrillas, and 20,000 troops from the advance team. Anyway, 30,000 from the Imperial Association Army, and 60,000 from the Eighth Route Army guerrillas. It can be said that, For this attack, the Chinese side has concentrated all the forces around Peiping. The most surprising thing is that the Sulu theater, which has been in constant friction with the Eighth Route Army, has sent troops, and they have not been discovered by the Japanese yet.
During this period, due to the rebellion of the Imperial Alliance Army, the Wuhua Culture and Culture Department of the Sulu War Zone even once invaded Chaoyangmen. In the end, the Japanese army dispatched armored troops to stabilize the situation. Otherwise, Okamura Neiji would have been captured. However, due to this attack, the military guerrillas and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base cavalry raided the Nanyuan Airport, defeated the garrison in one fell swoop, captured nearly a hundred Japanese pilots and ground crews, and seized dozens of aircraft. At the same time, Gangning was completely cut off. It is possible that senior officials of the Japanese chieftain could escape by plane. 33
The Anti-Japanese War has been going on for more than three years, but apart from the constant losses of troops and land, there is no good news. The last time the county was recaptured was by the Eighth Route Army this year, but Heyuan County is just a small town with tens of thousands of people. , it’s nothing, let alone giving up the occupation within a few days. At best, it just boosts the morale of the military and civilians.
But Beiping is different. It is a large city with a population of one million. It is also the former capital of China, the largest city north of the Yangtze River, and the political, economic and cultural center. Its status is by no means inferior to the Jinling Magic City. Once it is conquered, it will definitely be the beginning of the War of Resistance. The greatest victory since then could even reverse the war of resistance in North China and even the whole country in one fell swoop.
In fact, Okamura Ningji was also deceived. When he was planning to raid the Taiyue base area and create a no-man's land, he began to guard against the Eighth Route Army's retaliation. He also targeted Taiyuan, Jinan, Zhending, Shimen and other places that the Eighth Route Army might attack. Corresponding arrangements were made and sufficient mobile troops were retained.
Ke Gangcun Neiji never dreamed that the Eighth Route Army would dare to attack Beiping City. This is Beiping. It is the most fortified city in Asia. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It has strong troops and sufficient supplies. How could anyone attack Beiping?
But it was only when the Eighth Route Army attacked Peiping that Ningji Okamura realized that everything was just wishful thinking. The North China Expeditionary Army's mobile units were all in Jin and Lu provinces. Although he seemed to have a lot of troops, he could In fact, there are not many troops that can be mobilized, and even if they can be mobilized, it is useless to mobilize a division or a brigade in isolation.
The regular siege force alone is almost 200,000. Including those countless guerrillas, it is already close to 300,000. It is definitely not possible without a few divisions of troops, not to mention that there are more than 200,000 troops on the periphery. The 100,000 regular Eighth Route Army troops will definitely pounce on the Japanese support troops at all costs once the Japanese support troops are mobilized. If something goes wrong, it will become a situation of encirclement and reinforcements. After experiencing several previous battles, Gangcun has no doubt that the Eighth Route Army has what it takes. The ability to annihilate brigade-level Japanese troops.
Moreover, in addition to the Eighth Route Army, troops from the Second World War Zone and the First War Zone are actively mobilizing, obviously hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to get a share of the pie. It is said that Kenanpo has held a military conference for three consecutive days. It seems that the classmates are preparing to regain Taiyuan. In addition, the First Army of Jin Province suffered heavy losses some time ago. Okamura Neji can't even draw out a complete division. And even if it is drawn out, so what? Where will there be enough? Do you have enough resources to attack Peiping?
In fact, in 1940, there were only 49 divisions in Japan, 38 divisions on the Chinese battlefield, and only 9 divisions in North China. These 9 divisions were apparently fully staffed. Yes, Kogan Ningji's family knew about their own affairs. The Japanese army's grassroots troops always reported good news but not bad news. The shortage of these nine divisions was at least the size of one division. As for the garrison below, after the Eighth Route Army's massive attack, The vacancy should generally be around 30%, and in some places it may even exceed 50%. In this case, how many divisions do you want to concentrate on? It can only be said that it is difficult to describe in one word.
After much thought, Okamura Neiji could only consolidate the defense of Peiping City, and at the same time ask for help from the Expeditionary Forces Headquarters and the Military Headquarters in Tokyo, requesting that the Kwantung Army be mobilized to enter the customs, cooperate with the North China Expeditionary Army troops, and annihilate the main force of the North China Eighth Route Army under the city walls of Peiping. .
At present, the Japanese army has discovered the artillery group and tank group of the Eighth Route Army outside Peking City. The Eighth Route Army and even the aviation force have been mobilized. They bombed the headquarters of Okamura Neiji that day. If the Japanese aviation force from Tianjin and Jinan had not arrived in time to support , it is estimated that the Eighth Route Army's bombing will continue.
Not only the aircraft of the Eighth Route Army, but the Chinese Air Force at Luoyang Airport also dispatched its only two bombers and bombed several railway bridges from Tianjin to Peiping, completely blocking the possibility of the Japanese to quickly support Peiping. You must know that except for the land route The Japanese are also very likely to mobilize troops to log in from Tianjin. In order to gain reaction time, it is necessary to blow up the railway bridge.
Some people died, but not completely...
