Chapter 6 Chapter 5 The Eighth Route Army Comes Up

When Li Fuying, the commander of the 61st Army, was executed, he shouted: "Long live the unreasonable Yan Xishan!" When the car arrived at Xiaodongmen University Campus, Li got out of the car and was two or three feet away from the pre-paved red felt, and was shot down.According to Kang Zeng, the executor and Yan Xishan’s battalion commander of the guards, because when Cai Rongshou, the commander of the Tenth Brigade, was shot and killed a few years ago, he was knocked down and carried home. After being shot dead on the spot, the executor had to guard the body for an hour before allowing the family to collect it.

Li Fuying was the first army commander to be executed for losing the defense zone since the Sino-Japanese war started. The defense area that Commander Li lost was Tianzhen in the north of Shanxi. After Nankou and Zhangjiakou on Pingsui Road fell one after another, Seishiro Itagaki's Fifth Division gathered in Huailai, Hideki Tojo's Kwantung Army Chahar Corps gathered in Xuanhua, and the attempt to continue attacking Shanxi southward was obvious.However, the Chinese side is still unable to judge its combat direction and plan. There are only two possibilities for the Japanese army to advance to Shanxi: one is to launch a feint attack in Yu County and Guangling at the junction of northwestern Hebei and northeastern Shanxi, and the main force will attack along the west of Pingsui Road to obtain Datong, cutting off the connection between Shanxi and Suiyuan. The second is to carry out a feint attack in the direction of Tianzhen in the northeast of Shanxi, the main force is to attack Guangling, and cut off the connection between the Chinese army in Shanxi and Hebei.Then, the two armies can work together to drive southward into the hinterland of Shanxi.

The Second Theater of the Chinese Army has formulated a battle plan that takes into account two possibilities: "Our army, with the purpose of using the mountains to annihilate the enemy, deploys its main force in the areas of Tianzhen, Yanggao, Guangling, Lingqiu, and Pingxingguan. Control the vicinity of Datong, Hunyuan, and Yingxian County, respond to the battles of all parties, and divert the offensive from the camera.”——The main point of this plan is: no matter which side the Japanese army’s main attack direction is, they will stay on the sidelines and wait for help. Or emergency reinforcements from the west, forming a battlefield situation of flanking the Japanese army.

To this end, Commander-in-Chief Yan Xishan deployed the troops in the second theater as follows: Yang Aiyuan's Sixth Army's 33rd Army's Independent Third Brigade and 73rd Division deployed to Guangling in northeast Shanxi; the 34th Army's 203rd Brigade deployed to Hunyuan to the west of Guangling, and the 196th Brigade deployed Deploy Ying County to the southwest of Hunyuan, the 71st Division is at Daiyue (Shanyin) to the southwest of Ying County, and the new Second Division is at Shahe to the west of Pingxingguan. The 85th Division of the 14th Group Army of Wei Lihuang's Department controlled the camp west of Pingxingguan.

The 101st Division of the 61st Army of the Seventh Group Army of Fu Zuoyi's Department firmly defended Tianzhen in the northeast of Shanxi, the 200th Brigade deployed Yanggao to the southwest of Tianzhen, and the Independent Seventh Brigade deployed defenses in the area east of Datong; The new sixth brigade of the army defends Xinghe, the new fifth brigade deploys Longshengzhuang, the 218th brigade defends Jining, the second brigade defends Guisui, the second brigade and 205th brigade deploy Datong Zhifeng between towns. From north to south, the 209th Brigade is controlled between Datong and Huairen, the 72nd Reserve Division is controlled in Yingxian County, the 215th Brigade is controlled in the Yanmen area, the Independent First Brigade is controlled in Pingxingguan, and the 60th Brigade is controlled in Pingxingguan. The Sixth Division is controlled in Taiyuan.In addition, at the junction of Shanxi, Suiyuan and Chahar, the main force of the cavalry army was deployed on the front lines of Shangdu, Shangyi and Huade.

The Liu Ruming Department of the Sixty-eighth Army defended in Yu County. The Gao Guizi Department of the Seventeenth Army deployed defenses against Guangling. The commander-in-chief's battalion was stationed in Taihe Lingkou Village, west of Yanmen Pass. However, what the Chinese army did not expect was that the Chahar Corps under the command of Hideki Tojo and the Fifth Division under the command of Seishiro Itagaki would advance in parallel from the beginning of the attack, making it impossible for the second theater to determine which direction to go. Is the main attack. On September 3, the Chahar Corps of the Kwantung Army independently formed the 15th Brigade. Under the command of the brigade commander Seiichiro Shinohara, they dispatched from the direction of Xuanhua, south of Zhangjiakou, to the 60th Chinese garrison stationed in Tianzhen. The first army launched a fierce attack.The 61st Army under the command of Commander Li Fuying had just withdrawn from the direction of Chaigoubao to Tianzhen. All the troops were deployed hastily, which was also a front-line defensive formation: the 400th Regiment of the 200th Brigade defended The commanding heights of Panshan near Tianzhen; the 10th Division occupied Luojiashan and Lijiashan to the north of Panshan, and positions along both sides of Pingsui Road to Wayaokou in Beishan; the 399th Regiment of the 200th Brigade was stationed in Tian Town and city defense; the headquarters of the 61st Army and the 414th Regiment stationed in Yanggao County, southwest of Tianzhen.

The Japanese army obviously focused their attack on Panshan, the only commanding height outside Tianzhen.The Chinese defenders with simple weapons had little power to fight back in the face of the fierce attack of the Chahar Corps.The heavy artillery bombardment and aircraft bombardment of the Japanese army continued. The simple field fortifications of the 61st Army were repeatedly destroyed. The bunker where the Gao Baoyong Battalion of the 400th Regiment was hiding was blown down, and all the officers and soldiers of a battalion were crushed to death in the cave. .The Japanese infantry took turns charging, pounced day and night, the Chinese defenders could only rely on bomb craters to cover themselves and resist with grenades and bayonets.The supply line and communication line in the rear were cut off, ammunition could not be brought up, and the wounded could not get down. After three full days of support, Yan Xishan ordered another three days of defense.Li Runsheng, the head of the 400th Regiment, asked for reinforcements, but Li Fuying, commander of the 400th Regiment, did not have a reserve team. The 400th Regiment suffered more than 500 casualties, and the other regiments also suffered more than 1,000 casualties.At the last moment, Captain Li Runsheng could no longer control the troops, and the soldiers who were still alive retreated one after another.Panshan fell.

On the day when Panshan fell, the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army began to advance in the direction of Yu County, south of Tianzhen. Its Ninth Brigade attacked Guangling, and the 21st Brigade detoured from the west of Guangling.Defending in this direction was Liu Ruming's 68th Army, which retreated without even seeing the shadow of the Japanese army, making the defense line look like there was no one in it.Tang Enbo hurriedly ordered Gao Guizi's 17th Army to fill up.A regiment sent by Gao Guizi rushed to Yuxian County at a rapid march. When it was five miles away from Yuxian County, it got the news that Yuxian County had been occupied by the Japanese army.

The war had already started, and Yan Xishan's judgment was that the Japanese army's main attack direction was Datong.So he planned a "Battle of Datong" plan, that is, to introduce the main force of the Japanese army to Julebao, east of Datong, where there is a defense position already built by the Jin army, and then mobilize powerful troops to attack the Japanese army from the north and the south.For this reason, he issued an order to Li Fuying, the commander of the 61st Army, to stop the Japanese army in Tianzhen: as long as the Japanese army can be delayed in this area and the necessary time is bought for the mobilization of troops, the "Battle of Datong" plan can be implemented. .However, I don’t know if Yan Xishan is sober. The Chinese army that can delay the attack of the Japanese Kwantung Army does not exist, at least in his second theater.

After Panshan, the commanding height outside Tianzhen, was lost, the Japanese army rushed down.Except for the Ninety-Nine Regiment in Tianzhen City, the troops deployed by the 61st Army outside the city were all overwhelmed.Then, the Japanese soldiers went straight into Jule Fort in two ways.In order to increase the pursuit, the Japanese army even used the reserve team.Tianzhen was still under siege, and Yanggao City behind him was also captured by the Japanese army. Commander Li Fuying had no choice but to retreat southward with the headquarters.The 414th Regiment of the 61st Army defending Yanggao City suffered heavy casualties in the battle to defend the city. The head of the regiment, Bai Ruyong, believed that if the street fighting continued, even if the entire regiment fought until the city was completely wiped out, it would still be unable to defend the city. Out of the city, there were more than 1,000 people in the group, but only 300 people came out following the head of the group.

Yanggao fell, and Tianzhen became an isolated city surrounded on all sides. The solitary army in the isolated city was the 399th Regiment. The 399th Regiment of the 200th Brigade of the 61st Army of the Chinese Army, headed by Zhang Jingjun, has twelve infantry companies, plus machine gun companies and mortar companies, totaling more than 1,400 people. And most of the soldiers are from Hebei, Shandong and Henan. ——Northern people in China have a desperate brute force.The Japanese army who attacked Tianzhen believed that the Chinese defenders in this isolated city would not be able to defend any longer, and that no one would seek death without any hope.Therefore, holding the Japanese flag high, the Japanese army marched in formation towards the east gate of Tianzhen City, as if they were not attacking but preparing to take over.As soon as the Japanese army walked under the city gate, they were suddenly shot fiercely from above the city wall, and the team became chaotic in an instant.Soon, the heavy artillery of the Japanese army began to bombard the city defenses, and the tanks also approached and fired.The defenders of the 399th Regiment were extremely tenacious, even if they wanted to die, they would not retreat.The battle lasted for three days, and the 399th regiment suffered heavy casualties.The magistrate of Tianzhen County advised Zhang Jingjun not to guard anymore, because he could not win the fight even if he fought desperately, and the people in the small town suffered too much in the flames of war.Zhang Jingjun, who was in great pain, asked the regiment to take away the remaining troops, and he wanted to stay alone to perform his duties as a soldier.The officers and soldiers were unwilling, saying that they would walk together and die together.Therefore, "on the night of September 11th, the 299th Regiment withdrew from Tianzhen City in an orderly manner." Tianzhen fell, and the "Battle of Datong" came to nothing in an instant. Yan Xishan ordered all troops to move to the mountains south of Datong and south of the Sanggan River. On September 13, the Kwantung Army's Chahar Corps, an independent and mixed first brigade, entered Datong, an important town in northern Shanxi without a fight. Datong, the junction of the Pingsui and Tongpu railways, "is the traffic hub of Jin, Cha and Sui".Furious, Yan Xishan detained Li Fuying, commander of the 61st Army. Pang Xiaoxia, a lieutenant major of the Commander of the Second War Zone, witnessed the process of Yan Xishan's interrogation of Li Fuying's army commander. This is a typical family-style trial: At about eleven o'clock in the evening on October 3, Yan Xishan interrogated Li Fuying in the lobby of the provincial capital.He sat in the middle, Xie Lian (commander of security), Zhang Jian (commander of military police), and Li Demao (former deputy chief of the Sui Department) sat on both sides.I was the duty officer that day.After the military police escorted Li Fuying in a car, Yan Xishan said to Li: "From the time you became a platoon commander, to the company commander, battalion commander, division commander, and army commander, I have never done anything wrong to you, but you have done me a favor. .First, your defense work is not good; second, you were told to defend Tianzhen and Yanggao, but you retreated.” At this point, Li Fuying interrupted and said, “I have a telegram.” Yan said: “ You are talking nonsense!" Then he said: "Your family, your child, I will help you, don't worry about it!" Li Fuying burst into tears at this moment, and said nothing more.Yan Xishan nodded around and left.After Yan Xishan left, the guard battalion took a rope to tie up Li.Xie Lian said: "That's just a look!" So he didn't tie it up, but just put the rope around his neck.I can't remember whether it was Zhang Jian or Li Demao who asked Li Fuying, "Did you say something to your family?" Li Fuying shook his head and said nothing.After that, Li was put in the car.Li walked very rigidly. Company Commander Kang, who carried out the shooting mission, came back and said to Adjutant Pang: "I used a big-eyed box made in Shanxi to kill him with one shot." Almost everyone who was familiar with Commander Li called out for him, especially the officers and soldiers of the 61st Army.They believed that the battles at Tianzhen and Yanggao were fierce, and the guns in the hands of the officers and soldiers facing the heavy Japanese weapons were all made in Shanxi, resulting in serious casualties.During the battle, the troops received neither clear instructions nor any support, so it was really unfair to shoot Commander Li for no apparent reason.Some officers and soldiers revealed that the national government had paid for the construction of defense fortifications, but the materials such as steel bars and cement received by the 61st Army from Taiyuan were less than one percent of the plan. After the fall of Tianzhen, the Japanese army moved southward rapidly, and the battlefield in northern Shanxi was in chaos. The deterioration of the situation cannot be saved by executing an army commander. On September 11th, the flanking Japanese Fifth Division dispatched from Yuxian County, advanced towards Guangling, and detoured to the Huoshaoling area with one part.Tang Enbo ordered Gao Guizi's 21st Division of the 17th Army to mainly defend the front of Guangling City, and the 84th Division to block the front line of Huoshaoling.On the 12th, the Japanese army launched an attack on the Chinese garrison position in Huoshaoling, and at the same time oppressed the Chinese garrison position in the direction of Guangling.On the 13th, the 499th Regiment of the 84th Division in Liujiagou, west of Buhuo Shaoling, was in a bitter battle; the 21st Division on the frontal defensive position of Guangling City was also in fierce battle, and the 424th Regiment was fighting the Japanese army. There were heavy casualties in the hand-to-hand combat, and the position was finally broken by the Japanese army; Lv Chaoran, head of the 423rd Regiment, was shot and killed in battle while leading his troops to counterattack. The fierce attack from the Japanese Fifth Division's flank to the south caused Yan Xishan's defense line deployed from north to south to tilt.On the thirteenth, Yan Xishan had to readjust his deployment, focusing on mobilizing troops to block the southward momentum of the Japanese Fifth Division, in order to stabilize the flank of the entire battlefield. On the 14th, the attack of the Japanese Fifth Division remained unabated, and the 73rd Division, which was deployed in the direction of Guangling, suffered heavy casualties in the weak-to-strong blocking.Yan Xishan ordered Tang Enbo to retreat to the south of Guangling and establish a new position if he really couldn't hold the line of defense.After Tang Enbo received the order, he immediately ordered the 73rd Division, the 84th Division and the 21st Division to retreat.Guangling was then occupied by the Japanese army. On this day, in order to avoid chaos on the battlefield and unstoppable mutual pushback, Yan Xishan divided the combat areas of each army so that they could each take their own responsibilities.From Datong to the south, these areas basically present two parts: the troops on the left are the 61st Army, the 34th Army, the 19th Army, and the 35th Army, with Fu Zuoyi as the commander-in-chief; The troops are the 33rd Army, the 17th Army, and the 15th Army, with Yang Aiyuan as the commander-in-chief.The Eighteenth Group Army, the Seventy-first Division and the Seventy-Second Division are the reserves. After the 21st Brigade of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army occupied Guangling, they continued to pursue Lingqiu to the south of Guangling and Hunyuan to the west of Guangling.On the 15th, Yan Xishan strictly ordered Liu Fengbin, the commander of the 73rd Division, to stand firm in the mountains south of Guangling, and if he retreated again, he would be punished by military law.Commander Liu led his troops to block the 21st Japanese Brigade at a dangerous mountain pass called Zhiyukou south of Guangling. It was not until Commander Liu Fengbin was injured that the 73rd Division moved back. Although the troops advanced steadily, the division commander Itagaki Seishiro was angry: the North China Front Army ordered him to lead the main force to turn east to support the battle on Pinghan Road. ——Seeing that the Fifth Division is advancing smoothly, if there is no interference, he can go straight to the south of Wutai Mountain and then enter Taiyuan City, and grab this first victory in front of the Kwantung Army.Unwilling, Seishiro Itagaki issued an order: the Ninth Brigade will continue to occupy Hunyuan, and the 21st Brigade will continue to attack Lingqiu. On the 20th, the 73rd Division that withdrew south from Guangling retreated south again because it could not withstand the strong Japanese attack, and Lingqiu City was occupied by the Japanese army. So far, on the right flank of the Chinese army's northern Shanxi defense line, the Japanese army has approached the Inner Great Wall. From Lingqiu to the south, there is a pass in the inner Great Wall, named Pingxingguan. Pingxingguan is an important pass on the southern wing of the Great Wall in Shanxi, and it is the key point for guarding Hebei, Chacha and Jin. At this time, Yan Xishan was formulating a new battle plan: put the Japanese army into the Pingxing Pass to encircle and wipe out.That is to lure the Japanese army to pass through Pingxing Pass and penetrate into the Shahe Basin west of Pingxing Pass. Then the Chinese army launched a pincer attack from both sides of Hengshan and Wutai Mountains to cut off the Pingxingguan pass and annihilate the Japanese army in the basin of the upper reaches of the Hutuo River. This huge battle plan looks magnificent: On the front of Pingxingguan, the Sixth Army commanded the 33rd Army and the 17th Army, and deployed defenses on the north-south line of Pingxingguan and Tuanchengkou. The 73rd Division, the 8th Independent Brigade, and the 17th Army and the 21st Division are juxtaposed at Tuanchengkou.The above troops first resisted tenaciously, then retreated actively, entered Wutai Mountain to hide, and formed the Southern Mobile Corps to attack. To the north of Pingxing Pass, Yanmen Mountain and Hengshan Mountain are used as barriers. In addition to the 15th Army in Hengshan, the 34th Army is deployed between Beiloukou, Xiaoshikou, and Ruyuekou. The focus is on Ruyuekou, the inner Great Wall pass. .The Nineteenth Army and the Thirty-fourth Army guarded the positions between Wudoushan, Malankou, Huluekou, Shuiyukou, Yanmenguan and Yangfangkou, focusing on Yanmenguan and Dai County to the southwest.The 35th Army is controlled in Yangmingbao and is responsible for implementing the response to Yanmen Pass. In the decisive battle zone between Shahe and Fanzhi, the first part of the 200th Brigade occupied a position east of Shahe Town, resisted the Japanese troops passing through Pingxing Pass one by one, and lured the enemy to go deep into Fanzhi in the southwest direction. The reserve team Located on the north-south line of Fanzhi City, with the top of Wutai Mountain, Fanzhi City Wall, and Mount Heng as support points, it attracted the Japanese army to the main position. The 35th Army marched eastward to Dai County as a mobile corps. It was the same northern mobile corps as the 15th Army. It was commanded by Fu Zuoyi and deployed on the northern wing of Fanzhi. When they were in position, the two corps of the North and the South immediately launched a pincer attack to wipe out the Japanese army. The 73rd Division and the 85th Division of the 33rd Army were responsible for outflanking the rear of Pingxingguan and cutting off the rear contact line of the Japanese army. Yan Xishan believed that he had set up a pocket formation to ensure that the Japanese army could enter and not exit. Mao Zedong asked Zhou Enlai to go to Taiyuan or Datong to meet with Yan Xishan and discuss the Eighth Route Army's "matters after entering Jin Dynasty", including "active areas, operational principles, command relations, supplementary plans" and so on.In the early hours of September 7th, Zhou Enlai, Peng Dehuai, and Xu Xiangqian rushed to Yan Xishan's headquarters at the mouth of Taihe Ridge near Yanmen Pass.At this moment, there is no retreat in the war against Japan on the Shanxi battlefield, but Yan Xishan is still not sure about fighting the Japanese.Zhou Enlai persuaded Yan Xishan: "Japanese militarism can be defeated. Although the enemy is strong and we are weak at present, if we continue to fight, the enemy will become weaker day by day, and we will become stronger day by day." Yan Xishan informed the Communist Party of his strategy Plan, Zhou Enlai suggested that Yan Xishan "don't simply defend Yanmen Pass, but should take the initiative to attack, carry out side attacks and ambushes to destroy the Japanese army's offensive plan", and clearly stated that the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army could "cooperate with friendly troops to deploy the Pingxing Pass area." Mao Zedong called Peng Dehuai: Yan Xishan is now in a contradiction where he cannot answer the Shanxi people if he does not fight a war, and he is not sure if he fights a war. This kind of contradiction cannot be resolved.You estimate that his determination to give up Pingxing Pass and attempt a decisive battle at Shahe is shaken, and this estimate is completely correct.His subordinates have no determination at all, and his army has lost its combat effectiveness. Perhaps a decisive battle will be forced in the Yanmen Pass, Pingxing Pass, and Shahe area. . The subsequent battle in northern Shanxi proved that Mao Zedong's foresight and judgment were correct. The most puzzling part of Yan Xishan's battle plan is: How can we judge that the main attack direction of the Japanese army can only be Pingxingguan?If the Japanese army's main attack direction is not Pingxingguan, how will the overall combat formation deployed according to this be urgently dealt with?In addition, Pingxingguan is a well-known pass and natural danger, and it is a favorable terrain to stop the Japanese army.After Tianzhen and Guangling retreated all the way in the northernmost part of Congshanxi, the commander of the second war zone continued to order troops to rebuild the blocking line in order to prevent the Japanese army from continuing to advance southward. Now it has retreated to the most favorable natural barrier pass. , Why did you give up instead of defending and retreat to the Shahe Basin in Guannei for a decisive battle?Finally, if the Japanese army were sent to Pingxingguan, once the expected encirclement and annihilation could not be achieved, how could the troops be deployed quickly to ensure the safety of Taiyuan? Although the Communist Party did not agree with Yan Xishan's plan to lure the enemy into a deep battle, the determination to cooperate with him to defend the important areas in northern Shanxi was firm. Ren Bishi, director of the Political Department of the Eighth Route Army, said: Shanxi is a plateau and mountainous area from the south of Yanmen Pass to the west of Jingxing and Niangziguan. It is of great significance to defend North China and support the war in North China.If the enemy wants to complete his military occupation of North China, he must capture Shanxi.If the entire Shansi Plateau remains in our hands, we can commandeer at any time, extending from the Taihang Mountains in the north of Ping-Han and Ping-Sui in the east, threatening the enemy's important military base in Ping-Han in North China and causing the enemy to advance south to Ping-Han and to attack Suiyuan. feel difficult.Therefore, Shanxi is a strategically important place that the enemy and we must contend for. Peng Dehuai and Yan Xishan agreed that strong troops should be deployed to defend Pingxing Pass, which is located in the attack direction of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army, and Ruyue Pass and Yanmen Pass, which are located in the attack direction of the Chahar Corps of the Kwantung Army. When the Japanese army attacked Pingxingguan, they attacked from the side and rear of the Japanese army, and the 120th Division could attack from the flank when the Japanese army attacked Yanmen Pass. The Eighth Route Army was determined to fight the Japanese army face to face in northern Shanxi. However, Sun Chu, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Sixth Army who commanded operations on the front line of Pingxingguan, opposed Yan Xishan's combat deployment.He believes that the main direction of the Japanese attack is still the Yanmen Pass directly pointed at by the Chahar Corps of the Kwantung Army, not the Pingxing Pass.Based on this, Sun Chu disagreed with putting the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army in Pingxing Pass, and advocated that the 17th and 33rd Armies and the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army that entered the vicinity of Pingxing Pass should guard Pingxing Pass and the entrance of Tuancheng. , the camera attack, in line with the main battlefield in the direction of Yanmen Pass.Yang Aiyuan, commander-in-chief of the Sixth Army, agreed with Sun Chu. After listening to Yang Aiyuan's face-to-face statement, Yan Xishan approved Sun Chu's plan and decided to stick to the line of Pingxing Pass and Tuanchengkou, and extend the 21st Division of the 17th Army to the north to connect with the position of the 15th Army defending Mount Heng. , to cover the east wing of Mount Heng. ——At this time, Hengshan has become the strategic center for the Japanese army to occupy the three provinces of Hebei, Chahar and Shanxi. Sun Chu issued instructions to the troops according to the new battle plan, but Gao Guizi, the commander of the Seventeenth Army, was extremely opposed to Sun Chu’s deployment. He was the only frontline general who agreed with Yan Xishan’s putting the Japanese army into Pingxingguan. The reason was obvious: he The 17th Army was at the Tuancheng Pass parallel to Pingxing Pass, and was the first to bear the brunt of the Japanese attack. According to Yan Xishan's battle plan, his task was not to defend to the death, but to fight and run into Hengshan.Gao Guizi's resistance became a huge hidden danger for the subsequent evolution of the war situation. On the 21st, Toshiji Miura, head of the 21st Brigade of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army, led the 3rd Brigade of the 21st Regiment and the attached 1st Brigade of the 11th Regiment, from the northeastern part of Shanxi Depart from Lingqiu, follow the road from Lingqiu to Pingxingguan, and pursue the 73rd Division of the Chinese Army that is still retreating. On this day, the Chinese Air Force participated in the battle in Shanxi.Zhou Zhirou, former commander-in-chief of the Chinese Air Force, told Yan Xishan by telegram that the Air Force had organized four squadrons to support operations in Shanxi.Just as the Japanese 21st Brigade launched its offensive, the Kwantung Army flew 15 fighter jets from the 16th Wing to cover the eight heavy bombers from the 12th Wing and bombed Taiyuan City.Chen Qiguang, the captain of the 28th Squadron of the Chinese Air Force, led seven destroyers to attack, and wounded the Type 95 fighter driven by Miwa Kan, the captain of the First Battalion of the 16th Wing, who regarded the Japanese Army as a "military treasure".The plane made an emergency landing in a farmland near Taiyuan, and the three-wheeled man who climbed out of the cabin was beaten to death by a local farmer. In addition to the good news that excited Yan Xishan, it was also on this day that when the Japanese 21st Brigade was attacking forward, it first encountered a battalion of Chinese defenders who were ordered to destroy the road. The Japanese army fought hard for a long time before they were able to escape.Then they encountered a battalion of the 84th Division of the 17th Army, and fought hard for a long time. When they finally advanced to Pingxing Pass, they were stopped by the 623rd Regiment of the Independent Eighth Brigade of the 33rd Army of the Chinese garrison. . On the 23rd, the Japanese army, which failed to attack Pingxingguan, began to attack the nearby Tuanchengkou.The head of the 502nd Regiment of the Seventeenth Army was seriously injured in the battle.When the Japanese army detoured east and west to the north and south highlands, the two companies of the Independent Eighth Brigade defending the highlands were all killed, and the highlands were occupied by the Japanese army.Sun Chu ordered the 17th Army to deploy two more regiments, a part of the 73rd Division and a regiment of the Independent Eighth Brigade to counterattack the Japanese army at the same time.In the afternoon, the Chinese defenders counterattacked successfully, and the East and West Paochi and its nearby high positions were lost and recovered. Although the Japanese army's attack on Pingxingguan was not strong, after all, the enemy had already attacked the Tianxian Pass.Yan Xishan was very nervous. He mobilized the reserve team and ordered eight regiments of the 71st Division and the newly organized 2nd Division to detour in the direction of East-West Paichi and Xiaozhai in order to form a flank attack on the Japanese army; The two brigades of the 35th Army served as the reserve team for the attack, and Fu Zuoyi served as the commander-in-chief of the attack. On this day, the battle situation report from the Shanxi front line received by the Nanjing Headquarters is: An enemy brigade, with 20 tanks and (armored) vehicles each, attacked Pingxingguan and Tuanchengkou at ten o'clock last night.Our eighth brigade and eighty-fourth division attacked alone.The enemy retreated towards Caijiayu (east of Tuanchengkou).My 71st Division has arrived at Daying (west of Pingxingguan) this evening.The Eighth Route Army will attack the enemy from Shangzhai Village and Ranzhuang Village (in the South Mountain of Lingqiu) at dawn.The 21st Division and the 15th Route (for) continued troops.This afternoon, more than 800 enemies attacked Xiaowodan and Jiaotang Village.There are more than a thousand enemies in Yingxian County and Hunyuan Avenue, and they move eastward.The battle will be decided outside Pingxing Pass. Yan Xishan called Zhu De, Commander-in-Chief of the Eighteenth Group Army from the Taihe Lingkou frontline headquarters: "I am determined to wipe out the enemy at Pingxingguan and increase the strength of eight regiments. We will arrive at dawn, and hope that the Dianlin Division will attack the enemy's back." "Lin Division" refers to the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army under the command of Lin Biao. For the first time, the anti-Japanese team led by the Communist Party, in the name of a regular army, joined the battle order under the jurisdiction of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government and went to the anti-Japanese battlefield to participate in the war. According to the reorganization order of the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army promulgated by the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government on August 22, and the reorganization order of the Red Army issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on August 25, the 115th, 120th and 1st Route Army of the Eighth Route Army The organization sequence of the 119th Division is: The 115th Division was reorganized from the 1st and 15th Corps of the Red Front Army and the 74th Division of Southern Shaanxi. Division Commander Lin Biao, Deputy Division Commander Nie Rongzhen, Chief of Staff Zhou Kun, Director of the Political Training Department Luo Ronghuan, and Deputy Director Xiao Hua .Jurisdiction over the 343rd Brigade (685th Regiment, 686th Regiment), brigade commander Chen Guang, deputy brigade commander Zhou Jianping; 344th Brigade (687th Regiment, 688th Regiment), brigade commander Xu Haidong, deputy brigade commander Brigadier Huang Kecheng; independent regiment and three battalions directly under it.The whole division has fifteen thousand five hundred people. The 120th Division was reorganized from the 2nd and 6th Army Corps of the Red Second Front Army, the 27th and 28th Army of the Northern Shaanxi Red Army, the Independent First and Second Divisions, the Chishui Guard Battalion, and the Headquarters Special Task Force. , Division Commander He Long, Deputy Division Commander Xiao Ke, Chief of Staff Zhou Shidi, Director of the Political Training Department Guan Xiangying, and Deputy Director Gan Siqi.Jurisdiction over the 358th Brigade (715th, 716th Regiment), brigade commander Zhang Zongxun, deputy brigade commander Li Jingquan; 359th Brigade (717th Regiment, 718th Regiment), brigade commander Chen Bojun, deputy brigade commander Wang Zhen; teaching regiment and five battalions directly under it.The whole division has 14,000 people. The 129th Division consists of the 4th and 31st Army of the Red Fourth Front Army, the 29th and 30th Army of the Red Army in Northern Shaanxi, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 15th Army Corps of the Independent Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Army The cavalry regiment was reorganized, with division commander Liu Bocheng, deputy division commander Xu Xiangqian, chief of staff Ni Zhiliang, director of the Political Training Department Zhang Hao, and deputy director Song Renqiong.Jurisdiction over the 385th Brigade (769th Regiment, 770th Regiment), brigade commander Wang Hongkun, deputy brigade commander Wang Weizhou; 386th Brigade (771st Regiment, 772nd Regiment), brigade commander Chen Geng, deputy brigade commander Chang Chen Zaidao; the teaching group and the five battalions directly under it.The whole division has 13,000 people. Xiao Jinguang, director of the Rear Guard Office. There are about 3,000 people directly under the Eighth Route Army Headquarters. The whole army totaled about 46,000 people. In order to strengthen the Party’s leadership in military work during the War of Resistance, the Luochuan meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided to establish a new Central Military Commission of the CPC, with Mao Zedong as secretary (actually called chairman), and Zhu De and Zhou Enlai as deputy secretaries (actually called vice chairmen).The Front Military Commission Branch (later called the North China Branch) was established, with Zhu De as secretary and Peng Dehuai as deputy secretary.In October, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to establish the General Political Department of the Military Commission, Ren Bishi was the director, and the once-abolished political committee system was restored. Nie Rongzhen, Guan Xiangying, and Zhang Hao were respectively the 115th, 120th, and 129th divisions. Political commissars, Xiao Hua, Huang Kecheng, Li Jingquan, Wang Zhen, Wang Weizhou, and Wang Xinting are the political commissars of the 343rd, 344th, 358th, 359th, 385th, and 386th brigades respectively.The political training offices at all levels were abolished, and the political departments at the division and brigade levels were restored.The Communist Party of China also established Eighth Route Army offices in Nanjing, Wuhan, Xi'an, Chongqing, Taiyuan, Guangzhou, and Dihua (now Urumqi), and established Eighth Route Army communications offices in Changsha and other places. Adaptation is not a problem, the problem is how to participate in the war after adaptation, and what strategy to fight with. The three main divisions under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Route Army, plus the direct subordinate and rear troops, totaled no more than 40,000 people. From a military point of view, even if they were all deployed on the battlefield, the impact on the comprehensive war against Japan on such a huge country would only be partial. of.From the perspective of the Communist Party, if you blindly participate in the war without the correct combat strategy, it is tantamount to going through the fire yourself.For this reason, Mao Zedong made it clear that the reorganized Eighth Route Army should make use of its own strengths and avoid its own weaknesses. The strengths lie in its rich experience in guerrilla warfare, and the disadvantages lie in its limited strength and crude weapons.Therefore, the combat strategy that the Eighth Route Army can adopt can only be "independent guerrilla warfare with dispersed operations". On August 1, Mao Zedong made the following elaboration on the combat principles of the Eighth Route Army: Regarding the Red Army's operations, we believe that the following two principles must be adhered to according to the current situation between the enemy and ourselves: (a) Under the overall strategic policy, carry out independent guerrilla warfare with dispersed operations, instead of positional warfare or concentrated warfare.Therefore, it cannot be bound by campaign tactics.Only in this way can the strengths of the Red Army be brought into play and deal a considerable blow to the Japanese invaders. (B) According to the above principles, at the initial stage, it is appropriate for the Red Army to send out one-third of its troops. If the number of troops is too large, it will not be able to carry out guerrilla warfare and will be vulnerable to concentrated attacks from the enemy. The rest of the troops should be used gradually according to the development of the war. On August 5, when Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, and Ye Jianying were secretly invited by Chiang Kai-shek to attend the national defense conference in Nanjing, Mao Zedong asked them to inform the Nanjing side of the Eighth Route Army's combat missions and the principles of the use of troops, so that the KMT and the Communist Party could reach a consensus on the Eighth Route Army's operations against Japan Accurate positioning of nature: 1. "The general strategic policy is offensive and defensive for the time being. The counter-offensive should be annihilated to the attacking enemy. In coordination with guerrilla warfare, guerrilla warfare is carried out by the Red Army and other suitable troops and people's armed forces, and under the overall strategic deployment, it is given independent command power"; 3. "The troops responsible for guerrilla warfare should be used separately in principle, rather than centralized use" 4. "According to the actual situation, the Red Army should use one-third of its troops to carry out flank guerrilla warfare against the enemy advancing westward along the Pingsui Road and southward along the Ping-Han Road, centered on the border areas of the four provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, and Sui , and the other is to move to the Rejicha border area, threatening the enemy's rear (with no more than one regiment of troops)"; fifth, "to launch the people's armed self-defense war, which is the central link to ensure the army's victory in combat." On August 10, Mao Zedong called Peng Xuefeng, Director of the Staff Office of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters and Director of the Eighth Route Army Taiyuan Office, to explain in more detail about the Eighth Route Army's combat issues: ... When contacting all parties, under the general policy of actively promoting the war of resistance, we must have a humble attitude. We must not boast of the strengths of the Red Army, and we must not say that the Red Army will surely win the war against Japan. On the contrary, we should ask them about various situations, such as the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army, mountain warfare, Plain warfare and other situations that the Red Army has never been familiar with, so that the Red Army can have a basis and gradually overcome difficulties.We must not hide certain shortcomings of the Red Army that should not be concealed. For example, we can only fight guerrilla warfare, not positional warfare, only mountainous warfare, but not plain warfare. The centralized command and tactics of the campaign were restrained, so that it lost its advantages.These should all be highlighted... According to the agreement reached between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army was assigned to the Second Theater of the Chinese Army, under the command of Yan Xishan, the commander of the theater. The Eighth Route Army led by the Communist Party set off. The feelings of the Japanese, Chiang Kai-shek and Yan Xishan are very complicated. Japan is an anti-communist country. When its militarists launched a war of aggression against China, one of the important excuses was also a bargaining chip to induce the Kuomintang to compromise, which was to completely eradicate the Chinese Communist Party.Regardless of political factors, Japan has a deep understanding of the tenacity of the Chinese Communists. It knows that the Japanese army does not have to have too many worries when fighting the Kuomintang army, but if it is directly fighting the Communist army, it is another matter.In his secret report in the autumn of 1936, Takayoshi Matsumuro, head of the Japanese Secret Service in Peiping, specifically warned the Japanese authorities that in China, the real "enemy" of the Japanese army was the armed forces led by the Communist Party. Despite their small numbers but their incredible energy, the Chinese Communists are a group that cannot be explained by conventional logic: Although the main force of the Communist Army has returned to northern Shaanxi, there is still the danger of attacking Chasui to Manchuria and uniting with the Soviet Union to resist Japan. This empire cannot be ignored.This kind of Red Army has great strength and great combat effectiveness. Its spirit of hard work is unmatched by modern armies, and its ideas can deeply penetrate the hearts of the people.以中国无大资本阶级，仅有小的农工阶级，即被煽惑，竟由江西老巢绕华南华中华西趋华北，转战数万里，备历艰辛，物质上感受非常压迫，精神反极度旺盛。此次侵入山西，获得相当之物质，实力又行加强。彼等善能利用时势，抓着华人心理，鼓吹抗日，故其将来实力不容忽视。中国大部分青年，鉴于国内政治腐化，军事经济之乏更生希望，政府之无抗日决心，退让无止境之主义，于彻底抗日之共同目标下，抗日图存收复失地号召下，纷纷加入共党，甘为共产军之前锋，潜伏华北，积极活动，并与在满红军取得联络，将来之扩大充实，亦为帝国之大敌。 以共产军之实质言，实为皇军之大敌。世界各国军旅，无不需要大批薪饷、大批物质之分配与补充，换言之，无钱则有动摇之虞，无物质更有不堪设想之危。共产军则不然，彼等能以简单的生活，窳败的武器，不充足之弹药，用共产政策，游击战术，穷乏手段，适切的宣传，机敏的组织，思想的训练，获得被压迫者的同情，实施大团结共干硬干的精神，再接再厉的努力，较在满的红军尤为精锐。此等军队，适应穷乏之地方及时零时整之耐久游击、耐久战术行军，则适其于将来不能速战速决物质缺乏之大战，极为显著，故皇军利于守而不利于攻，应严防其思想之宣传，及不时之游击与出没无定扰攘后方之行军。 可以想见，当听到中国共产党领导的武装力量与国民党领导的军事力量即将联合抗日的时候，日本人会是一种什么样的心境。 尽管接纳共产党是蒋介石面对严峻的民族危机做出的明智选择，但无论如何这一选择于他是迫不得已的。有一点他很清楚，如果八路军直接与日军作战，那么，他用了十年时间都没有达到的消灭共产党武装力量的目的，强大的日本军队或许能够帮他达到。只要八路军被推到战场的最前沿，武器装备十分简陋的红军即使不被彻底消灭也会遭到重创。因此，自红军接受改编之日起，蒋介石就不断地催促八路军赶赴平绥路前线。而八路军从其驻扎的陕北进入华北，必须通过阎锡山的地盘。为此，蒋介石专门致电阎锡山，口气如同一个下级在请示上级： urgent.阎副委员长勋鉴：共军要求在韩城附近渡河，在同蒲线以西地区行进，至绥远集中，以便给养与行动迅速。可否照办？请速示复。中正叩。 阎锡山一贯奉行的是除了他的势力外谁也别想染指山西的政策。但是，现在有三股力量同时进入了他的地盘：蒋介石、共产党和日本人。在阎锡山看来，这三股力量都是他的敌人，可他无力消灭其中的任何一方。如何在抗日又不公开与日本人拼杀，拥蒋又能始终保持山西的独立，联共又不真的与共产党人合作的分寸中取得平衡呢？ 阎锡山说：“我是在三颗鸡蛋上跳舞，踩破哪一颗都不行。” 在中国的地方军阀中，阎锡山与日本的关系最为密切。自一九〇九年从日本陆军士官学校毕业后，他一直与日本保持着极为友好的联系。一九一七年，他从日本购买了一个炮兵营的装备；一九一九年至一九二〇年间，他两次邀请中国驻屯军高级军官访问山西；一九二八年，张作霖的顾问土肥原贤二到访山西时，受到他极为热情周到的接待；一九三〇年，在与蒋介石进行的中原大战中败北后，躲避在大连的他受到日本人的精心庇护；一九三一年，在日本飞机的护送下他重回山西。阎锡山在山西的日子过得很不错，他对自己是全国皆知的亲日派颇为自得：“在中国会走日本路线的，只有我阎锡山一个人。”中日关系紧张起来之后，现在率第五师团攻击平型关的板垣征四郎曾对阎锡山的部下说过：“只要阎锡山不作一切抗日准备，永远与日本亲善友好，日本今后对他仍然尽力支持，给予应有的帮助。”阎锡山自己也认为：“华北纵然被日本打进来，山西境内也不会发生什么战事。” 然而，日本人的企图是，把河北、山东、山西、察哈尔、绥远五省从中国的版图中分离出去。日方多次派代表来山西，企图利用与阎锡山的亲密关系，利用阎锡山与蒋介石的矛盾，拉拢阎锡山出面充当日本制造的“华北五省自治”政府的头面人物。但是，日本人意外地在阎锡山那里碰了钉子。阎锡山不是个糊涂人。除了作为中国人在民族大义上所秉持的基本底线外，他认为日本人严重的损害了他的利益。阎锡山将山西盛产的煤炭和铁矿运往日本，交换来大型工厂和其他机械设备，在山西建起了一个庞大的工业体系，这一体系需要巨大的市场来维系。可是自日军占领平津后，山西销往华北的煤炭已被日本人截断，支撑山西经济的棉花销售也受到了日货的冲击。日军占领热河后，把山西商人全部赶走，彻底损害了山西钱庄和商人在热河的经济利益。更严重的是，日军相继侵占绥远和察哈尔一带，南下进入山西的企图十分明显。所以，摆在阎锡山面前的要害问题是，他必须要保住自辛亥年间成为山西大都督后苦心经营了二十多年的山西地盘：“你们看看九一八的东四省（辽宁、吉林、黑龙江、热河），现在的察北，在这种情势下，要不想叫人把自己的财产抢了，除过这一块土上的人大家起来抵抗死守，还有什么好法子？” 阎锡山与日本人翻脸了。 阎锡山是个喜欢自己创造名词、思想和理论的人。自决心抗日后，他提出的最著名的口号是“守土抗战”。阎锡山对这一口号的解释是：“以反侵略反畏缩的意义，站在整个国家责任立场上，纯论是非、不顾成败的抗敌行为。”阎锡山不下决心便罢，下了决心就表现得十分强硬，声称：“我已抱定决心，不惜牺牲性命，为救山西。但同时我也要擒住山西人，与我一块牺牲。”他训练山西的官员、民众和学生，组建起一支一万多人的“预备军官团”，同时大量吸引华北各省的爱国学生进入山西的军官学校，以至于太原大街上的人“至少有一半穿着军装”。阎锡山认为，他的晋军向来以“守”闻名，于是他提出的又一个口号是：“能守住就能存在”。为了表示自己的抗战决心，他把父亲留给他的八十七万元遗产以他母亲的名义捐给了绥远前线。在阎锡山的带动下，晋军军官们纷纷捐款，山西的民众和学生也发起了节衣缩食运动支援抗战。 城府极深的阎锡山看待任何事，都如同面对一本需要分析的商业账目。他说他无论干什么都必须顾到“利”：“以我们守土抗战说，是地方长官义不容辞的责任，应当尽力而为之，成功是成功，失败也是成功，不容返顾。当汉奸，国人共弃，是义所不当为者，失败是失败，成功也是失败，不容尝试。收复失地，是以成败定是非。成功是成功，失败是失败，必须审慎，到能成功的时候，才可为之。要是不估计我们的力量，和守土抗战认为同样的路线，孤注一掷，那就不但不能收复东四省，恐怕连华北华南也要失掉！要知道当敌人进攻东四省的时候，我们和他拼命，是个义；现在想得收复失地，必须顾到利。” 谁能真正读懂这个说话擅长绕来绕去的阎锡山？ 唯一可以肯定的是，阎锡山顾不了别处，但要为自己的地盘尽“义不容辞的责任”。 阎锡山与蒋介石之间的貌合神离人所共知。一九三六年二月，在中央红军发动东征战役，从陕北大举进入山西后，阎锡山与蒋介石的矛盾逐渐激化。一心想吃掉阎锡山的蒋介石，以阎锡山请求军事支援为借口，立即任命陈诚为“剿匪”总指挥，同时派出自己的嫡系部队星夜疾驰进入山西。红军回师之后，蒋介石的部队不但赖在山西不走，蒋介石还利用各种手段拉拢晋军将领，使他们与阎锡山离心离德。对此，阎锡山不惜动用了非常手段，靠收买卫士将投靠蒋介石的晋军将领暗杀了——“我不亡于共，亦要亡于蒋。”阎锡山对蒋介石最大的不满，是当日军威胁山西的企图已趋明显时，蒋介石在援助缓远的问题上态度消极。一九三六年夏，阎锡山认定“绥远、晋北是日之在所必取”，如不守，这里会成为另一个“满洲国”，守则需要“强大之兵力与坚固之工事”，因此希望南京政府给予支持。为此，他甚至同意“将晋绥军队与国家财政统归中央”，可蒋介石只是一再命令他出兵陕北“围剿”共产党武装。显然，阎锡山已经算计出，此刻对于他的山西来讲，日本人的威胁为当务之急。他回复蒋介石：钧座可以另派部队，晋军决不出兵陕北。阎锡山知道他的山西“要有绝大的危难”，而依靠蒋介石解山西之危几近幻想。所以，他“决心自己牺牲一切，能救几分救几分”。 毫无疑问，阎锡山对共产党不但充满惧怕，也充满仇恨，特别是共产党武装长征到达陕北之后，与他的山西一河之隔，令他更加万分警觉。他在山西组织了一个庞大严密的“防共”网，制订了各种各样的“防共”措施，命令“所有各县境内暗通共党及扶助共党危害地方之人民，应即严拿立予枪毙”。阎锡山的悬赏令是：“一、凡在省会拿获确有证据之共产党者，每名赏大洋一百元；二、拿获共探者每名赏大洋二百元；三、通风报信因而拿获者，每名赏大洋五十元；四、赏洋立时向绥署领取。”悬赏令一下，山西全省草木皆兵，为了领赏，乞丐、行旅和小贩都成了共产党，甚至身上发现了红线、红布条者也会被当即逮捕。由于“嫌疑犯”杀得太多，连阎锡山自己都承认“各县办理此种案件，不免有草菅人命之情事”。但是，对于中国共产党坚定的抗日立场，阎锡山既是确信不疑的又是己所急需的：“东北失守后，张学良退出东三省，坚持抗战的都是共产党，没有一个国民党，假如日本人打进山西来，山西抵抗不了，蒋介石也抵抗不了，怎么办？”希望保住地盘的阎锡山开始考虑联共问题，他认为借助共产党的力量或许是保存自己的一条出路。信奉“存在就是一切”的阎锡山不再提“防共”了，转而提出山西的第一政策是清除汉奸。一九三六年九月，尽管明知有共产党地下组织的支持，他还是宣布以动员山西民众抗日为宗旨的“牺牲救国同盟会”成立，并亲任会长。阎锡山表示：“和平的确到了绝望的时候，牺牲确已到了最后的关头。”看到了阎锡山的转变，共产党人托晋军第六十六旅三九二团团长郭登瀛给他带来了毛泽东的亲笔信。毛泽东在信中劝解阎锡山：“救国大计，非一手一足之烈所能集事。敝军抗日被阻，然此志如昨，千回百折，非达目的不止，亦料先生等终有觉悟的一日。”共产党方面表示愿意与阎锡山达成谅解，联合一致共同抗日。出于内心的不踏实，阎锡山召集将领和幕僚们举行了一次“民意测验”，题目是：如果日本进攻绥远，是中立好，还是帮助日本人打共产党好？还是联合红军抗日好？阎锡山要求当即不答，给出审慎思考的时间。——“数日后开会表决，到会三十八人，以三十一对七票成决议，赞成联合红军抗日。” 历史在某一时刻会突然变得令人惊愕：昨天还在血拼的不共戴天的两军，今天成为需要协同作战的盟者。坐在阎锡山客厅里的共产党人，周恩来自不必说，彭德怀和徐向前都是与国民党军队血拼的悍将。此时此刻，阎锡山绝不会想到，仅仅十年后，正是面前的这两个共产党将领共同指挥了攻击他老巢的太原战役，将他和他指挥的国民党军赶出了他至死也没能再见一面的山西。 平津相继失陷后，阎锡山到南京接受了第二战区司令长官的任命。在南京期间，他聆听了周恩来代表中国共产党在国防会议上发表的对抗日战争战略意见。回到寓所后，阎锡山对随员说了这样一句话：“非打不行了！不打，共产党不答应！” 共产党武装已经进入他的地盘，因此阎锡山对共产党方面格外在意。 晋北战局的恶化速度大大出乎阎锡山的意料，不到一个月的时间日军就从绥远一直打到了内长城脚下，已经逼近太原。 阎锡山希望八路军能够发挥作用，凭他以往与共产党武装作战的经验，他知道八路军能够起到作用。 “八路军上来了！”的消息迅速传遍全中国。 尽管换上国民党军的帽徽的时候，红军官兵的思想出现了波动，但经过耐心的讲解工作以及给每个官兵发了一枚“红军十年艰苦奋斗”奖章，红军官兵打鬼子的热情不断高涨起来。 一九三七年八月二十二日，八路军第一一五师三四三旅作为先遣部队从陕西三原出发，该师第三四四旅和直属部队相继跟进，于韩城东渡黄河；第一二〇师于九月三日从陕西富平出发，紧随第一一五师于韩城东渡黄河；第一二九师作为第二批出动部队移驻富平，并准备于九月三十日出发。八路军集结于晋北，一是因为这里是其从陕北开赴抗日战场最便捷的地方；二是因为晋北复杂的地形不利于日军坦克大炮等重武器作战，却有利于八路军发挥其山地游击战的优势。九月二十一日，朱德、任弼时、左权、邓小平等率八路军总部进抵太原。 八路军出发前，在陕西泾阳县的云阳镇召开了抗日誓师大会。会场上挂着“为保卫国土流尽最后一滴血”的标语，老百姓把会场外围挤得里三层外三层，很多人趴在树枝和屋顶上。在朱德的带领下，八路军官兵把《八路军出师抗日誓词》复诵得震天响： 日本帝国主义，是中华民族的死敌，它要亡我国家，灭我种族，杀害我们父母兄弟，奸淫我们母妻姐妹，烧我们的庄稼房屋，毁我们的耕具牲口。为了民族，为了国家，为了同胞，为了子孙，我们只有抗战到底。 我们是工农出身，不侵犯群众一针一线，替民众谋福利，对友军要亲爱，对革命要忠诚。如果违反民族利益，愿受革命纪律的制裁，同志的指责。谨此宣誓。 八路军出发了。 正是收秋的日子，沿途的大道两边，老百姓摆着茶壶茶水和干粮鸡蛋。前方不断传来日军仍在向南推进的消息。过黄河的时候，八路军官兵默不作声，想起了去年红军东渡黄河时牺牲在这里的战友，船工的号子在沉寂的天地间此起彼伏。 八路军行军到达同蒲路，阎锡山派出的火车已在侯马车站等候。官兵们转乘火车一路向北，铁路两边开始出现躲避战火的难民了，官兵们知道离作战前线越来越近了。 第一一五师第三四三旅六八五团团长杨得志率领部队乘火车抵达太原车站时，已是午夜。杨得志奉命去城里的一个晋军招待所找到他的师长林彪并接受任务。太原城门紧闭，杨团长通过城门后，不认识城里的路，只好雇了辆黄包车。拉车的是个骨瘦如柴的老人，杨团长不忍心坐。可老人听说是八路军，不但愿意拉，而且怎么也不收钱。杨团长说，这不是车钱，是我们请您老人家吃顿饭，老人掉了眼泪。 见到师长林彪，林彪表情严肃：原定的作战计划有变。 根据中共中央政治局洛川会议决议，八路军的基本任务是：创建抗日根据地，钳制与消耗敌人，配合友军作战，保存和扩大自己。战略方针是：独立自主的山地游击战。作战区域是：冀、察、晋、绥四省的交界地带。当时毛泽东的设想是：把八路军的三个师集中使用，放在恒山山脉之中以开辟根据地。但是，现在敌情发生了变化：平汉路和津浦路上的日军推进到了石家庄和德州一线，平绥路上的日军占领大同后正沿着同蒲路南下，其第五师团更是南下到了平型关附近，中国军队第二战区部队已全面退守至平型关、雁门关内长城一线。毛泽东的判断是：日军采取的是大迂回战术，企图夺取太原，威胁平汉路的侧背，进而实现夺取华北五省的目标。因此，中共中央决定，改变八路军集中配置恒山地域的原定部署，改成配置于山西的四角：第一二〇师转至晋西北地区；第一一五师进入恒山山脉南段并准备逐渐南移太行山和太岳山方向；第一二九师进至以吕梁山为依托的晋西南地区。这样的变更，能够对日军占领的中心城市和主要交通要道形成包围态势，可以保持八路军在战略上的主动，有利于山地游击战的开展，也有利于配合友军机动作战。但是，阎锡山集中兵力于平型关与日军决战的计划已定，并要求八路军出击日军的侧背。为了完成第二战区交代的作战任务，除命令第一二〇师进至雁门关以西地区，侧击由大同南下的关东军察哈尔兵团以册应平型关外，八路军第一一五师还必须立即向平型关前进，迅速派出侦察分队侦察敌情和地形，准备投入作战——毛泽东曾明确说过，八路军“不打硬仗”，但是，即将发动的平型关一战，无论采取什么形式作战，都已超出了“山地游击战”的范畴，都将是一场与日军面对面的硬仗。 第一一五师转向平型关方向急速前进。 从太原乘火车继续往北，没走多远就遭到日军飞机的轰炸。待列车开到原平车站时，铁路被炸毁了，而这里距平型关尚有一百多公里。心急如焚的阎锡山立即派出一个汽车团前往接应。这个汽车团是阎锡山的宝贝，全团清一色的美式卡车——阎锡山不惜一切也要把八路军运送上去。杨得志团长坐在一辆卡车的驾驶室里，司机是个在国民党军中服役多年的中年汉子，他的过分客气让杨得志感到很不自在，后来杨团长才明白了这个国民党老兵客气的原因： 最后一次“围剿”你们，我就开车到了江西。后来，你们长征——我们长官说叫“西窜”——我又开车跟过你们，不久前才调到山