Chapter 196 2. Jiang Jun has been confident for three years

The Shimen referred to in the telegram exchanges between the Field Army and the Military Commission is Shijiazhuang.Shijiazhuang was originally a small village in Huolu County. It is said that it was called Shijiazhuang because there were only a dozen or so families.Only in modern times, due to the development of transportation, it gradually became a city.The Shijiazhuang area has superior geographical conditions. It faces Taihang Mountain in the west and can control Jingxing and Niangziguan. It is connected to Kyoto in the north and is located in the left armpit of Kyoto.Its natural superior geographical conditions, combined with its position as a transportation hub extending in all directions, have become an area where various military forces compete fiercely.

After the July 7th Incident, the Japanese invaded North China in three ways, one of which went south along Pinghan Road to Shijiazhuang.In order to cut off the connection between our two base areas of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei and Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Hebei, and extinguish the anti-Japanese flames of the army and civilians in our base areas, the Japanese invaders placed one-third of the Japanese troops occupying North China in Shijiazhuang and the area east of Shouyang on Zhengtai Road.Shijiazhuang became a barracks of the Japanese army in North China, an important base for invading and plundering North China.

After the surrender of the Japanese invaders, Chiang Kai-shek also knew the importance of Shijiazhuang's strategic position, so he urgently ordered Li Wen, the 34th Group Army in the south of Hu Zong, to lead his 3rd and 16th armies to cross the Yellow River eastward and invade North China. The 3rd army occupied Shijiazhuang.In order to make Shijiazhuang a stable strategic base linking Hebei and Jin, and guaranteeing peace, Tianjin, and security, the Kuomintang army, regardless of the life and death of the people, tried its best to search for people's wealth and people's strength, driving more than 20,000 migrant workers every day, and built eight years of defense against the Japanese invaders. On the basis of the system, continue to operate, and turn this huge city with a radius of more than 60 li without city walls into a solid fortified city with many bunkers, criss-cross ditches, and open and hidden trenches like spider webs.

More than 6,000 blockhouses are distributed on the main streets and intersections of Shijiazhuang; three lines of defense form three underground city walls.The first road is Waishi Ditch, which is 60 Li in circumference, 7 meters deep and 6 meters wide. There are deer villages, barbed wire and minefields along the outer edge of the ditch.This is followed by the Circular Railway, with 6 armored trains constantly patrolling.The second is Neishi Ditch, which is 36 li long and 5 meters deep and 5 meters wide. Blockhouses, low forts, forts and field fortifications.The villages between the inner and outer city ditches have strong fortifications, which are important support points.Among them, Zhentou Town, Chengjiao Village, Xili Village, Xijiao Village, Beiji Village, Bolin Village, Fan Village, Yuan Village and Huayuan Village are the strongest.There is a traffic ditch or tunnel connection between the two ditches, and the cut piles and deer villages are set in the ditch.The third line of defense is the core fortifications composed of solid buildings such as the Dashiqiao, the railway station, the Zhengtai Hotel, the railway factory, and the power station in the center of the urban area.

In addition to the three lines of defense, fortifications and firepower points were built on all available terrain in Daguo Village, East and West Three Religions, North and South Zhaiying, and Yunpan Mountain, the commanding height in the northeast of the city, as warning positions. With such strong and dense fortifications, coupled with heavy guards, the Kuomintang is confident that it can be safe.Its propaganda machine boasted, "With the fortifications in Shijiazhuang, the national army can sit and guard for three years"; it also said that "the Communist Party has no planes and tanks, so it is impossible to take Shijiazhuang."