Chapter 216 4. The enemy built a solid "Maginot" line of defense

Linfen was defended by Liang Peihuang, deputy commander-in-chief of Yan Xishan's 6th Army and commander-in-chief of the Jinnan Armed Forces.He is a native of Guangshan County, Henan Province. He graduated from the third phase of Baoding Military Academy. He has successively served as brigade commander, chief of staff, and commander of Yan Xishan's department. He is one of the 28 backbones of Yan Xishan's "Iron Army Organization".In addition to the two regular troops of the 30th Brigade of Hu Zongnan and the 66th Division of Yan Xishan, the Kuomintang troops stationed in Linfen also had 4 puppet military offices and 14 puppet county governments in exile who had come to Linfen first. The regiment, the security police team, etc., were reorganized into 8 regiments, with a total of nearly 30,000 troops.

Liang Peihuang knew very well that it would be difficult for these 30,000 people to defend Linfen against the mighty People's Liberation Army.Moreover, half of the 30,000 people are local teams, and their combat effectiveness is very poor.Therefore, Liang Peihuang's wishful thinking is to rely on fortifications to hold on and resist.Therefore, he searched for huge manpower and material resources, and built four lines of defense on the basis of Linfen's original fortifications, forming a complete defense system. The first line of defense is the outer security position, which is based on the larger villages and towns within 7.5 kilometers of the east, south, and north of the city, and 7.5 kilometers to the west of the city.There are high bunkers, bright and dark firepower points, and obstacles such as outer trenches, power grids, and mines to form independent support points. Each point has a company to a battalion of troops, equipped with heavy machine guns, mortars, and mountain artillery. Fight independently and support each other.

The second line of defense is the defensive position, which is composed of 31 blockhouses around the city. The three blockhouses are arranged in a zigzag shape. Fortifications such as bunkers, hidden fire points and outer trenches, barbed wire, mines, and some have secret passages leading to the city. The third line of defense is the outer moat and the city wall position. The outer moat is dug on the basis of the old moat, 20 meters deep and 30 meters wide, close to the city wall. The fortifications of the strongholds used by guns and flamethrowers were carried out, and the waist of the city wall was hollowed out to build launch shelters for light machine guns, rifles, and flamethrowers.

The fourth line of defense is the deep positions and tunnel fortifications in the city. There is an inner trench with a depth and a width of 3 to 6 meters in the city wall. In the trench, a fortress is built every 15 meters. On the main streets and tall buildings in the city, a total of The 11 street fighting strongholds are located in Dongguan to the east and south of the city. The height is slightly lower than the main city, and complete fortifications have also been built to form a whole with the main city. Faced with such a solid city defense fortification, Liang Peihuang was very proud, saying: "The Eighth Route Army always wins with the more and the less. We built the fortifications around Linfen City into a French 'Maginot', and the less wins the more."

Liang Peihuang thought that his "Maginot Line" was infallible.A few days later, he sent a telegram to Yan Xishan, saying: First, the city defense fortifications were all reinforced and transformed as planned with the help and guidance of Japanese friends.If Xu Xiangqian dared to attack, the Tuba Road under his command would definitely make him die at the front of my strong position and various lines of defense. Second, the 66th Division takes over the defense, and the 30th Brigade takes over the defense. The handover will be completed, and a banquet will be held to welcome and see off.

Third, stick to Lincheng, but the food shortage is imminent, and it is difficult to last. Yan Xishan read the telegram, threw it aside, and raged at Chief of Staff Guo Zongfen: Liang Peihuang is really a fool, there is no food to defend the city, how can he defend it?Isn't Fu Zuoyi's lesson from Zhuozhou not enough?Send an urgent telegram to Liang Peihuang, and grab the food before going out of the city while the communist army is training and has no intention of attacking the city?