Chapter 271 8. The four fortresses that Yan Xishan boasted about were conquered

After the Battle of Dongshan started, Yan Xishan had to defend the four fortresses with all his strength. In order to clear the way for our army to attack the city and seize the four fortresses, a fierce battle for the four fortresses in Dongshan was imperative. On October 23, the Headquarters of the First Corps of the North China Military Region issued an order to attack the four major fortresses in Dongshan.The order stipulated that the attack should be launched on the evening of October 26, and the combat deployment was readjusted. At 16:00 on the 26th, the columns of our army began to attack the four fortresses in accordance with the prescribed combat deployment.Both sides entered the battle with the main force.Except for the 3 divisions defending Xishan and the 2 divisions in the south and north of the city, Yan Xishan's 8 divisions, 3 corps and security regiments all went into battle.A total of 27 and a half regiments have been deployed by our army successively, and only 4 regiments have not participated in the battle.The two sides used more than 800 artillery pieces.

The most intense and intense battle in the Taiyuan Campaign began.An old man who participated in the battle for Dongshan recalled: The two sides fought so fiercely in that battle!Miserable... The 15th Column captured Naoma.Naoma is more than 2 kilometers away from Taiyuan City. It consists of the main Naoma position and positions No. 1 to No. 9, a total of more than 10 positions. Among them, the main position and No. 7 position (paobao) are the strongest. There are 5 layers of chopping slopes.The defenders are the 30th Army and the 8th Independent Corps. At 16:00 on the 26th, the 15th Column attacked the main position with all of the 128th Regiment of the 43rd Brigade and 2 battalions of the 129th Regiment. Keep the flanks of the main attacking force safe, and use the 127th Regiment as a reserve.The defenders desperately resisted under the threat of the "law enforcement team", and the attack of the 15th column was blocked.In the middle of the night, the attacking troops charged up the slope on the first floor by means of explosives, but they were locked in a stalemate with the defenders between the slopes on the second and third floors.Before dawn, the guard squad of the 129th regiment broke into the main position with continuous blasting. The follow-up troops took advantage of the momentum and captured the main position on the morning of the 27th, and then held the position with a part of the 127th regiment. On the 27th and 28th, Yan Jun, with a regiment of the 279th Division and most of the independent 8th Corps with a total of more than 4,000 people, under the cover of heavy artillery fire, counterattacked 19 times in a row, but were all repelled by the 127th Regiment. From 31st to November 1st, the 44th Brigade took advantage of the victory to capture 6 positions west of the main position. On November 10, the 127th regiment, under the cover of artillery fire, used continuous blasting and continuous assault methods to conquer the artillery blockhouses in a fierce battle for 5 hours.The next day, Yan Jun counterattacked all day long, but failed.That night, Yan Xishan made a final counterattack led by Zhao Rui, commander of the 8th Independent Corps.Zhao Ze led more than 500 people to revolt under political struggle.So far, all the Naoma positions have been occupied by the 15th column.

The 7th Column captured Niutuo Village.Niutuo Village is located 5 kilometers northeast of the city. It can station 5,000 troops. It consists of three group positions to form a circular defense. There are Nos. 5, 6 and 7 to the east, and No. 4 command block to the southeast (because it is connected to a temple, it is also called temple block).The defenders are the main force of the 10th Independent Corps and the 68th Division. On October 26 and 27, the 7th Column failed to attack twice, so the 3rd Independent Brigade attacked Blocks 5, 6, and 7, and the 12th Brigade attacked Block 10. On the 31st, the Independent 3rd Brigade quickly captured Block No. 7, and the 12th Independent Brigade successfully captured Block No. 3, 8, and 10 with continuous blasting, forcing the defenders of Block No. 2 to surrender, and the defenders of Block No. 9 fled, and then captured Block No. 1 . On November 1, under the intimidation of the "law enforcement team", the Miaobao defenders launched five counterattacks and used poison gas bombs, all of which were repelled by the 12th Independent Brigade.But at this time, the 12th Independent Brigade was cut off by the No. 5 and No. 6 defenders, and the front was attacked again, and it was in a critical situation.In order to change the situation that the 12th Independent Brigade was attacked from multiple sides, the column used the 2nd Police Brigade to replace the 3rd Independent Brigade to continue to attack No. 5 and No. 6. The 10 main blockhouses were the support points of the three group positions, and the No. 10 blockhouse (cannon blockhouse) was located in the center of the position. And the highest point, there are 11 floors of split slopes, there are No. 8 and No. 9 towers in the north of Pao Diao, No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 towers from the west to the south, and Zhengbei Diao.After 20 hours of fierce fighting, the 2nd Police Brigade began to capture Blocks 5 and 6 on November 2.More than a thousand defenders gathered in the temple towers, relying on favorable terrain to defend desperately. On November 12, the Independent 7th Brigade succeeded the Independent 12th Brigade and continued to attack No. 4 Blockhouse.After 9 blasts and 5 attacks, Block No. 4 was occupied the next day.So far, after more than 10 times of fierce repeated battles, the seventh column finally captured Niutuo Village.

The 13th Column captured the hill.The top of the mountain is located 5 kilometers southeast of the city. Its position is composed of the main position and the Nao Nao Mountain position to the east. There is a traffic trench between the two positions.The main position is composed of No. 1-5 backbone positions, surrounded by 2-6 layers of split slopes, each layer is 4-6 meters high.The defenders are the entirety of the 9th Independent Corps, 1 regiment of the 73rd Division, 1 battalion each of the 276th Division and the 8th Independent Corps. On October 26, the 13th Column first launched an attack with the 38th Brigade. By the 28th, the brigade had successively captured three positions on Nao Nao Mountain, and then launched an attack on the main position.Due to mistaking the main position for a secondary position, only 1 regiment was used in the attack on the 31st, resulting in the failure of both attacks. On November 1, the 38th Brigade concentrated 2 regiments to attack the main position on the top of the mountain and suffered another setback. Since then, the offensive force has been gradually increased to 3 regiments.At this time, the Corps was instigating the Huang Qiaosong Uprising, and the 38th Brigade was ordered to stop the attack.Under the onslaught of the 1st Corps, Chiang Kai-shek worried that Taiyuan would not be safe, so he reorganized the 83rd Brigade of the 10th Division (later renamed the 83rd Division) and airlifted 4,500 people from Yulin to Taiyuan in early November.Yan Xishan then used this department to take over the defense of the former garrison at the top of the mountain. On November 9, after the failure of the Huang Qiaosong Uprising, the three regiments of the 38th Brigade launched a general attack on the main position. The 112th and 114th regiments failed to succeed in the two attacks. Only the 113th regiment captured the No. Occupy position 3.However, under the counterattack of the 83rd Division of the defenders, the No. 3 position was gained and lost, and the general attack failed.The column then replaced the 38th Brigade with the 37th Brigade and continued to attack.The 110th Regiment of the 37th Brigade took the No. 3 position by surprise on the evening of the same day. At 2 o'clock on the 11th, it suddenly attacked the No. 2 position through the secret passage between the 2nd and 3rd positions. The defenders at positions 1 and 4 fled under the onslaught.So far, the main position on the top of the hill has been conquered.

The 8th Column captured Xiaoyaotou.Xiaoyaotou is located 4 kilometers east of the Xiaodongmen of Taiyuan City. The positions are built on the mountains and consist of positions 1-15. Among them, positions 11-15 are located at the highest support point. Each position has a distance of 3-10 meters. Splitting the slope, there are concrete blockhouses built on the upper edge of the splitting slope and in the dead corners, and the entire position is staggered and connected.The defenders are a regiment of the 279th Division, a company of the 10th Independent Corps and a part of the 6th Security Regiment. On October 26, the 8th Column attacked Xiaoyaotou with the 64th Regiment of the 22nd Brigade attached to the 24th Brigade.By the afternoon of the 27th, positions 1-6 were all occupied, and positions 8, 13, 14, and 15 were occupied on the morning of the 28th. At noon on the 28th, Yan Xishan launched a large-scale counterattack with the support of artillery groups at Jianziwan, Naoma, Shuangtasi, Huangjiafen, Dongchengmen, etc. with two regiments of the 30th Army and one regiment of the 279th Division. And cast gas bombs, incendiary bombs.The 24th Brigade was forced to abandon positions 8, 11, 13, 14, and 15. On the 29th and 30th, one regiment each of the 24th and 22nd brigades launched another attack, and by the 31st they had regained positions 8, 15, and 14. On the 31st, the column transferred the 3rd Battalion of the 68th Regiment of the 23rd Brigade to take on the task of capturing positions 13 and 11.At 16:30 on the same day, under the cover of artillery fire, the battalion broke into position 13 with continuous blasting and wiped out 2 companies of the defenders. The defenders at Position 11 took the opportunity to escape.So far, the Xiaoyaotou front line has been completely occupied. On November 9, a part of the 72nd Regiment took advantage of the momentum to capture Simuge Cave on the north side of Xiaoyaotou, and captured more than 300 defenders.

The battle for the four fortresses was fierce.So far, the four fortresses in the east of Taiyuan City that Yan Xishan has boasted in many ways have all been captured by me, and Taiyuan City is completely exposed to our army's attack. After the war, the scorched earth was 1 meter above the main positions, the vegetation was destroyed, the wooden handle of the grenade was laid on the ground, and the corpses of the defenders were scattered all over the field. While attacking the four major fortresses, in order to cooperate with the main force, the troops of the Jinzhong Military Region successively captured Qinglong Town, Beiliu, Huangsai, Zhoujiashan, Huigouliang in the north of the city, Xutan in the south of the city, and the North and South Weirs on the west bank of the Fen River. Zhaojiashan and other strongholds.