Chapter 35 5. The 9-way siege deployment of the Japanese army

In mid-February 1938, the Japanese army launched an attack on the western and southern regions of Shanxi from the Tongpu (Datong-Fenglingdu), Pinghan (now Beijing-Hankou), and Daoqing (Daokou-now Boai) railway lines. .The Kuomintang troops in China's second war zone retreated steadily.By the first ten days of March, the Japanese army successively occupied Linfen, Fenyang, Lishi, Fenglingdu, Licheng, Changzhi and other important towns, opened up the southern section of the Tongpu Railway and the Handan-Changzhi Highway, and entered the southeastern Shanxi and Luliang Mountains in the western Shanxi area, and invaded the ferry crossings of the Yellow River in western Shanxi.In order to restrain the Japanese army from attacking the south and west of Shanxi, the 129th Division, the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division and the 5th Detachment were ordered by the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army to be transferred from the Zhengtai Railway (now Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan) to the southeast of Shanxi in early March. Xiangyuan, Wuxiang, and Liaoxian (now Zuoquan County) areas mobilized and organized the masses to establish anti-Japanese base areas, and at the same time used the main force to capture fighters and attack the Japanese army. The victory posed a serious threat to the rear supply line of the Japanese army invading southeast Shanxi.

At the beginning of April, the North China Front Army of the Japanese Army was dominated by the 108th Division, and mobilized one part each of the 16th, 20th, and 109th Divisions, plus cavalry, artillery, engineers, and heavy soldiers, totaling more than ten regiments (including 8 infantry Wings, cavalry, artillery, engineers, and luggage each have 1 to 2 wings), with a total of more than 30,000 people. Under the unified command of the commander of the 1st Army, Xiangyue Qingsi, the Han (Dan) Chang (Zhi) Highway She County, Changzhi, Tunliu on Lin (Fen) Tun (Liu) Highway, Pingding on Zhengtai Road, Yuci, Taigu, Hongdong on Tongpu Road, Xingtai on Pinghan Road, and Yuanshi and Zanhuang , Xiyang, Qixian and other places, divided into 9 routes to launch a large-scale siege to the southeast of Shanxi.

The Japanese aggressors practiced the so-called "expand broadly, compress and compress and annihilate" the combat principle in an attempt to encircle and annihilate our Eighth Route Army in Liaoxian, Yushe, and Wuxiang areas with the tactics of "dividing into and attacking together".This is the first large-scale attack by the Japanese invaders on the hinterland of our anti-Japanese base area since our Eighth Route Army advanced into the enemy's rear. On the one hand, the Japanese invaders carried out deceptive propaganda, and on the other hand, they crazily implemented the "three alls" policy against the people in the base areas.Wherever they went, fireworks billowed and corpses littered the field.Towns such as Hongshui, Wuxiang, and Panlong were all reduced to ruins after the Japanese invaders.Especially Panlong Town, which was originally a big town between Liao County and Wu Township, usually had a prosperous business, but this time when the Japanese army passed by, it was burned down.The cruel massacre of the people in the base area by the Japanese invaders was even more appalling.In Ma Village in Wuxiang, more than 60 people were killed. Most of the women were raped and then killed. Even young girls aged seven or eight were not spared.

By mid-April, the nine-way anti-siege operation that lasted for nearly a week had entered a fever pitch.These days, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai and Zuo Quan are guarding the headquarters command post day and night, paying close attention to every movement on the battlefield.Peng Dehuai and Zuo Quan also rolled up their blankets in the command post... On the map hung by the command post, the staff of the Operations Department has clearly marked the latest situation between the enemy and us—— The way out from Hongdong was the 77th Regiment of the 20th Division of the Japanese Army. After entering the Anze and Qinyuan areas, it was blocked by the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division, the 1st Column of Death and the 17th Army of the Kuomintang.

The road dispatched from Taigu and Qixian was a regiment of the 28th Brigade of the Japanese Army, with cavalry, artillery and supply troops attached to it. The local guerrillas stopped in the East and West Tuancheng areas.Among them, the 169th Division fought the most intensely. It has confronted the enemy for 3 days and wiped out more than a thousand enemies. The battle is still going on. On the way from Taigu and Yushe, the two brigades of the 109th Division of the Japanese Army attacked Kuojiao and Mafang via Changning, but were pinned down by the Qinlai Detachment of the 129th Division and the Yushe guerrillas.

All the way from Pingding and Xiyang, a regiment of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army attacked Liao County via Gaoluo, and was intercepted by two detachments Zeng Guohua and Wang Naigui near Songyan Town, causing heavy casualties and slow progress. All the way from Yuanshi and Zanhuang was a brigade of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army. It planned to attack Xishui in the west, but was blocked by the guerrilla detachment of the 129th Division and the Jixi guerrilla in the area east of Jiulongguan. On the way from Shexian County, two brigades of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army planned to attack Matian in the north, but were blocked by the 4th Division of the Kuomintang Cavalry and the Supplementary Regiment of the 129th Division in the Hongjing area.

The blocking of the above six Japanese troops made their plan to attack the main force of the Eighth Route Army in Liaoxian, Yushe, and Wuxiang areas come to naught.However, the situation of the other 3-way is more serious: There is another route dispatched from Pingding and Xiyang, which is also a regiment of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army. It attacked Liao County through Heshun. Because the preset Kuomintang army did not actively resist, they reached Liao County smoothly. There are two groups dispatched from Changzhi, which are the two regiments of the 108th Division of the Japanese Army. Among them, the 105th Regiment is the first route, and the 117th Regiment is the other route, which is used to attack Qinliu and Ting. county.Also due to the passive combat of the Kuomintang army, the two Japanese troops successively occupied Qinxian, Wuxiang, and Liaoxian counties, and advanced towards Yushe.In this way, the situation in the center of the base area became tense.

These 3 roads are indeed a strong force of the Japanese army.Especially the last two routes, not only have excellent soldiers and excellent equipment, but also are equipped with a squadron of cavalry, artillery, and engineering, and a squadron of supplies.At the same time, Tommedi, the brigade commander who commanded the two routes, was a figure not to be underestimated.It is said that when Linfen was attacked, he was the first to enter the city, for which he was awarded a medal by the Japanese Army Base Camp.After that, he became even more arrogant and domineering, claiming to be proficient in the guerrilla tactics of the Eighth Route Army, and based on the Eighth Route Army's principle of retreating and pursuing, he invented a so-called dragging knife strategy.Create a panic posture in combat, pretend to retreat, lure the Eighth Route Army to follow and pursue, and then suddenly ambush or besiege.Due to the unknown details, this tactic has caused some guerrillas to suffer.This made Tomidi even more arrogant.This time, he let out the wind again, insisting on eating the main force of the Eighth Route Army in one bite!