Chapter 98 6. Preparation and deployment of troops before the war

On August 8, 1940, the Eighth Route Army Headquarters issued the "Campaign Action Order" and decided to start fighting on August 20. After receiving the above order, Nie Rongzhen, He Long, Guan Xiangying, Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping and others respectively checked the implementation of various preparations of their troops according to the predetermined plan, and made corresponding adjustments to the campaign deployment. Fuping, Hebei, Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region Command. The headquarters is located in an inconspicuous small mountain village.Only when you walk into the courtyard, walk through several tall locust trees, and see the antenna and telephone wires protruding from the ridge of the roof, will you know that this is the military headquarters.

Nie Rongzhen presided over a meeting of heads of the main attacking corps to study and determine specific campaign deployments. At the meeting, Nie Rongzhen first spoke: "Comrades, the Eighth Route Army's front headquarters issued a campaign order. The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, together with the Hebei-Luyu Military Region and the Jinsui Military Region, will attack the communication lines occupied by the enemy in North China and the cities and towns along them. Launch a large-scale sabotage campaign. The mission of our Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region is: to be responsible for the raid on the section from Shijiazhuang to Pingding on Zhengtai Road, focusing on the section from Niangziguan to Jingxing Coal Mine and the areas on both sides, and on Pinghan Road, Beining Road, Jinpu Road, Deshi Road, Cangshi Road and other railway and highway sections to carry out extensive raids to prevent the enemy from reinforcing Zhengtai Road!"

"Wow!" The leaders of the various military sub-divisions present at the meeting cheered in surprise. This is the largest sabotage campaign launched by the Eighth Route Army since the Anti-Japanese War. "Next, Chief of Staff Nie Heting will talk about the specific deployment." Nie Rongzhen gestured with his hand to calm down the leaders of each division. Nie Heting is a veteran of the Red Army and was the platoon leader during the Nanchang Uprising.He is very experienced in command work.The battle plan he and Nie Rongzhen drew up together has been approved by the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.He said: After research and decision, our military region plans to deploy 8 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment and 2 cavalry battalions, 3 artillery companies, 1 engineering company and 5 guerrilla detachments, a total of about 10 regiments. Three columns were formed: the right column was commanded by Guo Tianmin and Liu Daosheng, and was responsible for breaking Niangziguan to Luanliu section; the left column was commanded by Xiong Botao, breaking Shang'an to Weishui section; The section breaks the task, and is the main attack direction, and there is also a general reserve team.The rest of the troops attacked the railways and highways of Pinghan, Beining, Jinpu, Cangshi and so on.

Nie Rongzhen went on to say: "This raid is an extensive battle on a very long front. In accordance with the regulations of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, everyone must pay attention to: First, we must pay special attention to reconnaissance work, and immediately send personnel to reconnaissance of the enemy's situation and terrain. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win a hundred battles; second, the march of troops and all actions must be secret and swift, and the political department should notify governments at all levels to closely cooperate with the actions of the troops; third, try to buy as much time as possible and organize troops to blast railways, bridges, and enemy strongholds Waiting for training; Fourth, the launch time of the campaign is unified at 22:00 on August 20, and everyone must act together at that time, and everyone must implement it.

After the meeting, Nie Rongzhen immediately led a capable command team to the front line to approach the enemy for reconnaissance. The Reconnaissance Section of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region Command usually has a relatively clear understanding of the enemy's situation along Zhengtai Road, Pinghan Road, and Tongpu Road, but it knows little about Jingxing Coal Mine, one of the key points of the Zhengtai Campaign.Nie Heting, Luo Wenfang and others all disguised themselves as local people and approached the outskirts of the mining area. Then Luo Wenfang brought a few scouts into the mining area for reconnaissance under the support of the underground party in the mining area. The distribution and activity rules, etc., have basically been figured out.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon on August 20, 1940, Yang Chengwu led his troops to the mountains only about 5 kilometers away from Jingxing Coal Mine.He took the staff of the front command post and the regiment and battalion cadres of the three regiments, went deep into the coal mine for reconnaissance, and chose a breakthrough. Shiguai Town, Heshun County, Shanxi Province, the forward command post of the 129th Division. Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping made a lot of meticulous preparations before the launch of the battle.Liu Bocheng specifically explained to the personnel of the headquarters:

This time, the division carried out a large-scale sabotage campaign. The enemy built solid fortifications near the towns, stations, bridges, and tunnels along the line; there were also outlying strongholds in the area 10 to 15 kilometers on both sides of the railway.In this case, our army must first capture the enemy's stronghold, and then we can break the road.Therefore, a big raid is first and foremost a battle against strongholds, and it is inevitable to carry out raids and fortifications. We should think more about the difficulties and consider the preparations more thoughtfully.The preparatory work should highlight the three aspects of reconnaissance, anti-espionage and technical tactics.

According to Liu Bocheng's instructions, the 129th Division immediately set off an upsurge in training and blasting.Especially for the reconnaissance work, everyone from top to bottom attaches great importance to it, and the leaders and staff members all dispatched reconnaissance. Chen Xilian, commander of the 385th brigade, recalled: "We brigade cadres all disguised themselves and went to scout the terrain along the railway line." .Some even took the train on Zhengtai Road to have a panoramic view of the situation along the line. Two days before the launch of the battle, that is, on the evening of August 18, 1940, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping held a combat meeting to assign combat tasks to the commanders of the participating troops.

Liu Bocheng first conveyed the instructions of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, and then explained the deployment of the campaign: "Our program for this campaign: First, it is mainly to destroy the railways and buildings on the Yangquan-Yuci section of Zhengtai Road for several days and completely destroy them. For the technical artifacts of the Sangzhang-Xiaozhuang and Mashou-Lujiazhuang railway sections, we must focus on destroying them. Second, in order to ensure that the railways are indeed destroyed, each crackdown team should also use special plainclothes teams or powerful troops. Suddenly sneak into the necessary strongholds on the railway line, destroy their key points, and burn down their buildings. For the strongholds extending far from the roadside, only a small number of troops should be used to monitor them. When the Yangquan and Pingliao highways turn back to our right, we will eliminate them one by one to ensure the smooth progress of our road breaking and create the basic conditions for regaining Liaoxian and Yushe. The enemy who comes to aid from Yuci will be restrained."

Then, Liu Bocheng made specific deployments for the battle: the battle was under the unified command of Chen Geng, Chen Xilian, and Xie Fuzhi, and the troops were divided into three columns: left, middle, and right: The right-wing column led by Fan Zixia and Lai Jifa led two regiments to undertake the task of attacking Yangquan and Shouyang. First, they concentrated their forces to capture Potou and Zhangjing stations, and then expanded their victories westward. The central column consisted of 4 regiments led by Chen Geng, Chen Xilian, and Xie Fuzhi. The main force was secretly assembled as the general reserve of the division; with one force, they captured the two strongholds of the enemy and suppressed the enemy, and another force occupied Shinao, southwest of Yangquan. Mountain, to block the enemy who may send aid from Yangquan.

The left-wing column, led by Zhou Xihan, led 3 regiments to undertake the task of breaking the raid between Shouyang and Yuci. First, concentrate its forces to capture Lujiazhuang, Shanghu, Mashou and other stations. After success, expand the results northward and westward according to the situation . The Pinghe detachment, led by Wang Naigui, led a regiment and local armed forces to destroy the Pingding-Heshun highway separately, and contain the enemies on the Pingliao highway. Finally, Deng Xiaoping emphasized the favorable conditions of this campaign and matters that should be paid attention to.He especially warned everyone: There are many armed forces in the places where the war takes place, and competent cadres should be sent to organize and lead them, care about their lives and safety, and mobilize their enthusiasm. After the meeting, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping led the division's front command post to Mingshuitou, south of Guangyang, and set up a front liaison post at Ma'an Bridge, south of Shanglongquan.