Chapter 129 3. Commander Lu Zhengcao "unshakable"

Neji Okamura's small-scale feint did not confuse the leaders of the Jizhong Military Region.Lu Zhengcao, Shaq and others quickly made deployments to smash the enemy's "iron wall encirclement" based on the information sent by the spies. In order to prepare for the upcoming more brutal anti-"sweeping" operations, Lv Zhengcao, commander of the Eighth Route Army's Jizhong Military Region, and Huang Jing, Secretary of the Party Committee of the CPC Jizhong Region, called a meeting of the military region's responsible cadres Sha Ke, Zhuo Xiong, Zhang Xuesi, etc. The battle plan is as follows: the main force breaks through the enemy's combined attack circle, shifts from the inside line to the outside line, goes to the mountainous area, goes to the enemy's rear, and switches defenses with the enemy.The regional troops stayed behind to follow the enemy, tried to disperse and conceal, and attacked the enemy with cameras.At the same time, a large number of personnel in the leading organs of the party, government and army were reduced, and they were dispersed to fight against "sweeping up" together with the masses.In order to protect the leadership, the 7th Army Division was ordered to transfer the 17th Regiment, which is good at holding its positions, to the military area. Under the command of Lu Zhengcao, the chief and deputy chiefs of staff Shake, and Zhang Xuesi, they covered the military area, and the district party committee and administrative office personnel were safely transferred to escape the encirclement of the enemy.

On May 1, 15,000 Japanese troops, including the 110th Division, the 27th Division, and the 15th Independent Mixed Brigade, together with 10,000 puppet troops of various colors, totaling a huge force of 25,000 people, launched a separate route to the Central Hebei region. attack. Lu Zhengcao, commander of the Central Hebei Military Region, and Cheng Zihua, a political commissar, immediately made careful arrangements for the anti-"sweeping" deployment after learning the news: Ma Benzhai led the Muslim detachment and moved to the Hebei-Shandong-Henan border area; Transfer to Shahe; 8th division to Jiaohe; 9th division to Baiyangdian; 10th division to Daqinghe; the military region remained in Zhangbao Village, Raoyang County to deal with the enemy.At the mobilization meeting, Lu Zhengcao said humorously: "I heard that 100,000 devil soldiers will 'sweep' the Jizhong area. The enemy will carry out a blitzkrieg against us, and we will carry out a 'feet blitz' against the enemy..."

After the divisions began to take action, Lu Zhengcao still stood firm in Zhangbao Village. On May 1, the Jizhong District Party Committee and the Jizhong Federation of Trade Unions held a commemorative International Labor Day meeting for directly affiliated government officials in the jujube forest near the village. At the meeting, Huang Jing, secretary of the district party committee, analyzed the situation at that time to the cadres, and called on the cadres of the government agencies to disperse among the masses, mobilize the masses to fortify the wall and clear the country, and persist in the struggle.Then, he asked Lu Zhengcao to speak.Lu Zhengcao walked up to the rostrum with a smile and was about to speak when suddenly there were several crisp gunshots. This was an air defense siren.After a while, the roar of the plane sounded over Zhangbao Village.

Huang Jing immediately said to Lu Zhengcao in a low voice: "Commander Lu, the enemy plane is coming, let's take shelter in the tunnel, shall we?" Lu Zhengcao looked up at the 5 enemy planes circling and said: "It's okay, this is the enemy's reconnaissance plane." Then, he smiled and said to everyone: "Comrades, don't panic! Neiji Okamura came to visit you by plane. Everyone sit upright and give him a good impression." Lu Zhengcao's humor made everyone laugh, and they looked up at the five planes together, as if they were watching an aerial show. Ten minutes later, the enemy plane raised its head and flew away.

During dinner, the scout came panting and reported to Lu Zhengcao: "The enemy in the west has passed Anguo, Wuren Bridge, Shenze, and Shulu; the enemy in the south has reached Xinji, Motou, and Hengshui; the enemy in the east has passed the Pingda Highway. Going south, we have reached Hejian, Xianxian, Xiaofan, and Wuyi; in the north, the enemy has also reached the line of Suning, Boye, Lixian, and Anguo." Huang Jing, who was standing by the side, heard that there was an enemy situation, and said to Lu Zhengcao: "The enemy situation is so serious, the scheduled evening performance should be cancelled?"

Lu Zhengcao said without hesitation: "Thunder can never be broken." "This..." Huang Jing wanted to say a few more words, but seeing Lu Zhengcao's resolute attitude, he nodded and turned to leave. That night, the Art Troupe of the Jizhong Military Region performed a drama in Zhangbao Village.Dozens of gas lamps illuminate the surrounding area for several miles.The show went on until midnight. After the performance, Lu Zhengcao immediately led more than 1,000 people from the agency and the directly affiliated team, and marched westward for about 15 kilometers. After arriving at Zou Village, Raoyang, he ordered to march lightly.Everyone threw away the cotton clothes and things that were not in use for the time being, and continued westward, then turned southeast, and headed towards the Taihang District.

Neiji Okamura's "mopping up" in the central area of ​​the anti-Japanese base area in central Hebei failed to receive the expected results. On May 4, he went to Shijiazhuang to set up a combat headquarters, commanded at the front line, and transferred the 41st Shimizu Division from Shanxi.Kumayoshi Harada, commander of the 27th Division of the Japanese Army stationed in Beining and the northern section of Jinpu, judged that the main force of the 3rd column was concentrated in the Ziya River, Renqiu, and Hejian areas. Nan Zhangwang captured the troops in Central Hebei. However, Okamura believes that the Eighth Route Army has been operating in the triangular area of ​​Anping, Shenxian, and Raoyang along the Shahe River and Mudaogou River for many years. Traffic trenches and tunnel buildings are very common. Will give up easily, so still insist on implementing the original combat plan.In addition to ordering Harada to send additional troops to assist Captain Xiaochuan to guard the Hutuo River and the crossings of the Fuyang River north of Xiaofan Town, he also transferred the 13th Regiment of the Yamazaki Takeda Cavalry to quickly gather at Shulu, and began operations in the early morning of the 8th to control the Xiaofan Town, Hengshui to Fuyang River Line: Order the 41st Division of Qingshui to transfer to Handan via Shijiazhuang, set up a combat command post in Shen County, and use Deshi Road to deploy troops in Shulu and Hengshui on the night of the 10th.

In order to unify the command of the operation, Okamura assigned the Japanese troops of Shirataki, Ikegami, Sakamoto, Ogawa, and Yamazaki who participated in this offensive operation to the commander of the Shimizu Division for unified command.In order to prevent the Jizhong troops from breaking through, Okamura once again ordered the 110th Division of Iizhao stationed around Jizhong, the 27th Division of Harada Kumayoshi, and the 15th Independent Mixed Brigade of Tanaka to closely monitor the railway lines such as Pinghan, Jinpu and Beining. blockade.Okamura believes that it will be difficult for the Jizhong troops to break out of his encirclement.

At dawn on May 11, Neiji Okamura personally commanded more than 30,000 Japanese troops from Shimizu, Shirataki, Ikegami, and Yamazaki in the air, and dispatched along Deshi Road with the tactic of "fishing with a net" to attack Hebei. In the 6, 7, and 8 divisions, kill them.The commander of the 41st Division, Okumura Banji, led 6 infantry brigades to continuously attack the Eighth Route Army in the southeast of Shenxian County, southwest of Anping, and areas east of Shenxian County and Anping. Chi Shangxianji also led his independent mixed 9th brigade to dispatch to cooperate with the operation. On the 12th and 13th, the two ministries "mopped up" the northeast area of ​​Wuqiangtong Anping Avenue. On the 14th and 15th, Qingshui again divided the areas of Aocun and Chishang, and repeatedly "mopped up" the northeast of Shen County and the Anping area respectively.At the same time, the Ogawa and Yamazaki Japanese troops pursued and searched the Eighth Route Army that had moved to the north bank of the Hutuo River, and ended the second phase of operations stipulated by Okamura on the 15th.