Chapter 7 The Eighth Route Army Headquarters issued the "War Action Order"

Following the release of the "Battle Preparation Order" on July 22, on August 8, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and Zuo Quan issued the "Battle Action Order" to Nie Rongzhen, He Long, Guan Xiangying, Liu Bocheng, and Deng Xiaoping, and made the battle deployment: 1. About 10 main regiments of the Nie Group (that is, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region) destroyed the Zhengtai route from Pingding (not including Pingding County) east to Shijiazhuang, and the focus of destruction should be on the Niangziguan Pingding section.For the Beining Line, the Jinpu Line north of Dezhou, Deshi Road, Cangshi Road, and Cangbao Road, especially the Ping-Han Line from the north of Yuanshi to Lugouqiao, sufficient troops should be dispatched at the same time to sabotage the attack and prevent possible attacks on the Zhengtai Line. For the reinforcements of the enemy, some strongholds should be regained in time, and the enemy on both sides of the northwest should be monitored with appropriate forces. In addition, strong troops should be active in the north and south of Meng County, and some strongholds should be recovered in time.

2. The Liu Deng Group used eight regiments of the main force to attach one battalion of the artillery regiment of the headquarters, and smashed Zhengtai Road from Pingding (including) to Yuci.Destroy the key point, the Zhangjing Town section of Yangquan.For the Ping-Han line from the south of Yuanshi to Anyang, Deshi Road, Handa Road, the section from Yuci to Linfen, the section from Pingyao to Huguan on the Tongpu Line, Baijincheng, and Lintun Highway, sufficient troops should be dispatched at the same time to attack and block the enemy Reinforce Zhengtai Road, and the camera regained some strongholds.On the Liaoping Highway, powerful troops should be sent to take active actions, and take measures to recover some strongholds along the line.The main force of another regiment is located in the area between Lucheng and Xiangyuan.

3. The Heguan Group raided the Tongpu Line and the Fenli Highway north of Pingyao.To destroy the deployment of the Tongpu line, heavy troops should be placed in the north and south of Yangqu to prevent the enemy from reinforcing the Zhengtai line.The group originally planned to cooperate with a regiment in the south of Yangqu. The force is small and should be strengthened.If the Fenhe River is likely to trek in vain, the group from the south of Yangqu should cooperate with the combat troops, and should strive to advance to the north and south areas of Yuci with about two regiments of troops, directly join the Liu Deng group in combat, and put them under Liu Deng's direct command.For the enemy's strongholds and communication roads in the hinterland of Northwest Shanxi, troops should be dispatched to actively attack and recover some strongholds.

4. The main force of the headquarters special task force is concentrated in the Xialiang and Xiying areas. The "Campaign Action Order" also stipulates: "The above-mentioned groups and headquarters special agents are all directly commanded by the headquarters." At the same time, "combat is limited to August 20th." In the autumn of 1940, the Japanese North China Front Army had 9 divisions, 12 independent mixed brigades, 1 cavalry group, and a large number of puppet troops. It was the largest heavy-armed group on the battlefield in China.However, compared with the tasks it undertakes, the strength of the Japanese North China Front Army can hardly be called strong, especially in dealing with the Hebei and Shanxi Eighth Route Army. Seventeenth, these three divisions have been pinned down by the Wei Lihuang Department of the First Theater for a long time in southern Shanxi; the independent and mixed 16th Brigade stationed in Fenyang is mainly used to deal with the Yan Xishan Department of the Second Theater and the 90th Army of the Eighth Theater. The Li Wen Department of the Army; the cavalry group in Guisui and Baotou and the main force of the Puppet Mongolian Army must always be on guard against the attack of Fu Zuoyi's Department in the Eighth Theater, and cannot move; The Sulu theater, as well as the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, the Shandong Column and the Fourth Column, etc., the Japanese Twelfth Army in Shandong, the 35th Division in Eastern Henan, the Fourth Cavalry Brigade, and the Puppet Army Zhang Lanfeng and others could not be transferred.Therefore, the North China Japanese Army had only 2 divisions and 9 independent mixed brigades to defend against the main attack of the Eighth Route Army.In addition, during May and June of this year, Japan's China Expeditionary Force dispatched 6 infantry brigades and 1 mountain artillery brigade from the Ninth and Fourth Independent Mixed Brigades to participate in the Yichang operation organized by the Eleventh Army.The defense line of the Japanese army against our army can be described as full of loopholes. On such an important communication line as the Zhengtai Line, the eighth, ninth and fourth three incomplete independent mixed brigades (only more than 3,600 people) were placed into a word that could not be seen from the beginning to the end. The long snake array gave the Eighth Route Army an opportunity.

Standing in the rear of North China is the Japanese North China Front Army.The Zhengtai line is 230 kilometers long from Zhengding, Hebei to Taiyuan, Shanxi. It is an important strategic transportation line for the Japanese army in North China, and it is also an important blockade line that cuts off the two war zones of Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan and Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei.On this railway, there are important passes and coal bases such as Tianxian Niangziguan, Yangquan Coal Mine, and Jingxing Coal Mine. If this transportation line is destroyed, the Japanese army will have great difficulties in supplying war preparations.

According to the campaign deployment of the Eighth Route Army headquarters, the 129th Division held a military meeting in Shiguai Town.Prior to this, the troops designated by the division headquarters to participate in the assault on Zhengtai Road had secretly assembled at the designated location, and all preparations were roughly completed.At the combat meeting, Liu Bocheng conveyed the order of the headquarters, and proposed a campaign plan based on the analysis of the strength and deployment of the fourth brigade and regiment of the enemy's Katayama independent mixed group in the attack area.Then Deng Xiaoping also emphasized the great significance of implementing the orders of the headquarters and fighting the Zhengtai Road Breakthrough.He said: This job must be done well, resolutely smash the enemy's "cage policy" and economic blockade, consolidate and expand the anti-Japanese base areas, and temper and improve the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army.What is particularly important is that if this battle is successfully fought, it will not only be of great significance in promoting my country's war of resistance and improving the confidence of those with lofty ideals to persevere in the war of resistance, but will also have a major impact on the international anti-fascist struggle.

At the end of the meeting, a three-way battle plan was formulated to break the Zhengtai line from Pingding to Yuci: the left wing team consisted of the 16th regiment of the 386th brigade, the 25th regiment and the 37th regiment of the 1st column of death, and occupied Shouyang, Yuci and other cities. During the second period, each stronghold destroyed this section of the railway; the right-wing team, composed of the 28th and 30th regiments of the New Tenth Brigade, occupied the strongholds between Yangquan and Shouyang and destroyed this section of the railway; The regiment and the 772nd Regiment of the 386th Brigade formed the central column, marched into the Weichi Village and Tianhuachi area west of Pingding, and controlled Shinao Mountain in the southwest of Yangquan with a major force to contain the enemy of Yangquan and block the Pingliao Highway The enemy aided by the North ensures the smooth progress of the division's main operations.At the same time, in order to ensure the safety of the flanks, the 29th Regiment of the New 10th Brigade, the 13th Regiment of the 385th Brigade, and the local armed forces of Ping (Ding), Liao (county), and Yu (community) smashed the Ping-Liao and Yu-Liao highways, Cooperate with the central column to block the enemy on this line; in addition, 28 regiments and local troops are used to carry out extensive raids on the Baijin, Tongpu, and Pinghan lines respectively to support Zhengtai operations.

The Division Headquarters of the 120th Division received the "Campaign Operation Order" from the headquarters, and after research, made the following deployment: the 358th Brigade attacked the Tongpu Line and the Xin (County) Jing (Le) Highway north of Xin County, and coordinated The 715th Regiment of the Unique Brigade forced back the enemy strongholds in Lan County and Dongcun, and recovered Lan County, Zhaizi, and Puming; the Second Brigade attacked the Tongpu line between Ningwu and Shuo County; The road between the villages, and ensure the side and rear safety and rear traffic of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Brigade; the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade used two battalions to destroy the road from Yukou to Gedong and attack the enemies along the line, and one battalion went to Sanjiao to attack Sige Pagoda, The enemy of Shimenyan.The 2nd and 4th Columns, the Workers' Guards Brigade, and the Divisional Special Task Force attacked the Tai (former) Fen (Yang) Highway and the Fen (Yang) Li (Stone) Highway; the 717th Regiment of the 359th Brigade crossed the Yellow River eastward and attacked Between Lishi and Jundu.

Under the command of the commander and political commissar Nie Rongzhen, the troops of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region gathered eight infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, two cavalry battalions, three artillery companies, one engineering company, and five guerrilla detachments to form the central column, The left column, the right column, the containment force, and the general reserve team attacked the section from Zhengtai Road to Yangquan, the section from Lugouqiao to Yuanshi in Beiping on the Pinghan Railway, the section from Jinpu Railway to Dezhou, the section from Beining Railway to Shanhaiguan, and the section from Cang (zhou) Shi (Jiazhuang) ) Highway etc.

In mid-August, Peng Dehuai and Zuo Quan inspected the pre-war preparations of each unit one by one; Luo Ruiqing, director of the Field Political Department, and Lu Dingyi, deputy director, also inspected the implementation of the political guarantee plan for the campaign.Everything is basically carried out according to the deployment of the headquarters, and the enemy situation has not changed much.Therefore, on August 17, the headquarters issued a telegram issued by Zuo Quan: All participating troops "will start attacking at 20:00 on August 20."The commanders and fighters of the Eighth Route Army who had secretly entered the vicinity of the main lines of communication in North China were holding their steel guns tightly, holding their breath, and were waiting for the time for a unified attack!