Chapter 10: Anti-Japanese War, Shanxi
“Dang! Dang! Dang!”
The time bell echoed in the small room, the hour hand had pointed to midnight, and the last day of the lunar year of Wuyin (Tiger) had passed. Before the war, this would have been a time for families to reunite, light candles and set off firecrackers to celebrate the New Year. However, now, the atmosphere inside and outside the house could be described with negative words such as heavy, depressing, and desperate.
"President, it's time to make a decision."
Liang Dunhou, general secretary of the Comrades Association for Self-Strengthening and National Salvation, general secretary of the League for Sacrifice for the Nation, and Yan Xishan's cousin, saw that Zhou Dai, Zhang Yinwu, Zhao Daiwen, Kong Fanxuan, Zhu Shouguang and other Yan's civil and military officials were silent, so he gritted his teeth and made cautious suggestions.
"Yes, President, time waits for no one!"
Jia Jingde, who was known as Yan Xishan's permanent secretary-general, also took over the conversation and tried to persuade him.
"Now that Hongdong has fallen, the Japanese army can now charge directly to Linfen City. The four supplementary regiments in Brother Xingru's hands may not be able to stop the Japanese army."
Yan Xishan waved his hand, and Jia Jingde stopped talking immediately. Yan Xishan quickly walked to the large map and stood still. He looked at it for a long time before asking, "Lan Sun , how long can Yicheng and Jiang County hold out?"
"The enemy facing Jiangxian County is no more than three and a half Japanese infantry battalions. Although the 50th Army cannot fight back, it will have no problem holding on. Yang Tongqu once assured me of this in person."
Zhu Shouguang, deputy chief of staff of the theater, answered in a hoarse voice.
"In Yicheng, the Japanese army has just transferred 10 infantry squadrons and a field artillery battalion from Qinshui. Brother Jieshan (Chen Changjie) is in a very difficult situation, but Brother Jieshan said that he will never let the president down. Even if the 61st Army is wiped out, the 20th Division will be blocked west of Erfeng Mountain."
"The 221st Division still refuses to go north?"
Yan Xishan rubbed his fingers on the map for a while, and then tapped heavily on the location of Yuncheng.
"Send another telegram to Lanzhou, asking Commander-in-Chief Dai to pressure Li Debiao to send troops north to Linfen!"
"President, Northwest is now considering whether to blow up the Fenglingdu railway bridge."
Zhou Dai smiled bitterly. Everyone would flee when disaster strikes. The war in southern Shanxi was so bad, how could the Northwest continue to bet on such a bottomless pit?
"What's more, it is said that the 221st Division has already begun to move to Zhongtiao Mountain. How can we expect Li Guo to send troops north at this time?"
Yan Xishan shook his head hesitantly: "If the Northwest wanted to blow up the Fenglingdu Bridge, they would not have built so many fortifications on the north side of the bridge, and they would not have left a whole division in Zhongtiao Mountain. But Ziliang is right, it is better to rely on yourself than on others. Lansun, have all the troops in Jiexiu and Lingshi been withdrawn?"
"We have arranged to move to the mountains on both sides of Tongpu Road."
Zhu Shouguang responded.
"However, the Japanese 108th Division on the Jiexiu front is attacking very quickly, and the battle line is in a tense state. Brother Cui Ya may not be able to bring the troops down intact."
"Tell Sun Chu that if necessary, at all costs, even if it means cutting off one's own arm, you must withdraw the 33rd and 34th Armies."
At this point, Yan Xishan had no choice but to make a decision.
"Order Fu Yisheng to lead the 35th Army and the 19th Army to move to Fangshan, Lanxian, and Wuzhai to lead the anti-Japanese war in northwest Shanxi. Also order Yang Xingru and Guo Zaiyang (Guo Zongfen) to hold the Japanese army for seven days under the city walls of Linfen and Xiangfen; all units north of Houma should immediately move to Xiangning and Jixian; order Liang Chunpu to lead the Reserve Third Army to enter Zhongtiao Mountain to join the Northwest Army."
Although Yan Xishan's arrangements were well-planned, the defeat was disastrous. With only 4,000 men under Yang Aiyuen and the incomplete Reserve Second Army of less than 10,000 men under Guo Zongfen, they were simply unable to face the aggressive main force of the Japanese army.
On February 20, 1939, Linfen fell, and on the 23rd, Xiangfen also fell into the clutches of the Japanese army.
With the rear route lost, Liangdu Town, a key point on the Tongpu Road south of Jiexiu, was abandoned on February 24. Except for the 3,500 front-line defenders who all died in the country, the remaining troops of the 33rd and 34th Armies fled into the rolling mountainous areas on both sides in disarray.
On February 26, the Japanese vanguard approached Quwo, and more than 10,000 remnants of Chen Changjie's troops were forced to move to Fushan. After that, they traveled all the way and after untold hardships, they crossed the Qin River and temporarily settled in the mountainous area west of Changzi and Gaoping.
On February 28, the 20th and 21st Divisions of the Japanese Army joined forces in Quwo. At the same time, the southward detachments of the 108th and 109th Divisions on the northern line also entered Linfen. By then, the Japanese Army had concentrated a total of about 50,000 troops on the southwestern plain of Shanxi, including 29 infantry battalions and 16 cavalry, logistics, engineering, artillery, and machine gun battalions. Relying on its powerful military strength and firepower, the Japanese Army completely overwhelmed the various units of the Shanxi Army, which had already been in disarray.
On March 2, the Japanese army entered Houma without bloodshed. Two days later, Xinjiang, Jiangxian and Jishan fell one after another, and Yang Tongqu's 50th Army was forced to move to the Yuanqu line.
On March 8, Wenxi, Wanrong and Hejin also fell into the hands of the Japanese army. At this point, except for a few counties such as Yuncheng, Yongji, Pinglu and Ruicheng, Shanxi was completely occupied.
As the saying goes, strong winds reveal strong grass, and turbulent times reveal loyal ministers. In this series of collapses, some people vowed to never surrender and persisted in the war of resistance, while others were pessimistic and desperate and surrendered to the Japanese in a servile manner.
On March 5, Cai Xiongfei, deputy commander of the 134th Division of the 19th Army, who followed Fu Zuoyi northward, led 2,800 people from two regiments of his troops to surrender to the 109th Division of the Japanese Army in Fenyang. He was immediately appointed commander-in-chief of the East Asian Imperial Army. His two regiments were reorganized into two columns, and he became a shameful traitor from then on.
Faced with the sudden deterioration of the situation in Shanxi, Dai Jiliang personally instructed Li Guo's deputy commander-in-chief to stop withdrawing from Shanxi and unify the command of the 221st Division, the 50th Army, the 3rd Reserve Army remaining in Zhongtiao Mountain and Wangwu Mountain, as well as the 64th Division of Wu Tinglin of the 15th Army of Liu Maoen and the 8th Reserve Division of Sun Fucheng of the 38th Army that were urgently transferred to Shanxi.
At the same time, Liu Shirong's 140th Division under Pang Bingxun's 14th Corps was ordered to be expanded into the Reserve Fourth Army, and was immediately sent to Pingshun and other places to carry out a counterattack.
The Jindong Anti-Japanese Corps behind enemy lines, which was under the command of the Hebei Provincial Government, was also ordered to launch frequent attacks along the Zhengtai Road, intercepting several Japanese trucks and killing and wounding about 100 Japanese soldiers.
On March 11, the Japanese army entered Yuncheng and Xia County. The Northwest Air Force immediately mobilized five bomber squadrons, totaling more than 30 Iron Eagle (imitated JU-87 Stuka) dive bombers, Condor light horizontal bombers, and Monkey Eagle reconnaissance/light bombers, in accordance with the plan, to carry out continuous bombing on the Yuncheng front line. The 221st Division on Zhongtiao Mountain and the New 34th Division of the 50th Army also each launched a counterattack against Xia County with part of their forces, annihilating one and a half squadrons of the Japanese vanguard and forcing the Japanese army to stop north of Jie Chi.
However, due to the limited financial resources of the Northwest, priority could only be given to the development of defensive fighters over offensive bombers, so the so-called carpet bombing effect could not be achieved, and the Japanese offensive could not be defeated by the Air Force alone.
On March 15, the Japanese Army's Taniguchi Detachment finally occupied the deserted Yongji County despite the bombing.
"Nishimura-kun, the Chinese army didn't even blow up the Fenglingdu Bridge. Do you think they are stupid or confident?"
"Nan-kun, I think it should be full of confidence."
Lieutenant Colonel Yaku Nishimura, the intelligence staff officer of the 108th Division, sighed as he pointed at the front-line photos taken by the 97th Reconnaissance Division of the Japanese Army.
"The Zhongtiao Mountains are an insurmountable natural obstacle for the Imperial Army, and the riverbank plains along the Yellow River are too narrow and long to facilitate large-scale troop movements by the Imperial Army. In addition, the dense permanent fortifications built by the Northwest Chinese Army on both sides of the river make the Chinese feel that they can secure this bridgehead connecting with Shanxi."
"Nishimura-kun is right."
Lieutenant Colonel Goro Minami, the intelligence staff officer of the 109th Division who had spoken earlier, actually felt the same way.
"In order to destroy the Chinese army's bridgehead and seize the bridge so that the Imperial Army can advance south, we must first wipe out the remnants of the Chinese army in Zhongtiao Mountain. And in order to cut off the foreign aid of the remnants of the Chinese army in Zhongtiao Mountain, we must first destroy the bridgehead along the Fenglingdu line. The Chinese army has already made plans. It is what the Chinese often say, so-called supporting each other. It is not easy for the Imperial Army to break this situation!"
Before Nan Goro finished his words, he suddenly saw two ugly fighter planes flying in the distance. Although they were still far away, he could clearly see that the fuselages were not painted with the Nissho Maru pattern.
"Damn it, it's another Chinese Army's emergency landing bomber."
As if to prove his words, a deafening roar suddenly rang out, and soon two huge columns of smoke shot straight into the sky, making the already bleak sunset even more bloody.
"Damn it! What are our air forces doing? Why are we just letting the Chinese fighter planes show off their might over the Imperial Army?"
"Nanjun, don't get excited!"
Having said that, Nishimura-kun's brows were also furrowed.
"These past few days, as soon as our fighter planes arrived, the Chinese planes disappeared, and as soon as our fighter planes flew away, the Chinese bombers suddenly appeared. It was as if an invisible eye was staring at us. Could it be that the Chinese army had some new weapons?"
In fact, Nishimura Yaku had already guessed the key to the problem. With the completion and operation of the first batch of radar stations in the Northwest, the Northwest Air Force could avoid the Japanese Air Force, which had been fully equipped with the latest Nakajima Ki-27 fighter aircraft, and implement air guerrilla tactics of avoiding the real and attacking the fake, hit and run, thereby achieving the goal of saving manpower and defeating the strong with the weak.
"Are you over-worrying, Nishimura-kun?"
Although Minami Goro also acknowledged that the Northwest was a major enemy of Japan, he did not think that the Northwest's technology had surpassed that of the Japanese army in all aspects.
"I think the key is Zhongtiao Mountain. The Chinese army must have set up an air defense observation post on the mountain, so they can observe the movements of the Imperial Army's aircraft."
"That's the only explanation."
Nishimura slammed his fist hard on the ground where he was sitting.
"I don't know what the Army Central Committee is up to. For so many years, the spy work in the northwest has been delayed. The Imperial Army has paid too much for this. Those traitors who are in charge of intelligence work should all commit seppuku to thank the Emperor!"
Nan Goro was silent for a while before responding to Nishimura's anger: "It's too late to say anything now. The key issue now is how to seize Fenglingdu."
"Seize Fenglingdu?"
Nishimura laughed.
"How many lives of the imperial army will be needed to fill the gap? Probably another Lushun."
The disrespectful words made Nan Goro frown.
"In fact, in my opinion, we should just bomb the Fenglingdu Bridge and cut off the retreat of the Hebei Chinese Army."
"That won't work. The officers are still hoping to seize the bridge intact and then go south to cut off the Longhai Road."
“This is a trap.”
Nishimura roared, but before he could finish his words, a rumbling sound suddenly appeared in the air, as if a train was rushing towards him.
"What's that sound? No, ah! Artillery fire!"
It was too late to say anything. A huge 210mm heavy artillery shell suddenly exploded not far away. The shock wave caused the ground to roll, and several Japanese soldiers who had no time to hide fell to the ground.
"This is the super-heavy artillery of the Northwest Army of China that appeared in Anyang!"
Fortunately, this shooting was more of a show of force than a test, so the Japanese army, which had been waiting for a second shell, was able to carefully clean up the chaos.
"Nan Jun, seeing this, do you still think it's easy to take over Fengling Ferry?"
