Chapter 11: Anti-Japanese War, Fenglingdu
The construction of the Fenglingdu defensive position began in the second month after the Japanese invasion of Shanxi. A total of six engineering corps, 110,000 recruited laborers, and more than 17 million yuan in construction funds were invested. It took one year and two months to complete the initial construction.
The entire defensive system starts from the villages of Xizhang, Xiejia and Houpo at the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain in the north, and ends at Yatou, Yaotou, Jiankou and Xiaoli in the west. It is adjacent to the surging Yellow River on the southeast and the entire area. It covers an area of 9 square kilometers, involves 27 villages, and has relocated more than 8,000 people. It is the third large-scale fortress belt built in the northwest after the two major fortress belts of Tongguan and Mengxin, and before the eastern Sichuan fortress area.
The Fenglingdu defensive position was organizationally affiliated to the Tongguan Fortress District, with a commander at the rank of major general. It had ten core fortress areas that were said to be able to withstand direct hits from 280mm siege guns, as well as twenty-two battalion- and company-level circular support areas, one hundred and twenty-one squad- and platoon-level outposts, and four main trenches.
There were six anti-tank trenches and twenty-five communication trenches connecting the entire position, more than forty minefields, and countless other large and small bunkers and hidden bunkers.
In addition to the dense fortifications, the firepower deployed in the Fenglingdu area is also very powerful.
Among them, in addition to the support of several 155mm howitzer groups on the other side, as well as tank-mounted super-heavy artillery with larger caliber and longer range, the defense zone itself has seven company-level 105th field artillery groups (28 guns), ten 75mm mountain artillery companies (60 guns), eight 150mm heavy mortar companies (32 guns) and eleven 37mm anti-tank gun companies (66 guns), not to mention the artillery strength of the stationed troops themselves.
As for the air defense forces of the defensive positions, in addition to the 88mm Krupp anti-aircraft guns equipped like the south bank, 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns (24 guns), 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns (36 guns) and 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns (72 guns) are also fully equipped.
However, the Fenglingdu defensive position was not without weaknesses. Its connection with the Tongguan fortress area could only be maintained by the Fenglingdu railway bridge and a small number of motor-paddle steamers. Once the railway bridge, which served as the main means of communication, was destroyed by the Japanese army , the Northwest Army deployed north of the bridge would inevitably be trapped in the difficult situation of being cut off from transportation to the south bank, unable to obtain supplies, and fighting alone.
In addition to the problem of transportation and supply lines, there are also problems with the defenders themselves. The 249th Division of the Northwest Army deployed on the Fenglingdu front line is a newly formed division composed of a small number of veterans returning from injury and a large number of new recruits. It has not been long since it started to work together and has not had enough training. The Northwest top leaders cannot predict how much combat power and resilience it can exert in wartime.
Fortunately, Lieutenant General Li Shimao and Li Quansun, who were transferred from the Deputy Director of the Personnel Bureau of the Military and Political Department to be the commander of the division, were both graduates of the 5th Artillery Department of the Army Academy and were quite familiar with Japanese army tactics. Colonel Gong Bingfan and Gong Pingxuan, who served as the chief of staff of the division, were both top students of the second term of the Northwest Army School and the second term of the Army School Staff College. They were able to coordinate smoothly with friendly forces, especially the various departments under the headquarters of the Deputy Commander of Zhongtiao Mountain.
"Tell Maeno-kun that the enemy he is facing is only at the level of a squadron or below. If he cannot capture Xiaojiazhuang before 3 pm, he should be loyal to the emperor."
Although in the Japanese field troops, most of the staff officers at the division level could gain control of the local battlefield, to stop advancing without firing a shot was a shameful scandal for the extremely vain Japanese. Therefore, Colonel Suzuki Toshiyuki, Chief of Staff of the 108th Division, and Colonel Kuramo Shuzo, Chief of Staff of the 109th Division, decided to send a vanguard consisting of several squadrons to clear the Northwestern Army's outposts first.
"Mortar!"
Lieutenant Nobuo Maeno, the captain of the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Battalion, 132nd Regiment, had a fierce look in his eyes when he received the order from Captain Hatakeyama. He then commanded the mortar unit assigned to the 2nd Squadron to bombard the small village at the foot of the mountain with the most intense artillery fire. When the smoke began to cover the entire vision, he drew his long sword.
"Machine gun squad, cover, first squad, attack!"
The Japanese bent over and moved firmly towards the fortifications guarding the railway line, but the first thing they faced was not a counterattack from the defenders, but mines that were not detonated by the artillery shells.
"asshole!"
Looking through the four-fold telescope at the wailing of Japanese soldiers whose bodies were torn apart by the shock wave caused by the landmines, Maeno Nobuo couldn't help but curse.
"Mark it down, and order the second squad to make a detour from the side."
But what Maeno didn't know was that more than 200,000 mines had been randomly buried in the narrow alluvial belt of the Yellow River from Puzhou Town in the south to Shouyang Station on the extension of Tongpu Road in the northwest. This made it almost impossible for the Japanese army to adopt their usual outflanking tactics, and they could only attack section by section along the railway line.
"boom!"
There was another sound of a mine. This time the unlucky ones were the Second Squad, which had just made a detour. The fragments of the explosion instantly knocked down two Japanese soldiers, and another fainted holding his severed calf.
At this time, the first squad had already reached the fortifications at the entrance of the village. Before the Japanese squad leader could think that the defenders had escaped, the sudden sound of machine gun fire instantly pinned the invaders to the ground.
Because the Northwest Army had completely cleared away the cover, and even because the Japanese artillery fire was too accurate and did not create any craters to hide in on the front line, this Japanese squad had to lie prone and suffer under the dense gunfire.
“Boom! Boom!”
This was a grenade launched by the defenders using a grenade launcher. Although its 45mm projectile could not hold too much explosives and fragments, it still caused great suffering to the Japanese vanguards who could only occasionally fire back a few shots.
"Puff puff!"
600 yards away, the advancing Japanese heavy machine guns began to spread the poisonous flames of death. The defenders' shooting was suppressed all of a sudden. From time to time, soldiers were knocked to the ground by flying bullets. The once favorable situation began to reverse. What made the defenders feel even worse was that, with the cover of the heavy machine guns, the Japanese soldiers lying on the ground also began to shoot at the defenders.
"Platoon sergeant, four of our brothers have already died, and two are seriously injured. What should we do next?"
"Deputy platoon leader, the Japanese are coming over to the west soon!"
The bad news tested the commander's ability one after another. However, the new second lieutenant who was promoted from a company sergeant with the rank of third-class sergeant major was not a rookie who had just graduated from school and had no battlefield experience. He was a veteran who had been through several wars, and he naturally knew how to advance and retreat: "Those who can still move, throw grenades for me. After throwing grenades, take the injured brothers with you, and let's retreat. Oh, don't forget to leave something for the devils."
"asshole!"
Although the Maeno Squadron captured Xiaojiazhuang on time, the result of thirteen deaths and ten serious injuries was enough to cause Maeno Nobuo to receive a severe reprimand.
"A small village like Xiaojiazhuang actually lost half of its squad. If the battle continues like this, before you even see Fenglingdu, your entire army will be wiped out."
"Sir, the casualties mainly come from the Chinese army's minefields."
Maeno argued cunningly, but before he could finish, a familiar roar approached from a distance. He was stunned, and suddenly pushed down the lieutenant colonel in front of him with a stern face, and then pressed his body on him.
Maeno had just finished his move when two monkey-faced hawks appeared from nowhere and nimbly flew over the fleeing Japanese troops. The crackling machine gun bullets swept a tragic bloody trail, then turned their heads and disappeared under the dazzling sunset.
"Sir, are you all right?"
Maeno waited until the noise in the sky completely disappeared before he stood up, and then he hurriedly helped the lieutenant colonel who was almost suffocating.
"I'm fine."
Hatakeyama Sao, who came from a samurai family, glanced at the scarred scene around him and patted Maeno's shoulder with lingering fear.
"Maeno-kun, this time it's all thanks to you. You did a great job. Take your squadron to the rear to rest for the time being. We will have another opportunity to use your strength next time."
Maeno Nobuo had not expected such a turn of events, and he immediately retreated with his men full of anticipation, but Hatakeyama looked at the casualty figures in his hand with a gloomy face.
"Signal officer, send a message to the division commander, requesting clear guidance on air defense issues."
The Japanese army suffered heavy losses in the initial trial process. Due to the geographical advantage occupied by the Northwest Army and the situation of robbing Peter to pay Paul that the Japanese army had long been in, the commander of the First Army, Lieutenant General Umezu Michiro, had to make the decision to temporarily stop the capture of Fenglingdu and instead give priority to stabilizing the existing occupied areas.
However, Umezu Michijiro, who had once forced He Yingqin to sign the He-Umezu Agreement, was not willing to fail to achieve full success in Shanxi, so he began to plan a bigger game again.
On March 20, the 21st Division of the Japanese Army was ordered to march eastward to Hebei and return to the 12th Army.
On the same day, the 20th Division was ordered to move north and stationed in Lingqiu, Fanzhi, Daixian and Gangxian in the Hutuo River Valley in southern Yan to reorganize and eliminate the Third Cavalry Army of Zhao Chengshou of the Jin Army that was active in the Wutai Mountain and Hengshan Mountain lines.
On March 22, the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade began to move into the Zhengtai Road. Lieutenant General Sasaki was ordered to organize the local puppet regime, incorporate the puppet army, maintain public order, and carry out a large-scale mopping-up operation against the Jindong Anti-Japanese Corps behind enemy lines and Li Guiqing's 144th Division that were active on both sides of the Zhengtai Road from Jingxing to Taiyuan.
On March 23, the 108th Division was ordered to return to Jinzhong for rest and reorganization; the 4th Independent Mixed Brigade subsequently moved into Jiexiu, Lingshi, Huozhou, and Hongdong to maintain the security of the Tongpu Railway; the 109th Division moved north to the Linfen Basin to ensure control of this important grain-producing area, and was ordered to continue attacking the remaining armed forces of the Jin Army on both sides of the basin.
On March 24, the vanguard of the 14th Division, which set out from Taiyuan, arrived in Yuncheng and immediately took over from the 108th and 109th Divisions. On the same day, the 37th Division entered Changzhi from Shexian County and took over the defense of the southeastern Shanxi region.
The Japanese side was making frequent moves, and the Chinese side was not idle either.
Liu Shirong's Fourth Reserve Army, which had already entered southeastern Shanxi, took advantage of the Japanese army's state of confusion to launch the Lingchuan Campaign, annihilating two and a half squadrons of the defenders in one fell swoop and recovering Lingchuan County.
The 50th Army under Yang Tongqu also recovered Jiang County for a time.
As for the counties that had been briefly occupied by the Japanese army, such as Fangshan, Linxian, Xingxian, Loufan, Lanxian, Kelan, Jingle, Baode, and Wuzhai, they all rebelled when they heard that Fu Zuoyi's troops were heading north. For a time, a confrontation situation was formed with the Japanese army occupying the plains and the Chinese army occupying the mountainous areas.
