Chapter 41 "Altan Khan."
In order to support the Lanfeng Campaign, some members of the First Department of the General Staff of the Supreme Command of the Northwest National Defense Army in Gaolan secretly drafted a combat plan at the end of August for the Jin-Cha War Zone to launch a counterattack in Shanxi and the Sixth Army to launch a counterattack in Chahar and Suiyuan respectively.
Before the plan was reported to Zhang Zili, the European war broke out.
Later, Dai Jiliang made the decision to preserve his strength and shift his troops to western Henan and western Hubei, so the above plan was aborted.
However, after the Kaifeng crisis broke out, in order to mobilize Japanese troops and prepare for the second phase of the counterattack, the Northwest General Staff Operations Department picked up the counterattack plan again.
On October 2, after observing the map simulation conducted by the General Staff Office of the Sixth Army Headquarters, Dai Jiliang finally decided to launch a combat plan code-named "Altan Khan" within the month.
On October 7, the 1st Cavalry Division of the Yanbei District Command of the Shanxi-Chahar War Zone and the 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments of the 9th Reserve Division of the 61st Army were ordered to attack Hunyuan.
After losing contact with more than a dozen small strongholds outside the city, the 1st Independent Infantry Battalion of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army guarding Hunyuan was forced to withdraw its troops and defend the county seat of Hunyuan. At the same time, it sent an urgent telegram to request reinforcements from the Mongolian Army Headquarters and the 2nd Independent Brigade.
After the alarm was uploaded, the Japanese army responded quickly.
The Second Independent Mixed Brigade stationed in Ying County immediately dispatched more than 300 Japanese troops and 500 puppet troops to form the Changtian Mixed Battalion, which headed towards Hunyuan along the Hunying Highway.
At the same time, Major General Kanji Tsuneoka, commander of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, also ordered the 4th Independent Infantry Battalion of the Japanese Army stationed in Guangling to send reinforcements to Hunyuan at the same time.
However, the Japanese troops coming to support from the two places were blocked halfway by the 3rd Regiment of the 9th Reserve Division and the Independent Battalion of the 1st Cavalry Division respectively.
Seeing that the Japanese army's requests for help from Hunyuan were becoming more and more urgent, Major General Kanji Tsuneoka reluctantly dispatched another 150 Japanese troops as the second batch of reinforcements.
But the reinforcements had already set off, and Major General Tsuneoka could no longer sit still.
He knew that if he added fuel bit by bit, not only would it not be able to save Hunyuan from crisis, but he might even have to sacrifice reinforcements.
But at this moment, the control area of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade includes a vast area of six counties, namely Weixian, Guangling, Hunyuan, Yingxian , Shanyin, Huairen, and Shuoxian. The five independent infantry battalions owned by the brigade are already stretched to the limit. If garrison forces are drawn from various places, it would be tantamount to cutting flesh to heal a wound.
As a last resort, Major General Tsuneoka had to ask for help from the Mongolian Army Headquarters in Zhangjiakou and the 26th Division in Datong.
After receiving a call from Tsuneoka Kanji, Major General Tanaka Shinichi, Chief of Staff of the Mongolian Army, looked at the map for a few seconds. Having a bad feeling, he immediately denied the request to mobilize the main force of the 26th Division and decided to mobilize the 25th Cavalry Regiment of the 4th Cavalry Brigade to move south.
Chang Gang, who had no objection to whether to send cavalry or infantry for support, naturally would not disagree with the decision of the army chief of staff, so the matter was settled.
However, while the 25th Cavalry Regiment, which was urgently dispatched from Zhangyuan, was still dozing off on the shaking train, the Japanese troops in Shuo County to the west were attacked by the Second Reserve Army of the Shanxi Army.
Since a cavalry regiment has only 950 people, even if the 25th Cavalry Regiment arrived, it would not be possible to split it into two and send them to the eastern and western battlefields respectively. Major General Tsuneoka had no choice but to continue calling for reinforcements from Zhangjiakou.
However, Major General Tanaka's idea of continuing to mobilize the 4th Cavalry Brigade was strongly opposed by the brigade commander, Major General Yoshizo Kojima.
Major General Kojima believed that after the 1st Cavalry Brigade was temporarily under the direct command of the front army, the 4th Cavalry Brigade was the only rapid reaction force of the Mongolian army. When the movements of the Northwest Army were still unclear, transferring this powerful reserve force to attack the guerrilla forces of the Shanxi Army was not only a waste but also a crime.
Major General Kojima spoke in a harsh tone, but Shinichi Tanaka had no way to get angry. After all, the other party was right. The losses suffered by the 26th Division in the Guisui Campaign had not yet been fully recovered. At this time, the only army stationed in Mongolia could rely on was the 4th Cavalry Brigade.
Therefore, Major General Tanaka, who was flexible and adaptable, finally gave up the idea of withdrawing the 26th Cavalry Regiment, and instead formed the Musashi Detachment with the 1st Battalion (minus the 3rd Squadron) of the 11th Independent Infantry Regiment under the 26th Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Squadron of the 1st Battalion of the 12th Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment, and marched to the southern front.
On October 10, just as the Musashi Detachment broke through the resistance of a regiment of the 12th Reserve Division of the Jin Army and was approaching the suburbs of Shuo County, the 1st Regiment of the 225th Division of the Northwest National Defense Army advanced eastward from Qingshui River, crossed the undulating terrain, and unexpectedly arrived at the city of Youyu. In one fell swoop, it surrounded the headquarters of the 13th Independent Infantry Regiment of the 26th Division, its 3rd Battalion, the 1st Squadron of the Regiment Artillery Company, and the 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 26th Regiment of Light and Heavy Infantry stationed in the city.
The attack by the main force of the Northwest Army shocked the entire Mongolian army, but before they could figure out the Sixth Army's intentions, the Fengzhen line was attacked by the 211th Division.
In this regard, the troops stationed in Mongolia judged that the actions of the Northwest Army were to cooperate with the actions of the Shanxi Army in Hunyuan and Shuo County, and mainly played a restraining role.
Although the staff's analysis was well-reasoned, the critical situation of the 13th Independent Infantry Regiment and the artillery fire on the Fengzhen front line could not be ignored.
In order to avoid the tragedy of burning military flags, the 26th Division immediately dispatched two mixed battalions of infantry, artillery and logistics to the Fengzhen front line, intercepted the 25th Cavalry Regiment, and together with the search team of the 26th Division and two squadrons of the 2nd Battalion of the 13th Independent Infantry Regiment stationed in Zuoyun, they headed towards Youyu.
The 26th Division's interception made Major General Tsuneoka so anxious that he cursed his mother, but the situation in the north seemed even more critical, and he could only send telegrams to Zhangjiakou one after another.
Tanaka Shinichi, who was frustrated by dozens of telegrams a day, had to do the work of Lieutenant General Naito Shoichi, commander of the cavalry group, and let this lieutenant general suppress Major General Kojima Yoshizo.
Under pressure from both his immediate superiors and the troops stationed in Mongolia, Major General Kojima finally agreed to transfer 800 officers and soldiers of the brigade's independent infantry battalion, independent engineering corps, and machine gun corps to Shuo County.
Shuo County? Yes, just Shuo County.
The Japanese troops in Hunyuan had sent a telegram announcing their imminent death a day earlier, and have since completely lost contact. Judging from this, the Japanese troops defending the city are in great danger.
As expected, on October 12, the Northwest Military and Political Committee and the Guiyang Military Committee publicly commended the Yanbei Command of the Shanxi Army and officers who participated in the battle, including Zhao Chengshou, Peng Yubin, and Liu Tanfu. Newspapers from all over the Northwest and in Guiyang, Changsha, Kunming and other places also reported on the Hunyuan victory.
Major General Chang Gang, who was greatly embarrassed, did not care about his old nest in Ying County. With his bare chest, he led the only artillery, engineering, light and heavy troops of the 2nd Mixed Brigade and rushed straight to Hunyuan. He successfully joined the first two waves of support troops and recaptured Hunyuan very smoothly. However, what he saw were 117 naked Japanese corpses including Captain Nishimin Jiulang, the commander of the 1st Independent Infantry Battalion. Of course, the war was still going on. On October 14, the Japanese rescue force approached Youyu. Seeing that the situation was not good, the 2251st Regiment attacking Youyu immediately implemented the above plan.
The Japanese army, which had failed to gain any advantage, had no idea what tricks the Northwest Army was playing, so they stayed behind to reorganize.
That afternoon, Fu Zuoyi's subordinates in Shuo County also automatically withdrew their siege, leaving behind a messy scene that made the Japanese troops inside and outside the city sigh in admiration.
Just as the bewildered Mongolian military staff were reanalyzing the Northwest Army's intentions, the real blow came.
On the afternoon of October 14, the front-line independent aviation team of the Sixth Army of the Northwest National Defense Army used the cover of the setting sun to carry out multiple waves of focused bombing on the Pingsui Road and Tongpu Road. The two major traffic arteries connecting Datong were immediately paralyzed.
The Japanese military staff, whose spirits suddenly became tense, thought they finally understood the big move of the Northwest, but they were wrong again.
That night, Major General Ma Xingjing, commander of the Second Cavalry Army, led his Outer Mongolian Independent Cavalry Third Division and the 305th Cavalry Division in a rush to attack Shangdu, annihilating in one fell swoop more than 120 Japanese garrisons and one regiment each of the puppet Mongolian infantry and cavalry, totaling more than 1,100 people.
After recovering Shangdu County, the Second Cavalry Army used its Third Mongolian Cavalry Division to attack Huaide and Kangbao, while the Third Mongolian Independent Cavalry Division and the 305th Cavalry Division headed straight for Zhangbei. From then on, the Northwestern conspiracy had become clear.
After discovering that the Northwest Army’s real target was Zhangjiakou, the Mongolian Army Headquarters fell into chaos.
It should be noted that due to the previous several withdrawals of troops to Daibei, the Mongolian army's stronghold is now guarded by only a few troops such as the 26th Cavalry Regiment, the 4th Cavalry Artillery Regiment, and the tank corps directly under the 4th Cavalry Brigade. Even if the Japanese expatriates in Zhangjiakou are fully mobilized, the total force assembled is less than 2,000 people, and they are simply unable to face the two divisions of Northwestern Cavalry.
What should he do? Should he learn from the First Army's retreat under the city of Datong? Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo couldn't afford to lose this man.
Therefore, the only option was to request reinforcements from the North China Front Army.
In fact, Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe's request was not excessive. He just wanted the 1st Cavalry Brigade to return.
However, the North China Front Army, which had been thrown into chaos by the rising armed forces behind enemy lines, had no way to agree to his request.
Lieutenant General Okabe then turned to the 3rd Flight Group for assistance.
However, such a request could not be met. The Third Flight Group was now fighting fiercely with the Northwest Air Force on the Kaifeng front line and had no spare energy for other aspects.
After several telegrams failed, Lieutenant General Okabe called General Sugiyama Hajime directly and asked him whether he was planning to disband the Mongolian troops.
General Sugiyama Moto was speechless, and it took him a long time before he agreed to provide the other side with the necessary reinforcements.
The words were said, but where would the reinforcements come from? The Kwantung Army, which had been defeated at Nomonhan, could no longer be counted on. They had already entered a state of full mobilization to prevent the Soviets from continuing to attack. They could no longer count on troops from Kwantung. The Central China Expeditionary Force could no longer be counted on. Even if they had the spare strength, it would be too late to transfer them.
After much deliberation, General Sugiyama Gen had no choice but to take money from one pocket to repair another. He first agreed to allow the 1st Cavalry Brigade to return to its base, and then mobilized part of the 32nd Division to the north to reinforce Zhangjiakou.
As for the power gap caused by the mobilization of troops, Sugiyama Gen had to withdraw the 10th Independent Mixed Brigade from the 12th Army to fill it and ordered the 27th Division to cross the river and return immediately.
This order from General Sugiyama Hajime was undoubtedly a fatal blow to the 12th Army. After protesting several times without success, Lieutenant General Odaka Kamezo tried to refuse to execute the order.
However, facing General Sugiyama Hajime, Major General Kitano Kenzo, the commander of the Military Police Command in China who was sent from Beijing, had an overly serious face and was so angry that his face turned purple. In the end, he reluctantly carried out the order and transferred back the 219th Infantry Regiment, the 35th Search Regiment, the 35th Engineer Regiment and other units of the 35th Division to fill the vacancy left by the Independent 10th Mixed Brigade after its transfer to the north, resulting in further reduction of troops on the front line in eastern Henan.
