Chapter 236 129th Division, 8 Brigades and 25 Regiments

"Look later, I'll draw a picture. This chapter is hard to understand without a picture."

As we all know, the Eighth Route Army has three main divisions.

Before entering Shanxi in the early stage of the reorganization of the troops, the three divisions were almost the same in all aspects. They also adopted the organization of the Type C division in the 19th year of the Republic of China, with each division under two brigades and a brigade under two regiments.

After counting the division's direct troops, the number of troops generally ranged from 13,000 to 15,000.

But the subsequent developments were each wonderful, and the experiences of the three divisions were completely different.

We said before that the 120th Division had different tasks and inherent deficiencies, and its development was restricted by the region, resulting in the current number of troops not exceeding 100,000.

In the original timeline, compared with the remaining two divisions, the conditions of the 115th Division would be better than those of the 129th Division.

Because the latter's range of activities was mainly in North China, which was the area where the battles with the devils were most frequent. What's more, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army was still in southeastern Shanxi, which was the enemy's key target of attack.

After years of fighting, the development of the 129th Division was naturally not as good as that of the 115th Division.

However, the situation is different now!

Due to Huang's intrusion, the logistics department of the southeastern Shanxi base has undergone earth-shaking changes. The 129th Division is rich.

The style of painting was normal at the beginning. At that time, Huang He just used civilian factories to exchange some resources to improve the food and living conditions of the frontline soldiers.

Due to the harsh conditions, his improvement of the combat effectiveness of the troops was very limited. That is, he brought back some Mosin-Nagant and French weapons from the First World War to improve the power of bullets and grenades.

In May last year, the 129th Division was reorganized. The regular troops under the division have 9 brigades and 28 regiments.

In addition, with the death column and local troops under the command of the division, the total force of the system exceeded 100,000, which is no different from the original timeline.

But after June last year, as soon as the Gallic rooster France, the European overlord, surrendered, the development speed of the entire division had a qualitative leap.

The 129th Division is not only the first of the three main forces to be equipped with a full set of French weapons. Moreover, because of the various military production lines of the logistics department, there is the confidence to expand the army vigorously.

The Eighth Route Army has always adhered to the principles of ideological mobilization and voluntary enlistment, and has mobilized and promoted eligible young and middle-aged people from time to time.

However, since the grassroots construction of the base area in southeastern Shanxi has begun to take shape, its influence is no longer what it used to be.

In addition, the 129th Division provides good treatment to soldiers and their families, as well as the attraction brought by advanced equipment, so that ordinary people join the army in an endless stream.

Even if the requirements for enlistment are raised, the strength of troops at all levels is still explosively growing.

Now the division has 15 regular brigades and 47 regiments.

Including local armed forces and militia, 150,000 people can be deployed in one go to participate in the battle when necessary, which has laid an indestructible foundation for fighting alone in North China.

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In this Zhongtiaoshan Campaign, the various units of the 129th Division were not far from Gaoping and Yangcheng, and were responsible for supporting the battlefield on the northeast line.

Although Wuxiang was only more than 100 kilometers away from the enemy's 33rd Division, the troops could not launch an attack first.

We have to wait for the comrades of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region to arrive and prepare to intercept the enemy reinforcements from Hebei, Chahar, and some Suiyuan areas. We also need to wait for the comrades of the 120th Division to contain the 36th Division and the 37th Division.

Moreover, the troops also have to take care of the artillery, which is not very convenient for them to move.

At this time, there is still half an hour left before the scheduled start of the battle. The division commander is busy checking for loopholes with a group of staff to ensure that all plans are foolproof.

Suddenly, there was a burst of dense footsteps outside the combat meeting room.

The brigade commander walked into the room with a smile on his face and a telegram in his hand. Everyone knew that something good must have happened.

"Division commander, I have a very interesting telegram here."

"Some people in our Eighth Route Army are making a fortune behind enemy lines, and they are doing so well!"

As soon as these words came out, they immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.

This feeling of being in the spotlight extremely satisfied the "vanity" of the fun people.

It's a pity that the division commander didn't play by the rules. He grabbed the telegram, adjusted his glasses and started reading. But the first line of the telegram made him look like an old man on the subway looking at his phone.

It clearly said that the remnants of the 98th Army, the 17th Army and the 43rd Army will cooperate with the 129th Division under the leadership of the Eighth Route Army Division Commander Li to encircle and annihilate the enemy's 33rd Division and 41st Division.

The division commander, who had been busy for a few days, was a little confused. The three words "Division Commander Li" immediately made him look confused.

"Is there something wrong with my last eye? Or is the telegram decrypted incorrectly?"

"When did we have a division commander named Li in the Eighth Route Army? If I remember correctly, there is no comrade named Li among the deputy division commanders."

Although it was a question, the division commander quickly thought of something. The Marine Corps 1st Regiment led by Li Yunlong was the Eighth Route Army armed force that entered Zhongtiao Mountain first.

Calculating the time, they have been fighting behind enemy lines for nearly six days.

"Have you confirmed the authenticity of the intelligence?"

After hearing the question, the brigade commander nodded.

As a former intelligence chief, he confirmed the identity of the other party as soon as he received the telegram using the method discussed in advance. Just in case, he also sent someone to verify the authenticity of the intelligence.

After seeing the division commander's expression of realization, the brigade commander immediately said:

"As you expected, it's Li Yunlong."

"I have just made contact with the other party. He began to collect Guo Mei's defeated troops on the day he set out. As of today, he has 6,000 people under his command."

"But the title of division commander is not what he calls himself. It's what the preserved fruit soldiers call him."

Because the power of the radio station of the 1st Marine Regiment was insufficient, it could not contact the higher-level troops. In order to get in touch with the division headquarters, we can only use the radio station of the 98th Army to call in a loop.

But the communications soldier who operated it had only been in the army for seven hours and didn't even know what Li Yunlong's full name was. In a self-defeating move, I directly used my last name and my perceived position.

The person who felt most sorry for Lao Li was always the brigade commander. In order to reduce unnecessary misunderstandings, he specially emphasized a sentence at the end of his words to help his beloved general explain.

After hearing the specific reason, everyone in the war conference room laughed out loud.

Everyone here is an acquaintance of Commander Li Da, although the New Second Regiment has become independent from the 129th Division and has become the First Marine Regiment directly under the Eighth Route Army.

But the old friendship between everyone has not faded. Even if Lao Li really dared to call himself division commander at the division headquarters, everyone would just look at him with a look of disgust on his face to see who gave him the heart and courage of a leopard.

"Okay, with the addition of that boy Li Yunlong, we will be more confident in this battle."

"As long as he can block the enemy's retreat, this battle can definitely wipe out the enemies of the two divisions. After eating the entire First Army, there will be no war in Shanxi!"

"Pass my order and ask the 1st Air Division to find a way to airdrop a batch of weapons to them. After five or six days of fighting, it is estimated that the 1st Marine Regiment will soon be exhausted."

This offensive plan was made together by the deputy commander-in-chief and the division commander. They decided to send half of the 129th Division's troops, that is, eight brigades and twenty-five regiments, to surprise the Japanese.

For such a large-scale operation, how to avoid the enemy's eyes and reconnaissance planes is a difficult problem.

If the enemy discovers our own movements, the opponent will definitely give up attacking the northeastern defense line of Zhongtiao Mountain and flee to the Jincheng area.

Fortunately, the First Air Division had already gained air superiority over the battlefield, eliminating the most troublesome link of reconnaissance aircraft. The troops only had to ensure that they were not discovered during the march.

After departure, troops at all levels strictly controlled fireworks. Everyone marching must wear camouflage, radio silence is maintained at the brigade level, and the use of portable communicators is prohibited at the regimental level.

The march started every day after the sun went down, and stopped at dawn and hid in the mountains and forests.

Hundreds of M18 cannons from the three artillery regiments are all scattered among the brigades and will be used intensively after arriving at the first stage destination.

Under strict discipline, the army of tens of thousands marched, and the Japanese did not notice it at all.

After arriving at the scheduled assembly point, the division commander will send eight brigades to the north of Qinshui, east of Yangcheng, and west of Henghe to form a pocket formation.

As soon as the time is right, all troops will launch an attack with the cooperation of the three artillery regiments and the 1st Air Division.

This is a classic roundabout tactic. Coupled with Li Yunlong's division in Shaoyuan, the two Japanese divisions can definitely be wiped out in one fell swoop!

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On the northeast side of Zhongtiao Mountain, Dong Feng.

In the joint headquarters of the 33rd Division and the 41st Division, Lieutenant General Sakurai Shoichi and Lieutenant General Shimizu Nori were not in a good mood at this time.

There is a piece of paper on the table in front of them, which is a telegram just sent from the North China Front Army Headquarters. They looked at each other, and the atmosphere in the room was very awkward.

"Qingshui-kun, Commander Gangcun is a little too hasty."

"Forget it about our division. After all, a serious battle only lasts one day and one night. Your division has not had a break since the afternoon of the 7th. Fighting for six days in a row must be too hard."

Qingshui shook his head helplessly. After all, the rank of official was overwhelming, and he had offended his immediate superior.

They also received news that two divisions on the Western Front had been annihilated. Okamura Neji did not intend to stop the losses in time, but chose to risk all his troops and give it a try.

In the telegram, he prepared for the troops on the northeastern front to adopt a super-large pincer offensive.

Among them, the task of the 41st Division is to immediately go south, pass through Shaoyuan, occupy all the ferries on the east side of Zhongtiao Mountain, and completely cut off the connection between the north and south banks of the Yellow River.

The 33rd Division and the Independent Mixed Fourth Brigade need to be divided into two groups. One group goes directly along the Qinhe River to Jiyuan, and the other group passes through the Henghe River directly to Fengmenkou.

The purpose of this was to combine the forces of the three divisions and defeat the 9th Army and the 93rd Army in the shortest possible time.

Only by liberating the 21st Division and the 35th Division on the Eastern Front could Okamura Neiji be confident that he could fight the sudden Eighth Route Army in a decisive battle on the plains.

"There is no way, everything is just to gain time."

"Once the 129th Division on the Western Front arrives on the Eastern Front, the Battle of the Central Plains will be in vain. Not only will Zhongtiao Mountain not be captured, but the safety of our two divisions may also be in question."

Yes, until now, the North China Front still believes that the enemy appearing on the Western Front battlefield is the 129th Division.

The Japanese conducted reconnaissance in the southeast of Shanxi, and they found no sign of any large-scale southward mobilization of the Eighth Route Army.

Combined with the fighting time and fierce firepower on the Western Front, Okamura Neiji judged that the Eighth Route Army there should be the main force of the 129th Division detoured to support.

After all, everyone knows that the 120th Division is responsible for guarding the border area and preventing the enemy from crossing the Yellow River westward.

It can only be said that empiricism kills people. No one expected that the strength of the northwest Shanxi base was so strong that such a large force could be mobilized without affecting the original mission.

I didn't expect that the 129th Division had such a big plan and was very patient.

After thinking for a while, Sakurai Shozo walked to the map. He pointed at all the towns to be passed by with his fingers, and then complained to his colleagues behind him:

"It's true that the superiors just talk and the subordinates run their legs off. We, the people who lead the troops, are destined to work hard."

"I hope we don't encounter the Eighth Route Army's air force on the road. Those fighters are really too brutal. With the few people under my command, we can't withstand more than two rounds of attacks."

When mentioning the Air Force 1st Division, Shimizu Guigui felt a chill on his spine.

Although the battle last night successfully killed the 98th Army, they also suffered losses in both divisions. What's more, the 41st Division was originally divided into two, and now there are only more than 6,000 people left.

Once you encounter the enemy air force, you may not even have a complete body.

As you say, the hum of a piston engine sounded in the sky. The two of them changed their faces and immediately ran out of the command center to check the number of enemy planes.

At the same time, a nightmare-like call sounded around Dongfeng Village.

There was no need to guess that the enemy was the Eighth Route Army, after all, the preserved fruit troops were defeated by them last night.

The two Japanese lieutenant generals looked at each other, and they remembered a sentence in their hearts, that is, those who are good at attacking move above the nine heavens.

Until now, they have not figured it out. Obviously, an hour ago, the Army Aviation took the risk and sent six reconnaissance planes to investigate in the direction of the Eighth Route Army's southeastern Shanxi base.

Obviously, no traces of any large-scale military operations were found, but which unit was the enemy in front of them? How did the other party quietly get close to them?

Doesn't the Eighth Route Army need logistical supplies to fight?

Although there were countless confusions in their hearts, there was no time to think at this time.

The two did not choose to enter the air-raid shelter. If there was no coordinated command in the current encounter, they would definitely lose. They returned to the command post in the shortest time and picked up the phone to issue orders to their respective subordinates.

"All troops should be deployed in regiments at the positions of the former Guojian defenders. Using the advantages of height and terrain, we must stop all the enemies!"

"Send all scouts to find a suitable direction for breaking out. The enemy dares to attack so ostentatiously, and their troops and heavy firepower must be several times stronger than ours."

"Send a telegram to the headquarters to apply for tactical guidance! Tell Commander Gangcun that we need support from the Army Aviation!"

As soon as the voice fell, several artillery shells flew from the north.

The sparse number must be the enemy's test firing, and the next two divisions will inevitably usher in the baptism of artillery fire.

This tactical inspiration comes from the siege of the 1st Marine Division.

At that time, the 9th Corps surrounded Changjin Lake with 100,000 people quietly. It's not too much for me to surround two Japanese divisions.

It's too difficult to think about tactics. Work is not so tiring.