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Since the battle began, the most relaxed unit is the 1st Cavalry Army in the northwest.

Up to now, the total loss was no more than a hundred people. They successively captured Zhongyang County and Lishi County. Within half a day, they not only went north to capture Dawu Town, but also approached Shanfang County and Lin County.

A similar scene happened again. After the troops fired a few shots, the city gates of the two counties opened by themselves, and the firepower on the Japanese city walls also came to a halt.

So, the 3rd Artillery Regiment of the Artillery Brigade seized the opportunity to bombard the weak Japanese positions outside the city, and then the cavalry rushed into the city.

In this way, without much effort, two more county towns were captured and thousands of puppet troops were captured.

At this point, the 1st Cavalry Army completed its combat mission and drove out all the Japanese invaders in the middle and lower parts of the Luliang Mountains.

As for the northern part of the Luliang Mountains and the Yunzhong Mountains, Luya Mountains, Guancen Mountains and other areas further north, that is the guerrillas' territory. If the troops move further north, the front line will be too long and the logistics will not be able to keep up.

On the Pingyao battlefield, when cluster bombs were delivered to various artillery units, the Japanese nightmare began.

Tens of thousands of shells exploded continuously, and there was not a single spot of intact ground in the entire enemy position.

Xu Le was completely furious. He ignored the ban on cluster bombs and there would be no such ban from now on.

Be as cruel to the Japanese as possible!

In the afternoon, under the cover of heavy artillery fire, the Japanese Pingyao position retreated without a fight, leaving abandoned Japanese corpses and trucks that had been blown into pieces everywhere.

Faced with huge losses, the Japanese commander-in-chief of the Shanxi Provincial Defense Army, Yoshio Iwamatsu, made an important decision to withdraw all troops in the Taiyuan Basin to Yuci County and Tugou County, preparing for the final decisive battle with the 88th Army.

At the same time, General Okamura Yasuji, commander-in-chief of the North China Front Army, ordered the troops stationed in Mongolia to move to the Xinzhou Basin as the second line of defense after Taiyuan.

He also ordered the 110th Division of the North China Front Army to rush to Niangzi Pass to prevent the Tang army from advancing into the North China Plain after the fall of Taiyuan.

At the same time, the 12nd Division and the 32th Cavalry Brigade of the 4th Army of Shandong Province also approached northern Henan to strengthen the defense of the Pinghan Railway.

The Tang Expeditionary Force also suspended its front-line offensive against central and southern China, switched from offense to defense, and set its sights on Shanxi Province.

......

January 30th, the third day of the war.

Under the leadership of Jiang Feng, the 2nd Reserve Regiment marched overnight to the front line of Beiliu Town where the 664th Regiment was fighting, and brought the artillery battalion a powerful weapon to deal with armored vehicles, namely cluster bombs.

The range of the Type 83 122mm howitzer equipped with bottom-bleed cluster bombs reaches 22 kilometers.

Immediately, the 664th Regiment sent out a battalion to lure the Japanese 3rd Tank Brigade, and the Japanese fell into the trap immediately.

When the Japanese tanks appeared, the first battalion retreated quickly. The howitzers in the rear opened fire, and the cluster bombs exploded above the Japanese tanks. Countless submunitions fell over the Japanese tanks.

If it is an ordinary grenade, the Japanese tanks can use their mobility to dodge it.

However, the density of cluster bombs made it impossible for the Japanese to escape.

In just 5 minutes, except for a few Type tanks that escaped, all the other tanks were destroyed.

The 664th Regiment seized the opportunity and five motorized infantry battalions launched the final offensive, charging towards the main position of the Japanese under the guidance of artillery fire.

An hour later, the Beiliu position fell, more than 5000 enemies were killed, and the remaining Japanese fled in panic to Jincheng.

The 2nd Reserve Regiment and the 664th Regiment were combined under the unified command of Guo Tietie and pursued towards Jincheng.

At the same time, the 19th Provisional Division of the 7th Army finally arrived at the battlefield, and the 61th Division of the 69st Army finally crossed the Zhongtiao Mountains and successfully joined forces with the main force.

The two divisions joined together and marched towards Damenguan as the advance force.

As for the 19th Division of the 68th Army, the division commander was forcibly dismissed by Jiang Feng, and the next regimental commander was executed on the spot by Jiang Feng. The troops were temporarily placed under the command of the Provisional 37th Division and attacked Jincheng together.

The subsequent 61nd Division of the 72st Army and the Provisional 48th Division were also on the way. At that time, the Provisional 48th Division would support Damenguan, and the 72nd Division would serve as the second echelon and follow the 664th Regiment to Jincheng.

.....

In Qinyuan County, the 520th and 521st Regiments rested for half a day after taking the county seat, and then set out again in the afternoon. It took only two hours to capture the undefended Qin County.

The troops were then divided into two groups: the 520th Regiment and two divisions of the 15th Army attacked Wuxiang County and Liao County in the east, while the 521st Regiment and three divisions of the 3rd Army attacked Xiadian, Tunliu and Changzhi in the south.

The 17th Army of the Sixth Army temporarily stayed in Qin County as a reserve force to ensure the logistical transportation of various units.

In the Central Theater, the armored divisions and mechanized infantry divisions that had completely entered the Taiyuan Basin were like tigers and leopards, attacking along the Tongpu Railway and the Xiaoyi Highway respectively, and successively recovered Fenyang County, Qi County, Wenshui County, Jiaocheng County, Taigu County, and Qingyuan County.

When it got dark, the troops rested on the east and west sides of Tugou County.

January 31st, the 4th day of the war.

With the assistance of the two flying squadrons, the troops officially launched a general attack on Jincheng and Damenguan.

The Japanese had lost the two important defensive fortresses of Qinyuan County and Beiliu Town, and had lost their support. They could only fight and retreat at the same time.

The 521st Regiment, which had completely advanced into the Changzhi Basin, finally made use of the mobility of its armored vehicles, successively capturing Xiadian Town and Liutun Town, and under the cover of artillery fire, launched an attack on the Changzhi defensive positions.

As for Tugou County, although the Japanese deployed their last 10 troops here, there was no strategic location to defend around it, as it was in an absolutely open area.

The Japs could only dig deep trenches and build artificial fortifications.

But it didn't work, there was simply not enough time.

Moreover, their main artillery force had been almost completely lost in Luowangzhuang. Without the assistance of artillery fire, the only remaining anti-tank weapons were the Type 37 47mm rapid-fire gun and the Type mm rapid-fire gun.

These two types of rapid-fire guns cannot even penetrate the side armor of the Type 500 tank at a distance of 59 meters.

Even if the Japanese replaced the Type 75 59mm field gun with armor-piercing grenades for flat firing, they would not be able to hurt the Type tank at all.

The three tank regiments that were replenished disrupted the Japanese deployment with just the first wave of attack, and the Japanese were chased and attacked by the subsequent mechanized infantry regiments and armored vehicles.

The Japanese had no choice but to change their tactics again, withdrawing all their forces back to Yuci and Taiyuan, and using the existing positions around Taiyuan to carry out field battles in the city.

February 2st, the 1th day of the war.

The mechanized infantry division took the lead in entering Yuci County from the south gate and took control of the Zhengtai Railway Station and the Tongpu Railway Station.

The artillery regiments and battalions covered the positions around Taiyuan with firepower, firing 10 artillery shells on that day alone, even while controlling overheating of the gun barrels.

On that day, under the fierce attack of the 7th Division and other 5 divisions, at the cost of one regiment’s casualties, they successfully occupied Damenguan and annihilated a battalion of Japanese troops. The remaining Japanese troops were dispersed and lost their traces.

In the afternoon, more than 10 breaches were made on both sides of Jincheng's city walls, and the 664th Regiment officially entered the city.

Because of the loss of Damenguan, the Japanese retreat route to the south was cut off, and they had no choice but to abandon the city and flee northward.

The Japanese invaders in Taiyuan suffered heavy losses due to the fierce artillery attacks. They abandoned dozens of defensive fortresses one after another, and most of them retreated back into the city of Taiyuan.

At this critical moment, riots broke out in many places in Taiyuan City. Armed groups of dozens and hundreds of people appeared in more than 10 places and attacked the Japanese's important warehouses, military facilities and gendarmerie in the city.

More than 90% of the shops in the city were closed, and there were few people on the streets.

Just when Yoshio Iwamatsu ordered the police station to clean up the internal troubles, he found that he could not contact the police station.

Until finally a soldier reported that thousands of police officers in the police station had defected, and the two puppet army security groups in the city had started fighting each other.

Only then did Iwamatsu Yoshio realize that Taiyuan had already been disintegrated by the enemy from within.

The trend is over!

Yoshio Iwamatsu hurriedly led the headquarters to retreat, fleeing to Xinkou that night, and issued a withdrawal order to the garrison troops in Changzhi area, abandoning all towns in southeastern Shanxi, and completely withdrawing from Shanxi Province, with the remaining troops retreating to Shandong Province.

Xinkou, with Yunzhong River on the left and Mount Wutai on the right, is the barrier to the north of Taiyuan. If we hold Xinkou, we can hold Taiyuan, and if we hold Taiyuan, we can secure Shanxi and protect North China.

Xinkou, with Yunzhong River on the left and Mount Wutai on the right, is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and is the barrier to the north of Taiyuan. If we hold Xinkou, we can hold Taiyuan, and if we hold Taiyuan, we can secure Shanxi Province and protect North China.

The same principle applies in reverse.

Holding Xinkou can also defend against the Jinzhong army and preserve northern Shanxi.