Quartermasters can also fight the devils

When the 33rd and 34th Divisions of the Japanese Army withdrew to Hongcheng, all the pursuing troops of the 9th War Zone stopped the pursuit and returned to the area previously controlled by the Chinese army.

The commander of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army that retreated to Hongcheng, Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai, counted his troops and then discovered sadly that his 33rd Division was almost wiped out by the Chinese army. More than 70% of the officers and soldiers of the entire division were killed or wounded. It can be said that without a certain amount of time for replenishment, the 33rd Division would not be able to restore its combat capability.

Seeing how heavy the losses of the 33rd Division were, the Japanese Expeditionary Force postponed the transfer of the 33rd Division to the North China battlefield. After all, such a devastated division would not be able to be used immediately even if it was transferred to the North China battlefield immediately. It would be better to wait until the 33rd Division was replenished with troops and weapons and equipment before transferring it to the North China battlefield.

Moreover, the 11th Army's strength in Hongcheng is now very weak. The 34th Division lost more than 70% of its officers and soldiers after this battle, and the 20th Independent Mixed Brigade also lost about half of its troops. It is extremely difficult to defend Hongcheng with these troops.

On the Chinese government's side, although the Ninth War Zone's previous combat goal of encircling and annihilating the 34th Division of the Japanese Army was not achieved, the impact of the subsequent pursuit operations across the country cannot be ignored, because the Chinese government and the Military Commission gave a high evaluation of the Ninth War Zone's operations. Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that the participating troops are all government-affiliated troops.

The top government leaders also personally sent a telegram to Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone. In the telegram, the top government leaders said that this battle "boosted the morale of the army and made the whole country rejoice", and commended the government's 74th Army for its No. 1 military merit certificate and the highest honor "Flying Tiger Flag" in this battle. In addition to the 70th Army, other participating troops also received generous rewards.

The Japanese army's Jinjiang operation plan ended in failure, and the Japanese government and the headquarters felt that they had to make changes to the operational guidelines of the China Expeditionary Army. Judging from the current attitude of the Chinese government, it now seems unrealistic to use purely political means to resolve the Chinese war problem.

Therefore, the Japanese government asked the Imperial Headquarters and the Chinese Expeditionary Force to change their previous combat plans, formulate new combat plans, increase military pressure on the Chinese government, and require the Chinese Expeditionary Force to launch a final large-scale operation against the Chinese government in the summer and autumn, to pressure the Chinese government to change its position at one time and accept the peace talks proposed by the Japanese government, so that Japan can withdraw from the Chinese battlefield and join the long-planned "Southward Advance Plan".

Under the chairmanship of Army Minister General Hideki Tojo, the Japanese military headquarters carefully studied the current military situation on the Chinese battlefield and believed that the Chinese Expeditionary Force should not simply consider the southern battlefield in China, but should shift the focus of operations from southern China to northern China.

After receiving combat instructions from the headquarters, the dispatched troops also set their sights on the northern region of China and began looking for a battlefield where they could deliver a fatal blow to the Chinese government.

The Japanese Expeditionary Force believed that in the northern region of China, the security situation in Shanxi Province was extremely bad because there were troops based in northern Shaanxi to the west and troops from the First War Zone of the Chinese government were active on both sides of the Yellow River to the south. The security situation in Henan Province and Shandong Province was also unstable.

At present, in the entire Japanese-occupied area, the southern Shanxi direction of North China is the only area with direct troops of the Chinese government. Based on this, the Japanese China Expeditionary Force has formulated a new combat plan and mission. The content is roughly as follows: the Japanese army will secure the current occupied areas, and then gather superior combat forces in the summer and autumn to eliminate the Chinese government's combat forces in southern Shanxi Province, exert greater military pressure on the Chinese government, and force the Chinese government to accept the surrender demands. This is the "Central Plains Battle Combat Plan Guidance" formulated by the Japanese army.

The Zhongtiao Mountains, the target of the Japanese army's battle, are located in the southern part of Shanxi Province and on the north bank of the Yellow River. The entire mountain range runs from northeast to southwest, with the northeast being high and the southwest being low. It is 170 kilometers wide and 50 kilometers deep. It starts from Yongji in southern Shanxi and faces Shaanxi Province in the west, and ends at Jiyuan and Yu County in northern Henan in the east, where they are connected to the Taihang Mountains. To the north, it is backed by the Yuncheng Basin, which is known as the granary of Shanxi Province, and to the south, it is bordered by the surging Yellow River. The entire mountain area is full of gullies, undulating mountains, overlapping passes, and rich mineral resources. It forms a horn with the Taihang Mountains, Luliang Mountains, and Taiyue Mountains, and its strategic position is very important.

After the full-scale outbreak of the war between Japan and China, with the successive loss of major passes in Shanxi Province, the strategic position of Zhongtiao Mountain became even more important. For the Chinese government, as long as the Zhongtiao Mountain area was under its control, it could use it as a base to threaten northern Henan and southern Shanxi occupied by the Japanese army, while also serving as a barrier to the safety of Luoyang and Tongguan.

It can be said that it can disrupt the Japanese army's rear when advancing and tie down a large number of Japanese troops. It can also hold its position in dangerous areas when retreating and actively defend, thus cooperating with the entire Chinese anti-Japanese battlefield.

For the Japanese army, if they could occupy Zhongtiao Mountain, they would have occupied an important bridgehead. In that case, the Japanese army could cross the Yellow River and go south to attack the Central Plains region of the Chinese government, and go north to connect with its main occupied areas in Shanxi Province, thus eliminating the threat from their core area and greatly improving the security situation in the occupied areas of North China. Therefore, the Zhongtiao Mountain area could be regarded as a key area related to the safety of the Chinese government for the Japanese army.

However, although the Zhongtiao Mountain area is located in Shanxi Province, it is not currently the defense zone of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Second War Zone of the Huaxia Government. The troops stationed here are mainly the Shaanxi Army of the Huaxia Government. In terms of the division of war zones, it is under the jurisdiction of the First War Zone of the Huaxia Government under Commander Wei.

After the Japanese army's battle plan for the Central Plains Campaign was finalized, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the Japanese First Army in charge of the battle, began to actively increase troops for the battle.

In order to fight this battle well, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the Japanese First Army, specially drew the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade, the 16th Brigade, and the 4th Cavalry Brigade from the First Army. In addition, he drew the 36th, 37th, 41st, and 35th Divisions originally deployed around Zhongtiao Mountain, as well as the 33rd Division urgently withdrawn from the Central China Front Army and the 21st Division in northern Jiangsu. In this way, the Japanese army's ground force available for the Zhongtiao Mountain operations reached more than 100,000 people.

In addition, in order to support the Japanese ground infantry offensive operations, the commander of the Japanese First Army, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, also transferred the 32nd and 83rd Flying Regiments from the Kwantung Army, and together with the original 3rd Flying Regiment of the Japanese First Army, formed a powerful air support combat force.