Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Judging from the forces assembled by the Japanese army, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the Japanese First Army, attached great importance to the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain and was even determined to concentrate his forces to annihilate all the Chinese government troops in the Zhongtiao Mountain area, even if the public security in the occupied areas of North China declined due to the lack of troops in the occupied areas.

At the same time, in order to ensure that the Zhongtiao Mountain Campaign could successfully complete the combat objectives set before the war, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the Japanese First Army, also convened the commanders of various units together for a pre-war combat thought guidance meeting.

At the meeting, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the Japanese First Army, formulated the slogan "The key to victory or defeat lies in at least 80% preparation before the battle." Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka required the commanders of all participating troops to conduct a thorough study of the combat plan for this battle.

At the same time, at the meeting, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the Japanese First Army, also ordered all participating Japanese troops to strengthen actual combat training to adapt to the terrain and combat conditions in the combat area while conducting pre-war research on maps and terrain, to ensure that all participating troops can meet the tactical requirements of mountain warfare.

In order to ensure the suddenness of this battle, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the Japanese First Army, asked the intelligence department to step up the crackdown and arrest of Chinese government intelligence personnel in the occupied areas in the name of maintaining public order, so as to prevent the battle plan from being known to the Chinese government in advance.

Compared with the careful preparations and plans of the Japanese army, the preparations of the Chinese army responsible for the defense of Zhongtiao Mountain could be described as sloppy and muddled.

Due to the ever-changing war situation, the Chinese government's troops originally stationed in the Zhongtiao Mountain area were constantly being transferred to other battlefields to fight. Now, only the 14th Army and the 5th Army of the Chinese government are responsible for defense tasks in the Zhongtiao Mountain area.

Moreover, these troops have not fought a major battle in the more than three years since 1938, and the proportion of recruits in the troops is quite high. Coupled with the lack of training for the soldiers, their combat readiness is quite lax.

What is even more amazing is that the commander of the First War Zone, Wei Changjun, got along relatively well with the people in northern Shaanxi in the First War Zone, which made the top government very dissatisfied. In order to prevent Wei Changjun from wavering in his political stance, the top government asked Wei Changjun, commander of the First War Zone, to return to the mountain city to report on his work, and in disguise kept Wei Changjun in Sichuan Province for observation. This caused the Chinese troops stationed in Zhongtiao Mountain to lose timely unified command and dispatch.

However, the frequent large-scale troop movements of the Japanese First Army were discovered by Chinese intelligence personnel lurking in various places in the Japanese-occupied areas. Although the Chinese government's intelligence personnel were unable to obtain the Japanese army's specific combat plans, they still reported the Japanese army's unusual actions.

When the Chinese government learned that the Japanese First Army was actively mobilizing troops on a large scale in the Zhongtiao Mountains, the Chinese government's Military Commission in the mountain city made the guiding principle of "conserving important areas, striving to last, maintaining internal stability, and seeking foreign aid". It also instructed the troops in the Zhongtiao Mountains of the First War Zone to strengthen the defense of their respective lines of defense and reinforce the fortifications in Tongguan and Luoyang. At the same time, it ordered all troops to intensify the training of soldiers to guard against attacks that might be launched by the Japanese army at any time.

At the same time, the top government also discovered that someone needed to supervise the Zhongtiao Mountain direction. This strategic location required extra caution, so they ordered the Chief of Staff, Commander He, to inspect the First War Zone on behalf of the Military Commission and urge the various troops in Zhongtiao Mountain to make preparations for defense.

After Commander He arrived at the First War Zone, he convened a mobilization meeting with the chief officers of various troops in Zhongtiao Mountain. Based on the intelligence currently provided by the Chinese intelligence department, Commander He judged that the large-scale assembly of the Japanese First Army should be preparing to attack the various defensive strongholds in Zhongtiao Mountain, and then attack Luoyang and Tongguan, so as to achieve the strategic goal of threatening the rear of the Fifth War Zone and at the same time attacking the westward line.

In order to deal with the possible large-scale attack by the Japanese army, Commander He felt that the Japanese army's specific combat intentions and goals were unclear, and he should take the initiative to attack instead of defend and expose the Japanese army's true intentions. He also made adjustments to the defenses of the various troops in Zhongtiao Mountain.

In the combat plan formulated by Commander He, the first step was to order the 93rd Army to move from north to south and the 27th Army to move from east to west, and to work together with the right wing of the Zhongtiao Mountain position to capture the area between Gaoping, Jincheng, Yangcheng and Qinshui, and restore the front line to its status before April 1940.

The second step was to cooperate with the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Second and Eighth War Zones to encircle the Japanese troops in the southern Shanxi triangle area and then annihilate the Japanese troops.

According to Commander He's idea, even if such an offensive operation could not achieve the final result he envisioned, it would at least ensure control of Zhongtiao Mountain and prevent the Japanese army from occupying Zhongtiao Mountain.

After Commander He formulated the offensive plan, the Military Commission of the Chinese government received more intelligence on the Japanese troop movements. After further research, the leaders of the Military Commission concluded that the Japanese army intended to attack Yuanqu from Jiyuan and Henggao Avenue.

Therefore, the Military Commission ordered the First War Zone to prepare for the impending attack by the Japanese army, strengthen the defense of the fortifications in various positions in Zhongtiao Mountain, destroy the roads blocking the main positions, and then launch an attack on the Japanese army in accordance with the attack plan formulated by Commander He to disrupt the Japanese army's offensive intentions.

At the same time, the Military Commission ordered the Second War Zone of the Huaxia Government, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, and the troops of the Fifth War Zone of the Huaxia Government in Sidong to launch an attack along the Longhai Railway to contain the Japanese army's impending attack and support the operations in the Zhongtiao Mountain direction of the First War Zone.

Therefore, Commander He followed the instructions of the Military Commission and made corresponding arrangements for the seven armies of the Chinese Army in the Zhongtiao Mountain area.

According to the instructions of the Military Commission, the 9th Army was deployed in Jiyuan, an important town in northern Henan, the 43rd Army was deployed in Yanqu at the southern end of Shanxi, the 17th Army was deployed in Jiangxian area, the 3rd Army was deployed in Wenxi, the 80th Army was deployed in Xiaxian, the 98th Army was deployed in Dongfeng Town, and the 15th Army was deployed in Gaoping area.

In addition, Commander He also dispatched troops from four armies to the Taihang and Taiyue areas as support.

As a result, the Japanese army had completed the pre-war preparations for the entire battle before the troops in the Zhongtiao Mountain area of ​​the First War Zone were mobilized. The first to be dispatched were Japanese planes, which first bombed Xi'an and Zhengzhou, and then used planes to blow up the Longhai Railway Line in order to cut off the logistical supplies of the Chinese army in the Zhongtiao Mountain area.