Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

Urge their troops to immediately open up the passage from Jiyuan to Zhongtiao Mountain.

To support the evacuation of two divisions in Zhongtiao Mountain towards Xinxiang.

But up to now, they have not even broken through the two towns in front of Jiyuan.

When they thought of this, their hearts were suddenly filled with gloom.

At present, the Chinese army on the opposite side is equipped with a large number of air defense weapons.

As a result, their air force can only carry out long-range bombing at high altitudes.

I dare not dive at all.

On the afternoon of the 8th.

The situation began to change suddenly.

The Fifth Army and the Fourteenth Army surrounded two Japanese divisions that had entered the mountains in Zhongtiao Mountain.

A fierce battle began with the two divisions.

It was the morning of the 10th.

The Japanese 37th and 41st Divisions fought fiercely for two days with the Nationalist 5th and 14th Army in Zhongtiao Mountain.

Finally, the Japanese army was surrounded near the Yaowang Temple at the foot of Wangwu Mountain.

Prepare to launch the final attack.

Jiyuan front.

Inside the joint command center of Lijiayu and Chen Shukang.

At this time, both of them looked a little tired.

these past few days.

They repelled repeated attacks from the two Japanese divisions supporting them.

More than half of the entire army was killed or wounded.

"Commander Chen, tell me how Brother Bai Liu was able to hold off the attacks of two Japanese divisions for over a month last year."

There was a look of surprise on Li Jiayu's face.

For the past three days.

The Japanese troops on the opposite side began to charge towards their front-line positions continuously.

Although they were beaten back every time.

But at this point in the battle, the troops under the two men were somewhat tired.

In order to prevent accidents, Chen Shukang even transferred the Japanese 105mm heavy artillery that had been captured by the North China Military Region.

And the artillery positions were placed in Yaoyuan Village.

They were afraid that the Japanese army would break through their positions and continue their offensive.

At this time, they had already deployed the last reserve troops to the front line, and the previous troops were withdrawn for rest.

If the Japanese army breaks through the front-line defense.

In the end, they could only rely on the artillery positions set up in the Yaoyuan Village area to suppress the fire and then recapture the position.

Chen Shukang was still frightened after hearing this.

To be honest, he is confident in his tactical arrangements.

But he still had great concerns about the troops below.

After all, their brigade has fought many battles with the Japanese army in the past two years.

But those are all small-scale and fragmented.

This was the first time we had a head-on confrontation with two Japanese divisions.

Just as he expected.

For this blocking battle, the troops he mobilized this time were all troops that had been formed for at least more than one year.

At the same time, he sent a large number of grassroots cadres to study at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University branch in Tunliu.

It can be said that this is the most elite force in his hands.

However, this was the first time we engaged in a brutal positional battle with the Japanese army.

This resulted in some heavy casualties below.

But that's all okay.

After this battle, the combat effectiveness of the entire army can be said to have increased sharply.

14th Army

It was ordered to be formed in early August 1937. The first commander-in-chief of the army group was Wei Lihuang. Its basic unit, the 14th Army, was the direct line of the Central Army, under which were the 10th, 83rd and 85th Divisions. The army group was the first direct line unit of the Kuomintang Central Committee to enter North China to fight after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan. It fought against Japan in the Pingxi area and was under the jurisdiction of the First War Zone.

Combat situation

In September 1937, to bolster Shanxi's capabilities against the Japanese, the group army entered Shanxi via the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan Railway and was transferred to the Second War Zone. Shortly thereafter, the 9th Army joined the group army's battle order. The group army participated in the famous Battle of Xinkou, serving as the main force of the Central Group. Ninth Army Commander Hao Mengling, 54th Division Commander Liu Jiaqi, and 5th Independent Brigade Commander Zheng Tingzhen were all killed in the fierce fighting. After this battle, the group army retreated to southeastern Shanxi. The 93rd and 98th Armies also served in its battle order.