Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

But even if you can’t see it, you still have to do the work that needs to be done.

"Your Excellency, Commander, after the Eighth Route Army has captured Huaian and Wanquan, the next step is Zhangjiakou. Although we recruited 1500 people some time ago, you are well aware of their combat effectiveness. Can you count on them to defend Zhangjiakou? If we lose Zhangjiakou, even if the two of us have a chance to leave Zhangjiakou alive, we will not have a good ending when we return to China. Our top priority now is to protect Zhangjiakou. As long as we protect Zhangjiakou, everything is still possible.

"Ah."

Amakasu Shigetaro nodded.

I finally listened to this sentence.

You can lose anything in Chahar except Zhangjiakou.

If you lose Zhangjiakou, you will either be killed on the battlefield or captured by the Eighth Route Army. Even if you escape, you will still be court-martialed when you return to China.

"Huaian and Wanquan still have more than 4000 imperial troops, and their combat effectiveness is good. If we let them be annihilated by the Eighth Route Army, it will be of no benefit to us. Withdrawing them to Zhangjiakou will strengthen our strength in Zhangjiakou. What Zhangjiakou lacks the least is weapons and ammunition. If we organize some overseas Chinese, we will be able to have a force of about people in Zhangjiakou. The Eighth Route Army can take Xuanhua and Huaian, but it will definitely not take Zhangjiakou.

Kanryo Jutaro nodded slowly.

"Okay, let's withdraw. Now, Zhangjiakou is the most important."

"Yes."

1942 2 Month 21 Day.

The troops of the 8th Column were still preparing to attack the city, and the Japanese troops in Huaian and Wanquan quickly fled.

Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were both dumbfounded.

The Japanese army ran away before the battle even started.

The 8th Column smoothly entered Huaian and Wanquan. Huaian County was a hundred miles from Zhangjiakou, and a forced march could reach Zhangjiakou in a day and a night. Zhangjiakou to Xuanhua was only seventy miles, and Wanquan was even easier. Wanquan County was only thirty miles from Zhangjiakou, and the troops could reach Zhangjiakou in two hours.

At this time, the Eighth Column had truly surrounded Zhangjiakou.

However, after the experience of the Xuanhua attack, the situation was much better when entering Huaian and Wanquan this time. This was because before the attack, Wei Hongjun not only announced the rules for entering the city, but also convened a meeting of the army's political cadres to unify their thoughts.

Of course, even so, many new problems arose after entering the city.

Just like the first time, Wei Hongjun recorded all the problems he encountered and prepared to submit them to the military region and Yan'an.

Chapter 415: Siege of Zhangjiakou

Wei Hongjun looked at Zhangjiakou with a telescope.

Among Chinese cities, Zhangjiakou is neither a first-tier city nor a well-known and important city. But in Chahar, Zhangjiakou is the best and most important city.

Because it connects North China and Suiyuan, Suiyuan and Rehe, and also connects Datong, the largest city in northern Shanxi.

It's not just that.

Zhangjiakou is an important city connecting the mainland and Mongolia.

In this remote part of the north, it is an important city that no one can avoid. Or rather, a city that no one can replace.

"Commander, the Japanese regular army in Zhangjiakou numbered approximately 1500 men. However, there are a significant number of Japanese expatriates in Zhangjiakou, particularly farmers from the reclamation groups. Zhangjiakou stores weapons and ammunition for the Mongolian Army, the Kwantung Army, and a significant amount of the weapons and ammunition sent to Datong for the First Army. With so much weaponry, the Japanese army could easily equip those expatriates. According to intelligence from the city and our estimates, the number of Japanese troops in the city should be over , nearly . The Japanese army should have armed those expatriates on a large scale. Add to that the puppet troops in Zhangjiakou, including puppet guards, puppet police, and other traitorous armed forces. The number of puppet troops should be over to . Therefore, it's unlikely that we can attack the city the way we did in Xuanhua."

Wang Qiuyun, Wei Hongjun and Xu Luomin came to observe the situation in Zhangjiakou.

Now that they had arrived in Zhangjiakou, the next step was, of course, to capture it. After Xu Luomin briefly gathered intelligence on Zhangjiakou, he expressed his opinion. Zhangjiakou was not Xuanhua, and taking it would be very difficult.

"Xuanhua and Zhangjiakou are certainly not comparable. Xuanhua was besieged by us for several months, and they didn't have any heavy weapons.

But Zhangjiakou is different. They have ammunition. If they want, they can easily bring out a large number of heavy weapons. We certainly can't attack Zhangjiakou the same way we attacked Xuanhua."

Wang Qiuyun looked at Zhang Jiakou with a serious expression.

There are many arms in Zhangjiakou.

Whatever you want, you get it. Cannons, heavy machine guns, and the like—perhaps even field guns and howitzers. Zhangjiakou supplied not only the Mongolian garrison but also the First Army in Shanxi. While most of the munitions reached the First Army via the Zhengtai Road, some also arrived via the Pingsui Road. Some munitions were usually stored directly in Zhangjiakou.

When Datong was fighting with the Japanese First Army, a lot of the needed arms did not need to be sent from Peiping, but could be directly allocated from Zhangjiakou.

The Japanese First Army fighting in Shanxi was a field force.

They had heavy artillery in their hands. So Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun judged that there might be howitzers in the arsenal in Zhangjiakou City.

It is not so easy to capture a city like this.

"Old Wang, what do you think?"

"We are no match for the Japanese in an artillery battle. If we storm, our casualties will be too great. Zhangjiakou is already our meat, and we cannot burn our tongues just to get the meat."

Wang Qiuyun has the demeanor of a great general.

He was particularly gifted in warfare, and while establishing an independent base behind enemy lines, he grew rapidly.

Now I can remain calm and collected.

He pointed to the Chahar city wall and said, "With our artillery capabilities, if the distance is too far, we will have no way to destroy their city wall.

But if our artillery is too close to the Japanese city wall, as happened in Xuanhua last time, it will be easy for the Japanese to attack. So my idea is to use the "coffin cannon" from the Red Army era.

"Dig a tunnel?"

"Ah."

Wang Qiuyun took a branch and drew on the snow.

"A frontal attack will definitely not work. We will first surround him and find out all the conditions outside the city. Then we will select a few places where we can dig tunnels and start digging. Don't rush, dig slowly, and it will take two months. Dig multiple blasting points under the Zhangjiakou city wall and use a large amount of explosives to blow the Zhangjiakou city wall open. At the same time, use this time to dig trenches outside the city and slowly approach Zhangjiakou.

Wei Hongjun looked at Wang Qiuyun's painting and also picked up a branch.

Several lines were drawn in Zhangjiakou.

He said, "Old Wang, I have some ideas. You two should listen to them. When we attack Zhangjiakou, we will place the Chaxi Detachment in Huaian, the 26th Regiment, the 37th Regiment, and the New st Regiment in Xuanhua, and the Chabei Detachment in Chongli. We will use coffin artillery to blast open these walls, and then attack Zhangjiakou from these three sides. We will concentrate so many troops here and attack in the southwest, southeast, and northeast of Zhangjiakou. When the time comes, we will definitely be able to attract the main force of Zhangjiakou to deploy here. The Japanese troops in Zhangjiakou are always limited, and a three-sided defense will definitely require most of the troops. The First Brigade will bypass Huaian and lurk in Zhangbei.

When the fighting in the Huaian, Xuanhua, and Chongli directions becomes intense, the First Brigade will attack Zhangjiakou from Zhangbei and Wanquan, tearing open Zhangjiakou's defenses."

Wei Hongjun expressed his general idea of ​​the Zhangjiakou campaign.

Of course, this is just a rough idea. To truly complete this plan, a lot of preparation is needed, and even more needs to be improved.

From which angle to dig the tunnel, and to what extent the troops will attack.

All of this requires careful planning.

However, Wei Hongjun had already expressed his general combat plan.

Speaking of Zhangjiakou, Wei Hongjun recalled the Jin-Cha-Ji Army's hasty departure from Zhangjiakou during the Liberation War. It was because of this battle that Fu Zuoyi left Suiyuan and eventually became the King of North China.

When Fu Zuoyi captured Zhangjiakou, he adopted a similar tactic.

The main forces of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei were attracted from the east and west, and then his troops bypassed the main forces of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei and attacked Zhangjiakou from Wanquan.

“This is a good idea. But it needs to be improved.

Wang Qiuyun nodded, confirming Wei Hongjun's idea.

Xu Luomin was also considering how to attack Zhangjiakou next. Upon hearing Wei Hongjun's idea, he agreed. The 8th Column's current advantage was that it had almost occupied the entire Chahar region.

The current situation is that the Eighth Column has more people than the Japanese, and much more. They are surrounding Zhangjiakou from all sides.

"Now we just hope that the Japanese troops from other directions won't come here to cause trouble."

Zhangjiakou is already trapped.

As long as the Japanese troops from other directions do not come to cause trouble, it is only a matter of time to take Zhangjiakou.

Wang Qiuyun still held the branch and pointed to the location of Zhangjiakou and said: "From the current situation, the Japanese army in Zhangjiakou should not receive reinforcements in the short term. If there are reinforcements, they will come from three directions. One is the reinforcements of the Mongolian garrison. The troops that the Mongolian garrison can currently mobilize are the 26th Division in Datong and the 26th Independent Mixed Brigade in Baotou. However, the 11th Division does not have the strength to go north to support. The 12th Regiment suffered heavy casualties in the Zhongtiaoshan Campaign, and later the 13th Regiment was hit hard by the 120th Division. As for the th Regiment in Jining, The th Independent Mixed Brigade is even more afraid to move. They suffered over a thousand casualties in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain and marched into Baotou without a moment's pause. If it weren't for the heavy casualties suffered by Fu Zuoyi's troops in the previous Baotou Battle, the th Independent Mixed Brigade would not have been able to remain in Baotou for over four months. Furthermore, the th Division's Daqingshan Detachment is currently very active in Suiyuan, making it difficult for the th Independent Mixed Brigade to safely support Zhangjiakou from Baotou. They could easily be pursued and attacked by Fu Zuoyi's troops and the Daqingshan Detachment.

"The other route is occupied by other troops of the North China Front Army. But judging by the current situation, Ningji Okamura is determined to eliminate the Yizhong Military Region this time. The North China Front Army does not yet have sufficient strength to sweep the Jizhong Military Region while also sending troops to reinforce Zhangjiakou."

"The last one is the Kwantung Army. Zhangjiakou is also quite important to the Kwantung Army. However, the majority of the Kwantung Army is currently in the Heilongjiang area, mainly guarding against the Soviet Army. Some troops are also in Mongolia, guarding against the Soviet and Mongolian armies. The Kwantung Army must be worried that if they lose Zhangjiakou, we will move north and join the Soviet and Mongolian armies to attack them. However, according to the intelligence we have received, the Kwantung Army has been continuously increasing its troops since June of last year. In October and November of last year, the Japanese army was also increasing the Kwantung Army's strength. This should be related to the Soviet Union across the street. Compared to a behemoth like the Soviet Union, even if we occupied Zhangjiakou, it would be a small fight. The Kwantung Army probably won't take us seriously."

"Of course, this is all about looking at the bright side. If the Kwantung Army really sends troops here, then we'll fight them. We've fought the Japanese army for so many years, and it's not like we haven't fought against Kwantung Army troops before. It's nothing big."

After Wang Qiuyun's overall analysis, it was difficult for the Japanese army to receive reinforcements.

Wei Hongjun nodded and said, "Old Wang's analysis makes sense. If there's any army that can send reinforcements, it's the Kwantung Army. But the current situation is that the Kwantung Army has been increasing its troops and has deployed a large number of troops on the Sino-Soviet and Sino-Mongolian lines. It's obvious that the Kwantung Army is targeting the Soviets, not us. We will deploy the Zhangjiakou Campaign step by step and capture Zhangjiakou."

Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun's guess was correct.

The only Japanese army that could send reinforcements was the Kwantung Army. But the Kwantung Army didn't have the energy to pay attention to a small matter like Zhangjiakou.

The Kwantung Army is currently closely following the situation of the Soviet-German War and the situation of the Soviet Far East Army.

In June 1941, the Soviet-German War broke out.

Germany advanced rapidly, and the Soviet army suffered heavy casualties. The casualties of the Soviet-German War were no longer counted in the hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands. They were losses in the hundreds of thousands or even millions.

When the news came, the Japanese army was overjoyed.

I thought the opportunity to go north had finally arrived.

Although Japan had already gone to war with Britain and the United States, the Kwantung Army had not yet completely given up the idea of ​​moving north. Originally, the Japanese Army had always wanted to move north, but after fighting several battles with the Soviet Army on the Sino-Soviet border, they gave up this idea.

Because the Soviet army is not the Chinese army.

The Japanese army was not confident enough to defeat the Soviet Far East Army, so they had no choice but to accept the armistice agreement. However, this was a clause they accepted out of helplessness, and they never forgot to move north.

They had expected that the Soviet Union would withdraw troops from the Far East Army after suffering heavy casualties in the Soviet-German War. At that time, the Kwantung Army could take advantage of the Soviet Union's lack of troops in the Far East to swallow up Siberia and cooperate with Germany in attacking the Soviet Union.

Therefore, from the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, the Kwantung Army suddenly and continuously increased its forces. A large number of newly formed divisions were incorporated into the Kwantung Army, and the number of Kwantung Army began to expand rapidly. Even after the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese army, due to insufficient manpower, withdrew a large number of troops from the Chinese battlefield. However, they did not move the Kwantung Army, but instead continued to increase the number of Kwantung Army troops.

Of course, in addition to the Japanese army's eagerness to seize Siberia, the Japanese army was also worried about the Soviet army.

Even with the immense pressure of the Soviet-German War, the Soviet Union maintained the size of its Far Eastern Army. How could the Japanese army be reassured? Just as the Soviet Union was worried about the Japanese army moving north, and therefore did not dare to reduce the size of its Far Eastern Army, the Japanese army was also worried about such a large number of Far Eastern Army troops suddenly moving south into Northeast China.

There is absolutely no trust between the two sides.

Under such circumstances, both sides can only continue to increase their troops.

Due to insufficient manpower in the interior of the country, the Japanese army requested additional troops from the headquarters several times. However, the headquarters preferred to expand the independent mixed brigade of the Japanese army in the interior of the country into a security division rather than increase the troops.

Don't even think about withdrawing troops from the Kwantung Army.

The Kwantung Army's primary mission now was to contain the Soviets. Everything else was minor. As a result, the Eighth Column laid siege to Zhangjiakou for a month, with no reinforcements. Fortunately, the Eighth Column successively captured Xuanhua, Huaian, and Wanquan, seizing a large amount of food.

Otherwise, relying solely on the food reserves of the Eighth Column, how could such extravagance be possible?

Tens of thousands of troops were mobilized to surround Zhangjiakou for a month.

Chapter 416 Battle Plan

It was the end of March.

The Eighth Column had been besieging Zhangjiakou for over a month. All the troops were already in place, and for the past month they had been digging trenches and searching for places to dig tunnels.

We have been preparing to attack the city.