Chapter 14: Advanced (33)

Knowing that the Japanese army had placed the main direction of attack on the Wengmen Pass between the Eastern Boundary Ridge and the Songzi Pass, Mo Di's head buzzed and he almost fainted. Wengmen Pass is in the lofty mountains of Dabie Mountain, because the mountain road is difficult to walk, has long been abandoned, he has walked through the East Boundary Ridge, walked through the Yanzi River, walked through the Songzi Pass, walked through the Changling Pass, just did not walk through this remote Wengmen Pass. The Japanese army is actually more familiar with Dabie Mountain than themselves, a semi-indigenous who has been mixed in Dabie Mountain for several years, and they are evil!

The reason why Mo Di knew about the Wengmen Pass, that was when he returned from the Liuhuang hospitalization, first took a car to Qingshanpu, and then walked along the Qinglong River to the Yanzi River. The coachman told him that at the foot of Shijing Mountain in the Sizhou River Valley, six large caves were lined up, which were the munitions warehouses of the 21st Group Army in Dabie Mountain. The goal of the Japanese turned out to be here. It seems that the death of Tsukada really aroused the anger in the hearts of the Japanese, and also stabbed the Japanese to really feel the pain, the Japanese revenge on Dabie Mountain, not only Taihu Lake, but Lihuang, the Japanese army through a surprise attack, the use of lightning-like attack, to Lihuang to deal a heavy blow. Judging from the route of the march, the Japanese army's study of Dabie Mountain is very detailed, and many locals do not understand the road, and they also know it by heart. For example, from Tengjiabao to Wengmen Pass, you have to pass through Bodao Peak, which is a road that only medicine pickers can walk, but the Japanese let an army of up to 5,000 people pass through. What's more, the gods didn't know it, and it wasn't until they appeared in front of the urn gate that the defenders suddenly realized that they had just woken up from a dream.

From the current point of view, the Japanese army attacked Lihuang has three routes, one is from the Yinghuo post road to the Manshui River, from the Manshui River into Lihuang, which can be called the eastern front, this line was counterattacked by the 48th Army in the deep ditch, and this road was also declared impassable. The second is the Western Front, where the 6th Wing and the 4th Cavalry Brigade marched north after entering Tengjiabao and pointed at Songzi Pass, which is called the Western Front. And the middle line is the 68th Wing led by Lu Tian Kakutaro, which goes straight to the Swallow River from the Wengmen Pass.

The next day, the news came, Mo Enemy sighed, the march route of the Japanese army in the middle was completely unexpected, the defenders of Wengmen Pass was a battalion of the Ninth Regiment of Lihuang Security, in the face of 5,000 Japanese troops, a battalion was too insignificant, and after resisting to the greatest ability, they gave up Wengmen Pass. After the Lu Tian detachment entered the Wengmen Pass, it accurately found a road, a road that Mo Di had never heard of, and crossed Houjia to the north, crossed the Siwang Ridge, and entered the Sizhou River Valley. Destroy all the six ammunition depots at the foot of Shijing Mountain, and then march towards Longmen Stone.

Mo Di had seen the Japanese caravan in the Manshui River, and also knew the role of the Japanese Rendan posters, so it was not surprising that they could accurately find the marching route, but sighed, it was possible to enter the hinterland of Dabie Mountain as if no one was in the land, I have to say that it is the sorrow of the defenders.

The Japanese army on the middle road was smooth all the way, and the second and third police regiments stationed in Shijingshan were transferred to Songzi Pass, leaving only one security regiment and the ninth regiment, which was too weak and too weak. At dawn on December 31, the Japanese troops on the middle road marched from the Sizhou River Valley and arrived at Longmenshi at 1 p.m. At midnight on January 1, the vanguard of the Japanese army arrived at Xiabahe, rested for a while, and attacked Maoping.

Maoping, is a market in the middle of Lihuang to Liubo Highway, when Mo Enemy came out from Lihuang, once passed by car here, because it is located on the side of the highway, there are many vendors, there are restaurants, there are big car shops, and large and small grocery stores. On top of that, it's less than fifty miles from here to Xiangshan Temple, and the road is direct and it only takes an hour by car.

Before dawn on January 2, the Japanese army touched into the thatched flat.

What is ironic is that the Japanese army has reached Maoping, but the 21st Group Army of Xiangshan Temple is at a loss, and the order to Xiao Xiangyang, the 513th Regiment of the Seventh Army, who has been reinforced, is still "quickly rush to Xiabahe to block the Japanese troops coming from Longmenshi." ”

It was not that the leaders of the army group were mentally retarded, but because they were frightened by the Japanese troops on the Western Front.

Previously, the 6th Wing of the Japanese Army on the Western Front arrived at Songzi Pass but did not attack for a long time, which made Zhang Yichun of Lihuang breathe a sigh of relief. However, Zhang Yichun's breath had not yet been completely exhaled, but he got an even worse news that the 4th Cavalry Brigade of the Japanese Army appeared at Changling Pass west of Songzi Pass. There was only one regiment of the 173rd Division and the 517th Regiment stationed at Changling Pass, and no decent operations were carried out at all, and Changling Pass was declared lost. From Changling Pass to Xiangshan Temple is only a hundred miles, a highway is unimpeded, and the early departure can arrive at night. And the 4th Cavalry Brigade that knocked on the pass was even more speedy and vigorous, and the men of the 21st Group Army were attracted to the Western Front.

After hearing the return of Xiao Xiangyang of the 513th Regiment of the Seventh Army, the Japanese army had occupied Maoping, and after the people at the headquarters of the 21st Group Army were shocked, they retreated to Huoqiu led by General Lu Yinji, the chief of staff, and all units of the county government were led by Yang Sidao, the county magistrate, to take refuge in Lianhua Mountain, and the acting commander-in-chief Zhang Yichun rushed to Mabu under the pretext of asking for help from the 7th Army in Dushan, and Lihuang was in chaos.

On the afternoon of the 2nd, the Japanese army on the middle route broke through Xiao Xiangyang's defense line and entered the ancient monument to burn down Anhui College. At night, they occupied Xiangshan Temple and burned down the headquarters of the 21st Group Army. Late at night, the 4th Brigade of the Japanese Cavalry on the West Road rushed to Lihuang from Changling Pass, and the two Japanese troops converged in Jinjiazhai City. The Japanese knew that they would not have much time in Lihuang, and that the army of King Qin, who had gathered from all sides, was about to arrive, and they had to burn and loot on a completely large scale in the shortest possible time, and then retreat from Huangchuan to Xinyang.

Jinjiazhai 20 miles long street is a sea of fire, along the way no longer see a living person, broken walls, scorched corpses all over the field, the New Year's Day celebration meeting venue "celebrate New Year's Day" color banner, by the Japanese army changed to "celebrate the end". Lihuang has become one of the most thoroughly burned places in the 14 years of the Anti-Japanese War.

The first to rush to Lihuang was the remnants of the 56th Division of the 39th Army, and the red-eyed division commander Kong Haikun was the first to cry when he saw the tragic situation of Lihuang.

The second to rush to Lihuang was the 174th Division of the 84th Army, and the division commander Niu Bingxin had a bag of gas in his stomach because he fell into the enemy's plan to divert the tiger from the mountain. In Yeji's encounter with a retreating Japanese army, Niu Bingxin originally wanted to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army, but Mo Shujie, the commander of the 84th Army, ordered the 174th Division not to rush to Lihuang because of the important task of rescuing the provincial capital, so he continued to rush to Lihuang with fire. When I arrived at Lihuang and saw the scene of Lihuang City, I couldn't hold this breath anymore, took out my gun, and swept all the bullets into the sky.

The third to arrive at Lihuang was Su Tingxun, deputy commander of the 48th Army, who led Zhou Mengxiong's 528th Regiment and Wei Jiebo's 414th Regiment to Shijingshan to deal with the aftermath of the six arsenals before rushing to Lihuang.

The fourth came relatively late, the commander of the Seventh Army, Zhang Gan, arrived in Dushan in Zhang Yichun, and made it clear that the Japanese army in Hefei was not even a feint, but only after a *, he agreed to send troops to reinforce Lihuang, when the reinforcements of the Seventh Army 171 Division arrived in Lihuang, it was already January 8, and the Japanese army had left Lihuang for five days.

From the attack to the capture, Japan only took five days, and the speed was so fast that Mo Enemy was puzzled, and Lihuang's defense was so poor that it was like a chicken and a dog, and Mo Enemy could not let go. Yang Bin also convened a discussion session for a panel discussion. At the discussion meeting, the language was sharp, each expressed its own opinions, and the group was excited, and the spearhead was pointed at Zhang Yichun, acting commander of the 21 st Group Army.

As members of the 21st Group Army, Mo Di and Wu Zhongjian did not say a word during the entire discussion, but only seriously recorded the opinions of their classmates.

In summary, there are a few:

1. This was an unprecedented and remarkable defeat in the history of the Nationalist Army's warfare, and it was not one of them, that the main garrison area guarded by a group army could not resist the attack of a Japanese division and regiment, and I tried to imagine how Lihuang would defend if it was not a third division that attacked Lihuang, but the 11th Army that attacked Changsha. In contrast, Li Pinxian is far from Xue Yue.

Second, this is not a military defeat, but a failure of military strategic thinking, which symbolizes that the strategic thinking of isolating the establishment of the main garrison area in the mountainous areas behind enemy lines has fallen far behind modern warfare. The fact that similar guerrilla bases in Zhongtiao Mountain, Luliang Mountain, and Taihang Mountain were destroyed by the Japanese army one after another shows a problem: the modern field army* is moving on the battlefield to annihilate the enemy, rather than sticking to important places and waiting for death.

3. The duel of intelligence ended in the complete defeat of our side. The reason why the Japanese army was able to bypass the tight defensive line deployed by the 39th Army in this operation and kill Luo Tian with lightning speed was that the intelligence was collected in detail. The fact that Kakutaro Rokuda was able to pass through remote roads in the mountains that even the national army did not know much about shows that his intelligence work is in place. On the other hand, our army, the 56th Army retreated to Songzi Pass, but did not know where the Japanese army would appear, and it was not until the Japanese army occupied Lihuang that the direction was clear when it occupied Lihuang and carried out a massacre, and got up and rushed to Lihuang.

Fourth, the Seventh Army sat idly by and did not save it, which is chilling.

Fifth, the General Headquarters was inappropriately employed, and it was difficult for Zhang Yichun to take on a major responsibility, and it was only because he took into account Zhang Yichun's emotional problems as a local in Anhui that he was entrusted with a major responsibility, which was the fundamental reason for this great defeat.

6. The Lihuang Garrison Headquarters has a total of 11 security regiments and six garrison regiments, and in front of the Japanese army, tens of thousands of troops are like chickens and dogs, which are embarrassing and useful, which shows that the difference between Anhui's militia policy and Guangxi's is not ordinary.

Seventh, Zhang Yichun should be held responsible, and it was proposed that Su Zuxin take over the post of deputy commander of the 21st Group Army.

Yang Bin was also not polite, and after sorting out his opinions a little, he did not fall a single one, and all of them were reported to the Ministry of Education as the collective work of the sixth branch.

Soon after, news came that Lieutenant General Zhang Yichun, acting commander-in-chief of the 21st Group Army, was dismissed from his post and transferred to the Military Commission as a lieutenant general and senior staff member. The successor was not Su Zuxin, but Liu Heding, the former commander of the 39th Army. Qiu Qingying, commander of the Lihuang garrison, and Yang Sidao, magistrate of Lihuang County, were dismissed, and a deputy commander of the 517th Regiment of the 173rd Division was dismissed. Su Tingxun, commander of the Tonglu Garrison Command, was appointed commander of the Lihuang Garrison Command. Zhang Gan, the commander of the Seventh Army, who did not move, lost his qualification to act as an agent of the 21st Group Army, but he was not punished, which surprised everyone.

At the end of the meeting, Mo Di walked on the way back to the dormitory, and he still remembered the joke that someone had just said, on the morning of New Year's Day, when the sound of artillery on the middle line came, Zhang Yichun also delivered a speech at the New Year's Day celebration meeting at Lihuang Airport, and said lightly: "Recently, there have been signs of stupidity of the enemy in eastern Hubei Province, and this is the old trick of the Japanese invaders to pretend to be. Although Dabie Mountain is not an impregnable wall, it will never allow the enemy to invade easily......"

As a general, you must not deceive yourself, for it is forgivable to deceive others, but you must not forgive yourself if you deceive yourself. Be careful!

Mo Di can understand Zhang Gan, with Harada in Hefei, the Seventh Army will definitely not dare to act rashly, perhaps, Harada is waiting for the Seventh Army to make a move, looking for any fighter to create an offensive for the Japanese army in Hefei. As for the loss of Lihuang, Zhang Gan was not at fault, on the issue of the 84th Army, Zhang Gan once argued on the basis of reason, if Li Pinxian was not inclined to Zhang Yichun for political purposes, if the 84th Army was allowed to stand still, and the 173rd Division was also stuck in Banzhuyuan behind Changling Pass, and was not transferred to the mall, then it would be impossible for the Japanese army to easily enter Banzhuyuan, let alone enter Lihuang. If the Western Front is worry-free, then the defenders of the Central Front will not be so thin, leaving the Japanese army as if they were in a no-man's land.

There are also things that Mo Di can't understand, on the occasion of the Spring Festival, Liang Yisheng came to Guilin, and in the house of Mo Di in Doumu Lane, Mo Di set up a banquet to entertain him. Liang Yisheng told Mo Di that he was transferred out of his hometown of Yishan and served as the deputy of Wei Xusong, the chief captain of the Hechi People's League. Liang Yishan's mood was very low, he shot down a plane, killed a Japanese general, and without a penny of credit, he was cut down and returned to the field. Mo Di drank wine with Liang Yisheng for most of the night, and said, Because of your actions, tens of thousands of people died in Lihuang, do you say that you have merit or fault. Liang Yisheng didn't answer, just drank silently and drunk himself.

Looking at his subordinates, he is not thriving, only Liang Yisheng is in such a situation, and Mo Di is also very unhappy. Liang Yisheng is talented and wise, and it is not his original intention to defeat Tsukada's landline, and it is really unclear when people meet.

sent Liang Yisheng away, Mo Di reported his mentality to Yang Bin, hoping to get a solution. Yang Bin told him with a smile that life is unsatisfactory, and nine times out of ten, it is rare for Liang Yisheng to be able to come back from the battlefield. With an ignorant teenager in Yishan, in a few years, he has grown into the deputy captain of the Yishan People's League, isn't it a good progression! The Yishan Corps is about to merge with the Jinchengjiang Corps to form the Qingyuan Division Management District, or Liang Yisheng will be able to mix a very good position there. Mo Wei only saw the progress in the army, but did not see the progress in the locality.