People are shining their swords, secretly helping the Iron Triangle in Northwest Shanxi

Starting from February 25, Chen Ziyun, commander of the Zhongtiao Mountain Guerrilla Command, unified the command of all units fighting in Jincheng.

Xu Chengpu's 4th Brigade and Li Yang's 5th Brigade assembled four infantry regiments to defend Jincheng with all their strength.

In addition, the Direct Cavalry Regiment, the First Artillery Regiment, the Second Artillery Regiment, and Wei Heshang's Guard Regiment carried out coordinated operations.

Chen Ziyun commanded eight regiments to defend Jincheng with all their might, resisting the Japanese attack from the north composed of the 53rd Division, Tieshi and other troops.

At the same time, in Wangwu Town and other areas in northern Henan, Li Yunlong unified the command of all units to encircle and attack the southern echelon.

Li Yunlong's Independent Detachment, Kong Jie's Northern Henan Detachment, Ding Wei's Guerrilla Detachment, as well as Liang Ruxian's Third Brigade, two guerrilla regiments of the Zhongtiao Mountain Guerrilla Command, and a heavy artillery battalion.

Li Yunlong assembled ten infantry regiments, one artillery regiment, and one heavy artillery battalion to carry out the attack.

The southern echelon of the Japanese 52nd Division, the Ejima Detachment, and the Furukawa Detachment suffered casualties one after another.

The two sides fought fiercely repeatedly on different battlefields, and both sides gained something.

The battle lasted until around March 10th, after more than ten days of fighting.

The Japanese northern and southern echelons suffered certain losses, and their plan to eliminate the Zhongtiao Mountain defenders through a pincer attack completely failed.

Kono Etsujiro and Takeda Kaoru, who were in charge of commanding the operation, organized their troops to attack several times, but did not gain much.

Whether it is the northern echelon fighting in Jincheng or the southern echelon fighting in the northern Henan region, they have no way to deal with the troops in front of them.

The North China Front Army Headquarters was very dissatisfied with this, and General Commander Okamura Yasuji reprimanded the troops one after another.

However, Okamura Neiji did not pay much attention here now, because he had to deploy a combat strike against Henan Province to capture the southern section of the Pinghan Railway.

The commander of the 12th Army, Takataro Uchiyama, flew to the front headquarters several times for discussions, and a large amount of supplies began to be transported.

At the same time, the Japanese army commander and staff also flew to the western Henan area for inspection.

Around March 10, the various units involved in the war began to mobilize secretly.

The troops participating in this battle mainly include the 37th Division, the 62nd Division, the 27th Division, the 110th Division, and the rd Tank Division.

In addition, some independent mixed brigades, heavy artillery and other units also participated in the war.

Both the 27th Division and the 110th Division had been attacked by Chen Ziyun's troops and had been transferred to the outside of the Great Wall.

They returned again for this battle, and the two divisions had upgraded their weapons.

They were equipped with the Japanese's latest Type 99 rifles, Type 96 light machine guns and other weapons.

In addition, the main force of the 3rd Tank Division will be dispatched, and a large number of tanks and armored vehicles will follow to participate in the battle.

As for artillery, they will have four heavy artillery battalions and dozens of large-caliber howitzers to assist in the battle.

It is now 44 years later, and it is already very rare for the Japanese to be able to put together such a large number of artillery pieces.

In addition to these troops, there will also be a large number of cavalry and engineering troops to assist in combat.

By March 15, the North China Front Army Headquarters issued a combat order.

Okamura Yasuji no longer asked the northern and southern echelons to quickly eliminate the troops in Zhongtiao Mountain, but instead asked them to make every effort to contain them.

The northern echelon is mainly gathered in the area north of Jincheng. They need to build positions and continuously launch oppressive attacks.

The southern echelon retreated to the Hanoi County area on the west bank of the Qin River, using it as a base to divert attacks to the west.

After more than ten days of fighting, the northern and southern echelons suffered casualties.

The southern echelon commanded by Kono Etsujiro had 36,000 troops, but now they have suffered more than 3,000 casualties. The northern echelon commanded by Takeda Kaoru had more than 40,000 troops, but they also had about 3,000 casualties.

The Japanese army suffered more than 6,000 casualties, but of course it did not have much impact on their main force.

Chen Ziyun and other troops also suffered more than 5,000 casualties, and the losses on both sides were almost the same.

This time, the Japanese dispatched elite troops with strong combat capabilities.

By the end of March, the Japanese troops gradually withdrew and began to gather in designated areas, preparing for diversionary operations.

Chen Ziyun and others actively strengthened their positions and prepared for continued defense.

At this time, the Japanese had already concentrated their troops in the eastern Henan area. The commander-in-chief of the First War Zone, Jiang Mingsan, was very nervous and sent telegrams one after another.

Even though Tang Paopao kept promising that they could hold their position, Jiang Mingsan always felt that he was unreliable.

He sent telegrams one after another, hoping that Chen Ziyun and Chu Yunfei could gather their troops in the northern Henan area and attack eastward at any time to support the battle.

But now Chen Ziyun has no way to do this, after all, there are more than 30,000 Japanese and puppet troops north of Jincheng.

If the main force is controlled in the northern Henan region, Jincheng and other areas may be lost at any time.

Jiang Mingsan was also aware of the situation. All he could do now was to continue allocating supplies.

He knew that these troops could not be assembled in the northern Henan area, so he could only strengthen their combat supplies and allow them to support the battle as much as possible.

Time passed, and on April 10, the Japanese north and south echelons launched another fierce attack as if they were injected with chicken blood.

The troops of both sides began to fight fiercely. By April 12, the assembled troops of the Japanese th Army began to attack with all their strength.

Under the command of Army Commander Uchiyama Takataro, the Japanese launched an all-out attack, and the troops of the First War Zone began to suffer a collapse.

Days passed quickly, and towns were lost one after another.

The Japanese troops acted as if they were in an empty space, as if they were conducting an armed parade.

The north and south echelons of the North China Front Army were also affected as a result and became more active in combat.

In their view, the troops in the Zhongtiao Mountain area must not affect the operations of the 12th Army at this time.

The 12th Army's successive victories were also a great encouragement to the Japanese devils.

They continued their fierce attack, preparing to completely defeat Chen Ziyun and other troops.

Time passed. On May 12, the Japanese 11th Army troops in Queshan area established contact with the th Army troops that were supporting the northward operations.

In less than a month, a large number of towns in Henan Province fell into the hands of the Japanese.

Almost all the important cities along the Pinghan Railway were controlled by the Japanese. Hundreds of thousands of troops in the First War Zone suffered a crushing defeat.

Jiang Mingsan is now like a frightened bird and is completely desperate.

He knew that the temporary capital would definitely not let him go.

However, Jiang Mingsan still placed his last hope on Chen Ziyun and others. He hoped that Chen Ziyun and others could launch a comprehensive counterattack and support the defensive operations.

On May 10th, Chen Ziyun, Chu Yunfei and others started to meet.

They discussed it repeatedly, and finally they decided to gather heavy troops in southeastern Shanxi to encircle and annihilate the Japanese's northern echelon.

This time, the encirclement and annihilation operation was naturally under the unified command of Chen Ziyun. (End of this chapter)