The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 388 Adjusting deployment and equipping friendly forces

September 2, 1938, Banbishan, Banbishan Garrison Command Post.

He Wei was standing at the table, studying the battle map carefully.

After annihilating the Japanese Marines who landed at Fuchikou, He Wei quickly gathered his troops and withdrew all the forces of the assault corps near the Fuchi River to Banbi Mountain.

Not only the combat troops of the assault corps led by He Wei himself, but also his liaison officer stationed in the 18th Division, Zhao Zhanhai, the chief of the combat training section of the assault corps' staff office, and the naval artillery team led by him were all brought back by He Wei.

Although He Wei won a brilliant victory on the west bank of the Fuchi River, he did not have much hope for the subsequent defense arrangements at Fuchikou and along the Fuchi River.

The Fuchikou Fortress had been completely destroyed by Japanese naval warships, and the 18th Division guarding the east and west banks of the Fuchi River had been severely damaged by the Japanese army. These losses were irreversible.

Facing the Japanese troops attacking along the land, the vast and undefended area near the Fuchi River was obviously not a good battlefield, so He Wei withdrew all his troops.

Therefore, the only troops guarding the east bank of the Fuchi River now are Luo Guangwen, the acting commander of the 18th Division, and his three infantry regiments.

After He Wei reported the entire process of the annihilation battle on the west bank of the Fuchi River, the battle report and enemy situation analysis to his current superior, the commander of the 11th Corps, Li Yannian, Li Yannian issued a general commendation to He Wei and the assault corps, submitted the battle report of the annihilation battle to the Military Commission, and made further deployments on the defense of the Fuchi River front line.

Li Yannian agreed with He Wei's view that the Japanese army was about to attack Banbi Mountain from the land direction with a large number of troops. Therefore, Li Yannian gave Luo Guangwen, the acting commander of the 18th Division, a very flexible combat order: "Your division can rely on the position of the Banbi Mountain Fortress Garrison Command and defend the east bank of Fuchi River as appropriate. If the enemy's offensive is fierce, you can move to the defense area of ​​the Banbi Mountain Garrison Command on your own and report to He Wei of the Banbi Mountain Garrison Command."

To put it bluntly, Li Yannian's order to the 18th Division was to tell the 18th Division stationed on the east bank of the Fuchi River not to fight hard in the upcoming battles, but to fight within their capabilities. If they could hold on, they would fight. If they really couldn't hold on, they would move to the territory of He Wei's Banbishan Fortress Garrison Command and fight together with the troops of the Banbishan Fortress Garrison Command.

As for when and how to move, it was all decided by Luo Guangwen himself. The existence of Li Yannian's combat order also meant that Li Yannian would not pursue the 18th Division's retreat near the Fuchi River.

The reason why Li Yannian issued the order to allow the 18th Division to move and retreat on its own was also because he had no hope for the defense of the Fuchi River line.

In Li Yannian's opinion, the defense of Banbishan Fortress and nearby outer positions will ultimately depend on the troops under He Wei's Banbishan Fortress Garrison Command. The 18th Division troops defending the east bank of Fuchi River are destined to be alone and can only serve as a forward guard force at most.

In short, He Wei and Li Yannian now have the same idea. Facing the heavy and fierce attack launched by the Japanese Army from land, there is no need to defend the area near Fuchi River. If they want to defend the Banbishan Fortress, they have to withdraw their troops and concentrate their efforts on defending the core defense area of ​​the Banbishan Garrison Command. This is the only way to win.

During the days of withdrawal, He Wei ordered the surrendered Japanese soldiers in the General Staff Office and the Rangers to sort out the various paper notes, documents and orders found on the bodies of Japanese officers.

He Wei's request to them was to focus on organizing all the information related to the Japanese troops attacking from the land towards Banbi Mountain, especially the relevant information about the Japanese Army's Hata Detachment whose vanguard force had been eaten up by the Assault Corps.

With the urgent overtime work of Zhao Zhanhai, chief of the Combat Training Section of the General Staff Office, and a group of staff members and surrendered Japanese soldiers, a lot of useful information about the Hata Detachment was indeed obtained.

According to the information compiled and collected by the General Staff, the Japanese Army's Hata Detachment was urgently advancing towards Banbi Mountain to support the Japanese Marines who had landed on the west bank of the Fuchi River, and would arrive at the west bank of the Fuchi River on the same day as He Wei completely annihilated the Japanese Marines on the west bank of the Fuchi River.

However, not to mention that He Wei did not find the Japanese reinforcements on the day of annihilating the landing Japanese troops, even to this day, he has not seen any shadow of the Hata Detachment. As to why this happened, it cannot be explained by the fragmented information in the captured Japanese documents.

Faced with an analysis of the enemy situation that did not match the facts and the confusing battle situation, all He Wei could do was to prepare for war as actively as possible.

Wang Yuanling, the chief of staff of the assault corps, walked up to He Wei with a stack of telegrams and lists, and said with a smile, "Captain, Tianjia Town has sent two more ships of ammunition. They said that the Military Commission has just allocated ammunition to the 150th Corps. I have seen that there are 76 75mm howitzer blasting grenades, 7.92 Russian-made 82mm mountain artillery shells, and 81 mm mountain artillery shells, mm caliber machine gun shells, and mm and mm caliber mortar shells. There are also a lot of grenades. Our family foundation has become much stronger."

He Wei raised his head, threw the marker pen on the map, and said, "The Japanese troops marching along the land route are about to attack us. We need as much ammunition as possible. How about it? Do we have enough ammunition now?"

Wang Yuanling nodded and said confidently, "I have checked with Director Li Youcai of the Logistics Department. Not counting the ammunition that has already been distributed to the troops, even if we use the ammunition consumption calculation principle of high-intensity combat, our stockpile of ammunition is enough for our assault corps and the 385th Brigade of the friendly army, Commander Ma, to fight for at least a month. There is also enough ammunition for the artillery unit."

He Wei thought for a moment, and recalled the huge amount of ammunition consumed in the annihilation battle on the west bank of the Fuchi River. He said, "We still need more ammunition. Our assault corps has a lot of automatic firearms, and the friendly 385th Brigade also has three infantry regiments, with a total of nearly 10,000 troops. Although their equipment and firepower are average, they are outnumbered. In addition, there are howitzers and anti-aircraft guns directly under the command of my Banbishan Command, as well as naval artillery teams, various rifles, light and heavy machine guns, mortars, mountain artillery, howitzers, anti-aircraft guns, etc. The ammunition throughput consumption of so many weapons cannot be calculated according to the ammunition consumption values ​​in the general staff operation plan."

"This time, I personally led the team to attack the west bank of the Fuchi River and encountered a shortage of ammunition many times. The mountain artillery shells and submachine gun bullets were all used up. The intensity and intensity of the next battle will only be stronger. Brother Yuan Ling, you should urge Corps Commander Li Yannian from time to time to try to get more ammunition."

Wang Yuanling's face turned serious, and he said, "I understand. I will ask Tianjia Town for as much ammunition as possible and urge them to do so. However, the situation at Tianjia Town's Li Junjun is not good. The Guangxi troops stationed outside Huangmei and Guangji have been through bloody battles and can no longer hold on. It is estimated that in a few days, the outer defense line of Tianjia Town will be lost. Once the outer defense line is lost, the Tianjia Town Fortress will have to face the Japanese head-on."

"Tianjia Town is also about to go to war, and they need to stockpile ammunition. We may not be able to get much even if we ask for more. But with our resources and the continuous replenishment during this period, when the Japanese army attacks, I think the ammunition logistics support for our Banbishan Garrison Headquarters should be safe."

Then, Wang Yuanling continued to report: "Captain, the defense adjustments of the various units under my Banbi Mountain Garrison Command have been completed according to your order. The 150st Infantry Battalion and the Artillery Battalion originally stationed on Banbi Mountain, as well as the nd Infantry Battalion and the rd Infantry Battalion guarding the beachhead positions on the left and right wings of Banbi Mountain have all withdrawn from their original defense areas and have completed assembly behind Banbi Mountain, ready to attack at any time. The mm heavy field howitzer battalion under the command of Battalion Commander Hu Rizhen, which is under the command of my Banbi Mountain Command, has also withdrawn from Banbi Mountain and is on standby in a hidden position at the foot of the mountain."

"The only ones deployed on Banbi Mountain right now are the Navy artillery team led by Lieutenant Commander Wei Lei, the Navy mine team, and the 75mm anti-aircraft artillery company under the command of our headquarters. In addition, although our engineering company, special agent company, and communications company are still deployed on Banbi Mountain, they can be withdrawn at any time. The direct supply company and medical team are not front-line combat troops. They have been responsible for logistics and treating the wounded at the foot of Banbi Mountain. Therefore, they do not need to change their defense areas like other troops, so they continue to perform their original tasks in the original place."

He Wei smiled and said, "Very good! Brother Yuan Ling, now that the Japanese army can no longer attack by water, the main force of our corps will have to focus its defense on the vast area behind Banbi Mountain. You can go back and check if there are any omissions in the transfer and assembly of the defense zones of each unit. Anyway, except for the baggage company and the medical team, which can perform their respective duties at the foot of Banbi Mountain without moving and assembling, the rest of the corps, including three infantry battalions, the artillery battalion, the direct engineering company, the special service company, the communications company, and the 150mm howitzer battalion assigned to us, must all be assembled at the foot of Banbi Mountain. Once the Japanese army attacks from the land, we must be able to maneuver and attack in a timely manner."

After leading the troops attacking the west bank of Fuchi River to retreat to Banbi Mountain, He Wei quickly adjusted the garrison deployment, garrison policy and focus of the Banbi Mountain Garrison Command in the face of the threat from the Japanese army on land. Originally, the defense area of ​​the Banbi Mountain Fortress Garrison under He Wei's command was divided into three areas, namely the basic position of Banbi Mountain, the shallow and deep position along the river and the wide and deep position along the lake network.

Among them, the Banbi Mountain basic position was based on the mountain fortress of Banbi Mountain, and deployed all the barreled artillery in He Wei's hands, including the artillery of the assault corps, the attached 150mm heavy howitzer battalion, the 75mm anti-aircraft artillery company and the naval artillery team, and the naval mine team. This deployment was precisely to resist the Japanese naval warships going up the river with fierce artillery and mine forces.

The garrison troops in the shallow and deep positions along the river were the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Assault Corps. These two battalions were deployed in the shallow and deep areas of the river bank on the left and right sides of Banbi Mountain to prevent the Japanese army from landing from both sides of Banbi Mountain.

The artillery group on Banbi Mountain performed very well in actual combat. It not only successfully repelled the Japanese naval fleet that attacked upstream, but also sank several Japanese ships, and created the established fact that the waterway near Banbi Mountain was blocked by Japanese sunken warships, creating brilliant results.

However, in terms of future war situations, the Japanese army will never launch its next offensive by water, but will inevitably use the army as the main attacking force to launch an attack from the land direction. Therefore, it is no longer meaningful to continue to deploy so many artillery pieces in the basic position of Banbi Mountain.

Apart from the naval artillery team, the naval mine team and the 75mm anti-aircraft artillery company, who need to continue to stay on Banbi Mountain to deploy defenses and monitor the situation on the river, it would be a waste of precious firepower resources for the artillery battalion of the assault corps and the 150mm heavy howitzer battalion to remain on Banbi Mountain.

As the river channel near Banbi Mountain was blocked, it was no longer possible for the Japanese army to launch a landing near Banbi Mountain. Therefore, the 2nd Infantry Battalion and the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps, which were stationed in shallow and deep positions along the river, had no need to continue to stay in positions near the river beach.

Whether it was the artillery units that had created brilliant results in the basic position of Banbi Mountain, or the Second and Third Infantry Battalions of the Assault Corps, which had been deployed in shallow and deep positions along the river and had never engaged in combat with the Japanese army except for capturing some Japanese naval prisoners, it was time to shift the combat area and tactical strategy in the face of the Japanese army that was about to attack from the land direction.

Of the three original defense zones of the Banbishan Garrison Command, the only ones that remained unchanged were the friendly forces deployed in the deep positions of the lake network behind Banbishan, namely the three field infantry regiments and a small number of direct-affiliated troops under Ma Ji's command of the 385th Brigade of the 193rd Army Division, which were assigned to He Wei's command.

The three field infantry regiments of the 385th Brigade were deployed with one regiment on the Big and Small Xiong Mountain heights in front of and behind Banbi Mountain, and two regiments built positions and defenses in the vast water network area from the right depth of Banbi Mountain to Fuchikou, protecting the rear of Banbi Mountain. Although its defense area was the rear of Banbi Mountain, this "rear" was based on the Japanese army's attack on Banbi Mountain from upstream along the waterway, which has become a thing of the past.

However, in the defensive operations against the Japanese army's land attacks, this "retreat" would be reversed and become the first line of defense for the Banbishan Garrison Command against the Japanese army's land attacks. Its importance is self-evident.

In He Wei's next operational plan, Ma Ji's troops will serve as a defensive force, holding their positions in their defense area and withstanding the Japanese attack from the front. The main force of He Wei's assault corps, after being withdrawn from the defense lines of Banbi Mountain and Jiangtan, will serve as a mobile attack force to support Ma Ji's troops with mobile operations, and take the initiative to attack and annihilate the Japanese army, forming a tactical policy of active defensive operations coordinated with defensive forces and mobile attack forces.

He Wei sighed, picked up a pencil and tapped the defense area of ​​Ma Ji's troops on the map. He Wei asked again: "Brother Yuan Ling, how is the situation with Brigade Commander Ma?"

Wang Yuanling smiled and said, "Captain, rest assured. Brigade Commander Ma Ji is indeed a master of defense from the Beiyang Army. He has been working hard to strengthen the defense deployment and fortifications in his defense zone. I have visited several times and the fortifications are very methodical. Brigade Commander Ma has built a large number of bunkers and machine gun shelters on the basis of the original positions in his defense zone, and has set up a large number of traps, multi-level barbed wire, stakes and other obstacle systems. The layout of the defense system is very well arranged."

"Commander Ma Ji was the commander of the 8th Division of the Beiyang Army. During the Northern Expedition, he was the chief of staff of Wu Peifu's troops guarding Wuchang City. He has always been good at defense and is an expert in defense. However, although Commander Ma Ji's command ability is top-notch, the quality and equipment of his troops are relatively average. I am very worried."

He Wei frowned and sighed.

Wang Yuanling nodded and said, "That's true, but Commander Ma Ji is very optimistic. When I went to deliver ammunition to him a few days ago, he said that in defensive operations, the shortcomings of the troops' quality and equipment can be compensated by relying on sophisticated tactics and the resilience of the troops in battle. I think he looks very confident."

As He Wei said, he has great confidence in Ma Ji's command ability and defensive level.

However, the equipment quality of Ma Ji's troops can only be said to be average. Now Ma Ji's 385th Brigade is defending the front-line position of the Banbishan Garrison Command and will be the first to suffer the swift attack of the Japanese army. Once the position guarded by the 385th Brigade is captured by the Japanese army, the gate of the Banbishan Fortress will be completely open to the Japanese army, and the consequences will be disastrous.

In fact, if the defensive area guarded by the 385th Brigade was not too large, He Wei might not have handed over such an important position to them. However, the assault corps was really stretched thin. At full strength, there were only less than 5,000 people, and they could not defend such a large position at all.

However, Ma Ji's 385th Brigade had three regiments of troops and was relatively strong, so He Wei could only hand over that position to Ma Ji. However, considering the quality and equipment of the 385th Brigade, no matter how high Ma Ji's command level was, it could not make up for the deficiencies in weapons and quality.

Therefore, He Wei was still a little worried, and now he was thinking about whether he could provide some reinforcements and strengthening to Ma Ji's troops in various aspects. However, after thinking about it, He Wei felt that the so-called reinforcements and strengthening could only focus on weapons and ammunition.

He Wei stared at the defense zone of Ma Ji's troops on the map, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Brother Yuan Ling, have all the captured equipment I brought back been counted and stored?"

Wang Yuanling was stunned for a moment, then replied: "Captain, are you talking about the captured supplies, or the extra equipment?"

"Extra equipment, naturally."

The so-called extra equipment mentioned by He Wei was actually the weapons and equipment originally belonging to the 18th Division that first fell into the hands of the Japanese army and then were stolen by He Wei. In order to conceal his tracks, when He Wei brought this batch of weapons back and handed them over to the General Staff Office and the Logistics Department for registration, he gave them the name of "extra equipment".

"All equipment has been counted and put into storage. The specific inventory check is in the charge of Director Li Youcai of the Logistics Department. The specific list is also backed up in my staff office."

He Wei nodded and said, "The amount of equipment in this batch is too large, and the source is not legitimate. Although Commander Ma's equipment is not the best, the position they are guarding is too important. I want to strengthen the equipment and ammunition of Commander Ma Ji's troops, and this batch of extra equipment can be used. You can coordinate with the logistics department and Commander Ma to allocate some of this batch of equipment and ammunition to them."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)