Chapter 57: Long-Distance Raid and Observations Along the Way

At three o'clock the following morning, the garrison of the Independent Detachment was already brightly lit.

According to Zhang Yun's plan, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Companies of the Independent Detachment, along with the Artillery Company, a detachment of the reconnaissance platoon, and communications personnel—totaling over 600 men fully loaded with machine guns, mortars, infantry guns, and ammunition—led by a dozen comrades from the Xiyang County Committee, headed west along the mountain paths straight toward the Lijiazhuang Stronghold in Changning Town, Yuci County, Jinzhong.

This was the first time Zhang Yun had ventured into the mountains west of the garrison. Compared to the sheer cliffs and treacherous, difficult terrain of the East Taihang Mountains, the West Taihang Mountains had a relatively lower altitude and gentler terrain, yet the depths of the mountains remained winding, twisting, and rarely visited by humans.

According to the guides, the route Zhang Yun and his men were taking was already a mountain path that ordinary people had slowly figured out over thousands of years as relatively convenient for travel, but it was still steep and hard to traverse. At every rugged spot, the soldiers still needed to help each other to climb over. Fortunately, the Japanese Type 92 infantry guns were very easy to disassemble, and their individual components were not too heavy, otherwise carrying them along would have been truly difficult.

Along the way, while comparing the map pages lit by Old Zhang and other scouts, Zhang Yun personally experienced the ruggedness, twists, turns, and magnificent beauty of the West Taihang Mountains, which actually added to his confidence in the defense of the Xiaowang Village garrison.

The Xiaowang Village garrison was located on the northwest side of Xiyang County, only a dozen kilometers away from Mafang Town in Heshun, which was at the northern center of the West Taihang Mountains. Although the transportation at the core of Mafang Town was slightly more convenient than that of Xiaowang Village, the surrounding area was similarly filled with mountains, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Historically, because the Eighth Route Army lacked weapons and ammunition and could not stop the Japanese advance, the Japanese and puppet troops successfully occupied Mafang Town in 1940, established a huge stronghold there, and garrisoned it until it was captured by our forces in 1945.

The reason Zhang Yun was previously somewhat dissatisfied with his predecessor's choice of the Xiaowang Village garrison lay right here: if even Mafang, which was closer to the core area of the Eighth Route Army, was difficult to hold firmly, could the Xiaowang Village garrison be held? If they could not hold their ground relying on the mountains, then Zhang Yun would not be able to establish a solid base area, and it would be difficult to change or avoid the difficult situation faced by the Eighth Route Army from 1941 to 1943.

(There were many reasons for the difficult situation between 1941 and 1943, including the Japanese focusing their attention on the "pacification warfare" in occupied areas, the Nationalist frontlines suffering continuous defeats that constantly freed up frontline Japanese forces, and continuous droughts in the Central Plains, Shanxi, and other regions.

For the various Eighth Route Army units in Shanxi, the most severe consequences were, first, that the troops suffered heavy losses—in 1941 alone, the main forces lost nearly two-thirds, and the loss of grassroots officers exceeded half. Second was the continuous shrinkage of the base areas, which at their smallest were reduced to just one or two counties like Licheng and Heshun. The direct result of the shrinking base areas was a sharp decline in economy and population, which in turn meant that losses in personnel and weapons for the troops were difficult to replenish, ultimately leading to a vicious cycle where the harder they fought, the poorer and more difficult their situation became.)

However, seeing the rugged mountain paths and rolling mountains of the West Taihang Mountains, Zhang Yun was convinced: he could do it!

With such mountain paths, the Japanese heavy artillery regiments could not get in at all. If the Japanese were to attack the Xiaowang Village garrison from directions such as Yuci, Shouyang, and Xiyang in the future, the most they could carry would be infantry guns and 75mm mountain guns. Such firepower was completely harmless against tunnels and reinforced concrete fortifications.

In the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II, more than 20,000 Japanese soldiers relied on tunnels and hidden fortifications to withstand 36 days of attacks by 110,000 U.S. troops, causing nearly 30,000 casualties to the U.S. forces. This was even on the premise that the U.S. military had dropped 24,000 tons of shells and bombs before the landing, basically destroying the Japanese surface fortifications. If not for the fact that the Japanese troops were isolated without support and had lost ammunition and troop reinforcements, whether the U.S. military could have captured Iwo Jima would have been a question.

During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Volunteer Army relied on tunnels to stubbornly withstand American heavy artillery and bombers. Because of a steady stream of logistical support and personnel reinforcements, they not only held their positions but also won respect.

Relying on the tunnels and concrete fortifications in the core area, coupled with the artillery emplacements Zhang Yun intended to build, he believed that when the time came, relying on the massive supplies at his hand and the favorable terrain, he would definitely be able to guard the northern gate of the southeastern Shanxi base area, thus at least safeguarding regions like Heshun and Liaoxian.

Observing the terrain along the way and marching slowly, by around 3:00 PM, Zhang Yun's Independent Detachment had reached the mountains about three kilometers away from the Lijiazhuang Stronghold, where they rendezvoused with local organizations, guerrilla armed forces, and detachment reconnaissance personnel such as Old Zhang.

Ever since the fall of Jinzhong, the people of Yuci had launched surging anti-Japanese activities. However, located at the junction of plains and hills with the Tongpu Railway passing through, this was an area heavily attacked and strictly defended by the Japanese. The strength of the Japanese and puppet troops was very powerful, and armed anti-Japanese activities basically all ended in failure. At present, only some guerrillas were still active in the eastern mountainous areas, but the region west of the railway had all gone underground.

Due to the continuous suppression by the Japanese and puppet troops, local anti-Japanese armed forces suffered from a shortage of weapons and equipment, rendering them helpless in the face of a large stronghold like Lijiazhuang. Hearing that a large force of the Eighth Route Army had arrived to rescue the masses who had been seized for forced labor, the Yuci anti-Japanese guerrilla force under the control of the local organization specifically came to rendezvous with them.

"Commander Zhang, this is Comrade Tian, the head of the guerrilla force organized by the eastern Yuci organization. They have about 300 men, equipped with over 90 rifles and a light machine gun, though they are short on ammunition. Hearing that our main force has arrived, they unanimously requested to join the battle to avenge the comrades and victims who died during this period."

Comrade Jiang Si'en was very familiar with the situation in the Yuci area and introduced it to Zhang Yun in detail.

Zhang Yun politely greeted Commander Tian and did not refuse the guerrillas' enthusiasm to participate in the battle. After all, after smashing the stronghold, the rescued masses still needed to be properly accommodated and organized for an orderly evacuation, and the local organizations and guerrilla forces could play a very good role.

After arranging a brief rest for the soldiers, Zhang Yun gathered Commander Tian of the Yuci guerrilla force and several company commanders to study and deploy combat operations.

According to the information provided by the underground organization and guerrillas and the reconnaissance reports from the reconnaissance platoon, the Lijiazhuang Stronghold was located on a hill at the junction of the Yuci plain and mountainous terrain. It was a square courtyard built with three-meter-high walls, covering quite a large area of dozens of mu. Small blockhouses were built at each corner of the courtyard, where puppet soldiers and Japanese troops stood guard and kept watch.

In addition, facing the mountainous direction, two large three-story blockhouses were built on the left and right sides of the stronghold, equipped with machine gun ports. According to previous probes by the guerrillas, each large blockhouse had one heavy machine gun and two or three light machine guns. The entire stronghold was garrisoned by over 50 Japanese soldiers and more than 200 puppet troops, who mainly lived in the blockhouses and nearby barracks.

As for the captured civilians, about 300 of them were locked up in the firewood sheds and warehouses to the west of the stronghold.

Furthermore, the Lijiazhuang Stronghold was only a dozen kilometers away from Yuci County City, with the last few kilometers being mountain roads. Currently, a battalion of Japanese troops was stationed in Yuci County City, some Japanese squads were stationed in surrounding strongholds, and Japanese garrison troops were also stationed along the railway not far from here. Overall, nearly a regiment of Japanese troops was distributed across the Yuci area.

However, what comforted Zhang Yun somewhat was that the Japanese in other strongholds and along the railway had to pass through the county city direction first in order to quickly come for reinforcements. As long as they held the mountain road in the direction of the county city, all the Japanese could be blocked outside the stronghold.

After a moment of thought, Zhang Yun began to assign tasks.

"Comrades, with the help of the Yuci anti-Japanese organization, the enemy situation we are facing is very clear."

Zhang Yun pointed to the map spread out on a stone and said to everyone:

"Although the Japanese in the stronghold occupy the blockhouses, they are merely brick and stone structures and cannot withstand infantry guns. Although the Japanese in the county city are powerful, we hold the initiative this time. As long as we hold the mountain road, we can block them outside."

"1st Company Commander, you will lead men to set up defenses to ambush the enemy around the mountain road two kilometers away from the stronghold. However, you must wait until dark to move over and construct fortifications so as not to alert the enemy."

"The 2nd Company, 3rd Company, and Artillery Company will concentrate their forces to smash the stronghold and rescue the masses. Afterward, the 2nd Company and the Artillery Company's mortar platoon will advance to support the 1st Company, while the 3rd Company and the infantry guns will cover the masses as they retreat into the mountains."

"Changqing, later divide a portion of the ammunition and grenades we brought and give them to the comrades of the Eastern Yuci Guerrilla Force. Have the guerrillas send some men to harass the enemy ahead of our ambush position using sparrow warfare tactics, minimizing the enemy's reinforcement speed as much as possible."

"Reconnaissance platoon, you are to push forward around the county city, observing stealthily within 200 meters along the road to check the enemy's disposition."

"The bulk of the guerrillas will follow us to attack the stronghold, and local organizations will organize the local masses to assist the captured civilians in evacuating while helping us transport the spoils of war."

"Go and prepare! We move when darkness falls!"