Chapter Thirty-Two: The Critical Juncture

  The fleet continued eastward.

  "Brother Yisheng, can we discuss the organization and equipment of the Shanxi Army?"

  "Of course. Our current Jin Sui Army infantry regiment organization is a regimental headquarters with 18 people, plus a regimental machine gun company, communication platoon, and stretcher platoon, totaling approximately 200 people. The machine gun company typically has 4-6 heavy machine guns and 2 81mm mortars; now that the Taiyuan Ordnance Factory has increased production, we are starting to add a regimental heavy machine gun company with 6 heavy machine guns and a mortar company with 6 81mm mortars, but only a few regiments stationed near Taiyuan have this organization. Currently, each infantry regiment has 3 infantry battalions, with a battalion headquarters of 16 people. Each battalion has 3 infantry companies, with a company headquarters of 16 people; each company has 3 platoons and 9 squads, with 14 people per squad; totaling 160 people per infantry company, 9 light machine guns, and 12 submachine guns."

  Historical fact

  "Mortars are still relatively normal, after all, large-scale production and equipment have only been around for a few years; how can heavy machine guns be so scarce? Not to mention the Central Army, even the Guangdong, Hunan, and Guangxi armies have already reached the level of 6 heavy machine guns per infantry regiment, just like the Central Army!"

  Fu Zuoyi smiled wryly and replied: "During the Central Plains War, we covered the retreat of various artillery units first, but by the time the infantry retreated, it was too late. Each unit had to abandon all their heavy equipment, including most of the heavy machine guns and some small cannons; when they ran back to Shanxi, each unit only had rifles and light machine guns left. Even now, with Taiyuan producing 30 heavy machine guns per month, haha, it would take at least three years to reach the level of heavy machine gun equipment in the Central Army."

  I also sighed, "In that case, wouldn't the Jinwei army be more suitable for offense rather than defense in terms of equipment?"

  "Indeed. But we insist on defending Shanxi's northeast, and can only rely on artillery."

  "Right! Your Shanxi Army artillery is famous throughout the country! The 10th Division's artillery! In terms of numbers, it's second only to the Central Army, and in terms of per capita, it's the best in the country!"

  "Hehe, actually now that imports of materials from Japan have been cut off, production of the Jinzao mountain gun has almost come to a halt."

  "In the future when the full-scale anti-war breaks out, the coastal areas will inevitably be blockaded or even occupied. Except for the Guangdong side which may still be able to maintain a small amount of imports, China's munitions production will basically have to rely on ourselves."

  "Is this one of the reasons why Brother Xian rode his horse and struck the cannon?"

  "Right! I also urged the chairman to import 3,000 37-caliber cannon barrels at once; as well as explosives production equipment and so on. But I don't know about the specific artillery of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army's Tenth Division, can you introduce a bit?"

  The ten artillery regiments of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army adopted the numbering system issued by the Central Government, which was Artillery Regiments 21-30. However, within the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, they were still referred to as Artillery Regiments 1-10. Except for one battalion of mountain guns imported from Japan, the rest were copies made by Shanxi factories, with approximately 300 guns currently equipped in the troops. There was also a battalion of field artillery imported from Japan; and a small number of heavy mountain guns (actually 120mm howitzers) and heavy howitzers (150mm howitzers).

  Historical fact

  "A little?" Because both of us had seen Yan Laowei and the Jin Sui army artillery cadres boast about their heavy artillery, I curiously asked.

  Seeing me pursuing it to the end, Fu Xiao smiled and said: "There are roughly 1-2 brigades at most."

  Only 1-2 connections each? What a load of nonsense! I couldn't help but burst out laughing!

  The fleet marched hundreds of miles and stopped at Yangquan after passing through the border of Shanxi and Hebei provinces.

  "This is the Niangzi Pass! Legend has it that Princess Pingyang of Tang once garrisoned this pass, hence its name; however, it is now called the Old Pass, and the first stop on the Zhengtai Road into Shanxi Province is called Niangzi Pass."

  As Fu Zaiyi introduced, both I and Yunyan were stunned, gazing regretfully at the pile of rubble, barely making out the pass, "What's with these broken stones?" Yunyan asked in disappointment.

  "When I was young, it still looked like something, but after the construction of Zhengtai Road and the stone taken from it, plus the construction of Niangzi Station and the nearby residents' houses, etc., in a few years, it became as dilapidated as this, disappointing my younger brother and sister."

  I came back to myself, "The time has come for the daughter-in-law to show off her special skills at the Daughter-in-law Pass!"

  "Hmm, no problem!" Yunyan said and quickly moved out a box.

  "What's going on here?" Fu Zuoyi asked in confusion.

  "Yunyan will survey and map, it's a bit of trouble to ask Yisheng brother to send a few people to follow him up to the high ground over there, we want to verify the existing maps."

  "It turns out that his sister is still a talented woman." Fu Zuoyi hastily instructed them to follow, and several people accompanied Yunyan up the mountain.

  "Since our siblings are busy, why don't we go up and take a stroll around?"

  "Of course! Please!"

  "I thought little brother and sister were here on a sightseeing trip, haha."

  "Sightseeing is secondary, it's just a pity that I came a few years too late and didn't get to see the beauty of Niangzi Pass." I thought to myself, "You've seen fake replicas made decades later."

  "Sir, don't you think the Japanese army will not be able to take this place? In Taiyuan, didn't both Gu Wen and you say that the main direction of the Japanese army's attack is only in the northeast of Shanxi?"

  "Brother Yisheng, I deduced it like this: Starting from the Japanese army's attack on Pingjin, Song Mingxuan retreated southward. Our Central Plains army marched northward and unfolded a defensive battle in Jizhong, fighting back step by step. The Northern Route Army defended the strategic passes of the Great Wall, while your main force, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, firmly defended the northeastern part of Shanxi, also relying on the advantageous mountainous terrain to block the enemy's advance step by step. The Shanxi-Suiyuan Army is famous for its defensive prowess throughout the land. I think which direction will be breached first and retreat, Brother Yisheng can't calculate it?"

  "Hmm, the Ji Zhong Plain is the most difficult to defend in terms of terrain, and there are no defensive preparations. When Song Mingxuan's troops retreated from here, our main force (Jin Sui Army) was still in northeastern Shanxi, and the Japanese army happened to make a flanking attack, entering Shanxi from here!"

  "Brother Yisheng is indeed a famous general! In an instant, he has surpassed my younger brother's long-planned abilities! Please ask Brother Yisheng to make specific plans for this!"

  "Brother, you're too modest! In my humble opinion, this is one way to deal with the Japanese army's attack. Since our army can't take the initiative, we should withdraw our main force and redeploy it. Although the central part of Hebei Province has fewer mountains as a natural barrier, there are many rivers that can be used as obstacles. Your new field fortification construction method is more suitable for the hard terrain in the north. We can rely on several rivers to launch a defensive campaign, resisting at every step and slowing down the Japanese army's offensive."

  "Brother Yi Sheng is spot on! What's this all about?"

  "Our army is defending the Great Wall along the northern route, which is good, but the Japanese army can completely attack from Chahar in the south and strike at our army's rear. I don't know how the newly formed central cavalry troops will counterattack?"

  "Haha! Nothing can be hidden from Brother Yisheng! The Central Government indeed has the intention to counterattack with three cavalry routes, namely Central, Shanxi-Suiyuan and Northeast, in the Chahar-Suiyuan region; but there are many people at the Suiyuan office, so please keep it confidential!"

  "My foolish brother knows. The three of them are now in the northeast of Shanxi, joining the main force of the Shanxi-Suiyuan army to conduct a frontal defense! I still have lingering fears about holding out to the death." Fu Zuoyi sighed as he spoke, unsure whether he was recalling Tianzhen or Zhuozhou. "But now with my younger brother's new fortification construction method, I've put half my mind at ease!"

  "Is there still half in command?"

  "Good brother!"

  "I am confident in the defense of Jinzhong and Northeast Shanxi, although the Suiyuan side is currently weak, with our main cavalry force also unable to fight a battle, let alone the Japanese army's main force will not be deployed in this direction. The weak link can only be in Hebei Province, and the central government cannot deploy its main force in Hebei Province either. As a result, it is highly likely that the Japanese army's main force will charge straight down, and when they arrive here, they will find that both sides are still fighting fiercely in Jinzhong and Northeast Shanxi. The Japanese army will inevitably enter Shanxi from here, directly inserting itself into the flank and rear of our North China main force. The gain or loss of Niangzi Pass is the key to determining the outcome of the battle for North China! And now...". I pointed to a blank area on both sides of Niangzi Pass.

  "My foolish brother will know Director Yan's intention, but I'm afraid of the consequences."

  "Oh! I wonder why Director Yan stopped General Falkenhausen and his party from inspecting the defense system in eastern Shanxi yesterday? What's going on?"

  "Was it not the case that the central government allocated 17 million, and the Northwest Headquarters claimed that whatever amount Shanxi allocated would be matched by the central government for the defense system, but it has not been built yet?" Fu Zuoyi said with a bitter smile on my behalf.

  I was shocked, "Brother Yisheng, don't joke around, this is a big deal!"

  "I don't know the details either, but from what I observed while passing by, they only invested a few hundred thousand at most!"

  Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but smile wryly. "No wonder they blocked Falkenhausen from inspecting! Who knows how they plan to cover it up now?"

  "Xingkou and several other places have model projects! Anyway, you didn't go, maybe deceiving the foreigners will work."

  So there were face-saving projects as early as the Republic of China era! This is actually a defensive project! I'm speechless with laughter and tears!

  "The construction work there can only rely on the efforts of the Shanxi army generals before the war! And what about the construction funds here? It seems that I can only go and knock on Chairman's door! Is it only for Shanxi? I'm afraid it's going to be tough!"

  "It's unlikely that the committee director will pay again, especially after knowing that Director Yan has just embezzled his money; however, my brother still forgot about another fellow townsman from Shanxi who can be asked for help!"

  "Shanxi fellow countryman? Director Yan will definitely not agree, what did Brother Yi Sheng say?"

  "Yongzhi." (Kong Xiangxi, alias Yongzhi, then serving as Vice Premier and Minister of Finance)

  "Ah! How could I have forgotten our financial director! He's the god of wealth!"

  "Still, it's Brother-in-law!"

  "Hahaha!"

  As we spoke, we walked to a high place and looked around. From Shanxi in the west to Hebei in the north, the mountain ranges from high to low were all in sight; when I lowered my head, I saw the remains of the old Nanguan Pass below, and suddenly came to a realization!

  "I get it! I was wrong before, this pass is just an old-fashioned checkpoint, and now there's no way to defend it. If we want to defend it, we can only build a series of fortifications along the mountain terrain, defending the mountain!"

  "Haha, this is what I mean by asking you to climb the mountain! The terrain on both sides is treacherous, and in many places it's difficult to climb even without enemy soldiers; controlling the mountain means controlling the passage below. What's more, brother, look at all these peaks, from Hebei to Shanxi they just keep getting higher, one after another, how can we attack? Haha!" Fu Zuoyi said with a smile. "Let's go take a look at your sister-in-law's skills!"

  Although the cloud geese are new to painting, they rely on their previous artistic foundation, and this map is still passable. Of course, this comment made me suffer another blow from the powder fist, but it seemed much lighter than usual. But I suddenly felt cool to the bottom of my heart, "Brother Yisheng, although this terrain is extremely beneficial for the defender, look at this geography, rocky mountain?"

  "Don't worry, younger brother. Only these nearby places are rocky mountains, the distant ones have a thick layer of hard soil. During the Central Plains War, I... haha..." Fu Zuoyi smiled somewhat awkwardly.

  "Well, that's a relief!" After Yunyan corrected the map near Guanzhen, our convoy passed through Shimen and headed north.

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