Chapter 38: The Wind Rises in Ji Nan (Part 1)
Zengjiashan is located at the southernmost end of the Taihang Mountains in Hebei Province, and less than 20 miles south is Henan. The entire Taihang Mountain range is higher in the north and lower in the south, with low mountain peaks and gentle slopes at its southern end. However, Zengjiashan is unique, with steep cliffs on three sides and only one side having a slope of over 100 meters wide leading to the top, which is not only flat but also very large. Due to its location against the Taihang Mountains and facing the Henan Plain in the south, the main road out of the mountains passes through the front of the mountain five miles away, making it an ideal place for bandits to gather. After the Second Northern Expedition, troops stationed in various places carried out anti-bandit operations to varying degrees. This is a triangular area where Hebei, Henan, and Shanxi provinces meet, and no one has taken care of it, so several groups of bandits have come here to avoid the storm.
On the 16th of the first month, in the early hours of the morning, on the main road in front of Zengjiashan, under the bright moonlight, a group of soldiers wearing olive green uniforms quietly arrived. They were troops from the Hebei Security Forces' First Division stationed in Taoyuan.
Months ago, Song Zhe Wu had already learned the truth about the fake Northwestern Army that attacked them from Sun Li, the deputy regimental commander of Sun Dianying's unit captured in Yangjiazhuang. According to Sun Li, their destination was indeed Zengjiashan, and a regiment had already gone ahead of them, consisting of old subordinates who were with Sun Dianying when he was a bandit in western Henan, including those who robbed tombs.
Song Zhe-wu knew that Sun Dianying had stolen from the tombs of Cixi and Qianlong, although at the time it was a big deal, but in the end Sun Dianying almost didn't receive any punishment, and only one division commander named Wen Ruijiang or Tan Wenjiang took the blame. Even this division commander was released on bail soon after. Sun Dianying stole dozens of large boxes of treasures from Cixi and Qianlong's tombs, and in order to deal with the lawsuit for tomb robbery, he bribed some officials by sending out some of the treasures, but a large batch of treasures still had unknown whereabouts. Until the end of the 1940s, after Sun Dianying was captured by the jfj, it was still unclear where these treasures went. Song Zhe-wu speculated that these treasures had two possible destinations: one was that they were secretly buried; the other was that they were sold in batches. Song Zhe-wu believed more in the second possibility. Therefore, Song Zhe-wu immediately arranged for personnel to investigate and found out that the two regiments were hiding in Zengjiashan, but had all taken off their military uniforms and become bandits. The leader of the bandits was Liu Yuru, the regiment commander of Sun Dianying's division. The second regiment was annihilated by Song Zhe-wu's guard regiment in Yangjiazhuang, and the leader of the bandits who attacked Yangjiazhuang together with him was killed by a mortar shell. The second regiment commander then led the remaining bandits to flee up the mountain. Liu Yuru was an old bandit in this area, hiding here to avoid the wind, and all the local bandits from Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan were familiar with him. He quickly gathered these bandits under his command. The two regiments he brought, plus the remnants of the second regiment that fled up the mountain, formed two regiments, and the local bandits he gathered formed one regiment, totaling over 3,000 people, who stationed in Zengjiashan.
This bandit gang has a characteristic that is absolutely different from other bandits, which is that they never rob villages and towns, nor do they rob passing merchants. All their daily necessities are purchased by themselves in Linzhou, outside the mountain and south of the river.
Henan Provincial Chairman Han Fuju's division was stationed in Linzhou, and the mission of this division was to block the passage of the famous Taihang Grand Canyon, preventing the Jin-Sui Army from suddenly emerging from the canyon. The Taihang Grand Canyon starts from Ren Village Town in the north of Linzhou, and ends at Jingdi Village in Pingxian County, Shanxi Province in the south, stretching 30 kilometers from north to south, and 200 meters wide from east to west, with the narrowest point being only 60 meters. It is extremely steep and can be called the ninth ridge outside of Taihang's eight ridges. Han Fuju's iron brother, Shi Yousan, who was then the commander of Henan's Pacification Command, stationed his 26th Brigade in Ren Village and Huishan Corner to block the canyon entrance.
The people of Zengjiadai must pass through Ren Village Town outside the mouth of the Grand Canyon to go to Linzhou. According to reconnaissance, the bandits in Zengjiadai are very arrogant and go to Linzhou every month to purchase large quantities of wine, meat, rice, and flour. Every time they return via Ren Village Town, they leave some wine and meat for the 26th Brigade before entering the mountain directly. Ren Village Town is less than 20 miles away from Zengjiadai, and it's impossible not to know that the people of Zengjiadai are bandits if you don't know beforehand. Although the bandits in Hebei and the pacification troops in Henan may not be related, the two parties seem to have a suspiciously friendly relationship. Moreover, Zengjiadai has a radio station, and foreigners often come and go. All these facts confirm Song Zhiwu's view that the treasure must be hidden in Zengjiadai. Sun Dianying would not carry so many treasures with him on the march, and Shi You San might have an understanding with Sun Dianying. Historically, the Northwestern Army has always been short of food and pay, but Shi You San has repeatedly risen quickly after several defeats, as if he never lacked money. Sun Dianying's new 10th Division is now stationed in Jiaodong, which is naturally beyond reach. Although Shi You San is far away in Xinyang, Henan, he can send a brigade to northern Henan with his relationship with Han Fuqu, and Han Fuqu will not disagree.
To be honest, Song Zhiwu did not fully identify with these so-called treasures. He believed that ancient texts, famous calligraphy and paintings that recorded the brilliant civilization of the Chinese nation for thousands of years could be called treasures, even national treasures; items from a specific historical period that had representative significance or special meaning could also be called treasures, even if it was just an earthenware pot. All other gold, silver, pearls, jade and other items, no matter how valuable they were, could not be considered treasures unless they had special significance. If he had them in his hands, he would sell these gold, silver, pearls and jade to raise funds to expand the army, occupy territory and develop production.
Originally, Song Zhe-wu had been planning to deal with this bandit group all along, but because his troops were not yet ready, he had not taken action against them. Now that Lin Wei wanted him to stir up some trouble, Song Zhe-wu naturally understood what was required of him - to create chaos and distract the various factions from the impending North China turmoil. However, in order to achieve this goal, eliminating the bandit group would not be enough; he had to target the 26th Regiment led by Shi You-san. If Sun Dian-ying and Shi You-san had some sort of tacit understanding, and the bandits were attacked, the 26th Regiment would definitely come to their rescue. As long as they came to rescue them, Song Zhe-wu's opportunity would arise. Because Zengjiayao was located within Hebei province, once a fight broke out, it would be clear who the provocateur was - Shi You-san. If the 26th Regiment were eliminated, the commotion would definitely be big enough. To ensure that trouble was stirred up, Song Zhe-wu also made preparations in case the 26th Regiment did not take action. He ordered Ye Chang-gui to lead two battalions of the special forces out - one to coordinate with the attack on Zengjiayao, and the other to prepare to launch a surprise attack if the 26th Regiment did not move, luring them into pursuit and then surrounding and annihilating them.
After Shang Zhen, Lin Wei and Zhang Zhizhong left, Song Zhe Wu immediately increased the intelligence gathering on Zengjiashan. Every day there was news coming back. In China's lunar calendar, after the 15th of the first month, the Spring Festival is considered over. So on this day, everyone would celebrate a bit. Song Zhe Wu decided to take advantage of this opportunity and launch an operation against the bandits in Zengjiashan.
A good and efficient staff department is crucial to the outcome of a battle. Song Zhe Wu was very clear about this, so he had always attached great importance to the construction of the staff system. Now, under the Security Guard Army's Staff Department, there were operational sections, training sections, logistics support sections, intelligence sections, communications sections and security guard sections. After explaining the purpose of this battle, the entire operation was handed over to the young people in the Operations Section. Song Zhe Wu let them take charge of formulating the entire battle plan, with the aim of tempering them and giving them practical experience.
The battle plan formulated by the combat department was very satisfactory to Song Zhiwu. The specific battle plan was to surround and annihilate: this action mobilized Zhang Yafei's First Division, with one regiment of the Third Regiment and two battalions of the artillery battalion, assigned to a special squadron to surround and annihilate the bandits in Zengjiashan; With other troops from the First and Third Regiments setting up an ambush on the road leading out of the mountain, once Shi Yousan's 26th Brigade came to reinforce, they would be eliminated. The Second Regiment was ambushed on the way into the mountain, as a reserve team, if Han Fuju's division in Linzhou came to rescue, they would block at the mountain pass. As a precaution against the 26th Brigade not coming, the special squadron that lured the enemy went into action with the Second Regiment together.
The commander of the third battalion, who led the attack on Zengjiadai, was Sun Li. He came from Sun Chuanfang's lecture hall and after talking with Song Zheliu, he found that he had great military talent, so he invited him to join the Security Army. During his convalescence, Sun Li already had an understanding of the Security Army and immediately agreed. Song Zheliu gave him the position of commander of a new battalion on the spot. In this reorganization, his battalion was assigned to the first division, and three battalions were reorganized. He became the commander of the third battalion. The mission of the three companies of the third battalion was to take down a small highland about 1000 meters away from Zengjiadai before dawn, with the support of a special company's platoon, as a fire support point for attacking Zengjiadai. Although this small highland is relatively small, its terrain and location are very important. Its height is only slightly lower than the top of Zengjiadai Mountain. This highland blocks the only road leading to Zengjiadai, and the bandits have stationed a company here and built solid fortifications.
