Chapter 61 Changsha: the focus of the frontal battlefield

Hunan is a beautiful and rich land. It not only has an excellent source of soldiers, but also a large granary for China during the Anti-Japanese War, similar to Sichuan.After the fall of Wuhan and Guangzhou, the Chinese and Japanese armies launched an offensive and defensive battle in Hunan with heavy troops. In 1939, among China's 10 theaters, the Ninth Theater with Hunan as its main jurisdiction had the largest number of troops, with 52 infantry divisions, accounting for more than a quarter of the army's strength. From 1939 to 1945, there were 12 large-scale battles on the frontal battlefield, namely the first battle of Changsha, the battle of southern Henan, the battle of Shanggao, the battle of Zaoyi, the battle of southern Shanxi, the second battle of Changsha, and the third battle of Changsha The Battle of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, the Battle of Western Hubei, the Battle of Changde, the Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi, and the Battle of Zhijiang in Laohekou.Among them, 6 battles took place in Hunan.

In the autumn of 1941, the Soviet-German War broke out, and the negotiations between Japan and the United States came to an impasse. Britain and the United States began to actively control Japan, prohibiting the export of aircraft and gasoline to Japan, and freezing Japanese funds in the United States.Desperate to break free from the Chinese battlefield and attack the United States and Britain in the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese army gathered elite troops from the northern and southern battlefields and aggressively invaded northern Hunan in an attempt to wipe out the main force of the Ninth Theater in the area south of the Miluo River and north of Changsha.

For this reason, in September 1941, the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Anan Weiji, commanded four divisions, two regiments, six brigades, two artillery regiments, two engineering regiments, and more than 30 warships. More than 200 ships, more than 200 motorboats, and 180 aircraft, with a total of more than 100,000 troops, launched an attack on Changsha in two ways.The commander-in-chief of the Ninth War Zone, Xue Yue, commanded 13 armies, one marching army, and two flying brigades, with a total of more than 300,000 people. According to the deployment of the first Changsha battle, he used the favorable terrain and the established positions to fight one by one and prepare for the battle. Lure the enemy to annihilate them in the area south of the Miluo River and north of the Laodao River.

On September 7, the first part of the Japanese Sixth Division assembled in the southwest of Yueyang, in order to cover the main force in the direction of the Xinqiang River, attacked the Dayunshan area. On the night of the 17th, the main force of the third, fourth and sixth divisions of the Japanese army, the Zaobuchi detachment launched an offensive across the board on the north bank of the Xinqiang River. At dawn on the 18th, under the cover of artillery fire, they forcibly crossed the Xinqiang River and broke through the defenders' positions on the south bank from Rongjia Bay, Xinqiang, and Tongxi Street.After fierce battles between the 4th, 20th, and 56th armies of the defenders and the Japanese army, they delayed the Japanese army with a small number of troops, and the main force was transferred to the flank positions around Shuangshidong and Hongyuandong to wait for standby.The main force of the Japanese army quickly advanced towards the Miluo River.At this time, the Ninth War Zone ordered the 99th and 37th armies to stop the Japanese army on the south bank of the Miluo River; Advance quickly, preparing to encircle the Japanese army from the right.But the message was deciphered by the Japanese army. On the 21st, after the Japanese army forcibly crossed the Miluo River, it changed its frontal breakthrough to a flank encirclement, detoured eastward, and outflanked the Chinese army.

In late September, the Ninth War Zone was severely attacked by the Japanese army in the northern part of Changsha. Several main forces including the 26th and 37th armies were defeated and suffered heavy losses.The Japanese army continued to attack in the direction of Changsha and Liuyang River. On the 28th, the Zaoyuan detachment entered Changsha. On the 29th, part of the third division of the Japanese army arrived in Zhuzhou.In order to cope with the Changsha operation, China's third, fifth, and sixth theaters launched attacks on the Japanese troops in front of each other on the 23rd, besieging Yichang and other places, effectively containing the Japanese army's actions.After the fall of Changsha, the Ninth War Zone also regrouped and attacked Changsha from all sides. On the 29th, six armies including the 9th Theater Reserve and the reinforcements 72nd, 79th, and the Temporary Second Army entered the outskirts of Changsha, and the 4th, 20th, and 58th armies behind the enemy also Followed the Japanese army to the south.The Japanese army was caught in a situation of being attacked by the north and the south, and it was difficult to supply.

On October 1, the Japanese army withdrew northward.The Ninth Theater troops counterattacked across the board, inflicting heavy losses on the Japanese army. On the 9th, the Japanese army retreated northward across the Xinqiang River, and the two sides resumed their pre-war posture.