Chapter 17 Chapter 4 Protracted War, Those Who Would Not Be Slaves

Seeing this, interested people will be surprised: Generalissimo Jiang asked Song Zheyuan to fight against the war, but did not send a single soldier, and the 29th Army, which was left to fight alone, was finally defeated.What does Chairman Jiang want to do?Could it be that he wants to use the hands of the Japanese to kill the 29th Army that is not directly related? Of course not, Generalissimo Chiang is concentrating all his energy and resources on digging pits for the Japanese. When the 29th Army fought against the Japanese pirates, Generalissimo Jiang decided to open a second battlefield in Shanghai, and transferred troops from all over the country to Shanghai in early August.

The "Songhu Armistice Agreement" signed in 1932 stipulated that China was not allowed to station troops in Shanghai, and only Chinese police forces were allowed to station in Shanghai.And Chiang Kai-shek suddenly sent elite troops into Shanghai, obviously unilaterally tearing up this humiliating agreement.This was a very unexpected but quite encouraging move, because the Chinese military has rarely taken the initiative to attack the Japanese in the past few decades. Why did Generalissimo Jiang not send troops to North China to fight against Japan, but opened up a second battlefield in the far south——Shanghai?Why not fight guerrilla warfare or mobile warfare from the beginning, but choose to fight head-on with the enemy?

Jiang Weiguo, the second son of Chairman Jiang, later explained: At that time, Northeast my country and North China had fallen into the enemy's hands, but this had no strategic impact on future operations.You can be patient for a while and use this time to expand your army and prepare for war.But if the Japanese army were allowed to fight all the way from north to south, the national army would be forced to the southeast coast, surrounded by enemy troops on three sides, and with their backs to the sea and no retreat, the battle would be over.Therefore, the chairman's strategic concept is to change the main front of the Japanese army from north to south to east to west.With our backs to our own base, we retreated while fighting, trading space for time, smashing the Japanese army's ambition to destroy China in March.So we took the initiative to open up another battlefield in the Songhu area.

What Jiang Weiguo said is basically the truth, but there is one point that he did not mention in depth.This set of "space for time, long-term combat" strategic conception against Japan actually belongs to the consensus of the Chinese people and is the crystallization of collective wisdom. Put into practice. Here, I must introduce a person who has made outstanding contributions to this strategic conception.When I talked about Yuan Shikai before, I mentioned this person. He was Jiang Baili, who was the principal of Baoding Military Academy. It is said that Yuan Shikai later went on to be a very promising president instead of being an emperor under a constitutional monarchy system, so Jiang Baili resigned.After that, Jiang Baili worked as a consultant under his students such as Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang, and Tang Shengzhi from time to time.When these students of his were defeated by another student of his, Chiang Kai-shek, he also became a new advisor to his classmate of the same clan and hometown.

Jiang Baili never personally led troops to conquer in his life, but his strategic conception of talking about troops on paper is very reasonable.Generally, we call this kind of person with outstanding imagination and creativity a genius.In "The Complete Works of Jiang Baili", Jiang Tiantian's many suggestions on how China can defeat Little Japan are included, such as "Hey, I will fight quickly, and I will rely on it for a long time to make it tired", "China has a big land and a large number of people. Advantageous conditions, if you don’t fight, it’s enough. If you fight, you have to use the philosophy of procrastination, and procrastinate until the East and West wars converge (accurately predicting the Second World War), we will turn from weak to strong, and we will drag the enemy down."...

Out of his high recognition of "protracted combat", Chairman Jiang decided to use the Achilles heel of Little Japan "the country is small, the products are not abundant, and the source of troops is insufficient, and it is unable to support a protracted attack on me" to spend with the opponent.How to spend it?The specific method is as follows: 1. The protracted war of resistance will drag down the war time and consume little Japan. 2. The war of resistance in an all-round way, burning the flames of war all over the country, turning the rear of the Japanese army into the front, so that they had no time to digest the occupied areas, so that they could not use the occupied areas to enhance their war power and trade space for time.

3. Defensive operations in depth, mobilizing the enemy to fight from east to west. The west is rich in resources, vast in size, and complex in terrain, which is enough to consume the advantages of the Japanese army's weapons and equipment and individual soldiers. Three-pronged approach, don't worry about consumption of immortal little Japan! To put it simply, as long as Little Japan is not allowed to fight quickly, we will not be afraid of temporary and local failures, and we will fight resolutely!Under the guidance of this policy, one defeat, another defeat, and continued defeat are all acceptable. Through partial failures, the time will be delayed month after month, year after year, until Japan's war resources are exhausted. , in exchange for strategic success!

Later, Bai Chongxi (one said Chen Cheng) extracted the "twelve-character policy" on this basis - "accumulate small victories for big victories, exchange space for time", and the military committee issued an order to the whole country as the strategic guiding ideology of the War of Resistance Against Japan . It's a pity that Jiang Baili couldn't see his vision become a reality with his own eyes. In 1938, Jiang Baili died of illness at the age of 50.He left a sentence during his lifetime-whether he wins or loses, just don't make peace with Japan! When China practiced the concept of "protracted combat", there were completely opposite voices in Japan - three months to resolve the China Incident.To be precise, this sentence was said by the head of the Japanese Army-Chief of the Army Chief of Staff Zaihito (Prince of the Japanese Royal Family) and Minister of War Sugiyama Moto.

By the way, since the "September 18th" incident, Hirohito has promoted a total of 23 royal princes to serve as senior generals of the "imperial army", such as marshal, general and chief of staff, etc., completely controlling military decision-making power.But what is strange is that until today, there are still people who think that Hirohito in the "World War II" is just a puppet of Japanese soldiers. Was it caused by the failure to prosecute this shameless man for his war crimes? Closer to home.The Japanese army's so-called "three months to solve China" campaign against China was nothing more than two directions of attack-from north to south from North China, and from east to west from the Yangtze River.In view of the fact that Japan's national power cannot support the Japanese army to fight the Chinese army in two directions at the same time, the most economical and reliable way for Japan is to attract the main force of the national army to go north to North China for a decisive battle, relying on the elite Kwantung Army stationed in the Northeast and North China, and the North China Garrison , using the open and flat geographical environment of the North China Plain, taking advantage of its high degree of mechanization and outstanding athletic ability, wiped out the vital forces of the national army in World War I, and then went all the way south, with the cooperation of the navy, encircled China and won the war.In other words, Japan is more inclined to fight from north to south.

Instead of letting Japan take the initiative, it is better to let it fall into the passive.Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek chose to attract the heavy Japanese invaders to Shanghai, and then moved inland, changing the Japanese attack route from north to south to east to west, widening the strategic depth. Moreover, from the perspective of logistical supplies, placing the battlefield in Shanghai will do more good than harm to China.Most of the main force and supplies of the national army came from the area south of the Yangtze River.The Shanghai area is a land of fish and rice, and food supply is not a problem. The water network and waterways with the Yangtze River as the transportation artery are densely covered, and the difficulty of transportation is far less than that of fighting in North China.

Of course, Chiang Kai-shek chose Shanghai as the battlefield, and there were also political considerations.Shanghai is the economic center of China, and the Shanghai area enriches the interests of all countries. A war here can fully attract international attention and help win international sympathy and assistance. On August 13, 1937, the Chinese and Japanese armies clashed in Shanghai because of the "Hongqiao Airport Incident", and the Battle of Songhu broke out. The next day, Chiang Kai-shek announced to the world that China's all-out war of resistance had begun. Note that this is not a declaration of war against Japan.In fact, Chiang Kai-shek chose to fight without declaring it, but he did it as a last resort.Because if war is declared, other countries will have to remain neutral in order to show their non-partisanship, so China will have nowhere to buy the weapons, ammunition, medicines, etc. that China urgently needs. The Japanese on the battlefield soon felt the difference. In the countless previous encounters between China and Japan, the Chinese army almost always defended and counterattacked, but this time it was different. The Chinese army launched a mad attack from the very beginning. This is because the national government has invested all the elite troops it can, trying to inflict heavy damage on the enemy while the devils have not gained a firm foothold. The army includes the Central Army of the Whampoa Faction under Zhang Zhizhong—the four German weapon divisions and the teaching corps that have just completed training, the Central Army of the Civil Engineering Faction of Chen Cheng—the Eighteenth Army, and the First Army of the Whampoa Faction of Hu Zongnan who has just withdrawn from northern Shaanxi. and Tax Police Headquarters, etc.Take a look at the names of this list of generals (in no particular order): Zhang Zhizhong, Chen Cheng, Song Xilian, Xia Chuzhong, Luo Zhuoying, Huang Wei, Hu Lian, Xue Yue, Wang Yaowu, Sun Liren, Yu Jishi, Wang Jingjiu, Sun Yuanliang, Hu Zongnan, Du Yuming, Zhang Lingfu... The newly formed Chinese Air Force also ventured out, not only bombing the Japanese ground targets, world-class ace pilots Gao Zhihang and Liu Cuigang also engaged in aerial combat with the powerful Japanese Air Force many times, achieving rare victories and covering the ground troops.These victories are related to a man named Chennault, and his story will be told later. Even the navy, whose strength is completely negligible in front of the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet, was all dispatched. Anyway, the country has only such a little wealth, and it is all used. Under the attack of the national army with superior determination, courage and superior numbers, the Japanese army with high self-esteem and comprehensive weapons and equipment could only take the defensive after one month of war.However, the national army could not completely break through the Japanese defense line.It's not that the National Army's performance is not good enough, but that the opponent is too strong. Firstly, the fortifications of the Japanese army were very well built, all of which were made of reinforced concrete. Since the national army lacked the firepower configuration of heavy weapons, it was really difficult to break through the tortoise shell of the Japanese army.You must know that even the best-equipped German weapon divisions of the national army can barely be counted as light-armored divisions according to the standards of the European and Japanese armies, which is far from the standard of nearly 100 heavy guns equipped by the Japanese army divisions on average. Second, the national army's joint combat capability of the navy, land and air forces is much worse than that of the Japanese army.The three armed forces of the sea, land and air have never practiced together, and they basically fight their own way. Without unified command and mobilization, their combat effectiveness will naturally not be displayed. In the past three years, the individual quality of the Japanese army was very high.Despite the shortness of the Japanese pirates, the average height of the Japanese soldiers during World War II was only about 1.6 meters, but the Japanese pirates’ nutrition could keep up, their bodies were strong, and they had received rigorous and formal shooting and stabbing training, so the Japanese army had first-class combat skills— - Accurate marksmanship, good at bayonet fighting.The cultural quality of the Japanese pirates was also good. At that time, the penetration rate of elementary school education in Japan was nearly 100%, so the Japanese army had a high tactical quality-the ability to execute orders perfectly. Let's take a look at the direct evaluation of the Japanese opponents. The evaluation of the Japanese army by the British: B-level equipment, A-level tactical level, and A-level individual shooting skills. Li Zongren also gave a high evaluation: The Japanese army's training and combat effectiveness are rare in the world. Lin Biao's evaluation will be presented later. Compared with the well-nourished Japanese army who generally received primary education, the national army was not only malnourished (not eating enough), poor in physical strength and endurance, but more than 90% of the soldiers were illiterate. Huang Renyu, a historian who had personally experienced the war, used "like "idiot" to describe their illiteracy, so whether it is the mastery and use of technical equipment or the understanding and cooperation of tactics, it is impossible for Chinese and Japanese soldiers to be on the same level. Because the combat effectiveness of ordinary soldiers in the national army is not good, the middle and lower-level officers with relatively high cultural quality are the core of the national army's combat effectiveness.In front-line battles, combat effectiveness mainly depends on the impromptu command and sacrifice spirit of middle and lower-level officers.In other words, the criteria for evaluating whether the national army is an elite division are mainly the educational background and actual combat experience of middle and lower-level officers. The topic returns to the battlefield. The stubborn resistance of the Japanese army bought time for the reinforcements.The third, sixth, ninth, eleventh, thirteenth, sixteenth, eighteenth divisions and part of the fifth division went into battle one after another.As mentioned earlier, the top 20 divisions of the Japanese army are the Type A divisions, and the fifth and sixth divisions are the Type A divisions. They are the two most powerful Japanese troops.Through the distribution of Japanese troops, it can be seen how much they attached importance to the Shanghai battlefield. Although the Japanese army mobilized its troops only after the battle began, it quickly completed the assembly of 300,000 troops from the army, navy and air force in Shanghai.You must know that these troops come from Northeast China, North China, Taiwan, North Korea and even Japan. Compared with the super combat mobilization ability of the Japanese army, the national army's troop transport ability is far behind.The transportation capacity of China's railways, highways, and waterways is too small, and it is impossible to deploy troops all at once.In the case of insufficient transportation capacity, many troops, even the same one, were forced to split up, some by car, some on foot, and had to form a "refueling tactic" that military strategists should avoid - the army can only be echeloned In combat, the organization is chaotic, lacking unified leadership, fighting independently, and troops and firepower cannot be used in a centralized manner. Regardless of the fact that after the war, the national government claimed that 700,000 troops were involved in the Battle of Songhu, but the number of troops that were actually effectively invested was far from 700,000.Therefore, it can be considered that the Japanese army's strength in Shanghai is not at a disadvantage. Not only does the Japanese side not suffer a loss in military strength, but it can also rely on its superior air force and ship-borne cannons moored on the Huangpu River to support the operations of its land forces. The Chinese army was forced to confront the enemy under the pressure of the Japanese air superiority firepower and heavy weapons.The bombers of the Japanese Air Force and the naval guns of the Navy unscrupulously poured tons of steel and explosives on the positions of the Chinese army, and the battle entered the most tragic and anxious state.When the competition was the most intense, a company would be killed within ten minutes, and a division would disappear within a few hours. The Songhu battlefield was like a huge melting pot, filled in and melted. There is no precedent for the heroic sacrifice of the national army in the history of the Chinese nation's resistance to foreign aggression! Chiang Kai-shek's elite central army suffered heavy losses, and more than half of the grassroots backbones of squads, platoons, companies, and regiments were lost. These people are professional officers who have fought for many years.The sacrifice of a large number of middle and lower-level officers made it difficult for the troops to recover their combat effectiveness in a short period of time.Before the Chinese Expeditionary Force in India was formed, it was not without reason that the national army lacked the confidence to win the battle when facing the Japanese army. The huge sacrifice of the Central Army made Chiang Kai-shek very sad, but also very pleased.Because in the ten years when he monopolized the military and political power, he has never been so provocative as today.Wherever the transfer order went, the warlords who were accustomed to making small calculations for their own self-interest—the Guangdong Army, the Guangxi Army, the Hunan Army, the Sichuan Army, the Yunnan Army, and the reorganized Northeast Army—did not talk about conditions or difficulties. , Not far away thousands of rivers and mountains, to the Songhu battlefield. For example, Yang Sen's 20th Army of the Sichuan Army spent a whole month on foot, by boat, and by car, and finally arrived in Shanghai in early October, and went directly into battle without rest.Just such a weak army wearing straw sandals, poorly equipped, without long belongings, and just after a long journey, fought fiercely with the Japanese invaders for seven days and nights at the cost of 7,000 casualties. Although countless national troops went to the disaster upon hearing the righteousness, they built trenches with their flesh and blood on the front line, and they would never retreat even if they died.But the reality is that after the first two months of violent attack, the national army was not only forced to switch from offense to defense, but also gradually unable to withstand the Japanese offensive.The battle situation is critical! This is caused by three reasons. First, the Central Army with all the elites suffered heavy losses in the first two months of fighting, and most of the troops that were replenished later were miscellaneous troops from warlords from various places, and their combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. Powerless to suppress the Japanese army. Second, our logistics system cannot keep up.When the Anti-Japanese War broke out, we were a modern agricultural country desperately resisting a modern industrial country.Most of our weapons are imported, and guns alone come from more than a dozen countries, not to mention high-end weapons such as planes and tanks. Basically, there is one (vehicle) less than one (vehicle), and there is no way to replenish it.The production capacity of guns and ammunition is also limited, which cannot meet the consumption on the battlefield.Japan, on the other hand, has a complete modern industrial system, all weapons can be manufactured by itself, and the output is sufficient.In such a battle between two armies, there is no other way to go except to exchange for victory with tragic sacrifices! Third, we have lost our air supremacy, and the sky has become dominated by Japanese aircraft.The Japanese bombers did not spare even the refugees, let alone the troops on the march. This almost completely blocked the traffic around Shanghai and made it very difficult for troops to transport.The logistical supplies couldn't keep up, not to mention the lack of medical treatment for the war wounded, and the soldiers didn't even have rations after the fight. There are only two words for the reason - national power, absolute power is the foundation of everything. By the end of October, the Chinese army, which had switched from offense to defense, had little power to fight back. In order to avoid the annihilation of the whole army, the national government decided to withdraw the main force to the position south of Suzhou Creek.In order to cover the retreat of the army, a force must be left to contain the Japanese army.This task was finally handed over to the 524th Regiment of the 88th Division under Sun Yuanliang's command. It is said to be a regiment, but in fact its organizational system has been crippled, leaving only one battalion.The original head of the regiment was killed, and Xie Jinyuan, who had just been promoted from deputy head to head, accepted the order after the break. Xie Jinyuan, a fourth-year student in Whampoa, accepted this life-and-death mission without hesitation, and led the only 400 officers and soldiers under his command to deploy defenses at the Sixing Warehouse in Zhabei. The Sixing Warehouse is only across the Suzhou Creek from the Anglo-American Concession, so this defensive battle will further attract the attention of the international community. The Chinese army is alone in Shanghai.When Xie Jinyuan was interviewed at that time, he said "We have eight hundred people" for the sake of bluffing. Since then, the reputation of "Eight Hundred Heroes" has spread far and wide.Xie Jinyuan and his subordinates were determined to die for the country, even if there was only one bullet left, they would fight the enemy to the end. This roundabout lasted four days and four nights, showing the world the indomitable will of the Chinese army and the determination to fight to the end, and also won the world's respect and sympathy for China! Four days later, Xie Jinyuan received an order from Chiang Kai-shek to "cherish the retreat into the concession and continue to work hard for the country" and withdrew to the concession. The retreat of the main force was not smooth.The army was not decisive enough when withdrawing from Shanghai, and was reluctant to withdraw from the battle.Just such a delay turned the momentary hesitation into a permanent regret, and the Japanese commanders took the opportunity to resort to their most frequently used tactic - roundabout outflanking: one frontal attack, one outflanking from the flanks, and two flanking attacks.Japanese reinforcements suddenly landed near Jinshanwei in Hangzhou Bay, outflanking the rear of the national army from the flanks.The national army was attacked from the front and rear, and their positions were in chaos. In early November, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to order a full retreat. The Battle of Songhu ended in the defeat of the Chinese army. In this battle, the Chinese army suffered more than 300,000 casualties, and half of the officers below the regiment died in the country. However, it also forced the powerful, united, fierce, barbaric, and world-class Japanese army to pay a painful price of nearly 90,000 elite casualties! This campaign took China and the enemy three months, shattered the Japanese army's plan to "solve China in three months", bought a large number of factories, mines, machinery and strategic materials from Shanghai and other places, and persisted in the long-term war of resistance. ! In contrast, we are too weak, our national strength is insufficient, our strategic deployment is improper, and our campaign command is improper, but we are determined to face the challenge of the historical crisis with comprehensive sacrifices! In the face of the invasion of powerful enemies, the ravages and insults, we swore to fight to the death, and we were determined. We used our blood and lives to compose a song of magnificent elegy, which not only left a precious legacy for the Chinese nation. The spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation has won the right to survive and the time to develop!Change the current Chinese nation, little Japan, you come to Shanghai to try again? ! When the battle in Shanghai was in trouble, the flames of war in the north were still raging. After the "July 7th Incident", the Japanese army was resolutely resisted by the Tang Enbo Department of the Central Army for 19 days in the area of ​​Nankou, Beijing, and Zhangjiakou, Hebei, which was known as the "Battle of Nankou" in history.After paying nearly 10,000 casualties, the Japanese army quickly completed the occupation of Beijing, Tianjin, Chahar, Hebei and other places, and then went straight to Shanxi.The wishful thinking of the Japanese was to launch attacks from Shanghai in the south and North China in the north at the same time, forming a situation of encirclement from the north and the south to the west, and quickly destroy China. The Japanese vanguard was Seishiro Itagaki.As mentioned above, he participated in both "September 18" and "January 28". At that time, this kid was just a colonel (colonel), but now he has been promoted to lieutenant general, serving as the Japanese army. War" and "Russian-Japanese War" Fifth Division (Hiroshima Division) Nineteenth Division Commander. It may be because Itagaki Seishiro lacks some normal cells, which leads to his lack of tendons, so compared with ordinary devils, his energy and fighting spirit are extraordinarily strong, and he is more belligerent.During the eight years in China, the Fifth Division led by him has fought against more than 70 Chinese divisions, and has rarely lost. It is known as the "Steel Army".Because the Chinese people are so impressed with the little devil Seishiro Itagaki, the Fifth Division is also called the Itagaki Division. However, the devil's wishful thinking was completely within the expectations of the Chinese military.Facing the invading Japanese army, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Yan Xishan and Wei Lihuang to lead the resistance on the front line of the Great Wall, known in history as the "Battle of Taiyuan". This "crowd" is absolutely worthy of its name. Yan Xishan's Jinsui Army, Central Army Wei Lihuang, old Northwest Army Sun Lianzhong, Sichuan Army Deng Xihou in single clothes and barefoot, and the Communist Party's troops totaled nearly 600,000 horses.The Japanese army, the opponent of the national army, numbered about 150,000. During this period, Yan Xishan arranged eleven armies with nearly 100,000 people to block the Japanese army near Pingxingguan, which was called the "Battle of Pingxingguan".But among the eleven armies, only the Eighth Route Army of the National Army achieved victory. This is the "Pingxingguan Great Victory" we are familiar with. Where did the Eighth Route Army of the National Army suddenly appear? After the "Xi'an Incident", although Chiang Kai-shek fulfilled his promise to stop the "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army, it was difficult for the two sides to reach an agreement on how to reorganize the Red Army. After the Battle of Songhu broke out, the Japanese guns and the crisis of subjugation forced both sides to no longer hesitate.So the Kuomintang and the Communist Party resumed negotiations and quickly reached an agreement. Chiang Kai-shek agreed to give the Red Army an army and three divisions with 45,000 people.Zhu De and Peng Dehuai served as the chief and deputy commanders, Ye Jianying was the chief of staff, and Zuo Quan was the deputy chief of staff.Under its jurisdiction are the 115th Division (mainly drawn down from the Red Front Army), the 120th Division (mainly drawn down from the Red Second Front Army), and the 129th Division (mainly drawn down from the Red Fourth Front Army and the Northern Shaanxi Red Army). They are Lin Biao, He Long, and Liu Bocheng. After the organization was organized, the Eighth Route Army was immediately ordered to cross the Yellow River eastward and march to the front line of the Anti-Japanese War.The Eighth Route Army was stationed in Shanxi, under the control of Yan Xishan. On September 25, 1937, Lin Biao commanded the 115th Division to set up an ambush near Pingxingguan and wiped out the supply troops of the 21st Brigade of the Banyuan Division.To put it bluntly, the supply unit is the transportation unit in charge of logistics, responsible for transporting ordnance, grain and other materials, and irregular combat units. Out of the needs of the Anti-Japanese War, the Communist Party and the Nationalist Government greatly exaggerated the results of the war to the outside world. Later, our textbooks continued to use the battle reports at that time.It was not until the 1980s that the rhetoric gradually changed, and the number of enemies wiped out dropped again and again, and finally dropped to less than 1,000. It is not the key point to explore the number of enemies wiped out. I just want to emphasize one point here. The battle process is by no means as described in today's anti-Japanese dramas that design all kinds of incredible plots to attract attention: The miraculous Chinese people played with the Japanese army like killing ants - tearing up devils with bare hands, bombing planes with grenades, butcher knives, stones, slingshots, and flying needles have also become sharp weapons for killing devils!The stupid, wretched, incompetent and mentally retarded Japanese soldiers took the initiative to send their bodies in front of the endless bullets that our handsome men and women could not finish! All kinds of ridiculous lines emerge one after another——Comrades, the eight-year war of resistance has begun!My grandfather was brutally killed by Japanese devils when he was 9 years old... The anti-Japanese drama vilified and belittled the powerful and advanced opponents. In fact, it only belittled the martyrs who died in the War of Resistance and the victors who survived. It turned a tragic historical memory into a funny entertainment program. I am really sorry. Heroes who fought bravely for the survival of the country! The actual situation is like this. The 115th Division is the first main force of the Eighth Route Army. Almost all the officers and soldiers who participated in the ambush were veterans of the Red Army who had come from the Long March. Their fighting will and fighting skills were outstanding among the national army. In addition, the battalion commander became the company commander, the company commander became the squad leader, and the squad leader became a soldier. As a result, the proportion of cadres in the army was very high, and its combat effectiveness was self-evident. The Eighth Route Army took advantage of the favorable terrain to carry out a surprise attack, with dozens of times more people than the enemy, and only attacked one of the enemy's transport troops. The intensity of the fight was far beyond ordinary people's imagination.The Eighth Route Army paid more than a thousand casualties and fought for a long time before the winner was decided.It is said that after Mao Zedong received the internal battle report in northern Shaanxi, he was distressed by the number of soldiers who died. Lin Biao, who personally commanded this campaign, made a special summary of his experience afterwards. He said: We have never encountered such a strong enemy in the past from the Northern Expedition to the Soviet War (the ten-year civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party). Fortunately, the hard work has paid off. One is that the victorious 115th Division captured a lot of good things.The most important thing is the army coat, because winter is coming soon, and most soldiers of the Eighth Route Army only have single clothes.Later, Lin Biao went for a drive wearing the captured Japanese army overcoat, but was shot by a conscientious sentry under Yan Xishan as a Japanese officer. Lin Biao was seriously injured and withdrew from the anti-Japanese battlefield.When Lin Biao came out again, it was already the time when the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were fighting for the world. Lin Biao seemed to be born for the civil war. Second, the Eighth Route Army has accumulated valuable anti-Japanese experience through this battle.According to the memory of the old Eighth Route Wang Rulin, the Eighth Route Army later found a way to fight hand-to-hand with the Japanese army-"group fight", that is, the tactic of fighting bayonets with the Japanese army in squads and groups. At least three people formed a team to fight the Japanese army with bayonets. , There are assists, and there are feints. The Eighth Route Army did not fight the main force of the Fifth Division, but Wei Lihuang of the Central Army and Fu Zuoyi of the Jinsui Army fought a battle with the Japanese army with the Fifth Division as the main force at Xinkou near Yanmen Pass. , known as the "Battle of Xinkou" in history. Because the main forces of the two sides were all out, this battle became the largest and most intense battle in northern China in the Anti-Japanese War, and it was also a decisive battle. Although there is a will to die - Hao Mengling, the commander of the Ninth Army, died in battle, even though the soldiers have no greed for life - the national army sacrificed up to 100,000 soldiers, although the frontline commanders of the national army performed well, especially when suddenly The "unknown general" who came out--General Chen Changjie of the Jinsui Army performed super-level and almost took charge of his own side. Although the national army wiped out more than 10,000 enemies, the entire battle ended in China's defeat. In the Battle of Xinkou, the national army not only paid a huge sacrifice, but also consumed more than 40,000 rounds of shells. It can be said that the shells produced by Yan Xishan's Taiyuan Arsenal in recent years were sold off to the devils.After losing this almost desperate battle, Niangziguan and Taiyuan also fell one after another, and the entire Taiyuan battle ended in failure. In this regard, throughout the Anti-Japanese War, the large-scale war between China and Japan in the north came to an end. At the beginning of November 1937, after Taiyuan fell, all the generals fled desperately, and most of them escaped the Yellow River in one breath. Within a few days of escaping, a telegram from Generalissimo Jiang came, and those who crossed the Yellow River were scolded.So, everyone had to pack their bags, roll up their bedding, and turn back to Shanxi. Yan Xishan hid in the west of Shanxi, and thus performed the difficult acrobatics of dancing on three eggs: sometimes allied with the Communist Party, sometimes against the Communist Party, sometimes resisted the Japanese, sometimes allied with the Japanese, sometimes embraced Chiang, and sometimes rejected Chiang.Of course, all this is for survival, to keep his territory. Fu Zuoyi went to the grasslands and deserts, fought hard, created the "Wuyuan Great Victory" two years later, and became a "Hero of the Condor Shooting". Wei Lihuang ran to the south of Shanxi, and since then he has fought against the Japanese in a semi-regular and semi-guerrilla manner near Zhongtiao Mountain. Although life was not easy, he also won more than ten small victories and barely stood firm in the encirclement of the Japanese army. .