Chapter 19 Chapter 6 Perseverance will win

Six days before the Japanese army occupied Wuhan, another Japanese army captured Guangzhou. But the Japanese then gnawed at two hard bones. The first hard bone is Xue Yue. Xue Yue's deeds have been talked about a lot before, from the Northern Expedition to the "suppression of the Communist Party", to the victory in Wanjialing, but none of these are as famous as the following Changsha battle. After the Japanese captured Guangzhou and Wuhan, Changsha, located between the two places, became an isolated city.However, after the Japanese army advanced to the central region of China, its military strength was exhausted and its strength became even more insufficient.Therefore, after resting for a period of time, the Japanese army began to attack Changsha in September 1939, in an attempt to occupy Hunan from Changsha, and then marched into Sichuan to destroy the Chongqing Nationalist Government.

In the battle of Changsha, the opponent of the Japanese army was the promoted commander of the Ninth Theater and the chairman of Hunan Province Xue Yue. Since Changsha is a hilly area with no danger on all sides, it is easy to attack and difficult to defend. Therefore, the Chinese Supreme Military Command persuaded Xue Yue: Changsha probably cannot be defended.But Xue Yue didn't do it: Hunan is the granary of the world. If it falls into the enemy's hands, it will be extremely disadvantageous to me, and defending Changsha is the key to defending Hunan.Therefore, this battle "relates to the great danger of the country and the nation, and we should express our conscience and blood, and live and die with Hunan Province!"

Chiang Kai-shek, Bai Chongxi, and Chen Cheng took turns to persuade Xue Yue, but the result was two words: useless.Later, Xue Yue uttered cruel words: I will fight in Changsha. If I lose, I will commit suicide to thank the people of my country; if I win, count me as disobedient, and you will shoot me!Chiang Kai-shek was at a loss, and issued a new order: fight in Changsha! Although Xue Yue's temperament is fierce and unparalleled, he is by no means a reckless man. This person is very good at using troops, and always makes plans before acting.Xue Yue had long considered that one day he would fight the devils in Changsha, so he tailored a set of tactics for the Japanese army. Resist, retreat step by step, drag and wear down the enemy as much as possible, after achieving this goal, retreat to the slope behind the mountain, go around to the outside of the enemy's encirclement line, and form an anti-encirclement of the Japanese army on a larger level, Build two "walls of the sky furnace".At the same time, in the middle zone, empty rooms were cleared and the roads were completely destroyed, making it difficult for the Japanese mechanized troops to advance. Constitute a natural "melting furnace".

As long as you dare to come in, I can roast you to death. To put it simply, it is a stalker: do not fight recklessly with the devils, but do not lose contact, come up to harass them in turn, make full use of the characteristics of Changsha's large, vertical, and deep land, force the devils to show their flaws, and let the devils may encounter evil spirits every step they take. to snipe. Concentrating superior forces to attack one point is the way of the military strategist, but before Xue Yue, no one dared to use or even think about the method of dispersing superior forces in a wide area to deal with powerful enemies.But is Xue Yue's tactics really feasible in front of powerful devils?Everything has to be verified in actual combat.

The battle that took place in September 1939 lasted for three weeks, and ended with the forced retreat of the Japanese army and the restoration of the Chinese army to its original position, known as the "Great Victory in Northern Hunan". In terms of the result, this battle of Changsha was the first time since the Japanese army invaded China that the Chinese army beat the attacking Japanese army to where they came from and where they went back. From a tactical point of view, the national army kept Changsha, shattered the Japanese army's plan to take Hunan and then send troops into Sichuan, and defended Chongqing, the seat of the national government.

From a strategic point of view, it successfully prevented the Japanese army from rampantly attacking the city since the "July 7th Incident", so that the rear had enough time to recuperate. To put it simply, just one sentence: "Tianlu Warfare" is reliable. After that, Xue Yue fought two more battles with the Japanese army in Changsha by relying on the "Tianlu Warfare", commonly known as the Three Wars in Changsha, killing nearly 100,000 devils and becoming a nightmare for the Japanese army, known as the "Anti-Japanese War God". After the Battle of Changsha, the Japanese thought that as long as they did not encounter Xue Yue, the road ahead would be smooth.But they didn't expect that waiting for them ahead was a bone harder than Xue Yue.

At that time, the national government retreated to the southwest, mainly relying on four routes to import strategic materials needed for the War of Resistance and obtain international military aid. The first is the "Hong Kong route": Hong Kong leads to the inland via the southeast coast.Since the entire Chinese navy was wiped out and most of the southeast coast fell, this route existed in name only. The second is the "Northwest Route": connecting with the Soviet Union via Gansu and Xinjiang.Although this line is relatively safe, it has a long journey, a long round-trip time, and a small volume of transportation.

The third is the "French Indochina route": starting from Haiphong, Vietnam, via the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway to Kunming, Yunnan, or via the Gui-Vietnam Highway to Nanning, Guangxi. The fourth is the "Burma route": Starting from Yangon, go to Lashio via the Burma Railway, and then connect to the newly built Burma Highway to Kunming.The details of the Burma Highway will be discussed below. After the Japanese army occupied Guangzhou, all the way to the west, the soldiers pointed directly at Nanning, the capital of Guangxi. The strategic intention of the Japanese army is very obvious, to cut off the external communication lines in Southwest China, cut off the supply lines of materials needed for China's war of resistance, and completely strangle China!If Guangxi falls, it will not only endanger the two international lines of communication in the southwest, but also endanger Chongqing, shaking the morale of the army and the people in the rear!The situation is critical!

In a hurry, Chiang Kai-shek convened an emergency meeting and decided: to attack the Japanese army instead of defense. counterattack!It was actually a counterattack?At the strategic level, the Chinese army, which has always been mainly defensive, wants to counterattack aggressively?That's right.Not only because offense is the best defense, and the enemy's offensive forces in the southwest can be contained through a comprehensive attack, but also because the Chinese Supreme Command has clearly seen the reality of the Japanese army. The Japanese army expanded too fast, and it was too late to effectively control the occupied areas.While the Japanese army was overextended on the front line and its strength was obviously insufficient, it was unable to obtain sufficient supplies from the occupied area.The previous wars had consumed most of Japan's domestic war resources accumulated over the years. Therefore, relying only on Japan's local economic support, the Japanese army no longer has the strength to launch a large-scale overall attack on China in the short term.But our China is different. The national government uses the front-line troops of the national army that have experienced several major battles as the backbone, supplements the soldiers for training, and equips them with weapons and equipment bought with frugal money or donated internationally. Gradually increase.

Moreover, the Chinese nation has reached the most dangerous time, if we don't try our best at this time, when will we wait? ! As a result, the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government mobilized a total of about 70 strong divisions to launch a full-scale attack on the Japanese army.This all-out counterattack started from Baotou, Inner Mongolia in the north, and went to Beihai, Guangxi in the south, and wiped out more than 20,000 Japanese troops.History books call this comprehensive counter-offensive in the winter of 1939 the "Winter Offensive" and the following core counter-offensive in Guangxi as the "Battle of Southern Guangxi".

The person who organized and directed the Battle of Southern Guangxi was Bai Chongxi, the current leader of the Xingui faction. But as soon as Boss Bai took office, he suffered a major defeat. Not only did he lose Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, but he was also occupied by the Itagaki Division of the Japanese Army. That Kunlun Pass. In this case, Boss Bai can only ask Chairman Jiang for help.In view of the importance of the Battle of Southern Guangxi and the brutality of the Itagaki Division, Chairman Jiang sent him an extremely powerful reinforcement. The leader of the reinforcements is Du Yuming, the first-year student of Huangpu whose wife joined the Communist Party and the Kuomintang. This man participated in the Eastern Expedition, the Northern Expedition, the "Suppression of the Communist Party", the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War, and the Songhu Battle. He also joined the Blue Clothes Club. It came very smoothly, and now the 35-year-old mature man is already the leader of an army. Du Yuming is as cautious and elegant as Zhuge Liang when he uses troops. He is good at careful calculation and is a standard Confucian general.But this personable and temperamental man is actually a technical man.His biggest hobby is to immerse himself in the research of technology, especially in the very cutting-edge mechanical technology at that time. He has a considerable level, and thus became an instructor in the Nanjing Army Transportation School to train mechanized troops. In 1938, Generalissimo Chiang used Soviet aid to build China's first mechanized unit—the 200th Division with about 50 armored vehicles and nearly 100 tanks.Due to Du Yuming's technical background and relevant work experience, Chairman Jiang entrusted him with an important task-the commander of the 200th Division. Not long after, the 200th Division was expanded into an army, and Generalissimo Jiang bestowed the designation "Fifth Army" on the glorious unit in the "January 28" Songhu Anti-Japanese War, and Du Yuming was promoted to the Fifth Army long. After several twists and turns, Du Yuming, who was extremely short of generals under his command, approached Generalissimo Jiang and asked for three senior commanders who had been baptized in many wars. 36-year-old Zheng Dongguo, a native of Hunan, a first-year student in Huangpu, from the Eastern Expedition to the Northern Expedition, from Gubeikou to Taierzhuang, crossed the line of death many times, but never died.He served as the honorary commander of the First Division composed of officers and soldiers who returned from injury during the Anti-Japanese War. 37-year-old Qiu Qingquan, a native of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, graduated from Shanghai University and was a second-year student in Whampoa. He later went to Berlin Army University in Germany to be gilded. He experienced the Eastern Expedition, Northern Expedition, Central Plains War, Songhu Battle, and Nanjing Defense Battle.He is good at reciting poems and composing Fu, but he gained the nickname "Crazy Qiu" on the battlefield.He served as the commander of the newly established 22nd Division. 35-year-old Dai Anlan, nicknamed Yangong and nicknamed Haiou, is from Wuwei, Anhui, and a third-year student in Huangpu.He served as the commander of the Laodi 200 Division of the Fifth Army.This is a military genius who was born to fight against the Japanese, a titan who fights and wins, and an invincible first vanguard.If you don't believe me, look at his resume. He was the head of the regiment at the time of the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War. He first defeated the Japanese army at Gubeikou, and he was out of control since then. He served as the brigade commander at the time of the Taierzhuang Battle. He attacked Taodun with fire, outwitted Zhuzhuang, fought fiercely against Guo Liji, and defeated the Japanese army again. In the battle of Xuzhou, he fought fiercely for four days and nights. Yu Aishan repelled the powerful enemy, won three Japanese troops, and was promoted to deputy division commander. In the Battle of Wuhan, he defeated the main force of the Ninth Division of the Japanese Army, won the Japanese Army four times, and was promoted to the commander of the 200th Division. After Dai Anlan took office, he chose a military song for the 200th Division, that is, the famous "March of the Volunteers", which later became the national anthem of the Republic. Everyone should have discovered that Du Yuming, Zheng Dongguo, and Dai Anlan were all generals under Guan Linzheng's command.Yes, they chose to leave Guan Linzheng mainly because they could not accept the domineering leadership style of "Guan Fist".But it turns out they were right to leave.Because they chose to leave, they ushered in a broader stage. In the "Grand Parade" of the National Army in 1939, the performance of the Fifth Army ranked first in the country. After the Battle of Songhu, the German Armed Forces became a thing of the past (on the one hand, they were wiped out, and on the other hand, under the pressure of Japan, Hitler terminated the cooperation with China), and the Fifth Army of the Soviet Armed Forces became the new top elite of the National Army . Although the Fifth Army is the number one elite of the national army, it cannot meet the weaponry standards of the mechanized divisions of the Japanese army, nor can it be as described in some film and television dramas. The boots are shiny, go to bars, drink coffee, eat western food, catch beautiful women, very petty bourgeoisie.In fact, except for the future Chinese expeditionary force stationed in India, the lower-level officers and soldiers of the national army all wore straw sandals made by themselves and coarse military uniforms issued every few years. Although the conditions are so difficult and the road is so difficult, we keep going forward! Du Yuming led the army to set off. In the morning light, the soldier's steel helmet glowed with a cold light, his figure was dignified and resolute, desolate and tragic. What stood in the way of Du Yuming and the Fifth Army was not only the 21st Brigade of Itagaki Division guarding the Kunlun Pass, but also the majestic and dangerous Kunlun Pass, as well as the fortified structure built by the Japanese army through Kunlun Pass. Fortifications - three-story blockhouses constructed of a large number of steel plate concrete. Facing a powerful enemy and a seemingly irreversible geographical disadvantage, Du Yuming had no other choice: if he wanted to regain Nanning from the Japanese army, he had to attack Kunlun Pass and open up the road to the south. There is no doubt that this will be an extremely difficult battle! After comprehensively considering the terrain, the distribution of troops and firepower between the enemy and us, and other factors, Du Yuming came up with a strategy against the enemy-two idioms: close the door and beat the dog, besiege the city and fight for aid. The Japanese army had strong fortifications on both sides of the Kunlun Pass, forming a cross-fire network, which was a great threat.So Du Yuming decided to concentrate his superior forces, first pull out the Japanese fortresses and highlands on both sides of the periphery, and then gradually narrow the encirclement.This is the so-called "closing the door and beating the dog". Du Yuming used Zheng Dongguo's Honorary First Division and Dai Anlan's 200th Division as the main force to attack Kunlun Pass head-on to attract the enemy's reinforcements. At the same time, he sent Qiu Qingquan's 22nd Division to lay an ambush on the road that the Japanese reinforcements must pass through. Siege the city and fight for aid." On December 18, 1939, the battle broke out, and the most elite troops of China and Japan met at the Kunlun Pass! The national army fought against the Japanese tanks, tanks, infantry and air force with coordinated operations between tanks, tanks and infantry. The roar of heavy artillery, the howl of bullets, the flames from the muzzle, the repressed scolding, the fierce howling, and the metal sound of bayonets touching each other, all interweave cruel melodies full of courage, blood and bestiality. No one on both sides retreated, and both fought until they fell completely. I don't want to emphasize too much on the commanding art of the commander and the sacrifice spirit of the soldiers, because all words are pale and powerless in the face of the battle process and results. On December 31st, the 13-day bloody battle ended! At the cost of 14,000 casualties, the Fifth Army wiped out more than 5,000 people from the 21st Brigade of the Japanese "Steel Army", killed the brigade commander Masao Nakamura, regained the Kunlun Pass, and won the first fortified battle in the War of Resistance Against Japan. victory! Sun Tzu's Art of War says: The upper strategy is to attack the strategy, the middle strategy is to attack the Jiao, and the lower strategy is to attack the city.The cutting of cities here refers to the ancient fortified battles, which shows how difficult and costly the fortified battles are. In the brutal battle, annihilating the most elite troops of the Japanese army with less than three times the casualties was such an excellent achievement that the arrogant Japanese finally lowered their arrogant but extremely inferior heads!The Japanese military history "War History Series · Base Camp Army Department" commented on the Battle of Kunlun Pass: "Through the entire period since the China Incident, this is the bleakest era for the Army." The awe you get from your enemies is always more precious and touching than the awe you get from your friends! After the great victory at Kunlun Pass, the Chinese army suffered a frenzied counterattack by the Japanese army, and once again experienced the thrilling situation of victory first and then defeat. Fortunately, the ending was good.After a whole year of hard fighting, at the end of November 1940, the Chinese army regained Nanning and expelled all Japanese troops from Guangxi. With the Great Wall of its own flesh and blood, the Chinese army defended the unimpeded communication lines in the southwest and kept the rear of the War of Resistance.The Chinese soldiers who died on the Guangxi battlefield are immortal! Just when the Chinese army was bathing in blood in Changsha and fighting the Kunlun Pass, a major event happened in the world. On September 1, 1939, Germany blitzed Poland.Two days later, Britain and France were forced to declare war on Germany, and "World War II" broke out! Note that it is an outbreak, not a start.Because each country uses the date when its own country entered the battle as the start time of "World War II".For example, China believes that "World War II" began with the "July 7th Incident" in 1937, while the United States is obviously too exaggerated, saying that the Japanese army's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor at the end of 1941 was considered the beginning of "World War II"... This is a muddled account. unclear. For now, the European battlefield has not yet had a significant impact on China, so let's put it aside for now. As far as China is concerned, although there were soldiers of the national army who fought bravely, by the end of 1939, that is, in more than two years, the Japanese army had brought China to almost a desperate situation with only a cost of more than 200,000 casualties. Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, and Wuhan, the most economically developed cities at that time, were all occupied by the Japanese army.Since then, all economically developed regions in China have fallen to the enemy, and all major railway lines have been controlled by the enemy. The entire Chinese navy was wiped out.Since then, the sea passages from Shanhaiguan in the north and Shantou in the south have been cut off, which means that the "Hong Kong route" has been completely interrupted. Unfortunately, the "Northwest Route" was also discontinued. At the turn of autumn and summer in 1938 and 1939, the Soviet Union and Japan fought two battles on the border between China and the Soviet Union, which were known as the "Zhanggufeng Incident" and "Nuomenhan Incident" in history. The first Japanese army won a small victory. The second Soviet army was victorious.In view of the fact that everyone's strength is evenly matched, Japan and the Soviet Union decided to make peace, and the result of the talk was the "Soviet-Japanese Non-Aggression Pact."Since then, the land transportation between China and the Soviet Union has been basically cut off, and the Soviet Union has also stopped its meager aid to China. Therefore, China's connection with the outside world, including strategic materials purchased from abroad or international aid, can only enter and exit through the southwest that has not been occupied for the time being. And there are only two roads leading from southwest China to Southeast Asia. One is Guiyue Highway.The Guizhou-Vietnam Highway is an international traffic line between Guangxi and Vietnam.At that time, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia were colonies of France, which meant that it would have to depend on the face of the French before taking the Guizhou-Vietnam Highway. Moreover, Guangxi faced Japanese attacks at any time, making it very unsafe. The other is the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway, an international land transportation route between Yunnan and Myanmar.It needs to be emphasized that this road was built after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War. Why was such a road built?The main reason has been mentioned before: Guiyue Highway is not safe. The Yunnan-Burma Highway is relatively safe. After all, the Japanese army needs to cross Guangxi or hit Myanmar to threaten this highway.Therefore, 200,000 ordinary people are not afraid of suffering or death. It took only ten months to build a mountainous area with the hardest rock formation (too many karst landforms) in China and the most rapid river (Nu River). kilometers of transport routes. In August 1938, the Burma Road was opened to traffic. After the road enters Myanmar, it is connected to the domestic railway in Myanmar, which can reach Yangon directly.Yangon is a seaport city. During the Anti-Japanese War, almost all the strategic materials purchased from abroad and international aid by China were imported from here.But the question is, where do you get the money to buy strategic materials?United States. At the end of 1938, after the national government withdrew into Chongqing, the Americans finally understood the situation and were no longer obsessed with the "Neutrality Act".In view of this, with the efforts of Hu Shi, the ambassador to the United States, and the banker Chen Guangfu, the Nationalist government obtained the first loan from the Americans by bartering money—gradually selling tung oil to the United States to repay the loan—two Fifteen million dollars, this is the "tung oil loan". There is no doubt that relying on these tens of millions of dollars, the national government can temporarily relax for a while, but the significance of this matter does not stop there.Prior to this, the United States provided assistance by buying Chinese silver and exchanging money for money. This time, it directly lent money to China, which was the first case of loan assistance, breaking through the restrictions of the neutrality law, and thus opened the door for the United States to aid China. .In the next two years, China continued to use Yunnan tin, tungsten sand and other strategic materials in exchange for money, and borrowed more than 100 million U.S. dollars from the United States.As of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the total amount of U.S. lend-lease assistance to China reached 800 million U.S. dollars, most of which were free gifts. Under the influence of the United States, the United Kingdom also provided China with a loan of more than 5 million pounds in the hope that China would take care of Myanmar (Myanmar is its colony) and carry on with Japan for a few more days. Therefore, the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway has become an out-and-out lifeline since it was opened to traffic.This lifeline is the avenue to bury Japan's dream of destroying China!It must be well protected and there is no room for loss.This is the real reason why China later organized an expeditionary force into Myanmar. The situation is so bad, the Chinese nation is at the most dangerous time, but Japan is not easy. Japan originally hoped for a quick victory, so it was desperate from the beginning.This choice cannot be said to be unreasonable. After all, the Japanese army occupied the Chinese capital within five months, and captured all economically developed regions in China in just over a year.From ancient times to the present, there are not many countries that have not surrendered after losing this amount! As cowardly as France, not only the Maginot Line, which claims to be the most well-established and well-equipped in the world, was directly bypassed by the German army, turned into a display, and became the biggest laughing stock during World War II. It took only six weeks (June 25) to lay down its arms and become a vassal of Germany.Of course, this may be determined by the French tradition that only foreign leaders can win wars.For example, under the leadership of Napoleon of Corsica, France could dominate Europe. It surprised Japan and the whole world: the Chinese, who have almost nothing but spirit, are still persisting, and there are still so many people who are fulfilling the oath of "resisting the war to the end" with actions! On the other hand, the Japanese army, after experiencing the initial smooth sailing, has now fallen into a bitter battle, and has been dragged into the abyss of a protracted war with great reluctance.The Japanese were forced to consolidate the occupied areas and try to support the war with war; on the other hand, they stepped up local offensives such as attacking Changsha and Nanning to exert pressure on the Nationalist government, hoping that the Nationalist government would negotiate with it and surrender to the armistice. In fact, starting from the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war, Chiang Kai-shek's coping strategy was to promote peace and gain a breathing space.Chiang Kai-shek once wrote in his diary on April 9, 1938: At this time, war and peace are possible, and attention should be paid to the draw and preparations. Therefore, both China and Japan wanted to sit down and talk, but the Japanese actually proposed to Chiang Kai-shek: 1. Establish a pro-Japanese regime in North China, Central China, and Outer Mongolia.In fact, it is to establish a "state within a state". 2. Recognition of "Manchuria". 3. China compensates Japan for military expenses. This is not a negotiation at all, this is a naked robbery with a knife around the neck!The national government spat on Japan's face and strongly rejected these ridiculous demands. Chiang Kai-shek did not agree, but someone agreed.