Chapter 16 Chapter 15 Even if the sky falls apart, the nation will continue

No one expected that when the Japanese army captured Wuhan with all its strength, Guangzhou, the most important trading port on the southern coast of China, would fall so quickly. This is the result of a serious misjudgment of the Chinese Supreme Command's defense in the direction of Guangzhou. In order to cut off China's international aid channels and establish its own naval attack base, the Japanese army must occupy the major ports along the southeast coast of China. This is military common sense that both sides of the war know well. The Japanese attack on Amoy, Fujian Province in May 1938 was a concrete operation to blockade the Chinese coast.When the Japanese army attacked the coast of Fujian, the weakness of the Chinese defenders was surprising: the coast of Fujian was more than 3,000 kilometers long, and only seven regiments of the Chinese army defended it, and only one regiment defended the direction of Xiamen.In the early morning of May 10, under the command of Japanese Rear Admiral Kiichi Miyata, the Japanese Fifth Fleet dispatched more than 30 cruisers, destroyers and transport ships from Kinmen to Xiamen. More than 30 fighter planes from the aircraft carrier simultaneously Fly over Xiamen to carry out bombing.When the Japanese marines attacked Xiamen, the large-scale resistance they expected did not happen, because there was only one battalion of the Chinese defenders defending the southeast coast of Xiamen-the third battalion of the 4th, 4th and 5th regiment of the 75th Division was under the battalion commander. Under the leadership of Wang Jianzhang, they fought hard to resist, but due to the weak force, the main position fell after the battle suffered heavy casualties.Han Wenying, deputy division commander and brigade commander of the second brigade, led reinforcements. On the way, more than half of them were lost under the bombing of the Japanese army. Fan Huaiming, chief of staff of the brigade, was killed in battle. Put it under the occipital (as a future identification mark), and then bury it hastily." During the blocking battle in the Xiamen defensive position, the deputy division commander Han Wenying, the commander of the 44th and 5th regiment Shui Qingjun, the second battalion commander Yang Yongshan, and the third battalion The battalion commander Wang Jianzhang was wounded, the first battalion commander Song Tiancheng was killed, and the officers below the deputy battalion commander were either killed or injured. More than 800 officers and soldiers of the 4th, 4th and 5th regiments were killed in battle. Among them, Wang Jianzhang's third battalion deputy commander and four company Long all died.Battalion Commander Wang tried his best to accommodate his troops after the war. He waited and searched hard for more than 20 days, and only six officers and soldiers in the entire battalion were accommodated.

China has a vast territory and a long coastline. How can the flesh and blood of excellent sons and daughters keep away the ferocious and powerful enemies beyond the coastline? Guangzhou is the largest city along the coast of South China, and also the political, economic, military and cultural center of South China.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Guangzhou became one of the important passages between China and overseas; especially after the Japanese army successively occupied North China and East China, Guangzhou became the main transshipment hub for importing foreign aid materials to the mainland of China through Hong Kong.As early as the Battle of Songhu, the Japanese Army put forward a proposal to occupy Guangzhou, believing that cutting off China’s important foreign aid route would weaken the national government’s will to resist the war, and then made a combat plan code-named “A Plan”. , the attack time was set on December 26, 1937.However, in early December, the Japanese army sank the British gunboat "Ladybug" and the American escort warship "Panay" on the Yangtze River upstream of Nanjing.Although the Japanese immediately stated that they bombed by mistake, it still caused a huge crisis in international relations.The United States sent Ingersoll, director of the Bureau of Naval Operations, to London to discuss cooperation with the United Kingdom against Japanese aggression in Asia.The Japanese navy believed that the capture of Guangzhou at this time would inevitably lead to the intervention of Britain, the occupier of Hong Kong.As a result, "Plan A" was temporarily shelved.

In May 1938, when the Japanese army planned to capture Wuhan, they also took the capture of Guangzhou into account. However, due to insufficient preparations for ship transportation, they finally decided to capture Wuhan before attacking Guangzhou.In July, the Japanese base camp believed that the materials for sea transportation had been fully prepared, and the Guangzhou operation could be carried out while capturing Wuhan.The army learned the lesson from last time and asked the navy for advice in advance. But this time the navy was more active than the army and proposed to capture China's Hainan Island at the same time.The proposal was rejected by the Army on the grounds that there were not enough troops to allocate.In the ensuing meeting held in front of the base camp, the navy insisted that the capture of Hainan Island in the future must be considered at the same time.What the Japanese army and navy agreed on was that the capture of Canton would have a great impact on Britain:

For China, on the one hand, it lost the important areas of North China and Central China. On the other hand, due to the blockade of the coast by our navy, the Guangzhou area became an important supply base with the background of British Hong Kong.Before the start of the Canton campaign, the supply to the inland areas was estimated to account for 80 percent of the total.Around Guangzhou, in addition to British Hong Kong, there is Portuguese Macau at the mouth of the Pearl River.There are British and French concessions in Guangzhou, and there are diplomatic offices, schools, churches, hospitals, shops, etc. of Britain, the United States, Germany, France and other countries in Guangzhou, Huizhou, Boluo and other places.In addition, Britain and France, apart from the interests in loans to the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway (England) and the Guangdong-Han Railway (England and France), also retained various commercial and navigational interests.In particular, Hong Kong, including the Kowloon Concession and the surrounding concessions, has British troops (land, navy, and air force) stationed there. It is not only the base for British political and strategic activities against China, but also the secret activity of various hostile countries. base area.The battle in Guangzhou means the expulsion of British forces, and it is conceivable that this will have a great impact on Britain.

On July 13, the Japanese base camp formulated the "Outline of War Guidance Centered on Autumn Operations". Regarding the battle strategy of Guangzhou, before and after the capture of Hankou, "use a sudden attack to capture Guangzhou decisively and quickly. Later, cut off the enemy near Guangzhou. The Guangdong-Han line, the Pearl River, and the Xijiang River will adopt a tight and long-lasting posture.”As for the specific combat plan, the base camp advocated attacking Guangzhou after landing in Daya Bay. The army suggested going up the Pearl River to capture Guangzhou. Finally, the army reluctantly accepted the opinion of the base camp.

On September 19, the Japanese base camp issued the "Mainland Order" and "Ocean Order" to attack Guangzhou, China.Afterwards, the 21st Army of the participating forces and the Fifth Fleet of the Navy began consultations and decided to divide the attack on Guangzhou into two phases.The first stage began on October 12. The main force of the 18th Division, the 104th Division and the 9th Brigade of the 5th Division landed from Daya Bay, Guangdong, China, and traveled through Huidong, Pingtan, and Huizhou. Dongjiang advances.In the second stage, after the main force of the Fifth Division arrived, they broke through the Dongjiang defense line and attacked Guangzhou in separate ways.At the same time, the Fifth Division landed from the Pearl River Estuary on October 27 with all its forces, captured Humen Fortress, and cooperated with the main force of the Division from south to north to capture Guangzhou.

Among the three divisions incorporated into the 21st Army of the Japanese Army, the Fifth Division is the unit with the strongest combat effectiveness. It was transferred from North China after moving to Shanxi and Xuzhou battlefields; the Eighteenth Division has been stationed after the Battle of Songhu Near Hangzhou; the 104th Division is a special division formed by the reserve service and transferred from Northeast China.At the end of September, ships transporting the Japanese 5th Division, 18th Division, and 104th Division departed from Qingdao, Shanghai, and Dalian respectively, and arrived at the rendezvous at Magong Island in the Penghu Islands in early October.Previously, the three divisions conducted landing training in Qingdao, Shanghai and Dalian respectively.Obviously, Japan attaches great importance to the capture of Guangzhou, and believes that China will desperately resist in order to keep the international supply line, so it has compiled a powerful battle sequence:

The 21st Army Headquarters, Commander Lieutenant General Guzhuang Qianlang, Chief of Staff Major General Tanaka Hisaichi, Deputy Chief of Staff Yoshisuke Fujimuro; The Fifth Division, Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi, head of the division; The 18th Division, Lieutenant General Changjiu Nacheng; Lieutenant General Toshio Miyake, head of the 104th Division; The Fourth Flying Regiment, headed by Major General Tomo Fujita; Forces directly under the army: three independent machine gun brigades, three independent light armored vehicle squadrons, two mountain artillery regiments, one field heavy artillery brigade, two mortar brigades, three mortar brigades, eight field anti-aircraft artillery brigades, A squadron of balloons and depot troops.

Navy Fifth Fleet, Commander Lieutenant Admiral Shiozawa Koichi, Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Tian Yujo; The Ninth Squadron, the heavy cruiser "Myoko" (flagship) and the light cruiser "Tama", etc.; Tenth Squadron, light cruisers "Tenryu", "Tatsuta", etc.; Eighth Squadron, light cruisers "Kinu", "Yura" and "Naka", etc.; The Second Mine Squadron, the light cruiser "Shentong" and the Eighth and Twelfth Destroyers; The 5th Mine Squadron, the light cruiser "Nagara" and the 16th and 23rd Destroyers; The First Air Force, the aircraft carrier "Kaga" (about 40 carrier-based aircraft) and the 29th Destroyer Squadron;

The Second Air Force, the aircraft carrier "Ryujo" (about 70 carrier-based aircraft) and the 30th Destroyer Squadron; Fourteenth Air Force, aircraft carrier "Chitose" (about 40 carrier-based aircraft); Kaohsiung Air Force (12 land-based aircraft), the Third Destroyer Squadron and the First Artillery Fleet, etc. Since it was a landing operation, the Japanese army prepared 80 large ships, 180 small boats, 300 motor boats, 250 sampan boats, 250 fishing boats, 10 tugboats, Twenty-five cargo steamers and ten motor boats.The transport of landing troops was divided into four batches: the first transport capacity was 400,000 tons, the second transport capacity was 200,000 tons, the third transport capacity was 150,000 tons, and the fourth transport capacity was 250,000 tons.

There is no evidence that the Chinese were ignorant of the impending Japanese attack on Canton. As early as the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government established the Fourth Theater, with Chief of Staff He Yingqin concurrently serving as the Commander-in-Chief of the theater, who was fully responsible for the defense of the coastal areas of Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi, so as to ensure China’s overseas supplies for the war against Japan. aisle.However, until the start of the Guangzhou operation, the command structure of China's Fourth Theater was not established, and only Yu Hanmou, the commander-in-chief of the Twelfth Army, served as the deputy commander of the theater.Yu Hanmou's twelfth group army, under the jurisdiction of the sixty-second, sixty-third and sixty-fifth armies, two independent brigades and Humen fortress troops.Since the Military Committee believed that there was no fighting in Guangzhou, in order to support the defense of Wuhan, four divisions were drawn from Yu Hanmou's limited strength, so that the Twelfth Army actually had only eight divisions left: the 153rd Division The 151st Division guarded Huiyang facing Daya Bay, the 157th Division guarded Chaoshan and Daya Bay on the southeast coast of Guangdong, and the 156th Division guarded Zengcheng east of Guangzhou. The 54th Division guarded Conghua to the north of Zengcheng, the 158th Division guarded the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou, the 454th Brigade of the 152nd Division guarded Hainan Island, the 456th Brigade of the 152nd Division guarded downtown Guangzhou, and the Independent 1st Division The 20th Brigade guarded along the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway, and the Independent Ninth Brigade guarded Lianhua Mountain north of Haifeng. ——Yu Hanmou's limited forces were scattered over a coastline of more than 500 kilometers and deep along the coast. The root cause of China's weak defense of Guangzhou is that the decision-makers of the Military Commission, including Chiang Kai-shek himself, always believed that Japan would not dare to attack Guangzhou because of the interests of countries such as the United Kingdom, which would cause international intervention.When the Japanese army began to gather in the direction of the Penghu Islands, Wu Tiecheng, chairman of the Guangdong provincial government, sent two urgent telegrams to Chiang Kai-shek, reporting that the Japanese army would launch an attack on Guangzhou based on reliable information from Hong Kong.But Chiang Kai-shek didn't take it seriously, thinking that this was an illusion created by the Japanese to capture Wuhan. Not only did he think that there would be no war in Guangzhou, but he also asked Yu Hanmou to send another division to reinforce Wuhan.Chiang Kai-shek's confusing warrant was issued on October 10, 1938. At this time, the Japanese Fifth Fleet carrying the landing force had set sail from Magong Island to Daya Bay. most urgent.Brother Yu Yuqi, director of Guangzhou (Yu Hanmou, style name Weiqi): In any case, we must mobilize a division of troops to reinforce Wuhan.If this division can be added, Wuhan can be secured; otherwise, Wuhan will be lost, and Guangdong will not be able to survive.As long as Wuhan can defend, Guangdong will have nothing to worry about. I hope that my brother will desperately recruit a division of elite soldiers to protect the overall situation.When will the master draw?Hope to reply. Undoubtedly, the warrant showed Chiang Kai-shek's extreme anxiety about the situation in Wuhan, because even he himself could not believe that "if we can increase this division, we can secure Wuhan."However, although Wuhan needs to be guarded, can the military operations of the Japanese fleet sailing towards the southeast coast of China be completely ignored? According to historical data, the Japanese army was well aware of the defense deployment of China, especially Yu Hanmou's department. The reason is that the people around Yu Hanmou who mastered the core operational secrets turned out to be Japanese spies: Taking advantage of the fact that Guangzhou is adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao and Shamian is a foreign concession, Japan set up spy agencies in Guangzhou to carry out various activities before and after the Anti-Japanese War.This kind of activity has also penetrated into the heart of Yu Headquarters. For example, Major General Guo, the engineer commander of Yu Headquarters, and Major General Gao Can Li, who is from the Northeast, are all hidden traitors.The two were introduced by Yu Hanmou's former chief of staff, Xu Jingtang, after the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, as a classmate of the Japanese Army non-commissioned officer.Headquarters Yu itself and Chiang Kai-shek's Military Control Bureau sent many anti-espionage personnel, but they had no way of discovering Guo and Li's activities until shortly before the fall of Guangzhou, but they had fled to Hong Kong beforehand. Guangzhou lost the possibility of preservation from the very beginning. On the evening of October 11, the Japanese Fifth Fleet arrived in Daya Bay, and all ships anchored in the early morning. ——"The night was bright, the moon was bright, the wind was calm and the sea was calm, and all operations went very smoothly." "When preparing to land, the enemy did not interfere. On the enemy's shore in the landing area of ​​the Hechuan Detachment, there were only lights flickering, no fire, and it was extremely quiet. "——The coast of China has no preparations and responses against landing. When formulating the Guangdong defense plan, the Chinese side accurately judged that if the Japanese army landed near Guangzhou, the landing site would definitely be in the Daya Bay area, because the Japanese army had no other choice: According to the treaty signed between China and Britain after the Opium War The territorial waters from Dapeng Bay to Bao'an belong to the United Kingdom, and it is impossible for Japanese ships to enter this sea area to fight; Humen's defense facilities are relatively complete, and they have to bypass Hong Kong's waters. The Pearl River system from Humen to Guangzhou is extremely complicated. Not suitable for large corps operations.Only Daya Bay has a water depth that can moor 10,000-ton ships, and the sea is wide and easy to deploy. There are roads connecting Aotou to Danshui and Huizhou, which are convenient for mechanized troops to enter. ——Since the Chinese side has already made a judgment, the scene that appeared on this moonlit night in the early morning of the 12th is unbelievable: The head of the 18th Division ordered the left detachment (step 114, the first brigade as the backbone) to set off at 2:45 on the 12th.Then ordered the main force of the division and the Hechuan detachment to start landing at 3:30.At 4:15, the left detachment made a surprise landing on the Xiaogui Coast of Yaling Bay (Daya Bay); the 18th Division was almost unresisted from the enemy's resistance at around 4:20 from the Xiayongwei and Yanqiangang areas. Successful landing.The Hechuan detachment was also hardly encountered by the enemy, and successfully landed in the south bank of Yanzaobei at 4:25.At 4:30 on the 12th, the army commander ordered the 104th Division to land.The landing cover force of the 104th Division (the 124th Division of the 18th Division and the 3rd Battalion of 1700th Division of the 104th Division as the backbone) landed on the coast north of the glass factory without resistance from the enemy. The main force of the division landed on the coast north of the glass factory at around ten o'clock. When the Japanese army landed in Daya Bay, the Chinese defenders defending the coast of Daya Bay had the same strength as Xiamen, only one battalion.At dawn on the 12th, Japanese warships gathered in the sea of ​​Daya Bay, and the enemy's landing had already begun. Mo Xide, the commander of the 151st Division stationed in Huiyang and Danshui, hurriedly called Yu Hanmou and asked for permission to mobilize his troops to advance to the Daya Bay area.Yu Hanmou then asked Chiang Kai-shek for instructions but was rejected. Chiang Kai-shek's reason was that the focus of the Japanese army's operations in the direction of Guangzhou was to cut off the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway and occupy the Humen Fortress.Therefore, the attack in the direction of Daya Bay was at most a feint attack by a small Japanese army.Chiang Kai-shek asked Yu Hanmou to aim at securing the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway, and the current deployment is not allowed to be changed without authorization. After the right-wing troops of the 18th Division of the Japanese Army successfully landed in Daya Bay, they immediately attacked northward and met the Luo Maoxun Regiment of the 151st Division of the Chinese defenders in the south of Tonghuxu. The Chinese defenders collapsed immediately.After its left-wing troops landed near Yanqian Port, they quickly advanced towards Danshui. The two battalions of the Chinese defenders in Danshui resisted for two hours and retreated, and Danshui fell.The Eighteenth Division of the Japanese Army began to pursue Huiyang with all its strength. ——"The temperature at noon was as high as 60 degrees Celsius, and it was extremely difficult to march continuously for more than 30 minutes. There were a large number of heatstroke patients. The division set up a patient sanatorium in Yonghuwei to accommodate the sick."Huiyang is the first gateway from Daya Bay to Guangzhou. It is backed by the Dongjiang River and the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway runs through it. It has an important strategic position.The Huiyang Chinese garrison is a regiment of the 151st Division and a part of the Independent Brigade.On the night of the 14th, the right-wing troops of the 18th Division of the Japanese Army attacked Huiyang City in the rain. The Chinese defenders used relatively complete fortifications to resist. The west three sides broke into the city, the Chinese defenders abandoned the city and retreated, and Huiyang fell at 7 o'clock in the morning.Then, on the night of the 16th, Huizhou was also occupied by the Japanese army. On the 17th, the main force of the 18th Division of the Japanese Army advanced towards Zengcheng. Yu Hanmou decided to use the established positions in Guangzhou and Zengcheng to concentrate his forces to stop the Japanese army. The Military Commission of the Nationalist Government also urgently ordered the Sixty-fourth Army and the Sixty-sixth Army located south of Jiujiang to go south from Nanxun Road to reinforce Guangzhou. On the 18th, the vanguard of the 18th Division of the Japanese Army arrived in the southeast of Zengcheng and was bombarded by the Chinese defenders.Major Yoshimura Kuragoro, the captain of the infantry battalion, boarded the high ground on the east bank of the Zengjiang River. He saw clearly that the Chinese defenders in Zengcheng were only "small troops", so he concentrated the grenadiers of each squadron and bombarded them violently. The cavalry brigade of the Japanese army also joined the infantry. The impact forced the Chinese defenders to retreat outside Zengcheng.Yu Hanmou planned to gather the 186th Division, 153rd Division, 154th Division and the Independent 20th Brigade to gather and annihilate the Japanese army on the road between Zengcheng and Boluo.On the 20th, the Japanese troops in the Zengcheng area had reached more than 5,000 troops. With the help of the air force, the Japanese troops launched a fierce attack on the assembled Chinese troops. situation.That night, Yu Hanmou led his headquarters to withdraw from Guangzhou and went to Qingyuan in the north. The only troops left in Guangzhou were the police tax regiment and a few gendarmes. On the afternoon of the 21st, the Japanese reconnaissance plane sent a report: 1. No fire was received from the original positions near Guangzhou after the morning; 2. There are about 600 cars going north along the Guangzhou-Conghua Highway; 3. There are countless sailboats and small motorboats gathered on the Pearl River in the south of Guangzhou; 4. Several fires broke out in Guangzhou. The Japanese army judged from this that the Chinese army had abandoned Guangzhou. On the evening of the 22nd, the 18th Division of the Japanese Army entered the city of Guangzhou without fighting. The 104th Division of the Japanese Army headed north from Zengcheng, occupied Taipingchang on the 22nd, and occupied Conghua on the 22nd. Since the 21st Army's capture of Guangzhou was surprisingly smooth, the commander, Lieutenant General Guzhuang Qianlang, decided that the Fifth Division, with the cooperation of the Navy, would launch an attack on the Humen Fortress at the mouth of the Pearl River.The ships of the Fifth Division, escorted by the Fifth Fleet, departed from Daya Bay, bypassed Hong Kong, and entered Lingdingyang on the morning of the 22nd.With the support of fighter planes and naval guns, the Japanese army forcibly landed on the west bank of Dajiaotou Island and captured Puzhou Fort.A battalion of the Chinese defenders at the nearby Dajiao Fort resisted tenaciously, holding on for a whole day and night, until 300 officers and soldiers were killed and wounded, and the Dajiao Fort fell.The Japanese army continued to advance from Dajiaotou Island to Chuanbi Island.Prior to this, in order to "silence" all the military facilities on the Humen Fortress, the Japanese escort fleet and the main aviation force had bombarded and bombed Humen for two consecutive days. Shou.On the evening of the 23rd, the main force of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army landed from Chuanbi Island and occupied the Humen Fortress until the 29th, when the Japanese army completely controlled Guangzhou and its surrounding areas. Until this time, the 64th Army and 66th Army of the Chinese Army, which were ordered to reinforce Guangzhou, had still disappeared. The highest general of the Chinese army who died in the battle of Guangzhou was a brigade commander named Zhong Fangjun of the 153rd Division.On the 17th, the 153rd Division blocked the Japanese army on the front line of Futian. Brigadier Zhong was extremely angry at the inability of the friendly forces and the fear and retreat of the troops. He felt ashamed that he could not effectively fight the enemy as a commander, so he decided to One dies. ——Brigadier Zhong’s suicide was not just a show, he really wanted to die: ...fired his own revolver from the jaw upwards, passed through the roof, and fell into a coma.Fortunately, the people of the village heard about it and gathered around to see it, rushing to offer condolences, rescue and treatment.Determined to commit suicide, he committed suicide by jumping into the river the next day. He was rescued by the people and brought back to the village.Zhong Fangjun's death can be said to have served the country with his body and devoted himself to his duties. He was respected by the villagers, and they raised funds to be buried in the village. Although Yu Hanmou's Twelfth Group Army is weak and scattered, its equipment is relatively good in the Chinese army. It has sufficient light weapons and ammunition, and has a considerable number of artillery and armored vehicles. In particular, it has a large number of trucks and inland river boats. , They should be more familiar with the complex water network of the Pearl River Basin than the Japanese, so it is entirely possible to fight with the Japanese army for quite a while.However, Yu Hanmou's troops, except for the 151st Division holding Huizhou for more than ten hours, the 15th and 154th Divisions resisting briefly near Zengcheng, and the Dajiao Fortress for nearly 20 hours, the rest of the troops None of them made strong resistance, resulting in a large amount of military equipment being discarded to the Japanese army.According to Japanese military statistics, during the battle in Guangzhou, the Japanese captured 1,340 Chinese officers and soldiers, 208 light and heavy machine guns, 134 artillery pieces, 53 fortress guns, and 21 tanks and armored vehicles. vehicles, 151 cars, and 17,550 bags of rice. Guangzhou fell, the Guangdong-Han Railway was cut off, and the ports were blocked. The Japanese army was able to establish a forward base for southern operations, and China's important international transportation and supply routes were completely blocked. At this time, Wuhan was surrounded by Japanese troops on three sides. The important position of Wuhan to the national government has been lost. Even if you stick to it, you will eventually lose it. If some strength can be preserved, it will be the foundation of a protracted war of resistance and final victory. Moreover, during the five-month-long battle outside Wuhan, the Chinese army has killed and wounded tens of thousands of Japanese troops, sunk more than a hundred Japanese ships, destroyed more than a hundred Japanese fighter planes, and forced the Japanese army to continuously increase its troops from home, causing the loss of its national strength. Japanese drama. ——The combat goal of the Chinese army to consume the Japanese army has been achieved, that is, "it is the best policy to defend Wuhan and not fight in Wuhan."More importantly, during this period of time, after the fall of East China, China's "people and materials gathered in Wuhan had to be transported westward in advance." Therefore, the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government decided to abandon Wuhan. This is giving up after perseverance. However, the abandonment of Wuhan means the start of another military operation, that is, many Chinese troops on the front line will retreat in an all-round way. The Military Council secretly notified Li Zongren, commander of the fifth theater, and Chen Cheng, commander of the ninth theater, of this decision, and asked them to deploy as soon as possible so that the troops could withdraw from the battlefield in a planned way. On October 24, 1938, the Chinese army officially issued an order to abandon Wuhan.That night, Chiang Kai-shek left Wuhan and flew to Hengyang, Hunan. After the Japanese Second Army occupied Xinyang, its 10th Division went south along Pinghan Road, and the main force went west of Pinghan Road via Yingshan, Anlu, Yunmeng, and Yingcheng to Hanyang and Hankou. No Chinese troops were encountered along the way. A large-scale resistance arrived in the Yingshan area on the 23rd.The 13th and 16th Divisions of the Japanese Army located at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains also discovered that the Chinese army that had stubbornly blocked them before had disappeared, so they were able to quickly advance to the Macheng area. The planned withdrawal deployment of the astonishingly large number of troops in China's fifth theater is: The 30th and 42nd Armies of Sun Lianzhong's Division of the Second Army, and the 12th and 71st Armies of the Third Army were renamed "Western Henan Corps" and assigned to the First Theater. retreat. The 1st Army and the 16th Army in the south of Hu Zong of the 17th Army gathered in the direction of Nanyang in the southwest of Henan, and were under the direct jurisdiction of the Military Commission. The Seventh Army of the Liao Lei Division of the Twenty-first Army and the Tenth Army of the Xu Yuanquan Division of the Twenty-sixth Army stayed in the Dabie Mountains to fight guerrillas, and joined forces with the 1st Army of the Han Deqin Division of the Twenty-fourth Army, which was already on the guerrilla in the Jiangsu-Anhui border area. The Fifty-seventh, Eighty-ninth Army, and the Fifth Group Army, together with the Xuezhong Department, were renamed the "Su-Anhui-Hubei Border Region Corps", with Liao Lei as the commander-in-chief. The 31st, 84th, and 39th armies of the Li Pinxian Division of the Eleventh Army assembled at Luoyangdian and Maping near Guangshui in northern Hubei. The 59th, 77th, and 68th armies of Zhang Zizhong's 33rd Army assembled at Pingba, west of Yingcheng in central Hubei. The Forty-first, Forty-fifth, and Thirty-sixth Armies of Sun Zhen's Department of the Twenty-Second Army were responsible for the defense on the south bank of the Yangtze River west of Jinkou, southwest of Wuhan. The Chu Department of the Twenty-sixth Army Xiao Zhi retreated to the west of Pinghan Road and assembled towards Zhongxiang in central Hubei; the Cao Fulin Department of the Fifty-fifth Army retreated to Zaoyang in northern Hubei; , The 67th Army moved to Qianjiang in southern Hubei; the Liu Yinggu Department of the 87th Army moved to Mianyang east of Qianjiang. The commander-in-chief of the fifth theater retreated to Sui County in northern Hubei. However, once the retreat order is issued, the deployment becomes a dead letter.Li Zongren called Chiang Kai-shek: "After the recent investigation, all the armies have retreated, but they have not been able to carry out their tasks according to the designated location. Many generals of the Sichuan Army have arrived in Yichang. The team is messy, unable to command, and there is no new force to serve as cover." The Sichuan army withdrew to Yichang without authorization because it was not far from their hometown.Li Zongren was both angry and helpless at the rout of troops. He accused the Sichuan Army of being just an excuse. What made him even more furious was that the Central Army troops did not listen to his command of the Guangxi general: On October 12, Xinyang fell.I had originally ordered Hu Zongnan to withdraw from Ziyang to the south and guard Tongbai Mountain and Pingjingguan to cover the retreat of the eastern Hubei army to the west.However, Hu's disobedience to the order actually moved seven divisions of his entire army westward and retreated to Nanyang, so that the front door of Pinghan Road was opened.Hu Zongnan is Mr. Jiang's "direct line" troops, and at this critical juncture of the battle, he dared to disobey the order, which is really unseemly.First, after Hu Zongnan fought in Shanghai, he withdrew from Jiangbei to Bengbu.Mr. Jiang once personally told me: "In the future, Hu Zongnan will be transferred to the command of the Fifth Theater." But after this batch of "direct line" Central Army arrived in Bengbu, they did not report to me.At the same time, in order to fight for the retreating soldiers, they even used force against each other, causing a mess of chaos.After the fall of Xuzhou, the chief department was stationed in eastern Hubei, and the military command even ordered the southern part of Hu Zong to belong to me, but Hu never reported to me the situation between the enemy and us.When Xinyang was in crisis, he withdrew to Nanyang without authorization.If this matter is committed by any other general who is not a "direct descendant", he will undoubtedly be severely punished.But this time I reported the situation to the Military Commission and demanded that Hu Zongnan be dealt with strictly, but the Military Commission didn't do anything about it. Hu Zongnan's unauthorized westward retreat almost killed Li Zongren.At that time, Li Zongren led the commander's department of the war zone and had just withdrawn to Chencun, west of Huayuan Station on Pinghan Road. Wushengguan and Pingjingguan were used to fill Hu Zongnan's line of defense.However, when the army retreated across the board, the commander's department could not contact Tan Lianfang at all, and Liu Ruming's department had already rushed to Yingcheng.Li Zongren, who was extremely anxious, "was shocked that the battle situation was not good, and that there might be danger in Chencun, so he stood up in his clothes, woke up his followers, and ordered the officers and colleagues to get ready immediately and move westward." ——Two hours after they left Chencun, the Japanese cavalry rushed into the village. The chaos of the Chinese army on the front line in Wuhan made Chiang Kai-shek very angry. He sent a telegram to a series of generals at the same time, saying that such a chaotic retreat would become a joke in the Chinese and foreign media, and such shameless behavior that only wanted to escape must be severely punished: 1. The enemy broadcast said: When our army withdrew from Xindian Town and Chongyang this time, not only bullets were abandoned, but also many bowls and chopsticks were lost. All kinds of embarrassing situations are just a joke.2. It was originally planned to check and abandon Wuhan. The enemy who entered Wuhan was extremely exhausted. There were not many enemies in the south, and our troops did not check the strength of the enemy. I have a large number of troops. Good terrain, not knowing how to use defense, just trying to escape and flee, not only shameless, unable to face the martyrs who died in the war of resistance for more than a year, but also completely lost the spirit of the revolutionary army.From then on, we should turn the tide, and all the officers who retreated without orders, regardless of their ranks, should be strictly enforced according to the Lian Zuo Law, and Chen Zhang should find out and report the embarrassing retreat of the troops from Xindian Town and Chongyang, so that they can be handled by verification.3. The line from Nanjiang Bridge to Chenglingji should be firmly guarded as much as possible. Without an order, it is not allowed to retreat in advance, and the cadres will be punished. After Chiang Kai-shek left Wuhan, Bai Chongxi, the deputy chief of staff, first drove to Zhongxiang, Hubei, and then "planned to return to Changsha" via Shashi and Changde.Unexpectedly, when he arrived at Shilipu, the car broke down, and Bai Chongxi had to wait for the driver to repair it on the side of the road.After a while, Zhou Enlai's car happened to pass by here. He told Bai Chongxi that the enemy's cavalry was not far from here, and asked Bai Chongxi to take his car to Changsha together.Bai Chongxi didn't know when his car would be repaired, so he got in the car and walked with Zhou Enlai. ——"It was a long journey, and Zhou Enlai and I had a lot of conversations. The content of the conversation ranged from his early years of studying in Nankai and studying in France, to issues such as the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the War of Resistance. Listening to his conversation, I know that he has a wealth of knowledge." The last to evacuate from Wuhan was the 185th Division of the Defenders of the Ninth Theater of China.Before retreating, the officers and soldiers completed the destruction of important military facilities in the city, and covered the remaining government personnel to cross the Yangtze River and Han River. On the second day after Chiang Kai-shek left Wuhan, the Sixth Division of the Japanese Army occupied the Daijiashan position in the northern suburbs of Hankou with almost no resistance, and its vanguard rushed directly into Hankou.Reinforced by the 60th Regiment of the 15th Division, Bo Tian Detachment, with the cooperation of the Navy's Third Fleet, attacked Wuchang from Yangxin to the north.On the 24th, after repelling the blockade of the 55th Division of the 94th Army of the Chinese Defenders, the Potian Detachment occupied Gedian to the east of Wuchang, and the vanguard rushed into Wuchang in the early morning of the 26th.On the 27th, the main force of the 15th Division of the Japanese Army crossed the Yangtze River from Wuchang and captured Hanyang. So far, all three towns in Wuhan have fallen. However, Wuhan occupied by the Japanese army was an empty city. After the Japanese army occupied Wuhan, the 10th Division, the 9th Division, and the 11th Brigade of the Sixth Division went south to capture Yueyang in three routes.So far, it has formed a confrontation with the troops of the Ninth Theater of China across the Xiushui in northwest Jiangxi and the Xinqiang River in northeast Hunan. On the 31st, Chiang Kai-shek published "Chairman Chiang's Letter to the National People", explaining the Chinese army's abandonment of Wuhan: Before the Battle of Southern Shandong, the enemy invaded Wuhan with threats, failed to invade Henan, and failed to invade Anhui. Instead, they used all their sea, land, and air forces to invade along the river and fought fiercely. In May, our soldiers fought bloody battles, and regarded death as home. The more sacrifices were made, the spirits were boosted, and the death of the enemy troops exceeded the total number in the previous year of combat.The enemy has no plans to succeed, so he had to expose his weaknesses in order to launch an invasion war in South China, from the War of Resistance area here, to the whole country. .The basis of our country's war of resistance is not in the shallow and narrow traffic areas along the river and coast, but in the vast and deep interior, and the western provinces are especially the source of our war of resistance. This is the fundamental strategy of the long-term war of resistance, which is also the consistent policy of our government.The importance of Wuhan's position in the work of the Anti-Japanese War in the past October was to cover the preparations for the construction of the west of our country and to undertake the transportation of north-south traffic.Therefore, the main significance of defending Wuhan's military was originally to block the enemy's westward advance, consume the enemy's strength, prepare rear transportation, transport necessary weapons, and relocate industries in the southeast and central parts of our country to carry out the construction of the northwest and southwest.It is because the development of transportation and economic construction in the northwest and southwest was the solid foundation for the long-term war of resistance and national construction; it is also only when the international passages in the northwest and southwest were fully opened, and then the strength of the war of resistance and the materials needed for economic construction in our country were enriched, and the supply was not in short supply... ...Since the enemy invaded Guangdong and the communication between Guangdong and Han was cut off, the importance of Wuhan in the general situation has obviously diminished.As far as the military is concerned, the military value of Wuhan is not at one point of its core, but in the comprehensiveness of its periphery... In this way, not only does it not need to be at the core of Wuhan, but also in terms of the strategy of the War of Resistance, it cannot be ignored. The conservatism of the core strongholds will prevent the development of comprehensive strength.The enemy's intention is to surround Wuhan, annihilate our main force, and make our long-term combat difficult, so as to achieve its goal of a quick battle.Therefore, in terms of space, our army's strategy should not be a narrow core and forget the vast picture; in terms of time, it should not be a short-term gain or loss, and ignore a long-term plan. Therefore, we are determined to abandon the core and focus on the overall之战争……吾同胞须知此次兵力之转移，不仅为我国积极进取转守为攻之转机，且为彻底抗战转败为胜之枢纽，绝不可误认为战事之失利与退却。盖抗战军事胜负之关键，不在武汉一地之得失，而在保持我继续抗战持久之力量……我国在抗战之始，即决定持久抗战，故一时之进退变化，绝不能动摇我国抗战之决心，唯其为全面战争，故战区之扩大，早为我国人所预料，任何城市之得失，绝不能影响于抗战之全局……自今伊始，必须更哀戚、更坚忍、更踏实、更刻苦、更猛勇奋进，以僇（戮）力于全面之战争，与抗战根据地之充实，而造成最后之胜利。语有之：“行百里者半九十。”最后之成功，必赖于最艰辛之努力与大无畏之奋斗。又曰：“宁为玉碎，毋为瓦全。”必须吾人抱定最大之决心，而后整个民族乃能得彻底之解放。国家存亡，抗战成败之关键，全系于此，愿与我全国同胞共勉之。 武汉会战历时四个半月。 为了攻取中国武汉，日本动用了当时能够集结的最大兵力，初期投入作战的兵力约为二十五万，会战期间又数次补充，最后投入的总兵力约为三十万。日军最大限度地发挥了其海陆空装备上的优势，苦战数月，最终却没能达到围歼中国军队主力的预期目的，自身却损失严重。日本陆军第十一军战后统计，武汉会战期间该军“战死四千五百零六人（内将校一百七十二），负伤一万七千三百八十人（内将校五百二十六），伤亡合计二万一千八百八十六人（内将校六百九十八）”；日本陆军第二军战后统计，武汉会战期间该军“战死约二千三百人，负伤约七千三百人”，连同海军和航空兵的伤亡，总计约为三万五千五百人。——尽管中国军队战斗详报的数字偏高，但日本方面的统计数字却明显偏低。白崇禧的记述是：日军在武汉会战期间，陆军伤亡人数当在五万左右。如果再加上海军和航空兵、加上在酷热中患病以及失踪官兵的人数，日军损伤兵力约计九万。 在武汉会战中，武器装备低劣的中国军队于酷暑中苦战大别山麓和江汉平原，在日军飞机、大炮和毒气等大杀伤性武器的杀戮之下，后勤供给不足，伤员难以转运，加上热带疾病流行，官兵付出了巨大的牺牲。日军第十一军的统计是：中国军队“遗弃尸体约十四万三千四百九十三具，俘虏约九千五百八十一人”。日军第二军的统计是：中国军队“遗弃尸体约五万二千具，俘虏约二千三百人”。——综合各方史料估算，武汉会战期间，中国军队阵亡、负伤、染病、失踪的官兵人数约在十八万以上。 早在武汉会战开始前，中国方面便确定：用顽强的外围作战逐渐消耗日本的国力和军力，以求达到在抗战初期的某一阶段，将日本国力和军力消耗到无法发动更大规模战役的目的。可以说，武汉会战基本上达成了这一作战目的。十月十二日至十四日，毛泽东在《抗日民族战争与抗日民族统一战线发展的新阶段》的讲话中，针对正在进行的武汉保卫战说：“保卫武汉斗争的目的，一方面在于消耗敌人，又一方面在于争取时间便于我全国工作之进步，而不是死守据点。到了战况确实证明不利于我而放弃则反为有利之时，应以放弃地方保存军力为原则，因此必须避免大的不利决战……避免战略决战而力争有利条件下的战役与战斗的决战，应是持久战的方针之一。于必要时机与一定条件下放弃某些无可再守的城市，不但是被迫的不得已的，而且是诱敌深入，分散、消耗与疲惫敌人的积极的政策……” 武汉会战后，为调整战略部署并总结作战经验教训，十一月二十五日至二十八日，蒋介石在南岳主持召开了第三、第九战区司令长官、军团长、军长、师长等百余人参加的军事会议。中国共产党方面周恩来和叶剑英也出席了会议。会上，蒋介石连续作了五次重要讲话，阐述了他对抗日战争进程的重新认识，提出将战争进程分为第一、第二两个时期，即武汉撤退和岳阳失守前为抗战第一期、之后为抗战第二期： ……在第一期战斗过程当中，从军事上说，我们虽然失去了很多土地，死伤了许多同胞，就一时的进退看，表面上我们是失败了；但是，从整个长期的战局上说，在精神上，我们不但没有失败，而且是完全成功……详细一点说，我们最高统帅部所定的这个战略，就是拿我们的劣势军备，一面逐次消耗优势的敌军，一面根据抗战的经验来培养我们自己的力量，以逐渐完成我们最后战胜的布置……我们与敌人打了十七个月，不但我们全国的部队仍能继续抵抗，使敌人越陷越深，不能自拔；而且我们抗战的精神愈益坚强，抗战必胜的自信心，也不知道要提高了多少倍。这就是我们强固部队士气和国民心理一种最大的成功，使一般军民确信我们这次抗战一定可以获得光荣的胜利！我们第一期抗战已稳固地建立了这个必胜的基础……第二期抗战，就是我们转守为攻转败为胜的时期。大家要知道，敌人兵力的使用，到现在为止，已经到了最大限度；今后他再不能有更多的兵力使用到中国来。而且他已经派到中国境内的这许多部队，随战区之扩大而力量分散，且已疲敝不堪，没有什么大的战斗力量。因此，无论他在形式上是如何获得了胜利，他这胜利，亦已经到了最高限度不能再有增加……所以敌人的侵略战争，今后只有一天一天地随兵力之消耗减损而趋于失败。在另一方面我们过去虽然遭受了挫失，但我们的挫失，客观上也是到此限度为止，从今以后，由于作战经验的增加，战略布置的完成，以及军事的增强和敌我实力消长士气盛衰的对比，我们胜利的把握和信心，一天一天提高起来，这就是由于我们过去十七个月的战斗，已陷敌人于泥淖，而稳定了我们最后必胜的基础…… 一年前，共产党领袖毛泽东在《论持久战》中就曾说过：“日本在中国抗战的长期消耗下，它的经济行将崩溃；在无数战争的消磨中，它的士气行将颓靡。中国方面，则抗战的潜伏力一天一天地奔腾高涨，大批的革命民众不断地倾注到前线去，为自由而战争。所有这些因素和其他的因素配合起来，就使我们能够对日本占领地的堡垒和根据地，作最后的致命的攻击，驱逐日本侵略军出中国。” 虽然在蒋介石所说的第一期作战中，中国军民以巨大的牺牲消耗着日本侵略者的国力和军力，并使中国持久抗战的战略布局得以基本完成。但是，武汉会战还是再次暴露了中国军队存在的种种问题。 在战略战术的指导原则上，尽管强调了“积极的运动防御”，甚至把这一原则写进了作战指导，但大多的中国军队既没有真正领会，也不会具体实施。武汉会战期间，国民政府苏联总顾问亚·伊·切列潘诺夫曾向军事委员会建议，迅速调集军队分别从江南、江北不断地袭击进攻中的日军，采取以攻为守的战术保卫武汉。but-- 从整个形势来讲，日本军队是用突破法，中国军均是用阻截法，一个是积极的进攻，一个是消极的防守，遭受日军进攻的中国军队自然是要拼命抵抗，积极地去防卫，但是其余未受到攻击的军队自然是没有战斗，在那里消极等待。中国军队利用阻截式的利用工事做阵地防御是可以的，但不应该让未受到攻击的部队停留在那里不动，而应该积极行动起来，找机会，从侧翼、从后方随时突击日军、牵制日军，使其疲于奔命，无法集中兵力攻击中国军队的阵地……疲乏不堪、退往后方的日军，游击部队不应让其获得充分的休息，应该找机会加以袭击，尤其是要积极破坏铁路、公路及土路，加深日军运输上的困难；对于日军的指挥中心也要造成威胁，予以困扰。所有这些方法都是可以分散日军的力量，延缓日军进攻的攻势。 《孙子兵法》言：“善攻者，敌不知其所守；善守者，敌不知其所攻。”这也就是毛泽东在《论持久战》中所说的：“攻击变为防御，防御变为攻击。”而在武汉会战中，中国军队的高级将领在指挥作战时，依旧是连绵不断的一线阵地式防御，实力薄弱的兵力被分散在各条防御线上，既缺乏有力的预备兵团，也少有在防御中的协同攻击。“战略上既取守势，战术上又难取攻势”，以至于作战基本上处于被动状态，每每都在应对日军主动发起的进攻，采取的措施除“剜肉补疮”外似乎没有他法。其结果是“备前则后寡，备后则前寡；备左则右寡，备右则左寡；无所不备，则无所不寡”。 中国军队的指挥系统如同中国的官场，结构复杂而臃肿。第九战区司令长官陈诚战后总结说：“中间指挥单位过多，就是历次会战失败的一大原因。这一痛苦教训，我们老早就知道得很清楚，但到武汉会战时，中间单位不但没有减少，反倒更加多了。师上有军、军团、集团军、兵团，以至战区长官部，真是极叠床架屋之能事，欲其不误事机又如何可能？”拖着如此“叠床架屋”的沉重的指挥机构，同时各指挥官又有根深蒂固的派系之见，于是给中国军队带来了另一个致命的痼疾：没有协同意识。武汉会战中，仅第九战区部队最多时有七十多个师，但是量的优势未能发挥即被质的劣势所抵消，没有任何协同意识的部队堆积在战场上，除了被对手各个击破外几乎起不到兵力充足的作用，以至于日军的结论是中国陆军“只有一个师”，意思是中国军队只会一个师一个师地单独作战。单独作战的表现是：协同作战不讲联络，友军危急不去相救，奉命增援敷衍了事，两军衔接推倭扯皮造成空隙。协同作战，乃至联合作战，是现代战争的特质。殊不知，对于同一战场、同一战役、乃至同一战争中的每一支部队而言，“荣辱生死、胜败存亡”是紧密相关的，是互为因果的，是要共同承担的。“昧于利害，不辨是非，因而观望友军，怀疑友军，甚至规避责任，推倭责任，妄想贪生自私，而其结果，不仅贻误军机，害了友军，害了国家，而且适以自害，终必自取败亡”。关于武汉会战中的协同问题，最明显的实例莫过于日军沿长江进攻武汉时，位于日军侧背的中国第三战区的所有部队均按兵不动，既没有向日军的后方或侧翼进行有力攻击以牵制敌人，也没有对日军的后方联络线采取任何有效的袭扰。——这到底是中国第三战区长官的“自私”，还是中国军队高层在战略布局上根本没有协同意识？ 在南岳军事会议上，蒋介石痛切地指出了“我军之十二耻辱”： 一、阵亡官兵多暴尸战场，乃我军耻辱一。 二、伤兵病兵有流徙途中（如乞丐）乃我军耻辱二。 三、士兵逃亡，不能防止，乃我军耻辱三。 四、军行所致民众逃避，乃我军耻辱四。 五、谎报军情不负责任，乃我军耻辱五。 六、一线式阵地不能改正，由于指挥官能力缺乏，乃我军耻辱六。 七、不能贯彻命令，不能达成任务，为抗战挫失之总因，乃我军耻辱七。 八、不能抽调部队机动使用，乃我指挥官缺乏胆识与决心，乃我军之耻辱八。 九、规避责任乃军人自私自利，贪生怕死，乃我军耻辱九。 十、缺乏秘密性能，战术上因受无上的损失，乃我军耻辱之十。 十一、谍报与侦探不健全，接战不知敌队番号，乃我军耻辱之十一。 十二、监视封锁不严密，阵地附近发生敌探与汉奸，乃我军耻辱之十二。 蒋介石要求参加南岳军事会议的所有将领“明责任、知耻辱、识时势、知彼此”，完成整理军队、建立军队之任务，提高军队作战素能，增强军队的作战能力，从而“确立第二期抗战胜利的基础”。 日军占领岳阳后，并没有显出继续南下攻占长沙的迹象。 但是，十一月十三日凌晨时分，长沙城内突然不明原因地燃起大火——不是个别地方失火，而是全城一片火海：“市民从睡梦中惊醒，面对熊熊烈火，上天无路，入地无门，老少妇孺的哭喊声和火烧房屋发出的爆炸声汇成一片，构成一幅极端悲惨的残酷景象。到处是一片混乱，拖儿带女的，裹着棉被背着老人孩子的，路上充满了大小汽车，喇叭嘶叫声被哭叫声淹没，车撞人，人挤人……市内机关、团体、学校、医院、银行、工厂等建筑物均付一炬，民房除车站路及城外一部未全毁外，其余全部烧毁，尤以长沙最繁盛之八角亭、红牌楼、中山路、南正街、北正街一带焚烧最烈。” 长沙的大火烧了三天三夜。 市民被烧死达两万余人，房屋被焚毁五万余栋，原有四十二万人口的长沙城成为一片废墟。 令人不解的是，长沙遭此浩劫，原因竟然不明。 长沙属于中国第九战区，战区司令长官为陈诚，而湖南省政府主席是张治中。军事和行政最高长官对于长沙大火起因说法不一。张治中说，这是一个“意外的、突发的灾变”；而陈诚则说：“寇军于十一月十日晚，侵入岳阳南方之新墙河畔，适于此时，汨罗与长沙间之电话一时中断，张治中心里先就慌了。后来又听错敌抵新墙河之情报为敌抵新河——新墙河属岳阳，新河属长沙，两者南北相距二百余里……” 陈诚认为，正是这一字之差，导致了张治中判断失误。只是，没有任何史据证明陈诚所说是真。 中国军队放弃武汉后，日军南下进入湖南北部。国民政府军事委员会预计日军会攻占长沙，遂决定以南岳衡山为防御中心，并吸取武汉撤退时破坏不彻底的教训，先期制订了“焦土抗战”的原则，以备放弃长沙时不留一草一木资敌。为此，从十一月一日开始，张治中便开始动员市民疏散，并决定将省府迁至沅陵、市府迁至邵阳。七日，蒋介石在长沙召集军事会议，检讨了放弃武汉时没有做到将城市彻底破坏的原因和后果，同时强调一旦日军兵临长沙要不惜一切将全城焚毁。军事会议结束后，张治中召集秘密会议，商讨了长沙如何焚城事宜。十一日晚，日军占领岳阳的消息传来，长沙城内一片恐慌。十二日上午九时，张治中接到委员长侍从室副主任林蔚的电话，说“我们对长沙要用焦土政策”，紧跟着蒋介石的电报就到了： 限一小时到。长沙张主席。dense.长沙如失陷，务将全城焚毁，望事前妥密准备，勿误！中正文侍参。 张治中立即决定：焚城事宜由长沙警备司令酆悌负责，省保安处长徐权协助。 中午，陈诚来到省府会晤张治中，两人在焚城一事上统一了意见。 这一天，长沙城内的紧张令张治中陷于忙乱中：伤兵须于十四日转运完毕的问题、召集新兵以紧急补充部队问题、征集民夫转移政府机构设施的问题、安抚长沙城内的外国人的问题，等等。下午四时，警备司令酆悌拿出制订好的焚城方案，张治中嘱咐：待中国军队自汨罗江撤退后再下达焚城命令，届时先放空袭警报再放紧急警报，以利还没撤离的市民紧急躲避。 但是，到了晚上，张治中发现，不但逃难的人流充斥于出城大道，而且警察局里竟然也没人了，街上所有的岗位都没了警察的踪影。张治中立刻给警察局局长文重孚打电话，限他两个小时内恢复所有的岗位职守。可是，凌晨时分，当张治中想叫上文局长一起去城内巡查时，发现警察局的电话断了，副官告诉他，警察局的大门已经用竹板钉起来了。 十三日凌晨两点，张治中刚躺下，副官就来报告说，城内很多地方起火了，然后各处电话都断了——“四点酆悌报告：'各处起火，电话已断，文局长找不着。究竟放火者何人？看这样子，似为一大规模有组织的行动，外面人都传说火是由警察局开始烧的。'”张治中的紧急处置是：手令酆悌、徐权严拿放火者，准予就地处决；派员调查外侨有无损害；派出保安团上街维持秩序；对伤兵难民加以救济；维持秩序，恢复交通；设法恢复电信交通；电呈委员长蒋介石及参谋总长何应钦。 既然不是偶然失火，那么，长沙大火是谁放的？ 从大火中逃出来的目击者说：“确有佩戴放火臂章的武装自卫队，后边有枪兵督率，挨家沿户点燃起来的。”——后来证实，放火的是负责焚城的警备二团。当夜该团分为二十四个队，散布于长沙市各区，带着火油汽油若干箱，先从省政府和警察局点燃，然后各处同时动作。——这显然是有计划、有步骤的大规模纵火。事后，国民党中央宣传部和军事委员会政治部联合发表了长沙大火调查说明，从官方认定起火原因是“出于民族义愤”： 曾从事破坏准备之人员及人民（自卫团员丁森等）鉴于敌机之连日轰炸及最近平江、岳州、通城、通山等县被炸之惨，激于民族义愤，以为敌寇将至，乃即自焚其屋，遂致将准备工作变为行动，于是一处起火，到处发动，以致一发不可收拾。 对于造成如此重大伤亡的事件，这一结论显得简陋不堪。 十六日，蒋介石从南岳来到大火刚刚熄灭的长沙城。 一个星期后，长沙警备司令酆悌、警备二团团长徐昆和警察局局长文重孚均被判处死刑，于二十二日上午执行枪决。 不久，张治中被革职留任。 鉴于陈诚对张治中的指摘，蒋介石回到南岳后，亲笔致信陈诚言：“……吾人经此长沙大火之教训，全体上下，皆应引以为戒慎恐惧，对内尤应和衷共济，不怨不尤，互相合作，共同肩负艰巨，以当未来不测之大难。” 一九三八年底，一个比长沙大火更令国人惊悚的大难真的出现了：国民党副总裁、国民参政会议长汪精卫公开叛国投敌了。 毫无疑问，汪精卫是国民党内部“失败论”的首领，是“低调倶乐部”的核心人物。南京陷落后，亲日的“低调俱乐部”成员周佛海、陶希圣等人，曾向汪精卫和蒋介石提出，建立一个“灰色的文化团体”，用以对抗中国共产党的各种主张。建议得到了蒋介石和汪精卫的接受。“灰色的文化团体”的宗旨非常简约，