Chapter 54 Surround with barriers

In the case of losing air supremacy, the mobilization of large Chinese troops is usually at night to avoid Japanese aircraft reconnaissance and air strikes, but due to time constraints, in order to get to the battlefield as soon as possible, the Seventy-Fourth Army had to carry out day marches. The direction of travel of the entire army was thus fully exposed. On September 24, at one o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese reconnaissance plane found "about 200 enemy troops advancing westward from Liuyang."At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, between Liuyang and Wanzai, the pilot witnessed "a large column of about 15,000 enemy troops."

Although Anan was eager to strike at the new Seventy-Fourth Army, Kinoshita and others were not sure about the outcome. He also believed that it would be "foolish" to send troops across the western mountains of Liuyang to attack at this time. Anan decided not to engage in a ground confrontation with the Seventy-Fourth Army for the time being, and only used aircraft for surveillance and bombing.After the order was issued, a large number of Japanese planes swarmed over the marching column of the 74th Army. The order of departure of the 74th Army was that the 57th Division would go first, followed by the 58th Division and the troops directly under the army, and the 51st Division would follow the army headquarters.When the 57th Division, 58th Division and their troops directly under the military headquarters passed through Jiaoxi Ridge in the west of Liuxi City, they were immediately bombed and strafed by Japanese planes in turn.

The Seventy-Fourth Army is not without experience in air defense and evacuation during the march.In the event of Japanese air raids, the various ministries would disperse in squads and platoons. While defending against the air, they would use hillsides or field ridges to leap forward. This would not only reduce losses, but also not affect the marching speed.However, the terrain of Jiaoxi Ridge is different from other places. It is a 15-kilometer trail with rocky mountains on both sides. Under normal circumstances, air defense uses anti-aircraft machine guns or anti-aircraft guns to expel aircraft. The problem is that troops march in columns in the defiles, and most of the positions have only ordinary machine rifles. The Ministry of Defense did not conduct in-depth research on the terrain that the troops passed in advance, especially did not formulate air defense measures for the terrain along the way. As a result, air defense has become a lie.The officers and soldiers only knew to use leaves as camouflage, and they were not allowed to make any noise, lest the planes might hear them. In fact, the ministries could organize machine guns to shoot intensively—there are rocky mountains on both sides, and the Japanese planes will fly low to attack. , also avoiding difficulties.It's just that no one would have thought of this when they were not fully prepared and panicked.

The Seventy-Fourth Army suffered heavy losses in the air strikes, and the chain of command was disrupted.When the 51st Division was the last to pass through Jiaoxi Ridge, there were already many casualties ahead.The 51st Division itself did not escape the bombing and strafing of the Japanese planes. Someone jumped into the bomb crater in a hurry and found that there were nearly ten dead bodies inside, so he had to lie down among the corpses for concealment. Before participating in the battle, they lost their vigor. The 74th Army was shrouded in an ominous sign, but the troops still did not dare to stop. On the morning of September 25, the whole army finally arrived in Liuyang.Then, Wang Yaowu received an urgent telegram from Xue Yue, requesting the Seventy-Fourth Army to rush to Huanghua Town, east of Changsha, to occupy positions along the south bank of the Laodao River along the line of Huanghua Town and Yong'an Town, so as to defend the outskirts of Changsha.

The tactical thinking used by Xue Yue on the Hunan battlefield was originally in the same line as Luo Zhuoying, that is, "retreat and decisive battle", but with the difference in military resources in hand, the commander's thinking will also undergo subtle changes.In addition to the Seventy-Fourth Army, the Tenth Army, the Thirty-seventh Army, and the Twenty-sixth Army are not underdogs among the several armies concentrated in the Ninth Theater this time.With so many fierce dragons and fierce generals, Xue Yue was unwilling to always "retreat". He ignored the opposition of Zhao Zili, the chief of staff, and insisted on deploying the decisive battle line by the Miluo River, trying to resist the enemy in the north of the Miluo River.Unexpectedly, under the heavy assault of the Japanese army, the riverside defense line soon collapsed.

After the Miluo River defense line fell, Xue Yue predicted that the Japanese army would definitely take Changsha directly, so he sent the 74th Army to rush to Huanghua Town to defend Changsha.After Zhao Zili learned about it, he still believed that this decision was inappropriate. Combining the past war history and the practice of the Anti-Japanese War, Chinese military experts found that the Japanese army not only followed the tactical principle of "offensive first, encirclement first", but also particularly advocated "use of land barriers for encirclement".For example, when attacking Nanchang, they used the barriers of Poyang Lake and Ganjiang River to encircle the left flank of the Chinese army with the main force.When attacking Changsha, Dongting Lake and Xiangjiang River are used as ground barriers, and the main force is used to encircle the right wing of the Chinese army.

According to this law and the actual situation of the ongoing battle in northern Hunan, Zhao Zili judged that the Japanese Eleventh Army still wanted to find the right wing to encircle. It's a self-inflicted trap.He suggested that it is better to place the 74th Army in the northeast of Liuyang, and launch an attack on the Japanese outside at the same time after the rest of the reinforcements arrive. Zhao Zili's suggestion is actually another well-known tactical idea of ​​the Chinese military strategist besides the "retreat decisive battle", called "strive for the outer line" (also known as "strive for the outer wing" at the time), that is, keep the main force at the The Japanese army encircled the flanks of the troops and gave the besiegers a violent flank attack. This method was used to break the enemy instead of being surrounded and broken by the enemy.The Battle of Shanggao is actually a classic example of anti-siege.

Xue Yue certainly understands the value of "fighting for the outside line", but the real dilemma he faces is that if he waits for the outside line to attack, Changsha may not defend.Between Baochangsha and attacking the outside line, he finally chose the former.