Chapter 12 Chapter 10 Battle of Suizao and Battle of Zaoyi

At the beginning of the Battle of Nanchang, Neiji Okamura, the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, had received information that China’s First and Fifth Theaters would launch partial offensives to Xinyang, Yingshan and other areas in order to threaten and consume the Japanese army’s intelligence in the Wuhan area. It is reported that Tang Enbo's 31st Group Army, the main force of the Chinese army, has been transferred from Fengcheng and Zhangshu areas in Jiangxi to Zaoyang and Suixian areas in Jiangbei.The capture of Nanchang and Wuning by the Japanese army basically eliminated the threat of the Chinese army to the waterway of Jiujiang and the Yangtze River.Neiji Okamura decided to pre-emptively strike. The newly expanded 33rd and 34th divisions in Japan were transferred to the Wuhan area. After joining the battle order of the 11th Army, they attacked the Suizao area before the Chinese army launched an attack to annihilate Or expel the Tang Enbo Group and consolidate Wuhan's defense.Prepare to use 3 divisions and 1 cavalry brigade for this battle.

On April 17, 1939, the battle plan was drawn up.Its combat policy is: In order to ensure the currently occupied area and destroy the will of the Chinese army to continue the war of resistance, it is scheduled to annihilate the Chinese army northwest of Wuhan in early May.Its operational guidance is: before the main force launches an attack, use a force to attack the area at the southern foot of the Dabie Mountains, so as to contain the Chinese army there; Nanyang's retreat is to annihilate the 2nd Army of the 31st Group Army, its main force, near Zaoyang, south of the Tang River.After achieving the combat objectives, in addition to ensuring the area around Sui County, the divisions returned quickly and resumed their original guard posture.All troops participating in the war were required to assemble secretly in early May.Its troop deployment is: Order the 3rd Division (in order to strengthen the division's offensive capability, it is equipped with 1 infantry regiment, 2 field heavy artillery regiments, 1 engineering regiment, 1 mountain artillery brigade, 1 forced The mortar brigade, one machine gun brigade, one chariot brigade, and two armored vehicle squadrons) assembled in the Mengfandian area at the end of April and launched an offensive in early May. Attack Tangxian Town to contain the main force of the Chinese army in the southeast direction of Zaoyang; use another force to detour towards Xinji in the northeast of Zaoyang; if necessary, use a force to attack from Xinyang to Tongbai to cut off China. The retreat of the army.The 13th Division and the 16th Division were ordered to gather in the vicinity of Huangjiaji and Zhongxiang in the northeast of Zhongxiang respectively. After the offensive began, the two divisions broke through the defense line of the Chinese army in front of them and marched side by side to Wujiadian and Zaoyang in the south of Zaoyang Advance west of Shuanggou and cut off the Chinese army in the Zaoyang area from Xiangyang.Order the 4th Cavalry Brigade (in order to strengthen the brigade's independent combat capability, it is equipped with a cavalry regiment and a cavalry brigade) to gather in Zhengjiaji, southeast of Zhongxiang, and Duobaowan, west of Tianmen.After the offensive began, as soon as the 16th Division entered the Fangji and Damiaoshan areas in the southeast of Fancheng, it quickly surpassed the division, attacked Shuanggou, and made a detour towards Xinyetang River to form a double encirclement of the Zaoyang area. Block the retreat of the Chinese army to Nanyang.When the 3rd Division entered near Tang County, the 13th and 16th Divisions detoured from the east of Baihe to the right and attacked the area north of Zaoyang, annihilating the main force of the Chinese army near Zaoyang.After the combat objective was achieved, the 3rd Division ensured the Zaoyang area and covered other troops to return to their original station.After the other troops withdrew, in addition to retaining a part of the 3rd Division to occupy Sui County, the main force also returned to the original station and restored the original situation.In addition, the 3rd Flying Regiment of the Army Aviation Corps (2 reconnaissance squadrons, 1 fighter squadron, and 2 light bomber squadrons) was ordered to cooperate with the attacking force.The central idea of ​​this plan is to encircle the Zaoyang area with the 3rd Division on the right and the 4th Cavalry Brigade on the left, and then move northward with the 13th and 16th Divisions to encircle and annihilate the Chinese army. The 31st Army.

After the Battle of Wuhan, the Fifth Theater (commander Li Zongren) retreated to northwest Hubei and the Hubei-Henan border area, and divided its troops into five corps: the Jiangfang Army, the Right Group Army, the Left Group Army, the Second Line Corps, and the Guerrilla Force.Jiangfang Army (commander Guo Chan, who has jurisdiction over the 94th, 26th, 44th Army, 128th Division and the 7th Guerrilla Column, together with the 75th Army temporarily under the command of the Ninth Theater, a total of 13 divisions and 1 guerrilla column) The garrison between the north bank of the Yangtze River and the Xianghe River (the section of the Hanshui River near Xiangfan) and the area around Dangyang, Yichang, and Jiangling; The 55th, 45th Army and the 6th Guerrilla Column, a total of 11 divisions and 1 guerrilla column) are responsible for the defense on both sides of the Xianghe River and Dahong Mountain, and the main force is concentrated in the area south of Yicheng; The 39th and 84th Armies of the 11th Group Army, the 13th and 85th Armies of the 31st Group Army and the 1st and 5th Guerrilla Columns, a total of 11 divisions, 2 brigades and 2 guerrilla columns) served as the bridge between Tongbai Mountain and Dahong Mountain. Defense, the main force is concentrated in the area between Suixian and Zaoyang; the second-line corps (commander-in-chief Sun Zhen, who governs the 41st Army and the N9th Division of the 22nd Army, a total of 4 divisions) controls the area near Xiangfan; the guerrilla forces (Henan, Hubei, Anhui Liao Lei, Commander-in-Chief of the Border Area Guerrilla, has jurisdiction over the 7th and 48th Armies, the 2nd and 3rd Guerrilla Columns, a total of 4 divisions and 2 guerrilla columns). The 68th Army is stationed in Tongbai and Minggang areas, and its main force is controlled in the northwest of Tongbai, which can support the fifth theater of operations. In early April 1939, when the Military Commission ordered the launch of the "April Offensive", the Jiangfang Army and the Left and Right Group Armies in the Fifth Theater all used a small number of troops to conduct tactical offensives to the east of Suixian and to Anlu, Yingcheng, Tianmen and other places. Attack; the guerrillas in the border areas of Henan, Hubei and Anhui also harassed Xinyang, Guangshui, Huayuan, etc., but the force was too small and the effect was very small. In late April, it was detected that the Japanese army had two new divisions to reinforce Wuhan, and the Japanese 11th Army was concentrating on northern Hubei, showing signs of attacking the theater.Li Zongren then ordered on April 25 to stop the "April Offensive" and adjust the deployment to prepare for resisting the Japanese attack.On the same day, a new battle plan was formulated.Its combat policy is: "The war zone must maintain the Tongbai and Dahong mountain areas for a long time, use offense as defense, and attack the enemy." The basic spirit of its troop deployment is: defend the Xianghe River with a part of the troop, and deploy the main force On the Xiangyang (Yang) Hua (Garden) Highway, wait for an opportunity to counterattack, and use another force to cooperate with the guerrilla forces to attack Pinghan Road.At the same time, it also requested the Military Commission to order the Second Army (Sun Lianzhong's Department) of the First Theater to move southward to Tongbai and Tanghe in order to consolidate the junction of the two theaters.After the plan was approved by the Military Commission, Li Zongren issued a combat order on April 30 according to the plan.Its main content is: "The theater must use the main force to carry out offensive defense, smash the enemy's attempts, maintain the left (east) bank of the Xianghe River for a long time, and attack by crossing the river, try to contain the enemy's forces, and make it easier for our main force to fight." The 21st Group Army used 2 divisions and commanded 2 guerrilla columns. The main force went to Huayuan and Guangshuijian, and one part went west to Xinyang to support the main force. The Jiangfang Army used the 26th Army as the main force to advance to Shayang and Shashijian Now the right group army has strengthened its troops on the left bank of the Xianghe River to prevent the Japanese army from going north and crossing the river, and ordered the left group army to block the enemy's advance at its current position (Suixian area), deploy the main force on the left wing, and wait for the opportunity to attack the enemy Attack from the side; order the 41st Army of the second-line corps to briefly defend on the right banks of the Tang River, Baihe River, and Xiang River, and the 45th Army to gather near Maocifan and prepare to support the left and right group armies respectively.At this time, the commander-in-chief of the fifth war zone was still in Zaoyang.

On May 1, 1939, the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, with the direct support of aviation, first launched an attack in the east, from Xinyang, Mengfandian, Xujiadian, and Zhehe to the positions of the 84th Army and the 13th Army. attack.From the war to May 3, the Japanese army broke through the forward position of the defenders and began to attack the main position.After another 4 days of fierce fighting, until the evening of the 7th, the defenders retreated to the second-line positions in the north and south of Lishan, and the Japanese army successively captured Taerwan, Gaocheng, Suixian and other places.After the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army began to attack, the 13th and 16th Divisions of the Japanese Army also began to attack the positions of the 45th, 59th, and 77th Armies of the defenders.When the 31st Group Army of the Chinese Army had been pinned down by the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army on the Xianghua Highway, the 2 Japanese Divisions and the Cavalry Brigade began to attack on May 5, led by Zhong Xiang and Huang Jiaji.The 16th Division of the Japanese Army and the 4th Cavalry Brigade attacked northward along the east bank of the Xianghe River. After breaking through the defenders' positions, they captured Changshoudian on the 6th and Zhangji and Caiyang on the 7th.The 13th Division of the Japanese Army took advantage of the fierce battle between the main forces of the left and right armies of the defenders and the 3rd and 16th Divisions of the Japanese Army, and marched northward from Huangjiaji and Pingba Town. Zaoyang and Suiyang stores.Li Zongren, the commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone, has already transferred the commander's department to Xiangyang. In view of the current situation, he is determined to let the main force of the Left Group Army rely on the Tongbai Mountains, occupy the flank positions in the Zaosui Basin, and flank the enemy advancing north. He and Xinye turned to advance; and the 39th Army and a part of the 13th Army stayed in the Dahong and Tongbai Mountains to launch guerrillas and attack the enemy; the Hedong troops of the Right Group Army tried their best to attack the enemy advancing north, delaying its progress.After the units received the order, the Left Group Army entered Dahong Mountain with the 39th Army, while the 84th Army and the 31st Group Army fought one by one, covered each other, and moved to Tanghe.The Right Group Army used a part of its forces and the Jiangfang Dongdong troops to advance to the enemy's rear in an attempt to cut off the connection between the Japanese 16th Division and the 9th Cavalry Brigade and the rear.

After the Japanese 13th Division occupied Zaoyang, all units continued to attack as planned.The 34th Regiment of the 3rd Division started from Xinyang, repelled the 119th Division of the 68th Army in the First Theater on May 10, and occupied Tongbai. After that, it entered the Xixinji area in the northeast of Zaoyang on the 12th.After repelling the blocking troops of the 180th Division of the 59th Army, the 16th Division detoured from Zhangji to the west of Zaoyang to Taiping and Huhe in the north of Zaoyang.The 4th Cavalry Brigade crossed the Tang River on the evening of the 9th, and the Baihe River at dawn on the 10th, and captured Xinye at noon, then gave up and continued eastward. Tang County, without waiting for the defenders to counterattack, abandoned Tang County and quickly returned south to Taiping and Huhe areas to join the 16th Division.So far, the three divisions of the Japanese army and the cavalry brigade have all joined up in the northeast of Zaoyang.Neiji Okamura, commander of the Japanese 11th Army.On the same night, an order was issued to order the attacking troops to return to their respective stations, and stipulated that on the way back, the troops in the fifth theater that remained behind the Japanese army would be wiped out in sections, and at the same time, a part of the 3rd Division was ordered to guard Suixian County.

The 84th Army of the Left Wing Group in the Fifth War Zone withdrew to Wushandian on May 9. After learning that Zaoyang had been occupied by the Japanese army and the road to the north was blocked, they turned to Nanyang and Fangcheng to break through, and assembled in Guanghua on the 20th. The 31st Group Army fought fiercely with the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army in the Liujiahe and Jiangtou Town areas north of Tongbai on the 9th, and suffered heavy casualties. It was learned that night that the Japanese army in Xinyang had approached Tongbai, and the Japanese army in Zhongxiang had occupied Zaoyang. It was found that the Japanese army in the north of Zaoyang was rushing to the northeast, and Tongbai had been occupied by the Japanese army and was attacking westward. The reinforcements in the first theater had not yet arrived, so they decided to turn to Tanghe that night, leaving the 23rd Division and the independent army. The 1st and 2nd brigades were under the command of Commander Zhang Zhen, and they were guerrilla in Tongbai Mountain.On the way to retreat, on the 11th, they learned that Tanghe and Xinye had been captured by the Japanese army, so they ordered all the ministries to transfer to Biyang in the northeast via Pingshi and Xixinji. Withdrew to Biyang on the 15th, and Chiang Kai-shek transferred it to Neixiang and Zhenping.The Hedong troops of the Right Group Army attacked the rear of the Japanese army for several days, and flanked the Japanese army advancing north in Tianjiaji, Miaozigang and other places; the part of the 132nd Division cut off the traffic of the Japanese army south of Changshoudian; The 1st brigade of the army besieged Jiukou, all of which were captured. On May 13, Li Zongren believed that the task of the Right Group Army to restrain the Japanese army from going north had been completed, and ordered it to "stop attacking and return to Hexi for defense".The troops in Hedong then retreated back to Hexi one after another.

During the Japanese offensive, the Jiangfang Army and the Dabie Mountain troops, in accordance with the orders of the fifth theater, frequently attacked to contain the enemy.A part of the 7th Army once attacked the north gate of Macheng on April 30, and surrounded and annihilated a small part of the Japanese army in Dayoujian, north of Hong'an, on May 4.The 2nd Guerrilla Column completely destroyed the traffic and communication between Xiadian and Huayuan, and cooperated with the 3rd Guerrilla Column to occupy Dongmodian on May 3 and repel the small Japanese army assisted by Guangshui. On May 13th and 14th, the 3rd, 13th, and 16th Divisions of the Japanese Army and the 4th Cavalry Brigade began to withdraw from the Zaoyang area to the south. On the 15th, its 13th Division was blocked by the 39th Army in the Dahongshan area in Maocitian and Zhujiaji. On the 16th, the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army also joined the battle.After fierce fighting until the 18th, the 39th Army received an instruction from Li Zongren on the 17th: "Avoid the real and attack the virtual, and don't stick to one point." Commander Liu Heding then ordered his 34th and 56th divisions to be broken up into parts and scattered for guerrilla warfare . After 17 days, all the troops of the Japanese army returned to their garrison. Except that Suixian was occupied by a unit of the 3rd Division, the situation before the battle was restored.In this battle, according to the statistics of the War History Committee of the Military Command Department of the Nationalist Government, the Chinese army suffered a total of 28,000 casualties and missing persons. According to the statistics of the Japanese army, the Japanese army had a total of 2,450 casualties. (According to the statistics of the battle reports of various troops in the fifth theater at that time, the Japanese army lost about 20,000 people).

In the Battle of Suizao, the Japanese army failed to realize its campaign attempt to annihilate the main force of the Chinese army.After that, it suffered another setback in the first battle of Changsha.In particular, the winter offensive launched by the Chinese army made the Japanese army prominent in the Wuhan area feel threatened.In order to secure Wuhan and threaten Chongqing, on April 10, 1940, the Japanese base camp issued an order to the Chinese dispatched army to attack Yichang with the 11th Army.At this time, Neiji Okazai had been transferred away, and Sonobe and Ichiro, commander of the 7th Division of the Kwantung Army, succeeded the commander of the 11th Army.The affiliated troops have also been adjusted; they have jurisdiction over the 3rd, 6th, 40th, 33rd, 34th, 13th, and 39th divisions, and they are independently mixed into the 14th and 18th brigades, and temporarily mixed into the 101st brigade And the 6th Brigade of Field Heavy Artillery.Among them, 4 divisions and 1 brigade are stationed in Jiangnan, and 3 divisions, 2 brigades and artillery brigade are stationed in Jiangbei.Yuanbu and Yichang's attack on Yichang was divided into two stages. The first stage attacked the main force of the fifth theater in Zaoyang area, and the second stage crossed the Xianghe River to attack Yichang.The operational policy of the first phase of the offensive plan is: to attack with great speed, annihilate the main force of the fifth war zone in the area north of Suixian and Xiangyang; after that, compress and annihilate the Chinese army west of the Hanshui River to the Yichang area.The main content of its combat guidance is: encircle with two wings, break through in the middle, and annihilate the main force of the fifth theater.The deployment of its troops is: order the 3rd Division (3 infantry brigades, 1 mountain artillery brigade attached to the 40th Division, and 2 infantry brigades from the 34th Division) to turn left from Xinyang via Minggang to Tanghe, and attack Xinyenan. In the Baihe area and near Fancheng, join the 13th Division and cut off the retreat route of the main force of the Fifth Theater to the north; order the 13th Division (attached to the 15th Division with 4 infantry brigades, the 22nd Division with 3 infantry brigades, 1 Artillery Brigade) marched northward along the east bank of the Han River west of Dagong Mountain, encircled the main force of the 5th theater in Fancheng, and cooperated with the 3rd Division; ordered the 39th Division (3 infantry brigades attached to the 6th Division, 1 The Geshan Artillery Brigade,) deployed on the front of Sui County. When the two wing divisions formed an encirclement, they attacked Zaoyang from the middle, and cooperated with the 3rd and 13th divisions to annihilate the 11th Army in the fifth theater of the encirclement.In order to contain and confuse the Chinese army, the divisions in the south of the Yangtze River launched attacks on the enemy in front of them before the offensive began; when fighting in the Zaoyang area, they advertised that they would return to the original defense after the battle was over, so that the Chinese army would relax their preparations for the next battle and Manufacture false orders and miss them on purpose.The attack is scheduled to begin on May 1.

China's fifth war zone learned of the information that the Japanese army had mobilized troops to the fifth theater in early April. On the 13th, a meeting of commanders-in-chief of each group army was held to study countermeasures.Judging that "the enemy seems to be attacking from the Xianghua Road with the main force, trying to annihilate our field army in the area east of the Xianghe River, and take the opportunity to attack Sha (city) and Yi (Chang)", decided to use the main force of the theater to defend the east of the Xianghe River through Dahong Mountain, From Tongbai Mountain to Xinyang Beiminggang line; control the mobile forces in Yexian and Queshan areas, and prepare to attack the attacking enemy from the front and the side.The deployment of its forces is as follows: Guo Chan, the commander of the Jiang Defense Army, commanded the 26th, 94th, and 75th armies, the 128th division, and the 6th and 7th guerrilla columns to defend the Xiangdong River and the right bank of the Jing River; 33. The 29th Group Army, defending the Xianghe River and Dahong Mountain; Huang Qixiang was the commander-in-chief of the Central Group Army, commanding the 11th Group Army, the 45th Army and the 1st Guerrilla Column, defending the front of the Suizao area and taking charge of guerrilla operations at the Dahong and Tongbai Mountain Pass; Sun Lianzhong was the commander-in-chief of the Left Group Army, commanding the 2nd Group Army and the Eastern Hubei guerrillas, etc., defending both sides of the Minggang Railway; Tang Enbo was the commander-in-chief of the Mobile Corps, and led his 31st Group Army in Ye County and Nanyang; Sun Zhen was the commander-in-chief of the Reserve Corps. Commander, led his 22nd Army to gather in the northeast of Zaoyang.

On May 1, 1939, the Japanese army began operations as planned.The 3rd Division marched north from the Xinyang area.On the same day, repelled the troops of the 68th and 30th armies of the defenders, captured Minggang, Shiziqiao and Xiaolindian, turned westward, occupied Biyang and Tongbai on the 5th, and captured Tanghe on the 7th; Zhong Xiang marched northward, breaking through the positions of the 55th, 77th and 67th armies, occupying Changshoudian and Tianjiaji on the 3rd, Fengle and Zhangjiaji on the 6th, advancing to Xiangzao Highway on the 7th, and on the 8th. The cavalry unit captured Xinye; the 39th Division began to attack the positions of the defending 11th Army on May 4 after the two wing divisions formed an encirclement, and captured Gaocheng and Anju on the 5th.The defenders retreated to Huantan, then to Zaoyang, and then to the rear of Tang and Baihe. The 173rd Division served as the rear guard to cover the retreat of the main force. On the 7th, the Japanese army captured Suiyangdian and Wujiadian, and on the 8th, Zaoyang.When the 173rd Division completed the cover task and broke through, it was attacked by Japanese tank troops. The division commander Zhong Yi died fighting hard, and the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties. On the evening of the 8th, the Japanese troops of the 3rd Route joined forces on the banks of the Tang River and the Bai River.Sonobe and Ichiro believed that the first phase of the combat mission had been completed, and ordered to stop the attack that night. On the 9th, the divisions began to retreat.At this time, all the troops in the fifth theater had been transferred to the outer line.Li Zongren then deployed troops to encircle and wipe out part of them.Order the 2nd, 31st and 92nd armies from north to south; the 29th and 33rd armies from south to north; the 39th and 75th armies from west to east to encircle the Japanese army in the Zaoyang area.And ordered the 94th Army to go deep into the Jingshan, Zaoshi, Yingcheng, and Yunmeng areas behind the enemy. The 7th Army and the eastern Hubei guerrillas attacked the Japanese troops near Liulin, Lijiazhai, and Jigongshan Station along the railway south of Xinyang. .

The above-mentioned deployment of the Fifth Theater and the telegram sent by Chiang Kai-shek to Li Zongren at 18:00 on the 11th, ordering him to "use this excellent opportunity and do our best to complete the glorious task of annihilating the enemy in motion" were all intercepted by the Japanese army.The Japanese army also learned the specific location of the 33rd Army from Zhang Zizhong's telegram reporting the actions of the five divisions he led to Chiang Kai-shek.Sonobe and Ichiro then decided to concentrate the forces of the 13th and 39th divisions and go south along the east bank of the Han River to counterattack Zhang Zizhong's army.Order the 3rd Division south of Xinye to withdraw to near Zaoyang to cover the rear.The Japanese military intelligence department also used radio wave direction finding from the call sign and method of radio communication, and has always mastered the external communication situation and location of the radio station of the 33rd Army General Headquarters.Knowing that Zhang Zizhong's headquarters is located about 10 kilometers northeast of Yicheng, the Japanese army encircled the area with the cooperation of aviation. On the night of the 15th, the 39th Division of the Japanese Army advanced from Fangjiaji and Nanying to the Pumpkin Shop. At dawn on the 16th, it completed the tactical encirclement of the 33rd Army Headquarters.The 74th Division of the defending army fought bravely and continued to carry out counterattacks. It lost its position and regained it several times. The fierce battle continued until the afternoon, and the secret service battalion also participated in the battle.At this time, the Japanese offensive force had reached more than 5,000 people, concentrated artillery firepower, and stormed the last position of the defenders.General Zhang Zizhong, commander-in-chief of the 33rd Army, died a heroic death, and the 74th Division suffered all casualties. At this time, the 216th Regiment attached to the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army was surrounded and attacked by the 31st Army in the northwest of Zaoyang.However, the divisions of the Japanese army were still under siege, and under the blocking and flanking attacks of the Chinese army, they suffered heavy casualties.In order to get rid of the unfavorable passive situation, Sonobe and Ichiro decided to use offensive means to break the siege. When the troops retreated to the front line of Fancheng and Zaoyang, they launched a sudden counterattack against the pursuing troops and attacked northward to defeat the siege from north to south. The main force of the Fifth Theater.As soon as they entered the vicinity of Deng County and Laohekou, before the fifth war zone knew the real intention of the Japanese army, they suddenly and quickly retreated to the front line of Fancheng and Zaoyang to prepare for the attack on Yichang. At dawn on May 19, the Japanese army broke through the encirclement of the fifth theater as planned and attacked northward. On the 20th, the 233rd Wing, the vanguard of the 39th Division, entered the south bank of the Baihe River.That night, he was ordered to ford across the river. When he was halfway across, the troops of the 31st Army Group, which was hiding on the north bank, concentrated their firepower and carried out a surprise attack.More than half of the alliance was killed and injured, and they retreated hastily. On the 21st, Sonobu and Ichiro ordered the divisions to withdraw immediately to the east bank of the Han River between Fancheng and Zhongxiang.In order to supplement the troops lost in this battle, the independent 61st, 62nd, and 63rd brigades of the 14th Jiujiang Brigade and the 1st Brigade of the 215th Wing of the 33rd Division of Anyi were transferred to join the combat force. The Dahongshan area east of the Han River continued to attack the troops in the fifth theater to protect the rear of the attacking troops. On the evening of May 31, the 3rd and 39th Divisions of the Japanese Army forcibly crossed the Xianghe River between Oujiadian and Yicheng, captured Xiangyang on June 1, occupied Nanzhang and Yicheng on June 3, and turned southward.The 41st and 77th armies in the fifth theater followed behind the enemy and recovered Xiangyang and Nanzhang.On that day, the 13th Division forcibly crossed the Xianghe River from Jiukou and near Shayang, and cooperated with the Japanese army going south from Yicheng to attack the Jiangfang Army.The main force of the Jiangfang Army retreated to the main positions along the lines of Dongshi, Gubei, and Shuanglian Temple. On the 5th, the Japanese captured Shaxiang, and on the 6th they occupied Jingmen, Shilipu and Shihuiqiao. On the 8th, the Japanese army occupied Yuan'an, Herong, Jiangling, and Shashi, and the main force was deployed on the lines of Jingmen, Shilipu, and Jiangling. Beginning on the 9th, with the direct support of the aviation force, it will attack the main position of the defenders.In the afternoon, the right-wing position was breached, and they retreated to the outer positions of Yichang that night.The Japanese army continued to attack and fought fiercely until 16:00 on the 12th, when Yichang fell.The 11th Army of the Japanese Army was originally scheduled to return to the station after the capture of Yichang.On the night of occupying Yichang, Sonobe and Ichiro ordered to quickly sort out the situation and prepare for retreat. On June 15, the retreat was ordered, and all were withdrawn on the 16th.The 18th Army of the Fifth War Zone immediately regained Yichang. The Japanese base camp was affected by the European German occupation of Paris and the Italian declaration of war against Britain and France. At 12 o'clock on the 17th, the 13th Division of the Japanese Army entered Yichang again.At this time, the 40th Division of the Japanese Army in the Dahongshan area was surrounded by the 29th Group Army. The fierce battle lasted for 6 days and nights, with heavy casualties.Sonobe and Ichiro had no mobile troops to reinforce, so they had to let the 40th Division organize their own breakout. On June 21, they broke through the encirclement and reached the east bank of the Han River north of Zhongxiang.So far, the battle is over. In this battle, although the Japanese army occupied Yichang, they failed to defeat the main force of the fifth theater, and suffered heavy losses, with more than 11,000 casualties.