Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Pre-War Trend 3

This battle first started in Henan, and the commander-in-chief of the North China Dispatch Army, General Ningji Okamura, mobilized the three divisions of the Twelfth Army.In addition, the Third Tank Division was transferred from Suiyuan, as well as the 27th Elite Division of the Kwantung Army, and three brigades in North China, with about 150,000 troops, plus the Japanese First Army stationed in Shanxi. The first army, Zhang Lanfeng, Sun Liangcheng, Pang Fanxun, Sun Dianying and other departments of the pseudo-Nanjing central government, with the cooperation of a large number of aircraft, assembled more than 300,000 troops and aggressively attacked Zhengzhou.

The National Army participated in the Battle of Henan in the first theater, and the commander-in-chief was Jiang Dingwen.At this time, Jiang had seven group armies in his hands.The chief officers of the seven armies are: Sun Weiru, Commander-in-Chief of the Fourth Army Liu Enmao, Commander-in-Chief of the Fourteenth Group Army Chen Daqing, Commander-in-Chief of the Nineteenth Group Army Li Xianzhou, Commander-in-Chief of the 28th Group Army Li Jiayu, Commander-in-Chief of the 38th Group Army Gao Shuxun, Commander-in-Chief of the 39th Group Army He Zhuguo, Commander-in-Chief of the Fifteenth Group Army

These seven group armies have a total of 18 armies under their jurisdiction, with a total strength of 300,000 troops.Obviously, the national army is seriously insufficient. Neiji Okamura dispatched troops to North China in two groups. The first route army consisted of the second army and tank troops.On April 17, the 17th Division of the Japanese Army crossed the Yellow River and attacked the Zhongmu area on the frontier of Zhengzhou.The battle begins here. General Liu Enmao, the commander of the 15th Army, Liu Bingzhe, was General Mou of the National Army.Facing the powerful Japanese attack, Liu Bu fought desperately, but still couldn't resist the powerful Japanese offensive.After two days of persistent battle, the 15th Army retreated across the board.Taking advantage of the momentum, the Japanese army crossed the Yellow River and rushed towards Zhengzhou, an important city in the Central Plains.At the same time, the 22nd Wing of the Japanese 37th Division had bypassed the frontal battlefield and attacked Zhengzhou's flank.When the 37th Division rushed to the city of Zhengzhou, the Japanese 22nd Regiment had captured Zhengzhou, and the ill-trained National Army withdrew from Zhengzhou.The poor Zhengzhou, an important town in the Central Plains, Longhai and Pinghan, the two major railway hubs, fell into the enemy's hands like this.It can be said that it is easy to lose, but difficult to regain.At this time, Liu Enmao didn't know what it was like.

But the Japanese invaders couldn't control so much that day. They succeeded in the first battle, occupied Xinzheng and Weidi on the second day, and occupied Changge on the 23rd.On May 1, Xuchang, a famous city in the Central Plains, fell.On the fifth day, Yancheng was also lost to the enemy.On May 11, the Japanese North China Front Army joined forces with the 11th Brigade of the Japanese 11th Army going north at Queshan.The Japanese army entered the territory of no one in Henan, and all the central areas of the Ping-Han Railway fell into the hands of the enemy. At the same time as the 37th Division of the Japanese Army attacked Zhengzhou, the Second Japanese Army marched from Yancheng and other places to the plains from the beginning of May.The two brigades of the Shanxi First Army attacked Luoyang from Yuanqu to the southeast.Luoyang is the seat of the First Theater Command.Jiang Dingwen saw the ferocious approach of the Japanese army, and immediately mobilized the army to meet the enemy.It's a pity that the distant water cannot save the nearby fire. In just two days, the Japanese army successively occupied Dengzhou, Linru, Xiangcheng and other cities, and pushed into Luoyang.Jiang Dingwen was so in a hurry, he sent dozens of telegrams to order all the ministries to move closer to Luoyang.

Let’s say Jiang Zhongzheng, Chairman of the National Central Government of Chongqing, was very angry when he got the news of Zhengzhou’s fall, and sent repeated telegrams to order Jiang Dingwen to stick to Luoyang, and those who violated the military law would be dealt with.Because Han Fuju was in the front and Ye Zhao was in the rear, the commanders-in-chief of the two armies died under military law.Therefore, the commander Jiang did not dare to neglect, and arranged for a decisive battle with the Japanese army in Luoyang.Guarding Luoyang is the 49th Division of the 14th Army of the Fifteenth Army He Zhuguo, with more than 9,000 troops.The soldiers of the Northeast Army were instinctively good at fighting. After receiving the telegram from He Zhuguo and Wu Tinglin, the commander of the 14th Army, Commander Wang Jianqing organized troops to defend the city.

The strength of the Japanese army to attack Luoyang was obviously much larger than that of the national army, and it also had the cooperation of a part of the third tank division.You can see that hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles moved in groups, rushing towards the outskirts of the city all over the mountains and plains.The artillery fire from the tanks was so dense that Luoyang City suffered tens of thousands of shells in just two or three hours.The sound of explosions was repeated one after another, and many houses were turned into ruins in an instant, and many civilians died in the artillery fire of the invaders.

Seeing this, the national army fired back with artillery fire. Unfortunately, the artillery fire of the national army was very different from that of the Japanese army.Wang Jianqing saw that Luoyang City was about to fall into the enemy's hands in an instant, and ordered all the artillery fire to fight back against the Japanese army, and they repelled the Japanese army's first attack.In the evening, Wang Jianqing repaired the bombed city wall overnight.The next day, Master Wang ordered the troops to put bunches of grenades in the mortar barrels, and using the carrying power of the shells, they threw bunches of grenades at the Japanese troops outside the city.This approach actually made up for the lack of shells. Seeing that the Japanese offensive had weakened, Commander Wang ordered an attack across the board.In hand-to-hand combat, the soldiers of the national army all scrambled to kill the enemy and drove back the Japanese troops who had invaded the city.

By the evening of the second day, the reinforcements still hadn't arrived.Commander Wang said to the chief officers of the division headquarters: "Commander He wants us to wait to defend Luoyang. Tens of thousands of Japanese troops have broken into the city twice with the cooperation of groups of tanks. More than halfway through, and the spirit of the Japanese army has not diminished, what good strategy do you have to save the battle?" Everyone was silent, and no one had any suggestions.Wang Jianqing was excited and said: "Most of our soldiers were born in the Northeast. If they want to return home alive, when will they be able to. Since you have no way to save the crisis, we can only fight to the death to repay the country's favor. Remember, everyone, it is difficult to break through at this time. The great man died in battle, although he did not want to leave his name in history, he returned to his hometown with a heroic soul. Tomorrow, killing the enemy is still alive."

Due to the siege of the previous two days, the Japanese army encountered stubborn resistance from the national army.On the fourth day, the Japanese army moved in full force.The artillery fire of the Japanese army slammed into the city that day, knocking down a big hole in the city wall several meters thick, and the Japanese army poured into the city continuously along the gap.This is the third time the Japanese army has entered the city.Wang Jianqing was furious. He personally led the battalion directly under him and rushed forward. He held the light machine gun in his hand and swept it fiercely. Although the Japanese army was numerous, they could not use their firepower. Recapture the gap.

However, when Wang Jianqing stood on the tower and the chief of staff reported to him that there were less than 2,000 soldiers left in the national army, Wang Jianqing felt sad: "How can a mere 2,000 people resist the attack of tens of thousands of Japanese troops?" attack." At night, Wang Jianqing, who was exhausted, stood on the tower and looked at the sky. Although there were thousands of stars, he couldn't get rid of the depression in his heart. At this time, he was helpless.Looking at the distance, in the faintly visible Japanese barracks, amidst the flickering lights, groups of tanks surrounded the Japanese army, tasting delicious food.Breaking out at this time is the best opportunity. If you rush out, at least a few hundred people will survive.But the general didn't receive the order to break through, so how dare he be self-defeating.What's more, the residents in the city are so reluctant to part with their own soldiers.Seeing the guard company commander by his side, Wang Jianqing said to him without regret: "I have no complaints or regrets about my choice. What I can't forgive myself is that I shouldn't leave my mother, child, and wife in the city. There is no going back to my hometown." The reason, but I can't let my mother watch her son's body being carried around the city by the Japanese army." He was a little chilled, but what could he say at this time?If you fight to the end by yourself, let alone a thousand or two thousand brothers who love each other.

On this day, that is, at 3:00 pm on May 20, 1944, tens of thousands of Japanese troops, with the cooperation of hundreds of tanks, launched a fierce attack on Luoyang City, and the city defenders went into battle again.Wang Jianqing was unable to stop the Japanese army from entering the city, so he had to lead his troops to fight in the streets.Unexpectedly, a few hours later, the Japanese army retreated from the city seeing our army's tenacious resistance and not knowing the reality of the city.Wang Jianqing was overjoyed, and led more than 500 remnants of his troops, shouted, and rushed out diagonally.By the time the Japanese army chased after them, they had rushed out for several miles.After leaving the siege, Wang Jianqing counted the number of people, and there were only more than 370 people left. The Japanese army was terrified by Wang Jianqing, and did not launch a new round of attack until after dawn. Seeing that there was no resistance, it was known that it was an empty city.Luoyang, an important town in Henan, fell into the enemy's hands. Luoyang fell, and the Henan campaign ended.This campaign started on April 7th and ended on May 24th, a total of 37 days, and 37 cities were trapped, one per day.Although Generalissimo Chiang dispatched troops and generals, the Japanese attack could not be stopped in the end.At the same time, Tian Junliu, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Central Front Army, also commanded 300,000 Japanese troops to launch an extremely violent attack on Xue Yue's Ninth Theater. During the Battle of Henan, the Japanese authorities ordered Tian Junliu to start the Battle of Changheng.The Battle of Changheng refers to a big battle between Changsha and Hengyang.As early as early February, the Japanese army began to dispatch troops.On May 25th, Tian Junliu came to Hankou to deploy the Changheng Campaign. The Japanese army in the Changheng Battle was the 11th Army reorganized by the Central China Expeditionary Army.The eleventh army reorganized by the Japanese army is a large group army, which currently has eight divisions and one brigade.Together with the troops drawn from other places, the total strength is 300,000.In order to make the battle progress smoothly, Tian Junliu also mobilized the Japanese Flying Brigade and 40,000 horses to the front line, and Heng Shan, the commander of the 11th Army, was the commander in chief of the front line. At this time, Anan Weiji has been transferred back to Japan.Anan was replaced by Mei Tsukada.Mei Tsukada was born in 1886. She was promoted to major general in 1935, promoted to lieutenant general in 1938, and promoted to general in 1942 when she succeeded Yuki Anan.At that time, Mei Tsukada took a special plane back to Wuhan after attending the Nanjing military meeting held by Tian Junliu. Because she was flying very low, she was hit by the antiaircraft artillery unit of the 138th Division of the Chinese Army over Taihu County at the junction of Anhui and Hubei, and the plane was destroyed and killed.This is the highest ranking Japanese officer killed by the Japanese invaders.In February of this year, Isamu Yokoyama replaced Mei Tsukada.Soon after taking office, he held the third Changsha battle, which resulted in a complete defeat. On the Chinese side, Xue Yue, commander of the Ninth Theater, is facing off.Xue Yue now has seventeen armies in his hands, with a total strength of 400,000 troops.The number is roughly the same as that of the Japanese army, but the equipment is significantly lower than that of the Japanese army.Obviously, this is another offensive against a superior enemy with a disadvantage.These days, Xue Yue has been thinking about what is the purpose of the Japanese Central Front Army using such a large force?The previous three battles in Changsha all ended in a major defeat for the Japanese army. What is the difference between this time and the previous two?If it is a decisive battle for the main force of the search for the national army and does not occupy a big city, you should avoid the real and use the empty.When the Japanese army will exhaust the veterans, they will beat them hard.He told this idea to Chairman Jiang in Chongqing.Chairman Chiang called back the next day agreeing to his plan of action. Xue Yue received the telegram from the chairman and ordered Yang Hanchen, commander of the 20th Army, to lead his troops to guard Mishui, and Zhang Deneng, commander of the 4th Army, to guard Changsha.He also ordered Li Yutang's corps to guard Hengyang.In order to prevent accidents, he urgently transferred Wang Lingji, commander-in-chief of the 30th Army, to guard Yiyang. After the deployment was complete, Xue Yue moved the headquarters to Hengyang and informed Chairman Jiang of the situation. Chairman Jiang in Chongqing saw the deployment of the Ninth Theater and thought it was very thorough.It is precisely because of this that Jiang Zhongzheng, the commander-in-chief of the National Army, and Xue Yue, the commander-in-chief of the Ninth Theater, ignored the powerful power of the Japanese army in three-dimensional combat.And Xue Yue also lost the opportunity to concentrate his forces to wipe out the Japanese invaders. On May 27, Isamu Yokoyama, Commander-in-Chief of the Eleventh Army of the Japanese Army, commanded eight divisions, with the cooperation of aircraft and tanks, to launch an unprecedented large-scale attack on the Ninth Theater in separate routes.The Japanese offensive was divided into front-line corps and second-line corps.The front-line corps is responsible for frontal combat and consists of its elite four divisions.The three divisions are the second-line corps, serving as a mobile force.There are also two brigades as auxiliary units.