Chapter 26 Chapter 5 Sudden Changes (3)

According to German standards, a mechanized motorized infantry division usually needs to be equipped with hundreds of vehicles, thousands of motorcycles, more than a hundred field cannons and self-propelled artillery, and a varying number of tanks and armored vehicles for assault cover missions.German soldiers are equipped with submachine guns, steel helmets, woolen coats, leather boots, blankets, lighting flashlights, windproof glasses, razor blades, marching tents, etc., and officers are even equipped with cameras and radios.China is a poor country in Asia. At that time, its per capita income was only one-sixty-sixth of that of Japan, one-hundred-twentieth of that of Germany, and one-two-hundredth of that of the United States.If the standard of the German army is copied, the military expenditure for equipping a "German-style division" is enough to arm a dozen divisions or even more Central Army. It is obvious that such a huge military expenditure far exceeds the capacity of the treasury.However, in the face of the imminent invasion of the Japanese, the hard-pressed national government still made up its mind and allocated a lot of money to buy German equipment. At first it planned to transform 20 German-style divisions, but later it was reduced to ten divisions due to serious shortage of funds. When the Anti-Japanese War broke out, the number of German divisions that had basically completed the transformation was less than half of the original plan.

The 88th Division of the Central Army, known as the "No. 1 Division in the World", is one of the lucky ones. The 88th Division was formerly known as the Guangzhou Whampoa Military Academy Guard. During the Northern Expedition, it was the personal guard battalion of the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek. In 1927, the National Government established the capital in Nanjing, and the guard battalion was expanded into the "Capital Guard Division". Called the "Royal Guards".The 88th Division followed Chiang Kai-shek in the north-south campaign, regardless of the warlords' melee or the "communist suppression" in the Soviet area, as well as the "January 28th Songhu War of Resistance" in 1932 and the "August 13th Songhu War of Resistance" in 1937. He made great military exploits and won the reputation of "the first division in the world". Later, the "Eight Hundred Heroes of Sixing Warehouse" who became famous all over the world came from the 524th regiment of the division.

The transformed "No. 1 Division in the World" has taken on a new look: the officers and men wear German-style steel helmets, the officers are equipped with German shell guns, the squad has a domestic imitation Czech-made light machine gun, and even has a machine gun platoon. The division has a heavy artillery battalion equipped with large-caliber howitzers, Field guns and cars, motorcycles and more.Under the strong request of the German adviser, the German division also made an exception to be equipped with advanced radio stations to enhance communication and mobile combat capabilities.The treatment of officers and soldiers of the 88th Division is also much better than that of other central armies. Not only is their salary doubled, but many officers are also given priority in sending them to study in Germany. It can be said that there are a lot of elites.

However, the German-style division is not Germany but the Chinese army after all, so it is inevitable to bear many imprints with Chinese characteristics. In 2000, I interviewed the old man Xing Lizheng, the former lieutenant colonel of the Nanjing Ministry of National Defense. The old man told me that the German submachine gun is famous all over the world, but one of the shortcomings of the submachine gun is that it consumes an amazing amount of ammunition. Often, a submachine gun consumes more ammunition than a rifle squad. The Ministry is only allowed to purchase a few submachine guns to decorate the appearance, and the main weapon of the German division is still the domestic "made in Hanyang" rifle.It is said that the Ministry of National Defense at that time greatly appreciated the German steel helmet and water bottle, because in addition to the mighty military appearance, the steel helmet can also effectively protect the head and reduce casualties, and the water bottle can relieve the thirst of soldiers in marching and combat, and prevent soldiers from dying. Of course, a more important and well-known reason for intestinal diseases caused by drinking dirty water is cheap.But woolen coats and military leather boots were not favored. The Ministry of National Defense believed that these equipments were useless and expensive, so Generalissimo Jiang personally approved the purchase of steel helmets and water bottles and crossed woolen coats and leather boots from the procurement list.

In the spring of 1938, a Japanese army of unknown origin appeared near Minquan County in eastern Henan. The 264th Brigade of the 88th Division was ordered to counterattack. inside.Judging from the firepower of the Japanese counterattack, this enemy did not carry heavy artillery, nor was it covered by tanks and armored vehicles. It can basically be concluded that it was a small infiltration force, and its size would not exceed a brigade (battalion). 4 Jiang Zaizhen, the commander of the New Eighth Division, received a telegram from Zhu Zhenmin, the deputy commander, informing the group army of an emergency order to be transferred to the front line in eastern Henan for garrison, so he ended his recuperation early and hurried back to Zhengzhou from Hankou.

On the eve of the Battle of Xuzhou, the base camp divided the country into several war zones, and unified the command of the war against Japan. Among them, the Zhengzhou No. 1 theater was the most important and had the largest number of troops under its jurisdiction. In addition to the direct line of the central government, there were also many local anti-Japanese troops from various provinces.There are many factions, and the relationship is inevitably complicated, and it is impossible to avoid intrigues and intrigues. For example, the new eighth division from Guizhou is nominally under the control of the 20th Army, but the division is completely independent in terms of troop organization and command , Listening to the tune but not listening to the tube, this is the result of the continuation of the local warlord system in the early Republic of China, and it is also a Chinese characteristic.The 20th Army Group is the former Northwest Army, which is also a temporary unit. The commander-in-chief, Shang Zhen, will be the general of the Jin Army. His subordinates are all those troops that have retreated from the North China battlefield, such as the Northeast Army, the Northwest Army, the Lu Clan, the Feng Clan, Anhui and so on.In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese publicized the so-called "amazing achievements" in North China. For example, a squadron (company) defeated a regiment of the Chinese army, and a brigade (battalion) wiped out a division. Their opponents were all the above-mentioned miscellaneous brands with backward equipment and low combat effectiveness team.This time, the New Eighth Division received an order to deploy within a time limit to garrison Kaocheng County at the junction of Henan and Shandong.