Chapter 45 4. Battle of Tancheng

The 92nd Division of the Kuomintang Army is a unit commanded by the patriotic general Zhang Zizhong. During the Taierzhuang War, this unit served as a guard mission in Changsha, Hunan. In April, due to the tense fighting in Xuzhou, the Supreme Military Commission dispatched the 92nd Division to Xuzhou for support. Changsha citizens heard that the Changsha Security Division was going to the front line, so they organized tens of thousands of people to hold a farewell ceremony.The entire urban area of ​​Changsha is full of gongs and drums, firecrackers are blasting, and the citizens are singing and dancing. Changsha is like a sea of ​​joy.Anti-Japanese national salvation organizations and groups from all walks of life organize students and citizens to send condolences to the soldiers who went to the front line to fight the war, send towels, insoles, pens, fruits, etc., and encourage all officers and soldiers of the 92nd Division to kill more Japanese soldiers, defend their homes, and make more military exploits for the country and the nation .The division commander Huang Guoliang also delivered a speech, thanking the people of Changsha for their love for the officers and soldiers, and expressing his determination to kill the enemy and make meritorious service.

Chiang Kai-shek summoned Huang Guoliang, the division commander, Liang Hanming and Lin Woxin, the brigade commanders, in Zhengzhou.Chairman Jiang made an important speech to them, and said with full confidence that the two divisions of the enemy's Itagaki and Jigu on the Xuzhou front were beaten to pieces by our army and are now incomplete.Linyi, Tengxian, Taierzhuang, and Yixian all achieved excellent results.The participating troops fought bravely and tenaciously.Now our army is trying to use the spare time of preparations to fully defend the Xuzhou section of the Jinpu line, strive to block and contain the enemy's western invasion, and adopt a strategy of gradually resisting and luring the enemy to go deep, so as to achieve the goal of final defeat.Seek opportunities to deal a heavy blow to the enemy, like Taierzhuang, to destroy the enemy's main force.I hope you will perform well on the battlefield, and I will listen to the good news in Wuhan.

Mr. Huang Guoliang and the others saluted the chairman and asked him to rest assured that Guoliang led his troops to kill the enemy bravely and win glory for the chairman.Chiang Kai-shek nodded to them with satisfaction, and said twice, yes, yes. The whole division arrived in Xuzhou. Commander Huang Guoliang led the brigade commander, main staff and several backbone regiment leaders to meet with Li Zongren at the commander-in-chief's department of the fifth theater in Xiguan, Xuzhou.Chief Li Zongren kindly greeted the chiefs of the 92nd Division, saying that they had worked hard all the way, and their soldiers were very fast. They rushed from Changsha to Xuzhou in two days.After the two sides greeted each other for a while, Chief Li Zongren explained the policy and essentials of the fifth theater based on the map in the office, determined to stop the enemy going south with all his strength in the defensive area of ​​the theater centered on Xuzhou.

Li Zongren pointed to the map and said that the enemy's 10th Division Rensuke Isoya and the 5th Division Seishiro Itagaki appeared to be attacking again.Along with the Itagaki Division, the enemy troops going south from Linyi have discovered that one part of each of the 103rd and 105th Reserve Divisions, and one part of the Yamashita and Sakai Corps have entered the vicinity of Tancheng and the area west of it to join the battle.He also said that since late April, the enemy has mobilized troops from various battlefields to approach us in the south and north sections of Jinpu.The 9th Division on the southern line has moved north along the vortex, and the enemy's 3rd Division and part of the Reserve 101st Division were also found to move northward in Funing, northern Jiangsu.The enemy on the south and north banks of the Huai River near Bengbu has part of the 102nd and 107th reserve divisions, and it seems that they are trying to harass Su County.He instructed the 92nd Division to quickly take the train to the east and join the 46th Army sequence to take over the defense of Pang Bingxun and Zhang Zizhong's two armies, prevent the main force of the enemy's 5th Division from moving east of the canal, and ensure the safety of the right wing of the theater.

After Li Zongren's instructions, he asked Xu Zuyi, chief of staff of the fifth theater, to tell the commanders of the 92nd Division the specific deployment of the entire theater. In Li Zongren's words, it is called knowing oneself and knowing the enemy.So Huang Guoliang and the others went to the Fifth War Zone Staff Headquarters. Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi asked everyone to surround the topographic map of the sand table. He gave a very detailed explanation: The right area of ​​the theater (Tancheng side): Pang Bingxun and Zhang Zizhong's two units have withdrawn from Linyi to the area south of the port town of Tancheng.The new reinforcements of Lu Han and Tan Daoyuan have already blocked the enemy in the area east of Taierzhuang.The main force of Fan Songfu's army was preparing to join the battle in Nianzhuang and Fengjiayao, south of Dock Town and west of Dayuan Temple.The main enemy force in this area is still the Fifth Division.

Central area of ​​the war zone (from the west of Wharf Town to the north of Taierzhuang, and the south of Yixian County): Sun Lianzhong's Tianzhen South and Feng Anbang's armies (later joined Yu Xuezhong's army), Tang Enbo's Guan Linzheng, Wang Zhonglian, Li Xianzhou, Zhou Lei, and Li Yannian All armies are still occupying Dongzilianfang Mountain, Taierzhuang (north) south of Yangjiaji Genai Mountain and its northwest area.The main enemy situation in this area is still the 10th Division. The Japanese army shelled our side heavily, and it seems that there is an attack attempt.

Left area of ​​the theater (Teng County, Lincheng): Sun Zhen's troops have withdrawn to the south of Lincheng and the Hanzhuang area to rest after abandoning the defense of Teng County to cover the safety of the left side of the theater.The armies of Sun Tongxuan, Cao Fulin, and Gu Liangmin, who were originally responsible for the blocking mission, have now been transferred to the Jining and Jinxiang areas in the northwest of Weishan Lake. fight. Southwest area of ​​the theater (Huaihe Bengbu area): The 51st Army under the jurisdiction of Yu Xuezhong was originally located on the north bank of the Huaihe River to the south of Guzhen, and blocked the enemy's northern crimes on the south bank. In addition to controlling Hefei, the main force flanked the enemy in Dingyuan and Guoyang to prevent the enemy's Ninth Division from advancing to northern Anhui.

Southeast area of ​​the war zone (Lianghuai area): The Miao Chengliu and Li Shouwei units of the 57th Army stationed in Haizhou under the temporary command of Han Deqin confronted the enemy's 3rd Division advancing northward from Funing, and there was no fierce fighting. Shi Yousan's Sixty-ninth Army, the mobile corps behind the enemy's rear, was engaged in a guerrilla attack near Fei County, diverting and destroying the enemy's logistical liaison. The 92nd Division conveyed the important speeches of Chairman Jiang, the instructions of Chief Li Zongren, and the combat deployment of Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi to the officials of the whole division and company, and then to the soldiers of each battalion and company to encourage the whole division. fighting spirit.They did not get a rest in Xuzhou, so they went to the front with the 46th Army to stop the Japanese army advancing south from Tancheng.

Fan Songfu, commander of the 46th Army, has 3 divisions under his jurisdiction, Dong Zhao, commander of the 28th Division, Zhou Shimian, commander of the 49th Division, and Huang Guoliang, commander of the 92nd Division.Each division has two brigades, and each brigade has two regiments.The whole army plus special forces totaled more than 30,000 people.Its equipment is relatively good, including rifles and machine guns made by the Gongxian Arsenal, and 82 mortars and grenades made by the Jinling Arsenal. Artillery and tank defense guns are temporarily attached.Other auxiliary combat weapons are relatively sufficient.Most of the officers and soldiers in the army are from military academies, and there are many backbone troops with certain combat experience.However, the three divisions were temporarily combined, and they were worse than other units in coordinated operations.

Their combat target was the 5th Division commanded by Itagaki Seishiro.This unit of the Japanese army was beaten to pieces by Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun in Linyi.After being supplemented by the Japanese base camp and Qingdao reinforcements, the Nagano, Katano, and Sakahara regiments were restored, and a detachment of the 105th Division, Yamashita, Sakai and other special forces were added, with 50 cannons and 40 small tanks. , dozens of armored vehicles, 15 aircraft, and a total strength of more than 30,000 troops. When the 46th Army arrived at the front line, it first organized officers and staff officers to visit General Zhang Zizhong's defensive position and asked General Zhang to introduce his combat experience.Huang Guoliang, commander of the 92nd Division, and Liang Minghan, commander of the brigade, also gathered General Zhang Zizhong's essentials for defending the village, the construction of fortifications, and their methods of dealing with tanks, aircraft, and artillery, and conveyed them to the officers and soldiers of the division, providing them with important combat experience. .

Because the two troops of Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun were too tired and suffered serious damage, the fifth theater withdrew them from the Tancheng battlefield and returned to Xuzhou to rest.In this way, the task of blocking the Itagaki Division will be handed over to the 46th Army to complete. Fan Songfu's 46th Army lived up to expectations and continued to engage in large-scale fierce battles with the Banyuan Division. All villages were destroyed where they fought.Commander Fan and the divisions and brigades all learned from the experience of Zhang Zizhong's troops, and paid more attention to the fortifications of tunnels in field battles, ordering all participating troops to dig tunnels in defensive positions to better protect themselves from the bombing of artillery and aircraft. Seeing that the Chinese army resisted tenaciously, Itagaki Seishiro changed the direction of his march and marched southward from another place.The main task of the 46th Army is to ensure the area east of the canal and consolidate the security of the right wing of the Fifth Theater. Wherever the enemy comes from, they will intercept it. The enemy changed and I changed, and the Banyuan Division turned to the southwest of Wharf Town, attempting to continue to attack south from the east bank of the Yanzi River.Commander Fan ordered the 92nd Division to quickly occupy the positions around Langzi Lake to ensure the safety of the left wing of the army.Division commander Huang Guoliang marched overnight in two columns and rushed to the battlefield to stop the Japanese army.Unexpectedly, with the help of traitors, the Japanese army attacked the ambush of the avant-garde troops of the 92nd Division on the way. Walking at the forefront of the team was the vanguard battalion of the 551st regiment. Because it was dark and the surrounding terrain could not be seen clearly, the vanguard battalion was in disarray.Commander He Yuankai caught up and leaned over a small mound of soil on the side of the road to observe the firepower of the Japanese army. He found that the enemy's firepower was not very strong, so he concluded that the enemy army in the ambush was not a large force.Commander He ordered Battalion Commander Lu Ziyong of the Qianwei Battalion to organize a frontal attack for the whole battalion, and he led the 2nd Battalion to attack from the side.He demanded that the offensive should be fierce and the action should be fast, so as to wipe out the enemy's small troops. The two battalions attacked the Japanese army one after the other.There were no more than a hundred Japanese soldiers in the ambush. They couldn't resist, but they couldn't retreat for a while, so they held on to their positions.The two sides fought until midnight, when a small group of Japanese troops were repulsed, leaving behind two heavy machine guns and dozens of Japanese corpses on the ground, they disappeared in the dark.In this battle, the vanguard battalion commander Lu Ziyong unfortunately died. The vanguard of the other column was the 547th Regiment. They overcame difficulties and arrived at Langzi Lake on time. They deployed defenses at Qianhu Lake and rushed to repair the fortifications. About 3 hours later, a large number of Japanese troops also arrived.The brigade commander Liang Hanming observed the enemy through the binoculars, and the vanguard of the Japanese army was only a thousand people.They did not rectify before attacking, and attacked Langzi Lake under the cover of cannons as soon as they came up. Before the fortifications were completed, they were forced to fight.The enemy's offensive was fierce, and follow-up troops kept coming up. The blocking battle lasted until dusk. The regiment commander and deputy commander were seriously injured. The other reinforcements were blocked by Japanese artillery. They failed to come over several times. The 547th regiment lost its command for a while, and the regiment suffered heavy casualties. It's just a few miles away. Brigadier Liang Hanming ordered Xian Shengkai, the deputy head of the 548th Regiment, to lead the guard squad over there, and was responsible for convening the remnants of the 547th Regiment and acting as the head of the regiment.Xian Shengkai gathered the defeated soldiers of the 547th Regiment, reorganized them on the spot, organized them into two battalions, and entered the Houlangzihu position. The former Langzi Lake was occupied by the Yamada Regiment of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army. After they occupied the former Langzi Lake position, they received the full support of the division. As a result, the morale of the Japanese army was greatly boosted, and they launched an attack on the Houlangzi Lake.The front Langzi Lake and the Back Langzi Lake are separated by five or six miles, and the middle is full of crop fields, which are so flat that there is no obstacle, and you can see several miles at a glance. There are hundreds of families in Houlangzi Lake, all of which are thatched houses. The troops guarding the village are the two battalions of the 548th Regiment and the 547th Regiment, as well as the headquarters of the 274th Brigade.Due to the fierce Japanese artillery fire, the troops suffered heavy casualties, and the number of combatants was only 2,000.The army commander Fan Songfu and the division commander Huang Guoliang called respectively, telling the brigade commander Liang Hanming to stick to the position, and issued a death order to live and die with the position.At night, the Japanese army fired more than 100 incendiary bombs at the village, and all the thatched cottages were burned, and the flames soared into the sky, illuminating the entire Langzi Lake as if it were daytime, and the Japanese army took advantage of this to launch an attack.The defenders were in the open, and the Japanese army was in the dark, fighting fiercely. The Chinese army is very tenacious, and the enemy has not taken advantage of it.They brought the Japanese soldiers closer, also under the light of the fire, and then concentrated all their firepower to fight fiercely.The Japanese army had to retreat.The houses in the village were gone, and the trees were burned down. All the defenders began to dig holes, and dug the whole village into more than 10 vertical and horizontal straggler trenches. Japanese infantry approached.Anyway, the Chinese soldiers tried every means to keep the enemy out of the village. At dawn the next day, more than 3,000 Japanese troops were divided into groups, covering each other in four echelons, and leaping forward in batches.Liang Hanming sent Liu Yijun, the 2nd Battalion, to occupy the small village outside the village, forming horns with the main position, and attacking the Japanese army from the flanks. The fierce battle lasted until dawn, but the enemy still did not break through the front position. In the afternoon, the Japanese army launched a second attack. This time they were fierce and soldiers rushed in.Some Japanese troops broke through the defense line and entered the Northwest Courtyard of Houlangzi Lake.The head of the 548th regiment, Jiang Hongwei, led two battalions, fought hard and drove the enemy out.At night, the enemy fired incendiary bombs again, but there was no more combustibles, so it was inconvenient for the Japanese army to attack. At dawn on the third day, the Japanese army launched a third attack. The fierce fighting lasted until around 7:00 in the morning, when the Chinese army arrived with a large number of reinforcements.The friendly forces launched an attack from the flanks, and the frontal position also launched a charge. The Yamada Regiment was only more than 2,000 people, and fled in a panic under the cover of the plane.There are many corpses left by the Japanese army, and the guns and ammunition left behind are everywhere. The entire battle situation in the Xuzhou theater fell into a difficult state. Many armies and legions gradually withdrew from the front line due to the Japanese army's full-scale counterattack and heavy casualties.In order to turn the tide of the battle, Tang Enbo was ordered to go to Longchi Town on the east bank of the canal to unify and command the frontline troops to fight. The 46th Army was transferred to Dinggou on the east bank of the Canal for defense.The Japanese army attacking Tingzigou was still the main force of the 5th Division, and the old rival Yamada United was the first to attack.Commander Fan and Division Commander Huang also found an old opponent for the Japanese army, that is, the 552nd regiment.After more than an hour of enemy artillery bombardment, the charge was launched.The Tingzigou area was completely bombed by enemy artillery fire, but the infantry's attacks were repulsed by the 552nd regiment one after another. During the battle, the battalion commanders of the 1st and 2nd Battalions were all seriously injured, the battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion and the deputy commander of the major were shot and died, and the troops were severely reduced.The next day, the northwest corner of the Dingzigou position was broken by the enemy, and five planes strafed the air again. The 3rd Battalion had no command and all retreated.Team leader Zhang Xin and deputy team leader Li Yikuang supervised the battle first-line, and finally repelled the sudden enemy. But an hour later, the follow-up troops of the Japanese army poured in again. The two sides fought in a street fight in a village. The regiment leader was seriously injured and was carried off by the soldiers.At that time, all the battalion commanders and company commanders of the regiment died, and regimental commander Li temporarily appointed a group of commanders to lead the soldiers to fight hand-to-hand with the enemy.In close combat, the enemy planes could not provide assistance, but the enemy fired in depth with cannons, and the Chinese army was not allowed to go for reinforcements.Tang Enbo called and asked the 552 regiment to stand by and wait for help. If there is any retreat, military law will be followed.The battle continued until dusk. Lin Woxin, commander of the 276th brigade, led the 551st regiment to reinforce him. Li Yikuang, commander of the 551st regiment, was wounded in the head. The regiment suffered more than a thousand casualties, and many wounded could not be evacuated in Dingzigou. The battle of Dingzigou lasted for several days, and the Japanese army was still increasing its troops.At that time, the positions of the Chinese army from the east of Taierzhuang to the vicinity of Lianfang Mountain were breached, the area near the canal was empty, and the right wing of the 46th Army appeared enemy situation again.The 92nd Division followed the instructions of the Army Department to ensure the safety of the left-wing area and resolutely block the Japanese invasion from the east, so the whole division concentrated its main force to defend Tingzigou.After another two days of fighting, due to being outnumbered, the whole line could not be stabilized, so they had to retreat southward. Since the 92nd Division was assigned to the command of the 46th Army, the whole army suffered a total of more than 8,000 casualties, winning more than half a month for the Xuzhou Fifth Theater. The southern region is in a bitter battle.