Chapter 31: The Third Battle of East Henan (I)
Although the situation in Nomonhan continued to deteriorate, the North China Front Army, which was preparing for the Third Battle of East Henan, had no intention of watching the Kwantung Army's joke.
On July 28, the Japanese North China Front Army officially issued the guidelines for the "Third Battle of East Henan", and two days later the 12th Army Command also issued specific combat plans.
On August 14, the Japanese Army's 6th Independent Mixed Brigade, with the cooperation of the traitor Liu Guitang's troops, first carried out a dragnet-style sweep of the mountain villages along the Jiaoji Railway. On the same day, the Japanese Navy stationed in Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai and other places also dispatched special marines to cooperate with the 12th Army to carry out a large-scale sweep of the inland of the Jiaodong Peninsula.
On August 15, the Japanese Army's 5th Independent Mixed Brigade stationed in Laiwu, Xintai, Mengyin, and Pingyi also began to send troops to the countryside to carry out mopping-up operations.
On the same day, the 10th Independent Mixed Brigade stationed in Linyi, Rizhao, Wulian, Juxian, Feixian, Yishui and other places also began to carry out repeated cleanup operations in various villages at the scale of reinforced squadrons to mixed battalions.
The Japanese raids caused great losses to the Shandong Provincial Government led by Shen Honglie, the Shandong local anti-Japanese militia, and Cao Fulin's 55th Army Headquarters active in the Yimeng Mountains.
The Shandong Provincial Government, which had originally been based in Yishui, was forced to move to the mountainous area of Yiyuan. The 3rd Regiment of the 102nd Division, of which Cao Fulin was also the division commander, the Supplementary Regiment and the Army Machine Gun Battalion were successively disbanded. Wang Qifeng's 4th Cavalry Division had only 3,000 cavalrymen, with a total of four battalions, 11 companies and nearly 800 people, which were annihilated by the Japanese army.
As for the local anti-Japanese armed forces in Shandong, the losses were even greater. More than 10,000 militiamen were either wiped out by the Japanese army or could not resist the coercion of the Japanese army and became traitors.
Of course, the Shandong anti-Japanese guerrilla forces organized by the Communist Party and the Kuomintang also suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Japanese army. Only a few who fled to the mountains escaped the fate of being annihilated.
The mopping-up operations of the Japanese independent mixed brigades were not declared over until the start of the Third Battle of East Henan on August 27. The above three Japanese independent mixed brigades and the traitorous armed forces began to implement the task of maintaining the transportation lines. Shen Honglie and other talents who escaped death seized the opportunity to restore their armed forces and bases behind enemy lines.
However, even so, the severely damaged enemy forces in Shandong were no longer able to play their due role in the war that was about to begin.
On August 27, the Japanese 5th Division, consisting of the entire 11th Infantry Regiment, two battalions of the 41st Infantry Regiment, one battalion of the 5th Field Artillery Regiment, six companies of the 5th Engineer Regiment, and four companies of the 5th Light and Heavy Infantry Regiment, launched an attack on Guide along the Longqinyuhai Railway.
The Sakamoto Detachment, composed of 11 squadrons of the 21st Infantry Regiment, 2 and a half battalions of the 42nd Regiment, the entire 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1 battalion of the 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 1 battalion of the 5th Engineer Regiment, and 6 squadrons of the 5th Light and Heavy Infantry Regiment, was sent to support the attack of the Jichuan Detachment through a roundabout route to Peixian, Jinxiang, Chengwu, Dingtao, and Heze.
On the same day, the 21st Division of the Japanese Army, which attacked from Bengbu, formed the Fujita Detachment with the entire 62nd and 82nd Infantry Regiments, the entire division search team, two battalions of the 51st Mountain Artillery Regiment, two battalions of the 21st Engineer Regiment, and pushed forward towards Mengcheng, Woyang, and Bozhou.
As for the 35th Division of the Japanese Army deployed in Suxian, it formed the Yamada Detachment with the 219th Infantry Regiment and the division search team, a battalion of the 35th Field Artillery Regiment, the 35th Engineer Regiment, the 35th Light and Heavy Infantry Regiment, the Communications Team, and part of the Medical Team to launch a preventive attack on Suining, Sixian, Sihong, and Suqian.
The rest of the troops remained in Suxian to maintain the Jinpu Road and support Xuzhou and Bengbu to prevent the Chinese army from using the tactic of besieging Wei to save Zhao again.
"Commander Ma, according to the intelligence analysis of the Military Intelligence Bureau, the Japanese army has mobilized a total of five divisions this time, but now only three divisions have been deployed, and less than two have been dispatched. I think that old devil Sugiyama Gen is preparing to play tricks on us. I was thinking, if we are determined to deal with the 5th and 35th Divisions, and the 36th Division and the 110th Division suddenly come out from a position we didn't expect, that would be a big mess."
Watching the staff of the headquarters planting the red flags marking the Japanese army on the battlefield situation map in front of them one by one in Peixian, Fengxian, Dangshan, and Xiayi, Zhou Guangyou, the chief of staff of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan War Zone, said to Ma Kang with a serious expression: "So, I still suggest that the war zone control enough reserve troops in case of unexpected events."
Ma Kang, the theater commander, agreed with the chief of staff's concerns, but he was still optimistic about the current situation: "The Japanese have run out of tricks. In my opinion, if Sugiyama Gen and Odaka Kamezo really push forward with five divisions in a row, it will be difficult for us to deal with them. But now, it's hard to say who will win."
Ma Kang acted confident, but Zhou Guangyou's expression remained unchanged. Seeing that his chief of staff was still gloomy, Ma Kang shook his head and changed the subject: "Chief of Staff, have He Guozhu's Third Army and Sun Weiru's Seventh Army been deployed?"
"The main force of Jin Kuibi's 53rd Army has retreated from Yongcheng and Woyang to Bozhou. The headquarters of the Third Army Corps and Niu Yuanfeng's 69th Army have also advanced from Taikang to Dancheng and Luyi. They can be reinforced anytime and anywhere."
Zhou Guang marked it on the map with a blue pencil.
"Sun Weiru and Liu Maoen's troops of the Seventh Army arrived in Luohe for repairs five days ago. They will be able to reach Xiangcheng and Shenqiu in the next three days. They will then decide whether to go to Bo'nan based on the progress of the war."
After answering Ma Kang's question, Zhou Guangyou asked back.
"Captain Ma, isn't it too weak to let Leng Yindong's Tenth Corps serve as the general reserve of the southern front troops?"
"I have such concerns, but Pang Bingxun's 14th Corps is short of troops after Liu Shirong's troops were transferred north to eastern Shanxi. They are unable to contain the possible attack of the Japanese 27th Division in Xinxiang and other places on the Qin River line. Therefore, Sun Tongxuan's troops and Yang Sen's troops must be on guard and support the Qin River defense line and Luoyang, Yanshi, Gongxian and other places. They cannot be transferred out. Shang Zhen's 20th Army Group only has one 32nd Army with a total strength of no more than 30,000 people, and they have to be assigned to the Second Army to fight on the northern line and cannot split their forces."
Ma Kang counted the troops under his command and found that although there were many troop numbers in the war zone, only a handful of them could be truly mobile.
"Now there is only one division of the Henan Hui Muslim Anti-Enemy Corps and Men Bingyue's Reserve Cavalry Corps that can serve as mobile forces. How about transferring Zheng Dazhang's First Reserve Cavalry Corps to the southern front?"
"Although it is said that one horse is worth three soldiers, the First Reserve Cavalry Army actually only has one cavalry division with more than 3,000 people. Even if they are deployed to the southern front, it will not be enough to change the situation between the enemy and us."
Zhou Guangyou shook his head.
"I have a suggestion. Can we negotiate with the Hubei-Henan-Anhui War Zone to transfer Wang Yizhe's Second Army? With these 100,000 men, the Japanese army may not be able to get them even if they use their two divisions."
"Negotiation for the transfer of the Second Army ?"
Ma Kang smiled bitterly when he heard this.
"Brother Wu Yi, I'm afraid Yang Hucheng is not so easy to talk to."
Ma Kang drew a big circle at the bottom of a map of Henan Province on the wall.
"It is most important that the two armies of Sun Zhen and Liu Ruming hold the three passes in the south of Xin to prevent the Japanese troops in central China from invading the north.
Although Sun Lianzhong's troops remained in Xinye, Dengxian and Nanyang, they were useless and redundant soldiers, but they could be regarded as the general reserve force of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui War Zone. They had to support Hunan, Hubei, Bashu and Sichuan at any time and pay attention to the direction of Tongbai Mountain, and they could not be easily mobilized.
The only forces Yang Hucheng could use in western Anhui were the Seventh Army, Feng Qinzhai's Corps, and the Second Army. Now we are going to take away one of his three trump cards, won't he be furious? "
"Since Commander Ma has such concerns, why don't you ask your Excellency to withdraw four more divisions from the reserve army group to the Henan battlefield."
Zhou Guangyou certainly knew that his suggestion would definitely be rejected by Lanzhou, and he made this suggestion just to bring up another suggestion.
"Or bypass Yang Hucheng and transfer troops from the Seventh Army."
Yang Hucheng could not refuse to adjust the organization of the Northwest Armies in the name of the Northwest Supreme Command, but would this make Yang Hucheng dissatisfied? Would this change of soup but not medicine still use the old foundation of the Northwest Army to fight the Japanese Army against Dai Jiliang's original intention? As the chief of staff of the theater, Zhou Guangyou could make irresponsible suggestions, but Ma Kang had to think carefully before adopting them.
After thinking for a while, Ma Kang shook his head and said, "Brother Wu Yi, the Lord will never agree to this. It is better for us not to hit our head against the wall.
I think it would be better if Brother Wu Yi went to Pingyu in person and persuaded Commander Yang in person to agree to temporarily transfer the Second Army to the north. If the Hubei-Henan-Anhui War Zone has objections, our bottom line is to exchange the Second Army for the Tenth Corps.
If Yang Hucheng still disagrees, then we can file a lawsuit in front of the emperor!"
"Since Commander Ma has made this decision, I will fly directly to Pingyu tonight."
Since Ma Kang was unwilling to fly to Lanzhou to lobby Dai Jiliang, Zhou Guangyou, who came from the old Zhejiang Army, naturally would not continue to insist on his suggestion, so he changed the subject.
"Commander Ma, the Japanese army is coming aggressively, Niu Wenliang has suddenly developed malaria, and there is no one to lead the Second Army. Commander Ma must prepare for it as soon as possible."
"Even if you don't tell me, I have to tell you. Your Excellency has already made arrangements to have the Third Army commander Gao Tianzi and Niu Cexun swap their services. Gao Shunjia will arrive early tomorrow morning. Although it's a little late, Hu Jing will remain in office, so the Second Army will not be in chaos for the time being."
Having said that, the current divisions of the Second Army have just been transferred from the Mongolian Border and Reserve Army Groups to take over the defense of the original divisions. The change of the commander who has experience in fighting against Japan is bound to have some negative impact on this unit that is about to go to war.
"Besides, these divisional and regimental commanders have all attended several battle review meetings, so they have some basic knowledge. It may be understandable that they cannot defeat the Japanese in a field battle, but if they fail to win a defensive battle and blame the military for poor guidance, don't blame me for taking off his official hat."
Zhou Guang opened his mouth to say something else, but a staff officer hurriedly came up to the two of them, saluted, and reported in a hurried tone: "General Yu from the Jiangsu-Xuzhou-Shandong-Henan-Anhui War Zone forwarded an urgent telegram from the Xuhai Provincial Government: Unit A1 (127th Division) suffered a heavy blow from the Japanese Fujita Detachment on the Sihong front. Division Commander Shen Ke was seriously injured and his troops were completely routed."
Ma Kang raised his eyebrows and immediately ordered the staff officer: "Send a telegram to Commander Yu immediately to ask where the 16th Corps of Miao Chengliu is now?"
