Chapter 33: The Third Battle of East Henan (II)
September 1939 was the month when the Second World War officially broke out for countries around the world, and it was also the beginning of an unprecedented catastrophe in Europe. However, for Dai Jiliang personally, no matter how many white people who thought they were superior died, it was not more shocking .
The news of Jiang Fangzhen's death seemed to be a beginning. Within the next ten days, first, Mrs. Zheng fell from the upstairs and broke her neck on the stairs. Then the greedy Qi Xiu also died due to a stroke and untimely rescue. Finally, Yin Su and Yin Tao's father also did not escape the hands of death. For a while, Dai Jiliang was surrounded by heartbroken cries.
Unable to bear these tears, Dai Jiliang had to force himself to immerse himself in a sea of documents and use work to eliminate the pain. Fortunately, the soldiers at the front fought bravely and blocked the offensive momentum of the Japanese army in North China in Ningling, Minquan, Zhecheng, Luyi and other places, which prevented him from suffering more pain.
However, the Japanese divisions had failed to achieve anything, so they naturally refused to give up. After defeating the 127th Division from Jiangsu, Xuzhou, Shandong, Henan and Anhui and forcing Zhang Wenqing's 110th Division of the 49th Army and Guo Xipeng's 6th Cavalry Division of the Chinese 16th Corps to retreat towards Hongze Lake, the 35th Division of the Japanese Army finally escaped. The division commander, Lieutenant General Maeda Osamu, personally led more than 8,000 Japanese troops, including the entire 220th Infantry, two infantry battalions of the 221st Infantry Regiment, five companies of the 35th Field Artillery Regiment, four companies of the 35th Engineer Regiment, and one and a half battalions of the 35th Light and Heavy Regiment, and rushed to Luyi via Yongcheng from Gujing, Niuji and Mapu south of Guide, forcing Niu Yuanfeng's 69th Army to retreat to Dancheng.
After the success, the 35th Division of the Japanese Army, with the help of three infantry battalions and one engineering battalion of the 21st Division's Fujita Detachment, turned to advance towards Zhecheng, Ningling and Suixian, intending to encircle the defending 20th Army's Shang Zhen's troops with the 5th Division's westward-moving Ichikawa Detachment. The Fujita Detachment, which was reorganized on the spot, turned to attack Dancheng and Huaiyang after receiving a battalion from the 83rd Infantry Regiment of its own division and 800 reinforcements from the country, thereby further expanding the results of the battle and dispersing the Chinese forces while guarding the flank of the central route.
At this time, in the direction of Dancheng, there were six remnant regiments of Jin Kuibi's 53rd Army, and seven regiments that had not yet been reorganized after Niu Yuanfeng's retreat, plus the 65th Division of Liu Maoen's 15th Army which had been transferred to the front line. The total strength was still more than 30,000 people. Although they were temporarily unable to counterattack the Japanese Fujita Detachment, the Fujita Detachment had been weakened in the previous series of battles and was unable to further expand its results. The two sides then formed a confrontation in Wutai and other places northwest of Dancheng.
On September 17, the 35th Division of the Japanese Army broke through the blocking of Shang Zhen's 32nd Army on the Zhecheng line. In this blocking battle, the 32nd Army seriously injured one division commander, one deputy division commander, and three regiment commanders, and sacrificed 24 people including the regiment commander and battalion and company commanders. In the end, there were less than 8,000 people left in all three divisions, and they had to be ordered to withdraw to Ye County and Xiangcheng line west of the Pinghan Road for reorganization, thus missing the next battle. However, the 35th Division was also at the end of its strength at this time, so the fighting was suspended for several days.
On September 22, the Japanese army in central China suddenly attacked towards Gushi and Huangchuan from Hefei and Lu'an with the 17th Division as the main force, and attacked towards Huoqiu with the 14th Independent Mixed Brigade.
Upon receiving the news of the Japanese attack, Li Zongren, who had reached a certain understanding with the Northwest and obtained the transfer of some guns and ammunition from the Hubei-Henan-Anhui War Zone, immediately led the 31st Army of the Fifth War Zone and other units to attack the Japanese army's flank and rear, and once captured Shucheng and threatened Tongcheng, forcing the Japanese army in central China to stop its westward advance.
"At present, the 21st Division has already pinned down the two armies of Jin Kuibi and Niu Yuanfeng of the Northeastern Chinese Army, as well as a division of Liu Maoen's army, on the Dancheng line. The 35th Division has pinned down the Sun Weiru unit of the Chinese Army and the so-called Hui Muslim Anti-Enemy Army, as well as the Men Bingyue Cavalry Army in the southwest of Zhecheng. As for the Fifth Division and the two detachments of Chuan and Sakamoto on the front line, they have successively pinned down four divisions of the Northwest Chinese Army. In addition, Shang Zhen's unit withdrew from the battle earlier. Therefore, the front army judged that the reserve forces of the Chinese Army in the Henan battlefield have been exhausted, and it is time to invest in the 36th Division and the 110th Division."
Unlike the young staff officers who were talking nonsense, Lieutenant General Odaka Kamezo, commander of the 12th Japanese Army, asked a key question very soberly: "Have you found out the movements of Yang Hucheng's troops in the Chinese Army?"
"According to the telegrams we have intercepted, the Chinese troops in southern Henan are acting very strangely. A considerable number of them have been transferred to the northwest of Hubei Province and the Yangtze River. It seems that the Chinese troops are worried that our troops will go up the river to attack Sichuan."
The staff officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel answered his superiors' questions respectfully.
"However, as far as I know, the Central China Expeditionary Force has no plans to move westward at present. Therefore, the only explanation is that the troops transferred south are targeting Guiyang."
"I don't want to hear your mystery story."
Admiral Ogata waved his hand unhappily, interrupting the staff officer's speech.
"What I'm asking is whether the Chinese Army on the southern front has the ability to reinforce the 36th Division when they are deployed."
The lieutenant colonel was just about to answer when another staff officer came over in a hurry: "Report to the commander, Lieutenant General Washizu Matsudaira sent an urgent telegram. The number of the 67th Army of the Chinese Northeast Army suddenly appeared in the Dancheng line. The density of the Chinese army's radio waves in this area also suddenly increased. There seems to be signs of a local counterattack."
The eyes of the Japanese officers present instantly fell on the map beside them, and the lieutenant colonel who had been unable to judge just now confirmed with great joy: "Sir, since the Chinese army has chosen to launch a counterattack in the direction of the 21st Division, it is certain that the Chinese army has no other forces to block the 36th Division and the 110th Division."
"is that so?"
Lieutenant General Otaka Kamezang narrowed his triangular eyes and thought for a moment, then gave the order.
"Send a telegram to the Front Army, hoping that the First Army and the Mongolian Army can do something to attract the attention of the Chinese Army and facilitate the 12th Army's operations."
A staff officer who was recording quickly stood up and left, and Otaka Kamezo said again.
"Send another telegram to Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji, requesting that his 11th Army exert sufficient pressure on the Chinese Army in northern Hubei."
The staff officers nearby were in an uproar. It was already annoying enough that Admiral Ogata accused the First Army and the Mongolian Army, which were also part of the Japanese army in North China, of fighting passively. Now he actually tried to interfere with the actions of the Japanese army in Central China. This might not be criticized as being too long-handed.
However, how could ordinary staff officers understand the mind of a lieutenant general? You must know that the lieutenant general is planning for defeat before planning for victory. If things don't go well, with these advance telegrams, he can naturally shift the blame to the inaction of friendly forces.
After the second staff officer who was recording also left, Admiral Ogata made up his mind: "Order Lieutenant General Mudeno to advance the attacking force to Line B within two days. After the Snow Troops (Note: The troops of the 36th Division come from Aomori, Iwate, Akita, Yamagata and other northeastern regions of Japan, which are snowy all year round, so they are called Snow Troops) launch an attack and tie down the last reserve of the Chinese Army, the 110th Division will immediately launch a general attack."
With the transmissions from the 12th Army Headquarters in Xuzhou, the war in Henan, which had been stagnant for a while, suddenly escalated.
At four o'clock in the morning of September 24, the main force of the 36th Division of the Japanese Army, which had been hidden for a long time, including the entire 222nd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Regiment, two battalions of the 224th Infantry Regiment, and one battalion each of the 36th Mountain Artillery Regiment and the 36th Engineer Regiment, totaling more than 7,000 people, arrived in Heze from Yuncheng and Juye, and then began to attack towards Lankao without stopping.
On the same day, the entire 223rd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Division, the entire 36th Search Regiment, the 36th Mountain Artillery Regiment, and the 36th Light and Heavy Infantry Regiment, each with a battalion of about 6,500 people, rushed south from Dingtao to replace the Sakamoto Detachment and attack north of Minquan.
The Sakamoto Detachment, which got a chance to rest, went south to join the Ishikawa Detachment. After the two Japanese armies joined forces, they selected elite troops including 22 infantry and engineering squadrons to launch another head-on attack on Ningling under the cover of cannons and machine guns.
Coupled with the attack of the 35th Army, which had received reinforcements, in the south of Ningling, the Northwest Army defense zone between Minquan and Ningling was besieged on three sides by the Japanese army.
Ma Kang, who was ready to cut off the Japanese army, was forced to adjust his deployment at this time. Without caring about destroying the 21st Division, he drew out five regiments of the 35th Army nearby and rushed to the southern line of Ningling for reinforcement. The resulting troop gap was filled by the 67th Army. In addition, he also sent an urgent telegram to Lanzhou, again requesting the continued transfer of the remaining troops of the Second Corps.
After weighing the pros and cons overnight, Zhang Zili persuaded Dai Jiliang and Zhang Xueliang to agree to mobilize the Second Corps to the north. However, at this time, Okamura Yasuji, who was unable to save face, had already mobilized the 11th Army to re-launch an attack on the three passes of Yiyang. In order to ensure that the Ninth Army would not collapse under the attack of the Japanese army, Zhang Zili suggested that Dai Jiliang agree to Yang Hucheng's request to transfer the Seventh Army to replace the Second Corps as the war zone reserve, and transferred the two cavalry units of Zheng Dazhang and Men Bingyue to western Anhui to control the situation.
On September 25, the 208th and 238th Divisions of the Seventh Army, which had been transferred north in advance, arrived at the Ningling battlefield. The arrival of these two divisions quickly stabilized the precarious front line in Ningling.
The Japanese army, aware of the increased resistance of the Chinese army, quickly concluded that the Chinese side had used its last reserve. Under this premise, the Japanese army finally decided to use their trump card.
At 3:17 in the morning of September 27, Japanese artillery fire began to fall on the south bank of the Yellow River ten kilometers west of Kaifeng. After a brief period of dispersing the bombardment, thousands of Japanese vanguard troops from the 110th Division crossed the Yellow River on motorboats and quickly established a bridgehead on the south bank.
In order to prevent repeating the mistakes of the 10th Division in the first Battle of East Henan, the Japanese army also dispatched air forces to fight for air supremacy over the Yellow River, and once sent bombers to bomb Zhengxian, Kaifeng and other places to mobilize the Northwest Air Force.
The 110th Division of the Japanese Army was actually a special division composed of reserve personnel of the 10th Division because of its connection with the 10th Division.
Therefore, the Japanese troops who set foot on the south bank seemed particularly excited. After defeating the Chinese river defense guard forces, they quickly headed towards Kaifeng, intending to wipe out the Northwest Army's front-line command post on the west side of the road in one fell swoop.
At this time, the new commander of the Second Army, Takatako, did not even have a reserve force. He had no choice but to mobilize the 223rd Division on the Lankao front to return to the rescue as soon as possible. The heavy responsibility of resisting the Xianshan Detachment of the 36th Division fell entirely on the reorganized 227th Division.
