Chapter 40: The Third Battle of East Henan (IX)
"Based on the terrain of Kaifeng and the location of the core fortress in the city, our army has set up defenses in different areas. There are 16 defense zones, each with a command post to command the troops in the zone."
Amid the rumbling of artillery fire from the Japanese army's siege, the Kaifeng City Defense Command organized a special briefing.
"In addition, a fully staffed independent combat battalion will be retained at the junction of every four districts . In this way, excluding the troops directly under the headquarters, the entire city will be organized into a total of 25 battalion-level detachments and 1 regiment-level general reserve."
"Each sector was assigned an independent mortar company and an anti-aircraft machine gun company. The nine independent combat battalions were also assigned anti-aircraft artillery companies. The three Oerlikon anti-aircraft artillery companies and the remaining one 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun company were left in key points such as the military depot area and Longting Airport to provide the necessary air defense cover for the above units and the two field hospitals."
Although the Second Army's rear hospital retreated, its medicines and surgical instruments were left to the 238th Division's field hospital, which was ordered to stay behind.
In addition, doctors from Kaifeng Municipal Hospital, as well as some private clinics and church hospitals, also volunteered to stay. Together with the military doctors of the 238th Division and the 2381st Regiment, and the civilian stretcher teams, they set up two field hospitals and six emergency stations in Kaifeng City, providing the best possible care to the brave soldiers fighting the enemy.
“Since the Japanese army has just invaded the city wall, the fighting is mainly taking place in the 12 outer districts, and the impact on the inner districts is not significant. Therefore, the 9 civil engineering teams formed are still repairing fortifications, shelters, digging tunnels, and building anti-artillery communication trenches day and night.
In addition, there are 4 civilian firefighting teams carrying out firefighting tasks in the urban area."
"All types of artillery in the Kaifeng military station have been distributed to the front-line troops, and two base numbers of artillery shells have also been distributed to various units. The Joint Logistics Force currently has 200 rounds of 105mm heavy field artillery shells, 2,500 rounds of 75mm mountain field artillery shells, 3,000 rounds of 120mm mortar shells, 12,000 rounds of 82mm mortar shells, 2,800 rounds of 37mm anti-tank shells, 10,000 rounds of 20mm anti-aircraft shells, and 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun shells. 50,000 grains, 17 Type 79 Maxim machine guns, 44 Type 79 Czech machine guns, 816 Type 79 rifles, 1,200,000 grains of Type 79 machine rifle bullets, 120,000 grains of Type 65 machine rifle bullets, 280 imitation MP-28 and MP-18 submachine guns, 76 various pistols, 550,000 grains of 9mm pistol bullets, 20,000 grains of miscellaneous pistol bullets, 100 45mm grenade launchers, and 25,000 45mm grenades.
In addition, each divisional command post also has a portion of guns and ammunition stored.”
The ammunition stock seems to be very abundant, but this is just an illusion. You have to know that when the supply is completely cut off, every bullet you shoot will be one less bullet, and what is more worrying is the supply of medicines.
"The field hospital still has enough emergency medicine for 4,000 people. In addition, 15 tons of Chinese and Western medicines were found in hospitals and pharmacies in the city. 4,702 rolls of gauze were obtained from cloth shops and cotton mills, which can be used to make 25,000 pairs of bandages in an emergency. However, the amount of iodine is insufficient, so we are considering using confiscated spirits to replace alcohol."
"In terms of food, the Joint Logistics Force has collected more than 94,700 bags of flour, more than 31,760 shi of rice, more than 410 tons of dry grain, 22 tons of various meats, 17 tons of beans, 1.7 tons of various seasonings and sauces, 124 tons of various wine dregs and horse feed chaff, and more than 480 tons of coal, wood and other fuels through searching grain stores, restaurants, stoves, sauce factories, and some intact houses in the city. It can guarantee the city's consumption for about 3 to 4 months, but it is difficult to make cooked food at present, so we can only send a few days' supply to the front line at one time."
The staff officer in charge of logistics paused and added.
"This estimate has already taken into account the normal consumption of the 11,897 citizens in the city who were unable to evacuate in time. If their rations are reduced, they may be able to hold out for a longer period of time."
"For the record, from now on all supplies will be subject to level one control."
Major General Xue Ming, commander of the 223rd Division and commander of Kaifeng City Defense, took a cigarette out of his pocket, put it to his nose and sniffed it, but finally gave up and put it back.
"The 20th and 12th Armies failed in their efforts to break the siege. The theater headquarters instructed that we cannot launch a counterattack for a long time in the future. Therefore, we must make long-term plans." While the Chinese soldiers in Kaifeng were fighting for an alley or a house in the rubble of the city under the Japanese artillery fire, counting the bullets in their hands, and gnawing on unnutritious unleavened bread, the Japanese army, in order to improve the combat situation outside Kaifeng, launched a limited attack west of the Yunliang River with the entire 108th Infantry Brigade of the 110th Division, two battalions of the 110th Infantry Regiment, two battalions of the 110th Field Artillery Regiment, and the 110th Cavalry Battalion, totaling more than 9,300 people.
Although the Japanese army did not expect to capture Zhengxian City in one fell swoop, their actions still surprised the Chinese front-line commanders headed by Wang Yizhe. The 118th Division, 121st Division of the 63rd Army and the 146th Division of the Fifth Reserve Army, which were preparing for an attack on the Zhongmu front, were unaware of the Japanese army's offensive intentions.
As a result, the above-mentioned troops were defeated by the sudden attack of the Japanese army. Not only did they lose their starting positions west of the Yunliang River, but they were also forced to abandon Zhongmu County under the pursuit of the Japanese army.
What made Lanzhou even more unhappy was that when the above-mentioned units were disbanded, they did not notify the Northwest First Super Heavy Artillery Team which was replenishing ammunition in Zhongmu, which almost led to the Super Heavy Artillery Team being surrounded by the Japanese army.
Fortunately, the Northwest Armored Vehicle Team, which was equipped with the Super Heavy Artillery Team, launched a desperate counterattack despite its own weak strength, and covered the safe retreat of the First Super Heavy Artillery Team. However, all three armored trains of the armored vehicle team were completely destroyed, and a battalion of soldiers fought to the last man.
The Japanese army's successful capture made Lieutenant General Kuwagi Sumei have unrealistic associations. In his view, the Chinese army, whose backbone had been broken, could not stop him from taking Zheng County. However, he soon realized that he was wrong.
After receiving the news of the fall of Zhongmu, Zhang Xueliang, who was criticized by Dai Jiliang, personally called Wang Yizhe.
Wang Yizhe then mobilized the 122nd Division of the 63rd Army and the 109th Division of the 57th Army to defend the line of Yanzhuang, Dawu, Laoxuean, Sanglin, Putian, Erlang Temple and Caogu Temple outside Zheng County.
Sun Weiru's trusted general Zhao Shoushan also personally led the 177th Division of the 38th Army across the Chaohe River from the Anzhuang line, attacking the Japanese army from the flank and rear and threatening their retreat.
At the same time, the Northwest Air Force mobilized two bomber squadrons to carry out uninterrupted bombing on the Japanese army, eventually forcing the Japanese army to withdraw to the west side of the Jialu River. The two sides then formed a new confrontation along the Wantan, Liuji, Zhaizhuang and Zheng'an line.
Although Wang Yizhe eventually stabilized the situation in Zhengxian County, Dai Jiliang still gave the Northeast Army an extremely severe punishment: "Revoke the numbers of the 118th and 121st Divisions, and use the remaining troops of the two divisions to strengthen the rest of the Second Corps."
Gao Yunpeng was removed from his post as commander of the 63rd Army and appointed deputy commander of the Second Corps, with Wang Yizhe temporarily taking over the post of commander of the 63rd Army.
In addition to the punishment of the Northeast Army, the newly expanded Fifth Reserve Army was also criticized, the army commander Duan Xiangshan was reprimanded, and the commander of the 146th Division Wang Genseng was dismissed and investigated. After repeated guarantees from Yang Hucheng and Sun Weiru, he was allowed to serve his sentence and make meritorious contributions to see the results.
However, the punishment could not change the situation that the Japanese army had expanded the depth of the battle. For this reason, the Hebei-Shandong-Henan War Zone decided to transfer the 203rd, 222nd, 229th, 232nd, 244th, and 249th divisions transferred from the Seventh Army and the Reserve Army into the Second Army, and the Second Army would organize a counterattack against the Japanese army in the Zhongmu salient.
In order to prevent the Japanese army from attacking from the direction of Weishi during the battle, the Second Corps was ordered to go to Xinzheng for reorganization, and the Seventh Corps was stationed between Longhu and Guodian as the reserve of the Second Corps.
The Japanese army also anticipated that the Chinese side would inevitably launch a large-scale counterattack. Lieutenant General Otaka Kamezo made another adjustment, with the 110th Division taking charge of the front-line defense of Zhongmu, and the 27th Division's Nagami Detachment with five infantry battalions, one mountain artillery battalion, and six squadrons of engineers, light and heavy troops cooperating with the 36th Division to encircle Kaifeng.
After receiving the order from the military headquarters, Lieutenant General Sangmu Sumei decided, after weighing the pros and cons, to deploy the 139th Infantry Regiment, the 140th Infantry Regiment and the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 110th Field Artillery Regiment of the 108th Infantry Brigade on the first line of defense west of Zhongmu.
The two battalions of the 110th Infantry Regiment and the 110th Engineer Regiment of the 133rd Infantry Brigade and the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Field Heavy Artillery Regiment directly under the front were stationed in and around Zhongmu County as the reserve forces of the above two units.
The 163rd Infantry Regiment, the 110th Cavalry Battalion, and the 2nd Battalion of the 110th Field Artillery Regiment of the 133rd Infantry Brigade were deployed west of the Yunliang River as a counterattack force if the Chinese army broke through the Japanese defense line.
The remaining engineering, light and heavy troops were scattered between the south bank of the Yellow River and Lankao, which was a little further away, and cooperated with the large baggage unit of the 36th Division to maintain the transportation of materials needed at the front.
Just as both sides on the Zhongmu front were busy making preparations before the war, on October 11, part of the 223rd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Division of the Japanese Army broke into Area B2 in Kaifeng City. Although this unit of Japanese troops was subsequently hit hard by the defenders, it indicated that the Japanese troops had fully infiltrated the urban area.
"Ying Yin, I'm telling you, without orders, you are not allowed to attack even if the enemy is right under your nose."
Colonel Tong Chixin, deputy chief of staff of the City Defense Command, had participated in the Battle of Chengde in his early years and was therefore very familiar with the tactical characteristics of the Japanese army.
"What? Don't panic. This is a small infiltration unit of the Japanese army. Area A1 is still holding on, and Captain Min has not yet asked the headquarters for help.
Hello, hello! Damn it, the telephone line was cut off by Japanese artillery fire again."
"Telephone man, stop calling."
The deputy commander, Major General Ye Chigao, stopped Tong Chixin from ordering the telephone soldiers to go out.
"All the telephone platoon tracers in the headquarters have been killed. The commander has ordered the transfer of telephone soldiers from the 223rd Division and the 2231st Regiment, but they can't get here for a while."
"Then I'll go there myself."
Tong Chixin responded.
"It's a good opportunity to visit a few other spots and take a look at the actual situation."
"Be careful. The Japanese army was able to infiltrate Nianzi Street, which means that Area A1 is no longer safe. You must be careful."
"Brother Qingquan, don't worry."
Tong Chixin said with a smile as he put on his helmet.
"I crawled out of Chengde, a place of death, and I know how to seek benefits and avoid harm."
"Don't be careless. I'm still waiting to have a celebratory drink with you."
