Chapter 45: The Third Battle of East Henan (Thirteen)
At 3:15 a.m. on October 26, 1949, after five days and five nights of rush transportation and emergency deployment, eight heavy artillery battalions drawn from the reserve army group and the artillery cluster directly under the headquarters, together with the heavy artillery battalion of the 203rd Division of the Second Army and the officers and soldiers of the other three army-affiliated heavy artillery battalions received an order personally issued by Lieutenant General Takatako.
As a result, the gun coverings on the 144 105mm cannons hidden under the camouflage net were finally removed one by one in the cold wind of late autumn.
Almost at the same time, the artillerymen of the six divisions of the Northwest National Defense Army, namely the 203rd, 222nd, 229th, 232nd, 244th and 249th, were also waiting in front of their respective mountain and field artillery. Although the number of artillery guns and the caliber of artillery they possessed were not as many as those of the campaign artillery group, their tasks were different, so naturally they had their due place in this feast of iron and fire.
Further away, the two 280mm heavy artillery of the First Super Heavy Artillery Team were also ready. Although the half-ton shells might not be able to directly hit a specific target, their loud roar was enough to destroy the morale of some Japanese troops.
As for further behind, the pilots of the Northwest Air Force had already climbed onto their mounts.
The ground crew had also completed refueling and loading bombs, and were just waiting for the order. These arrows would then show the unyielding determination of the Chinese people in front of the group of brutal bandits.
Going back 72 hours, the 101st Division and the 33rd Division of the 11th Army of the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Force dispersed the 161st Division of the 45th Army of Chen Dingxun's Sichuan Army, which continued to resist at Pingjingguan and Wushengguan, thus opening up the transportation line between Wuhan and Xinyang.
The Japanese troops in central China, having obtained sufficient supplies, took advantage of the victory and marched northward. However, as the main roads were destroyed, the more mechanized Japanese troops had to move forward at a staggering pace. The Bushi (Colonel Anchang) Detachment, consisting of the 101st Infantry Regiment and the 101st Cavalry Battalion, was still stationed south of the Ni River.
Going back 48 hours, in order to assist Zhengxian's counterattack and divert Okamura Yasuji's attention, Pan Wenhua, commander of the 17th Corps of the Hunan-Hubei-Bashu War Zone, launched an attack on the Japanese garrisons in Yidu, Zhijiang and Shatou City.
At the same time, Liu Wenhui's deputy commander of the theater of operations also used Sun Lianzhong's 19th Army and Leng Yin's eastern 10th Corps to attack Anlu, Jingshan and Yingcheng.
Going back 36 hours, the 36th Division, which was fighting hard in Kaifeng, received the Type 97 150mm medium mortars and the larger caliber Taisho 14-year Type 270mm heavy mortars from the 5th Independent Mortar Battalion of the North China Front Army transferred from the Shanxi First Army.
With the help of these two powerful demolition tools, the defenders who once resisted tenaciously and refused to retreat lost more and more positions, and the situation became increasingly serious.
Going back 18 hours, facing the approaching main force of the Japanese army from the periphery, the Northwest Second Cavalry Army took the initiative to end the Battle of Zhangjiakou and retreated to Sui West via Zhangbei and Shangdu.
In this battle, the Second Cavalry Army killed or captured 812 Japanese troops, more than 4,100 puppet Mongolian troops and puppet Manchurian troops at the tragic cost of more than 4,120 Han and Mongolian officers and soldiers killed or captured, and forced the Japanese troops in North China to transfer troops northward, thus buying enough time for the Zhengxian counterattack.
But all this is about to end. Looking at the pocket watch that was ticking in the palm of his left hand, Lieutenant General Li Dingzhang Li Youyan, commander-in-chief of the artillery in the campaign and a graduate of the third artillery class in Baoding and commander of the 222nd Division, opened his lips slightly.
Seeing that the commander was about to give an order, the staff officer beside him quickly put the connected phone in his right hand.
"One minute countdown."
What a difficult minute it was. On the other end of the phone, the commanders of various artillery battalions were waiting silently.
"Thirty seconds countdown, ready, fire!"
Lieutenant General Sangmu Suming suddenly woke up from a nightmare. He had already moved his headquarters outside Ningling City. He wiped the cold sweat from his head, slowly stood up and pushed open the window.
Although the night sky was beautiful and the deafening thunder from the battlefield in Zheng County more than a hundred kilometers away did not reach his ears, with his military intuition, Lieutenant General Sangmu judged that an incident was breaking out.
"Someone come!"
Lieutenant General Sangmu ordered the orderly outside the house.
"Let the headquarters call the front line in Zheng County." Before Lieutenant General Sangmu finished his words, he heard the rapid sound of military boots stepping on the ground outdoors. He was shocked all over, something happened.
Just when the Lieutenant General was worried about the outcome, Major Fuchida Isoemon, the intelligence officer of the Division outside the gate, reported in a hurried tone: "Your Excellency the Division Commander, Major General Ishii sent an urgent telegram. The Chinese Army fired 10,000 heavy artillery shells at our division. Some of the front-line positions have been flattened by enemy artillery fire. A total of 15 officers including Lieutenant Colonel Nagata Fumio of the 139th Infantry Regiment were shot dead at the regiment headquarters. The 140th Regiment has also sent a telegram requesting further guidance."
"Ten thousand heavy artillery shells?"
Sangmu responded with some surprise. After a while, the lieutenant general wearing only a white shirt hurriedly appeared in front of Major Fuchida.
"Why didn't the divisional artillery fight back? Why didn't the 150mm field cannons of the Second Field Heavy Artillery Brigade suppress the enemy's artillery fire?"
Facing the division commander's questioning, Major Fuchida smiled bitterly and said, "The 150mm cannon group of the 2nd Field Heavy Artillery Brigade was suppressed by the Chinese Army's super-heavy artillery team and suffered heavy losses. (Brigade Commander) Major General Kitani (Suzutoshi) has ordered the 3rd Field Heavy Artillery Regiment to withdraw from the battle to avoid greater losses."
Lieutenant General Kuwagi put on his breeches and riding boots while listening to Fuchida Isoemon's explanation with a frown. After taking the lieutenant general's uniform from the orderly, he ordered in a deep voice: "Drive the car in and go to the division headquarters now. Also notify Chief of Staff Matsuda to contact Guide. I want to talk to Lieutenant General Ando." Regardless of how Lieutenant General Kuwagi communicated with friendly forces, at the same time as the battle in Zhengxian started, the Third Army also launched a counterattack in the east of Xuchang, forcing the Japanese troops in front of them to be on the defensive.
But for the Japanese army, a greater blow came from the air. As soon as the sky turned white, the Northwest bomber group from Luoyang, Weinan and Zheng County repeatedly bombed the Japanese army's artillery positions, rear roads, warehouses, and reserve positions east of Zheng (county).
By the time the Japanese fighter planes finally arrived at the front line, the Northwest Air Force had already retreated safely.
The Japanese Air Force was certainly unwilling to accept the defeat, but when it turned to attack the rear positions of the Northwest Army, it was driven away by 128 large and small anti-aircraft artillery pieces, mainly from two 88mm anti-aircraft artillery battalions.
After losing a considerable number of fighter planes, the Japanese army was forced to retreat, but as soon as the Japanese army retreated, the fighter planes of the Northwest Army returned, causing further bleeding in the already riddled Japanese frontline positions.
The shelling and bombing continued until 7:11 a.m. that day. Then, with the 4th Mechanized Brigade under Hu Lian as the spearhead and part of the 7th and 8th Mechanized Brigades as the second echelon, the Northwest Army tank troops broke through the two defense lines set up by the Japanese Army in the east of Zheng (County) like a hot steel knife breaking through frozen butter, and further guided the subsequent 203rd and 232nd Divisions to continue their assault in the direction of Zhongmou County.
Following the gap opened by the mechanized troops and the 203rd and 232nd Divisions, the 2221st Division rolled south and attacked the flank of the Japanese 5th Division.
Stimulated by the successful attack of the Northwest Army, the Second Corps and the Seventh Corps also used their main forces to counterattack the enemy in front of them.
Not only did it make it impossible for the Fifth Division to go north to provide assistance, but it also forced the enemy troops to retreat continuously in order to protect themselves.
At 12:07, the 203rd and 232nd Divisions surrounded Zhongmu. The Japanese front-line commander, Major General Ishii Kaho, commander of the 108th Infantry Brigade, led one battalion each from the 139th Infantry Regiment, the 140th Infantry Regiment, and part of the 101st Engineer Regiment, more than 3,000 people, to defend Zhongmu to the death.
The Chinese side immediately surrounded Zhongmu City with the 232nd Division, while the 203rd Division and subsequent 229th and 249th Divisions continued to advance towards Kaifeng.
At this time , the Japanese army, which had recovered from the initial panic, continued to resist west of the Jialu River with the 110th Infantry Regiment, the 163rd Infantry Regiment, the 110th Cavalry Battalion and other units led by Major General Tsuda Mitake, commander of the 133rd Infantry Brigade.
At the same time, the 222nd Infantry Regiment and the 223rd Infantry Regiment, led by Major General Michio Kojima, commander of the 36th Infantry Regiment, launched a counterattack north of Zhongmu, intending to defeat the Northwest Army's offensive with internal and external cooperation.
In addition, the commander of the 12th Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Kamezo Otaka, also ordered the 5th Division and the 35th Division to also launch an attack to the north. So the 5th Division and the 35th Division ignored the counterattack being carried out by the Chinese army in front of them, put together two regiments and quickly moved north, and appeared in the northwest of Weishi and southeast of Zhongmu that night.
In addition, the Japanese army continued to carry forward the spirit of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and drew one and a half battalions from the 82nd Infantry Regiment, the 83rd Infantry Regiment and part of the 51st Mountain Artillery Regiment from the 21st Division, which was short of manpower, to form the Iwai Detachment, which was commanded by Major General Iwai Torajiro, commander of the 21st Infantry Regiment, and was urgently transferred to Kaifeng.
The Japanese army in North China once again humbled itself and asked for help from the Central China Expeditionary Army, requiring General Okamura Yasuji to urge the 101st Division and the 33rd Division to move north as quickly as possible in order to achieve the perfect strategy of "annihilating the Chinese army in the Kai (Feng) west area."
However, the Japanese army's actions on the southern front were blocked by the 244th Division, and the speed of the Panjing Detachment was not as fast as expected. As for the vanguard of the Japanese army in Central China, it had just arrived in Linying. Even if it arrived at the city of Xuchang, it had to break through the preset defense line of the Third Army and the Eighth Corps before it could threaten Xinzheng and then affect the battle in Zheng (County) East.
At 8 a.m. on October 28, the 229th Division, which replaced the 203rd Division as the vanguard, crossed the Yunliang River with the support of the 1st Tank Battalion of the 8th Mechanized Brigade. In front of them was only the thin defense line of the 223rd Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army hastily transferred from Kaifeng City. With one more push, the thin piece of paper separating inside and outside of the city would be completely broken.
