Chapter 50: Further Adjustment (Part 2)
The Northwest Army began to reorganize, and the Japanese and Kuomintang troops were also busy.
On November 4, 1939, in order to strengthen the political and strategic control over the Japanese invading forces in China, adapt to the situation of the impending establishment of Wang Jingwei's puppet regime, and intensify the political inducement of the Kuomintang Central Government to surrender, the Japanese Military Headquarters in Tokyo decided to establish the China Expeditionary Army Headquarters in Nanjing from that day on.
Once the China Expeditionary Army Headquarters was established, the Imperial Headquarters subsequently appointed General Nishio Hisazo as the first commander-in-chief and Lieutenant General Itagaki Seishirō as the first chief of the general staff. The two and the China Expeditionary Army Headquarters officially exercised the authority to command the Japanese invading forces in China from December 1 of that year.
According to Tokyo's plan, the China Expeditionary Army, with its headquarters in Nanjing, will directly command the North China Front Army, the 11th Central China Army, the 13th East China Army, the 21st South China Army and the 3rd Flying Group of the Army Aviation.
In addition, the China Expeditionary Army will also directly command several attached units, including the 7th Communications Team, the Central China Meteorological Department, and the 4th Railway Corps.
After the establishment of the China Expeditionary Army Headquarters, the commander-in-chief of the North China Front Army based in Peiping also changed. The original commander, General Sugiyama Hajime, resigned and was replaced by Lieutenant General Tada Shun. The chief of staff was also replaced by Major General Kasahara Yukio.
In addition to the changes in the chief officer, there were also some changes in the combat sequence of the North China Front Army.
The commander of the First Army, headquartered in Taiyuan, continued to be Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, but the chief of staff was replaced by Major General Nobuichi Suzubuchi.
Among the original units of the First Army, the 14th Division was transferred to Northeast China, the 20th Division was transferred to North Korea, the 108th Division was transferred back to the country for demobilization, and the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade was transferred to Handan, Hebei.
As compensation for the transfer of three divisions and one brigade, the 36th Division , the 37th Division and the 41st Division recently formed in Japan, and the 16th Independent Mixed Brigade were subsequently incorporated into the First Army.
As a result, the First Army was left with only the 36th, 37th and 41st divisions and the 3rd, 4th, 9th and 16th independent mixed brigades.
However, the First Army still had the 4th and 5th Independent Machine Gun Battalions, the 2nd Tank Battalion, the 1st Independent Light Armored Vehicle Squadron, the 1st Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment, the 3rd Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment, the 2nd Field Heavy Artillery Brigade (lacking the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment), and the 3rd Independent Mortar Battalion, so its combat effectiveness was not much weakened.
The commander of the 12th Army, whose headquarters was in Jinan, was the big loser this time. Not only did Lieutenant General Kamezo Otaka resign and be replaced by Lieutenant General Sadamisu Iida, but the army's main force, the 5th Division, was also subsequently transferred to Hainan and incorporated into the 21st Army.
The 12th Army, with its strength greatly weakened, was now only composed of the 21st and 32nd Divisions, as well as the 5th, 6th and 10th Independent Mixed Brigades. Its mission was also reduced to only taking on the defense and public security of the entire Shandong Province and the Longhai and Jinpu routes between Xuzhou and Bengbu.
The commander and chief of staff of the Mongolian army remained unchanged, and continued to be Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe and Major General Shinichi Tanaka, with the headquarters located in Zhangjiakou.
The unit was composed of the 26th Division stationed around Datong, the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade stationed in Pingxi and Cha'nan, and the cavalry group in Fengzhen and Chabei.
The 15th Army with its headquarters in Guide was newly established this time. The purpose of establishing this army is naturally to better deal with the war in Henan.
Therefore, the commander of the army was appointed by Lieutenant General Susumu Fujita, the former commander of the 3rd Division, and the chief of staff was Major General Sadaichi Yoshimoto, the former chief of staff of the 11th Army.
In view of the important tasks of this army, it is composed of the 35th Division and the 110th Division.
The Fifth Division, which was originally resting in Kaifeng and Xuchang, was replaced by the newly formed 38th Division.
In addition, the 15th Army also has the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, the 5th Independent Light Armored Vehicle Squadron, the 9th Independent Machine Gun Battalion, the 8th Independent Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, the 5th Independent Mortar Battalion, the 8th Tank Regiment, the Field Anti-aircraft Artillery Team, and the Field Air Defense Team.
However, although the 15th Army had a large number of special forces, its front-line combat forces were less than during the Fourth Battle of East Henan. As a result, the Japanese army in Henan temporarily lost the ability to take the initiative to attack and was forced to go into a defensive state.
In addition to the above-mentioned troops, the Japanese North China Front Army also had the 27th Division headquartered in Xinxiang, as well as four independent mixed brigades, namely the 1st, 7th, 8th and 15th, which were responsible for security in the occupied Hebei area.
In addition, it is directly under the Chinese Garrison Tank Team, the 10th and 12th Independent Light Armored Vehicle Squadrons, the 15th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment, the 1st Independent Engineer Squadron, the 4th, 5th and 11th Communications Teams, the North China Meteorological Department, the Bridge-Building Materials Squadron, the 2nd Field Railway Department, and the 11th Armored Train Team.
With the establishment of the China Expeditionary Army Headquarters, the original number of the Central China Expeditionary Army was cancelled, and the 11th Army under the Central China Expeditionary Army was directly under the China Expeditionary Army.
Since the 101st and 106th Divisions were ordered to return to the country for demobilization, together with the 39th and 40th Divisions transferred to replace them, the 11th Army had a total of 8 divisions, namely the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 13th, 33rd, 34th, 39th, and 40th, and 3 independent mixed brigades, namely the 14th, 18th, and 20th.
In addition, the 11th Army also has the 1st, 2nd, 7th and 8th Independent Machine Gun Battalions, the 7th Tank Regiment, the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Independent Light Armored Vehicle Squadrons, the 2nd Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment, the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade (under the 13th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment and the 14th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment), the 15th Independent Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, the 1st Independent Mortar Battalion, the 3rd Independent Balloon Squadron, the Field Anti-aircraft Artillery Team (A) (B), the Field Aerial Photography Team, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 8th Independent Engineer Regiments, the 3rd Communications Team, the 2nd Field Gas Team, the Bridge Materials Squadron, the 3rd Railway Team (1st Railway Regiment) and other units.
With a total strength of over 300,000 troops, the army is still the largest combat mobile force among the Japanese invading forces in China.
The 11th Army was in an awkward position, but other units of the former Central China Expeditionary Army were incorporated into the newly established 13th Army.
The commander of the army was Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, the chief of staff was Major General Shozo Sakurai, and the headquarters was located in Shanghai.
It has four divisions under its command, namely the 15th, 17th, 22nd and 116th, and four independent mixed brigades, namely the 11th, 12th, 13th and 17th, as well as the 4th Independent Mortar Battalion , the 16th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment, the 2nd Independent Engineer Squadron and other units.
The army was mainly responsible for maintaining public order in the occupied areas of Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, southern Anhui, northern Zhejiang, and northern Jiangsu, and ensuring the long supply line for the 11th Army fighting in central China.
The 21st Army in Guangzhou continued to be commanded by Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi and Major General Tsuchihashi Yui as chief of staff.
The army is composed of the 18th Division, the 104th Division, and the 5th Division transferred from North China. In addition, it also has the Taiwan Mixed Brigade, the 1st Independent Infantry Regiment (Hainan Island Unit), the 21st Independent Flying Squadron, the 3rd Independent Machine Gun Battalion, the 11th, 51st, and 52nd Independent Light Armored Vehicle Squadrons, the 10th Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment, the 20th and 21st Independent Mountain Artillery Battalions, the 2nd Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, the 20th and 21st Independent Mortar Battalions, the 3rd Field Anti-aircraft Artillery Team, the 15th Independent Engineer Regiment, the 20th Independent Engineer Regiment, the 8th Communications Team, the South China Meteorological Department, the Bridge Materials Squadron, the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Railway Regiment, and other units.
It was a special case in the Japanese Army that a part of the Army Aviation Corps was directly under the jurisdiction of a certain army. In fact, the combat capability of this special 21st Independent Flying Group was extremely limited. It only had the Independent Flying No. 82 (reconnaissance aircraft) Squadron and the Independent Flying No. 84 (fighter aircraft) Squadron, as well as a few combat support units such as the 3rd, 85th and 88th Airport Service Squadrons. There were no more than 20 to 30 fighters and dual-purpose reconnaissance aircraft that could serve as light bombers.
But such a small air force still overwhelmed the extremely weakened Central Air Force and wreaked havoc in the skies of southern China as it pleased.
Except for the Army Air Force directly under the 21st Army, the Japanese Army Air Force in China was organized into the 3rd Flying Group.
In view of the fact that only the air force in the northwest can compete with the Japanese army at present, the headquarters of the Fifth Air Group is set up in Peiping, and Lieutenant General Kinoshita Satoshi is appointed as the commander of the air group.
The 3rd Flight Group is composed of the 1st and 3rd Flight Regiments, the 16th Independent Flight Squadron and the 60th Flight Squadron.
Among them, the 1st Flying Regiment was stationed in Hankou, with Major General Nakaguni Moritake as the commander. It was under the command of the Independent Flying Squadron No. 83 (reconnaissance aircraft), the Independent Flying Squadron No. 10 (pursuer aircraft), the 90th Flying Squadron (light bomb-carrying aircraft), and other units responsible for supporting the Japanese troops in central China.
The 3rd Flying Regiment was stationed in Jinan, with Major General Guan Yuandao as its commander. It was responsible for air operations in North China, including the Independent Flying 17th (reconnaissance aircraft) Squadron (reconnaissance aircraft) Squadron, the 59th (pursuit aircraft) Squadron, and the 75th (light bomber) Squadron.
In addition, the 16th Independent Flying Squadron (reconnaissance aircraft) was stationed in Anqing and was responsible for the airspace in western Anhui and northeastern Hubei.
The 60th Flying Squadron (heavy bombers) entered Taiyuan, preparing to launch an attack on the northwest inland area. A series of new changes also occurred on the Kuomintang side, which began when Li Zongren led the Fifth War Zone troops back south.
Since Li Zongren's troops were confined to the eastern foot of the Dabie Mountains, they were trapped in the pincer attack by the Japanese Army and the Northwest National Defense Army and could hardly expand. In addition, the Dabie Mountains were suffering and military funds and ammunition could not be raised. Therefore, after the efforts of the Northwest, Li Zongren resolutely led the 11th Army Group Li Pinxian, the 21st Army Group Liao Lei, and the 31st Army Group Wei Yunsong to the south, taking advantage of the opportunity that the Japanese troops in central Anhui were attracted by the actions of Yang Hucheng's troops and the Japanese troops in Jiangxi were restraining the Chinese troops outside Nanchang, and crossed the Yangtze River east of Pengze and southwest of Anqing.
Then they quickly marched into the mountainous area of southern Anhui, broke through the blockade of the Japanese Yangtze River Fleet under impossible circumstances, and successfully joined forces with the troops of the Third War Zone despite the Japanese bombing.
Li Zongren escaped from Dabie Mountains, but Chiang Kai-shek broke the cup because of it.
However, Chiang's faction was now in a difficult situation and could only withstand the pressure from the northwest by joining forces with the Guangxi faction. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek could not punish Li Zongren for abandoning his territory.
Not only can you not punish them, but you also have to give them considerable territory.
Under such circumstances, Guiyang had no choice but to cut flesh from its own body.
On November 12, 1939, Guiyang announced the reorganization of the war zone, with northern Jiangsu, southern Anhui, southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, and eastern Zhejiang as the First War Zone, with Gu Zhutong as the commander of the war zone.
Western Zhejiang, southern Zhejiang, northern Jiangxi, and northern Fujian were designated as the Second War Zone, with Li Zongren as the commander of the zone.
Western Fujian, southwestern Fujian, northern Guangdong, and northeastern Guangdong were designated as the Third War Zone, with Zhu Shaoliang as the commander of the zone.
Western Jiangxi, southern Jiangxi, southern Hunan, and western Hunan were formed as the Fourth War Zone, with Chen Cheng as the commander of the zone and Xue Yue as the acting commander.
Western Guangdong, northwestern Guangdong and Guangxi were designated as the Fifth War Zone, with Zhang Fakui as the commander of the zone.
Yunnan and Guizhou were the Sixth War Zone, and Chiang Kai-shek served as the commander of the zone.
