Chapter 52: The First Battle of Changsha
Okamura Yasuji planned the attack on Changsha after the Battle of Nanchang. To this end, the Japanese army first severely damaged the Chinese Hunan-Hubei-Bashu War Zone on the Sui-Zao line, and then launched a series of attacks on the former Fifth War Zone in northeastern Hubei, eventually forcing Li Zongren's troops to retreat south to the Anhui-Jiangxi border area and clearing the threat from the northwest of Wuhan.
However, due to the Battle of East Henan, the 11th Japanese Army, which was originally supposed to move south, was forced to move north to reinforce the precarious North China Front Army.
Okamura Neiji was quite reluctant about this.
Therefore, before the Battle of East Henan was finally over, Okamura Yasuji ordered the 101st Division and the 33rd Division that participated in the battle to return to central China immediately.
However, before Okamura Yasuji could pick up the battle plan of the Battle of Changsha, Tokyo made large-scale adjustments to the combat sequence of the Japanese invading army in China. The 101st Division and the 106th Division under the 11th Army were ordered to return to the country for demobilization, and were replaced by the 39th and 40th Divisions, two weaker three-regiment guard divisions.
Although the 11th Army's offensive power was weakened to a certain extent, Okamura Yasuji believed that it was enough to deal with the southern national army.
To this end, Okamura Yasuji could not wait to issue an order: "In order to undermine the enemy's will to continue the war of resistance, our army has decided to launch a surprise attack after mid-November, in order to capture the main force of the enemy's Fourth War Zone in the shortest possible time and annihilate it in the areas around Pingjiang and Xiushui in northern Hunan and Jiangxi."
From this we can see that Okamura Yasuji’s real purpose was not to occupy Changsha, but to mobilize the peripheral Chinese troops through the attack on Changsha, so as to achieve the goal of annihilating the enemy.
To this end, the Japanese army mobilized three divisions and two brigades with nearly 100,000 troops to encircle the enemy from northwestern Jiangxi, northern Hunan, and southern Hubei.
Facing the Japanese invasion, Xue Yue, acting commander-in-chief of the Fourth War Zone, believed that the Fourth War Zone's jurisdiction mainly included Hunan, southern Hubei, and part of Jiangxi Province. The war zone spanned the border areas of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces, with the Ganjiang and Xiangjiang Rivers as natural boundaries in the east and west, and a lake on each wing.
With Poyang Lake to the east and Dongting Lake to the west, the battlefield formed a neatly symmetrical shape. The Japanese army had no way to carry out large-scale flanking tactics and could only engage in frontal combat.
Moreover, in the area where Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces intersect, there are mountains everywhere and the terrain is complex. Among them, the northern Hunan area north of Changsha is not only mountainous but also water-rich.
Draw a straight line from north to south with the Guangdong-Hankou Railway as the dividing line. On the left side are Dongting Lake and the three major rivers of Lishui, Yuanshui and Xiangjiang River, and on the right side are Xinqiang River, Miluo River, Laodao River and Liuyang River, forming a natural defense line. Such a mountainous and water-rich terrain will have a great impact on the troops' operations.
It is particularly unfavorable for the operations of the Japanese mechanized forces; therefore, as long as these good geographical conditions are utilized, coupled with correct strategies and tactics, it is entirely possible to repel the Japanese attack and turn passivity into initiative.
It is based on the above understanding that the Fourth War Zone's operational plan is as follows: "The enemy seems to begin to attack the south in mid-November, and will use its main force to move from northern Hunan to Changsha in the south, and carry out supporting operations in northern Jiangxi and southern Hubei.
The war zone intends to deal a severe blow to the enemy and set a precedent for victory in the second phase of the War of Resistance. It is determined to lure the enemy deep into the area north of Changsha, surround and annihilate the enemy's main force.
In northern Jiangxi and southern Hubei, we should defeat the enemy's attempt to coordinate operations to ensure the success of the main force."
Xue Yue then summarized the core of this strategic deployment in eight words: "Retreat to the decisive battle and fight for the outer wing."
Based on this idea, Xue Yue used Sun Du's 58th Army and An Enpu's 60th Army under Lu Han's First Army of the Yunnan Army system to guard the front-line positions of Zhangjiashan, Maxia and Huibu west of Jing'an and Fengxin.
Xia Chuzhong's 79th Army and Li Jue's 70th Army under Luo Zhuoying's 19th Army Group guarded Lianhua Mountain, Maxing Mountain, and the positions on the right bank of Jinjiang River.
Zhang Yaoming's 15th Army used the main force of Zheng Dongguo's 52nd Army to guard the Xinqianghe position, Fu Zhongfang's 99th Army to guard the position between Nanjiang Bridge and Maishi, and Chen Pei's 37th Army to guard the position on the right bank of the Xiangjiang River and Miluo River north of Xiangyin.
Wang Zanxu's 29th Army Group and Chen Lanting's 21st Army Group advanced to Xianning and Chongyang areas, while Peng Weiren's 73rd Army of the Hunan Army system assembled in the Zhajin area.
Wang Lingji's 72nd and 78th Armies of the 30th Army Group had a total of four divisions guarding the positions around Putian Bridge and Pipa Mountain west of Wuning.
Fan Songfu's troops of the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Border Region Advance Army were located in Tongshan, Daye and Yangxin areas.
The 4th, 5th, 8th, 74th, newly formed 6th Army and 11th Division, totaling 15 divisions, served as the general reserve of the theater, and were assembled in Xiangtan, Zhuzhou, Hengshan, Hengyang, Liuyang south and east of Changsha, and Shanggao, Yifeng and Wanzai in northern Jiangxi.
On November 20, 1939, the 40th Division of the Japanese Army in northern Jiangxi, under the command of its commander, Lieutenant General Naojiro Amaya, took the lead in launching a diversionary offensive.
Facing the Japanese attack, the front-line commander Luo Zhuoying commanded three Chinese army groups totaling seven armies in this direction to immediately engage in battle and resolutely resist the Japanese army.
Although the 40th Division of the Japanese Army was a newly formed unit with no experience in fighting in China, it was a new force that had just been transferred from Japan and had the support of the artillery and tanks directly under the 11th Army and the 1st Aircraft Regiment of the Japanese Army. Its combat effectiveness was far superior to that of the 1st Yunnan Army and the Kuomintang Central Army.
As a result, the Japanese army occupied Gao'an in just four days.
Subsequently, the main force of the 40th Division was transferred westward to prepare to join the battlefield in southern Hubei. After getting a respite, China gathered its strength, repelled the Japanese army and recaptured Gao'an.
On November 24, the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army, which assembled in Tongcheng, Hubei, launched an offensive in southern Hubei under the command of Lieutenant General Shigetaro Amakasu.
Its purpose was to avoid the two defense lines set up by the National Army along the Xinqiang River and Miluo River from the east, and to join forces with the main force of the Japanese army in northern Hunan to attack the National Army's 15th Army deployed on the Xinqiang River and Miluo River defense lines in the Pingjiang area.
After the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army attacked from the south of Tongcheng, it first used part of its forces to launch a feint attack on the 79th Army's front position at Nanjiang Bridge. At the same time, another part of its forces prepared to bypass the east side of Mufu Mountain and advance towards Changshou Street via Baishaling.
Wang Zanxu, commander-in-chief of the 29th Army Group, quickly determined that the Japanese army was attempting to cut off the 79th Army's retreat and then surround and annihilate it.
Wang Zanxu then immediately reported to Xue Yue, and at the same time urgently ordered the 21st Army south of Tongcheng to attack the Japanese army from west to east.
After receiving the report, Xue Yue immediately determined that if this group of Japanese troops was allowed to join forces with the Japanese troops in northern Hunan, the 15th Army deployed on the Xinqiang River and Miluo River defense lines would be caught in a pincer attack, with disastrous consequences.
To this end, Xue Yue hastily transferred the Eighth Army from the reserve to reinforce, and at the same time ordered Fan Songfu, the commander-in-chief of the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi border guerrillas, to use the troops in Dahu Mountain and Jiugong Mountain to attack the enemy from south to north and from the flank from east to west, thus forming a pincer attack and encirclement of the Japanese army from the north and south.
After some mobilization, and with the desperate fighting of the 79th Army and the 21st Army, the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army was finally blocked between Dabaijun, Jilongshan, Panshi, Jiantou and Maishi, preventing it from advancing.
They then changed their direction and attacked Kuzhuling, then entered Taoshugang in Xiushui County and advanced towards Changshou Street.
On the way, they were blocked by Wu Jintang's troops of the 163rd Division of the 21st Army and Yan Xiaohu's troops of the 149th Division at Baishaling. The 82nd and 98th Divisions of the 79th Army attacked them from the flank on the right. When the Japanese troops reached Taoshugang, they were attacked from the flank by the 140th Division of the 79th Army. As a result, the 33rd Division suffered considerable losses.
On December 3, the 33rd Division, which had suffered heavy casualties along the way, finally captured Zhuxi Factory. Its main force entered Changshou Street, Longmen Factory, and Xianzhong areas, and met with the vanguard of the Nara Detachment at Sanyan Bridge west of Xianzhong.
The two Japanese fronts were connected into a straight line, but the 15th Army of the National Army, which was expected to be surrounded, had already retreated.
As a last resort, the 33rd Division, which had failed to achieve its established battle objectives, had to begin retreating.
Afterwards, this group of Japanese troops attacked Xiushui from Zhajindong to support the retreat of the 40th Division.
The Chinese 79th, 8th, 21st Army and the 30th Army Group cooperated with each other and intercepted and flanked the retreating Japanese troops many times, causing considerable trouble to the Japanese army's retreat.
The main battle of Xiangbei will start on November 23rd.
The Japanese troops that launched the attack in this direction were the 6th Division, the Nara (Akira) Detachment of the 13th Division, and the Kamimura (Kimi) Detachment of the 3rd Division, totaling about 50,000 people. The national army that was defending northern Hunan was the 15th Army Group commanded by Zhang Yaoming.
On the morning of November 28, the Japanese Sixth Division and Nara Detachment first concentrated more than 80 artillery pieces to fiercely bombard the positions of the Second Division of the 52nd Army defending the south bank of the Xinqiang River.
An hour later, the artillery fire extended and the Japanese 6th Division, under the personal command of its commander, Lieutenant General Inaba Shiro, began to force a crossing of the Xinqiang River near Qibutang.
However, the Japanese army encountered stubborn resistance from the Chinese army. At sunset, the two sides were still confronting each other on the Xinqiang River.
Unable to achieve a breakthrough on the frontal battlefield, the Japanese army resorted to the old roundabout method.
At dawn on November 28, with the help of the Japanese Navy's China Detachment Fleet, the Kamimura Detachment crossed the Dongting Lake using motor boats and landed at Yingtian, a key point behind the Xinqiang River, thus encircling the 15th Army on three sides.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang Yaoming immediately proposed a retreat to Xue Yue. With Xue Yue's approval, the 15th Army withdrew immediately, which quickly thwarted the Japanese army's plan to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Chinese army.
The Japanese army was very dissatisfied with Zhang Yaoming's non-cooperation and later cursed Zhang's troops for their weak fighting will in the war history. They even "gave up the positions they had painstakingly built for half a year to a year without a fight", and their plan to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Chinese army failed.
China's Hunan-Hubei-Bashu War Zone launched a series of counterattacks in northwestern Hubei. Although this counterattack was the aftermath of the belated Lanfeng Campaign, it still put great pressure on the northwest direction of Wuhan.
In addition, Li Zongren, who had given up eastern Hubei and western Anhui, was forced to prepare for a counterattack , so Okamura Yasuji had to quit while he was ahead.
So on December 2, the Japanese troops whose vanguard arrived at Laodao River began to retreat in full force.
Upon discovering that the Japanese army had begun to retreat, the Ninth War Zone immediately launched a counterattack, successively recovering Shangshan City, Fulinpu, Jinjing and other territories south of the Miluo River, and crossed the Miluo River to counterattack Changle Street, Miluo, Xinshi and other places.
Xue Yue then asked all troops to "pursue the enemy in front of them fiercely in the current situation, and try to capture them in the areas south of Chongyang and Yueyang" and "send a part of the enemy's sheltered troops to monitor and sweep them, while the main force will focus on overtaking and pursuing them." However, the mechanized Japanese army attacked fast enough and retreated quickly. Before the Chinese army could surround them, most of the Japanese troops had already withdrawn across the Miluo River.
In this way, by December 6, the battlefields in northern Jiangxi, southern Hubei, and northern Hunan had all returned to their pre-war situation, and the First Battle of Changsha was declared over.
