Tiger Troops: The 74th Army of the Kuomintang Anti-Japanese Ace

Chapter 12 What kind of person is a warrior (Lanfeng battle Wanjialing victory) (7)
The real reason is that the Japanese army in the early days of World War II was very careless about secrecy.After Tang Yongliang, a war reporter from Chongqing also visited Wanjialing on the way.At that time, he also saw many broken documents and books in the hut that used to be the command post of the Japanese army.After the war, Xue Yue’s chief of staff wrote a memoir about the Battle of Wanjialing, which disclosed the details of the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army in large sections. The usage, requirements, and battle examples of poison gas warfare are not omitted.Obviously, these materials should come from the large amount of confidential documents seized.

At that time, Miyazaki could no longer care about these issues. What he was worried about was how to prevent the [-]th Division from being completely annihilated.

After dawn, Miyazaki sent a large number of planes to carry out the rescue.From sunrise to sunset, groups of planes circled over Wanjialing to assist in the battle. The number of them was so large that it was rarely seen during the entire Anti-Japanese War.Although the bombs dropped by the Japanese planes were all small bombs of several tens of pounds, they would drop more than a dozen or even dozens of them at a time.A military officer described on the phone: "The bombs of the Japanese devils were not dropped from the planes, but fell down in a basket."

Under the cover of the Japanese aircraft, Matsuura and his remnants were able to break through to Zhangshuao.Some Chinese generals who participated in the war wrote poems for him: "Ma Ling, Pang Zi will not escape; Hua Rong, Ah Man is lucky to survive!"

At this time, it is not only Miyazaki who needs to worry about the 11th Division.After the Wanjialing battle was disclosed by the media, the Japanese ruling and opposition parties were shocked.As the superior of the Japanese No. 200 Army, Commander Hata Shunroku of the "Central China Dispatch Army" had to directly intervene in the rescue operation.In addition to directly airdropping more than [-] officers below the regimental commander to Wanjialing, three detachments were also organized and dispatched, under the unified command of Major General Suzuki Harumatsu, to rescue the besieged Japanese troops.

Wan Gu sounded
The Suzuki detachment did not go directly to Wanjialing to clear the siege, but adopted a tactic similar to "cut Wei and save Zhao", and attacked eastward along Wuyong Road (Wuning to Yongxiu) and its north side, facing the back of the Chinese First Corps. create a threat.Hearing the news, Xue Yue hurriedly mobilized some troops from Wanjialing, and went south to Wuyong Road to stop the Japanese army from advancing eastward.

Tang Enbo once said frankly that the biggest problem of the Chinese army is the lack of mobility and attack power.Due to backward equipment and training, even if there are no mistakes in strategy and tactics, a Chinese division with strong combat effectiveness like the First Division can only barely draw with a Japanese regiment.Not to mention those with poor combat effectiveness, two or three regiments combined cannot defeat a Japanese regiment.

The troops transferred to the south were all weak brigades like the New [-]th Division. Although they were not the main force in the Wanjialing Battle, and their losses were not large in the battle, it was not their ability to block the Suzuki Detachment and ensure the retreat of the First Corps. as far as possible.On the other hand, the remnants of the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army were supplemented and strengthened, and the defensive area was reduced.

On October 10, Xue Yue ordered the withdrawal of the siege, and all troops retreated to the defense line west of De'an.At this time, the 16th Army and other departments felt that they could not support it anymore, and began to retreat at dusk that day after receiving the order.I thought that the 74th Division of the Japanese Army would take advantage of the situation to launch a pursuit, but I didn't expect the opponent to be even more pitiful. Standing in Wanjialing, those two calves were soft as paper, so there was no need for any pursuit!
The 74th Division of the Japanese Army also retreated at the same time that night, running in opposite directions, thus forming a spectacle in the history of Chinese and foreign wars. After the [-]th Army retreated that night, seeing that the Japanese army was not following them, they sent a team of soldiers back to reconnaissance the next morning.When the soldiers returned to Wanjialing, they saw that the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army had disappeared. They could only see weapons and corpses abandoned by the Japanese army everywhere, which showed their panic and embarrassment when they retreated.

At that time, the temperature had not yet dropped completely, and the corpses of the Japanese soldiers were already stinking. The battlefield smelled bad. Most of the Japanese weapons and guns collected were covered with dead maggots.For this reason, the headquarters of the First Corps made a special rule: Anyone who can pick up a gun on the battlefield will be rewarded ten yuan, regardless of whether the soldier or the civilian.But despite this, everyone is still reluctant to pick it up, because if you want to pick up a gun, you have to dig around in the pile of maggots for a long time, which is really disgusting.

On the way to retreat to Jiujiang, the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army was blocked by a regiment that Xue Yue had pre-ambushed.The frightened Japanese army had no intention of resisting at all, and fled away without their heavy supplies and horses.Dongyang horses are known for their tall stature. Unlike the local horses in China, Chinese soldiers have never seen them before, so they went all over the mountains and fields to catch horses.After the war, more than [-] Japanese war horses were captured.

"With a cry of ten thousand cubs, the corpses of Qianyue lie down. The bones of the battle are drenched in rain, and the blood of the plain flowers is splashed red." Although this battle failed to wipe out the 74th Division of the Japanese Army in its entirety, it still made more than half of it. The troops were all wiped out, and the four main wings to which it belonged and their subordinate troops were completely wiped out.In the area swept by the [-]th Army, the Cantonese Army and other ministries, if you use the tone of a storytelling book, it is indeed "not leaving a piece of armor".

The First Corps only seized more than 28 light and heavy machine guns, more than [-] rifles, [-] mountain guns, [-] mortars, and countless documents and various military supplies.Even some ordinary people took their ideas from it. An old beggar on Serge Street once picked up the corpses of Japanese soldiers, got a handful of gold teeth, and made a small fortune.

The Wanjialing victory also captured more than [-] Japanese soldiers, which was one of the largest number of captured Japanese soldiers in previous battles.A captured Japanese officer admitted: "This is an unprecedented bloody battle in the south of the Yangtze River. The Matsuura Division (that is, the [-]th Division) was surrounded and wiped out, which is one of the major failures in the war of aggression against China."

Okamura has always been concerned about the disastrous defeat of the [-]th Division in Wanjialing. He attributed the defeat to the division's low combat effectiveness.The [-]th Division and the [-]th Division, known as the most elite Japanese army, both came from South Kyushu, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.Okamura immediately wrote a letter to the country, asking people to tell the governors of Kumamoto and other four prefectures: "The Sixth Division has become the most powerful division in Japan, and the [-]th Division has become the weakest division in Japan. !"

Even without this harsh letter from Okamura, the situation of the Battle of Wanjialing had already spread in Japan.Everyone knows that the [-]th Division fought badly, and the [-]st Division, which is a special division, has been implicated. It seems that the [-]st Division stood on the stage and shouted: "Who dares to be worse than me?" The [-]th Division jumped out in time: "I dare!"

There is nothing worse, only the worst [-]th Division has become stinky. It seems that anyone in Japan can express contempt and disdain for this division.The [-]th Division, which had been beaten into an empty shell, needed a large number of new recruits. When those recruits heard that they were going to be assigned to the [-]th Division, they all regarded it as a great shame, and all cried bitterly.

Absolute main force
Being able to severely damage the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army in Wanjialing relied on opportunity, strength, and more importantly, will and determination.As early as when the Japanese army landed in Jiujiang, the reporters accompanying the army saw the "Three Forgets of Soldiers" written in chalk on the wall of Jiujiang Station: "Forget your wife when you leave home, forget your home when you leave the country, and forget your body when you go out to fight." After that, all the soldiers seized by the Japanese army The family letters of Chinese officers and soldiers, without exception, all revealed the situation of front-line combat and the determination to serve the country to the death, and rarely mixed with personal affairs.

The Japanese have always been proud of their samurai spirit of sacrificing their lives, but the "Three Forgets of Soldiers" made them realize that there are also a group of iron warriors who think the same in this land they are eager to conquer.

If it is said that these are just slogans and language, the amazing endurance shown by Chinese soldiers on the battlefield is even more amazing.In Wanjialing, although the 74th Army and other departments are not in danger of food shortages, life is still extremely difficult.On the one hand, the conditions are limited; on the other hand, the Chinese government itself does not pay much attention to logistical support, let alone the improvement of the lives of ordinary officers and soldiers. Apart from rice and salt, the military depots are supplied with non-staple food such as cooking oil, vegetables, and meat. Procured by the company itself.But on the battlefield where all the common people have fled, even if the company has enough funds, where can it buy non-staple food?

In addition, malaria, dysentery, and even cholera were the most harmful to officers and soldiers.Curing and preventing these diseases requires specific medicines. However, there is a serious shortage of medicines on the front line. Many sick soldiers are fighting until they fall to the ground and cannot move.

These are insurmountable difficulties in the eyes of Westerners. They think that officers and soldiers of any country have reasons to give up fighting because of this, but Chinese soldiers have all endured them. They are even better at climbing mountains and enduring hardships than Japanese soldiers who are also accustomed to endurance. .The female reporter Ateli has witnessed many times similar scenes that made her feel so sad that she was about to cry: there were wounded or sick Chinese soldiers along the road, many of them trembling on the side of the road with livid faces, and some people were already on the verge of collapse, but they were still moving slowly. Move to the front.

Hard work and patience finally paid off.When the news of the Wanjialing victory spread to the rear, the streets and alleys suddenly exploded with firecrackers. The people agreed that this was one of the most exciting days since the "September 55th Incident".[-] congratulatory messages were sent from all over the country. In the congratulatory message, Ye Ting, the commander of the New Fourth Army, praised the great victory of Wanjialing as "saving the flood capital from danger and protecting Jianghan". There are three tripods, and the reputation should be immortal."

In the Wanjialing victory, the 74th Army, like other friendly troops, made great sacrifices.As of October 10, the number of dead, wounded and missing officers and soldiers reached more than 15, more than half of the troops participating in the battle.Among them, the 51st Division suffered five regiment commanders (including acting commanders) and seven battalion commanders, and the 58th Division suffered casualties of two regiment commanders and six battalion commanders. Both divisions suffered casualties of more than a hundred company platoon leaders.After the war, in addition to awarding a pennant to the 74th Army, Xue Yue also specially allocated 5000 yuan to the wounded officers and soldiers as an encouragement.

Due to its outstanding performance in the Battle of Wanjialing, the 74th Army gained a reputation and was recognized as a strong army capable of fighting tough battles.Hand-picked by Chiang Kai-shek, the 74th Army was listed as a strategic general reserve directly under the Central Military Commission and became the vanguard of the three major theaters in Central China.

If you make a horizontal comparison, the 74th Army and the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army have some similarities in the history of army establishment.The [-]th Division of the Japanese Army is also a special division, but unlike the [-]st and [-]th Divisions, it has always been very active. In the middle and late stages of the Anti-Japanese War, it almost became the backbone of the Japanese invaders.The reason why the [-]th Division was able to stand out, according to Okamura's analysis, was that after the division was mobilized, it conducted basic training in a campsite in the countryside for about a month.This kind of camp training is very effective, even in normal times, one week is worth a month or more of barracks training.

The same is true for the 74th Army. Before it went to the Songhu battlefield, it already had relatively solid basic skills, so it showed its aggressive nature in the first year of the War of Resistance.Although the troops suffered a lot of losses in the continuous battles since then, due to their strong bones, coupled with strict training and discipline, the 74th Army has always been able to maintain a vigorous momentum of development.

淞沪战役中，74军还只是次主力，在它前面曾经排列着一批看似难以超越的王牌部队：德械师（No.80八师、87师、36师）、教导总队、第一军、No.11师、税警总团……

Now that the 74th Army is in its early stages, it has become the absolute main force second to none in China. This is not only due to the current situation, but also the result of its own hard work and continuous struggle.Just imagine, with so many battalion commanders casualties, how could this unit not be strong with them taking the lead and charging forward?

In view of the outstanding military achievements of the 74th Army, the Military Commission gave priority to supplementing a batch of weapons and recruits for the 74th Army.At that time, the military resources available to the Chinese government were relatively limited, and it was impossible to achieve equal distribution. Therefore, there were often insufficient weapons and equipment and recruits. It is enviable that the 74th Army can receive this treatment.In addition, the 57th Division was also transferred to the 74th Army, increasing the number of units belonging to the 74th Army to three divisions.Because the designations of the three divisions all start with "five", the Japanese have since called the 74th Army the "Third and Five Units".

The 57th Division was originally a local miscellaneous army. It was formed by mixing local troops from Anhui and Shandong.Before being incorporated into the 74th Army, the division's record was not outstanding, but its combat effectiveness, equipment, and officer quality were all good, and it also had a specialty, that is, it was good at building field fortifications and organizing defensive warfare.After joining the 74th Army, the 57th Division quickly integrated into this group, and its specialties became more and more obvious, and its record was not inferior to the other two brother divisions.

Due to the effective replenishment, in terms of comprehensive indicators, the 74th Army was at the leading level in the country at that time: the infantry held all medium-sized rifles, and each company had nine Czech-style light machine guns, and was equipped with 150 mortars and rifle grenades.Each battalion also has a machine gun company equipped with six Maxim heavy machine guns (most of them are actually Chinese imitation Maxim Type [-] heavy machine guns).The soldiers are basically sufficient, and each company has [-] combat soldiers.

Without the call of passion, one cannot find the direction of persistence; without hard search, it is difficult to reach the ideal palace. The 74th Army "has become more vigorous and courageous with more battles", and it has gradually improved on the road of national salvation and defense of military honor.

(End of this chapter)