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

Chapter 14 The World's Greatest Soldier (Battle of Nanchang) (2)
The Battle of Nanchang was generally a victory for the enemy and we were defeated. However, even in the situation of being defeated like a mountain, the 74th Army still did not lose its heroic qualities. It can be regarded as a rare bright spot in the battle. On April 4, Chiang Kai-shek sent a special telegram to the 10th Army: "I am very excited about the victory of this battle (Battle of Gao'an), and the public opinion of the whole country is especially encouraged."

A week later, the Military Commission made a statement on the situation of the lost battle in Nanchang, claiming that the battle of Nanchang "has reached the goal of a war of attrition", and that Nanchang was abandoned by the Chinese side on its own initiative. ".

Whether it is beneficial or not, it is useless to just say it yourself, it depends on how others judge it.Wang Jingwei, who had fled from Chongqing, made a statement in Hong Kong's "South China Daily", claiming that the fall of Nanchang "was a great victory for the Japanese army."

Chiang Kai-shek was very annoyed when he saw it.At this time, the Military Commission judged that the Japanese army in northern Jiangxi was still in a state of dispersion. If they could fight hard, it would not be impossible to recover Nanchang.The counterattack launched against Nanchang thus began. On April 4, the various departments of the 20th Army were ordered to cross the Jinjiang River eastward and take Gao'an City directly.The offensive strategy adopted by Yu Jishi was a three-way pincer attack: the 74st Division rushed from the front, the 51th Division covered the flanks, and the 58th Division was responsible for the detour.

Wang Yaowu, the commander of the 51st Division, has also served as the deputy commander of the 74th Army. In addition to being sick and hospitalized, the deputy division commander Li Tianxia acted as the division commander. The 51st Division has the experience of entering and leaving Gao'an twice, and is quite familiar with the terrain and fortifications outside Gao'an.Half of the local area is hilly, and half is flat rice fields. With the help of the gap, you can insert the side and rear of the Japanese stronghold for ingenious attacks.Soon, under Li Tianxia's command, the 51st Division captured three of the four Japanese strongholds outside the city.

Garrisoned in Gao'an are two infantry regiments belonging to the 4st Division of the Japanese Army.Discovering that the Chinese army was approaching the city, and dispatched a large force, they hurriedly organized a counterattack, but they were still unable to contain the opponent's offensive. By April 23, the 74th Army had completely surrounded Gao'an City.

At the same time, the 57th Division, which implemented a detour, also broke into the Xishan Longevity Palace.The Longevity Palace has a military depot, which is the throat of road traffic between Gao'an and Fengxin. The Japanese army's reinforcements to Gao'an and their logistics supplies all need to pass through here.

On the same day, the 58th Division of the Japanese Army transported a new regiment stationed in Fengfeng to the front line of Gao'an by car.Yu Jishi got the report and sent the 58th Division with flank cover to stop it. Feng Shengfa, commander of the [-]th Division, mobilized the [-]rd Regiment and [-]th Regiment to set up an ambush circle and carried out a surprise attack on the Japanese convoy.The Japanese army was caught off guard, many vehicles were destroyed, and the troops were forced to retreat.

At dawn the next day, the sober Japanese army began to counterattack against the blocking positions of the 58th Division.Some enemies rushed into the position and fought hand-to-hand with the defenders, and the shouts of "kill, kill, kill" resounded in the ears.When the battle lasted until 5 pm, the Japanese offensive was thwarted, and the reinforcements could not reach Gao'an for the time being.

The reinforcements of the Japanese army forced the frontal attack to change the stalemate as soon as possible.Yu Jishi drew two battalions from the 57th Division and launched a side attack on the Japanese army.This tactical adjustment caused the Japanese army to be in chaos, and the 51st Division took advantage of the situation to advance in depth.

On the evening of April 4th, Li Tianxia, ​​acting commander of the 25st Division, went to the front line to direct the siege battle.During the battle, the 51nd Battalion of the [-]th Regiment captured the commanding heights in the north of Gao'an City, and was able to shoot condescendingly at the Japanese troops in the city.Under the cover of the Second Battalion, the rest of the main attacking force climbed the city wall and made a breakthrough on Gao'an City.

At 1:51 midnight, the main force of the [-]st Division entered Gao'an City and started street fighting with the Japanese army.Because it was night and the visibility was low, the Japanese army's light and heavy machine gun blockade was restricted, while the Chinese army's customary grenade throwing showed its power.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Japanese army hurriedly released poison gas.Poisonous gas is indeed poisonous, but it is also difficult to succeed in this kind of tug-of-war that intersects with each other. The Japanese army had to clean up the guys and chose to break out in the direction of the Longevity Palace in Xishan.

In the early morning of April 4, the remaining enemies in the city were completely wiped out, and the 26th Army regained Gao'an.

Under the circumstances at that time, if the Japanese army had gained a firm foothold in an area or a city, it would not be easy to take it down.When the Military Commission called Yu Ji, it believed that in this high-security campaign where three losses and three gains were made, the 74th Army's "strength in combat power" was fully demonstrated, and it played a role in "intimidating the enemy".

First of all, we must have confidence
After capturing Gao'an, the 51st Division took advantage of the victory and attacked northward. Li Tianxia concentrated the artillery of the entire division to bombard the Japanese positions, preventing the fleeing enemy from gaining a chance to breathe.The 57th Brigade of the [-]th Division, which had entered the area of ​​the Longevity Palace, also had a head-on blow. Under the two-phase attack, the fleeing Japanese army almost collapsed.

The enemies who broke out merged with the defenders of the Longevity Palace. While defending the Longevity Palace, they waited for an opportunity to organize a counterattack.Luo Zhuoying ordered the 74th Army to attack the Longevity Palace with all its strength, but due to the slow advance of the left-wing friendly forces, the Japanese troops in the Fengxin area could always be freely mobilized, which made the 74th Army have to be afraid.

From the Battle of Nanchang to the Nanchang Counter-Offensive War, most of the Chinese troops participating in the war could neither attack nor defend. Some weaker troops even put on a posture of being beaten at the beginning, ready to run away at any time.These weak brigades could not rush forward, so that the strong army did not dare to take risks and advance lightly. Even foreign reporters have seen that on the anti-Japanese battlefield, "the best troops are always dragged down by the worst troops."

The 74th Army is now facing this problem.If they attack alone, they are likely to be outflanked by the Fengxin Japanese army, not to mention that they themselves have to allocate a considerable amount of troops to garrison Gao'an.After some deliberation, Yu Jishi decided to draw out only one regiment to support the 74th Brigade's attack on the Longevity Palace, and the main force will rush to build fortifications in Gao'an and Xiangfuguan.Not long afterward, Luo Zhuoying transferred troops to take over part of Gao'an's defense, but the military operations of the friendly forces have not improved much. Therefore, the threat from Fengxin has not been relieved, and the main force of the [-]th Army can only continue to stay where it is. Be vigilant.

Yu Jishi's worries were not without purpose. On May 5, the 3th Division of the Japanese Army entered the northern wing of Gaoan from Fengxin. They first used a small number of troops to attract the attention of the 58th Division, and then used two regiments to storm the junction of the 58th Division and the friendly army. The positions of the third, fourth and third regiments of the 58th Division were broken through, and the two companies at the front withdrew without receiving orders from their superiors.

Losing the position and retreating without authorization are very serious matters within the 74th Army, and the Gao'an front line is also directly threatened. Feng Shengfa, the commander of the 58th Division, immediately ordered the execution of the company commanders of the two companies, and drove the Japanese army back to Fengxin through a counterattack.

On the whole, the counterattack against Nanchang was to use lightly equipped troops to attack the heavily equipped and pre-fortified enemy forces. From the day this combat intention came into being, it was doomed to fail. On May 5, the offensive forces in the third theater east of the Ganjiang River were defeated, and Chiang Kai-shek ordered to stop the counterattack and withdraw from the battle.

The failure of the battle is not the responsibility of the 74th Army. They have done their best within the scope of their duties.After the counter-offensive war, all the generals of the 74th Army were rewarded for their meritorious service, and Yu Jishi was awarded the Huazhou Honor Medal for his outstanding command.

Most of the medals issued by the National Government were issued before the War of Resistance, and also after the War of Resistance. Only the Huazhou Medal was specially set up for officers and soldiers with meritorious service in the War of Resistance. .

In addition to receiving the Huazhou Medal, Yu Jishi was also promoted to the deputy commander-in-chief of the Tenth Army, which left a place for Wang Yaowu to succeed the commander of the 74th Army, but the handover between the two sides did not come true immediately.

After being promoted, some bosses are not active in recommending a deputy to replace them for various reasons.For example, when Xia Chuzhong of the 79th Army was promoted from division commander to army commander, the military command asked him to recommend someone to replace the division commander. Under normal circumstances, Xia Chuzhong should recommend Wang Jiaben, the deputy division commander, but he wanted his fellow from Yiyang, Hunan to take over the old army. , so it is not recommended for a long time.

Of course, there was no such problem between Yu Jishi and Wang Yaowu. Yu Jishi had long regarded Wang Yaowu as the best candidate to succeed him. What he was worried about was that Wang Yaowu might not be able to control the troops.

Yu Jishi was the commander of the 74th Army, and his personal qualifications and record in the first phase of Whampoa were enough to overwhelm the commanders of the divisions and brigades below.Wu Jiguang, the brigade commander who died during the Songhu Battle, served in the 98th Division earlier, and had an unpleasant quarrel with his boss, and then he voted for Yu Jishi.Later, when he met his former colleagues from the old army, he complained endlessly: "I should have listened to your advice and stayed in the 98th Division. Yu Jishi is too good!"

The stronger the combat effectiveness of the troops, the more talented they are.If the boss is not a little bit more powerful, there are people below who are making trouble for you, so you just wait to be dismissed.Of course, if you want to really gain a foothold in the army, the key is to have confidence.Although Wang Yaowu has made great military exploits, he is only a member of the third phase of Whampoa, and the 74th Army is full of people from the third and fourth phases of Whampoa, even the first and second phases of Whampoa.In the Kuomintang central military system with Whampoa students as the backbone, Whampoa qualifications are not generally important.Some units are even appointed according to the Whampoa period. Basically, the third and fourth periods serve as battalion and company commanders, and the first and second periods serve as brigade and regiment commanders.

Furthermore, among the three divisions of the 74th Army, except for the 51st Division, which is Wang Yaowu's basic unit, Wang Yaowu can be regarded as a solid foundation in this unit, and he has a lot of promises. The 57th Division is fine. The division commander Shi Zhongcheng has no qualifications in Whampoa, and he was born as a miscellaneous general. As long as you use it properly, it is not difficult to control.The biggest problem mainly lies in the 58th Division brought out by Yu Jishi himself. The commander of this division was originally the part-time deputy commander Feng Shengfa, and then Chen Shizheng was the full-time commander.Chen Shizheng was born in Fenghua, Zhejiang, and he and Yu Jishi were classmates in the first phase of Whampoa. According to his qualifications, he is also fully qualified to be promoted to the commander of the 57th Army.In private, Chen Shizheng was not very convinced by Wang Yaowu.If there is no hope of being promoted to army commander this time, Chen Shizheng will inevitably feel angry in his heart. Once he is angry, he will not be so obedient and obedient to Wang Yaowu.

There is far more than one person who is qualified and wants to be the commander of the 74th Army, but it is a pity that there is only one golden chair.How to balance the crowd and let Wang Yaowu succeed, Yu Jishi was very troubled.

Reborn
Chen Cheng's general Fang Jing was transferred to the Thirteenth Division as division commander.Before taking office, he went to see He Yingqin.When He Yingqin heard that Fang Jing was going to the Thirteenth Division, he shook his head again and again, because he knew that this division had always been disobedient, and could throw away their division commanders after going to the battlefield, "Go, can you take it with you?"

Fang Jing was also worried about this matter, and he came to see He Yingqin because he wanted to ask him for advice.He Yingqin and Fang Jing have a friendship between teachers and students in Whampoa, so naturally they have to plan for it.He taught Fang Jing a "reborn" strategy: "The Thirteenth Division has two brigade commanders and four regimental commanders. You transfer one brigade commander to the Military Commission, one brigade commander to another division as division commander, and one regiment commander. Promote to brigade commander, one regiment commander to deputy brigade commander. You transfer four of your former subordinates to serve as brigade and regimental commanders. In this way, won’t the whole division be under your control?”

Fang Jing suddenly realized, and since then he has followed the same pattern every time he arrives at a new unit, and the results are unsatisfactory. Even Chen Cheng often praises him: "No matter how difficult a unit is, Fang Jing can fix it!"

It's not the first day for Yu Jishi to be disturbed in the muddy water of officialdom, how can he not understand the joints and tricks here?During Wang Yaowu's half-truth and half-fake recuperation period, he transferred Chen Shizheng to Zhejiang as the army commander, and He Lingxiao, the deputy division commander who was born in the second phase of Whampoa, also transferred to Zhejiang as the division commander. promotion.

After "reborn", it is "reborn".The newly transferred deputy commander, Liao Lingqi, was a member of the Whampoa Fourth Period, and none of the officers above the commander of the division had surpassed the Whampoa Fourth Period, so Wang Yaowu was in control.

Only by completing the necessary foreshadowing can the successor not be in danger of being emptied.On June 24, Wang Yaowu was promoted to commander of the 74th Army, and the commander of the 51st Division was replaced by Li Tianxia, ​​the deputy division commander.

More than a month later, the 74th Army was ordered to reorganize.With the continuation of the war, both the Chinese and Japanese militaries found that the brigade level (the Japanese army is the brigade) played little role in the ordinary infantry division based on the summary of the actual combat in the previous stage. efficiency of action.As a result, some of the newly established divisions of the Japanese army abolished the brigades, and the four-team system in the teacher's regiment also became a three-team system.The organization of the Chinese army used to be based on the German-Japanese model. You can change it and I can change it. The Military Commission decided to abolish the brigade organization and let the division headquarters directly command the affiliated regiments.

In the reorganized 74th Army, each division is composed of three organic regiments and one field supplementary regiment (field supplementary regiment), and the regiment number is also changed immediately.Once the brigade headquarters was withdrawn, the brigade commanders had to find their way out again. Zhou Zhidao, the former commander of the 51st brigade, was promoted to the deputy commander of the [-]st division.

After all, the position of deputy division commander is limited, and the Military Commission also took this into consideration, so it allowed divisions in need to set up the post of infantry commander, and stipulated that brigade commanders with less seniority could be transferred to division infantry commanders.

The concept of the division infantry commander was also learned from the Japanese organization reform. The Japanese army called it the infantry commander.It’s just that the infantry commander of the Japanese army has real power and can command the three infantry regiments of the division in a unified manner; China has its own national conditions, and infantry commanders are just like Gao Can. For example, Zhang Lingfu, who is still recovering from injuries in other places, is the infantry commander.Of course, this is also beneficial, that is, it can retain talents, and once there is a real shortage, it can be filled immediately.

Wang Yaowu belongs to the kind of extremely smart people who can gain a lot of knowledge as soon as he is instructed. Not only is he not inferior to his predecessor in terms of being good at dancing, but he also has his own unique skills, that is, he is proficient in economics and good at doing business.

At that time, the Kuomintang army was divided into two types: one was reorganized divisions, which belonged to Chiang Kai-shek’s direct line troops, and such troops had relatively guaranteed food and salary; the other was contracted divisions, that is, miscellaneous troops that had not been reorganized. The amount of funds, the specific distribution will not be involved.As a result, the generals of the "contractors" often did not pay their salaries for several months, and even if they did, they had to discount them in order to fill their pockets.

The Third Division, which is dominated by Hunanese, is such a "contract division".The division commander, Li Yunheng, was not only like Xia Chuzhong, he loved to use his fellow countrymen, so most of the officers at all levels were from Hunan with the surname Li, but he also drank the blood of the soldiers in unison, which made the soldiers miserable.A quartermaster who knew the inside story was really angry, so he wrote a couplet on a note and secretly pasted it at the entrance of the division. "The second line is: "[-]% of the salary, [-]% of the salary, [-]% of the salary, regardless of the salary, the chief sits on the ground and divides the spoils!"

During the civil war, the 53rd Division fought against the Red Army in Jiangxi. After being captured, the soldiers walked and scolded: "Damn it, we haven't been paid for several months. I didn't expect that the Red Army would give us three yuan instead of being a prisoner." ! In the future, if we go to war again, we might as well hand in our guns first, and then receive the reward from the Red Army.

Of course, it is impossible for such a force to have much combat effectiveness.Later, in the Battle of Wuhan, Li Yunheng, who had already become the commander of the army, was dismissed and retired because of the loss of Ma Dang. This was more or less the root of his past that he only knew about money but did not know how to run the army and train troops.

Wang Yaowu is ambitious, never greedy for money, and his private life is very serious and simple, he doesn't play cards, doesn't smoke, and doesn't ask for concubines.As early as the supplementary brigade period, he often told the officers and soldiers: "I don't want a penny from you, I don't drink the blood of soldiers." No bones of parents!"

(End of this chapter)