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

Chapter 16 The World's Greatest Soldier (Battle of Nanchang) (4)
So before Luo Zhuoying discovered the real intention of the Japanese army and issued a pursuit order, Wang Yaowu made a deployment one step ahead.He sent the 51st Division to advance towards Jiuxiantang, and the 57th Division to attack Shangfu between Jiuxiantang and Fengxin, leaving only the 58th Division as an army reserve.

The 51st Division marched lightly, and the troops received strong support from the people in northern Jiangxi on the way.Although Neiji Okamura formulated the so-called strategy of "seeking Jiang's love for the people" from the perspective of being conducive to aggression, he also admitted that from the beginning to the end, his policy of "loving the people" was not fully implemented, and the Japanese army "had to The captives, the inhabitants lack charity."If in areas occupied by the Japanese army such as Wuhan, the atrocities will be relatively restrained, it will be different in the "hostile areas" such as northern Jiangxi. The Japanese army on the front line is like a beast. Just over a month ago, the Tuanshan Temple tragedy broke out , Gaoan civilians were massacred more than 600 people at one time.

The people in northern Jiangxi, who were deeply poisoned and maimed by the Japanese army, in turn supported the soldiers even more. When the 51st Division went north, there was no need to recruit additional civilians. The common people spontaneously carried stretchers and delivered food and ammunition to the troops, and sent them one by one. This greatly motivated and encouraged the 51st Division. The morale of the troops The officers and soldiers all have the confidence and determination to win big battles, catch devils alive, and get spoils of war.

On October 10, the 6rd Regiment of the 51st Division captured the Japanese stronghold in front of Jiuxiantang, but encountered fierce resistance from the Japanese army when attacking Jiuxiantang, and the fighting was extremely fierce.

Northern Jiangxi is mostly mountainous, and the terrain gets higher as you go north.Jiuxiantang is a relatively high-lying mountain in northern Jiangxi, covered with lush forests and bamboos, and only a long and narrow mountain road connects to the outside.The attack is similar to a high ground. Generally, mortars are used to continuously shoot at the Japanese machine gun bunkers. After the machine guns are detonated, the attacking troops then use the dead angle to advance to the commanding heights.

With the ability of the [-]rd Regiment, it is usually not a big problem to use this method of attack to capture the high ground, but the defenders of Jiuxiantang are tasked with covering the retreat of the large troops, and they are very desperate to resist.In addition, it was the autumn rainy season at that time, and the mountain was covered with drizzle and thick fog, which greatly increased the difficulty of attacking.

When the [-]rd Regiment had difficulty advancing and retreating, it had to hide in a blind spot, and the two combatants were once in a stalemate.

At dawn on October 10, Li Tianxia, ​​the commander of the 7st Division, received information that the 51th Regiment of the 57th Division would repel the Japanese troops entrenched in the villages north of Shangfu, and there was no trace of invincibility in the Shangfu area.Based on this, Li Tianxia judged that the main force of the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army was rapidly retreating in the direction of Fengxin, and the Jiuxiantang Japanese army was only responsible for covering it, so he further increased the attack force and put the [-]st Regiment into the battlefield.

The [-]st Regiment from the right flank and the [-]rd Regiment from the left flank, using mortar and machine gun volleys as cover, finally completely occupied Jiuxiantang.Jiuxiantang was the base of the Japanese military depot. When the Japanese army fled, they left behind a lot of food, ammunition, and even a lot of big leather boots.

There are hundreds of families in Jiuxian Tang, and the fish that slipped through the net before they could escape hid in the houses and continued to resist.It wasn't until the battlefield was cleaned that Japanese soldiers were found upstairs in a civilian house.A captain officer tried to go up to catch him alive, but was shot down.Seeing this, the rest of the officers and soldiers shot the Japanese soldier in the abdomen and captured him alive.

The 51st Division finally captured eight Japanese soldiers.It could have caught more, but the 51st Division had heard and witnessed the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in northern Jiangxi, and had long hated the enemy. Some soldiers encountered Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender during the search, and they would rather not have a reward of [-] yuan , stabbed the guy off with a bayonet.

At this time, the main force of the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army had retreated to Fengxin. In order to avoid an attack, Luo Zhuoying sent a telegram to order all the troops to stop the pursuit and consolidate their positions in the recovered area.

capture team

After the capture of Wuhan, the Japanese army gradually felt stretched in strength due to the stretched front.Chiang Kai-shek had already understood this, and he analyzed at an internal military meeting: "According to the enemy's ideals, why doesn't he want to advance into our Changsha and Nanchang in one fell swoop, and he can't attack again when he enters Yuezhou? This is not his strategy. This is not counted, but he has actually exhausted his strength."

Invasion of China has become a huge burden on Japan's national power, but it can't just quit, so it has to hang on like this without embarrassment, which is to fall into what the Chinese call "protracted war of resistance."In order to defend the occupied area in central China, Okamura, with Wuhan as the center, deployed seven divisions and two mixed brigades belonging to the No. 11 Army of the Japanese Army on the north and south banks of the Yangtze River like raindrops.The main force above the regiment is mainly concentrated in the city defense positions of Nanchang and Fengxin; the squadron-level troops guard the small hill strongholds on the periphery; and between these small strongholds, brigade-level troops are arranged to respond at any time.

For the vast rural areas, the Japanese army was unable to fully deploy their defenses. At most, they would deploy some squad-level troops for security at important checkpoints and ferries, and the rest could only be handed over to the puppet army for maintenance.

The embarrassment that the Japanese army could only occupy points but not control the surface in the occupied area made the Military Commission feel that it could do something. In October 1939, Chiang Kai-shek decided to launch a winter offensive, organizing a regular field army to attack the Japanese army, and at the same time let the well-organized guerrilla troops advance behind the enemy's rear to make up for the lack of regular battles with guerrilla warfare.

Before the launch of the winter offensive, the 74th Army was ordered to take over part of the No.19 Army's positions on the north bank of the Jinjiang River.At this time, the No. 11 Army Headquarters of the Japanese Army has grasped China's winter offensive plan in advance by intercepting and deciphering the secret message, and all ministries are taking precautions.When the 74th Army arrived at the defense location, it was discovered that the Japanese 33st and 34th Divisions were also handing over defense with the [-]rd and [-]th Divisions.The Japanese army mobilized very frequently, and in order to cover up, they used artillery to disrupt the Chinese positions from time to time.

The 74th Army decided to take the opportunity to test the reality of the opponent and the degree of consolidation of the position.Since the evening of November 11th, the 15th Division began to form multiple "capture teams". The title of "capture team" first came from the battle of Nanchang. At that time, because the enemy's situation was unknown, such a short and capable small force was established. The purpose was to capture the enemy and find out the designation of the Japanese army. The "capture team" consisted of plainclothes teams carrying pistols, hemp ropes, and sacks, as well as combat companies with live ammunition, so that in case of encounters with large Japanese troops, they could still fight and break through with reliable firepower.

"Tongue grabbing" (that is, capturing prisoners) on the frontal battlefield is much more difficult than imagined. The "capture team" of the No. 60 Army once failed to capture a single prisoner for more than ten days.Later, the division held a meeting and worked out more than a dozen capture plans, but none of them succeeded.In the end, the Japanese army couldn't stand it anymore, and sent troops out to sweep up, but was repelled by the "capture team". Only then did the two wounded soldiers be caught, and the number of the Japanese army on the opposite side was found out.

The "capture team" of the 58th Division also encountered a situation where they could not catch the "tongue".To make matters worse, all the Japanese troops huddled in the fortifications of the positions and did not take the initiative to run out to sweep.There is no choice but to attack hard.There are several layers of deer villages and barbed wire fences in front of the Japanese positions, which are very difficult to break through. Even if the offensive troops cut the barbed wire and rush in from the gap in the deer villages, the light and heavy machine guns of the Japanese secret firepower points can still fire sideways, making it impossible for the offensive troops to move forward or retreat. Caught in the coverage and siege of its firepower net.

The "capture team" thus suffered a great deal of loss and gained little. On November 11, Luo Renlin, deputy of the 25rd Regiment of the 58th Division, personally led the attack. After the "capture team" broke through the barbed wire and the Luzhai, they also encountered a concentrated blockade of Japanese light and heavy machine guns. A deputy battalion commander and more than a hundred people killed.It was not until dawn the next day that the "capture team" was able to withdraw.

However, this time the "capture team" entered the interior of the Japanese military fortifications and seized many military flags, books and important documents.The document shows that the Japanese army on the opposite side of the 74th Army has indeed changed from the 30th Division to the No. [-]th Division.

The Military Commission's winter offensive order was issued on November 11, but considering that the Ninth War Zone had not been completed after the battle in Changsha, the launch date of the attack was postponed to December 21.

Two years ago, on December 12, the Japanese army launched a large-scale massacre in Nanjing.The Chinese army chose this day to launch an offensive, showing an unyielding will to resist the war.According to the plan, the No.12 Army was divided into three corps, namely the Guard Corps, the Advance Corps and the Reserve Corps. The 19th Army was incorporated into the Security Corps, and its task was to carry out a feint attack.On the same day, the security corps launched the first wave of feint attack, and Wang Yaowu sent the 74st and 51th divisions to attack Xiangfu Temple.

In this feint attack, in addition to attacking the enemy directly with small units, the 74th Army focused its energy on destroying the transportation and communication facilities of the Japanese army.In the process of destruction, Wang Yaowu found that the main force of the Japanese army had never shown up in the field, and those who tried to restore traffic were all small troops, and they retreated as soon as they were beaten.From this, he speculated that the No.30 Fourth Division of the Japanese Army had very limited activities in the occupied area.

Why not take this opportunity to expand the results?Besides, it would be too much for an elite division like the 74th Army to undertake tasks such as feigning attacks and chopping telephone poles.Wang Yaowu called Luo Zhuoying and volunteered to ask for a breakthrough.

On the battlefield, I am afraid that you will be timid and cowering, but I am not afraid that you will be as powerful as a tiger.Luo Zhuoying was very happy after hearing this, so he ordered the 74th Army to join the offensive, but the main goal was still limited to intercepting the Japanese army's traffic, rather than attacking fortified ground.

On December 12, the 15th Division was assembled, and Wang Yaowu also led the army and the troops directly under it to move forward.At this time, the friendly army was blocked by the enemy and the offensive stopped, and the 57th Army got an excellent opportunity to play.

The No.30 Fourth Division of the Japanese Army deployed a large number of strongholds with squadron-level forces to the west of Fengxin, and coordinated with brigade-level forces to form a defensive depth. After the 57th Division rushed forward, it even conquered fifteen strongholds, but the next Xiaoling position was heavily fortified. The Japanese army formed a dense firepower network by virtue of the terrain and fortifications. , making it difficult for attacking troops to approach.

Under such circumstances, Shi Zhongcheng, the commander of the 57th Division, ordered the mortars of each regiment to be concentrated to provide fire support for the infantry attacking Xiaoling.

Goddess
In the early hours of December 12, the mortar artillery began to conduct test firings.Through two test firings, the artillery corrected the shooting direction and range, and also obtained the correct data of shooting elements.

With a command of "ready-release", the mortar shell flew out of the barrel with a "bang" and exploded at the intended target location.A squadron of the 34th Regiment of the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army was stationed at Xiaoling. They were conducting morning lectures. They never expected that the attacking troops would shell at this time, and it was too late to find a place to hide.

After a single shell hits, it is a continuous fire.The shells fell one after another like hail, the flames flickered on the forward position, and the smoke column billowed.As soon as the artillery fire extended the range, the 57th Regiment of the [-]th Division launched a charge and wiped out all the more than [-] Japanese troops in Xiaoling with swift movements.

On the same day, the 58th Division also launched a fierce attack on the Shaguling position that hindered its advance.Liao Lingqi, deputy commander of the division, personally commanded the 37mm flat-fire gun to support the infantry's charge. The two battalions of the [-]th Regiment attacked from both sides, and wiped out about [-] people from a squadron of the [-]th Company of the Japanese Army.

Unlike the 400th Regiment which attacked Xiaoling in a surprise attack, so the casualties were relatively small, the [-]th Regiment basically attacked by force. Despite the artillery support, it still suffered nearly [-] casualties, which was twice the number of enemies wiped out. If the declared battle results were not mixed with any water, such a casualty ratio between the enemy and the enemy was already very worthwhile at the time.

(End of this chapter)