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

Chapter 32 Put the word "death" on your head (Battle of Henan, Hunan, Guangxi and the defense of Hengyang) (1)
After the Battle of Changde, the 74th Army has been stationed near Changde for training. In February 1944, Army Commander Wang Yaowu was promoted to Commander of No.2 Fourth Army.

No.20 Fourth Army is an old designation that has been revoked twice.Before the last revocation, the commander of the group army was Pang Bingxun, who gained fame in the Battle of Taierzhuang.The group army commanded by Pang Bingxun mainly operated behind the enemy in Jicha. Because of the defeat in the battle with the Japanese and puppet troops, the whole army collapsed. Pang Bingxun himself surrendered to the Japanese army when he was desperate.So the Military Commission revoked the number.

The current number is restored.The entire group army has three armies under its jurisdiction. In addition to the No.70 Fourth Army, there are also the Hundredth Army and No.70 Third Army.

The No.20 Fourth Army can be said to have been built by Wang Yaowu.Chiang Kai-shek's trust in Wang Yaowu also reached an unprecedented level, and Wang Yaowu was granted the right to decide on his own the promotion of officers above the regiment level in the group army.

The complexity of personnel affairs has never been lower than commanding a war.As soon as Wang Yaowu was promoted, the position of commander of the 74th Army became vacant.Li Tianxia, ​​the deputy army commander, served as the head of the supplementary brigade before the Anti-Japanese War. Regardless of seniority or military exploits, it is a matter of course to succeed the army commander.

However, when Wang Yaowu asked the commanders for their opinions one by one, Zhang Lingfu, the commander of the 58th Division, voted against Li Tianxia at a critical moment: "Commander Shi is welcome to come back and lead the No.70 Fourth Army."

Regardless of personality or style, Li Tianxia and Zhang Lingfu are very different.In private life, Li Tianxia is famous for her gambling and lust. When she is not fighting, she often holds dances in the army.Zhang Lingfu is more upright and upright, and is very dissatisfied with Li Tianxia's actions, calling it "a miasma of smoke".The two often clashed and their relationship was not good.

After careful consideration, Wang Yaowu decided to follow Zhang Lingfu's idea. On March 3, Shi Zhongcheng, the former commander of the 4th Army, was appointed as the commander of the No.70 Fourth Army, and Li Tianxia, ​​the former deputy commander of the 74th Army, was transferred to be the commander of the [-]th Army.

Lao Jiang's preparations were not in vain, and his expectations were not lost.Under Wang Yaowu's adjustment, within a short period of time, the No. 20 Fourth Army achieved smooth personnel, and the training of the 70th Army and No. 70 Army gradually became more standardized.Among them, the No.[-] army participated in the Battle of Changde, but their actual combat performance was not good. Except for the death of a division commander, all heavy weapons were lost, and they basically lost their combat capabilities. The former commander was also dismissed due to poor command.At this time, it also began to gradually recover its vitality, and the entire group army showed the appearance of a vigorous and powerful force.

Naturally, the core and basic force of the No.20 Fourth Army is still the 74th Army of the "Tiger Force".Three years ago, when the Military Commission decided to establish an attacking army, the 74th Army still had competitors on par with it. In the end, Chiang Kai-shek had to personally decide whether he had the qualifications and conditions for an attacking army.Three years later, at least on the frontal anti-Japanese battlefield in China, there is no longer any unit that can compete with the 74th Army. Its good tactical awareness, agile maneuvering speed, and outstanding record make it undisputed. The High Command designated as the Strategic General Reserve.

Anti-Stove Warfare

In the spring of 1944, China had formed the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force in Yunnan, but the U.S. government believed that the assembled troops were not enough, and it was necessary to continue to increase the number of troops, and immediately launched an attack on the Japanese army west of the Nu River.

In order to organize the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force, China's defense forces are actually insufficient, but the area to be defended is large. If too many troops are transferred to Western Yunnan, there will be no small difficulty.

Chennault of the U.S. Air Force to China also opposed this approach. He warned Chiang Kai-shek: "The deployment of Japanese ground forces is the most threatening strategy since Pearl Bay (Pearl Harbor). Japan is preparing to launch two offensives: one is to sweep Beijing. The link between the Han Railway and Henan; the other is the occupation of Changsha."

Chennault's warning was not groundless, but supported by definite intelligence.The latest deployment of the Japanese army is actually the "Operation to Break Through the Continent" that the Japanese base camp had asked Hata Shunroku to study. At this time, it was officially named "Operation No. 51". "Operation No. [-]" is scheduled to have a total force of [-], which is the largest number of troops dispatched by the Japanese army during the entire period of invasion of China. The past Songhu Battle, Xuzhou Battle, and Wuhan Battle are all far behind.In the history of the Japanese army, the original largest battle was the Battle of Mukden during the Russo-Japanese War. However, in terms of the large number of soldiers, the wide combat area, the long combat distance, and the length of the scheduled combat date, it still cannot compete with "No. [-]" Combat" on a par.

However, the U.S. government, standing on their own strategic standpoint and perspective, did not take into account the actual difficulties faced by the Eastern allies who jointly resisted Japan. On April 4, after the original proposal was rejected by Chiang Kai-shek, U.S. President Roosevelt still insisted on the original proposition. He asked Chiang Kai-shek to immediately make up his mind: "Order the Y Army (that is, the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force) to cross the Nu River and attack Burma."

By 1944, the US government's attitude towards China was no longer as tolerant as it was at the beginning of the Pacific War.The news of China's continuous defeat in the War of Resistance, as well as rumors about the corruption and incompetence of the Chongqing government and its passive combat, all made the Americans believe that the military aid they gave to China might be in vain, and this seemingly weak Eastern ally It seems that they have also adopted the attitude of "not bad in 1000 years, not in 1 years", and no longer plan to return military aid. On April 4, Marshall decided to implement threatening measures, planning to reduce the amount of airlifted aid to China, and at the same time prepare to cancel loans to Chinese airlines.Stilwell, who was competing with Chiang Kai-shek for the command in China, was even more powerful. He planned to transfer all the 10 tons of airlift for the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force in April to Chennault's air force.

Long before the outbreak of the Pacific War, the hard life and the prospect of victory had already made the morale of the Chinese army generally low.After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the participation of the United States in the war boosted the morale of officers and soldiers. Everyone pinned their hopes on the United States and formed a certain degree of dependence on American aid.The so-called well said, the mouth of eating people is soft, and the hands of others are short. Under such circumstances, the Chinese government had to make concessions to the demands of the United States. After ten days of serious research with Chief of Staff He Yingqin, Chiang Kai-shek finally A decision was made on April 4, agreeing to transfer two group armies and 14 main divisions to fight in Yunnan.

Only four days later, that is, on April 4, the Japanese army crossed the Yellow River in North China, which opened the prelude to "Operation No. 18" (called the Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi in China). On May 5, Isamu Yokoyama commanded eight divisions belonging to the No.27 Army of the Japanese Army with a total of 11 people, and launched an attack on Changsha and Hengyang along the banks of the Xiangjiang River.

The tactic Xue Yue used to face Isamu Yokoyama was the same as in the third Changsha battle. It was still a combination of "decisive retreat" and "fighting for the outside line". He also gave this tactic a nice name, called "Tian Furnace Warfare".

However, after research by the Japanese army, they have actually been able to effectively decipher the "Sky Furnace Method".One of its core experiences is to change the usual method of in-depth solitary troops in the past. On the basis of thickening the force, deploy the backbone corps with stronger combat effectiveness on the two wings for cover, so as to smash the strongholds that the Chinese army relies on for flanking.At the same time, in addition to deploying the first-line troops, the second-line troops are also controlled in order to maintain the ability to attack large depths.

Looking ahead, the Zhejiang-Jiangxi battle can be regarded as the first effective use of the "anti-Tianfu tactics", and then in the Changde battle, the "Tianfu tactics" were obviously unable to do what they wanted, even though the main force of the 74th Army and the Tenth Army were defeated. Keeping on the side of the Japanese encircling forces, it is also difficult to form an anti-encirclement to the Japanese army through flank attacks.

The think tanks of the Chinese military are not without foresight. Zhao Zili and others pointed out after the third Changsha battle that "you can't beat people with a dead frame", otherwise it will be difficult to win.

If you want to win, the only way is to continue to extend the depth and at the same time gather enough troops for decisive battle.Zhao Zili's idea was to change to Hengyang instead of Changsha for a decisive battle with the Japanese army. During this period, in addition to using the full strength of the ninth theater, most or a powerful part of the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh theaters should also be mobilized. Go to Hengyang to fight the enemy.

However, Xue Yue was intoxicated by the victory of the third Changsha Battle, and still decided to copy the "Tianlu Warfare".Of course, even if he could adopt Zhao Zili's suggestion, given the actual situation in each war zone, it would be difficult to gather as many troops as Zhao Zili wanted - most of the troops that could be transferred were transferred to Yunnan.

There are not so many mobile troops, but the Military Commission still made efforts to deploy troops from other theaters for reinforcements as much as possible.

Prior to this, Stilwell had repeatedly designated the No.70 Fourth Army to be transferred to Yunnan and Myitkyina in northern Myanmar, and promised to airdrop supplies, but the Chinese side firmly refused.Fortunately, the No.70 Fourth Army was not agreed to be transferred away. Otherwise, at this juncture, where can we find such a reliable mobile force?
After the battle began, the main task of the 74th Army was to cover the flanks of the Ninth Theater on the north bank of the Xiangjiang River, and at the same time launch a flank attack on the No. 40 Division of the Japanese Army that committed crimes in the south.

At dawn on June 6, the 5st Division of the 74th Army mobilized part of its troops to storm Yougang Town, where the first part of the No.51th Division of the Japanese Army was stationed.The battle ended at 40:51 p.m., when the Japanese army was defeated, and the 130st Division occupied Yougang, killing more than 51 enemies.In the next few days, the 58st Division and the 40th Division fought the enemy many times, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. The southward movement of the Japanese No.

Delimited by the Xiangjiang River, the main force of the No.11 Army of the Japanese Army was on the south bank of the Xiangjiang River, and the No.40 Division was the only strategic corps that cooperated with the main force on the north bank.During the southward march, they must always be on guard against the attack of the 74th Army from the right-wing direction of Changde, which made the division very troublesome.

At the beginning, at the end of the Battle of Changde, Hata Shunroku had instructed Yokoyama Isamu not to withdraw from Changde. This was what he was worried about, but Yokoyama didn't listen to the advice, and at this time he had to deal with it himself.

Death guard
On June 6, the Military Commission sent a telegram to Wang Yaowu, asking him to concentrate his main force on annihilating the enemies of the southern criminals, and at the same time try to defend Ningxiang and other important places with the least amount of troops.Ningxiang is the key point leading to Changsha from central and northern Hunan. Wang Yaowu immediately sent Zhang Lingfu's 9th Division to Ningxiang to defend the safety of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha.

Zhang Lingfu led his troops to Ningxiang by means of a forced march. He controlled the main force of the division on the south bank of the Weishui River, and He Lan, the commander of the [-]rd Regiment, led his troops to serve as the defense of Ningxiang County.In addition to the regiment, He Lan commanded the first battalion of the [-]th regiment and a mortar company of the division.

On June 6, two regiments of the No.13 Division of the Japanese Army launched an attack on Ningxiang.The defensive position of the Ninth War Zone was divided into three layers by Isamu Yokoyama, from the outside to the inside, namely the "thick skin zone", "flesh zone" and "core zone".Ningxiang occupies the first place in the list of "Pulpland".

The "Pulp Zone" is the main position of the defenders.Since the Chinese army had a large number of defensive troops, and its position construction, command system, and logistics supply were relatively complete, the Japanese No. 11 Army stipulated that it should conduct strategic raids and divide encirclement and annihilation with a large corps.

Defending Ningxiang became an outpost to defend Changsha.He Lan first commanded the troops to fight fiercely with the Japanese army on the outskirts of Ningxiang for a day.In the evening, the Japanese army dispatched three planes to carry out low-altitude bombing. As a result, they were shot down by the defenders because they flew too low.

On June 6, Ningxiang was surrounded by regiments. The 14rd regiment repelled the enemy's onslaught three times in a row, and suffered more than half of its own casualties.

It took two full days for the two main Japanese regiments to fail to break through a small county town, which surprised the No.40 Division of the Japanese Army. On June 6, they changed their deployment and sent more than 15 people to cross the Weishui River south to launch a surprise attack on the rear of the 58th Division.

The 58th Division is characterized by both offense and defense. When Zhang Lingfu was in charge, it was especially good at offense and defense.While resisting the Japanese army's strong attack head-on, Zhang Lingfu drew out a battalion to attack the Japanese army's flank, and finally pushed the Japanese army back to the bank of Weishui.

On the same day, the Japanese army continued to attack Ningxiang from all sides.The two sides fought hand-to-hand, and the battlefield was filled with shouts of killing and cries of the wounded.The defenders suffered heavy casualties again, and the battalion commander Wang Yancheng was killed.

From the war to the morning of June 6, the Japanese army broke through the city wall of the South Gate.After fierce street fighting from house to house, most of the county town had fallen to the enemy, and the defenders were forced to retreat to the Gospel Church, where the headquarters of the 16rd Regiment was located, and there were only more than 200 people left in the headquarters.At noon, He Lan led dozens of soldiers to break out from the southwest corner of the Gospel Hall. However, because three sides were blocked by Japanese firepower and one side was blocked by flood water, the breakout failed, and He Lan himself was seriously injured.

Cai Yae, deputy of the [-]rd Regiment, was being bandaged in the basement of the Gospel Church because of being shot in both legs. Seeing this, he shouted loudly: "Brothers, if we escape from the siege, we will die in vain. It is better to hold on and wait for help, so as to have a hope of survival !"

Seeing the regiment deputy standing up, the officers and soldiers who were already in a mess expressed their willingness to obey his command.Cai Ya'e counted the number of people. In addition to the 140 wounded, there were still [-] combatants. He organized these combatants into a company, appointed the company commander, and mobilized again: "Put the word 'death' on the head In the future, success is in your hands. It is better to die and be honored than to be humiliated in life."

Cai Ya'e also announced the food, ammunition, medicine, and drinking water stored in the Gospel Hall to the public one by one, in order to tell everyone that as long as they stick to it, there will definitely be enough things here until reinforcements arrive.

During Ningxiang's defense, Zhang Lingfu commanded the main force of the 58th Division, and together with other friendly forces in the group army, besieged the main force of the Japanese No.40 Division. The No. 40th Division couldn't resist, so they could only withdraw part of the troops attacking Ningxiang, and the Ningxiang defenders were even more tenacious in defending when there was no way out. Therefore, the Japanese army was never able to break through. There are only more than 100 people in the Gospel Church.

Cai Yae's troops persisted until June 6, when the No.19 Division, the main force of the 19th Army, attacked outside Ningxiang, and the Japanese were forced to retreat from Ningxiang.

Just the day before the 58th Division and the 6th Division joined forces in Ningxiang, Changsha fell.It is meaningless to stick to Ningxiang, and at the same time, the group army is also facing tremendous pressure from the Japanese army's sudden counterattack. On the evening of June 19, Wang Yaowu ordered the abandonment of Ningxiang, and the group army moved in the direction of Xiangxiang.

In the Battle of Ningxiang, the 58th Division defended the city with four battalions of troops and fought fiercely with the superior enemy for six days and nights. More than [-] officers were killed and injured, and more than [-] soldiers were killed or injured.In terms of rewards for meritorious deeds, Cai Ya'e, who was fearless in the face of danger and commanded calmly, was awarded a Yunhui Medal and was promoted by Zhang Lingfu's sponsorship.

bad idea

After the fall of Changsha, the Japanese army divided into several columns and marched southward along the west bank of Jiaxiang River.Within a few days, Xiangxiang and other counties fell one after another without fierce fighting.

In the Battle of Changheng, Chiang Kai-shek and Xue Yue had great strategic differences from the very beginning.Chiang Kai-shek asked Xue Yue to sit west of the Xiangjiang River and stick to Xianggui Road and Xiangxi to prevent the Japanese army from shaking the southwestern rear.Xue Yue insisted that he should not reach the west of the Xiangjiang River, and believed that he must stick to the southeast of Hunan to prevent the Japanese army from opening up the Guangdong-Han Road and then getting in touch with Hong Kong.

In order to carry out his personal proposition, Xue Yue only left the Fourth Army to guard Changsha and the Tenth Army to guard Hengyang, and moved the commander-in-chief to East Guangxi, which is located on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi in southeastern Hunan. The troops were also transferred to East Guangxi one after another.Xue Yue's command error was later considered to be the key to the failure of the Changheng Battle.

Following the defeat of the Fourth Army in Changsha, the Tenth Army in Hengyang immediately became a lone brigade surrounded by the Japanese army.According to Zhao Zili's opinion, even so, if the vast majority of the troops can be concentrated on the Xianggui Road at this time and launch a counterattack to the southwest of Hengyang, it is still possible to relieve the siege of the Tenth Army.

However, Xue Yue refused to leave for the west of Hunan. Many troops were scattered in an area of ​​two to three hundred kilometers in the east of Hunan, with unclear priorities and no strength.To the west of Hengyang, which Zhao Zili valued most, only Wang Yaowu's regiment was active.As a result, a strange phenomenon also appeared, that is, the troops west of the Xiangjiang River were directly commanded by the Military Commission, and Xue Yue was only in charge of the combat command east of the Xiangjiang River. Later, the troops he was in charge of had also been smashed by the Japanese army.

(End of this chapter)