In August 1938, the 106th Division of the Japanese Army failed one after another on the Nanxun Road and was blocked on the line south of the Shahe River, failing to achieve its stated goal of capturing De'an. At the same time, according to the intelligence of the Japanese side on August 15, the strength of the Chinese army in the Lushan area was as high as more than 30 divisions, so the enemy's 11th Army was determined to "destroy the enemy at the western foot of Lushan Mountain" and ordered the 9th Division to "defeat the enemy stationed on the way through the vicinity of Ruichang, advance to the area north of De'an, and cut off the enemy's retreat route at the western foot of Lushan."
Accordingly, before and after the implementation of the new deployment, the Japanese army on the one hand strengthened the combat effectiveness of the 106th Division, and on the other hand, on the other hand, bombed De'an Castle on 26 August, so as to cooperate with its main force Maruyama Detachment to attack Mahuiling north of De'an from Ruide Avenue.
On August 27, the Maruyama detachment launched an attack along the Ruichang-Dean road. Guarding this direction was the base of the 30th Army's Wangling. The unit has two armies and four divisions under its jurisdiction, and its source is the Sichuan security team, which has inferior weapons and extremely low combat effectiveness. From the end of July to the beginning of August, the unit was used on the battlefield as soon as it arrived at the front line, and the defensive line stretched for more than 20 miles, but the defense area was initially calm for a long time. However, after the Maruyama detachment began to attack, the soldiers of the Sichuan Security Regiment, who had just turned into regular troops, were quickly routed. The rout of Wang's troops seriously threatened the flank of the 9th Army, which was holding on to the front of the Nanxun Road.
In the initial view of the Chinese army, the attack of the Maruyama detachment was only to cover the enemy's main westward attack, so Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to Chen Cheng, ordering the 30th Army to participate in the battle on the Ruichang side, and said that if the situation on the Nanxun Road was permitted, the 4th Army should immediately withdraw and move westward to deal with the Ruichang side. This is a misjudgment!
When the attention of the Chinese army was drawn to the direction of Ruichang, on the 28th, the cunning Maruyama Masao actually took advantage of the momentum with a crowd of 2,000 men to advance eastward, approaching the vicinity of Xintangpu. From then on, the Japanese army's operation around Mahuiling began, and the Minshan front line immediately became tense.
On the morning of the 29th, the headquarters of the 1st Corps received a report of the battle, and there was a fierce offensive of about several hundred men in the direction of Minshan. "Order the 74th Army to send a regiment to occupy the goose public bag, drive the enemy out, and cover the safety of our 9th Army!" Xue Yue said to Di Xingyu, the chief of operations, without particularly care, "Look, what does Okamura want to do?"
Di Xingyu and Zhao Zili, the chief of the operations section, and others had a lot of discussions. It would not be wrong to surround Wuhan from west to east. However, why did they gather heavy troops in the direction of Xingzi? However, only one 101st Division wanted to pass through the Dexing Highway to eat snacks on the road and catch up with the banquet in Wuhan, so it didn't have too much appetite?
Is it impossible for the 106th Division to encircle the Wu Qiwei group of the Chinese army? Impossible, its combat target is Wuhan, so why should it delay the war from the west to the east? Will Okamura make such a decision?
In the end, Di Xingyu said: "This possibility cannot be ruled out: to monitor the troops of our 1st Corps with a force to cover the safety of their flanks and backs, and the main force to quickly encircle Wuhan, and at the same time to attack us with the 101st and 106th Divisions and keep me in here." ”
Zhao Zili added: "In any case, the threat posed by the enemy who appeared in Minshan to our Shahe Wu group is obvious and cannot be taken lightly. ”
"Yifeng," Xue Yue instructed Zhao Zili, "then pay close attention to the movements of the enemy in Minshan!"
Yu Jishi, commander of the 74th Army, did not dare to be sloppy, and immediately assigned the 51st Division to send a regiment to block the attack, and in the afternoon he instructed a brigade to be transferred to the battle. After receiving the order, Wang Yaowu, commander of the 51st Division, first ordered the 302nd Regiment to go to Minshan, and then ordered the 151st Brigade to rush to the front line.
The 302nd Regiment rushed to the Minshan area on the morning of the 30th and met the vanguard of the Maruyama detachment. After fierce fighting until noon, the Chinese army found that the enemy was growing more and more, and they suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat. In the afternoon, the 151st Brigade arrived, and the brigade commander Zhou Zhidao, who was good at mountain command, ordered the troops to resist immediately according to the favorable terrain.
On the 31st, after a day of fierce fighting, the Japanese troops not only fired fiercely with grenadiers, small artillery, and mortars from the ground troops, but also bombed them by air planes all day long. The 151st Brigade suffered more than 600 casualties, and the attack made no progress.
Zhou Zhidao felt bad, and the enemies in front of the telegram were not hundreds, but at least 2,000 people.
Xue Yue was puzzled: "What is Okamura going to do?"
It's no wonder that Xue Yue. What exactly the Maruyama detachment wants to do, even Maruyama Masao himself can't be sure. When he landed at Ruichang, it was when the 106th Division was frustrated. According to Okamura's order, he should lead his troops to attack southwest and cut off the Cantonese-Hankou railway. However, it was incomprehensible that the 106th Division had been immobilized by the enemy in front of him. Could it be that this is actually the trump card and main force of the Chinese army? If this is the case, wouldn't it be better! He can take the opportunity to deal a complete blow to the other side, which can not only relieve the predicament of the Songpu Division, but also crush the morale of the Chinese army. So, after obtaining permission from Okamura and Matsuura, the Maruyama detachment rushed in desperately.
However, Xue Yue understood earlier than Maruyama.
On the morning of the 31st, the communication station of the 1st Corps Headquarters listening to Japanese radio came to report that it had intercepted the "great news" of Japanese broadcasting, claiming: "The Imperial Army reinforced Shahe Town near Ruichang, Jiangxi Province with four wings. The Teragaki, Fujioka, and Ota divisions have surrounded the enemy army of 100,000 people at the western foot of Lushan Mountain······!
Xue Yue was clear: "Good guy, your ambition is not small!"
"Someone!" Xue Yue shouted, "Order: The 60th Division, the 4th Army, and the 64th Army of the Shahe Army of the 9th Group Army will quickly retreat! The whole division will turn to the east-west line of Wushimen! The 74th Army will resolutely resist the detour of the Japanese army and cover the retreat of our Wu Qiwei group!"
According to this order, the 74th Division of the 51st Army was put into action to resolutely counterattack the Minshan line. After the 51st Division was put into a counterattack, it once repelled the Japanese army, but in view of the large strength of the Japanese army, Wang Yaowu ordered to turn to the defense on the spot, and reported the battle situation to the army commander Yu Jishi: "Jigong, this Japanese army is like an elite division, and our department has fallen into a dangerous situation!"
Yu Jishi also preliminarily found out that the enemy in front of him was at least one of the enemy's main brigades, and he heard that it was the 9th Division of the Japanese Army. As early as the "January 28th" Songhu Anti-Japanese War, Yu Jishi led the 88th Division to fight a bloody battle with it, knowing that this was a group of outlaws, and the enemy must not be underestimated. It's really a narrow road, who would have thought that six years later they would meet again on the battlefield in Nanxun. At present, only the 51st Division is in charge, and it is really at stake. He immediately ordered the 15th Division of the Sichuan Army on the west side of Minshan to contain the enemy, and ordered Wang Yaowu to retreat steadily.
Yu Jishi made proper arrangements, and then reported to Xue Yue. When Xue Yue heard this, he said coldly on the phone: "No!"
When Xue Yue heard that Wang Yaowu had lost his positions at Wangjiaban, Egongbao, and Zuoyunling, and asked to retreat, he sternly said: "If the troops on the front line of Shahe Town cannot be withdrawn, I want you to take full responsibility! Do you dare? Besides, are your troops made of tofu scum? Why did they fall apart when they touched it?"
Yu Jishi, a native of Fenghua, Zhejiang, and Chiang Kai-shek are small fellow villagers, born in the first phase of Huangpu, and they are no more standard descendants. Moreover, Yu Jishi's uncle Yu Feipeng was the quartermaster of the Whampoa Military Academy that year, and from the kinship network of the Jiang and Yu families, Yu Jishi was Chiang Kai-shek's nephew. Yu Jishi also studied very hard during the Huangpu period. After graduating from the Whampoa Military Academy, Chiang Kai-shek became Chiang Kai-shek's personal bodyguard, and later served as the platoon commander and company commander of the guard brigade. After the guard brigade was expanded into a guard regiment, he served as the battalion commander and regiment commander. The Guard Regiment was expanded into the 1st Guard Brigade, and he served as the brigade commander and commander of the Nanjing garrison. After the 1st Guards Brigade was expanded into the 1st Guards Division, he served as the division commander.
Yu Jishi himself is often arrogant among the Whampoa generals, and he is quite arrogant to his superiors. The old and sophisticated people gave him three points, which also fueled his arrogance.
In 1933, when Yu Jishi was appointed as the director of the Zhejiang Provincial Security Department, because a plan he had drawn up was delayed in the provincial government for some time, he scolded Yang Mianzhong, a close confidant of the provincial chairman Lu Diping, at the provincial government meeting: "The reorganization of the security regiment is a special matter handed over by the chairman, and the plan drawn up is to uphold the will of Chairman Chiang. After that, he was still puzzled, and he actually punched Yang.
Yu Jishi openly raised the banner to make a tiger skin and brought out Chiang Kai-shek, which made Lu Diping, chairman of Zhejiang Province, an old warlord who had an important influence in the military circles of old China, helpless, and could only sigh: "I have been in the army for decades and have fought thousands of miles, when I am a general, this kid is still in infancy, why should I fight with him for a day." Hey, forget it!"
Now, Yu Jishi met Xue Yue, who didn't buy him, and actually scolded him, how could he endure it? So he retorted: "The Japanese artillery fire is so fierce, the soldiers can't withstand it, what can I do!"
Xue Yue was furious: "If you resist it, the soldiers will be able to withstand it." Just because you can't stand it mentally, so your soldiers can't stand it either!"
Yu Jishi continued to collide: "From the 'January 28' Songhu Anti-Japanese War, I personally led the 88th Division and cooperated with the 19th Route Army to withstand the Japanese artillery fire until now. Now it is not only our 74th Army that cannot withstand the artillery fire of the Japanese invaders on the battlefield, so why bother laughing at 50 steps and 100 steps!"
"Presumptuous!" Xue Yue shouted angrily, "I know that you have a 'background', so you are arrogant, and others will let you score three points, and this commander will not buy it! I warn you: On the battlefield, this commander has the power to kill and take away." Now, this commander orders you to personally lead the troops to restore Minshan, and hold it, if you dare to retreat again, come and see you!"
Xue Yue threw down the phone angrily, and Yu Jishi also sat down in a chair. It was the first time he had been reprimanded by his superiors like this, and no one had ever dared to threaten him with military orders and military law. Yes, Xue Yue was a famous general and a prominent figure during the Northern Expedition, but after all, he was not a close confidant of Chairman Chiang, and since he knew that he "had a background," how could he dare to make such a threat? He suddenly remembered the relationship between Xue Yue and Chen Cheng -- it was precisely because of Chen Cheng's sponsorship that Xue Yue and Zhang Fakui were able to be used in the fourth "encirclement and suppression" in 1932. Now that the 9th War Zone has been established, Zhang Fakui and Xue Yue have become Chen Cheng's two generals. The dramatic incident in which Zhang Fakui was dismissed from his post and then reinstated within half a month after the fall of Jiujiang shows that Chen Cheng has protected Zhang and Xue deeply and has been extremely favored by the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. So, how could Xue Yue be able to bring him down with a small report? Xue Yue had Chen Cheng's backing, and in the extraordinary period of the war, if he was provoked and exercised the great power of "life and death", it would be too unfavorable for him Yu Jishi!
Thinking of this, Yu Jishi grabbed the phone: "Wang Yaowu, you give me a firm position, and after the 58th Division arrives, I will work together to attack the enemy in front of me!"
Wang Yaowu was stunned for a moment, it seemed that it was time to work hard. He immediately summoned his subordinates Zhou Zhidao, Brigade Commander Tang Shenghai and other regiment commanders to convey the order of the military headquarters: "Show the courage of fighting a decisive battle to the end, and whoever retreats will be killed!"
From Egongbao, Xiaominshan to Zhangjiaping, the 51st Division resisted step by step, with more than 160 officers and more than 2,000 soldiers killed and wounded, but it was still difficult to resist the fierce offensive of the Maruyama detachment. Finally waited for the 58th Division. However, the Japanese planes and artillery bombarded more violently, and the 58th Division fought and left, killing and wounding more than 70 officers and more than 800 soldiers in one day.
Xue Yue ordered the 4th Army withdrawn from Shahe and Huang Wei's 18th Army on the western line of Minshan to intercept and kill. The Maruyama detachment, which was in full swing, was finally blocked on the Mahuiling line, and the "great news" of Radio Tokyo came to an early death. On the front line of Jinguanqiao, the main forces of the Chinese army were all transferred to the front line of Huanglaomen.
With the help of the Maruyama detachment, the 106th Division finally broke through the defense line of the Chinese army and advanced 20 kilometers, forming an east-west echo with the 101st Division.
Xue Yue was very annoyed by this result. He believes that the fundamental reason for this passive situation is the ineffective operation of the 74th Army of Yu Jishi. Therefore, when he ordered the headquarters to draft a review document for this operation, he asked the Military Commission to severely punish Yu Jishi: "I am not sure that the Nanxun operation will not punish a high-ranking general who neglects his duties!"
Chief of Staff Di Xingyu said to Zhao Zili, who was in charge of writing, "We use troops one by one, and there are also improprieties, and we can't blame them all." Since Wu Qiwei's group has been completely withdrawn, let's forget it!" Zhao Zili also thought so, and the two persuaded Xue Yue together, and Xue Yue had no choice but to give up.
Okamura Ninji was also not satisfied with this result, and seeing that the plan could not be realized, he was afraid that the Maruyama detachment, an important mobile force, would be consumed in Mahuiling, so on 3 September, he issued Lyu Jizuo Order No. 48: The 106th Division would immediately gather troops in the vicinity of Mahuiling and Caojiapo to prepare for future operations, and the 9th Division would recall the Maruyama detachment and place it on the main front, with a view to preparing for an early advance in the new direction of Yang, but the movement of the Maruyama detachment must be kept as secret as possible.
The loss of more than 1,000 officers and soldiers still did not create "great good news", and Maruyama also regretted this. According to Okamura's order, he immediately led his troops to secretly withdraw west to Ruichang and return the 9th Division.
When Xue Yue let Yu Ji go, he was angry and had nowhere to vent, and when he heard that the Maruyama detachment was secretly retreating westward, he immediately ordered: The 18th Army will follow and pursue, otherwise military law will be engaged!
On September 4, under the command of Huang Wei, all units of the 18th Army adopted the tactics of small forces attacking and harassing, hitting and running, and continuously attacked the Maruyama detachment. On the 6th, the engineer battalion of the 11th Division of the 18th Army laid a minefield of up to one kilometer on the mountain road in the Xintang area between Minshan and Ruichang, and then laid an ambush on both sides of the road with the cavalry company. When the Japanese convoy and cavalry entered the ambush position, the engineer battalion commander gave an order, and all the mines were detonated, and then the engineer battalion and the cavalry company were killed together. The mines blew up nine armored vehicles, and the Japanese cavalry units accompanying the convoy also suffered heavy losses, killing many horses and personnel, and capturing 42 surviving military horses and a number of important documents.
The battered Maruyama detachment finally returned to the Ruichang area on September 8 and could only accept the order to rest. Once again, the Japanese army's attempt to occupy the important town of De'an came to naught.