The Battle of Wuhan was a battle fought by the Chinese army against the Japanese army in the Wuhan area during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, with more than 257,000 Japanese casualties and more than 400,000 casualties of our army.
In 1937, after the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance, the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government set up a special Yangtze River Blocking Committee in order to block the enemy's westward advance and ensure the safety of Jiujiang and Wuhan.
Among them, the 2nd and 3rd General Brigades and the 2nd Brigade of the Marine Detachment served as garrisons for the Fortress of Ma and the Fortress of Hukou.
In terms of its troop composition, the garrison of the Fortress of Ma'an actually has only one battalion of troops, and the most advanced weapon is only the Japanese-made Type 3875 Field Artillery, a total of 8 guns, and only one base of ammunition.
Obviously, purely from the perspective of the troop allocation of the Jiangfang Fortress Garrison Command, such a force deployment is not commensurate with the extremely important position of the Ma'an Fortress, and it is not strong at all, and it barely has a military presence.
Why is this happening? Perhaps, the number of troops under the command of the Jiang defensive reserve command is not large, and it is difficult to put more forces on the horse, which is an important reason.
Another reason, I am afraid, is that on top of the Ma'an Fortress and the Hukou Fortress, the Military Commission also set up a Mahu District Fortress Headquarters, with Li Yunheng, commander of the 16th Army, concurrently serving as the commander-in-chief.
In fact, the idea of the Jiangfang Fortress Garrison Command was not wrong; Li Yunheng, commander of the 16th Army, did deploy the strength of 1 regiment, that is, the 313th Regiment, in a riverside position not far from Ma'an from Xiangkou to the south of Dongliu to prevent the Japanese from landing in this area; other troops, some in the southwest area of Ma'an, some south of Taibai Lake, and some in the Pengze area, still had some troops to maneuver and could be reinforced at any time to the Area of Ma'an Fortress.
In this way, the fortress of Ma'an had very strong fortifications, a blocking line that was difficult to break through, and a strong Chinese army, and it was very difficult for the Japanese to land from here to open the gate to attack Wuhan.
However, the problem lies precisely in the 16th Army.
It is reasonable to say that when the Japanese Kou could develop an offensive to the west at any time, li Yunheng, the commander of the army, led the troops to defend the front line of Ma'an, Pengze, and Hukou, and the task was arduous and the responsibility was heavy; it was necessary to put in the first place the enhancement of the combat effectiveness and vigilance of the troops and the strict prevention of the attacks of the Japanese Kou, and everything should be carried out with this as the center. However, around June 10, 1938, he summoned the township chiefs and security chiefs of Ma'an and Pengze, as well as the deputy officers and platoon commanders of the army, for a two-week training, which was called the "Anti-Japanese Military and Political University". As a result, the commander of the front-line troops was not in the main position, the soldiers could not find the main general, and there was chaos.
The worst is yet to come.
After the completion of the two-week training, the Japanese did not launch an attack, and Li Yunheng was even more relieved, so he simply took advantage of the end of the training to hold a very important graduation ceremony on June 24, followed by a large dinner event, in which the commanders of all the divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies under the jurisdiction of the 16th Army participated, so that there were almost no commanders in the front line.
The problem arose on this day.
At dawn, the Japanese Kou quietly docked in front of the position guarded by the 313th Regiment near Xiangkou in small boats, and when they went up, they launched a surprise attack on the Chinese defenders with light machine guns.
At this time, most of the regiment's company officers had only one platoon leader and one division chief, making it difficult to organize an effective defense. The position was immediately breached by the Japanese Kou, and after the Japanese Kou captured the incense mouth, they immediately formed 3 assault groups, raised heavy machine guns, and launched a surprise attack from the Taibai Lake to the Changshan position.
The 2nd General Corps under the Jiangfang Fortress Garrison Command, which was guarding the Changshan position, immediately entered a heavy machine gun bunker with 8 reinforced concrete joints, and launched a fierce counterattack against the Japanese with heavy machine guns. In one day, they repelled 4 raids by the Japanese Kou in succession.
After discovering the Attack of the Japanese Kou, the commander of the 2nd General Brigade commanded his officers and men to engage in a fierce battle with the Japanese Kou, and at the same time kept reporting to the Ma'an Fortress Command and the Mahu District Fortress Command by telephone, hoping to quickly receive reinforcements to completely eliminate the Japanese who landed.
However, all the commanders were attending the graduation ceremony and went to eat and drink after the graduation ceremony.
It was not until 3 p.m. that Li Yunheng learned the truth that the Japanese had already launched an attack.
Li Yunheng was still sober, and immediately ordered Xue Weiying, commander of the 167th Division, to lead his men and horses to the rescue, and it seemed that the momentum of the Japanese attack would soon be able to be contained. However, things took another turn in a bad direction.
Originally, when Li Yunheng gave xue Weiying an order, he specified that the route of the 167th Division was to reinforce Peng Ze through the trail east of Taibai Lake in the direction of Xiangkou, rather than taking the road from Pengze to Ma'an. Li Yunheng's order was indeed unbelievable.
Even more bizarrely, he did not send other troops closer to Ma'an, but rather the 167th Division as far away as Penze.
This was a fatal mistake made by Li Yunheng, and naturally Li Yunheng should bear the responsibility for the crime.
As the commander of the 167th Division, which was responsible for the rescue mission, what kind of responsibility should Xue Weiying bear?
If he had carried out Li Yunheng's orders without any other choice, then the executor of an unreasonable order at best would not have been reused, and there would have been no more serious punishment.
In fact, when he received Li Yunheng's order, he also received Bai Chongxi's order.
It turned out that during this period, Bai Chongxi was inspecting the front line of the Fortress at the mouth of Ma'an Lake.
When Ma Dai was attacked by the Japanese, the commander of the 2nd General Brigade could not request reinforcements from his superiors, so he reported directly to Bai Chongxi. Bai Chongxi's order to Xue Weiying was to quickly take a shortcut to ma'an to rescue him. As a result, Xue Weiying ignored Bai Chongxi's orders and finally chose to carry out Li Yunheng's orders.
At this point, Xue Weiying not only buried his future, but even buried his life, and was the first division commander to be shot in the Battle of Wuhan.
Is Xue Weiying wronged? Compared with Li Yunheng, he was indeed a bit wronged. After all, he only chose to carry out Li Yunheng's orders, and if he should be shot, Li Yunheng should also be shot, and as a result, Li Yunheng was only removed from his post.
More than 50 years later, as one of the few survivors of the Ma'an defensive battle, Mr. DuLongji was still indignant when he recalled the incident: "It was the 16th Army that affected the overall situation, and he (Li Yunheng) sat idly by and watched the danger of the defensive area of the Ma'an Fortress and the Changshan Fortress, and did not send reinforcements to make it lose, which is the real responsibility!" ”