Strategically, the Battle of Songhu was a relatively successful battle, and the Nationalist government, through its active offensive in Shanghai, diverted the Japanese army's threat to north and central China, so that the War of Resistance Against Japan could have a greater strategic space.
But I also believe that the Battle of Songhu was a tactically extremely unsuccessful battle, and although it took three months to break the arrogant rhetoric of the Japanese army to destroy China in three months, it also caused the Chinese army to pay too many unnecessary casualties.
This is actually a campaign to force the Japanese army to make a strategic migration, and it should be withdrawn from the battlefield in a timely manner under appropriate offensive and resistance, in order to complete the established objectives of the campaign, rather than evolving such a campaign into a decisive battle-type refueling campaign.
In the Battle of Songhu, the Nationalist army killed and wounded more than 40,000 Japanese troops with more than 300,000 casualties. The extent of its tragedy can be imagined. And the heroic resistance of the Nationalist generals under the cover of a large number of Warships, Warplanes, and artillery of the Japanese Army is also singable and weeping.
Throughout the campaign, the casualties of the Gui army can reflect the fierceness of the Battle of Songhu from one side.
Participating in the Battle of Songhu was the 21st Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army, the main force of the Gui clan, and the commander-in-chief of its group army was Liao Lei, who had the 7th Army and the 48th Army under its command. Zhou Zuhuang served as the commander of the 7th Army, Xu Qiming as the deputy commander, and had three divisions under his jurisdiction, the 170th Division, with Xu Qiming as the division commander; the 171st Division, with Yang Junchang as the division commander; and the 172nd Division, Cheng Shufen as the division commander.
The 48th Army was commanded by Xia Wei (Later Wei Yunsong), with the 173rd Division under its command, with Li Tingxun as the commander; the 174th Division, with Wang Zanbin as the division commander; and the 176th Division, with Ou Shounian as the division commander.
The power of the Gui warlords was in the two Guangdong generations, and the Gui army was also known as the "Guangxi Wolf Soldier". The 21st Group Army marched north on foot, marching thousands of miles to aid the Songhu battlefield, and before it could rest, it entered the battle.
Prior to this, the Large-scale increase of troops by the Japanese army to send back to the battlefield has completely constituted a land, sea and air integrated attack, in fact, the best way for the National Army at that time was to try to alternately cover the retreat, rather than continue to invest a large number of troops to continue to fight with the Japanese army.
That is to say, this group army has a total of six divisions and more than 60,000 Gui troops, which can completely cover the retreat or not put into the battlefield as a new force for resistance in the future, but Chiang Kai-shek has used them as the capital of the counter-offensive.
On October 15, the entire Gui army arrived at the Songhu battlefield.
Before entering the battle, Bai Chongxi, the leader of the Gui clan, once said to others: "This War of Resistance is an international war, we are soldiers cultivated by the state, and we have the responsibility to defend the territory." In the past, we were all fighting civil wars, but now we are fighting a foreign war, and we must fight hard and fight well. Call everyone to see, call foreigners to see. ”
It can be seen that this is not Chiang Kai-shek's intention to eliminate the strength of the Gui army, but that the Nationalist government intends to use this as a capital for continuous combat.
This kind of thinking is destined to be tragic and tragic.
After taking over the front-line troops, which had already suffered heavy casualties, the Gui army quickly inflicted a great blow on the Japanese army. Subsequently, the Gui army organized more than 10,000 death squads to attack the Japanese positions, but due to the japanese army's three-dimensional firepower and the problem of tactical command, the soldiers of the Gui army suffered extremely heavy casualties.