After the outbreak of the July 7 Incident in 1937, Japan opened the prelude to an all-out invasion of China. For a time, the mountains and rivers shattered, and the lives were destroyed. Countless Chinese people have suffered as a result. In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, due to Chiang Kai-shek's luck and the military strength of the Japanese army, the Japanese army was invincible on the land of China. A tug-of-war between attack and defense has been staged repeatedly on the land of China.
In 1938, in order to prevent the Japanese army from invading zhengzhou, a key area in the Central Plains, and defending Wuhan, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the yellow river to be broken and the Japanese army was blocked by water substitutes. So what is the impact after breaking the Yellow River?
This is described in the movie 1942. The great famine in Henan in 1942 was indirectly caused by the 1938 Huayuankou dike, in fact, the Huayuankou dike not only harmed for many years, but the damage it caused at that time was even more terrible, 890,000 ordinary people were drowned, more than 12 million mu of cultivated land was destroyed, and millions of people lost their homes.
Since we have paid such a high price, how many Japanese soldiers have drowned in the Garden Mouth breach? Did it stop the Japanese from continuing to attack? Now it seems that what are the pros and cons? Before entering the main topic, new friends can pay attention to it a little, not miss the wonderful content of the future, and review previous articles.
At the Battle of Xuzhou, the Chinese army won first and then lost
In 1937, the Japanese army attacked Wancheng and began a full-scale invasion of China, and wanted to expand the war to the south step by step. In order to change the strategic deployment of Japan's attack from north to south, Chiang Kai-shek decided to launch a major campaign in Shanghai, allowing the Japanese army to attack from east to west, and then use China's vast hinterland and slowly increasing altitude to slow down the Japanese attack.
I never thought that Chiang Kai-shek's chaotic command in the Battle of Songhu led to a great rout of the Nationalist army, and in this battle our army suffered heavy casualties, and there were more than a dozen major generals who sacrificed for the country alone. After the Battle of Songhu, although the Japanese army still advanced all the way, the drawbacks of the two-way operation were gradually exposed, and the Japanese army was originally relatively tense, and now it is divided into two roads, which is even more stretched.
In order to solve this dilemma, the Japanese army wanted to connect the northern and southern battlefields, and the shortcomings of the shortage of troops at that time could be compensated by the frequent mobilization of the army. In order to achieve this strategic goal, the Japanese army mobilized 240,000 troops to take Xuzhou, an important military town in East China, and in 1938, the 13th Division of the Japanese Army first attacked Bengbu and Fengyang, and the nearby Nationalist 31st Army resisted and retreated westward.
After the Japanese army took Bengbu, it forcibly crossed the Huai River and continued to advance, and the Kuomintang 51st Army continued to block the attack, but due to the large gap in weapons and equipment, the 51st Army suffered heavy losses and began to retreat, and then the famous anti-Japanese general Zhang Zizhong led his troops to come to the rescue, the Japanese 13th Division withdrew to the same place, and the two sides confronted along the Huai River.
Seeing that the Japanese army in the south was slow and unable to go north. The Second Japanese Army Group in the north began to attack south, the Setani detachment launched a major attack on Fuji County, and the 122nd Division of the Sichuan Army, which was defending the city, resisted, but in the face of several times its own and well-equipped Japanese troops, Fuji County eventually fell, and the commander of the 122nd Division, Wang Mingzhang, sacrificed his life for the country.
After the occupation of Teng County, the Japanese army was extremely arrogant, with 40,000 troops directly attacking Taierzhuang, and although the defenders in the city suffered heavy casualties, they did not retreat from the battle. After Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater of Operations, saw that the Japanese army was contained, he quickly ordered Tang Enbo's troops to come to support. Then Tang Enbo's troops suddenly appeared in the rear of the Japanese army.
At this time, the Japanese army found itself surrounded by layers of Chinese troops, and the Japanese commander quickly ordered a breakthrough, but the Japanese army was already at the end of the crossbow at this time, the Chinese army took advantage of the situation to attack on both sides, and the commander of the Chifeng City Division in Taierzhuang City led the defenders to counterattack in all directions, and the Japanese army left more than 10,000 corpses and fled in a hurry.
The victory in Taierzhuang was too timely, and even Fu Zuoyi, a famous general who defended the city, directly praised Chifeng City, and the Battle of Taierzhuang was also a major victory won by our army on the frontal battlefield after the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japan. After a major victory, many people were confused and felt that China could win quickly, and then the Military Commission ordered Li Zongren to concentrate his forces and once again surround and annihilate the Japanese army.
The Japanese army also changed its tactics at this time, the Japanese command planned to use a small number of troops to hold back on the front, while the main Force of the Japanese Army detoured to surround Xuzhou, hoping to take this opportunity to completely annihilate the Nationalist forces in the Fifth Theater. After that, the Japanese offensive became more and more fierce, Chiang Kai-shek realized that the Japanese army had other intentions in this operation, and quickly summoned Bai Chongxi, Chen Cheng, and He Yingqin to study together, He Yingqin and others saw the Japanese army's intentions, suggested that Chiang Kai-shek quickly abandon Xuzhou, and then under the command of Li Zongren, all the Nationalist troops retreated in an orderly manner to the mountains of Henan and Anhui provinces.
Cheng Qian mobilized a large army and wanted to eat Kenji Toihara in one bite
After the Battle of Xuzhou, the japanese troops continued to expand their achievements outwards. At this time, kenji Doihara, the head of the famous Japanese secret service, led the Japanese 14th Division into a salient. When Cheng Qian, commander of the First Theater of Operations, learned that the Japanese Fourteenth Division had penetrated alone, he was overjoyed and quickly mobilized 120,000 troops to surround the Fourteenth Division, hoping to eat the Japanese Fourteenth Division in one bite.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Kenji Toihara quickly organized his troops to break through and concentrated his forces to attack Lanfeng. At that time, the kuomintang 27th Army, which was a descendant of Chiang Kai-shek, was responsible for the defense of Lanfeng, and there was even a tank battalion in the army, equipped with the famous German No. 1 tank. The military commander Gui Yongqing graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy and later went to the German Infantry School for further study, and Gui Yongqing was also Chiang Kai-shek's favorite general.
It is reasonable to say that the 27th Army should have no problem defending Lanfeng, but when the 14th Division of Kenji Toihara began to bombard the 27th position with artillery, Gui Yongqing's 27th Army collapsed in its entirety, and the soldiers rushed to flee west. The strength of an entire army, but because of the greed and fear of death of the commander Gui Yongqing, he did not hold it for even a day.
After Kenji Toihara captured Lanfeng, he jumped out of the encirclement circle deployed by Cheng Qian, but our advantage was still very large. After all, Cheng Qian had more than 100,000 troops in his hands, and it was difficult for his fourteenth division to go away.
Chiang Kai-shek ordered Xue Yue to command the 4th Route Army, plus the southern part of HuZong, to encircle the Japanese Fourteenth Division around Lanfeng from the east and west. Chiang Kai-shek also warned the generals of all walks of life that the current campaign has a great bearing, and all departments should make efforts to attack according to Xue Yue's command, reward those who have meritorious service, and severely punish those who attack unfavorably or retreat without authorization.
After that, Xue Yue commanded the troops to attack in an all-round way, and to completely annihilate the Japanese Fourteenth Division as quickly as possible. After a day of fierce fighting, the 71st Army led by Song Xilian recaptured Lanfeng Station, and the next day attacked the Japanese positions outside Lanfeng City. Yu Jishi's 74th Army also recaptured Luowang Station. On May 27, Song Xilian's 71st Army recaptured Lanfeng after a bloody battle. The main force of the Fourteenth Division suffered heavy losses and could only shrink to the vicinity of Sanyi Village, which was only one step away from the headquarters of the Total Annihilation Ofo Feiyuan.
At this time, the Japanese army also saw the dilemma of Kenji Doihara and sent a large number of troops to rescue. Among them, the 16th Division of the Japanese Army is the closest to Kenji Doihara, separated by only one Shangqiu Castle. Defending Shangqiu was the Eighth Army, and Huang Jie, the commander of the Eighth Army, was equally greedy for life and afraid of death, and he found a ridiculous reason: the radio was destroyed and could not communicate with Cheng Qian. After that, his Eighth Army did not fire a single shot, so it abandoned Shangqiu and fled.
The two military commanders, believing that they were Chiang Kai-shek's concubines, did not listen to Cheng Qian's command and fled without a fight, which also completely disrupted Cheng Qian's deployment. The opportunity to encircle and annihilate the Fourteenth Division of the Japanese Army was wasted by two greedy and fearful commanders. In this encirclement and annihilation war, the Kuomintang invested a total of more than 100,000 troops, but failed to annihilate 20,000 Japanese troops, and even Chiang Kai-shek believed that this battle was the laughing stock of eternity.
After the fall of Shangqiu, the Nationalist forces besieging Kenji Doihara were attacked on their backs, and more and more Japanese troops came to reinforce Kenji Doihara. On the contrary, after several days of bitter fighting, the Kuomintang troops suffered heavy losses, and the Kuomintang troops were already in a disadvantageous position at this time. Xue Yue was helpless and issued a transfer order.
When the Japanese North China Front saw the Kuomintang retreating, it immediately began to pursue it with all its might. Kenji Toihara reoccupied Lanfeng and then attacked Kaifeng all the way. The 141st Division of the Nationalist Army stationed in Kaifeng retreated without any resistance, and Kaifeng fell. In this battle, many Kuomintang generals were greedy and afraid of death, and escaped from the battlefield, which made Xue Yue indignant.
Instead of water, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the opening of the garden
After that, the Japanese 14th And 16th Divisions continued to advance westward, hoping to take Zhengzhou directly. Zhengzhou was at this time the headquarters of the First Theater, hundreds of thousands of troops in the First Theater, but could not stop the attack of the two divisions of the Japanese army, Chiang Kai-shek remembered the method told him by the German adviser Falkenhausen before, and decided to open the Yellow River to block the Japanese army.
At this time, Cheng Qian, commander of the First Theater, also wanted to break the embankment to prevent the Japanese army from continuing to advance westward. However, Cheng Qian knew that the breaking of the embankment was of great importance, and he was afraid that he would bear the insult in the future, so he asked Chiang Kai-shek for instructions by telegram, and Chiang Kai-shek replied with approval. The First Theater immediately held a meeting, and Cheng Read out the arrangements at the meeting, and Shang Zhen, commander of the 20th Group Army, was specifically responsible for breaking the embankment.
After that, Shang Zhen personally led two regiments of soldiers to break the embankment, and after several days of blasting, it failed because of the blockage of the waterway. In the past few days, the First Theater has been calling to inquire about the breach of the embankment, and is extremely concerned about this matter.
Jiang Zaizhen, commander of the New Eighth Division under Shang Zhen, suggested that the embankment be broken at the mouth of the garden instead, and both Cheng Qian and Chiang Kai-shek agreed. On June 9, 1938, the garden mouth was finally dug up to open the water, and it was raining heavily, and the gap in the garden mouth was getting bigger and bigger, and the water was surging down. The water of the Yellow River quickly flowed down the Jialu River, the nearby villages were rapidly flooded, the flood flowed down, Zhongmu, Weishi, and Fugou were all submerged, and the water of the Yellow River did not stop, rushing all the way to the Huai River, washing away the banks of the Huai River, at this time even Bengbu and SuXian in Anhui Became a Ze country.
Due to the breach of the Yellow River embankment, all the Japanese troops stopped attacking, and part of the 14th Division led by Kenji Doihara was besieged at the site of Zhongmu by the flood, and the Japanese Second Army sent a large number of troops to rescue. Because the Japanese Sixteenth Division was in the center of the flood area, almost 1,000 soldiers were drowned and washed away, and a month later, the Kuomintang troops launched a counterattack, and the Japanese army, which had just suffered from the flood disaster, was caught off guard, and retreated one after another, and could only retreat to the junction of Henan and Anhui.
The Japanese's originally planned offensive route was abandoned, the fighting near Zhengzhou gradually cooled, and the yellow pan area formed by the flooding of the Yellow River became a military demarcation line, keeping the Japanese out. However, the Japanese army did not give up attacking Wuhan, most of the Japanese army retreated to Xuzhou, then to the south to Bengbu, and then crossed the Huai River into Hefei, and continued to besiege Wuhan.
After the Huayuankou embankment broke, the Kuomintang actively publicized to the outside world, never mentioning the 890,000 souls who drowned, as well as the tens of millions of people whose homes were flooded. Henan. Anhui and Jiangsu flooded everywhere, of which Henan was the most affected, the Yellow River flooded more than 9 million mu of arable land in Henan, drowned 470,000 people, washed away 1.4 million houses, displaced millions of people, and the plague and food shortages brought after the flood also caused a large number of deaths and injuries.
Chiang Kai-shek also knew that the reason for this time was the ineffectiveness of the Nationalist army, so after the incident, the Nationalist government allocated 2 million yuan for disaster relief, organized manpower to receive grain from the disaster victims in the disaster area, and distributed medicines to treat the plague. However, for a large number of disaster victims, these 2 million disaster relief funds and food are only a drop in the bucket, and they cannot save many disaster victims at all.
What is even more cruel is that the Huayuankou embankment caused a large number of yellow pan areas, henan and other places suffered drought for many years, and then the grain harvest was not harvested, forming a famine, of which the great famine of 1942 was the most famous. Tens of millions of people became refugees and had to go out to beg for food, of whom 3 million starved to death on their way to escape.
Even when Henan was suffering such a disaster, Chiang Kai-shek still levied grain on Henan on a large scale, and after the amount of grain requisition was sent to Xu Kan, the minister of grain, Xu Kan changed the grain collection unit from stone to a package, so that the people of Henan paid 1/3 more grain. It was not until October of that year, when a national congress was held in Chongqing, and Guo Zhongkui from Henan showed the tragic situation of the victims of Henan, that the disaster situation in Henan was paid attention to by the National Government.
The National Government claimed to allocate 500 million French dollars, 200 million yuan to open a porridge factory to help the disaster victims, and 300 million French dollars to purchase grain to help the disaster victims, but at that time, the corrupt officials at all levels exploited down, and there was very little grain that fell into the mouth of the disaster victims, even if there was no exploitation by corrupt officials, the grain purchased in 300 million French tenders was equally distributed to the heads of 30 million disaster victims, and each disaster victim could only get one kilogram of grain.
The most heinous thing is that the two military commanders, Gui Yongqing and Huang Jie, who fled without a fight, were only dismissed from their posts, and even some Kuomintang people believed that the breaking of the embankment at the mouth of the Garden was a broken wrist of a hero, and after this incident, the credibility of Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang was lost in Henan. During the Liberation War, ordinary people everywhere rushed to support the People's Liberation Army, and the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek spurned it, and I don't know whether Chiang Kai-shek had reflected on breaking the embankment at the mouth of the garden after he was defeated and retreated to Taiwan.
Breaking the Yellow River has pros and cons
Chiang Kai-shek broke the embankment of the Yellow River, and judging from the number of thousands of deaths and injuries caused to the Japanese army, the war situation against Japan appeared to be really weak. But one thing is worth affirming: at that time, the Nationalist army was really too weak, and the Japanese army was invincible and broke the Yellow River, which did buy Chiang Kai-shek some time and avoid the tragedy of the Japanese army's "three months of destruction of China".
The Japanese later occupied the wartime capital, Wuhan, but Chiang Kai-shek also gained a respite. From a certain point of view, breaking the Yellow River is useful for the anti-Japanese resistance.
However, the breach of the Yellow River was essentially caused by the unfavorable reasons of the Kuomintang military officials' resistance to the War of Resistance, which was an avoidable event. Later, Chiang Kai-shek once broke the yellow river and blamed it on the Japanese army, which was really not enough. After the flood, he did not think about disaster relief and poverty relief, and he also intensified the oppression of the people. So that later in the Liberation War, the people fell to the People's Liberation Army, which was caused by Chiang Kai-shek's original wrong decisions.
When Chiang Kai-shek defeated And retired to Taiwan in 1949, he may still not understand why his military equipment, the area of the Kuomintang area, and the material assistance far exceeded that of the People's Liberation Army. It can only be said in one sentence: Those who win the hearts and minds of the people win the world, and Chiang Kai-shek, who abandons the people, is doomed to be abandoned by the people.