When we think of the Battle of Songhu, most of us will think of the blockade battle of the Sihang Warehouse, think of the bravery and fearlessness of the eight hundred heroes, but we know very little about the general process of the Battle of Songhu and the reasons for its defeat, and its historical significance is even more impossible to talk about. This article will share with you the process of the Battle of Songhu, analyze the reasons for the failure of the Battle of Songhu, explore the historical significance of the Battle of Songhu, welcome to pay attention to, and share more historical stories for you.
The Battle of Songhu began with the provocation of the Japanese army, on the afternoon of August 9, 1937, a lieutenant of the Japanese army, Ōyama, took a soldier to break into Hongqiao Airport and was killed by the Chinese gendarmes guarding the airport, which was actually a common trick used by the Japanese army, similar to the Lugou Bridge Incident. Afterwards, the Japanese army demanded that the relevant personnel be punished and that China withdraw from the security forces, which of course was categorically rejected by China. The Japanese used this as an excuse to increase their troops to Shanghai. At the same time, the Nationalists also began to send troops to Shanghai to prepare for battle, but when Zhang Zhizhong made a request to launch an attack on the morning of August 13, Chiang Kai-shek ordered him to wait. What are you waiting for? At this time, Chiang Kai-shek still had illusions about international mediation and did not dare to take the initiative to attack, and today it seems that this move is really a delay in the fighter. The Japanese army saw through the movement of the nationalist army and launched an attack on Baoshan on the morning of the 13th, and the Battle of Songhu began. Faced with pressure from all sides, Chiang Kai-shek finally issued an order for a counter-offensive on the 14th.
On the 14th, the Chinese Air Force launched an air raid, bombing the Japanese strongholds and ships, and the Japanese Izumo was severely damaged. Zhang Zhizhong immediately commanded the 87th and 88th Divisions to attack the Japanese army, however, the Japanese fortifications were strong, and after three days of bloody fighting, they still did not make progress, but suffered heavy casualties. The Japanese army saw the stubborn resistance of the Nationalist army, constantly increasing its troops, and the two sides turned to a stalemate stage.
Beginning on the 23rd, the two sides fought a tug-of-war in Luodian, during the day, the Japanese army occupied Luodian, and at night, the Nationalist army desperately recaptured, the two sides suffered heavy casualties, in this 2 square kilometer town, there is no complete wall, more than 20,000 corpses are too late to bury.
On September 5, Baoshan County, north of Wusongkou, was surrounded by more than 2,500 Japanese troops, and only 500 brave soldiers were guarded here, and under the leadership of the battalion commander Yao Ziqing, they fought with the Japanese army to the death, and after seven days and seven nights of bloody battles, only one messenger survived, and the battalion commander Yao Ziqing was posthumously awarded the title of major general of the army.
At this point, the Japanese army approached shanghai from the east and north, the Nationalist army chose to retreat strategically, and at the same time, Chiang Kai-shek dispatched troops from all over the country to support. This included the main forces of the Gui, Xiang and Sichuan armies. Beginning on October 1, the Japanese concentrated their superior forces to attack the area south of Dachang, south of The Crabzag, and the 21st Army of the Gui Army heroically resisted, but due to insufficient firepower and insufficient training of soldiers, it had to abandon the Dachang area.
Faced with defeat on the battlefield, Bai Chongxi proposed to abandon Shanghai, lengthen the front line, and deplete the Japanese army, however, Chiang Kai-shek was still counting on Britain, France and the United States to mediate, he only ordered a retreat to the south bank of the Suzhou River, and left a battalion of troops to block the sihang warehouse on the north bank, which was Xie Jinyuan's reinforcement battalion. The eight hundred heroes we know well are actually four hundred.
On the night of the 26th, 423 people in the whole battalion retreated while fighting, entered the Sihang warehouse, and made a good defense. On the morning of the 27th, the Japanese Third Division marched toward the north bank of the Suzhou River with great swagger, and when it reached the Sihang warehouse, it was ambushed, killed more than ten people, and immediately transferred tank troops to cooperate with the infantry, however, the walls of the Sihang warehouse were extremely thick, and the tanks were useless. Xie Jinyuan led a battalion of brave men to condescending, circumvented the Japanese army for four days and four nights, killing more than 200 enemy people, and on the 29th, Britain, the United States, and other countries sent representatives to submit a petition to the National Government, demanding that the fighting be stopped for humanitarian reasons. However, for such reasons, the Kuomintang authorities forced Xie Jinyuan to withdraw into the concession.
Ruins of the Sihang Warehouse
On November 5, more than 100,000 Japanese troops landed at Jinshanwei and joined the Japanese forces in Shanghai, forming a two-sided attack on the retreating troops south of the Suzhou River of the Nationalist army, seeing that 700,000 troops were in danger, Chiang Kai-shek ordered a comprehensive retreat on the evening of the 8th. However, due to the hasty order and disorderly command, the full retreat turned into a total rout, and the National Army suffered heavy casualties. By November 11, the Japanese army had fully occupied Shanghai, and the three-month Battle of Songhu was over.
In this battle, the two sides invested million troops, their Chinese troops 750,000, the Japanese army 250,000, and the casualties are also staggering, the National army casualties of 200,000, the Japanese casualties of 40,000, there are also said 60,000. In this battle, the elite troops of the Nationalist army suffered a devastating blow, so that in the later Battle of Nanjing and the Battle of Wuhan, the Central Army had no troops to adjust, which directly caused the loss of Nanjing and the massacre of 300,000 compatriots. The Japanese occupation of Shanghai was also a huge blow to the economy of the Nationalist government, leaving hidden dangers for the passive situation of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in the future.
Then, why did the Battle of Songhu fail under the condition that the Nationalist army was superior?
First, the equipment level of the Nationalist army is very different from that of the Japanese army, and at the same time, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers is not as good as that of the Japanese army. The Infantry of the Japanese Army attacked by artillery fire, while the Nationalist army advanced by flesh and blood.
Second, they failed to grasp the opportunity and lost the lead. If Chiang Kai-shek had listened to Zhang Zhizhong's suggestion and launched an attack before the Japanese army, it would have been entirely possible to repel the strong enemy when the Japanese army had not yet made a good defense and the troops were insufficient.
Third, Chiang Kai-shek's hesitation, or his illusions about the mediation of the United States, Britain, France, and other countries, directly led to the lag in the command of the campaign, one step slowly, one step slowly, and finally caused a disorderly rout and caused unnecessary losses.
Fourth, in specific battles, the Nationalist army adopts position warfare, and it is not a correct tactic to fight for attrition when the equipment and the quality of the soldiers are inferior to those of the Japanese army. Such tactics were passive everywhere, and eventually lost the initiative in the campaign.
Fifth, the important strategic position of Hangzhou Bay was not recognized before the war, resulting in the smooth landing of the Japanese army at Jinshanwei and the formation of a two-sided offensive against the Nationalist army.
Sixth, the units involved in the war were lackluster in coordinated operations, and their communications were often interrupted, fighting their own battles, and although there were 750,000 troops, they were scattered. The reason why the final retreat became a big rout was mainly because the command was out of control.
Seventh, there are serious problems with intelligence. Before the outbreak of the campaign, the Nationalist army knew very little about the Japanese army, did not recognize the powerful combat strength of the Japanese army, and did not understand the characteristics of the Japanese army's combat.
Although this battle was lost, it cannot be said to be useless, as the largest battle, the Battle of Songhu has a unique historical significance.
First, the stubborn resistance to the Japanese army for three months bought time for a large number of industrial facilities and educational resources in the sea to move inland.
Second, it broke the arrogant plan of the Japanese army to occupy China for three months, disrupted the strategic deployment of the Japanese army, and enabled Japan to carry out a general mobilization for war in advance. The sooner you fall into it, the sooner you fall into it, the sooner you fail.
Third, in the Battle of Songhu, there were both Chiang Kai-shek's concubine troops and local warlords such as the Xiang army and the Sichuan army of the Gui Army, which played a positive role in forming an anti-Japanese national united front. In the face of the great national righteousness, all the Chinese united to persist in resisting for three months when the equipment and combat strength were inferior to those of the Japanese army, eliminating a large number of elite units of the Japanese army, and sowing the seeds for the final victory of the future War of Resistance. It turned out that the Japanese army was not invincible.
Fourth, the Battle of Songhu also showed the whole world that the Chinese is tenacious and indomitable, and the Chinese nation will certainly fight to the end for national independence!
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