What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
In May 1938, Kenji Toihara led 20,000 men of the Japanese 14th Division to the Lanfeng area of Henan Province, and Cheng Qian, commander of the Chinese First Theater of Operations, annihilated the prominent Japanese 14th Division between Neihuang, Yifeng, and Minquan, and ordered Li Hanling, commander of the 29th Army, to command the 74th Army and the 155th Division of the 64th Army to the East Road Army, from Shangqiu to the west; Gui Yongqing, commander of the 27th Army, to command the 71st Army to the West Road Army and advance east from Lanfeng; and to order the Sun Tongxuan Department of the 3rd Group Army and the Shangzhen Department of the 20th Group Army to be the North Road Army Cut off the passage for the Japanese army to retreat to the north bank of the Yellow River near Dingtao, Heze, Dongming, and Kaocheng (present-day Guyang, northeast of Lankao). At the same time, Huang Jie, commander of the 8th Army, commanded the 8th Army, the 187th Division of the 94th Army, and the 24th Division to hold on to The Mountain and Shangqiu to stop the Japanese troops from Xuzhou advancing west along the Longhai Road.
After fierce fighting, the 51st Division of the 74th Army and a brigade of the 88th Division of the 71st Army recaptured Neihuang, and the 87th Division of the 71st Army recaptured Yifeng. The 71st Army and the 74th Army retook the villages of Ximaoguzhai, Yanglou, and Helou, dealing a heavy blow to the enemy. The Japanese 14th Division concentrated its forces on attacking the Yangguji and Shuangtaji areas, and the positions of the 27th Army were broken, and Gui Yongqing actually led his troops to retreat to Kaifeng and Qixian, so that the 88th Division took over the 106th Division to defend Lanfeng. The commander of the 88th Division, Long Muhan, after Gui Yongqing retreated, also abandoned the city on the night of May 23 and fled without authorization, causing the Japanese army to occupy lanfeng, a strategic position on the Longhai Road, without a fight on May 24.
After hearing the news, Chiang Kai-shek was extremely shocked, and after executing Long Muhan, on May 24, He ordered Xue Yue, commander-in-chief of the 19th Group Army of the First Theater, to command Yu Jishi's 74th Army, Li Hanling's 64th Army, Song Xilian's 71st Army, and Gui Yongqing's 27th Army from east to west, and ordered Hu Zongnan, commander of the 17th Army, to surround the Japanese 14th Division around Lanfeng, Luowangzhai, Sanyiji, and Quxingji from west to east, and began to attack on May 25. Before the war, Xue Yue made careful arrangements, believing that the Japanese 14th Division was sure to completely annihilate Theo-Ihihara Kenji, after the battle began, the effect was also good, and the good news that came to Xue Yue was that more than the 74th Army conquered Luowang Station, the 71st Army recaptured Lanfeng, and the 90th Army took Quxingji, all of which made him excited, and he believed that the cage that encircled Tufeiyuan was finally getting tighter and tighter, and the more it was tied up, the smaller it was. After reading the war reports of various armies sent by Xue Yue, Chiang Kai-shek was also very happy, and could not help but say with joy: "It seems that Xue Boling (Xue Yue Zi BoLing) is going to paint a big picture for me!"
However, just when Chiang Kai-shek and Xue Yue were plotting how to tighten the ropes and tie up the soil and fertilizer plains, another accident appeared! Huang Jie's 8th Army, which was defending Guide (present-day Shangqiu) to prevent the enemy from reinforcing Tufeiyuan, withdrew its troops without authorization when the enemy's vanguard approached the position, and fled in the hope of the wind! The news of Huang Jie's loss of Guide made Xue Yue shocked that he did not return for half a day, and the hookah pipe trembled in his hand and fell to the ground, and he was completely unaware. "I'm fucking fucking Huang Dayun!" Didn't you put a knife in my heart?" He slapped the table in anger and scolded.
In the end, Huang was only removed from his post and locked up for half a month. But the consequences of his unauthorized retreat were serious, not only Xuchang was in danger! Zhengzhou is in danger! Xue Yue's 100,000 troops who surrounded Tufeiyuan were also in danger! Xue Yue looked up at the sky and sighed: "One general is incompetent, kill the three armies!" For more than ten days, his painstaking planning of a large hand actually ended in such a sloppy failure!
Chiang Kai-shek did not expect that the battle situation would change so quickly, and in desperation, on June 9, he ordered the New 8th Division of the Shangzhen 20th Group Army to blow up the yellow river garden mouth embankment and turn the gushing yellow water into a weapon to resist the enemy. According to statistics afterwards, the Yellow River broke the embankment and flooded more than 40 counties in Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, causing 12.5 million people to be displaced and 890,000 people to die in the belly of fish!