This article is "An Inch of Mountains and Rivers and An Inch of Blood: 22 Large-Scale Battles of the War of Resistance" 14: The Second Battle of Changsha
In the night, the Japanese attacked the headquarters of the 74th Army, and the direct subordinate units of the 74th Army were scattered. The commander Wang Yaowu led the guards to break through urgently, and the guards platoon leader was captured and hacked to death by the Japanese army, and Wang Yaowu was able to escape through the night. After a day of fighting, only the 51st Division of the 74th Army was relatively complete, and the 57th and 58th Divisions were scattered.
In September 1941, the Chinese and Japanese armies once again broke out into a large-scale battle around Changsha. This battle is known in the history of the war as the "Second Battle of Changsha"
This time, Xue Yue's opponent was replaced by Lieutenant General Anan.
Before succeeding Kazuichiro Enibbe as commander of the 11th Army, Anan was the vice-minister of the Japanese Army Province. This was the first time that Anan had commanded a large-scale operation, and Anan was eager to try it, and his excitement was hard to suppress.
The commander of the Chinese 9th Theater was Xue Yue, and since the First Battle of Changsha in October 1939, the 9th Theater and the Japanese 11th Army had confronted each other along the Xinqiang River, and there had been no fighting in two years. At this time, the total strength of the 9th Theater was about 370,000 people, and Xue Yue also built a solid fortification, which he called the "Boling Defense Line" - Xue Yue's word was Boling.
01
Anan only changed his tactics in a few ways, but Xue Yue still copied the old tactics
Before the Second Battle of Changsha, in order to ensure the strength required to enter Southeast Asia, the Japanese base camp did not allow the 11th Army to use the troops that were about to be transferred to the Pacific, and at the same time required that the operation must be rapidly advanced, and then quickly retreat after completion, especially to hold Yichang.
Anand only commanded a large battle for the first time, and naturally hoped that the horse would succeed. To this end, he made full preparations. In order to formulate the battle plan, Anan, Kinoshita, and others went to great lengths to draw up the battle plan, and repeatedly sent planes to reconnoiter the terrain around northern Hunan and the allocation of our army; they also conscientiously summed up and referred to the lessons learned from the First Battle of Changsha, and at the same time convened a military meeting attended by the chiefs of staff of various divisions and regiments to solicit opinions and conduct wargame exercises.
In the battle plan, Anan learned the lessons of the First Battle of Changsha and completely concentrated his forces.
On a narrow front just 20 km along the New Wall, he lined up the four main divisions (the 40th, 6th, 3rd, and 4th divisions) from east to west. Anan only asked the Japanese to advance rapidly with large armies, complete the purpose of the battle in the shortest possible time, and then quickly withdraw to the same place. Anan's only goal was to crush the living forces of the 9th Theater of Operations, not to occupy Changsha.
The Japanese army changed its operational thinking, but Xue Yue was still immersed in the victory of the First Battle of Changsha, completely copying the old tactics, "luring the enemy to go deep" and "concentrating the main force" to fight a decisive battle around Changsha, which also doomed the fiasco of the Second Battle of Changsha.
02 The Japanese army swept the Dayun Mountain, and Xue Yue did not pay attention to it
Before the formal battle, Anan only ordered the Japanese 6th Division to sweep Dayun Mountain and drive the Chinese defenders of Dayun Mountain to the south bank, with the aim of driving it
Cover the concentration of its main forces and relieve the worries of the rear.
On September 7, 1941, the Japanese 6th Division, under the cover of aircraft, set out from Taolin and Zhongfang respectively to besiege Dayun Mountain from the east, west and north.
The Japanese thought it was a simple battle, but they encountered stubborn resistance from the Chinese defenders. On September 10, our army launched an offensive while the 6th Division and the 40th Division changed their defenses. The 58th Army controlled the main peak of Dayun Mountain, and the 59th Division, the 60th Division, and the newly formed 10th Division joined forces to encircle the Japanese 13th Wing.
When the Japanese 6th Division and the 40th Division were handed over, they somehow ignored that there was still a fierce battle with our army.
Only told the 40th Division that "the 6th Division has cleared the enemy at Dayun Mountain, and you will not encounter a large number of enemy troops."
The Shigematsu Detachment, the vanguard of the 40th Division, relaxed its vigilance and was violently ambushed by the newly formed 10th Division. The 13th Wing instead took the opportunity to escape from the encirclement, but the Shigematsu detachment became a new target in the encirclement of our army.
At the height of the battle, the grenades of Chinese officers and soldiers fell on the Japanese army like rain, and Daisaku Shigematsu even shouted "flag danger." Until the 15th, the Shigematsu detachment was still under siege, and the 11th Army sent the Araki detachment of the 33rd Division to the rescue.
The Japanese were able to get out of trouble after a bitter battle, but the 40th Division suffered heavy casualties, reaching more than half of the entire battle.
On September 15, more than four divisions of the Japanese army completed the assembly on the north bank of the New Wall River.
Although the battle of Dayun Mountain dealt a severe blow to the enemy's 40th Division, it was unfortunate that Xue Yue and his generals did not pay attention to it, believing that this was just an isolated operation of the Japanese army and did not use the large corps to surround and annihilate the 40th Division
Xue Yue judged in his report to Chang Kaishen after the Japanese army had begun to sweep up Dayun Mountain: "
The enemy in front of the war zone seems to have no great intentions except to disturb us with a small number of troops.
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Xue Yue's judgment was wrong, and he missed a good opportunity to turn the tide of the war
03 Xue Yue's telegram was intercepted, and the Japanese army was surrounded by the Japanese army
Although the Japanese army did not fight well at Dayun Mountain, it still completed the original concentration of troops.
In the early morning of September 18, 1941, more than 300 Japanese artillery pieces opened fire together, and the Second Battle of Changsha began.
An hour after artillery preparations, Japanese fighters also began airstrikes on Chinese defender positions on the south bank of the New Wall. Subsequently, four Divisions of the Japanese Army crossed the Xinqiang River at the same time and began to attack the Chinese defenders' positions.
The forward 102nd, 60th, and 59th Divisions fought back desperately, but could not resist the strong firepower of the Japanese army, and the Japanese army concentrated its forces to carry out group charges, such as the position of the 102nd Division, which was jointly attacked by the three divisions of the Japanese army.
At 9:00 a.m. on September 18, our forward positions in the New Wall River collapsed completely, and the defenders had to retreat to the second-line positions. However, the Japanese assault was too fast, and at 4 p.m., the second-line positions were also broken by the Japanese.
The 102nd Division suffered heavy losses in the defensive operation, successfully retreating to the division with only more than 700 officers and men left, with 90% casualties.
"The whole division fought with the determination to die for the country, killing the enemy and repaying the country"
The Japanese army continued to break through rapidly, and on the evening of the 19th, the three divisions of the Japanese army arrived at the stone shop and Changle Street on the north bank of the Miluo River. At this time, the south bank defenders had only four divisions of 95, 140, 92 and 99.
At this moment, Xue Yue still decided to fight the Japanese army on both sides of the Miluo River according to the original plan--the 37th Army blocked the enemy on the south bank and attracted the enemy's main force, while the real blow came from the east side of the Miluo River to attack the Japanese side of the flank.
However, Xue Yue's operational instructions were intercepted by the Japanese army, and Anan changed the battle plan in time, moving the main force to the direction of the Chinese army's flank attack, preparing to launch a combined attack on the Chinese army.
Under such circumstances, although the soldiers of the 9th Theater of Operations fought bravely and bravely, the truth was cruel. Instead of achieving the operational attempt to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army on both sides of the Miluo River, the Chinese army that was preparing to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army was besieged by the main division of the Japanese army and suffered heavy casualties.
After breaking through our defenses on the south bank of the Miluo River, the Japanese army gradually entered the north bank of the Laodao River on September 25. At this time, the troops of the 9th Theater of Operations were planned by the Japanese army in the operation on the south bank of the Miluo River, making it very difficult for Xue Yue to redeploy the operation.
The only thing Xue Yue could do was to put the strongest 74th Army to the front line to delay the Japanese attack on Changsha.
In Xue Yue's view, if the 74th Army can withstand the fierce attack of the Japanese army, then waiting for the arrival of reinforcements, there may be a chance to reverse the battle situation, and who wins and who loses is still unknown.
At a critical moment, Xue Yue's order was once again intercepted by the Japanese army.
04 The Ace 74Th Army was also defeated
After learning of Xue Yue's intelligence of the 74th Army, the Japanese army quickly adjusted its deployment and ordered the 6th Division to abandon the occupation of Pingjiang, the 40th Division to abandon the encirclement and annihilation of the remnants of the 26th Army, and the 3rd and 4th Divisions to attack south of the Laodao River. Four Divisions of the Japanese Army laid out a large net, waiting for Wang Yaowu and his 74th Army.
Wang Yaowu knew nothing about this.
In the early morning of September 27, the 57th Division of the 74th Army launched an attack on the 3rd Division. Although at the beginning of the battle, the 3rd Division was flustered by a battle. But soon with the support of fighters, a ferocious counterattack was launched against the 57th Division. As the 57th Division and the 3rd Division fought fiercely, the Japanese 4th Division launched a fierce attack on the 57th Division from the left.
With 1 division alone facing the onslaught of two main Japanese divisions, the 57th Division suffered heavy losses.
On the other side, the 58th Division was also divided into several sections by the Japanese 3rd and 6th Divisions, and the commanders at all levels were paralyzed, and the 58th Division fell into a bitter battle.
The 51st Division was also raided by the Japanese in the early morning of September 27, and the commander of the 51st Division, Li Tianxia, contracted his position without authorization in the face of strong pressure from the Japanese army, which led to the 57th Division's position being quickly breached by the Japanese.
In the night, the Japanese attacked the headquarters of the 74th Army, and the direct subordinate units of the 74th Army were scattered.
The commander Wang Yaowu led the guards to break through urgently, and the guards platoon leader was captured and hacked to death by the Japanese army, and Wang Yaowu was able to escape through the night.
After a day of fighting, only the 51st Division of the 74th Army was relatively complete, and the 57th and 58th Divisions were scattered.
After the rout of the strongest ace, the 74th Army, the entire main force of the 9th Theater of Operations had been broken, and Xue Yue had to abandon Changsha.
On September 27, the Japanese Hayabuchi detachment broke into Changsha, and on the same day the main force of the Japanese 4th Division entered Changsha.
For the first time since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese army occupied this important Chinese town.
05 Chen Cheng saved Xue Yue
The Japanese occupation of Changsha made Anan very happy.
However, Anan's happiness did not last long, and Yichang in Hubei Province was suddenly besieged by a large area of Chen Cheng's troops in our 6th Theater of Operations, and the situation was precarious.
Once Yichang fell, the merits of occupying Changsha would be diluted a lot, and even Anan himself would face severe punishment. Anan had to quickly lead the retreat and rescue the Yichang defenders.
The Japanese army returned from Changsha to the north, and the Chinese army launched a multi-way attack on the retreating Japanese army, and the Japanese army also suffered serious losses along the way.
The Second Battle of Changsha also ended with actions in other Chinese battlefields, especially the Yichang battlefield, forcing the Japanese to withdraw from Changsha.
In this battle, the Japanese recorded 54,000 casualties and another 4,300 captured; the Japanese killed 1,670 and wounded 5,184 – no doubt the Japanese still narrowed their casualty figures. In the report behind the 9th Theater of Operations, our army
There were 17,426 casualties and 48,327 Japanese casualties. But in fact, the losses of all units of our army participating in the war are close to 50%, and the data of the 9th Theater of Operations are also watery.
After the war, the government vigorously publicized the "Second Changsha Victory" more out of the consideration of boosting morale and enhancing our international image. In fact, if it were not for the containment actions of Chen Cheng and others in other battlefields in the later period, Xue Yue would have suffered greater losses.
The review by Janssen, commander-in-chief of the 27th Army, may give us a better understanding of the situation at the time, he believes
Our judgment of the enemy's situation is too subjective, the lack of necessary coordination between friendly forces, and the delay in the movement of the troops and the loss of fighters are the main reasons for the failure of this battle. "Even in times of extreme tension, [some commanders] refused to work hard with friendly forces, abandoned the mission, and led their troops into the mountains."
Time is not waiting, and the Third Battle of Changsha is coming in the near future. And this time, how will Xue Yue and his generals respond?