Background to the Battle of the Hundred Regiments
In the summer of 1940, taking advantage of the rapid advance of the German army in Europe and the inability of Britain and the United States to look east, Japan stepped up its efforts to induce the Kuomintang government to surrender, and on the other hand, strengthened its "solemn" crusade against the anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines, in an attempt to completely destroy the anti-Japanese base areas and remove its worries about advancing southward. In order to crush the Japanese army's plot, break its "cage policy", and overcome the danger of the Kuomintang government's compromise and surrender to Japan, the troops of the Eighth Route Army in North China launched a large-scale offensive operation against the Japanese army in the green gauze tent and the rainy season. With the unfolding of the campaign, the Eighth Route Army's participating troops reached 105 regiments and about 200,000 people, so it was called the "Battle of the Hundred Regiments".
Mr. Zhu and Mr. Peng (Picture from the Network)
The purpose of the Hundred Regiments War
The main intention of this campaign was to break the Japanese lines of communication in North China. As early as the spring of 1940, Peng Dehuai, Zuo Quan, Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, and Nie Rongzhen jointly discussed and determined a plan to break the Zhengtai Road. On July 22, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army issued a "Campaign Preparation Order" to the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region and the 120th and 129th Divisions, and reported it to the Central Military Commission of the CPC. The order briefly analyzed the situation of China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in the summer of 1940 and clearly stated that the purpose of launching this campaign was to "completely destroy a number of key passes on the Zhengtai Line, eliminate some enemies, recover a number of important scenic spots and passes, and cut off traffic on the line for a relatively long time."
The operation required that all units "should organize a planned general attack on other important railway lines, especially the Pinghan and Tongpu railways, and cooperate with the success of the Zhengtai Railway Campaign." On August 8, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army issued the "Campaign Action Order", which made specific arrangements for the combat strength and determined August 20 as the launch time of the campaign.
Marshal Liu Bocheng and Comrade Xiaoping (Picture from the Internet)
The Hundred Regiments War went through two phases of active offensive and one stage of anti-"sweeping"
The first phase of the campaign, from August 20 to September 10, was a general battle of transportation that destroyed the main lines of communication occupied by the enemy in northern China, with a focus on the Zhengtai Railway. On the night of August 20, the participating troops, guerrillas, and militia simultaneously launched an attack, breaking the railway lines of Zhengtai, Tongpu, Pinghan, Deshi, Pingsui, Beining, Jinpu, and Baijin, annihilating a large number of Japanese and puppet troops. The enemy was caught off guard, rushed to battle, lost sight of one or the other, and suffered heavy losses. The Eighth Route Army captured many strongholds and stations, destroyed the Jingxing Coal Mine, an important fuel base occupied by the Japanese army in North China, and cut off the Zhengtai Railway for more than a month.
General Zuo Quan (picture from the network)
The second stage, from September 20 to October 5, continued to attack the enemy on both sides of the communication line and destroyed the enemy strongholds in the Shenren base area, and launched the battles of Lai (Yuan) Ling (Qiu), Yu (She) and Liao (County). In the Battle of Lailing, the main forces of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region captured more than 10 important strongholds such as Sanjia Village and Dongtuan fort on the outskirts of Laiyuan County, annihilating more than 1,100 enemy personnel. In response to the Battle of Lailing, the main force of the Jizhong Military Region launched the Ren (Qiu) River (Jian) Da (Cheng) Su (Ning) Campaign, annihilating more than 1,400 Japanese and puppet troops, conquering 29 strongholds, and destroying more than 150 kilometers of highways.
In the Battle of Yuliao, the 129th Division successively captured many strongholds along the Yuliao Highway and captured the county seat of Yushe County, capturing a large number of weapons and annihilating more than 900 enemy troops. The 120th Division continued to break the northern section of the Tongpu Railway, interrupting the line again.
Nie Shuai during the war (picture from the Internet)
The third phase, from October 6 to December 5, was an anti-"mopping-up" operation. From October 6, the Japanese army mobilized heavy troops to carry out a crazy retaliatory "sweep" of the anti-Japanese base areas in North China. On October 19, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army issued an order that the military and civilians in the North China base area should be transferred to anti-"sweeping" operations.
The main force of the 129th Division, with the cooperation of the Shanxi New Army, smashed the Japanese army's "sweep" of the Taihang and Taiyue base areas. The Jin-Cha-Ji military and civilians repelled the Japanese army's "sweeping" of the Pingxi and Beiyue regions. The 120th Division crushed the "sweep" of more than 20,000 Japanese troops in northwestern Jin.
Battle of the Hundred Regiments (Picture from the Internet)
A total of 1824 large and small battles were fought in the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, killing and wounding 20,645 Japanese troops, 5,155 puppet troops, capturing 281 Japanese troops, 18,407 puppet troops, 47 Japanese surrenders, and 1,845 puppet troops anyway; Destroyed 474 kilometers of railways, more than 1,500 kilometers of roads, more than 260 bridges, tunnels and railway stations, and destroyed a large number of enemy forts and strongholds; 53 guns of various kinds, more than 5,900 guns of various kinds and a batch of military materials were seized.
The significance of the Hundred Regiments War
The Battle of the Hundred Regiments, directly commanded by General Peng Dehuai and other generals who had been on the front line of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression for a long time, brought out the prestige of the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians behind the enemy lines led by the Communist Party, and after suffering the blow, the Japanese army exclaimed that "there should be a re-understanding of North China!"
The Hundred Regiments War enabled the people of the whole country to see that the Eighth Route Army, under extremely difficult conditions, not only developed and expanded, but was also able to deal a powerful blow to the enemy. This campaign boosted the confidence of the military and people of the whole country in winning the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and refuted with facts the slander of the Kuomintang diehards for "swimming without attacking" against the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army.
From the perspective of the overall situation of the war, the Hundred Regiments War also has great strategic significance: it contained the strength of the Japanese army, delayed the time for the Japanese army to "advance south", and played a positive role in supporting frontal battlefield operations, curbing the undercurrent of compromise and surrender, and striving for a better situation.