After the July 7 Incident, the Japanese army began an all-out war of aggression against China.
After the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists, the Nationalist army did not confront the Japanese army at first until the outbreak of the Battle of Songhu. The Battle of Songhu, also known as the Battle of August 13,
In this battle, our army stubbornly resisted for ninety days, resisted the fierce artillery fire of the Japanese army with its flesh and blood, sacrificed its life to defend the country, and smashed Japan's delusion of destroying China in March.
This battle,
In the eight years of the Chinese War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the largest and most casualty-heavy battle, both sides invested heavy troops, adding up to about one million, which was the first large-scale confrontation in the face-to-face showdown of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
According to the information announced by the Ministry of National Defense at that time, on the battlefield of the Battle of Songhu,
Our army suffered 187,200 casualties, and more than 100,000 casualties were also inflicted in the battle on the way to Shanghai, adding up to more than 300,000 sacrifices in the front and late periods.
Among them, a lieutenant general was sacrificed, four division commanders, deputy division commanders, twenty-eight regimental commanders, forty-four battalion commanders, and the Central Navy was also completely destroyed in this battle.
Why was the main force still defeated when it was fully invested? Why is it said that Chiang Kai-shek lost all his family in this battle? Did Chiang Kai-shek have other plans? Before getting into the main topic, new friends can pay attention to it a little bit, not miss the wonderful content of the future, but also review the previous content.
Undeclared war All-out offensive
After the July 7 Incident, an all-out War of Resistance broke out, and on the battlefield of North China, the Japanese army won a great victory at a very small cost, occupied Pingjin, and invaded Shanxi.
The Japanese army near Shanghai was also eager to move, anticipating the echo of the north and the south, and its aggressive ambitions could be said to be exposed.
The Japanese Navy challenged the Shanghai area. On August 9, 1937, at the Shanghai Hangqiao Airport, two soldier-like men drove into a military car, and later learned that it was a Japanese lieutenant and a sailor, the two deliberately provoked, intercepted by the Chinese guarding gendarmes, the drinking order was ineffective, the Chinese soldiers defended themselves, so they shot and killed them.
The construction negotiations between China and Japan were inappropriate, and with the help of public opinion, the situation became more and more serious, and the Japanese army took advantage of this incident to send warships to cruise the Huangpu River and the mouth of the Yangtze River to threaten attack.
In order to seize the initiative in the war,
Zhang Zhizhong, commander-in-chief of our Ninth Army, was ordered to lead the 87th and 88th Divisions to advance toward Shanghai, and on the 13th, he took the initiative to launch an attack on the Hongkou Base of the Japanese Marine Corps stationed in Shanghai in an attempt to drive the enemy into the sea.
In this regard, the "August 13" campaign was launched.
At that time, the Japanese army was fully equipped and highly mechanized, while the equipment level of the Chinese army was very backward, and it could only skillfully use tactics to avoid fighting with the Japanese army in a place with a gentle terrain.
Chiang Kai-shek chose to place the first battleground with the Japanese army in Shanghai, hoping to use the dense river network in the Songhu area to block the Japanese army.
At the beginning of the preparations for the war, the Chinese army had long been prepared for the japanese troops invading Shanghai, made arrangements in advance, and planned to drive back the Japanese troops stationed in Shanghai using unequal treaties to eliminate the threat of the Japanese army to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas in the south of our country.
The Japanese army is guarding the Hongkou area, the navy and army corps have 50,000 regular troops, the Japanese ronin have more than 30,000 people, and there are more than 20 large and medium-sized warships moored on the Huangpu River.
It was loaded with more than 300 cannons as rear fire support, as well as air bombers flown in from Japan, and multi-habitat operations on land, sea and air. Their training is well-trained, their firepower configuration is reasonable, our army has basically no advantage in cooperating with them in battle, and as soon as they open fire, they are quickly suppressed by the enemy.
Under these circumstances, the Chinese army's offensive was difficult to move forward, and the defense failed one after another, and the casualties were heavy.
On August 14, Chiang Kai-shek ordered a general attack and announced the blockade of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and at the same time, the Nationalist government issued a "Declaration of Self-Defense and Resistance", only one day,
Our 527th Regiment lost 7 company commanders. Huang Meixing, commander of the 264th Brigade, was also martyred heroically, and he became the first general to be killed in the Battle of Songhu.
Subsequently, the Eighty-seventh Division entered the north of the Huangpu River, the Chinese Air Force attacked and bombed the enemy Marine Corps Headquarters, several attacks hit and caught fire, the enemy warship "Izumo" was also traumatized to varying degrees, and the air battles between the two sides took turns to fight, causing each other damage.
On August 16, China's Air Force sent 32 aircraft to bomb enemy ships along Wusongkou and Liuhe, and some Japanese troops withdrew to the British concession. In the face of the strong attack of the Chinese army, the Japanese Marine Corps suffered huge casualties, and the telegram sent back to Japan by the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet on the 16th wrote that our army suffered heavy losses and expected that there would be fierce battles in the future
, which is currently difficult to maintain and needs support. At the same time, the army surrounded the Japanese Navy headquarters in Shanghai and killed the Japanese military attaché Honda.
On August 17, the Emperor of Japan appointed Matsui Ishigen as commander of the Shanghai Dispatch Army. On the 19th, Chinese troops attacked from Zhabei and Hongkou to Yangshupu and Huishan Wharf.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, our army broke into the Yangshupu concession, then reached the vicinity of Yuezhou Road, and finally attacked the Huishan pier, successfully cutting off the east and west wings of the Japanese army. The enemy army is waiting for rescue, it is difficult for our army to eliminate it, and progress is slow.
On August 21, the Chinese 36th Division, under the cover of total artillery fire, attacked the Huishan Pier, where it was bombarded by enemy naval guns and then retreated to Broadway Road. The two companies of our chariots were all destroyed,
Among them, the commander of The Chen Ruihe Brigade was seriously wounded, and the commander of the first company of the chariot died heroically. Commander Li Zeng personally led all his soldiers to attack, outnumbered, and he and three hundred soldiers were all buried in the sea of fire. After all, the Chinese army was still difficult to repel the enemy because of insufficient firepower.
On August 24, a large number of Japanese troops on standby in Lushun landed at Chuanshakou in Shanghai on long whale warships and joined the battle. The Japanese army was dominated by the 11th and 3rd Divisions.
They had machine gun teams, armored convoys, field heavy artillery companies, infantry brigades, and mountain artillery teams, and landed in the Wusong area by boat. Our coastal guard was weak, and the Japanese army landed easily and wanted to form a siege of Shanghai.
On the 27th, the defenders of our army quickly joined the battle to launch a counterattack, and fiercely fought with the Japanese army in Luodian and other places, and that night, Luo Zhuoying led the troops to continue to attack the landing Japanese troops.
The Japanese army faced the battle with aircraft and tanks, artillery as cover, at this time the sound of Luodian cannons continued, the sound of tranquility was drowned out, you fought for me, repeatedly changed hands.
The casualties of the two armies in Luodian, a small town of only a few square kilometers, reached tens of thousands, which was like a river of blood. The Japanese army used aircraft to drop bombs like crazy, according to the meeting of soldiers at that time, the whole Luodian could not find a good house,
Still unable to hold out, the Battle of Luodian ended. However, under the heroic resistance of the Chinese army, in the past month, the Japanese army advanced less than three kilometers.
The two armies held each other and suffered heavy losses
The war has entered a white-hot stage, and while the enemy is increasing its strength, all units of our army are also being ordered to rush to all parts of the country; at the critical juncture of the survival of the nation, the Sichuan Army, the Dian Army, the Qian Army, and the Cantonese Army have also arrived in the theater one after another.
In the second half of August, according to statistics, our army shot down more than sixty Japanese fighters, and the battle results were still OK. Until September, our army's resistance was still stubborn, whether it was a critical attack or a siege, resolutely did not retreat, the rear of the enemy's dispatched army was interrupted, and both fell into bitter fighting.
On the evening of September 1, after the two divisions of japanese reinforcements arrived in Shanghai, they began to launch a general offensive, and the Japanese army sent more than a thousand people to besiege our army, mainly concentrated in the Lion Grove and Artillery Taiwan.
From September 2 to 5 for several consecutive days, the Japanese army sent various road warships, aircraft, and tanks to support and launched a fierce attack on the position of the Chinese 98th Division, at this time the artillery fire of Yuepu and Baoshan was continuous, and the 98th Division led by Xia Chuzhong repeatedly fought with the enemy, most of the soldiers were killed, and due to heavy casualties, the 98th Division had to abandon part of its position.
From the 3rd to the 4th, the Japanese army attacked the area around Sanguantang, and the 18th Brigade of the 6th Division, which was guarding at the time, bravely blocked the attack, although it annihilated many enemies, but the brigade suffered heavy casualties inside, and the brigade commander Weng Guohua and the regimental commander Zhu Fuxing were also wounded.
On the 5th, the enemy concentrated the strength of warships and launched more than thirty ships at the same time to cover the army's attack on Baoshan, and the 3rd Battalion of the 583rd Regiment of our army was ordered to hold on to the enemy army again and again, even if the Japanese released sulfur bombs and blew up the buildings in the city into rubble piles, they also stubbornly resisted.
On September 6, at a critical juncture, the Japanese Emperor ordered the dispatch of three additional divisions to provide emergency support to Shanghai, and the Japanese government spent an additional 2.5 billion yen on the invasion of China.
Due to the reinforcements of 3 divisions and regiments, such as engineers, artillery, and land and sea, the enemy reinforced, and the two sides fought fiercely and took advantage of the advantage in an instant.
On the morning of the 7th, the Japanese army began to use tanks as the vanguard force to break into Baoshan City, Yao Ziqing led all the officers and men of the battalion to fight with the enemy in the alley, and shot the last bullet, except for one person who was ordered to report to his superiors the day before, the rest of the soldiers all died heroically.
On 9 September, the enemy's naval guns concentrated their fire on the Chinese army along the Military Industrial Road, the Songhu Highway, and the Yuepu Line, and an infantry division attacked on the ground, and the aircraft bombed in the air.
The Japanese bombing was red-eyed, and even the commander of their Navy's Third Fleet, Hasegawa Kiyoshi, informed the embassies of various countries in China that the Japanese Air Force was going to bomb Nanjing and evacuate them to the safety zone as soon as possible.
During this period,
The Japanese gradually grasped the initiative in this battle, constantly carrying out aerial bombardment, our army was ultimately powerless to refute, the logistics supply line was cut off under the air bombardment, the forward troops could not move, some troops made timely adjustments, only one meal a day, ammunition supplies could not be guaranteed.
The Japanese army began to shift its attention from the North China Battlefield to the Battle of Songhu, in order to speed up the process of operations in Shanghai, so it adjusted the army again and sent the 9th Division, the 13th Division and the 101st Division to Shanghai.
There are also some infantry brigades elsewhere. At this point, together with the previous troops, the Japanese army gathered 200,000 people in Shanghai.
In order to cope with the threat of the enemy, the Nationalist government also quickly increased its troops, dispatching the 10th, 19th, and 21st Group Armies and the troops of the central armies of the provinces to Shanghai to participate in the war. On September 21, the Third Theater also made adjustments and deployments, and was divided into a three-way combat army of the left wing, the center, and the right wing. Chiang Kai-shek personally served as commander of the Third Theater;
The commander-in-chief of the Left Wing Army was Chen Cheng, who incorporated the 15th Group Army and the 19th Army, and the commander-in-chief of the Right Wing Army was Zhang Fakui, who was in charge of the 8th Group Army and the 10th Group Army. The 9th Group was reorganized into the Central Army, with Zhu Shaoliang as commander-in-chief.
On the 23rd, Chiang Kai-shek made an important speech and finally openly recognized the legitimate status of the CPC. On the 24th, Chiang Kai-shek replied in the face of a visit to foreign reporters: "China is fighting for all countries at this time, and all countries should assist China."
"The call for help is fruitless, and I can only rely on my own people."
Over the past few days, Japanese reinforcements have continued to arrive, followed by batches of arms, and its main ships "Nagato" and "Mutsu" have also arrived in Shanghai.
China's navy has long lost the ability to fight, most of them were blown up by the Japanese army, and can only rely on the only air defense to resist the Air Raids of the Japanese Army, and in September only one month there were heavy casualties, and they had to stop taking the initiative to attack and turn to defense.
Forced to retreat Blood flow regret
On November 4, the Japanese army forcibly crossed the Suzhou River, was surrounded and frustrated by our army, and then crossed the river again, and a fierce battle broke out in the north of Zhujiabang. On the 5th, the Japanese Tenth Army landed in the Jingongting area on the north shore of Hangzhou Bay.
Because the main strength of our army was involved in the battle in Shanghai, only two companies of troops resisted the Japanese army, so that the enemy army landed smoothly without effort, and began to plan to encircle our army from the flank.
Chiang Kai-shek still let the troops hold out for another three days, until the 8th, when the Japanese army began to cross the Huangpu River and attack our defenders with the advance troops, Chiang Kai-shek ordered a retreat.
Since the best time to evacuate was missed, the enemy kept bombing and attacking, our right flank was frustrated, and it was already the next day when the evacuation order was received, and on the 9th, in the chaos, the evacuation turned into a rout and retreated. By November 11, Shanghai had officially fallen, and the Battle of Songhu, which lasted more than three months, ended.
Instead, it became a test to temper the spirit of the Chinese nation, so that the people of all ethnic groups in the country at that time united to resist Japan together, showing the spirit of sacrificing fearlessly for the country
。
This battle though
The Chinese army ended in failure, but the Chinese soldiers defended the dignity of the Chinese nation with bright red blood and lives, declared to the world that China was inviolable, and also expressed an attitude, that is, even if China only had one soldier and one shot left, it would fight the Japanese invaders to the end.
The reason why Chiang Kai-shek spared no expense fought with the Japanese army in Shanghai and even lost his own family. On the one hand, it showed the world its determination to resist the war, and it also attracted and consumed most of the Japanese army.
On the other hand
Chiang Kai-shek also let Britain, the United States and other countries see the face of the Japanese army. Chiang Kai-shek hoped to take the opportunity to gain the recognition and support of the Allies and support China in resisting Japan together.
Many people say that Chiang Kai-shek was sent to Britain, the United States, and other countries, but he did pay a considerable price for this. Judging from the later assistance of Britain, the United States and other countries, Chiang Kai-shek did not get a temporary benefit, but received assistance in the later period, which is also a tactical success.
This battle broke the situation in the Sino-Japanese War at that time, attracted the main force of the Japanese invading forces, and slowly shifted its main forces from the north China battlefield to east China.
Thus laying the foundation for victory in the all-out War of Resistance Against Japan.
This issue ends here, welcome new and old friends, actively leave messages in the comment area to discuss, leaving your unique insights. If you think that the content of this issue is not bad friends, you can click to pay attention, we will see you in the next issue.