During The Second World War, the Japanese invasion of China caused a heavy disaster to the Chinese people, and after eight years of all-out resistance, China paid a tragic price of 35 million casualties in order to resist the aggression of Japanese imperialism. So why is China, which has an absolute demographic advantage, suppressed by just one Japan? How strong was the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army that invaded China at that time?
The Japanese army invading China during World War II was not as vulnerable as it was in the anti-Japanese drama. Li Zongren, commander of the Battle of Taierzhuang and commander of the Fifth Theater, once said: The strengths of the Japanese army are indeed inexhaustible. The japanese army's training excellence and combat effectiveness can be said to be rare in the world. When marching with troops, from the generals to the soldiers, they all fought according to the principle of tactical combat, without any chaos, so that the enemy could not easily take advantage of the gap. Although there are few outstanding strategists among Japan's senior generals, there are few major mistakes in basic principles. Japanese generals are generally small in stature and their appearance is not proud, but they can do things down-to-earth, meticulously, and awe-inspiring.
Bai Chongxi, who is known as Zhuge Xiao, also said: "The enemy has taken advantage of the situation along the coast of Songhu to give play to the power of the joint operations of the army, navy, and air force, and to bring into play the combat strength of all branches of the armed forces on the battlefield with excellent equipment and perfect training, and has inflicted heavy wounds on our army." Bai Chongxi's summary reveals the gap between the Chinese and Japanese armies, not only in hard power such as weapons and equipment, but also in soft power such as command, training and tactics.
The Army is the main force of the Japanese army invading China, and the training of the Japanese Army for the Army is very strict, especially the Japanese Army in the early days of World War II, the combat effectiveness is strong, and it is second to none in the world. In the early stages of World War II, Japanese soldiers were required to undergo eleven months of military training, and the content of military training was basic training, and also included a small number of actual combat subjects.
The Japanese army also attaches great importance to the marksmanship of soldiers, and the Japanese army's "Infantry Code" stipulates that two months of the three months of japanese recruit training should be shooting training. Bullets used for live-fire each month: no less than 150 rounds for rifles, no less than 300 rounds for machine guns, and 1800 rounds per year for training.
In addition to more live ammunition, the Japanese army's shooting training standards are strict. According to the former Japanese Kwantung Army soldier and writer Gomikawa Junpei, the Japanese army's shooting training accuracy requirements are very high. The initial requirement is that for an ambush target 300 meters away, not only five shots and five shots, but also at least three bullets of impact point distributed over an area large as a fist. After passing the level, the soldiers are trained in various shooting with tactical backgrounds. According to the recollections of some anti-war veterans: the Japanese army raised its gun to shoot while riding in the car, and was still able to accurately hit the target.
The level of close combat of the Japanese army is also recognized by the armies of the world, taking the three or eight large covers used by the Japanese army, the original gun body has 127.6 centimeters, plus the 30-type single-edged bayonet can reach 166.3 centimeters, which is higher than the height of many Japanese troops. The ancient Chinese said that one inch long and one inch strong, the length of this bayonet of the Japanese army can exert a lot of power at a critical moment.
After the Japanese army enlisted, 45 days were dedicated to training in the art of stabbing, which shows the importance that the Japanese army attaches to the stabbing. And the Japanese army will usually carry out stabbing competitions to prevent veterans from slackening their training, Japan also deliberately let the domestic cold weapons masters to summarize the stabbing techniques suitable for the Japanese, because the Japanese are relatively short in height, it is necessary to focus on the speed and strength of the stabbing, rather than fighting hard, only to stab the enemy's key parts as soon as possible.
The Japanese Army's willpower is also very tenacious, because they grew up relying on the spirit of Bushido and taking loyalty to the emperor as the highest ideal. Therefore, surrender was considered by them to be a very humiliating thing, and failure was also a very humiliating thing, and they would desperately resist after running out of ammunition and did not want to be captured. Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has attached great importance to education, and the illiteracy rate is very low, which makes their learning speed much higher than that of the Chinese army.
This training method of the Japanese army, according to today's standards, is to train special forces. In the case of the Battle of Pingxingguan in 1937, the Chinese army participating in this campaign was the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. The predecessor of the 115th Division was the main force of the Red Army, the Red Fifteenth Army, the 74th Division of the Red Army in southern Shaanxi, this division was the eighth route army at that time the best equipped, the largest number, the strongest combat effectiveness of the unit, Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, Nie Rongzhen, Xu Haidong, Chen Guang, Yang Dezhi, Li Tianyou, Yang Chengwu and other generals were all outstanding figures of our army.
At that time, the Japanese army that was ambushed at Pingxingguan, known as the "steel army", the first part of the 21st Brigade of the 5th Division of itagaki Seishiro and the heavy convoy were mostly Japanese logistics troops. Lin Biao had thought that he would have the advantage of taking advantage of the favorable place and people at the time of the flat-type guantian, and he should be able to fight smoothly, and he could also take some prisoners and strike at the arrogance of the Japanese army, but this battle was not easy to fight.
During the battle, Zeng Xiansheng, commander of the 5th Company of the Second Battalion of the 685th Regiment known as the "Mammoth", was killed by the enemy
After being surrounded by the group, he resolutely pulled the only grenade on his body and died with the enemy. Yang Yong, deputy commander of the 686th Regiment, and Deng Keming, the battalion commander, were seriously wounded successively, and the three battalions of the 686th Regiment suffered more than half of the casualties. Yang Chengwu's independent regiment, which was tasked with blocking aid, was reduced by more than half in the first and third companies, and almost all of the squads and platoons were killed.
After the battle, there were cars everywhere, dead bodies lying in all directions, but the Soldiers of the Eighth Route Army did not capture a single Japanese prisoner. Later, Lin Biao ordered the Japanese wounded soldiers to be found from the pile of dead people, and when a telephone operator of the Eighth Route Army checked the line along the road, he saw a half-dead ghost lying on the car, he thought that the Japanese army would surrender, so he relaxed his vigilance, who knew that the Japanese army took the bayonet and stabbed into the chest of the telephoneman. There were also soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who went to carry the wounded Soldiers of the Japanese Army, and as a result, the Japanese army bit off his ears.
The 687th Regiment also captured a wounded Japanese soldier and tried to send him to the rear, but the Japanese soldier could not leave. In the end, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army tied the Japanese prisoners of war to stretchers, who knew that this Japanese army actually broke the rope, went to grab the weapons of the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army, and opened his mouth to bite people, a soldier was angry, and a shot killed him.
Many years later, the veterans who participated in this battle recalled that the fierce combat effectiveness of the Japanese army and the tenacity of the will to fight exceeded the expectations before the war. Sometimes three Japanese soldiers with bayonets and the Eighth Route Army fighting back to back could pick up a squad, which was much stronger than the Kuomintang army.
However, in the late stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the veterans of the Japanese army were slowly exhausted, and the new recruits who were added were sent to the battlefield after only a short period of training, and their combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. The Chinese army has a vast land to negotiate with the Japanese army, as well as the military assistance of the United States, the combat effectiveness has begun to slowly improve, and the strength of the two sides has actually formed a reversal in the later stage.