Liao Yaoxiang was a famous general of the Nationalist Army, once known as "perfect and perfect", and in the 1948 Liaoshen Campaign, more than 100,000 people of the "Westward Marching Corps" commanded by him were all annihilated by the People's Liberation Army.
It can be said that Liao Yaoxiang was a person who made mistakes in history, but it is undeniable that he made great achievements during the War of Resistance Against Japan, especially during his expedition to Burma, he fought many beautiful victories and promoted his prestige on foreign battlefields.
One of the most noteworthy is that the famous Swa Blockade Battle (also known as the Swa River Blockade Battle, the Swa Successive Blockade War), which is a heroic history that should not be forgotten.
It was in March 1942 that Shojiro Iida, commander of the Japanese 15th Army, who had invaded Burma, divided the entire army into three roads: east, west and north, and launched a frenzied pursuit of the Chinese and British forces.
The progress of the Japanese army on both the east and west roads was very smooth, but the 55th Division and the 18th Division of the Japanese Army in the middle of the road encountered trouble: in the process of pursuing from the area of Tonggu to Swa, Yedasi, and Pingmanna, they encountered an intractable force, the New 22nd Division of the 5th Army.
Liao Yaoxiang, commander of the stout new 22nd Division, was a scheming general.
When the Battle of Tonggu was over, he was ordered to lead the new 22nd Division to block the Japanese army in the area of Swa and Yedasi, cover the retreat of the 200th Division and the concentration of the main force of the expeditionary force, and prepare for the Battle of Binh Manna.
Liao Yaoxiang knew very well that if the new 22nd Division's thin strength fought hard with the Japanese army supported by aircraft, heavy artillery and tanks, it would be tantamount to hitting a pebble with a pebble. He doesn't do such a stupid thing!
After carefully studying the terrain of the battlefield, combat tasks, and the tactical characteristics of the enemy and us, he decided not to stick to the same place, but to make full use of the terrain of the treacherous pass from Swa to Pyeongmanado Pass, and to swing the "Ecstasy Array" to block the Japanese army.
What is "Ecstasy"? In fact, it is to adopt the tactics of mobile defense and successive resistance, fight while walking, drag the Japanese army, and get enough time for the Sino-British coalition forces to prepare for the Pingmanahui War, and finally lead the Japanese army to the preset position of Binh Manna, and surround and annihilate it in one fell swoop with superior troops.
Liao Yaoxiang figuratively called this style of play "calling a child to beat a dog - while fighting and walking".
On March 30, the 200th Division had just withdrawn from Tonggu City, and the new 22nd Division blew up the Xitang River Bridge, and the Japanese army could only look at the river and sigh.
The Japanese could not cross the river to pursue the 200th Division, so they vented all their anger on the new 22nd Division. Two Japanese companies stormed Nanyang Station under the cover of aircraft, heavy artillery, and tanks.
Unhurried, Liao Yaoxiang ordered the 64th Regiment to occupy a position at Sagaya, 10 kilometers north of Nanyang, and set up an ambush; the 1st Battalion of the 66th Regiment seized Ye Daxi; the 65th Regiment seized Swa; and the division's direct subordinates withdrew to Pingma Road to assemble.
After the deployment was completed, Liao Yaoxiang personally rushed to Nanyang Station and commanded the 66th Regiment to fight against the Japanese army.
It was a vicious battle in the dark.
Hundreds of cannons of the Japanese army turned the entire Nanyang Station into a "honeycomb", and the smoke and dust raised by the artillery fire covered the sky, and the entire battlefield seemed to be shrouded in thick fog.
The Japanese rushed into the station again and again under the cover of tanks, and were again driven back by the officers and men of the new 22nd Division hiding behind the broken wall with bayonets, grenades, machine guns, and submachine guns. Several Japanese tanks were also killed by the anti-tank guns of the new 22nd Division.
Just as the Japanese were trying to catch their breath and adjust their strength to prepare for a new attack, the dull roar of tank engines suddenly came from the position of the new 22nd Division, and a group of tanks painted with blue sky and white sun marks suddenly emerged from the billowing smoke.
The Japanese army did not expect to encounter the armored units of the Chinese army here, and they were suddenly in a mess. The officers and men of the new 22nd Division followed the tanks and charged hard, and the Japanese army was beaten to death and fled for their lives.
By the time the Japanese brought in aircraft, tanks and anti-tank guns to counterattack, the tanks of the new 22nd Division had long since disappeared from the vast tropical jungle.
It turned out that after Liao Yaoxiang had let the Japanese army suffer enough, he had quietly led his army to evacuate Nanyang Station and slipped away.
The Japanese army was willing to suffer such a dumb loss, and the division commander Takeuchi Hiroshi immediately commanded the 55th Division to march north quickly to catch up with the new 22nd Division.
The 64th Regiment was already in shagaya. As soon as the Japanese army entered the ambush circle, on the road and in the valley, the mine bombs exploded at the same time, and dense bullets and shells flew out of the dense forest and poured water on the japanese army's head.
Before the Japanese could wake up, they were killed and wounded.
In view of the fierce battles between the Japanese 55th Division and the 200th Division and the New 22nd Division, the casualties were very heavy, and the combat effectiveness had been greatly reduced, Commander Shojiro Iida decided to add the 18th Division to the battle to assist the 55th Division in combat, and it was necessary to annihilate the "hateful" Chinese army of the New 22nd Division.
Beginning on 5 April, the Japanese concentrated 3 infantry companies, 2 artillery companies, 1 tank group, and 1 air force to launch an onslaught on Sagaya.
The soldiers of the 64th Regiment resisted tenaciously with the use of pre-repaired fortifications. From morning to night, the Japanese army was unable to break through this copper wall.
At this time, the 66th Regiment, which had withdrawn from Nanyang, suddenly appeared from the rear of the Japanese flank like a ghost to attack the Japanese army at night, causing the Japanese army to be restless all night.
The next day, when the Japanese army set up a frame and prepared to fight a big battle, the 64th Regiment and the 66th Regiment mysteriously "disappeared".
The Japanese army was furious and continued to pursue to the north, but unexpectedly, at YeDasi, it was stopped and attacked by the 1st Battalion of the 66th Regiment, which had been ambushed here. The Japanese suffered more than 1,000 casualties and destroyed 4 tanks.
After several setbacks, the Japanese became cautious and no longer dared to pursue and fight fiercely.
This move is exactly in liao yaoxiang's heart, he wants this effect!
Subsequently, he equipped the three regiments in echelons, alternately covered each other, fought and retreated, and led the Japanese army to Binh Man Na step by step.
In this way, Liao Yaoxiang commanded the new 22nd Division to swing the "Ecstasy Array", flexibly using this tactic of virtual reality, mobile defense, and successive resistance, and single-handedly resisted the repeated attacks of more than 50,000 people in the two divisions of the Japanese army.
In this battle that lasted for 18 days, a total of more than 4,500 enemy troops were annihilated, and only more than 2,000 people were lost by their own side, creating a glorious example of the Chinese Expeditionary Force on the battlefield of India and Burma, and also making the new 22nd Division famous in the world.