The Battle of Songhu, also known as the Battle of August 13, the Second Songhu War of Resistance, known in Japan as the Second Shanghai Incident, was the first large-scale battle between China and Japan in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and it was also the largest and most tragic battle in the entire Sino-Japanese War.
The main reasons for the defeat of the Nationalist government were: First, the Nationalist government at that time was very dependent on the so-called international mediation politically, believing that Shanghai was an international metropolis in the Far East, and western countries would never stand idly by for their own interests, so as long as they persisted for a while, they could wait to help.
Second, in fact, Britain and France were being disturbed by Germany at that time, and their attention was mainly on the European continent, and there was no time to look east.
Third, American isolationism was the mainstream at that time, and with it thousands of miles away, it was simply unrealistic to prevent Japan from invading China.
Fourth, it is the most important, because at that time, the great powers did not have hydrogen China as their core interest.
Fifth, the Nationalist government has seriously overestimated its own military strength militarily, failed to fully consider the gap with the technical and tactical qualities of the Japanese army, and believed that the main field is on its own national territory, and that the battle has superiority in strength and geographical superiority, that is, in the end, it is no problem to win the battle, at least a tug-of-war.
Sixth, although the combat area was selected in Shanghai, which is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, Shanghai has no danger to defend at all, but is conducive to the three-dimensional firepower of the Japanese army's sea, land and air; later, after the outbreak of war, it was really found that the tactical quality of the other side was far higher than that of itself.
However, Japan seriously underestimated the determination of the Chinese military and civilians to resist, and always felt that China was a mess, as long as the cannon sounded and the plane exploded, China would be in chaos, and the opposition would take the opportunity to overthrow the current government, and eventually the Chinese country would be torn apart.
What The Japanese did not expect was that the various forces in China actually joined forces to hate the enemy, and during the Battle of Songhu, the warlord forces of the Gui Army, the Sichuan Army, and other parties were generous to the righteousness, and bian Lao Ben took it out to fight the Japanese army to the death.
However, judging from the results of the war, the inferiority of China's old-style army in the face of Japan's modern army is clear, but the attitude of the Chinese military and people is very clear, it is impossible to surrender, an inch of mountains and rivers and an inch of blood, I will spend with you.
From the first day of the Battle of Songhu, the Battle of Songhu had heralded a road of no return for Japan, and the idea of a quick victory was destined to be an impossible goal from the beginning.
The Japanese could only advance after a bloody battle by stepping over the corpses of Chinese soldiers, but the Chinese could not be killed, and Japan's defeat was inevitable.
The Battle of Songhu began on August 13, 1937, after the Lugou Bridge Incident, Chiang Kai-shek took the initiative to counterattack in Shanghai in order to change the direction of the Japanese invasion from north to south to east to west, so as to facilitate long-term combat. A total of about 1 million troops from both Sides were put into battle, and the battle itself lasted for three months, with the Japanese army investing more than 200,000 people in 8 divisions and 2 brigades, and announcing more than 40,000 casualties; The Chinese army has invested more than 800,000 people in the most elite Central Teaching Corps, the 87th Division, the 88th Division, 148 divisions and 62 brigades.
In the early 1930s, the world economic crisis occurred, The Japanese economy suffered a heavy blow, fell into extreme difficulties, and led to a political crisis, under the circumstances of internal and external difficulties, the Japanese fascist forces decided to break through the shackles of the Washington system on Japan, taking advantage of the fact that Britain and the United States were busy dealing with the crisis and Chiang Kai-shek's large-scale "suppression of the Communists" to seize the northeast in order to get rid of the predicament and seek world hegemony.
The first batch of units of the Chinese army to prepare for the defense of Shanghai were the 87th and 88th Divisions, which were originally the guard units of the Nationalist government, and were model divisions trained by German consultants. After secretly driving near Shanghai, the Central Military Commission ordered the 2nd Regiment of the Well-equipped Supplementary Brigade of the 2nd Division stationed in Suzhou to change into security brigade clothing and secretly enter Hongqiao Airport and other strategic priorities.
At a time when the two sides were already in a state of saber-rattling and war was about to erupt, two Japanese servicemen who had forced their way into the airport cordon with guns without authorization was a serious provocative act and ignited the fuse of the war.
In order to seize the initiative in the war and eliminate the Japanese troops stationed in Shanghai before the Arrival of Japanese reinforcements, China organized the Songhu Combat Force Zhang zhi Central 9th Group Army (under the jurisdiction of 3 divisions and 1 independent brigade) to prepare to besiege the Japanese army, and when the war broke out on the 13th, the Chinese army launched an all-out attack on the enemy in Shanghai, and at the same time dispatched the air force to bomb the Japanese Marine Corps Headquarters, Huishan Wharf and sea surface ships. The focus of its attack was initially on Hongkou and later on the Gongda Spinning Mill.
At the beginning of the Battle of Songhu, the Chinese army had an absolute advantage, in addition to 2 elite divisions, there were also 2 heavy artillery regiments equipped with German artillery, namely the 10th Artillery Regiment (150 mm howitzer) and the 14th Artillery Regiment (150 mm howitzer), plus tanks and air force to assist in the battle, which had an overwhelming advantage.
The Japanese army in Shanghai only has more than 3,000 Marines, and the emergency mobilization of retired soldiers from the Japanese business group is only 4,000 people, and the heavy weapons are insufficient, but it relies on strong fortifications to resist tenaciously, so that the Chinese army has been unable to complete a major breakthrough.
On October 23, the Japanese army marched straight to the Makoto Highway with heavy troops, threatening the left wing of Ōba. The Japanese army mobilized all kinds of artillery and aircraft to concentrate on fierce bombardment, and within a radius of several miles, several scorched earth. The Japanese army then used more than 40 chariots as a precursor to cover the infantry to seize positions such as Hujia Bridge, Tahe Bridge, and Zoumatang. The defenders shifted to the southern flank in order to preserve their strength, and the field was lost. The Nationalist army had no choice but to abandon the jiangwan position at the north station, and the troops of the central army were also ordered to move.