In April 1944, the Japanese launched a "Battle No. 1" aimed at opening up the mainland communication line, and the first phase of the operation was called the "Battle of Henan" (known to the Chinese as the "Battle of Yuzhong"). The Japanese army dispatched about 150,000 troops, and the Nationalist army concentrated 350,000-400,000 troops. In April and May, the Japanese army successively captured Zhengzhou, Luoyang and other places.
In this battle, which lasted more than a month, due to a mistake in strategic judgment, Jiang Dingwen, commander of the theater, and Tang Enbo, deputy commander of the theater, suffered a crushing defeat under the attack of the Japanese army. Not only a large part of Henan's territory was lost, but also a large number of weapons and casualties were lost. What is unbelievable is that in the process of the defeat and retreat of the Nationalist army, it was surrounded and disarmed by a large number of "peasants" in the mountains of western Henan.
It is reasonable to say that the Japanese army is the aggressor, and the common people should help the Chinese army to resist foreign invasion together. Why do your own people beat your own people?
Because Henan was at the forefront of the war at that time, when the local bao, Jia, and township chiefs fled their hometowns, they actually snatched away all the grain stored in the warehouses, forming an empty room and clearing the wilderness, so that the officers and men had nothing to eat, and finally developed to rob the people of their rations. Due to the corruption of military discipline, the people of Henan were very hostile to Tang Enbo's troops.
The common people suffered from inhumane extortion, and after the outbreak of war, they unusually took up shotguns, machetes and pitchforks and began to disarm the National Army, from individual soldiers to an entire company. A total of about 50,000 Chinese soldiers were disarmed by ordinary people during the weeks of the campaign.
The 13th Army's "most corrupt military discipline" was beaten the most
The 13th Army was "the most corrupt in military discipline" and almost became a street rat that everyone shouted and beat. According to the recollection of General Shi Jue, who was then the commander of the 13th Army, when the army headquarters he led reached the northeast of Song County, it was bombed by the Japanese army and was later robbed by unidentified "mobs". Another "mob" also tried to besiege a combat squad, which was dispersed by soldiers with gun grenades.
Tombaugh was also hit, and the radio stations were robbed
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, a memoir written by a deputy chief of staff of the Third Theater revealed that during the Battle of Yuzhong, Tang Enbo's deputy commander of the First Theater was stationed in Ye County, and commander Jiang Dingwen summoned him to Luoyang to meet with military aircraft. Tang drove a jeep, with a radio and a few retinues, and ran to Luoyang along the Luoye Highway. He never expected that armed peasants had been disarmed near Yichuan County in the rear, and in addition to guns, cars and radios had also been robbed.
In the end, Tang Enbo had to walk with his entourage, and only 4 days later did he go to Luoyang to cry with Jiang Dingwen about this bizarre encounter. During the four days of the most intense war, Senior Generals such as Wang Zhonglian, commander of the 31st Group Army, and Li Xianzhou, commander of the 28th Group Army, could not be contacted by radio to "talk to Commander Tang"! Finally, Jiang Dingwen found a retired deputy division commander with influence in Song County overnight to persuade the peasants to return the radio, and Tang Enbo began to command the operation again.
Liu Jie's corps reported on the battle: "For several days, the residents on the west bank of the LuoHe River have been holding out in the village to rob and stop our army. . . . . So that our army's movements have been doubly difficult, and the same room is killing each other, and this phenomenon is particularly unexpected. According to research, the Nationalist troops attacked were: the 13th Army, the 15th Army, the 47th Army, the New 8th Army, the 38th Army, the 96th Army, the 14th Army, the 85th Army Artillery Battalion, and so on.