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1
The most fierce battle during the anti-Japanese period, the Battle of Songhu wiped out a division in one day, almost emptying out Chiang Kai-shek's family.
Why was this battle so fierce, and what did it go like after that?
The Battle of Songhu was a major battle of the Chinese War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which was led by Chiang Kai-shek's Nanjing Nationalist Government, and Chiang Kai-shek also participated in this battle through direct or indirect means.
In fact, before the Battle of Songhu began, Chiang Kai-shek had already conceived the anti-Japanese strategy in the Songhu area for the first time, and in his opinion, the Japanese army had already occupied a clear advantage in the northern region after taking a full-scale offensive against the mainland.
At that time, almost the entire three eastern provinces were under the rule of the Japanese army, and not only that, but a large number of Japanese troops were stationed in North China and even on the Korean Peninsula, forming a strong deterrent to northern China.
Therefore, in Chiang Kai-shek's view, the Japanese army must continue to attack North China, not only to expand the area of domination, but also to cut off the connection between China and the Soviet Union.
In the whole of Central China, the two cities of Shanghai and Nanjing were important military towns, and because of their unique significance, the Japanese army was bound to focus on these two cities.
Under these circumstances, doing a good job in the defense of the Songhu area has become the top priority.
This was because Chiang Kai-shek believed that the mainland should attack Japan in the Shanghai area before it organized a full-scale attack, so as to catch the other side by surprise and gain a certain strategic advantage.
In October 1936, Chiang Kai-shek began to coordinate the preparations for the war against Japan in the Songhu area, during which Zhang Zhizhong suggested to Chiang Kai-shek, saying that if the situation in Shanghai was uncertain, a large number of troops should be sent to Songhu to take a fierce attack on the enemy.
Chiang Kai-shek thought that Zhang Zhizhong's statement was very reasonable, and immediately adopted it and used it as the guiding ideology for subsequent operations.
After Zhang Zhizhong received the task assignment from Chiang Kai-shek, he began to make tactical arrangements in the Songhu area in full swing, so as to be able to respond as soon as possible after the arrival of the Japanese army.
After the outbreak of the 77 Incident, Chiang Kai-shek became more determined in the strategic plan of the Battle of Songhu, and at this time, the overall situation of the national war of resistance against Japanese aggression changed significantly, so that he had to seriously deal with the opponent of the Japanese invaders.
However, from a historical point of view, his opening up of a second battlefield against Japan in the Songhu area was an unusual move, and it was also a rare example in his political career.
In the view of some researchers, the purpose of Chiang Kai-shek's decision was to lure Japan to the East China Theater and thus forcibly change the strategy of the Japanese army.
Because the Japanese army's previous line of aggression was extremely unfavorable to the mainland, if it was allowed to develop freely, the mainland would soon lose the initiative, so it was necessary to take the initiative to seek changes, and the Battle of Songhu was a rare opportunity.
Chiang Kai-shek also mentioned this decision in his personal diary, and he wrote: In the war against the Japanese pirates, we should use a variety of rich tactics to make up for the lack of weapons and equipment, and we should not confront the other side head-on, only in this way can the other side be in a passive position.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek reviewed the Battle of Songhu in the "Miscellaneous Records", saying that the Japanese invaders intended to use the Yellow River as the demarcation point as their sphere of influence, so they must force the other side to cross the river, otherwise they could not disrupt the other side's combat strategy.
Therefore, it was necessary to use strategy to force the enemy forces to penetrate deep into the Jiangnan area, and then to disperse the enemy forces in the north of the Yellow River, so that they could not be connected from end to end.
In addition to the above factors, Chiang Kai-shek's other purpose in launching the Battle of Songhu was to defend Shanghai, because Shanghai is the economic and financial center of the mainland, and it is also an important port for China's foreign trade, which is of great significance to the whole country.
Therefore, for the Kuomintang under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, Shanghai could not be abandoned in any case, which led to the outbreak of the Battle of Songhu in the future.
So how exactly was this war fought, and what price did Chiang Kai-shek pay?
2
The Battle of Songhu was so tragic that he almost drained Lao Chiang's pockets, and he wiped out a division of troops in one day.
After the outbreak of the July 7 Incident, the Japanese army continued to exert pressure in the mainland's northern part of China, and at the same time issued warnings to the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in an attempt to destroy China within three months.
In this grim situation, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party united as never before, and Chiang Kai-shek also issued a declaration of resistance against Japan, saying that he would drive Japan to the Huangpu River.
Later, Zhang Zhizhong received an order from Chiang Kai-shek to launch a fierce offensive against the Japanese army near Hongkou in Shanghai, trying to drive the Japanese army away on the frontal battlefield, and the Battle of Songhu began.
In the face of the fierce attack of the national army, the Japanese army did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly sent two carrier ships full of soldiers to the coast of the Saddle Islands, and the soldiers rushed frantically in the direction of Shanghai after landing.
If we can wipe out the Japanese troops entrenched in Shanghai before the arrival of the Japanese army's follow-up forces, and then fortify the coastal areas, we can prevent the Japanese army from continuing to exert its superiority in strength.
With the ferocious attack of the Chinese army, the number of Japanese troops defending Shanghai and subsequent reinforcements was greatly reduced, and most of the strongholds planted by the Japanese army were also uprooted.
For the situation at that time, there was only one step left to drive the Japanese army into the sea, but at this critical moment, Matsui Ishine increased the Japanese army in time and quickly smoothed the gap with us.
Although the combat effectiveness of the increased Japanese troops was very strong, the ace troops headed by Chen Cheng still showed a good level of actual combat and quickly recovered some areas occupied by the Japanese army.
Not only that, but troops from other parties also participated in the battle to defend Shanghai, which was the first time since the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
It can be said that at that time, all domestic forces, including the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, pressed the treasure on the Battle of Songhu, which was only allowed to be won, not defeated.
With the staffing at that time, as long as the commander played normally, it could not be said that he would win, but it would not end in a fiasco.
Unknowingly, the war lasted for more than two months, and the Japanese army continued to increase its strength, and the pressure on the shoulders of the Chinese side was also increasing day by day.
Faced with this stalemate, Chen Cheng proposed to Chiang Kai-shek that all troops be evacuated and controlled near Suzhou.
Chen Cheng's suggestion was not unreasonable, before the Battle of Songhu began, the Nationalist army built many military facilities near Taihu Lake in Suzhou, which were very suitable for defense.
At that time, the Japanese army had gradually gained the upper hand, so the withdrawal of troops to the vicinity of Suzhou could be more effective in launching a counterattack against the enemy.
Unfortunately, however, the nine-nation convention to discuss Sino-Japanese relations is also underway, and if the Chinese side retreats from the front line at this time, it will inevitably cause some damage to a country's face.
Chiang Kai-shek was the most face-conscious, so he did not listen to Chen Cheng's advice, but gave the front-line troops a combat mission, which must be held on to the position until the end of the meeting.
However, at that time, the forces of the enemy and us were gradually unbalanced, and although the front-line troops were able to barely maintain resistance, the Japanese army continued to increase in strength, and once we reached the critical point, we would be greeted by a rout.
At that time, the frontal battlefield that Zhang Fakui was in charge of was on the verge of collapse, and the flanks were attacked by the enemy, and the entire army was within the enemy's attack range.
After Chen Cheng saw this scene, he hurriedly proposed to Chiang Kai-shek to retreat again, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.
However, Chiang Kai-shek remained unmoved, and ordered the front-line troops to resist for another three days, and the meeting was about to end.
This decision proved to be stupid, and the Japanese were keenly aware of this opportunity and launched an even more ferocious offensive, at which time our troops were powerless to resist, and the defense line was broken by the Japanese from the front.
According to relevant statistics, China suffered nearly 300,000 casualties during the Battle of Songhu, accounting for one-third of the total number of participants in the battle, of which Chiang Kai-shek's troops suffered the heaviest proportion of casualties, reaching two-thirds.
Although there were still ruthless characters like the Gui army in these troops, they were still powerless to resist in the face of the well-equipped Japanese army, and they sacrificed more than 40,000 people in three days, almost killing a division in one day.
As the commander of the Battle of Songhu, Chiang Kai-shek was destined to be to blame, and if it were not for his wrong decision, the troops would not have suffered such heavy casualties.
So what can be reflected on in this war?
3
The Battle of Songhu, exchanging troops for victory, defeating one division in one day, almost emptied Chiang Kai-shek's pocket.
It is undeniable that the Battle of Songhu was extremely important in Chiang Kai-shek's mind, and in his all-out anti-Japanese war plan, the Battle of Songhu was called the "Xu War".
Different from the previous Sino-Japanese wars, both sides invested a large number of troops in the Battle of Songhu, and the total number of people on both sides reached one million.
It is worth mentioning that in this war, both land, sea and air were on the stage at the same time, which was extremely rare before.
The Battle of Songhu lasted nearly 50 days, and the battle was extremely tragic, which was also the first time during the War of Resistance Against Japan.
During this period, Chiang Kai-shek participated in almost all of the countless battles, large and small, and all of them were carried out under his command, and some important issues on the battlefield also required Chiang Kai-shek to make decisions.
Although judging from the comparison of the combat strength of the two armies, it is difficult for our army to bargain in Shanghai, if it were not for Chiang Kai-shek's serious command error, there would not have been such heavy casualties, so that he almost lost his family's wealth.
So what exactly did the commanders, including Chiang Kai-shek, make mistakes?
First of all, Chiang Kai-shek adopted a full-front defense strategy, that is, passive defense, and this tactical idea almost ran through the entire Battle of Songhu.
Under the guidance of this idea, countless soldiers on the mainland front can only passively anchor themselves in the area they are responsible for, constantly fighting the enemy for attrition, and even if they find an opportunity to attack, they will not be able to carry out.
What is certain is that a purely passive defense will inevitably lose the initiative on the battlefield, and with the passage of time, the enemy army will inevitably find the weak link in our army's defense and then take a key offensive.
In the traditional strategic defense link, it is often interspersed with tactical attacks, so that the enemy can take care of one and lose the other, but unfortunately Chiang Kai-shek did not understand this truth, which led to the subsequent rout.
The second mistake of Chiang Kai-shek's strategy was the use of positional warfare, in which the differences in weapons and equipment and the quality of the army members between China and Japan were very significant, not to mention the fact that the Japanese had air supremacy and geographical superiority.
From a tactical point of view, the Nationalist Army is completely unable to confront the other side, but instead adopts roundabout and guerrilla tactics to make better use of its strengths and avoid its weaknesses.
However, Chiang Kai-shek still adhered to his old-fashioned and old-fashioned military thinking, and adopted the purely defensive policy of positional warfare, which was seriously divorced from reality.
Chiang Kai-shek once wrote in the "Letter to the Officers and Men of the Whole Army in All Theaters" that all soldiers must stick to their positions, build deep ditches and high fortifications, and constantly crush the enemy's attacks.
In the Battle of Songhu, he almost carried out positional warfare throughout, saw the shadow of positional warfare on all battlefields, and completely disregarded the objective reality and the lives of the soldiers, which was obviously a manifestation of serious irresponsibility.
Another mistake in Lao Chiang's strategy was to adopt a protracted war and a war of attrition.
During the battle, Chiang Kai-shek ignored the conventional laws of warfare and did not focus all his energy on how to win the war, but pinned his hopes on Western countries to put pressure on Japan so that they could get something for nothing.
Under the guidance of this strategic thinking, in order to delay time and win relevant interests, he let the troops and the Japanese army engage in frontal attrition in an attempt to drag each other down.
However, in the face of the sophisticated weapons and equipment of the Japanese army, as well as the well-trained elite soldiers, this tactical idea was reversed, and the front-line troops were lost one after another, and many positions were surrendered.
During this period, senior generals including Chen Cheng, Bai Chongxi, and Li Zongren all persuaded Chiang Kai-shek to transfer their positions and wait until the right time to launch a counteroffensive against the Japanese army.
However, Chiang Kai-shek either did not adopt it directly, or after adopting it, he temporarily turned around and ignored his previous promises, which caused more casualties, resulting in a panic in the final retreat and becoming a live target for the Japanese army.
Chen Cheng later mentioned when reviewing the Battle of Songhu that the biggest lesson of this war was that strategy gave way to political strategy, which was a national misfortune.
The last mistake of Chiang Kai-shek's strategy was to focus on the frontal battlefield and to lack defense against the enemy on both flanks.
In the early stage of the Battle of Songhu, the Japanese army had successfully landed on the south bank of the Yangtze River, which is enough to prove that they knew this tactic by heart.
However, Chiang Kai-shek did not take precautions against this, and still lacked enough troops to garrison on both flanks, which allowed the Japanese to find an opportunity to pose a direct and lethal threat to our troops.
Later, when Chiang Kai-shek was reflecting, he also realized this mistake, saying that he did not pay attention to the importance of the flank, so that the enemy could take advantage of the weakness.
It can be said that Chiang Kai-shek, as the master of the Battle of Songhu, made a mess of an important war that could have been won, and indirectly led to the passive situation of our anti-Japanese resistance.
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