In February 1936, under the decision of the Central Military Commission, the First Front Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army prepared to cross the Yellow River from the Shaanxi-Gansu Region to the east to fight against the Japanese invading army.
At that time, after General Yang Jingyu learned the news, he decided to command the anti-Japanese coalition forces to carry out the western expedition, plan for the Eastern Expedition of the Central Red Army, establish guerrilla areas in the Suileng and Hailun areas, open up contact with the Central Red Army, and carry out the strategic transfer of the main force of the anti-Japanese alliance.
Subsequently, under the command of the Provisional Provincial Committee of North Manchuria, the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army successively sent three westward expeditions to fight against the weakly defended western region of the Japanese army.
So, what is the outcome of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance's three-way (four-batch) westward expeditionary army? In the Western Expedition, how much sacrifice did the anti-coalition forces pay? It's time to tell everyone the truth!
First of all, let's learn about the three-way western expeditionary forces of the Anti-Japanese Federation at that time: including the First Route Army commanded by General Yang Jingyu, the Second Route Army commanded by General Zhou Baozhong, and the Third Route Army commanded by General Li Zhaolin.
- First Route Army: The 1st and 3rd Divisions of the 1st Army of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, with a total of more than 400 people
- Second Route Army: The 2nd, 4th, and 5th armies of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, with a total of more than 1,200 people
- Third Route Army: The 3rd, 6th, and 9th armies of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, with a total of more than 900 people
In total, the troops invested by the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army in the Western Expedition have a regular combat force of about 2,500 people, including some local anti-Japanese armed forces, with a total number of more than 3,000 people.
On May 23, 1936, after discussion, General Yang Jingyu and the cadres of the 1st Division organized the 1st Division to start the westward expedition, directly rushing across the South Manchurian Railway and the Liao River, and approaching the direction of Rehe.
However, in the process of the 1st Division of the 1st Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation, due to the Japanese puppet army's tactics of clearing the wilderness, it became more and more difficult for the anti-Japanese army to obtain supplies, wild vegetables and fruit peels could not fill their stomachs at all, coupled with the lack of support from the local people, thousands of Japanese puppet troops surrounded and intercepted, and after many battles, the first batch of Western Expedition troops was less than 100 people.
Subsequently, in order to preserve the vitality of the First Army of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the First Route Army's westward expedition was urgently suspended.
Of course, even though the First Route Army's westward expedition was declared a "failure", it still achieved the "great victory of Motianling" that killed 48 Japanese officers and soldiers, and it did not blow Yang Jingyu's determination to go west.
Subsequently, after reorganizing the troops, General Yang Jingyu changed the infantry of his headquarters to cavalry, with the intention of increasing the marching speed of the troops and preparing for the second western expedition
In November 1936, the cold wind in the Northeast was biting, and the snow was falling, and the Third Division of the First Army of the Anti-Japanese Alliance marched west again, wanting to take advantage of the cold weather and the Liao River to freeze, and the cavalry could cross the river directly.
However, when the cavalry of the Western Expedition of the Anti-United Nations arrived at the Liao River, they found that the Liao River was not frozen, and then the Japanese Kwantung Army that came to encircle and suppress caught the Anti-United Nations troops by surprise.
In June 1938, Zhou Baozhong led more than 1,200 people of the Second Route Army of the Anti-Japanese Union to begin the mighty westward expedition, after several months of vicious battles with the enemy, breaking through more than 20 blockades of the Japanese puppet army, there were only more than 100 people left in the second route of the westward expedition, of which the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Army were all sacrificed.
In mid-October, the second batch of the Second Route Army's Western Expeditionary Army was preparing to cross the Usihun River to the west, but it encountered a major flood and a surprise attack by the enemy.
Eight female fighters of the Women's Regiment of the First Division took the initiative to attract the firepower of the Japanese puppet army, and finally after the ammunition was exhausted, the eight female fighters of the Anti-Japanese Federation threw themselves into the river arm in arm and died, which is the origin of the "Eight Women Throwing into the River".
The Second Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation also came to an end.
Beginning in August 1938, the Third Route Army of the Anti-Japanese Union began its westward expedition and decided to enter the Songnen Plain to obtain supplies.
However, after entering the winter, the severe cold in the northeast is embarrassing The fighters of the Anti-Japanese Federation need to fight against the Japanese army in bad weather of more than minus 40 degrees, and in order to sustain their lives, they can only eat grass roots, tree bark, and even cotton wool, which have become "food" to endure hunger.
At the same time, the troops of the Fourth Army of the Anti-Japanese Alliance were frustrated in the Wuchang and Zhuhe attacks, and the army commander Li Yanping and deputy army commander Wang Guangyu were betrayed by traitors and bravely sacrificed, and the Fourth Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance was almost completely wiped out, and the other surviving officers and soldiers were incorporated into the teaching brigade of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance Army after entering the Soviet Union.
After more than two months of arduous fighting, the Third Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance, under the leadership of General Li Zhaolin, finally broke through the encirclement of the Japanese puppet army, and nearly 800 anti-United Nations fighters arrived in the Songnen Plain area, but they also encountered extreme consumption of materials and soldiers.
In desperation, General Li Zhaolin and General Zhou Baozhong, in order to preserve the revolutionary flame of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance, had to lead all the remaining troops to withdraw into the Soviet Union, so as to accumulate strength and wait for the opportunity to fight the Japanese army again.
After all, at that time, the Anti-Japanese Federation faced the elite Japanese Kwantung Army, even in the heyday of the Western Expedition, the entire Anti-Japanese Army was only 30,000 soldiers and horses, while the Japanese Kwantung Army had 900,000 people, which shows the military pressure faced by the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
At the same time, according to incomplete statistics, there were more than 600 female soldiers in the Anti-United Nations forces at that time, and when Zhou Baozhong and Li Zhaolin led the rest of the Anti-Japanese Federation to return to the Northeast, there were only more than 60 female soldiers left.
Let's summarize the outcome of the three-way westward expedition of the Anti-Japanese Federation.
In the bloody battle of the Western Expedition of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, more than 400 people of the First Division of the First Route Army were forced to return to the guerrilla area after the Western Expedition, and less than 100 people remained, while the Third Route suffered even more serious losses, less than 70 people.
The Second Route Western Expeditionary Army, to which the Fourth Army belonged, was almost completely annihilated, becoming the army with the largest battle loss ratio in the Western Expedition of the Third Route Army of the Anti-United Nations, and this also led to the annihilation of the cavalry units that the Anti-United Nations forces had managed to develop with great difficulty, and lost a good opportunity to develop the revolutionary base area.
More than 800 people finally arrived at the designated destination of the Western Expedition, but due to the frequent military and economic encirclement and suppression of the Japanese puppet army, the actual combat effect of the Third Western Expedition was greatly reduced.
By the end of 1939, the entire anti-coalition force was less than 2,000 men. In 1940, the remaining anti-coalition forces retreated into the territory of the Soviet Union and were divided into the southern and northern camps, and they also became the main force of the Kwantung Army that raided Japan in the future!
The spirit of the anti-Japanese war will also live forever!