From the outbreak of the all-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1947 to Japan's surrender in 1949, the national army fought a total of 22 major battles with the Japanese army on the frontal battlefield. Of course, although the national army has backward weapons and equipment and rigid tactical command, the vast number of officers and men are full of patriotic enthusiasm and vow to defend their homes and the country to the death, so there are no lack of bright spots in these battles, among which the battle of Xuzhou was relatively good.
In December 1937, after the fall of Nanjing, in order to allow the Japanese army in North China and the Japanese army in East China to effectively respond, the Japanese base camp planned to open up the Tianjin-Pudong Railway, an important passage between the north and south of China at that time, so that the north and south battlefields could be united. The Japanese troops carrying out this task were under the command of Shunroku Hatata, commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, and Toshiichi Terauchi, commander of the North China Front, respectively, and concentrated about 240,000 people in eight divisions, three brigades, and two detachments (equivalent to brigades). The Nationalist Government was aware of this and actively responded to it, successively mobilizing 64 divisions and three brigades with a total of about 600,000 people, under the command of Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater Command, to concentrate around Xuzhou, resist resistance in the north and resist in the south, and strive to secure Xuzhou.
Xuzhou, formerly known as Pengcheng, is located in the southeast of the North China Plain and the northwest of Jiangsu Province. China's modern railway traffic north-south, east-west two most important trunk lines Jinpu Railway and Longhai Railway meet here, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal around the city, known as the "thoroughfare of the five provinces", since ancient times is the key to the north, the gateway to the south, the place where soldiers must fight. As long as Xuzhou is occupied, Henan can be attacked to the west, and Hubei can be attacked directly from Henan. After the fall of Nanjing, the Nationalist Government moved the capital to Wuhan, where a large number of institutions and schools gathered, and people were sleepy. If Xuzhou can't hold out for a while, delay the Japanese attack, and give Wuhan a buffer time, the consequences will be unimaginable!
In fact, the Japanese army had no idea whether to continue to expand the war, and there was a debate in the base camp for this, with opponents believing that the Chinese battlefield was too large and the Japanese army was not enough; The main battle faction believed that the Chinese army was vulnerable, that most of the elite troops of the national army had been consumed in the Songhu battlefield, and that the miscellaneous cards around Xuzhou were not to be worried. Because the early stage of the war was too smooth, the opinion of the main battle faction was finally approved. On the other hand, on the side of the national army, everyone also knows that Xuzhou will not be guaranteed, and most of the troops claiming to be 600,000 are composed of miscellaneous cards, and they are also very worried about the quality. However, in the face of the national righteousness of resisting Japan, they all held the determination to die. The course of the war that followed did reflect both of these mentalities.
The Battle of Xuzhou lasted for 5 months, including the Battle of Tengxian, the Battle of Linyi (the editor has a special article to introduce it, you can pay attention to it and view it if you are interested), the Battle of Taierzhuang and the Breakthrough of Xuzhou. Due to Han Fuyu's preservation of strength, the Japanese army almost did not encounter any strong resistance in most of Shandong, such as the Seya detachment in the land of no one did not expect to hit a big nail in Teng County, and it took a lot of effort to break through the Teng County defended by the Sichuan army. The Sichuan Army resisted with rudimentary weapons, and the commander of the 122nd Division, Wang Mingzhang, was martyred, which was "one of the tragic battles in the history of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japan"; It makes people look at the Sichuan army with admiration from then on.
In the battle of Linyi, General Zhang Zizhong led the army to cooperate with Pang Bingxun, who was defending the city, and killed and wounded more than 6,000 Japanese soldiers, thwarting the Japanese army's plan to attack Taierzhuang from Jinpu Road and Linyi Road, and laying the foundation for the victory of the Taierzhuang Defense Battle. The Battle of Taierzhuang was the first great victory of the national army in the frontal battlefield, with a total of 11,984 Japanese soldiers killed and wounded, 719 prisoners, 31 cannons, 11 armored vehicles, 8 large and small combat vehicles, more than 1,000 light and heavy machine guns, and more than 10,000 rifles.
When Tengxian and Linyi were fighting fiercely, Bai Chongxi assisted Li Zongren to quickly adjust his troops, sending three divisions of Sun Lianzhong's Second Army to defend the Taierzhuang area, the 21st Division of Chifengcheng to garrison the main position of Taierzhuang, and Huang Qiaosong's 27th Division and Zhang Jinzhao's 30th Division to deploy on the east and west sides of Taierzhuang's periphery; Tang Enbo's regiment stayed in the Yixian area behind the Japanese flank, preparing to attack from the north and south when the enemy entered Taierzhuang, and annihilate the enemy on the bank of the canal.
On March 20, the Japanese Isogu Division took advantage of the prestige of conquering Teng County, and under the cover of aircraft, concentrated 40,000 people, equipped with tanks and artillery, and launched a fierce attack on Taierzhuang. After half a month of fierce fighting, the Japanese suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreat on April 6, while the Nationalist army counterattacked with victory and wiped out all the enemies in Taierzhuang. The next day, the remnants of the enemy were repelled to the front line of Fengxian and Zaozhuang, and the battle of Taierzhuang ended victoriously.
After the arrogant Japanese army was attacked around Taierzhuang, it had to lower its donkey head raised high and adjust its battle plan for attacking Xuzhou. Due to the disparity in strength between the two sides, in order to preserve its strength, the Nationalist Government decided to abandon Xuzhou, and the troops of the 5th Theater broke through to the southwest and entered the Henan-Anhui Mountains.
When Xuzhou retreated, because the Japanese army occupied absolute air superiority, in order to avoid being attacked by air raids and the pursuit of Japanese tanks and cavalry on the ground, the national army had to choose to build a position defense during the day and march at night. In March 1938, after inspecting with Chiang Kai-shek, Bai Chongxi, the head of military training of the Military Commission who remained in Xuzhou to assist Li Zongren in commanding, also retreated with the troops. During the Battle of Taierzhuang, he often went to the battlefield to contact the senior generals of various armies and divisions, expressed condolences on behalf of the Wuhan base camp, boosted morale, and made great contributions to the great victory of Taierzhuang. At this time, Bai Chongxi, who had been fighting for nearly three months, was exhausted, and one night when he was marching, he fell asleep and fell off his horse into the wheat field next to him, which shows how tired he was! But if there is God's help, it is unscathed.
In addition to being surprised, Bai Chongxi remembered a sentence from Zhuangzi: The crash of the drunken man does not die even though he is sick. The joints are the same as those of man, and the offense is different from that of man, and all of them are gods. I don't know what to ride, I don't know how to fall, and the fear of death and life does not enter his chest. (Meaning: A drunk person falls from a car, although he is covered in injuries but does not die, his bones and joints are the same as others, but the injuries are different, the main reason is that the drunken person is highly nervously concentrated, he is only immersed in the happiness of no one else in his own spiritual world, and does not pay attention to anything outside of himself.) ）。 After being immersed in a deep sleep, he couldn't help but feel related to Zhuangzi's philosophical words!
As one of the top military bosses in the national government, he has also worked hard and embarrassed so far, which shows the difficulty of resisting Japan! How can the descendants of our generation who enjoy peace not be grateful?