On October 1, 1938, in the Baiyun Mountain area, the 4th Army, which had just withdrawn from the Jinguanqiao line, served as the guard of the left flank of the Chinese army. In the first battle of Jinguanqiao, Ou Zhen's 4th Army suffered from the Japanese army's detour. Thanks to the desperate fighting of the 74th Army, the 4th Army withdrew in time. Ou Zhen is very vigilant about the safety of his wings. Search teams were dispatched from a distance, and there were covering troops at close range, always on guard against the safety of their flanks.
The intelligence of the search team made Ou Zhen both nervous and excited. Since the Ito Division was still blocked by friendly forces in the distance, the 4th Army did not have much concern, and Ou Zhen decisively ordered the whole army to turn around, change from defending to attacking to the west, blocking the flank of the enemy who broke through, and resolutely dragging the Songpu Division in the area of Liujialing and Maweitang.
In the fierce battle, Chinese soldiers found a battle plan from a Japanese herald officer on a motorcycle, and the plans of the enemy's 106th and 27th divisions were exposed. Ou Zhen immediately reported to Corps Commander Xue Yue.
Ou Zhen's intelligence surprised Xue Yue. Looking at the big arrow on the map that had gone around the rear of De'an, Xue Yue said in surprise and anger: "Good guy, this guy Okamura Ningji has a lot of appetite, and he wants to wrap all my heavy troops in De'an." I think he was mad in his eagerness to reverse the stalemate, and dared to send this lone army into my army. ”
Xue Yue grabbed the phone, connected to the Military Commission, and reported to Chiang Kai-shek excitedly: "Commission, the 106th Division of the Japanese invaders has drilled into our rear Wanjialing!" ”
Chiang Kai-shek was taken aback: "Boling, what are you talking about!" Did the devil break through the defense? How did you do it! How can I hear your voice tremble? You are a soldier, you must be fearless in the face of danger and in the face of difficulties! You'll have to find a way to drive out the enemies from the depths! I'll let rhetoric help you figure it out. At the very least, a few days should be given to the retreat of Wuhan······"
Xue Yue adjusted his breathing: "Commission, the subordinates mean to prepare to 'close the door and fight the dog', and annihilate the enemy who dares to go deep!" ”
Chiang Kai-shek did not even believe his own ears: "What do you say? You report it again. ”
"The subordinates said that they would annihilate the 106th Division in Wanjialing-annihilation-all, cleanly, and completely ······"
"Ahh Chiang Kai-shek became excited, "Yes, this and this····· Very good! Boling, you ······ Do you think you still have the strength to do it? ”
"Commission, subordinates have the strength to fight a war of annihilation, and they also have the confidence to fight this war of annihilation."
Chiang Kai-shek did not seem to believe it: "This ······ Do you know rhetoric? What is his opinion? ”
In fact, Xue Yue had not yet reported to Chen Cheng at this time, but he believed that Chen Cheng would support his decision. In order to obtain Chiang Kai-shek's approval, he had to say vaguely: "Commission, Chief Chen naturally supports the battle plan of his subordinates." ”
"Boling, in this case, I approve your plan, but it must be done!" Now that Chen Cheng agreed, Chiang Kai-shek was relieved.
However, Chen Cheng's statements were not heard, and Chiang Kai-shek always had concerns. He wanted to call the 9th Theater Commander's Department: "Ci Xiu, Boling just called, saying that the 106th Division of the Japanese invaders broke into the area of Wanjialing, and he was ready to encircle and annihilate, and said that he had obtained your approval. Are you sure? ”
"Well, yes," Chen Cheng was stunned for a moment, and then spoke slowly, "It's true······"
"That's good!" Chiang Kai-shek couldn't wait to say, "Since you have decided to fight, you must fight well, and you must be foolproof!" Resignation, I think it's better for you to command it yourself. ”
Chen Cheng somewhat understood at this time, and said unequivocally: "Please rest assured, the subordinates will work with Xue Boling to command and fight this war of annihilation!" ”
"Okay, then I'll be relieved."
Chen Cheng put down the phone and was pondering it, when Xue Yue's call came: "Cixiu, I made a 'cut first and then play', please forgive me!" ”
Chen Cheng hurriedly said: "The committee just called. Boling, if you are sure, you can fight resolutely. ”
"I'm determined to fight," Xue Yue said resolutely, "as for how sure I am, this can only be relative." The Japanese invaders are advancing lightly, and I cannot miss this opportunity. If you agree, take command yourself. ”
"Okay, I support you, under your command, and I will mobilize troops to assist you at the same time." Chen Cheng said simply, "Don't say much, the fighter plane is fleeting, Brother Boling is doing it himself!" ”
On October 2, Xue Yue issued an encirclement and annihilation order: the 4th and 74th armies and the 187th and 139th divisions of Nanxun and Dexing were to surround the Japanese army in Wanjialing from the east and cut off the enemy's possible retreat; The new 13th, 15th, 91st, 142nd, 60th and 60th divisions of the Ruiwu Line surrounded the western half of Wanjialing.
By the time Matsuura found his position, the Chinese army had already found its position. Twelve divisions of more than 100,000 Chinese troops flew to Wanjialing, encircling more than 10,000 people of the Songpu Division in a 10-square-kilometer mountain range.
The Matsuura Division failed to sneak attack, but fell into a desperate situation on all sides.
Emperor: The 106th Division must be rescued
Okamura had a premonition that something was wrong, and the results of aerial reconnaissance made him vaguely see Xue Yuezhang's pocket giant array around the 106th Division. The cunning Okamura immediately ordered the 106th Division to adjust its direction and turn to the north, where the 27th Division was to receive the troops. Of course, because he looked down on the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army, Okamura Ninji really didn't consider the danger of the 106th Division at first. After receiving the telegram, he even calmly said to the chief of operations staff Miyazaki Mon Osa: "Miyazaki-kun, you make arrangements, I want to go to Guangji to see Inaba-kun and the 6th Division." ”
"Your Excellency, Commander," Miyazaki said cautiously, "now? It's not time yet. ”
Okamura guessed Miyazaki's thoughts, and said slowly: "You can't underestimate Matsuura-kun and the 106th Division, I believe that he can completely crush the enemy's attack and change the situation of the battle in Jiangnan." ”
Okamura knew that Matsuura was besieged, but he didn't know his true situation, and only Miyazaki Daisa, the chief of staff of operations, tried his best to find a way out for Matsuura. He first asked the Air Force to increase the intensity of bombing and the amount of airdropped supplies to maintain the combat effectiveness of the Matsuura Division; The 101st Division was then assigned the 5th Tank Brigade, a field heavy artillery squadron, and a mortar squadron, and ordered them to launch a general attack on October 8, quickly pass through the pass, and join the 106th Division······ Miyazaki believed that as long as Matsuura could hold out for about five days, when the various armies gathered in Dean, the Chinese army that had been suppressed by the 106th Division would be crushed or even encircled.
Okamura seems to have overestimated the combat effectiveness of the 106th Division, and he forgot the history of the division. After all, the 106th Division belongs to the special division of the Japanese army, and its combat effectiveness is inherently worse than that of the standing division. The 106th Division had just been formed in Kumamoto Prefecture in May 1938, and most of its soldiers came from the four prefectures of Kumamoto, Oita, Kagoshima, and Miyazaki in southern Kyushu. As soon as it was formed, it was sent to the Chinese battlefield, and in the previous battle of Nanxun Road, it was stubbornly resisted by the 8th Army and the 64th Army of the Chinese Army, and once lost its combat ability, and also gained an indecent reputation as the first weak division in the Japanese army. Therefore, being given the heavy responsibility of taking on the detour this time shows that Okamura did not despise the 106th Division, and Matsuura Junrokuro is grateful to Okamura, so he tries his best to perform well in this roundabout attack, firstly, to repay Okamura's kindness, and secondly, to wash away the notoriety of the 1st Weak Division. The fact that the 106th Division had only brought food for five days and blindly pursued a light advance fully demonstrated Matsuura's eagerness to win despite everything.
Thinking of the past, Okamura really began to feel at ease with Matsuura. There is no precedent in the history of the "Imperial Divine Army" for a division to be surrounded by enemy troops, and China's radio stations have already shocked the Japanese government and public by publicizing this "great victory" to the whole world. It was really necessary to prevent just in case, so Okamura ordered the 101st Division to break through the Dean Line and support the 106th Division on the flank; At the same time, the chief of staff of the 106th Division, Cheng Fucheng, led more than 2,700 recruits from the fourth line as a reserve to attack behind Xue Yue.
The situation on the battlefield immediately became tense and could even be reversed. Xue Yue was unwilling to give up halfway, he needed more new forces. But distant water does not quench the thirst of the near, so it can only be mobilized nearby. Zhao Zili, the chief of the operations section, suggested to him that the 66th Army be used.
Ye Zhao, commander of the 66th Army, led his troops to Jiangxi through southern Jiangsu after the defeat of the Songhu War of Resistance, and when he was moving to Jiangxi through southern Jiangsu, he was very good at doing mass work, sheltering troops, and relocating wounded soldiers, and had a very good mass base. Chiang Kai-shek admired this unit very much, so he decided to leave them in the Lushan area to fight guerrillas, and put them under his direct control, and no one was allowed to touch them.
Thinking of the particularity of the 66th Army, Xue Yue couldn't help but sigh: "Yifeng, I also thought of it, the problem is that the chairman will never agree." Besides, please send a telegram back and forth, and I won't be waiting for it! ”
"General, according to my thoughts, the 66th Army must go down the mountain," Zhao Zili said in a firm tone, "The 66th Army is a Guangdong army, and the officers and soldiers are basically Cantonese, and from their living habits to language barriers, they are not suitable for staying in Lushan to fight guerrillas." I don't think they themselves want to stay in Lushan. So, Boss, you better give the order quickly! ”
Di Xingyu, the chief of staff, also echoed: "The general will not be subject to the orders of the monarch outside!" Can't fall short, regret for eternity! ”
Under the persuasion of his subordinates, Xue Yue decided to cut first and then play. He said lightly: "The telegram ordered the 66th Army to enter the battle quickly!" Urgently telegraphed Wuchang, reported to the chairman of the committee and the commander of the theater Chen, and asked the 66th Army to participate in the battle! ”
Chiang Kai-shek had promised in advance to support Xue Yue's encirclement and annihilation of the 106th Division, so he adopted a tacit attitude towards Xue Yue's first cut and then play, and although he did not explicitly support it, he did not stop it. But Ye Zhao's side went surprisingly well.
As Zhao Zili said, Ye Zhao, a native of Xue Yue's Guangdong, was very dissatisfied with Chiang Kai-shek's decision to leave the army behind enemy lines to fight guerrillas. The 66th Army was an all-Cantonese soldier, and it was not suitable to fight guerrillas in the Hubei-Jiangxi region. From a regular field army that was particularly good at mountain sports warfare to a guerrilla unit, its status was reduced a lot, and it did not speak, the language was not understood, the diet was not accustomed, the environment was not familiar, and none of the officers and men were willing to stay behind the enemy lines and drill into the mountains and forests. With Xue Yue's order, the officers and soldiers of the 66th Army swept over from the northern front like tigers descending the mountain, and Cheng Fucheng, the chief of staff of the 106th Division, was caught off guard!
Similar to Okamura, after finding that he was surrounded, Matsuura did not disappoint Okamura, and he was also very calm in the first two days, he knew that his position was only more than 30 kilometers away from De'an, and he didn't care about the encirclement of the Kuomintang army, and he did not consider using the 27th Division, which was slow to move in the west, but ordered to attack and advance to the southeast, because, in his opinion, this could be done to get out of the encirclement, and second, to complete the established policy of entering the south of De'an and joining forces with the 101st Division, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
Okamura felt that this plan was not bad, and Fudian strongly supported and wished it success.
The Matsuura Division surveys the terrain
This presented Yu Jishi of the 74th Army with a difficult problem that could only be solved with a desperate spirit. Because the breakthrough point chosen by Songpu was Zhang Gushan, Yu Jishi's 74th Army's 58th Division Feng Shengfa held on here.
In order to ensure the success of the Matsuura breakout, Okamura personally coordinated the air force to cooperate with the operation. More than 30 planes bombed the area around Zhanggushan for six hours, and bombs and incendiary bombs rained down, and the flying shrapnel and raging flames engulfed the positions of the defenders at the foot of Zhanggushan and the officers and men of the 58th Division who were fighting. In less than a day, all that remained of the entire position was scorched earth and bare hillsides, and the fortifications were long gone.
In desperation, Feng Shengfa held the phone and begged Yu Jishi to allow the remnants of the division to withdraw to the second line of positions.
"No, Senior Commander Feng, you can't retreat even a step! The campaign was approved by the commission! Now the commission is calling several times a day to inquire about the situation of the battle, which shows that there is great hope for the annihilation of the enemy. If the Japanese army breaks out of your position, I can only kill you first, and then cut myself to thank you! ”
"This ······ I can only fight with soldiers······"
"Bastard!" Yu Jishi angrily reprimanded, "You are a soldier, a commander, not a girl." You should be soberly aware that every effort is made to keep the position, as long as the position, nothing else! ”
Feng Shengfa threw down the phone, slapped himself in the head, and said to the chief of staff: "Supplement one battalion at a time!" ”
The quality of the 58th Division was originally relatively good. Master Feng Sheng was wearing a pair of glasses with deep myopia, and he was a little bookish. On September 30, when he first came into contact with the Japanese army, he unreservedly led the whole division to attack, and although he destroyed more than 500 enemies in the first battle, he also suffered more than 2,000 casualties. Then he attacked Jianlusu, fought with the Japanese army for more than three hours, and destroyed more than 500 enemies, but the 348th Regiment, the backbone of the division, was basically wiped out. Wu Qiwei and Xue Yue called a telegram to commend the 58th Division for its "heroic invincibility", but the 344th and 343rd regiments were already seriously injured.
However, the remnants of Matsuura's 113th Wing were like gamblers who had lost a bet, wrapped a cloth towel around their heads, and rushed towards the Zhanggushan position like crazy, and had already occupied the northern position of Zhanggushan.
In just two days, the 58th Division was already full of casualties!
In the end, Feng Shengfa organized the non-combatants of the divisional headquarters, and only his guard platoon had combat effectiveness. He rushed to the position with such a "motley army". Then, he used a bomb crater as his headquarters, picked up the phone, and said goodbye to the army commander: "Junzuo, my subordinates are now personally leading the non-combatants of the division headquarters on the position!" Please rest assured, although the success of his subordinates is uncertain, Chengren is determined! ”
At this moment, the army commander Yu Jishi almost became the commander of the light pole, although the other party was choked, Yu Jishi couldn't help but feel sour in his heart, but thinking of Xue Yue's harsh order, thinking of the Wuhan chairman's attention to the battle situation, he could only hold back his feelings, and pretended to be flat and said: "Okay, you're reimbursed', I'll come up!" ”
Dropping the microphone, Yu Jishi turned his head and shouted: "Guard battalion!" ”
The commander of the guard battalion rushed to the position with two companies of more than 200 proud soldiers, most of whom carried machine guns, and rushed to the position with the commander's words of "tell Division Commander Feng, don't come to see me if you lose your position", and slashed and killed dozens of devils who had just rushed to the position, and finally stopped the Japanese offensive and stabilized the position.
Feng Shengfa lost the whole division, but he stuck his way, and the attempt of the Songpu division to break through was crushed. By October 6, more than half of the Matsuura Division had suffered casualties, and the possibility of breaking out alone no longer existed. In desperation, he could only turn to the defense on the spot and wait for help.
In the three towns of Wuhan in early October, Japanese planes were still bombing day and night. The Nationalist Government, with the exception of some institutions left by the Military Commission, is almost gone. At this time, the people of Wuhan no longer suspected that the city would fall, and Chiang Kai-shek was ready to give the order for the citizens to withdraw from Wuhan. The war has come to this point, both unexpectedly and unexpectedly by the Chinese. In short, the gloomy fog of defeat enveloped the Jiangcheng city of Wuhan and the hearts of every Chinese who stood here. For the defense of Wuhan, ordinary Chinese have basically lost any hope.
However, as soon as the news came out that "the Chinese army in the 9th Theater has surrounded an entire division of the Japanese army in De'an, and General Xue Yue is leading his troops to encircle and annihilate it," it caused a sensation in the entire three towns of Wuhan. On the same day, major newspapers in Wuhan rushed to report and hyped up. There is no shortage of imaginative journalists who even wrote a check in advance for a victory at the front.
The command structure of the Military Commission in Wuhan neither recognized nor denied it, but remained silent. They were more concerned and anxious in the hope that the soldiers on the front line would really be able to cash the check.
The more this is, the more mysterious it becomes. The news was covered with a veil of mystery, and the more it spread, the farther and farther. Chongqing, Xi'an, Kunming and other big cities in the interior have begun to congratulate the victories again. Even in the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, China and other places, unconfirmed news has spread.
Finally, word reached Tokyo. Adhering to the emperor's will, Seishiro Itagaki sent an urgent telegram to the six generals of Nanking Toshishi to inquire about the battle situation.
Toshiroku Hatatake's telegraph argued that the 106th Division was nothing more than surrounded by the Chinese army, and its annihilation was nothing more than exaggerated propaganda by the Chiang Kai-shek regime.
In the eyes of Shunroku Hatata, being surrounded by Chinese troops and annihilated are two different things. However, in the eyes of the civil and military officials of the Japanese government and the opposition, this is already quite an ugly thing, not to mention that no one can guarantee that the 106th Division will be able to get out of danger safely. In modern times, the Japanese army has not had a complete division or regiment, which is especially unacceptable on the Chinese battlefield.
The siege of the 106th Division shook the Japanese government and the opposition no less than the disaster of the Great Kanto Earthquake in the 20s of the 20th century.
The Japanese army base camp consulted overnight to study countermeasures, and the only remaining guards division in China was proposed to be transferred to the Chinese battlefield several times. Probably for the sake of face, the last division in the emperor's hands ended up staying on the mainland.
However, the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army in Nanjing, General Shunroku Hata, and the 11th Army of Jiujiang, Lieutenant General Okamura Ninji, received instructions from the Tokyo base camp at the same time: to do everything possible to rescue the Matsuura Division at all costs.
This was the instruction of Emperor Hirohito.
Hirohito really couldn't face the dilemma of a division being completely annihilated by the Chinese army, so he said to the chief of staff, Prince Kanin Palace: "Tell Shunroku Hata that I don't care about anything else, but I must rescue the 106th Division." ”
However, Emperor Hirohito forgot that the protagonist of the incident was Xue Yue, could he agree to let go of the Matsuura Division?