On the night of May 11, 1938, the Japanese 14th Division of Tufeiyuan forcibly crossed the Yellow River and marched toward Heze, and once the 14th Division captured Heze, it would cut off the Longhai Road west of Xuzhou, cutting off the supply of 600,000 Chinese troops and their retreat. The next day, Chiang Kai-shek flew from Hankou to Zhengzhou on the "Meiling" plane, preparing to personally command the operation.
Chen Guofu
Before leaving Wuhan, Chen Guofu, then a member of the Standing Committee of the Kuomintang Central Committee, handed Chiang Kai-shek a proposal from the perspective of the relationship between the Yellow River and the War of Resistance, proposing to break the embankment and release water to block the Japanese army. But Chiang Kai-shek did not pay much attention, he just wrote on the annotations: "You can break the mouth at any time to counterattack", but in the end he scribbled away with a pen.
Chiang Kai-shek
At this time, breaking the embankment to release water was not needed for Chiang Kai-shek. Because he already had a case of annihilating the Toihara Division, but more troops needed to be mobilized. Chiang Kai-shek hoped that the Battle of Heze would delay time.
At 7:20 p.m. on May 13, 1938, the vanguard of the Japanese army, combined with infantry, cavalry, artillery, and more than 2,000 people, launched an attack on the defensive position of the Nationalist 23rd Division stationed in Heze, and the division commander Li Bifan fought fiercely with the enemy for several hours, until midnight, when the battle situation outside Heze became calm. However, only a few hours later, at about 5:00 a.m. on the 14th, The main force of the 14th Division led by Toihara arrived at Heze Castle, concentrated artillery fire on the positions outside the moat, and then strafed the city. The fierce fighting lasted until five o'clock in the afternoon, the moat position was breached by the Japanese army, and Li Bifan and hundreds of officers and men were surrounded by enemy troops.
The Japanese army invaded Heze
At this time, Li Bifan led the remaining hundreds of people to break out of the siege and launched a bloody battle with the Japanese army street by street. During the fierce battle, Li Bifan was shot in the abdomen and was desperately saved by the aide-de-camp and guards, and only then did he save his life. Eventually, they retreated to a village more than 10 miles away from Heze before stopping to rest.
When Li Bifan woke up from his coma and saw through the dim light of the small oil lamp that his adjutants and several guards were covered in dust and their military uniforms were in tatters, he couldn't help but sigh: "I failed to defend Heze, I am guilty!" Then he said to the people around him, "Go out, I want to be quiet for a while." ”
Lee Bi Fan
After the adjutants and guards left, Li Bifan endured the pain, took a military map, and wrote in the blank space, "The crime of misleading the country is especially light in death; may my compatriots try to kill thieves!" Then, Lying on a wooden board, Li Bifan pressed his pistol against his temple, pulled the trigger, and committed suicide. At about 11 o'clock in the evening, the important town of Heze was completely occupied by the Japanese army.
When the news of Heze's loss came from the front, Chiang Kai-shek was already asleep. Cheng Qian did not dare to delay and immediately went to report to Chiang Kai-shek. After listening to Cheng Qian's report, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly became alert and rushed to the map to look at it and look at it. Suddenly, he realized that the intention of the Japanese army was to encircle the main force of the Nationalist army and annihilate his 600,000 troops.
Chiang Kai-shek immediately summoned He Yingqin, Chen Cheng, and Bai Chongxi to study countermeasures together. For a while, Chiang Kai-shek could not control his temper and said, "If these 50 elite divisions in Xuzhou are eaten by the Japanese, what will I do to resist!" Everyone else present agreed: "What the Commission said is extremely true. Subsequently, a telegram quickly reached Li Zongren's hand. So, what exactly is said in this telegram? For more exciting content, please pay attention to the headline number of "Hubei Satellite TV Big Reveal"!