Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chapter 275 Wuhan has fallen! Guangzhou has fallen! Chang Kai's letter to fellow countrymen across the country! (Subscribe)

Chiang Kai-shek, who had just boarded the plane, glanced at the telegram in his hand and put it aside.

The plane landed in the mountain city.

Wuhan was declared fallen.

This war, which lasted for more than two months, ended with Japan's victory.

Chiang Kai-shek returned to his official residence by car.

Before he had time to deal with the matter in the Eighth War Zone.

New news comes.

Guangzhou, the most important trading port on China's southern coast, fell.

The series of bad news overwhelmed the already exhausted chairman.

He was in a coma for a whole day and night before waking up again.

Lin Wei was a smart man. He immediately teamed up with Wang Shihe and others to block the news.

So that things didn't get too bad.

Chu Yunfei had already reminded Chiang Kai-shek about the Guangzhou incident.

However, the urgency of the Battle of Wuhan made Chiang Kai-shek powerless despite his willingness.

It took less than twenty days from the loss of Wusheng Pass to the fall of Wuhan.

Many equipment and materials that had not yet been evacuated had to be destroyed.

This cast a shadow over the subsequent protracted war of resistance.

The people in the command center made a very serious strategic misjudgment of the defense in the direction of Guangzhou.

They never expected it.

The Japanese army, which had already achieved its goal of cutting off the Pinghan Railway Line and was about to capture the Wuhan area, actually launched an attack on Guangzhou.

The Japanese army's move was actually to cut off China's internationalist aid channel and establish its own naval attack base.

This is military common sense that both sides of the war are well aware of.

However, the Japanese army not only suffered setbacks in eastern Henan, but also suffered a heavy loss in Shanxi.

If we summarize it according to the battle reports.

The Second War Zone wiped out at least 40,000 Japanese troops this time.

Where did the Japanese army get the spare energy to launch the Guangzhou landing operation?
In fact.

The Second War Zone never wiped out so many devils.

The Battle of Shanxi caused less than 30,000 casualties to the Japanese army.

Forty thousand people were annihilated. It was wrong for the high command to accept this telegram reporting achievement optimistically.

In addition, the Japanese army had already drawn up a combat plan to land in Guangzhou in May 38.

But due to insufficient preparation for ship transportation.

It was finally decided to capture Wuhan before attacking Guangzhou.

But it can't wait until after July.

The Tokyo headquarters felt that the materials and supplies for sea and land transportation were ready.

While capturing Wuhan, we also captured Guangzhou.

Deal a heavy blow to the Nationalist government and achieve the goal of a quick victory.

Forced Chiang Kai-shek to surrender.

The army also learned the tragic lessons from previous battles.

They sought the advice of the navy in advance.

however.

What they didn't expect was that the navy was more active than their army when it came to capturing Guangzhou!
They even proposed to capture Hainan Island at the same time.

The proposal was rejected by the Army on the grounds of insufficient manpower.

Afterwards, a royal meeting was held at the base camp.

The Navy insisted that the Army must make a commitment to capture Hainan Island in the future.

The Japanese Army and Navy reached a consensus at the combat meeting.

The capture of Guangzhou would have a huge impact on Britain.

【For China, on the one hand, it lost important areas in North China and Central China, and on the other hand, because our navy blockaded the coast, Guangzhou became an important supply base with British Hong Kong Island as the background. Before the Guangzhou campaign began, the uncounted inland areas accounted for an estimated 80% of the total.

In addition to British Hong Kong, there is also Portuguese Macau at the mouth of the Pearl River in Guangzhou. There are British and French concessions in Guangzhou. In Guangzhou, Huizhou, Boluo and other places, there are institutions, schools, churches, hospitals, shops, etc. from Britain, the United States, Germany and France.

In addition, Britain and France not only have loan rights on the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway and the Guangdong-Hankou Railway, but also retain various interests in trade and navigation.

Especially in Hong Kong, including the Kowloon Leased Territory and the nearby leased sea areas, there were British troops stationed!
It is not only the base for Britain to conduct political maneuvers against China, but also the base for various hostile countries.

Didn’t the Japanese know that attacking Guangzhou would offend the European powers?

On the contrary, the Japanese are very clear about this.

And they hope to use this to strike against these hostile countries.

Early September.

The Japanese headquarters issued the "Continental Order" and the "Sea Order" to attack Guangzhou, China.

The army units participating in the battle were the 21st Army and the 5th Fleet of the Navy.

Its main forces were the 104th Division (drawn from the Kwantung Army and stationed near Hangzhou after the Battle of Shanghai), the th Division (formerly drawn from the Kwantung Army, later assigned to the combat forces of the North China Front Army, a special division formed by the reserve force, equivalent to a Class B division), and the th Brigade under the th Division.

It landed at Daya Bay in Guangzhou and advanced towards Dongjiang River via Huidong, Pingtan and Huizhou.

This is the first phase of the battle plan.

The second phase of the battle plan was to wait for the main force of the Fifth Division to arrive, forcefully break through the Dongjiang defense line, and attack Guangzhou in different directions.

At the same time, part of the Fifth Division landed at the mouth of the Pearl River on October 27, captured the Humen Fortress, and cooperated with the main force of the division to capture Guangzhou from south to north.

Among the participating troops.

The Fifth Division had the strongest combat effectiveness. It fought in the Shanxi, Xuzhou and East Henan battlefields and after breaking through the Dasheng Pass, it took a short rest for half a month before participating in this attack.

At this time, the commander of the 5th Division was also replaced by Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi.

As for Seishirō Sakagami, he was transferred back to the country to serve as the Minister of the Army.

It was precisely because of the Battle of East Henan and the Battle of Wuhan on the northern front.

This long-delayed appointment came after the dismissal of Japanese Prime Minister and Army Minister Sugiyama Hajime.

It's precisely because of this dog luck.

This made the old Japanese devil Sugiyama Gen take the responsibility for the Zhanggufeng Incident for him.

As a result, Sugiyama Gen, who was supposed to go to the North China Front Army to replace Terauchi Hisaichi as commander, had to stay in the headquarters.

Hideki Tojo, the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, was his deputy. Although Tojo was one month older than him, his military service was one year younger than his. He was also considered his close confidant. As early as when Itagaki Seishirō was the deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, Tojo was the commander of the military police. At that time, Itagaki and Ishihara formed the so-called military order, and Itagaki and Tojo formed the military government.

but.

This is why Ishiwara Kanji was a staunch non-expansionist at this point in time.

It is precisely because of this.

Ishiwara Kanji was ostracized in the General Staff and was even marginalized at one point.

Although Seishirō Sakagami had made many military achievements, he enjoyed great prestige among young officers.

But in the central government of the Japanese Army, he was regarded as a passionate man with only hot-blooded character.

The commander of the 21st Army was Lieutenant General Kanro Furusho, and the chief of staff was Hisaichi Tanaka.

The two of them had good luck.

Because of the Wuhan War.

In Guangdong, Yu Hanmou supported Chiang Kai-shek's war of resistance.

Three divisions of troops were drawn to the north.

In fact, the 12th Army only had eight divisions left.

But these eight divisions are basically composed of incompetents and good-for-nothings.

Most of them have already accumulated property, and there are few generals willing to sacrifice themselves in battle.

Even Li Hanhun, the most capable fighter, was squeezed out of Guangdong by him.

He performed outstandingly in the Battle of East Henan.

On the other hand, the reason for this failure is also the most fundamental reason.

That is, the decision makers of the Military Commission never believed that the Japanese dared to attack Guangzhou.

Did Chiang Kai-shek know that the Japanese army was gathering its forces?

He knew it, but by the time he knew it, Wusheng Pass had already fallen.

Chiang Kai-shek no longer had the energy to worry about the situation in Guangzhou, and even wanted to withdraw another division from Guangzhou to escort the evacuated supplies and people to the north.
As for the judgment of He Yingqin and others, they believed that Japan would be concerned about the interests of Britain and other countries and would not dare to attack Guangzhou for fear of causing international interference.

Yu Hanmou himself has spies around him.

Major General Guo, the engineer commander, and Major General Li, the senior advisor, were both hidden traitors.

The two were introduced by Xu Jingtang, Yu Hanmou's former chief of staff, as classmates in the army. At that time, the design of fortifications and position organization diagrams in Guangzhou and other places were all under their charge.

The Japanese army attacked Guangzhou, which was like opening the eyes of heaven to attack
In addition, Yu Hanmou himself did not have many troops. The rapid fall of Guangzhou was not a coincidence, but a necessity.

Inside the official residence.

Chiang Kai-shek put down the report in his hand and sighed.

When the Japanese Fifth Fleet arrived at Daya Bay and even launched a landing operation.

The Chinese coast was completely unprepared to resist the landing and had no response at all.

"When the headquarters formulated the Guangzhou defense plan, the territorial waters from Dapeng Bay to Bao'an belonged to Britain. It was impossible for Japanese ships to enter this sea area to fight. Why was there only one battalion of garrison troops defending the coast of Daya Bay?"

Lin Wei was silent...Yes, the judgment of the landing location was extremely accurate.

But when naval ships gathered on the surface of Daya Bay.

It was you who personally gave the order to Yu Hanmou to first secure the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway, and believed that the attack in the Daya Bay direction was just a feint attack by the Japanese army.

And now, the Japanese army has captured Guangzhou.

You think there is something wrong with Yu Hanmou's deployment.
In the Battle of Guangzhou, there were problems with the command headed by Chiang Kai-shek.

But Yu Hanmou and the Guangdong Army under his command had bigger problems.

Although the 12th Army is weak in strength and dispersed in deployment.

However, the equipment is considered very good in the combat sequence of the Chinese Army.

Do not have sufficient ammunition, especially with a considerable number of artillery and armored vehicles.

It also has a large number of trucks and inland boats.

This is the territory of their 12th Army Group, and they should be at least more familiar with the complex water network in the Pearl River Basin than the Japanese.

They are fully capable of fighting the Japanese.
however.

During the entire Guangzhou Campaign, the 151st Division held out for more than ten hours in Huizhou.

The 156th and 154th Divisions put up some resistance near Zengcheng, but the Dajiao Fort held out for more than 20 hours.

The rest of the troops did not put up any strong resistance and a large amount of weapons and equipment were abandoned to the Japanese.

According to Japanese military statistics, during the battle in Guangzhou.

1,340 soldiers of the 12th Army were captured, and 208 light and heavy machine guns were seized.

There are 130 artillery pieces and 53 fortress guns.

Twenty-one tanks and armored vehicles, and 17,550 bags of rice.

Guangzhou fell.

This meant that the Guangdong-Hankou Railway was cut off in the north, the port was blocked, and the Japanese army was able to establish a forward base for operations in the south.

"Niang Xipi!"

"Our most important international transportation and supply route has been completely cut off. How can we continue the war of resistance?"

The more Chiang Kai-shek thought about it, the angrier he became.

Wuhan was lost, and about 10 percent of the city’s supplies had not yet been evacuated.

Guangzhou was lost and the Guangdong-Hankou Railway was completely cut off, which meant that they lost foreign assistance in shipping for a short period of time.

After so long, there was only one land route left.

Even if the Americans wanted to send supplies, they could only enter from the Soviet Union since the Burma Road and the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway were not yet usable.

The relationship between the two sides was at a freezing point, if not tense.

This is simply not possible.

When he thought of this, Chiang Kai-shek hated the Three Ma's of Northwest China even more.

At such a critical moment, he still wants to benefit from it.

Those who intercepted the aid materials provided by the Soviet Union to the country deserved to be killed!

For the three horses in the northwest.

It’s not that Chiang Kai-shek has never thought about driving away the wolf and swallowing the tiger.

Previously, he appointed Sun Dianying as the director of the Qinghai Western District Reclamation and ordered him to lead his 41st Army to attack Ningxia.

There is too much difference in mobility.

Moreover, most of these feudal remnants were originally bandits.

Sun Dianying was very good at fighting asymmetric warfare. The more than 70,000 infantrymen under his command were beaten by the cavalry of the Ma family army.

After Chiang Kai-shek had vented his anger, Lin Wei whispered to comfort him, "Commissioner, since Yun Fei sent the telegram directly to you, you must give him an explanation. At the very least, you must distribute the equipment that should have been given to them."

"I'll let Jiansheng talk about this matter. What about others?"

Little did he know that at this time the Deputy Chief of Staff almost encountered the Japanese cavalry unit.

While he was waiting for the driver to repair his car on the side of the road, he came across Director Zou's car.

It's also a coincidence.

At Director Zou's reminder, Bai Jiansheng got in his car and went to Changsha.

The journey was long, and Director Zou talked a lot with Bai Jiansheng. The conversation ranged from his early years studying at Nankai University and his experience as a manager studying in France to many issues related to the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the War of Resistance. From his conversation, I could tell that he was knowledgeable.

Bai Jiansheng, who had just arrived in Changsha, received an order from Chiang Kai-shek.

He immediately took a connecting flight to the northwest to handle this matter for Chiang Kai-shek.

Chu Yunfei who is far away in Changzhi.

No call back from the High Command has been received yet.

They received a letter from Chiang Kai-shek to the people of the whole country, which explained the failure of the Battle of Wuhan and the abandonment of Wuhan.

"Before the Battle of Southern Shandong, the enemy threatened to attack Wuhan. In this battle, the enemy used all its land, sea and air power to invade along the Yangtze River. After three months of fierce fighting, our soldiers fought bloody battles and were ready to die. The people shared the same hatred of the enemy and were eager to serve. The more they sacrificed, the more their spirits were lifted, causing the total number of enemy deaths to exceed the total number of deaths in the previous year of fighting.

The enemy had no choice but to expose its weaknesses and launch an invasion of South my country. At the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japan, we decided to fight a protracted war. Therefore, temporary advances and retreats can never shake our determination to fight the war.

Since it is a total war, the expansion of the war zone has long been anticipated by our people. The gains and losses of any city must not affect the overall situation of the war of resistance. It is said that "it is better to die with honor than to live in disgrace." We must maintain our self-confidence and resolve, and then the entire nation can be completely liberated. The survival of the country and the key to the success or failure of the war of resistance all depend on this. I would like to inform the whole country to encourage each other. "

Chu Yunfei tapped the table with his fingers and listened carefully to this national book.

Fang Ligong put the document aside and said, "Sir... Japan mobilized 250,000 troops this time, and they were replenished several times during the battle. According to the estimate of the headquarters, they have invested at least 300,000 troops.

They used so much military power and resources, but in the end they were unable to annihilate the main force of our combat forces. This shows that our army achieved its strategic goal in this battle. "

How many Japanese casualties did they suffer?

If we look at the figures recorded in war history.

The Japanese casualties were estimated to be 35,000 (not counting casualties due to non-combat factors such as malaria).

According to the battle results reported by various armies, the number of Japanese casualties should be around 90,000.

In terms of results, the Battle of Wuhan was actually not as good as the Battle of East Henan.

In the Battle of East Henan, more than 30,000 Japanese troops were killed.

But the same thing.

The Battle of East Henan crippled the main force of the Central Army, which had just been reorganized, as well as the direct troops.

Battle of Wuhan.

In the Battle of Wushengguan, Chiang Kai-shek's 17th Corps (Hu Zongnan's unit, now the commander-in-chief of the 34th Army Group) suffered nearly three-quarters casualties.

It can be said that at this time, Chiang Kai-shek's direct troops were superior in both military strength and manpower.

It has once again fallen to a precarious level.

Chu Yunfei is also very worried now!
The chairman with the thickest thighs has now been crippled by the Japanese.

The second thickest leg, Yan Laoxi, also lost most of his thighs in the Shanxi battle and was beaten badly by the Shanxi First Army.

The Eighth Route Army, with which he had a relatively close relationship, was also covered in wounds from the continuous fighting and could only lie dormant silently, licking their wounds and recovering their eyesight.

"The fight in Wuhan was not good enough, and it is far from the level our military should be at. Brother Ligong, many people in the Nationalist government have begun to fish in troubled waters. This is not a good thing."

Fang Ligong sighed: "If all the war zones could be like our Second War Zone, with everyone holding on to the spirit of revolutionary sacrifice, how could the Japanese invaders be so rampant."

Under Chu Yunfei's influence, the Second War Zone fought the Japanese harder than anyone else.

There is really nothing to say about this.

But at the same time...the Japanese army's investment in Shanxi was much larger than he remembered.

Now, even with the assistance of the Soviet Union, there are feudal remnants like the Ma family army that hold us back.

There were so many messes during the Republic of China period.

It would be good if Chiang Kai-shek could fight back, but time waits for no one.
The three horses from the northwest must be dealt with at any opportunity.

At least we have to establish contact with the Soviets in the short term.

Otherwise, how could he continue the anti-Japanese war in southeastern Shanxi?
"Brother Ligong, did Colonel Stilwell call back?"

"Colonel Stilwell has returned. The person who will be in contact with us is Colonel Smith, whom we have dealt with before. It seems that after observing your command of the artillery unit in combat, this colonel submitted a report to the Ministry of National Defense, and was promoted to colonel. He is quite grateful to us.

After we tried to get in touch with the Americans, Colonel Smith quickly said that he would come to southeastern Shanxi to get in touch with us in the near future."

Chu Yunfei raised his eyebrows, then shook his head: "I don't want to see them, I just want to know why the aid promised to us has not been delivered yet. The Yuehan Railway has been cut off. Does the American aid have to enter from the Soviet Union?"

Vote for monthly tickets at the end of the month..you will get double the amount at the end of the month



(End of this chapter)