Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Under such circumstances, Commander General Gu of the Third War Zone of the Chinese Government still launched a counterattack against the Japanese army based on past experience. He was bound to fall into the pincer attack of the follow-up troops of the Japanese 13th Army, so that the counterattack troops of the Third War Zone of the Chinese Government suffered huge losses.

As for Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, there were some problems with his command in this Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign.

First, Commander Xue was not very enthusiastic about supporting the Third War Zone's operations. The 74th Army, the New 22nd Army, the 26th Army and the Fifth Reserve Division sent to support the Third War Zone were not deployed to the battlefield all at once, but were used one by one. This was bound to affect the offensive power of the front-line troops, so that although they gained an advantage in the local battlefield, they failed to convert it into victory in time.

The second point is that there was absolutely no coordination in combat between the troops of the Ninth War Zone and the Third War Zone of the Chinese government. After the troops of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army began to join the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, the situation on the entire battlefield had clearly pointed to the east of the Ganjiang River. However, Commander Xue still insisted on deploying the main forces of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government in the area west of the Ganjiang River. This made it impossible for the troops of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government to coordinate combat with the troops of the Third War Zone after the Japanese army launched the attack.

When Commander Gu of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government saw that Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone was so uncooperative with his side's operations, he had to complain to the highest level of the government. At that time, the Ninth War Zone sent two waves of reinforcements to the Third War Zone, with the Fourth Army, the Fifty-eighth Army and the Seventy-ninth Army as the main force, but these troops were all deployed by Commander Xue on the west bank of the Ganjiang River.

After receiving the complaint telegram from Commander Gu of the Third War Zone, the top government leaders were also troubled. Their two trusted generals had actually caused a conflict during the battle. So, after repeated consideration, the top government leaders decided to use their political balancing skills on this military conflict.

The highest level of the government sent a telegram to Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, requesting that Commander Xue deploy the 58th and 79th Armies on the east bank of the Ganjiang River and assign the combat sequence of these two armies to the Third War Zone for combat command. The Fourth Army would still be deployed on the west bank of the Ganjiang River in accordance with Commander Xue's combat intentions. In this way, some of the requirements of Commander Gu of the Third War Zone were met without losing face for Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone.

However, Commander Xue, commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, did send a long and eloquent telegram to the highest level of the government. In the telegram, Commander Xue also stated that the troops could not be deployed on the east bank of the Gan River, as otherwise the troops would face the risk of a desperate battle. Moreover, by deploying the troops on the west bank, he was also ready to act when the opportunity arose. This would both ensure the safety of the area west of the Gan River and threaten the flanks of the Japanese army. In short, in one sentence, he was not prepared to execute this order from the highest level of the government.

When the top government leaders saw that Commander Xue had such a tough attitude, they were at a loss as they knew well his stubborn temper. In the end, they could only compromise and re-order the Chinese government's Ninth War Zone and the Third War Zone to fight separately with the Fuhe River as the boundary.

This outrageous move by the highest level of the government made it appear as if the troops of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government were coordinating operations with the troops of the Ninth War Zone, but in fact the troops between the two war zones had no coordination with each other during the operations.

The third point is that Commander Xue, commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, also misjudged the Japanese army's combat objectives in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign.

In fact, when the 13th Army of the Japanese Army was preparing to launch the "Zhejiang Province Operation", the operational plan was indeed to withdraw troops after destroying a large number of field airports of the Chinese government in Zhejiang Province. Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, commander of the 13th Army of the Japanese Army, stipulated in the operational plan that the time for the withdrawal of each unit was July 15.

When Lieutenant General Hata Shunroku, commander of the China Expeditionary Army, changed the "Zhejiang Province Operation" plan of Lieutenant General Sawada Shigeru, commander of the Japanese 13th Army, to the "Zhejiang-Jiangxi Operation", he could tell something was wrong with the deployment of the Japanese troops in this battle. If the Japanese army only wanted to destroy the field airfields in Zhejiang Province, they would not need to deploy such a large-scale force. However, this small but very important information was seriously ignored by Commander Xue.

The Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign can be divided into two parts, with the occupation of Quzhou by the offensive forces of the 13th Japanese Army as the dividing point. Before the occupation of Quzhou by the offensive forces of the 13th Japanese Army, the various participating forces of the Chinese government, whether it was the Third War Zone or the Ninth War Zone, actually fought quite well overall.

After the offensive forces of the 13th Japanese Army occupied Quzhou, Commander Xue of the 9th War Zone of the Chinese government and Commander Gu of the 3rd War Zone made the same misjudgment. They both believed that the Japanese army had completed its combat objectives and tasks after occupying Quzhou, and that the Japanese army should retreat next.

Therefore, the two commanders rashly ordered a counterattack against the Japanese army. Unexpectedly, the commander of the 13th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, who was well prepared, seized the opportunity and sandwiched the Chinese government's counterattack army in the middle and attacked it, causing huge losses to the Chinese government's counterattack troops.

From May 1942 to September 5, 15, the four and a half month Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign finally ended. Although the Third and Ninth War Zones of the Chinese government did not achieve final victory in the battle, the Japanese army also stopped its plan to invade Sichuan and Shaanxi. From a broad perspective, the Chinese government still gained the upper hand in this Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign.

After the war, the Japanese Imperial Headquarters and the Expeditionary Force also admitted at the post-war summary meeting that although the Japanese army looted a lot of important supplies in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, because the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign was a sudden operation, the troops were unable to choose a favorable time to start the battle, resulting in huge casualties among the officers and soldiers of the Japanese attacking forces. It was a loss-making operation.

What made the Japanese headquarters and the Chinese Expeditionary Force feel even more regretful was that this Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign almost consumed all the combat supplies and ammunition that had been stockpiled with great difficulty for the "Sichuan-Shaanxi Strategy" operational plan.

This made the implementation of the "Sichuan-Shaanxi Strategy" operational plan even more distant, and missed a good opportunity to resolve the war in China once and for all.

For the Japanese military headquarters, the loss of soldiers is relatively easy to replenish, but the replenishment of ammunition and supplies is a very troublesome matter. As Japan begins to launch attacks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, the demand for war materials will be an astronomical figure. It will be unlikely to organize such a large-scale attack on the Chinese government in the future.