Quartermasters can also fight the devils

The fierce fighting lasted until the afternoon of May 24, when the attacking forces of the Japanese 12th Army broke into the city from the west gate and northwest corner of Luoyang City. Subsequently, the railway station and other directions east of Luoyang were lost one after another, and the attacking forces of the Japanese 12th Army also began to break into the city from the south gate, northeast corner and north gate of Luoyang City respectively.

After the attacking force of the Japanese 12th Army blew up the outer moat and city walls of Luoyang City, the Japanese tank troops cooperating in the attack also rushed into Luoyang City. The city was full of fierce street fighting between the attacking forces of the Japanese 12th Army and the Chinese army.

After dark, the Chinese army also organized a night attack. Relying on machine guns and grenades, the officers and soldiers of the Chinese army continuously launched counterattacks against the offensive forces of the Japanese 12th Army in Luoyang City. After suffering heavy casualties, the offensive forces of the Japanese 12th Army finally managed to resist the night attack of the Chinese army.

The two sides fought fiercely until the early morning of May 25th. The commander of the Japanese 12th Army, Lieutenant General Uchiyama Eitaro, dispatched the 110th Division of the Japanese Army to reinforce the attack on Luoyang City. The offensive forces of the Japanese 12th Army then began a comprehensive mopping-up operation against the Chinese army in Luoyang City with their powerful firepower.

Faced with the fierce attack of the Japanese 12th Army's offensive forces, the Chinese army's defensive positions in Luoyang City were completely destroyed. In addition, the communications between the various units were completely cut off. The remaining Chinese defenders could only withdraw from the east side of the Luoyang City wall.

At 8:30 in the morning on May 25, as the Chinese army retreated from Luoyang City, the offensive forces of the Japanese 12th Army also completely occupied Luoyang.

After Luoyang was occupied by the offensive forces of the Japanese 12th Army, since the main forces of the Chinese army had already moved into the mountains in western Henan, the First War Zone Command of the Chinese government once again readjusted the deployment of the Chinese army.

First, the First War Zone Command of the Chinese Government ordered the 36th Army Group of the Chinese Government to deploy defenses between Confucius Temple and Liangyukou to defend against attacks from the north by the Japanese offensive forces and ensure the smooth passage of the roads between Xin'an and Yiyang. It required the 36th Army Group of the Chinese Government to do its best to support the defense area, and if it really came to the last resort, it could move to Huangjiayao and Hongtuling.

The 96th Army of the Fourth Army of the Chinese government was ordered to quickly build defensive fortifications facing the north between Maliangou, Niuxinzhai and Potolougou, and cooperate with the newly formed Sixth Division.

The Chinese government ordered the 39th Army's newly formed 6th Division to send troops to defend near Ou Chi, while the main force of the newly formed 6th Division built defensive positions between Baifu Town and Xiao Village for defense.

The commander of the newly formed Eighth Army of the Huaxia government, Hu Bohan, was ordered to lead the temporary 29th Division to the area south of Ou Chi for reorganization.

At the same time, in order to ensure the safety of Xin'an, Mianchi, Hancheng, Luoning and Jiuxian, the First War Zone Command of the Chinese government also ordered the 38th Army of the Chinese government to immediately go to Hancheng to build defensive positions to resist the attacks of the Japanese offensive forces.

Order the 13th Army of the Chinese government to assist the 106th Division of the Chinese government in defending against the Japanese attacking forces in Baiyang Town south of Shapotou.

The 96th Army of the Chinese government was ordered to attack the Japanese attacking forces in Mianchi, and the 8th Division was ordered to immediately move to the north-south line of Sanxiang Town and Aoli to cover the Luoning direction.

In fact, the attack on Luoyang by the offensive force of the Japanese 12th Army was only based on political considerations. The focus of the Japanese 12th Army's operations was still to encircle and annihilate the main force of the First War Zone of the Chinese government.

On May 10, 1944, the Japanese North China Front Army Commander General Okamura Yasuji issued a combat order that the main force of the Japanese 12th Army should quickly attack Yiyang and Xin'an and enter the northwest of Luoyang.

At the same time, General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the Japanese North China Front Army, also ordered the offensive forces of the Japanese 12th Army to immediately pursue the Chinese army in the direction of Zhengxian or Luoning when it retreated.

Based on the situation of the Chinese army's westward retreat, General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the Japanese North China Front Army, also judged that the Chinese army's retreat route was the valley of Luo River. Therefore, General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the Japanese North China Front Army, decided to let the offensive force of the Japanese 12th Army first seize Lu'shi, a strategic location in western Henan.

Lu'shi is an important transportation route leading to Lingbao and other places. It is connected to the plains in Lingbao area and the Luo River Valley, and there is also an airport. The combat objective of the Japanese 12th Army's attacking force is to completely destroy the Chinese army's military facilities near Lu'shi, intercept and annihilate the troops of the Chinese government's First War Zone retreating from Luoyang.

To this end, on May 11, Lieutenant General Uchiyama Eitaro, commander of the Japanese 12th Army, drew two regiments from the attacking force to form two advance teams to encircle and attack Lushi and Luoning.

The attacking forces of the two regiments of the Japanese 12th Army also rushed all the way quickly and launched a surprise attack on Lu'shi at dawn on May 20. The Chinese army responsible for defending Lu'shi had never expected that the Japanese attacking forces would attack so quickly in a roundabout way.

When the attack force of the Japanese 12th Army launched a surprise attack, the Chinese defenders were sleeping soundly and were completely caught off guard. In the end, they could only withdraw from Lu'shi in a panic.

After the attacking force of the Japanese 12th Army occupied Lu'shi, it completely destroyed all the military facilities left by the Chinese Army in Lu'shi County, and blew up the ammunition depot of the Chinese Army in Moshan into rubble. Then this large flanking attacking force of the Japanese 12th Army withdrew from Lu'shi the next day.

Although the offensive forces of the Japanese 12th Army withdrew from Lu'shi, the loss and destruction of this important town accelerated the retreat of the Chinese army.

Starting from May 13, in addition to the troops of the Japanese First Army, the offensive forces of the Japanese Twelfth Army began pursuit operations. Among them, two divisions of the Japanese Twelfth Army attacked and advanced to the west of Luoyang, and another division attacked and advanced towards Song County in the Yi River Valley. The target was also very clearly the main combat forces of the First War Zone of the Chinese Government.

On May 13, 1944, the offensive force of the Japanese 12th Army launched an attack on Cijian with a powerful force, supported by tank units and aircraft. The 36th Army Group responsible for defense in the First War Zone of the Chinese Government was defeated to the south under the fierce attack of the offensive force of the Japanese 12th Army.