Devil's Army

The bombing of Japanese troops in Jiangsu was mainly carried out by the First Army Air Force stationed in Shandong.

They did not expect that the Japanese army still maintained a certain number of air troops in Jiangsu, and were put at a disadvantage for a time.

Subsequently, the main force of the Shandong Air Force of the First Army rushed over to provide support.

The Anhui Air Force of the First Army also rushed to provide support. The battle situation quickly turned around, and the Japanese air force was surrounded and annihilated by the superior air force of the First Army.

It was no easy feat for the Japanese army in Jiangsu to preserve this air force. When the Japanese air force squadron commander saw the main force of the "Devil Force" air force approaching, he did not linger in battle and immediately ordered a retreat.

The Japanese air force immediately dispersed in all directions like the receding tide.

The pursuing Japanese air force immediately dispersed and pursued, severely damaging the Japanese air force in Jiangsu.

With the air threat gone, the 364th Brigade of the Sichuan Army and the 11th Brigade of the First Army officially launched a fierce attack on the Japanese army in Jiangsu from the directions of Anhui and Shandong.

At that time, the Japanese 13th Army of the China Expeditionary Army was stationed in Jiangsu (headquarters in Shanghai).

The Japanese 65th Division, with a total strength of over 10,000 men, was stationed in Huaiyin, Huaibei, Siyang, and other areas in northern Jiangsu.

In order to cut off the Japanese reinforcements from central Jiangsu to northern Jiangsu, Su Yu concentrated the strength of five regiments and fought a brilliant campaign of besieging the point and attacking the reinforcements—the Cheqiao Campaign.

Cheqiao Town was the core area of ​​the Central Jiangsu Anti-Japanese Base Area, and administratively it belonged to Huai'an County, Jiangsu Province at that time.

This place is the junction of the defense zones of the Japanese 65th Division and the 12th Independent Mixed Brigade, and it is also a key transportation hub between the two major base areas in central and northern Jiangsu. This is an important reason why the Cheqiao Campaign chose this place as the target of the attack.

The Japanese army built two sturdy defensive fortifications here: a large earthen wall and a small earthen wall.

Due to the escalating external war, the Japanese platoon stationed at Xiaotuweizi was constantly being transferred north to reinforce the area, leaving only 60 Japanese soldiers there, while the puppet troops stationed at Datuweizi numbered over 700.

Less than half an hour after the battle began, the large earthen fortress was breached, and all 700-plus puppet troops were wiped out.

The 60 Japanese soldiers in the small earthen fortress put up a stubborn resistance and kept asking their superiors for help.

The location of the bridge was important, and the Japanese Yamazawa Battalion immediately assembled reinforcements from Huai'an, Huaiyin, Siyang, Lianshui, and Baoying.

Japanese troops rushed to the aid by car along the Huaihe Highway, but were ambushed by the 1st Regiment of the New Fourth Army at Lujiatan-Hanzhuang. After retreating to Hanzhuang, most of them were annihilated.

From the Baoying direction: More than 100 Japanese and puppet troops from Taertou and Caodian advanced to the Dashi River, triggered a landmine, and were blocked by the 52nd Regiment, retreating.

Another 200 men secretly crossed the grasslands from the right flank under cover of darkness, but were ambushed by the 1st Regiment and the Taizhou Independent Regiment. The remnants fled to Xiaomazhuang and were annihilated.

Under the tenacious resistance of the New Fourth Army in central Jiangsu led by Su Yu, the Japanese reinforcements from central Jiangsu were unable to reach northern Jiangsu for a long time.

Meanwhile, the Japanese 65th Division, with over 1 men stationed in northern Jiangsu, faced a fierce attack from the Sichuan Army's 364th Brigade and the 11th Brigade of the First Army, with over 2 men. Huaiyin, Huaibei, Siyang, Xuzhou, Haizhou and other places were in dire need of help.

At that time, the highest-ranking commander of the Jiangsu ground garrison, the commander of the 13th Army, was Lieutenant General Shimomura.

He urgently ordered the Japanese 64th Division, the Independent Mixed Brigade 12th, and the 4th Field Supplementary Unit stationed in Taizhou, Yangzhou, Gaodi, Nantong and other places in central Jiangsu to go north to reinforce them.

Seeing the overwhelming force of the Japanese reinforcements, General Li, after notifying his allies, began an orderly retreat to avoid the enemy's advance.

The Japanese reinforcements from central Jiangsu finally arrived in northern Jiangsu and joined forces with the Japanese 65th Division in northern Jiangsu. They held important cities such as Xuzhou and Haizhou, but Huaiyin and Siyang were recaptured by the First Army.