mtl008 Chapter 736 The Only Result That Can Be Shown
Chapter 736 The Only Result That Can Be Shown
The offensive forces of the Japanese 12th Army occupied Yiyang on May 14, Hancheng on May 16, and the strategic town of Luoning on May 17.
At the same time, the Japanese First Army's troops also crossed the Yellow River to the south and began to attack Shan County. The Chinese defenders first repelled the Japanese First Army's crossing troops with fierce firepower, and then held the county seat.
Responsible for the defense of Shan County were two companies of officers and soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the 317th Regiment of the 40th Cavalry of the Chinese government. After the attacking force of the Japanese 1st Army successfully crossed the river under the cover of artillery fire, in order to speed up the advance, they released poison gas bombs at the Chinese troops in Shan County.
After a fierce battle, all the Chinese soldiers from the two companies responsible for the defense of Shan County suffered heavy casualties, and the deputy commander of the first battalion in charge of commanding the operation was also killed in battle. As a result, the 317th Regiment had to break through and flee to the south.
Faced with the fierce attack of the Japanese 12th Army's offensive forces, the 36th Army of the Chinese government also suffered heavy losses.
The 36th Army of the Chinese government was originally conducting defensive operations north of Xin'an, but after being pincered by the offensive forces of the Japanese 12th Army, it fled southward across the Longhai Road, and then fled westward under the siege of the offensive forces of the Japanese 12th Army.
As a result, on May 21, the headquarters of the 36th Army of the Chinese government was surrounded by the offensive forces of the 12th Army of the Japanese Army at Qinjiaopo, south of Shan County. Subsequently, in the fierce battle between the offensive forces of the 12th Army of the Japanese Army and the 36th Army of the Chinese government, many senior commanders including Commander-in-Chief of the 36th Army Li Jiayu died heroically on the spot.
At this point, the offensive forces of the Japanese First Army had crossed the Yellow River and penetrated deep into the mountains of western Henan, which led to an emergency in the Guanzhong area. The offensive forces of the Japanese First Army had seriously threatened the southwestern rear of the Chinese government in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Guizhou.
The top leadership of the Chinese government also strictly ordered the defeated troops of the First War Zone of the Chinese Government not to retreat to Shanxian County without reason. At the same time, it ordered Commander Hu of the Eighth War Zone of the Chinese Government to dispatch elite troops to attack the Japanese offensive forces. In addition, the top leadership of the Chinese government also sent a telegram to remind the Fifth War Zone of the Chinese Government to defend tightly and be prepared to meet the Japanese offensive forces' sweep in the Lushan area.
It has to be said that this series of operations by the highest level of the Chinese government finally prevented a larger-scale rout of the Chinese army.
After mid-May 1944, the reinforcements dispatched by the Eighth War Zone of the Chinese Government, the 1st and 16th Armies of the 34th Army Group, and the 27th and 57th Armies of the 38th Army Group, arrived in Lingbao area in northwest Henan Province one after another. Among them, the 1st Army was the elite force of the Chinese Government, equipped with a large number of American and Soviet weapons.
At the same time, the fleeing troops of the First War Zone of the Chinese government, the 40th Army, the 36th Army Group, the 4th Army Group and other units also retreated to the area near Lingbao to regroup. By the end of May, all units of the Chinese army had finally completed their regrouping and reorganization in the Lingbao area.
The regrouping of the Chinese army in the Lingbao area also attracted the attention of General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the Japanese North China Front Army. The Japanese First Army also formulated a new combat plan, preparing to use the existing forces of the Japanese First Army that had crossed the Yellow River to launch an operation against the Chinese army near Lingbao as soon as possible in about a week.
The purpose of the attacking force of the Japanese First Army near Lingbao was not only to attack the reinforcements sent by the Eighth War Zone of the Chinese government, thereby buying the necessary time for the troops of the Japanese First Army to build a defense line, but also to create fear in the Chinese army, so that it could have a considerable impact on the operations of other Japanese troops in central and southern China.
After research, General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the Japanese North China Front Army, also agreed to the combat plan of the Japanese First Army. At the same time, General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the Japanese Twelfth Army, ordered Lieutenant General Uchiyama Eitaro, commander of the Japanese Twelfth Army, to reinforce troops to support the Japanese First Army's combat operations near Lingbao.
Commander Hu of the Eighth War Zone of the Chinese Government also learned from the failure of the previous combat of the First War Zone of the Chinese Government. On May 27, 1944, he launched a counterattack against the offensive forces of the Japanese First Army before the offensive forces of the Japanese First Army launched an attack, and continued to concentrate his main forces in the counterattack.
The fierce fighting lasted until June 1st, when Commander Hu of the Eighth War Zone of the Chinese government dispatched five additional divisions to join the general offensive.
The Chinese army, with the Chinese government's Eighth War Zone troops as its main force, used various artillery to fiercely bombard the Xianshan Temple Heights held by the Japanese First Army troops, and launched a fierce infantry charge. The defensive forces of the Japanese First Army suffered casualties of up to two-thirds under the fierce attack of the Chinese army.
At the same time, the Eighth War Zone troops of the Chinese government launched attacks on the defensive positions of the First Army of the Japanese Army in other places, and successfully captured high ground such as Cao Miao. The counterattack of the Eighth War Zone troops of the Chinese government also caught the offensive forces of the First Army of the Japanese Army off guard. This not only made the offensive forces of the First Army of the Japanese Army fail to repel the attack of the Eighth War Zone troops of the Chinese government, but also made the original combat plan of the First Army of the Japanese Army to attack Guolue Town come to nothing.
On June 5, China's Air Force also joined the battle and launched a fierce air strike on two Japanese battalions defending the high ground north of Cao Miao. On the same day, the offensive force of the Eighth War Zone of the Chinese government bombarded a Japanese battalion responsible for the defense of Triangle Mountain with heavy artillery fire.
A battalion of Japanese troops in Guolue Town also fought repeatedly with the offensive forces of the Eighth War Zone of the Chinese government. By then, the Chinese army had already deployed a force of ten divisions in the counterattack.
The Japanese First Army was originally formed as a "ground corps" for the Lingbao area. Under the counterattack of the Eighth War Zone troops of the Chinese government, it also sent a telegram to the Japanese First Army Headquarters, reporting in the telegram that the troops of the "ground corps" were now effectively blocked by the Chinese army, and the speed of advancement was very slow. Even all the paths in the Qinling Mountains had been occupied by the Chinese army.
Due to the heroic counterattack of the Chinese government's Eighth War Zone troops and the remnants of the First War Zone, the commander of the Japanese North China Front Army, General Okamura Yasuji, was finally forced to order the offensive forces of the Japanese First Army to abandon the Lingbao Battle.
When the attacking force of the Japanese First Army was retreating, the commander of the "Land Corps" formed by the Japanese First Army, Major General Kanshiro Kiyomasa, and the commander of the 59th Brigade of the 69th Division of the Japanese Army, was killed by a landmine buried by the Chinese Army.