mixed in the war

Many generals of the Japanese army who invaded China are familiar to the Chinese, but the most well-known of them are still a few, such as: Hideki Tojo, who was first the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army and later the Prime Minister of Japan; The Northeast Army used half a division to sweep 1 divisions of the Jinsui Army and occupied Seishiro Sakagaki in Shanxi; Iwane Matsui, the culprit of the Nanjing Massacre; the implementer of the "Sanguang Policy" Ningji Okamura, the commander of the North China Front Army who complained endlessly...

But these are regular army generals who lead the troops. Moreover, in terms of fame, they are not as good as one person:

Kenji Doihara!

General of the Japanese army, in charge of intelligence work, following Aoki Nobusumi and Sakanishi Rihachiro, the third generation of Japanese spy chiefs engaged in espionage activities in China, the behind-the-scenes figure who established Manchukuo and planned North China's autonomy, "China Hands", re-emphasizing with boldness Righteousness is well-known among the old Chinese bureaucrats.This person is familiar with "Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin", and understands the Chinese national character, so he pays great attention to establishing his reputation of being faithful and committed.Ma Zhanshan, a famous anti-Japanese general, believed that Doihara was not a lie; Song Zheyuan, who once occupied Beiping, also commented on Doihara’s words; when the Mongolian King De scolded the Japanese, if he mentioned Doihara, he said, “He understands, he understands, He keeps his word."Doihara has two nicknames, the Chinese call him "Bandit Yuan", and the Westerners call it "Thomas Edward Lawrence of the East".Later, he served as the head of the No.14 Division of Japan, participated in the Xuzhou Battle, and was later promoted to the commander of the Seventh Front Army, the director of education, and the commander of the First Army.

It can be said that Kenji Doihara is a good hand whether it is to inquire about intelligence, engage in conspiracy and assassination, or lead troops to fight.

However, Doihara Kenji is also Chiang Kai-shek's most hated.It is said that he is a Japanese general who hates him to the core.And the reason why Chiang Kai-shek is so jealous and hated is not just that Kenji Doihara played a major role in the series of plots to split China such as "September [-]", "Puppet Manchukuo", and "North China Autonomy", but also An extremely important reason is the battle of Xuzhou!

Speaking of the Battle of Xuzhou, it is necessary to mention the "Taierzhuang Victory" that once greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese people.

At that time, the Japanese North China Front Army invaded Xuzhou to the south, and Li Zongren led various ministries to fight against it in the fifth war zone. After a hard fight, he finally won a major victory in the Taierzhuang area, annihilating most of the Japanese Seya Detachment and a part of the Sakamoto Detachment. .This victory can be said to be extremely rare at the time.After this war, there were two effects in the whole country. One was that the confidence of the people of the whole country to win the war of resistance increased greatly.On the other hand, it also contributed to the theory of quick victory within the Kuomintang. Many people think that the Japanese are not worth fighting.But that's all.From Chiang Kai-shek's heart, he also believed that the Japanese army was easy to fight.The most obvious manifestation is.After the victory in Taierzhuang, Chiang Kai-shek tried to expand the results in Xuzhou and transferred a large number of elite troops to Xuzhou. By the beginning of May 1938, the squadron near Xuzhou had reached 5 divisions and 64 brigades.A total of more than 3 people.At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek placed Hu Zongnan, Huang Jie, Gui Yongqing, Yu Jishi, Song Xilian, Li Hanhun and other main forces of the central army on the Guide and Lanfeng lines in eastern Henan as Xuzhou's backup force to protect the Longhai line.Put on a decisive battle stance.

However, when Chiang Kai-shek was extremely confident and determined to fight the Japanese army in the Xuzhou area, the Japanese army also mobilized a total of about 30 troops from various ministries to encircle the west side of Xuzhou from the north and south.In the south, the 9th and 13th Divisions marched northward from the Bengbu area along the west banks of the Beifei River and Guohe River, and after falling into Mengcheng and Yongcheng, they attacked Xiaoxian and Dangshan in Jiangsu; the 3rd Division entered the camp from Bengbu Set up the area and attack Su County.In the north, the 16th Division crossed the canal from Jining, Shandong, and after falling into Yuncheng, Shanxian, Jinxiang, and Yutai, advanced to Fengxian and Dangshan, Jiangsu; After being replaced by the 10th Division, it crossed Weishan Lake near Xiazhen and attacked Pei County, Jiangsu.

In less than half a month, the battle situation, which was originally good, took a sharp turn for the worse, and reports of more and more tragic battles on the front continued to spread to the case of Chiang Kai-shek of the Wuchang Kuomintang Military Committee.The serious crisis that Xuzhou suddenly faced calmed down his brain, which was a little dizzy from the victory in Taierzhuang.Chiang Kai-shek suddenly realized that the intention of the Japanese army was to encircle and wipe out the main force of the Xuzhou Squadron.If the 50 elite divisions in Xuzhou were eaten by the Japanese army, he would be defeated and there would be no need to fight anymore.

At the critical juncture, Chiang Kai-shek decided to withdraw his troops and withdraw the 60 troops from the Xuzhou battlefield.However, at this time, the 14th Division led by Doihara crossed the Yellow River from Puyang, Henan, first fell into Heze and Cao County, Shandong, and then went straight to Lanfeng, Henan...

This would have been an opportunity.The famous general Xue Yue felt that Doihara's troops were too forward and could be eaten in one bite, so he asked Lao Jiang to send troops to besiege the 14th Division.However, after a great battle, Doihara ran for thousands of miles and defeated Gui Yongqing and Huang Jie's armies of Lao Jiang's direct line along the way.Soon after, the 2th Division captured Sui County and approached Lanfeng and Qi County.At the same time, in order to cooperate with Doihara, another enemy army also approached Taikang from Bo County via Luyi and Zhecheng, and attempted to invade Xuchang and Zhengzhou along Pinghan Road.The situation at that time was that once the two enemy forces encircled, they could "make dumplings" with the main force of the Communist Party between Kaifeng and Lanfeng!

** Situation is precarious.

And this is exactly what Doihara wanted.Soon, under his command, the 14th Division fell into Lanfeng, approaching the city of Kaifeng.So far, the Longhai Line and the Pinghan Line are precarious, and the city of Zhengzhou is also in jeopardy.But this is not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing is that the Japanese army can now directly attack Wuhan along Pinghan Road!

On the other hand, Wuhan at this time is extremely empty.Lao Jiang has played all the cards he can play, and the troops are still on the Xuzhou battlefield, and there are no soldiers available at all.That's not to mention, the planned battle in Wuhan still depends on the more than 50 divisions and 60 people who retreated from Xuzhou.But right now, the morale of this team is low, and the incompleteness makes him even more anxious.In some divisions, the number of troops is no more than a few people, and it is not as good as a regiment.If such an army does not retrain and replenish its troops, it will collapse as soon as it goes to the battlefield. The lesson of the Battle of Nanjing is too deep.It can be rested and replenished, and it takes time.Otherwise, the enemy cannot be stopped at all.

Time, Chiang Kai-shek needs time too much.It takes time to deploy defenses for the battle in Wuhan, it takes time to train the army, it takes time to evacuate central government agencies to Sichuan, and it takes time to relocate factories and schools. At this moment, time has become the most precious thing in Chiang Kai-shek's eyes.

So, in desperation, Lao Jiang chose to dig the Yellow River!

As soon as the garden mouth exploded, torrents of yellow water poured down.

Most of the water from the Yellow River rushes into two nearby small rivers, and finally into the Huaihe River, which flows into the sea, forming a terrible "yellow flood zone" along the way, which is 400 kilometers long and 50-80 kilometers wide, and the river course is not fixed .According to statistics, the Yellow River flooded a total of 44 counties, affected 1200 million people, and killed 80 people!In addition, more than 1000 people from the Doihara Office were killed and trapped in the yellow flood zone for 1 month!

The Yellow River flooding area has become the "New Yellow River", diverted from the original Henan and Shandong to Anhui and Jiangsu.The eastern part of the Yellow Flood Area became the territory of the Japanese army, and the western part became the territory of the Kuomintang army.Unfortunately, in only four months, Wuhan was occupied by the Japanese army attacking from the east of the Yangtze River, and Chiang Kai-shek had to flee to Chongqing.

Blowing up the Huayuankou levee was the last order Jiang had issued since the War of Resistance, and it was even more difficult than abandoning Nanjing.It's not that he cares so much about the life and death of the local people, but that his reputation is really bad.But under the circumstances at the time, he had no choice.Therefore, when Chen Bulei objected to this, he dismissed it as "the benevolence of women".Too many people died, Chiang asked Cheng Qian to tell Western reporters that Huayuankou was bombed by the Japanese, but Japan didn't want to 'take the blame', so it explained to the world that it wasn't Japan's bombing, so this became an unsolved case.

However, sensible people know it well.

Lao Jiang also knew that he could not keep this matter a secret forever.Therefore, he hated Kenji Doihara very much.

Because it is rumored that when the Japanese army counterattacked, Doihara did not actually have any important combat missions. He went straight to the battle of Lanfeng. In fact, Doihara carried forward the "tradition" of the Japanese army's "disobedience" and made his own claim.In other words, it was Kenji Doihara's private actions that led to Chiang's decision to blow up the Yellow River embankment.

However, the Yellow River embankment has not been closed so far, and the flooded area of ​​the Yellow River will continue to exist... This is like a thorn in Chiang Kai-shek's heart, which always pricks his little remaining conscience.

However, he has nothing to do with Kenji Doihara.

Not only did that guy live a good life, but he was also promoted and almost got Wu Peifu out, forming a puppet regime covering North China, Central China and Mongolia.If Wu Peifu hadn't been able to control it, even if Doihara knelt down and begged, he would still refuse to cooperate with the Japanese. The Japanese would not need Wang Jingwei at all.But it is a pity that because of refusing to cooperate, Wu Peifu was poisoned to death by people sent by Doihara.

And now, because of the information brought back by Nanzo Yunzi, Kenji Doihara, who was going to Jiamusi to serve as the commander of the Fifth Army of the North Manchuria, was once again sent back to Shanghai by the Japanese army headquarters.

……

"General, why are you here?"

Kagezuo Zhenzhao was surprised by the arrival of Kenji Doihara, but as the successor, he still showed due respect.But it's a pity, Kenji Doihara just nodded at him, without saying a word, he stared straight at Yunzi Nanzo:

"Yunzi, is the news true or false?"

"It's very likely."

"Need to contact the KMT?"

"Yes."

"Then get in touch right away! I want to find out who that Qin Wei is." (To be continued...)