Glorious Mission 1937

() After the Battle of Pingxingguan, although the front of the Japanese army suffered heavy setbacks, the Fifth Division still did not give up its established strategic goals. On September 9, the Japanese army captured Ruyue, and the Chinese army retreated to Tiejiaoling west of Fanzhi. The Japanese army came after them again. After a bloody battle, Tiejiaoling fell, and Fanzhi also fell that night.The retreat of the Chinese defenders at Pingxingguan was cut off, and the situation was critical.In order to avoid being encircled, the Chinese army abandoned Pingxing Pass and moved to the line from Dai County, Yanmen Pass to Yangfangkou in Mount Wutai. After occupying Ruyue Ri, Tiejiaoling, and Pingxingguan, the Japanese army joined forces in Fanzhi, captured Dai County on October 28, crossed Yangfangkou at 10 meters, and attacked Ningwu, the traffic point in northern Shanxi.At this point, the Great Wall defense line in the squadron was broken through by the enemy again, and the Japanese army approached Xinkou.

In order to retaliate against the Squadron's severe damage to the Chahar Dispatched Corps in northern Serbia, the Japanese Army began on October 10, concentrating its navy and aviation forces to launch a new attack in coordination with ground forces.On the north route, the 1th Division of Zongwu Yamashiro pointed to Guangfu and Chenjiahang; on the south route, the 11rd, 3th, 9th, and 13st Divisions concentrated on forcibly crossing Canzaobang and attacking Dachang and Nanxiang to cut Dachang to Jiangwan Area defenders are in contact with the outside world, making them lone forces.

At the same time, part of the main force of the North China Front Army of the Japanese Army went south along Jinpu Road and headed straight for Jinan.However, Han Fuqu in the Fifth War Zone had nothing to do in the face of the crazy Japanese attack, except to order the troops to retreat continuously.

At the same time, more than a thousand Japanese troops attacked Yangming Fort, fought fiercely with a part of the Chinese No. 19 Army, and invaded Yangming Fort. On the 2nd, attack Nao County with the cooperation of aircraft and artillery. On the 4th, the No. 15 Brigade of the Japanese army made a detour from the west of Nao County and stormed Yuanping Town.At this time, Wei Lihuang's troops transferred from Shijiazhuang on Pinghan Road had not yet arrived, and the Jinsui army transferred from Wutai Mountain to Xinkou would arrive two days later, and the situation was very critical.In order to allow the main force to have enough time to gather in Xinkou and fight the enemy decisively, the Second Theater Command ordered the Chinese defenders to defend Nao County and Yuanping until the follow-up troops arrived. The defenders bombarded heavily and the position was almost completely bombed. The officers and soldiers of the 5th Regiment of the No. 6 Army suffered extremely heavy casualties. On July 19, the Japanese army besieging Nao County increased to five or six thousand people. The Japanese army used more than 7 aircraft and more than 6000 field heavy artillery to bombard the county town indiscriminately for 20 hours. The north city wall was destroyed, and the No. 30 regiment suffered all casualties.The defenders of the east and west walls fought bravely and fought hand-to-hand with the enemy.At night, officers at all levels of the Chinese garrison personally led their troops to block and attack the enemy. The Japanese army continued unabated, and the situation was irreversible. On the 6th, Commander Wang Jing had to lead the rest of his troops to break through, and Nao County fell.

After the japanese army except a small number stayed in the occupied area, the army continued to move southward, pointing directly at Pingyuan Town.The garrison of Yuanping is the 10th Brigade of Jiang Yuzhen.In order to enable the main force to complete the assembly in Xinkou, the Chief of the Second War Zone ordered him to "even if there is one soldier left, he must stay in Yuanping for seven days (counting from October 1st)".On the way when the troops were transferred from Dai County to Yuanping, the Japanese army was already chasing after them.At a place 20 miles away from Yuanping, the Jiang brigade mixed with the enemy to form the No. 15 brigade to meet the fire, and fought and retreated.Outside Yuanping Town, Jiang Yuzhen ordered his troops to build fortifications and stick to the railways and roads. Relying on superior equipment, the Japanese army launched a fierce attack on Yuanping with the cooperation of aircraft, heavy artillery, and tanks.Jiang Yuzhen came to command in person, and the enemy's repeated attacks were repulsed. The Jiang brigade suffered heavy casualties day by day, and the position gradually shrank. The Japanese army formed a situation of encircling Yuanping.

On the seventh day, the Japanese army broke in from the northeast corner of the city, occupied the eastern half of the city, and confronted Jiang Brigade across the street.At this time, Jiang Yuzhen received another order to stay on guard for another 7 days.He immediately said: "We will fight to the death, and we will never leave Sri Lanka without order." After Nao County fell on October 3, a large number of Japanese troops surrounded Yuanping, and the northwest of the city was also captured.At this time, there were only two or three hundred of the Jiang brigade's 10 people, and they were besieged in the northeast corner of the city. However, the soldiers had no fear, and under the leadership of Jiang Yuzhen, they fought street battles with the enemy.Persisted until midnight on October 8th, the task of defending the city was completed.Afterwards, Jiang Yuzhen led the rest of his troops to break through, but was hit by enemy shells outside the city and died for the country. On the 5000th, the Japanese army occupied Yuanping.

After the fall of Nao County and Yuanping, Xinkou was completely under the direct attack of the Japanese army.Xinkou is the gateway from northern Shanxi to Taiyuan and the last line of defense to defend Taiyuan.In order to defend Taiyuan, the Kuomintang Second Theater Command concentrated 6 group armies, a total of 31 divisions, 13 brigades, and more than 28 people. Mouth battle.The specific deployment of troops is as follows; the Zhongyang Corps is composed of the Ninth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth Armies and the No.14 Group Army. It is commanded by Deputy Commander-in-Chief Wei Lihuang and is responsible for guarding Caijiagang, Lingshan, Nanhuaihua, and Yangming. The front line of the Fort; the No.18 Army (except the 70th Division), the No.18 Third Division, and the 60st Division formed the right-wing corps, commanded by the No.61 Army Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, to guard the Wutai Mountain front line; No.30 35th, 60st, [-]th divisions and the [-]th Brigade of the Communist Party of China formed the left-wing corps, commanded by the commander-in-chief of the Sixth Army Yang Aiyuan, to defend the first-line position from Heiyu Village to Yangfangkou; No.[-] Fourth Army, [-] Army and No.[-] Sixth Division and other departments are the reserve team, which is composed of the No.

Fu Zuoyi, commander-in-chief of the Seventh Group Army, commanded and responded to all parties in the Dingxiang and Xinxian areas.

The Japanese army participated in the Battle of Xinkou with a total of about 3 divisions and more than 7 troops, equipped with more than 350 cannons, more than 150 tanks and 300 aircraft.

On October 10, the Second Theater Command re-adjusted its deployment and transferred Fu Zuoyi's reserve corps to join the central yang corps to fight against the enemy on the Xinkou front line. On the 12th, the Japanese army mobilized more than 13 troops to attack the central yang position of Xinkou—Nanhuaihua under the cover of aircraft, artillery and tanks, in an attempt to implement a central yang breakthrough.Under the fierce attack of the Japanese army, the Nanhuaihua position was almost razed to the ground.Although the Chinese garrison was trapped in the scorched earth, they still fought the enemy bravely, fighting fiercely until late at night, changing positions 13 times, and finally surrounded and annihilated the enemy who broke into Nanhuaihua.

On the 14th, the Japanese army increased its troops by thousands and stormed the Nanhuaihua position again. The Chinese defenders fought more intensely with the Japanese bandits.The No. 15 Army of the right-wing Chinese garrison fought the enemy until dusk, and drove part of the Japanese army to the foot of Lingshan; , There was a breach in the defense line, and the tug-of-war became more and more fierce.

On October 10th, in order to further expand the results of the battle, wipe out the enemy, and regain the central yang position, the Second Theater Command of China transferred about 15 brigades from the Ninth Army and the No. Under the command of the army commander Hao Mengling, he launched a counterattack against the positions occupied by the Japanese army.The squadron attacked from the front and besieged the enemy from three sides.

At 16 o'clock in the morning on the 2th, the counterattack began.Under the command of Hao Mengling, the Chinese squadron conquered several hills. At about 5 o'clock, the sky was twilight. Hao Mengling was eager to rush to the front position of the 5th brigade to command the battle. The officers and soldiers told him that there was a section of road ahead that was blocked by the enemy. The fire blockade is very dangerous. He advised him to write a written order and send someone to send it. Commander Hao said: "If the earthen jar is not broken away from the wellhead, the general will inevitably die before the battle." When he was on the battlefield, he was unfortunately shot and died a heroic sacrifice at the age of 200.At the same time, Liu Jiaqi, the commander of the 39th Division, and Zheng Lianzhen, the commander of the Fifth Brigade of the Communist Party of China, also died in battle.

Due to the brave fighting of the Xinkou Chinese defenders, the Japanese army began to attack the Xinkou central yang position on October 10. By the end of October, the two sides fought fiercely for half a month, and the Japanese army still failed to completely occupy these areas.

The Japanese army was stubbornly resisted by the Chinese army near Xinkou, and made little progress, so they sent troops to attack Taiyuan along Zhengtai Road in mid-October.The Chinese garrison stationed at Niangzi Pass on Zhengtai Road was under the command of Huang Shaohong, deputy commander of the Kuomintang Second Theater.Since October 10th, the Japanese army and the Chinese defenders have been fighting in the area around Zhengtai Road and Niangziguan. On the 10th, the Chinese defenders received reinforcements from Sun Lianzhong's troops near Niangziguan, and immediately launched a counterattack against the invading enemy, killing hundreds of enemies that day. On the 11th, most of the more than 14 enemies who invaded Guangou were wiped out, and at dawn the next day, they launched a full-line attack, fought bloody battles with the enemy, and wiped out the enemy army.However, by the 15th, the Japanese reinforcements had increased significantly, and with the strong cooperation of aircraft and artillery, although the Chinese squadron continued to fight bravely, it gradually turned into a disadvantage due to the disparity in strength. On the 1500th, Niangziguan was captured by the Japanese army.Niangziguan fell, and the Xinkou Chinese defenders were in a situation where they were attacked from both sides. On November 19, the Second Theater Command had no choice but to order the Xinkou defenders to retreat to defend Taiyuan.Xinri, which was sprinkled with the blood of Chinese generals, was occupied by the Japanese army on that day, and the battle turned to Taiyuan.

The Battle of Koukou began on October 10th and ended on November 11nd. It was a hard battle for 11 days. After countless battles, such as the Battle of Nanhuaihua, the Battle of Honggou, and the fierce battle of Dabaishui, the battles formed a confrontation. The most intense battle on the North China battlefield in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War was also the longest battle with the largest casualties on both sides.The anti-Japanese army successively joined the battle with about 2 divisions of more than 23 people, with more than 16 casualties; the Japanese army invested about 10 troops, with more than 5 casualties.Although the Chinese side lost in this battle and made great sacrifices, the heroic resistance of the Chinese defenders consumed a large number of enemy troops and bought time. was able to withdraw southward.

After the Battle of Xinkou, the Japanese army originally wanted to take advantage of the victory to take Taiyuan directly, but the base camp directly ordered the Fifth Division, the main force of the Japanese army on the front line of Xinkou, to immediately go north to attack Datong, an important town in northern Shanxi.

On November 11, the Ninth Brigade of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army captured Shuozhou, and the army continued to march towards Datong.

Shuozhou. The temporary headquarters of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army.

Itagaki Seishiro, the commander of the fifth division, sat on the throne with great ambition. He had reason to be proud and also had reason to be proud. Soon after the war started, he led the army to break through Nankou, an important military town stationed by the 13th Army of China's elite division, and severely damaged China. Zheng fuzhong yang's army was elite, and then the army went all the way south and west, like a broken bamboo, the Chinese army fled in anticipation of the wind, invincible wherever they pointed.

A few days ago, he captured Xinkou, the portal of Taiyuan. If it wasn't for such a sudden order from the base camp, he would have already captured Taiyuan, the hometown of his old classmate Yan Xishan by now.