At this time, Japan's naval and air forces have been hit hard by the US military in the Pacific region, and it is impossible to expand and counterattack. Allied bombers taking off from the South China base in China dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese absolute defense circle. In particular, Chennault commanded the No.1 14 Air Force of the U.S. Army in South China, and cooperated closely with the China Air Force, effectively attacking Japan's strategic transport fleet (the route from Nanyang to the mainland via the Taiwan Province Strait), resulting in the loss of more than one million tons of Japanese transport fleet every year. In this situation, Japan's armament and industrial production are facing the crisis of total shutdown due to insufficient supply of raw materials and energy. This is the most serious problem that threatens the safe operation of Japan's absolute defense circle. Japan's entire production of combat weapons and ammunition and the supply of necessities for people's livelihood began to encounter serious difficulties.
Therefore, if the Japanese government wants to ensure the safety of transportation lines in its absolute national defense circle, it must simultaneously carry out desperate counter-offensive operations in the China-Myanmar theater. The core goal of the operation is to eliminate the strategic air bases and supply lines in the China war zone and ensure the safety of the Japanese absolute defense circle. The offensive of the Myanmar theater is to cut off the hump transportation route; The offensive in China Theater is to completely destroy the Allied Air Force Base in South China, China.
1 unprecedented "No.1 battle plan"
In order to start the first battle plan, the Japanese army can be said to have tried its best to put all the army's combat power accumulated since the Meiji Restoration into desperate efforts. The Japanese base camp decided that all the forces and support requirements of the China Army in the implementation of the No.1 operational plan should be given the highest priority. In terms of troop mobilization, the Japanese army decided to mobilize another 5 1 10,000 troops, giving priority to making up for all the vacancies of China's troops; As far as possible, the second and third divisions originally in the China war zone will be upgraded to the first division (the first division of the Japanese army, together with all supplementary and special operations forces, will have a combat power of 32,000 people). In addition, the base camp also dispatched troops from Japan and the Kwantung Army to further support China's dispatch of the No.1 Army.
The Japanese army's advance logistics preparation for the No.1 battle plan is so thorough that it is almost unimaginable. One is the reorganization of the whole aviation regiment in China battlefield. Air force combat oil alone has a reserve of half a year, and ammunition reserves are as high as two years. And specially dispatched armored divisions that have never been used on the battlefield in China, and the logistics support of grain, grass and ammunition for the participating troops has been prepared for more than half a year; There are 67,000 horses,13,000 transport vehicles and10,000 transport supply ships. And mobilize all road and bridge engineering support manpower and equipment in Japan to invest in the maintenance of roads behind the front line. All the operational needs of the Japanese army in the No.1 operational plan, from field medical equipment to the repair of soldiers' boots, are readily available. Since becoming the imperial Japanese army, it has launched an all-round offensive unprecedented in history, and its mobilization scale has exceeded twice that of the Japanese-Russian war in Meiji period.
2 China's internal and external troubles
But at this time, China's defenders are in the stage of serious emptiness of combat power. Serious friction broke out between China and the United States due to military aid, and the relationship between the two sides almost broke down; Under Stilwell's operation, the cooperative relationship between China and the United States was completely destroyed. Not only all the army equipment and materials that aid China (as far as the needs of the Chinese army in China War Zone are concerned, the American aid materials imported by Hump Air are only a drop in the bucket in quantity), but also 90% of them were used in Stilwell's preparations for the Burma War, and eight of China's most elite troops were deployed to participate in the Burma War.
Stilwell repeatedly stressed at this time that the Japanese army had no intention of launching any attack on the Japanese army, and it was only a "military exercise" of destruction and looting at most; The so-called information that the Japanese army is about to launch a full-scale attack in the China war zone is just an excuse for Chiang Kai-shek to "blackmail the United States" for aid. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek was unwilling to send China troops receiving American aid equipment to fight in Myanmar. Therefore, the Supreme Commander and Chief of Staff of China Theater not only have serious frictions and political struggles, but also have almost opposite views on the Japanese military's operational trends and intelligence judgment at the most important critical moment.
Stilwell now controls all American aid and China's strategic reserve forces. He just wanted to mobilize the Burmese army and help him to complete the counterattack against Myanmar as soon as possible; At the same time, he has a bigger ambition, that is, he hopes that Chiang Kai-shek's army can be defeated in China, so that he can fully accept the operational command of China's army. So Stilwell deliberately ignored the intelligence collected by the Japanese army and kept reporting to Washington that Chiang Kai-shek could not fight at all. The Japanese army was not a threat in the China war zone.
But these problems are not the worst, because China should give priority to deploying elite troops to support the war in northern Myanmar. Although Chiang Kai-shek believed that the enemy was very likely to launch a full-scale counterattack in the middle of 1944 according to the intelligence of the Japanese army's massive assembly and training, after February, Chongqing also grasped more clear information about the Japanese army's attack to open the Pinghan and Yuehan railways. However, Stilwell, the chief of staff, was bent on fighting only in savage mountain, Myanmar, and ignored the information that the Japanese army was preparing to launch a new offensive in the China theater, which led some China generals to follow suit, so the China army could not follow suit. The Japanese army fought back to the death on the battlefield in China with the strength of the whole country and the whole army, and China didn't come from outside, so how can we stop the unprecedented offensive launched by the Japanese army under the condition of full preparation?
The Japanese army opened the Pinghan Railway.
The general commander of the Japanese North China Army has different opinions on the task that the Japanese North China Army is responsible for opening Pinghan Road and capturing Tang, the main force of Henan Army. Because he thought that the Japanese base camp could send such a powerful force to China, instead of getting through the mainland traffic lines, it would be better for him to carry out the westward attack on Xi 'an and cut off the battle plan of Chongqing's left wing, but the Japanese base camp disagreed with him (fortunately, the Japanese base camp disagreed with this battle plan, otherwise China would pay a higher price). Base command kwantung army out erqi division, railway corps wing, car corps and other elite special forces to support the North China Army No.1 combat mission, to get through the Pinghan line and capture the main force of China Army in Henan.
Jiang and Tang were responsible for defending the Henan position of China's army. Because the Japanese army did not launch an attack in North China for nearly three years after the Battle of Zhongtiaoshan, China's army lost its vigilance and morale. Coupled with the natural disasters in Henan for years, people's livelihood has been extremely difficult, the army's supply is insufficient, and the expeditionary force has given priority to conscription, and its combat power has dropped to an unprecedented bottom. Before the Japanese attack, Chiang Kai-shek and American generals in China lacked a * * * understanding and mastery of the Japanese military's operational attempts. Because Stilwell insisted that the Japanese attack was only a routine offensive exercise, and there was no intention to go deep into China's military positions and carry out long-term occupation operations. At present, China's army should use static braking, so the Chinese army troops with sufficient American equipment and posts were transferred to the primitive mountainous areas of Myanmar to fight. Therefore, Tang was ordered to use static defense to protect his positions in Mixian and Gongxian counties east of Songshan Mountain.
It happened that there was a severe drought in Henan Province, and millions of people died and were displaced in China. Food supply is very scarce, and the price increase is 500 times that of the July 7th Incident. Social hardship, people's anxiety, civil strife in Chongqing, the United States intervened in China's internal political struggle; The serious shortage of military personnel and the absence of American aid weapons on paper have made the morale of the army even more lax.
It happened that there was a severe drought in Henan Province, and millions of people died and were displaced in China. Food supply is very scarce, and the price increase is 500 times that of the July 7th Incident. Social hardship, people's anxiety, civil strife in Chongqing, the United States intervened in China's internal political struggle; The serious shortage of military personnel and the absence of American aid weapons on paper have made the morale of the army even more lax.
Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to send an expeditionary force equipped by the US military back to China to fight in the war was not only rejected by Stilwell, but also the result of Roosevelt's personal intervention. On April 25, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to order an expeditionary force from Yunnan to cross the Nujiang River and participate in the war in northern Myanmar. At this time, the Japanese army had just captured Zhengzhou and began to defeat China's defense line in Henan, but Chiang Kai-shek could only watch the China war zone being ruthlessly ravaged by the Japanese offensive. In the eyes of the Allies, China's troops were only equipped for British interests in Myanmar and India.
Japan's attack on the south soon began again. After the 12 army captured Xuchang, the Japanese Army 1 1 Army Yokoyama Yong sent a brigade to attack the north synchronously. On May 8, the north and south armies joined forces in Suiping. Seven years after the outbreak of the all-out war between China and Japan, the Japanese army finally got through the Pinghan Railway.
So an internal offensive and defensive war of shirking responsibility was immediately launched between China's army and the US military. Stilwell and some American journalists certainly took the opportunity to publish their "evidence", pointing out that Chiang Kai-shek's troops didn't fight at all, but they didn't mention their serious mistakes in intelligence judgment, which led to the China war zone not being prepared in advance, the whole logistics support was delayed in wartime, and air cover was seriously inadequate. As a matter of fact, judging from the deployment and operational preparations of China and China in Henan at that time, whoever commanded the Japanese army would not have a good result there. China's army will only be wiped out if it does not retreat. Who asked, Stilwell, chief of staff of China Theater, thought that the Japanese army was only an intelligence judgment of the exercise, which made the army unable to get the supplement and preparation before the war. How much responsibility should China bear?
The Japanese No.1 1 1 Army launched the Battle of Heng Chang.
Hengshan decided to launch an all-out attack on China's army in Hunan on May 26th, the glorious anniversary of the Japanese army smashing the Russian Baltic Fleet in Ma Haixia. Armed to the teeth, 360,000 Japanese troops, with the support of superior firepower, divided into seven roads and pounced on the positions of China's army. The ferocity of this force far exceeds the forecast of China's army. The elite 3rd, 13th and 27th divisions of the Japanese army first attacked from the left (east), plunged into Pingjiang in one fell swoop, and then rushed into Liuyang to seize the counter-offensive base controlled by Xue Yue in advance.
At this time, Stilwell, who was commanding operations in the primitive jungle of Myanmar, only "remembered" that he was the chief of staff of the China Theater after seeing the total defeat of China's army. He suddenly appeared in Chongqing on June 8th, gloating that "China is in danger", and immediately sent personnel to supervise the withdrawal of US troops from the training center in Guilin. At the same time, he constantly tried to intervene Chennault's air force logistics support, and began to promote the command of China's army, looking for activities that could overthrow Chiang Kai-shek's military and political leaders. Stilwell completely ignored the disastrous defeat in China theater. Who made a serious error in intelligence judgment and a fatal error in operational deployment? Who is still fighting for the task of elbowing the air force to attack the Japanese army? Stilwell actually thinks that only when he takes over the command of China's army can he defeat the Japanese army in China, and any other remedial and support measures for the battlefield are of no help (this kind of naked nonsense arrogance and counterintuitive behavior can only be done by Stilwell! )。
Another measure of the Japanese battle plan is to attack Hengyang at the same time. Before the Japanese army captured Changsha, Hengshan had ordered the 68th Division and the116th Division to bypass the periphery of Changsha, advance non-stop along the banks of Xiangjiang River, and directly pounce on the position of Hengyang Huajun. At this point, the main force of Xue Yue's command retreated to Jiangxi, unable to intercept the Japanese army's long drive, and the entire defense system in the ninth theater collapsed.
At this time, Hunan's frontline operations were in a state of crisis. Chiang Kai-shek could not transfer eight military units with American equipment and enough posts back to the eastern front, but watched his troops with insufficient combat effectiveness suffer fatal blows in Hunan. In fact, the Japanese commander Hengshan was most worried about Chiang Kai-shek's transfer of these eight troops back to fight the Japanese army in Hunan. Hengshan is also worried that the U.S. military will mobilize all air forces to support China's military operations and carry out air strikes to completely cut off its fragile supply lines.
But none of these concerns happened. Because Stilwell, chief of staff of China Theater, tried his best to prevent China Theater from fighting back, and carried out President Roosevelt and Marshall to help out, he thought that the most important task at present was that Stilwell took over the command of China's army and had better overthrow Chiang Kai-shek's regime by the way. As China's army suffered successive defeats in the battlefields of Henan and Hunan, Shi had already been digging for the foundation in Chongqing, which made the front-line troops eager to wait for a clear order from the rear to send troops to help, while the rear was caught in a full-scale power struggle, with chaotic command system and out-of-control logistics.
At this time, it was General Chennault who commanded the first 14 air force of the US Army. He tried to reflect to Washington through the pipeline the crisis faced by China War Zone and the truth that Stilwell seized power. But at that time, the attention of Washington and the world was focused on the victory of the Normandy invasion, and they had great contempt and disgust for the deterioration and reversal of the China war zone. The mainstream opinion in the West then decided: "Stilwell really had the foresight to say that Chiang Kai-shek's China army was vulnerable. Now it's proved! " Not only that, but also the US military to clean up Chiang Kai-shek's mess. "
5. Defend Hengyang with the cries of ghosts and gods.
The Japanese army thought that in the battle of Changsha, the defense system of China's ninth theater had been completely defeated. Although there is no main army to panic in China, China's army has lost its ability to fight again after being hit hard, and Hengshan is more confident in the Japanese army's long-distance attack on Hengyang. In advance, Hengyang was heavily bombed by the Japanese plane, and the urban area of Hengyang has become a scorched earth. Therefore, Hengshan believes that the Japanese army can quickly capture Hengyang by surprise. However, Hengshan did not expect that the 10th Army of China led by Fang Xianjue fought an earth-shattering battle in Hengyang, which almost turned Hengshan's victorious offensive into a fiasco.
Because Xue Yue assembled the remnants of the ninth war zone in the border area of Hunan and Jiangxi, he tried to counterattack the Japanese rear after the Japanese army went deep. However, the disposal of Xue Yue this time was besieged by the eastward rotation of the main Japanese army, which not only failed to play the role of flanking the Japanese army, but made the Hengyang position in the south face the crisis of insufficient distribution of military support. While the Japanese army captured Changsha, Yokoyama Yong launched a long-distance assault on Hengyang. The 68th Japanese Division (human) and the 1 16 Division () attacked Hengyang along the east and west sides of Xiangjiang River. The Death Commando of the 68th Division captured Hengyang Airport, the largest air base of the US military in China, late at night on June 26th, and was personally decorated by the Japanese Emperor.
By July 1944, the battle of Hengyang was not only a decisive battle between China and Japan, but also developed into an internal political war between China and Japan. For Chiang Kai-shek and tojo hideki, the victory or defeat of Hengyang campaign is related to their control of the highest military and political leadership. Because on July 7th, American President Roosevelt personally asked Chiang Kai-shek to hand over the command of China's army to Stilwell to save the defeat in China. Therefore, unless Chiang Kai-shek can prove that he can command the China army to repel the Japanese attack, otherwise Chiang Kai-shek will face the crisis of American isolation, interruption of foreign aid and rebellion of his subordinates. The situation of Japanese Prime Minister Tojo was also supported by the news of victory. Otherwise, Japan's military and political leaders have lost confidence in his leadership and policies, and Tojo will be forced to resign.
But in the battle for the command of this decisive battle, Chiang Kai-shek could not bring back the most powerful troops from the battlefield in Myanmar, because this was Stilwell's capital for the command of China's army. Stilwell won with superior forces in Myanmar; At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek was severely hit by the Japanese army in South China, so Roosevelt thought that this was enough to prove that Chiang Kai-shek could not cope with the Japanese offensive, and Shi had the ability to command the China army to defeat the Japanese army. On the Japanese side, Tojo will put all military forces, including the 20th Army of Kwantung Army and the 47th Division of Japan, into the battlefield in Hunan. However, the Japanese army still failed to capture Hengyang in July, and Japan suffered a fiasco in Myanmar and Saipan. Japanese Emperor Hirohito has been shocked by the war situation, and Tojo was forced to resign and step down under the pressure of senior officials.
However, the Japanese army suffered extremely serious losses in Hengyang, forcing Hengshan to consider whether it is worth fighting here. Because even the Japanese army's combat power has reached its limit. However, the result of this battle has become a glorious war of military confrontation between China and Japan. No matter what Hengshan says, we can't give up. Besides, Ichiro Sakamoto, the field commander of the Kwantung Army, has arrived in Hunan and taken over the command of Changsha. If you don't work hard, the final result will be very bad, and even the position will be variable. Finally, Hengshan decided to put all the troops of the Japanese 1 1 Army in Hengyang, and add 13 or 58 divisions to participate in the decisive battle in Hengyang. He also transported powerful ju pao at all costs and arrived at Hengyang position, ready to give the isolated Fang Xianjue department a final fatal blow.
On August 2, the Japanese army launched the last wave of offensive against Hengyang, and Yokoyama Yong personally went to the front line of Hengyang to direct operations regardless of his illness. Of course, the heads of the four Japanese divisions who participated in the war did not dare to neglect, and all of them accompanied Hengshan, ready to put all their eggs in one basket. Each division has organized death squads to carry out desperate attacks on the positions of China's army. Japanese giant guns once again leveled every position of China's army, and Japanese death squads once again attacked the strongholds of China's army. The defenders can only fight hard. Major General Chimo Yuanji, the brigade commander of the 57th brigade of the Japanese army, is even the captain of the death squad himself. He personally led troops to charge the position of China army and died in Hengyang. There is a 58 th division specially trained in urban warfare. Lieutenant General Hong, the head of the division, was injured in the battle, but refused to see a doctor. He was lying on a stretcher directing the battlefield operations, which showed the fierce situation (I don't know whether the so-called National Government has smeared the history of decisive battle with the Japanese army since the Wuhan Battle, but is there any conscience rumor after seeing this kind of play in the Heng Chang Battle? ).
Hengyang decisive battle at this time, its tragic degree has made the position a hell on earth. At the last minute, Chiang Kai-shek managed to send troops to rescue the tenth army, and even the tanks of the fifth army were sent to the battlefield. At this time, however, China's army in China War Zone has been unable to fight with its life. Because of the intervention and stimulation of international forces, the suspicion of internal factions has revived, further worsening the situation of insufficient military personnel, serious lack of equipment and logistics, shaken military morale and low morale. Therefore, it is impossible to mobilize military forces to break through the defense lines surrounded by the Japanese army. After 42 days of bloody fighting, the foresight department of the Tenth Army finally lost its ability to resist on August 8, and the Japanese army suffered heavy losses and was unable to attack again. Therefore, after negotiations, the two sides ended their solitary resistance to the enemy under the condition that the Japanese army allowed to maintain the organizational structure and honor of the army and rescue the injured officers and soldiers. The fact that the 10th Army of China defended Hengyang ended in the "last battle" of negotiations, rather than surrendering to the Japanese army.
Hengyang finally fell, and Stilwell naturally began to push Chiang Kai-shek further. Seeing that his men's fighting ambitions were shaken, Jiang began to operate privately and moved closer to Stilwell. Under strong pressure, he only agreed to yield to the demands of the United States and prepared to hand over the operational command of China's army to Stilwell. At that time, China lost its belief in fighting independently, and tried to rely on the direct intervention of the US military to give China anti-Japanese strength and bring it back to life. This is the biggest crisis moment in China's history.