Glorious Mission 1937

The Germans are just around the corner in Europe, and the Japanese are also anxious to gain a sense of presence in Asia.Seeing that Chen Feng's troops were busy fighting against the Soviet Union, coupled with Chen Feng's deliberate inducement during this period, many newspapers and magazines in China even sang praises when reporting on the war between Chen Feng's troops and the Soviet Union.

However, they did not shy away from reporting the "losses" of the previous battles in the Eighth War Zone. The Japanese, who have always been observant and subtle, made a little statistics and found to their surprise that during the war of more than half a month, Chen Feng's troops lost at least 15 yuan. The strength of the left and right is almost 1:1.5 with the Soviets.

After getting the news, the Japanese were ecstatic.The Japanese military headquarters agreed that Chen Feng's troops had fallen into the quagmire of the Mongolian War and could not escape for the time being. This was the best chance for the Japanese Empire to avenge its shame.In order not to affect the interests of Chen Feng's subordinates and the Soviet Union, the two formidable enemies, the Japanese did not plan to attack in the north, and they placed the battlefield in central China.

In fact, the Japanese army base camp has been tangled for a long time. Since they invaded Guangzhou and Wuhan, due to the long front and insufficient troops; the huge consumption of manpower and material resources has caused financial and economic difficulties; anti-war and war-weariness sentiments in Japan have begun to grow. There were endless quarrels due to the bankruptcy of the "quick battle" strategy and differences in foreign policies; and because the Chinese people persisted in the war of resistance, their strategy of dominating the world was greatly affected, and they were passive everywhere.

They want to change this passive situation, especially when Germany is maneuvering in Europe, and the Japanese also want to take a ride.Seeing so many unclaimed lands in Southeast Asia, the Japanese were moved.But I want to go south to collect those overripe fruits.The Chinese battlefield must be stable, and the Chinese must not jump out to make trouble, otherwise the Great Japanese Empire will be in trouble. In this case, the Japanese aggressors were forced to adjust their policy of aggression against China.

In order to adapt to the southward strategy, the Japanese army made corresponding adjustments in its military strategy.First, abandon the quick-fix strategy and prepare for a long-term battle.Second, it is clearly stipulated that military operations should serve political and tactical work.

Third, limit the scale and intensity of wars in order to reduce consumption.in the combat range. "No attempt to expand the occupied area unless necessary." "Refrain from expanding unprepared fronts"; in terms of military strength, "in order to prepare for future changes in the international situation, we must reduce the number of troops stationed and the consumption of troops in all aspects"; When an attack comes, counterattack in time. Consume its combat power."fourth.Shift the focus of military strikes to deal with the anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare behind it.

It was decided after discussion in the Japanese base camp.Immediately began to adjust the attack strategy against the Nationalist government.Its overall idea is to secure and stabilize the occupied area, make it the base of the "Great East Asian War" and continue to exert military pressure on the national government.Weaken its anti-Japanese forces, and combine political strategy and strategy to destroy its attempt to continue the anti-Japanese war, and then use the results of the "Great East Asian War" to urge the National Government to surrender and realize its aggressive intentions.

In order to attack the national government's will to resist the war and eliminate the main force of China's 9th theater troops, the No. 11 Army of the Japanese Chinese Expeditionary Army concentrated about 6 troops from the 33th, 101rd, 106st, and 3th divisions and three brigades. Under the command of the commander Okamura Ningji, he adopted the policy of rushing and attacking, launched the "Battle of Hunan and Jiangxi", attacked Changsha, and the Battle of Changsha broke out.

In order to defeat the Japanese army's strategic attempt, Xue Yue, the acting commander of China's 9th theater, commanded 16 armies with more than 30 divisions of about 40 troops, and adopted the combat policy of resisting and luring the enemy one by one to destroy the attacking Japanese army near Changsha.

1940年6月14日，日军第106师团由赣北奉新向会埠的中国守军第19集团军第60军发起进攻；以第101师团一部向高安中**队第32军与第58军进行牵制性攻击。

The Chinese defenders failed to resist the Japanese attack, and their positions were breached. The 60th Army and the 58th Army moved to Yifeng and Lingjiangkou respectively; the 32nd Army moved to Huibu and Yuanpu on the right bank of the Jinjiang River.

On the 18th, the Japanese army captured Shangfu, Cunqian Street, Xieqiao, etc., and stormed Gao'an.

On the 19th, the defenders abandoned Gao'an after a fierce battle, and retreated to the southwest highlands of Shiguling and Shinaoxu to prevent the Japanese from invading westward. On the 21st, the 32nd Army counterattacked Gao'an and launched a fierce battle with the Japanese army; on the 22nd, it conquered Gao'an and Gaocheng, and occupied the line of Maxingshan and Zhaojiashan.The 74th Army occupied Xieqiao and Nanshan He.The Japanese 101st Division retreated from Gao'an to the northeast and Wuqiaohe.The main force of the 106th Division marched westward from Fengxin, broke through the positions of the 183rd and 15th Divisions of the defenders, occupied Hengjie and Ganfang on the 24th, and continued to advance westward. On the 25th, the Chinese army mobilized several divisions to counterattack the Japanese army in Ganfang area, and started a fierce battle with them.

At the same time, the 6th Division and the Nara Detachment, the main force of the Japanese army, forcibly crossed the Xinqiang River and launched an attack on the 15nd Army of the 52th Army of the defenders on the north bank of the Xinqiang River.The defenders resisted tenaciously for 5 days and nights, and were forced to retreat to the south bank of the river on the evening of the 22nd.

At dawn on the 23rd, with the support of heavy artillery fire, the Japanese army forcibly crossed the Xinqiang River and entered the south; *Team.The 15th Group Army fought against the Japanese army based on the Xinqiang River and Miluo River positions. After inflicting heavy losses on the Japanese army, it withdrew to the south bank of the Miluo River on the 33th.

When the battle of Changsha was in full swing, the new policies implemented not long ago in Japan were summarized, and secret discussions were held for the first time on the southward operation.

In fact, Japan's so-called new policy is nothing more than a product of the rapidly deteriorating European war situation.At that time, not only the base camp, but the entire Japanese government and the public were concerned about when Germany would land on the British mainland.If the situation developed to the point of the collapse of the British Empire due to the German landing on the British mainland, great changes would inevitably take place in the political and economic fields of the world, and Japan would naturally not be able to stand idly by.

This is a great opportunity to solve the southern issue in one fell swoop. The base camp specifically emphasized in the new policy guidelines that the time for the completion of various preparations for the Empire of Japan should be the end of August 1940, which hinted at the headquarters. Intend.

The Ministry of the Army and Navy, the headquarters of the Japanese army, believes that even if Germany does not land on the British mainland, there is no doubt about Germany's victory. This will inevitably lead to changes in the world's sphere of influence, and thus it is also an opportunity for Japan to advance southward.

Originally, all or part of Japan's important strategic materials such as petroleum, rubber, special steel raw materials, bauxite, leather, cotton, wool, hemp, and oil had to be imported from the United States, Britain and its sphere of influence.In addition, most of the working machines that can be called the industrial foundation actually have to rely on the United States.Therefore, obtaining southern resources to get rid of economic dependence on the United States and Britain and consolidate the self-sufficiency situation is regarded as an indispensable requirement for self-survival and self-defense.

Based on the above reasons, the Japanese base camp began to study the southern operations.In light of the new policy decisions, the Army and Navy face a number of important questions.In addition to issues such as strengthening the Japanese-German-Italian axis, stationing in French Indochina, strengthening friendly relations with Thailand, and preparations for fighting in Hong Kong, the most heated discussion at that time was the issue of research and preparation for fighting in the south.

The new policy decided that for the south, force could be used according to the situation, and it was estimated that the opponent of the war might involve Britain.Now that such a national policy has been decided, the High Command must of course study and prepare for the war plan and combat plan.

This is a fundamental change for the Army, which has always only focused on fighting against China and defending the Soviet Union.In response to the army's theory of defending south and advancing north, the navy's traditional policy is to advocate the theory of defending north and advancing south.During the entire incident in China, the navy showed its strong concern for South China.

As a result, the Army High Command began on-the-spot investigations of key locations in the southern region, military intelligence collection, and research on combat plans.It is a major issue whether to determine the war opponent as the Netherlands alone or as the two countries that have an inseparable relationship.At that time, the Army and Navy High Command jointly studied the combat plan repeatedly, but neither the Army nor the Navy seriously considered the United States as a war opponent.

However, the European war situation did not progress as expected, and the hope of Germany's landing on the British mainland faded.As the Navy, which played the leading role in the southern operations, was given ample time to consider, the argument that the use of force needed to be reconsidered raised its head again.

On June 6, the staff of the Ministry of the Navy at the base camp submitted a memorandum to the staff of the Ministry of the Army on the interpretation of the "Outline for Handling the Current Situation Adapting to the Evolution of the World Situation", requesting a unified thinking.However, the preparations for the army and navy's southern operations have not gone beyond the scope of mainly collecting intelligence and studying combat plans on the desktop. The Japanese High Command still has a lot of work that must be done but has not done it.

What else has not been done in the Japanese base camp?Nothing else but finding allies.You must know that once it is ready to go south, Japan will be the enemy of the European and American powers at the level of the entire Pacific Rim country. It can be said that Japan will challenge half of the world with the power of one country.

This is a dangerous job. Japan alone can't do it at all. Besides, they know the situation in Japan better than anyone else. A Chinese battlefield will almost drag Japan down. If one or more battlefields are opened up, if If it cannot be resolved quickly, then Japan will face an unprecedented crisis, and may even be wiped out because of this.So Japan needs allies, one or several powerful and reliable allies. (To be continued..)