In January 1944, in order to prevent air raids on the mainland, ensure its smooth sea traffic in the East China Sea, and save its invading forces invading Southeast Asia, Japan decided to launch a battle in the frontal battlefield of China aimed at opening up the Chinese mainland lines of communication, the first phase of which was the Battle of Henan (also known as the Battle of Yuzhong).
On April 18, 1944, the Japanese army crossed the New Yellow River from Zhongmu and launched a surprise attack on the Nationalist army, and the Henan Campaign broke out.
The Japanese army successively invested more than 97,000 troops in the 12th Army of the North China Front, the 69th Division of the 1st Army and the 5th Aviation Army, and the Nationalist Army participated in the battle with the 4th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 28th, 29th, 31st, 36th, and 39th Group Armies of the First Theater, totaling more than 40,000 people. By April 23, the Japanese army repelled the Kuomintang 85th Army, the provisional 15th Army and other units, and captured Zhengzhou, Xinzheng, Xingyang, Guangwu, Weishi, Huanchuan, Yanling, Mixian and other places.
On April 24, the Japanese soldiers continued to attack the south in two ways, one along the Pinghan Railway, in an attempt to open the southern section of the Pinghan Railway, and the other from Mi County to Dengfeng and Yu County, waiting for an opportunity to surround and annihilate the main force of Tang Enbo's army. The Japanese army, which had attacked south along the Pinghan Railway, captured Changge on the same day. On April 30, the Japanese army attacked Xuchang, and the newly organized 29th Division of the nationalist provisional 15th Army fought fiercely with the enemy, suffering heavy casualties, and the division commander Lü Gongliang was killed. That night, the defenders abandoned the city and broke through. On May 1, Xuchang fell.
After that, the Japanese army continued to attack southward, capturing Linying on May 2, Luohe and Yucheng on the 5th, Xiping on the 6th, and Suiping on the 7th. On the 9th, it met the 11th Brigade of the Independent Infantry of the Japanese 11th Army at Queshan Mountain, which was committed by the Japanese Army. At this point, the Japanese army opened the entire line of the Pinghan Railway, providing an extremely important transportation line for its next launch of the Yuxianggui Campaign.
After capturing Xuchang, the 37th and 62nd Divisions and the 3rd Tank Division of the Japanese 12th Army immediately turned around and attacked the west, successively capturing Yu County, Yu County, Xiang County, and Linru County, and detouring back to the main force of the First Theater Deputy Commander Tang Enbo's department. At the same time, the Japanese 110th Division from the south of Mixian County captured Dengfeng on May 2, forming a joint encirclement posture against the main force of Tang Enbo's 31st Group Army and other units, and on May 5, the Japanese army launched a general offensive, Tang Enbo's entire line collapsed, suffered heavy losses, and fled in a panic, and Lushan, Baofeng, Wuyang and other places fell one after another.
Subsequently, the Japanese 3rd Tank Division, the 4th Cavalry Brigade and other units rushed west and conquered the Longmen Heights on the southern outskirts of Luoyang on May 6. On May 9, the 69th Division of the Japanese 1st Army crossed the Yellow River from Hengqu, Shanxi, captured Xin'an on the 10th, and captured Shichi on the 12th, directly to the west of Luoyang. The Japanese "Ju Corps", which had invaded the west along the Longhai Railway from Zhengzhou, captured Gong County on May 11 and Yanshi on the 12th, and troops were east of Luoyang City.
Only the 15th Army (commander Wu Tinglin, commander of the Henan Zapai Army, in charge of the 64th and 65th Divisions) and the 94th Division of the 14th Army were ordered to hold luoyang. The Japanese attacked the city of Luoyang from 11 May. On the 13th, the Japanese army once attacked the southwest corner of Luoyang City, and the defenders stubbornly resisted and expelled the Japanese army from the city. On the 18th, the Japanese army once again attacked Luoyang, and the defenders struck hard, and the attack was frustrated.
While encircling Luoyang, the Japanese army pursued the main force of Jiang Ding's wenbu in the Luohe River Valley along the Yiyang-Luoning-Lushi line and the Yihe River Valley along the Yihe River Valley of Yiyang-Luoning-Lushi and Yitantou in Yichuan-Song County, and successively captured Ruyang, Songxian, Yiyang, Luoning, Lushi, Township, Lingbao, Shaanxi County, and other places.
After the Japanese pursuit operation is over, the concentrated forces will attack Luoyang. On May 22, tens of thousands of Japanese troops, under the cover of aircraft and tanks, launched a general attack on the isolated city of Luoyang, and the defenders' positions around the Qing Palace on the northwestern highlands of Luoyang were broken by the enemy, and the defenders were forced to retreat into the city walls. On the morning of the 24th, the Japanese army persuaded the defenders of Luoyang to surrender, but they were refused.
In the afternoon, the Japanese army frantically attacked luoyang city, the battle was unprecedentedly fierce, the defenders suffered more than 13,000 casualties, and annihilated thousands of Japanese troops. That night, the enemy tank 3rd Division first rushed into the city from the northwest corner of the city, and then the enemy 62nd Division also broke through the defenders in the northeast corner of the city. The defenders and the enemy launched a street battle, the enemy's follow-up troops entered the city, the defenders were outnumbered, the ammunition was exhausted, and the bloody battle lasted until the morning of May 25, when the defenders were finally forced to break through due to heavy casualties and isolation, and Luoyang City was lost.
At this point, the 37-day Battle of Henan (Battle of Yuzhong) ended with a major rout of the Nationalist army. In this battle, the Nationalist army lost more than 200,000 troops, and 38 county towns and more than 40,000 square kilometers of land in central and western Henan fell into the hands of the enemy.
(Reference: Chronicle of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Henan)
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