The recent hit TV series "Heshan" allows everyone to relive the tragic Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, in the first stage of this war, the Chinese army, under the coordination and command of General Wei Lihuang, repelled thirteen large-scale attacks launched by the Japanese army, so the Zhongtiao Mountain Defense Line was called the "Oriental Maginot Line".
After the Japanese army hit the wall many times, it suddenly stopped the large-scale attack on Mount Nakajō, and Mount Nakajō suddenly became quiet, and the life of the local people quickly returned to tranquility. However, the surface of Nakajō-san's calm is fraught with real crises.
First of all, due to the repeated defeat of the Japanese army, a feeling of pride and slackness spread in the Kuomintang army, which was a very dangerous sign.
The more important problem is that the Japanese army is not resting on this, but is actively preparing for war and preparing to launch a more fierce attack, while the Kuomintang army is in a state of "leaderlessness".
Some people will ask: Isn't there General Wei Lihuang in command?
Yes, the Zhongtiao Mountain area under the First Theater of Operations was originally guarded by General Wei Lihuang, and in the Kuomintang army, General Wei Lihuang could be regarded as a senior officer with high military attainments; previously, the Kuomintang army led by General Wei Lihuang scrupulously fulfilled his duties, and our army was in a common enemy, and indeed defeated the invincible Japanese army, but the situation suddenly changed.
Just before the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain began, the "Anhui Southern Incident" that shocked China and foreign countries broke out, and with the openness of Chiang Kai-shek's policy of "dissolving the Communist Party and restricting the Communist Party," the contradictions between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party once again intensified, and the friction between the two armies also escalated again, all of which made Wei Lihuang fall into anxiety and wandering.
General Wei Lihuang had visited Yan'an, our Eighth Route Army had also rescued him from the heavy siege of the Japanese army, and there was also a lot of cooperation between General Wei Lihuang and Zhu Laozong, commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army.
General Wei Lihuang was thus suspicious of Lao Jiang, and after the first phase of the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, General Wei Lihuang was ordered to return to Chongqing and report to Old Chiang in person, because he disagreed with Old Chiang on the issue of anti-communism, and was reprimanded by Old Chiang.
General Wei Lihuang insisted on his own views and refused to rub against him, and in anger, the elder Chiang Kai-shek put Wei Lihuang under house arrest, sent He Yingqin to Zhongtiao Mountain, took over the defense of Zhongtiao Mountain, and was replaced by the 5th Group Army under the 4th Army.
He Yingqin was known as "Mother He", the head of the Military and Political Department of the Kuomintang government, who had always been on a high pedestal, and although he held an important position in the Kuomintang army, he had never commanded and won a decent victory, and this time he suddenly took over the defense of Zhongtiao Mountain, he knew nothing about the defense of Zhongtiao Mountain, and knew very little about his fierce opponents, so it can be said that he "did not know himself, nor did he know the other."
What's more, as soon as He Yingqin arrived at Zhongtiao Mountain, he put forward the argument that "defending against communism" should be held side by side with "going to Japan," and even demanded that all the subordinate departments "emphasize the prevention of communism over going to Japan."
In terms of military layout, He Yingqin swung the "one-word long snake array" in Zhongtiao Mountain, the western front was garrisoned by the 5th Army Group, and the eastern front was garrisoned by the 14th Group Army.
On May 8, 1941, more than 100,000 Japanese troops in North China all went out to launch the 14th large-scale offensive against the Nationalist army in Zhongtiao Mountain. After several days of arduous attack, the Japanese army broke through the Yuanqu defense line of the Kuomintang army.
Since the Base Area of Zhongtiao Mountain was cut off by the Japanese, the Kuomintang troops at Nakajō Mountain could not meet each other, so they had to give up their existing positions and retreat to the mountain pass separately.
The main force of the Nationalist defenders also broke through and shifted after suffering heavy casualties, and the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain was declared over, which lasted only about 30 days.
In the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, which lasted more than a month, the Nationalist army suffered heavy casualties, and Japanese statistics showed that the Nationalist army suffered more than 100,000 casualties, while only 673 Japanese troops died in this battle.
Among the nearly 100,000 officers and men of the Kuomintang army who suffered casualties, 1 general, 4 lieutenant generals and 4 major generals died in this battle, they were:
General Tang Huaiyuan, commander of the 3rd Army; Lieutenant General Wu Shimin, commander of the 98th Army; Shi Zuoheng, commander of the 70th Division; Zhao Xizhang, commander of the 215th Brigade; Wang Jun, commander of the New 27th Division; Major General Of the 12th Division; Xu Jifan, commander of the 25th Brigade, Major General Xu Jihan, commander of the New 27th Division; Liang Xixian, deputy commander of the New 27th Division; and Chen Wenqi, chief of staff of the New 27th Division.
The battle of Zhongtiao Mountain turned from victory to defeat, which was inseparable from the old Chiang Kai-shek's "change of commanders from front to front," and He Yingqin's ineffective command was also to blame, but the most crucial factor was still the stubborn and reactionary anti-communist stance of the old Chiang Kai-shek.
With this in mind, the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain became one of the most serious military defeats since the Kuomintang's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and even Chiang Kai-shek called it "the greatest shame in the history of the War of Resistance."