For a long time, there has always been a passive beating of the anti-Japanese army in China, and there is no such thing as a "strategic counteroffensive".
In fact, in 1939, Chiang Kai-shek planned and launched four nationwide counteroffensives in spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Among them, the winter offensive was the largest; The results were also the most fruitful, and the Eighth Route Army also invested about 20 regiments in order to cooperate with the frontal battlefield offensive.
In 1939, in the First Battle of Changsha, the Japanese army was attrition and ambush in the Ninth Theater of the Nationalist Army, and withdrew to the original defense before reaching the Changsha area, which made Chiang Kai-shek and the military high-level of the Nationalist Government believe that Japan's national strength had entered a bottleneck, and war-weariness began to arise in China.
At this time, the European war broke out, and the international anti-fascist camp had begun to take shape; The Japanese army marched north to probe and was frustrated at Nomenkan, Zhang Gufeng; The Soviet Union increased its aid to China, and the international situation developed in favor of China.
Therefore, the Military Council of the Nationalist Government decided to organize a large-scale counteroffensive "in an attempt to recapture important strongholds and lay the foundations for final victory."
At this time, the second phase of the national army's military training has been completed, and the strength of the troops has been greatly restored and enhanced. This gave the military top of the Nationalist Government a great deal of confidence.
At the end of October 1939, the Second Nanyue Military Conference adopted the decision to launch the winter offensive, preparing to put the main force of the second phase of the training troops into the offensive, and the scale of its counteroffensive was also unprecedented.
On 10 October, the Military Command Department of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government formulated the "Operational Plan for the Winter Offensive of the Nationalist Army."
According to this plan, the military committee is ready to put 46% of the country's total strength, about 80 divisions, into the general counteroffensive (so it is also known as the battle of 100 divisions, not a certain large claim to invest a total of 192 divisions, is expected to be used for the attackers 132 divisions, and finally directly participate in the battle of about 71 divisions, more than 550,000 people. ）
Among them, 4 of the 6 most elite Soviet assault armies of the Chinese army at that time were all engaged in the counteroffensive; Among them, the 2nd Army and the 5th Army rushed to the aid of the Battle of Guinan, the 89th Army participated in the offensive of the Fifth Theater, and the 74th Army was put into the battlefield of northern Jiangxi by the Ninth Theater.
The plan stipulates:
The first, fourth, eighth, and ninth theaters of operations and Sulu, Hebei, Chacha and other areas served as assists to contain the Japanese troops in various places and ensure the offensive of the second, third, and fifth theaters responsible for the main attack; At the same time, the total destruction of the traffic arteries in various places.
The objectives of the counteroffensive in each theater are as follows:
1. The first theater of war: attack Kaifeng, fraternity, and contain the enemy.
2. The Second Theater of Operations: First of all, it is necessary to effectively cut off the traffic between the Zhengtai and Tongpu railways, and eliminate the enemy in the southern Jinnan triangle.
3. The Third Theater of Operations: With the main force of about 11 divisions, cut off the Yangtze River communications, divide them into Hukou, Madang, Dongliu, Guichi, Datong, Tongling, and Digang, attack in a gap, break through the river bank in one fell swoop, and occupy a solid position; and to blockade the Yangtze River with light and heavy firepower and laying mines.
Fourth, the fourth theater: should use a camera to attack Chao and Shan, and the main force should sweep the enemy on Guangjiu Road and Nanning.
5. The Fifth War Zone: sweep away the enemy between Xinyang and Wuhan in the southern section of the Pinghan Line, and advance into Hankou; and attacked the enemy on the Hanyi Highway and cut off the traffic between the Xianghua and Hanyi Highways.
6. Eighth Theater: One division should be used to coordinate with the second theater of operations, and the main force should attack the enemy near Guisui.
7. The 9th Theater: Attack the enemy in the northern section of Guangdong and Han, focusing on the areas of Puqi and Xianning, and advance to Wuchang; At the same time, they attacked the Nanchang and Nanxun railways, and attacked the enemies of Ruichang and Jiujiang.
8. The 10th War Zone: still serving as the original river defense; And according to the progress of the attack in the southern triangle of Jin, he prepared to cross the river to expand the results of the battle.
9. Lusu Theater: Attack from east and west to Tai'an, Lincheng, Tongshan, and Chuxian from a wide front, so as to cope with the operations along the river.
10. Jicha Theater: The main force should be used to cut off the enemy's communications between Baoding, Xingtai and Shijiazhuang; The first part cut off the enemy's communication near Cangxian and Dexian counties in order to respond to Shanxi's work.
In the winter of 1939, the focus of the offensive was demarcated as Jinnan and Central China, especially Central China.
At the Second Nanyue Military Conference, it was decided: "In the future, the battle plan for Central China should not specifically prevent the enemy from continuing to advance westward, but also pressure the enemy to retreat eastward." If possible, efforts will be made to recover Wuhan, Xinyang, Jiujiang and other strategic points.
Chiang Kai-shek tried to change the situation of the Sino-Japanese war through this offensive; Seize the initiative on the battlefield in one fell swoop. To this end, Chiang Kai-shek personally identified the strategic points and important cities that should be seized by the various theaters, including Wuchang, Hankou, Xinyang, Kaifeng, Baotou, Nanning, and so on, and also offered heavy rewards, such as 1 million yuan for the recovery of Hankou or Wuchang.
It was very correct to launch the winter offensive, but the operational objectives and the scope of the attack were clearly too hasty and exceeded the strength of the national army. Moreover, underestimating the combat strength of the Japanese army invading China greatly affected the trend of the war.
On 19 November, the Military Council issued an order for the winter offensive, which provided for the offensives to be launched in each theater of operations from the end of November and early December, and to end in March of the following year. Immediately, a total of 132 divisions and 9 independent brigades were deployed in 10 theaters to launch an all-out attack on the Japanese army.
On December 12, the winter offensive was in full swing. Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to all theaters of operations:
"This winter offensive is the only key to turning defeat into victory in our War of Resistance Against Japan, that is, the beginning of the final victory of our second phase of the War of Resistance Against Japan," "The only good opportunity for our army to annihilate the enemy has indeed arrived," "This offensive is not only enough to crush the enemy's ambition for adventurous aggression, but also enough to bring about the entire collapse of the enemy country, both internally and externally."
However, as early as the end of November, due to the poor secrecy of the Chinese army, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Chinese dispatch army deciphered the code of the national army, grasped the plan and intention of the national army's offensive, and notified the Japanese troops in various places to be on alert.
The advance preparation of the Japanese army greatly increased the difficulty of the offensive of the national army. Fortunately, the Japanese army was quite contemptuous of the defeat of the previous Nationalist counteroffensive; Until December 10, before the winter offensive was fully launched, many Japanese generals actually concluded:
"The so-called general counteroffensive in the third phase of the Anti-Japanese War must be a fool's dream"
As a result, the Japanese army was not prepared in many areas, and the defenses were not strengthened.
As the first theater of operations to assist operations, the main combat mission is to destroy important railways and highways such as Longhai Road, and consume and contain the Japanese army; and planned the Second Theater to clear the Japanese army in the southern triangle of Jin.
The Chinese army bravely resisted the Japanese army The picture comes from the Internet
The main targets of the theater were the Japanese 14th Division (Type A), the 35th Division (Type B) and the 4th Cavalry Brigade.
On December 1, under the command of Wei Lihuang, commander of the First Theater of Operations, the 3rd Army Sun Tongxuan first launched a winter offensive, and the 3rd Group Army's Sun Tongxuan Division, with the 81st Division and more than 40,000 guerrilla troops in the Henan-Hubei border region, cut off the railway between Kaifeng and Lanfeng, and once conquered Longwang Station, blocking three roads between Huaiyang, Luyi, and Tongxu.
The 81st Division attacked Lanfeng with another part, and the main force broke into Kaifeng City on the 17th, burned the Japanese warehouse, and killed more than 300 Japanese soldiers.
On December 21, General He Zhuguo's 2nd Cavalry Army attacked the area of Shangqiu with the 3rd Cavalry Division, destroying the communication between Shangqiu and Luowang and preventing the Japanese army from reinforcing Kaifeng.
At one point, the division also stormed the east gate of Shangqiu, occupied the nearby airstrip, burned the Japanese oil depot, and routed the 4th Cavalry Brigade from Dangshan.
In the direction of northern Henan, on December 6, the New 5th Army broke through the north and south of Anyang, destroyed four railway bridges including Qixian, Junxian, Tangyin, and Baosui ancient stations, cut off the traffic of two sections of the Daoqing Railway, and cut off the traffic in northern Henan for several days.
Li Jiayu's division of the 47th Army of the Sichuan Army captured two railway stations in Changkou and Baishan on December 13.
Guo Jiqiao's old photos The picture comes from the Internet
Guo Jiqiao's 9th Army cut off the Pinghan Railway more than 20 kilometers north of the Yellow River. On New Year's Day in 1940, the 41st Division of the army once attacked Qinyang City, annihilated part of the defenders of the 34th Division, and cut off the railway communication between Qinyang and Boai.
During the winter offensive, the First Theater killed and wounded more than 5,000 Japanese troops, captured more than 50 machine guns, and once invaded the provincial capital of Kaifeng, and destroyed railway and highway communications in Longhai, Pinghan, and Daoqing, thus achieving the operational goal.
During the winter offensive, the Second Theater was tasked with clearing the Japanese troops in the southern Jinnan triangle (Yicheng, Jiangxian, Wenxi, Anyi, and Yuncheng).
According to its operational deployment, the main attack corps was Wei Lihuang, commander-in-chief of the Southern Route Army, under the jurisdiction of the 14th, 4th and 5th armies, and the commander of the Western Route Army, Chen Changjie, coordinated with the Southern Route Army to attack the Japanese army in southern Jinnan.
The task of Zhu Debu, commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army, was to cut off Dongyang Pass and Niangzi Pass, prevent Japanese reinforcements, and at the same time, destroy the traffic between Zhengtai, Baijin and Tongpu Lujiexiu to Taiyuan, and encircle the Japanese army in the Changzhi area with one part.
Zhao Chengshou, commander-in-chief of the Northern Route Army, led his troops to destroy Tongpu Road north of Taiyuan, and the main force besieged the Japanese army in the area near the southeast of Guisui, and coordinated with the Eighth Theater of Operations.
Due to the pre-war intelligence was cracked by the Japanese army, before the launch of the second theater offensive, the Japanese 36th Division (Type B) and the 108th Division (Type B) each had more than 10,000 people, and on December 3, 1939, with the support of 30 aircraft and more than 10 combat vehicles, they preemptively attacked the position of Zeng Wanzhong of the 5th Group Army east of Wenxi and Xia County, and fought quite fiercely.
On the 8th, Commander-in-Chief Wei Lihuang went to the front line to supervise the battle and commanded all parts to attack; The officers and men of the country were not afraid of sacrifice and attacked bravely. On the 11th, after suffering heavy casualties, the Japanese army retreated to Wenxi. After nine days and nights of hard fighting, the Chinese army held Zhongtiao Mountain, killing more than 2,000 officers and soldiers below the Japanese brigade commander and 2,800 casualties.
On December 15, the Japanese 37th Division (Type B) launched an offensive from Yicheng and Jiangxian to the middle of Zhongtiao Mountain, which happened to collide with the 14th Group Army of the Chinese Army, and fought fiercely until the 18th.
By December 20, the Southern Route Army besieged the Japanese troops along the southern section of the Tongpu Line on all fronts, completely encircling the main strongholds of the Japanese army; However, due to the lack of heavy weapons of the Nationalist army, and the Japanese army defended to the death by risk, the war fell into a stalemate and lasted until mid-January 1940.
In the southeast of Jin, General Fan Hanjie's 27th Army attacked the eldest son, Tunliu. On December 4, the army sent two battalions to lure the eldest son out of the city, and on the 5th, they set up an ambush in Youzhe Town to besiege the Japanese army, the Japanese army suffered more than 100 casualties, and the remnants of the army retreated to the eldest son; The 27th Army took advantage of the situation to track and encircle the county seat of Changzi, and at the same time, divided its troops into and out of the cantonment. On the 13th and 14th, they occupied some small villages and towns near Tunliu.
On January 1, 1940, nearly 5,000 Japanese troops launched a short counteroffensive to relieve the siege of the eldest son, which was repulsed by the 27th Army in one fell swoop.
On the morning of January 3, Fan Hanjie's 27th Army led his troops to launch a counterattack, the Japanese army was overwhelmed, and the Chinese army pursued to the outskirts of Changzi City, while Pang Bingxun's 40th Army attacked the Japanese strongholds outside Huguan and captured Xiushan Village, Dashan, Nanjia Village and other Japanese strongholds.
The frontal battlefield offensive of the national army created fighters for the 18th Group Army (Eighth Route Army), and the 115th Division and the 129th Division of the Group Army each recaptured Licheng, Dongyangguan and other important areas on December 23 and 24. On the 28th, it also conquered Lucheng for a time, killing and wounding more than 200 Japanese soldiers and capturing more than 60 long and short guns.
When the southern and eastern route armies were fighting in the air, Chen Changjie's division of the Western Route Army and Zhao Chengshou's division of the Northern Route Army obeyed the orders of Yan Xishan, commander of the 2nd Theater (which had nothing to do with Chiang Kai-shek), to take advantage of the winter offensive to launch the "December Incident" in an attempt to eliminate the 2nd Column and other new armies in Shanxi.
Old photos of Yan Xishan The picture comes from the Internet
At this time, Yan Xishan completely lost confidence in the war; Busy making peace with the Japanese army, the winter offensive in the second theater of operations came to a complete standstill.
In North China, the Jicha and Sulu theaters also participated in the winter offensive, destroying the Jinpu and Pinghan communication lines, but with little effect.
On February 9, 1940, Cheng Qian, director of the Tianshui Battalion of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, reported to Chiang Kai-shek the winter offensive of the 1st, 2nd, and 8th theaters and the Jichasulu theater, and made a summary: "Although there are many of those who have achieved outstanding results and excellent results in the winter offensive of the theaters under the jurisdiction of this battalion, they are inferior to and dwarfed by those of the 4th, 5th, and 9th theaters...... The constraints of various contradictions in the various theaters of operations often lead to extreme momentum, making it impossible for the plan to be implemented." Cheng Qian's summary is quite objective.