Noon on the 9th, the Western Front, the main direction of the Japanese attack
The 35th Division on the eastern front broke through the Langya Valley, the junction of the 78th Army's defense areas, and occupied Highland 918 and Highland 775. The Japanese placed a full brigade on them to control these two commanding heights.
The main force attacked in depth along the Langya Valley. The strategic goal was to cut off the 14th Group and complete the inner encirclement of the 14th Group Army and the 78th Army.
At Leigongmiao Ridge on the western front, the 80th Army Headquarters and the 27th Division were defeated here. They had just stabilized their position and established a temporary headquarters.
Commander Kong of the 80th Army was convening a meeting with Commander Wang and others of the 27th Division. The enemy's attack was so violent that they were defeated by the enemy before they could figure out what was going on.
"Military seat, the 165th Division, which was ordered to assemble, was attacked by the Japanese troops yesterday morning and suffered heavy losses. The main force has retreated to the Caojiachuan and Taizhai lines.
The enemy advancing column took advantage of the opportunity and occupied the Huaipa, Jianping, Nangou and other ferries below Maojin Ferry last night. Our army's retreat across the river was cut off by the Japanese! "
Commander Wang Jun of the 27th Division briefly introduced the battle situation to Commander Kong. The situation was extremely unfavorable to the 80th Army.
After hearing this, Commander Kong looked depressed and couldn't help but complain:
"Damn it, what the hell kind of war is this! Not a single combat plan formulated at the theater meeting has been implemented, and we are fighting attack against attack to regain the lost ground;
Well now, in just two days, all the armies were caught off guard by the Japs. The theater headquarters could not be contacted. Commander Wei was not here. Commander He knew nothing about the situation on the front line. He just let the counterattack blindly. What did I do with it? Fight back? "
Commander Wang also felt the same way. This battle was very frustrating, and there was no energy to be exerted. There was no coordination between the various departments, and each army fought independently. If the fight continued like this, it would be strange to be undefeated.
"Military seat, we can no longer control so much. The Japanese have completely separated us from Commander Tang's headquarters of the 3rd Army;
I heard that the Japanese have occupied Yuanqu City and separated the two main armies in the theater. Now the armies lack unified command and are fighting independently. Rumors are spreading in the army..."
A few hundred meters away on another hilltop, a dozen plainclothes officers were quietly peeping at the 80th Army headquarters. They were agents of the Masuko Advance Team of the Japanese 36th Division, led by Shigeo Masuko.
"Yoshi, Mr. Sasaki, Leitian Temple Ridge is definitely an important headquarters of the Chinese army. Use a telegram to notify the division headquarters and ask them to coordinate the air warriors to come over. Hurry up!"
The special forces of Masuko's advance team were divided into several parts. They disguised themselves as ordinary people and walked through the mountains. Once they found the headquarters of the Chinese Army, they called for air strikes, like poisonous snakes, attacking all levels of the Central Army's command. The threat is very high.
In less than half an hour, more than a dozen planes with plaster flags on them flew over Leigongmiao Ridge. Their goal was very clear, and they headed straight for the headquarters of the 80th Army.
In the headquarters, Commander Kong, Commander Wang and others were still studying the battle situation. A captain and staff officer anxiously pushed the door open and loudly warned:
"Military seat, southwest direction, Japanese planes, retreat quickly!"
Upon hearing this, Commander Wang immediately asked the guard company to cover Commander Kong and retreat first. As soon as a group of people ran out of the headquarters, the Japanese plane arrived.
A string of bombs were dropped, and the huge smoke and dust produced by the explosion engulfed the headquarters. The temporary tent set up by the headquarters was blown to pieces, and the military personnel suffered heavy casualties.
After dropping the bombs, the Japanese began to fire wildly with their machine guns. Whenever they saw a crowd gathering, a large number of soldiers were hit by the Japanese machine guns.
"Come here, quickly cover the military seats and evacuate!"
Teacher Wang shouted loudly.
"Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta..."
A long string of bullets swept across, and Commander Wang was hit by several bullets and died for his country. He was the first lieutenant general and division commander to die since the beginning of the war.
Under the indiscriminate bombing of the Japanese, the military headquarters and the 27th Division suffered heavy casualties. The chief of staff of the 27th Division Chen Wenqi died, and thousands of soldiers were killed or injured.
The remaining troops escorted Commander Kong and others to retreat towards the south ditch of Dahe Ferry, and met up with the main force of the 165th Division that had already rushed to the ferry.
In the evening, Commander Kong and others hurriedly retreated to the vicinity of Nangou and met up with the 165th Division.
The pursuers of the Japanese 36th Division also rushed over, less than two kilometers away from Nangou.
Commander Kong of the 80th Army and Commander Wang Zhiqi of the 165th Division were like frightened birds. The Japanese were still a few kilometers away, so they were so frightened that they abandoned their troops and crossed the river;
There were few ferries, and there were plane bombings in the air. The troops who lost their command scrambled to cross the river, trampling on each other, and suffered heavy casualties.
Ten minutes later, a large group of Japanese pursuers arrived. The remaining troops of the 80th Army were attacked halfway across the river. The blood of the soldiers dyed the river red.
Liang Ruxian, deputy commander of the new 27th Division, saw that he could not do anything and threw himself into the river to die for his country.
On September 9 and October 10, the Japanese divided their forces into two groups, heading east and west. After passing through the Langya Valley, the 35th Division of the East Route Army and the first section of the 21st Division passed through the Langya Valley and conquered Shaoyuan as if they were in uninhabited territory. The Japs marching westward from Jiyuan reunited and completed the east-west campaign deployment;
The West Route Army entered Wufu Stream on the 11th and met with the Japanese who captured Wufu Stream on the 9th.
At this point, the Japanese's inner encirclement was completely formed, and the supply lines and retreat routes of the Zhongtiao Mountain defenders along the river were all cut off.
On the 12th, Jianshan, the sound of gunfire continued
Commander Tang and the military headquarters of the 3rd Army were trapped in the heavy encirclement of the first part of the 37th Division. They had broken through twice in a row, but failed to break out successfully, resulting in heavy casualties.
Commander Tang was left with only more than a thousand remnants of the guard regiment, plus hundreds of non-combatants from the military headquarters. Faced with the heavy siege of thousands of Japanese, he was already helpless.
Commander Tang gathered more than 1,000 soldiers who were still able to fight and made a last-ditch effort. Before breaking through, Commander Tang held a Thompson submachine gun in one hand and wore a helmet. He said to the soldiers with a face filled with smoke:
"Brothers, the military headquarters has been surrounded by Japanese soldiers. This is the most difficult moment since we came out to fight the war in Yunnan;
The Japanese invaders invaded our mountains and rivers. Since Kaifeng Prefecture vowed to fight the Japanese, we have made many military exploits for the country and the nation.
Unfortunately, the current situation is difficult and the Japanese are too powerful, making it difficult for us to achieve our great ambitions. Now that we are in prison, we, the children of the Yunnan Army, can only die in battle, and there are no slaves who can live and surrender. We can only fight to the death!
It's a man. Come with me to break out of the siege and kill! "
"I would rather die in battle than be a slave to the country's subjugation. Kill me."
"Come on!"
Thousands of warriors led by Commander Tang launched a decisive blow against the Japanese positions, and the third breakout operation began.
"Boom boom boom..."
"Ta-ta-ta..."
The firepower on the Japanese positions was full, and the soldiers of the 3rd Army Headquarters fell in groups. They rushed forward one after another. The blood of the soldiers stained the mountains red...
The breakout failed half an hour later, and Commander Tang led his remnants of more than 300 troops to retreat to Jianshan again. With all their ammunition and reinforcements exhausted, the Third Army's final moment was approaching.
