Taierzhuang Victory and Xuzhou Battle (January 4-May 19, 1938)
Xuzhou is located at the intersection of the four provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui, and is a place that must be fought for by military strategists. After the Japanese army occupied Nanjing and Jinan in December 1937, they attempted to advance along the Jinpu Line, attacked from north to south, and attacked Xuzhou, and then defeated our army's defense line on Longhai Road and seize Zhengzhou, Wuhan and other places.
Our country takes Li Zongren as the commander-in-chief of the 5th War Zone, commanding our army and the Japanese invaders to launch a major battle in the vast area north and south of the Jinpu Road centered on Xuzhou.
Xuzhou battle has 3 stages. The first phase is the initial defense battle along the Jinpu Road. During this stage, the Japanese army advanced towards Xuzhou with the southern section of the Jinpu Line as the main attack and the northern section as the assist. We fought bravely, blocking the enemy on the south bank of the Huaihe River, making the Japanese army unable to cooperate in the north and south. The defense battle of the northern section of the Jinpu Road was originally commanded by Han Fuju, deputy commander-in-chief of the 5th War Zone and commander-in-chief of the 3rd Army. However, he violated the wartime military law and retreated without authorization, causing the Japanese army to march straight along the line. He then appointed the Korean troops as the commander-in-chief of the 3rd Army to command the troops to counterattack. The 22nd Army of the 22nd Army of the 2nd Army also urgently dispatched reinforcements. The two sides fought bloody battles for more than a month, forming a confrontation.
Jinpu Line southern section, Huaihe Front, our army's forward attacked and advanced sharply. The people were building fortifications for the army. Our army rushed towards the enemy's hand-to-hand combat in the northern section of the Jinpu Line, and the second phase was the Taierzhuang Battle. Taierzhuang is located at the intersection of the Taizao (Zhuang) branch line of Jinpu Road and the Taiwei (Fang) Highway. It chokes the throat of the canal and is the gateway to Xuzhou. Since the Japanese army could not make progress in the north and south of Jinpu Road in the previous stage, they planned to capture Taierzhuang first and then encircle Xuzhou. In mid-March, the Japanese army on the northern front divided into two wings and invaded Taierzhuang. The 5th Division of the left-wing Japanese Army, landed in Qingdao Laoshan Bay and Fukushima, and advanced west along Jiaoji Road with the Sakamoto Detachment. Our army defended Linyi with the 59th Army of Pang Bingxun, the 40th Army of the 3rd Army of the 3rd Army, and transferred Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army to counterattack on the Japanese flanks on March 14. After several days of fierce fighting, the enemy was effectively blocked, and the Japanese army's attempt to capture Linyi was ultimately failed. The Segu Detachment of the 10th Division of the right-wing Japanese Army headed south along the Jinpu Road and attacked Tengxian . The 122nd Division of the 22nd Army fought bloody battles with the enemy for two days and nights, and most of the division commanders, Wang Mingzhang, died in their country. After capturing Teng County, the Japanese army moved eastward and attacked Taierzhuang along the Zaotai branch line. On March 23, the Japanese army began to attack Taierzhuang fiercely. Our 2nd Army, Chifengcheng, led the officers and soldiers of the 31st Division to defend Taierzhuang City Village, fought with enemy artillery fire and tanks, and did not retreat until death. Later, he joined the 27th Division and other units, fought bloody close battles with the Japanese army outside the city, repeatedly fought and charged, fighting for an inch of land, and organized suicide squads to attack at night. Due to heavy casualties in the 10th Division, the Japanese army ordered the defeated 5th Division of the Linyi direction to give up attacking Linyi and join Taierzhuang to fight, and were defeated by our army. On April 3, the 5th War Zone commanded the 20th Army of Tang Enbo's army from east to west, the 2nd Army from south to north, and the 3rd Army of Sun Tongxuan's army from north to south, and the 3rd Army of Sun Tongxuan's army from north to south, and launched a large-scale counterattack. The Japanese army was attacked by both inside and outside our country, and the dead and wounded. By the night of the 7th, except for a small number of people breaking through and fleeing, most of them were wiped out. In this battle, our army destroyed the elite troops of the 5th and 10th divisions of the Japanese army, annihilated more than 10,000 Japanese troops, and seized a large number of weapons and equipment. This was the most important victory achieved in the front battlefield since the War of Resistance Against Japan. But our army also made great sacrifices.
Our army rushed into Taierzhuang Lane to annihilate the remaining enemies.
Our army invaded Taierzhuang and fought against the enemy in the streets
The third stage of the battle of Xuzhou was when our army took the initiative to break through. In April 1938, the Japanese base camp was shocked by the failure of the Taierzhuang Battle, adjusted its deployment, mobilized North China Front Army and Central China dispatched troops, and encircled Xuzhou on all sides in six routes. In order to avoid being besieged by superior enemies, get rid of unfavorable situations, and preserve vital forces to facilitate protracted war, our army immediately made a decision to give up Xuzhou and break through the borders of Henan and Anhui.After all the troops of our army killed the enemy on each line, in addition to leaving a few troops to carry out guerrilla wars in northern Jiangsu, central Shandong and southern Shandong, the main force moved to eastern Henan and northern Anhui on May 15. On the 19th, the attempt to abandon Xuzhou was failed to make the Japanese army's main force annihilate our army.
Commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone in the Podium Battle of Taierzhuang.
Taierzhuang Battle Heroes
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