From March 14 to March 17, 1938, the 22nd Army of the National Revolutionary Army (Sichuan Army), led by Wang Mingzhang, commander of the 122nd Division of the 41st Army, defended the county seat of Teng County . The Chinese and Japanese armies fought fiercely in Teng County. After fierce fighting, most of the 3,000 Sichuan Army officers and soldiers died heroically for their country, including Division Commander Wang Mingzhang.
General Li Zongren spoke highly of the Sichuan Army's record: "Without Teng County's persistence, there would be no great victory in Taierzhuang." "The results of the Taierzhuang battle are indeed what the martyrs of Teng County achieved. "It's caused."
Dong Biwu and others sent an elegiac couplet to Commander Wang Mingzhang: Fighting to defend the isolated city and treating death as if returning home are the true qualities of revolutionary soldiers; they are determined to annihilate powerful enemies and sacrifice themselves for the country to bring honor to the Chinese nation.
So, why did the Sichuan Army’s performance win high praise from General Li Zongren?
Above picture_ Li Zongren (1891-1969)
First, Li Zongren and the 22nd Army of the National Revolutionary Army knew each other and cherished each other.
Based on the historical facts at that time, the reason why Wang Mingzhang led the Sichuan Army to fight to the end was not only the core reason of the soldier's bounden duty to protect his family and country, but also a very important reason, which was that Li Zongren "saved" the Sichuan Army at a critical moment.
In September 1937, various units of the Sichuan Army came out of Sichuan to fight the war. Wang Mingzhang led his troops from Deyang, where they were stationed, and rushed to the front line to kill the enemy.
The 22nd Army of the National Revolutionary Army originally had 40,000 people, but lost more than half of it after participating in the Taiyuan Battle. During the retreat, the 22nd Army clashed with the Shanxi-Sui Army. Since the Sichuan Army is a miscellaneous army, the Military Commission will not provide the Sichuan Army with ammunition, weapons and personnel. The angry Sichuan Army officers and soldiers smashed the Jinsui Army's arsenal and planned to replenish it on the spot. This matter made Yan Xishan very angry. The 22nd Army could only be forced to leave the second theater.
Pictured above_ In the 27th year of the Republic of China, Yan Xishan took office as the commander-in-chief of the Second Theater Command
After leaving the Second Theater Command, the 22nd Army's plan to go to the First Theater Command also came to nothing. Cheng Qian, commander of the First Theater Command, refused to accept the Sichuan Army. The morale of the Sichuan army was low. At this critical moment, 's fifth theater accepted the Sichuan army. Li Zongren also provided a batch of new ammunition and more than 500 rifles to the 22nd Army. The officers and soldiers of the 22nd Army thanked Li Zongren for his "rescue" and were determined to defend Teng County and repay Li Zongren's "kindness of knowing him."
Li Zongren can treat every local force participating in the Xuzhou Battle equally, which is very rare in the national army. The Sichuan officers and soldiers came out to Sichuan to fight against Japan. After being squeezed out by the two war zones and suffering from low morale, they were accepted by Li Zongren's fifth war zone. They also received weapons and supplies from Li Zongren. The Sichuan officers and soldiers would regard Li Zongren as their "savior" to complete the combat tasks assigned by the fifth war zone, gaining valuable time for the Taierzhuang garrison to set up defenses. The Sichuan Army completed its mission with huge sacrifices and won the Battle of Taierzhuang. Li Zongren would naturally have a higher evaluation of the Sichuan Army that he had reached out to rescue and completed the mission.
Picture above_ Sichuan Army (Sichuan Local Army during the Republic of China)
Secondly, from the perspective of the Tengxian Defense War itself, the Sichuan Army was able to defend Tengxian County for 3 days despite a huge disparity in weapons and equipment compared to the Japanese army, annihilating more than 2,000 Japanese troops, completing a seemingly impossible task and buying time for the Taierzhuang garrison.
Teng County is the northern gate of Xuzhou . Its geographical location is very important. It belongs to the throat of the Tianjin-Shanghai Railway and has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. After the Japanese army occupied most of Shandong, the troops of the 10th Division penetrated directly into Teng County.
The Japanese troops attacking Teng County were two infantry regiments affiliated with the 33rd Brigade of the 10th Division. The 63rd Infantry Regiment was responsible for intercepting reinforcements from the Chinese army. The main force of the 10th Infantry Regiment attacked Tengxian County under the cover of artillery fire. The Japanese army attacking Teng County had more than 3,000 troops, supported by large-caliber artillery and tanks and aircraft. The Japanese 10th Division can send its main force to support Teng County at any time. The 10th Division is a Category A division of the Japanese army, with powerful firepower of tanks and heavy artillery .
Picture above_ The Japanese 10th Division, also known as the Himeji Division
The two armies under the 22nd Army of the National Revolutionary Army that adhere to Teng County are both part of the B Corps of the Chinese army. Each army is under two infantry divisions, and each infantry division is under two infantry brigades. There is no artillery with a caliber above 75 mm. The entire army's weapons are Sichuan-made 79 rifles, broadswords and hand grenades , as well as a smaller number of light and heavy machine guns and mortars . Since more than half of the troops were lost in the early Battle of Taiyuan and there was no replacement, the 22nd Army, with a full strength of 40,000, only had 20,000 troops participating in the battle. If all the Japanese 10th Division participated in the war, it would have only 20,000 troops, supported by aircraft, tanks and artillery.
Therefore, judging from the comparison of military strength and weapons, it seems that the Sichuan Army is an "impossible task" to resist the Japanese army, but the Sichuan Army has made this impossible possible. The defense battle of Tengxian County was an integral part of the entire Taierzhuang Battle and Xuzhou Battle. Li Zongren naturally recognized the Sichuan army's performance from the perspective of the highest command of the Taierzhuang battle.
Above picture_ Schematic diagram of the defense battle of Teng County
- How did the Sichuan Army fight against the Japanese army in Teng County to gain time?
. In the early stage of the battle, the tactics of guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare were combined to attack the Japanese army.
The 22nd Army took the initiative and attacked the Japanese troops in Liangxiadian and other places. Carry out guerrilla warfare in Yanzhou, Qufu and other places. In the battles in Xiaoxue Village and other places, the 45th Army annihilated more than 40 Japanese troops at once and captured the Japanese army's combat maps, combat materials, documents and other intelligence, which provided important basis for the 22nd Group Army to judge the movements of the Japanese army.
On March 9, 1938, the Japanese army concentrated its forces to attack the positions around Teng County. Wang Mingzhang served as the former enemy commander of the 41st Army and stationed the 122nd Division Headquarters and the 364th Brigade Headquarters in the county. After the Japanese army broke through the national army's Xiangcheng defense line, they inserted the vanguard directly under the city of Tengxian County. Tengxian County was in danger.
Pictured above_ Wang Mingzhang (July 4, 1893 - March 17, 1938), Zi Zhizhong
Teng County's military strength was very empty at the beginning. Although there were more than 1,000 troops, they were all guard troops of various divisions and military headquarters, as well as health teams, and lacked actual combat experience. Wang Mingzhang urgently mobilized troops before the war, deployed 2,000 combat troops to garrison the city, closed all city gates, and waited for help.
Because the city wall of Tengxian County is 10 meters high and 5 meters thick, there are also external trenches 5 meters deep and 12 meters wide. Wang Mingzhang decided to rely on the solid city wall of Tengxian County as a cover to offset the Japanese artillery fire, and let the Sichuan soldiers kill the Japanese with grenades, rifles and other melee weapons, delaying the Japanese attack as much as possible and buying time for the Taierzhuang battle. Facts have proved that the use of this tactic in the defense battle of Tengxian County was very successful.
htmlOn the morning of March 16, the Japanese army concentrated heavy artillery fire. Within 2 hours, more than 3,000 artillery shells fell in and around Teng County. On November 15, the Japanese army concentrated artillery and violently bombarded the Dongguan city wall in Teng County. And launched many attacks, but were repelled by the Sichuan army.
After the failed attack, the Japanese army was forced to change their tactics and adopted the tactic of dispatching three combat units at a time to attack continuously. The Sichuan Army successively repelled the first and second wave of Japanese attacks. The third wave of Japanese troops rushed into Tengxian City. The Sichuan Army quickly organized troops to attack and launched a counterattack. After fierce fighting, more than 40 Japanese soldiers who rushed into the city were wiped out.
Picture above_ Old photos of the Tengxian Defense War
html On March 17, the Japanese army concentrated fifty or sixty artillery pieces and violently attacked the Tengxian defenders' positions under the cover of tanks. The Dongguan position was still the focus of the Japanese attack. The defenders continued to defend and rely on the solid city walls to resist, using grenades, rifles, machine guns, and swords to fight and annihilate all the Japanese troops who rushed into the city.
From the morning of March 16 to the noon of March 17, the Dongguan position in Teng County remained impregnable under the guidance of the Sichuan army's correct tactics of relying on the city wall position and using hand grenades and other close combat weapons to resist the Japanese army.
On the afternoon of March 17, the Japanese army changed their tactics and aimed their attack at Nanguan in Teng County. The 370th Brigade guarding Nanguan suffered heavy casualties, and the brigade commander Lu Kang was seriously injured. After the fall of the Nanguan position, the Japanese army stormed Dongguan, and the Sichuan Army Commander Wang Lin died heroically. During the transfer process, Wang Mingzhang encountered the Japanese army. After a fierce battle, Wang Mingzhang, his chief of staff and many other middle- and senior-level officers died heroically.
Until noon on March 18, except for a few officers and soldiers who broke through, most of the Sichuan Army soldiers died in the defense battle of Teng County. There were 3,000 Sichuan Army soldiers who died in Teng County.
Picture above_ In the defense battle of Teng County, the Japanese army broke through Dongguan
Sichuan officers and soldiers made heavy sacrifices to defend Teng County, while the Taierzhuang defenders used the time bought by the Sichuan army to resist at the core position of Taierzhuang, and then turned to counterattack and achieved a great victory. The victory of the Battle of Taierzhuang was inseparable from the sacrifices of Sichuan officers and soldiers. It is reasonable for Li Zongren to praise the heroic deeds of Sichuan officers and soldiers. The Sichuan Army did the best within their capabilities.
Author: Sun Yi Editor: Lilith
Reference: "Battle of Xuzhou" Zhou Ming Wuhan University Press
The text is created by the History University Team, and the illustrations are from the Internet. Copyright belongs to the original author
