During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the most commonly used tactic in the Ninth War Zone was the "Sky Furnace" tactic. The implementation of "Tianlu" tactics can be divided into two steps: the first step, when the Japanese army launches an offensive, our army acts as a decoy unit to resist steadily, lure the enemy to deepen, consume the Japanese army's combat power, and then transfer to the Japanese outside; In the second step, when the Japanese army advances to our decisive battle zone (ie the "bottom of the furnace"), the defender in this zone fought desperately against the Japanese army. At the same time, the main force of our army on the outer line encircled the Japanese army, and The forces acting as a frontal defense together encircle and annihilate the enemy.
In the first action, the most important task is to delay the consumption of the Japanese army’s combat power. In order to effectively drain the Japanese army’s combat power, it is necessary to And bridges, and buildings that can be used by the enemy. The engineers of each unit are attached to the necessary infantry to form a traffic destruction team to perform the destruction." It can be said that the destruction of the traffic roads in the area through which the Japanese troops pass is a "sky furnace." An important guarantee for the effective implementation of tactics. Based on this, in 1940, the Ninth War Zone Cadre Training Corps compiled the book "Traffic Destruction War" to train officers in this war zone to destroy traffic roads.
The cadres of the ninth war zone are destroying the road and traffic of the enemy, and have made a variety of ideas to cultivate the destructive ability of officers in different situations. It can be said that such a plan was relatively successful in the training of officers in this theater. As early as March 1941, during the battle of the Upper Highs, the effectiveness of the training had already been reflected.
Soon after the end of this battle, the Political Department of the 9th Theater District was discussing the reasons for the failure of the Japanese army in this campaign. It especially emphasized that “due to road damage and transportation difficulties, the enemy’s food was starved and ammunition was lacking, so the army had no fighting spirit. The collapse is one of the main factors that contributed to its defeat." In the third battle of Changsha in December of the same year, the effect of this training was better reflected.
Before the third Changsha Battle, Okamura Neji, who was the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, once pointed out that "the heavy vehicle roads running through the north and south, only those leading to Changsha Several routes. Under the destruction of the enemy, the Hubei area is very unsuitable for mechanized troops to move.”
But before the third battle of Changsha, “the road between Liuyang and Xinqiang Railways, roads, and rural humanitarianism have been completely destroyed.” The advance of the Japanese army was even more difficult. “The troops of the Sixth and Fortieth Divisions braved the severe cold on the devastated muddy road. Pursuing from Jingjie and Guanwangqiao." The destruction of the road not only made it extremely difficult for the Japanese army to advance, but also had a serious impact on the Japanese army's ammunition supply. "The difficulty of the enemy's transportation and supply is more difficult than mine. Because of the enemy's death and injury, progress has been delayed."
According to the history of Japanese military warfare, on January 3, 1942, when the Third Division was attacking Changsha City, the first line of the right-wing team, Shijing United, was at Liuyangmen (East Main Gate). ) The nearby city wall, engage in hand-to-hand combat and continue to attack. Although the details are unknown, due to the extreme lack of ammunition, some soldiers died in a bayonet battle with Chongqing soldiers. On the 4th, "Yokota Brigade suddenly attacked again at 6 o'clock. As the reserve team, the 8th Squadron (Lieutenant Heiyan), which was the reserve team, crossed the 5th Squadron. At 7:30, the courageously charged towards the Donggua Mountain Highland. Occupied the highland. The Dongguashan highland and the barren mountains on the east side are the key points to control the south side of Changsha. At dawn, the Chongqing army concentrated violent artillery fire from the barren mountains on the east side and carried out repeated countermeasures against the Dongguashan position. Attack.
Although our army concentrated firepower to fight back against the barren mountains, but soon the ammunition was exhausted. The approaching battle of the Eighth Squadron, which occupied the Dongguashan Highland, was extremely fierce. Lieutenant Heiyan was finally killed. Because our ammunition has been exhausted, the remains of the warrior Lieutenant Heiyan who has been fighting since the battle in Shanghai cannot be contained." Compared with the Japanese army, in this battle, our army was equipped with two German-made 150mm heavy howitzers on Yuelu Mountain, constantly bombarding the Japanese positions, "I attacked the troops, the headquarters and the rear troops, and suffered from the Yuelu Mountain. The heavy artillery bombardment is a great threat to officers and soldiers.”
From the above discussion, it can be seen that the cadre training group of the 9th theater has conducted more successful training of officers in this theater in terms of traffic road damage.The maintenance caused the destruction of the road to the enemy in northern Hunan before the Third Changsha Battle. This not only delayed the Japanese offensive, but also brought serious difficulties to the Japanese army’s ammunition supply, turning the Japanese army’s equipment advantage into a disadvantage, thus ensuring the " The implementation of "Tianlu" tactics and the victory of this battle.
Reference materials
[1] Compilation of the history of the War of Resistance against Japan: Record of the Ninth Theater
