ushernet Chapter 762: The Japanese 58th Brigade is Destroyed
Chapter 762: The Japanese 58th Brigade is Destroyed
Finally, Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, and Lieutenant General Hiroshi Watanabe, commander of the 47th Division of the Japanese Army, jointly sent a telegram requesting General Okamura Neiji, who was already the commander of the Japanese China Expeditionary Army, to stop the Zhijiang operation.
In the telegram, Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, and Lieutenant General Hiroshi Watanabe, commander of the 47th Division of the Japanese Army, believed that the Japanese troops of the 20th Army responsible for the right and left wing attacks had suffered a crushing defeat.
The Japanese 20th Army, which was responsible for the central attack, not only failed to capture any important strongholds, but the 109th Regiment of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army was also surrounded by the Chinese army, and other attacking forces also suffered heavy losses.
Moreover, the Furong Mountain defensive position controlled by the Chinese government's army could not be captured. The Japanese 20th Army could only rely on the mountain paths to transport a small amount of supplies needed for the front-line offensive forces. This small and time-consuming transportation process was often attacked by the Chinese government's army, guerrillas and air force, which basically cut off the ammunition and supplies of the Japanese 20th Army's front-line offensive forces.
However, Lieutenant General Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army and the highest commander of the Japanese Expeditionary Force in the Zhijiang Operation, did not advocate retreating now, because the 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army was still surrounded by the Chinese government troops. Once the entire 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army was annihilated by the Chinese government troops, the responsibility for the failure of this battle would inevitably fall on the head of Lieutenant General Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army.
In order to rescue the 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army which had been surrounded by the Chinese government, Lieutenant General Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army, ordered Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, to command the 120th Regiment of the Japanese Army and the 133rd Regiment of the Japanese Army to quickly reinforce the 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army.
However, the fierce attacks of the 120th and 133rd Regiments of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army were stubbornly blocked by the Chinese government's troops. Not only did the rescue attacks of the 120th and 133rd Regiments of the Japanese Army fail to get close to the location of the 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army, but also caused the two regiments to suffer even heavier losses.
On May 1, 1945, Commander Wang of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Government ordered the 94th Army of the Chinese Government to launch a counterattack against the 68th Division of the Japanese Army. Subsequently, the 94th Army of the Chinese Government used the 5th Division as the main attacking force and the 44th Division of the 26th Army cooperated in the operation and began to attack the 68th Division of the Japanese Army.
At this time, the two units of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army that had been crippled by the Chinese Army had already gathered near Wuyang. Among them, the remnants of the 58th Brigade that had previously attacked Wugang County still had a certain combat effectiveness. However, although the officers and soldiers of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army were ordered to dig trenches to hold their ground, in fact, these remaining officers and soldiers of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army had no fighting spirit at all.
Because on the day when the Chinese government's army launched the attack, as soon as the Chinese government's offensive forces had a slight contact with the troops of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army in the outer defense position, the outer defense forces of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army retreated backwards.
On May 2, 1945, the offensive forces of the 5th Division of the 94th Army of the Chinese government began to attack the main position of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army in Ma'anshan. As a result, in just half a day, the offensive forces of the 5th Division of the 94th Army of the Chinese government successfully occupied most of the commanding heights of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, and the defensive forces of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army also retreated to the core positions under the attack of the offensive forces of the 5th Division of the 94th Army of the Chinese government.
At the same time, the offensive force of the 44th Division of the 26th Army of the Chinese government, which was responsible for assisting the attack, also made smooth progress and successfully compressed the troops of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army into an area of several miles.
On May 3, 1945, the 5th Division of the 94th Army and the 44th Division of the 26th Army of the Chinese government launched a general offensive against the 68th Division of the Japanese Army. The 58th Brigade of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army also put up a desperate resistance in the face of the fierce attack of the Chinese army.
Because the 5th Division of the 94th Army and the 44th Division of the 26th Army of the Chinese government were only equipped with a small amount of American weapons, they had no advantage in firepower compared to the 68th Division of the Japanese Army.
Therefore, the 5th Division of the 94th Army and the 44th Division of the 26th Army of the Chinese government decisively engaged in close combat with the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, which quickly overwhelmed the already demoralized 68th Division of the Japanese Army. Then, the 68th Division of the Japanese Army retreated to the core defense position at Wanfu Bridge.
However, the officers and soldiers of the 58th Brigade of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army did not know that at this time, the 5th Division of the Chinese government, which was responsible for the main attack, had organized a commando team. This commando team was composed of the 15th Regiment of the 5th Division of the Chinese government, and Qiu Xingxiang, deputy commander of the 5th Division, served as the commander of the commando team.
Led by local ethnic minority mountain people, this commando team secretly went around the flank of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army, and then suddenly rushed into the core defense main position of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army at Wanfu Bridge, and rushed into the brigade headquarters of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army, killing more than 200 officers and soldiers of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army on the spot, completely paralyzing the command system of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army.
Some officers and soldiers in the commando team rushed into the artillery position assigned to the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army. Facing the attack of the commando officers and soldiers, the Japanese artillerymen who cooperated with the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army dropped their cannons and began to flee in all directions. This allowed the commando team of the Fifth Division of the Chinese government to successfully seize all the artillery of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army.
At the same time, the Chinese government troops attacking from the front took the opportunity to launch a strong attack on the defensive positions of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army. This directly caused the collapse of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army. Except for the 115th Battalion, all the other 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army were completely annihilated by the Chinese government's army.
The 115th Battalion of the Japanese Army, which temporarily escaped annihilation, soon fell into the siege of the Chinese government's army. On the way of escape, the 115th Battalion of the Japanese Army encountered an attack from the flank by the 94th Army of the Chinese government.