Lesson 20 Frontal Battlefield Resistance

Battle of Taierzhuang

After the Japanese occupied Nanjing, they attacked Xuzhou from the north and south along the Jinpu Road in order to open up the north-south battlefield. At the same time, a part of the Japanese army landed from Shandong Peninsula and advanced westward along the Jiaoji Line, attempting to meet with the Japanese army going south on Jinpu Road to attack Xuzhou from Taierzhuang. Li Zongren, the commander of the Fifth War Zone, commanded the Chinese army to fight with the Japanese.

In March 1938, the Japanese army on the North Road moved south alone and attacked Taierzhuang, and the Chinese defenders resisted. Relying on superior firepower, the Japanese attacked for three days and nights and stormed into Taierzhuang. After a fierce street battle, the Japanese occupied 4/5 of Taierzhuang, while the Chinese army stubbornly held a corner of South Pass. During the fierce battle inside Taierzhuang, the main force of the Chinese army completed the encirclement of the Japanese army and launched a full-scale counter-attack.

The Japanese were forced to retreat under the Chinese army's internal and external attack, and the Chinese army took advantage of the situation to pursue the attack.

The Battle of Taierzhuang, which killed more than 10,000 enemy, was the biggest victory in the frontal battlefield of China since the War of Resistance, and lifted the spirits of Chinese soldiers and civilians and strengthened their will and belief in the war.

Defending the Great Wuhan

In June 1938, the Japanese army assembled more than 400,000 troops to attack Wuhan. In order to defend Greater Wuhan, the Chinese army deployed more than 1 million men to the battle. The Japanese army attacked fiercely with the assistance of air force and navy. The Chinese army used Dabie Mountain, Poyang Lake and both sides of Yangtze River to build fortifications and resist one by one to consume the enemy.

In Wanjialing, Jiangxi, the Chinese army concentrated its superior force and took advantage of the rugged terrain, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack, to divide and surround a Japanese division and give a heavy blow to it. The Japanese suffered heavy casualties, and were forced to airdrop more than two hundred officers to reinforce their forces as they were unable to organize effective resistance due to the loss of all their basic officers. In this battle, the Chinese army annihilated more than 9,000 Japanese troops. However, the overall battlefield situation was unfavorable to China. The Japanese attacked from different directions and Wuhan was surrounded on three sides. In order to avoid losses, the Chinese army withdrew from Wuhan in October 1938 in an orderly manner. The Battle of Wuhan lasted for more than four months. Japan's established strategy of trying to destroy China quickly was completely destroyed.

At the end of the Battle of Wuhan, the Japanese took advantage of the empty strength of Guangzhou and occupied Guangzhou. Under the frenzied attack of the superior Japanese army, the Chinese army was defeated in the frontal battlefield, and large territories in northern, central and southern China fell into enemy hands. After the fall of Guangzhou and Wuhan, the Japanese army was severely outnumbered, and its material and financial resources were in difficulty, and the war against Japan entered a phase of stalemate.

The Third Battle of Changsha

In December 1941, the Japanese army mobilized more than 100,000 troops to launch a third attack on Changsha under the cover of the air force, threatening to spend the New Year in Changsha. The Chinese army mobilized heavy defense forces and resisted to the death.

Under the city of Changsha, Chinese troops fought with Japanese troops and repeatedly fought for positions. The three Japanese troops reinforcing Changsha were repulsed by the Chinese army. The Japanese troops attacking the outskirts of Changsha ran out of ammunition and suffered heavy casualties under the heroic struggle of the Chinese army, and were forced to break out and retreat north. The Chinese army launched a counter-attack on all fronts, wiping out a large number of Japanese troops and winning the battle.

At the time of the Third Battle of Changsha, the British and American allies were defeated in the Pacific. The victory of this battle had a positive impact at home and abroad.

In the late war against Japan, the Nationalist government was passive against Japan and active against the Communist Party, and in early 1944, the Japanese launched a massive battle against the Nationalist front. The Kuomintang army lost most of the provinces of Henan, Xiang and Guizhou and a part of Guizhou Province.（768words）