Chapter 59
On October 20, almost a month, Zhao Heng did not wait for the news that the Kwantung Army came to attack the city, but got the news that Tang Lina had built a base in Hainan. However, two days later, on October 22, after more than a month of completely digesting and absorbing a large number of troops, the remnants of the Kwantung Army, which had grown from 1-2 divisions of less than 30,000 men to 10 temporary divisions with more than 300,000 troops, believed that their troops were now strong and could carry out the plan of annexing Manchuria, Mongolia and the entire three eastern provinces.
What is surprising is that this time the Kwantung Army did not first attack Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning, which was several hundred kilometers away, but in accordance with the plan formulated by Ishihara Waner Dazuo and others of the Operations Staff to destroy Liaoning first, Jilin and Heilongjiang must be destroyed first, and the plan was that the 300,000 army generals were divided into two routes, one of which was to capture the nearest Jilin, and the other was to bypass Liaoning and go straight to Heilongjiang, and finally the two armies converged to encircle and annihilate the mysterious troops in Shenyang, Liaoning. Lieutenant General Shigeru Honjo led an army of 150,000 to occupy the entire territory of Jilin, and the chief of staff, Major General Miyake Koji, led another 150,000 troops to capture the entire territory of Heilongjiang, and then the two brigades finally converged and quickly took Shenyang City and even the entire territory of Liaoning, so that the three eastern provinces would be completely incorporated into the Japanese territory.
On October 21, more than 80,000 Northeast Army under the command of Jilin Provincial Chairman Zhang Zuoxiang resisted under the strong attack of 150,000 Kwantung Army, but due to the disparity in troops, more than half of the casualties had to be withdrawn. The Kwantung Army did not follow but let this unit leave, and three days later, on the morning of the 27th, the entire territory of Jilin was officially declared to have fallen into the hands of the Kwantung Army. In this battle, with the support of aircraft and artillery, the Kwantung Army suffered less than 10,000 casualties, while the Jilin Northeast Army suffered more than 40,000 casualties in three days and nights of fierce fighting without foreign aid and aviation units, and finally had to withdraw from Jilin and take the train into the pass.
On the night of 22 October, under the leadership of Major General Miyake Mitsuji, chief of staff, another large army of the Kwantung Army took trains, automobiles, and other means of transportation to attack Heilongjiang for a long distance, and on the morning of the 23rd, when the telephone lines were cut off and there was no foreign aid, the troops under the command of Heilongjiang Provincial Chairman Chang Yinhuai and Wan Fulin under the command of less than 20,000 troops quickly collapsed in front of the 150,000 Kwantung Army that came in like an ocean, and the chairman of Heilongjiang Province and others had to abandon Heilongjiang and take the train to Beiping to enter the Guannai. Historical facts: After the September 18 Incident in 1931, the Japanese invading army quickly occupied Jilin and continued to attack Heilongjiang Province. At that time, the capital of Heilongjiang Province was Qiqihar, and the Japanese army wanted to occupy Qi City, and they had to pass through the Nenjiang Bridge on the Tao (Taonan) Ang (Ang Angxi) Railway. Ma Zhanshan, who had just been appointed acting provincial chairman and military commander of Heilongjiang Province, deployed about three brigades on the north bank of the Nenjiang River to hold the Nenjiang Bridge. On November 4, the Japanese launched an attack with the newly formed 1st Manchurian Garrison Division, which was repulsed by the 1st Northeast Army. On November 6, the Kwantung Army entered the battle with the newly formed Second Manchurian Railway Garrison Division. Ma Zhanshan personally went to the front line to command, and fought a fierce battle with the enemy, and the Japanese army attacked fiercely in turn with superior artillery fire and the cover of aircraft and tanks, and the position was lost and regained, forming a tug-of-war. On the 12th, the Japanese army sent three newly formed Manchurian garrison divisions, including the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, to strengthen the offensive. Ma Zhanshan fought alone, and retreated due to excessive casualties among the troops, and there was no follow-up support. On the 19th, the Japanese army occupied Qiqihar and the provincial capital was moved to Hailun. The Jiangqiao Anti-Japanese War lasted half a month, and it was the first strong resistance of the squadron to the Japanese army after the 918 incident. During the Jiangqiao Anti-Japanese War, Ma Zhanshan could be said to be fighting alone, and he did not receive the strength of the Northeast Army stationed in Jinzhou. Although the young marshal ordered Ma Zhanshan to hold on to it and not to retreat, Zhang's troops stationed in Jinzhou were "not ready for battle" at all.
As early as October 21, Jilin was broken, and at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Ma Zhanshan received a telegram from Zhang Shaoshuai, who was far away in Beiping, appointing him as acting chairman of Heilongjiang Province and military commander-in-chief, and immediately ventured from Heihe to take the only plane to the provincial capital, and arrived in Songpu at 17 o'clock on the 21st, and then arrived at the provincial capital Qiqihar City by train that night. On the morning of the 22nd, he took office as the acting chairman of Heilongjiang Province, personally went to the front line to encourage the anti-Japanese soldiers, and at the same time issued a reward for Zhang Haipeng's head, and announced the establishment of a temporary general headquarters of the Heilongjiang Army in order to unify command. Ma Zhanshan served as the commander-in-chief, and Xie Ke, chief of staff of the Deputy Commander's Office, served as the deputy commander.
On the same day, Ma Zhanshan issued a declaration in response to the Japanese army's build-up of heavy troops in a vain attempt to occupy Heilongjiang Province...... After that, anyone who invades our province will swear to fight to the death." After listening to the reports of Xie Ke and other generals on the Jiangqiao operation, Ma Zhanshan immediately adjusted his arrangements: appointed Park Bingshan as the commander of the provincial garrison to strengthen the defense of the provincial capital; appointed Wang Nanping as the commander of the Heihe garrison, replacing Ma Zhanshan's absence; Three infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, and one artillery battalion of the Northeast Reclamation Army were organized into the 1st Infantry Brigade and stationed south of Daxing. Among them, the cavalry went to the west of Fularji to guard the direction of Jingxing. By 29 October, the arrangement of three defensive and blocking positions from Jiangqiao to Yushutun and Angangxi with the railway as the axis, with a depth of about 40 kilometers and a width of about 10 kilometers, had been basically completed.
Liu Wankui, the former head of the Ning'an Public Security Corps, led more than 1,000 people to undergo reorganization west of Ning'an on the 15th, and was reorganized into the Fifth Independent Regiment of the Self-Defense Army.
The Kwantung Army was ready to send troops directly after the defeat of Zhang Haipeng's rebels, believing that the destruction of the Nenjiang Bridge by the Hua ** Brigade was the best excuse, so on the grounds that the construction of the Taoang Road had Japanese investment, it decided to form the Nenjiang Detachment with one infantry and one artillery brigade and one engineer squadron of the 16th Wing of the 2nd Division, and with the assistance of the 8th Independent Flying Squadron, to cover the bridge repair by force to provoke an incident and launch an attack. However, at that time, the Japanese War Ministry and General Staff Headquarters still had some scruples about the Soviet Union, so they did not agree to the Kwantung Army's attack. Kanaya Fansan once sent a telegram to the Kwantung Army: "In order to repair the river bridge, you can dispatch." However, if troops are sent to North Manchuria, which is far away from Nenjiang, no matter what the reason, they will not be allowed to send troops without my approval. However, when it was learned from Japanese Ambassador to the Soviet Union Hirota Hiroki that Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Ka Ka Ka Khan had stated to Japan on 29 October that the Soviet Union would not provide any support to both warring parties and that it would adopt a "strict policy of non-intervention," the attitude of the Japanese Ministry of War and others changed to support the Kwantung Army. On November 2, after hearing that Heilongjiang Province was acting for Ma Zhanshan, Honzhuang in Jilin Province was far away, he ordered Lin Yixiu, the head of the Qiqihar Japanese secret service, to issue an ultimatum to Ma Zhanshan: Ma Zhanshan's army must withdraw from the Nenjiang Iron Bridge to an area 10 kilometers away before noon on November 3, and must not enter the area until the Japanese army completes the construction of the bridge; If the above demands are not accepted, the Japanese army will use force. Ma Zhanshan decided not to interfere with the Japanese army's bridge repair, but if he attacked the squadron, he would take self-defense measures.
On November 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th, the 1st Manchurian Garrison Division of the Kwantung Army launched hundreds of surprise attacks one after another, but failed to effectively break through the Jiangqiao defensive line.
The Japanese suffered heavy casualties in the first phase of the operation, and in order to break the deadlock as soon as possible, they hurriedly dispatched troops and made great preparations for another attack. At the same time, Ma Zhanshan was told to exert pressure, demanding that he immediately go into the field, relinquish power, and withdraw from the squadron in Qiqihar, but Ma Zhanshan categorically refused. The Kwantung Army's request to the Central Headquarters of the Japanese Army to quickly increase the strength of one division was refuted by the base camp. As a result, Honjo Shigeru ordered "the 2nd Manchurian Iron Garrison Division to assemble in full force to the Daxing side." By the 11th, the Japanese army had stationed 45,000 troops on the north bank of the Nenjiang River, and the division commander was Major General Xian Guqiyi, a staff officer of the General Staff Department, and the new 5th Mixed Brigade, 6th Mixed Brigade, 7th Mixed Brigade, and 8th Mixed Brigade were under its command.
In view of the Japanese army's dispatch of troops, Ma Zhanshan presided over a military meeting on the evening of 7 November to study measures to deal with the enemy, determine the adjustment of deployments, and re-set up the three lines of defense. The first line of defense is in the areas of Tangchi, Wunuotou and Xinlitun, and its frontline positions are in Houyiliba, Qianguandi, Houguandi and other places, which are defended by two regiments of the 1st Cavalry Brigade Wu Songlin Division. After the 14th, the 2nd Cavalry Journey, Zhiyuan, was thrown into battle in Tangchi and other places. The second line of defense was the main frontal defense of the Black Army in Yinglao Tomb, Sanjianfang, Daxingtun, Xiaoxingtun, Huotuoqi and other places, and was defended by the four regiments of the Chonggu Division of the 1st Brigade of the tentative 1st Brigade, the Wu Delin Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, the Li Qingshan Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, the Wang Kezhen Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Brigade, the Park Bingshan Artillery Regiment, and the engineering troops. After the 14th, 2,000 people from the Sun Hongyu Regiment of the 1st Infantry Brigade and the Suihua Security Brigade joined the frontal defensive operation. The third line of defense was in Zhujiakan, Fularji, Pleiades, Yushutun and other places, and was defended by two regiments of the 9th Zhangdian Division of the 1st Infantry Brigade, all of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade and the Guards Regiment. The total strength is more than 13,000 people.
Sanjianfang is a station on the railway line from Taonan to Pleiades River, 70 miles away from Qiqihar in the north and 60 miles away from Nenjiang Bridge in the south, which is an important defensive position for the squadron to defend the capital of Heilongjiang Province. If the Japanese army wants to occupy Heilongjiang Province, it must occupy three rooms to reach Qiqihar directly. Therefore, the battle for three rooms became the focus of the second phase of the battle for the river bridge.
On the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th, the Japanese army failed to move forward, and Honjo Shigeru was ordered by the Japanese Minister of Land Minamijiro to once again propose to Ma Zhanshan that the Ma army withdraw south of the Eastern Railway, and that the area be managed by the Tao Pleiades Bureau, and that Ma should not hinder it, but Ma Zhanshan refused.
At 7:30 a.m. on the 15th, Lieutenant General Duomen, the former commander of the 2nd Division of the Japanese Army, led the main force of the Third Front Army of the Manchurian Railway to the Daxing front.
At 11 o'clock on the 16th, with the support of 10 aircraft, heavy artillery and tanks, the Japanese infantry and cavalry of 12,000 people launched a fierce attack on Xinlitun, Sanjiazi and other positions. The defenders put up a fierce resistance and fought until 15 o'clock, when they repelled the Japanese army. Heavy casualties on both sides. At 10:10 on the 17th, Honjo received a request from the Chief of Staff of the Army to "advance north of Qiqihar." do your best to bring the enemy to the brout with resolute action", and ordered the Third Front Army to "capture Qiqihar in one fell swoop." He also ordered the 39th Brigade to be mixed, except for one infantry squadron and an engineer squadron, to "mobilize the rest of the troops to Daxing and place them under the command of the commander of the Third Front." At 13 o'clock, the commander of Duomen issued an order to all Japanese units in the rear coat riba train to attack the black army in an all-out attack (focusing on three rooms).
After two days and nights of fierce fighting, on the afternoon of the 18th, General Ma Zhanshan had to give a painful order to withdraw from the battle under the disparity in strength between the two sides. On the 19th, the Japanese army of 90,000 people invaded Qiqihar, and the Battle of Jiangqiao ended. From November 22 to 24, the Kwantung Army, which had taken a two-day break to capture Heilongjiang, joined up with another Kwantung Army that had captured Jilin in Sujiatun District, Shenyang County (formerly Chengde County), 16 kilometers away from Shenyang City. The entire Shenyang area was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder, and a tragic and abnormal Shenyang offensive and defensive battle officially began.