In this campaign, 8 group armies and 48 divisions, 15 independent brigades, 9 temporary brigades, the Central Military Academy Teaching Corps, the 7th Artillery Regiment, the Ministry of Finance Tax Police Corps, 1 Military Police Regiment, SH City Security Corps, SH City Police Corps, JS Provincial Security Corps 4 regiments, and 3 naval fleets were invested, with a total strength of more than 600,000 troops. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Coupled with the 21st Group Army and the 5 divisions of the Liu Xiang Division of the Sichuan Army, which rushed to SH to participate in the battle soon after, the total strength of the *** Army has reached 75 divisions and more than 700,000 people.

The Japanese army invested 130,000 men in five divisions and one brigade, and after two months of fierce fighting, the Japanese army finally relied on strong firepower to break through the Chinese army's defense line.

On October 20, the Japanese army secretly formed the 10th Army to prepare for a general attack on the Chinese army.

On November 5, 80,000 people of the Japanese 10th Army landed at Jinshanwei, ****** delayed the retreat due to the interference of the signatories of the Nine-Power Convention, but at this time the appeasement of Western countries prevailed, saying that the Chinese army took the initiative to provoke a war in the SH demilitarized zone to disrupt the peace, and ignored China's demands.

A few days later, the Japanese encirclement network was about to be formed, and the Chinese troops on the front line were in chaos, and some troops had already organized their own retreat to avoid being encircled.

Still clinging to unrealistic illusions about the League of Nations, he refused to give the order to retreat, delaying precious time.

During the final retreat, because the order of retreat of the various units was not explained, 300,000 or 400,000 Chinese soldiers were crammed on several roads and bombed by the Japanese air force, and the great retreat turned into a great rout, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers were scattered when they retreated to Nanjing, laying the groundwork for the defeat of the defense of Nanjing.

The 120,000 defenders fought separately and could not fight in unison, and SH fell in a few days.

This was the first large-scale coordinated operation between the Chinese armed forces (air force, navy, army) and various arms (infantry, artillery, and tanks), and the synergistic effect was very poor: the infantry forced the tanks to charge without covering, and as a result, the tanks were all destroyed by the Japanese army;

After the infantry lost the cover of tanks, they suffered heavy casualties, and there was even a tragedy in which a battalion of troops was crowded into a street and was blocked by the Japanese army at the entrance of the street.

Chen Cheng recalled the lessons of the unsuccessful siege of SH and believed that "the failure to attack thousands of enemy marines with the strength of the 5th Division was really due to all kinds of improper deployment at that time."

Shi Shuo recalled, "The training of infantry and artillery and combat vehicles in coordination has never been done."

The Japanese army gradually seized the initiative on the battlefield, and the highest level of the RB decided to shift the main operational direction of the invasion of China from North China to SH and demanded that the process of the SH campaign be accelerated, and the decision to increase troops was made again.

The 9th, 13th, and 101st divisions of the North China Front were transferred to the SH Dispatch Army.

In addition, the infantry brigade, the Shigeto detachment, the 1st Reserve Infantry Regiment, the 1st Brigade of the puppet Jing'an Army, the puppet Li Chunshan Brigade, and the puppet Yuzhishan Brigade were also transferred from Taiwan.

In this way, with the addition of the original divisions, the strength of the Japanese army in SH by the end of September alone reached the five divisions required by Matsui Ishine, and the total strength of the Japanese army in Shanghai reached 200,000 men, including the strength of the air force and navy.

In the face of the enemy's dispatch of troops, the Nationalist Government quickly sent additional troops from various provinces and the central army to Songhu to participate in the war.

In the group army, in addition to the original 8th, 9th, and 15th group armies, Xue Yue's 19th Group Army, Liu Jianxu's 10th Group Army were added, and later, Liao Lei's 21st Group Army was transferred.

After the Chinese army moved to the defensive, the Japanese army began a large-scale offensive.

On September 22, the Japanese army concentrated its main force to storm the position of the left flank army that held Luodian, and on the night of the 24th, the Japanese army continued to charge with two divisions, and the **** 159th Division and the 160th Division were all killed.

In view of the fact that the Japanese army had the tendency to break through the left flank army with its main force on both sides of the Baoliu Highway, in order to preserve its strength and wear down the enemy for a long time, the headquarters of the commander of the 3rd Theater ordered all units of the left flank army to move to the second line of defense one by one to attack the Japanese army.

At this time, Matsui Ishine saw that his attempt to break through from the flank and encircle the Chinese army could not be realized, so he decided to change the division and encirclement to a central breakthrough and concentrate his forces to attack the Fumohama line.

Beginning on 1 October, the Japanese navy and air forces launched a new attack in coordination with ground forces. The north road is directed to Guangfu and Chenjiaxing by the 11th Division of Yamamuro Zongwu; The 3rd, 9th, 13th, and 101st Divisions of the South Road were concentrated to force their way across Fuzaobang and attack Dachang and Nanxiang in order to cut off the defenders from the outside world in the Dachang to Jiangwan area and make them a lone army.

From October 5th to 9th, the 8th Division, the 59th Division, the 61st Division, the 67th Division, the 77th Division, the 90th Division, and the Tax Police Corps withdrew from their positions one after another.

On the 9th, the Japanese army once again concentrated naval and air force firepower, and cooperated with infantry to attack the southern bank of Fumohama, but was finally stopped by the Chinese defenders.

On October 15, the Japanese army broke through Fumohama, and the battle situation was once again urgent.

On October 19, the Chinese troops guarding the southern bank of Fuzaobang cooperated with Liao Lei's 21st Army to launch a full-front counterattack. On the same day, the Japanese 9th Division of Yoshizumi Ryosuke, the 101st Division of Masaki Ito and the 1st Division of the 3rd Division also launched a fierce attack on the southern bank of Fumohama.

Fierce fighting lasted until the 25th, and the troops were forced to retreat. The four regiments of the Left Wing Army counterattacked the Japanese on the south side of Guangfu to the north road, but were also repulsed by the Japanese. The Japanese army took the opportunity to counterattack, and the front of the troops pointed directly at the big field.

On October 23, the Japanese army approached the Zhentai Highway with heavy troops and threatened the left flank of Dachang. Zhu Yaohua of the 18th Division, Liu Yuqing of the 26th Division, and Huang Wei of the 67th Division of our army resisted the Japanese offensive after hard resistance.

At this time, the Chinese army formed a semi-circular front from the east of Dachang, through Dachang and the city center, and circled the north of Jiangwan. The temple line and the large field are prominent, and then they become a thorn in the eyes of the Japanese army, and the Japanese army mobilized all kinds of artillery and aircraft to bombard it fiercely, and the radius is several miles, and it is almost scorched earth.

The Japanese army then took more than 40 combat vehicles as the lead to cover the infantry to seize Hujia Bridge, Tahe Bridge, Zoumatang and other positions. In order to preserve their strength, the defenders moved to the southern flank and lost a large field.

The big field was lost across the board, and the Seckert line was actually breached. The Third Theater had no choice but to make the move of abandoning the North Station-Jiangwan position. The troops of the Central Army retreated to the HN bank of Suzhou, and the Left Wing Army was also ordered to move, until October 28, the Chinese army retreated to the second phase of the Liuhe, Shenjiaqiao, Chaowangmiao, Xujiahang, Guangfu, Chenjiahang, Jiangqiao, Beixinjing to Fanwangdu line of the existing defensive positions, the new defense line is 35 kilometers long.

The Battle of Songhu entered the end of October and the beginning of November, and although the Chinese army was in a passive position and repeatedly retreated, it still controlled SH, which was undoubtedly contrary to the original judgment and calculation of the RB. The RB High Command decided to shift its strategic focus to Central and East China.

On October 20, the Japanese High Command also ordered the 6th, 18th, and 114th Divisions, the Kunisaki Detachment (the 9th Brigade of the 5th Division), the 2nd Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment, the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade, and the 1st and 2nd Reserve Infantry Regiments, totaling about 120,000 troops, to form the 10th Army, with Lieutenant General Yanagawa Heisuke as the commander, to prepare for a landing operation to open up the situation.

At the same time, the 16th Division of Nakajima in North China was transferred to the SH Dispatch Army, and the strength of the Japanese army on the Songhu front increased to 270,000. These include 9 divisions and 2 brigades of the Army, the main forces of the 3rd and 4th fleets of the Navy, and the air force.

Just when the enemy was about to press the border with a large number of troops, ****** was deeply mired in the hope that the foreign powers would intervene to stop the RB aggression, and announced that the order to retreat would be revoked, and the troops would hold their original positions.

The order was repeated twice in a short period of time, which greatly affected the morale of the Chinese defenders, and the order of the ranks began to be chaotic.

At dawn on November 5, the newly formed 10th Army of the RB, under the command of Yanagawa Heisuke, was escorted by the fleet to make a sudden landing at Caojing Town, Quangongting, Jinsiniang Bridge and other places near Jinshanwei in Hangzhou Bay, outflanking the southern part of the Chinese army's defense line in Songhu.

Because ****** always believed that the Japanese army would attack the front of SH with all its might, there would be no possibility of landing from Hangzhou Bay, so when the battle became fierce and the army was exhausted, the troops defending Hangzhou Bay were thrown into the front battlefield one by one.

By the time the Japanese army landed, on the coastline of several tens of kilometers long from Quangongting to Zhapu on the north shore of Hangzhou Bay, only two infantry companies of Tao Guang's 62nd Division, six companies of the 2nd Artillery Brigade and 6 companies of the 2nd Artillery Regiment, and a few local armed defenses were quickly routed by the Japanese army.

After the successful landing of the Japanese army, the SH Dispatch Army and the 10th Army were combined to form the Central China Front, which was under the unified command of Matsui Ishone, and the Japanese base camp stipulated that its combat area was to connect the east of the Suzhou-Jiaxing line, and the mission was to dampen the enemy's will to fight, obtain the goal of ending the battle, and coordinate with the navy to eliminate the enemy near SH.

The 6th and 18th Divisions rushed to the Songjiang and Shanghai-Hangzhou railways respectively according to the pre-deployment.

After learning the news of the Japanese army's landing in Jinshanwei, he immediately ordered Chen Cheng, the former enemy commander of the Songhu battlefield, to deal with the situation, and Chen Cheng urgently ordered the 67th Army of Wu Keren of the Northeast Army of the Right Wing Army to reinforce Songjiang, but failed to retreat the enemy.

On the night of November 8, the Japanese army broke into Songjiang Castle from the east, south and west with strong firepower, and the 67th Army was completely annihilated, and the Japanese army occupied Songjiang. Immediately, the troops were divided into two routes, one along the east bank of Taihu Lake, through ZJAH to Nanjing, and the main force pointed to Fengjing Town, Jiaxing, and Pingwang.

On the 9th, the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway and highway were cut off. At the same time, the 16th Division, under the command of Nakajima Imaigo, successfully landed at Baimaokou in the territory of JS Taicang, and the forward was directed at the Beijing-Shanghai railway and highway, forming a trend of convergence.

After the six divisions of the Japanese army on the HB bank of Suzhou forcibly crossed the Suzhou Creek on October 31, they quickly moved closer to the Japanese troops who landed on both routes, and the 700,000 Chinese troops in the Songhu area were suddenly in a dangerous situation.

On the evening of November 8, ****** ordered a general retreat, and all troops withdrew from the SH battle and retreated to Nanjing, Suzhou, and the area west of Jiaxing in two directions. Due to the haste of the order, the command was out of control, and the result of the great retreat turned into a full-scale rout.

Since the 9th, the Japanese army repelled the scattered resistance of the Chinese army, occupying Hongqiao Airport, Longhua, Fengjing, and Qingpu. On the 11th, the Japanese army advanced to the bank of the Suzhou Creek, and the troops in Nanshi and Pudong who were on the task of covering were ordered to withdraw from their positions. On the same day, the mayor of SH, Yu Hongjun, issued a letter to the citizens, sadly announcing the fall of SH, the largest metropolis in the Far East.