noffsinger Chapter 765 Recapture of Dongkou Town
Chapter 765 Recapture of Dongkou Town
Since the main force of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army was defending Dongkou Town, the offensive force of the 74th Army of the Chinese government responsible for attacking Dongkou Town faced a more difficult situation.
It was not until May 12, 1945 that the 6th Provisional Division of the 74th Army of the Chinese government captured all the defensive positions of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army outside Dongkou Town.
At this time, Commander Wang of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Government made a wrong judgment. As the offensive forces of the 74th Army of the Chinese Government had been fighting fiercely for a long time, the officers and soldiers were already somewhat tired. Therefore, Commander Wang of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Government decided to let the offensive forces of the 74th Army of the Chinese Government rest for a day, and then prepare to launch a full-scale general offensive against the 116th Division of the Japanese Army.
This decision made by Commander Wang of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese government was also the biggest mistake made in this Xiangxi Campaign, because at that time the commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, had already received an order from General Yasuji Okamura, commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, to retreat immediately.
Therefore, on May 12, 1945, the commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, ordered the entire 116th Division of the Japanese Army to retreat quickly to the rear through Dongkou Town.
At the same time, after capturing the mountain gate, the attacking force of the 18th Army of the Chinese government learned through interrogation of prisoners of war captured at the mountain gate by the 116th Division of the Japanese Army that the 116th Division of the Japanese Army might be about to conduct a general retreat.
However, because the attacking force of the 18th Army of the Chinese government was not sure about the authenticity of the information provided by the Japanese prisoners of war, the 18th Army of the Chinese government did not inform the 74th Army of the Chinese government that was attacking Dongkou Town.
On May 13, 1945, after resting, the Provisional 6th Division of the 74th Army of the Chinese government, which was responsible for offensive operations, immediately launched a strong attack on Dongkou Town defended by the 116th Division of the Japanese Army.
The officers and soldiers of the 6th Temporary Division of the 74th Army of the Chinese government successfully recaptured Dongkou Town in just five hours.
However, it was too late. The officers and soldiers of the Chinese government's temporary Sixth Division witnessed with their own eyes the remnants of the Japanese 116th Division retreating rapidly to the east like a collapse of Mount Tai. The remnants of the Japanese 116th Division included two infantry regiments, three engineering regiments, two artillery regiments and one cavalry regiment.
Regardless of the fatigue of his troops, Commander Zhao of the Chinese government's Provisional Sixth Division immediately led the Provisional Sixth Division to pursue the retreating remnants of the Japanese 116th Division at night. However, the Provisional Sixth Division was blocked by the rear-end troops of the Japanese 116th Division during the pursuit.
After receiving the news of the full retreat of the Japanese 116th Division in Dongkou Town, Commander Shi of the 74th Army of the Chinese government was also greatly surprised. He ordered all the movable troops of the 74th Army of the Chinese government to chase in the direction of the retreat of the Japanese 116th Division.
At the same time, after learning that the Japanese 116th Division had completely retreated, the Chinese and American air forces stationed at Zhijiang Airport also went into full force, sending 35 aircraft to pursue and bomb the retreating Japanese 116th Division troops. However, in the end, the Chinese government's 74th Army only annihilated more than a thousand remnants of a regiment of the Japanese 116th Division that was responsible for the rear, and missed the opportunity to completely annihilate the Japanese 116th Division. It was a great pity.
While the entire Japanese 116th Division was fleeing, the Chinese government's troops continued to attack the Japanese 20th Army's offensive forces in other directions. Among them, the Sekine Detachment, commanded by Major General Hisataro Sekine, commander of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army, was completely wiped out by the Chinese government's troops near Wuyang. Only Major General Hisataro Sekine, commander of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army, led a few officers and a small number of soldiers to successfully escape, and on May 20, 1945, they joined the 34th Division of the Japanese Army.
The commander of the 34th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Takeo Ban, also allocated part of the troops from his 34th Division to help the Sekine Detachment of the 58th Brigade Commander of the Japanese Army, Major General Hisataro Sekine, to rebuild two battalions. However, most of the soldiers in these two battalions were wounded. At the same time, the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army, which had not participated in the war before, also returned to the Sekine Detachment. This allowed the Sekine Detachment commanded by the commander of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army, Major General Hisataro Sekine, to finally restore a certain combat strength.
According to the order of Lieutenant General Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army, the remnants of the Sekine Detachment under the command of Major General Hisataro Sekine, commander of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army, and the troops of the 34th Division of the Japanese Army under the command of Lieutenant General Takeo Ban, commander of the 34th Division of the Japanese Army, should immediately retreat to the rear.
However, there was a big obstacle on the retreat path of the remnants of the Sekine Detachment commanded by Major General Hisataro Sekine, commander of the 58th Brigade, and the troops of the 34th Division commanded by Lieutenant General Takeo Ban. That was Furong Mountain, which the 20th Army's offensive forces had failed to occupy in the early stages.
As the geographical location of Furong Mountain is very important, in order to ensure the successful breakout of the retreating remnants of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army, ordered the remnants of the Sekine Detachment commanded by Major General Hisataro Sekine, commander of the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army, to send out the fully-organized 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army to occupy Furong Mountain.
On May 21, 1945, the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army dispatched an offensive force of more than 1,000 people to attack the Lion Rock Heights in the Furong Mountain defensive position controlled by the Chinese government army.
Under the cover of heavy artillery, the attacking force of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army launched an attack on the Chinese army defending the Lion Rock Heights. The Chinese army also relied on the advantageous terrain to firmly hold the defensive position. At the same time, more than a dozen planes of the Chinese government Air Force also strafed and bombed the attacking Japanese troops, which caused heavy casualties to the attacking force of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army.
At night, the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army took advantage of the cover of darkness and sent out all its main offensive forces to attack the Lion Mountain position defended by the Chinese government's army. At this time, the Chinese government's army's defensive fortifications on Lion Mountain had almost all been destroyed by Japanese artillery fire. After resisting the attack of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army for several hours, the Chinese government's defenders on Lion Mountain took the initiative to retreat to the main position on Furong Mountain.