Hangzhou fell. After the Japanese 18th Division occupied Wuhu, it turned around and attacked Hangzhou. As mentioned earlier, after November 21, the ** troops have retreated to the west of the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway and built positions on the front line of Linping Town, Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Deqing County, New Town, Deqing County, Wukang Town, Deqing County, and Moganshan, Deqing County. At the beginning of December, during the Battle of Songhu under the command of Liu Jianxu of the ** Tenth Group Army, 6 divisions and an independent brigade of the Right Wing Army (the 11th Division and the 11th Reserve Division, the 45th Independent Brigade) frequently sabotaged various railways to obstruct and contain the Japanese attack, which not only posed a threat to the left flank of the Japanese 10th Army, but also posed a threat to the safety of the Japanese army in Shanghai. The Japanese originally planned to attack Hangzhou after capturing Nanjing, but according to the order of the Japanese army on December 7, the Central China Front decided to capture Hangzhou with one part. The 101st Division, which was assigned to the garrison of Shanghai (the three infantry brigades that were not under the command of the brigade commander and did not serve as the garrison around Shanghai), was ordered to be placed under the command of the commander of the 10th Army. The commander of the 10th Army was ordered to transfer the main force of the 101st Division from Shanghai to Wuxing (Huzhou).
1. The 2nd Reserve Corps is ready for battle. In order to cooperate with the Hangzhou operation, on December 7, the Japanese army also formed the 3rd Air Force Flying Regiment, including the 3rd Reconnaissance Aircraft Group of Kuriyama Shintaro Osa in North China, the 8th Fighter Group of Sasaki Daisa, and the 2nd Squadron of the 5th Light Bomber Group. However, on the 11th, the Central China Front secretly instructed the 101st Division to return to Shanghai after capturing HangzhouThe headquarters of the 10th Army will be located in Hangzhou. Therefore, the Tenth Army thought that it was more appropriate to capture it in one fell swoop with the main force of the army, so it decided to order the 18th Division to return from Wuhu to attack Hangzhou, and not to participate in the capture of Nanjing, and most of the 18th Division set out from the vicinity of Wuhu on the 14th to assemble at the place where it was headed. On the 12th, the 10th Army issued an order that the 18th Division attacked Hangzhou from Xiasi'an and Guangde northwest of Hangzhou, the main force of the 101st Division (with the main force of the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade and the 2nd Independent Field Heavy Artillery Brigade) from Wuxing (Huzhou) directly north of Hangzhou, and the 1st Reserve Infantry Regiment (composed of 4 brigades), which was originally responsible for ensuring the safety of the transportation and roads of the Central China Front, from Jiaxing in the northeast of Hangzhou. On the 19th, the 10th Army issued an order for the 18th Division to attack Hangzhou from the Anji---Yuhang Highway, the 101st Division from Wukang and Deqing, and the 1st Reserve Corps from the Jiaxing---Hangzhou Highway. On the evening of the 20th, the 18th Division was assembled near Quang Duc and Xia Si'an. On the same day, division commander Sadao Ushijima sent three search teams with one brigade to search the mountainous areas of Deqing County. On the 21st, the main force was divided into two columns and set off, on the way to expel the **, which was not fiercely resistant, and on the 22nd entered the vicinity of Panbanqiao Town, Yuhang District, Hangzhou City.
On the night of the 22nd, the original left column was renamed the "Sangming (Zhaoer) Detachment", and the order was inserted into Fuyang County, southwest of Hangzhou, to ensure that the southwest direction of the main force was worry-free, and then prepared to enter the area on the south bank of the Qiantang River to cut off the retreat of the first one. On the 23rd, the 18th Division arrived in the vicinity of Bottle Kiln Town, Yuhang District, and joined the 101st Division. On the 25th, Sang Mingzhao's second detachment entered Fuyang through Yuhang and eliminated about one division of ** troops retreating from Hangzhou. On the 30th, he received an order from the Tenth Army that due to the shortage of boats and boats, there was a strong position on the south bank, and if he wanted to attack, he had to invest all the strength of the 18th Division, and the headquarters of the Tenth Army believed that it was necessary to occupy the south bank of the Qiantang River for the time being, so the crossing of the river was suspended.
The main force of the 101st Division set out from Shanghai on December 10 and assembled near Huzhou (Wuxing) on the 19th. In the same way as the 18th Division, on the 20th, the commander of the Ito Masaki Division also sent an infantry brigade to form a search team to search the mountainous areas of Deqing County. The main force was divided into two columns, and on the 21st set out for Wukang Town, the county seat of Deqing County, near Moganshan, expelling a small force with weak resistance on the way, and entered the area north of Wukang on the 22nd. On the same day, Kipshi Town, the county seat of Haining, fell. The Tenth Group Army and various departments crossed the Qiantang River from Hangzhou, and the headquarters was located in Zhuji County, Shaoxing City. 23rd.
Ten. 8. The 101st Division arrived at the Yuhang-Bottle Kiln --- Deqing line to rendezvous, and Deqing County fell. ** The main force retreated to the south bank of the Qiantang River and blew up the Qiantang River Bridge, which had just been completed in the summer of 1937, and the other part withdrew to the area of Fuyang and Tonglu County. Because of this, on the morning of the 24th, the Japanese army occupied Hangzhou without resistance. The First Reserve Corps set out from Jiaxing on the 22nd, divided into two columns to advance in the direction of Chang'an Town, Haining, all the way along the highways on both sides of the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway, all the way through Puyuan and Tongxiang City, Tongxiang City, and after a fierce battle with ** in Chongfu Town, Tongxiang, it occupied the place and Chang'an Town south of it on the 25th. On the same day, the First Reserve Corps was also stationed in Hangzhou. After the Japanese army occupied Hangzhou, it was across the river from ** and temporarily stopped the offensive.
On 15 December, in order to ensure the implementation of the mainland's order on 7 December, to ensure the stability of the occupied areas and to prepare for follow-up operations, the Central China Front deployed the areas controlled by the Shanghai Dispatch Army and the 10th Army.
From Huangpu River - Suzhou Creek - Wujiang - Yixing Heqiao Town - Changzhou Jintan District ** Beach - Zhenjiang Danyang Tianwang Temple - Nanjing Jiangning Town. Basically, the area north of Suzhou Creek to Wusong River and the entire area of Nanjing City belong to the Shanghai Military Defense Zone, and the south of the line is the 10th Military Defense Zone. The tasks assigned to the two armies are as follows:
1. Shanghai dispatched an army to occupy Yangzhou and Chuxian in Anhui Province on the left bank of the Yangtze River, and cut off the North Canal and the Tianjin-Pudong Railway. The headquarters must be located near Nanjing.
2. After the Tenth Army captured Hangzhou, it deployed troops in major places between Wuhu, Ningguo, Huzhou, and Songjiang to serve as garrisons, and its headquarters was located near Hangzhou.
3. All armies must quickly organize and reorganize their armies to restore their combat effectiveness and seek stability in the areas of operation (cleaning up the battlefield, sweeping away the remnants of the army, collecting hidden ** and military equipment, restoring the damaged transportation network, etc.).