From April to June 1945, Japan was in a disadvantageous position in the war of aggression against China and launched the last battle of the Kuomintang battlefield and the War of Resistance against Japan. The Japanese army mobilized 80,000 troops to carry out a large-scale attack on western Hunan, especially in the area of Zhijiang airfield.
The Kuomintang mobilized 10 armies, with a total strength of more than 110,000 troops, and used Xuefeng Mountain as a backing to skillfully lure the enemy deep into the country and launched a final resistance.
The purpose of the Japanese attack on Zhijiang was to destroy the Chinese air base and suppress the field army, so as to prevent the squadron from obtaining US weapons and deployment. In the end, the Japanese army will be able to concentrate all its forces against the American forces along the coast.
The Japanese army gave all its strength in the final decisive battle in the land of China. As early as the spring of 1944, the Japanese army launched Operation No. 1, ostensibly accomplishing the goal of opening up the Chinese lines of communication, but in reality it achieved little benefit.
This dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army, and by early 1945, the main forces of the Japanese sea and air had been severely damaged by the Allies and forced to retreat to the coastal islands of the Japanese mainland.
Although the Japanese army survived, its aggressive ambitions against the land of China did not weaken. As a result, they continued to lead their troops to attack China, especially when the Kuomintang troops were supported by American guns, and the Japanese could not wait.
So, on April 9, 1945, the Battle of Xiangxi officially began. In this battle, the Japanese army adopted the tactics of attacking separately and together, responding on both flanks, and breaking through from the middle in an attempt to encircle Zhijiang.
The squadron fought a fierce decisive battle with the Japanese army in Xuefeng Mountain as the main battlefield. Hunan was the main position of the Kuomintang frontal battlefield, and many troops were stationed in the Zhijiang area, and the Kuomintang military organization reached more than 200, totaling about 100,000 people.
Despite the active offensive of the Japanese army, the perseverance of the squadron on the Xuefeng Mountain showed their love for the motherland and their firm belief in victory. The Kuomintang troops on the Hunan battlefield, with their firm will and unyielding spirit, waged a stubborn struggle against the Japanese army.
With their lives, they guard every inch of the motherland. In the Battle of Xiangxi, although the Kuomintang army faced a strong Japanese army, they finally succeeded in stopping the Japanese attack with their indomitable will and spirit of unity and cooperation.
This battle embodied the indomitable spirit of the Chinese people and their deep love for the motherland.
On this battlefield, in addition to the more than 6,000 people stationed in the US ** team, there is also a command called the "US Air Force Command in China." The arrival of the Japanese army of 80,000 men was aimed at seizing this vital line of communication and then wantonly slaughtering on the land of China.
On April 15, the Japanese commander Ichiro Bannishi set up a command post in Shaoyang, and he launched an attack on Zhijiang from three directions: Xinhua, Shaoyang, and Dong'an, but his ferocious momentum did not make the squadron retreat.
In the face of the Japanese attack, the main force of the Kuomintang army was Wang Yaowu's troops, who worked closely with Tang Enbo to formulate a detailed battle plan. Although the Japanese underestimated the deployment of the squadron, the squadron did not let it succeed.
In addition to the Army, the Squadron also airlifted troops from the Indian battlefield to Zhijiang as a reserve ready to fight.
The Kuomintang army succeeded in leading the Japanese army into the trap set by the squadron, which led to a great drop in the morale of the Japanese army. On April 26, the Kuomintang forces successfully surrounded the Japanese army in the Xuefeng Mountains.
Although the Japanese army appeared somewhat weak in this situation, it still had hope for the Zhijiang airfield. On April 16, the Japanese army successfully captured Xinning and invaded the Shuidong and Guanxia areas directly from the north.
On the 29th, the Japanese army succeeded in capturing Wuyang, however, this action led to the martyrdom of a company of the 74th Army. At present, the strength of the Japanese army has penetrated into the land of China, and the development of the situation is very tense.
On April 27, the Japanese army launched a three-sided encirclement of Wugang City, and the 58th Division stubbornly held the three lines of defense inside and outside the city, successfully resisting the Japanese attack. The target of the Japanese army was Zhijiang Airport, and breaking through the main position of Xuefeng Mountain was the only way to go.
In order to achieve this goal, the Japanese army sent four main forces to attack Sankou Pass from Heitianpu respectively. The defenders' counterattack inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese army, and they had to advance westward, cross Zishui and enter Xinhua Yangxi on the 28th, where they engaged in fierce battles with the 73rd Army at Nanshanzhai and Tongfengshan.
Although the enemy suffered a major blow, some problems arose. The Japanese army commander Hishida Nosuke personally led his troops and crossed Taotaoping on May 2 and attempted to attack the mouth of the Snow Peak Mountain through the cave entrance.
* In the face of the "blind" attack of the Japanese army, he showed stubborn resistance. The 74th and 100th armies joined forces to defend the position, and after a week of fierce fighting, successfully repelled the enemy's offensive attempts.
In the battle that lasted for more than 20 days, the squadron relied on the favorable terrain to seriously deplete the Japanese army's strength. At the same time, they constantly organize forces to advance and counterattack the enemy.
Although the enemy had already invaded the mouth of the river and the cave east of Wushui, they were still trapped in a rugged and steep valley, facing a shortage of food and ammunition and difficulties in supply, and the soldiers were in a state of exhaustion.
At this time, the Japanese army fell into passivity, and the squadron seized the opportunity to organize mobile troops to invest a large number of elite corps in the first operation.
The Japanese felt powerless in the confrontation with the squadron, and this counterattack launched by the squadron shook their plans to attack China again.
In the face of the counterattack of the squadron, Ichiro Bannishi was resolutely unwilling to give up the battle for Zhijiang Airport, hoping to get more Japanese troops to attack China again.
However, the development of the situation did not give Japan more chances of victory, and Sakanishi Ichiro's proposal was rejected by the troops stationed in China, believing that this would not only allow the squadron to carry out a greater counterattack, but would also bring great difficulties to the war preparation against the United States.
For the sake of the overall situation, the Japanese army decided to suspend the plan for the Zhijiang operation on May 9.
Although the Japanese army announced an armistice, this did not mean that the squadron should also stop fighting. Their next goal is to launch a full-scale counterattack against Japan. Before the Japanese army announced the cessation of the Zhijiang operation, the squadron began a large-scale ** operation, which lasted from the beginning of May to June 2, and invested a large number of troops to carry out **, and carried out a battle of pursuit, interception and encirclement of the enemy.
They recaptured Wuyang on May 1 and Gaosha on the 12th. The 44th Division of the 20th Army of the Squadron broke through the enemy who crossed Wushui and recaptured Xinning on May 6.
The Japanese troops that had infiltrated the land of China began to fall into chaos, and the scattered detachments in various places were attacked by the squadrons to varying degrees.
The Japanese Defense Agency's war history records: "The various units were in disarray, and the Japanese army was unable to exercise effective command. "The remnants of more than 700 enemies broke through to the southeast on May 8, and were surrounded again as soon as they reached Wangxiang Mountain.
By May 12, only more than 400 people were left to flee to Jiaoling, and our troops then pursued, and the enemy troops were scattered in the deep mountains and jungles. On May 19, all Japanese troops were annihilated there.
On June 2, the Kuomintang army had regained all the lost ground, the pre-war situation was restored, and our army won a final victory.
From April 9 to June 2, in the 55-day Battle of Xiangxi, the squadron killed and wounded a total of 28,174 enemy soldiers, captured 247 people, captured 1,433 light and heavy machine guns and rifles, and achieved a brilliant victory.
This battle was not only the end of Japan's strategic offensive against China, but also announced the complete collapse of Japan's ambition to invade China, and heralded the imminent victory of the eight-year War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression of the Chinese People.
The surrender ceremony of Zhijiang was held on August 15, 1945, and the Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced his unconditional surrender through radio, and China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was finally victorious.
Surrender of Zhijiang: On August 21, General He Yingqin, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Theater Army, met with Japanese envoys in Zhijiang to receive their surrender on behalf of Chiang Kai-shek. Zhijiang was chosen as a surrender city because it was the place where the last battle of the Anti-Japanese War was won, and at the same time, it was also a well-preserved military airfield.
Chiang Kai-shek twice telegraphed Okamura Ninji to Zhijiang to surrender, and finally, the Japanese deputy chief of staff, Major General Takeo Imai, and his staff officers arrived in Zhijiang on August 20. On August 21, He Yingqin and more than 50 journalists traveled from Chongqing to Zhijiang on four transport planes.
This surrender marked the victorious end of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
At three o'clock in the afternoon of August 21, a portrait of Sun Yat-sen was hung in the middle of the venue. At the surrender ceremony presided over by Ho Yingqin, Takeo Imai only handed over an atlas of the battle sequence of the Japanese troops stationed in China, and affirmed that Okamura Ninji was only responsible for commanding the Japanese troops in the Chinese theater, and other Japanese troops such as Taiwan, Vietnam, and Northern Burma were not under his command.
In the face of the Japanese army's rhetoric, the Chinese side decided to divide the 15 surrender zones according to the districts and send representatives to accept the surrender. On September 9, the surrender ceremony was signed in Nanjing, and the surrender ceremony of Zhijiang was successfully concluded.
The surrender of Zhijiang was the direct result of the Chinese people's persistence in the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and it also demonstrated a great victory in the nearly 100-year anti-aggression war. One of the important reasons for the success of the Battle of Xiangxi was the support of the people and the active cooperation of the local CCP organizations and guerrillas.
The victory in the Battle of Xiangxi in Hunan Province was a model of joint cooperation between the military and the people. The local organizations of the Communist Party of China adhered to the anti-Japanese national united front, united and guided the broad masses of the people, and cooperated with the frontal battle, laying the foundation for the victory of the battle.
The people actively prepared for the war and created good conditions for the battle. In 11 counties of Zhijiang and Xiangxi, nearly 20,000 migrant workers used shoulders, stones, and hoes to build the second largest military airfield for the Allied forces in the Far East.
When the Japanese army came, the people would also bring hoes to repair the runway, fill in the craters, and also took the lead in spontaneously establishing a number of airstrips in Xuefeng Mountain.
Takeo Imai volunteered to participate in and direct the blasting operation at the entrance of the cave, and despite all the difficulties, the road construction was successfully completed in less than a year.
Behind this battle is a huge price paid by hundreds of people who died bravely. In the Battle of Xiangxi, the Chinese people fully demonstrated the wisdom and courage of mankind, effectively used various favorable conditions, and finally won the victory.
The history of the Battle of Xiangxi and the surrender of Zhijiang will always be remembered by future generations.