However, even if the Japanese called in planes to assist in the battle, sometimes they would not dare to drop bombs easily because the two sides were entangled in a ball. Sometimes these showy enemy planes would even be teased by the Chinese army.
Several times when enemy planes were airdropping ammunition and food to the 106th Division, officers and soldiers of our 4th Army and 74th Army pasted a red cloth circle center in the middle of the white cloth to make a fake sun flag and spread it on the ground.
This is to lure the Japanese machine.
Because the Japanese planes could not clearly identify the target, they said they directly airdropped the supplies onto the Chinese army's positions.
This series of actions also caused the 106th Division to fall increasingly into pessimism and despair.
In addition, under the continuous attacks of the Chinese army, the Japanese 106th Division also suffered heavy losses, especially the junior Japanese officers.
Therefore, the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army personally organized the airdrop of more than 200 officers below the rank of commander to the Wanjialing area, hoping to strengthen the officer strength of the 106th Division and launch a counterattack against the Chinese army.
This move was unique in the entire Chinese Anti-Japanese War.
However, how could the 106th Division, which was already surrounded by the Chinese army, give up annihilating the Japanese army just because there were so many more Japanese officers?
Besides, they can kill the original officers of the 106th Division, let alone these officers who were airdropped?
At this time, Chang Shenkai, who was far away in Wuhan, immediately ordered the frontline troops to wipe out this group of enemies and end the battle before 24:00 on October 9, as a "Double Tenth Day" for the Kuomintang.
of gift.
Therefore, at 20:00 on the night of October 9, the commander of the ninth theater issued a general attack order.
After the attack order was conveyed to the front line, all officers and soldiers of the 1st Corps of the Ninth Theater District immediately launched the final attack on the 106th Division like a tidal wave.
In an instant, the sky above Wanjialing was filled with the sounds of killing and crying, and the lights of fire and stars shone together.
According to the confession of a Japanese prisoner after the battle: "(The Chinese army) attacked near the division headquarters several times. All the staff of the headquarters were dispatched to participate in the battle, and the division commander also had a gun in his hand. If you continue
If we insist on advancing 100 meters, the division commander will be captured or commit seppuku."
The battle lasted until the early morning of the next day. At this point, except for the commander of the Sixth Army's Matsuura Division, who led his remnants of two to three hundred people and fled northwestward under the cover of night, all the remaining more than a thousand Japanese soldiers had been annihilated.
At this point, the Battle of Wanjialing ended with a complete victory for China, and the Ninth Theater won another major victory on the frontal battlefield after the Battle of Taierzhuang!
Afterwards, the Chinese army took inventory of the battlefield and found that the Japanese 106th Division's Kijima Regiment, Ikeda Regiment, and Tsuda Regiment, the 101st Division's Tsuda Regiment and the affiliated troops participating in the battle, totaling more than 10,000 people, were all wiped out.
The Chinese army captured more than 200 enemy light and heavy machine guns, more than 10,000 rifles, 16 mountain guns, 28 mortars, more than 300 war horses, and captured more than 100 Japanese soldiers alive.
Prisoner of war Zhongshan Ted said: "The Songpu Division was surrounded and annihilated in Wanjialing, and only two to three hundred people escaped. This was considered the biggest loss of the Japanese invasion of China."
October 10th is the founding day of the Republic of China, so October 10th this year is also a special day for China’s Daqing!
Even after the good news of the Wanjialing victory spread to the rear, Nanchang, Wuhan, Changsha, Xiangtan, Changde, Guiyang, Fuzhou, Xinjiang and other places also held victory parades one after another.
The Ninth War Zone and the Kuomintang also received 55 congratulatory messages from all over the country in one day.
The commander of the New Fourth Army said in his congratulatory message: "The great victory at Wanjialing saved the capital from danger, served as a safeguard for Jianghan, and stood at the same level as Pingxingguan and Taierzhuang. Its fame should be immortal."
At the same time, the Jiangxi Provincial Anti-Japanese Support Association also collected a large number of commemorative items and sent them to the front line in northern Jiangxi to express condolences to the meritorious soldiers in the Anti-Japanese War.
Of course, a partial battle victory could not reverse the decline of the entire Wuhan Battle in the end.
As the enemies from the north and east gradually pressed Wuhan, in early October, after Tianjia Town and Banbi Mountain fell, the east gate of Wuhan was completely opened. The Japanese 9th Division immediately broke through the Sanxi and Jinniu lines, together with the 27th Division
The regiment advanced towards the Guangdong-Hankou Railway in an attempt to encircle Wuhan from the south.
Xinyang at the junction of Hubei and Henan, which was defended in the fifth theater, also fell on October 12. The Pinghan Line was immediately blocked by the Japanese, and Wusheng Pass and Pingjing Pass were no longer able to withstand the iron hoofs of the Japanese invaders.
At this time, it can be said that dark clouds are threatening to overwhelm the city, and Wuhan is in danger of being attacked from three sides!
After the Kuomintang achieved its strategic goal of "accumulating small victories into big victories and exchanging space for time," there was no room for negotiation in abandoning Wuhan.
On the night of October 23, the Japanese 6th Division captured Xinzhou, and the sound of enemy artillery could be faintly heard in Wuhan.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon on the 24th, the Third Department of the Ministry of Political Affairs held a press conference for Chinese and foreign journalists at the Yihe Bank in Hankou to explain the significance of the Wuhan Defense War and the reasons for abandoning the defense of Wuhan.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Comrade Xiangwu of the Red Party took a ferry from Wuchang to Hankou, then walked to Boundary Road and went to the "Xinhua Daily" office to dictate the editorial of the last issue of the newspaper.
Chang Shenkai did not leave Wuhan by plane until 7:30 that night. At this time, Hankou was not only covered with fluttering rain, but also the loud exploding Japanese artillery shells.
Although the attendants in the attendant's office advised him to leave Wuhan two days ago.
But Chiang Kai-shek stayed at the Military Commission (today's Hubei Provincial Library) and refused to leave.
Maybe I really can’t bear to see the big turtle and snake river here!
Perhaps it was to show his determination to fight the enemy to the end in front of the Chinese people!
Or maybe it was to express a marshal's demeanor of not being afraid of danger in front of the soldiers across the country!
But now he has to go.
In the wind and rain, he gently supported his wife, then reluctantly boarded the ramp of the plane and flew to Hengyang Airport.
But that night, the night was like soaked in ink, spread out between the sky and the earth, without a trace of starlight or bright colors, making it difficult for people to distinguish east, west, north, south, etc., so Chang Shenkai's plane and four escorts
All the fighter jets also lost their way.
Moreover, the plane was running low on fuel, so the situation suddenly became tense.
As a last resort, the crew had to make a temporary decision to return to Hankou.
This false alarm also made the strong Mrs. Chang Shenkai almost cry!
After the plane returned to Hankou, those people who were panicking after learning about the news that the Chairman's plane was missing breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, some people who were secretly happy at first started to curse angrily.