In 1937, the Japanese invaders moved southward from Pinghan and Jinpu along Pinghan Road, threatening to annihilate the main force of the Chinese army near Xuzhou. On June 6, 1938, Kaifeng fell. At the same time, Zhengzhou was also in danger.
"Urgent! Extremely urgent!" The commander of the First War Zone, Cheng Qian, urgently suggested to Jiang Jieshi that the Yellow River should be used to dig dikes during the flood season, causing flooding in the area east of Pinghan Road, and using the torrential flood to stop the enemy's westward advance to ensure that Zhengzhou was not lost. This suggestion was finally approved by Jiang Jieshi. Yan Xunfu, then the chief of staff of the battalion, was the first to propose that the Yellow River embankment could be broken to isolate the enemy from eastern Henan and preserve Zhengzhou during the war between China and Japan.
Later, Cheng Qian, Feng Yuxiang, Bai Chongxi, and others also made similar suggestions. On April 13, 1938, when Chen Guofu wrote to Jiang Jie, he advocated digging the north dike of the Yellow River near the Qinhe River in Wuzhi County, Henan Province, and "using water to counterattack the enemy."
When Jiang saw that the situation was unfavorable to him, he took the advice of everyone and sent a message to the commander of the First War Zone, Cheng Qian, to verify it. On the morning of June 4, a regiment of the 53rd Army of the Shangzhen Department was ordered to dig a dike at Zhaokou, Zhongmu County. On June 6, Jiang Zaizhen, the commander of the new Eighth Division, suggested that the dike burst at Huayuankou. On the 7th, a regiment of the newly formed 8th Division was sent to bombard the Yellow River embankment with flat-fire cannons at Huayuankou, northeast of Zhengzhou. On the 9th, the water was released. Later, the breach was expanded to more than 370 meters.
In the early morning of June 9th, the dyke at Huayuankou burst successfully, and the river water flowed southeast along the Jialu River and the Ying River. After digging the dike, it temporarily hindered the Japanese army's attack, causing the Japanese army's 16th division to be in trouble. The merciless flood flooded 44 counties and cities in Henan, Jiangsu, and Guizhou provinces, turning 540,000 square kilometers of land into swamps, bringing great disaster to the people. After the flood, this land became a desolate and barren area.
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