In May 1938, Xuzhou fell, and the Japanese Army's Dohihara Division marched westward along the Longhai railway. On June 6th, Kaifeng fell. At the same time, Zhengzhou was also in danger. The tens of thousands of troops of the Celestial Empire were surrounded by powerful enemies.
Jiang then ordered his troops to retreat westward. The troops of the First Battle Area, who had been very confident and hopeful about this order to retreat westward, were somewhat confused. Li Hanhun, the commander of the 64th Army who volunteered to participate in the Battle of Yudong, expressed this doubt in his own memories. As for our orders to complete the Longhai Line mission by the end of May, we had to defend, advance, fight, and retreat. Many of our troops fighting side by side should be said to be in the game. Sometimes they could not understand the intentions of the commander, let alone the people on the battlefield.
Wuchang, Military Affairs Committee of the National Government. Jiang then stood in front of the military map and pondered. The two Japanese troops in the north and south were like a huge pair of pliers, fiercely pinching towards the city of Wu Han. The Central China Army in the south launched a powerful offensive along the Yangtze River waterway, while the North China Army in the north was able to break through Kaifeng and directly approach Zhengzhou. The momentum was very fierce.
The main force of our Chinese army had just broken through Xuzhou and was exhausted. They needed to rest and replenish their forces. The Japanese army was mostly mechanized and waited for fatigue. Most importantly, our Chinese army had not been carefully deployed. If they were to fight in a hurry, they would definitely lose. The military situation was like fire, and it was of great importance. Jiang was worried and uneasy when he received it.
At this time, the secretary sent an urgent message from the first war zone. The 14th and 16th divisions of the Japanese army on the north road had arrived at the city of Zhengzhou. If Zhengzhou was lost, the Japanese army would go south along the Pinghan Road and arrive at Wuhan1 in a few days. How could Jiang not be anxious when he took over? After a hasty lunch, Jiang called for a small military meeting to discuss countermeasures. At the meeting, someone brought up a plan to stop the enemy that they had mentioned a month ago. Everyone immediately fell silent. Jiang then left his seat and paced back and forth, recalling the scenes of the Yellow River releasing water to stop the enemy. He weighed the pros and cons repeatedly in his heart. As early as 1935, the general adviser of the German military consultant group, Fakenhausen, who was employed by the Chinese government, made a suggestion to Jiang Jieshi on the strategy and strategy of resisting the Japanese. However, when Jiang took over, his understanding of the suggestion that the Yellow River should be the last line of defense, and planned artificial flooding should be done to increase its defensive power was that it was the last line of resistance. In July 1936, for the second time, Fakenhausen proposed to dig the Yellow River to stop the enemy. Two years later, what finally forced Jiang Jieshi to make this difficult choice was the continuous defeat on the battlefield in eastern Henan. In late April 1938, several troops of the Japanese Second Army advanced to the north bank of the Yellow River, facing the troops of the First War Zone across the river. Chen Guofu, one of the elders of the Kuomingtang, returned to Wuhan after inspecting this place and presented a report to Jiang. He advocated digging up the Yellow River's north levee in Wuzhi County, Henan Province, and releasing the Yellow River water to drown the Japanese army on the north bank. Chen Guofu believed that since ancient times, the Yellow River had been dangerous and unpredictable. It was extremely dangerous for the Chinese army on the south bank and the Japanese army on the north bank. If the Japanese army first blew up the south dike, then our Chinese army would be flooded. In that case, it was better to break the dike before the Japanese army made a move. This would solve the worries of the south bank and flood the enemy, blocking the enemy in Henan. At that time, Jiang was hesitant. Although it was possible to gain some military advantage by breaking the dike and releasing water, it would inevitably affect the people of the flooded area. A military action that was not very significant could cause a great crime that was written in the history books. This was not worth it! As a result, he had passed Chen Guofu's report to the commander of the 1st Battle Area, Cheng Qian. However, Cheng Qian was also unwilling to bear the responsibility of such a matter, so the proposal was shelved. Now, the fierce offensive of the Japanese army did not give Jiang any time to think and hesitate. Some senior officials advised Jiang to go easy on the enemy. Seeing that the Japanese army was rapidly advancing south, and it would take time to deploy troops to defend Wuhan1, Jiang made up his mind. Throwing China to the Japanese was the most serious crime in the world. He could not care about anything else!
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