Part 10: December of 1937 and January of 1938
December continued much as the last month had. The Japanese had secured a bridgehead over the Huang He at Pingyin, but the rest of the line held despite repeated Japanese attacks. Even at Pingyin, the line appeared to be safe. 8 Chinese infantry divisions and several reserve militia divisions ensured the Japanese would greatly struggle to break out.
The Japanese attempted to expand their bridgehead at Pingyin by attacking Juye, the province just to the south. Initially, only an armored division attempted the crossing, but by Dec. 3, an infantry division had joined.
The Chinese militia had no answer to the Japanese tanks, so progress was made despite the river crossing necessary. However, the KMT launched a counterattack on Pingyin on Dec. 5. This forced the Japanese to call off the attack on Juye after both sides lost about 500 men. The KMT forces in Juye then joined the attack, increasing the pressure on the Japanese.
On Dec. 6, the Japanese once again tried to cross the Huang He at Kenli, the easternmost province along the Huang He. KMT infantry had been attempting to leave the province to return to the eastern line's reserve, and the Japanese thought they could cross the river as the infantry were no longer entrenched.
In the west, the Japanese attempted to take Hancheng. They had steadily been pushing CCP forces out of Shanxi, so it seemed they intended to encircle the Communists' territory and destroy them.
On Dec. 10, the Japanese gave up their assault on Kenli, having lost almost 2000 men to the KMT's 600. However, they saw their chance to cross the river on Dec. 13; the KMT infantry divisions had withdrawn from Kenli, leaving only 4 militia divisions to defend the river crossings. The KMT infantry were rushed back to Kenli, but it would take some time for them to arrive and reinforce.
In the west, the Japanese finally won the battle of Hancheng on Dec. 16. Both sides only lost 700 men each, but Chiang felt that the KMT militias had successfully stalled the Japanese long enough. Hancheng was a relatively worthless province, and the miltias would take up even stronger positions as they retreated west to Tongxian.
Later on Dec. 16, KMT forces had won the battle of Pingyin. Casualties had been especially heavy, with the NRA losing almost 3500 men to Japan's 2300. However, the attack deprived Japan of their only bridgehead over the Huang He, ending any threat of a sudden breakout.
The battle of Kenli still raged on, and the Japanese were beginning to make serious progress. Four reinforcing militia divisions arrived just in time to take over from their battered and disorganized comrades. The infantry divisions were still several days away, so it was hoped the militias could hold out until they arrived. Without their entrenchments, the militias were at a disadvantage against the hardened Japanese infantry facing them. However, the KMT infantry arrived on Dec. 21 and forced the Japanese to call off the attack. Both sides lost about 1200 men which was concerning because the Japanese had been attacking across a river.
The front remained quiet until Dec. 24. The Japanese launched an attack on KMT militias in Lingbao, southeast of Hancheng. The Japanese initially attacked with only one cavalry division, but they soon brought in an infantry division as well.
The KMT had no units in reserve along the western portion of the Huang He Line. It had been thought that the Japanese would be so focused on the coast there would be little effort to push into the interior of China. However, the Chinese defensive line had performed so well that the Japanese resorted to probing it all along the front to find a weak point to cross. Ultimately, two infantry divisions were pulled off the line nearby to reinforce the militia.
Despite Chinese reinforcements arriving, the battle for Lingbao would continue through the end of the month.
On Dec. 30, very good news arrived to Chiang and his closest advisors. The secret clause of the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact had finally been fulfilled. A wing of fighters and a wing of bombers had been delivered by the Soviets, complete with volunteers to pilot and maintain them. A portion of the volunteers would also set up a flight school to train Chinese pilots to take over the actual combat against Japan.
Left: Tupolev SB-2 bomber, Right: Polikarpov I-16 'Ishak' and Chinese pilot
The delivery of modern aircraft would finally allow the Chinese to fight back against Japan in the air. Since the beginning of the war, Japanese bombers had indiscriminately bombed major Chinese cities including Nanjing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Except for a handful of antiquated anti-aircraft guns, the Japanese had been essentially unopposed during the whole war. The small Chinese air force had scrambled their handful of biplane fighters, but they had all been lost quickly. The Soviet fighter wing would take some time to get organized, but they would likely provide a major surprise for the Japanese.
The end of the year left the frontlines largely unchanged. Pingyin had been regained while Hancheng was lost, but no other territory changed hands despite heavy losses on both sides.
The Japanese celebrated the New Year by launching a new attack on Weinan, to the west of Lingbao. They ended the attack on Lingbao later that day, losing over 1100 men. The KMT infantry that had won Lingbao immediately began marching west to assist in the defense of Weinan.
On Jan. 4, the Japanese launched an attack on Zhengzhou. The central portion of the Huang He Line had been quiet throughout December, so this attack caught KMT reserves too far east.
On Jan. 8, the KMT militias withdrew from Weinan so the reinforcing infantry would be able to restart the defense. They lost 800 men, inflicting only 600 casualties on the Japanese.
On Jan. 9, the Chinese defenders were forced to withdraw from Zhengzhou. Despite the river crossing and urban terrain, they had only inflicted some 400 casualties while sustaining almost 1000. The Japanese would occupy the province with a single infantry division on Jan. 13. They immediately launched an attack on Kaifeng to the east. On Jan. 15, another Japanese attack was launched on Juye. The Japanese would substantially expand their bridgehead if they won either of these battles.
The battle for Kaifeng appeared to be lost, but fresh KMT militia joined the battle on Jan. 16. Chiang expected to lose Kaifeng, but he hoped it had bought time to reorganize forces and bring up reserves. The fresh militia were forced to retreat on Jan. 18. The Chinese lost almost 1400 men while the Japanese lost only 300. The Japanese commanders, Komatsubara and Shibazaki Keiji had totally outclassed their KMT opponents.
Later that same day, KMT infantry reinforced Juye, preventing a total collapse in the province. One day later, the Japanese called off the attack. They had almost broken through the militias, but they couldn't break the KMT infantry.
On Jan. 21, Chiang received further good news from the British ambassador. The United Kingdom had decided to begin shipping weapons and military supplies to the Republic of China through their colony in Burma. The British were likely concerned about Japan's possible ambitions if she succeeded in defeating China.
Later that day, Chiang was informed that sufficient Type 24 heavy machine guns had been produced to beginning equipping all of the Republic's infantry. This would greatly improve the KMT's ability to defend key positions against relentless Japanese assaults. Earlier in the month, Chinese military theorists had developed Deep Operations
(Note: 1937 Human Wave doctrine), improving how many divisions could join a battle, as well as their tactics once in the battle.
KMT soldiers using a Type 24 HMG (Chinese reproduction of the German MG08)
On Jan. 22, overwhelming KMT forces assaulted the Japanese as soon as they occupied Kaifeng. Despite Komatsubara's military genius, Chinese numbers proved overwhelming. He withdrew one day later after inflicting almost 400 casualties on the Chinese.
KMT forces were immediately attacked as soon as they reoccupied Kaifeng. The militias struggled to hold the province, but two infantry divisions arrived, forcing the Japanese to call off the attack. The Japanese had inflicted almost 800 casualties, while taking less than 400. If the infantry had not arrived in time the province surely would have been lost.
After their loss in Kaifeng, the Japanese ended any offensives along the central front. Several days passed quietly, but the Japanese launched another assault on Lingbao on Jan. 30. They seemed unlikely to break through, but their armored division was attempting to support the attack. The Chinese militia had no defenses against the Japanese tanks, forcing them to use 'Dare to Die' units. KMT infantry were rushed to the province from Lingbao, but it would take them several days to arrive.
Japanese Ha-Go tank. While not impressive by Western standards, this tank was nearly invulnerable to the KMT's militias
The front had once again remained fairly static over the course of Jan. 1938. The Japanese had captured Zhengzhou but otherwise failed to cross the Huang He. They had focused significant forces on the west, but it had yet to pay off. The Communists had reported heavy fighting along their portion of the front, so it was possible the Japanese had still focused on the CCP after forcing them out of Shanxi. More concerningly, there had been several battles where dug in KMT militia had totally failed against determined Japanese assaults, and reinforcing militias were slaughtered in the open. The Japanese had likely learned from their numerous assaults on the Huang He, learning how to bypass Chinese strongpoints along the river. KMT infantry had salvaged the line numerous times, but there was not nearly enough to prevent a determined Japanese attack across the entire line...
