Tiger Troops: The 74th Army of the Kuomintang Anti-Japanese Ace

Chapter 27 Man Lives on Hope (Battle of Changde) (1)
After the Battle of Western Hubei ended, the 74th Army marched southward to Western Hunan, undergoing a four-month training in accordance with the Assault Operations Outline. The 74th Army is an attacking army without fixed defensive tasks, and it was transferred from the Ninth War Zone. Of course, it will return after the training is over. However, since the combat effectiveness of most of the ministries under its jurisdiction is not strong in the Sixth War Zone, it took advantage of the situation to request the Military Commission to keep the 74th Army. Come down to strengthen the strength of this theater.

The sixth theater was quite predictable. Soon, the Japanese No.11 Army launched a large-scale attack again, and the attack direction was impartial, which happened to be directed at Changde.

Hunan has been known as the "Kyushu Granary" since ancient times. The so-called "Hunan has a good harvest, and Sichuan has a famine".As an important town in western Hunan, Changde, opposite to Changsha, has become the lifeblood of the Chinese army's food supply.The No. 11 Japanese Army’s attack, in addition to confining China’s expedition to Burma and further weakening the resistance of the frontal battlefield, mainly wanted to rob Changde and other places of materials, especially grain, after the autumn harvest, so as to achieve the following goals. The purpose of war is to support war, so some foreign reporters at that time directly called it "Battle of the Barn".

The tactics used by the Japanese army in the Battle of Changde still did not give up their usual tactics of "using land barriers to encircle". They used Dongting Lake as a land barrier to encircle from the west of Changde.If we talk about the difference, it is mainly due to the thickening of troops. In addition to the No.11 Army's overwhelming force, the No.13 Army also mobilized the [-]th Division to help, making the attacking force exceed [-].

Similarly, China’s strategy of defending against the enemy did not deviate from the military thinking of "retreating for a decisive battle" and "fighting for outside lines". Kawama launched a side attack and an ambush, and at the same time assembled an attacking corps, and the camera counterattacked the Japanese army from the outside.

On November 11th, the enemy's situation became clear. Sun Lianzhong, the commander of the Sixth War Zone, sent a telegram that night to order the 4th Division of the 74th Army to set up defenses in Changde, and the rest of the 57th Army went to Taoyuan to respond to the defense of Changde.

No one can come up to help

The so-called cleverness of usage lies in one mind. After all, the principles of military science cannot replace specific actual combat. On November 11, under the fierce attack of the main force of the Japanese army, Shimen fell, and the remnants of the friendly army broke through to Cili.In order to rush across the river, the rout soldiers scrambled and crowded, drowning many people, and losing all their artillery and ammunition.

The burden of flanking and ambush along the way in the sixth theater has not yet been shaken out, and the frontline troops have been beaten to pieces.Judging from the situation on the battlefield, Shimen and Cili are the horns of each other, forming a barrier to the northwest of Changde, and it is the outer battlefield of the battle of Changde. If there is a danger in the outer periphery, the red light will be turned on in the defense of Changde in advance.On the same day, the 51st Division and the 58th Division were ordered to set off from Taoyuan to compete with the Japanese for the outer flank.

On the evening of November 11, the two divisions, one in front and the other behind, arrived at their respective assembly positions. A battalion of the 15th Division occupied the forward position in Chisong Mountain, north of Cili.The next day, the No. 58th Division No. 13 Fifth Regiment of the Japanese Army, which set out from Shimen, rushed towards Cili along Shici Avenue. At dusk, its vanguard encountered the search team sent by the 60th Division and a gun battle broke out.

On the morning of November 11, the main force of the No.17 Fifth Regiment of the Japanese Army launched an attack on Chisong Mountain.In the previous battles, the No.60 Fifth Regiment basically did not spend much effort, and the defenders along the way were defeated by a slight attack.Just the day before yesterday, they discovered that Chinese soldiers were lurking in the mountains, and they even played a special trick to let the puppet troops blow the rallying call. As a result, many Chinese soldiers came down the mountain one after another to gather and were captured by them.

But that said before, although there was only one battalion of defenders on Chisong Mountain, they fought very tenaciously. The No. 60 Fifth Regiment of the Japanese Army attacked for a whole day, and failed to capture the mountain until sunset.

When the storm failed, the Japanese army changed their original aggressive posture and launched a night attack on Chisong Mountain secretly.The defenders on the mountain stood firm and were all killed because they were outnumbered.

The fierce battle at Chisong Mountain made the No.60 Fifth Regiment of the Japanese Army realize that the battle here in Cili would never be as easy as Shimen. The commander of the regiment, Yoshihiko Ito, decided to use the night as a cover to occupy the highland east of Cili in one go. .Unexpectedly, the highland here has already been controlled by the main force of the 58th Division.When the Japanese army tried to approach from the mountain road on the side of Yangjiao Mountain, they were violently blocked by the 58th Division and had to retreat.

At dawn on November 11, a part of the Japanese Third Division also attacked Liangya on the right wing of the 18th Division. As a result, it was attacked by the 58st Division and the 51th Division. More than half of the Japanese troops were killed or injured.

Although the main position was temporarily held, something was wrong at this time.It can be clearly seen that there is more than one Japanese army unit in front of Cili, and other parts of the Japanese army are still pouring towards Cili.Looking closer, all the friendly forces were disintegrated, and none of them could come up to help. The 74th Army was actually fighting alone, facing the enemy on many fronts.

The Military Commission is not unaware of the plight of the 74th Army on the Changde battlefield.In order to strengthen the strength of the 74th Army, the day after Shimen fell, Wang Yaowu was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of the No. 20 Ninth Army (still serving as the commander of the 74th Army), and the [-]th Army was temporarily assigned to Wang Yaowu's command to form the Wang Yaowu Corps.

The [-]th Army was originally the designation of the Central Army, but its record has been lackluster. Until the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Battle, the troops belonging to the army were defeated, and the commander was dismissed and investigated.After the war, the Military Commission planned to rectify it, and Chiang Kai-shek was the first to think of Wang Yaowu.

The so-called thousands of troops are easy to get, but a general is hard to find. Whether the army is good or not depends entirely on whether the general will train troops.Whether Wang Yaowu will train soldiers, just look at the 74th Army he brought out with one hand.If the 51st Division and the 58th Division have a good foundation and can become great weapons, the 57th Division joined in the middle and was originally unknown. However, after being trained by Wang Yaowu, it has become the well-known "Hu Ben Division". Can you still not believe how important a soldier is?

Chiang Kai-shek handed over the One Hundred Army to Wang Yaowu for training, and allowed him to arrange the officers and personnel of the army through self-nomination: army commander, division commander, regiment commander, battalion commander, company commander, whoever you think is suitable, and I will do it when you report your name. batch.

The commander of the 74th Army recommended by Wang Yaowu was Shi Zhongcheng, the former deputy commander of the 74th Army.After a year of training by Wang Yaowu and Shi Zhongcheng, the combat effectiveness of the 74th Army was greatly enhanced, and it was upgraded to a new unit directly under the Military Commission.However, because of the difficulty in management, the Military Commission has repeatedly warned Wang Yaowu that the foundation of the 74th Army is not strong, and it must not be disassembled and used in actual combat like the [-]th Army, lest the Japanese destroy the shelves that have been built with great difficulty.

On November 11th, the No.19 Division of the 19th Army arrived at Qijiahe in the south of Cili, but Shi Zhongcheng, the commander of the 51th Army, and the main force of the 58th Army were still in Taoyuan and had not yet been able to come to meet up.Wang Yaowu knew that the frontline troops were weak, but he couldn't send the [-]th Division alone. Instead, he could only let the [-]st and [-]th Divisions hold on in Cili first.

On that day, the front line of Cili was fiercely fought.The Japanese army launched an attack on the main positions of the two divisions with all their strength, using aircraft, artillery and even gas bombs. The Yangjiao Mountain and other positions of the 58th Division were once shaken. Zhang Lingfu commanded two battalions to attack from both wings, and the positions were stabilized through hand-to-hand fighting. The 51st Division was even more dangerous, and the position changed hands five times, all of which were taken back by Zhou Zhidao and his troops desperately.

In order to prevent the prominent positions of the 58th Division from being divided and surrounded by the Japanese army, Wang Yaowu ordered Zhang Lingfu to abandon the prominent positions and shrink the positions to connect with the 51st Division so that they could defend for a longer period of time.

There are many mountains around Cili, and the new position occupied by the 74th Army is a highland with an elevation of more than 60 meters. The slope is steep and there are cliffs everywhere, which is relatively convenient for defense.It was difficult for the No.[-] Fifth Regiment of the Japanese Army to make progress during the day, so they had to launch a surprise attack at night.All units of the regiment stayed up all night, attacked several times at night, and the first-line troops only moved forward a little, and then they were unable to attack.

Thrilling scene

The No.60 Fifth Regiment of the Japanese Army was unable to attack Cili repeatedly, which made Lieutenant General Chilu Lieutenant, the commander of the division, very unhappy. On the evening of November 11th, accompanied by the chief of staff, he came to the headquarters of the No.20 Fifth Regiment, and issued a strict order to Captain Ito with a gloomy face: "We must quickly break through the enemy in front of us tonight and enter the designated place!"

Receiving rewards for no merit would certainly make one feel top-heavy, but it would be distressing and anxious for the commander if he could not get it no matter how hard he stretched out his hands despite clearly seeing that the military exploits were ahead.The boss's aggressiveness regardless of the actual situation increased Ito's emotions. However, for the sake of the overall situation, he could only organize those subordinates whose eyes were already red to continue fighting.

At 60 o'clock in the evening, the No.[-] Fifth Regiment only occupied a corner of the defensive position after a forced breakthrough.An hour later, still no progress.Ito was in a hurry, so he personally commanded the regiment's infantry to rush forward with the infantry brigade.

At this time, the sky was as black as ink blobs.The headquarters of the alliance was lost, and Ito could only advance while knowing the status of each team through the wireless announcement machine.

In order to prevent the Japanese army's night attack, the 51st Division and the 58th Division each sent a battalion to attack the Japanese army's two wings.It was this attack that caught the Japanese No.60 Fifth Regiment by surprise, and the Japanese army immediately fell into chaos. Ito desperately called to the surroundings, but all the ministries were busy in the melee, and the contact was quickly cut off.

In this defensive counterattack, the 74th Army adopted the tactics of attacking against attack and attacking against attack, not only successfully repelling the offensive of the No. 60 Fifth Regiment of the Japanese Army, but also seized more than [-] machine rifles, [-] More than horses and many military supplies.

After Ito lost contact with the army, he had to advance alone. At midnight, he was surrounded by the highlands on the north side of Yuerya.At that time, apart from the headquarters of the regiment, there was only one flag team available for combat, and everyone was dumbfounded.

At dawn on November 11, the 21th Army's attack gradually intensified, but Ito still failed to get in touch with his troops.At 74:[-] p.m., a grenade exploded under the banner of the army. Ito's right leg was injured by shrapnel. Three guards were either killed or injured. The headquarters of the regiment was almost unable to support it.After staying up until four o'clock in the afternoon, a part of the Daba brigade arrived, and only then did Ito, who was still in shock, be rescued from the crisis.

In addition to competing with the No. 60 Fifth Regiment of the Japanese Army, the 74th Army also repelled the attacks launched by other units of the Japanese Army. Zhang Jiguang, the battalion commander of the 51st Division, was killed in the charge. Another battalion commander, Zhou Demin, was seriously injured and refused to retreat. He led his troops to capture six soldiers from the No.30 Fourth Division of the Japanese Army.

Another thrilling scene happened that night. Liu Bingjun, commander of the Artillery Battalion of the 58th Division, led the whole battalion on standby in the village. In order to understand the supply situation, he made a long-distance call to the military depot.The head of the military station told Liu Bingjun that the Japanese army made a detour to attack the rear, and now they have reached the Longtan River, and their military station is preparing to move.

Not long after, the military headquarters passed by the village where the artillery battalion was located. Liu Bingjun saw Wang Yaowu's entourage and adjutant among them, so he asked him where the military headquarters was going.

It's okay not to ask, but Liu Bingjun was taken aback when he asked, because the place where the military headquarters was going was the Longtan River.

Liu Bingjun said: "There are enemies there now, and it is very dangerous. Don't you know?"

Liu Bingjun hurriedly took the adjutant to look for Wang Yaowu.Seeing Wang Yaowu, Liu Bingjun told the story, Wang Yaowu was also shocked, and asked if the phone was still available.Liu Bingjun nodded and said it made sense, Wang Yaowu immediately said: "Let's go to your battalion headquarters."

When he arrived at the headquarters of the artillery battalion, Wang Yaowu answered the phone of the station chief, asked about the situation, checked the military map for a while, and immediately decided to change the deployment and move the general headquarters to a new location.

If Liu Bingjun hadn't reported the enemy's situation in time, the military headquarters might have been attacked by the Japanese army at night without any preparation.This was the second time that Wang Yaowu was in danger since he became the commander of the 74th Army. Afterwards, he even called it a fluke, but he also remembered the kindness of his subordinates: "After all, he (referring to Liu Bingjun) is someone who has followed me for many years, so he cares so much! "

It was the Sasaki detachment of the Japanese army that detoured the Longtan River.Wang Yaowu spent half an hour personally calling the ministries and deploying countermeasures.After receiving the order, the 51st Division and the 58th Division each pulled out one part from the front, and together with the troops directly under the army, carried out a pincer attack on the Sasaki Detachment, shattering its plan to raid the command structure of the 74th Army, but the flanks of the 58th Division have been split. , the frontal position is bound to be surrounded.

On November 11, the main forces of the 22st and 51th Divisions were forced to withdraw from Cili and shift their positions to the south of Qijiahe.This evacuation means that the west of Changde is wide open, but it is beneficial to the peripheral troops of the 58th Army, because they can join forces with the 74th Division and be in a better position for external attack.

At this time, the 74th Army had been assembled, and Wang Yaowu Corps (including the 57th Army and the 13th Army) was ordered by the theater to switch from defense to offense, trying to open up the connection with the 74th Division.The No.[-] Division of the Japanese Army and the Sasaki Detachment retreated to Huangshi and Jiuxi to prevent the [-]th Army from advancing eastward to Changde and cover the back of its main force attacking Changde.

Role model
The 57th Division has been stationed in Changde since the Battle of Western Hubei. Although it has only been stationed for half a year, this unit still left an excellent impression on the people of Changde.

In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, some troops of the central military system were very strict in terms of military discipline. Many troops even used the death penalty to punish soldiers who robbed or harassed the people. Killing - in the eyes of Westerners, this also shows that the Chinese army does not respect and cherish the lives of soldiers. After all, it is just a bucket of water, and it can be punished by confinement or other methods.

During the Battle of Wuhan, the British journalist Ateli once stayed in Tang Enbo's army for a while. She saw soldiers living in farmers' homes helping with housework and playing with children.If a young man of a family is conscripted to fight, the soldiers will help the family harvest rice.As for the situation of forced buying and selling, she had never seen it before, but several families killed pigs and placed them at the entrance of the village, preparing to sell them to soldiers.

However, this only reflects the situation in the early days of the War of Resistance. As the war has become longer and more difficult, troops that can consistently maintain strict military discipline have become rare.Yue Qilin, who was the head of the construction section of the Changde County Government at the time, had received many Kuomintang troops stationed in Changde. He bluntly said that the 57th Division was rare in the Kuomintang army, because this army never bought or sold by force, and did not take the needles and threads of the people. , and none of the officers and soldiers would harass and make trouble in entertainment places.

Not only that, when the autumn harvest season comes, the 57th Division will also dispatch soldiers to help farmers harvest rice.All the soldiers who went to help brought their own farm tools and food, and cooked their own meals, and refused to receive entertainment and rewards from the local authorities.

As a major general, Yu Chengwan himself has set an example.Unlike some Kuomintang officers who only sit in the headquarters and play mahjong or accompany their aunts and wives, he often goes deep into the people and understands the people's conditions.

Changde is an important town in western Hunan and the gateway to Sichuan and Guangxi. It has always been a battleground for military strategists.After the fall of Wuhan, its strategic position became more prominent. Therefore, the garrison continued, and all the garrison troops had to build fortifications without exception. This was a very heavy burden for the local government and the people.Whenever the garrison needed local assistance, they only sent junior officers to deal with the county government. Although these officers were not of high rank, they were often bureaucratic, put on airs, and yelled at each other.

This is not the case with Yu Chengwan. He always visits in person, and his attitude is kind and approachable.If there is a need for local supplies of materials for construction of the fortifications, he will definitely ask if there is any difficulty and whether it is necessary to send troops to help transport them.

Yue Qilin once suffered from malaria, and quinine to treat malaria could not be bought in Changde. Yu Chengwan actually found a herbal prescription for him and brought it to him during a visit, thus saving Yue Qilin's life.This is true for an ordinary county government employee, let alone other people.

(End of this chapter)