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

Chapter 33 Put the word "death" on your head (Battle of Henan, Hunan, Guangxi and the defense of Hengyang) (2)
Hengyang is the core defensive position of the Chinese army, that is, the "core area".Yokoyama knew that the Chinese side would stick to it with heavy troops, and that strategic corps would also be deployed on the periphery from time to time, so he demanded to hurry up and capture it at all costs.

Fang Xianjue commanded the Tenth Army to defend Hengyang. With the shrinking of the position and the lack of reinforcements, the morale of the officers and soldiers gradually declined.They were extremely resentful that Xue Yue moved to Guidong and did not provide all-out reinforcements. Soldiers who escaped sporadically scolded Xue Yue for his incompetence in command: "The several victories in Changsha (referring to the 'great victories' before the third Changsha battle) are all bragging. In the third battle of Changsha, our Tenth Army was required to defend Changsha, and this time the Tenth Army was sent to defend Hengyang. We have been defending for so many days, (he) put us to death and ignored."

Only Wang Yaowu's corps was left to save Hengyang from the siege.At this time, in addition to commanding the No.20 Fourth Army, Wang Yaowu was also able to mobilize the No.70 Ninth Army, the No.90 Ninth Army, and the remnants of the Fourth Army that lost Changsha, claiming to have a scale of 6 divisions.However, these troops have been fighting since the beginning of June. Most of them are long-term and tired troops with broken organizational systems. Their combat effectiveness has been greatly reduced, and it is difficult to form a breakthrough in the Japanese blocking line.At the same time, there are many people in the Corps who want to preserve their strength, and even feel jealous of the Tenth Army. A commander of the No. 20 Fourth Army said in private: "If Hengyang breaks the siege, wouldn't Fang Xianjue become a personal hero?"

Just when the ministries were either really unable to do the job, or were hesitant to wait and see, Wang Yaowu decided to use the "Tiger Troop" again.In the early days of the Battle of Changheng, Wang Yaowu only transferred 74 divisions from the 58th army to enter the ninth theater to fight with him. Both the 51st and 57th divisions were left by the sixth theater to serve as defenses near Changde.It wasn't until the end of June and the beginning of July that the 6st and 7th Divisions were able to be rebuilt and put into battle.

In mid-July, Shi Zhongcheng, commander of the 7th Army, was ordered to rush to the Jinlan Temple and Jiwo Mountain west of Hengyang to relieve the siege of Hengyang.

The three divisions of the 74th Army were not all in the best condition. The 57th Division suffered almost all casualties in the Battle of Changde. After the war, it went to Taoyuan for supplementary training. After three months of training, it has just recovered its combat effectiveness. After the 58th Division defended Ningxiang, it fought with the No.40th Division of the Japanese Army in Yongfeng, and there was no time to make up for the loss of troops.After all, only the 51st Division is in a slightly better situation.In the marching formation, Shi Zhongcheng placed the 58th Division in front, the 51st Division behind, and the 57th Division for flank protection.

The first target, Jinlan Temple, is more than 40 kilometers southwest of Hengyang. It was originally stationed by a battalion of the No.70 Ninth Army.After the Japanese army surrounded Hengyang, in order to consolidate the periphery of Hengyang, the No.40 Division of the Japanese Army sent the Black Beard Brigade to capture this place.

The initial task of recovering Jinlan Temple was undertaken by the 7th Army. On July 20th, the No.19 Division cut off the enemy's retreat with a part. After the main force captured the shops and villages in front of Jinlan Temple, they gradually compressed the enemy into Jinlan Temple.

Jinlan Temple is a small temple with brick and stone structure, but the Japanese army made use of the surrounding terrain to build it into a stronghold that is easy to defend and difficult to attack: in addition to the stubborn resistance of the brick and stone buildings in the temple, the big tree in front of the temple has light The machine gunners fired down, and there were defensive fortifications on the small high ground behind the temple.

The No.19 Division sent additional troops to capture the high ground behind the temple first, and then concentrated mortars and heavy machine guns to destroy the firing point on the tree.Only the temple was left that could not be invaded. For such a strong stronghold, neither mortars nor heavy machine guns were able to do their best. Mountain artillery had to be used, but the [-]th Division didn't even have mountain artillery.Allied planes bombed and strafed Jinlan Temple several times, but it was difficult to hit because the temple was huddled in the mountain nest.

Besieged for a week, still unable to do anything.Li Tianxia, ​​the commander of the [-]th Army, took an opportunistic approach. He instructed the [-]th Division to find a way to plant the national flag on the tree in front of the temple, so that the Allied planes could report to the top after seeing it, saying that the [-]th Army had captured Jinlan Temple.

During his tenure as regiment commander to division commander, Li Tianxia did not lack the bravery and courage that the generals of the 74th Army were accustomed to, but later he became obsessed with fighting clever and cheap battles. His bad idea has caused the [-]th Division to suffer.In order to plant the flag, the [-]th Division sent death squads to climb the tree many times in a row, but they were all attacked by the Japanese army. The flag was not planted, and nine people were killed and injured in vain.

On July 7, Zhang Lingfu attacked. After the 23th Division repelled the enemy reinforcements to Jinlan Temple, it will launch a fierce attack on Jinlan Temple together with the 58th Division. The 58th Division has a mountain artillery company attached to the army. With the support of the artillery, they destroyed the front fortifications of the Japanese barbed wire.

On July 7, Wang Yaowu ordered all units of the Corps to attack the southwestern suburbs of Hengyang in an all-round way. However, when the Japanese reinforcements arrived the next day, all units retreated across the board. Only the 28th Division and the 58th Division continued to advance towards Hengyang.Two days later, they approached the outskirts of Hengyang and started a desperate struggle with the No. 40 Division [-]th Regiment of the Japanese Army defending the area.

bullying
In response to the relief troops, the [-]nd, [-]th and [-]th Wings of the Japanese Army occupied a series of positions facing the southwest, among which the Jiwo Mountain position was the most dangerous.

Jiwo Mountain is only ten kilometers away from Hengyang, and Hengyang can be seen from the top of the mountain. It is also the highest mountain in the Mediterranean Sea in the western suburbs of Hengyang.At the foot of Jiwo Mountain is the road leading to Hengyang. The side of the road facing the Chinese army is an open land, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

In the Battle of Changde, Wang Muxian of the 58th Division took Qijiahe to guard against the enemy and led a company to encircle and wipe out a Japanese squadron resting in the house. Therefore, the 74th Army was awarded the title of "Model Company of the Whole Army".This time, the company was used as a vanguard company and served as the sharp knife unit to attack Jiwo Mountain. The company commander Wang Muxian immediately issued a military order and explained that once he died in battle, the first platoon leader would act as his company commander.

Using artillery fire as a cover, the 58th Division launched an attack on the main peak of Jiwo Mountain from dusk.Holding the national flag in his hand, Wang Muxian was about to charge, but was shot and died.The acting company commander continued to command the charge. After successive attacks, the Japanese army was forced to retreat to the reverse slope.

On the second day of the battle, a main attack battalion invested by the 58th Division suffered nearly half of the casualties, and two company commanders were killed and one injured.At dawn on the third day, a Japanese plane circling at a low altitude fired at the Chinese position, and then was eager to return because of the fear of counterattack by the Allied planes. As a result, the two bombs dropped in a panic fell on the Japanese own position. The 58th Division took the opportunity to charge with all their strength and threw a large number of grenades at the enemy's positions.

In the later period of the Anti-Japanese War, there was a serious crisis of replenishment of soldiers in the Chinese army.Most of the soldiers recruited and allocated by the troops come from the strong men in the divisions and regiments.At that time, it was called the conscription system plus the recruitment system, but in fact it was the system of arresting soldiers, which is commonly known as "grabbing strong men".Most of the strong men captured did not meet the requirements for enlistment. Their bodies were often not strong enough, and they could not endure hardships and were unwilling to endure hardships.At the same time, because the frontlines are frequently in a hurry and time is tight, they have to drive to the frontlines after a little training.The result of this is that most recruits do not know how to use guns, and even some officers do not know how to shoot or stab, and of course they cannot teach their own soldiers.

After the 74th Army was designated as an attacking army, there were specially assigned division and regiment management areas in Guizhou in the rear, which were responsible for recruiting and training recruits for the 74th Army.In a horizontal comparison, the quality of recruits in the 74th Army may be better than other units, but many problems inevitably exist.An effective way to make recruits useful at this time is to teach them to throw grenades.

When an officer gave a spiritual speech to the recruits, he cheered up the recruits who had no military foundation and combat experience: "We need you very much. Although you have never fought in war and can't throw grenades, it doesn't matter. We will I will teach you immediately."

Compared with shooting and stabbing, throwing grenades is indeed the easiest.Only a few veterans can explain how to throw a grenade in a short time.As for the actual level of throwing, it doesn’t matter. It’s better if you can throw it farther, and it’s forgiven if you throw it closer. In short, when fighting hand-to-hand, “As long as the thrown grenade explodes, the enemy will definitely die!”

The stormy grenades were thrown over, and in an instant, the Japanese army's position was ablaze, and the enemy soldiers were killed and injured, and they had to flee backwards. On August 8, the 2th Division regained the main peak of Jiwo Mountain.

On the other highlands, the Chinese and Japanese armies also fought fiercely. On the morning of August 8th, the 4st Division arrived at the front line with the army headquarters.Twelve mountain cannons of the Artillery Battalion of the army quickly set up their positions and violently bombarded the 51 highland east of Jiwo Mountain.

The 51st and 58th divisions immediately seized the opportunity and charged towards the mountain like a tiger. The Japanese army left the mountain and retreated.When cleaning the battlefield, it was found that many Japanese soldiers who were killed were also very young, and they should all be recruits from the mainland.Because it was too late to transport the corpses away, each corpse had a hand chopped off-the Japanese army would write the names of the dead next to this hand, and then send them back to Japan and hand them over to their families as evidence of their death.

Encouraged by the 74th Army, the [-]th Army also successively captured Yayingling and other highlands.The passive situation on the front line of Jiwoshan made the commander of the [-]nd, [-]th and [-]th Regiment of the Japanese Army Toda Yoshinao feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.

The deeper the battle, the more it can highlight the value of the ace unit.Most of the Japanese soldiers who entered the Hengyang battlefield were veterans left over from the battle of Changde last year and the battle of Changheng since the beginning of the battle, and they had considerable combat experience.

However, the No.70 Fourth Army is also an old army with rich combat experience, especially the 51st and 58th Divisions are different from the 57th Division that was rebuilt after the Changde War.Through repeated contests on the battlefield, the officers and soldiers of these troops have a certain understanding of the Japanese army's organization, equipment, tactics, command and customary style of play.

The 74th Army also felt a basic characteristic of the Japanese army in combat, that is, "bullying the weak and fearing the tough." To put it bluntly, the Japanese army was very afraid of fighting against troops like the No.70 Fourth Army that often fought tough battles.For them, it would be the most comfortable and relaxing if they could often fight against miscellaneous troops or general "central army" with weak combat effectiveness.

The current situation is not so good. The 74th Army is at the door, and you can't even hang up the battle card if you want to.In desperation, Captain Toda simply raised the flag of the regiment himself, and led the rear troops into the position to defend.

Lieutenant General Aoki Chengichi, head of the No.40 Division of the Japanese Army, deeply felt that the situation of his division, especially the 11nd, 40th, and 13th Wings, was serious, so he made a request for reinforcements to the No. 40 Army Headquarters, but failed to obtain Isamu Yokoyama's consent.Lieutenant General Chilu Lieutenant, the commander of the No.[-] Division of the Japanese Army, which is adjacent to the No.[-] Division, saw it and knew that the No.[-] Division was in critical condition, so he expressed his willingness to draw his sword and send troops to rescue. The answer was only one sentence: "Attack Hengyang with all your strength!"

It's not that Isamu Yokoyama doesn't know how miserable Toda is.It is said that during those days, the commander of the army went to the high ground near the headquarters every morning and afternoon to observe the battle situation in Jiwoshan. Quite an intense battle!"

Yokoyama is not only concerned about Toda's situation, he is also afraid that Toda will not be able to withstand it and let the 74th Army break through.However, in order to be able to concentrate his forces and completely conquer Hengyang, he still chose to abandon his pawns to save the chariot, and he was still unwilling to divide his troops to reinforce Toda.

surrender Han but not Cao

Under Wang Yaowu's order, the Chinese side organized a search team with a radio station. The task was to search for the enemy's situation and at the same time get in touch with the Hengyang defenders.The search team was discovered by the Japanese army shortly after entering the edge of Hengyang City, and they had to retreat while fighting.

But a few days later, officers and soldiers of the tenth army broke out along this direction.They told the search team: "I have heard gunshots in the western suburbs these days, and we know that reinforcements have arrived, so we dared to risk our lives to escape from the tiger's mouth and run towards you."

As of August 8th, under the fierce attack of the 5th Army and other troops, more than half of the second, third and fourth regiments of the Japanese army had suffered casualties. Taking the third brigade as an example, the squadron with the largest number of soldiers had only 74 people including the wounded. The smallest squadron has only two people left!

Even in this situation, the head of the Aoki division still strictly ordered Toda to absolutely prohibit retreating.Toda was forced to gather the staff of the regiment, signal soldiers, and horsemen as combat soldiers, and at the same time, the puppet army "Zhou Troop" was also driven to the front line.

The first-line troops of the [-]nd, [-]th and [-]th regiments are not only short of soldiers, but also extremely short of ammunition. This move is very dangerous when used in practice. The most typical example is Major General Shima Genkichi, the commander of the Japanese brigade who supervised the battle in Hengyang. He was shot through the head by a bullet because of his slightly higher posture.

The second, third and fourth regiments of the Japanese army finally retreated to the highlands east of Dashuitang, and the 74th Army became the closest army to Hengyang among the more than [-] troops in the periphery.Standing on the top of Jiwo Mountain, the houses in Hengyang City can already be seen, and the sound of guns and bombs in the city can also be clearly heard.

It seems that there is only one step away from the siege.However, on August 8, the officers and soldiers of the Tenth Army who escaped from Hengyang City brought bad news: "The 7th Division in the west of Hengyang City has planted a white flag to surrender to the enemy. You are late." At night, Hengyang There was silence in the city, and there was no more intense gunfire, which proved that the news was very likely to be true.

At dawn on August 8, officers and soldiers who escaped from the city one after another confirmed that the Tenth Army had run out of ammunition and food, and Fang Xianjue had led his troops to surrender.

From the perspective of the other party, surrender is a helpless decision.Before that, he sent the last fatal telegram to Chiang Kai-shek: "This life is over, see you in the next life!" It is said that he also shot himself with a gun, but the adjutant had taken the pistol in advance, and his subordinates "Commander, take us away!" Only after persuading him to take a way to survive” did he choose to take the road of surrender.

According to the standard that many people take for granted, Fang Xianjue's act of surrender cannot be forgiven. Even Xue Yue's former adviser Zhao Zili disdained it and questioned: "If you have resisted for more than 40 days, you are qualified to surrender?"

In fact, Zhao Zili was also eager to escape when Changsha was about to fall, so in this kind of matter, the critics and accusers actually occupied only what they thought was the moral high ground.On the contrary, the 74th Army has gone through hundreds of battles, and had the experience of blood and tears like the Changde Defense Battle. The other party Xianjue and the Tenth Army gave more sympathy and understanding.They believe that being able to defend the city alone for 47 days is already very difficult for the Tenth Army, which is at a disadvantage in equipment.To find out the responsibility for the fall of Hengyang, it can only be attributed to the discord between the generals and the inconsistency of the friendly forces in cooperating with each other, so that the good opportunity to solve the crisis of Hengyang was missed.

Later, after many twists and turns, Fang Xianjue escaped from the enemy camp.Wang Yaowu, who was the commander of the Fourth Front Army at the time, did not avoid suspicion, and personally sent a deputy division commander to lead troops to meet him, and helped Fang Xianjue transfer to Chongqing to meet Chiang Kai-shek.

Chiang Kai-shek's attitude towards Fang Xianjue is also very interesting.Yu Chengwan broke out from Changde and was almost shot, but Fang Xianjue was comforted by Chiang Kai-shek and awarded the Blue Sky and White Sun Medal.

(End of this chapter)