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

Chapter 36 Fighting with fate to the end (Battle of Xiangxi) (2)
Army University is divided into three-year regular classes and two-year special classes.The former recruits students from the society and young junior officers in the army, while the latter mainly accepts applications from senior officers.Qiu Weida is studying in a two-year special class.

The special class is different from the regular class. Because the students are all senior officers with military command experience, the courses are very targeted, and the instructors are all top-level tactical experts from the Army University.Under the guidance of the instructor, the students should revisit the tactical principles experienced on the battlefield in the classroom, and at the same time, according to the situation specified by the instructor, make plans, write orders, and perform various sand table tasks. Sometimes they have to go to the field Take live tactics lessons and simulate imaginary battles.

After two years of nurturing at the Army University, Qiu Weida has the possibility of further breakthroughs in tactical thinking and commanding ability. Wang Yaowu entrusted him with the commanding task to give him the opportunity to break through himself.

Before the battle, both Qiu Weida and Wang Yaowu had predicted that the Japanese army would continue to adopt the "anti-aircraft furnace tactics", that is, to use heavy troops to detour the two wings and then break through from the center.Although the "Tianlu Warfare" suffered a defeat in the Battle of Changheng, this does not mean that the tactical thinking of "retreating for a decisive battle" and "fighting for the outside line" has become outdated.As Zhao Zili once pointed out, the biggest mistake of the command led by Xue Yue lies in not extending the depth and concentrating troops in a timely manner. If these two points can be improved, and we don’t make mistakes and fight steadily, The battle is hopeful.

In the past battles, the Chinese side usually chooses cities for retreat and decisive battles, but this time they want to choose the Xuefeng Mountains, and everyone believes that the latter is more favorable in terms of terrain than the former.

Sun Tzu's Art of War has a saying: "Soldiers, the great affairs of the country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival must be carefully studied." Qiu Weida made an analogy based on this, saying that people live on the earth, just like ants live between hills and hills. , the terrain is slightly inconvenient, it is difficult to exercise.The same is true for the army. When encountering dangerous terrain, it will also restrict its actions and become constrained. Therefore, those who are good at using troops must understand the advantages and disadvantages of the terrain in advance.If you do not grasp the secrets of the terrain, you will fight by force, and it will be difficult to win the battle.

The geographical feature of Xuefeng Mountain is that there are overlapping mountains, rugged and dangerous roads, and the mountains are all in a north-south direction.It is exactly what Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese military strategist, called the "dead ground".In this regard, the Japanese army made mistakes both in strategy and tactics: strategically, they made the mistake of aggressively advancing, while tactically, they made the mistake of attacking fortified positions.

After convening relevant combat personnel, including U.S. military advisers, Qiu Weida decided to adopt offensive and defensive tactics, that is, defend first and then attack.The combat of the Chinese army is also divided into two phases accordingly, the first phase is defense, and the second phase is offense.

Hero Hill

According to the "anti-Tianfu tactics" used by the Japanese army, Qiu Weida judged that the main attack direction of the Japanese army would be concentrated in the middle section of Xuefeng Mountain, that is, the Guidong and Jiangkou lines where the 74th Army was firmly defending.

On April 4, the Iijima advance team arrived at Guidong in the pass of Xuefeng Mountain.In some places in Hunan, people are used to calling the flat land on the mountain a cave.As a relatively large mountain range in western Hunan, there are many such "caves" in Xuefeng Mountain, and Gui Cave is one of them.

No.70 The Fourth Army’s [-]st Division was not headed in the direction of Guidong. On the way, it learned that the Japanese army had occupied Guidong, so it moved overnight and headed for Longtan Town, which is only three kilometers away from Guidong.

It is commonplace in the Chinese army to march day and night with feet as carts.During the march, people often dozed off while walking, and would not wake up until their heads hit the muzzles of the soldiers in front.

On the afternoon of April 4, the 17nd Regiment of the 51st Division took the lead in rushing to Longtan, and used the original mountain fortifications and newly strengthened positions to block the Iijima advance team.

The weapons equipped by the Iijima advance team were also considered excellent, but they found that their opponents were even more powerful-there were many light weapons that could be fired in bursts, and there was also a special shell that had an unusually sharp sound when it exploded.

It soon became clear that the burst was a Thomson submachine gun, and the one that could fire special shells was an American rocket launcher.

Although the 74th Army has been identified as American equipment, the weapons and equipment have not had time to be completely replaced. This is the case with the 51st Division, which is one of the reasons why the Japanese army was eager to launch a battle.However, compared with the past, no matter whether it is heavy weapons, light weapons or ammunition, they can all be provided with enough, at least there is nothing particularly lacking in war.

The "semi-American weapon configuration" of the 51st Division at that time was that each company had six Browning light machine guns, three Thomson submachine guns, and four grenade grenades, and the remaining soldiers all used Springfield rifles.The bazooka is only available in the battalion, and the regiment headquarters will also be equipped with four mortars.

The Thomson submachine gun is known as the "trench broom", and the Japanese soldiers who swept the bayonet did not have to blink their eyes.The destructive power of the rocket launcher is very strong. When a shell falls, it can blow up a deep pit about two meters in diameter and one and a half meters deep.

It is conceivable that the Japanese army could not even dream of such a firepower configuration, and what made it even more difficult for them was the good supply status of the opponent.

The Fourth Front Army has a depot supply command in Zhijiang, which can receive a large amount of supplies from the US airlift and send them to the supply sub-stations on the first and second lines by car.After the supplies arrive at the supply substation, they will be delivered to the front by the supply battalion.

The front-line troops can always keep five days' worth of food and ammunition, and if the key combat troops lack ammunition, they can also carry out aerial supplies at any time.In a word, I only worry that you can't use it up, but I'm not afraid that you don't have it.

Even if you hold a golden mountain with both hands, you still have to find a place to put it.In the training of American weapons, the 74th Army is quite proficient, and has formed a new tactic that focuses on firepower. Each unit is particularly good at concentrating firepower and launching surprise attacks.When the Iijima advance team attacked the defenders' positions, the [-]nd Regiment not only fired from the front, but also concentrated sideways and oblique firepower at the same time to eliminate the blind spots in front of the positions. The fire coordination between the positions was very ingenious.

The most feared opponent in war is this kind: don't smile and don't talk, smile with two dimples.In front of the 74th Army, the Iijima advance team could not take advantage of the score, so they had to deploy defenses on the spot south of Kyu-dong to wait for the main force of the division that came later.

On April 4, the 18th Regiment of the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army arrived at Kyu-dong and joined forces with the Iijima Advance Team.

Lieutenant General Hishida Motoshiro, head of the division, was similar to Sakanishi in judging the enemy's situation. They both believed that the Chinese army's defensive will was not strong, and as long as the offensive pressure was increased, they would turn around and retreat.His wishful thinking was the "achievement" of rapidly expanding the Iijima advance team, cooperating with the Japanese army on the South Road, encircling the defenders and annihilating them in the Xuefeng mountain area.

The 51th Regiment of the Japanese Army had not yet started, and the other two regiments of the [-]st Division arrived near Longtan Town at dawn that day.The Second Battalion of the [-]rd Regiment was ordered to recapture the Yingxingshan position, and the seventh company of the battalion will be the main attacker.

The shoes of a soldier from the Seventh Company were worn out during the march, so he had to go quietly to the door of the common people's house and begged for a pair of shoes for him.The other party asked him to enter the house to choose a pair that fit his feet, but the 74th Army has strict military discipline, and officers and soldiers are not allowed to enter civilian houses without authorization.So the master took off a pair of half-new cloth shoes he was wearing and gave them to him.

The soldier was very grateful. He said that he was going to be on the line of fire soon, and he didn't know if he would come back alive.

What the Seventh Company is about to face is indeed an extremely harsh battle.There are two highlands near Guidong, namely the Eagle-shaped Mountain in the east of the road and the Niu-shaped Mountain in the west of the road. The two mountains are like the claws of a crab, firmly holding the passage leading to Longtan in the middle, so both of them have become strategically valuable. stronghold.The difference is that Niuxingshan was first occupied by the 51st Division after returning to the division, while Yingxingshan still fell into the hands of the Japanese army.

The company commander Wen Chenghai ordered to prepare enough grenades to prepare for the attack on Yingxing Mountain.Then 120 officers and soldiers of the whole company launched several charges along the mountain ridge to the top of the mountain. Every time they charged, many officers and soldiers would fall to the ground amidst the sound of Japanese machine gun fire and grenade explosions.

The Seventh Company finally obtained a forward position on the top of the mountain, but the Japanese army was so arrogant that they retreated and advanced repeatedly, even fighting hand-to-hand in order to drive the opponent out again.The battle was very fierce, with gunshots, explosions, and shouts of killing one after another. The migrant workers who helped the troops carry the ammunition boxes first helped the soldiers remove the cover of the grenade, and then directly threw the grenade at the Japanese army.The telephone line of Seventh Company had already been dragged up Yingxing Mountain. Wen Chenghai grabbed the microphone and shouted an emergency down the mountain: "The ammunition is almost exhausted! The ammunition is almost exhausted!"

The battalion commander Jiang Qiyong replied: "The ammunition will be delivered immediately, we must stick to the forward position!"

Ammunition is sufficient, but it is not easy to send it to the position.More than a dozen mules and horses carried ammunition boxes and marched along the stone road, and the iron horseshoes stepped on the stone road to spark sparks.

Then Battalion Commander Jiang heard Wen Chenghai's emergency again on the phone: "The casualties are serious, please reinforce, please reinforce!"

Jiang Qiyong told the other party: "Perseverance until the last 5 minutes!" At noon, when Jiang Qiyong led reinforcements to arrive, there were only seven officers and soldiers left in the Seventh Company. Wen Chenghai himself was injured, but he still commanded the battle with injuries.

Seventh Company's bloody charge and subsequent persistence laid the foundation for the 51st Division to take the initiative in the Battle of Longtan.The former migrant workers who had witnessed the entire fighting process were still excited whenever they recalled the scene back then.They praised Wen Chenghai, commander of the Seventh Company, for his determination and composure, for being a tough soldier who is not afraid of death.Later, the folks in Longtan area unanimously called Yingxing Mountain Hero Mountain.

Devil is coming
After the remnants of the Japanese army retreated from the front peak to the back peak, they also received reinforcements from the follow-up troops of the 100th Regiment.So far, the distance between the positions of the two sides is only more than [-] meters, and even the sound of the collision of bowls and chopsticks when the other party eats can be clearly heard.

Before the Battle of Xiangxi, the Chinese and American Air Forces had completely mastered the air supremacy.Immediately after the start of the battle, the Sino-US Air Force Mixed Regiment dispatched a large number of planes to completely destroy the large and small bridges in the triangle area of ​​Hengyang, Shaoyang, and Xiangtan, where the Japanese army was backed. area ground forces.

The Xuefeng Mountain theater is close to Zhijiang Airport, and the flight radius for fighter jets to reach the front line is very small.In the skies of the war zone, only the Chinese and American planes assisting the battle can be seen. Most of the time, the Japanese planes dare not show up. The troops pose no threat.Sometimes, one or two Japanese planes would secretly fly over the Japanese positions, drop a few bags and flee immediately, but just like this, those who ran slower were still inevitably shot down by the machine guns of Chinese and American fighter planes.

During the stalemate, Chinese and American fighter planes circled in the air non-stop, and when they found the Japanese positions, they fired violently.The Japanese army could not freely carry out activities during the day, and they launched more attacks at night. Every time they attacked, they only touched a small group of soldiers, in the form of three or five soldiers. .

The 51st Division has sufficient ammunition, and it will block firepower as soon as it gets dark to prevent the Japanese army from sneaking in.The disadvantage is that the quality of the troops is uneven. Veterans or officers who have just graduated from the military academy are relatively calm. They fired into the sky in a panic, or shrank in the trenches and did not dare to look up.

The ammunition supply of the Japanese army was insufficient, and there were not many bullets. However, their strengths were that the soldiers had good physical strength and excellent shooting skills. The bullets they fired seemed to have eyes. Even in the dark, they could give Chinese soldiers, especially those recruits, A lot of damage.

One night, a local boy who served as an orderly temporarily slept with another soldier back to back. When he woke up the next day, the boy found that the soldier was dead—he had been sniped by a Japanese soldier who had been ambushed.

The [-]th Regiment of the Japanese Army was unable to recapture Mt. Yingxing face to face, so they had to choose another way of copying. This place was Gaozapo located in the northwest of Gyu-dong.

Standing on the top of Gaozhapo, you can have a panoramic view of Longtan Town a few kilometers away.There is also a small river near it, and Chinese troops are stationed in villages on the west side of the river.Villager Han Zhicheng was only 13 years old at the time. Out of the unique curiosity and interest of boys at that age in war, he hung out with soldiers all day long and fought fiercely with the troops.

On April 4, Han Zhicheng got into the trench where a sentry was.It was early summer, and the weather was getting hotter, but the soldiers of the 20st Division were still wearing winter clothes, and many of them had lice.The sentry was busy catching lice on his body, Han Zhicheng had nothing to do, just looked around by himself.

Suddenly, he saw a few small trees shaking constantly on the opposite hillside. What was even more strange was that these small trees were still moving, and they moved for a while and stopped for a while.Han Zhicheng hastily pointed it out to the sentry. The sentry didn't even think about it, and pushed him down in the trench: "That's not a tree, that's a devil! The devil is here!"

The sentinel raised his gun and shot at "Little Tree", and "Little Tree" also fired back.It turned out that this was the Japanese army disguised with tree branches. After crossing the small river, they tried to occupy a highland in the west of Hexi.If this action of the Japanese army succeeds, they can have a condescending view of the position of the 51st Division in Hexi. It's just that they were unlucky, and they were accidentally discovered by a little boy.

Wisdom is not high, Han Zhicheng made a contribution to thwarting the enemy's sneak attack, the company commander of the army praised him for his alertness and agility, and specially rewarded him with a big mooncake for this.

On April 4, the Japanese army once again organized a small force to try to sneak across the river.Before crossing the river this time, some of them were killed by the defenders on Gaozhapo. The others waded across the river under the rain of bullets, and rushed all the way to the top of the hillside.

The firepower of the defenders is not a vegetarian. As rows of bullets flew one after another, the Japanese troops fell one after another.In the end, only three Japanese soldiers were left alive. They fled along the river under the cover of lush willows.

Raiders don't die just because they've been caught in a cage. On the morning of April 4, just after dawn, a group of Japanese soldiers quickly entered the Camellia oleifera forest and attacked Gaozapo from the side after crossing the river.

Although the Japanese army was still a small force, with only four or fifty people, all of them were selected death squads.When they reached the top of the mountain under the cover of the morning fog, they were spotted by a squad leader of the garrison at the top of the mountain and immediately asked, "Who is it?"

As early as when the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army attacked Changde, the "Xuanfu Squad" composed of traitors often helped the Japanese kill their compatriots.They either wore Japanese military uniforms, or only wore a Japanese military cap, but they behaved "more fierce than the Japanese" in front of their compatriots.There were also a large group of traitors from the occupied areas in the [-]th Regiment. There was a traitor in this small Japanese army. When he heard the squad leader’s question, he quickly replied, “What are you asking? One of our own!”

Before the words fell, gunshots rang out, and the squad leader fell to the ground.The Japanese army rushed forward quickly, and the defenders did not even have time to complete the simple operations of pulling the bolt of the gun and pressing the bullet, so they could only hold the bayonet and stab the enemy directly. .

After hearing the news, reinforcements from the defenders arrived.When they rushed to the mountainside, the shouts of killing on the top of the mountain had stopped abruptly, and the surviving officers and soldiers withdrew from the position, all covered in blood.

Most of the Japanese death squads were stabbed to death on the top of the mountain.Just like last time, three people slipped through the net, including the traitor.The three guys lost their way while escaping, so the traitors came forward to ask for directions, but they were discovered by the Chinese army and all were killed.

In this tragic blocking battle, the defenders suffered heavy casualties.The stretcher team going to Gaozapo to transport the wounded ran up and down, overwhelmed.

Longtan was only a short distance away, but the [-]th Regiment of the Japanese Army tried their best to squeeze through.The head of Lingtian Division had to change the original combat plan and narrowed the mission of the wing to occupying Longtan.

(End of this chapter)