Chapter 25 dead bodies

On November 1, 1938, Wanjialing.The follow-up troops of the 106th Division of the Japanese Army continued to surge up. The Japanese army concentrated the mountain artillery of two squadrons and fired continuously at the 348th Regiment of the 58th Division. After surviving the rain of bullets, the 348th Regiment fought back with an eye for an eye.On the southern highlands of Wanjialing, the two armies launched a fierce battle for positions.Many rounds of back and forth assaults caused heavy casualties on both sides. Since entering Wanjialing, the 348th Regiment has killed or injured more than 2,000 people.

On November 2, all the follow-up troops of the 106th Division of the Japanese Army arrived at the Wanjialing line. However, at the same time, the twelve divisions mobilized by Xue Yue also gradually gathered on the battlefield centered on Wanjialing, forming a countermeasure against the Japanese army. surrounded. In this encirclement of only a dozen square kilometers, except for a few small villages, it is all low mountains and jungles.The Zhanggu Mountain defended by the 51st Division is located near Wanjialing. It is a small hill only 30 meters high, but the difficulty of defense is inversely proportional to its height: the terrain here is complex and overgrown with bushes, which is not conducive to observation and shooting. Expand.Wang Yaowu decided to divide the army into two divisions, with the 151st Brigade occupying the commanding heights and the intersection leading to Nanchang, and the 153rd Brigade supporting the troops on the east side, connecting with the 58th Division by the way.

Neither the 51st Division of Zhang Gushan nor the 58th Division of Wanjialing was attacked by the Japanese army that day. Small scale engagements. The calm on the surface is often a harbinger of an approaching storm.The 106th Division of the Japanese Army only brought six days of rations, and at the same time, ammunition was seriously insufficient. Assuming that each rifle was equipped with 200 rounds of ammunition, even if the six days later was not considered, it could only consume more than 30 rounds per day at most. . On the one hand, their own weak inner capsule was gradually exposed; on the other hand, seeing that they had fallen into the enemy's encirclement, the 106th Division was a little anxious.They hurriedly reported to the Eleventh Army by telegram.

The Eleventh Army Headquarters was taken aback by the news.In fact, at the same time that the 106th Division invaded Wanjialing, the 27th Division of the Japanese Army on the Ruichang Line had been ordered to assist the East to meet the 106th Division.It's just that Xue Yue had already expected this move, and sent troops ahead of time to set up defenses and intercept the Qilin Peak, which the 27th Division must pass through.The 27th Division repeatedly attacked Qilin Peak to no avail, so they had to retreat disgruntled. There was no other way but to rely on the 106th Division to break through. On November 3, the 106th Division launched an attack on the 51st Division with its main lineup, focusing on the front of the 151st Brigade.

From dawn to dusk, the 151st Brigade was attacked more than ten times, and every hill beside the road was fought to the death.The equipment of the 51st Division was not good at that time. Except for a few official rifles, most of the weapons held by the officers and soldiers were made in Hanyang. The tube is double layered and feels heavy and clunky in the hand.In addition, there are very few light and heavy machine guns, only two or three heavy machine guns per regiment. With grenades and a few light and heavy machine guns, such a low firepower configuration is of course difficult to completely withstand the large-scale and swift charge of the Japanese army. Once the Japanese army floods into the position, hand-to-hand combat will be inevitable.The 151st Brigade fought the enemy hand-to-hand several times. Where the blades met, the sound of shouts and the clanging of bayonets rang together.

The 151st Brigade had seen the world, but the intensity of this battle was something they had never experienced before.The brigade commander Zhou Zhidao personally rushed to the front line of the mountain to take command. In the afternoon, due to the heavy casualties, even the orderlies around Zhou Zhidao joined the battle. In the Seventy-Fourth Army, once the battle was at a critical moment, even the officers above the platoon leader had to shoot machine guns and participate in bombing, so the casualties of the officers were particularly high.During the fierce battle, Chang Xiaode, the commander of the 301st Regiment, was seriously injured, as was Hu Xiong, the battalion commander, and the company platoon leader was even more injured. This is the case.

Hu Runsheng's three platoon leaders were all wounded, leaving only three squad leaders and more than forty soldiers in his department, and his left hand was also injured.Even so, seeing the Japanese troops rushing from the front, Hu Runsheng still showed resoluteness and composure. While commanding, he personally shot at the enemy with a machine gun, and the company's position never fell into the enemy's hands. After the last attack of the Japanese army was thwarted, corpses were strewn all over the mountain and down the mountain, and the blood of the soldiers stained the surrounding rocks and land.

The 58th Division that arrived at Wanjialing that day began to compress the encirclement. At twelve o'clock in the evening, the 348th Regiment broke into the Japanese position in Wanjialing with a surprise attack.A fierce hand-to-hand combat ensued.As a result, the relics on Wanjialing, in addition to the inexhaustible bullet casings, have countless bayonet sheaths.After three hours of hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets red, more than 500 Japanese soldiers fell on the mountain with bloody holes, and the 348th Regiment successfully occupied the highland west of Jianlusu. The new highland did not have an advantage in defense. It was shot down by the Japanese army from the commanding heights of Wanjialing and the highlands on the west side. However, the 348th regiment had no intention of retreating after they came up. The Japanese counterattacked seven or eight times, each time. Can only return without success.

Since November 3, the Japanese Army's 106th Division's logistical supplies have shown a serious shortage. Although the Japanese Eleventh Army has adopted the method of airdropping food and ammunition, it is only a drop in the bucket to solve the predicament.Zhang Gushan's failure to break through and the loss of some highlands in Wanjialing were like adding insult to injury, making the division panic all day long.