Chapter 56 inseparable

At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the Sixth Regiment of the Japanese Third Division arrived at the west side of Chunhua Mountain.The vanguard squadron sent by the regiment searched and found no trace of the Chinese army, so they reported to the regiment leader: "The enemy has retreated and there is no trace, so continue to advance." Captain Shigenobu Yoshizuo knew that the advance team of Huagu was fighting on the east side of the mountain. He didn't believe that there would be no Chinese soldiers on the west side, so he carefully observed it with the artillery mirror. Artillery mirror, also known as scissor mirror, is different from ordinary telescopes. It was originally a binocular periscope used by artillery to determine coordinates, and later also used for infantry search. Its observation distance and field of view are relatively large.Through the artillery mirror, Shigenobu saw the head of a Chinese soldier, and immediately concluded that the highlands on the west side of Chunhua Mountain were also defended by Chinese troops.

The Kato Brigade was ordered to attack the high ground, and soon learned the characteristics of the "Huben Master" who is good at defending.Although the 57th Division has not established a foothold in Chunhua Mountain for a long time, they have already built a fairly solid position in the highland pine forest, and their firepower combination and performance are as brilliant as ever.It was only half an hour after Kato's brigade launched the attack, and there were already casualties. During this period, they once entered the top of the highland. Seeing this, the 57th Division rushed to the front with officers and drove the Japanese army down.

The Kato Battalion then joined the reserve team and cut in from the right end of the counter-offensive force. With the commanding squadron leader Shimojima killed in action, after three repeated charges, they captured the high ground at 6:00 pm. So far, Chunhua Mountain has been completely occupied by the Japanese army.Yu Chengwan, the commander of the 57th Division, immediately ordered to occupy Swan Mountain and confront the Japanese army. When the 57th Division fought fiercely in Chunhua Mountain in the afternoon, the 58th Division that marched towards Yong'an Town also encountered trouble.As the vanguard, the 173rd Regiment of the 58th Division originally thought that there would be friendly troops stationed on the south bank of the Laodao River, but they did not expect that there was no one there, so they had to temporarily guard the bridge. The Moriwaki Battalion of the Eighth Regiment rushed straight along the bridge.

Only a few leading troops of the 173rd Regiment entered Yong'an and the bridge, and they had just had time to plant a regiment flag at the head of the bridge. Caught off guard, not only the bridge fell, but the regiment flag was also taken away by the Japanese army. Seeing that the situation was urgent, the follow-up troops of the 58th Division launched a fierce counterattack, cutting off the Moriwaki Brigade and the headquarters of the Japanese Third Division following them. Just as the fight was inextricably linked, the Tsuchiya Battalion arrived, and the Japanese army's strength was strengthened, and the division headquarters was able to get out of the crisis.At this time, although the fronts between the enemy and the enemy were extremely complicated, Lieutenant General Toyoshima Futaro, the commander of the division, integrated all kinds of information, and still made the conclusion that the Chinese army that appeared in front of him was the main force of the 74th Army.

Toyoshima saw that the defensive posture of the Seventy-Fourth Army was not yet complete, and it was the best time to take advantage of the danger, so he ordered all ministries to "destroy" the Seventy-Fourth Army. After nightfall, the Huagu advance team first launched an attack on Swan Mountain. The two sides fought fiercely all night, but in front of the "Hu Ben Division", the Japanese army did not take advantage of it, and had to retreat in the early morning of the next day.The 57th Division took advantage of the momentum to launch a counterattack and reoccupied Chunhua Mountain.

At 6 o'clock in the evening, the 18th Regiment of the Japanese Army (including the Mori Waki ​​Brigade and the Tsuchiya Brigade) entered Yong'an, and then continued to attack the 58th Division.The 58th Division relied on the 147th Highland, one kilometer south of Yong'an, to hold on tenaciously, and the battle was fierce. At two o'clock in the middle of the night, under the command of the division commander Liao Lingqi, the 58th Division suddenly turned into a counterattack.In an instant, the sound of machine guns, grenades, and bugles pierced the sky and shook the earth, and the officers and soldiers rushed towards the Japanese army like a mountain.

The explosion of grenades and the cold light of white blades, the clanging of guns and the screams of the assassinated before death made this night a paradise for the god of death.The 58th Division launched three counterattacks in a row. Two squadron leaders of the Moriwaki Brigade were killed, and the Japanese offensive was frustrated. The attack of the main force of the Japanese army is usually carried out in a dense formation within a short distance. Once it is stopped halfway, it will try to keep it as silent as possible and never act rashly.The Chinese army also recognized this tactical feature of the Japanese army, saying that it conforms to the "Sun Tzu's Art of War": "A good defender hides under the nine heavens, and a good attacker moves above the nine heavens."

But now is not the time to be in the middle of the law.The Japanese army broke the routine. Major Moriwaki Tsuneichi personally commanded a small team to join the assault team, braving the rain of mortars and grenades from the 58th Division, and rushed to the high ground desperately.Under the desperate impact of the Japanese army, 147 Highland finally fell.Afterwards, although the 58th Division launched counterattacks many times, none of them were effective. Afterwards, with the support of the mountain artillery, the Tuwu Brigade charged at another highland held by the 58th Division - the platform on the north side of the 156th Highland, and immediately occupied it.The 58th Division fought back, throwing grenades that rained down on the northern platform. The 7th Squadron, the backbone of the Tsuchiya Brigade, suffered more than 60 casualties.

The fierce battle that night was basically evenly divided, and no one was able to completely overwhelm the other. However, it is an unavoidable fact that the Japanese Third Division suffered heavy losses. In the eighteenth regiment alone, eight squadron leaders were killed, and the brigade suffered casualties. Up to more than 800 people, most of the officers and soldiers were lost in the battle of Yong'an. Knowing that the Third Division lost a lot, Anan "deeply sympathized".Under such circumstances, the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army was still fighting hard and applied to pursue Zhuzhou after defeating the 74th Army, but Anan graciously rejected it.

On the other hand, Anan was "extremely euphoric" when the Seventy-Fourth Army appeared in his encirclement like a trap. He wrote in his diary that day: "The Seventy-fourth Army finally entered Yong'an City (that is, Near Yong'an Town, the opportunity to defeat the enemy has arrived." After studying the battle reports of the Third Division, Anan, Kinoshita and their combat staff realized more deeply that although there are many Chinese troops on the Xiangbei battlefield, and some troops have strong fighting spirit, they can play a role in fighting spirit and combat effectiveness. The backbone role is still the 74th Army.Now that we have grasped the exact location of this army, the most urgent thing is to eat it in one bite. Other Zhuzhou, Pingjiang, and even Changsha can be put aside for the time being.

According to the opinions of the staff officers, Anan decided to concentrate the main forces on the battlefield to implement a large-scale encirclement and annihilation campaign.He allowed the Japanese Third Division to continue to maintain combat contact with the Seventy-Fourth Army. At the same time, he ordered the Sixth Division to go south quickly and work with the Third Division to besiege the Seventy-fourth Army, while the other divisions were responsible for attacking the Chinese Tenth Army. , Thirty-seventh Army, and Twenty-sixth Army were restrained so that they could not reinforce Chunhua Mountain.