Chapter 64 Chapter 6 Man Lives by Hope (Battle of Changde)

The so-called cleverness of usage lies in one mind. After all, the principles of military science cannot replace specific actual combat. On November 14, 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 and 58th Divisions were ordered to set off from Taoyuan to compete with the Japanese for the outer flank.

On the evening of November 15, the two divisions, one in front and the other in the rear, arrived at their respective assembly positions. A battalion of the 58th Division occupied the forward position at Chisong Mountain, north of Cili.The next day, the 65th Regiment of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army set out from Shimen and rushed towards Cili along Shici Avenue. At dusk, its vanguard encountered a search team sent by the 58th Division and a gun battle broke out. On the morning of November 17, the main force of the 65th Regiment of the Japanese Army launched an attack on Mount Chisong.In the previous battles, the 65th Wing basically didn't 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 65th 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 on Chisong Mountain made the 65th Regiment of the Japanese Army realize that the battle here in Cili would never be as easy as Shimen. The regiment leader 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 18, part of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army also attacked Liangya on the right wing of the 58th Division. As a result, they were attacked by the 51st and 58th Divisions. 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 troops were disintegrating, and none of them could come up to help. The 74th Army was actually fighting alone, facing the enemy on many fronts.

It is not that the Military Commission is ignorant of the plight of the 74th Army on the Changde battlefield.In order to strengthen the strength of the Seventy-Fourth Army, Wang Yaowu was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Twenty-ninth Army (and also the commander of the Seventy-fourth Army) the day after Shimen fell, and the 100th Army was temporarily assigned to Wang Yaowu's command. Wang Yaowu Corps was formed. The 100th 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 knows how to train soldiers can be known by looking at the 74th Army he brought out with one hand.If the 51st Division and the 58th Division had a good foundation and could become great talents, the 57th Division joined in the middle of the process. They were originally unknown, but after being trained by Wang Yaowu, they became well-known. "Master Huben", 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 100th Army recommended by Wang Yaowu was Shi Zhongcheng, the former deputy commander of the 74th Army. army blood.After a year of training by Wang Yaowu and Shi Zhongcheng, the combat effectiveness of the 100th 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 100th Army’s foundation is not yet strong, and it must not be dismantled and used in actual combat like the 74th Army, lest the Japanese destroy the hard-fought shelf. .

On November 19, the 19th Division of the 100th Army arrived at Qijiahe in the south of Cili, but Shi Zhongcheng, the commander of the 100th Army, and the main force of the 100th 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 19th Division alone, but could only let the 51st and 58th 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 shaken for a while. 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, with five positions changing hands, all of which were taken back by Zhou Zhidao's desperate efforts.

In order to prevent the prominent position of the 58th Division from being divided and surrounded by the Japanese army, Wang Yaowu ordered Zhang Lingfu to abandon the salient part and shrink the position to connect with the 51st Division so that it can hold for a longer time. There are mountains and barriers around Cili, and the new position occupied by the 74th Army is a highland with an elevation of more than 300 meters. The slope is steep and there are cliffs everywhere, which is relatively convenient for defense.It was difficult for the 65th Wing 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.