Chapter 65 Thrilling scene

The 65th Regiment of the Japanese Army was repeatedly unable to attack Cili, which made Lieutenant General Chilu very upset. On the evening of November 20th, accompanied by the chief of staff, he came to the headquarters of the 65th Regiment, and issued a strict order to Captain Ito with a gloomy face: "We must quickly break through the enemy in front of us and enter the designated place tonight!" Receiving rewards for no merit would certainly make one feel top-heavy, but it would be distressing and anxious for the commander if he could not get it no matter how hard he stretched out his hands despite clearly seeing that the military exploits were ahead.The boss's aggressiveness regardless of the actual situation increased Ito's emotions. However, for the sake of the overall situation, he could only organize those subordinates whose eyes were already red to continue fighting.

At 6 o'clock in the evening, the 65th Wing broke through forcibly and only occupied a corner of the defensive position.An hour later, still no progress.Ito was in a hurry, so he personally commanded the regiment's infantry to rush forward with the infantry brigade. At this time, the sky was as black as ink blobs.The headquarters of the alliance was lost, and Ito could only advance while knowing the status of each team through the wireless announcement machine. In order to prevent the Japanese army's night attack, the 51st Division and the 58th Division each sent a battalion to attack the Japanese army's two wings.It was this attack that caught the 65th Regiment of the Japanese Army by surprise, and the Japanese army immediately fell into chaos. Ito desperately called to the surroundings, but all the departments were busy in the scuffle, and the contact was quickly cut off.

In this defensive counterattack, the Seventy-Fourth Army adopted the tactics of attacking against attacking and attacking against each other, not only successfully repelling the offensive of the 65th Japanese regiment, but also seized more than 300 machine rifles, mules and horses. More than forty horses and many military supplies. After Ito lost contact with the army, he had to advance alone. At midnight, he was surrounded by the highlands on the north side of Yuerya.At that time, apart from the headquarters of the regiment, there was only one flag team available for combat, and everyone was dumbfounded.

At dawn on November 21, the attack of the 74th Army gradually intensified, but Ito still failed to get in touch with his troops.At 1:30 p.m., a grenade exploded under the banner of the army. Ito's right leg was injured by shrapnel. Three guards were either killed or injured. The headquarters of the wing was almost unable to support it.After staying up until four o'clock in the afternoon, a part of the Daba brigade arrived, and only then did Ito, who was still in shock, be rescued from the crisis. In addition to competing with the 65th Wing of the Japanese Army, the 74th Army also repelled the attacks launched by other units of the Japanese Army.Zhang Jiguang, the battalion commander of the 51st Division, was killed in the charge. Another battalion commander, Zhou Demin, was seriously injured and refused to retreat. He led his troops to capture six soldiers from the 34th Division of the Japanese Army.

Another thrilling scene happened that night.Liu Bingjun, the battalion commander of the Artillery Battalion of the 58th Division, led the whole battalion on standby in the village. In order to understand the supply situation, he made a long-distance call to the military depot.The head of the military station told Liu Bingjun that the Japanese army made a detour to attack the rear, and now they have reached the Longtan River, and their military station is preparing to move. Not long after, the military headquarters passed by the village where the artillery battalion was located. Liu Bingjun saw Wang Yaowu's entourage and adjutant among them, so he asked him where the military headquarters was going.

It's okay not to ask, but Liu Bingjun was taken aback when he asked, because the place where the military headquarters was going was the Longtan River. Liu Bingjun said: "There are enemies there now, and it is very dangerous. Don't you know?" Liu Bingjun hurriedly took the adjutant to look for Wang Yaowu.Seeing Wang Yaowu, Liu Bingjun told the story, Wang Yaowu was also shocked, and asked if the phone was still available.Liu Bingjun nodded and said it made sense, Wang Yaowu immediately said: "Let's go to your battalion headquarters." When he arrived at the headquarters of the artillery battalion, Wang Yaowu answered the phone call of the head of the military depot. After asking about the situation, he checked the military map for a while, and immediately decided to change the deployment and move the general headquarters to a new location.

If Liu Bingjun hadn't reported the enemy's situation in time, the military headquarters might have been attacked by the Japanese army at night without any preparation.This is the second time Wang Yaowu has been in danger since he became the commander of the 74th Army. Afterwards, he even called it a fluke, but he also remembered the kindness of his subordinates: "After all, he (referring to Liu Bingjun) is someone who has followed me for many years, so he cares so much. what!" It was the Sasaki detachment of the Japanese army that detoured the Longtan River.Wang Yaowu spent half an hour personally calling the ministries and deploying countermeasures.After receiving the order, the 51st Division and the 58th Division each drew one from the front, and together with the troops directly under the army, carried out a pincer attack on the Sasaki Detachment, smashing its plan to raid the command structure of the 74th Army, but the 58th Division's flank It has been divided, and if it goes down hard, the frontal position is bound to be surrounded.

On November 22, the main forces of the 51st and 58th Divisions were forced to withdraw from Cili and shift their positions to the south of Qijiahe.This withdrawal meant that Changde's west side was wide open, but it was beneficial to the peripheral troops of the 74th Army, because they could join forces with the 19th Division and be in a better position to attack from outside. At this time, the 100th Army had assembled, and Wang Yaowu's Corps (including the 74th Army and the 100th Army) was ordered by the theater to switch from defense to offense, trying to open up contact with the 57th Division.The 13th Division of the Japanese Army and the Sasaki Detachment retreated towards Huangshi and Jiuxi to prevent the 74th Army from advancing eastward to Changde and cover the back of its main force attacking Changde.