Chapter 67 fight poison with fire

During the third battle of Changsha, Wang Yaowu organized a staff group to learn from the experience of the Tenth Army guarding Changsha. After two years, the 57th Division, which is good at defense, also took on the role of city guard. All the troops garrisoned in Changde had their own set of fortifications, overthrowing the original ones and rebuilding new fortifications, and they liked to stretch the defense area far away.In the eyes of defense experts, this is a stupid approach: starting from scratch, while exhausting the people, the position is not necessarily stronger and more durable than the original one; if the defensive position is too wide, it will only dilute the defensive force and increase the gaps of the enemy's attack. .

Yu Chengwan simplified the complexity. He concentrated the main forces of the three regiments he belonged to and allocated them to three sides respectively—Changde’s defense was to fight against the water, and the Yuan River in the south of the city was a natural danger. To a certain extent, the defensive pressure was reduced. North key fortification can be. The defensive positions are mainly divided into three levels. The first level is the outskirts of the city, the second level is the core position of the city wall, and the third level is the streets from east to west in the city.According to the experience of the Tenth Army defending Changsha, many reinforced concrete bunkers were built in various strongholds.

From dawn on November 18, the Japanese army began to approach the suburbs of Changde.The Engineer Battalion of the 57th Division laid a large number of landmines on the suburban roads in advance, which caused the Japanese army to suffer casualties one after another during the march, and also slowed down its advancing speed accordingly. Before the battle started, Yu Chengwan personally inspected the outer positions.When he came to the Marsh Nihu position in the northwest suburb, he said to Shangguanying, the company commander of the 170th Regiment: "The persistence of the Marsh Nihu position is very important to the defense of Changde. I hope that your company must stick to it and be brave. The spirit of killing the enemy and the determination to live and die with the position."

After hearing this, Shangguanying replied generously: "Please rest assured, commander, no matter how cruel the battle situation will be in the future, as long as there is one breath left, all the officers and soldiers of my company will fight the enemy to the end." On the outskirts of Changde, the three regiments basically defended their positions in such a company or even a row, but what they faced was often an enemy of a brigade or a strengthened brigade.The only way to defend the army in battle is to do everything possible to save troops and improve combat efficiency. When the Japanese army tried to destroy obstacles such as barbed wire fences and deer villages, the officers and soldiers were generally not in a hurry to shoot. They waited for most of the Japanese soldiers to pass through the gap before crossing and attacking with side and oblique firepower. "Don't hit" principle, that is, don't hit if you can't see it, don't hit it if you don't aim it correctly, and don't hit it if you can't kill it.In addition, various tactics and combat tips in defensive warfare have also been brought out one by one and used repeatedly, including counterattack warfare, night attack warfare, hand-to-hand combat, grenade warfare, etc., everything that one expects to find.It was rumored afterwards that when the battle was urgent, the cooking soldiers who went to the front line to deliver food even used ropes to tie grenades to the shoulder poles, and threw the grenades with the poles, and they were able to throw tens of meters to injure the enemy.

On the front line of the mud lake alone, the Japanese army assembled a reinforced brigade and launched nine consecutive attacks, but they were all suppressed by the dense firepower net and could not move forward.In the other directions of the periphery, it was equally difficult to make progress in the offensive. The Japanese army couldn't help but marvel: "The defenders resisted very tenaciously." I couldn't figure out the trilogy, and thought of poison gas.From dawn to dusk, Japanese planes took turns bombing and dropping tear gas bombs.With the current scale of the Seventy-Fourth Army, it is impossible to be fully equipped with gas masks. Some troops don't even have officers, let alone soldiers.Although it is possible to cover the mouth and nose with a wet towel, many people still experience tearing, coughing and even shortness of breath.Yu Chengwan then ordered to collect charcoal from the whole city, ignite it with mountain grass, and use the fire to blast the poisonous gas into the air.This is called the method of fighting poison with fire. It was discovered and adopted by the friendly army as early as after the first Changsha battle, and it was gradually promoted throughout the army.

As time went on, more and more Japanese troops gathered outside Changde, and the offensive became more and more fierce.The fortifications of the defenders were often blown up. Before the war, the officers and soldiers prepared some wood for thickening and covering. At this time, they used all their strength to repair it while it was dark. The bombing of Japanese planes and cannons caused serious difficulties in logistics, and the tea and dinner gradually became unstoppable.The soldiers could only satisfy their hunger with the fried rice they carried with them, and when they were hungry, they would grab a handful and stuff them into their mouths.

Drinking water has also become a big problem.There used to be a clarification pond nearby, but due to the continuous falling of shells and bombs into the pond, as well as floating dead bodies, the clean water has become stinky.In this case, the smelly water must be scooped out and settled for a while, and the sundries below must be poured out before drinking the water above. All combat units communicate with their superiors, mainly relying on telephone lines.During the battle, many telephone lines were blown up. At first, the troops organized emergency repairs for the lightly wounded, but later all the wounded went up to fight, and no one repaired them. As a result, squads, platoons, and even positions were transformed into individual battles. There are "isolated islands".

The casualties are still increasing.There are more than a hundred officers and soldiers in the Shangguan company that sticks to the mud lake. Now, including the company commander Shangguan Ying, there are only seven people left. Some battalions have less than a hundred people, and it is not enough to form a company. The 57th Division had to reorganize the peripheral troops.Yu Chengwan braved the artillery fire and inspected the outer positions again. He told everyone: "Now the army commander has led the 51st Division, the 58th Division and the 100th Army to the outskirts of Changde to fight fiercely with the enemy. It is hoped that we will join forces victoriously." , have to hold on for a few more days.”