Chapter 68 Bravery in the Army

It was before November 22 that Yu Chengwan hoped to join forces with Wang Yaowu's corps. At that time, fierce gunfire could still be faintly heard from the northwest corner of Changde, but after November 22, he could no longer think so.Because on this day, the main forces of the 51st Division and the 58th Division were forced to withdraw from Cili, and the door to the west of Changde was wide open. On November 22, the 120th Regiment of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army attacked Hefu, and the 2nd Battalion of the 171st Regiment guarding Hewei repelled eight Japanese assaults in one day, leaving only 30 people in the battalion , had to withdraw from the position.The 116th Division of the Japanese Army occupied Hefu and completed the left encirclement of Changde.

At the same time, the 234th Regiment of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army attacked Tokuyama.Deshan is the only commanding height on the south bank of the Yuanjiang River. If the defenders can hold on to the danger, they will surely inflict heavy losses on the enemy.Shou Deshan's troops were an infantry regiment temporarily placed under the command of the 57th Division. Although Yu Chengwan once again strictly ordered the unit to stick to it, the regiment withdrew from its position after a little resistance. Following the fall of Hefu and Deshan successively, most of the 57th Division's outer strongholds were lost, and the rear supply line was also cut off.Yu Chengwan decided to shrink the main force to the core position of the second layer of the city wall.

When the main force was ordered to retreat, the huge city of Changde was already empty, and it was full of ruined walls left by the bombing of Japanese planes and various abandoned objects in a mess.There are various indications that the situation facing the 57th Division is very serious. People live by hope, but hope is not air, it has a source and conditions.The 57th Division has only one division, but the Japanese army besieging the city has the 3rd Division, the 40th Division, the 68th Division, and the 116th Division, a total of four divisions. The division has three heads and six arms, and it is very difficult to defend the city for a long time.Seeing that the connection with the main force of the 74th Army had been cut off, Yu Chengwan could only hope for reinforcements from Changsha. Xue Yue told him in a telegram that the Ninth War Zone had sent two armies to help Changde in the starry night.

The Japanese troops invested heavily in the Battle of Changde greatly exceeded the load that the Sixth Theater or Wang Yaowu Corps could bear. Only with the participation of the adjacent Ninth Theater and the cooperation of the two major theaters could it be possible to repel and defeat the Japanese attack. The distance from Changde to Changsha is more than 100 kilometers, and the road has been damaged, with potholes and potholes. Destruction of traffic is a double-edged sword, which will cause difficulties for the movement of both the enemy and ourselves.Obviously, if you want to fight across theaters, you need to deploy troops in advance, otherwise you won't be able to join the battle in time.However, before the war, Xue Yue made a misjudgment. Based on the experience of the first Changsha battle, he concluded that the Japanese army used the same tactics as when they were in northwestern Jiangxi last time. Attack Changsha from the north of Hunan.Based on this consideration, he did not immediately transfer troops from northern Hunan to western Hunan.It was not until several counties in western Hunan fell and the situation in Changde City was extremely tense that he hurriedly dispatched troops for reinforcements.

The two armies mentioned in Xue Yue's telegram should refer to the Tenth Army and the Fifty-eighth Army.When Changde was besieged, the two armies had either not set off or were still en route. As long as there are reinforcements, there is hope. The 57th Division chose to continue to grit their teeth and persevere.Yu Chengwan issued a circular to all ministries: "Carry forward our glorious tradition of tiger and ben, and with the determination of the greatest sacrifice, fight the enemy to the last man, the last bullet!" The military song of the 74th Army sang: "We grow up in battle, and we follow each other in artillery fire." As the Japanese army gradually approached the city wall from the suburbs, the artillery regiment used to support the infantry began to play a role.

The Artillery Regiment of the Seventy-Fourth Army had a total of three battalions. Except for the second battalion, which was still stationed in Hengyang because it was a field artillery battalion, which was inconvenient for mountain operations, the other two mountain artillery battalions participated in the Changde Defense Battle.After the Japanese army entered the effective range of the artillery in the suburbs, the artillery regiment measured the shooting parameters of the Japanese army positions in the observation post, and made relevant charts. Everything was ready, and following the command of "ready-release" from Jin Dingzhou, the commander of the artillery regiment, twenty-four Soviet-style mountain cannons exploded in unison, blowing up the Japanese positions to "silence".Immediately afterwards, the eight mountain cannons among them were shifted according to the predetermined plan, firing shrapnel with timed fuzes at the Japanese assault troops, and the Japanese infantry exposed to the ground level were shot and fell to the ground.

Since the Battle of Western Hubei, the Sino-US joint air force has begun to counterattack.Under the leadership of Captain Gao Youxin, the Fourth Air Force Battalion assembled in Enshi and used the Jiangheside Airport outside the north gate of Enshi as its advance base.During the Battle of Changde, the pilots sat in the cockpit and were in a state of first-level combat readiness at any time. As soon as the signal sounded, they immediately flew to Changde. When the artillery regiment fired, the aviation forces of both sides also started a fight in the air. One of the Japanese planes was shot and injured, so they had to lower their flying altitude and fly close to the ground.At the moment when the Japanese plane flew low and passed the artillery position, the artillery platoon leader Tian Shaoyou picked up the light machine gun and knocked down the plane with a burst of bullets.There were cheers all around, and when Yu Chengwan heard about it, he immediately promoted Tian Shaoyou to a higher level, and reported it to the Military Commission for meritorious service.

Artillery is the courage of the army, especially in defensive warfare.Through centralized equipment and mobile use, the artillery regiment was able to effectively suppress and destroy the Japanese army.However, the shortening of the distance is also mutual. Everyone can bombard each other with artillery. In comparison, the Japanese artillery positions that have been established at the beginning are more powerful in terms of strength. The characteristics and benefits of Soviet-style mountain cannons are relatively light. Each mountain cannon can be broken down into eight pieces, which can be carried by mules, horses or manpower. However, it is essentially a light howitzer, and its caliber and range are not as good as heavy howitzers or cannons. .The latter is called field artillery, which is mainly drawn by horses or vehicles, and was equipped by the Japanese army at the regiment level. On November 23, the Japanese army bombarded the city wall position with field artillery, destroying many fortifications, and the deployed troops (the 109th Regiment of the 116th Division) took advantage of the situation to attack the North Gate position.