Chapter 79 stick to

On June 9, the Military Commission sent a telegram to Wang Yaowu, asking him to concentrate his main force on annihilating the enemies of the southern criminals, and at the same time try to defend Ningxiang and other important places with the least amount of troops.Ningxiang is the key point leading to Changsha from central and northern Hunan. Wang Yaowu immediately sent Zhang Lingfu's 58th Division to Ningxiang to defend the safety of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha. Zhang Lingfu led his troops to Ningxiang by means of a forced march. He controlled the main force of the division on the south bank of the Weishui River, and He Lan, the commander of the 173rd Regiment, led his troops to serve as the defense of Ningxiang County.In addition to the regiment, He Lan commanded the first battalion of the 174th regiment and a mortar company of the division.

On June 13, two regiments of the 40th Division of the Japanese Army launched an attack on Ningxiang.The defensive position of the Ninth War Zone was divided into three layers by Isamu Yokoyama, from the outside to the inside, namely the "thick skin zone", "flesh zone" and "core zone".Ningxiang occupies the first place in the list of "Pulpland". The "Pulp Zone" is the main position of the defenders.Since the Chinese army had a large number of defensive troops, and its position construction, command system, and logistics supply were also relatively complete, the Japanese Eleventh Army stipulated that a large corps should be used for strategic raids and division encirclement and suppression.

Defending Ningxiang became an outpost to defend Changsha.He Lan first commanded the troops to fight fiercely with the Japanese army on the outskirts of Ningxiang for a day.In the evening, the Japanese army dispatched three planes to carry out low-altitude bombing. As a result, they were shot down by the defenders because they flew too low. On June 14, Ningxiang was surrounded by regiments. The 173rd regiment repelled the enemy's onslaught three times in a row, and suffered more than half of its own casualties. It took two full days for the two main Japanese regiments to fail to break through a small county town, which surprised the 40th Division of the Japanese Army. On June 15, they changed their deployment and sent more than 2,000 people across the Weishui River to the south to launch a surprise attack on the rear of the 58th Division.

The 58th Division is characterized by both offense and defense. When Zhang Lingfu was in charge, it was especially good at offense and defense.While resisting the Japanese army's strong attack head-on, Zhang Lingfu drew out a battalion to attack the Japanese army's flank, and finally pushed the Japanese army back to the bank of Weishui. On the same day, the Japanese army continued to attack Ningxiang from all directions.The two sides fought hand-to-hand, and the battlefield was filled with shouts of killing and cries of the wounded.The defenders suffered heavy casualties again, and the battalion commander Wang Yancheng was killed.

From the war to the morning of June 16, the Japanese army broke through the city wall of the South Gate.After fierce street fighting from house to house, most of the county town had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and the defenders were forced to retreat to the Gospel Church where the 173rd Regiment headquarters was located, with only 200 people left.At noon, He Lan led dozens of soldiers to break out from the southwest corner of the Gospel Hall. However, because three sides were blocked by Japanese firepower and one side was blocked by flood water, the breakout failed, and He Lan himself was seriously injured.

Cai Ya'e, a member of the 173rd Regiment, was being bandaged in the basement of the Gospel Church because of being shot in both legs. Seeing this, he shouted: "Brothers, if we escape from the siege, we are going to die in vain. It is better to hold on and wait for help. Only then can we hope to survive !" The officers and soldiers who were already in a mess saw the regiment attached and stood up, and they all expressed their willingness to obey his command.Cai Ya'e counted the number of people. In addition to the 80 wounded, there were still 140 combatants. He organized these combatants into a company, appointed the company commander, and mobilized again: "The word 'death' Put it on your head, and hold your success in your hands. It is better to die and be honored than to be humiliated in life."

Cai Ya'e also announced the food, ammunition, medicine, and drinking water stored in the Gospel Hall to the public one by one, in order to tell everyone that as long as they stick to it, there will definitely be enough things here until reinforcements arrive. During Ningxiang's defense, Zhang Lingfu commanded the main force of the 58th Division, and together with other friendly forces in the group army, besieged the main force of the 40th Division of the Japanese Army.The 40th Division was unable to resist, so it could only withdraw part of its troops to attack Ningxiang, and the defenders of Ningxiang were even more tenacious in defending when they had no way out. Therefore, the Japanese army was still unable to break through. The Gospel Church with only more than 100 people.

Cai Ya'e's troops persisted until June 19, when the 19th Division, the main force of the 100th Army, attacked outside Ningxiang, and the Japanese were forced to retreat from Ningxiang. Just the day before the 58th Division and the 19th Division joined forces in Ningxiang, Changsha fell.It is meaningless to stick to Ningxiang, and at the same time, the group army is also facing tremendous pressure from the Japanese army's sudden counterattack. On the evening of June 19, Wang Yaowu ordered the abandonment of Ningxiang, and the group army moved in the direction of Xiangxiang. In the Battle of Ningxiang, the 58th Division defended the city with four battalions of troops and fought fiercely with the superior enemy for six days and nights. More than 50 officers were killed and more than 2,000 soldiers were killed or injured. War example.In terms of rewards for meritorious deeds, Cai Ya'e, who was fearless in the face of danger and commanded calmly, was awarded a Yunhui Medal and was promoted by Zhang Lingfu's sponsorship.