Chapter 93 extremely sensitive moment

The so-called bubble hole refers to a valley between the two main peaks of Xuefeng Mountain.This valley is about ten kilometers long, with overgrown bushes and weeds on both sides, and it is impossible to climb. There are only roads at the entrance and exit, so only two guards are needed, and the people in the valley can be safe.According to legend, whenever there was a military disaster in the Wugang area in the past, most of the soldiers and civilians took refuge in bubble caves, and they never made mistakes for more than a hundred years.When the 58th Division conducted a survey, there were already a small number of residents beside the Paodong Creek.

Based on this situation, during the westward retreat, the 58th Division military depot, a small number of wounded and sick in the field hospital, some of the family members of the army, as well as the Wugang county government and the second branch of the Whampoa Military Academy all took refuge in bubble holes.After the Japanese Type Zero aircraft was discovered, they tried their best to avoid the interception of the Chinese and American superior air forces, conducted flight reconnaissance over the valley less than 200 meters from the ground, and dropped bombs at the exposed places of the target. fundamental deterrence.

Later, the large Japanese troops approached the Paodong Pass, but because of the unknown geographical conditions, they did not dare to invade rashly. The military value of the dangerous high mountains was fully highlighted. What also made the Japanese feel helpless was the main force of the 58th Division that withdrew into the mountains.Although the mountains where these field troops are guarding are not bubble holes, they only need to send troops to guard at the pass, while the large troops are recharging their energy in the deep mountains and waiting for orders to attack. The one staying in Wugang was the 1st Battalion of the 172nd Regiment of the 58th Division.This is a reinforced battalion, and the battalion commander is Yang Wenbin, who commanded the Xinning City's blockade and the troops' successful breakout.However, unlike Xinning, in the layout system of the Xiangxi battle, Wugang was the strategic support point of the Chinese army on the southern front, and the defenders were not allowed to retreat without orders.On the other hand, as an old county with a history of more than 2,000 years, Wugang City has a large area and complex terrain. Even if a reinforced battalion is guarded, there are still too few people to form a focus in defense.

Concrete operations on the front line are always much more difficult than talking on paper.In order to be able to stick to it for a long time, the staff office of the 58th Division made careful deployment in advance.There is a big imperial city in the northwest of Wugang City, where King Gui of the Southern Ming Dynasty built his capital.Therefore, when defending, the northern hillside of the Great Imperial City was used as the core, and solid fortifications were built along the inner wall of the Great Imperial City. All the residents outside the Great Imperial City Wall were mobilized to evacuate temporarily, thus building three fortifications inside and outside.There are two stone pagodas outside the east gate of Wugang City, which are called sister pagodas by local people.The Sisters Tower is the tallest building in the city. If it is occupied by the Japanese army and used as a lookout, the defenders’ position will be exposed, but if it is blown up, the cultural relics will be destroyed. A tower is tilted about ten degrees, which is rare in the world.In the end, the staff office decided to send more than a dozen warriors to defend the tower.

Since April 27, the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army has besieged Wugang from the east, west and south.Yang Wenbin's battalion placed firewood outside the city in advance, and once the Japanese army approached, they set fire to it to prevent the enemy from advancing.When the Japanese infantry attacked the city wall and climbed the city with rope ladders, the defenders were not in a hurry to shoot, but waited for the opponent to climb halfway before firing with submachine guns.The Japanese army suffered heavy casualties, and there were many enemy corpses in the moat. Outside the east gate, the warriors guarding the sister towers dug outer trenches along the towers to make barbed wire fences, and installed light machine guns and watchout posts on the top of the towers, which also prevented the Japanese army from approaching.The two towers stored food, ammunition and drinking water for a week. In the early days, the defenders still used the phone to contact the battalion headquarters to report the enemy's situation. After the phone was cut off, they stood alone and waited for help.

From the beginning of the battle, the Chinese side arranged a pocket position on the battlefield.In this pocket-shaped position, Wugang on the South Road and Xinhua on the North Road are both indispensable support points for the two-wing positions. It was these two support points that the Japanese army deliberately wanted to occupy.While besieging Wugang, the Chongguang Detachment composed of the 131st Regiment of the 47th Division of the Japanese Army launched an attack on Xinhua County in the northwest of Shaoyang.The 77th Division of the 73rd Army stationed in Xinhua fought bloody battles with the enemy, from raising their guns to shooting at each other to stabbing with swords, swords and swords, blood and flesh flying all over the place, and they often fought repeatedly five or six times around a position.The 77th Division suffered heavy casualties. One regiment lost two-thirds of its company and platoon commander, and the officers who had just been promoted were also killed immediately.

The war situation has reached an extremely sensitive moment.Whether China still has a chance of winning, the commanders need to weigh again. The battle area in western Hunan was vast, and Wang Yaowu and Qiu Weida often sent commanders and staff officers to the front line to inspect the battle situation.It can be seen that the battle is still going on in accordance with China's intentions. Although some strongholds are fiercely contested, and individual strongholds have even been raided or occupied by the Japanese army, overall, the position of the front-line corps is basically stable, and Wugang, Jiangkou, and Xinhua are firmly established. It is firmly in the hands of the Chinese side.After more than half a month of fierce fighting, the Japanese army that entered this area was already at the end of its force, trapped in the mountains and unable to extricate itself.

On May 1, Qiu Weida personally inspected the situation of the first battle.After the inspection, he returned to the Chenxi command post and studied with Lin Zhunian, chief of the operations section. Both of them believed that the first phase of the combat objectives had been achieved, and the time was ripe to prepare for the second phase of operations and carry out the offensive transfer. At this time, in terms of strategic deployment, whoever can push the powerful second-line corps to the front line in a timely and effective manner will have a greater chance of winning.In the battle of Changheng, it was the Japanese who did this, so they won, but in the battle of Xiangxi, it was the Chinese who had the opportunity to reverse.