Chapter 103 Go out to watch the battle

After the inspection, McClure presented honors to the officers and soldiers for combat meritorious service on the spot on behalf of the Allied Army Headquarters. A total of 23 people from the Second Battalion received this honor. Among them, Battalion Commander Li Zhongliang was awarded the Gold Star Medal, and Zhou Beichen was awarded the Gold Star Medal and the Silver Star Medal. and the Medal of Freedom.During World War II, it was the first time that the Allies awarded so many important medals to Chinese officers at one time. After the media reported, Zhou Beichen became famous all over the country, just like Zhang Lingfu after the Battle of Wanjialing.

Among the awardees, a sergeant squad leader named Li Mingsheng also aroused everyone's interest.He once led four soldiers into the enemy line at night, killed several Japanese soldiers who were sleeping, and captured two second lieutenant officers of the Japanese army after being shot twice in the body, before returning to the main position.McClure shook hands with Li Mingsheng for a photo and awarded him the Medal of Freedom. The allies’ emphasis on and recognition of China’s ability to resist the war reached its peak when they won the third Changsha battle. However, with successive defeats in the domestic battlefield, China’s status among the allies also declined. By the end of the Changheng battle, China’s status had declined to the bottom.Now, with their outstanding performance, the 74th Army and other departments have changed the attitude of the allies towards the Chinese army from contempt to respect and admiration. In this sense, they have ruthlessly won glory for the Chinese.

The battle continued until mid-May.As a surprise soldier, the 11th Division of the 18th Army not only still firmly controlled Shanmen Town, but also further captured Shixiajiang Town, the key point of the Hunan-Guizhou Highway.At this point, the Japanese army's rear line of communication was completely cut off, and various troops formed a situation of encircling the Japanese army on all sides. According to the rapid development of the battle situation, Qiu Weida ordered to gradually tighten the encirclement, encircle and annihilate their living forces, and at the same time give preferential treatment to the Japanese troops willing to surrender.

Despite the preferential treatment policy, the besieged Japanese army refused to disarm and surrender.The 74th Army once discovered that there were white flags erected in the Japanese positions. When the troops approached, the opponents still fired. Only then did they realize that the Japanese army was deceiving and could only continue the siege. In many local battlefields, the light weapons of both sides on the ground have lost their due power, but the power of the air force has been displayed to the fullest.One day at dawn, an air force plane flew over Shaoyang and found more than 400 wounded Japanese soldiers on the river beach on the outskirts of the city were taking medicine. Maybe they thought they had withdrawn from the encirclement and arrived at the foot of Shaoyang city, so they were not very vigilant and could not be more vigilant. No air concealment was implemented.The plane immediately carried out low-altitude strafing, killing more than 200 people immediately.

The heavily surrounded Japanese troops often used deep mountains and old forests as cover to hide, and it was very difficult to search and arrest.After research, starting from May 15, the Air Force began to use napalm bombs to carry out carpet bombing of Japanese troops hiding in the mountains. The Chinese and American Air Force mixed regiments pursued and killed all the way. All the Japanese positions and camps discovered by the pilots became the targets of attack. They either strafed with machine guns, dropped bombs and bombed them, or simply followed the instructions of their superiors and threw napalm bombs to destroy the Japanese hidden woods. All were burned.

A small group of Japanese soldiers got into a wood and could not hide.After Zhijiang Airport received the information, it immediately sent four planes to fly over the woods for reconnaissance.The trees in the woods were lush and lush, and it was difficult for the plane to find the enemy for a while, so it flew lower and lower, and some directly passed the treetops.This was what the Japanese planes did to the Chinese ground forces in the past. The Japanese were not popular, so they raised their guns to shoot at the planes, but the target was exposed instead.The four planes believed that the Japanese army was really hiding inside, so they aimed at the forest and strafed and bombed until all the Japanese soldiers inside were killed.

The battle turned into an offensive stage, and public opinion in the rear was very concerned about the progress on the front line.To this end, the Sino-US Air Force Mixed Regiment sent a memorandum to the Fourth Front Army, inviting them to send three military reporters to accompany the Air Force to watch the battle.The memorandum was signed by the head of the U.S. military and attached with a translation, which stated that the Air Force would not be responsible for casualties in the event of an air battle. As soon as the memorandum was announced, the Front Army Command immediately became overwhelmed, because it was the first time in the eight years of the War of Resistance that reporters could go out with the Air Force to watch the battle.

After being self-selected by the reporter team stationed at the headquarters and with the consent of the dispatching unit, two journalist candidates were quickly confirmed, one of whom was the director of the Central News Agency’s Hunan branch, and the other was the field correspondent of the Central News Agency. According to the requirements of the memorandum, one of the three journalists must also be a military reporter, or a military officer above the colonel who can engage in writing.After consideration, Wang Yaowu decided to send Major General Wu Yuan, Chief of the First Staff of the Front Army Headquarters, to serve.After obtaining Wu Yuan's consent, Wang Yaowu personally wrote a guarantee statement, stating that "in case of any misfortune happened to Wu Yuan, Yu (that is, Wang Yaowu) will be fully responsible for the life of his family members and the education expenses of his children."

The selected journalists also have requirements in terms of physical conditions, they must be healthy and free of heart disease and high blood pressure.The three of them first underwent a re-examination at the Zhijiang Air Force Hospital to prove that they were physically qualified, and then specialized personnel taught them how to use a parachute and how to jump out of the cabin. After resting for two days, the three of them set off in three Mustang fighter jets.It was the first time in their lives that they took an airplane, and they were fighter jets, so they were very excited.