Chapter 19 Chapter 19: First Battle at Quanxi

Quanxi, a suburb of Hengyang After the fall of Changsha and Xiangtan, the flames of war spread to Hengyang. On the night of June 22, Xue Yue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone, led the troops directly under the theater headquarters. Under the pursuit of the Japanese invaders, they retreated steadily along the Guangdong-Han Railway, passing through Hengyang. Hengyang East Railway Station The moon and stars are sparse, and there are some white clouds floating in the blue sky. The big moon and a few stars float up and down among the white clouds, vaguely. I don’t know if the moon and stars are passing through the white clouds, or the white clouds are drifting past. The moon and the stars.

The earth was originally silent.Occasionally, the sound of unknown insects became more and more silent. Suddenly, a large number of lights in the distance approached from far away, mixed with the clanging sound of metal utensils colliding.Then a large number of troops from the Ninth War Zone swarmed in and quickly retreated through Hengyang to Leiyang.I saw chariots, carriages, troops, refugees, people shouting and neighing, forming a gray long dragon with no front and rear, crooked and winding south. "Hey, hello, is this the 10th Army's headquarters? Look for Commander Fang, Commander Xue wants to talk to Commander Fang!"

"Hey... oh, it's the commander's department of the war zone! Alright, tell Commander Fang right away!" "Hey, report to Chief Xue, the staff will listen to your instructions respectfully!" "Zishan, the situation is urgent. Please send a capable unit to the Leihe line to block the enemy. Cover the theater headquarters to withdraw to the south and ensure the safety of Hengyang Airport!" "Understood, please rest assured, Chief Xue, I have ordered the 190th Division to rush to stop the enemy a few days ago, and instructed them to resolutely block the enemy's offensive!"

"Okay! Zishan, you must resolutely defend Hengyang. The better you fight, the better you will be able to do it! I wish you success! I will integrate all the peripheral troops to counterattack with all my strength, and use it to gather and annihilate the enemy under the city of Hengyang. Let's strive for a great victory in Hengyang! " "Yes, I must follow your instructions!" On June 23, advancing all the way from the direction of Changsha, the following Songshan detachment arrived at the Leishui River in Quanxi City, east of Hengyang, and joined the main force of the division that arrived earlier.The outpost security forces of the 190th Division of the 10th Army of the National Army retreated to the opposite bank of the Leishui River after a little contact with the Japanese army the day before, and the two sides faced off across the bank.

At dawn, the 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army began to forcibly cross, and the front of the soldiers pointed directly at the advancing stronghold of the new pier.Stationed here is the headquarters of Yang Jihe, the first battalion of the 568th Regiment of the 190th Division, and the divisional anti-aircraft artillery company attached to it. Originally, the battalion could retreat to the Wuma Guicao position, and join forces with the temporary 54th Division and a regiment to block the attack.However, the enthusiastic Battalion Commander Yang believed that it would be detrimental to the morale of the army if he first contacted the enemy and retreated without a fight.

Under the cover of artillery, the Japanese crossing troops drove towards the west bank in rubber boats and wooden boats. Leihe New Wharf stronghold.The morning breeze gently caressed the leaves and flowers.The sky was glowing with a fish-belly white light.Because it is close to the estuary where the Leishui River flows into the Xiangjiang River, the river flows quietly, like a huge silk and satin, glowing with charming light. The boat of the hateful Jap shattered the tranquility and light of silk in the morning. "Listen up, everyone, no one is allowed to shoot without my order. When the enemy approaches, aim and shoot!" Battalion Commander Yang ordered in a deep but forceful voice.

The officers and soldiers were calm and composed, concealed in the position, and had already made preparations for battle. The enemy ship crosses the center line of the Leihe River and wait until the enemy ship enters the effective range, 200 meters, 100 meters. . . Pa, Battalion Commander Yang waved his hand, and the shell gun fired the first shot that officially opened the Hengyang Defense Battle. "Fight!" With the roar of Battalion Commander Yang, the whole battalion and artillery company fired six anti-aircraft guns and more than 20 light and heavy machine guns at once, weaving a deadly fire net.

The Japanese army in the river was unprepared, and was suddenly hit by this blow. The boat capsized and people were drowned immediately. The casualties were heavy, and they had to retreat and were defeated. In the afternoon, the Japanese attacked again.This time, the soldiers were divided into two groups, one was to feign an attack from the front, and the other was to cross the river south of Quanxi City in an attempt to disperse our army's strength, and fired violently at my exposed firepower points. In order to avoid premature exhaustion of the troops, Battalion Commander Yang ordered to retreat to the Wumaguicao position and join the headquarters of the temporary 54th Division.

Seeing that our army had shifted its position, the Japanese army immediately organized firepower to stop and shoot.When commanding the anti-aircraft artillery to transfer positions, Wang Huimin, the deputy commander of the anti-aircraft artillery company, who was only 22 years old, was unfortunately shot and killed.In addition, there were three officers and more than fifty soldiers casualties, two anti-aircraft guns and three heavy machine guns were lost. The head of the Japanese Matsuyama Detachment originally decided to cross the river after the 58th Infantry Brigade crossed the river.However, because the 58th Brigade encountered such obstacles, the crossing of the river was not smooth. In order to avoid delaying the marching time, the detachment had to collect civilian boats by itself and carry out rush crossing.

The next day, the Songshan Detachment crossing the river in light clothes was stopped by the low-altitude strafing of the P-40 fighter planes of the Chinese and American Air Forces and hurried across the Leishui River, preparing to rush to the southeastern suburbs of Hengyang. When the ghost soldiers crossing the river were triumphant, they were attacked by our guerrilla detachment in Hengyang County unexpectedly. Hengyang is a famous land of fish and rice.Along the river, except for the sparse trees on the embankment, there are large expanses of rice fields and fish ponds interspersed with them.At this time, the seedlings in the field were more than one foot high, and they began to tiller. The fields were full of green and shiny.What a crop!The fish pond was shining brightly in the early morning light. Occasionally, an unknown wild fish jumped out of the water with a whoosh, and quickly entered the water with a swish sound. The sound of water broke the silence of the morning.

The guerrilla cadres are both locals, and most of them are graduates of the Nanyue guerrilla cadre training class. They are familiar with the terrain and flexible in tactics.Fight if you win, run if you can't.This time it was the Hengyang Dongxiang Guerrilla Brigade that stopped the enemy, and the commander was Zhou Bingyan.It is said to be a brigade, but in fact there are more than fifty people with guns. They lay in ambush at the foot of the mountain, 400 to 500 meters away from the river embankment, relying on the ridge of the field, sitting on a low bench, with a gun on a high bench, and a straw bag or sandbag between the gun and the bench. Can be used as a support, but also anti-vibration.Some team members also put flowers and plants on their guns for decoration; on their heads, each twig and weeds were woven into camouflage hats. "Commander Zhou, this time you have to agree to let me bring the devil's bastard's box!" Er Gouzi, who is usually the most playful, said carelessly. "Be careful, don't talk. The devil is coming up!" "Where is it? Why can't I see it?" Er Gouzi asked in a low voice. Commander Zhou, who is five-year-old and three-year-old, is trying to lower his body and put his ear on the pond, signaling Er Gouzi to listen to himself with his hand. Sure enough, the faint sound of horseshoes was heard.It turned out that the reconnaissance cavalry led by the devils came over. "Look at my gestures, as soon as I wave my hand, you will pull thunder; as soon as I shoot, everyone will shoot at you. Beat him! Do you understand?" "Understood!" All the team members replied in a low voice.Because it was the first time to meet the enemy at close range, some team members couldn't help but get nervous.Silently wiping cold sweat. Gradually, the sound of hooves became clearer.Through the morning light, black dots appeared in the distance, one, two, three... fifteen of them, first the ghost soldiers wearing ear-mounted hoods appeared, and then the tall Dongyang horses appeared; twenty One, thirty, a whole devil cavalry squad.Judging from the dust raised from behind, there was a large group of devil infantry following behind. Zhou Bingyan thought in his mind: The devil's cavalry is at least one kilometer away from his infantry brigade.We must resolve the battle within fifteen minutes.Otherwise it will be difficult to get out.Just when the devil cavalry was seven or eight hundred meters away from him, he waved his big hand.The landmine exploded and two or three devils fell off their horses. The other devils paused for a moment, but immediately understood.The devil's team leader Feitian Ichiro raised his saber high and screamed "Kill it!" The devil's cavalry rushed over quickly, with carbine guns and light machine guns sweeping over. Several team members became timid and slowly wanted to slip back.He was stopped by Zhou Bingyan's stern gaze. "Fight!" Commander Zhou shouted.The 20-ring large mask box cannon in his hand knocked down a devil with one continuous shot.Other team members also fired.Three light machine guns fired "da da da, da da da". The devil soldiers were hindered by the paddy fields and fish ponds, and they were inconvenient to move, so they became living targets for the guerrillas.After being hit a few more times, the ghost soldiers had to roll off their horses, looking for favorable terrain to resist stubbornly. From a distance, I saw that the enemy's follow-up troops were about to come up.Commander Zhou hurriedly ordered everyone to retreat to the mountains.Er Gouzi wanted to go up to pick up the enemy's gun, but was dragged back by Zhou Bingran: "You're looking for death! Follow!" Er Gouzi still looked back reluctantly.But at this moment of hesitation.Just listen to "beep, hook".The devil's 38 big guns caught up with him.He only felt his blood rushing up, and he fell headlong into the pond, and never got up again. Some team members want to catch Ergouzi.It was stopped by Zhou Bingran in time.The guerrilla brigade disappeared in the dense forest deep in the mountains in an instant. The devils didn't know how deep they were, and they didn't pursue them for the time being.Instead, they rushed towards the original target - Wumaguicao and the airport on the outskirts of Hengyang.