Chapter 55 Chapter 55: Retreating to the second line

The tiger-shaped nest position, one of the two gates of the main southwestern position of Hengyang, is preparing for another strong force of the 10th Division-the 29th Regiment to guard here. The Japanese invaders knew that if they did not open the two gates of Tiger Nest and Zhangjiashan, they would enter Hengyang, don't even think about it!In order to enter the house, the Japanese attack on the tiger-shaped nest was as fierce as on Zhangjiashan.However, due to the open terrain in front of the tiger-shaped nest, the Japanese army suffered a lot in this open area during the first general attack.In order to avoid fighting during the day, the Japanese army changed the second general attack to be carried out at night.Taking advantage of the lack of night combat equipment such as flares and searchlights in the 10th Army, the Japanese army quietly crawled into the vicinity of the defenders' positions at night, and then launched a sudden charge in an attempt to break into the defenders' positions in one fell swoop.

On the night of July 11th and 12th, the Japanese army fought from dusk until dawn.During the day, the planes bombed and bombarded heavily, trying to prevent the defenders from resting, and they collapsed due to mental exhaustion. On the night of the 13th, the Japanese army did the same thing. For three days in a row, planes and heavy artillery bombarded the walls, causing the walls in front of the positions to collapse.The Japanese army, with 100 people as an echelon, swarmed up the collapsed steep slope in the dark, and immediately after the last batch of shells of its artillery exploded, they swarmed up like a tide.The national army, as always, responded to the battle calmly. First, they crawled in the shelter to prevent the artillery from moving. When the Japanese army approached to more than 10 meters down the slope, they suddenly threw groups of grenades. Some soldiers even rushed into the enemy group with explosives. , Blowing up large pieces of the Japanese army to the ground.

The Japanese army did not show weakness, and under the leadership of the officers, they went forward one after another, advancing but not retreating, and rushed up one after another.The sound of gunfire and cannons shouted and killed, and the sound of huge explosions echoed in the mountains and valleys, resounding through the sky, the earth was shaking, the mountains were trembling, and the rivers were crying! Major Li Zhenjun, the battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion of the National Army, led the army to block the attack bravely, relying on the superior number of grenade firepower to deal maximum damage to the enemy. Before the early morning of the 14th, it successfully repelled the crazy Japanese attack.Still breathing, the Japanese army's fourth offensive began again.A steady stream of Japanese troops swarmed in and forcibly captured two-thirds of the position.The casualties of the national army reached 80%, and Battalion Commander Li died honorably.The defenders were unable to regain their positions.

Upon hearing the news, Colonel Zhu Guangji, head of the 29th Regiment of the National Army, immediately ordered Lao Yaomin, the commander of the 1st Battalion, to lead the remaining 90 officers and soldiers to quickly reinforce and launch a counterattack against the Tiger Nest position.The battalion commander Lao led his army to attack the enemy first from the side, and fought fiercely until dawn. Fang and the remaining officers and soldiers of the 2nd Battalion wiped out all the Japanese troops on the position.At this time, more than half of the officers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion rushed up.Commander Zhu hurriedly organized the troops directly under the regiment into an infantry company of only 70 people, and added them to the 1st Battalion of the Labor Battalion Commander.The anti-aircraft artillery company that was originally attached to it had to bury the cannons in the ground because they ran out of shells, and the artillery was changed to infantry.Head Zhu also allocated more than 60 people from the company to the labor battalion commander to occupy the position, renovate the fortifications, and strengthen the defense.

At noon, the Japanese army launched a new offensive.First there was air strikes and bombings by planes, followed by bombardment and poison gas, coupled with the scorching sun, the scorching sun, billowing smoke and dust, covering the sky and blocking out the sun.Most of the defenders were either stunned or drugged, and the fortifications of the positions were blown up and annihilated.Uncharacteristically, the Japanese army changed to attack during the daytime. Many infantrymen of the Japanese army spread all over the mountains and plains, swarming and attacking, one after another, group after group, stretching endlessly.There is a life-and-death struggle for every gap; every cliff has to be fought repeatedly.The fierce battle lasted until midnight. The two sides were criss-crossed, and some were only a few meters away from each other.

In the chaos, two Japanese machine gunners climbed to the top of the bunker of the battalion command post, the highest point of the tiger nest position.In a hurry, the devil soldiers were condescending, regardless of whether they were friends or foes, and fired violently around with machine guns, causing heavy casualties to the national army. Seeing this emergency situation, the battalion commander rushed out of the bunker bravely with the messengers, and used grenades to blow up the enemy machine gunners on the top of the bunker.The pressure on the national army has eased slightly.At this time, the troops led by the labor battalion commander were unable to do what they wanted, and could only control the traffic trenches on both sides, separated by bunkers, and fought a stalemate with the Japanese army.Sometimes you advance and sometimes I retreat, just like the ecstasy array played in childhood, the battle has become an endless guerrilla warfare.The officers and soldiers led by the battalion commander Lao Yao dropped the 8 boxes of grenades in the bunker until only 5 remained.When the position was in danger, the brothers from the 3rd Battalion of the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Division sent by Commander Fang Xianjue, Commander Zhu Guangji, came to reinforce them.Once again engaged in a tragic battle for positions with the Japanese army.The assault numbers of the two sides rose one after another, and the sound of killing was endless; after the hail of bullets and stalemate fighting, blood flowed into the traffic trench, and the dead bodies had to be removed continuously before they could pass.After the fierce battle, Sun Hubin, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Division, Chen Yiju, the company commander of the artillery company of the 3rd Division, Chen Yiju, and the commanders of the 8th and 9th companies of the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Division, 9th Regiment, died successively. fighting.Before dawn on the 15th, two-thirds of the officers and soldiers of the national army were killed or injured, and half of the positions were occupied by the Japanese army.

The Fanjiazhuang position on the north side of the tiger-shaped nest was defended by the 3rd Battalion of the 29th Regiment of the Reserve 10th Division.In the past few days of bloody battles with the enemy, the position has been in danger. More than 100 officers and soldiers have been sacrificed. aid. In view of the fact that the positions of Zhangjiashan and its machine repair factory were abandoned yesterday, and the tiger-shaped nest has become a prominent isolated position, Division Commander Ge Xiancai will need a lot of troops to regain the positions occupied by the Japanese army;Therefore, I also reported to Commander Fang Xianjue, thinking that the troops were weak and could not defend for a long time; staying for a long time would inevitably affect the defensive force of his second-line position Xichan Temple, so he requested to evacuate the two positions of Huxingchao and Fanjiazhuang.Commander Fang Xianjue immediately approved the withdrawal.

Master Ge immediately deployed two troops on the ground to evacuate before dawn and retreat to the reserve position of Xichan Temple.