Chapter 57 Chapter 57 Love Like Lushun

Changsha, the headquarters of the Japanese 11th Army. Colonel Shimanuki of the 11th Army stationed in the Japanese base camp wrote in his diary: "After our army launched a general offensive again, except that it only won a very small number of positions as last time, it still made no progress, and the casualties were even heavier. There are not many original captains of the two divisions left; most of the infantry has been replaced by non-commissioned officers acting as captains, barely supporting the end of the battle. In the second general attack, there will be one regiment captain and six battalion captains successively killed; but the prospects for the attack were still not optimistic. So the attack stopped again."

"The siege of Hengyang this time is like a tough battle in the past, but as far as the opponent is concerned, the situation is worse than worse!" Shimazuki sighed later. Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, fell into deep thought, as if he had returned to the scene of the fortified battle at Lushunkou.Because the war at the beginning of this century is really worth recalling and thinking about! It was the beginning of February 1904. The Russo-Japanese War broke out, but the battlefield was outside the territory of the warring parties in Northeast China. It was like two strong men coming to a weak home to fight.In the early days of the war, the Japanese Navy successfully blocked the Russian Pacific Squadron in Lushun Port by adopting tactics such as sneak attack, naval warfare, and mine blockade. On May 5, the Japanese Army General Obochiku commanded the Japanese 2nd Army to land in the narrow Jinzhou Isthmus Piziwo area in the northern part of Lushun, cutting off the connection between Lushun Russian Army and Kropotkinbu in the northern part of Jinzhou, and surrounded the area from the north. Lushunkou.For this reason, the Japanese army also specially formed the 3rd Army, commanded by General Nogi Nozomi.Beginning in late June, the Japanese army concentrated its forces to attack the Russian fortified positions outside Lushun, such as Dagushan and Xiaogushan, and took these key points with great casualties. In mid-August, after the Russian army rejected the Japanese army's persuasion to surrender, the Japanese army began a general offensive.From August 19 to January 2 of the following year, the Japanese army launched a total of three general offensives, the first two of which ended in failure.It was only the third time that it succeeded, forcing the Russian army, which was out of ammunition and food, to surrender.

Several key points for the Japanese army to capture Lushun and win the final victory are crucial.First of all, it quickly seized the command of the sea through naval battles, sealed the Russian fleet in the harbor basin, and provided a strong guarantee for the landing operations of our own army to capture the established targets; The contact with the Ministry of Jin, and defeated the Ministry of Ke in the Battle of Shahe, forcing it to withdraw northward, leaving the Lushun defenders in a situation of isolation and helplessness; again, the goal of the third general attack was correct, and the Japanese army won at a heavy price of 11,000 casualties. The crucial 203 highland, where field artillery positions were set up on the highland, sank all the Russian fleets moored in the Lushun Harbor Basin, completely destroying the fighting will of the Russian army.In addition, the Russian army's fragile and long Northwest Lia supply transportation line and the death of the Russian army leader Kondrajian were also factors that led to the Russian army's defeat.The distance of more than 9,000 kilometers from the Russian base to the combat area is indeed a fatal wound; while the Japanese army took advantage of the convenience and advantages of their own bases to turn the absolute military superiority of the Russian army into combat. Relative disadvantage on the field.

In this battle, the Japanese army suffered 110,000 casualties, 57,178 were killed, injured, or missing in the last siege alone; 31,306 were killed, injured, or missing, and 24,359 were captured in the Russian army.The Japanese army suffered such heavy casualties mainly because the Japanese army’s tactical tutorials were completely copied from the German army. At that time, the famous German-made Maxim machine gun was just “on the market” and was equipped with 72 by the Russian army in Lushun.When the Japanese army charged, they still followed the traditional dense formation to deal with single-shot guns, so they became the first victims of the machine gun experiment in modern military history.At that time, the British military observer stationed in the Far East wrote in a report to the military authorities of the country: When machine guns were set up on the trenches, the only thing the cavalry could do was to cook for the infantry.In addition, the use of Russian mortars and searchlights also caused great casualties to the Japanese army.

This is the tragic battle of Lushunkou.This is the biggest pain since the Japanese army became an army in modern times, and this scar is always aching, just like a human body. Whenever there is a change of yin and yang weather, it will faintly flare up and become the eternal pain of the Japanese army. !If you want to talk, you can't stop. Comparing the current Hengyang battle situation and wars, there are really striking similarities in history.Could it be that there is really an invisible hand controlling something in the dark?Is Hengyang really likely to become "the second port of Lushun"?But Hengyang has no navy, Hengyang has no permanent strong fortifications, Hengyang neither has a large stockpile of military supplies, nor does Hengyang have a large number of well-trained fresh troops.But why the situation of offense and defense are so similar, and what the final result will be, is really hard to predict.If the Chinese army broke through the siege, wouldn't the Japanese army end up worse than Lushunkou!Terrible, terrible!

Thinking of this, Yokoyama could not help shivering.At present, the pressure on the front army and the country is increasing, and even alarmed the emperor.If that's the case, it must be the end of my military career, or even my life! Fang Xianjue may not have done in-depth research on the Battle of Lushunkou, and he did not want to make Hengyang the "Second Lushunkou".Ordering the troops to voluntarily withdraw from Zhangjiashan and the Tiger-shaped Nest Heights was equivalent to giving up the two gates of the outer defense line and entering the preset second-line defensive position.This trick seems normal, even out of helplessness.However, it is also as if a martial arts master has made a move, hiding a needle in the cotton - the purpose of retracting the fist is to punch it out more powerfully!

The Japanese army was finally exhausted and defeated, deeply afraid of the Taishan-like majesty of the 10th Army.The Japanese soldiers gasped and looked at Zhangjiashan and the tiger-shaped nest highlands where countless corpses were piled up. The smoky, fire-baked, poison-tainted, and gunpowdered empty positions still had curls of gunpowder smoke wafting, like the dead in battle. The lingering ghosts made the Japanese army terrified and lingering. The three main teams of the 10th Army's 10th Division prepared for nearly a month of fighting, and even the handymen and cooking soldiers were depleted.But no matter any other unit in the whole army, once they add to this group of heroes, once they accept the command of General Ge Xiancai, they are as if they have been casted, precepted, and possessed. They are all like the officers and soldiers of this unit. , as firm as a rock, as solid as Mount Tai, unyielding and unrelenting.Now, although the team of these three heroes has been ordered to retreat.But the empty position still stood proudly like a lion. It had been two days, and the Japanese army was still intimidated and did not dare to act rashly.After repeated firepower searches and preparations, the Japanese army moved forward in fear and fear, and kept in touch with the national army.

General Fang Xianjue gave up the front line out of helplessness.The fortifications were almost completely destroyed, and it was easy for the Japanese army to invade, and the position became a bottomless abyss that swallowed life.The national army does not have the same wealth as the Japanese army in this respect. It is alone in the besieged city, and no one can make up for it. How can you compare with the Japanese.It's like a beggar fighting a rich man for wealth, a little demon competing with the Jade Emperor, how can it be successful!The role of Zhangjiashan and Tiger Nest, the two first-line main positions, has also been brought into full play.Its final contribution was two days later, when the Japanese slowly and tremblingly climbed up the mountain.The Japanese are like thieves. They have a guilty conscience first, and they don't fight hard at all. They have the victor's attitude and the arrogance of an invincible conqueror who swept the world.

The Japanese army finally climbed to the top of the mountain, and before they had time to breathe a sigh of relief, they saw the flags of these teams not far ahead. Although they were smoky or baked and incomplete, they were swept by the westerly wind and fluttered proudly with the wind.Lu Bogao, commander of the 10th Army Engineer Battalion, carefully designed the exquisite fortifications of the prepared positions, and presented them in front of the Japanese army in an orderly manner.The prepared position is brand new, and one can even faintly smell the fragrance of the newly dug soil, as well as the faint fragrance of wood bark, thorns and firewood.The positions are still as complete, with bunkers and ditches, cliffs with cut walls, wooden fences, barbed wire, and minefields.What is striking on the front of the position is the innovative work of Battalion Commander Lu - the new outer trench: it is 15 meters wide at the top, 10 meters deep, and has a wide bottom. As tall as it is, it stands vertically on the wall and cannot be climbed without tools.The sharp barbed wire with hooks is arranged between the two walls of the outer trench, like a ground net; the bunker in the trench is darkly clothed.The shooting points of the whole position are dense and dense, scattered high and low, echoing from north to south, and staggered.Such a well-arranged position, such an exquisite design, such a finely crafted structure, such a precise combination, seems to be created by heaven and earth, naturally formed, tightly stitched, and drip-tight, it is really amazing!In comparison, what about the permanent fortifications in Lushun?So what if it is a strong fortress in Lushun?

Hengyang, an undefended city, a city without city defenses, has neither steep mountain barriers nor permanent fortifications to build reinforced concrete structures.There are only some 40-50 meter high hills surrounded by some 20-30 meter mounds.It is almost entirely made of earth, with the addition of some wood at most.There is very little reinforced concrete, and there are no steel plate protective fortifications commonly used by foreign troops in World War II, huge minefields, high-strength power grids, etc.However, it is these earth-made hill positions that are so solid and rock-solid that it is unbelievable that they have become the cemetery of the well-equipped modern Japanese army; it is these inconspicuous loess slopes that have become steel positions They were so unshakable that they became the burial place of the elite divisions of the Japanese army; it was these ordinary ditches and pits that could not be broken through, broken down, or torn apart. their death trap.After research and research by Japanese military field experts, it is still difficult to decipher where the huge lethality and actual combat value of these positions come from, where they come from, and what is the mystery.

Hengyang, Lushunkou; Lushunkou, Hengyang... These two words, like a revolving lantern, dangled in front of the eyes of the commander of the Japanese 11th Army, Isamu Yokoyama, making him look exhausted.