Chapter 61 Chapter 61 Advance to Hongqiao 2

While the 62nd Army was actively preparing for the Qiyang garrison, Major General Dans of the U.S. Army Training Office in Guilin sent a U.S. military liaison team led by a U.S. major, carrying 4 "wireless telephones," several submachine guns, 10 carbines, and other communication equipment. Come over with weapons, check the number of the army, the lack of weapons and ammunition, and the situation of the enemy face to face.The group immediately returned to Guilin. "Chief of Staff Zhang, save a set of communicative equipment such as a microphone in the military headquarters, and distribute the rest to independent combat units; new weapons such as submachine guns and carbines should be kept in the special service battalion of the military department!" Commander Huang ordered.

"Yes, send it out immediately as ordered by the military seat!" Zhang Chen agreed. On July 3, the position of the 451st Regiment of the 151st Division of the 62nd Army stationed at Hongqiaoxu on the Hunan-Guizhou Railway was attacked by about a brigade of Japanese troops.At dusk, the fighting was very intense. "Junzuo, I think the enemy's attempts are nothing more than three: one is to attack Qiyang first; the other is to attack Hengyang and Qiyang on two fronts at the same time; the third is to monitor the defenders of Hengyang while the main force attacks westward. I think it seems that the first The three possibilities are the most. What do you think?" Chief of Staff Zhang Chen judged.

"It seems to be true at present. You should report the situation of your army and the situation of the enemy in front of you." Army Commander Huang said after a long thought. "yes!" Sure enough, in the middle of the night that night, I received a telegram from the commissioner: "The 62nd Army of the table quickly dispatched troops to reinforce Hongqiao to fight, and resist the enemy's westward advance!" On July 5, Lin Weichou, the commander of the 151st Division, was ordered to lead two regiments under his command, and the artillery company attached to the army to reinforce Hongqiao.As soon as I arrived at Hongqiao, I received an urgent report from the 451st regiment: the flank of the regiment was attacked by the Japanese army in a roundabout way, and the situation was critical!

"Order the troops to attack immediately, be sure to destroy the invading enemy!" Commander Lin ordered. Wu Anzhong, commander of the Vanguard Battalion, led his troops to launch a fierce counterattack against the Japanese army. "Platoon Leader Wei, kill that Japanese dog officer wielding a command saber!" "Yes! Get rid of that fucking Japanese commander!" Wei Hanguang, the platoon leader of the 1st company known as the sharpshooter, replied immediately. It turned out that when the Pioneer Battalion was attacking the Japanese army's Hongshantou position, the devil soldiers could not resist and retreated. They were forced to come back by a Japanese officer wielding a command knife.Platoon leader Wei raised his hand and shot, only to see the devil officer 300 meters away fell to the ground.The bullet hit the center of his forehead, and at the instant the bullet hit, his brain and blood mixed with red and white gushed out. Under the reflection of the setting sun, it seemed like an oil painting splattered randomly.

Platoon Leader Wei blew on the smoking muzzle and smiled triumphantly. Battalion Commander An stuck out his thumb to show his praise.The commanding troops immediately went up and occupied the Japanese position. "Battalion Commander, we're getting rich!" "Look, how good the weapons and equipment of these devils are!" "Don't be complacent, quickly clean up the battlefield and count the gains!" "yes!" "This battle has achieved a lot!" Mr. Lin praised. "Reporting to the division seat, a total of more than 20 Japanese rifles, 2 light machine guns, sabers, military flags, pistols, binoculars, military maps, etc. have been seized. The pistols, sabers, maps, and binoculars of this devil officer will be given to the division seat. "The battalion commander said.

"Hey, you really know how to do it!" Mr. Lin said with a smile. On July 7, the clouds were light and the wind was light, the 62nd Army's battle flag was fluttering, the morale was high, and it was ready for battle. At this moment, the Japanese reinforcements arrived and pressed on the 151st Division across the board.The national army was condescending and gave full play to its advantages in close combat. When the Japanese army came up to attack, they would wait for the Japanese army with intensive rifle firepower and overwhelming grenades.The Japanese army attacked the mountainside several times with the help of smoke bombs, but was repelled by the unrestrained firepower and counterattacks of the national army.

There were many corpses of the Japanese army, and apart from tying their feet with ropes and dragging them down the mountain, they ignored them even if they were close to the national army positions.When the sky was getting dark, the national army sent troops to search and seized guns, helmets, raincoats and other spoils of war. On July 8 and 9, the two sides that did not attack formed a confrontation.The national army hastened to repair the fortifications and replenish ammunition.The Japanese army ignored them, and moved railway sleepers to build fortifications on the opposite mountain during the day; at night, they used small searchlights to search from side to side, and set up multiple barbed wire fences in front of the positions, and hung small bells on the nets to prevent the national army from sneaking.It turned out that the judgment of the 62nd Army was wrong. The Japanese army's attempt was not to bypass Hengyang and quickly advance westward, but to prevent the peripheral troops of the national army from reinforcing the 10th Army in Hengyang City.Although the Hengyang defenders were still very stable at this time.

On July 10, Guilin, Guangxi was full of jubilation.The streets and alleys are decorated with lanterns and festoons, and firecrackers are set off to warmly celebrate the great victory ahead.It turned out that the big and small newspapers in Guilin hyped up the news of the victory, and the soldiers and civilians in the rear were all rejoicing. On July 11, the headquarters of the 151st Division of Qiyang Hongqiao received a call from Guilin. "Master seat, Commander Bai is on the phone!" Colonel Zheng Qianfen, chief of staff of the 151st Division, said softly to Commander Lin Weichou.

"Mr. Bai, Lin Weichou, commander of the 151st Division, listens to your instructions!" Mr. Lin reported. "Hey, Mr. Lin, you have worked hard! Because the road was damaged, I couldn't take a car to visit everyone at the front line. I had to call to say hello. How is the situation ahead now?" Bai Chongxi asked with concern. "Thank you, sir, for your concern! Report to the chief, after repelling the enemy's attack last time, we are currently confronting the enemy, and there is no fierce battle for the time being! The rank is waiting for your instructions." Lin Weichou reported.

"According to the Air Force's reconnaissance, the Japanese army has crossed the Xiangjiang River near Zhuzhou; going south along the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, its main force may soon advance westward. Your department should pay special attention to strengthening the fortifications and take on the heavy responsibility of preventing the enemy from advancing westward!" Bai Chongxi was not without worries. encouraged. "Yes! I'm going to check and implement it right away! Please rest assured, Chief!" Lin Weichou replied loudly.Putting down the phone, Lin Weichou secretly understood: Chief Bai's intention is to prevent the main force of the Japanese army from advancing westward.

While Commander Lin was contemplating, he suddenly heard a loud report: "Report! Colonel Huang Huiqing, deputy chief of the military department, accompanied the US journalists to visit." "Oh, please!" Lin Weichou quickly retracted his erratic thoughts and instructed. "Mr. Lin, brother, I have been instructed by the military seat to accompany American war reporters to interview. Excuse me!" Lieutenant Huang Huiqing greeted Mr. Lin with his arms folded. "We are all from our own family, so why not be polite! Let him do what Lao Mei wants to see and shoot!" Mr. Lin held Adjutant Huang's hand tightly and said cordially: "Come, come, let us have tea. Let the political workers The people from the office can go with Lao Mei!" After speaking, he shook hands with the US military reporters and translators one by one. "Mr. Lin, since I think highly of my brother, I'll tell you the truth. It's your brother's advantage to entertain you!" Adjutant Huang blinked and said mysteriously. "Oh, this way, Master Ben will personally accompany Luo!" Lin Weichou said knowingly. So the guests and the host stopped and went, and the American reporters took photos of the national army and some captured trophies; Master Lin answered the previous battle situation, and gave the guests Japanese army flags, sabers, and the "thousand needles" cloth belt and gods worn by the Japanese army. symbol etc.The two parties had a pleasant discussion and had lunch together.After the meal, the US military reporters became interested for a while and insisted on going to the front line to inspect and observe. At this time, the national army was only about 500 meters away from the Japanese army.Snipers on both sides are looking for targets, and danger is everywhere.Fortunately, the national army occupied the high mountains, while the Japanese army was in the low mountains and hills on the opposite side.The US military reporter clearly saw the activities of the Japanese army through the binoculars. He was very excited and asked casually, "How many cannons does your army have?" Commander Lin glanced at Adjutant Huang, and replied: "Our department has a company of the Artillery Battalion of the Army Department, and there are 4 Snyder Mountain Cannons." The American reporter said in amazement: "Too few! Too few artillery! Too few cannons! How can there be enough firepower?" How did he know that at that time, the national army was only equipped with artillery battalions at the army level, and how could there be such an organization at the division level? . The interview team returned to Guilin via Qiyang that night.Maybe it was because the US military reporters reported the truth and lobbied vigorously; maybe it was because of the special attention of the high command that a few days later a battalion of artillery with advanced American equipment was sent from Guilin, with 6 mountain cannons, under the command of the 62nd Army. At the same time, the 62nd Army Company received a telegram requesting reinforcements that the Hengyang garrison was besieged by the Japanese army and the situation was critical.However, due to multiple command, the three divisions of the 62nd Army are divided into Yunfu, Qiyang, and Hongqiao.General Huang Tao was in a dilemma. On the one hand, he had the task of blocking the westward advance, and on the other hand, he had an appointment with Fang Xianjue, so he had to send some troops to carry out a night attack on the enemy in front of Hongqiao. The mule and horse transport team and cavalry patrol team about 70 li from Hengyang to Baihepu. Baihepu has a brigade of more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers fortified. They moved wood, dug trenches, built fortifications, laid mines, and erected barbed wire fences. They have cut off the roads to aid Hengyang. The rescue operation of the 62nd Army is tantamount to passing an itch.Hengyang City is at stake!