Chapter 7 Section 7 Bloody Changde

Bloodshed in Changde, Yu Chengwan was still dealt with by Chiang Kai-shek's military law The 57th Division stands on the cusp of the storm Spring has passed and autumn has come, and the time sequence has shifted to October 1943.At this time, after the impact of the Battle of Stalingrad, the world's anti-fascist war began to undergo subversive changes, and the Japanese army on the Pacific battlefield had changed from offensive to defensive.in Sino-U.S.-U.K. On the India-Myanmar battlefield opened up, the armies of the three countries, with the Chinese army stationed in India - the New 1st Army as the main force, have also embarked on a plan to counterattack Burma. The defeat of the Japanese army has been presented in front of the Chinese people like the morning light of autumn .

But there is an old saying that a rabbit jumps three times when it is dying, let alone the "Imperial Japanese Army" armed with the "Spirit of Bushido"?Therefore, the Japanese base camp decided to use the 5 divisions of the 11th Army as the attack force, and concentrated about 150,000 troops to launch the Battle of Changde in an attempt to occupy Changde, deter Chongqing, and open up its north-south communication line in China. Changde, an ancient city famous for its virtue, was pushed to the cusp of this war.The defense area of ​​the 57th Division of the 74th Army at this time is Changde City.They undoubtedly became such a group of iron-blooded warriors standing on the cusp of the storm and fighting the devil.

At the beginning of November, the Japanese army showed signs of moving westward from Huarong. Seeing that the situation was not good, Commander Yu Chengwan mobilized officers and soldiers to organize the evacuation of the people to the south bank of Yuanshui day and night.Changde is located on the edge of Dongting Lake, and the river network is criss-crossed. Ferries are naturally extremely important. Due to the large number of people and few boats, the ferry terminals are often crowded and the prices are very high. The people carried their belongings and luggage, and the people were very grateful.

On November 13, the enemy's 13th Division launched an attack from Xinmen Temple to the west of Changde. The 3rd Division came from Xinyan and Yuanling Temple to Shimen and Taoyuan. Heading toward Hewei, the Ninth War Zone organized the 4th Army (Commander Ou Zhen), the 10th Army (Commander Fang Xianjue), the 58th Army (Commander Lu Daoyuan), and the 51st and 58th Divisions of the 74th Army. About 200,000 troops were on the outside to stop the enemy, but the Japanese invaders still won successively by virtue of their weapons, and the situation in Changde was shocked three times a day.In view of this, Yu Chengwan and Chen Xiyun, the deputy commander who had just returned from his father's funeral, patrolled day and night together, urging all ministries to strengthen their fortifications, prepare enough ammunition, firewood and rice, and make all preparations before the war.

"Teacher, now Master Li (Tianxia) and Liao (Lingqi) are fighting hard against the enemy outside of us. It is estimated that the flames of war will reach Changde in the near future. In order to encourage brothers, you issue a pre-war mobilization order Let's go!" Chen Xiyun said to Yu Chengwan. "Okay! Although I'm known as the 'Master of the Tiger's Ben', playing drums and beating vigorously can show more pride! Let the clerk handle this matter tomorrow." Yu Chengwan nodded and said. Yu Chengwan is from Taishan, Guangdong, a first-year student in Whampoa, and his writing style is also very good.The next day, after writing the draft, he slightly polished it up, and a 3,563-character "Proclamation of the 57th Division Headquarters of the Army" was plastered all over the streets and alleys of Changde.The proclamation wrote: "Changde is adjacent to Dongting in the north and Yuanjiang in the south. It is a place where people will be put to death and reborn. It is not conducive to sticking to it tactically. However, the bounden duty of soldiers is to protect the country and serve the people. The terrain is unfavorable and vacillating, and the order cannot be discounted by anyone." "We fought and died to defend Changde and fight for national independence and freedom. Death is more valuable than life!" "No matter how much pressure the enemy puts on us, our answer can only be blood! Death! Death in battle is glory!" "

On November 15th, this proclamation spread to various positions of the 57th Division in the cold wind and rain. From time to time, there were waves of heat waves on the positions: "Swear to kill the enemy and defend Changde!" The slogan echoed in Changde for a long time like the raging waves of Dongting Lake. over the city! In the Battle of Deshan, Deng Xianfeng became a deserter Three days later, at 5 o'clock in the morning on November 18, the battle started in the direction of Tujia Lake. At this time, the sky was still dark, and the sound of motorboat motors suddenly sounded on the gray surface of Yujia Lake. Two or three hundred devils armed with machine guns rushed straight to the shore of the lake. The 2nd Battalion of the regiment (head Chai Yixin). The soldiers of the 2nd Battalion have been fighting each other these days, sleeping on the tents on the embankment. When they heard the gunshots from the checkpoint, they jumped up in unison, raised their guns, and went straight to their respective positions.

When the devil came within the effective range, the battalion commander Zhou of the 2nd Battalion fired a gun, and the long and short weapons of the other soldiers aimed at the devil's motorboat and swept them wildly like shooting targets.The two or three hundred devils in the water were naturally no match for the firepower of the entire battalion on land. Soon, they carried dozens of corpses, left a damaged motorboat, and fled back in a hurry. Soon, the enemy moved the battlefield to Shapao, Chonghe City, Tanninghe, Haozhou Temple, Niubitan, etc., but because the 57th Division was waiting for work, it had been prepared, so there were no major problems in the positions.

On the 21st, the devils concentrated more than a thousand troops and swarmed southward from Caijiazui to Yuanshui to attack Deshan, the southern gate of Changde.The name of Changde comes from Deshan Mountain. The so-called "Changde Deshan Mountain is virtuous, and Changsha's sandy water has no sand." It refers to this mountain.Deshan is located on the south bank of the Yuanshui River, and its Gufengling is the commanding height in this area, which is naturally a safety barrier for Changde. The 188th Regiment of the 63rd Division temporarily assigned to the command of the 57th Division is defending this place. The head of the 188th regiment was named Deng Xianfeng, but it was this pioneer who deserted at a critical moment.

It turned out that Deng Xianfeng was extremely reluctant when the 188th Regiment, which did not belong to the 74th Army, came to assist in the defense of Changde City when the war was imminent. He burst out in a flash, and before the enemy could charge, he ran towards the Huangtu store with his troops. "No way, no way! We are violating the great law by running away like this! I am willing to guard Deshan, and those who want to stay with me don't leave!" A deputy battalion commander surnamed Zhang stopped his subordinates and shouted desperately to dissuade them.As a result, more than 200 people stayed with him. "They fought in Deshan for 4 days and 3 nights, and all of them died. When the superior ran away, the feat of a subordinate is worth remembering forever, but he didn't even keep his full name. I only remember his surname Zhang Today, 62 years later, when the reporter interviewed Wu Rongkai, one of the two surviving survivors of the war, who was then the captain clerk of the 169th Regiment of the 57th Division, he said with reverence.

At the same time, 500 enemy soldiers and more than 100 cavalrymen, under the cover of 3 fighter planes, stormed the 171st Regiment's defense area in Hefu Mountain, west of Changde, via the Dai Family House; Huangtushan's 170 regiment (regiment leader Sun Jinxian) invaded the forward position. Ruan Cishan held his chest with one hand, and went up to him with a De-made octave box in the other.A devil stabbed him with a bayonet, once, twice, three times, four times, and the dark red blood gurgled and dyed his dark green military uniform into a jet-black jujube color In the early morning of the 22nd, the enemy's troops on the Hefushan side increased to more than 2,000, and the fighting became more intense. The command post of the 171st Regiment is located about 300 meters away from the front line. The head of the regiment, Du Ding, is a tall and strong man from the Northwest who dares to fight tough battles. He gave an order in his throat: "Battle Commander Ruan, use burst fire for heavy machine guns, and strafing fire for light machine guns, pay attention to the alternation of firepower!"

The 3 battalions of the 171st regiment are deployed in depth. Battalion Commander Ruan refers to Ruan Cishan, the commander of the 1st Battalion. His troops are defending the first-line positions in Hefu Mountain.When the enemy's first three attacks were repulsed, and the fourth charge swarmed towards the 1st Battalion screaming like locusts, he squatted next to a Maxim heavy machine gun and reminded the machine gunners around him from time to time: "Burst fire!" Burst", the heavy machine gun looked like a majestic jailer counting the names of the prisoners, counting the names, scanning the faces of the prisoners, and then counting the names again, looking at the prisoners, in just half an hour, a camp before It fell the corpses of no less than 200 devils. The Japanese learned a lot from the fifth attack. They changed their aggressive tactics and adopted the tactics of aircraft bombing, ground bombardment, and infantry follow-up, and quickly pushed the front line to the front of the 1st Battalion. .At this time, Ruan Cishan, who was thrown aside by the bomb blast, was still buried in the trench. When he got up, the front team had retreated like a tide. "Hold it, hold it up!" Although he tore his throat and yelled to stop it, the troops were defeated like a mountain. All the positions of the 1st Battalion fell, and the defense line of the 2nd Battalion was also smashed to pieces. The whole team retreated to the 3rd Battalion The defense zone is considered to stop the position. "Ruan Cishan, you and I will take back the position immediately, or you will see how I will deal with you!" Du Ding shouted on the phone. Ruan Cishan didn't even think about it, he mechanically held the Tom light machine gun, and led the 1st Battalion who was panting slightly, and killed them back. The Japanese over there were rushing towards the 3rd Battalion from the small hill with bayonets, and the Chinese here were also rushing towards the Japanese with long guns in their hands.The winter sun casts a bleak light, Hefu Mountain Bright blood splashed everywhere on the loess and withered grass!The sound of killing, yelling, moaning, bayonet clashing, and falling to the ground made several bare-armed ancient locust trees on the mountain tremble and whimper. The Japanese were killed so weakly that they retreated first, while the 1st Battalion pursued closely, using both guns and knives, and the position finally returned to the 1st Battalion.In this battle, 2 company commanders of the 1st Battalion were killed and more than 470 other officers and soldiers were injured. Before dark, the enemy launched two more consecutive attacks, but due to the full support of the 2nd Battalion, the position of the 1st Battalion was always safe and sound. Early the next morning, when the north wind picked up suddenly, Ruan Cishan inspected the fortifications that had been hurriedly repaired last night, visited the exhausted soldiers who were chewing dry steamed buns, and told everyone to pay attention to the movement of the enemy on the opposite side from time to time. Around 8 o'clock, clouds of milky white smoke suddenly rose from the opposite hill. "Could it be that the poisonous gas is being released all day long?" someone said. "Anyway, everyone prepare towels before we talk." Ruan Cishan hurriedly ordered. It was too late, but soon, the smoke on the opposite side floated to the front of the 1st Battalion in the blink of an eye, and the pungent smell immediately made the officers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion who had dealt with the Japanese for 6 years realize: "Poison gas, it is poisonous gas." !" It was too late to escape.Everyone pulled out the towels, covered their noses and faces with their left hands, and held the handles of their guns with their right hands. They crawled on the edge of the trench, still preparing to attack. The poisonous fog became thicker and thicker. Since the towels of most people were not wet, the dry towels could hardly provide protection. First, there were coughing sounds on the battlefield, and then some people convulsed and fell to the ground one after another, like a city wall soaked in water. The ground, piece by piece, collapsed, collapsed! The enemy rushed over, Ruan Cishan covered his chest with one hand, and went forward with a German-made music box in the other, but he was too weak, so weak that he didn't even have the strength to pull the trigger.A devil stabbed him with a bayonet, once, twice, three times, four times, and the dark red blood gurgled and dyed his dark green military uniform into a jet-black jujube color! After the 1st Battalion was sacrificed, the 2nd Battalion and the 3rd Battalion also suffered heavy casualties and had to withdraw from their positions. The Hefushan defense line was completely lost, and the fighting was transferred to the Heijiafu and Nanhufu areas. In this way, the powerful enemy launched an attack on the 57th Division's surrounding positions at Qili Bridge, Shagang, Baima Temple, Ship Wharf, Changsheng Bridge, and Luolukou almost simultaneously, and Changde City was in fierce battle on all sides. "It's better for you to break through and defend the city!" Chai Yixin said to Yu Chengwan with a begging look On the 24th, more than a thousand enemies who occupied Deshan Gufengling forcibly crossed Yuanshui in an attempt to capture the South Station of Changde Railway Station. Meng Mingwu, the deputy head of the 170th Regiment, was leading his troops to defend the South Railway Station. Facing waves of enemy attacks, he took off his cotton uniform and personally led the team to organize counterattacks again and again; the head of the Artillery Regiment Yu Dingzhou commanded the artillery to attack the enemy's backup, especially the enemy ships crossing the water.But seeing the sound of shells, the water column soaring into the sky, the fragments of boats and boats, splashing in all directions, broken limbs and arms, floating across the river!The enemies who attacked the South Station were hit hard. At midnight that day, taking advantage of the fatigue of the defenders and the inability of the artillery to display its power, the Japanese army dispatched more than 100 people on small leather rafts to seize the Mercury Building in the southeast corner of Changde.The Mercury Building is a brick and wood structure with a height of 3 floors. It is a commanding height guarding the south gate of Changde, and its strategic significance is self-evident.For this reason, Yu Chengwan called Captain Du Ding and ordered him to take back Mercury Building at all costs.It was not yet dawn at that time, and most of the Japanese soldiers had already slept with their clothes on except for a dozen sentry posts, soundly asleep.Du Ding then organized half a company of soldiers to sneak into the building in the dark, shoot at the enemy sentries, and then went out in all directions, beating the sleeping enemies until they fled. Mercury Building finally returned to the 57th Division. On the 26th, hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops had surrounded Changde in the palm of their hands after defeating the blockade of the Chinese army outside the city. The defense of Changde entered the most difficult stage of street fighting.First of all, more than 60 soldiers defending Mercury Tower were killed because the enemy collapsed the foundation. Finally, the south gate was breached, and the east gate could not be defended either. Teams are rushing to the city! "Block it! Resolutely block it, resolutely wipe out the enemy in the city!" Whether Yu Chengwan called Du Ding or When Sun Jinxian and Chai Yixin gave orders, they all said these few words. Things have come to this point, although the regiments have suffered heavy casualties, are exhausted, and the water is running out, they still have to fight with all their strength! Battalion Commander Zhang Zhaopu of the Du Ding Regiment divided his subordinates into a dozen groups based on the fact that the enemy occupied the streets and houses, and the swords and guns were not easy to use. Everyone was covered with grenades, and they dropped bombs from house to house to wipe out all the enemies who invaded the city. inside the house.The east gate was guarded by the Chai Yixin Regiment, relying on the houses on both sides of the street, they shot from a distance and killed at close range, causing the enemy's corpses to pile up, and they did not move forward.Sun Jinxian's regiment was defending the north gate. At this time, the north gate was still in our hands, but the enemy used light and heavy machine guns in the distance as a cover, and kept climbing the city with the help of ladders. Bayonets, stones, bricks, everything that can be used as a weapon, they used to attack the enemy, so the north gate persisted until the evening of the 27th. At dawn on the 28th, more than 50,000 enemies launched a full-line attack on Changde City from all directions.All of a sudden, gunfire flew and the sound of killing shook the sky. The enemies at the east gate and south gate charged in a wave-like group, blasting row by row and house by house, forcing Du Tuan and Chai Tuan to retreat steadily; Air bombing by plane, followed by long-range bombardment, followed by poisonous gas attack. Although the defenders risked their lives and refused to retreat, they mobilized the servants and personnel, transportation, communications, stretchers, health and other personnel to fight hard with weapons, but people died and the city was destroyed. fall.In this way, in addition to the corner of Ximen, including the Central Bank at Xingjiekou, Laosihai Restaurant on Shuangzhong Street, Fuwen Temple at Liujiaqiao, Asia Hotel at Baijiekou, and Huajing Glass Factory on Daxing Street, the total length and width cannot be more than five. Beyond 200 meters, the rest is occupied by the enemy. The position of the 57th Division became a peninsula surrounded by the enemy on three sides. The enemy and ourselves fought against each other day and night.At this time, the soldiers of the entire 57th Division, including the wounded, were 321 people, and the ammunition was exhausted. However, in order to defend the last piece of land in Changde, they sharpened bamboo poles, picked up broken bricks as weapons, and still fought desperately with the enemy. Give it a go! On December 1, in order to guide the reinforcements, Yu Chengwan sent his adjutant Zhou Yizhong to lead his staff to sneak across Yuanshui at night and go out of the city to find rescue troops. At that time, the Chongqing Military Commission, the Sixth War Zone, and the Ninth War Zone kept urging all armies to rescue the 57th Division. To Deshan, Zhou Yizhong and Chen Tuan were at odds because of the dark road. When Zhou Yizhong found Chen Tuan, the enemy sent heavy troops to besiege Chen Tuan from all sides, and Chen Tuan had to turn around and retreat. The 57th Division lost a golden opportunity. chance of rescue. With no hope of rescue, Yu Chengwan tearfully sent the last telegram to Sun Lianzhong, the commander-in-chief of the Sixth War Zone: "The ammunition is exhausted, the city is destroyed, and the friendly army is waiting to see. There is a scuffle in the streets and alleys. The deputy commander The division commander and the chief of staff are sticking to the central bank. I would like to knock Cheng Wan in my spare time." After the dictation, he wanted to raise his gun and commit suicide. Seeing this, the left and right guards quickly grabbed their guns and tried hard to dissuade them. On the morning of December 3, Yu Chengwan came to the Chai Yixin Regiment and held a regiment-level officer meeting to discuss the issue of breaking out.Yu Chengwan said: "I want Captain Chai to lead everyone to break out from Deshan to find reinforcements. What do you think?" Du Ding asked: "What about you?" "Me? I am the chief officer, and I will stay at the center The bank insists on resisting the enemy!" Yu Chengwan said bluntly. "How can it be done?! You are the chief officer, and you should lead everyone to break through. You are here, and our 57th Division is here! Besides, the reinforcements are led by at least generals above the division commander. How can I command them as a regiment commander?" , or you break through and let me defend the city!" Chai Yixin said with begging eyes. Yu Chengwan lowered his head and walked around the room a few times, stopped, looked at Chai Yixin and said, "Okay, brother, take care!" After that, he took a step forward and hugged Chai Yixin's shoulders tightly , unwilling to let go for a long time. When it was time to say goodbye, Chai Yixin seemed to remember something. He pushed Wu Rongkai, the clerk beside him, to Du Ding, and said to Du Ding, "Mr. Du, take Secretary Wu with you!" Wu Rongkai was only 23 years old at this time, and he cried out loudly: "Leader, please keep me!" Chai Yixin said angrily: "I stayed here desperately. You are a clerk and you are young. What are you doing here? Let's go!" In this way, Chai Yixin stayed in the city with 51 people, and Yu Chengwan led more than 200 people including two team leaders and two American journalists (including the famous reporter Epstein) out of the city. .Walking to the bank of the Yuanshui River, he suddenly turned back to the city, went into the shelter and talked to Commander Chai at the telephone switchboard. After guerrilla warfare until December 8th, Yu Chengwan finally waited for Lu Daoyuan's 58th Army. On the 9th, he led Du Ding and more than 80 soldiers who were still able to act, and cooperated with the reinforcements to advance from Deshan to the east gate of Changde.At this time, the enemy in the city had retreated, and the rest of the division searched and advanced, and finally recovered the ancient city of Changde, while Chai Yixin and other soldiers staying in the city died heroically! Chiang Kai-shek instructed that Yu Chengwan should be sentenced to death, but Yu Chengwan did not die in the end, but Liao Lingqi was actually regarded by him as a sacrifice to scare chickens and monkeys While cleaning the battlefield to clear up the remains of his comrades-in-arms, Wu Rongkai found Chai Yixin, who had been shot four times, and his uniform was soaked with blood. "He said that I was young and left me the hope of life, but he was only in his early 30s at that time, and he had just been married for more than 7 months!" When the 82-year-old Wu Rongkai recalled this past, he was still in tears and choked up with tears !Chai Yixin is a native of southern Sichuan. He graduated from the fifth special class of the Army University. He served as the acting chief of staff of the 74th Army. He was posthumously awarded the rank of lieutenant general after his death. After the Battle of Changde, Yu Chengwan gathered the remnants of the 57th Division and dispatched the Taoyuan Taohuaping area to replenish and garrison.Unexpectedly, Wang Yaowu, the commander of the army, never understood or understood his practice of abandoning the city and abandoning his soldiers and breaking through the siege by himself. At the post-war review meeting, Chiang Kai-shek claimed that Changde fell, Yu Chengwan finally left the position without authorization, and failed to fulfill his duty to protect the people. Ordering his dismissal, detainment, and trial at the Military Court, and ordering that he be sentenced to death, Jiang threatened in his diary that he would interrogate Yu Chengwan himself.Immediately, Yu Chengwan was escorted to Chongqing. After the news reached Changde, the people of Changde were very emotional. More than 60,000 people signed a guarantee to save Yu Chengwan from death. Sun Lianzhong, the commander of the sixth war zone, also came forward to intercede. The official tried his best to defend the city, why should he be punished? In the end, Chiang Kai-shek may have realized that he had wronged Yu Chengwan, but he was unwilling to admit his mistake, so he sentenced him to serve 2 years in prison. During the Battle of Xuefeng Mountain in 1945, Wang Yaowu, who had been promoted to the commander-in-chief of the 24th Army, also felt that he had misunderstood his subordinates, so he interceded with the Military Law Office and rescued Yu Chengwan. He served in the 24th Army and was gradually promoted to the commander of the 26th Army. . In December 1949, during the Luhan Uprising in Yunnan Province, Yu Chengwan also made a move towards the bright future, but he was deprived of military power due to confidentiality. He moved from Taiwan to the New Territories of Hong Kong, and was assassinated on August 27, 1955. The bloody battle in Changde moved the Chinese people who were fighting hard.Mr. Zhang Henshui, a great writer, wrote the first full-length novel "Heroes of Huben", which reflects the frontal battlefield of the War of Resistance, based on the battle of Changde, in order to praise the heroic deeds.In order to commemorate their loyal souls, the people of Changde spontaneously raised donations. In March 1944, they built a 30,000-square-meter cemetery for fallen soldiers on the east side of the city's outskirts (now the Changde Battle Cemetery Square) to commemorate it. What needs to be mentioned is that although Chiang Kai-shek wanted to kill Yu Chengwan in this battle but failed, Liao Lingqi, another division commander of the 74th Army, was really regarded by him as a sacrifice for killing chickens and monkeys.It turned out that one night when Liao Lingqi led the 58th Division to shift positions outside Changde to contain the enemy, they suddenly encountered more than a thousand enemy cavalry troops. After rushing to pieces, Liao Lingqi hid in a reed to avoid death.This incident shocked Xue Yue, commander of the Ninth War Zone, and Chiang Kai-shek announced Liao Lingqi's death sentence at the military meeting for fleeing.Before his death, Liao Lingqi wrote three suicide notes, one to his mother to handle family affairs, agreeing with his cousin to settle the accounts of the division, one to ask his wife to remarry someone else, and sent the suicide note to Chiang Kai-shek for reading. After Liao's death, the commander of the 58th Division was replaced by Zhang Lingfu, the deputy division commander.