Chapter 27 Chapter 27 Bloody Lonely City (1)

The reason Hata Shunroku was not interested in occupying Xi'an was because he was deploying the second phase of "Operation No. 1" in Wuhan to occupy Changsha. He still felt that there were not enough soldiers there, so how could he allocate more troops. Since the Japanese invaded Wuhan, I don’t know how many times they wanted to attack Changsha. There were three times before and after the battle of Changsha alone, but each time it was not satisfactory. The third battle of Changsha was a complete defeat. wilt. In the first three times, the commander of the 11th Army was in charge, but they failed to fight well. This time I will come in person.

On May 25, Hatatoshi Sixth General came to Hankou as the supreme commander of the Japanese army stationed in China, and set up the command post in the headquarters of the 11th Army. dead air Hata Shunroku is very superstitious now, and he has to choose his life in the war. Speaking of which, superstition has a lot to do with people's psychology.If you always have smooth sailing, you may never think of looking for a bodhisattva to bless you. For example, during the Xuzhou battle, Hata Shunroku would not go to see the almanac. The outcome of the battle. Time has passed, and when the Japanese army no longer has an absolute advantage, almost all commanders are burdened with the burden of wanting to win and fearing losing, especially this battle is different from the past.

Jun Hata's sixth election date is May 27. This day is special.During the Russo-Japanese War, the fleet commanded by Togo Heihachiro miraculously defeated the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Sea of ​​Japan, establishing the victory in one fell swoop. That day was May 27, which has since been regarded as Navy Day by Japan. In Hata Shunroku's view, this is an auspicious day for the zodiac.With the overall decline of the Japanese navy and army, maybe he can become Togo Heihachiro in the history of the army. On May 27, the fourth Changsha battle started as scheduled. Xue Yue didn't believe that the Japanese army was planning to invade Changsha.After the third battle of Changsha, this old man has a great reputation and reputation both at home and abroad. Even Chennault is proud to call him a brother and brother. Such a military genius can talk about fighting.

After the Battle of Changde, Sun Lianzhong, commander of the Sixth War Zone, asked him to help the army with rations. He even wrote in a telegram: "You lost my granary, where can I get you any food?" Sun Lianzhong was a kind person, and he couldn't laugh or cry with such a telegram, so he had to ask Xue Yue for help through Kong Xiangxi. Xue Yue didn't show any face to the Executive Yuan at all, took the telegram, wrote only two words "ignore", and then threw it into the wastebasket. Xue Yue believes that the Japanese army will attack the Sixth War Zone and the Fifth War Zone, but will not attack the Ninth War Zone. The reason is very simple. "The Japanese army did not dare to visit Changsha after the Third World War." How dare they?

Xue Yue didn't start organizing the battle until it was certain that the Japanese army occupied Changsha. At this time, he didn't even have time to draft a specific battle plan. However, he thinks it's okay.Hey, don't you have the successful experience of the third Changsha battle?Then use the "Sky Furnace Warfare" to set it up for a while, just sit back and wait for the rabbit, and the decisive battle in Changsha does not need to be planned or not. Xue Yue didn't know, but in fact, his "Heavenly Furnace Warfare" had long been a dead end—after the third Changsha battle, who didn't study this stuff?Even Gu Zhutong from the third war zone wants to learn from it, let alone the Japanese who like to use microscopes for research.

On the other hand, even if Xue Yue can turn his dead air into a living air early, it is uncertain whether he has a chance of winning, let alone he has not thought about it at all. tornado When the Japanese army forcibly crossed the Xinqiang River, Xue Yue thought that the Japanese army was not strong enough and the progress was not fast, but seeing that the situation was getting worse and worse, what was coming was no longer an ordinary storm, but a tornado that had never been seen before. In the past, the 11th Army in Wuhan had to both attack and guard the house. It took only a few steps to be called back by the headquarters of the "China Dispatch Army". A monkey tied by a rope can only jump around in a small circle.

This time it was completely liberated.The Japanese High Command specially set up the Wuhan Defense Army to replace the garrison mission of the Eleventh Army, allowing them all to go out to fight, and go as far as they can. The 11th Army's assault force has thus reached eight divisions, and is equipped with six field supplementary teams equivalent to brigades, which can be supplemented at any time. Under the violent impact of Heng Shanyong's 11th Army, all the troops were overwhelmed and unable to protect themselves, so there was no such thing as flanking and encircling. Yang Sen's 20th Army has been known for its flexibility and tenacity since the second Changsha battle.

The "Tianlu Warfare" really became a dead end, and the magic weapons in the third Changsha battle failed one by one. Zhang Deneng's Fourth Army was stationed in Changsha. This was usually Xue Yue's army under pressure, and its combat effectiveness was also very strong. However, there were too many Japanese troops. Their mere army could neither defend Changsha nor Yuelu Mountain. They were in an extremely embarrassing situation. Especially this time the Japanese army learned the lessons of the third Changsha battle. They transported a large number of artillery units through the Xiangjiang River. The flat-fire guns were used to shoot the bunker at close range. One shot or at most a few shots can blow up the bunker. It was very easy to hit, but the heavy artillery focused on suppressing the Yuelu Mountain artillery position, which greatly reduced the prestige of the Chinese artillery, and gradually turned from hoarse and exhausted to silent.

The house leak happens to rain all night, and now even the "foreign buddy" Chennault can't help Xue Yue. In terms of quantity and quality, the Chinese and American air forces commanded by Chennault surpassed the Japanese Air Force. If the Flying Tigers could completely cut off the Japanese army's logistics supply line from the air as Chennault envisioned, then no matter where Xue Yue chose to fight, he would have a hard time. Much better. However, it was Stilwell, not Chennault, who controlled the control over the aid to China. Stilwell was only interested in the Burmese battlefield, and because of conflicts with Chiang Kai-shek, he even wanted to make a fool of himself in the "Eastern" (referring to the domestic battlefield), so he was ambivalent about the strategic materials shipped to China, and finally got the Flying Tigers. Aviation fuel is insufficient, and there are no heavy bombs, so it is impossible to provide more powerful support for the ground battlefield.

Chennault repeatedly requested that the B-29 bomber be used in the Hunan battlefield, but all of them were rejected by Stilwell on the grounds that it was useless. As time went on, the fourth army's telephone contact with the outside world was completely cut off, and Changsha became an isolated island, which aggravated the psychological tension of the commander and made frequent mistakes. On June 18, Army Commander Zhang Deneng led his troops to break out of the encirclement on his own. With the fall of Changsha, Xue Yue's decisive battle plan was completely reduced to naught. The "Old Iron Army" is Xue Yue's darling, but this time there was a big embarrassment. From the Japanese army's forced crossing of the Xinqiang River to the arrival of soldiers in Changsha, the troops along the way persisted for more than half a month, but the Fourth Army only stayed in Changsha for a day and a night. Just abandoning the city and retreating, even if Xue Yue made a mistake in command, it is really difficult to match the title of "first-class army".

After breaking through, there were only more than 2,000 people left in the Fourth Army, which were basically disabled. Zhang Deneng was sentenced to death for this. After the start of the battle, Xue Yue was originally in Changsha, but he left midway. After the phone call was interrupted, Zhang Deneng behaved in a panic, which cannot but be said to be an important factor in the rapid defeat of the Fourth Army. The third battle of Changsha made Xue Yue's prestige soaring, even the troops in the ninth war zone were very convinced of him, and ran away as soon as the order came, but after such a back and forth, Xue Yue's prestige was greatly lost. Orders are not as important as before, and the phenomenon of poor command has begun to appear. bearded man The fall of Changsha opened the door to Hunan Province. On June 28, Heng Shanyong ordered the 68th and 116th divisions to attack Hengyang along the banks of the Xiangjiang River. Fang Xianjue's 10th Army was guarding Hengyang. Fang Xianjue, a native of Su County, Anhui Province, graduated from the third phase of Whampoa. He is tall and burly, usually unsmiling, but when he is agitated or angry, his face will turn red, dignified but majestic, although he does not grow a beard, he is quite like the bearded man with a heavy face and a strong temperament in the Three Kingdoms period. Fang Xianjue's bravery is by no means inferior to Guan Yunchang who beheaded his ugly face and punished his Wenliang. In the third battle of Changsha, Fang Xianjue, who was still the division commander, was originally assigned by Li Yutang as the army reserve team. Fang Xianjue resolutely refused to be the reserve team, and offered to defend the city. When the military situation was urgent, Xue Yue called to inquire about the battle situation, and asked Fang Xianjue, "How many days can you defend?" Fang Xianjue replied: "I can keep watch for a week." Xue Yue asked again: "How do you abide by the law?" Fang Xianjue said: "I guard the first line for two days, the second line for three days, and the third line for two days." Xue Yue said yes, and then hung up the phone. Fang Xianjue wrote his will to his wife and children that night. This will was later published in Changsha Daily. It is said that some readers were moved to tears after reading it. Fang Xianjue didn't defend for a week, but his division played really well. After as many as eleven times of tug-of-war, he not only held the position, but also achieved great results. The captured spoils alone filled five buildings. In the Battle of Changde, the Tenth Army led by Fang Xianjue did the most rescue work, but failed.As a result, when the responsibility for the defeat in the Changde Battle was investigated, Fang Xianjue was in bad luck and was dismissed. It's true that the more capable you are, the easier it is to get stuck. Fang Xianjue's next experience is surprisingly similar to that of the old army commander Li Yutang. First of all, the officers and soldiers of the Tenth Army were not convinced by this point, and the successor army commander had not yet arrived, so Fang Xianjue just kept hanging on. Then Changsha was in danger, and Hengyang needed to be guarded by a strong general. Xue Yue thought of Fang Xianjue again, but Fang Xianjue's dismissal was actually the result of Xue Yue's report. Tiger Boy is also a person who never bows his head. How could he "beg" the other party to take office again? , and the person who was wronged easily refused to turn back, and the two sides froze like this. Then, the dramatic scene happened again. On the night of the fall of Changsha, the phone at Fang Xianjue's apartment rang.When the adjutant answered, he said it was from Chongqing. Fang Xianjue thought it was someone from the Military Commission who called, and said angrily: "I'll be a commoner soon, who else in Chongqing is looking for me? Just say I'm not here." The adjutant just wanted to answer according to his words, but unexpectedly the other party told him that this was the chairman's call. No matter how courageous Fang Xianjue was, he dared not refuse. Chiang Kai-shek's tone on the phone was very serious: "Changsha has abandoned the defense, and Hengyang must be secured. I will now order you to continue commanding the Tenth Army and stick to Hengyang." Fang Xianjue could only speak repeatedly. The next day, when the Tenth Army learned of Fang Xianjue's reinstatement, they all thought it was a good omen—the old army commander was reinstated after his resignation, and immediately led everyone to create the glory of the third Changsha Battle, and history will definitely repeat itself. Fang Xianjue has this ability. Hengyang City, like Changsha City, had its walls demolished a long time ago, and it looked like a city that was indefensible, but Fang Xianjue knew how to defend according to the situation. As soon as Hengyang faced the water, he got oil, and planned to discharge the oil on the river once the Japanese army crossed the Xiangjiang River, and set it on fire to prevent the Japanese army from landing. Relying on this fire attack technique can relatively save the main force. On the other three sides, Fang Xianjue built four criss-crossing fortification groups. This is the famous "Fang Xianjue trench", which has a depth of 300 to 400 meters. In the hills, the gentle slopes were artificially cut off, resulting in a four-meter-high cliff, which the Japanese army could neither approach nor climb. On the day of June 28th, the two divisions of the Japanese army's first attack had a solid taste of the "Fang Xianjue trench". There is no shelter for concealment. If you lack the ability to fly straight to the cliff with wings, you have only two options, either to be knocked down, or to lie down on your own. In terms of fire suppression, the artillery of the Tenth Army also played a big role, especially the domestic mortars were fully used.Although the latter is not as powerful as a heavy field cannon, it is very convenient to move, as if it has grown legs. Fang Xianjue found someone pointing fingers somewhere, so he used a mortar to get close and shoot. Domestic mortars are small and powerful Doing so often pays off.Sakuma, the head of the 68th Division, as a lieutenant general, probably didn't expect his opponent to be so "shady", and was seriously injured by a mortar bomb by accident. His chief of staff and many regiment leaders were also blown up and carried down. . The two divisions returned in defeat, and the abandoned corpses of Japanese soldiers and various weapons were everywhere in front of the fortifications. aggressive method Yokoyama was very surprised to learn that the two divisions were not only repelled, but also that the 68th Division was on the verge of paralysis due to the death or injury of the commander. In the middle and late period of the Anti-Japanese War, the original veterans of the Japanese army had changed several times. Even in the standing divisions like Kumamoto and Nagoya, there were not many early veterans left. Those who can participate in a key battle in the future can be called It's an experienced veteran. The 68th and 116th Divisions are all full-staffed divisions, and quite a few officers and soldiers have participated in the Changde Battle. Even the new recruits who have just been recruited have become "new" after the first two months of actual combat. Old", so the combat effectiveness of these two divisions should not be underestimated. The invasion and occupation of Changsha took two other divisions, and they were captured in one day. Isamu Yokoyama originally expected that the occupation of Hengyang would only take one day, but he never expected that the Tenth Army would be so strong. Get a bad name. The Japanese army fought aggressively on the surface, but in fact they bullied the weak and feared the hardest. The Chinese army is not timid even if there are many troops, but they are worried about encountering such ruthless horns as the 74th Army. In terms of offense, the Tenth Army may not be as sharp as the "Tiger Force", but in terms of defense, it may be better, which makes Yokoyama very worried. Sakuma was seriously injured, and the injury would not heal for a while. Yokoyama Isamu ordered Lieutenant General Iyanaga Wang, the head of the 116th Division, to take over the unified command. Neither the Sixty-eighth nor the 116th Division participated in the battle to seize the city of Changsha. Seeing that the credit was taken by others, the two buddies Iwanaga Wang and Sakuma were impatient, wishing to swallow Hengyang immediately. Unexpectedly, the cake was not eaten, but there was a mouthful of blood. This is not a cake, but a lump of iron. While continuing to attack in an all-round way, Wang Yanyong decided to personally command a key breakthrough from Zhangjiashan. Zhangjiashan is located in the southwest of Hengyang, and it belongs to the main defensive position that Fang Xianjue attaches great importance to. When assigning the defense area, Fang Xianjue asked several division commanders who would take orders to guard Zhangjiashan. "Everyone don't want to give it to me!" "Don't" means "dare not". Ge Xiancai, who graduated from the fourth phase of Whampoa, is young and vigorous, and has experience in the battlefield. Although he is a division commander, he and Fang Xianjue have been old brothers for many years in the Tenth Army. It is the absolute main force of the Tenth Army, and Fang Xianjue could have directly designated it. But since ancient times, sending generals is not as good as aggressive generals. Whether to be active or passive often determines how high a person's fighting spirit is. Ge Xiancai really lived up to expectations, and his pre-tenth master shined brightly in Zhangjiashan. After the mortar, another melee weapon began to appear, which is the grenade.All troops use grenades, but when it comes to the Tenth Army, it seems to have evolved into a combat stunt. There was a soldier nicknamed "Fool" in the Pre-Tenth Division. His mind was not very flexible, and at least two shots missed the target when he fired live ammunition. , more than ten meters higher than the average person. A "fool" does not shoot and aim when he is fighting. As long as you put a lot of grenades at his feet, and then he happily throws them one by one, he can often repel or destroy a group of grenades by himself. people. "Fool" is just a representative of bomb throwing experts. Japanese soldiers who have experienced the defense of Hengyang believe that the tenth army's level of grenade throwing has far surpassed the British and American counterattacks on the Pacific battlefield, and it is the best of the best. The hand grenades thrown collectively by the Pre-tenth Division from the artificial cliff were both far and accurate, like rain, and could completely cover the Japanese assault troops in a short while. Occasionally, the grenades that missed their aim rolled to the bottom of the artificial cliff, just in time to kill the Japanese soldiers hiding in the concealment. Grenade throwing is one of the tenth army's specialties When you finally climbed the cliff, I'm sorry, but you can't get over it again. Ge Xiancai didn't care too much about gains and losses. He adopted the "multiple kills and stick to it" tactic, that is, if a point was breached by the Japanese army, he was not in a hurry to recover. The firepower sealed the gap, making it impossible for subsequent Japanese troops to enter. Those who squeezed in like this were doomed, because they couldn't retreat, and in the end they had to wait to be cleaned up. Ge Xiancai sent a reserve team to do the job, and still used a lot of grenades. After four days of hard work, the 116th Division finally had a foothold in Zhangjiashan, but it was severely injured by grenades. A lot of captains and squadron leaders died. It was blown up to the pitiful few people left. However, Yan Yongwang can finally explain something. Many people were killed and injured in the 68th Division, but they haven't even touched the edge of the artificial cliff. On July 2, the two divisions had only advanced a total of two miles, but the ammunition had been exhausted. Yokoyama was forced to announce the suspension of the attack, and the plan to quickly occupy Hengyang was completely bankrupt.