Chapter 28 Chapter 28 Bloody City (2)

In and out of class After the failure of the first general attack, Yokoyama supplemented the personnel and ammunition of the two divisions, replaced the 68th division with a new division commander and staff, felt that the firepower was not enough, and increased the field artillery United. If you think this is not thoughtful enough, then I really have nothing to say. On July 11, the two divisions were still under the unified command of Yan Yong Wang, and launched the second general attack on Hengyang. This battle has gone from intense to brutal.Uncharacteristically, the Japanese army used hundreds of people as an echelon, and used a dense charge similar to the crowd tactics, surging up like a tide, but in the end they were all blown down and killed in front of the position row by row.

In the past, the Japanese army used to drag the corpses back when fighting, or at least cut off an arm, get a finger or something, but now no one has the leisure and ambition. The Tenth Army had only two weeks of food and ammunition at the beginning, and the ammunition was long gone. Some troops simply obtained materials from the enemy's corpses and obtained weapons and ammunition, including replacing crooked machine guns and Type 38 rifles. Who would not If you know how to use it, I will teach it temporarily. I got used to it, and when the Japanese army attacked, some people were still anxious, "Don't shoot, don't shoot, wait until they come closer and then shoot, so it will be easier for me to get the bullets."

During the battle, the Chinese position also kept echoing the howling sound of Type 38 bullets, which made both the enemy and us feel a sense of consternation. Weapons and ammunition can be "supplemented" by opponents, but not food.After swallowing the burnt rice grains for a long time, all the officers and soldiers looked disheveled, so they thought of catching fish. There are also intervals in fighting, "ten minutes between classes", and there is always time to go down to the pond to fish. Hengyang is not a big place, and there are only a few ponds in the city, which are gradually being drained, and everyone's eyes are fixed on the "public fish pond" between the enemy and us.

If the rabbit does not eat the grass beside the nest, it means that the rabbit is not hungry. Anyway, at this point in the war, no one took death seriously anymore. Several young men gesticulated and shouted to the Japanese soldiers on the opposite side of the pond: "We go down to the pond to catch fish, you can't shoot, anyone who cheats will be punished!" Get anxious, rush over and kill you all." Without waiting for them to reply, several people went down to arrest them. The first two days were peaceful, but on the third day, the Japanese army couldn't hold back and opened fire. Although no one was hurt, the wet fish catchers who were still wearing trousers were very annoyed.

Without saying a word, without putting on any clothes, he grabbed a grenade and a bayonet and rushed towards the opposite bank. The ghosts who shot by the fish pond were really unlucky, their small bodies were pierced and blown to pieces by these fierce men who wanted fish. From then on, the Japanese army learned how to behave. As long as it was the agreed "fishing time", no one would shoot indiscriminately. Once, a soldier caught a big fish, but let the fish run away, making mud all over his body, like a clown in a circus. Scene, also covered his mouth and laughed. After the fish were caught and everyone entered the combat period, there was another hail of guns and bullets, mountains of corpses and seas of blood, as if the scene just now was really a small adjustment during the break-maybe it was the same for both sides.

Due to the long-term attack and heavy casualties, the Japanese army's second general attack on Hengyang failed on July 20.According to Japanese statistics, since the attack on Hengyang, the two divisions have lost more than 6,000 people, accounting for an average of more than 20% of the divisions. The two victories in the defense of Hengyang greatly encouraged the soldiers and civilians in the southwestern rear. After the "Battle No. 1", the frustration and confusion caused by the loss of Henan and Changsha were also swept away. On the Japanese side, it was gloomy. In addition to Hengyang, the Japanese army lost in every battlefield, Burma lost, and the Pacific Ocean.

Seeing that the war machine was rotten, Hideki Tojo, the once arrogant war maniac, resigned from the post of chief of staff first, and then was dismissed from the post of prime minister by Emperor Hirohito like a beaten eggplant. Originally, in the "Operation No. 1", the Japanese High Command had a plan to invade Shaoguan, Guangdong, in order to open up the Guangdong-Han Road. After repeatedly failing to attack Hengyang, they canceled the previous order and asked Yokoyama to concentrate on continuing to occupy Hengyang. rescue Hengyang is more dangerous, but there are fewer and fewer ways to escape.

When Xue Yue wanted to fight in Changsha, his chief of staff suggested a decisive battle in Hengyang, and Bai Chongxi, the deputy chief of staff, proposed a decisive battle in Guangxi, but Xue Yue shook his head one by one, and the latter made him curse: "I didn't go to Guangxi Going to show people the gate, damn it!" When the Tenth Army defended Hengyang, they could "fight Hengyang", but Tiger Cub had already lost that skill. No matter where the decisive battle is, one basic premise cannot be forgotten: combat effectiveness. Without combat effectiveness, it is meaningless to talk about any strategy and tactics.In the past, the reason why Xue Yue was able to create such classic battles as the Wanjialing victory and the third Changsha battle was that he had a superior force in his hands, and a corps with considerable combat effectiveness was readily available.

Today, they all go to western Yunnan, or Myanmar. For Roosevelt and Churchill, Europe is the first battlefield, North Africa is the second battlefield, and Burma is the third battlefield. For this reason, they would not hesitate to sacrifice the Chinese battlefield. Stilwell even wished to call all the Chinese domestic troops to India , to complete his journey of revenge. This is the difference between positions and interests. Of course, there are also prejudices and short-sightedness. After Neiji Okamura launched "Operation No. 1" in the north, the domestic battlefield was so tense, but Stilwell still demanded to continue to increase the number of expeditionary forces.

The country is about to catch fire, and it is naturally difficult to draw troops abroad. Chiang Kai-shek is very hesitant. Stilwell doesn't care about this, if you don't want to send troops, well, I'll cut down your aid supplies to China. The U.S. supplies to China were not much, only 20,000 tons per month. Stilwell sent such a sentence, and the supplies were almost reduced because of this. What, you still won't move? Okay, the next step is to cut off the loan and cut off the supplies of the Yunnan Army, and see if you dare not listen to me. At that time, although the aid from the United States was not much, without that little loan and supplies, the entire economy in the Southwest would collapse.The lesser of two evils, Chiang Kai-shek could only respond to Stilwell's requests. As a result, when the "Operation No. 1" gradually deepened, two more group armies, with a total of about 16 main divisions, were drawn to Yunnan. However, the mobile forces in the domestic battlefield, especially the superior forces, are pitifully small.

When Henan and Changsha fell one after another, Stilwell not only refused to provide strong support, but believed that Chiang Kai-shek was deliberately preserving his strength, and hinted on various occasions that he should surrender all military power in his hands. Chiang Kai-shek encountered one of the most difficult times in his life, and privately felt that he was at the end of his life, and even "the one who clings to it for a long time will cherish it for a long time". However, he is not an ordinary person after all, and at the critical moment, he once again showed the word "will" in "Scholar must be Hongyi". Didn't you say that I preserve my strength?I don't fight with you with two mouths, I use my fists, or in other words, fight a Volgograd-style war for you to see. However, there is no shadow of Volgograd on the Chinese battlefield? It is said that the stele is "China's Volgograd", but it is Chiang Kai-shek's personal title. Americans don't think so, and think it is just a small battle. We can only look at Hengyang, this is the last chance. Fang Xianjue also sent the miscellaneous soldiers to the front line The two victories in the defense of Hengyang allowed Chiang Kai-shek to see the dawn. This was by no means a small battle. Even the Japanese called the Tenth Army the "brave Chongqing Army". You can imagine how glorious his face is. Soon, however, Chiang Kai-shek realized the danger the Tenth Army was in. On July 18, the second general offensive of the Japanese army had not yet ended, and Fang Xianjue had to mobilize officers above the rank of junior rank and miscellaneous soldiers to participate in front-line operations. Chiang Kai-shek has been fighting for many years, and he knows that the commander of the army will not make such a move easily unless he has to, so he was very shocked when he heard it ("Unexpectedly, the casualties are so large"). However, even in this situation, the Tenth Army must not withdraw from Hengyang, otherwise Stilwell, who had been awarded a four-star general by Roosevelt, would say something again: Isn't this still trying to preserve strength? Chiang Kai-shek knew that to some extent, Fang Xianjue was using his own sacrifice to save him from the siege, but he himself was caught in the siege, which made Chiang Kai-shek have a very special feeling for Fang Xianjue and the Tenth Army. In the telegram, he felt that the other party did not call him XX, or a XX army commander, but "brother". He hoped that Fang's younger brother could help him to the end and continue to hold on in Hengyang. Of course, he is also trying his best to mobilize all the forces he can mobilize to rescue Hengyang. dead end On July 23, in the name of Chiang Kai-shek, the Kuomintang High Command issued a stern telegram to the reinforcements outside Hengyang, requiring each army to count one by one, and must squeeze desperately into the inner circle of Hengyang. This means that the alarm reached the highest level, and it is no longer the business of the Ninth Theater. Some people say that Chiang Kai-shek always likes to remotely control troops, which is an important reason for the low combat efficiency of the troops. But to be honest, this kind of remote control has its irreplaceable role, especially in this urgent juncture, it is almost equivalent to the sword above. When Chiang Kai-shek sent this telegram, some reinforcements were quite close to Hengyang, and the nearest 62nd Army was only fourteen miles southwest of Hengyang. Chiang Kai-shek counted with his fingers, and as long as he advanced ten miles a day, the siege of Hengyang could roughly be lifted. But this is just what he thinks while sitting in the room. The actual battlefield is far from so good, because everyone has seen his top-secret telegram, except Xue Yue, the commanders of the various armies, Fang Xianjue, and Heng Shan. Yong. The Japanese's relatively superb decoding and decoding technology has made the Chinese army have no secrets at all. If you don't send a report, it will be deciphered when you send it. Yokoyama knows where the supporting troops come from and how strong they are. He only needs to follow the prescription to grab the medicine and move the troops to block them, and he will be able to block the opponent firmly. Except for the backbone corps like the 74th Army, which must be guarded by Isamu Yokoyama, most of the remaining ones do not need to be blocked by Isamu Yokoyama. For example, the 62nd Army, which is closest to Hengyang, said it was to save others. , In fact, he is an extremely poor army. American reporter Bai Xiude once went to the front line, and the 62nd Army in his eyes is simply unbearable. This is a unit of the Cantonese Army system. They marched without any means of transportation and walked on bare feet.It is not bad if one of the three soldiers can carry a rifle, and the others are empty-handed, with at most two grenades. There are almost no heavy weapons, but there are a few mountain cannons, but they are still "relics of the First World War". Since there are not many shells, they are like misers counting gold coins when they are fired, and they are reluctant to take them out. The 62nd Army was still a force directly under the Military Commission at that time. From here, you can know the general level of Hengyang reinforcements. Let alone ten miles, it is difficult for you to push them forward a mile. Misfortune happened. If the main forces in the expeditionary force were still there, the situation would definitely be very different... When Fang Xianjue and his officers and soldiers were desperately waiting for rescue in Hengyang City, they didn't know that since they were ordered to stick to Hengyang, they were doomed to a tragic fate. No one can save you, this is an unsolvable dead end. At this time, the fighting in the inner circle of Hengyang was still very fierce.After the failure of the second general attack, Yokoyama never stopped supplementing the two divisions that surrounded Hengyang, and those two divisions also attacked Hengyang without any mistakes, but the situation did not get better and better, but became better and better. bad. The Japanese officers who died in the battle had been promoted from the battalion captain to the regiment captain. After many replenishments, there were only about 20 people left in each squadron. There were only five officers in a regiment, which had never happened in previous battles. of. Due to too many casualties, the two divisions could no longer maintain the formation of the infantry brigade, so they had to change the infantry brigade into a commando, and each commando had only seventy or eighty people, which was only slightly stronger than the usual squad. If this continues, the two divisions will have to be spread into pancakes and pasted on the wall of Hengyang. So far, the 11th Army has only used 20% of its total force in directly attacking Hengyang. Toshiroku Hata and the Japanese High Command have always been very dissatisfied with this, thinking that it is an important reason why Hengyang has been difficult to break through. The stalemate in the Hengyang battle finally forced Yokoyama to make changes. After redeployment, the 13th and 58th divisions were transferred to Hengyang, the two divisions became the fourth division, and the strength was doubled. Yokoyama also decided to go to Hengyang to command the scene. When he flew from Changsha to Hengyang by plane, he was discovered by the Tenth Army. The latter did not have anti-aircraft guns, so they fired mortars at the landing site of the plane continuously. Because the distance is too far and the target is not obvious, it is impossible for the bomb to hit the plane just right, but the pilot has to beware of the surrounding shells while landing, which is quite frightening.The plane next to Yokoyama Yong braked suddenly, and the whole fuselage turned upside down due to inertia, which almost scared his soul away. Before his own plane came to a complete stop, he quickly jumped off. The horror at the airport made Yokoyama have a personal experience of the difficulty of the Hengyang battle. He can only secretly rejoice that if the Chinese side no longer has a strong superior force, the scene of the third Changsha battle may have been repeated in Hengyang. Battle of Lushun in South China On August 4, Yokoyama launched the third general attack on Hengyang. The Japanese regarded the occupation of Hengyang as the "Battle of Lushun in South China" and compared it with the Japanese occupation of Lushun during the Russo-Japanese War. In the third general offensive, Isamu Yokoyama, who had put all his eggs in one basket and had no way out, almost took the flesh of Nogi Nozomi. The bomb attack method was moved over as it was, and he adopted the rare "suicide charge" in every area of ​​the Hengyang battlefield. Japanese Army Suicide Charge in Hengyang This kind of suicidal charge requires a bit of a foolish spirit who doesn't regard himself as a human being. The captain of the 116th Division, Kurose Heiichizuo, therefore attracted the attention of Yokoyama Isamu. Kurose, as his name suggests, has no brains and knows how to rush with his life. In the first two general attacks, his alliance casualties were astonishing. The captain has changed four times, but he hasn't made much progress yet. But at this time, no one has made any progress, and brainless people like Kurose have become the banner. From the head of the division, Iwanaga Oo, to Yokoyama Isamu, they all want to hold Kurose up as an example, and try their best to report and recommend him to be promoted to major general. The report has already been approved, but the problem is that since the start of the war, a lot of people below the regiment captain have died, but the position of brigade commander is still not available, so Kurose can only continue to be his regiment captain as a major general. The major general was not given in vain, and Kurose wanted to show it in front of Isamu Yokoyama. The soldiers who were overtaken by him were not allowed to turn back—there was no turning back, and all the defenders were beaten to death. Kurose, who was frustrated, also used his brain to come up with a "fuzzy tactic" with his watery head. The so-called "fuzzy tactics" are to release smoke bombs in the middle of the night in order to obscure the opponent's sight, so that you can't hit with a gun, and the grenade can't be shot accurately. No matter how hard a brain-dead guy tries, he's still a brain-dead.In the thick black smoke, it was not the defenders but the attacking Japanese army who were first confused and confused. The reason is that the grass-roots commanders of the Kurose Regiment have been completely changed, and the current team leaders are all soldiers. This group of people only know how to be stupid. Seeing where his soldiers were, the scene was in chaos, and people were killed and turned on their backs. This is good, many officers died, and the captain of Guangda lost two. If the soldiers die, they can be filled with supplementary soldiers, but the officers don't have so many backups. Kurose had to replace the captain with the squadron leader, and his regiment became very funny: a major general regiment captain who could be the brigade commander commanded three lieutenant captains who could only be captains. On the second day, even the lieutenant captain was either dead or injured. When it was Kurose's turn, he planned to personally raise the regiment's flag and lead the few remaining regiments in a "tragic and heroic battle to the death." He boasted during the day, and Kurose became cowardly at night, but this cowardice made him feel extremely uneasy. Although Kurose fought badly, other troops were not as good as him. The 68th Division hardly made a move. Facing the dense and continuous grenades of the Tenth Army, the officers and soldiers of this division were frightened.The head of the brigade, Major General Shima Genkichi, was supervising the battle on the front line. He patted his chest, "You cowards, what's so scary about a grenade? As long as it hasn't exploded, you can pick it up and throw it back." Seeing that the soldiers were skeptical, this fellow became angry: "If you don't believe me, I will demonstrate it to you myself." Shima Genkichi is indeed a high-ranking official, and the movements of bending over, picking up the bomb, and dropping the bomb can be said to be done in one go, so beautiful that you can't help but applaud. Unfortunately, they were all negated by the last scene: a bullet from the defenders came, and the brigade commander lost his life because of a grenade, it was really wronged. His death made it easier for Kurose, who quickly rose to the position and finally became the brigade commander, and he no longer had to go to the front line to fight his old life. longest day Sitting on four divisions, Yokoyama still puts these two unlucky divisions at the forefront, in order to further consume the Tenth Army, thus pushing this heroic army to the brink of collapse. As of August 6th, the Tenth Army had fought hard in Hengyang for more than 40 days, and was in a state of exhaustion. Most of the rest were seriously injured or seriously ill. Although there were still soldiers who could fight, the ammunition was no longer enough. , Even the grenades are almost gone. The Chinese and U.S. air forces have been assisting the battle in the air, and occasionally airdropped, but what the Tenth Army can get from the air are all bits and pieces, such as panacea. It's not that I don't want to vote, but that I don't.Because Stilwell was stuck on the neck, in order to blackmail Chiang Kai-shek, he did not allow Chennault to send any aid materials to China, and even this little thing was secretly sent by Captain Flying Tiger out of friendship. Hengyang's repeated attacks made the headquarters of the 11th Army fall into a state of collective entanglement. Yokoyama was so anxious that he suffered from dysentery, and his body was so weak that he couldn't even sit still. However, the isolation and helplessness of the Tenth Army finally made him find a chance . On August 7, the 58th Division, which had been peeping aside for a long time and recharging its energy, suddenly came up, thus changing the battle situation in Hengyang. On the same day, this division broke into Hengyang from the northwest and pushed forward with all its strength. The positions of the Tenth Army fell one after another, and the two sides immediately turned from positional warfare to street fighting. When Fang Xianjue ordered to use artillery to stop the attack, he learned that all the artillery shells had been used up, and there was no one to dispatch the reserve team. This is truly the end of the day, and all ammunition is exhausted. Fang Xianjue sent the last telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, and at the end of the telegram he informed: "This life is over, see you in the next life!" After receiving the telegram, Chiang Kai-shek suffered from insomnia.That night, he got up three times in the middle of the night to say his prayers. August 8th, for many people, is the longest day. At four o'clock in the morning, Chiang Kai-shek still couldn't fall asleep, so he got up and prayed silently again. Until then, he still held a glimmer of hope to rescue Hengyang. At five o'clock, it seemed that God had really opened his eyes, and Hengyang's telecommunications were still connected. But it only lasted for a quarter of an hour, the telegram was cut off, and no further contact could be made since then.Five hours later, the air force sent a reconnaissance report: "Hengyang City has disappeared." The whole city of Hengyang is deserted On this day, Chiang Kai-shek wrote a sentence in his diary: "The grief is truly unprecedented." He thought that both Fang Xianjue and the Tenth Army had died in the battle in Hengyang City, but things were slightly different. At the last moment, Fang Xianjue chose the method generally recognized by Western armies: put down his arms and stop resisting.He put forward two conditions at that time: one is to ensure the safety of the surviving officers and soldiers; the other is to accommodate the wounded and bury the dead. Fang Xianjue later returned to Chongqing. Chiang Kai-shek's attitude was intriguing. He did not pretend to reprimand this controversial surrendered general like others, but tried his best to comfort him. He still reused him and awarded him the Blue Sky and White Sun Medal. In the spring of 1945, a veteran of the Kuomintang raised the question of whether the Tenth Army had made any achievements in Hengyang at the meeting. Chiang Kai-shek jumped up from his seat after hearing this, "Who said this? Rumors, Slander, do not know the general "! The old man was so scolded that his face turned red, and the others no longer dared to talk about it. However, Fang Xianjue and his subordinates have never been able to get rid of the trouble of "The Longest Day". Until he retired in Taiwan, Fang Xianjue was still criticized many times, so he became a monk and resolved the endless troubles in his heart in the ringing of temple bells. In any case, the historical achievements of the Tenth Army cannot be erased. According to Japanese data, the 11th Army of Yokoyama Yong had more than 19,000 casualties in Hengyang, nearly 20,000 people, including more than 900 officers.It is said that during the war, cremations were being held on the Japanese camp every day, and the entire Hengyang City was shrouded in the stench of dead bodies, which was a scene of purgatory. The Japanese called the Battle of Hengyang "the only bitter and memorable siege battle in the eight-year war between China and Japan." The end of this battle is also a "suffering" for Yokoyama and his Eleventh Army. relief.