Chapter 30 3. A condolence team came from the rear

The Battle of Xiangxi lasted for a month. The Chinese army fought bravely and resolutely implemented the strategic policy of the headquarters.First, fight with small groups of troops layer by layer to curb the momentum of the Japanese attack, then retreat in a planned way, introduce the enemy into the preset battlefield, and try to block the fierce Japanese attack in this area, and in the process of blocking, kill the vital forces of the Japanese army. Drain their ammunition supplies. The Chinese and American air forces effectively cooperated with the ground forces to bomb the rear of the Japanese army, cut off and block all the traffic arteries from the rear to the front of the Japanese army, and prevented the front-line Japanese army from receiving military supplies.While blocking the frontal attack, the Chinese army boldly outflanked with superior forces, interspersed carefully, divided and surrounded the main attacking Japanese army in the deep mountains and valleys, and completed the goals and tasks of the first phase of the Xiangxi Battle.

Unexpectedly, the Japanese army was extremely tenacious. The divided and surrounded Japanese army brigade or regiment rushed from left to right, very ferocious, like a beast trapped in a big net, and the hunters took a lot of effort.At this time, the Chinese army was mobilized frequently, and they continued to take the method of tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall to deal with sudden changes in the situation. Therefore, they were unable to take action to launch a counterattack, so they had to besieged, blocked, and besieged again in another place. In the process of besieging the Japanese army, some troops seized the opportunity to concentrate certain superior forces and fight a partial battle of annihilation, such as Qiu Xingxiang's 5th Division.But most of the troops used flexible and maneuverable tactics, and adopted guerrilla warfare such as harassment, sneak attack, and commando grab and go. They eliminated a small team today and snatched a few weapons tomorrow. They tried their best to eat away at the Japanese army. .

In order to save the defeat, Ichiro Sakanishi of the Japanese 20th Army put all his eggs in one basket and ordered the main force of the 116th Division to attack in an attempt to rescue the besieged Japanese regiment or detachment.Unexpectedly, they were hit hard by a regiment of the 74th Army and the 19th Division, so they had to retreat in failure, abandon their offensive tactics, and switch to peripheral support. The Chinese army seized the opportunity of the besieged Japanese army to step out of the position and wait for an opportunity to break out of the siege, concentrated its superior forces, annihilated the Longsi unit and the Chongguang unit in one fell swoop, and killed two heinous executioners.After the two major Japanese regiments were annihilated, the battle situation in western Hunan changed greatly. Commander Wang Yaowu had a mobile force on the front line, so he began to detour behind the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, encircling tens of thousands of Japanese troops in Xuefeng Mountain. .

The good news of the victory of the Xiangxi Battle continued to spread throughout the country. Although the Xiangxi Battle has not yet won the final victory, the dawn of victory has shone on the top of Xuefeng Mountain.In the battle of Xiangxi, the Chinese army can be said to have a certain chance of winning. The people in the rear were very excited. The anti-war patriotic organizations in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Sichuan provinces all flocked to this small piece of land in western Hunan.They not only brought special products from various places and condolences donated by all walks of life, but also brought combat service teams, health care teams, publicity teams, youth student volunteer service teams, and Peking Opera and drama teams.There is no battlefield atmosphere in the whole of Xiangxi, and the army and the people are all immersed in the ocean of joy.

The field service corps, youth student voluntary team, medical team and propaganda team, they are not afraid of hardships, and they go deep into the front line to distribute condolences to the fighting soldiers, bringing them laughter and singing.On the frontline positions, a bonfire party was even organized, and officers and soldiers were invited to perform hometown dramas and sing hometown songs, which greatly encouraged the passion and patriotic enthusiasm of the officers and soldiers to fight the enemy bravely. The Fourth Front Army also invited Zhong Xiongfei from the 57th Regiment of the 19th Division, Du Ding from the 171st Regiment of the 57th Division, battalion commander Li Zhongliang, company commander Zhou Beichen and other combat heroes to tell battle stories at the request of various condolence groups in the rear, as heroes in the Xiangxi battle. deed report.

The interaction between the condolence group in the rear and the officers and soldiers of the Chinese army in the front is very effective and has a great impact. In order to highlight the combat performance of the troops in front, each army also held an exhibition of victory achievements, displaying many spoils of war captured by the Japanese army.Before the exhibition was over, the visiting members of the consolation group asked for some small trophies, such as Japanese envelopes, family letters, little sun flags, photos of Japanese family members, knives, amulets, bullet casings, and shell fragments. etc.Except for guns, cannons, and ammunition, everything in the exhibition room was taken away by curious young students and people from all walks of life. Girls who didn't get souvenirs and trophies even shed tears.

The condolence groups and propaganda teams in the rear were welcomed not only by front-line soldiers, but also by army commanders and division commanders.Once they came, many tasks in the army did not need to be done, such as field mobilization and political lectures, and such things were easily solved, and the emotions of the frontline officers and soldiers were mobilized.The military headquarters and division headquarters also held parties with the propaganda teams, drama teams, and Beijing opera teams.Commander Li Tianxia even danced ballroom dancing all night without feeling tired.The party ended at dawn, and he still didn't feel satisfied.Why does time go by so quickly?He asked the orderly next to him.

The largest condolence group is from Chongqing.This condolence group includes people from the business circles, cultural and educational circles, and various democratic parties, as well as literary and art groups organized by the Central Propaganda Department of the Kuomintang, all major media such as radio stations, news agencies, and newspapers in Chongqing in the world. The Central News Agency, Central Daily, Ta Kung Pao, Moabang Daily, Xinshu Daily, Southwest Daily, Dagang Daily, China Morning Post, etc.Among the foreign journalists were a group of well-known journalists at the time, such as Wang Liuda of the United Press, Bai Ke of the Liberty Magazine, Hardman of the American Journalists Association, Ai Siwu of the U.S. Air Force Propaganda Department, Daliwen of Reuters, and so on.

These reporters are difficult to deal with. They not only ask the bottom line, but also run around to see the facts.There is no way. It is impossible for the commander of the war zone to have such a detailed understanding of the trivial details of the battlefield. He is often speechless and incoherent when asked by reporters. Foreign reporters even went to the Qingyan Highland in the southeast of Jiangkou.There was scorched earth, shell fragments and bullet casings all over the place.From time to time, the cuffs of the dead man's clothes or a broken leather boot can be seen in the soil layer on the ground.A gust of mountain wind blew, and the thick smell of blood made people vomit.

Journalists are like this, they are curious about everything, their professionalism sometimes reaches the point of madness, and they always want to catch important news clues.Holding the camera in his hand, he kept taking pictures, running all over the mountains and plains.This is too busy for a group of guards, who are afraid that they will step on landmines, or trip grenades or something.Because the battlefield was cleaned in a hurry and the war was still going on, it was impossible to clean it up so carefully and cleanly.Besides, the very tired soldier, who cares about him, it is better to sleep if he is free.

The interviews of journalists inspired the U.S. Air Force stationed in Zhijiang.They are different from the Chinese army. Americans love to be on the newspapers and on the covers of publications. It's so beautiful. The whole world knows you overnight, and you can't stop being in the limelight.So while they were scrambling to report, they also played an ingenious game where reporters went out with the Air Force to watch the battle. It is easy to choose a reporter, because the U.S. Air Force requires a colonel and officer. It is not easy to choose a colonel or above, but also must have the ability to write and be in good health.In case of air combat, casualties occur, the Air Force is not responsible.That's where it gets interesting.Wang Yaowu bit the bullet and recommended Wu Yuan, the director of the first department. Director Wu smiled, pointed to his nose and asked if you pushed me?Wang Yaowu didn't hum, he sat down and wrote the following line on a piece of paper with a brush: If Wu Yuan was killed in an air battle, Yu will be responsible for the living expenses of the family members, young and old, and the education expenses of the children. Wang Yaowu's written evidence is as simple as that.Director Wu said: "It's not necessary, isn't it just to take a fighter jet to go out? There's nothing to make a fuss about, it's not this time, so what evidence is there?" Wu Yuan saluted and left.He had to go to the Zhijiang Air Force Hospital for a physical examination, and also had three days of training, mainly teaching how to use a parachute, how to jump out of the cabin, visiting the airport facilities, and understanding the aircraft's performance and so on. The fourth day was a clear sky. They boarded the P-51 fighter jets, and the three were divided into three planes.The fighter jet that Wu Yuan took was captained by Lieutenant Yu Gongcheng, nephew of the famous Chinese poet Yu Dafu.After he sat down, the ground crew put on a seat belt and fixed him firmly on the seat, unable to move at all.I was also told that once a situation arises, the buckle will be released with one button.Headphones were put on his head so he could listen to messages, and a towel was tied around his mouth and nose to prevent him from vomiting in the plane cabin. The finished plane is flying eastward, and you can see three C-47 transport planes flying in the upper right, and six B-24 bombers in the upper left, which are flying to Fujian to perform missions.Wu Yuan's first impression was that the planes flying in the sky were as small as a few circling eagles.Before he could see enough of the scenery in the sky, he heard the sound from his earphones, noticing that Changsha had arrived, Wu Yuan glanced down and saw Yuelu Mountain and the dense urban area.Notice! Fight now. Before he could figure out what was going on, the plane flew straight up like an arrow off the string, and then flew on a side wing. Wu Yuan suddenly felt that his internal organs were churned out. The towel was sore over my mouth. When Wu Yuan regained her senses and looked down, thick smoke billowed from the rails of Changsha Railway Station, and clusters of flames burst into the air. The voice in the earphone told him that a Japanese military train had been bombed.After the plane landed, Wang Yaowu organized a small symposium for the three fighter jets to talk about their impressions, and asked them to write down their experiences and publish them. Wu Yuan laughed again. He said that his eyes were pitch black, and all his internal organs were shaken out of his body, as if hanging out of his belly. He didn't know anything at that time.After it stabilized, he saw the Japanese train at Changsha Railway Station burst into flames and exploded.All the people who participated in the symposium laughed and said yes, just write it like this. At night, Zhijiang Airport is full of lights, and the harsh sound of the planes taking off and landing seems to be a kind of pride for them.The 4th Brigade of the Air Force gave a comprehensive introduction to the reporters participating in the symposium on their brilliant achievements in the past year, and the small conference room burst into warm applause.Reporters scrambled to take pictures of them and take pictures with them.Chennault's heroic reputation became famous overseas again, and he was also on the cover of dozens of publications.