Chapter 2 2. The line of defense is breached like this

"At 7 o'clock in the morning on September 14, more than 2,000 people from Ryotaro Nakai's 106th Division launched a fierce attack on the position of Huibu Wanbaobang's 184th Division." When Chongqing, Guilin, and Changsha received this telegram at the same time, everyone who read the newspaper said: "It has begun." Huibu is located in Jiangxi.The battle kicked off in this small town close to the Hunan provincial border. The 106th and 101st divisions that the Japanese army captured Nanchang, and the units under the jurisdiction of General Luo Zhuoying, the former enemy commander-in-chief who failed to counterattack Nanchang, fought again after a full 5 months of confrontation.

This was the first step in Ningji Okamura's plan of "Battle in Hunan and Jiangxi", that is, to launch an attack in Jiangxi first, attract and contain the Chinese army, and prepare conditions for the subsequent offensive in northern Hunan.The Japanese army divided into two groups in northern Jiangxi, attacking Gao'an and Xiushui respectively. The troops of the 1st and 19th Group Army of the Chinese Army were on standby, and a fierce battle unfolded in the hills and jungles. When Luo Zhuoying got the phone report from the front line, she didn't even feel nervous at the first moment, she didn't look at the map, she was all in her heart.

His voice was calm as he gave the order.The confidential staff officer who recorded the order felt that Mr. Luo's tone did not match the content of the order. "Order all ministries to strictly guard their positions, and use their reserves to reinforce critical areas. Don't expect the general reserve team. The lost positions will be retaken by each ministries themselves. Anyone who breaks through the defense area for the enemy and affects the overall battle will be killed without mercy!" After dictating, he called Yang Xiuqi, deputy director of the staff office: "Don't do anything, just keep an eye on Gao An."

Gao'an was the closest town to Nanchang occupied by the Chinese army, so it became a nail that the Japanese army tried their best to pull out. On September 15, 1939, the Japanese army broke through several advanced positions of the 32nd Army of Song Kentang around Gao'an, and pushed towards Gao'an from the east, west, and north. Facing the violent bombing of Japanese aircraft and artillery, they stubbornly stood firm in the increasingly dilapidated fortifications. A batch of wounded and martyrs were carried off the position, and the Japanese army also fell in pieces at the front of the position.Army commander Song Kentang frowned, and was about to withdraw his troops from Gao'an to avoid the enemy.In the middle of the night, Yang Xiuqi, deputy director of the staff office of the 19th Army, was ordered to supervise the battle, and brought Luo Zhuoying's order: stick to Gao'an and never evacuate.

On September 16, the Japanese army crazily organized continuous attacks, and the forward positions of the defenders were blown into ruins.The officers and soldiers persisted in the ruins until dusk, and more than half of the troops were killed or injured. At night, Song Kentang and Yang Xiuqi faced each other with sad faces.Song asked Yang to tell Commander Luo that if there were no reinforcements to attack the enemy's flank, it would be difficult to persist until tomorrow night. It is recommended to withdraw first.Yang Lianye telegraphed the battle situation and Song's opinion to Luo Zhuoying, but no reply was received until noon on the 17th.

Yang Xiuqi recalled that on the afternoon of the 17th, when it was raining lightly, he followed the reception team to the intersection and saw a constant flow of people from the frontier to the temporary hospital for wounded soldiers in the south of Gaoan City. The stretcher-carrying soldiers said that many guns were left on the ground and no one was looking after them, and the people in the military law office said that there were many deserters.In the past, there was a column of "missing" in combat statistics, and most of them were deserters. On the 18th, the fighting began at dawn. Japanese planes blew up Gao'an City to the ground, and the infantry also attacked fiercely.At noon, Song Kentang ordered his troops to withdraw from the city and occupied several hillsides near the south of the city.

Gao An then fell into the hands of the enemy. In the evening, Ji Mou, chief of the army's combat department, told Yang Xiuqi that the 32nd Army immediately organized a counterattack against Gao'an after receiving orders from Guilin camp director Bai Chongxi and theater commander Xue Yue, and said that the "ace army" was also called up. "Ace Army" refers to Wang Yaowu's 74th Army, which is the general reserve of the Ninth Theater.Yang's orderly passed by Song Kentang's house fetching water, and heard Song say, "Beat me if you want, at most, I will kill everyone."

That night, Army Commander Song Kentang went down to Tang Yongliang's 139th Division to supervise the battle, attacking from south to north. The 141st Division, Li Tianxia's 51st Division and Shi Zhongcheng's 57th Division of the 74th Army separately outflanked the enemies in and around Gao'an City. "The code name of the 51st Division is 'Qianmao'. This is really a formidable force. It took a quick charge that night and overcame the village's front street, and then built fortifications to stabilize the position." Yang Xiuqi said. At that time, the squad leader of the 4th Company of the 3rd Regiment of the 51st Division, the old man Liu Qihuai whose thigh was pierced in the Gaoan battle recalled:

"When I was young, I remembered a sentence handed down by veterans: Those who are afraid of death die first, and those who are not afraid of death die last. In the first few battles, I gritted my teeth and fought hard. Later, I became bold and started fighting I was flexible, calm-headed, quick-eyed and quick-handed. Once I just finished an encounter, the company commander punched me in the chest and said: "Good boy, you can fight!" and became the squad leader. On the battlefield, bullets do not recognize you Those who are not afraid of death are not afraid of death, and those who are not afraid of sacrifice and are brave and tenacious can often seize the initiative for our army in battle, but at the same time bear the brunt of it and suffer the most casualties.

"On the third day of the fight against Gao'an, the injury ticket stated that it was September 21st in the 28th year of the Republic of China (1939 A.D.). On that day, they entered the city and fought street battles with little devils. It was disrupted. It turned out that I followed the deputy. Company commander, I lost my heel, and no one can find the other. It depends on who has quick eyes. Looking at the front, left and right, and the roof, I am afraid that the enemy lying on the ground is an enemy pretending to be dead. A few eyes. I killed a devil who was leaning out of a section of the wall, thinking that the section wall could be a foothold for concealed observation and shooting, so I rushed there. Seeing that the dead devil was getting closer, suddenly my thighs were like I was stabbed by something, and after running a few steps, I realized that I was injured. When I saw blood, I couldn’t stand up. The bullet was shot at an angle. Afterwards, I thought it might be my own accidental injury, because I rushed in front , There are no more devils on both sides. I didn't dare to say that at the time, and it is true that accidental injury is not a war injury.

"I was carried to the treatment center by soldiers on a stretcher. The treatment center was set up in an ancestral hall surnamed Gu. Next to the stretcher was a Henan soldier from the 32nd Army. He had a penetrating calf injury. He was quite cheerful and familiar with him. It is said that our 74th Army can fight because the steel helmets are specially made, and they are all bought from Lao Maozi (Soviet Union). Change. "I am afraid of being disabled when I am injured, but I am not afraid of death. I die early and reincarnate. I was still young when I was lying on a stretcher. "Later, I met a platoon leader surnamed Dang in the company who was injured successively with me. He said that the Henan soldier got gangrene after being transferred to the rear hospital. He saw his leg and died a few days later..." According to war history records: At dawn on September 22, with the cooperation of the 74th Army, the 32nd Army's "139th and 141st divisions stormed Gao'an City. Because the city wall was blown up by the Ministry before withdrawing, the Japanese army could not hold on and began to retreat." At 8 o'clock in the morning, the whole city was conquered, and "take advantage of the victory to pursue northward. The first part of the 141st Division arrived at Huangpo Bridge".On the next day, they regained Xiangfu Temple and Sigong Mountain in the northeast of Gao'an, "restoring the positions before the war." September 18, this is a day that the Japanese like to choose to go to war. At dawn, the 6th and 33rd Divisions of the Japanese Army, the Nara Detachment, the Uemura Detachment, and their artillery, armor, engineering, aviation, and naval units held silent prayer ceremonies at their respective departure areas according to the time specified by Neiji Okamura. More than 50,000 Japanese officers and soldiers stood facing the east, their hands temporarily released their weapons, and clasped together in front of their chests. Through the thick dark clouds sprinkled with light rain over China, they stared at the imaginary sun rising from the red sea. After the silent prayer, all hands tightened their arms again.Admiral Neiji Okamura, who was inspecting and organizing the attack in the 6th Division, drew out his command knife in a fierce movement, and made a short and powerful voice to his compatriots in the language of the island country.Then, tens of thousands of pairs of military leather boots stomped in unison on this land far away from the group of islands that appeared in the silent prayer. The offensive in the north of Hunan has begun. On Neiji Okamura's military map, three thick red arrows are marked side by side along the Xinqiang River, like three sharp arrows approaching the south bank, dotted over the advancing positions of the Chinese defenders at several commanding heights on the north bank of the river , like a few pebbles before the tide comes.Among these small stones, the first to bear the brunt was the Bijiashan position of the 195th Division of Qin Yizhi of Zhang Yaoming's 52nd Army, which was farther north from the river bank.On Neiji Okamura's map, this oval-shaped, Bactrian camel-shaped Chinese military position did not indicate the number of the defenders and the name of the commander.Maybe it's because it looks so small in the face of a huge impact. Tan Yizhi recalled: "The enemy broke through the Songjiawan position on the left wing of the north bank of the river on the 19th. From the early morning of the 20th, they launched an attack on Shi Enhua's camp in Bijiashan from the north and west. In addition to artillery, they also used aircraft to bomb repeatedly. This battalion is at the front of our division. The attention has been here. "The 195th Division was a new addition to the 52nd Army after the fall of Yueyang at the end of 1938. It was based on the Henan Security Force, and its military quality was very poor. I was transferred from the Chief of Staff of the Army to be the Division Commander. When I first came up, I focused on military training. "Train the company commander first, then the platoon leader, and finally the squad leader. Shooting, assassination, and bombing are three skills. Everyone passes the test. Those who fail to pass the test will be dismissed. This is fighting devils. Individual deaths on the battlefield are small, and they cannot complete the battle. Who is responsible for the task? "Shi Enhua was my old subordinate when I was in the 25th Division. He graduated from the 8th Whampoa and became a platoon leader. He is honest and brave in combat. I mentioned the company commander and battalion commander. Shi Enhua has an older brother Shi Enrong, who was also in the 7th Whampoa. My troops died in Taierzhuang. "Military commander Zhang Yaoming said that if you defend the Bijiashan position for 3 days, you will complete the task. Try to defend for a few more days to discourage the enemy and consume them before they cross the river, so that the subsequent battles will be easier to fight. "I hardly slept in those few days. Shi Enhua led a reinforced battalion with more than 500 troops. , more than half of the battalion casualties, this day is September 22. "At dusk, the visibility was good. I went to a high place by the river and used a telescope to look across the river. The shells dug up patches of loess on that mountain, and the fortifications were dilapidated. The chief of staff said that the friendly positions on the right wing of Bijia Mountain had also fallen. . "I called Shi Enhua and said: 'You have held on for three days and three nights, and you have met the requirements of the military department. The troops are now suffering heavy casualties, and they are being attacked on three sides. If you can't hold on, you should retreat when you have to." Shi Enhua said Said a sentence: "There is no time when soldiers have to do it." "From the dawn of the next day, there was a lot of artillery fire in Bijiashan. The chief of operations reported that there were more than a dozen tanks cooperating with the infantry to attack. I called Shi Enhua, and the orderly said that the battalion commander was at the front. I asked how many troops were left, but the orderly actually Crying. I asked him to convey my order immediately: quickly withdraw to the south bank, without any mistakes! "Shi Enhua and elder brother Shi Enrong are both my subordinates. After Enrong's death, his father came to the army. The old man held my hand in tears and said: Enrong died for the country, and he died well. Enhua's family is relatively rich, and his father read Read the book and understand righteousness. "At around 3 p.m., I called again and finally found Shi Enhua. I lost my temper and shouted to ask him why he didn't withdraw. Shi Enhua said: 'Master, it's not that we won't withdraw. The enemy has surrounded us and we can't withdraw. ' "I ordered him to immediately organize the existing troops to break through. I dispatched artillery to suppress the enemy and sent troops to respond on the south bank. Shi Enhua didn't answer for a long time, and finally said: 'Master, we will see you in the next life!' "A reinforced battalion, more than 500 troops, battalion commander, company commander, platoon leader, squad leader, soldiers. A neat team... "After the war, the Japanese soldiers asked the common people to go to the mountains to collect the corpses. Thousands of people, old and young, from the nearby villages went to see these Chinese soldiers who had fought for four days. When they arrived on the mountains, the common people all knelt on the ground, and the mountains were covered with corpses. Everywhere, there is no one that can be cleaned up completely, and the people all burst into tears." This is an autumn after a long, long time, when the maple leaves of Xiangshan are burning with red clouds after the first severe frost, Chang'an Avenue outside the window is like a colorful river, rushing with the life of urban China in the 1990s.In a high-rise building in Muxidi, Tan Yizhi told two young soldiers about the past. The vigorous tree of life in front of us has 88 annual rings, and the story he told seems to have happened yesterday. In the middle of the night on September 22, under the dim moonlight, the Xiangjiang River was flowing silently.Amidst the sound of river waves brushing against the beach, there is the faint sound of motors.At this time, there were faintly visible ships sailing on the river, not just a few ships, but a huge fleet! The right wing of the Japanese attacking lineup was the 5th Brigade of Major General Uemura Kano under the jurisdiction of the 3rd Division of Fujita Susumu.The combat mission performed by this team with 4 infantry brigades, 1 mountain artillery brigade, two engineering regiments and two supply squadrons is: "After the frontal offensive operation begins, go back to the Xiangjiang River to land in Yingtian, Xiangyin County, and go to Miluo To the south of the river, detour around Da Niang Bridge, Xinkai City, Qingshan Temple, and Malin City to cut off the retreat route of the Chinese army, and coordinate the 6th Division, 33rd Division, and 26th Brigade to attack the area north of Changsha." In the early 1960s, some Japanese war criminals released by amnesty returned to their hometowns.According to a plan agreed upon while serving their sentences, some of them established a non-governmental organization called the "Japanese Returnees Liaison Association" after they had settled down in life and work. "Returners" specifically refer to former Japanese officers and soldiers who went abroad to fight in the war of aggression against China and the Pacific War, and returned home after defeat.This organization extensively contacted veterans who participated in the war, and after expanding in scale, it set up branches in various parts of the country.The purpose of the organization is to reflect on Japan's responsibility in the war of aggression and call on Japan never to be involved in the war again. After the "Returners of Japan Liaison Association", several non-governmental organizations emerged in Japan. They proceeded from the fundamental interests of the Japanese nation, studied the harm brought by the war to Japan, and opposed the revival of militarism.Among the influential ones, there is the "Japan Compulsory Linkage Thinking Association" that specializes in research on the victimization of Chinese laborers in Japan and helps victims' relatives claim for compensation and provide evidence; There is a "Japanese Textbook Litigation Committee" that appeals to the law for the non-recognition of Japan's crime of aggression in Japanese textbooks, and holds that Japan is responsible for the crime of aggression. These organizations have done a lot of positive and useful work to educate the people not to forget the disaster of war and make Japan forever walk on the road of peace, and are welcomed by the people of our country.At the same time, they collected and published some reminiscence articles written by those who participated in the war that reflected the cruelty of the war, which also opened another window for us to see another inner world in the war.Among them, although there are few memories reflecting the battle in Hunan battlefield, it makes people feel another kind of shock.This is what war is made of. The camp landing played an important role in Okamura Ningji's entire combat plan.This was a heavy knife stabbed by the Japanese army from the left flank of the Chinese defense line. This knife wanted to cut off the southward retreat of the defenders on the two defense lines of Xinqiang River and Miluo River, and at the same time give the defenders a fatal stab in the back.One of the Japanese soldiers who carried out this combat mission was Yoshida Arihito, who lived in 3-chome, Gucho, Higashi-ku, Osaka in the 1970s.He recalled: "It was just a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and we went to carry out the mission of "Battle in Hunan and Jiangxi". In the middle of the night, the troops assembled and boarded the Navy's speedboat near Yueyang. I remember that our brigade and affiliated troops performed the mission. There were more than 3,000 people, and the speedboats lined up on the river in a long line, and the one I took seemed to be at the front. "The speedboat does not turn on the lights or whistle, it is to conceal the intention. We walked upstream along the Xiangjiang River. There was a dark red moon that was not too round that day, and there was a dull reflection on the water. Other boats and land were Black. "We sat next to each other in the cabin or on the deck, with our guns leaning against our shoulders, and we were not allowed to speak, only the rumbling of the ship's engine and the soft sound of water. "About one or two o'clock in the middle of the night, Captain Qingtian called softly: 'Enter the combat area.' We all held guns in our hands and stared at the dark shore. "About two hours before dawn, we finally arrived at the landing site. When we disembarked, gunshots rang out on the hillside not far away, and the Chinese army had already spotted us. Machine guns rang out from the boat in front. We were urged by the team leader Jumped off the speedboat, ran away from the shore in knee-deep water. The squadron leader ordered several teams to form a battle formation, occupy the hill that was attacking us, and cover the speedboat behind to dock. "After the attack started, it attracted the enemy's firepower. The bullets roared above our heads and around us. Not long after, the enemy's flat-fire guns fired fiercely at the fleet. When I turned around, I saw the speedboat we were on and the The one next to it was hit and was sinking, and several other boats that had not landed were hit. The people on those boats must have suffered a lot of casualties. "Because the enemy's firepower was fierce, our progress was very slow. It was dark, the target was unclear, and the commands of 'follow up' and 'follow up' were constantly coming from the front. Moving forward in the dark, our feet were uneven, and we often fell. go fast. "According to the plan, our brigade landed at Saturn Port between Yingtian and Xiongshanzui. After landing, we should immediately rush to occupy a place called Liuxing Mountain on the south side of Yingtian, as a foothold, and then cut to the southeast to enter the main battlefield. Landing Fighting broke out immediately afterwards, and everyone didn't know what to do for a while. There were many places along the riverside that fired at the riverside, making our intention to capture that hill pointless. When another soldier and I carried a wounded man to the squadron's When packing up the site, I saw several officers looking at the map with flashlights, and they probably didn't confirm their location and attack direction. After a while, a password was sent to hide in place. "At dawn, our army's planes came to bomb the enemy's positions. Seven or eight planes dropped bombs and strafed on several high grounds controlling the river bank. When it was completely dawn, we received an order to capture a village. The squad ordered us to Move forward in battle formation. "This village whose name I can't remember now is located on a hillside not far from the river bank. There is a simple trench in front of the village. We rushed to the trench, threw a few grenades and jumped into the trench. My feet were soft I stepped on the corpse of an enemy soldier. I was startled. I looked down and saw that there were two bullet holes in the head of the man, which were hit by a machine gun. "Although I have experienced several battles, I am still very scared. Before each battle, I pray in my heart and make a small wish. My wish in this battle is to survive the Mid-Autumn Festival. "Around 9:00 in the morning, several brigades landed at another ferry near Yingtian, and soon joined our troops. After our brigade occupied the deserted small village, we turned to attack Yingtian Town. At 12 noon Around 1:00, we attacked one kilometer outside the town and ate in a ditch without water. I heard from the squadron leader that the squadron had more than a dozen people killed and wounded. "After the meal, we participated in the final offensive against Yingtian Town. Armed with bayonet-mounted rifles, according to tactical requirements, groups of three or four people covered alternately and jumped forward one by one. The enemy's firepower was quite fierce, so we had no choice but to bomb when the plane arrived. At this time, we seized the time to rush to the favorable terrain in front, and immediately hid the plane as soon as it left, and pushed forward step by step. "At 4:00 p.m., we entered the battered Yingtian market, and started a street fight with the enemy. There were four people in my combat team. Unfortunately, the little tiger was killed before entering the block, and three people entered the block after entering the block. Very close. One of the three of us, my good friend Kurata, was shot in the stomach and fell to the ground as we stormed into a small temple in the northwest corner of town. "I lay down in a hurry, took out a bandage and bandaged him. His expression was very painful, he was holding a breath in his lungs, and his face was flushed. I pushed away his hand covering his stomach, and the blood gushed out. The gauze stuffed it in and shouted: 'Medical guards, sanitary guards!' "Kurata was my classmate in the same grade and different class in middle school. We met on the school baseball team. His mother is a very kind woman who always smiles beautifully. Sometimes we have long practice hours after class She brought water and food, and waited by the court until the end of practice, and asked the students to share. "The health guard went somewhere, and I was so anxious that tears flowed out. Cangtian also cried, and wanted to say something, but he didn't dare to breathe, which made him very uncomfortable. I picked him up and retreated, After running a few steps, a cannonball exploded not far away, my head was bang, and I didn't know anything. "When I woke up, the squadron leader Miki was hitting me hard in the face, and I felt salty in my mouth. "I got up and felt it up and down, but I was not injured, so I realized that I had just fainted from the shock. The squadron leader saw that I was awake, patted my shoulder, and handed me the gun. I saw people walking straight up. The battle is over. I asked the squadron leader: "Where's Kurata-kun?" He said: "I am loyal." "There were more than 30 corpses waiting to be transported away on a flat ground not far away. I identified them one by one and found Cang Tian. He was no longer curled up, but lying flat. His complexion was sallow, his arms Another section was blown away, and the blood in the abdomen was completely soaked in the general uniform. "I knelt beside him, wiping my tears away. I kept thinking like this: I can't live, because I can't face that very kind woman who always smiles beautifully after returning home, and I can't live either. . "Our team is heading southeast, and there are many familiar faces missing in the queue. I looked back before the team turned over a mountain. Yingtian, a small town on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River..." According to war history records: "On the morning of September 23, the Japanese Nara Detachment crossed the Xinqiang River near Yanglin Street and the 6th Division near Qibutang to the west of Xinqiang (the water is shallow and can be waded on foot), and a part of the Shangcun Detachment, With the support of its naval ships, they attacked and landed at Lujiao and Jiumazui on the left side of the Chinese army's position. The 2nd and 195th divisions of the Chinese army bravely blocked the enemy in front of them. At this time, the Japanese army even used more than a hundred small boats The ship carried the main force of the Shangcun detachment, supported by its naval guns and aviation firepower, passed through Heye Lake and Guhu Lake, detoured to the south of Miluo River Estuary, and landed at Yingtian, Saxing Port, Dugongzui, etc., with a force of about 1,500 people. The 95th Division of the Chinese Army immediately counterattacked. At about 10 o'clock, the Japanese army made reinforcements and landed in the area of ​​Qingshan, Yanjiashan, and Liuxingshan to the south of Yingtian. Following the success of the Xinqiang River, the Japanese army successfully landed in Yingtian. Okamura Ningji pushed the troops to the second line of defense in northern Hunan, the Miluo River, according to the established deployment. The Miluo River is located in the north between Yueyang and Changsha, and it is a natural barrier that the Chinese army can use.Chen Pei's 37th Army, which belongs to the 15th Group Army, deployed defenses along the south bank of the river with Liang Zhongjiang's 60th Division and Luo Qi's 95th Division.Because the situation in Changsha was tense after the breakthrough of the front line defense of Xinqiang River, it took time to deploy defenses, so Xue Yue issued a death order not to abandon the defense line of Miluo River. More than 20,000 officers and soldiers of the 37th Army strengthened the fortifications day and night, waiting with a heavy heart for the flames of war to ignite. The 1st Battalion and 2nd Company of the 3rd Regiment of the 60th Division of the 37th Army have been stationed in Xinshi for 3 months.Since the Battle of Xinqianghe started on September 18, the nerves of this small town by the Miluo River have been tense. Later, Yang Peiyao, who suffered a foot injury and became disabled, was a recruit who had been in the army for one year.He thinks it is better to fight the war. Whether it is training or repairing fortifications, it is hard and tiring, and the food is poor. Fighting saves you from hard work, and the food improves every day.He had such an idea because the company hadn't fought a real battle since he was a soldier, just standing by or holding a position where the enemy didn't show up. This day was the thirteenth day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, and Yang Peiyao and the whole regiment of brothers were on standby on the side of the pier as usual.The Xinqianghe defense line held fast for five days and five nights. Since the day before yesterday, the troops in the first-line defensive positions have retreated southward one after another. Xinshi is the intersection of the two roads from east to west and from south to north. It is an important channel for the withdrawal of Xinqiang from the south, and it is also the junction of the 60th and 95th divisions under the jurisdiction of the 37th Army.Chen Pei, the army commander, visited the defense many times in person, for fear that something might go wrong.One day, Yang Peiyao and his battalion were thickening the cover of the fortifications. The army commander and their division commander Liang Zhongjiang walked past. Yang Peiyao heard the army commander sternly say to the division commander: "If you have nothing to say, shoot on the spot!" After the officers walked over, Yang Peiyao asked a 40-year-old veteran in the class: "Uncle Zhao, I don't know who Jun Zuo is so fierce, who is he trying to kill?" Old Zhao said: "As long as there is a war, people will die. Some people will die at the hands of devils, and some will die at the hands of officials. This is the fate of soldiers." Around 10:00 in the morning, I received an order from the regiment headquarters: There may be fighting today, and the front-line troops can basically be withdrawn before noon, and the Japanese army will soon follow. superior. Yang Peiyao stood outside the fortification and looked around.The water surface of the Miluo River is about 600 meters wide here. A military pontoon bridge that can pass cars connects to the North-South Highway. Not far from the south bank is Xinshi Town. The highway passes through the west of the town and leads directly to Changsha in the south.With the town as the boundary, the 60th Division defense line is to the east and the 95th Division defense line is to the west. Yang Peiyao's battalion is at the farthest side of the division, next to Xinshi Town. After receiving the defense, he heard that the fortifications on the south bank of the Miluo River had been repaired for a full year. The reinforced concrete bunker group connected the fortifications into one. He heard that the Japanese army used artillery and aircraft to bomb the front line of the Xinqiang River. Thicken the coating.It is necessary to meet the standard of being able to withstand the direct hit of several shells. At 11:30 noon, the company headquarters called to the kitchen to pick up the meal. When Yang Peiyao and another recruit got out of the fortification, they saw another army passing by on the pontoon bridge. These brothers were beaten very badly.His body and face were covered with mud and soot, and a piece of the national flag held up in front of the team was torn and dirty like a rag.The stretcher soldier transport team carried down a long line of wounded and dead bodies, and he saw a wounded sitting upright on a stretcher, with bandages on his upper body and head, only a pair of eyes were exposed, staring in his direction. After the team had passed for nearly an hour, Yang Peiyao saw two storage vehicles, full of supplies and stragglers, driving across the pontoon bridge unsteadily when they went to the kitchen to deliver basins after lunch.Not far behind the asylum vehicle, there are some refugees with their children in small groups.Since taking over the defense, Yang Peiyao has seen refugees heading south on this important north-south passage every day. At this time, the squad leader yelled his name, scaring him into the fortification.The company commander passed down the word that the Japanese army followed the 79th Army and marched southward, and they were about to reach the Miluo River.Before the squad leader finished speaking, he heard the sound of machine guns "tattling" very close. Yang Peiyao's head "buzzed". This was his first actual combat after joining the army. Although his chest was slapped at the pre-war mobilization meeting, when the gun really fired, he was still so nervous that he wanted to pee his pants.He plunged headlong into his combat position, and his task was to change the magazines for machine gunner veteran Lao Zhao.When he looked out from the firing hole, a three-dimensional dynamic picture of the same size as the shooting hole was imprinted in his mind. I saw a thin man in a blue gown, wearing glasses, who looked like a country schoolteacher, carrying a light machine gun and charging forward while shooting. Behind him was a woman with a child running north from the center of the pontoon bridge.A few other peasant-looking people also took out their machine guns from nowhere as if conjuring, and shot and charged. There were women, old men, and old women who followed them. Some of these people lay on the bridge with their heads in their arms, Running back, some actually jumped into the river. It happened so suddenly that even the soldiers who were waiting here had no time to react.Two Japanese soldiers who must have been in disguise rushed towards a semi-underground permanent fortification closest to the pontoon bridge. They circled around the fortification while shooting, probably failing to find the entrance to enter.One of them took out a small grenade with one hand, pulled out the safety pin with his teeth, and stuffed it in through the shooting hole. Then he felt a silent vibration in the air, and the two Japanese soldiers rushed to another fortification. A few Chinese soldiers on the south bank who hadn't entered the fortifications were still standing there stupidly, as if the matter in front of them had nothing to do with them, and it seemed lively.The Japanese machine guns really regarded them as outsiders at this moment, ignored them, and only attacked a few bunkers near the bridgehead. At this time, a soldier rushed out from the bunker, shouting, holding a rifle with a bayonet attached, and rushed towards the Japanese army with a machine gun.When the Japanese army turned their guns, he had already rushed forward, and he insisted on stabbing him before he was shot and fell to the ground, but the Japanese army dodged him, and his cry stopped immediately. A dozen or so Japanese death squads disguised as Chinese fleeing civilians came out of the ground and ran towards the south of the pontoon bridge. Finally, our army's machine guns fired, and the Japanese soldiers fell on the bridge one by one. Those who were not shot still flew away. run over. Yang Peiyao's machine gun also rang out, and he saw the veteran Zhao, a veteran of many battles, sweating coldly, squinting his eyes, clenching his teeth, and grinning back hard when he fired the gun, looking terrible.The two of them sealed off the bridge deck with machine guns. Amidst the deafening gunfire, Yang Peiyao still heard someone yelling, "Blow up the bridge! Fuck, blow up the bridge!" Yang Peiyao said that he always felt that at some point a Japanese soldier would rush in at the exit of the fortifications and sweep their backs, but at this time the bridgehead and the entire defense line along the river were shelled.It was only 5 minutes since the first shot was fired, and there were already khaki military uniforms and dazzling sun flags shaking on the other side. Next came the intensive bombing by planes and artillery.Afterwards, Yang Peiyao asked Lao Zhao, many people from the Devil's Death Squad have rushed over, so are you afraid of blowing up your own people? Old Zhao thought for a long time, then sighed and said, "No matter which country you are in, the lives of soldiers are worthless." As soon as the bombing stopped, the Japanese army, in the sight of the Chinese defenders and within the absolute effective range, rushed towards the south bank from the pontoon bridge and the water in batches. perfect. There are a lot of ammunition in the fortifications. Lao Zhao said that he received three "base numbers", but Yang Peiyao can't remember how many rounds a "base number" is.After a few hours, the ground was covered with yellow copper bullet casings. This is what the battalion commander said in his speech: "Crossing halfway and hitting it", Yang Peiyao thought. The blood of the Japanese stained this ancient and modern river red, and Yang Peiyao's reinforced concrete fortification was also blown open.During that fatal bombshell explosion, the other machine gunner, bleeding from his orifices, passed out and was carried away by stretchers.Old Zhao's eyes were red and his nose was bleeding. When he was changing the reel, he said to Yang Peiyao: "This time, you may not be able to hide. Don't forget me." match." At dusk, the Japanese army suspended its attack.The people in the fortification rushed out to repair the fortification and thicken the soil layer.The company commander came over to look at the hole that had been blasted, and said that you are really lucky, and this is considered good in the whole company. The squad leader asked, "Are there many casualties?" The company commander bowed his head and thought for a while, then said something irrelevant: "Look at the way the higher-ups asked you to play." Not long after the company commander left, he sent someone to inform each squad to go to the company headquarters to collect ammunition and dry food, and prepare for night battles.The squad leader asked Yang Peiyao to receive dry food and carry the bullets by himself.While it was being distributed, there were words: Immediately transfer. When it was getting dark, our mortars and small mountain guns bombarded the Japanese army on the opposite bank. Yang Peiyao looked back at the place where training, exercises and wars were held in the team.The fortifications were repaired for more than a year, and they lived here for 3 months and fought for half a day. In the new city position on the south bank of the Miluo River, recruit Yang Peiyao fought for the first time in the history of the personal anti-Japanese war.He was not killed or injured, and together with the veteran Lao Zhao, he killed 11 enemies and two army horses.By the way, I found that Lao Zhao was not as heroic as he usually boasted——Yang Peiyao secretly made a summary while walking on the road. In the book "The Frontal Battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War", he talked about this battle: The Japanese army followed the Chinese army to the north bank of the Miluo River. On September 25, a Japanese army disguised as Chinese refugees sneaked across the Miluo River at the junction of the Chinese defense forces and fled to Xinshi to cooperate with the main force to cross the river.Japanese planes bombed Xinshi's positions in batches all day long. The Japanese army captured Xinshi and took positions on the south bank of the Miluo River. On the 26th, the Japanese army used a large number of aircraft to cover the ground troops and stormed the Chinese second line of defense on the south bank of the Miluo River. The Chinese army put up a tenacious resistance in order to consume the enemy in terms of time, strength and supplies.The Japanese army fought fiercely and suffered repeated setbacks, but still failed to make a breakthrough. From September 18th to 26th, the armies of the two sides fought bloody battles on both sides of the Xinqiang River and the Miluo River for 9 days. Although the Japanese army occupied some towns, they spent a lot of money in terms of personnel and supplies.The Chinese army also suffered a lot of casualties.