Chapter 18 3. Defend the city in a bloody battle to celebrate the New Year

In the early morning of New Year's Day in 1942, the wind stopped and the snow stopped, and the sky was clear.More than 20,000 officers and soldiers of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army who forcibly crossed the Liuyang River from Mopanzhou in the southeast of Changsha City, led by the commander of the division, Futaro Toyoshima, greeted the first round of the new year's sunrise, looked east and prayed. After praying, the quiet and solemn procession broke out.The officers and soldiers exchanged New Year greetings, wishing the dream of Greater East Asia to come true as soon as possible, wishing victory and military exploits in the new year, and the orderly military brigade suddenly turned into a passionate gathering.

The commander of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, General Yong Geshi, was wearing a brand-new military uniform, and the bright red and bright yellow colors on the brand-new collar badge epaulets looked like they were jumping.With a happy face and holding two military water bottles, he walked up to the captain of the 18th Infantry Regiment who was parallel with his regiment, and his old classmate Nobuo Ishii from the 26th period of the non-commissioned officer school in different majors. The wine was poured into two military copper rice bowls.The two laughed together because they had no idea, and then raised their "cups". Ishii wished Guanyong the cannon shot and Guanyong wished Ishii's infantry to cut through the pass.The two drank the wine in one gulp, and met to celebrate the New Year in Changsha City tonight, talking about the victory of the battle and the friendship of classmates.

Division Commander Toyoshima came among the officers and soldiers of the troops directly under the division, and after congratulating everyone on the festival, he deliberately walked in front of Major Kato Soichi, the captain of the 2nd Battalion transferred from the 6th Regiment.Kato was not happy because his brigade served as a mobile unit and could not immediately go into battle.Toyoshima patted him on the shoulder and said: "I will give the greatest credit to you to win." One sentence made Kato and the soldiers cheer.The Kato Battalion has participated in many battles and fierce battles since the Battle of Songhu, and has been loved by successive division heads for its brave attacks and especially good at night battles.

At 8 o'clock in the morning, Teshima issued an attack order.Artillery and aviation cooperated together, and the sound of explosions was dense and violent.All the infantry regiments were in high spirits, and began to storm the Changsha city defense according to the predetermined route. Yueyang, the headquarters of the Japanese 11th Army. The sounds of staff officers talking on the phone and radio sending and receiving telegrams constituted a noisy space.People in the combat room were in a hurry, and several people beside the combat map were marking and drawing tensely. In comparison, Ananwei, the protagonist of the drama that has already opened, seems quite calm.From time to time, he glanced at the changes on the map, whispered something to Chief of Staff Isamu Kinoshita, or quietly read the telegrams and information sent by the staff, and wrote a few words on the paper.There is a large blackboard on one wall of the war room, on which is written "New Year's Day Changsha" in four large yellow chalk characters. The staff members all know that this is the commander's handwriting.

The news of Hong Kong's British surrender to the Japanese 23rd Army was broadcast by Japanese radio that night.At this time, the 11th Army had broken through the first line of defense of the Xiangbei garrison, and the divisions were progressing smoothly.According to reconnaissance reports, the Chinese army is retreating southward.Under such circumstances, of course, there is absolutely no reason to withdraw troops immediately. On the 29th, the two divisions broke through the defense line of the Miluo River, and opened up two alternative paths in front of the Japanese army.First, according to the original combat plan approved by the Nanjing headquarters, after crossing the Mishui River, the 3rd and 6th divisions headed east and west respectively, outflanking the troops of the Chinese 37th Army on the south bank of the Miluo River.According to the change of the situation, that is, the new situation of the 37th Army retreating eastward, the method of making a large detour by one division and tracking by another division should be adopted to encircle and annihilate the 37th Army in the area east of Laodao River.In short, the purpose is to annihilate a Chinese army.The second way is that Anan has been brewing in his heart for a long time, but has no intention of forming a plan, that is, to take advantage of the momentum to occupy Changsha.

The battle plan is a military battle, and the occupation of Changsha is a political battle. Changsha is the capital of Hunan, a large province in China. The capture of it will definitely have a huge impact internationally. It will severely hit the Chongqing government's determination to resist Japan and take a big step forward to the south. From the bottom of Anan's heart, only by capturing Changsha can the 11th Army's exploits be compared with the 23rd Army's capture of Hong Kong and the South Pacific troops' occupation of small coastal countries. Regarding the certainty of capturing Changsha, Anan firmly believes that the Chinese army has not regained its vitality after being frustrated only two months ago. At present, no matter in terms of strength or morale, it is not enough to resist the Japanese attack on Changsha. Justify this analysis.And under the general situation where the Japanese army is victorious in the Pacific Ocean after Hideki Tojo came to power, it should be a matter of course to conquer a small Changsha.

On the 29th, Anan sent a telegram to Nanjing Hata Toshi's six generals asking for instructions to attack Changsha, but there was no reply on the 30th.He said to Isamu Kinoshita: "There is an old saying in China: 'The general is outside, and the king's fate is not accepted'. We can't wait any longer." Isamu Kinoshita climbed to the position of chief of staff step by step from the lower ranks of the army. He respected Anan from the base camp very much, especially after the second Changsha battle.What's more, his desire to make meritorious deeds is by no means inferior to that of Anan.The two hit it off.When the army's combat conference deployed operations, the deputy chief of staff in charge of logistics, Futami Shuzo, and the director of military operations, Shimamura Juyasu, argued that the front line was too long, supplies were difficult, and the whereabouts of some Chinese troops were unknown, so it was inappropriate to make a hasty decision to attack Changsha.The two first spoke to Isamu Kinoshita in private, and then expressed and insisted on it as a formal opinion in the meeting.Futami Qiusan wrote in his combat diary on the 29th: "This is a self-defeating battle."

According to historical records, on December 31, Hata Shunroku was very annoyed when he received a report that Anan had issued an order to attack Changsha.But at this time, the 11th Army had put the order into practice, and the troops had already started to act, so Hata Toshiro had no choice but to acquiesce in the reality.The reason why Hata Junliu did not resist was because he didn't want to hear the news of victory, and he didn't think it was impossible to capture Changsha. Therefore, the Japanese army's attack on Changsha became something that Anan Weiji, Hata Toshiroku, Xue Yue and Chiang Kai-shek were all happy about.

On New Year's Day, Changsha is surrounded by a river in the west, and the north, east, and south sides are surrounded by three walls of gunfire and gunpowder smoke. On the outskirts of the city, in the trenches and fortifications, countless soldiers shot and dropped bombs on the Japanese troops who rushed up again and again.Shells exploded around them, and the thick smoke spread into cloudy clouds of mist. The air is filled with acrid gunpowder smoke.The soldiers transporting ammunition carried heavy wooden boxes through the trenches and fortifications, and placed the bullets and grenades in piles at the hands of the soldiers at the front of the position.Health soldiers wearing red cross armbands ran in the gunpowder smoke, the wounded were bandaged and carried away moaning and screaming or silently, and the dead were dragged off their positions and set aside.The sound of gunfire, the smell of gunpowder smoke, and the sky full of smoke and dust enveloped the fighters thickly. If someone raised his head inadvertently, he would see that the sun in the originally clear sky had already become dim.

Aiwan Pavilion on Yuelu Mountain, the combat headquarters of the Ninth War Zone, Xue Yue looked east across the Xiangjiang River with a telescope. After the third battle of Changsha began, he asked Chief of Staff Wu Yizhi to move most of the personnel in the theater south to Leiyang, while he led a small number of combat staff to stay in Changsha.The Military Commission once stipulated that in order to prevent the death of senior commanders from affecting the overall situation of the operation and the morale of the troops, the headquarters at the theater level should not be closer to the front line than 50 kilometers.This time Xue Yue "knowingly committed a crime", he was making a gesture.He set up the headquarters in Changsha and said to the 10th Army defending the city: I am behind you, you can figure it out!Say to all the enemy troops besieging Changsha: I am closer to the Japanese army than you. My life and death are in your hands. You can figure it out!If this was a gamble, then Xue Yue bet his own life on it.He said to Chiang Kai-shek, "In this battle, I have the determination to die", it was by no means just talking.And the gesture he made was by no means ineffective, at least for the 10th Army, and for the two defeated generals in the last battle - Army Commander Li Yutang and Division Commander Fang Xianjue.

Li Yutang has been in several division headquarters since the beginning of the operation.Zhou Qingxiang's 3rd Division guarded the east of the city, Fang Xianjueyu's 10th Division guarded the south of the city, and Zhu Yue's 190th Division guarded the north of the city.At the beginning, the Japanese army attacked in three directions at the same time. There was no progress in the morning, and they took a short rest at noon, focusing on Nancheng.Li Yutang heard the gunfire here, so he went to Fang Xianjue's side.You can talk about understanding the situation, and you can talk about supervising the battle. Anyway, when the commander sits in the war room, you can't help but stare at him. The Pre-10th Division guarded the frontal position in Changsha. After the battle, Fang Xianjue was awarded meritorious service and was promoted to army commander, which shows that he has made great efforts in the battle.Yang Zhenghua, acting director of the division's political department and captain of the battle, recalled some fragments of this bloody battle decades later: "On the morning of New Year's Day in 1942, the field unit that began to attack Changsha rushed to Jinpenling, and the Shiye unit rushed to Monkey Stone in an attempt to seize the high ground. Our 29th regiment (Zhang Yuequn, head of the regiment) was condescending and shot violently with machine guns and rifles. , followed by throwing grenades, and the Japanese soldiers fell to the ground one after another. "The enemy used planes to assist the infantry to fight with our army, and finally fought hand-to-hand with each other. The enemy expected to occupy Changsha within a day, but unexpectedly, the first battle was resolutely blocked. Zhang Yue's group fought bloody until 10 o'clock in the morning. The front was too wide (approximately 15 li), the manpower was weak, the casualties were too heavy, and the position was broken by the enemy. The enemy also paid the price of 600 to 700 casualties. "After the enemy broke through our first line, they took advantage of the momentum to attack our second line. They were met violently by Ge Xiancai's 28th regiment with mortars, machine guns, and rifles. The 28th regiment is the regiment with the strongest combat effectiveness in the division. Commander Ge's bravery Good at fighting is recognized by the whole army. His command was chosen behind the most important repair station on the whole line to show his determination to stick to it. The enemy was hit on our front line, and his spirit was greatly reduced. Under the fierce attack of Ge Tuan, he could not Do not pause the attack. "When the enemy attacked Ge Tuan's position, the head of Zhang Yuequn and Ma Youcheng, a liaison officer sent by the political department, came to the division headquarters. I saw Zhang's expression panicked, so I went to see the division commander Fang alone. I said: 'The enemy came too fast and too violently. , Zhang Tuan is very difficult to withstand.' Teacher Fang said with a long breath: "That's right, Zhang Tuan's call is cut off now." "I saw that he was considerate of Zhang Tuan, so he said bluntly: 'Zhang Tuan's position has been breached by the enemy, and the commander of Zhang has come to the division headquarters. He said that he failed to complete the task. I'm sorry for the division commander, and wait for punishment.' "Fang said: 'Tell him to rest at the adjutant's office, and call to see me when I am free!' "He took the phone and shouted to Chief Ge: 'Yipu! It's up to you now. Zhang Tuan's position has been breached. You should immediately send someone to contain it and put it under your command. The task is big! I will fully support you, you have to stand up live.' "At this time, I heard Ge Xiancai reply on the phone: 'Master, don't worry, I'm confident that I won't lose face in front of Xue Yue.' "In the evening, Xue Yue called Fang Xianjue directly to inquire about the battle situation and how long he could defend. Fang said: "I can defend for a week. The first line defends for two days, the second line for three days, and the third line for two days." Xue Yue Say 'OK' and put down the phone. "In the middle of the night, Zhang Guangkuan, the deputy director, and I were warming up in the room of deputy division commander Sun Mingjin. Suddenly, we heard Mr. Fang calling Zhang Guangkuan in the next room. It must be delivered by tomorrow.' "When Zhang took out the letter, I took the liberty to open it and read it. It turned out to be his will, which read: "'My wife Yunhua, our army was ordered to defend Changsha this time. The task is heavy. Changsha's gains and losses are related to the overall success or failure of the War of Resistance. As a soldier, I have the responsibility to defend the land. If you die in battle, the life of you and your five sons will be taken care of by the government. I hope that all five of my sons can graduate from university, be a good person, follow my will, and serve the party and country, then I will be smiling forever! I hope my wife will not be sad. Fu Zishan.' "After I read it, I decided to publish it to boost morale. I drafted a press release and handed it over to Changsha Daily across the river overnight. The next day, the headline on the front page of "Changsha Daily" read: "Mr. "The Will". Readers can't help weeping.  …" At noon on New Year's Day, the 3rd Division will report the progress of the 10th Division's first-line position in the south of the city to the 11th Army Command.After hearing the news, Chief of Staff Isamu Kinoshita and four journalists accompanying the army flew to Changsha to inspect the battlefield.The plane flew low above the attack line of the 3rd Division in the southeastern suburbs of the city, and the Japanese soldiers on the ground raised their hands to salute the plane. The journalists captured this precious scene, hoping that it would become a crime of aggression and be published in the "Illustrated Chronicles of the War of Resistance Against Japan".Yusuke Kinoshita ordered the pilot to drop New Year's greetings and letters of condolence to the frontline from the mainland, and the plane circled a few times before returning to Yueyang.Isamu Kinoshita sent telegrams to the headquarters of the Japanese Dispatched Forces in Nanjing and the base camp of the Japanese army, saying that the Changsha operation was progressing smoothly and victory was imminent. At 11 o'clock on the night of New Year's Day, the intelligence staff of the Japanese 11th Army's special intelligence squad finally deciphered the radio code used by the Ninth War Zone in this operation after a few days. movement command. Anan couldn't help being surprised when he saw a long list of unit numbers. On the 29th, "the arrow is on the string", but now it is "the arrow will never turn back".Only by conquering Changsha as soon as possible and ending the battle, otherwise the attacking troops will be caught in the middle by the defending and surrounding opponents, and the consequences will be disastrous. At zero o'clock, Anan urgently called Toyoshima, asking him to step up his attack and resolve the battle before the opponent's outer flank surrounded him.At the same time, Anan ordered the 6th Division to strengthen its vigilance in the eastern mountainous area and Liuyang direction, and to cover the rear of the 3rd Division. Toyoshima received the order and immediately put Kato's 2nd Brigade as a mobile unit into battle. From 00:00 to 2:00 on the 2nd, Kato completed his life as an excellent Japanese soldier in two hours. Japanese military history records: Captain Kato led the adjutant and 3 people through the houses outside the city, crossed the enemy barracks, and advanced to the enemy's sentry line. The bullet shot by the enemy hidden under the eaves pierced the abdomen. The time was 2 o'clock on the 2nd about.But the major still fought with the enemy with a knife, and then Lieutenant Hashimoto Koyoshi and Kawaguchi Johide Juncao died in battle one after another; Captain Ikeyama rushed out a bloody road and groped back to the headquarters for emergency.Under the shout of "rescue the captain", the soldiers repeatedly carried out several fatal charges, but none of them worked. Instead, the houses were set ablaze.After receiving Chi Shan's report, the chief of staff instructed: This is too serious, the brigade must go all out to retake the brigade leader. From the night of this day until the reversal on the 4th, despite repeated searches and recapture attacks, no trace of the captain and others was found in the end, so it was assumed that they had died in battle and decided to return. The significance of Kato's death to the Changsha operation is that the soldiers of the 10th Army found several important documents from Kato's body, from which they learned about the important situation of the Japanese army's lack of ammunition.When these documents were delivered to Xue Yue's desk as quickly as possible, Xue Yue, who has always been very self-reliant, happily slapped the table and said, "A piece of thin paper is better than ten thousand machine guns!" On January 2, Fang Xianjue continued to command the troops to fight the Japanese army on the second line of defense.Xue Yue handed over all the large-caliber artillery directly under the artillery regiment in the theater to Li Yutang's command, and Li Yutang took the position of the 10th Division as the focus of artillery support. After the intensive explosions, the Japanese army lay dead in front of the Ge Xiancai regiment's position. Under Toyoshima's stern urging, the Japanese army rushed to the defender's position several times under artillery fire. The two sides fought hand-to-hand several times, and groups of defenders fell in a pool of blood. At 11 a.m., contact with the 2nd Battalion of the 29th Regiment at the Jinpenling position was interrupted, and the situation is unknown. At 11:30, a scout who was seriously injured insisted on climbing to a position adjacent to the 2nd Battalion and reported to the division headquarters that the 2nd Battalion was in danger. The deputy head of the team Chen Xinxi and the deputy Zeng Youwen were killed.Most of the officers and soldiers of the battalion have been killed, most of the position has been captured by the Japanese army, and the rest of the officers and soldiers are still holding on to their deathbed. Please send reinforcements as soon as possible. Fang Xianjue calculated the time and it was too late to send reinforcements.The position of the 2nd Battalion is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If it is captured by the enemy, it will be difficult for reinforcements to go up.He reluctantly ordered to concentrate the artillery fire of the whole division on the 2nd Battalion's position to cover and shoot. Half an hour later, the two companies of the reserve team rushed to Jinpenling. The officers and soldiers saw that there were many dead bodies on the battlefield. The Chinese and Japanese soldiers were broken into pieces and could not be distinguished.The bodies of the dead were too late to be buried and burned, so they had to be temporarily piled up in one place.The officers and soldiers quietly wiped away the tears from the corners of their eyes, preparing for the next round of battle. On the afternoon of the 2nd, the 6th Division of the Japanese Army entered the battlefield and launched an attack on the position of the 190th Division in the northeast suburb of the city.In the evening, the 40th Division replaced part of the 3rd Division, which had suffered heavy casualties, and continued to storm the 10th Division's position.So far, the three divisions of the Japanese army that have entered northern Hunan have all been thrown into the siege.The 10th Army was surrounded by enemies twice as many as itself, and the situation gradually became tense. Fang Xianjue went to the regiment headquarters to supervise the battle, and instructed to reorganize the squad, appoint commanders, and replenish ammunition every time the enemy's attack was repelled. During the two days and one night from the 1st to the 2nd, more than half of the commanders at the battalion, company, and platoon levels of the 10th Division suffered casualties. The squad leaders of combat squads were generally replaced, and some recruits became squad leaders.The four hospitals in the city were overcrowded, and many seriously injured died due to lack of timely treatment. After the 6th Division launched its offensive, the position of the 190th Division became a hot spot for Changsha's defense operations.The old man Huang Zhong, who was the combat section chief of the 190th Division at the time, recalled: "At dawn on the 3rd, Li Yutang called his teacher Zhu Yue: Why did Chenjiashan fall? Zhu replied: No. Li ordered Zhu to check quickly, and Chenjiashan was indeed lost. "It turned out that the enemy's 6th Division attacked the North Gate on the 2nd, and was attacked by our artillery fire from the Chenjiashan position. He rushed to the top of the mountain and occupied Chenjiashan. "Li Zhi, the head of the 570th regiment of our division, immediately supervised the counterattack. In the end, because the enemy occupied favorable terrain, he was condescending and had fierce firepower. He failed to recover from three attacks (after the war, the battalion commander Wu Zinan was dismissed and Li Zhi resigned). "Chenjiashan fell, and the northern and eastern suburbs of the Japanese army lined up. The situation was very critical. The division commanders were on the front line to supervise the battle. Zhou Qingxiang said to Zhang Zhenguo: You and I were promoted by Commander Li Yutang. We can't justify what can't be saved, whether it's public or private. Head Zhang expressed his determination to live and die with the position. "During the fierce battle, Li Yutang dismissed Gao Mou, the deputy commander of a certain division, from Shandong, who refused to go to supervise the battle because of his illness, strictly enforced military discipline on the battlefield, and boosted morale. "One day, Li Yutang and Chief of Staff Cai Yushi were sitting across from each other in the headquarters, eating steamed buns and porridge. Suddenly, a bullet pierced through the glass, shattered the dish, and broke a chopstick in Li Yutang's hand. Li Yutang dropped the chopsticks and grabbed kohlrabi to eat. Cai asked: Do you want to change the seat? Li said: Don’t move, don’t move. Cai asked again: Then let’s eat quickly? Li said: No, no. You can see Li Yutang’s composure.” Yueyang, the headquarters of the 11th Japanese Army. Due to the deciphering of the communication code of the Ninth War Zone, the battlefield has become a game of chess, but this does not help Anan to restore the passive situation.The 4th, 79th, 26th, 37th, 20th, and 58th armies of the Chinese army have all entered the first attack arrival line, and the siege situation has initially formed.Therefore, what happened in the headquarters left such a record in history: On the morning of January 3, Changsha was not completely occupied, and the army staff headquarters was full of deep sorrow and uneasiness. At 11 o'clock, the commander of the Anan Army came to the staff room and wrote a poem on the blackboard to comfort the staff who were sinking in sorrow: "Don't panic today, it is normal for a military strategist to win or lose." All the ammunition transported by air by our army has been exhausted. On the contrary, the Chongqing army has clearly shown that it is continuing to gather troops to encircle our army in Changsha. The anxiety of Chief of Staff Kinoshita and other staff members is extraordinary... Therefore, at 17:00 on January 3, Chief of Staff Kinoshita, Deputy Chief of Staff Futami, and Operational Staff Officer Shimamura gathered in the army commander's office to report to the Anan Army. The commander put forward the opinion of "stop fighting and start the reversal on the night of the 4th". The commander of the Anan Army said: "The 6th Division has just participated in the battle, and it is only natural that it has not yet received the results! The attack cannot be stopped prematurely, and the situation should be observed temporarily." He refuted the opinions of Chief of Staff Kinoshita and others. Then, at 17:30, I received a battle report from the commander of the 3rd Teshima Division that "the results of the battle will be achieved soon".However, Chief of Staff Kinoshita and others are determined to reverse the situation.At 19:40, the aides gathered again in the army commander's room and put forward the opinion to the commander of the Anan army that "because they must enter the north bank of Mishui before the morning of the 5th, they must quickly start to reverse".At this time, the battle for the river crossing point on the Liuyang River has begun. At this point, the commander of the Anan Army finally had to approve the reversal. After receiving the retreat order from Anan, the commander of the 3rd Division, Toyoshima Fangtaro, was full of bitterness. On December 24, Toshima received a telegram from the base camp, and he was appointed as the head of the Tokyo Guards Division.The Imperial Guard Division is the Emperor's Royal Forest Army, and the significance of this appointment to Toshima is self-evident. However, the 24th was the day when the operation started, and Lieutenant General Takahashi Taka II, who was appointed as the head of the 3rd Division at the same time, had not yet arrived, so he could only still command the operation.In the battle to attack Changsha, he thought he had tried his best, and the troops suffered heavy casualties, but still failed.Kanda Masatsuka, the head of the 6th Division who reinforced him, smiled meaningfully at him when he divided the tasks, which made him feel as if he had been greatly insulted. At this time, Anan ordered him to retreat. Even if he could successfully bring the troops back to Yueyang, how could he, as a general who was reused by the headquarters and nodded by the Emperor, go back to Tokyo to meet those Beijing officials who were friendly to him and those who were not friendly to him? Woolen cloth?He felt that this was the first embarrassing thing he had encountered since he took office as the commander of the 3rd Division on September 28, 1940. Then there is the Kato brigade.This is a unit well-known throughout the army. It originally belonged to the 6th Regiment of Shigenobu Yoshida, who served as a security mission in the Xinyang area of ​​​​Henan Province.Due to the strong combat effectiveness of the brigade, especially good at night battles, Toyoshima transferred him to Hunan and brought him with him. He wanted him to show his skills at critical moments and add some glory to this battle. Unexpectedly, he went into battle at zero o'clock on the 2nd. In an hour, one of the squadrons suffered more than half of the casualties.Kato was eager to win, and he rushed into the enemy line with only three people.If the first battle is successful, it goes without saying that he will be a lonely hero, and he will try his best to save the crisis.Unlucky, he was shot and died in a short while.The other two of the three squadrons were blocked in a housing area when they rescued Kato. The defenders poured gasoline and started a fire. Unfortunately, most of these two elite squadrons died in the flames without any effect.It would be extremely difficult for colleagues and the families of the deceased to accept the truthful report of the battle situation after returning to China. Toyoshima thought about it, and sent a telegram to Anan Yuji, requesting that the retreat be postponed for one day on the grounds of finding Kato's body.He wants to organize his troops to make a final fight, for the price he has paid and the face he is about to lose. After sending the telegram, he drew out his command knife, and personally led a capable staff team, braved the billowing smoke, and went down to the main attacking wing to supervise the battle. He ignored how Anan called back.This is another attack after Anan decided to attack Changsha.This time he also used the old Chinese motto: "When the general is outside, the emperor's order is not acceptable." In the early morning of January 4th, the fierce competition for several days in the southern part of the city and the key positions around Taiyi Temple, the sound of guns and shouts of killing once again blew the iron wind.More than 7,000 Japanese troops from the 3rd Division launched a final fight under the supervision of Toyoshima. Fighting until dawn, a Japanese death squad in front of the repair station rushed to the position one after another.Several Japanese soldiers blew up the high explosives strapped to their bodies, blowing away the hidden fire points of the defenders' supporting positions. Seeing that the defense line was torn apart, the Japanese army rushed here. At 8 a.m., Chen Xiyao's 30th Regiment of the 10th Preliminary Division formed a death squad with only 80 people left.Chinese soldiers set a precedent for "living bombs" as early as in the Songhu Anti-Japanese War (the Japanese army called this suicide attack "meat bombs"). More than 20 machine guns covered more than a dozen soldiers rushing into the position, and then came the earth-shattering attack. bang. Veterans who have participated in those battles know that the determination to dispatch "live bombs" is not easy to make, but once dispatched, there is no fortress that cannot be conquered. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese army relied on the superiority of the armored forces to bully the Chinese army.The Chinese soldiers who lacked anti-tank weapons did not even have enough guns for each person. The soldiers of the miscellaneous army armed with swords used this desperate method to destroy the Japanese tanks and armored vehicles one by one.In the 1970s and 1980s when China was fighting on the border in southern Xinjiang, Chinese soldiers waded into the enemy's minefields with their bodies. Some of them risked their lives to wipe out the enemy like Dong Cunrui and Huang Jiguang. The strongest side of the national character. At 9:30, the Death Squadron of the 30th Regiment took back the position of the repair station that the Japanese army had captured not long ago.While the Japanese army was preparing for the next round of attack, regiment leader Chen Xiyao counted the number of soldiers, and there were no more than 20 soldiers who could fight including himself.Chen Xiyao thought: There are two regiments in this position, one battalion for each, from the battalion commander to the soldiers, there are still several reserve troops filling in, and one regiment has already died here. It seems that I want to be this The leader of the regiment is in the underworld. At this moment, all he has with him is a gold-plated pocket watch that was very precious at the time and a suicide note to his mother that he didn't have time to send out.He loved the gold watch very much, and let it go with him.He took out a suicide note soaked in sweat from his shirt pocket, tore it up casually, and sprinkled it on the ruins of the position full of dead bodies. Since the Anti-Japanese War, the number of generals who died in battle alone is hard to count, not to mention regiment commanders, let alone more than a million soldiers?As a soldier, if you are born to fight against Japan, what will you say when you die! Chen Xiyao threw away the last trace of his life feelings and buried himself in directing the soldiers to form their positions. At this time, more than 100 people from the city came to report to him.Head Chen looked at it and confirmed his own thinking: the battle has indeed reached the last moment. This new company formed by the division commander Fang Xianjue is composed of all the miscellaneous personnel of the division headquarters, such as supply soldiers, health soldiers, car drivers, and cooking soldiers.Chen Xiyao also saw one of Fang Xianjue's two personal guards standing in the line with a tragic face. At 1:00 noon, more than 600 Japanese troops stormed up to the position of the repair station.Chen Xiyao led the crowd to fight back desperately. The military quality of the miscellaneous soldiers was poor. After supporting for half an hour, the position became urgent again. The Japanese army stepped into the position with bayonet-mounted rifles. In desperation, Chen Xiyao heard the sound of guns breaking into our army's charge horn. He suspected it was a hallucination before his death. But after a while, the Japanese army began to collapse from behind and on the right. It turned out that Ge Xiancai, the commander of the 28th regiment, put it together Nearly two companies came to reinforce them.The Japanese army was pushed back again, and the position turned from danger to safety.When the two leaders met, they burst into tears. Chongqing.National Government Military Commission. Since the start of the war in northern Hunan, Chiang Kai-shek has been wearing military uniforms. In addition to dealing with internal and external government affairs, he mainly focuses on fighting in northern Hunan. On January 4, he received a telegram from Xue Yue that the encirclement and counter-offensive operations would begin immediately, and the theater was instructing all ministries to "advance bravely and wipe out the enemy thoroughly. "!" Chiang Kai-shek dictated the telegram, calling on all the ministries to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds, and added a sentence at the end of the telegram: "If the enemy flees from the front of a certain unit, the commander of the army will be shot!" When the confidential attendant drew up the telegram and asked Chiang Kai-shek to review and sign it, Song Meiling arrived promptly.Jiang asked Song to read the telegram, and Song nodded and smiled. After the attendants left, Song asked Jiang why the Chinese Air Force did not participate in the battle in northern Hunan. Jiang replied that it was because of the bad weather and the airport was too far away from the battlefield. Song Meiling said: "Such an important battle, I should let my boys work hard." After speaking, she picked up Jiang's phone and asked Zhou Zhirou, the former commander of the air force to fight, and asked him to arrange the air force to overcome difficulties and participate in the battle. What Soong Meiling considered was the international influence that this battle would inevitably produce, and the Air Force could not do without a fortune in the war.On January 1, the "Declaration of the United Nations" was successfully signed, and she was planning a large-scale operation to win over Western powers to aid China in the war of resistance. During the Anti-Japanese War, the development and operations of the Kuomintang Air Force were closely related to Song Meiling.On the eve of the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Song became the secretary-general of the China Aviation Committee. She hired Roy Holbrooke, a former American Air Force pilot, as a consultant. Holbrooke recommended Chennault to assist Song Meiling in the air force equipment and training.When the Anti-Japanese War broke out, the Chinese Air Force, which claimed to have 500 aircraft, had less than 100 aircraft that could actually take to the sky.However, the young Chinese Air Force dared to fight wits and courage with the powerful Japanese air force capable of dispatching nearly a thousand combat aircraft. On August 14, 1937, the second day after the outbreak of the Songhu Anti-Japanese War, the Chinese Air Force made its first attack and damaged the Japanese flagship "Izumo".Commander Gao Zhihang led 27 fighter jets and 18 Japanese planes in a fierce battle over Hangzhou, shooting down 6 enemy planes without any damage to himself.According to Song Meiling's proposal, the national government designated August 14 as "Air Force Day".Song Meiling is known as the "Mother of the Air Force" because of her extensive work in the construction of the Air Force. Zhou Zhirou received a call from Song Meiling and ordered the Second Battalion of the Chengdu Air Force to assist the Ninth Theater in attacking the Japanese troops in Changsha.Due to the long distance and poor weather, only nine planes were dispatched on January 8 to chase and attack the retreating Japanese troops in Xinshi and Changle Street.On that day, 9 Japanese planes took to the air to face off, but one was shot down by the Chinese Air Force, two were damaged, and the Chinese side also lost two. Maybe Song Meiling never thought that after the marriage between Jiang and Song, Song used her talents, especially during the Anti-Japanese War, to set a precedent for "lady's participation in politics" and "lady's diplomacy" in Chinese history.After the Song Dynasty, many wives who were unwilling to be lonely took her as an example and actively assisted or directly participated in the career of their husbands. The "virtuous housemate" rushed out of the house and became a "comrade in arms".Although these latecomers are still unable to surpass the achievements of the masters, they have also added a lot of anecdotes to the rich Chinese folk culture.