Chapter 39 5. Persevere: A contest of will between the two armies

On June 25, a huge map of Hengyang was hung on the wall of the war room of the Chongqing Military Commission, juxtaposed with the map of the situation of the enemy and ourselves in central and southern China.In the next few days, from the chairman to the staff, they all knew the situation of the 10th Army and the Japanese army in front of them, the geography of Hengyang and the deployment of the city defense. Hengyang became a new hot spot in the national war of resistance. Hengyang City is located in the south of Hunan Province, on the west bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Xiangjiang River, and at the south foot of Hengshan Mountain. It is the second largest city in the province after Changsha.It is an important hub of water and land transportation. The two main arteries of my country at that time, the Hunan-Guangxi Railway and the Guangdong-Han Railway, met in Hengyang.It connects to Guangzhou in the south, Guilin in the west, Guizhou from Guilin, Chongqing in the north, and Kunming in the west. Hengyang is a must.Waterways, steamed water and Leishui converge here with the Xiangjiang River. On the spacious Xiangjiang River, a thousand-ton cargo ship can pass through Changsha to Dongting and enter the Yangtze River.The Japanese base camp has long seen the important strategic position of Hengyang, the key to Hunan and Guangdong opening and closing the southwest, and regarded it as a must-have to open up the mainland communication line and destroy the southwest anti-Japanese rear area.The Chongqing Military Commission also regards defending Hengyang as a key link in maintaining the national war situation.

The geography of Hengyang City is very peculiar. It is adjacent to the Xiangjiang River with a water surface of more than 100 meters in the north, surrounded by rivers and lakes in the northeast, and undulating hills in the southwest. The city is surrounded by countless lotus ponds and fish ponds. Commanding heights such as Wangcheng'ao, Zingbing Pavilion, and Huangchaling are the places where troops are used. On June 20, two days after the fall of Changsha, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the main forces of the Ninth War Zone and nearby ministries in other theaters "to block the enemy's penetration and ensure Hengyang as the goal" and "to pinch the deep enemy and destroy it".However, since the Japanese army had no road construction in the south of Changsha, the progress was very rapid, and the troops could only attack the Japanese army from the side and rear, and did not block the Japanese army's footsteps.The 68th Division and 116th Division of the Japanese Army, who were at the forefront, rushed to the outskirts of Hengyang and immediately launched an offensive to the outer positions of the defenders.

The dawn had just turned blood red in the eastern sky, and one or two stars were still shining in the sky.On the top floor of a building in the southern part of Hengyang City, several military officers watched silently facing a steel bridge on the Xiangjiang River flowing quietly in the south. Through the binoculars of one of the officers, there were faint shadows of people walking near the bridge, and someone was waving a flag. "Jun Zuo, everything is ready." The officer looking at the telescope whispered to a tall man beside him with two general stars on his uniform. Jun Zuo didn't speak, just nodded slightly.

The officer stretched out his arm to the side, and a soldier standing behind him immediately handed over the receiver of the telephone on his back. "Let's get started." Just one sentence. The morning breeze sent a faint whistle, and after a while, the ground moved slightly, the fire on the bridge flashed, and then there was a loud explosion. The Xiangjiang River Bridge was broken into three pieces, and the huge steel bridge body slowly fell into the river. The waves raised by the bridge body in the river quickly recovered, and several bridge piers stood alone on the empty river surface.

When the army commander Fang Xianjue turned and went downstairs, he said to the army chief of staff Sun Mingyu: "I heard that the construction of this bridge cost 200 million yuan." Sun Mingyu: "It's just the cost of materials, and the blood and sweat of Sanxiang's parents for three years." There was a jeep downstairs. Seeing the officer coming out, the guard hurriedly opened the door. Fang Xianjue waved his hand to indicate that he would not sit down.Hengyang City doesn't have much space. The sun peeked out from the tea groves that covered the hills to the east.Fang Xianjue asked Sun Mingyu: "Do you think the 1st Battalion of the 569th Regiment can survive today?" Without waiting for an answer, he said: "Forget it with withdrawing, it's not about resisting one by one."

A group of people walked silently, knowing that the army commander was worried. On May 29, the third day after the Japanese army launched an offensive in northern Hunan, Chiang Kai-shek called the headquarters of the 10th Army stationed in Hengyang. "This time is different from the last time. The Japanese pirates have many troops and are deceitful. It seems that we must be prepared in case Changsha fails to defend. But Hengyang cannot give up no matter what. The relationship is very important. You know this." Chiang Kai-shek will always be the commander-in-chief and principal in front of these Whampoa generals.

Fang Xianjue was standing thousands of miles away, holding a receiver in hand.Chiang Kai-shek instructed him to prepare to hold on to Hengyang for 10 days to two weeks when the Japanese army invaded southern Hunan, to attract and consume Japanese troops, wait for the Military Commission to adjust and deploy the outside troops during this period, and then encircle and attack the city like the third Changsha battle The Japanese army, attacking inside and outside, wiped out the enemy near Hengyang. "This battle is related to the survival of the country and the nation, and the success or failure of Hengyang is the key to victory or defeat. Xidi defends it with peace of mind, and honors the honor of defending the city of Changsha. I will urge the various ministries of the land and air to help my brothers complete an unprecedented great cause!" Finally, Chiang Kai-shek said in a serious tone.

Fang Xianjue said to Yao Shaoyi, the Chief of Operations Section of the Army Staff Office, "Record the instructions of the commissioner in detail. After this battle, these will be valuable historical materials." On May 31, the Chief of the Ninth War Zone issued an official combat order for the 10th Army to defend Hengyang before the Military Commission.On the same day, the divisions began to devote all their efforts to strengthening the fortifications and organizing the firepower system.Fang Xianjue deployed Zhou Qingxiang's 3rd Division, Ge Xiancai's 10th Division, and Rong Youlue's 190th Division under the jurisdiction of the army, as well as a regiment of the temporary 54th Division led by division commander Rao Shaowei. All of them live in the strongest building in the city - the City Central Bank.

In the middle of the night on June 22, two squadrons of the vanguard of the Japanese army first arrived at Quanxi on the banks of the Leishui River in the east of Hengyang, and exchanged fire with the 1st Battalion of the 569th Regiment of the 190th Division.After fighting for an hour, the Japanese army stopped the attack due to the unknown situation and waited for dawn. In the early morning of the 23rd, Fang Xianjue ordered the Xiangjiang Bridge to be blown up.In the morning, under the leadership of Battalion Commander Yang Jihe, the 1st Battalion of the 569th Regiment confronted the Japanese again. They used anti-tank guns and light and heavy machine guns to sink more than a dozen boats carrying more than 100 Japanese soldiers who forcibly crossed Leishui, and then withdrew. in the city.After a small victory in the prologue, Fang Xianjue said to Chief of Staff Rao Yabo, "Remember, the battle to defend Hengyang begins today."

When the battle in Changsha was fierce, Zhou Qingxiang's 3rd Division served as a security mission near Xiangtan. As the battle situation changed, the 3rd Division was ordered to withdraw to the north of Hengyang to serve as security for the army. On the morning of June 23, Fang Xianjue ordered Zhou Qingxiang to withdraw all troops into the city and enter positions. On the way into the city, Jiang Yaxun, the chief of staff of the 3rd Division, said to Zhou Qingxiang: "I said Master, this is not the third battle in Changsha. Everyone knows that Hengyang's geographical location is important. In the past, Chief Xue prepared three troops in the whole city. The army's fortifications, now we have to defend them with one army, but the number of enemies is twice as much as last time, the difference is huge."

Jiang Yaxun has a bold and humorous personality, and Zhou Qingxiang has nothing to say to him.At this time Zhou looked at Jiang and said, "I'm also worried, what do you think should I do?" Jiang Yaxun half-truthfully said: "The enemy is coming fiercely. We have to keep the green hills, so we don't have to worry about running out of firewood. I think it's better to withdraw the troops to Mount Heng. When the enemy comes to attack, we spank his ass." "Nonsense!" Zhou Qingxiang glared at Jiang, then sighed, "The old man's (referring to Chiang Kai-shek) old method is to wait for help. Last time in Changsha, he waited and waited, and finally let the enemy run away, God knows How about this time!" Many years later, Jiang Yaxun recalled: From the very beginning of the battle of defending the city, the troops in the city had the word "aid" in their hearts - because it was a position where one army took over three armies, and because it was a lonely city. From the 23rd to the 26th, while the vanguard of the Japanese army was in skirmishes with the airport on the outskirts of the city and the defenders' outposts in Huangshaling, the main forces of the 68th and 116th divisions successively entered around Hengyang. Sakuma, head of the 68th Division, and Yan Yongwang, head of the 116th Division, were classmates in different classes at the Imperial Army University at the same time. Because they were active in sports activities at school, they knew each other and had a close relationship. On the evening of the 27th, the two agreed that at midnight the next day, the 68th Division would launch a general attack from south to north and the 116th Division from west to east at the same time, taking Little Hengyang in one go. From midnight on the 27th to the early morning of the 28th, the sound of gunfire in Hengyang City was like the wind, and the explosions were like lightning and thunder.Japanese military history records: Unexpectedly, the defense of the Chongqing Army (referring to the 10th Army - the author's note) is extremely strong, and its artillery fire is also superior to ours.The 115th and 117th brigades only captured the outlying positions south of the railway, and the attack by the Zhimo detachment was also unsuccessful. At 10 o'clock in the morning on the 28th, more than a dozen Japanese soldiers appeared in the telescope of Bailin, the commander of the mortar company of the 28th regiment of the 10th Division.The small hill at the foot of the Japanese army was called Huangshaling. They stood on the hill and pointed towards the middle of the city, looking at their extraordinary manners, as if an officer was observing the terrain. "Company commander, do you want to fight?" Hu Qingqing, the observer soldier beside him, asked. Bai Bailin, who was 24 years old at the time, graduated from the No. 16 Artillery Department of Whampoa with superb skills.He quickly manipulated the gun scope, mentally calculating that these Japanese pirates are on the edge of the mortar range, fuck it! According to the tutorial, you should first test fire with a single gun to calibrate the scale, but this time it won't work, because the single gun can't hit it, and the devils have all run away?He ordered the entire company to enter the position, and set the scales for the 8 guns at the same time according to the distance he estimated based on experience and visual inspection, followed by a cry: "Let go!" Bai Bailin didn't expect that lying on the ground under his shells were Lieutenant General Sakuma, the commander of the 68th Division, Chief of Staff Harada Sadaburo, and Major Matsuura, the staff officer in charge of the battle. Bai Bailin would never have imagined that because of that password, he became a hero that must be included in all Hengyang Defense War materials and well-known to all veterans who experienced it.He would never have imagined that this would cause a disagreement on historical facts, which has been debated endlessly and cannot be finalized. Part of the war history data on both sides of the Chinese Strait and Hengyang city veterans that the author has seen say that Sakuma, the commander of the 68th Division, was seriously injured in the bombing and died a few days later.However, other information shows that after he was seriously injured, he was transferred from Nanjing to the mainland for treatment and recovered from his injury the following year. On February 20, 1945, he was appointed as the commander of the 84th Division of the 53rd Army of the mainland.When the author tried to persuade a veteran based on the "Battle Sequence of the Decisive Battle in Japan in 1945", he turned red in the face, saying that it must be a devil playing tricks, trying to renege on his debts, or there may be someone with the same name, but that guy must have been captured by us. Killed. The history of the Sino-Japanese war unanimously agrees that the period from June 28 to July 2 was the first Japanese attack on Hengyang.Regarding this attack, the Japanese war history contains: At 10:30 on the 28th, while commanding the first-line battle on the high ground south of Hengyang, Sakuma's troop commander, chief of staff and Matsuura's staff were all injured.On the south side of Hengyang and in front of the enemy positions on both sides, there are many firepower points built using countless lakes.Also, the enemy's wild artillery and mortars are quite active. On June 29, Senior Staff Officer Shimasuki of the 11th Army wrote in his diary: "The resistance of the enemy in Hengyang was unexpectedly tenacious. The 68th and 116th divisions completely surrounded the enemy with 15 brigades and are doing their best to attack. "(July 1st—author's note) As soon as 5 o'clock came, all the guns fired together. Suddenly, the silence of dawn turned into a storm of steel. Since the enemy army had clear targets and fired at close range, some of the first shots were fired. Hit the gun hole of the fortress, on the slope of the Zhangjiashan highland, smoke and dust filled the air, and the wood chips were scattered, creating a spectacular scene. "With the support of firepower, the 1st Battalion fought bravely. Lieutenant Yonei Takao, the leader of the 4th Squadron on the right, died in battle. The squad leader, Lieutenant Tanaka Kiyoshi, and more than 30 people took a bamboo ladder to the enemy's position and started hand-to-hand combat. "The No. 3 Squadron on the left also set up a ladder on the cliff. The moment Lieutenant Koyama was about to climb up the ladder, a grenade was thrown from the upper position, and the entire squadron was immediately surrounded by white smoke. Both No. 4 and No. 3 Squadrons were in the wing Disappeared from the field of vision. The wing captain and the artillery captain could only silently pray for the safety of their subordinates. After a while, the explosion stopped and the white smoke gradually spread. "The team leader, Captain Osuga Matsuri, was deeply saddened, and he called to report: 'Commander, I'm sorry.' Although it was only one sentence, it showed infinite remorse. Mr. Kurose encouraged and said: 'Where is it? Just started, work hard." "Lieutenant Kurokawa held a saber in his right hand. About 10 meters in front of the squadron, he calmly advanced from the cliff to the col. Before the commander's line of sight was blocked by the fortress in the middle, two grenades exploded in the col. Lieutenant Kurokawa When he was about to rush to the top of the mountain, he finally died in a heroic battle. "At about 23:00, the night attack (Zhangjiashan) of the 1st Battalion was successful. But it was not until 1:40, thanks to the efforts of Lieutenant Ota Fancheng, the leader of the communication squadron, that the newly established telephone line was connected. The regiment leader learned that, Almost all the cadres who participated in the night attack were killed in battle. "At 2:30 in the morning, the Chongqing army counterattacked Zhangjiashan. The top of the mountain was in chaos, and it was impossible to distinguish between the enemy and the enemy. A Chinese soldier mingled with the two captains who were commanding the battle side by side. Captain Adachi just noticed it and shouted 'this is the enemy. In an instant, the grenade thrown by the Chongqing soldiers exploded. Captain Osuga died in battle, and Captain Adachi fell down with a serious knee injury. The Chongqing army attacked with human sea tactics and grenades, causing our side to continue to suffer casualties, so we had to give up. The top of the mountain..."