Chapter 40 6. Persistence: physical and spiritual suffering

On July 3, when it was sunny, Chinese soldiers around Hengyang City emerged from the fortifications, bunkers, and trenches one after another.Pieces of washed military uniforms and bedding to dry were spread out here and there.The medical staff of the military hospital, divisions, and regiment dressing stations took advantage of the sunny day to wash a large number of bandages and surgical towels, and dried them in the sun. The strips of white covered the positions and streets. The counterattack of the Japanese army's first attack on Hengyang was concentrated in the positions of the 10th Division and the 3rd Division. During the 5 days and 5 nights from June 28 to July 2, the two divisions suffered a total of more than 6,000 casualties.In the Zhangjiashan Highlands defended by the 30th Regiment of the 10th Division, they repeatedly competed with the Japanese for more than 20 times in a few days. First, the 2nd Battalion suffered all casualties. The reserve team went up again, and was almost wiped out in less than a day. On June 30, division commander Ge Xiancai personally led the division reserve team to rescue the siege, and personally fired a machine gun into the front line of battle, leaving behind the news headline "Ge Xiancai fought shirtless in Zhangjiashan". On July 10, a Chinese plane dropped a Blue Sky White Sun Medal awarded to Ge Xiancai by Chiang Kai-shek.

The 29th Regiment adjacent to the 30th Regiment defended the Huxingshan position, repelling more than ten Japanese attacks in 5 days.When the fighting stopped, the corpses of the Chinese soldiers who died first had already decomposed, and the stench was suffocating, and mosquitoes and flies gathered day and night. The Japanese army suspended the attack, but Fang Xianjue, the commander of the army, was not at ease. From the perspective of the overall operation, it was impossible to form a situation in which the outside troops encircled the two Japanese army divisions around Hengyang in a short period of time.Several group armies were confronting the Japanese army dozens of kilometers away, or going around in circles, with no intention of killing them immediately.

The 10th Army prepared for half a month, from materials to psychology. Originally, when the Japanese army attacked Hengyang for the first time, the two divisions tried their best to kill people and horses, food and ammunition, and it was a good time for the reinforcements to come and beat him exhausted.Fang Xianjue wanted to send a telegram to Chongqing several times to suggest, but he didn't do it.He was thinking, would Chiang Kai-shek not understand this situation? What will the headmaster think of me if I keep calling for help? From the cessation of the attack on July 2 to the second attack on July 11, the Japanese army continued to harass around Hengyang.

At night, the people's dogs and cattle were either driven into the river, and wooden boards with candle lights were placed in the river to lure the defenders to shoot and consume ammunition, or a small group of troops were sent to carry out a sneak attack with bluff.Because the Military Commission used relatively strong Chinese and American air forces to support the defense of Hengyang, the Japanese aircraft were more cautious in their activities during the day, but sometimes they flew in and bombed suddenly when the Chinese and American aircraft were not there. On July 6, dozens of bombs fell on the military hospital, and more than 700 wounded soldiers and many medical staff died immediately.

One day, the old man invited Fang Xianjue, Sun Mingyu and others to dinner.Sitting at the dining table, several generals couldn't help being stunned: the snow-white rice was replaced by brown rice, and chicken and pork were replaced by several bowls of fish—in the south, fish is the worst dish. Fang Xianjue asked, "What, have you changed your taste?" The cook was at a loss for words, and he hesitated and said: "I'm really sorry, Jun Zuo, the good rice is gone, and the chicken, duck and pork are also gone. This fish was just floated by the bomb thrown by the enemy plane into the pond..."

Sun Mingyu said: "Eat, eat, this is just the beginning, I don't think we will see the reinforcements in a month." On July 8, Isamu Yokoyama brought the new head of the 68th Division, Lieutenant General Di Sanshu, to the headquarters of the 68th Division outside Hengyang City.Mitsuki Tsutsumi was formerly the commander of the 55th Brigade stationed in Wuxi, proficient in siege, and was a strong general who was ordered by Yokoyama Isamu. Heng Shanyong held a meeting of officers of the 68th and 116th divisions and conveyed the order of the base camp to capture Hengyang as soon as possible.

Due to the defeat in the Pacific War, the voices of the Japanese government and opposition against Hideki Tojo, who is also the Prime Minister, Minister of the Army and Chief of Staff, are getting louder and louder, and the military cabinet is facing a crisis.Both the Emperor and Tojo hoped to maintain the current situation by raising the national spirit with new military victories in mainland China. On July 10, the Japanese military depot supplied 76 tons of ammunition to the Hengyang troops, and formed a daily supply capacity of 30 tons. On the same day, the Japanese air force’s combat flight team opened an airport in Xiangtan.

At 7 a.m. on July 11, thick black smoke rose from violent explosions around the city of Hengyang.The second Japanese attack on Hengyang began. Yang Zhenghua, Director of the Political Department of the Pre-10th Division, recalled: "On the morning of July 11, the enemy's 120th Regiment and the 2nd Regiment, with the cooperation of artillery, stormed Huxing Mountain. The planes bombed and threw incendiary bombs in turn, and the buildings near the position turned into rubble. The pre-10th Division defending Huxing Mountain The 29th Regiment's Laoyue civilian battalion fought to the death without retreating. The enemy released poisonous gas when they could not attack the position. Many of our officers and soldiers were poisoned, but they still held on tenaciously.

"Fighting hard until 9:00 am the next day, the position was finally breached by the enemy. More than 2,000 Japanese soldiers took the opportunity to cross the Hunan-Guangxi Railway and rushed to Wuguiling South Street. "In order to control this point, the Army Command increased the 3rd Division and 3rd Battalion on the second line to launch a counterattack. The battle was fierce and continued all night. The battalion commander Sun Hubin, the flat-fire artillery company commander Zhao Shilu, the 8th company and the 9th company commander died in succession. Many other officers and soldiers also died. Nearly a thousand of the Japanese soldiers who broke into Huxing Mountain were wiped out by our counterattack force, and more than half of the enemies who broke into Xinjie were also wiped out.

"At dawn on July 13, the enemy launched another fierce attack and broke into Xinjie. Commander Zhou of the 3rd Division personally commanded the officers and soldiers to fight the enemy with grenades and hand-to-hand knives. After extremely tragic street fighting, all the enemies who broke into Xinjie were wiped out, and the position was turned into safety. The commander of the enemy's 120th Regiment, Er Dazuo and many other enemy officers were shot dead by our army, Commander Zhou fought bravely and commanded well, and the Military Commission specially awarded a blue sky and white sun medal."

The Chinese officers and soldiers repelled the powerful Japanese offensives with fierce fights. There were many corpses on the battlefield, which remained in the memory of history as bloody, and the Japanese offensives also suffered heavy casualties.History's record of it is also dripping with blood.After the war, Kurose Heiichi, commander of the 133rd Regiment of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, recalled: "(July—author's note) The second attack on Hengyang began on the 11th. The fighting was extremely tragic, especially the casualties of cadres at all levels, which made people unable to extricate themselves from the emotions of grief and indignation. "On the 13th, we continued to attack Zhangjiashan, which was not captured last time. During the battle, the newly appointed Captain of the 1st Battalion, Captain Sekine Akira, and the Captain of the 2nd Battalion, Captain Adachi Hatsuo who was wounded, were killed. The captain of the 3rd Battalion forced Hachiro was rescued from the battlefield with serious injuries, but died of gangrene in his wounds a few days later. "On the 16th, I reported the battle situation and casualties to the head of the division. The head of the division Yan Yongwang expressed his understanding of the difficulties of our wing and transferred the third brigade of the 218th wing to my command. But in the attack on Xiaojiashan on the 17th Unfortunately, the brigade entered the enemy's grenade ambush area by mistake, and suffered great losses. The captain of the brigade, Captain Hiraoka Zhuo, also died unfortunately. "The casualties of the squadron leader and squad leader who led the soldiers on the front line were even more serious. Only one squadron leader was equipped before the battle, and all the squad leaders were killed. When I reported the battle situation and casualties on the phone on the 18th, I couldn't help but shed tears. .I told the head of the division that the 133rd Wing did its best. The head of the division, Iwan Yongwang, was silent on the other end of the phone for a long time." From July 11th to 20th, the divisions of the 10th Army relied on their dilapidated positions to block the crazy Japanese attack.At several key points, the two armies fought repeatedly.Several veterans who have experienced it have mentioned such a feeling, the corpses of the enemy, the corpses of comrades-in-arms, corpses everywhere.Seeing it all day, I feel numb, nervous about fighting, mentally nervous, too late to think about my own life and death.The smell of rotting corpses made me sick, my head swelled, and I didn't want to eat, but I got used to it later. On the 10th day and night, the 116th Division of the Japanese Army advanced 400 meters, and the 68th Division only advanced 200 meters.According to the reduction of personnel reported by the two divisions, Yokoyama ordered to stop the attack at 5 pm on July 20, rest in place, and replenish troops and ammunition. But another thing that made Isamu Yokoyama even more frustrated was that on July 18, the Japanese cabinet held the command responsible for the fall of Saipan, a strategic point in the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese army's second offensive on Hengyang failed, which aroused great repercussions among the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians across the country. Celebrations were held in major cities in the rear area, and congratulatory telegrams and letters of condolence flew all over the sky for a while.The newspapers collectively referred to Commander Fang Xianjue, his four division commanders, and Chief of Staff Sun Mingyu as the "Five Tiger Generals", which was well known to all women and children. In sharp contrast to this excitement are the officers and soldiers trapped in Hengyang City. In smashing the second attack of the Japanese army, the total number of combat reductions in the entire army has reached 7/10. From the commander to the soldiers, they look forward to the arrival of reinforcements every day.I don't know which Peking opera lover took the lead, and the whole city was like a gust of wind, and two lines of Yang Liulang's singing in the play of Yang Jiajiang were popular: "It's fine if you don't mention the reinforcements, but it's annoying to mention the reinforcements." Fu Neng was the platoon leader before the Hengyang battle, and the company commander was killed in the battle, so he was promoted to the company commander.Of that period of life, he recalled: "We have defended the city for more than a month. Most of the casualties and wounded have no medical treatment. For example, Company Commander Fang Zicai of the 568th Regiment of the 190th Division led troops across the Cao River to scout the enemy. When he returned, he was discovered by the enemy. Company Commander Fang's right arm was interrupted by an enemy machine gun. When returning to the division medical team, Captain Hu decided to amputate the injured arm according to the severity of the injury. There was no anesthetic or even disinfectant, so we had to use boiling water to sterilize it. When sawing the arm, Company Commander Fang trembled in pain. "The doctors and nurses reassured that medicines will be available as soon as the reinforcements arrive. "Many wounded wounds were infected with pus, and some even grew maggots from the wounds. The wounded used bayonets to cut a bamboo stick and picked out the maggots in the wounds. Many wounded died because there was no medicine and their injuries deteriorated. "Because the comrades who died in battle could not be buried, the corpses quickly rotted and smelled in the high temperature of summer. Groups of rats came to bite the corpses in broad daylight. It was chilling to see. Rats ravaged the city, and many comrades who were seriously injured and unable to move were also killed. Rat bites. "Originally there was enough grain for three months, but due to the bombing of enemy planes, most of the grain depots were burned down, and food became a problem. Many soldiers beat mice, skinned them and burned them to satisfy their hunger. Some nailed ordinary people to wooden frames. The cowhide is taken off and chopped with a knife and boiled to satisfy the hunger. "The planes of our army and the American Flying Tigers sometimes drop some food and ammunition for us, but the drop in the bucket is useless. Some supplies fell into the middle of the enemy and ourselves, and no one could get them within the range of the two sides..." The battle lasted until late July, and the 10th Army had held on to Hengyang for more than a month, waiting for reinforcements to become the lifeline and only spiritual support of the defenders.Cai Rulin, the military supervisor and artillery commander of the 10th Army stationed in the Ninth Theater, has been with the military headquarters. He recalled: "In the last 20 days of the Hengyang Defense War, we listened to the gunshots of the reinforcements every night above the air-raid shelter of the Central Bank. Sometimes we covered our ears with our hands and stretched our necks to listen attentively when we couldn't hear them. Secretary Zhang couldn't hear, and Fang Jun Chang always thought that he was old and had bad ears. The gunshots from the reinforcements seemed to be deliberately joking with us, and they were approaching and far away. When they heard it close, everyone was ecstatic, and everything seemed to be bright. "But the gunfire was far away, and everyone frowned again unconsciously, and they didn't know whether it was resentment or hatred, or hope in their hearts. There was an indescribable hot and sour taste. "One day the Artillery Battalion Commander Chen called and said that our reinforcements were firing fiercely. His voice seemed very happy when he reported it, but when we called again to ask again, he replied in a miserable voice: again. can't hear... "In desperation, Commander Fang could only use telegrams to call for help from Commissioner Xue, Officer Xue, Wang Yaowu, Li Yutang, and all friendly forces: 'Hengyang is at stake', 'It's a small matter for a person and a big thing for a country', 'Rescuing soldiers is like putting out a fire', 'No matter what , even if you send a regiment of troops to rush into the city'... "Shangfeng and his allies replied one after another: 'Stay for another three days, and the reinforcements will enter the city', 'Work hard, you must survive', 'Don't fail', 'Persevere for the last five minutes'... "The commander of the communication battalion said to me: I tested a character, the eighteenth character Li. He said that according to the meaning of the word 'Li', the reinforcements should enter the city on July 18. He said: I have always tested characters. . "When the date arrived, there was no news of reinforcements. I asked him, and he smiled and said: This is my way to stabilize the morale of the army. "We stand next to the translators every day, waiting for news of reinforcements. Commissioner, Chief Xue, Commander-in-Chief Wang, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Li, several reinforcements and the Air Force, the incoming and outgoing texts are like snowflakes, and the translators are like a machine day and night It didn't stop. Like watching the news from the Central News Agency, we hurriedly checked whether there was any news of reinforcements in the telegram. But there was nothing. "The food of the military department changed from chicken, duck and pork to a bowl of big fish, and from big fish to fried peanuts and soybeans. When the peanuts and soybeans were gone, they ate white salt and boiling water, and the rice was replaced by Ash bran and brown rice. Bitter? I don't think so. "One day, I received a telegram from the commissioner: 'I am more anxious than you, I fully understand your difficulties, needless to say, the enemy knows and beats you even harder!' "Chief of Staff Sun once said that when the city is defended for a full month, the siege will be resolved, but there will be no news at the end of the month. I joked to Sun: 'We are about to win. You have to prepare tactical materials for defending the city. When you come to the rear, everyone The school must invite you to explain the essentials of defending the city.' "Sun said: 'There is nothing else, but you need to be familiar with the terrain, even the width of an alley should be known.' "I turned to Secretary Zhang and said, 'You have to prepare the reply draft of the congratulatory messages from all parties in advance, so as not to be too late, because one wrong word will offend people.' "I also said to Staff Officer Peng: 'You have to prepare to receive reporters for interviews.' Peng said: 'Hey! This is what I often do. But to be honest, I am afraid of meeting reporters. Because you come and go, all day long Can't rest!' "Mr. Fang also intervened in our conversation. He said: 'Whichever reinforcements enter the city first, I will kowtow to the committee and ask him to be awarded a medal of blue sky and white sun!' "As if the reinforcements are really coming, it's like people who can't even eat enough to talk about how to live in a high-rise building and take a car. "Mr. Fang had a yellow dog that never left his master and didn't bark. In the last few days, it ran forward and back and barked wildly. Everyone said: Even the dog is in a hurry..." While the defenders were waiting to see through, reinforcements from all walks of life were still on their way.For a month, some of them lingered on the sidelines, some were perfunctory, and some were unable to do what they wanted despite hard work, and some were unable to break through to the interception of the Japanese army. On July 23, Chiang Kai-shek once again issued a strict order to the 62nd, 74th, 79th, 100th and 37th armies to besiege the enemy in Hengyang.The Japanese army deciphered the communication codes used by the Military Commission and the Ninth War Zone, and intercepted them on the outskirts of Hengyang with heavy troops from the 27th, 34th, 40th, and 64th divisions. This time, the reinforcements no longer dared to be negligent. After several hard battles, none of them were able to reach the serious difficulties and reinforce Hengyang.The officers and soldiers of the 10th Army listened eagerly to the gunshots outside Hengyang, which were approaching and far away, feeling infinitely desolate in their hearts. The Japanese army failed to conquer Hengyang for a long time, and the strategic intention of the Japanese dispatched troops stationed in China to open up the mainland communication line and destroy the southwest airport of the Chinese and American Air Forces was hindered by a dilapidated 10th Army.Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, received a call from the base camp to accuse him.Hengshan bravely led a small number of staff officers from Changsha to the Hengyang front on August 2. In order to avoid the Chinese and American air forces, the two planes brought by Yokoyama Isamu arrived at Hengyang Jiangdong Airport at dawn at 5:30 a.m. on August 2. The Hengyang garrison found two enemy planes landing and immediately fired continuously with mortars.The plane flying in front of Isamu Yokoyama's plane was shot just as it landed. In order to stop as soon as possible, the pilot braked the wheels urgently, causing the plane to stand upside down under the inertial force and turn over.Seeing that there was an artillery attack, Yokoyama called his entourage together, jumped onto the runway before the plane came to a complete stop, and left the airport quickly.Just as the plane came to a stop, a shell exploded under the belly of the plane, killing an officer and two pilots who had not left the plane. This time when he came to Hengyang to organize the battle, Yokoyama brought up the 58th Division, which is good at attacking fortified cities, as the main force, and also strengthened the strength with the 13th Division, plus the original strength of the 68th and 116th Divisions, a total of 4 divisions were formed.Yokoyama deployed the third attack on Hengyang with an absolutely superior force. On August 3, the Japanese 11th Army opened a combat command post 4 kilometers north of Hengyang.On the same day, Yokoyama personally organized the chiefs of staff of the four divisions to conduct a full-day war game, and carefully arranged the combat coordination of various troops and arms. On the evening of August 3, Isamu Yokoyama came to the 133rd Regiment and announced to the officers and soldiers that in view of the heroic performance of the 133rd Regiment in the first two battles in the base camp, the captain of the 133rd Regiment, Kurose Heiichi, was promoted to Major General.Because there is no absence of the brigade commander and the need for the upcoming battle, Kurose still leads the troops as the regimental commander. At 6 o'clock on the 4th, Hengshan Yong led the senior officers of the divisions to pay homage to the eastern mainland.After the ceremony, he drew out his saber and swung it towards Hengyang City.