Chapter 41 7. Stick to Yuwang Mountain

Commander-in-Chief Sun issued an order to attack the Japanese army across the board, and the combat troops responded positively, but with little effect.It seems that it is not easy to win a big victory like Taierzhuang in Lunan. As Li Zongren said to Bai Chongxi, it is too late.The so-called too late means that there are no conditions. The Japanese troops around Xuzhou are all moving in this direction, and the ones who came quickly have already reached the southern part of Shandong and joined the Jigu Division. The Lunan Corps, together with the 60th Army, and Tang Enbo's 1st Division, set up a pocket position in an attempt to wipe out the Japanese army that invaded Taierzhuang in one fell swoop, but failed to achieve it in the battle of the general attack across the board.The Chinese army in the southern Shandong area does not have such a big appetite, and they cannot eat this enemy.The Japanese army that entered Lunan was not only the division of Rensuke Isoya, but also the 5th division of Seishiro Itagaki.During the battle, the Chinese army found that the death toll of the 16th and 14th divisions of the Japanese army and the Liu Guitang Department of the puppet army decreased, which proved that the reinforcements of the Japanese army had an effect.

In any case, the full-line counterattack commanded by Sun Lianzhong still played a role, at least it curbed the pace of the rampant Japanese attack and eased the menacing Japanese attack.In this large-scale counterattack across the board, Lu Han's troops of the 60th Army suffered the most losses, and some brigades were not enough for a battalion.The 60th Army did not become negative because of this, nor did it have the idea of ​​​​preserving its strength. When the Japanese army encountered the 60th Army, it was considered an opponent. They didn't know that this opponent was so tough, so resistant, and so stubborn.It turned out that the Japanese army planned to concentrate their forces, cross the canal to the south, occupy Linyi and Taierzhuang, and take Xuzhou directly.Unexpectedly, in the area north of Yuwang Mountain, they encountered this nemesis, and they blocked them under Yuwang Mountain in a stupid way of fighting hard.

On the second day after the Chinese army attacked across the board, the Japanese army also concentrated its superior forces and gave the Chinese army a tit-for-tat offensive, targeting the 60th Army's defense line.The 60th Army built fortifications around Yuwang Mountain, ready to fight to the death with the attacking Japanese army. Yuwang Mountain is the highest mountain on the north bank of the southeast canal in Taierzhuang. Its mountain top has a large area. Standing on the top of the mountain, you can overlook Taierzhuang, so its location is particularly important.The Japanese army wanted to cross the canal south and take Xuzhou directly. This is the only way they must pass.So for it, the Japanese army is bound to win.

The Japanese army first sent a brigade to make a tentative attack on Lijiaxu and the defending positions on the north slope of Yuwang Mountain with the support of artillery fire. Under continuous impact, some Japanese troops seized a small highland at the foot of the northwest mountain.Then the aircraft conducted reconnaissance, and the observation balloon was raised to direct the artillery to bombard the front of Yuwang Mountain.The Japanese artillery fire was powerful enough to flatten Yuwang Mountain. The dust raised by the artillery shells was like a cloud, and the sky became dark immediately. The Chinese guards left a small number of soldiers on the position to observe the enemy's movements, and the rest all went into bunkers to avoid the Japanese artillery fire.When the Japanese artillery fire extended in depth, they got out from under the cover and quickly entered the position.First shooting at the attacking Japanese army with machine guns and rifles, and then with grenades, the 60th Army used this method to repel several Japanese attacks.

The defense battle of Yuwang Mountain lasted for another two days. Tens of thousands of Japanese troops attacked the entire line of the 60th Army.The Japanese army set up light and heavy machine guns on the top of the mountain and directly attacked the defensive positions of the 60th Army.Lu Han's 60th Army, with the determination to survive and die in the same position, counterattacked in a desperate manner. The entire Yuwang Mountain was in a scuffle, and corpses were everywhere.Most of the Japanese troops who broke through were killed, and a remnant was repelled. The 60th Army pursued the victory and drove the attacking Japanese troops back.

The enemy occupying the top of Yuwang Mountain was tightly blocked by the firepower nets on both sides of the mountain top. The 3rd Battalion of the 186th Regiment charged hard, but failed to defeat the enemy on the top of the mountain.In order to regain the top of Yuwang Mountain, 286 members of the 3rd Infantry Company formed a death squad, charging one by one in turn.Two platoons fell down, and the third platoon went into battle and suffered the same result. There were more than 30 people left in the company. In order to avoid sacrifices, the regimental commander ordered not to charge forward, but only to control the top of the mountain in place.More than 30 soldiers from the 3rd company deployed more than 10 light machine guns in front of the enemy's position, forming a confrontation with the enemy.

Later, the mortars of the 186th regiment knocked out the enemy's position on the top of the mountain. After eight days and nights of fierce fighting, the heroic 60th Army lost 7 regiments and more than 14,000 officers and soldiers. Among them, more than 5,000 people died heroically, more than 9,000 were injured, and nearly 500 military officers were killed or injured. In order to resist Japan and save the country, and for the survival of the nation, the 60th Army wrote a magnificent page on the Anti-Japanese battlefield. After Chiang Kai-shek learned of the battle situation of the 60th Army, he specially sent Fu Feipeng, Minister of Logistics, to the Huangjialou Military Headquarters to condolences and boost the morale of the 60th Army.Sun Lianzhong also called to commend him. He said that your army fought hard with the enemy's mechanized troops with flesh and blood near Taierzhuang this time, and fought fiercely for 8 days and nights.Turn the crisis into peace, be loyal and courageous, and be a role model, but the rebels are still fighting the trapped beasts. I still hope to inspire the troops to continue to work hard, actively strengthen the fortifications, and complete the grand plan of gathering and annihilating. This is what I look forward to!

Xu Dinghua, who was the senior staff officer of the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Theater Command at the time, recalled: On the second day of the Yuwangshan competition, Chiang Kai-shek sent two urgent telegrams to express his encouragement. I live in a big house with Lu Han, Hu Ruoyu and the chief of staff, with shops.After the urgent telegram came, we circulated it to each other, and Lu Han was naturally very happy to be called a brother by the Supreme Commander.Then, Li Zongren also sent a telegram to Commander Lu Han. The 60th Army fought with the Japanese army to find out the rules of the Japanese army and summed up a set of methods to deal with the Japanese soldiers.In the positions around Yuwang Mountain, the fortifications were increasingly perfected and strengthened, and the officers and soldiers also had combat experience. The Japanese army's subsequent attacks could be said to have been defeated repeatedly, and they were all repelled by the 60th Army.Until the major retreat of the theater, the attacking Japanese army did not take a step from the 60th Army's position.

These are achieved by thousands of martyrs with their lives. After 25 days of fierce fighting in the southern Shandong area, Lu Han's 60th Army suffered huge losses. All divisions were reorganized. The 182nd and 183rd Divisions were each organized into one regiment, and the 184th Division was organized into three regiments. group.There were more than 20,000 people in the army. On May 17 of that year, they were ordered by the theater to transfer their positions to Wang Wenyan, the 41st Army of the Guizhou Army, and the 60th Army returned to the rear for supplementary rest.General Lu Han still had a fresh memory of this past event. He recalled:

On the evening of May 18, just after the reorganization of our army came to an end, Sun Lianzhong sent an order from Li Zongren, ordering our army to rush to Wangzhuang, about forty miles east of Xuzhou, to gather for orders.The troops were about to leave when Sun Lianzhong suddenly called again and assigned our army to guard Xuzhou and cover the retreat of the Lunan Corps.Then an order for notes was sent, with a map of one-fifth thousandth of the national defense fortification facilities near Xuzhou attached.At this time, the Japanese army's encirclement of Xuzhou was getting smaller and smaller, and the railway lines of Longhai, Jinpu, southeast, northwest, and four sides had been cut off, and enemy planes dropped bombs and bombed the urban area all day long. At this time, Li Zongren had also left Xuzhou.Before leaving, I ordered the 60th Army to guard Xuzhou, and allocated 220,000 yuan in small banknotes from the Xuzhou Central Bank to our army for three months of food expenses, and ordered me to conduct guerrilla warfare if I was not on time in Xuzhou .