Chapter 7 Chapter Five: Forty-Seven Days (Part 1)
Yang Guangrong——At that time, he was the commander of the fourth company of the Tank Defense Artillery Battalion of the 48th Division of the Fifth Army
Lu Qingyi——At that time, he was a radio operator of the Military Headquarters of the Tenth Army
Peng Zhongrong——the commander of the mortar company of the 29th Regiment of the 10th Division of the Tenth Army Reserve
Peng Zhongzhi——Second lieutenant staff officer of the 29th Regiment of the 10th Division of the 10th Army Reserve
Wu Rongkai——At that time, he was the secretary of the 169th Regiment of the 57th Division of the 74th Army
Qian Qingjie——At that time, he was the commander of the first company of the Mortar Battalion of the 57th Division of the 74th Army
Wu Song——At that time, he was an observer of the 3rd Division of the Tenth Army
Luo Lisan——At that time, he was the head nurse of the Tenth Army Field Hospital
Xiao Guang——He was the chief doctor of the Military Medical Department of the Tenth Army
In his later years, Fang Xianjue, the commander of the Chinese garrison in the defense of Hengyang, once said: "The biggest regret in my life is that I did not die in Hengyang that year!" Before he died, Fang Xianjue left his last words: "I am worthy of the country!"
The Battle of Hengyang was a battle for cities in China's eight-year war of resistance, which was hailed as comparable to the Battle of Stalingrad.However, as a native of Hunan, I never knew the existence of such a war before!
Yang Guangrong, my interview guest, a person who witnessed the Hengyang Defense Battle. In 1942, the Chinese Expeditionary Force went on an expedition to Burma.A few months later, most of the 100,000 expeditionary troops died in foreign countries.Yang Guangrong is one of the few people who crossed the Savage Mountain in Myanmar and returned home smoothly.
Two years later, in 1944, Yang Guangrong guarded Hengyang together with more than 17,000 Chinese soldiers.After this battle, only more than 2,000 defenders left Hengyang alive.Yang Guangrong was lucky to survive again.
After surviving from Hengyang, Yang Guangrong, who had just returned to Guilin, Guangxi, immediately joined the battle of Guangxi.After the Battle of Guangxi, Yang Guangrong participated in the second expedition of the Chinese army when he went to Yunnan with the troops.
On August 15, 1945, Yang Guangrong was very lucky to see the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.
In November 1949, Yang Guangrong, who was stationed in Sichuan, revolted with the troops.Soon after, Yang Guangrong, who had just joined the People's Liberation Army, followed the Chinese People's Volunteers to fight in North Korea.Hundreds of thousands of soldiers buried their bones in other lands, but Yang Guangrong once again survived.
Yang Guangrong, who fought on the battlefield back then, is now 91 years old.In Handan, Hebei, Yang Guangrong is one of the few living people over the age of 90. Most people will respectfully call him "Old Yang" when they see him.However, what is unknown is that since he participated in the uprising in November 1949, a month after the founding of New China, Mr. Yang can only hold a pension of around 1,000 yuan now.Fortunately, his body has been very strong, and he did not need too much medical expenses.
During the interview with Yang Guangrong, due to time constraints, many of Mr. Yang’s stories had not had time to be told in detail, so we had to end in a hurry.At this time, the old man was very upset. The old man said: "You have come to me to ask questions. I still have a lot to answer for you. You are leaving. What does this sound like? I was not in such a hurry when I was fighting. What are you in a hurry for?"
It is the first time for the old man to tell outsiders about the ups and downs of serving the country, going through life and death for more than ten years.What the old man wants is not to show off, not to praise, but just to confide!
Maybe we all know the eight-year war of resistance and many generals in the war of resistance.But most people don't know how the Chinese fought the war, and what that means to those who really participated in the war.Fang Xianjue said: "The biggest regret in my life is that I didn't die in Hengyang that year!" But does a hero have to die?
Why fight?The war of resistance is for the survival of the nation and for future generations to live better!Those who sacrificed their lives for the righteousness of the nation and are lucky enough to live to this day, should they live better in this country?
Personally, I think that although veterans like Yang Guangrong have not won the title of heroes, I believe that they can definitely say that sentence like Fang Xianjue: "I am worthy of the country!"
But is our country worthy of them? !
In June 1944, counting, Yang Guangrong, the commander of the Fourth Company of the Tank Defense Artillery Battalion of the 48th Division of the Fifth Army, had been idle in the army for more than a year.
"Now when I talk about war, I am afraid. When I was young, I was not afraid. I fought as I wanted. I fought as hard as I could. I killed myself. I was loyal to the country and served the battlefield. This young man deserved it. What?" said the octogenarian Yang Guangrong more than 60 years later.
In 1942, Yang Guangrong traveled with the 200th Division of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Army across the Wild Man Mountain in northern Myanmar, and was lucky to survive.For more than a year, he was eager to go to the battlefield to fight the Japanese again.
At this time, the task came - to defend Hengyang.
In mid-April 1944, the Japanese army launched "Operation No. 1" (called the Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi in China).Japanese scholar Yuan Gang explained:
The so-called No. 1 Operation (also known as the Operation of Opening the Continental Line of Communication) refers to the Japanese army's efforts to eliminate the danger of air strikes on the Japanese mainland during the period from mid-April 1944 to early February 1945 when the battle situation in the Pacific was gradually deteriorating. The U.S. Air Force Base in China, as well as the opening of the mainland communication line from Central China to French Indochina, and the Beijing-Han Line, the Guangdong-Han Line, and the Hunan-Gui Line that run through Central China to South China, implemented the largest in the history of the Japanese Army. large-scale combat.
In this battle, Japan invested about 80% of the 620,000 troops sent by China at that time, that is, 500,000 people (a total of 20 divisions) participated, with about 100,000 horses, about 15,000 cars, and about 1,500 artillery pieces. , the front is a large-scale battle that runs through about 1,500 kilometers from the Yellow River in Henan Province of China, through Hunan Province to the border of Guangdong and French Indochina.
On the night of April 17, 1944, the Japanese army crossed the Yellow River in Kaifeng and occupied Zhengzhou on the 19th; on May 1st, the Japanese army captured Xuchang, and on the 25th Luoyang fell.
In late May, the Japanese army launched the Battle of Hunan with 14 divisions.Xue Yue, Commander of the Ninth War Zone, commanded 4 armies (15 armies in total) and 2 other armies with a total of about 400,000 people. The existing positions on the south bank of the Xinqiang River in Hunan, the Yuanjiang River, and the Yiyang area fought steadily, attrition, and delayed the Japanese army; the main forces were distributed in key areas such as Liuyang, Changsha, Hengyang, and Ningxiang, and wiped out the enemy at will.
On June 2, the Military Commission sent a telegram to the Ninth War Zone: "Officer Xue transferred to the commanders-in-chief, army commanders, and division commanders, and they worked together to strive for the final victory. It also stipulated that those who were ordered to stand firm must not retreat without authorization, and those who violated the rule of law ... order to stick to the three important places of Changsha (Yuelu Mountain), Liuyang and Hengyang."
On June 14, the Japanese army occupied Liuyang; on the 16th, the Japanese army launched a general attack on Yuelu Mountain and Changsha City, and at 15:00 on the 18th, Changsha fell.Subsequently, the East, West, and Central Japanese troops surrounded Hengyang from three sides.
Hengyang is located in the middle reaches of the Xiangjiang River. The eastern end of the city is close to the west bank of the Xiangshui River. It is the intersection point of the Guangdong-Han Railway and the Hunan-Guangxi Railway. It is one of the important strategic bases of the Ninth Theater.The unit defending Hengyang is the Tenth Army, which has the Third Division, the 190th Division, and the Reserve Tenth Division under its jurisdiction. In addition, it is also equipped with the temporary 54th Division (less than 2 regiments) and the 48th Division. Anti-war artillery battalion, a mountain artillery company of the 46th Army and a field artillery battalion of the 74th Army.The defensive deployment is: the third division defends the northwest of Hengyang, the tenth reserve division defends the western suburbs of Hengyang, the 190th division defends the southern suburbs of Hengyang, and the fifty-fourth division temporarily defends the northern suburbs of Hengyang.
Yang Guangrong was originally transferred to guard Changsha. "There is no gun like ours in the Ninth War Zone. Changsha and Hengyang are not close to the Xiangjiang River. Warships and tanks can pass by, so they send a telegram to the headquarters to apply for this gun. After checking, the troops stationed in Yunnan have it. Let's transfer to Changsha."
On June 19, after seven days of driving, when he finally arrived at the outskirts of Changsha, Yang Guangrong couldn't help scolding people—Changsha had fallen into the enemy's hands.
Yang Guangrong recalled: "I went to report to the headquarters of the Ninth War Zone, and they said: 'You report to the Tenth Army, and the Tenth Army is guarding Hengyang.' I hurried to Hengyang."
In Hengyang City, more than two weeks ago, Lu Qingyi, a radio operator of the Tenth Army Military Headquarters, had already started transporting equipment such as radios to the basement of the Central Bank.
Lu Qingyi recalled: "The basement is all protected by steel plates, and neither bombs nor shells hinder it. The military headquarters is not far from our radio station, and the military headquarters are all in the basement."
During the break, Lu Qingyi boarded the roof platform of the central bank, and he saw that 300,000 residents were relocating nervously.
In order to prepare for the war, the military decided to "Hengyang Empty City".Ge Xiancai, who was preparing the commander of the Tenth Division at the time, said in his memoirs: "The people inside and outside the city are required to retreat and no one is left behind, so as not to hurt innocent people." He wrote about the scene when the people fled:
There are huge crowds of people at the east and west stations, supporting the old and the young, carrying hands on their shoulders, adults shouting, children crying, a chaotic and miserable scene.There are also those who have many children and carry heavy things, who cannot squeeze into the train, and sit by the rails, sleep and eat outdoors, waiting for the next empty train to arrive.On the track of the station, there are often seven or eight trains full of people waiting to leave.
Not only are the compartments full of people, but the roof is also full of people.Looking at it from a distance, it looks like dead earthworms crawling with wriggling ants, which is horrible.The trains went out and in for three days and nights. Fortunately, the evacuation was completed three days before the enemy attacked, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
At night, among the fleeing crowd in Zhajiang Town, Hengyang, a pair of parents took a 6-year-old girl and fled to the mountains.This girl was Qiong Yao who later became a writer. 45 years later, in the autobiographical novel "My Story", Qiong Yao recalled: "The road was full of thorns and weeds. At dawn, people found that their homes had been burned to the ground."
Lu Qingyi said: "The insistence on asking the people to leave is because one is afraid of hurting them, and the other is because they are afraid that traitors will mix among the people to make troubles."
Among the crowd leaving the city, there was a young man named Peng Zhongzhi who was in a hurry to enter the city.
Peng Zhongzhi recalled: "Why did I go to Hengyang at that time? The school was closed. My brother Peng Zhongrong was the commander of the mortar company of the 29th Regiment of the Tenth Division. He was stationed in Hengyang. I went to see him. I don't know. There's going to be a war."
Peng Zhongzhi, who admired his elder brother since he was a child, did not expect to stay in the army after this trip.Peng Zhongrong admitted: "He went to the army under my influence."
Peng Zhongzhi said: "When I arrived in the army, I said to my brother: 'Is it okay for me to stay and do things?' He told the head of the regiment: 'My younger brother is doing propaganda work in the student union. He can draw and write.' The head of the regiment let me Help them write slogans, such as the resistance against Japan must be victorious, and return my country."
The recruit, who was cheerfully writing slogans all day long, couldn't imagine what kind of bloody battle this city would experience.
Yang Guangrong, who arrived in Hengyang, was deeply impressed by the city: "Hengyang was quite lively back then. There were two bus stations and an airport, which could take off six planes at the same time."
After the outbreak of the war, factories in Shanghai, Hankou and other places moved to Hengyang, coupled with the already well-developed industry and commerce, Hengyang in 1944 was called "Little Shanghai".Jiang Hongxi, the deputy commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 30th Regiment of the 10th Division, wrote in his memoirs about Hengyang before the war: "What a prosperous market! It is full of traffic and everything is available. I can't find any suitable words to describe this. The lively scene can only be included in two sentences: 'dizzying, thrilling'."
Long before the "Operation No. 1", Mao Zedong believed that Hengyang was far more important than Changsha from a strategic point of view.However, the Tenth Army stationed in this important town is facing the dilemma of insufficient troops.
In November 1943, more than 8,000 people from the 57th Division of the 74th Army, known as the "Hubei Army", were surrounded by more than 30,000 Japanese troops in Changde City. After 16 days and nights of bloody battles, only 300 people remained. Yu Chengwan sent the last telegram:
The bombs are exhausted, the aid is exhausted, there are no people, and the city is broken.The deputy division commanders, commanders, division attaches, directors of the political department, and directors of the staff department will stick to the central bank. The heads of each regiment will divide the area and guard a room for the last resistance, vowing to die, and wishing victory.
Qian Qingjie, who was the company commander of the Mortar Battalion of the 57th Division of the 74th Army at the time, recalled: "Changde City was actually destroyed at that time, and the peripheral friendly forces could not arrive. Our mortar battalion commander Sacrifice, the company commanders of the second company and the third company were all sacrificed, and I was the only one who survived. Forget it, let’s gather together to break through, at that time we knew that Changde was over.”
After Changde fell, Yu Chengwan led 104 people to break through.
Wu Rongkai, who was the clerk of the 169th Regiment of the 57th Division of the 74th Army at the time, recalled: "After breaking through the siege, the division commander called the director of the staff department, the commander, and the four regiment leaders to a meeting to discuss how to deal with the situation at that time."
At this time, the tenth army of the reinforcements marched more than a hundred miles, and fought fiercely with the Japanese army in Deshan, south of Changde, causing heavy casualties.Wu Song, who was an observer of the Third Division of the Tenth Army at the time, recalled: "More than 1,400 people died."
Fang Xianjue, commander of the Tenth Army, received a plaque from Chiang Kai-shek for this battle, with the inscription "Loyalty represents the world".However, facing the heavy sacrifice, Fang Xianjue couldn't be happy.
Fang Lue, the son of Fang Xianjue, said: "When Sun Mingjin, the commander of the 10th Preparatory Division, was killed in battle, my father sent someone to find his body. After finding it, it was transported from Changde to the big temple in Hengshan. I saw my father crying. "
Fang Xianjue swore in front of Sun Mingjin's coffin: "Kill all the Japanese invaders and avenge the dead soldiers and civilians."
Half a year after the end of the Changde Defense War in Hengyang, Fang Xianjue can fulfill his oath.
On June 20, 1944, US Vice President Wallace visited China.On the eve of the Hengyang war, Chiang Kai-shek couldn't sleep at night and got up at 1 am to pray.He knew that after the Battle of Changde, the losses of the Tenth Army had not yet been fully replenished. Among the nine regiments of the three divisions under its jurisdiction, only one regiment of the 190th Division was relatively complete, and the other two regiments had only cadres and no soldiers. There is a regiment that is still near Mount Heng, and the actual defense force is only more than 17,000 people.The 68th Division, the 116th Division and the attached artillery regiment of the Japanese army that attacked the city had a total of 55,000 people.With such a disparity in strength, the Tenth Army is worrying.The Nationalist Government’s Military Order reported: “Hengyang is already under severe threat from the Japanese army, and the Tenth Army’s strength is inferior. If the Japanese army attacks, it will have the same result as Changsha, and can only defend for 3 days.”
However, Fang Xianjue was not so pessimistic - the Tenth Army was awarded the honorary title of "Taishan Army" by the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government.Fang Lue said: "In the third battle of Changsha, the Tenth Army stood firm, as stable as Mount Tai, and became the 'Mount Tai Army'."
Fang Xianjue clings to his determination.The original fortifications of Hengyang City Defense were designed for 4 armies, and the defense line was therefore shrunk.The east and north of Hengyang City are surrounded by water, and there are many ponds in the west of the city, which is not conducive to the advancement of Japanese chariots. Fang Xianjue concentrated his heavy troops in the hilly areas in the south and southwest of the city, and built strong defensive trenches.Each hilly stronghold has a crossfire network, which can support each other at any time.
Peng Zhongrong recalled: "The fortifications in Hengyang consist of pits in the front, machine gun positions in the back, and rifle positions in the back. The fortifications are quite good." Peng Zhongzhi also said, "The fortifications are indeed well repaired, just like tunnel warfare. There, there are steel rails, sandbags and other things on the top, and there are big holes on the bottom."
Yang Guangrong remembered that the bottom of the hills had been cut into cliffs at least four or five meters high. "It's cut like a wall, straight up and down, and the enemy can't climb up."
There are hidden grenade drop points on the cliff. "In that case, throwing a grenade is much better than a rifle," Peng Zhongzhi said.
The open ground is covered with deer villages made of towering trees, covered by cross-fire nets.Yang Guangrong said: "There, you have no place to retreat. You can only fight against the enemy. At that time, you were determined to die."
On the night of June 21, Chiang Kai-shek called Fang Xianjue.Chiang Kai-shek said: "This battle is related to the overall situation of our war of resistance. I hope that all the officers and soldiers of your Tenth Army will work hard and encourage themselves in the face of this national crisis. Each of you will shoulder the heavy responsibility and live up to my expectations for the Tenth Army. I hope that your Tenth Army can stick to Hengyang for two weeks, but the longer the period of defense, the better, try to consume the enemy as much as possible."
Fang Xianjue replied: "Our army did not hesitate to sacrifice anything, and fought to the point of exhaustion. I can comfort the chairman. According to recent observations, none of the officers and soldiers in the army is afraid of the enemy. Everyone is smiling and working hard to build fortifications and prepare for war. , The fighting spirit is extremely high, and I didn't take the upcoming fierce battle into my heart, and now I am preparing my troops to fight the enemy to the death."
Chiang Kai-shek said three "very good" in a row on the phone, and said: "You take care of yourself, I wish you a successful battle."
On June 28, the sixth day of the Hengyang Defense War.
Six days ago, on June 22, Japanese aircraft bombed Hengyang City for the first time, and the urban areas on both sides of the Xiangjiang River caught fire.At 8 o'clock that night, the 68th Division of the Japanese Army arrived at Quanxi in the eastern suburb of Hengyang, and the security forces of the 190th Division stationed on the east bank of Leishui exchanged fire with the Japanese army, and the defense of Hengyang began.
On June 23, the 68th Division of the Japanese Army tried to forcefully cross the Leishui River, but was repelled by the defenders.
On June 25, the Japanese army attacked the airport on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River in the east of Hengyang City.
On June 26, the Japanese army captured the airport and detoured to the south of Hengyang, cutting off the retreat of the Hengyang defenders, forming a siege of Hengyang from the west and southwest of Hengyang.
On June 27, the Japanese army crossing the Xiangjiang River stormed the outer positions.
At dawn on June 28, the Japanese army launched its first general attack on Hengyang and bombarded the Chinese army positions violently.
Yang Guangrong hid in a temporary air-raid shelter and waited for the bombing to end when a bomb fell. "It didn't blow up the air-raid shelter, it blew up to the wall, knocked down the wall, and fell on top of the air-raid shelter."
The collapsed wall sealed the hole, and the only way out was a small deformed window. "If I can't get out, I have to get out. My whole body is bleeding, so I get out."
Fang Xianjue inspected the first-line positions and was almost hit by shells.
Fang Lue said: "When the Japanese saw such a group of people, they knew that there must be a high-ranking general, so they fired the shells over. When everyone saw the first shot, they scattered in all directions and lay on the ground. My father But he stayed there. According to my guess, at that time, on the one hand, he was petrified, which is natural, and on the other hand, he thought, he can’t get down on the ground, or the demeanor of the coach will be lost. His adjutant Wang Zehong After lying down, I saw that the commander was still standing there, so I ran over and pulled him down the slope. The shell fell about two or three meters away from where my father was standing."
According to experience, the Japanese army is expected to capture Hengyang in 3 days, and the firepower is extremely fierce.
Peng Zhongzhi recalled: "There was a temple. When I went there later, I saw that the walls were ruined, everything was broken, and only a lotus platform was still good."
The fortifications previously constructed by the Tenth Army played a huge role.Lu Qingyi saw it on the roof of the Central Bank: "The scene of the Japanese charging was very scary, but as soon as they approached the bunkers and barbed wire fences on the position, our machine guns and grenades would shoot out, and they would be killed in a row. One or two hundred."
Regarding the cliff fortifications of the Chinese army, "The Final Battle of the Imperial Japanese Army (Part of the Battle of Hengyang)" has this description: "It is difficult for our army to approach, and it is impossible to climb. What I saw for the first time can also be called the crystallization of the wisdom and hard work of the Chinese military."
The Japanese called these fortifications "Fang Xianjue trench".
In front of the "Fang Xianjue trench", under the mortar attack of the Chinese army, the commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Sakuma, the Chief of Staff of the Division, Colonel Harada Tesaburo, and the commanders of the regiments all Seriously wounded, wounded and sent away.
In front of the "Fang Xianjue trench", thousands of Japanese corpses were placed in a haphazard manner.
On this day, the south of the city was the frontal battlefield, and the fighting was the most intense.The two sides repeatedly competed for the Zhangjiashan highlands, and the final position was still under the control of the Chinese army.All the defenders at the Tingbingshan and Gaoling strongholds died, and none survived.
The Japanese army, which lost its first general attack, did not expect that the opponent's defense and fighting spirit were so strong.In the past, one division of the Japanese army had always attacked the four armies of the Chinese army. It had never been like this time that two divisions besieged a Chinese army without being able to attack.
June 30, Day 8.Before dawn, Yang Guangrong could already distinguish the sound of Japanese aircraft in the air-raid shelter.A bomb falls. "This is a sulfur bomb. My hat and shirt were blown off, and my body was injured. After the plane left, people said, why did your hair burn? I felt my body was on fire, and I rolled on the ground, rolled After finishing, take soil and rub it on the head like washing hair, and the fire will be extinguished."
The incendiary bomb caused a fire in Hengyang City.
Yang Guangrong recalled: "There are many houses in the south with wooden structures. When the incendiary bomb fell into the city, the whole thing was burned, even the city wall. It seemed that it burned for several days and nights. No house in Hengyang was complete."
In the thick smoke, Peng Zhongzhi smelled a strange smell. "It smells like chili pepper. When I smell it, I sneeze and feel suffocated. I can't breathe. It's very uncomfortable." The veteran motioned him to quickly cover his mouth with a towel, saying that it was a poison gas bomb, which was used in the Changde battle.
Yang Guangrong said: "I didn't know at the time. Why did it smell so bad? Then I sneezed and cried. Others said it was poisonous gas. I quickly covered my mouth and face with a handkerchief."
Lu Qingyi recalled: "They released poisonous gas. At that time, there were very few anti-virus tools, just covering their noses with wet handkerchiefs. Many of our Chinese soldiers were injured by poisonous gas."
In the evening of this day, at the southern end of Wuguiling, more than 80 people from the 3rd Battalion and 7th Company of the 28th Regiment of the 10th Preparatory Division were all poisoned and killed, except for the special agent chief and 4 cooks who were not in the position.
Later, according to the U.S. Army's Fourteenth Air Force chemical warfare intelligence officer, the gas bombs were a mixture of mustard gas and Lewisite.This is a violation of international conventions, but obviously, these regulations no longer apply to the Japanese.
The poison gas warfare was indeed effective. The Japanese army took the opportunity to capture many front-line positions, but soon, the Chinese defenders counterattacked and regained some positions.
Peng Zhongzhi sighed: "There are many veterans in the Tenth Army, and they all feel that nothing will happen, and they have the mentality of victory. The Tenth Army carries the title of 'Taishan Army', and it really has this spirit."
By July 2, the casualties of the Japanese siege troops had exceeded 16,000, and they had only advanced 1,000 meters.That night, Isamu Yokoyama, the commander of the Japanese 11th Army, had to order the suspension of the siege.The Japanese side admitted that this is the first setback in the grand "Operation No. 1" plan.
The corpses of the Japanese soldiers piled up into mountains, and the scorched smell from the burning of the corpses enveloped the position and lingered for a long time.
July 8, day 16.The siege Japanese army was still resting and replenishing, and did not launch an attack.
At this time, the Chinese army began to face the problem of supplies - after the fire in Hengyang, the hoarded materials were burned.
Lu Qingyi recalled: "When the shells exploded and burned, the rice was burnt into rice paste. There was no food, so we could only eat burnt rice, which was soaked in salt water. If it weren't for the people of Hengyang to store a lot of food, we would not have If you are beaten to death, you will also starve to death."
Yang Guangrong recalled: "When they bombed like that, there was nowhere to put the wounded soldiers. They had to pile up broken bricks and tiles to put the wounded soldiers. There was no medicine and food, and there was no way to replenish the ammunition."
Without food, the soldiers went to the streets to find a way.
Yang Guangrong said: "In that soy sauce store, there were dozens of big vats of pickled vegetables. The Japanese dropped bombs, and if there were still unexploded pickles in those vats, we fished out these pickles and soaked them in soy sauce. Soak it for two or three days, rinse it with water, and cook it to eat."
At noon that day, planes of the Chinese and American Air Forces dropped items to the Hengyang defenders for the first time. Unfortunately, most of them were daily necessities such as towels, soap, toothpaste, and panacea, while the most urgently needed food, medicine, and ammunition were not much.
Yang Guangrong said: "The airdrop is a drop in the bucket, but it won't help. With so many guards, how can we supply them? There is no hospital, where can the wounded be sent? So we can only defend ourselves, hoping that the troops from outside will come to rescue us."
Among the airdrops, Yang Guangrong and his comrades saw some Chongqing newspapers, which had reports on the Hengyang defense battle and praised the Hengyang defenders, but there was no news about the reinforcements that everyone was most concerned about.
July 15, day 23.Peng Zhongzhi didn't need to write slogans anymore. He was already working in the military governor's battalion, and now he was most worried about his brother Peng Zhongrong.
On the morning of July 11, the Japanese army launched its second general offensive, pouring a large number of bombs, incendiary bombs and poison gas bombs into Hengyang City.However, although the Japanese army paid a huge price, they were still unable to break through the core positions of the Chinese defenders.
Peng Zhongrong's mortar company has run out of shells. "Two or three thousand rounds of artillery shells have been fired." Peng Zhongrong said, they were added to the infantry positions.
Peng Zhongzhi recalled: "In addition to the artillery, the cooking soldiers and police soldiers were also converted into infantry, and they went up with grenades."
The infantry position is more dangerous than the artillery position, and the brothers know it well.
At dusk that day, the Japanese planes and artillery went up together, and another attack began.
Peng Zhongrong recalled: "The enemy's mountain guns fired row after row, and the planes came so many that we couldn't lift our heads and dared not return the bullets. Many soldiers were killed and injured."
Amidst the bombing, Peng Zhongrong, who was hiding in the trench, vaguely heard someone calling him. "There was a veteran of mine, a soldier from the mortar company, named Yang Zhicheng, from Jiangsu. The Japanese shot him, his stomach was pierced, and his intestines came out. He called the company commander for help, come and help him!"
Peng Zhongrong was very sad because he couldn't do anything. "The enemy's planes bombed and machine guns fired. How can we save them? I remember this soldier very clearly. These soldiers are very brave."
Relying on the advantage of firepower, the enemy rushed up again.Peng Zhongrong shouted: "Brothers, kill! Kill!" The remaining brothers were ready for hand-to-hand combat, when suddenly, a bullet hit Peng Zhongrong.
Peng Zhongrong recalled: "I rushed to the front, and was shot when the enemy strafed." He fell heavily on the ground, blood oozing from his back.He didn't cry out, he saw dead bodies beside him, and his soldiers were charging the enemy.He later passed out.
The position was saved, but Peng Zhongzhi did not see his brother in the crowd who had retired to rest.Not daring to think too much, he rushed to the battlefield. "The battlefield was full of corpses. It was horrible. The weather was hot and it stinks. All I could do was cry."
While crying, Peng Zhongzhi searched for his brother among the dead.I came to Hengyang because of my brother; I became a soldier because of my brother; when I returned home, I couldn’t live without my brother.
Peng Zhongzhi finally found Peng Zhongrong who didn't know whether he was dead or alive.The elder brother he saw "a bullet went in from the chest and came out from the back, a hole the size of an egg."
My brother seemed to be out of breath.Peng Zhongzhi hugged him, and walked backwards with one foot deep and one foot shallow.
Peng Zhongrong sighed: "My brother carried me down. Without my brother, I would not be alive. Many people died in front of me. Who else will carry me?"
In the field hospital, Peng Zhongzhi heard his brother's weak breathing, and he smiled. "There is a small hole in my brother's head, and it only took six or seven days to heal. It's healed, but the hole in the back, the military doctor stuffed it in with yellow gauze, took it out, and there was a lot of blood, and my brother rolled on the ground in pain. It was a near miss."
After the operation, Peng Zhongrong was out of danger.However, the first news after waking up made him cry bitterly. "Both of my platoon leaders died. My company had 118 people, and only 13 were left. It's not the worst. Some companies only have seven or eight people left." Peng Zhongrong said.
The situation in the field hospital is already very bad: there is a shortage of doctors and medicines, many operations can no longer be performed, and cotton and gauze are almost used up.Luo Lisan, who was the chief nurse at the Tenth Army Field Hospital at the time, was deeply impressed by a wounded soldier surnamed Sheng: "His belly was cut open by shrapnel about two inches wide, exposing a little intestine, and he died of pain in four or five days." A company commander suffered a gunshot wound on his waist, and the bullet could not be removed, and he died of pain.Coupled with the hot weather, maggots grew in the wounds, and many people committed suicide after serious injuries.
For Xiao Guang, who was the chief doctor of the Military Medical Department of the Tenth Army at the time, what he heard and saw every day tested his psychological endurance. "This time, I will cry when I talk about the war. It was a terrible fight. There are a lot of wounded soldiers. Come and go."
At this time, the casualties of the Tenth Division in the first-line position had exceeded 70%.The Japanese army was also miserable. "The Final Battle of the Imperial Japanese Army (Part of the Hengyang Campaign)" records: "After our army launched a general offensive again, it still made no progress except for capturing a very small number of positions as last time. But it was even more serious. The original company commanders of the two divisions were running low, and most of the infantry companies had been replaced by non-commissioned officers acting as company commanders, barely supporting the tragic situation of the battle. In the second general attack, there was another company leader. Six of them were killed one after another, and the team leader, but the future of the attack was still not optimistic, so the attack stopped again."
On July 19, the Japanese army stopped attacking again.
After a long fight, it suddenly quieted down. It was a terrible quietness.
Before the war, Hengyang's "Anti-Enemy Support Association" mobilized the masses to destroy roads, destroy bridges, and cut off the Japanese army's offensive route.The Japanese army once sent planes for reconnaissance, and the intelligence they got said: "The railway from Zhuzhou to Hengyang and the railway from Baoqing to Hengyang have been destroyed by the residents of Hengyang, and the transportation equipment has nothing." These tasks were all voluntary and completed by the masses.At the same time, the "Anti-Enemy Support Association", the city government, and trade unions also organized 3,000 workers, requisitioned more than 1.2 million pieces of wood from 120 wood manufacturers in the urban area, and cooperated with the Tenth Army to use the rivers, hills, city walls, and houses around Hengyang. Solid fortifications were built, trenches and foxholes were dug in the streets of the city, bunkers, machine gun bunkers, barbed wire, etc. were built to form a solid defense system.
Excerpt: Wet towel antivirus
Our army's anti-virus equipment is extremely poor, and the existing gas masks are not enough for officers to distribute.The emergency measure in such a situation is to immediately inform the troops that the enemy uses poisonous gas, and those without gas masks should overlap the towels as soon as possible, soak them in water and tie them on their faces. Wouldn't they become blind?In a fierce battle, how can various weapons stop for a while or shoot blindly?Cut two small holes in the eye area of the wet towel so as not to obstruct the line of sight, and strictly ordered all combat troops to place it calmly.Then report to the army commander, the general will collect all the gas masks directly under the troops, and send them to the field for use, and only issue them to gunners and light machine gun shooters first.During the day and night fierce battles of the 67th and 2nd, the enemy fired more than a thousand poison gas shells, and we immediately dealt with them appropriately, causing very little harm.It can be seen that the two divisions of the enemy have tried their best, but they have failed, and they have not shaken our fighting spirit or the morale of our army in the slightest.
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