Chapter 11 Chapter 3 Battle of the Clouds
Yin Longju——At that time, he was the chief of staff of the Colonel of the 198th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Army
Fan Fa'an - a soldier of the 198th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Army
Zhang Tiliu—a soldier of the Second Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Lu Caiwen——At that time, he was the staff officer of the General Command of the Eleventh Group Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Li Huasheng——a soldier preparing for the Second Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Du Kaiyue——Soldiers for the Second Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Cun Shizhong - when preparing soldiers for the Second Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Li Huiying——a soldier of the second division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Xie Dafan——Soldiers for the Second Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
He Shaocong——At that time, he was a soldier of the 53rd Army Transport Regiment of the 20th Group Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Chen Baowen——At that time, he was the combat staff officer of the Eleventh Group Army Command of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Yang Hongen——At that time, he was the major director of the first branch of the logistics directorate of the 20th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Army
Lu Chaomao——Soldiers for the Second Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Xiong Shichao——Shi was the signal soldier of the search company of the new thirty-ninth division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Takao Yoshino——At that time, he was a medical soldier of the 148th Regiment of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army
Without this editorial note, no one may ever know that this is a story that was almost abandoned.The reason for the abandonment is simple, because there is no specific character story.The memories of several veterans were all fragmented and nearly chaotic, and none of them could fully describe their experiences on Gaoligong Mountain.In addition, this so-called "land battle at the highest altitude during World War II", the materials and information left over are also like the clouds and mist on Gaoligong Mountain, ethereal and invisible.
In the end, the episode was not discarded.Because when I really walked through the clouds and approached this cloud battle, the details and stories I discovered made me firmly believe that this history should not be abandoned by anyone.
Everything started with a seemingly brilliant military plan.According to legend, the path that Zhuge Liang took when he captured Meng Huo for the seventh time became the starting point for the Chinese Expeditionary Force's counterattack in western Yunnan in 1944.The shortcut that Mr. Wolong took when he "crossed Lu in May and went deep into the barren" became the key for the expeditionary army to open the door to victory a thousand years later-what a wonderful plan, so beautiful that it is almost legendary.Unfortunately, this legend did not come true in the end.The legendary road to victory has become a slaughter field under the fire of Japanese machine guns.
When editing this episode, there are two questions that have always puzzled me:
Why did the leadership of the expeditionary force not equip their troops with winter clothes in the face of Gaoligong Mountain, which is nearly 4,000 meters above sea level?Not even a decent pair of shoes.Could it be that they who were in the plains really didn't expect that it was snowing on Gaoligong Mountain?
Why did a plane carrying an important staff officer and top-secret documents of the Expeditionary Force disappear before the war, but no one from the Chongqing Nationalist Government to the Frontline Command of the Expeditionary Force noticed this matter, and there was not even a single bit of relevant records? ?
Until the film was completed, I still could not find the answers to these two questions.Perhaps there are no answers to these questions in the first place, and even if they were, they are already irrelevant to the overall situation.What we can know and be sure of is: it is precisely because of the lack of warm clothes that hundreds of soldiers of the expeditionary force were frozen to death in the cold Gaoligong Mountains; The battle turned into a bloody and brutal war of attrition, and nearly ten thousand Chinese soldiers spilled blood on Gaoligong Mountain.Is there any ending that can be more tragic than this kind of consequence?
At the end of the film, the memories of the old man Yin Longju revealed to us a terrifying incident: the Japanese soldiers trapped in Gaoligong Mountain, after eating up all the dry food, began to feed on the corpses in front of the position.In fact, what really complicated my mood was what happened after that—after obtaining the definite evidence of Japanese cannibalism, the US military adviser immediately proposed to make this matter public, so as to show the cruelty and brutality of the Japanese army.However, due to certain considerations, the national government did not do so, but ordered to keep the whole incident strictly confidential.According to the speculation of the US military adviser, the national government may be worried that once the matter is announced, its own soldiers will follow suit.Because in the Chinese army at that time, the supply of military rations was always a big problem, and it was almost normal for Chinese soldiers to fight hungry!
After thinking about it, I still didn't make it into the film.Because as a Chinese, I really don't want to believe the speculation of the US military adviser.But I really can't find a more reasonable explanation than this, so I can only relay the matter here. It's up to every Chinese to think about what is right and what is wrong.
On the evening of May 11, 1944, officers and soldiers of the 198th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were nervously waiting for the order to cross the river at Lichaiba Ferry, Lushui County, Yunnan Province.A few feet away, the Nu River, which is in flood season, roared ear-piercingly amidst the confused mist.
"There are wooden boats and rubber boats for crossing the river. Those boats are usually hidden and only taken out when crossing the river." Yin Longju recalled.
Yin Longju is a native of Dali, Yunnan, and a student of the twelfth batch of the Whampoa Military Academy. In 1944, he participated in the counteroffensive campaign in western Yunnan and northern Myanmar as the chief of staff of the 198th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Army.That year, he was 28 years old.
"At that time, Chiang Kai-shek called our division directly, without going through the group army. I answered the call. He said that after the beginning of crossing the river, if one officer and one soldier retreated across the river, it would be done by military law." Yin Longju said that at that time he sent the military police All the teams were arranged on the bank of the river, and anyone who withdrew would be shot. "The army made a decision at that time: it can only move forward and not retreat."
Just as Hu Shi said when he took office as the Chinese ambassador to the United States in 1938, "I have become a pawn crossing the river, so I can only move forward desperately." This is a real last stand.
The Nu River that officers and soldiers will cross originates from the Tanggula Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with a total length of 3,240 kilometers, of which the section in Yunnan is about 650 kilometers. After it flows into Myanmar, it is called the Salween River, and finally flows into the Indian Ocean.
In August 1942, after the failure of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to enter Burma for the first time, the river, named for its rapid and roaring water, has since become the boundary river between the East and West confrontation between the Chinese and Japanese armies.
In December 1943, when the Chinese troops stationed in India had launched an offensive in northern Myanmar, the Nationalist Government's military headquarters drew up a combat plan for the Chinese Expeditionary Force to counterattack Burma.
In March 1944, the Allied Forces strongly urged the Chinese Expeditionary Force to respond to the Indian Army's offensive in northern Myanmar and launch a counter-offensive operation in western Yunnan.The Chinese authorities decided to cooperate with the troops stationed in India to start the planned battle in western Yunnan, western Myanmar and northern Myanmar.
On April 17, the Chinese Expeditionary Force began to implement the cross-river attack plan.The plan determines the operational policy of the expeditionary force as follows:
(1) Use the 20th Group Army as the attacking army to cross the river and attack Tengchong; the group army followed up with the first-line corps and the second-line corps.
(2) Use the Eleventh Army as the defensive force to defend the left (east) bank of the Nujiang River; in addition, the Army sends 4 reinforced regiments to cross the river to attack and support the 20th Army.
On the same day, the United States and China, as allies, signed the "Agreement on the Sino-US Nujiang Campaign."
The commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was Wei Lihuang, who had jurisdiction over the Eleventh Army, the Twentieth Army, and 16 divisions directly under the army. Due to the serious shortage of personnel in each army, the actual total strength of the counterattack was only about 72,000.
On April 20, the Military Order Department issued a combat guidance plan, determining the combat policy "with the aim of supporting the troops stationed in India in attacking Myitkyina and opening up the China-India Highway."
On April 25, Chiang Kai-shek sent four "warrants" to Commander Wei Lihuang, Commander-in-Chief Huo Kuizhang (Lieutenant General) of the 20th Army, Deputy Commander Fang Tian (Lieutenant General), and Commander-in-Chief Song Xilian of the Eleventh Army. , unanimously emphasized that the significance of the attack across the river "is not only related to the honor and disgrace of our army, but also determines the overall success or failure of our country's war of resistance", requiring that it must win the first battle.
On May 9, the Expeditionary Army ordered that the reinforcement regiments of the attacking army and the defending army cross the river to attack on May 11. The start time may be dawn, daytime, or night, depending on the situation at hand.
On the east bank of the Nujiang River, the Chinese soldiers made an oath: cross the river and kill the devils.
After the 56th Division of the Japanese Army defending western Yunnan entered the west bank of the Nu River in May 1942, it operated defense facilities in this area for another two years. Tunnel-style firepower with strong resistance, good concealment, and wide shooting range.
In mid-May, just before the rainy season comes.
As soon as the rainy season enters, the Nu River widens immediately, and floods from the Himalayas merge into raging waves, filling the Grand Canyon with turbid water, whirling and whirling down.Therefore, it is indeed difficult to start a big battle at this time, and the Nu River is a major obstacle.The Nu River flows through a plateau with an average altitude of 3,000 meters and cuts through a deep valley. Although the river is not very wide (about 80 meters in the dry season and 300-400 meters in the rainy season), the water is deep and rapid, and the water temperature is extremely low.
Two years ago, the Chinese Expeditionary Force suffered a setback in its first entry into Myanmar. When retreating across the Nu River, it took the initiative to destroy two original bridges (Huitong Bridge and Huiren Bridge) on the river. There have been no bridges on the Nu River for two years.
"There is a big canyon there. We first went down to the edge of the Nu River. At night, we crossed the river." Yin Longju said.
At 6:00 p.m. on May 11, the 198th Division of the 54th Army of the 20th Group Army, the vanguard of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, received an order to cross the river. The officers and soldiers boarded rubber boats and headed towards the west bank of the Nujiang River under the twilight.Almost at the same time, the Second Reserve Division of the Sixth Army of the Eleventh Army, now attached to the Fifty-fourth Army, also began to cross the river.
Zhang Tiliu, who was preparing for the second division at that time, recalled: "We didn't have boats at that time, we only used bamboo rafts, and we only crossed 10 people at a time. If there were too many, we didn't dare to cross. Later, we simply used one bamboo raft to cross one class."
Compared with those first-line troops crossing the river in rubber boats, the origin of the troops of the Reserve Second Division is a bit special.
Veteran Lu Caiwen recalled: "On May 10, 1942, the Japanese entered Tengchong City without firing a single shot. I joined the army in June of that year and entered the Second Reserve Division. I feel that this army is large and organized. "
At the beginning of 1938, the Second Division of the National Revolutionary Army was formed in Guiyang.After the fall of Tengchong, the Second Preparatory Division was ordered to enter the west bank of the Nujiang River to carry out guerrilla warfare, becoming the only formed unit that penetrated into the enemy-occupied areas in western Yunnan.During this period, while insisting on guerrilla operations, the division absorbed a large number of local personnel in western Yunnan on the spot. In the spring of 1943, the Second Preparatory Division was transferred back to the rear for rest.Due to the division's familiarity with the terrain of the enemy-occupied area in western Yunnan, this motley army became the vanguard of the counterattack in western Yunnan.
Li Huasheng, a veteran of the Second Division of the Reserve, recalled the situation of crossing the river: "Crossing the river quietly on a bamboo raft, after crossing two or three companies, I am not so afraid."
To the surprise of the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force, the crossing of the river was surprisingly smooth.Yin Longju said: "At that time, we thought that the Japanese still had troops guarding the river, but they didn't. We crossed the river without encountering any obstruction."
In the middle of the night on May 11, several hours had passed since the troops started to cross the river. More and more Chinese troops arrived on the west bank of the Nu River. The expected bloody beach battle did not happen.As the vanguard, the reinforced regiments "did not encounter organized resistance from the Japanese army, and quickly broke down their security units."
According to Lu Caiwen’s recollection: “We didn’t meet any Japanese that night, and later I heard that the Japanese were not often stationed there, they were mobile. It would be bad if we met them.”
Yu Ge, a military writer, analyzed that the Japanese army did not fortify the beaches on the west bank of the Nujiang River because of serious shortage of troops.It is undoubtedly a blessing for the expeditionary force that the Japanese army set up blocking positions at various passes on the top of Gaoligong Mountain. "When they raised their heads, the dark Gaoligong Mountain suddenly oppressed in front of them. They didn't know that the elite troops of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army were guarding every mountain and pass in an attacking posture."
At dawn on May 12, more than 20,000 expedition troops successfully crossed the Nu River.According to intelligence, the number of Japanese troops stationed at Gaoligong Mountain will not exceed 2,000.
Wei Daoran, the son of Wei Lihuang, mentioned a shortcut to Tengchong after crossing the river studied by the expeditionary army: "The road that Zhuge Liang took in the legend is not on the map. I heard that taking this road, from Baoshan to Tengchong, can be done in one day. Yes, but after checking and checking, three generations of indigenous people have never been there. It is said that the US reconnaissance plane was asked to take pictures before." He said that the 130th Division of the Expeditionary Army set foot on this road at the end of May and became a surprise soldier.
There are three ancient caravan roads from Gaoligong Mountain to Tengchong. From north to south, they are Beizhai Gongfang, Nanzhai Gongfang and Mahogany Tree Road.Among them, Beizhai Gongfang Mountain Pass is 3,230 meters above sea level, and the road leading to it is the highest and most difficult one among the three ancient roads.
On the morning of May 12, the main force of the 20th Group Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force began to attack Gaoligong Mountain along three ancient roads.A battle that would later be called "the highest land battle during World War II" officially started.
On May 12, when the 198th Division marching towards Beizhai Gongfang Pass climbed to the Lengshuigou position, the Japanese bunker hidden halfway up the mountain suddenly opened fire.
Fan Fa'an, a veteran of the 198th Division, recalled: "At that time, if you wanted to figure out which direction the bullets came from, how could it be possible? The enemy's machine guns kept ringing, and some comrades died with their eyes still open, and some The bowls his comrades ate with fell to the ground, and their bodies also fell to the ground."
Yin Longju said: "The sacrifice was huge. The water in the ditch turned red, and maggots and ants were crawling on the corpse. The enemy on the top of the cold water ditch did not retreat. The enemy still had some camp prostitutes at that time, and they also carried guns to fight us. Later we found that the bodies of those camp prostitutes had bullet holes, and we don’t know whether they committed suicide or were beaten to death by them.”
Tao Dagang, head of the 592nd Regiment of the 198th Division, wrote in his memoirs: "The second attack was ordered to count the number of people that night, and unfortunately there were more than 250 casualties. Battalion Commander Guo Yantian was killed, Deputy Commander Chen Zhijie was wounded, First Battalion Commander Feng Qiao was wounded and never left the line of fire, and the remaining platoon leaders, squad leaders and soldiers were killed or injured more than 200 people."
Late at night on May 15, Huo Kuizhang, commander-in-chief of the 20th Group, received a battle report from the front: The 592nd Regiment of the 198th Division was blocked at the Lengshuigou position in Gongfang, Beizhai.Within four days, one of the three battalion commanders was killed and the other was injured, seven of the nine company commanders were killed or injured, and the regiment leader Tao Dagang was also unfortunately injured.
He Shaocong, who was the military doctor of the Expeditionary Army at the time, recalled: "We saw with our own eyes that in a regiment, the seriously injured were not carried away, and the slightly injured were carried down dozens of people. Thousands of people were like this. There is no way. So many dead, which one? To bury?"
At the same time, the expeditionary forces on the other two ancient roads also encountered fierce attacks from the Japanese army.For the offensive route of the Chinese army, the Japanese army seems to have been prepared for a long time.
In the Japanese bunker, health soldier Takao Yoshino also took up his gun and went into battle.
Takao Yoshino is a medical soldier of the 148th Regiment of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army, and is affiliated to the Tengchong Garrison of the Japanese Army. On May 11, the same day that the Chinese Expeditionary Force crossed the river, Takashi Yoshino arrived at Gaoligong Mountain with the Japanese reinforcements from Tengchong.
Yoshino Xiaogong wrote in his memoir "Tengyue Jade Broken Records: Memories of a Japanese Prisoner": "Suddenly, two enemy soldiers staggered towards us. I pulled the trigger without thinking. The one in front immediately drew The arc fell forward. Seeing this, the one behind was startled, and quickly turned around and fled. This is the first enemy I killed with my own hands, and the enemy finally retreated."
Contrary to the expectations of the expeditionary force, the strength of the Japanese army stationed at Gaoligong Mountain at this time has increased from less than 2,000 at the beginning to nearly 4,000 with the arrival of reinforcements such as Yoshino Takao.In all the attack directions of the Chinese army, the Japanese army laid down layers of firepower nets like a prophet.The unexpected surprise attack planned by the expeditionary force was forced to turn into a frontal attack on the enemy's bunker fortifications.
Yin Longju said that it was very difficult to attack upward step by step. The Japanese had built underground fortifications for two years, and it was not easy to attack. "They kept fighting back, their bushido spirit pressed down from the heights."
Yoshino Xiaogong recalled: "The enemy has approached forty or fifty meters away from us. They seem to have no time to lift the corpse of their companions. The enemy who climbed up from the sunken place is under the muzzle of our heavy machine gun, like They piled up in front of our camp like hills." Fan Fa'an said, "The dead are like piles of firewood."
Despite this, the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force remained undiminished in their fighting spirit and bravely killed the enemy.
Chen Baowen, who was at the staff office of the Expeditionary Army at the time, said one thing: "A search company commander ran to our staff office and said that they had an important attack mission the next day, but the problem is that they don't know the deployment of the enemy's troops. We told him: "You'd better ask the local people more about the situation, and then go after you understand the situation." He said to us: "Please help me tell the commander-in-chief that I entered the military academy for this day and tomorrow. I must complete this task.' We sent him to the door, looked at his back, and I thought to myself: 'This man must never come back.'”
On May 21, the 39th Division of the Expeditionary Army finally captured the Hongmushu Pass after repeated struggles, but was soon met with fierce counterattacks by the Japanese army.On the same day, an astonishing piece of information was delivered to Wei Lihuang.
According to Chen Baowen's recollection: "After the 39th Division occupied Hongmushu, they got a combat order from the Japanese, which stated the deployment of all our troops, how to counterattack, and the steps of the counterattack. This must be the command of the headquarters. The traitors betrayed us, because before the high command issued orders, they were all verbal, and we were not allowed to take notes. Song Xiluan was in a hurry, and told Wei Lihuang, please investigate clearly."
Wei Lihuang was furious.According to Lin Yishi, Director of the Intelligence Division of the Operation Department of the Expeditionary Army, "After reading the information, Chief Wei's face turned livid, and he knocked over the combat sand table on the table with his fist... I have never seen such a big temper before."
When the war was raging, no one knew who had leaked the deployment of the expeditionary force.
Until the end of the Anti-Japanese War, the reasons for the early leak of the expeditionary army's counterattack plan in western Yunnan remained a mystery.Many years later, historians found a passage in the Japanese Army's "Kongkan War History": "On the eve of the Chinese army's counterattack, an Allied plane made an emergency landing near Tengchong due to heavy fog. A senior staff officer of the expeditionary force on board, He was captured by the Japanese army together with all the documents he brought, including the deployment of the entire Western Yunnan counter-offensive campaign and the radio codebook of the troops.”
Yuzo Matsuyama, head of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army, completed a targeted deployment of defensive counterattacks based on this, and exclaimed triumphantly: "God's help!"
After the battle began, the air crash, which was not recorded in the Chinese war history, in Yu Ge's view, "finally caused the Chinese Expeditionary Force to feel pain."
Since the entire counterattack plan in western Yunnan has been fully exposed, adjustments must be made decisively to avoid greater losses.
Chen Baowen believed that the original counterattack plan was inappropriate. "If all the soldiers are sent to attack Gaoligong Mountain, even if Tengchong is captured, the Japanese army does not leave, and there are troops coming along the Burma Road for reinforcements? If the enemy breaks through the Huitong Bridge Ferry, they can go to Baoshan, Going to Kunming will be dangerous. If Kunming is captured, Chongqing will not be safe.”
In desperation, Wei Lihuang decided to temporarily change the combat deployment.
Wei Daoran believed that what Wei Lihuang was thinking at this time was what Matsuyama Yuzo, the commander of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army, was thinking, and he thought differently. "After thinking about it for a long time, I summed up a few points: (the commander of the Japanese army) he is not moving much now, and he will not ask for reinforcements. Taking advantage of this vacancy, one of my armies has passed, and I still have another army that has not moved."
At the end of May, under the command of Wei Lihuang, the various units of the Chinese Expeditionary Force began to adjust their strategies: the 20th Army Group, which was fighting fiercely with the Japanese army on Gaoligong Mountain, continued to attack and confuse the enemy; The main force was changed to Songshan to cross the Nujiang River as the main attack.
On June 4, the first batch of Chinese soldiers appeared in front of the Japanese Matsuyama position, and the Matsuyama Battle began.
The start of the Battle of Songshan virtually cut off the logistics and transportation lines of the Japanese defenders on Gaoligong Mountain, and the Japanese troops who had been trapped for nearly a month were increasingly isolated.The battle continues.
This is a special battle.Frank Doane, then chief of staff of the U.S. Army in the Allied Southeast Asia Theater, recalled: "Dozens of mules, horses and laborers slid down frozen defiles and fell thousands of feet to their deaths. The battle was at a cloud-covered altitude. Fighting in the snow and ice at 11,000 feet, the highest land battle of World War II, it became a battle in the clouds."
At the beginning of June, on the east side of the Gaoligong Mountains, Du Kaiyue, a member of the Second Division of the Reserve Division, was advancing hard with his comrades in thick snow.
Du Kaiyue recalled: "At that time, it was not easy to climb the snowy mountains. If you couldn't walk or died, you would be thrown away. There is no medicine, and if you get sick, you can only die. If you die, there will be many people."
On June 9, the Japanese army suddenly launched a counterattack at Beizhai Gongfang Pass. The 198th Division, which had been fighting bloody battles in front of the Japanese positions for nearly a month, suffered heavy losses. The Expeditionary Army Command urgently dispatched the Second Division to support it.At this time, it was summer in western Yunnan, but on the Gaoligong Mountain, which was more than 3,000 meters above sea level, what greeted the officers and soldiers preparing for the Second Division was a world of ice and snow.
"In the world of ice and snow, many people were barefoot, and I was wearing cloth shoes." Cun Shizhong, a veteran of the Second Reserve Division, recalled.
Cold, even deadlier than enemy machine gun fire.Du Kaiyue said: "Crossing that snow-capped mountain is really a matter of life. The order above is that you must go. No matter whether you can walk or not, others will drag you away. If you don't drag you, you will be dragged away as soon as you lie down. It's over."
Li Huasheng recalled: "The peasants who delivered the rice followed the soldiers. The peasants who wore thin clothes died of the cold. Some peasants couldn't support themselves while walking and died when they sat down. It was too cold."
According to Tao Dagang, head of the 592nd Regiment of the 198th Division, recalled: "On June 1st, the weather was cloudy and rainy, and it was very cold on Gaoligong Mountain. The stretcher soldiers carried two soldiers to the regiment headquarters. They were cold and could not They moved. Their hands, foreheads and cheeks were cold when they touched them. Their eyes were wide open and they kept turning. When the health guards brought hot soup to feed them, they couldn’t drink any more. Just like this Watch them die."
Yang Hongen, who was the major director of the first branch of the Transportation Department of the 20th Army's Logistics Directorate, mentioned: "It is really difficult to attack Gaoligong Mountain. There is no oxygen, and rice cannot be cooked."
The sinister climate has become a common and terrible enemy of both warring parties.Takao Yoshino recalled: "Cold, hunger, fierce battles, defeat and fatigue are leading soldiers into the trap of death. Especially the cold, like a devil, threatens our lives at all times."
Since Hokusai Gongfang Pass could not be attacked for a long time and logistical supplies became more and more difficult, the expeditionary force decided to abandon the frontal assault on the Japanese positions, and adopted the tactics of moving and interspersing to isolate the connection between the Japanese positions.
The Japanese army under siege is still desperately resisting.In the memoirs of Yoshino Takao, "Tengyue Jade Broken Records: Memories of a Japanese Prisoner", there is such a passage: Captain Chenghe's eyes shone with a sharp light. "Currently, we are at the end of our ropes, everyone, be prepared, and please leave your lives to me for Chenghe."
The captain unsheathed his saber, and then an unknown sergeant hissed loudly. The miserable voice really shocked the ghosts and gods: "Our last moment has arrived, and now we are going to the Yasukuni Shrine. Don't lag behind, everyone, go!"
What is puzzling is that, compared with the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force who rely on human transportation to maintain their lives in the ice and snow, these Japanese soldiers who have already cut off all sources of external supplies, do they have inexhaustible supplies and energy?
In terms of weapons and equipment, the expeditionary force has greatly made up for the original disadvantages.Yin Longju recalled: "At that time, the U.S. military equipped us with new weapons, including submachine guns and flamethrowers. These two things were the most powerful for the Japanese, and they were the most afraid. Before their bayonets met us, we We shot them to death with submachine guns. We used flamethrowers to spray fire into their bunkers and burned them to death."
The fighting was dire.Li Huiying, a veteran of the Second Reserve Division, recalled: "The company commander stood in the position of the light machine gun, and he shouted, comrades, go forward. He rushed forward, and as soon as he shouted, the Japanese heavy machine gun shooter fired a shot, hit the neck, and swallowed blood The belly also came out of the mouth, and I couldn’t speak. The company commander died.”
Xie Dafan, a veteran of the Second Reserve Division, said: "At that time, it was impossible not to kill people. If you didn't kill people, others would kill you. Even the kindest people should be killed. When the two sides are close, shooting guns is no longer effective. There are still people who don't use bayonets. There was a bayonet attached to the gun, and one was hit by another. There was a Japanese man with red hair all over his body, and I didn’t have time to think about it, so I stabbed him to death with the bayonet.”
On June 14, the expeditionary force finally captured Hokusai Gongfang Pass and began to clear the remaining Japanese strongholds one by one.This cloud battle has finally dawned.
In Yin Longju's memory, at the end of the battle, the scene of Beizhai Gongfang on the Japanese army's position is unforgettable for his life. "The enemies on the top of the mountain did not retreat. Later, there was no food on the mountain, so they ate corpses, because we saw some corpses with bite marks. Their stools were black in color."
Frank Dorn, the chief of staff of the U.S. Army who participated in the Gaoligong Mountain Battle, wrote in his memoirs: "When the young Chinese peasants enlisted in the army blew up the last fortifications of the Japanese, they couldn't figure out why they thought there were at least 300 Japanese soldiers. , but now there are only 75 people left. When they rushed to the cafeteria of a command headquarters of the Japanese army, the American liaison officer encountered a startling scene: the prepared corpses of different parts were piled on the ground like firewood, Some of the bodies were skinned, and a few were only skeletons."
Lu Chaomao, a veteran of the Expeditionary Army, recalled: "There were three houses where many Japanese corpses were buried. The corpses were almost three feet high. The corpses were full of maggots. ,Stinks."
The mystery of the Japanese army's supply came to light.Regarding this matter, Yoshino Takao did not mention a word in his memoir "Tengyue Jade Broken Records: Memories of a Japanese Prisoner".Toyoto Maruyama, a Japanese veteran who wrote the postscript for this book, was also one of the few Japanese survivors of the Gaoligongshan Battle. He wrote this sentence: "Some things on the battlefield can be written about, while others cannot be written about; Some want to write, and some never want to recall."
On June 21, 1944, the last Japanese stronghold in Gaoligong Mountain was breached.In the past two months, the Chinese Expeditionary Force finally crossed the Gaoligong Mountain at the cost of nearly 10,000 casualties, and won the victory in this cloud battle.
Chen Baowen said: "The battle is very difficult. There was a gust of wind, and the wind was yellow. Each of us held our breath, and none of us stood still. Everyone squatted down and spit it out. The wind was because there was no one in the trench to collect it. The smell of rotting corpses. Some of those people died of freezing, and some of them died of starvation."
Xiong Shichao, who was the signal soldier of the new 39th Division's search company at the time, recalled: "All the soldiers fell down. Some snorted, and some couldn't hum. The guns were thrown aside, and they were still carrying bullets. I dragged the corpse, but it couldn't be dragged. The orderly carried a gun on his back. He untied the gun and handed it to the division commander. The division commander said to me, "Damn it, why don't you drag the wounded soldiers in the company? I said all the soldiers in the company was beaten to death."
Yin Longju said: "It was raining and snowing heavily at that time, and the soldiers were wearing very thin clothes. We sent a telegram that the US military planes were coming and dropped a lot of raincoats, otherwise many soldiers would freeze to death."
In the eyes of Westerners, only Chinese soldiers can climb over the natural barrier of Gaoligong Mountain at an altitude of 3,000 meters and fight the most ferocious enemy on the "battlefield above the clouds" with only a small amount of rice.
Yin Longju recalled: "After crossing Gaoligong Mountain, we went to fight Tengchong City. Tengchong is a very thick stone city."
Tengchong, known as Tengyue in ancient times, was built in 1448 A.D. by soldiers from the Southern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty using volcanic stones to build this unique stone city.The ancient southern silk road meandering from the inland branched here to Southeast Asian countries, where goods were collected and distributed.From the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, Tengchong was the most prosperous period, known as "Little Shanghai outside Gaoligong Mountain".
At the end of June, the remnants of the Japanese army that retreated from Gaoligong Mountain were combined with the former Japanese Tengchong garrison to form a mixed regiment, commanded by the captain of the 148th regiment, Kangmei Zangshige, and prepared to defend Tengchong and surrounding passes.
Xiaogong Yoshino, who had just survived the bloody storm in Gaoligong Mountain, was also incorporated into this mixed team.He wrote in his memoirs:
Tengchong has been occupied by our army for more than two years, and the public security has stabilized. It is a city full of peace and tranquility.Under the eaves of the residents in the city, plum blossoms and peach blossoms compete for beauty; in the villages outside the city, white pear blossoms and red papaya flowers also set off each other beautifully.Probably no one of the residents would have imagined that such a peaceful and quiet town would soon be plunged into a terrible war.Although the ruthless curtain of war has shrouded the surrounding city.
In May 1944, when the counter-offensive was launched, the rainy season in the Nujiang Gorge also arrived as scheduled.Think about it, the floating soil more than half a foot thick has all been turned into clay. How can the Chinese soldiers wearing straw sandals attack this deadly gray slope?Walk in half-foot-deep slime?It's as slippery as oil when you step on it, but it's stickier than glue when you pull it out.On the steep slope, under the rain of bullets like splashing water, you still have to watch your feet. If you don't pay attention, if you fall and slide down hundreds of meters, you will definitely die.All the participants, as long as they have heard and read their memories, are cursing that damn Huipo without exception.The young U.S. Army Lieutenant Chapel dedicated himself to Huipo together with hundreds of Chinese soldiers.Only 21 years old, a handsome guy at that age, died in battle in a foreign country without even holding a girl's hand.
Sixty years later, the only two contacts he registered in the U.S. Army records were his parents, and after their deaths, no American can tell us about his short but glorious life.
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I would really like to see that monument erected.I also hope to add this sentence to the lesson introducing Gaoligong Mountain in our primary school geography textbook: On this mountain, our Chinese nation has achieved the highest victory after a hundred years of humiliation.I am sure that this sentence is more important than a monument.
Huipo is the only way to reach the top of Gaoligong Mountain. In order to seize this position, officers and soldiers of the 592nd Regiment of the 198th Division of the Expeditionary Army fought with the Japanese army here.After failing to attack Huipo for the second time, Ye Peigao, the commander of the 198th Division, went to the forward position in person and issued a military order: "If you can't attack Huipo for the third time, this is your place of success." Zhang Qingbin, a lieutenant correspondent of the 20th Group Army, recalled: Ye Peigao usually wears ordinary clothes, but that day he put on his woolen military uniform, which was very majestic.When attacking, even a battalion could not attack, so they retreated. As soon as they retreated, they saw the division commander standing there majestically and ordered them to fight back.The soldiers turned around and rushed up again, killing many people.After fighting for three days and three nights, they blew up the enemy's bunkers, and finally took Huipo down.
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