Chapter 12 Chapter Four National Memorial (Part 1)
Lu Chaomao——Soldier of the Second Division Machine Gun Company for the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Cun Xilian - a villager in Tengchong Heshun Village
Cun Ke Fu - a Tengchong Heshun villager
Zhang Xiaozhong——a citizen of Tengchong Heshun Village
Chuan Xiangyuan——Soldiers for the Second Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Zhang Jinzheng—a soldier of the 53rd Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Li Huasheng——a soldier preparing for the Second Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Peng Liang—a soldier of the 36th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Dong Chengqing——Soldiers for the Second Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
He Shaocong—a soldier of the 53rd Army Transport Regiment of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Huang Youqiang——a soldier of the 53rd Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Zhou Deli - a soldier of the 54th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Army
Zhang Yuan said—then was the commander of the artillery company of the 54th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Army
Zhou Youfu - Prepared for the Second Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
Takashi Yoshino——At that time, he was a medical soldier of the 148th Regiment of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army
It must be admitted that the story of the old man Lu Chaomao was not the main line of this episode at first.The old man's narration is buried behind a lot of dialects and inaccurate "translations".In the interview notes, "Laifeng Mountain" was marked as "Fengfeng Mountain", and Tengchong City was called "City" by the elderly.Fortunately, there is a word that the old man can pronounce very clearly - cemetery.
The cemetery the old man mentioned was the National War Cemetery.
The largest surviving expeditionary army cemetery in China was built on July 7, 1945 to commemorate the soldiers who died in the Battle of Tengchong.Once upon a time, Lu Chaomao's tombstone was also here.Only, he is still alive.
This is where the story begins, and this may also be the most legendary story among all 6 episodes of the "Burma Series".The real owner of that tombstone, the real protagonist of this story, has long since passed away.
I tried my best to find all the information about him, but what I got in the end was only a sentence from Lu Chaomao mixed with a strong local accent: "He usually sleeps next to me. He is from Baoshan, and his name is Li Tang."
After finishing the film, Lu Chaomao's words still linger in my mind for a long time.I couldn't help but wonder, what kind of person is this soldier named Li Tang?Judging from his reluctance to kowtow to the Bodhisattva with his comrades before the war, he should be a young man with quite a personality.
What kind of experience did he have before joining the army?Does his family know what happened to him?how tall is heWhat does it look like?What plans did he have for life after the war?Who would he be without this war?
It is said that after the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Lu Chaomao would come to the National War Cemetery every year to sweep his tombstone.Because only he knows the true identity of the young soul under this tombstone.
67 years have passed, no matter how we imagined the soldier named Li Tang, what is left of this young life is the simple description: "He usually sleeps on my bed. Beside him is a Baoshan man named Li Tang."
National War Cemetery, located on the banks of the Dieshui River 1 km southwest of Tengchong County in western Yunnan, and at the northern foot of Laifeng Mountain, is the largest and best-preserved cemetery of soldiers killed on the frontal battlefield during the Anti-Japanese War in China. It commemorates the 20th Group Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Army It was built to conquer the fallen soldiers in the Battle of Tengchong, and was completed on July 7, 1945.
During the "Cultural Revolution", the National War Cemetery, as a "reactionary four olds", was severely damaged, and a large number of tombstones and tombs were destroyed.
At the end of 1984, the National War Cemetery began to be rebuilt.There are 3,346 tombstones in the rebuilt cemetery, which is less than half of the total number of Chinese soldiers killed in the Tengchong Battle.
Some of these tombstones in the National War Cemetery are empty, and some are engraved with the names and military ranks of martyrs.On one of the tombstones, a name was engraved: Lu Chaomao.
However, Lu Chaomao is still alive.
One day at the end of June 1944, on the west side of Gaoligong Mountain, Lu Chaomao, a soldier of the machine gun company of the second division of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, was groping forward with his comrades in the Japanese trenches.All around, the equipment dropped by the Japanese army when they retreated can be seen everywhere.
Lu Chaomao recalled: "There was no one inside, so we went into their bunkers and traffic trenches to check. A small kettle was shot several times; blood flowed along the traffic trench from one side to the other; the enemy's biscuits, The canned food is all in the traffic trench. We picked it up and looked at it. If it was stained with blood, we would leave it to others. If it was not stained with blood, we would taste it to see if it was poisoned to kill us. After tasting it I don't think it's poisonous."
Lu Chaomao is from Tengchong. He joined the army in June 1942. In June 1944, at the age of 18, he followed the Second Reserve Division to break through the Japanese Gaoligongshan defense line and arrived in the suburbs of Tengchong.This is the first time that Lu Chaomao has returned to his hometown since he joined the army for two years.
Lu Chaomao said: "There are one-third of the people in Tengchong in the Second Reserve Division, and they are familiar with the terrain. The higher-ups transferred us back, that is, to use Tengchong soldiers to attack the Japanese who occupied Tengchong, and we can guarantee victory. Later we We arrived at a mountain next to Heshun, and from that place, we could clearly see the Japanese on the opposite mountain.”
Heshun Township, located 3 kilometers west of Tengchong County, has been an important station on the commercial route of Southwest China since ancient times. Because many overseas Chinese have come from here, it is also known as Heshun Overseas Chinese Hometown.
On July 2, 1944, the Second Division of the Preparatory Division entered Heshun Township. From this day on, this village, known as the "Scholarly Famous Village" for having the earliest township library in the country, became the frontline base for the expeditionary force to attack Tengchong. .
"We came to a family and asked that family if there were any Japanese. The family said (the Japanese) had left, and they had already left by dawn." Lu Chaomao said.
After confirming the enemy's situation, Lu Chaomao and his comrades lay down to rest at the fellow's home.The quiet residence, clean beds, and the hospitality of the villagers made these expeditionary soldiers from Tengchong really feel like coming home.
Among the villagers who came to work in the army, there was a 12-year-old boy named Cun Xilian.In Heshun Township, the Cun family is quite a famous big family.When the expeditionary force arrived, Cun Xilian was the youngest boy in the Cun family.
In Cun Xilian's memory, the biggest change in his hometown after the arrival of the expeditionary force was that it was difficult for him to eat meat anymore.
Cun Xilian recalled: "Register all the chickens, pigs and other livestock in Heshun Township, and slaughter them in turn every day to supply troops. Each company goes to the township office every day to receive meat, eggs, vegetables, and grain. In the later period, Heshun Township All the chickens and pigs were slaughtered, and the common people could not buy any meat at the vegetable market every morning.”
To the surprise of the local people, a group of blond and blue-eyed foreigners also came to fight side by side with the Chinese army.The Chinese Expeditionary Force has a US military staff group involved in the campaign planning, and the US Army's Fourteenth Air Force also came.
Cun Xilian remembers: "On the second day after the Chinese army entered Heshun Township, that is, at noon on July 3, a group of US troops came from Mianqing to Heshun Township. On the grass, some people were sitting and some people were lying down waiting for accommodation. The Japanese army on Laifeng Mountain spotted them and fired at them. There was a rumbling sound from that direction, and there was a cloud of smoke on Laifeng Mountain.”
Laifeng Mountain is located in the south of Tengchong County, with an altitude of about 1914 meters.From the top of the mountain, you can overlook the whole city of Tengchong, and it is an important commanding height outside Tengchong.The Japanese army built a number of permanent fortifications on the mountain, covering deer villages and mines, and dug triple anti-tank trenches.
On June 22, 1944, Wei Lihuang, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, adjusted the deployment and ordered the Eleventh Army to gather the main force to defeat the enemy's offensive in Longling; Of.
After the 148th Regiment of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army defending Tengchong sent the third brigade to reinforce Longling on June 27, there were still 2,025 defenders in the city, including less than 3,000 non-combatants.
At dawn on July 2, the 20th Army launched a full-scale attack on the outer strongholds of Tengchong.
According to the Twentieth Army's "Summary of the Battle of Tengchong": "Sijian, our Fifth and Fourth Army captured Baofeng Mountain with lightning speed. In order to show hostility, at midnight, the deployment was changed, and the main force of the Fifth and Third Army From the upper and lower Mawu in Tengbei to the vicinity of Feifeng Mountain in Tengdong, the left position was extended by the Fifth Fourth Army. As of Jiangri, our Fifth and Third Army captured Feifeng Mountain in one fell swoop, and the Fifth Fourth Army also captured Feifeng Mountain on the same day. Therefore, I have broken the barrier of Tengcheng and approached the outskirts of the city on three sides. At that time, a part of the remnants of the enemy rushed south in a hurry, and their main force formed a mixed regiment, commanded by the captain of the 148th regiment, Zang Dazuo, to defend Laifengshan and Tengcheng. This city is the strongest city in western Yunnan. It also has the barrier of Laifeng Mountain. It has built strong fortifications and fortresses, prepared sufficient food and ammunition, and was ordered to stay until the end of October, waiting for reinforcements to arrive. Our army After approaching the outskirts of the city in the early afternoon, except for a division of the Fifth and Third Army to defeat the enemy, advance to the line of Nandian and Longtou Street, and block enemy reinforcements, we immediately made a plan to attack Tengchong and Laifengshan."
On July 6, Huo Kuizhang, commander-in-chief of the 20th Army, ordered that at dawn the next day, that is, on the occasion of the 7th anniversary of the "July 7" Incident, the final barrier to the Japanese army in Tengchong - Laifeng Mountain, was launched. The troops launched attacks on Laifengshan from the south, west, and east, and the second division of the reserve was the main frontal attack.
On the eve of the general attack, Cun Xilian's middle school brother Cun Kefu received a special task.
"At that time, the students from Heshun Township went to support the front line, served as guides, carried stretchers, and delivered meals. We went to the foot of Dongshan that day, and there was a company stationed there. Before dawn that morning, we lit a torch, and the company The boss wrote a note and handed it to me, saying: "Little brother, you pass this note to our chief secretary, and ask him to cook the duck for me. When you deliver the food later, help me." I will send it to the battlefield.” The company commander and chief of staff are fellow villagers. He said: “If we fight tomorrow and survive the war, it means that we have worked hard for the Anti-Japanese War. If unfortunately we die, please send me a letter to my family.” .'" Cun Kefu recalled.
On the eve of the general offensive, Lu Chaomao and his comrades gathered in a monastery in Heshun Township.The Bodhisattva in the temple attracted the attention of these peasant children.
"The squad leader said that we had to kowtow when we entered this monastery, and we really kowtowed." Lu Chaomao said, "The person who slept with me was a Baoshan native. Head? I don’t kowtow.’ He didn’t kowtow.”
Lu Chaomao remembered that his name was Li Tang.
On the eve of the general offensive, at the Japanese bunker in the northeast corner of Tengchong County, Yoshino Xiaogong, a health soldier from the 148th Regiment of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army who had recently withdrawn from Gaoligong Mountain to Tengchong, was ready for battle.He already knew that according to the information obtained by the Japanese spies, the Chinese army would launch a general offensive early the next morning.
Many years later, Yoshino Takao wrote in his memoirs the situation before the war:
On the Tengchong Bazi in the rainy season, the green rice fields stretch to the foot of the mountain in the distance.The enemy soldiers squirming in the distance are like ants, and their number is constantly increasing.The remaining Tengchong garrison strength is 2,800, including 800 wounded in field hospitals.In this way, the remaining 2,000 troops will face the enemy's 60,000 troops.
On December 22, 1941, the 148th Regiment of the Japanese Army formed an army. In March 1942, it invaded Burma with the 56th Division, and captured Tengchong on May 10 of the same year.Since then, the wing has been stationed in the Tengchong area.For two years, these Japanese soldiers who had no major battles on weekdays spent almost all their energy on building fortifications.The battle was imminent, and they who were guarding the Tengchong County and Laifengshan positions felt nervous.
Yoshino Takao recalled: To meet the enemy's 60,000 army, the intense and tragic battle is about to officially begin.
The headquarters of the garrison team ordered: "In this battle, our Tengchong garrison team will face an enemy twenty times larger than mine, that is, we will face a challenge of twenty to one. position!"
At dawn the next day, the enemy really started a general offensive.The enemy approached step by step from the opposite side of the rice field.The enemy's artillery positions also fired violently at me.In an instant, the enemy artillery positions in Feifengshan poured about a thousand shells on the positions in our formation at all costs.
On July 7, 1944, the 20th Group Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force launched a general attack on the Japanese Laifengshan position.
On this day, 12-year-old Cun Xilian witnessed the whole day's fighting from his window.
Cun Xilian recalled: "It rained for several consecutive days before, but it cleared up that day. Just after dawn, the people in Heshun Township heard the roar of the plane. Everyone was very happy and poured out of the village. Some stood on the roof, some stood On the high ground in the rear, find a good place to watch the spectacular scene of aircraft bombing and artillery bombardment. No one stays at home, even some of the oldest people and young dolls come out to watch, that kind of scene is like It’s like going to a temple fair to watch a show.”
Since Laifeng Mountain is located between Heshun Township and Tengchong County, both the enemy and our armies who are confronting down the mountain can see the situation on the mountain.Laifeng Mountain shrouded in gunpowder smoke seemed to be a huge stage. On one side of the mountain, the Chinese villagers waited and watched; on the other side, the Japanese soldiers in Tengchong witnessed every change on the mountain in anxiety.
Cun Xilian recalled: "When the Chinese army attacked Laifengshan on the first day, it continued to attack several Japanese strongholds from morning to afternoon. Engineers used destroying pliers to destroy the Japanese army's barbed wire. When the saboteur had just climbed up to the barbed wire fence, he was shot to death by the Japanese, seven or eight in a row."
Veteran Chuan Xiangyuan recalled: "In front of the Japanese position was a barbed wire fence. We took pliers to cut the barbed wire fence so that our comrades could rush up. Before the barbed wire was cut, the Japanese saw us and threw out a grenade. It blew up my foot."
In order to prevent the attacking Chinese soldiers from finding suitable shelters, the Japanese military first cleared almost all the trees on Laifeng Mountain.On the bare hillside, the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force, who had nowhere to hide, suffered heavy casualties in the hail of bullets from the Japanese army.
Lu Chaomao recalled: "The Japanese could see us, but we couldn't see them. We didn't find them until they started shooting. We aimed our heavy machine guns at their bunkers and shot 5 bags of bullets. I moved very fast at that time. Just now When I bent down, a shot came and knocked off my hat, which was scratched by bullets and was all mushy. The squad leader said that if you didn’t have this hat, you would have been shot to death today. The result was that For the next three or four months, I didn't get a haircut, and I just wore that hat."
Not everyone has the luck of narrow escape like Lu Chaomao.Veteran Zhang Jinzheng said: "Those who died were shot in the head by machine gun bullets, and couldn't hit the body. The Japanese were all at high places, and we were at the bottom. The conditions were not as good as theirs."
Veteran Peng Liang recalled: "The Japanese set up machine guns on Laifeng Mountain. One of our companies rushed up, and all of them were killed."
Veteran Li Huasheng recalled: "When we came to attack Fengshan, we had gone up two or three times, but we were beaten down when we were about to reach the top of the slope. There were fewer and fewer people who could be beaten. At that time, the treatment of soldiers was not good, seeing that many people died, all companies began to waver, some wanted to fight, and some did not want to fight."
At noon in the battle, the expeditionary army was still firmly suppressed on the mountainside, unable to advance an inch.The villagers of Heshun Village who had been watching the battle began to organize people to go up the mountain to deliver meals to the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary army. Cun Kefu, a middle school student who had just received the task of cooking duck the day before, was among them.However, he never found the company commander who gave him the task.On the battlefield, there was nothing but dead bodies.
Cun Kefu recalled: "I went up with the cooked duck, but before I got to the battlefield, I heard someone shouting 'here, here', and a corpse rolled down. I looked at it, it was not Japanese, it was beaten The dead Central Army, that man was shot from the outside of the stomach by the Japanese bullets, pierced out from the back, and his intestines were all interrupted."
The Japanese troops in the Laifengshan position and Tengchong City were bombarded indiscriminately by planes and artillery.Takao Yoshino recalled:
In the afternoon, the enemy dispatched planes to attack.Twenty-five planes formed two groups and swooped down to attack.One of the groups bombarded the city and its walls indiscriminately.Other aircraft carried out fierce attacks on Laifeng Mountain and surrounding positions.The plane departed about ten minutes later.At the same time, heavy artillery and machine guns began to attack again.
Under the enemy's fierce offensive that lasted for more than two hours, our army positions in the city had no way to fight back.After the shelling, Laifeng Mountain was shrouded in gunpowder smoke, making it impossible to see the mountain clearly.According to Second Lieutenant Nishida of the unit, the enemy fired no less than 20,000 shells in order to attack Laifengshan.
Cun Xilian recalled: "Nearly a hundred cannons from the artillery concentrated on the top of Laifeng Mountain and blasted Laifeng Mountain into scorched earth."
In the evening, it began to rain lightly.Laifeng Mountain in the rain and fog is gradually blurred in people's vision.Cun Xilian and the villagers watching the battle dispersed silently.What Laifengshan showed them on this day was undoubtedly a tragedy.
"The fight lasted until 4 o'clock in the afternoon, but they still returned without success. Seeing the wounded being lifted from above, the common people were very sad." Cun Xilian said.
Dong Chengqing, who was a military doctor at the time, recalled: "Only I bandaged 380 wounded when I lifted them down that day. When the wounded soldiers came, some couldn't get up, so I had to help them up, lean on me, and bandage them with medicine. Some were hit to the head, some were hit to the body, bloody, my body was stained red from head to toe, and at night. It was a very difficult day, and 380 people were bandaged by me."
On the 7th anniversary of the "July 7th" Incident, the Chinese Expeditionary Force's first general attack on Laifeng Mountain failed.Lu Chaomao survived the battle on this day, but his comrade who refused to kowtow to the Bodhisattva before the battle failed to survive the day.
"When we hit the first line in the morning, he was not killed. When we advanced to the second line, it was more than 100 meters forward. When we reached the place where we had a machine gun, he was behind me, carrying a bullet box. The enemy He was shot from the bunker, and he lay down after the hit, and he didn't cry or speak, and he was killed like this." Lu Chaomao repeated, "He usually sleeps next to me, he is a Baoshan. man, his name is Li Tang."
The battle to attack Laifeng Mountain turned into a tug-of-war on the hillside day and night.
On July 16, the battle at Laifengshan entered its 10th day.In front of the Japanese camp on the top of the mountain, the corpses of Chinese soldiers piled up higher and higher.The expeditionary force charged again and again, and retreated again and again.
Veteran He Shaocong recalled: "Many people died that day. The Japanese were on the top of the mountain, and (our people) were all dead. Dozens of people rolled down."
Veteran Chuan Xiangyuan recalled: "The brains of the comrades who died were all over the ground. Although we cannot see the Japanese, the Japanese can see us."
On this day, Huo Kuizhang, commander-in-chief of the 20th Army of the Expeditionary Army, held a military meeting.According to intelligence, the number of Japanese soldiers on Laifeng Mountain will not exceed 600. The general who just led the army to climb Gaoligong Mountain does not understand why this mountain, which is less than one-third of the height of Gaoligong Mountain, has tens of thousands of soldiers. An insurmountable barrier for expeditionary soldiers.
In this regard, veteran Huang Youqiang believes: "There are not many Japanese, but the Japanese are not afraid of death. This is really amazing. They are willing to die rather than surrender. They think that at least ten or twenty for one person is enough."
Veteran Zhou Deli analyzed the weaknesses of the expeditionary soldiers: "Our people are too nervous, the Japanese are very accurate in marksmanship, and our recruits haven't been trained enough, and they are timid when fighting. At that time, there were many new recruits. There are only six or seven veterans, and there are few veterans."
Veteran Huang Youqiang said bluntly: "Isn't this just a fight with your life? There are plenty of people in China. If 100 people die, another 100 will die."
At this military meeting on July 16, Huo Kuizhang requested the US Fourteenth Air Force to strengthen aerial bombing and cooperate with the expeditionary force's ground attack.
Chuan Xiangyuan said: "We couldn't attack at that time, so the fighting stopped, and the army asked the Americans to fly to help."
In the early morning of July 24, 1944, a dull roar of aircraft came from the sky.
Yoshino Xiaogong, stationed in Tengchong City, noticed the changes in the sky:
On July 24, the enemy readjusted their lineup and launched a second general offensive.Early in the morning, enemy patrol planes circled noisily for reconnaissance.A huge formation of more than 50 fighter-bombers cooperated with the enemy's ground forces and swooped down to attack the surrounding positions and our army's positions inside and outside the city.
The aircraft of the Fourteenth Air Force of the US Army arrived.The villagers in Heshun Township had never seen so many planes, and they went out to watch the battle again.
Cun Kefu said: "On that day, all the old people, women, and children in our Heshun Township came out to look at the plane. When the bomb came, they said the plane was shitting."
Cun Xilian recalled: "That day was the first bombing by the Air Force. The Allied bombers dropped those shells one by one on the top of Laifeng Mountain. We and the people of Shun Township saw the bombing scene and threw the B-29 Bombers are called 'potato-pouring' planes because of the sheer number of bombs we drop, like we pour yams out of a basket."
In addition to the bombing, the expeditionary artillery also used the new large-caliber artillery aided by the United States to carry out a carpet bombardment of the top of Laifeng Mountain.The bare Laifeng Mountain could not provide a hiding place for the Chinese infantry in front of the Japanese bunker, but it also completely exposed the Japanese bunker and fortifications to the firepower of the expeditionary force.In the face of a powerful three-dimensional offensive, the Japanese army's act of cutting down all the trees on the mountain in order to clear the line of sight became a foolish act of pretending to be clever.
Veteran Huang Youqiang described the fierce artillery fire of the expeditionary army in this way: "Later, when we went to the top of Laifeng Mountain, there was no place that was five inches good. One shot on the left, one shot on the right, and it was smashed."
Veteran Zhang Yuancheng recalled: "The place where our artillery hit the most was Laifengshan. I remember that after the capture of Laifengshan, there were not many shells left."
The bombing has not stopped, and the Chinese officers and soldiers who have been suppressed by the Japanese firepower for many days began to charge towards the scorched Laifeng Mountain.The villagers of Heshun Village watching the battle from the mountain gave out cheers.
Zhang Xiaozhong, a villager in Heshun Village, recalled: "Everyone has forgotten that people will die in wars, and they are all there to cheer, to be cheerleaders, and old women and women also move a small stool to the slope to watch the war. This kind of thing is probably not recorded in the national war history. .”
On the battlefield, the Chinese officers and soldiers are like a rainbow.
Veteran Dong Chengqing recalled: "The attack on Fengshan that day was a vicious attack. The infantrymen held submachine guns and said 'kill'! Hundreds of people shouted together, and the whole mountain was shaken by shouting."
Veteran Chuan Xiangyuan said: "The Japanese can't raise their heads anymore, because we have American planes to assist us. When we charge up, we will bayonet the Japanese."
Yoshino Xiaogong saw: Laifeng Mountain, which was my main position, changed hands several times during the enemy's fierce attack.The brave generals, Captain Ota and Captain Chenghe, continued to encourage the remaining 20 or so warriors to bravely counterattack the approaching 500 or so enemy troops.They picked up the unexploded grenades thrown by the enemy and quickly threw them back.When the enemy came close, he used the method of surprise, repelled the enemy's many attacks, and defended the position desperately.
Cun Xilian saw: "The Japanese rushed out of the trench four by four, fighting with bayonets, and they were still talking. Their faces were very clearly visible."
Veteran Zhou Youfu recalled: "We had a bayonet fight with the Japanese, and then we lost all our guns. At that time, we had a squad leader surnamed Li, who hugged and fought with the Japanese. It was a sloping mountain, one at the bottom for a while, and the other for a while. Later, a man named Gao Fengxiang picked up a big rock and smashed his head while the Japanese were underneath."
After bloody hand-to-hand combat, the Chinese officers and soldiers finally broke through the Japanese positions on the mountainside.Lu Chaomao, who has been fighting at the forefront for more than half a month, rushed to the front line with his comrades. "After we captured a bunker, the Japanese jumped out of the bunker, ran and rolled, and killed a few at that time. One Japanese kept running, and we shot behind him with guns. . When we shot, it hit him all over the head, a petty officer, and his brains were blown out."
The will to resist of the Japanese army in Fengshan began to disintegrate.The balance of victory finally began to tilt towards the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
At this moment, an accident happened.
Veteran Zhou Youfu recalled: "I don't know if someone misunderstood the order. Our own plane bomb dropped down, killing more than 100 of our people."
Cun Xilian remembers: “At that time, groups of soldiers climbed from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain, and there were strips of white cloth marks in front of them. The stronghold and the dividing line between the enemy and ourselves." The veteran Li Huasheng said: "When the troops attack one place, they must put up that symbol, and when they go to another place, they must also put that symbol up. The guns followed suit."
Due to their inexperience in long-range firepower coordination tactics, the Chinese officers and soldiers rushing to the front line were accidentally bombed by friendly forces at the last moment when they were about to reach the top of the mountain, and Lu Chaomao was among them. "We thought the (U.S. military) plane was flying away, so we rushed up, and then 30 more planes came. We were fighting with the Japanese, but the plane came to drop bombs and sweep the machine guns, but the machine guns missed us. The bombs It was thrown next to us. After the bomb went off, the soil raised up buried me, fortunately not too deep, but one of my eyes was hurt."
Although this accident happened, the situation of the battle is so far, and there will be no surprises for the Chinese army to take Fengshan.
On the same day, Yoshino Takao saw several seriously wounded Japanese soldiers who came down from the Fengshan position, their faces were covered with blood, and they were dying. One of them said, "We are hopeless."
On July 25, the weather was fine, and 18 U.S. bombers bombed Laifeng Mountain in turn.The artillery concentrated more than a hundred cannons and fired thousands of shells.At noon, three infantry divisions stormed the hill from five directions, and the engineers' flamethrowers burned the enemy's deer village and dark fort into a sea of flames.At night, the mountains were blazing with flames, and gunshots continued throughout the night.The enemy sent reinforcements from the city and fought fiercely all night.
On July 26, 57 sorties of US B-29 bombers bombed Laifeng Mountain in four batches, dropping napalm bombs at the same time.The flames on the top of the mountain soared into the sky, black smoke covered the sun, the fire burned all day and night, and countless enemies were burned to death and injured.
On July 27, the remnant enemy retreated to Laifeng Temple and was surrounded.The gunshots on Laifeng Mountain that lasted for 20 days gradually subsided.The expeditionary force began to clear the battlefield.Cun Kefu, a middle school student who has been braving the hail of bullets to deliver meals to the officers and soldiers, set foot on the former Japanese army's position.
"When we arrived, the Japanese line of defense had been knocked down." Cun Kefu said, "A Japanese man with a machine gun in the trench was burnt, and he was still holding the machine gun in both hands. That was because the machine gun position was opened When it couldn't come down, the 198th Division used flamethrowers to drive into the trenches."
Veteran Huang Youqiang said: "We fought with flamethrowers and burned them to death. We didn't know it was four people. These four people didn't know how many of us were killed. The machine guns were installed in the bunker, and you didn't know they were beaten. Exactly how many people are there. In the end, it is hard to fight with old life.”
In the early morning of July 28, 1944, a red national flag was raised on the top of Laifeng Mountain.The villagers of Heshun Township climbed up the mountain one after another to share this moment of victory with the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force, and Cun Xilian was among them.
"At that time, the flag was raised at the Wenbi Tower. Fang Cheng, the head of the Sixth Regiment of the Second Reserve Division, was my mother's fellow villager. I sat with him. He registered the casualties of the Chinese soldiers who were carried out from the trenches, and registered their names. Number, while talking to a reporter." Cun Xilian said.
According to Cun Xilian, just as the national flag was hoisted on the flagpole, several Japanese artillery shells suddenly flew from the direction of Tengchong City. "The first artillery shell hit the mountain and exploded in a forest. At that time, the division commanders and army commanders of the Chinese army and some important figures were coming on horseback. Before reaching the top of the mountain, the shell exploded about 100 meters away from them. ...Regimental Commander Fang Cheng carried me and rolled into the trench, and the second, third, and fourth shots exploded not far above our heads."
On that day, the Chinese artillery bombarded Laifeng Temple, and the thousand-year-old temple was in a mess.At noon, the Chinese infantry captured Laifeng Temple, and the remnants of the enemy were wiped out. Only 10 people fled back to the city.
At this point, the battle at Laifengshan was over, and the Chinese Expeditionary Force swept away the biggest barrier of the Japanese army in Tengchong.Almost all of the 600 Japanese soldiers stationed at Laifeng Mountain died in battle, and the expeditionary force paid the price of nearly 3,000 casualties.
Veteran Zhang Jinzheng said, "There were three battalions in a regiment, and almost two battalions were sacrificed. The company commander was killed. In my platoon, the platoon leader was killed. There were six or seven people left. Later, the three platoons were formed into one platoon."
Although Lu Chaomao was injured in one eye by a bomb dropped by a friendly plane, at least he was still alive.He did not expect that his name entered the list of the dead.
"A memorial service was held in a grass dam in Heshun, and some Taoist priests were invited to save the regimental commanders, battalion commanders, company commanders and soldiers who died there, and burned two piles of paper money. When they read the list of the dead, they read my Name." Lu Chaomao said, "Others say I am dead. My name is dead, but the person is not dead yet."
Lu Chaomao explained the reason for this accident: "Because it was a war, I didn't care too much. That night I took off my military uniform and used it as a pillow to sleep. The next morning, I heard that Li Tang, a Baoshan man who slept with me, said, hurry up." Get up, get up, and go to fight the Japanese. As a result, he took off my military uniform in a panic that day, so I had to wear his. Because my military uniform has my number and name on it, after he was killed, People from another company were in charge of burying the body, and they thought I was killed."
When the war is raging, no one will seriously verify the name of an ordinary soldier who died in battle.In this way, Lu Chaomao had a tombstone engraved with his name in the National War Cemetery.
Every Qingming day after the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Lu Chaomao would come to the cemetery to sweep his tombstone.Unfortunately, during the "Cultural Revolution", this tombstone was destroyed together with many tombstones.The martyr Li Tang who failed to leave his name in the cemetery, everything about him can only be preserved in Lu Chaomao's personal memory.
With the fall of Laifeng Mountain, the Japanese army's large and small strongholds outside Tengchong City were all cleared.The remnants of the 148th Regiment of the Japanese Army trapped in the city fell into a tight siege.
Huo Kuizhang moved his headquarters to the Heshun Township Library.According to the general situation, the headquarters of the group army should never be located within the range of the enemy's artillery fire, but Huo Kuizhang is very confident. He believes that Tengchong will soon be taken down.
Veteran Zhang Jinzheng said: "At this time, the Japanese had all retreated into the city wall. We chased them along their traffic trenches, holding flamethrowers, and chased them all the way into the city. After chasing them inside the city, they completely destroyed the city gate." If it is blocked, we will stop and stand by completely within the city gate.”
The Japanese army in Tengchong City is determined to resist.Takao Yoshino wrote in his memoirs:
The enemy gradually approached the city wall.The wing headquarters decided to start a decisive battle with the enemy in the city, so all personnel immediately began to prepare for the battle. ... I was assigned to the subsidiary unit of the Takagi Squadron. I was transferred from the northeast corner position to the drinking horse water position in front of the east gate, under the command of the Zhupu team leader.At this time, the garrison consisted of 1,300 people. To meet the 40,000 enemy troops who had surrounded us layer by layer, the difference in strength between the enemy and us was more than 30 times.
Since the spring of 1943, the National Government began to supplement American equipment for the Chinese Army in India and the Chinese Expeditionary Force.According to the research of Taiwan scholar Wang Zhenghua: The weapons supplied by the U.S. military to the Chinese army include 2,300 semi-automatic guns, 576 tank defense guns, 900 "six zero" mortars, 558 heavy machine guns, 40 seven-five howitzers, and 430 rocket launchers. , a total of 6900 tons of various ammunition.Most of these equipment were supplied to the Indian Army and the 14th Air Force of the U.S. Army, and only more than 1,000 tons were shipped to China, most of which supplemented the expeditionary force.
Song Xilian, then Commander-in-Chief of the Eleventh Group Army, recorded the details of the replenishment of American equipment by the various units of the expeditionary force: "Each army established a howitzer battalion, and each battalion was equipped with 12 10.5 cm howitzers; each division established a mountain artillery battalion. , each battalion is equipped with 12 7.5 cm mountain guns; each infantry regiment has a tank defense artillery company equipped with 4 tank defense guns; each infantry battalion has a mortar platoon equipped with 'August 1' mortars 2 doors; each infantry battalion has a rocket platoon equipped with 2 'Buchuk' rocket launchers; each infantry battalion's heavy machine gun company is equipped with 6 heavy machine guns; each infantry company is equipped with 9 light machine guns, Tom There are 18 Sen-style portable machine guns, 6 '60' mortars (2 in each row) and 1 flamethrower. Each military headquarters and each division headquarters are equipped with 1 well-equipped field hospital. Every battalion and company from the division to each battalion is equipped with complete communication equipment, including wired telephones and wireless telegraph and telephone dual-purpose machines. Others include engineering equipment and transportation tools, etc. "
The Chinese Expeditionary Force completed the US military equipment roughly in the spring of 1943.These equipments were directly delivered by the US side to various armies and divisions for reception.Although these equipments were slightly inferior to those of the Chinese troops stationed in India at that time, they were much more complete than the original equipment and other national armies of the same period, especially in terms of firepower.
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