Chapter 1490: Minced Meat Begins! (Ask for the Monthly Pass at the End of the Month!)
Rong Youlue, the commander of the 190th Division under the 10th Army, and a main infantry regiment under his command were rushing to Hengyang at night.
If the 10th Army was established on the basis of the 3rd Division, and the 10th Division was the main division of the 10th Army, then the 190th Division was another important cornerstone of this "Taishan Army".
The combat effectiveness of the 190th Division was actually not inferior to the other two infantry divisions of the 10th Army, but the previous commander of the division lost the battle with Fang Xianjue for the commander of the 10th Army, so he simply threw himself into the arms of General Xue.
As a result, the 190th Division and the military headquarters had actually been at odds a year ago. In many cases, they only listened to the military orders of the theater headquarters and did not know the orders of the military headquarters. This was even more so in the Changde Battle at the end of 1943. Whether the death of Fang Xianjue's close friend Sun Mingjin, the commander of the 10th Division, was related to these, I am afraid that the parties involved knew it very well.
However, in the personnel adjustment of the 10th Army in April, although General Xue managed to get Fang Xianjue to sit on the bench in the Military and Political Department, the commander of the 190th Division did not get promoted to the commander of the 10th Army as he wished, but was transferred from the 190th Division to another infantry army as deputy commander.
This time, when the troops were assembled in Hengyang, the 190th Division was stationed 300 miles away from Hengyang. Fang Xianjue originally requested the theater command to return the 190th Division to the base due to the lack of troops in Hengyang, but the theater command refused on the grounds that the distance was too far and the long-distance march was not enough. Instead, it ordered the 190th Division to deploy on the spot and block the Japanese army to delay the Japanese army's advance to Nanyue and buy more time for the defense of Hengyang.
There was nothing wrong with this military order. The 72nd Army, 37th Army, 58th Army, 20th Army, 44th Army and 26th Army of the 9th War Zone were fighting with a total of about 80,000 Japanese troops led by the 3rd and 13th Field Divisions of the Japanese Army in the Liuyang area.
The tactics of layered defense, layered interception and step-by-step consumption also reduced the offensive of the Japanese 11th Army.
But General Xue once again underestimated the determination of the Japanese China Expeditionary Army Command and the strength of Takeshi Shimanuki.
The Japanese troops infiltrated and exploited the gaps, avoided the real and attacked the false, dared to make a large-scale detour, and did not care even if the rear communication was cut off by the Chinese army. They pursued the enemy in front of them and defeated the more than 100,000 Chinese troops around Liuyang in just three days.
On May 29, the 13th Division of the Japanese Army advanced to Leiyang, southeast of Hengyang, intending to cut off the Guangdong-Hankou Railway in one fell swoop. The 3rd Division of the Japanese Army assembled in Liling. The two Japanese armies were like two large pincers approaching Hengyang.
It was under such circumstances that Fang Xianjue bypassed the theater command and sent a telegram directly to the 190th Division headquarters, which he had not been able to command before, in the name of the military headquarters, asking them to return to the military headquarters and fight the enemy together.
The commander of the 190th Division was Rong Youlue, a major general promoted by the deputy commander of the 190th Division. He regarded General Xue as his benefactor and rarely interacted with Fang Xianjue. However, he had a good personal relationship with Ge Youcai, the commander of the 10th Division.
Fang Xianjue was just trying to save his life. The 190th Division had the military order from the theater command, so there were enough reasons not to follow the order from the military department. Moreover, Hengyang at this time was considered a dead end by 90% of the people, so it was normal for them not to come.
But to everyone's surprise, the commander of the 190th Division, Rong Youlue, actually came. He left two of his only three infantry regiments in the original positions for defense, and he himself led a main infantry regiment with less than 2,000 troops to Hengyang.
And arrived on the night of May 30!
Fang Xianjue and the other four people from the command personally went out of the city to greet him. Meeting his former subordinate again after half a year, Fang Xianjue said nothing, but just shook Rong Youlue's hand and shook it vigorously.
At this critical moment of life and death, going against the flow has explained everything. What are the other petty gains and fame?
Zhao Zili, Tang Dao and others saluted together, not only to the major general division commander, but also to the 1,900 Chinese soldiers who followed him and were covered in dust after a long journey.
The last division of the 10th Army returned!
The retrogrades were naturally not only the 190th Division, but also the artillery battalion that was rushing back at night.
As Japanese planes had begun to appear in the sky, they were worried that the precious artillery would be destroyed by Japanese planes. As early as a few days ago, the entire artillery battalion got off the train and took a small road to Hengyang.
This was safer, but the speed was much slower. When they arrived at Santang, more than 30 miles away from Hengyang, on the evening of June 1, they met Li Yutang, the old commander of the 10th Army stationed there and the current deputy commander-in-chief of the 27th Army.
At this time, the vanguard of the Japanese army had arrived and had a scout battle with the defenders on the east side of the Xiangjiang River. Even a small part of the vanguard of the Japanese army crossed the Xiangjiang River and arrived in the south of Hengyang. Li Yutang suggested that the artillery battalion should not return to Hengyang for the time being to avoid being attacked by the Japanese army.
Obviously, an artillery unit with only a dozen pistols, less than 30 rifles, and two machine gun guard platoons would be slaughtered even if it only encountered a Japanese infantry squad.
The major Zhang Zuoxiang who had filed a "complaint" once again roared loudly in the face of the old army commander's kindness: "If we didn't enter the city today for safety, we wouldn't have to rush back from Guilin. My artillery battalion is a member of the 10th Army in life and a ghost of the 10th Army in death. Even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead, we must rush into the city today."
Li Yutang was so moved that he even transferred his personal guard company to escort the artillery unit that risked their lives to return and escort them back to Hengyang City.
After the Hengyang Command received the telegram from Li Yutang, Tang Dao immediately dispatched the mountain infantry company of the Sihang Regiment to meet them on the way, and the reconnaissance company sent a reconnaissance platoon to scout the enemy.
Before the two units met, the artillery battalion was intercepted by a Japanese infantry squadron on the way.
In fact, the target of this artillery unit was too obvious. The 12 new American field artillery components required more than 70 pack horses to transport, and the artillery battalion was reluctant to throw away 4,000 precious shells. The artillery battalion of more than 600 people, on average, each person carried a box of 3 shells, and the weight of a single soldier reached more than 30 kilograms. The remaining shells had to be carried by 200 pack horses.
For this reason, the artillery battalion that got off the train purchased large carts and wheelbarrows that could be pushed by a single soldier in the local area, and the team naturally became more bloated.
Although officers and soldiers were strictly ordered not to make any noise during the march and the packhorses were also tied up, there must be light for the night march. In addition, the escort of an infantry company with a total of nearly a thousand people marching in the fields where the main road was dug up, and it was slow and bloated, so it was difficult not to be noticed by the small Japanese troops.
The infantry squadron that first attacked the 10th Army Artillery Battalion belonged to the 116th Division.
The division came from Kyoto, codenamed "Arashi", and was a special division formed by the personnel of the 16th Division left in Kyoto. In the early days, there were only 4 infantry battalions. After entering China in 1938, it participated in the Jiangxia Battle and was upgraded from a Type B division to a Type A division because of its military exploits.
However, the 116th Division is still somewhat different from the old standing divisions. It is not a 4-infantry regiment system, but a 3-infantry regiment system, and the entire division is composed of 20,000 people.
The 116th Division cannot be compared with the 3rd and 13th Divisions, which are permanent divisions with 28,000 personnel, but in the 11th Army, it is already considered the main force.
For example, the 68th Division, whose vanguard has crossed the Leishui River and is encircling the north of Hengyang City, is only a Type C Division upgraded from a Type D Division. The entire division has only 15,000 people and a total of only 8 independent infantry battalions. Its strength is only half of the permanent divisions that entered China at the beginning of the war.
This is actually the current status of the Japanese Army's infantry divisions in China. A considerable number of elite divisions have been transferred to the Pacific battlefield and the Southeast Asian battlefield. The Chinese battlefield can only rely on a part of the Type A division with a group of Type B divisions or even Type C and Type D divisions to hold the facade.
Moreover, as the veterans continue to die, these small divisions are filled with a large number of recruits, and their combat effectiveness is no longer the same as it was seven years ago.
But even so, the 200,000-strong army of the 9th War Zone is still being chased and beaten by 200,000 Japanese troops. How can people not be indignant?
The infantry squadron that crossed the Xiangjiang River and arrived at the mountainous area south of Hengyang City was the 120th Infantry Regiment of the 116th Division, and the squadron leader was Major Kurokawa Honor. In the Japanese Army sequence, most infantry squadron leaders are captains, and an infantry squadron leader actually has the rank of major, just like the infantry company commander in the Chinese Army has the rank of major. This shows the qualifications of Major Kurokawa, or the status of this infantry squadron in the 120th Infantry Regiment.
All commanders with high ranks have always been highly valued by their superiors, and this is no exception among the Japanese.
The Kurokawa Squadron is the No.1 in the 120th Infantry Regiment, with 213 combat personnel and 4 infantry squads, each with 52 personnel. Each infantry squad has 3 light machine guns and 3 grenade launchers, and is also equipped with a heavy machine gun.
This means that the Kurokawa Squadron has a total of 12 light machine guns, 12 grenade launchers and 4 heavy machine guns, and ordinary Chinese infantry battalions cannot reach such firepower.
As the vanguard of the division that first entered the battlefield, the Kurokawa Squadron mainly focuses on scouting the terrain and using cameras to harass and attack all Chinese troops in the activity area.
Isn’t a "transport team" like the 10th Army Artillery Battalion the fat meat in the eyes of the Kurokawa Squadron? Even if the Kurokawa Squadron, from Kurokawa Honor, does not know what this "transport team" is transporting.
In the Battle of Hengyang in the past time and space, Major Kurokawa Honor was a "celebrity" in historical books.
Basically, nothing good has happened to any minor character whose name appears in the book. If Kurokawa Honor could see the future, he might change his mind.
In the excerpt about the Hengyang Offensive Battle in the Hunan Province Operation published by the War History Research Office of the Japanese Defense Agency, it is written as follows: "Record of the Battle Report of the 120th Infantry Regiment, July 1, sunny! This is a short summer night. Captain Kurokawa rushed to the front with a sword in hand. Suddenly, two grenades exploded, and Captain Kurokawa died heroically on the spot."
In the past, Major Kurokawa Honor was killed by two grenades in the mud on the western outskirts of Hengyang City, but in this era, due to changes in tactical plans, the 116th Division took the lead in attacking the south of Hengyang City.
A month in advance, Major Kurokawa Honor and his 200 imperial officers and soldiers came to this hilly mountain area.
The time and scene are different, but the ending of Kurokawa Honor has not changed much.
Kurokawa Honor led his four infantry squads to attack the 10th Army Artillery Battalion. The Japanese Army Major was very confident. Although the transport team's queue was four or five hundred meters long and the number of people was several times that of his infantry squadron, based on his and the Chinese army's combat experience, the Chinese soldiers would quickly fall into panic once they encountered a head-on attack. After continuous attacks, some of them would choose to flee, and eventually the entire army would collapse!
Maintaining strong firepower is the only way for the imperial army to win!
Therefore, when the Kurokawa Squadron came out to fire, they showed their best skills. Four heavy machine guns and 12 light machine guns roared desperately, leaving red bullet marks in the night sky, stirring up a bloody rain among the officers and soldiers of the 10th Army Artillery Battalion who had no time to dodge.
In the first encounter, the 10th Army Artillery Battalion suffered nearly 50 casualties, which was considered heavy casualties. If it were an ordinary army, they would either lie on the ground and dare not even raise their heads, or collapse and flee as the Kurokawa Squadron thought.
But the officers and soldiers of the artillery battalion had already gone upstream from afar with the determination to die, so how could they abandon the artillery and run away at such a time?
"Guard platoon, block the dog-days for me! Communication squad, send a telegram to the military for help!" Zhang Zuoxiang, who was lying in the bushes, roared and ordered.
If that were the case, we could only say that the 10th Army Artillery Battalion was still strong and would not collapse easily. However, in terms of strength, once the Kurokawa Squadron played out their most familiar frontal attack and two-wing encirclement tactics, the more than 600 Chinese artillerymen were basically lambs to be slaughtered. They could not hold on for more than 30 minutes before the elite Kurokawa Squadron broke through their defense line.
Fortunately, there was also a guard company of the 27th Army with the team. This guard company was one of the four companies of the guard battalion directly under the 27th Army Command. It was specially equipped by the 27th Army for the Army Command. All personnel were veterans of the Sichuan Army, and the equipment used was also the best of the 27th Army.
The company was equipped with nearly 30 M3 submachine guns imported from the United States, as well as 9 light machine guns and 3 60-mm mortars. Except for the lack of heavy machine guns, the rest of the light firepower was even stronger than that of the Kurokawa Squadron.
The Sichuan Army was once the representative of the "beggar army", but as the war continued, countless Sichuan Army troops used their blood to prove to the world that they could become the top of the entire Chinese army. Even if their military exploits were insufficient, they deserved to be the first in terms of the spirit of "brothers never slack off".
The guard company defended on the spot and opened fire with the Kurokawa Squadron!
The Japanese elite who attacked the Chinese "transport team" head-on ran into the defense line composed of 28 M3 submachine guns and were also beaten up.
Kurokawa Rongyao had to change the surprise attack into an offensive and defensive battle in frustration. He looked at his watch. The Japanese Army Major limited the attack time to one hour. If the stubborn defense line of the transport team was not broken after one hour, he would lead his troops to retreat to avoid being surrounded by the Chinese who came to support him, although he did not believe that the Chinese army would be so bold to leave the already built positions.
Major Kurokawa was already very cautious, but he underestimated the speed of the Chinese army, especially a mountain infantry company that had been established with mountain warfare as its tactical purpose.
The mountain infantry company led by Gu Xishui arrived 20 minutes after the two armies opened fire, but after observation, it was found that the artillery battalion of the 10th Army under attack had strong firepower, making it impossible for the Japanese army to approach the mountain.
Gu Xishui was not in a hurry to join the battle, but commanded his four mountain infantry platoons to detour from a distance and go around the back of the Japanese army. Just as Major Kurokawa thought, he started the dumpling-making mode.
Half an hour later, Major Kurokawa was still anxiously looking at the distance, thinking about whether to withdraw his troops immediately, and the muffled sound of "dong dong dong!" rang out in the dark.
That was not the sound of a flare, but the sound of a real mortar shell being fired. The continuous fire in the dark was like the bright fireworks set off during the Chinese New Year!
Kurokawa Glory's face suddenly changed, and he turned around to look at the darkness behind him!
What frightened him was not that the Chinese small-caliber mortars were like eyes that hit the heavy machine guns and light machine guns of his squadron, but that at least 10 guns were firing in this round of shelling.
The Chinese army that can have so many mortars must have at least one infantry regiment!
Are the Chinese crazy? Kurokawa Glory's head was about to explode at that time. No matter how confident he was, he knew that his 200-plus people could not compete with a Chinese infantry regiment with a strength of almost 2,000 people.
"The whole squadron"
The word "evacuate" was still spinning in his throat. At least five or six flares were fired into the sky, revealing the figure of Kurokawa's squadron in the mountains.
A series of fiery red whips jumped out of the darkness and lashed at the Japanese army!
The mountain infantry company was equipped with 16 MG42s in total. The fierce crossfire formed by them could have defeated an infantry battalion in the Battle of Shipai, let alone a small Japanese infantry squadron.
As the saying goes, there is always a stronger one among the strong. The Kurokawa Squadron is a reinforced infantry squadron in the 116th Division. With 4 Type 92 heavy machine guns, it can walk sideways in the infantry squadron level, but it is not enough in front of the mountain infantry company with 1G42 machine gun!
The strength itself is not as good as that of the Kurokawa Squadron, not to mention that it is now being attacked from both sides. The fate of the Kurokawa Squadron can be imagined.
Major Kurokawa Honor was not killed by two grenades this time, but was hit by a 60-mm mortar shell!
The cause of death was different, but the way of death was obviously more miserable. Half of the face of the Japanese Army Major was cut off by shrapnel, and the huge air wave also broke the unlucky child in half, with the entire upper and lower body overlapping together.
My legs were originally short, but now my entire body can probably fit into a suitcase.
No one cleaned up the battlefield. It was not until the next afternoon that the Japanese troops who arrived later discovered the battlefield. The battlefield was full of dead Japanese soldiers. The strange POSS that Major Kurokawa had to pose before his death was captured by a Japanese military reporter.
At 5 a.m. on June 2, all the personnel and equipment of the 10th Army Artillery Battalion arrived at Hengyang City smoothly. The 10th Army Chief of Staff Sun Mingyu and Tang Dao personally went to the city gate to greet them.
So far, all the personnel of the 10th Army who could return have arrived in Hengyang.
Hengyang, a huge meat grinder that has been slowly started, is filled with more than 70,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians, waiting for 100,000 or even more Japanese to enter.