Chapter 1491 It’s a Bit Cold! (Seeking Monthly Pass at the End of the Month!)
Major Kurokawa Honor was not the first Japanese officer to die in the Battle of Hengyang.
At 6 a.m. on June 1!
The vanguard of the Japanese army on the east route arrived at Quanxi City, about 20 miles away from the urban area of Hengyang!
The first to arrive were the plainclothes team, who were not wearing military uniforms, but their brutal nature remained unchanged, and Fang Xianjue's worries came true. The Japanese plainclothes team captured dozens of Chinese civilians who had no time to escape in the nearby villages, and forced them to walk at the front of the team with guns, covering the Japanese army to seize the new wharf on the east bank of Leishui, so that the Chinese defenders dared not shoot.
As time went by, by 1 p.m., more and more Japanese troops arrived. A squadron leader came to the Leishui River to carefully observe the movements on the other side. Under the scorching sun of summer, the two sides of the Leishui River were calm, and even the reeds were motionless.
The Japanese infantry squadron leader did not dare to be careless and ordered his soldiers to fire their infantry guns across the Leishui River to test the situation. After firing for more than 10 minutes, there was no sound, and only then did they confirm that the Chinese defenders had indeed already fled.
So, the Japanese army rushed down to the river and rushed to the other side at full speed on motorboats and wooden boats.
The brigade commander promised their two infantry battalions that the infantry battalion that could plant its flag on the terminal building of Hengyang Airport within two days would be the first to win the first prize.
As the 6th Infantry Battalion of the 57th Infantry Brigade of the 68th Division, they marched all the way to the Leishui River, which was less than 15 miles away from Hengyang Airport. How could they still hold back their thoughts of winning the first prize?
At the same time, Lieutenant General Sakuma, the commander of the 68th Division, was still on a truck 40 kilometers away from Hengyang. His eyes were fixed on the map of Hengyang in his hand. He had no intention of looking at the scenery outside the car window. That was about to become the fertile land occupied by the 68th Division for the empire under the iron hoof. If it were someone else, wouldn't they have been in high spirits?
It's not that Lieutenant General Sakuma has no interest, but this Japanese Army Lieutenant General knows the importance of this battle for the 68th Division, which finally won the main attack on Hengyang.
If it's a good fight, the Type C Division may be upgraded to a Type B Division like the 116th Division. If it's not a good fight, he, the division commander, will have to serve as a deputy to Yokoyama Isamu, and the 68th Division will be completely reduced to a security guard division.
Therefore, Sakuma planned the battle against Hengyang as early as after winning the Battle of Tanzhou, especially the Hengyang Airport on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River, which was a place he must take. Even if the 11th Army Headquarters temporarily modified the combat plan and ordered the 68th Division to attack the west of Hengyang City, he still ordered the two independent infantry battalions under the 57th Brigade of the division to keep their goals unchanged and rush to Hengyang Airport, and made a solemn promise.
"Your Excellency, the 6th Infantry Battalion sent a telegram saying that they have crossed the Leishui River and are about to arrive at the periphery of Hengyang Airport!" When the convoy stopped, the captain of the division's communications squadron ran to the front of the car and reported to the Japanese Army Lieutenant General who was rubbing his forehead to drive away fatigue.
"Yoshi! Call back Major Ogasawara and order them to speed up the march and strive to reach Hengyang Airport and capture it in the evening." A hint of excitement flashed in Sakuma's eyes.
The Yuehan Railway has been successfully cut off. If this airport is captured, the Chinese defenders in Hengyang City will become an isolated army and will no longer be able to get any help from the outside world. The slogan shouted by Mr. Yokoyama Yong at the military meeting, "Capture Hengyang in three days!" will not be an empty talk.
"Mr. Miki, what are you writing?" Major Ogasawara Shichiro, the captain of the 6th Infantry Battalion standing on the bank of Leishui, suddenly asked Lieutenant Miki Kazuo, the communications officer standing slightly behind him.
"Major, it's a diary, recording my mood!" Lieutenant Miki Kazuo replied a little awkwardly.
"Oh? Can you show it to me? I also want to know what my soldiers think when the Imperial Army is advancing triumphantly." Ogasawara Shichiro looked at the soldiers who had boarded the ship and started to leave the shore, and he was obviously in a good mood.
The captain had spoken, so Lieutenant Miki Kazuo dared not hesitate, and handed over his diary respectfully.
"In May of the 19th year of the Showa era, the sky was clear, a rare sunny day since we entered the water town of Hunan Province, China. Comrades chased and ran in the fields, and such ease was also due to the comprehensive defeat of the Chinese army.
Just the day before, on May 24, the important city of Hunan Province, Tanzhou, which the imperial army had been unable to capture for a long time, was finally captured by us. In order to capture this city, countless imperial soldiers paid their lives. I believe that my brother who died in the city of Tanzhou two years ago can finally rest in peace.
On May 26, the short vacation came to an end, and our division received an urgent combat order, which required us to assemble quickly and march to Hengyang. Although everyone is eager to relax, as an imperial soldier, fighting is our way to gain glory.
Before that, the imperial army had swept The Chinese army, which claimed to have a million troops, was vulnerable in front of the Imperial Army.
This time, the 116th Division has taken the lead in advancing to Hengyang as a vanguard. The war is imminent, but everyone firmly believes that Hengyang must be won this time. Ono-kun and I made a bet that whoever kills the least enemy troops after taking Hengyang will buy a drink.
On the 29th, our troops were getting closer and closer to Hengyang. Along the way, we encountered very little resistance, but these have become our habits. Fleeing without fighting has long become a habit of the Chinese army.
On the 30th, our army approached Hengyang, and our air force kept circling above, which has always been our habit in combat. Destroy the enemy's will to resist with intensive artillery fire, and then completely eliminate them with the spirit of Bushido.
Captain Ogasawara invited several squadron commanders to drink. I, a little communications officer, was also lucky enough to attend. During the dinner, everyone talked about the upcoming Battle of Hengyang. For this purpose, our 11th Army committed three divisions to participate in the attack on the enemy city. The siege, but in the eyes of the gentlemen here, this is a bit unnecessary. To capture a small Hengyang, there is no need for three divisions of the imperial army.
That night, everyone drank a lot and was in a happy mood. Everyone was celebrating the upcoming victory.
Mom from afar, Kazuo misses you very much. He separated from you a year ago and has since come to a foreign country. But mom, please don't worry. I will definitely complete my brother's unfinished business with full glory. I look forward to seeing you in Tokyo. "
Major Shichiro Ogasawara softly read the words that his communications lieutenant had been recording over the past few days, with the corners of his mouth raised slightly.
The Communications Lieutenant's relatively happy mood is all due to the military exploits of the Imperial Army!
"June 1st, fine! Our infantry brigade, led by Mr. Ogasawara, is crossing the river with high morale."
This is what Kazuo Miki just wrote!
"Miki-kun, your writing is very good, but I still have to give you some advice. When you keep mentioning me in your diary, don't forget the brigade commander and the division commander!" Major Ogasawara Shichiro said with a full face. He instructed with a smile.
"Hi!" Kazuo Miki quickly stood up and lowered his head.
"Dong dong dong dong!" The terrifying sound suddenly tore through the sky!
That's the sound of rapid-fire cannons firing continuously!
The two Japanese officers who were having a conversation suddenly turned their heads and looked towards the center of the river, where water columns continued to rise on the river.
A Japanese captain who was standing on the bow of the motorboat and looking around was caught off guard and was lifted into the air by the air wave from an exploding shell. He rolled several times in the air and fell into the rolling water.
In an instant, there was a roar of gunfire and fire on the river!
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" A lung-breaking voice sounded from the shore.
The diary recording the good mood of Second Lieutenant Kazuo Miki fell to the ground and was stained with mud!
Ambushing in the reeds on the riverbank across the Lei River was the 1st Battalion of the 568th Regiment of the 190th Division.
After the 190th Division arrived in Hengyang on June 30, Fang Xianjue arranged to defend Hengyang Airport. A total of more than 2,100 people from the 568th Regiment and an engineer company and guard company directly under the 190th Division had a simple dinner in Hengyang City, and left Hengyang overnight. Crossing the Xiangjiang River in the east of the city, they stationed at Hengyang Airport where there were no more fighter planes taking off or landing.
As the Japanese thought, Hengyang Airport was far away from the city and could have been abandoned. However, the Hengyang army still needed supplies. Once the Guangdong-Hankou Railway was cut off by the Japanese army, the airport would become the only access.
Fang Xianjue's idea is that if the Japanese army places its main attack direction in the southwest of the city, Hengyang Airport can be defended as long as it can. If the Japanese army invests heavy troops to attack the airport, the defenders will destroy the airport and then withdraw into the city.
You can’t just hand over the key points of an airport to others!
Of course, a more important tactic is consumption! Even if hundreds of people were killed or injured during the Japanese attack, it would weaken some of the strength of the Japanese army for future sieges.
This is actually cruel. Hengyang Airport is located on the plain east of the Xiangjiang River and cannot be defended. The consumption of the Japanese army is actually a consumption of the officers and soldiers of the 10th Army.
But as the saying goes, 'Compassion does not control troops.' Even if he has understood this for a long time, Fang Xianjue, the supreme commander, will still do this.
All the positions outside Hengyang City were actually used to consume the Japanese army, consuming not only blood and lives, but also morale.
The Japanese army is not a wooden person without emotion. The large number of corpses and wounded soldiers will also make them fearful. When the Japanese army clears all the positions outside the city, their morale will be far worse than when they first arrived. At that time, Hengyang City will have a glimmer of hope.
As for the Hengyang defenders, their morale may be low, but does a lone army still need to use morale to improve its combat effectiveness? If you don’t want to die, you have to fight hard. All Chinese people still in Hengyang, including Fang Xianjue, have no second choice.
The 190th Division, which chose to accept the order, quickly arrived at Hengyang Airport under the leadership of the division commander Rong Youlue, and sent the first battalion of the 586th Regiment to Leihe 20 miles away. The combat mission assigned by Rong Youlue to the battalion was not difficult. The first battalion did not need to defend, but only needed to slow down the Japanese attack speed to gain time for Hengyang Airport to deploy its defenses.
But Major Yang Jihe, the commander of the first battalion of the 190th Division, is no ordinary person. During the Battle of Changde, while still the deputy battalion commander, he personally led an infantry company to fight hand-to-hand with the enemy, and killed more than 70 Japanese soldiers with a record of 80 deaths and 30 injuries. , and used the dead Japanese soldiers as barricades to form fortifications, with only a dozen remaining soldiers hiding behind the fortifications made of Japanese corpses to face the reinforcements of the Japanese shooting, to cover the evacuation of the wounded soldiers injured in hand-to-hand combat.
That guy, the Japanese army's crazy machine gun bullets were fired at the fortifications made of corpses, and real flesh and blood flew everywhere. Yang Jihe, who was hiding behind him, had his head and face covered with flesh and blood. He was as ferocious as a devil, and he took the lead in breaking into a barricade. Several Japanese soldiers just watched as a red figure jumped out from the pile of corpses, carrying a submachine gun and shooting at them.
It is a pity that no one has kept that extremely horrific and bloody scene deep in their memory, because all the Japanese soldiers who were stunned and slightly delayed were shot and killed on the spot.
The strong smell of blood even suppressed the smell of gunpowder smoke on the battlefield for the first time, causing the Japanese army to suspend the offensive for 15 minutes. It was during these precious 15 minutes that reinforcements from the 190th Division arrived. Yang Jihe, who already had only five soldiers, The captain survived.
It is said that the Chinese soldiers who came to support also stared at the "blood demon" in front of them who lowered his gun and grinned at them for a long time before they confirmed that this was one of their own.
After the Battle of Changde, the ruthless Yang Jihe was directly transferred to the first battalion as the battalion commander.
Just say, how could such a ruthless person put up a little resistance?
"Captain Yang, I order you to withdraw your people immediately." The commander of the 586th Regiment called from the fortifications that were being deployed about 7 miles behind.
"We can't let the little devils get away with it like this. We have to let the bastards know how powerful they are. If we retreat without fighting, we will only increase the morale of the enemy and destroy our own prestige!" Yang Jihe twisted his neck and directly confronted his commander.
The colonel commander had no temper. "Courage" itself is a double-edged sword. If used well, it is an invincible sharpness. If used poorly, it will become the word "reckless". If it is not used well, it will lead to hundreds of people dying.
Fortunately, Major Yang Jihe was not a reckless man. He not only planned to attack the enemy halfway across the river, but also the confidence behind him to fight the Japanese army was the four anti-tank guns behind him.
Fang Xianjue was also a smart man. He knew how difficult it was for the 190th Division's more than 2,000 officers and soldiers to go upstream. Since he had given them such a difficult task of defending Hengyang Airport, how could he not give them some support?
Not only did he promise to support the Hengyang Airport position with 8 artillery pieces in the city, but he also allocated 4 of the few anti-tank guns in the city to the 190th Division for deployment.
Since the Battle of Songhu, the German Empire-made 37mm anti-tank gun has always been one of the most reliable supports for Chinese infantry.
The effective range of 1,000 meters can be used as artillery to kill infantry, and can also be aimed directly at armored targets and fixed fortifications. The 30mm thick armor on the front of the main battle 89-type tank equipped by the Japanese infantry can often be penetrated by this gun.
Such artillery is like using a butcher knife to kill a chicken when attacking wooden boats and motorboats.
The motorboat in the front was immediately blasted and rolled over on the river surface, and more than 10 wooden boats following it were blown into wood chips. The only way to survive was to jump into the river.
Fortunately, it was June, the temperature was already 30 degrees, and the Leishui River was not too turbulent at this time. As long as the water is good enough, you can still swim back or swim to the other side of the river.
But unfortunately, the infantry battalion led by Yang Jihe is the spearhead battalion of the 586th Regiment, equipped with more than 20 light machine guns alone, not to mention 5 heavy machine guns.
"Shoot for me, I didn't dare to go into the water even though it was so hot, and you dare to play in the water in front of me?" Yang Jihe is a ruthless man and a wonderful man. He immediately glared and ordered.
20 light machine guns and 5 heavy machine guns fired together. The Japanese infantrymen in the water were only live targets. The surface of the Leishui River was dyed red with blood. Except for a few who could escape back to their own river bank, more than 95% of the more than 300 Japanese infantrymen who boarded the boat were buried in the 300-meter-wide Leishui River.
The list of those killed or missing included a Japanese captain and 4 Japanese second lieutenants!
Ogasawara Shichiro on the opposite bank was so angry that his eyes were tearing up, but he had no way to deal with it.
His infantry battalion was equipped with 12 heavy machine guns and 2 infantry guns, but the Chinese firepower points were hidden in the wide reed marshes, and the Japanese army could not determine the specific location of the firepower points in a short time.
Firepower coverage? Relying on 2 infantry guns, it’s better to save it! Don’t let the rapid-fire guns ambushed by the Chinese on the opposite bank steal the guns before firing a few shots. Then the 6th Infantry Battalion will really cry.
This wave of fierce fighting lasted only 15 minutes, and ended with a complete victory for China. From this moment on, the Battle of Hengyang officially began.
The Japanese 11th Army sacrificed the lives of 304 infantrymen! It was a blood sacrifice!
In the afternoon, the 6th Infantry Battalion changed its strategy, and continued to feint to attack Yang Jihe's camp on the bank of Leishui with a part of its troops. The main force of more than 400 people bypassed Quanxi City and quietly crossed Leishui from the south, intending to outflank the Chinese army that dared to stay on the river bank to block them.
Yang Jihe had already used two infantry squads to guard 5 miles away from his flank. Once he found the Japanese army, he immediately lit a bonfire made of wet firewood to warn, and the four heaviest anti-tank guns were sent to the rear Wuma Trough defense line early.
As soon as the shadow of the 6th Infantry Battalion appeared, more than 500 officers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 586th Regiment immediately ran away with their guns.
The 400-plus Japanese infantrymen of the 6th Infantry Battalion, who were already exhausted from running and marching in the hot weather, were directly EMOed.
The Chinese fled as described by the battalion's second lieutenant communications officer, Kazuo Miki, but why was it so bitter?
They didn't know that an even more bitter taste was yet to come!
That night! Kazuo Miki wrote in his diary: "Mom, we underestimated the enemy's will to resist. The bodies of more than 200 imperial officers and soldiers who died in battle were piled up in the grass. They were only salvaged from the river in the evening. Their faces were as white as the snow in my hometown. I was actually a little cold on a summer night in Hunan Province, China!"