Chapter 1492 The Isolated City Is Built!

June 3rd dawn, west bank of Xiangjiang River!

The commander of the 11th Japanese Army, Isamu Yokoyama, issued an attack order.

At this time, there were about 55,000 Japanese troops surrounding Hengyang, including 35,000 main attacking divisions, the 116th Division and the 68th Division, which had completed the encirclement of the west and south sides of Hengyang.

In addition to the direct artillery units, these two divisions were also equipped with the 122nd Field Artillery Regiment and a special chemical warfare unit.

In addition, on the bank of the Zhengshui River in the north of the city, the main force of the 5th Independent Infantry Brigade had arrived, with a force of about 10,000; a part of the 13th Division, with a force of about 10,000, arrived in the suburbs less than 30 miles from Hengyang, and was fighting fiercely with a part of the 27th Army. The two infantry divisions of the 27th Army were holding the defense line under the personal command of Li Yutang, the deputy commander of the army.

However, at this dawn, the three outer defense lines deployed in Hengyang had not been truly tested, and the most intense battlefield was the Hengyang Airport on the east side of the Xiangjiang River.

Starting from the dusk of June 2, two infantry battalions of the 68th Division attacked the Chinese army's defense line around Hengyang Airport under the cover of more than 10 Japanese aircraft, and used about 8 75 mountain artillery to bombard.

The Chinese side was not to be outdone. 12 Hellcat fighters from Guilin arrived over Hengyang and immediately engaged in an air battle with Japanese aircraft. The two sides chased each other for more than 20 minutes. At least 6 fighters were hit and caught fire and fell, and several fighters evacuated to their respective airports with thick smoke.

Both sides suffered damage in the air battle, which was a draw.

In terms of artillery, the Chinese artillery that had been deployed in Hengyang City was not polite. 12 of the latest US 75 mountain artillery with a range of up to 9,500 meters immediately launched a counterattack against the Japanese infantry. The two sides went back and forth, and the artillery bombardment continued until late at night.

Fang Xianjue and Tang Dao stood on Huiyan Peak where the artillery command was located. They saw only a line of fire rising to the sky on the east side of the Xiangjiang River, and countless fire dragons rolling and tumbling, rising and falling, and stopping at dawn.

After a night of fierce fighting, Rong Youlue led the 190th Division to repel 6 rounds of Japanese attacks at the cost of more than 300 casualties, killing more than 400 enemies.

"Since four officers of the 3rd Squadron were killed in the battle of crossing the Leishui River, the captain ordered me to serve as the captain of the newly replenished 3rd Squadron and the captain of the 2nd Squad, and Ono-kun became the captain of the 3rd Squad.

Ono-kun and I were comrades who fought side by side for the first time in a real sense.

The battle began, and Ono-kun and I took a deep breath. This was a tension we had never experienced before.

At the beginning of the battle, our artillery launched a carpet bombing on the enemy's positions. Within the naked eye, the enemy's positions were almost wiped out. No one could believe that anyone could survive such an artillery attack.

Ono-kun and I nervously followed the tank forward, looking extremely nervous. At this point, although there was no enemy in front of us, we still held our breath and carefully observed every move in front of us.

Suddenly, the enemy's counterattack began, and countless bullets and shells were fired at us. Takashima-kun was shot through the head before he could react.

The tank was blown into a ball of fire by the shells, and the heavy turret flew more than ten meters away. The enemy's grenades could be thrown far away and exploded around us. Many people had no time to react and were killed. The attack ended. In less than 20 minutes of the attack, hundreds of Imperial Army corpses had piled up on the ground. Ono and I were lucky to survive. "

20 minutes later, before we could catch our breath, the order to attack began again. This time we found the right bunker and killed the enemy accurately under the cover of the tank. In just a few minutes, I killed three enemy soldiers, and Ono also made a lot of gains, killing 2 people.

Just as we were about to approach the enemy's position, the next scene was really chilling. Dozens of enemy soldiers were tied with grenades and rushed towards our tanks and soldiers. Due to the untimely response, the explosion instantly engulfed several of our tanks.

Before we could react, we were caught in the enemy's hand-to-hand combat again. In the battle, Ono-kun was also killed.

I saw with my own eyes that his bayonet had penetrated the body of a Chinese, but the Chinese still held his gun tightly, making it impossible for him to pull out his rifle. Then, he was pierced by another Chinese with a bayonet.

When he fell, he looked at me. I had no time to distinguish his mouth shape, because the Chinese who seemed to have no idea what death was were rushing towards me. At that moment, I thought I was going to die too.

Fortunately, the artillery provided timely support and repelled the subsequent enemy's counterattack, so we were able to retreat.

After just two hours of fierce fighting and the death of Ono-kun, I had to pay attention to this cruel war.

That night, there were wailing everywhere in the camp, and there was no light of victory in everyone's eyes! "

Perhaps Kazuo Miki's diary can clearly show the cruelty of the Hengyang Airport defense battle that night!

Although the number of casualties is just a fraction of the tens of thousands of troops deployed by the Chinese and Japanese sides, the battlefield is tragic enough.

The 68th Division deployed more than 1,800 infantrymen, and the reduction of personnel was as high as 25% in just one night. This should be the most terrible reduction rate since the division entered China.

For the 190th Division, the 15% casualty rate of the one-night blocking battle was also high for them to accept.

Because, this is just one night! How long will such a battle last?

Yes, the commanders of both China and Japan have only been stuck in the concept of not knowing how long it will last. If they knew that they would last in this meat grinder battlefield for 2 months, I am afraid that the strongest commanders and soldiers would Collapsed.

This is just the beginning, what a cruel truth!

Rong Youlue was a very decisive person. After this night of fierce fighting, he knew that Hengyang Airport was destined to be undefendable, so he decisively destroyed the Hengyang Airport runway.

A pit half a meter deep was dug every 10 meters and a kilogram of explosives was buried. With bursts of explosions, the two thousand-meter-level runways at the airport that took great efforts to complete were completely destroyed.

Rong Youlue's decisiveness was correct. After receiving the report from his subordinates, Lieutenant General Sakuma of the 68th Division became so angry that he ignored the main battlefield in the west of the city and continued to increase troops toward Hengyang Airport. He also sent an additional independent infantryman. The brigade took part in the siege.

By the afternoon of June 3, the number of Japanese troops in the direction of Hengyang Airport had reached nearly 3,000, far exceeding the 190th Division, which had only about 1,600 troops left.

Although the 190th Division has completed the task of guarding Hengyang Airport and destroying it without losing Hengyang Airport to others, seeing more and more enemies in front of them, it is obvious that the Japanese army also has the idea of ​​​​taking Hengyang Airport. If the strength of a regiment continues to fight, not to mention losing the position, I am afraid that the whole regiment will be in trouble.

Rong Youlue, commander of the 190th Division, actually wanted to call Fang Xianjue in Hengyang City and tell him that his mission had been completed and that he could abandon the completely destroyed Hengyang Airport on the evening of the 3rd and cross the Xiangjiang River back to Hengyang City, but he felt uncomfortable in his heart. Very uneasy.

First of all, he, the newly promoted division commander, was recognized in the 9th Theater as a member of General Xue's family. Although he chose to return to the army under the order of the military headquarters this time, he only brought 3 infantrymen of the 190th Division. A regiment in the corps, God knows if Fang Xian absolutely has any objections to him.

Secondly, of course he was very aware of Fang Xianjue's temper. His 190th Division and the one-battalion blockade at Leihe had only fought two battles with the Japanese army. If he abandoned his position and left like this, Fang Xianjue would definitely Feeling dissatisfied.

From the perspective of the Hengyang headquarters, if all the positions outside the city saw the strength of the Japanese army and abandoned their positions and returned to the city, then there would be no need to fight the Hengyang defensive battle. Everyone would just hide in the city and fight the Japanese troops in the streets. Well, what are you doing with so many layers of defense?

However, the situation at Hengyang Airport is slightly different from that in the south and west of the city.

Rong Youwei thought for a long time, and finally took advantage of the gap when the Japanese army was gathering and not attacking, and called his general Pan Zhi, the leader of the 586th Regiment, to discuss it.

"Jiangdong and Hengyang face each other across the river. The relationship between the two is like Tanzhou and Yuelu Mountain. Only one side can be saved. There is no doubt that Hengyang must be saved and Jiangdong must be lost.

But now Hengyang is an isolated city, and the Jiangdong area is like an isolated island outside the isolated city. The terrain is not as good as Hengyang, but the area is not smaller than Hengyang. Not to mention that we have less than 2,000 troops now. Even if our whole division comes together, it is probably a defense. Can't live.

If the Japanese army crosses the Xiangjiang River eastward and then turns back to block us with firepower, then the Japanese army will attack from both sides and we will be unable to fly. You and I were already prepared to be benevolent before we came, but the remaining 1,600 brothers As a teacher, I still can't bear to stay here because of your persistence! "Rong You said to his subordinates somewhat seriously.

Rong Youlue is a smart man. The reason why he brought the 586th Regiment here is that first of all, the 586th Regiment itself is the main force of the 190th Division. Secondly, Colonel Pan Zhi of the 586th Regiment is an old man from the 10th Army. Pan Zhi was still there three years ago. When he was the battalion commander of the 3rd Division, he was promoted by the veteran army commander Li Yutang. He became the regimental commander of the 190th Division.

His intention in saying this was obvious. If he went to the army commander directly, he would probably be scolded 80-90% of the time. He had to take the lead. Why don't you look at the face of the monk and the face of the Buddha?

There is no way, even in such a deadly war, this worldly sophistication is unavoidable.

Pan Zhi is not only an old man in the 10th Army, but also a native of Liuyang, Hunan Province. This time the Japanese army marched south, not only Tanzhou was captured, but his hometown Liuyang also fell.

This time Rong Youwei chose to return to the army under the order of the military department. In fact, he also had a share of credit. It was he who personally found the division commander Rong Youwei to express his feelings. He was willing to live and die with Hengyang, and did not want to be scolded by his hometown elders after the war. Become a coward. Rong Youlue then made up his mind, leaving two regiments to defend in place to give face to General Xue, and led one regiment to Hengyang to fulfill his duty as a division commander under his 10th Army.

Where is this Captain Pan! He is not a hard-working and reckless person. After hearing what the division commander said, he quickly said: "The commander's concerns are very true, and I feel the same way. Since our unit has completed the tasks assigned by the military commander, it stands to reason that we can retreat.

Besides, with the strength of our group, if we insist on holding on to Jiangdong, in the end we will just use up our troops little by little, which will not be beneficial to the overall situation. On the contrary, if our troops withdraw to Hengyang City, we can strengthen the city's defense force and add another strength to Hengyang City. Therefore, whether it is for the sake of the brothers of the 190th Division or for the overall protection of Hengyang, we should make an evacuation request to the military base. "

When Rong Youwei heard what this person said, he slowly let go of his hanging heart. He was afraid that this person would not be able to change his mind and insisted on carrying out the task of guarding Hengyang Airport. That big guy really The bones are buried here.

"Master, I know that you are worried, and I completely understand it. However, I have followed the military commander for many years and know that he is a stern person on the surface, but in fact he is kind-hearted and will never abandon his brothers unless absolutely necessary.

But we only fought two battles with the Japanese and wanted to leave. With his temper, I'm afraid that either of us would be scolded if we go to tell him. "Pan Zhi continued.

"What can we do? The Japanese have gathered more and more troops. One more day is our limit. It is very likely that they will completely surround us and kill us tomorrow. Tonight is the last chance to evacuate." Rong Youlue said with a gloomy face.

"If someone goes to talk to us, we are 90% sure!" Compared with his own division commander, Pan Zhi, who has a candidate, is much more relaxed.

"Who?"

"Tang Dao, the commander of the Four-Line Regiment, are you familiar with him?" Pan Zhi blinked.

"I have heard of Tang Dao's reputation, but it was the first time I met him when he arrived in Hengyang the day before yesterday. He has a very military demeanor. Can he help us? Or even if he can help us, can he help us with his rank? "Rong Youlue shook his head and sighed slightly.

It was just a one-time meeting, so it was really hard to say that they were familiar. What's more, Tang Dao was just a colonel, how could he have an influence on a lieutenant general?

"Before I came to Hengyang, I talked to Division Commander Ge on the phone and asked about the material situation in Hengyang City and the command structure in Hengyang City." Pan Zhi continued with a smile.

"After coming to Hengyang City, the command structure has been notified to the whole division! Tang Dao is the director of the Operations Department under the command headquarters, and his position is very critical." Rong Youlue was a little puzzled.

"Hehe! Division Commander, think about it, now in Hengyang City, not to mention generals walking all over the place! There should be a number of hands, the chief of staff is the lieutenant general chief of staff of the war zone, and the chief of staff is Chief of Staff Sun, who are all at the level of generals. As a result, the more critical position of the Operations Director is held by Commander Tang, who has the same rank as me. What does this mean? "Pan Zhi smiled.

"It means that Commander Fang admires the Tang sword very much! He admires the Tang sword very much, or he recognizes the combat effectiveness of the Four-line Regiment very much, or both. "Rong Youlue's eyes lit up.

"And you don't have to worry about whether Director Tang will help me. I heard that Director Tang got along well with Commander Xue in the Battle of Wanjialing 6 years ago. His old superior, Brigadier General Xie, is now also a general under Commander Xue. With this relationship, he has to speak for you no matter what." Pan Zhi said confidently.

"Old Pan, Old Pan, everyone says you are a barbarian from Hunan Province, but I didn't expect you to be so thoughtful and have such a clear understanding of everyone's connections." Rong Youlue was the first time to clearly understand the commander of the main regiment under his command.

"Okay! As long as you and I don't die in this battle in Hengyang, I will guarantee that you will be the deputy commander of the 190th Division. ”

As for the matter of making big promises, there is no official who is not proficient in it.

However, Colonel Pan, who thanked him repeatedly, probably didn’t take it too seriously. When he chose to go to the division headquarters to persuade the major general to come to Hengyang, he was already prepared to die in battle.

However, it depends on how he dies. If he dies here with all the brothers in the regiment, he will not be willing to do so.

Rong Youlue called Tang Dao and briefly described the situation in Jiangdong. He asked Tang Dao to help him and asked Fang Xianjue to approve the withdrawal of the 190th Division to Hengyang City.

Originally, Rong Youlue had planned it, and he would not hesitate to use the relationship of Commander Xue to ask Tang Dao for a favor. Who knew that he just briefly introduced and stated his needs, and Tang Dao did not even hesitate, and directly agreed: "Don't worry, Commander Rong, I will take care of this matter, and you should prepare to withdraw immediately. However, before Commander Fang approves, your troops had better hold their ground and do not act without authorization, so as not to repeat the mistake of the half-crossing of Tanzhou! ”

In fact, the Battle of Jiangdong is also a battlefield that Tang Dao has been paying attention to.

In the past, the 54th Division was responsible for guarding the Hengyang Airport. As a result, after the heavy attack of the Japanese army, the division immediately collapsed and directly abandoned the city and fled to Guilin. Seven or eight thousand troops were wasted. If the division was withdrawn back to the city in time after destroying the airport, Hengyang City would have had seven or eight thousand fresh troops, and perhaps the result would have been much better.

You know, after a month of defense of Hengyang City, the 11th Army was also exhausted, otherwise it would not have frequently sent personnel to negotiate with the 10th Army in the city.

Tang Dao personally felt that instead of letting 1,600 elite troops be consumed by the Japanese army at the Hengyang Airport outside the city, it would be better to withdraw to the city or to the north of the city, so that the Japanese could bleed more.

However, Tang Dao also underestimated Fang Xianjue's persistence.

"Tang Dao, you are confused! Wearing this uniform, if you encounter an enemy, you should fight to the death. Hengyang is now an isolated city, with more than 70,000 soldiers and civilians here. Even if it is three for one, it will cost more than 20,000 Japanese heads. It's the same to die there. Don't you understand this principle? "Fang Xianjue criticized Tang Dao harshly.

Originally, Fang Xianjue was very satisfied with the battle report of the 190th Division in the past two days. Nearly a thousand enemies were killed in Leihe and Hengyang Airport in one night. As a result, they have not been able to get better for two days, but they are avoiding fighting. Isn't this the style of that commander Xue?

This is somewhat related to factions and personal identity. In order to take care of his own little piece of land, General Xue often sacrifices the interests of other factions. The 10th Army is more like a child without a mother in the 9th War Zone, and is often excluded. When he heard that the 190th Division, which had just gone upstream two days ago, was avoiding fighting, he was naturally extremely angry.

"Sir, please don't be angry. You are right. Soldiers should have the courage and duty to kill the enemy. However, in the face of a war, brothers are united and their strength is invincible. Commander Rong may have other thoughts, but the fact that he led 2,000 brothers from the 190th Division back to Hengyang City itself shows that they are not cowards.

If you let them withdraw, the brothers of the 190th Division will not feel abandoned by their parents. Moreover, the battle of Hengyang is definitely not something that can be completed in two or three days. We must be prepared for long-term combat, plan for the long term, and keep more reserves!

As for the issue of killing the enemy you mentioned, I guarantee that after the 190th Division withdraws, it will be able to fight one against two and double the number of enemies. I will issue you a military order. If the 190th Division cannot do it, then my Four-Line Regiment will guarantee it. My brothers from the Four-Line Regiment will kill more and make up for their difference. 3,000 Japanese lives, one less, Tang Dao's head is here, take it to make up!" Tang Dao said on the phone.

Tang Dao dared to say this, of course, it was based on historical facts. In the past, the 190th Division had 5,000 people in Hengyang City, and they killed at least three times more Japanese troops than themselves.

At this time, there were no cowards in the Chinese soldiers in Hengyang! In other words, even if they had been cowards before, they were tempered into fine steel in such a war, even if it was passive.

Fang Xianjue would not say anything. Tang Dao had said so much, so he could only give up. In the afternoon of the same day, he ordered the 190th Division to withdraw to Hengyang at 12 o'clock at night.

After hearing that Tang Dao had signed a military order for them, a major general and an army colonel of the 190th Division were moved to tears.

Later, it was proved that the evacuation operation that night was really timely enough.

An infantry regiment of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army actually took advantage of the night to march quickly to Jiangdong, and arrived at the rear wing of Hengyang Airport at five in the morning.

As a result, the 190th Division, which had learned from the failure of the 4th Army in Tanzhou, relied on hundreds of boatmen to support bamboo rafts and quietly sent more than 1,600 officers and soldiers back to Hengyang City in more than three hours.

The Japanese army quietly gathered heavy troops and occupied the Hengyang Airport, which had become a ruin.

But it is undeniable that after dawn on June 4, the number of Japanese troops besieging the city had reached 70,000, and they surrounded the suburbs of Hengyang on all sides and the city of Hengyang.

The isolated city has been built!