On the morning of August 7, 1944, Yokoyama mobilized the strength of four divisions and regiments to launch a third general offensive against Hengyang. At this time, the defenders could only fight more than a thousand soldiers, and ammunition was extremely scarce. Fang Xianjue's communication and telephone lines with his subordinate departments were all blown up by the heavy artillery of the Japanese army, and they could only fight separately. Even under such difficult circumstances, the defenders stubbornly held out for a day. On 8 August, his subordinates proposed a breakout to Fang Xianjue, but he refused.
Fang Xianjue said: "It is easy to break through, but we have highlighted it, what about the remaining 8,000 wounded soldiers?" Can you bear to leave them for the Japanese devils to slaughter? If we do this, what kind of face will we have to lead the troops in the future! To die, we die together, to commit suicide, I will do it first! He then drew his gun and prepared to kill himself, but fortunately the adjutant was quick in his eyes and shot down his pistol. In the end, the surviving soldiers of the 10th Army were disarmed by the Japanese army, and senior generals, including Fang Xianjue, were imprisoned by the Japanese army. So how did they escape later?
The first to escape were Zhou Qingxiang, commander of the 3rd Division, and Sun Mingyu, chief of staff of the army, who were imprisoned in a Catholic church outside Hengyang City, and one night three weeks later, the two escaped over the wall using the window frame as a ladder. After escaping, Zhou Qingxiang first came to Guangxi, where he reorganized some scattered troops to rebuild the 3rd Division, and at the end of 44 he came to Chongqing and was appointed deputy commander of the 10th Army.
On November 19, 1944, after three months of captivity, Fang Xianjue successfully escaped under the supervision of military agents, arrived in Chongqing and was received by Chiang Kai-shek and appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the 36th Army. After that, until the Japanese surrendered, Fang Xianjue stayed in the rear and never fought a single battle with the Japanese army. In March 1983, Fang Xianjue died of illness in Taipei at the age of 78.
The last to escape were Rong Youluo, commander of the 190th Division, and Ge Xiancai, commander of the Pre-10th Division, whose escape process was rather thrilling. After Zhou Qingxiang and Fang Xianjue escaped, the Japanese army transferred Rong Youluo and Ge Xiancai to the "Lianhu Academy" surrounded by water on three sides and imprisoned them, and sent a small group of soldiers to guard them. More than 4 months later, they escaped by digging a hole with the cooperation of the military command, and were found by the Japanese army on the way and shot and pursued, thanks to the careful deployment of the rescue plan, under the obstruction of the receiving troops, the two finally escaped. After that, he went to Zhijiang Airport in Xiangxi and arrived in Chongqing by plane. Rong Youluo successively served as the commander of the 64th Army and the commander of the Third Road of the Hainan Defense General Command, and died of illness in Taiwan in 1982 at the age of 76. Ge Xiancai successively served as the brigade commander of the 192nd Brigade of the 28th Army and the commander of the 192nd Division of the reorganized 23rd Army, and died in Taiwan in 1997 at the age of 93.