In the 1944 Guilin Defense War, almost all the defenders were killed, the division commander raised his gun and decided on his own, and the Japanese army suffered heavy losses
Text/No Counting Reading History
In 1944, Guilin fell into the hands of the Japanese army, which should have been something to celebrate for the Japanese soldiers.
However, the Japanese army's war report brazenly wrote: "The water of the Li River is stained with the blood of the enemy and our two armies, and the most tragic battle has ever been, not in the scale, but in the bravery of the enemy army." ”
1
background
In 1944, the main force of the Japanese Navy and Air Force had been almost wiped out by the Americans.
At this time, the Japanese commander could not wait to open the defense line of the Chinese army and solve the US air base in China.
In October, the Japanese gave orders to prepare for an attack on Guilin, at which point 150,000 well-equipped and well-trained Japanese troops began to move toward Guilin.
Not only that, but more than 300 tanks, a large number of heavy artillery and a small number of aircraft also rushed in.
At this time in Guilin, the common people had begun to retreat, and the Chinese army and local militia groups in Guilin city were full of calculations, and there were less than 20,000 soldiers.
The defenders in Guilin were not reinforced, mainly because of the different opinions within the Kuomintang.
Chiang Kai-shek believed that Guilin was bound to be unable to hold, so that the soldiers retreated, and holding it out would only increase casualties.
Bai Chongxi believed that it was imperative to stick to Guilin and that time must be bought for the rear.
With this coming and going, Guilin had 20,000 defenders left.
2
Defend the city
On 1 November, Japanese forces attacked Chinese positions in Guilin.
The first target, the outer position of Guilin.
At this time, the Chinese army began to return fire on the position, and more than twenty artillery pieces throughout Guilin City were also pulled out of the city in one breath.
The Japanese troops used tanks as a precursor to resist the fire of the Chinese army, and then the tanks rushed into the soldiers' defenses.
Some soldiers died with the enemy's tanks with explosives packs, but the number of Tanks of the Japanese Army was too large, and the soldiers of the Chinese army could not resist it.
The casualties of the soldiers were very large, and the casualties of the Japanese troops were not small, and there were always Chinese soldiers who dared to rush out and die with them.
Seeing that the battle was like this, the Japanese troops dropped poison gas bombs on the outer positions of Guilin.
A large number of soldiers were poisoned, and their consciousness gradually blurred, but they also used their full body strength to fight with the Japanese army with white blades.
But the outer positions were still lost.
At this time, the soldiers in Guilin were already ready to die, and they poisoned all the wells in the city and implemented the "scorched earth strategy" to prevent the Japanese army from getting a single supply from here.
3
The city is broken
The city was already mostly wounded, and the Chinese and American air forces in the rear flew in, which also gave the Japanese artillery a big blow at this time.
However, the Japanese army still launched a strong attack, and more than 100,000 Japanese soldiers, under the cover of tanks, rushed into the city, and they screamed and screamed.
At this time, the soldiers of the Chinese army were fighting back against the Japanese army in various houses and alleys.
As The Japanese tanks drove in, soldiers rushed out from the side with explosive packs or grenades and pulled hard.
The soldiers are brave, but the Japanese army's offensive is rapid, the soldiers can not stop, Guilin, is falling into the hands of the Japanese army inch by inch.
At this time, the guards persuaded the division commander to break through, and the division commander Que Weiyong burst into tears, the command room was shelled, and the chief of staff and others were already engulfed by artillery fire.
At this time, Que Weiyong was dead or alive, and continued to command the warriors to resist, and finally raised his gun to self-determination.
In the entire Guilin battlefield, no soldier surrendered to the Japanese army when he was sober, and almost all the Defenders of Guilin were killed.
Resources:
"Tragic and Tragic Guilin Defense War", "Bloody Guilin", "Guilin Defense War"