Changzhi, the seat of the ancient Lu Prefecture, has been a place of contention for soldiers since ancient times.
In February 1938, a Sichuan army and the Invading Japanese Army fought a solid battle in this area.
On February 17, the Japanese 108th Division attacked Changzhi from three directions: north, east, and south.
Guarding Changzhi was the 312th Brigade of the 104th Division of the 47th Army of the Sichuan Army, and the brigade commander Li Keyuan.
The war has not yet started, but it is destined to be a fierce war, why? Leaving aside the advantages and disadvantages of weapons, since the establishment of the 47th Army of the Sichuan Army, it has never experienced a defensive battle in the true sense.
Knowing that sacrifice must also be brave, this spirit of generous death to defend the country is the main theme of this article.
Li Keyuan, the brigade commander of the 312th Brigade, responded actively, set up the city defense headquarters at the intersection of the city center, and ordered the first battalion of the 624th Regiment to garrison the northeast gate; the third battalion to garrison the southwest gate, and a row of sentries outside the city to monitor the enemy.
February 19, 1938
The intense sound of gunfire tore through the pre-battle tense atmosphere in Changzhi City.
On the ground, more than a dozen Japanese artillery pieces were fired in unison; in the air, several enemy planes roared and dropped bombs...
After some wild bombardment, the large japanese troops quickly advanced to both sides of the city wall, and from the north, east and west sides, they surrounded Changzhi City heavily...
February 20, 1938
On the ground, the Japanese concentrated all their artillery at the north gate and fired a fierce bombardment at the north city.
In the sky, three enemy planes roared and circled, dropping bombs and strafing at Changzhi City, killing more than a dozen innocent civilians.
As soon as the enemy's artillery stopped, under the cover of dozens of heavy machine guns, the Japanese army rushed towards the Changzhi City Wall like a tide.
Suddenly, the soldiers of the 312th Brigade hidden in the artillery hole suddenly climbed the city wall, and the soldiers of the 312th Brigade were condescending, pulling rifles and machine gun triggers, and the Japanese troops under the city wall suffered heavy casualties, so they had to retreat under the cover of heavy machine guns.
February 21, 1938
The Japanese concentrated their artillery fire again and bombarded the northern city of Changzhi, and the strong city wall was torn open by a gap, and the Japanese quickly occupied the gap and tried to capture both sides of the city wall.
The soldiers of the 312th Brigade on the city wall resisted desperately and repelled the enemy's attack many times. Relying on the superiority of firepower, the enemy finally climbed the city wall through the gap, and the two sides immediately began to fight.
In the melee battle on the city wall, the commander of a company of the 312th Brigade was stabbed five times in the chest and died heroically, and the other company commander was shot in the head and martyred...
The 312nd Brigade was about to organize a counterattack, and the enemy aircraft attacked again, firing fiercely at the northern city wall, and under the cover of aircraft machine guns, the Japanese army rushed into the North Gate Street, and the north city wall was lost.
Under the attack of the enemy's powerful firepower and crazy attack, the east and west gates of Changzhi City were lost one after another, and more enemies poured into the city.
The offensive and defensive battles have been transformed into fierce street battles, and a battalion commander of the 312th Brigade has been killed by several bullets.
At this time, Changzhi, except for the corner of the south gate, was everywhere in a fierce fight. After Li Keyuan, the commander of the 312nd Brigade, dispatched the last reserve team, he gathered the staff officers, guards, and brothers of the brigade and regiment, distributed weapons, and threw themselves into a fierce battle.
In the face of the enemy's strong fire, the soldiers of the 312th Brigade continued to fall. Later, the war has become a fierce white-knife fight, forming a tug-of-war situation, the number of dead and wounded on both sides has been increasing, and the corpses have crossed the streets and roads.
The fierce fighting continued until the afternoon, the 312nd Brigade had run out of ammunition, and Changzhi had become an isolated city. In order to preserve the anti-war forces, after reporting to the army and division for approval, the 312 brigade had to abandon the city and break through.
After issuing the order to break through, Li Keyuan, the commander of the 312th Brigade, did not evacuate first, but returned to the center of the city again with a pistol in his hand, commanding the reserve team to fight street by street and lane, covering the retreat of the troops in turn.
In the end, only more than 400 people of the 312nd Brigade broke through the siege, and the brigade commander Li Keyuan, the deputy brigade commander Li Guangyuan, the deputy regimental commander Du Changsong, and the staff officer Li Haodong were seriously injured.
The officers and men who failed to retreat out of the city all fought to the death, and some seriously injured officers and men blew themselves up in the city and martyred themselves. According to statistics, there were more than a thousand officers and men killed in the city, including battalion commander Yang Yuemin.
After the war, the Nationalist government's Central News Agency and Xinhua Daily reported on the Battle of Changzhi respectively.
The Central News Agency issued an article saying, "The military apparatus is inferior to the superiority of the enemy army, but the spirit of sacrifice of officers and men is admirable." In Changzhi City, the whole regiment was martyred, and after the bullets were finished, they followed the hand-to-hand combat with the enemy with their rifle butts and fists and feet. Officers and soldiers preferred to starve to death rather than plunder, and were deeply admired by the people. ”
In an article, "Xinhua News Agency" said, "Li Keyuan, commander of our garrison, and other soldiers led the soldiers to fight hand-to-hand in the streets and killed a lot of enemies, and the battalion commander Yang Yuesong and the company commander Xia Futao fought bloodily and sacrificed their lives for the country." ”
The spirit of Li Jiayu's Forty-seventh Army in indomitable and indomitable and successor in battle was not only praised and affirmed by the military and people of our country, but also admired by their opponents.
The spirit of the 312nd Brigade of the Sichuan Army of not fearing sacrifice and fighting hard against the enemy has not only won the praise of compatriots throughout the country, but also won the respect of its opponents.
After the battle, the Japanese army moved the bodies of more than a thousand 312 brigade soldiers who had died to the south gate for burial, and then came to the burial site one after another to stand upright and salute the sacrificial officers and men of the 312 brigade.