There is a saying in the "Left Biography": "Do not forget the country in the face of trouble, and be loyal." And by this measure, the number of loyalties and martyrdoms in our country is as innumerable as the stars in the sky.
In the revolutionary years, we sacrificed countless heroes haojie in exchange for today's peaceful days, just like the 8 words written by Ouyang Xiu in the "Sacrifice of Stone Manqing": "Born for The Hero, die for the spirit." Although war is a word that carries pain, there is a war that is a miracle in military history, that is, the defense of Hengyang. Because it lasted for 47 days, it was also called by many military enthusiasts as the "Defense of Moscow in the East". But what everyone doesn't know is that this miracle stems from a small mistake. What really happened back then?
A hot-blooded tough guy who abandoned Wen to join the army
Fang Xianjue is a native of Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, born in 1905. His father passed the Xiucai examination in the last year of the Qing Dynasty, so his family was better off than others since he was a child. As a child, he attended private school and was exposed to traditional Confucianism. In the 6th year of the Republic of China, that is, in 1917, he was admitted to Xuzhou Middle School. At that time, his ambition was to become a lawyer. During his university years, Fang Xianjue was often exposed to revolutionary ideas such as the Three People's Principles, which although they did not have an impact on his ambitions, they always lingered in his mind. At that time, when the Whampoa Military Academy was secretly enrolling students in Shanghai, Fang Xianjue suddenly woke up, and he made up his mind to abandon Wen and join the army, even if he lost his life, he would not regret it.
In 1925, Fang Xianjue was already a student at the Whampoa Military Academy. At that time, one of the military academies embezzled food expenses without permission, which greatly reduced the quality of food and beverages that students ate in the canteen. It should be known that this group of students is in a critical period of physical development, and they are trained as a military reserve, and the quality of each person's physical development will affect the performance on the battlefield in the future. Therefore, the students at that time could not tolerate this embezzlement of the self-enriched person.
Since the position of quartermaster was above that of the students, everyone dared to be angry and did not dare to speak, but Fang Xianjue had the enthusiasm of a young man, and after he learned about this matter, he took several classmates to beat up this quartermaster violently, which could calculate the evil breath in his heart. For these young men, the fist can solve the problem, but the state law school has school rules, even if the corrupt behavior cannot be tolerated by the law. Fang Xianjue's behavior was already a provocation. Later, Fang Xianjue was expelled from the school because of a malicious fight and the following offenses.
Considering that Fang Xianjue was the main culprit, and the other classmates only followed him, he was the only one who was expelled in the whole incident, and all the others retained their student status. At this time, there was only a little more than a month left before Fang Xianjue graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy. That is to say, if Fang Xianjue did not make trouble, he would graduate from Huangpu in a month's time and realize his dream of making meritorious achievements. A moment of recklessness made him pay a painful price, if he was an ordinary person, he had long been suppressed by life and could not lift his head, but he had the spirit of a tough guy exclusive to the military. He has always struggled continuously on the road of revolution and has made great achievements, so that there will be a story that follows.
7 days becomes 47 days
In May 1944, under the strong attack of 500,000 troops of the Japanese army, Changsha fell, and Hengyang was an important place for soldiers at that time, and it was also a key point for the Japanese army to compete, and the Battle of Hengyang was inevitable. At this time, Fang Xianjue happened to be stationed in Hengyang. Although he had rich combat experience, the enemy army was menacing, and the Nationalist government sent him a telegram asking him to lead the officers and men of the city to hold Hengyang as much as possible for 7 days. However, Fang Xianjue heard the wrong order: he thought that his superiors wanted him to hold out for 47 days.
This is an impossible task for ordinary people, but Fang Xianjue is not surprised. Prior to this, he had led the Tenth Army to support Changde, and under the orders of the Military Commission, their tired army began to move again. It should be known that at this time, the Tenth Army had less than 20,000 troops, and the coming Japanese army had at least a hundred thousand troops. The gap in strength did not frighten them, but rather inspired their spirit of living to die.
After experiencing one war after another, the Tenth Army led by Fang Xianjue had already experienced a shortage of supplies in Hengyang. Every soldier was well aware of the gap between himself and the enemy, but neither Fang Xianjue nor every sergeant chose to give up in the face of difficulties. In the inferiority of the war, Fang Xianjue still conscientiously made military deployments, never gave up on himself for a moment, and helped the citizens in the city evacuate and shelter. In his actions and demeanor, it was as if he saw a general with a winning hand, and his perseverance affected the citizens of the city and every soldier under his command. However, no matter how stubbornly they resisted, this difference in military strength was already doomed to face the end of failure. After 47 days of fighting, the entire city of Hengyang was razed to the ground, and the smoke of war was everywhere and devastated.
Recall the process of the whole war, when the Japanese army first attacked Hengyang with firepower, the Japanese army suffered too many casualties after 5 days and voluntarily gave up the attack. In the second attack, the Japanese army used poison gas bombs, causing strong damage to it, but they did not give up, so the Japanese army still did not capture Hengyang City. The Japanese army that attacked in the last time already had the mentality of breaking the ship, with reinforcements and strong armaments, carried out a sweeping attack on the entire Hengyang City.
47 days later, amid the sound of a bombardment, Fang Xianjue sent a telegram, with the determination that he would die. This telegram will soon be sent to Chairman Chiang Kai-shek of the Military Commission in Chongqing, reporting on their tenacious struggle under the circumstances of the casualties of officers and soldiers on the last day. One of the last sentences is shocking: "This electricity is probably the last electricity, goodbye in the next life." In a sense, the nature of this telegram is like Fang Xianjue's suicide note.
Become a miracle in military history
From beginning to end, Fang Xianjue was a qualified soldier who could sacrifice his life for the country at any time, but in order to save innocent soldiers and civilians, he made a choice at the end of his life that surprised the public. He proposed surrender to the Japanese army, but with three conditions: first, to retain the structure of the Tenth Army; second, after the Japanese army entered Hengyang City, they could not kill prisoners; third, after he surrendered, the Japanese army would immediately stop the war, and all wounded officers and soldiers would be treated humanely.
Infuriatingly, the Japanese accepted surrender, but rejected all the conditions of Fang Xianjue. On August 8 of that year, the Japanese captured Hengyang. In the Japanese plan, they only needed three days to capture Hengyang, but they did not expect to encounter the stubborn resistance of the 10th Army, which held out for 47 days while outnumbered, and inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese army. Although this battle did not win the final victory, it bought precious time for our army. And it became a miracle in the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, with the largest number of time and casualties.
After this battle, the speed of Hideki Tojo's downfall was greatly accelerated. To this day, the pace of time has repeatedly moved forward, and the chapters of history have been constantly renewed, but we should always remember the well-being of our ancestors who exchanged their flesh and blood for health. Not every country enjoys peace, and too many around us are still struggling with suffering.
We can often hear around us: "Remember history, do not forget the national shame", and this sentence should not only stay on our lips, but should be deeply engraved in our hearts and become a lingering part of our minds. And we should carry this belief with us and become a screw on the road of national development. As long as each of our Chinese hearts are united, the dilemma will no longer be a dilemma, and we must not only strive for the rise of China, but also put our enthusiasm into action.
bibliography:
"The Left Handbook"
"Sacrifice stone manqing text"