When Hitler attacked Poland in September 1939, Japan in Asia became ecstatic, and the newly elected Cabinet of Nobuyuki Abe proposed that at a time when World War II broke out, Europe would have no time to look east, and "resolve the Chinese incident with all its might."
On September 12, the Central China Dispatch Army changed to the Chinese Dispatch Army, and on September 14, the 11th Army under the Dispatch Army issued an order to fight in Changsha, planning to attack Changsha from three directions: ganxi, southern Hubei, and northern Hunan.
On the battlefield of Beacon Hill on the north bank of the New Wall river in northern Hunan Province, a scene of surprise to the Japanese army was staged, and a 500-man position attack and defense battle made the Japanese army re-acquaint themselves with the Chinese soldiers.
(Film Battle Changsha)
In the eyes of the Japanese troops, as long as they want to attack a certain place, the sword is pointed, the attack must be won, the ground is stable, and the big battle is not a week, and the small battle is not more than 1 day, but the battle of Grass Shoe Ridge made them change their views.
Grass Shoe Ridge, 5 kilometers north of Beacon Mountain, a dangerous mountain, flanked by high mountains, a canyon in the middle, through the South Ridge down to the Xinqiang River, across the Xinqiang River and then across the Miluo River to the outskirts of Changsha.
The 3rd Battalion of the 1131st Regiment of the 195th Division of the 52nd Army of the 9th Theater, the commander of the battalion was Major Shi Enhua, who led more than 500 brothers to block the Japanese troops moving south here.
The attack on this line was nara unit of the 13th Division of Okamura Ninji's 11th Army, and he led 2 companies of 5,000 men to cross the ridge.
(Battle Map)
On September 20, fighting began.
The terrain of the Grass Shoe Ridge is not very high, but the mountain streams and rock cracks are vigorous and the grass and trees are conducive to concealment, and our army took advantage of this geographical advantage to strike dangerously and repulse several attacks by the Nara troops. Blocking 5,000 Japanese troops was not allowed to move forward on the 2nd.
For this reason, Shi Enhua's troops also suffered heavy casualties, and half of the brothers were killed in this mountain.
Fighting for 2 days without a small position of 500 people was simply incredible for the Japanese army, and even more humiliating for Nara, which had 2 companies of 5,000 people.
Nara analyzed that judging from the combat firepower, the other side had at most 1 battalion, so why couldn't it be taken? He decided to readjust the offensive forces.
(Our army at the Battle of Grass Shoe Ridge)
Who would Nara know that the battalion commander on this side, Shi Enhua, was determined to hold the ground to the death.
Shi Enhua, a 29-year-old graduate of huangpu eighth term and a native of Calciyang, Hubei Province, threw himself into the anti-Japanese battlefield as soon as he graduated, from platoon commander to company commander to battalion commander, all of whom were promoted by division commander Qin Yizhi.
Qin recalled that Shi Enhua was a man of integrity and bravery in battle, and one of his older brothers, Shi Ronghua, was the seventh period of Huangpu and was also a subordinate of Qin Yizhi, who died in the Battle of Taierzhuang.
At this time, Shi Enhua was defending the Grass Shoe Ridge with his death, "As long as I am here, I will never allow Rikou to pass by me!" ”
(Shnwahl, 1910-1939)
Shi Enhua wondered, why is the Japanese invasion so powerful? Why did he dare to bully Chinese so viciously in Nanjing? We are inferior to people, guns are inferior to people, and only by fighting to the death can we repel the Japanese army.
Besides, half of my 500 brothers have been buried here for a long time in this battle, so why should I live?!
With this determination, Shi Enhua and Nara stumbled to the end, personally commanding the front line in the battle, the shoulder was hit by the enemy, the regimental commander asked him to retreat, he resolutely did not listen, and fought again on the spot.
The next evening, division commander Qin Yizhi called:
"Commander Shi, you have blocked the enemy's offensive according to the predetermined task, and bought time for the whole division to adjust its deployment, and now that the task has been completed, if you cannot hold out, you will have to retreat to the east..."
Before the division commander could finish speaking, Shi Enhua interrupted him:
"Division, soldiers have no last resort!" Since you have handed over the position to me, as long as there are still one soldier and one pawn left, you will coexist and die with the position! ”
(Battle Changsha Movie Picture)
Commander Qin was silent, not knowing how to salute these brothers, and finally said: "Commander Shi, I would like to express my respect to all the officers and men of the battalion!" ”
Putting down the phone, Shi Enhua said aloud to his brothers:
"Brethren, our task has been accomplished, and the Master says we can retreat. But more than half of our brethren can never be withdrawn! As the commander of a battalion, I did not want to survive and was determined to live with the position. Some of you are willing to withdraw, you can go now, I will not stop. ”
There was silence in the wilderness, and no one walked.
At dusk that day, all the officers and men of the 3rd Battalion died heroically...
After the war, the Japanese army ordered nearby villagers to clean up the bodies on the ridge, and thousands of nearby villagers came to see what it was like to fight with the Japanese and Kou for three days and three nights, and beat 5,000 Japanese troops who could not get close to the grass shoe ridge.
(Shi Enhua Revolutionary Martyrs' Book)
When they saw that there were many corpses on the mountains and there was not a single complete body, the people could not help but cry on their knees.
The bravery of the Chinese army in Grass Shoe Ridge shocked the Japanese army, and Japanese historical records record that after the heroic sacrifice of the officers and men of the 3rd Battalion, Major General Nara led the Japanese officers and men to "bow and salute with great respect."
After the war, the government built a monument for the 3rd Battalion in the fierce battleground.
For the commander of the historical camp, the Whampoa Military Academy History Museum has this record:
"Shi Yishi Enhua, a native of Hubei Province. Just stern, not smiling, with extraordinary ambitions. ”
According to the memories of historians, it is even more tearful:
"You second Bournehua, anti-Japanese, in Changsha." Shi Enhua's mother often nagged to his grandchildren, "Enhua left after 3 days of marriage and never returned." ”