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The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was a war that caused profound disasters to the Chinese nation and a war that had a far-reaching impact on our nation. In this catastrophe of the life and death of our nation, countless ancestors threw their heads and spilled their blood for the cause of our nation's liberation, waged unyielding resistance, and finally drove the aggressors out of the country, interpreting the heroic and bloody side of the Chinese nation.
Throughout World War II, in this vast war of humanity against fascist atrocities, today's historians recognize that the Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point on the Eastern Front, the Battle of Midway was a turning point in the Pacific War, and the Battle of El Alamein was a turning point in the North African theater. The turning point in China's frontal battlefield is what we want to talk about today: the Battle of Xuefeng Mountain.
The Battle of Xuefeng Mountain is called the "Battle of Zhijiang" in the Japanese army's data, and our side is called the Battle of Xiangxi or the Battle of Xuefeng Mountain. It is also a victorious battle worth commemorating for the Chinese nation. It set a lot of records. For example, it was the last large-scale offensive launched by the Japanese army on the battlefield of China, and after the disastrous defeat, the Japanese army has no strength to launch a large-scale attack since then.
At the same time, it also created a record for the first time since the Chinese army faced the Japanese army, the loss ratio was lower than that of the Japanese army, in this battle, the Chinese army paid 21, 000 casualties in exchange for more than 25,000 Casualties of the Japanese Army, which had never been seen in countless battles before the War of Resistance. It can also be seen here that at this time, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army began to fully decline, and the Japanese army began to face the reality, change its strategy, and completely gather troops to completely defend important cities.
At the same time, this battle was also the most captured Japanese by the Chinese army. In this battle, more than 300 Japanese soldiers were captured. There are also 447 people, which have never been seen in previous battles. After the war, Wang Yaowu went to the prisoner of war camp for a walk, and according to his recollection, many of the Captured Japanese soldiers were only seventeen or eighteen years old. Later, when the commander's office learned that so many Japanese soldiers had been captured, there were 42 officers among them, and even Chiang Kai-shek was very surprised.
In this battle, more than 90 Japanese military flags were also captured, which had never been done before. The flag is the highest honor of the army in any army. In the Japanese army, as long as there is one person left, it is necessary to keep the flag to the death, and those who are familiar with that period of history know the fighting quality and will to fight of the Japanese soldiers, and if the troops are the last person left, they must first burn the flag, and then charge or commit suicide. The capture of so many military flags in this battle fully proves the overwhelming and rapid nature of our army's attack.
At the same time, in the later stages of the battle, the supreme commander of the Japanese army, Okamura Ningji, was still relatively rational, and ordered the end of the battle and the retreat of the troops. At that time, if his order was delayed by a few days, more than 100,000 Japanese troops participating in the battle would most likely suffer the fate of total annihilation.
These record creations are not only the pride of the Chinese people, but also the memory that our nation should always leave behind. However, what many people do not know is that this big victory began with a big shame. Let's take a look at the context at the time.
In 1943, with the victories at the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Midway, and the Battle of El Alamein, the World War II World Anti-Fascist War ushered in turning points in various battlefields in the world. On November 27, the Cairo Declaration of China, the United States, and the United Kingdom was signed in Egypt. The Allies began to enter a full-scale counteroffensive. In the Pacific Theater, the Japanese army also lost one after another.
However, in the Chinese battlefield, there have been strange phenomena, because the Japanese army in the Pacific is constantly suppressed by the US army, and the sea traffic is constantly threatened. The Japanese headquarters wanted to ensure the connection of land lines of communication while eliminating the threat of Chinese airports to the Japanese occupation zone. It was therefore decided to "wage a large-scale field battle that would run from north to south of Chinese mainland to French Indochina" in succession. This led to the famous Battle of Yuxianggui, and sadly, it also triggered the great rout of the Nationalist army, which Chiang Kai-shek regarded as a great shame.
At that time, the situation on the frontal battlefield was unbearable, the Kuomintang army was basically on the verge of collapse, one division after another lost ground, and the Japanese army was like entering no man's land. The battle began in March and ended in December, lasting 10 months. The Japanese army invested 500,000 troops, and China eventually lost 500,000 troops, a large area of land, and weapons that could equip 40 divisions. The main reasons for this great defeat were the passive resistance of senior generals of the Nationalist army, their attempts to preserve their strength, and the corruption of the army and the lack of military discipline. It was also during this battle that the people lost confidence in the Nationalist army's resistance to Japan, and there was a strange story in Henan where the people surrounded the Nationalist army and surrendered their weapons.
Wang Yaowu, the commander of the 74th Army at the time, had been promoted to commander of the 24th Army Group, and had the 73rd Army, 74th Army and 100th Army under his command. The commander of the 74th Army was taken over by Shi Zhongcheng, the commander of the 100th Army, and Li Tianxia was transferred to the 100th Army and promoted to commander. Wang Yaowu fished out from prison Yu Chengwan, who had been imprisoned for fleeing during the Battle of Changde, and took over Li Tianxia's position as deputy commander of the 74th Army.
While Yu Chengwan, the commander of the 57th Division, was imprisoned, deputy division commander Li Yan had already taken over as commander of the 57th Division. At that time, Qiu Weida also graduated from the Army University and returned to the army to serve as the chief of staff of Wang Yaowu's group army. By May, Zhang Lingfu was also promoted to deputy commander, and deputy division commander Cai Renjie took over as commander of the 58th Division. At this time, the 58th Division was temporarily assigned to Li Tianxia of the 100th Army, and the 74th Army was returned in August.
In the Battle of Yuxianggui, Wang Yaowu, as commander-in-chief of the 24th Group Army, led Shi Zhongcheng of the 74th Army, Li Tianxia of the 100th Army, Peng Weiren of the 73rd Army, and Wang Jiaben of the 79th Army to participate in the Battle of Changheng, which began at the end of May and lasted for a total of three weeks.
The most famous battle in the Battle of Changheng was the Xianjue Department of the 10th Army under the command of Li Yutang, deputy commander-in-chief of the 27th Group Army, which painstakingly held Hengyang City for more than 40 days, killing and wounding the soldiers and running out of ammunition. During these forty days, the nationalist troops on the outskirts of the siege were passive, including the 74th Army, only Li Tianxia's 100th Army, Wang Jiaben's 79th Army and 62nd Army attacked the vicinity of Hengyang.
By August 8, the 100th Army finally attacked Wuli Pavilion, and standing on the top of the hill, it was already possible to see the houses in Hengyang City, but it was too late, and Fang Xianjue had desperately led the officers and soldiers who were unable to resist to surrender to the Japanese army in order to save the wounded soldiers, and Li Tianxia had to withdraw his troops for this reason. At this time, the 74th Army led by Zhang Lingfu was still 20 miles away at Ji'wo Mountain. For this reason, the 74th Army, the ace unit of the Nationalist Army, which has been performing well in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, has been criticized for this.
Battle map of the Battle of Changheng
After the war, due to poor rescue, the generals of the 74th Army were criticized from all walks of life, and were criticized and ordered to investigate at the highest level. But later, because Fang Xianjue quietly fled back to Chongqing and was also awarded a Qingtian White Sun Medal, out of political necessity, and it was precisely on the occasion of the employment of personnel, the Investigation of the Nationalist top level's ineffective rescue of the 74th Army in this battle was finally dismissed.
However, this great rout, in the international background at that time, caused a bad impact and consequences on China. After the war, Chiang Kai-shek once commented that the honor of Chinese soldiers was completely "swept away." "Foreigners no longer regard our army as an army, nor do they regard our soldiers as a soldier!" It is we ourselves who have incurred this shame. ”
More serious is the impact and loss of national interests at the international level.
First, the Chinese battlefield has lost its original strategic value in the US Pacific operational plan, and the United States no longer supports China's recovery of Hong Kong sovereignty.
Second. Providing an excuse for British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to deliberately belittle China's position in the world's anti-fascist struggle, the British ambassador to China at that time made it clear that he did not recognize China's status as a great power.
Third, leading to the independence of Outer Mongolia, the three great powers of britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union reached a secret agreement at the Yalta Conference, betraying many Chinese interests, including allowing China's territory Outer Mongolia to become independent under soviet protection.
At that time, when the Japanese army invading China was already in the sunset, and the US Air Force still fully controlled the air superiority, the Nationalist forces that were several times larger than the other side were still beaten so badly, losing hundreds of thousands of divisions and losing thousands of miles of land. So much so that some people in the US military even judged that if Chiang Kai-shek's leadership continued, the Japanese army might occupy China for a long time.
For this reason, because of the fiasco of this battle, Roosevelt was extremely dissatisfied with Chiang Kai-shek, and even once asked him to hand over the command of the Chinese theater to the American Stilwell, which caused countless contradictions between the two sides. Of course, the so-called weak countries have no diplomacy, and the reason for these serious consequences is certainly due to the political factors of great powers and powers in the United States, Britain, and other countries, but the fundamental direct cause is still due to the kuomintang army's own indisputable spirit.
The Battle of Changheng, as part of this conference battle, also known as the Fourth Battle of Changsha, ended in defeat. The performance of the 74th Army, as the ace main force participating in this battle, was indeed unsatisfactory, first in the north of Xiangxiang was repelled by the Japanese 40th Division, Xiangxiang was occupied, and then in the battle of Jinlan Temple, which reinforced Hengyang, faced with more than 200 defenders, the strength of two divisions, and the support of the US air force, it attacked for several days before it was completely occupied, delaying the reinforcement process.
Subsequently, the Japanese army blocked the Jiwo Mountain, which was only ten kilometers away from Hengyang, and could not advance. In the end, Fang Xianjue's last bit of resistance was completely exhausted, and in order to protect all the thousands of wounded soldiers, he had to surrender, and Zhang Lingfu, commander of the 58th Division, sighed very regretfully afterwards: "If you had arrived two days earlier...!" ”。
Unfortunately, history cannot assume that the Battle of Changheng cannot deny that the 74th Army still fought bravely and tenaciously, but the delay in rescue was indeed a foregone conclusion, which eventually led to the fall of Hengyang, and finally led to the defeat of the entire Battle of Changheng.
However, in the post-war summary, the old Chiang kai-shek did not know whether it was out of political need or to encourage the morale of the 74th Army, but Wang Yaowu himself was praised. Zhang Lingfu, commander of the 58th Division of the 74th Army, was also awarded the Baoding Medal and the Order of Loyalty. Despite this, Shi Zhongcheng, commander of the 74th Army, was still severely criticized, and in the face of accusations and doubts from all walks of life, the 74th Army, which has always been known as the "Iron Army of the War of Resistance", can be imagined in its heart, and has been holding its breath up and down.
Fast forward to 1945, and the force finally had the opportunity to make a name for itself.
After entering 1945, the fate of the Axis powers was irreversible. Italy surrendered to the Allies; Soviet, American, and British armies invaded Germany from the east, west, and south, and the fall of Berlin was just around the corner.
By April 1, U.S. troops landed in the Ryukyu Islands, and the Japanese defense line was breached. On April 7, near okinawa, the U.S. military buried the Yamato, the world's largest battleship known as the "darling of the Empire," to the bottom of the sea, and japan's last bit of naval power has disappeared completely.
At the same time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force has also opened the Burma Road, the aid materials have been continuously entered China, the equipment of the Nationalist army has been renewed, the combat effectiveness has been enhanced, and it is also actively preparing for a counteroffensive. However, the Japanese were not willing to lose, and were still desperately fighting for the final resistance, and the Japanese base camp formulated a battle plan during this period.
Zhijiang Airport
The name of the plan is: Zhijiang Battle. The purpose was to occupy the Zhijiang airfield, which was a great threat to the Japanese invasion of China at that time. During the Battle of Yuxianggui, the Japanese destroyed almost all chinese airfields that threatened the rear, but left a Zhijiang airfield.
The bombers that took off from the local area not only dealt a heavy blow to the strategic targets of the Japanese army in north China, but also directly threatened the important strategic facilities of the Japanese army in the Taiwan area, and even threatened the Japanese mainland. The Japanese believe that in future defensive operations, the Chinese and AMERICAN air forces taking off from Zhijiang Airfield are the biggest threat to them. At the same time, the destruction of this airport is also conducive to maintaining the smooth flow of the Cantonese-Han Railway. If successful, it would not only boost the morale of the army and strengthen the defense force; it would also gain some capital to coordinate relations with the Soviet Union and save its demise.
However, at that time, due to the victory in the Battle of Yuxianggui, the Japanese army occupied a large part of China's territory, and the troops were more dispersed and tighter. At the same time, due to the gradual defeat in the Pacific War, a large number of elites were transferred to various islands in the Pacific, and the combat effectiveness of the remaining Chinese army was much worse than before.
Therefore, this is actually a gambling attack forced to be launched under extremely unfavorable circumstances. Against the backdrop of a final struggle before drowning, the Japanese army in Hunan launched its last offensive operation on the Chinese battlefield: the Battle of Xuefeng Mountain.
In this period, let's look at the Chinese military.
In the gap between this period, Wang Yaowu vigorously reorganized the troops for nearly a year, during which he also set up a group army general class. For promising officers, they are specially sent to military academies for training, among which the officers who are in the ranks are sent to the Whampoa Military Academy's second branch or higher education class for further training, the staff officers are sent to the southwest staff class, and the quartermasters are sent to the quartermaster school, and the senior general school is selected to be sent to the Indian Tactical School for training.
Looking at the entire 24th Group Army at this time, the whole 24th Group Army was united in its efforts, strictly trained, strictly disciplined, and the upper and lower appearance of the troops was even more renewed, and it was already an absolute tiger division in terms of both will to fight and combat effectiveness. It was also in this year that Chiang Kai-shek designated the 74th Army as a model army and asked the whole army to popularize the tactics and tactics of the 74th Army.
At the same time, in the winter of 1944, the United States decided to assist the National Army with 25 divisions of American armament. Among them, the 74th Army, as the main force, was fully replenished. At the same time, the General Headquarters of the Allied Chinese Theater Army was established, and He Yingqin was appointed as the commander-in-chief, with a total of four fronts under his command. The 24th Army was expanded into the 4th Front, and the 18th Army, another ace, Hu Chain, was transferred to the 4th Front. Units above the entire 74th Army are equipped with U.S. military advisers for communication and equipment adjustment.
Wang Yaowu served as commander of the 4th Front. The commanders of the other three fronts were: Lu Han of the 1st Front, Zhang Fakui of the 2nd Front, and Tang Enbo of the 3rd Front.
In March 1945, with the help of Wang Yaowu, Zhang Lingfu was sent to the Army University to study the second phase of the General Officer Class A for three months, regrettably missing the battle. This battle was the last general battle on China's frontal battlefield during the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and it was also the only battle under Wang Yaowu's independent command, in which the Nationalist army achieved a rare complete victory. Wang Yaowu was also greatly shocked by this.
In April 1945, 200,000 people from 6 divisions of the Japanese army invaded western Hunan in an attempt to open an important gateway to Xiangqian and provoke this battle. On the night of April 13, Lieutenant General Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, commander of the Japanese 20th Army, commanded the troops to attack the west in three ways. Wang Yaowu's 4th Front, as the main force, formally encountered the enemy in the Xuefeng Mountain area.
At that time, the battle plan was drawn up by Chief of Staff Qiu Weida, and after Wang Yaowu approved it, he reported to He Yingqin for approval and implementation. The Chinese side's battle plan was deployed as follows: Shi Zhongcheng of the 74th Army was in charge of the Wugang to Anjiang area, Li Tianxia of the 100th Army was in charge of the Longhui area, Han Jun of the 73rd Army was in charge of the Xinhua area, Mou Tingfang of the 94th Army was stationed in hongjiang, and Hu Lian of the 18th Army controlled the Anjiang and Qianyang areas.
The New 6th Army, which had frightened the Japanese army in the Burmese battlefield, was airlifted back from the Indo-Burmese battlefield as a mobile unit and placed under the command of Wang Yaowu as a strategic reserve.
At that time, under Wang Yaowu's command, in addition to Li Tianxia's 100th Army, the other 5 corps had all been transformed into American equipment, with a total of 150,000 troops, and the strength was actually far above the Japanese army, coupled with the absolute air superiority already occupied, it can be said that the Chinese side has completely occupied the overall superiority. At that time, Wang Yaowu divided the headquarters into two, sat in Anjiang to command the overall situation, and Qiu Weida set up a forward command post in Chenxi, commanded the left wing troops and contacted wang Jingjiu's corps in the 6th Theater of Operations.
Wang Yaowu
In the first phase of the campaign, Wang Yaowu adopted a defensive strategy, with the armies holding their existing positions, and the Japanese army repeatedly tried to break through, but they were crushed. At that time, the 74th Army and the 100th Army were given the task of the most difficult frontal blockade battle. Let's take a look at the performance of the 74th Army in the campaign.
On April 12, the Japanese 34th Division began to attack Xinning, the Japanese army in the cooperation of tanks and nearly a hundred artillery from three sides launched a strong attack, garrisoned in Xinning only 74 Army 58 Division a battalion, the battle situation is fierce, fierce fighting, this hundreds of people battalion actually resisted the 34th Division thousands of main forces of the three-day strong attack.
In the Wugang defense, the other unit of the 58th Division was also extremely tenacious, and the imposing Japanese army only broke through the simple defense line outside the city after paying a heavy price. The last line of defense, the Wugang City Wall, was extremely strong, and was deliberately built with a mixture of glutinous rice and triad clay, and the Heavy Artillery of the Japanese Army could not destroy it at all. At the same time, the defensive firepower of the 58th Division was also extremely complete and fierce.
Under repeated setbacks, the Japanese army's attack has been almost crazy, using the Bushido spirit and the tactics of the sea of people to fight to the death, and even use the most primitive siege method to build wooden ladders to climb up, the Chinese defenders use American flamethrowers to deal with, countless wooden ladders were burned, a large number of Japanese troops braved fireballs to fall from the ladder, while the defenders on the city wall used a large number of Thomson submachine guns to fiercely strafe the dense Japanese troops under the city, and the Japanese troops under the city fell one by one, and the corpses piled up, and the scene was extremely tragic.
After a few days of fierce fighting, under the tenacious will to fight of the officers and men of the 58th Division, the Japanese army paid a huge price, but even the head of the city of Wugang could not be climbed. Subsequently, with the reinforcement of the 44th Division, the 58th Division attacked Kaicheng, and the Japanese army that besieged the city was defeated and the whole army collapsed to the Suining front. It has greatly boosted the military prestige and morale of the Chinese army.
In the Japanese attack on Gaosha City and Shanmen Town, the 57th Division of the 74th Army also fought fiercely with the Japanese army for four days, the Japanese army did not make any achievements, on April 25, the main force of the Japanese 116th Division arrived and continued to launch a fierce attack, but the 57th Division was on a par with the other side, and the Japanese army never moved forward.
Friends who are familiar with the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression know that the personnel establishment of a division and regiment of the Japanese army is equivalent to that of an army of the Nationalist army, and in the past examples of war, the combat effectiveness of a company of the Japanese army is equivalent to the combat effectiveness of a division of the Nationalist army. In previous examples, there were many examples of Japanese troops defeating a division of the Nationalist army with one brigade.
As mentioned earlier, in the Battle of Changheng above, the 74th Army was repulsed by the Japanese 40th Division. This time, an undermanned division of the 74th Army actually blocked the attack of a Japanese division and regiment, and also let the war get stuck. In addition to the equipment factor, we can also see the rapid improvement of the combat effectiveness of the 74th Army.
For this point, we can also look at the history of the Japanese army after the war, for this battle, the description of the Japanese army is: "The Chinese army is full of fighting spirit, the national armament and equipment firepower is extremely powerful, the ammunition is abundant, the automatic weapons are extremely large, the position construction is also very clever, even if our army occupies a position, it will suffer from the surrounding firepower." From these descriptions, we can see that the combat effectiveness of the 74th Army at that time changed from quantitative to qualitative.
In the first phase of the defensive operation, the Chinese army was a great success. By this time, the Japanese army's various offensives had been stubbornly blocked, consuming a large number of living forces, but many troops had only advanced for less than a few tens of miles, and more than 6,000 people of the 109th Wing, the fastest and deepest Japanese unit, had been surrounded by Chinese army regiments.
The 4th Front And the 27th Group Army, with only a few armies on the front line, had already held on to key positions and inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese army, achieving brilliant results. And at this moment, there are still a large number of reserves such as the New Sixth Army and other main forces that have not yet been used.
Since then, the conditions for counter-offensive have been ripe, and on April 24, Wang Yaowu convened a military conference, and He Yingqin and Us military operations commander McRu also rushed to Wang Yaowu's command post to begin to determine the second phase of the operational policy and battle plan.
At that time, the operational plan proposed by Chief of Staff Qiu Weida was: "With the strength of a reinforced army, quickly encircle the enemy from the left wing, insert the enemy's flank and back from Chenxi and Pupu and then go in and out to the south, and cooperate with the first line corps to cut off the Xiangqian Highway and then surround and encircle the enemy."
Today's former site of the Xuefeng Mountain Battlefield
Liao Yaoxiang, who was present, opposed this plan, believing that "putting the US armament troops on the trail in the mountains is tantamount to wasting their own advantages." The plan proposed was: a frontal attack, using the advantage to break through from the center, fully compress the Japanese army to the area west of Zishui, and then annihilate it.
Both plans made sense, and the debate continued until late at night, and finally, under the influence of He Yingqin, Qiu Weida's plan was decided to be adopted, and Hu Lian's 18th Army was responsible for cutting off the Xiangqian Highway. Hu Lian also fulfilled his mission, successfully completed the task, and completely cut off and blocked the Xiangqian Highway. In this way, the 200,000 Japanese troops who penetrated deep into the Xuefeng Mountains were all in danger.
On May 1, Wang Yaowu's 4th Front launched a full-scale counterattack, and the Japanese army was forced to switch from offensive operations to defensive operations on the 3rd. The Japanese commander, Lieutenant General Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, saw that the situation was unfavorable and issued a retreat order on May 4. On the same day, He Yingqin, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army, also issued an order to divert the direction of attack.
Under this order, Wang Yaowu decided to comprehensively shift the offensive at dawn on May 8, focusing the decisive battle on both flanks, hoping to suppress the Japanese army at the eastern foothills of Xuefeng Mountain and surround and annihilate them. The Chinese army began a comprehensive counteroffensive, and under the hatred of the country and the family for several years, the Chinese soldiers rushed to be the first and bravely attacked. In the end, one brigade and four companies on the Japanese side were completely annihilated, and one division was severely damaged.
On June 1, the last remaining Japanese 47th Division was completed, and all the Japanese troops retreated to the pre-battle site, ending the Battle of Xuefeng Mountain, which lasted for more than 50 days and nights. The victory in this battle was one of the few battles since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in which the Kuomintang army completely defeated the Japanese army.
The victory in this battle completely wiped out the haze left by the great rout of Yu Xianggui, saved a certain degree of international influence for China, and greatly enhanced China's international status and national pride. After the battle, dozens of people in the Nationalist army were awarded various medals by the Allies, among which He Yingqin, Wang Yaowu and Qiu Weida received the highest rank of medals. The 74th Army and the 57th Division each received a flying tiger flag, the highest honor at the time.
Japanese weapons captured in the Battle
Of course, there were many units participating in this battle, and the five main forces of the Guangguo Army included the 74th Army, the 18th Army, and the New 6th Army. Everyone is indispensable, but objectively speaking, the greatest contribution is still the 74th Army, from the tenacious resistance at the beginning of the campaign to the final pursuit of the enemy, the whole process of continuous combat for a month and a half. It is the troop that sacrifices and pays the most.
In the process of encircling and annihilating the 109th Wing, the tactics of the Chinese army can also be remarkable, abandoning the previous tactics of human sea impact, first bombarding with heavy artillery, then the infantry launching a charge, encountering Japanese resistance to immediately stop the attack, and then using mortars and rocket launchers and other weapons for precision strikes. Under such tactics, our losses were drastically reduced, and as a large number of Japanese forces were continuously wiped out. The 109th Wing was quickly overwhelmed, and in just one day, the Ace Wing was completely defeated and wiped out at Longtan.
In the process, the Japanese army also had a strange incident, the 109th Wing saw that it was cornered, and even sent an interpreter to offer to surrender. This is rare in the entire military history of the Japanese army. But what is even more reassuring is that we did not accept it. In the end, the 109th Wing Commander Tera Takiho Saburo and his entire squadron were all buried here.
I once saw a data that after the battle, the captured Japanese troops said: The troops of the 74th Army are very fierce, the bravery in the attack is not to say, the soldiers are also very grumpy, and when they see the surrendered Japanese troops on the position, they first slap the Japanese soldiers in the eye, and after returning to the garrison, they often punch and kick, and some of them also hit them with rifle butts, and the 58th Division of the 74th Army that hit people the most was the 58th Division of the 74th Army.
The 58th Division is also the unit with the largest casualties in this battle, for these acts we can understand, although the violation of discipline, but sometimes the troops do need this kind of tiger and wolf spirit, so often there is an unwritten rule in the army, fighting is generally not much care, the purpose is to cultivate this brave and bloody side of the soldiers. Friends who have watched "Bright Sword" are estimated to be very familiar, and the troops with this tiger and wolf spirit are often extremely effective.
At the same time, under the hatred of the broken national enemies in the mountains and rivers, and witnessing the tragic deaths of countless comrades who live and die together under the guns and heavy artillery of the enemy, I believe that for anyone, the hatred in their hearts is difficult to suppress. Therefore, although we disagree with it in our mouths, we can understand it in our hearts.
Finally, let's talk about the escape of the 116th Division in this battle, which has caused countless controversies.
In fact, as early as May 9, after the news of Germany's surrender came, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese dispatch army, Okamura Ninji, ordered the termination of the operation, and the troops were ready to withdraw the order from the original garrison. Therefore, at that time in China, whether in the front or in the rear, some people began to be blindly optimistic, thinking that victory was within reach. He Yingqin even reported the victory to Chongqing, and the slogan "Celebrating the Great Victory in Western Hunan Province" appeared in the streets and alleys of Chongqing.
But in fact, at that time, the war in front of us was still raging. But some people at the top of the Kuomintang can't wait. Because the Sixth National Congress of the Kuomintang will be held from May 5 to 21, it is hoped that He Yingqin will make a report on the great victory in western Hunan at the meeting. Therefore, in this context, Yang Botao, the commander of the 11th Division under Hu Lian, received orders to open an opening of several hundred meters in the Shixia River and let the Japanese 116th Division escape. This left a huge regret for the complete victory of the battle.
It is also said that many years later, in the war criminal detention center Gongdelin, Yang Botao still had residual anger after seeing Wang Yaowu. It is said that there was such a conversation at that time:
Yang Botao: "You are a hero of the Japanese, you are a sinner of the Chinese!" Wang Yaowu replied, "Yes, I am following the old man's orders, and you are following my orders, so the old man is responsible, and I am also responsible..."
Yang Botao finally sighed, "The last opening was opened by me." We are all sinners of history! ”
It was also at this National Congress of the Kuomintang that Wang Yaowu was elected as an executive member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang and ascended to a political high position at the age of 40.
If there really was such a thing, Yang Botao, as a soldier, would not dare to disobey. We can understand this. However, there is also a soldier who showed his backbone on this matter and disobeyed this order, that is, the chief of staff, Qiu Weida. It is said that this incident was later recorded in Qiu Weida's memoirs.
At that time, Qiu Weida was in the forward command post, in charge of the command of the left wing troops, including the 18th Army. The memoirs say that Wang Yaowu and He Yingqin both called Qiu Weida about this matter, and wang Yaowu said: "..... Study how to end this war as soon as possible, and just open an opening near the Dongkou Highway. He Yingqin said: "The military must cooperate with politics."
At that time, Qiu Weida resolutely opposed, and finally under pressure, his answer was: "If you really want to do this, I, as the chief of staff, I can't implement it, the stakes are too great, I will not agree, if you must do this, you will call the troops below yourself." ”
He Yingqin at the Zhujie Conference after the victory of the Xiangxi Conference
For this controversy, I personally find it difficult to believe, because even if chongqing holds a meeting, there is no need to open an "opening" to let go of a division of the Japanese army. If this matter is exposed, it will not cause an uproar and trigger serious political consequences, and I believe that old Chiang Kai-shek will not dare to bear its seriousness, and wouldn't annihilation have a better political propaganda effect? A few days late will not affect anything.
At the same time, the 116th Division had already been beaten to death at longtan at the end of April, and they were also the troops with the heaviest losses in this battle, if they were really surrounded, it should not be difficult to annihilate, and at the same time, judging by Hu Lian's character, he was extremely cautious and thoughtful, and he could not and absolutely did not dare to issue this "kindness" at such a big political risk.
In addition, judging from the above information, it was Wang Yaowu who directly ordered Yang Botao, but the 18th Army belonged to Chen Cheng's troops and was temporarily allocated to Wang Yaowu's command, and the factions in the nationalist army were complex, with Wang Yaowu as such an exquisite person, and Yang Botao only directly obeyed Hu Lian's orders, and it was impossible for him to bypass Hu Lian and directly give such absurd orders to Yang Botao.
So this "supposedly" is indeed a lot of confusing places, but after so many years of history, the dust and smoke have been fixed, and we are afraid that we will never know the truth. However, I would rather believe the fact that the 116th Division was received by the 47th Division and fled.
However, in any case, the performance of this battle allowed the 74th Army to completely walk out of the haze of the great rout of that year, and this shameful and courageous force once again justified itself. He also proved once again that he was worthy of the name of the "Anti-Japanese Iron Army", and since then he has stood proud of all armies and become the first of the five main forces in the Kuomintang army. Two months later, on August 15, the Japanese army announced its unconditional surrender, the 74th Army was airlifted to the capital Nanjing to be surrendered, giving the highest honor, countless 74th Army officers and soldiers were excited by this great moment with tears, and since then the 74th Army has garrisoned Nanjing, also known as the "Royal Forest Army".
The years flow quietly, more than eighty years have passed, looking back on the past, the heart is surging and the case is endless. In this difficult period of national life and death, our nation has paid too much and sacrificed too much for this, and in this history of blood and fire, the Chinese nation has once again proved its strong backbone with blood. This is a history in which the Chinese nation has suffered profound disasters, but it is also a great history that interprets the indomitable soul of the Chinese nation.
The tide of history is vast and rushing, rolling away. Today, as future generations, we should forget the strife of those years, and what we should remember even more is that they will always be the ancestors of our nation, and in this fierce struggle of national life and death, it is these ancestors who have used their own blood and lives to preserve our living space and preserve our land for our descendants.
Cemetery of anti-Japanese fallen soldiers on Bow Mountain in Longtan Town, Pupu County, Hunan Province
After many years, the motherland is full of loyal souls buried in the green mountains. In the darkness, they still seem to be quietly watching us with deep, complex eyes, as if they are still reminding us not to forget this heavy history, and for them, we should never forget!!!