In 1944, the Japanese army in the Pacific battlefield was defeated and retreated, the War of Resistance Against Japan also entered the late stage, in order to reverse the unfavorable situation in the Pacific Theater, the Japanese army concentrated its forces on the Chinese battlefield, in the face of the large-scale invasion of the Japanese army, the Chinese army swore to resist with flesh and blood, this year the Chinese territory launched a number of tragic and tragic battles, the Battle of Hengyang is the most tragic and sensational battle inside.
In the Battle of Hengyang, our army fought with 17,000 soldiers and 100,000 Japanese troops for 47 days without reinforcements, eventually causing 80% of the enemy's casualties.
The Battle of Hengyang was the most casualty-taking and longest-lasting urban offensive and defensive battle between the chinese anti-japanese war and the enemy, and it was the most tragic battle in the history of the Japanese army, and Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo stepped down.
What really happened at the Battle of Hengyang? What tragic experiences did the Chinese army go through before it severely damaged the Japanese army? During the 47 days of defending the city, what kind of difficult choices did our army face? Before getting to the point, new friends can pay attention to it a little bit, not miss the wonderful content of the future, and review the previous videos.
The Japanese invaded en masse
Hengyang is located at the junction of the Xianggui Railway and the Guangdong-Han Railway, and has a very important strategic location as the transportation hub of the Southwest Highway.
Because of traffic reasons, many institutions and companies that moved from the front to the rear gathered in Hengyang, and Hengyang soon became an important industrial and commercial city in the rear.
Before the outbreak of the battle, Hengyang was not invaded by the flames of war, and it was thought that hengyang could escape the war Andiyang became the main target of the Japanese attack, but also stemmed from the "No. 1 Combat Plan" launched by the Japanese army.
On July 7, 1937, the Japanese garrison launched an attack on the Lugou Bridge, opening the prelude to the National War of Resistance Against Japan.
In the face of the atrocities of Japanese imperialism's aggression against China and the loss of a large part of the country's territory, it has become the responsibility of every Chinese people to save the nation's peril.
Subsequently, the Chinese nation united and launched a heroic confrontation with the Invading Japanese Army. But Japan's ambitions were not limited to this, and in 1941 the Japanese Navy launched an attack on Pearl Harbor in the United States, provoking the Pacific War.
With the deepening of the Pacific War, the strategic center of the Japanese Army has been shifted, and the Japanese army's communication supply line at sea has also been cut off by the US army, in order to allow materials and soldiers to bypass the encirclement of the US Navy, Japan intends to open up the land communication line from China to Vietnam to ensure the supply of Japanese troops in the Southeast Asian battlefield. This is what the Japanese army called
"Operation One"
of the plan.
From April to December 1944, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression had entered a period of stalemate. In order to open the transportation line of the Chinese mainland, 410,000 Japanese troops invaded Henan, Hunan and Guangxi in a large scale.
In the face of the fierce attack and massacre of the Japanese army, our army vowed to resist to the death, and the Battle of Yuxianggui was officially launched.
The prepared Japanese army was not only well armed, but also very advanced in equipment and weapons.
With the large-scale attack of the Japanese army, our army was defeated and retreated, and many places were continuously lost, and after the successive fall of Xuchang, Luoyang, and Changsha, the Japanese army's military peak pointed directly at Hengyang, Hunan.
The victories in previous battles had boosted the morale of the Japanese army, and the Japanese commander, Isamu Yokoyama, threatened that they could capture Hengyang in three days.
On June 21, 1944, on the eve of the Arrival of the Japanese Army in Hengyang, Chiang Kai-shek deliberately summoned Fang Xianjue, ordered the other side to defend Yueyang City, and promised that after two weeks, reinforcements could be sent to relieve the danger of Hengyang.
In the face of the great righteousness of the country, Fang Xianjue did not hesitate and firmly told Chiang Kai-shek that no matter what sacrifices he made, he would fight to the end and guard Hengyang City.
Fang Xianjue began to enlist in the army at the age of 22, fighting all the way in the battlefield to fight against the enemy, facing the imminent artillery fire of the Japanese army, he did not have the slightest fear.
Moreover, the previous defeat in the defense of Changde made Fang Xianju have the intention of making meritorious deeds, and after the 10th Army he led received the order to guard Hengyang, he made up his mind to defend Hengyang well.
According to Chiang Kai-shek's plan, the 10th Army led by Fang Xianjue was firmly defending Hengyang, and then he dispatched reinforcements around him to surround and annihilate the Japanese divisions, and was sure to win the Battle of Hengyang. Fang Xian felt that Chiang Kai-shek's promise to break the siege within 48 hours was even more full of confidence.
However, no one expected that the Battle of Hengyang would end in such a tragic way, and it was thought that it would only take two weeks to resist the Japanese army, but it persisted for 47 days under the efforts of hengyang soldiers and people.
Before the war began, the people in Hengyang spontaneously donated food and supplies to transport ammunition to the defenders. The railways and roads to Hengyang were also secretly destroyed by the people, which affected the transportation routes of the Japanese army. The Anti-Japanese War Support Association also united with local workers and used millions of pieces of wood to build fortifications in Hengyang City, building a solid defense system, which played a very large defensive role for the later Battle of Hengyang.
It was precisely because of the efforts of the people of Hengyang City that the Hengyang defenders could persist for nearly two months without reinforcements.
The Battle of Hengyang began
On June 23, 1944, the Japanese 68th Division crossed the Xiang River and approached the outskirts of Hengyang City, and the Japanese army marched in three ways to launch a fierce attack on the Chinese troops guarding the city of Hengyang.
At that time, the army stationed in Hengyang City had just finished other battles and had no time to recover, and the entire division of the 190th Division even had only about 1200 people left.
Fang Xianjue could only piece together, and in the end only gathered about 17,600 defenders, but the Japanese army that was already in the city had 100,000 people.
Therefore, before the war began, many Kuomintang generals did not have any hope for the Battle of Hengyang, believing that it would eventually fall like the Battle of Changsha, and that it was only a matter of time before it fell.
Before the defense of Hengyang began, Zhang Zuoxiang of the artillery battalion of the 10th Army was ordered to receive 12 American mountain guns to Hengyang, but he was detained twice by other Kuomintang members in the middle of the way, and it was under the intervention of Chiang Kai-shek that they let Zhang Zuoxiang go back, but the 12 cannons were still detained 6. It can be seen that at that time, the Kuomintang did not think that Hengyang could last long, which was also the idea of the Japanese army commander Yokoyama.
On June 23, the Japanese army had fully surrounded hengyang city and launched the first round of attack.
The Hengyang defenders fought back, and with their strong fortifications and favorable terrain, they inflicted a large number of casualties on the elite Japanese troops.
On the first day of the battle, the Japanese did not even capture the outer walls and suffered heavy losses.
Before the battle began, Fang Xianjue ordered his subordinates to dig a huge fortress outside Hengyang, and in front of the position was an artificial cliff four or five meters high, and the advance of the Japanese army was heavily hindered.
The Japanese army's attack was repeatedly repelled by our army, and in the face of Hengyang's strong defenses and the steady stream of shells, the Japanese army was so angry that it attacked the Hengyang defenders with poisonous gas.
Countless Molotov cocktails and gas bottles were thrown at our army's stronghold, and a sea of fire suddenly lit up at the stronghold, and the scattered poisonous gas did not give people a chance to hide, and more than 80 people were poisoned and killed in the seventh company guarding the Wuguiling position.
Despite the huge sacrifices, our defenders never flinched, they were not afraid of death, stubborn resistance, eliminated thousands of Japanese troops, the siege force only advanced less than a kilometer, many attack failures, so that Yokoyama Wasamu was greatly annoyed, can only suspend the attack to discuss tactics. The stop of the Japanese attack made all sectors of society who had no hope for the Battle of Hengyang rejoice, believing that this was a turning point in the war.
Then Chiang Kai-shek telegraphed fang to the first awakening, and then insisted on two more weeks, and reinforcements arrived.
However, in this battle, although the Japanese army suffered heavy damage, our losses were not small, the defenders, engineers, peasants, etc. who were originally guarding the outskirts of Hengyang were buried under the artillery fire of the Japanese army, and Zhang Deshan, commander of the Seventh Company, and all the soldiers of the whole company all died heroically, and they never retreated until the last moment.
The fierce attack of the Japanese army destroyed most of the fortifications outside the city, and our army could only retreat step by step, holding under the second line of defense.
Moreover, in order to block the Japanese attack, our side consumed a large amount of explosives and bullets, and the supply line was also cut off by the Japanese army, resulting in airdrops falling into the hands of the enemy, and there were few grain bombs left in the city according to the standard of half a month.
Many soldiers could only use salt water to make rice to eat, and it was difficult to find a jar of pickles, but also due to the bombing of Japanese bombers, the sauce tank ruptured and flies were everywhere.
As the war progressed, the number of wounded increased dramatically, but there was a shortage of medical supplies.
By July 10, there were more than 3,000 wounded in the city, and they had to scrub the wounds with salt water for disinfection purposes, but the hot weather also accelerated the deterioration of the wounds.
The continuous attack of Japanese bombers caused the destruction of the city's houses, and the wounded soldiers had to hide in the broken walls and rubble, accompanied by gravel dust, the hot summer sun and flies and mosquitoes.
In July, Hengyang was steaming hot, full of bullet marks and blood, and the dead bodies were too late to be collected, accompanied by the cries of the wounded, like a purgatory on earth.
Although the Japanese army has been temporarily repelled, in the face of a large number of Japanese troops and support materials, our army's ability to fight again is weak. Despite such a critical situation, no one is willing to back down.
On July 11, the Japanese launched a second general offensive, in order to take Hengyang City as soon as possible, the Japanese army began to use poison gas on a large scale, firing a large number of poison gas bombs and shells into Hengyang City. In order to resist the Japanese gas attack, Fang Xianjue concentrated the gas masks of the whole army and sent them to the front line to support the defenders trapped in the center of the poison gas.
But the number of masks was simply not enough, and many defenders had to dig two holes in wet towels and cover their faces.
But this was simply not able to resist the high concentration of poison gas, and a large number of soldiers died of poisoning pain.
In the face of the inhumane gas attack of the Japanese army and the continuous attack, our army's food and ammunition continued to be depleted, a large number of wounded people lost their lives because they could not be treated, and the number of defenders in the city was sharply reduced.
Fang Xianjue and others had also considered a breakthrough, and if they broke out, what would the wounded in the city do? Judging from the cruel acts of the Japanese army, it is entirely possible to slaughter the city after entering the city. Fang Xianjue and others could only dispel this idea, fighting the attacking Japanese army on the one hand, and anxiously waiting for chiang kai-shek's promised reinforcements on the other hand.
Later in the campaign
So did Chiang Kai-shek send reinforcements? Chiang Kai-shek did fulfill his promise and repeatedly sent reinforcements to relieve the siege of Hengyang.
Just as the Japanese launched their first attack, he mobilized multiple legions to support Hengyang from the east and the west.
The Japanese army also quickly detected the movement of the reinforcements, and sent layers of troops to block the reinforcements, which not only could not break through the Japanese defense line, but also could not take care of their own safety.
There was a way that reinforcements had reached the Hengyang Railway Station, and Fang Xian felt that he knew that he would immediately send someone to meet him, but the reinforcements quickly retreated after seeing the Japanese reinforcements, so that Fang Xianjue's responders pounced.
This also means that the Kuomintang reinforcements are only following orders and are still reluctant to support Hengyang, after all, in the eyes of many people, the fall of Hengyang is only a matter of time, they do not have the determination to die, and they will not charge hard in the face of the Japanese reinforcements.
So although Chiang Kai-shek fulfilled his promise and sent reinforcements to Hengyang many times, in the end, none of the reinforcements came to Hengyang.
On August 4, the third general offensive of the Japanese army on Hengyang City began again, and Yokoyama Yong personally came to the front line and mobilized all the surrounding forces to throw himself into the siege of Hengyang.
The Japanese army regrouped and launched a large-scale attack, but the defenders in Hengyang City were exhausted, and there was no material support, and there was little ammunition left, a Hengyang City that was almost full of wounded and incapacitated, and a Hengyang City that had been crippled by Japanese shells, how could it stop the menacing attack of the Japanese army.
In desperation, all the people who could move in the city raised their weapons, and the grooms, the grooms, the medical soldiers, and the people who were defending the city spontaneously threw themselves into various positions, engaged the Japanese army in a fierce battle, and bravely died. So far, the city has been covered with corpses and flies.
On August 7, the Hengyang garrison had blocked the Japanese army for 46 days, and Fang Xianjue finally sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, indicating that the defenders had suffered heavy casualties and their determination to martyr the country.
After sending the telegram, Fang Xianju disbanded the army, and then took out a pistol and pointed it at his head, but his action was stopped by the adjutant. This day was fang Xianjue's saddest day, he looked at the wounded in the city and hengyang city that had been destroyed by artillery fire, and made a difficult choice.
On the evening of this day, Fang Xianjue sent the chief of the adjutant of the 10th Army as a representative to contact the Japanese army and ask for an armistice.
The representatives of the defenders also brought Fang Xianjue's conditions, the first of which was that this was only a truce, not a surrender. In addition, the Japanese army was not allowed to kill soldiers in the city, but to treat the wounded. After 47 days of stalemate battle, not only the Hengyang defenders suffered heavy losses, but the Japanese army directly killed about 20,000 people, nearly 60,000 people were seriously injured, if the war continued, the damage of the Japanese army would continue to increase, so after careful consideration, the Japanese army agreed to the conditions of the armistice.
At noon on August 8, Hengyang fell into enemy hands, a battle that lasted 47 days and ended in a crushing victory for the Japanese.
Although Hengyang eventually fell, in this battle, our army gave the Japanese army a heavy blow to 100,000 people with more than 17,000 troops, without supplies and support, which was a unique battle in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and it was also a situation that the Japanese army had never encountered.
Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo was the main person in charge of the Japanese army's "No. 1 combat plan", at that time he had lost popularity in Japan, this plan can be said to be his desperate struggle, but he did not expect that the Battle of Hengyang involved the Japanese army for 47 days, and caused major damage to the Japanese army, and the opposition to him was also getting louder and louder, and Hideki Tojo could only resign.
The 47-day defense of Hengyang left a series of tragic figures, and of the 17,000 people in our garrison, nearly 6,000 were killed and 7,000 were injured, and 3,147 people were sacrificed to support the people in the defense of Hengyang. The Battle of Hengyang not only broke the japanese army's bold words of breaking through the Xianggui Line and blocked the pace of the Japanese army's advance, but also played out China's national prestige and the integrity of the Chinese nation. As Chairman Mao said, every soldier in the Battle of Hengyang was a hero.