introduction
Although zhao yun's story of "seven in and seven out" in Changshanpo was fabricated by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, its influence was great, and many military generals liked this bridge section. Fang Jing, the commander of the 11th Division of the 18th Army, was one of them, and in the Battle of Zaoyi in May 1940, he led the 11th Division to defend Dangyang, and also compared the 11th Division to Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, in order to inspire officers and men to resolutely defend the gateway of Yichang.
On the right is a photo of Fang Jing in his later years
I. Ordered in danger: Return to the 11th Division to garrison Dangyang
Fang Jing was Chen Cheng's old subordinate and also an older of the 11 teachers. When Chen Cheng was the commander of the 11th Division, Fang Jing was his regimental commander, and after a series of changes, he was promoted to the commander of the 13th Division of the 75th Army. Before the Battle of Zaoyi, because Hu Lian disobeyed the former division commander Ye Peigao (who wanted to turn right), Chen Cheng had no choice but to transfer Fang Jing back to the 11th Division. Hu Lian dared to pull several regimental leaders to "boycott" Ye Peigao, but he had to think twice about Fang Jing.
Just after returning to the 11th Division, it encountered a hard battle of the Japanese army attacking Yichang, and Fang Jing did not dare to be careless. Yichang was the gateway into Sichuan, and if it was occupied, it could block the south bank of the Yangtze River and shipping to Sichuan. At the same time, we can also wipe out the living forces of the Fifth Theater as much as possible. In this way, Dangyang has become a barrier for Yichang, and if Dangyang is guarded, Yichang will be guarded. This task was ultimately accomplished by Fang Jing's 11th Division, Li Yannian's 2nd Army (the 11th Division was also under Li Yannian's command), and Xiao Zhichu's 26th Army.
Second, the generous oath: not afraid of tens of thousands of japanese troops
In order to take Yichang, the Japanese army launched the 3rd, 13th, and 39th divisions to attack Dangyang, and the Chongqing Headquarters and the commanders of the various theaters all gave repeated orders: They must die in Dangyang. Fang Jing made meticulous arrangements according to the situation on the battlefield.
1. The Thirty-third Regiment guards the south side of Dangyang.
2. The Thirty-first Regiment guards the front and west of Dangyang and the highlands of Jiuzi Mountain.
3. The Thirty-second Regiment guards the east side of Dangyang.
4. The supplementary regiment is a reserve team to guard Nagasaka Slope.
In addition, on the left side of the 11th Division was Li Yannian's 2nd Army, and on the right was Xiao Zhichu's 26th Army. After the team is deployed, it needs to be done to do pre-war mobilization. Fang Jing remembered the historical Dangyang: the Changshan Zhao Zilong who "went in and out of the seven", and zhang Yide, the Yan who "broke the bridge according to the water".
"At that time, Cao Mengde led an army of 800,000 people (known as) to march south to Jingzhou, Zhao Zilong entered and exited seven times in Changshanpo, and Zhang Yide single-handedly drank the 'tiger and leopard ride' on the Dangyang Bridge. Now that the Japanese army is not talking about 800,000, not even 80,000 people, can't our 11th Division hold on? ”
The Japanese army certainly did not have 80,000 people, but the defensive difficulty of the 11th Division was not much smaller than that of Liu Bei at that time, and no matter how brave he was, he had to have the cooperation of friendly troops.
Fight alone: Hold out until the last moment
On June 9, 1940, three Divisions of the Japanese Army attacked Dangyang from three sides. Not long after the fight, a bad news came: the positions of the 76th Division of the Second Army on the left side of the 11th Division had been breached. The position of the 11th Division was tight enough, and Fang Jing was confident that the battle would be fought well, although his left side could be caught by the Japanese at any time.
The Japanese relied on the superiority of equipment, first artillery, then tanks and infantry to fight together. The officers and men of the 11th Division were also not polite, and gathered grenades and gasoline bottles to "greet" them together. The organic soldiers looked at the location where the gasoline bottles were thrown out, and then threw a grenade, and many of the Japanese armored vehicles were destroyed in this way. The battle had been going on for just over an hour, and a battalion of the Thirty-third Regiment had already organized a death squad to conduct a white-knife battle. Although the gap left by the 76th Division allowed a steady stream of Japanese troops to enter the battlefield, the position was still in the hands of the 11th Division.
At 2 p.m., Fang Jing received a call from Xiao Zhichu, the commander of the 26th Army, a phone call that made him helpless. Xiao Zhichu told him that the 26th Army fought very hard, it was difficult to persist, and the specific situation of the 11th Division was left to Fang Jing to decide. Xiao Zhichu finally told Fang Jing before retreating.
All the friendly forces on the left and right sides had retreated, so where did the 11th Division go? Xiao Jing wanted to curse a little, but the war was scorching, and he couldn't let the soldiers see it. So he made a decision: the 11th Division continued to guard Dangyang. At this time, on the high ground of Jiuzi Mountain, the officers and men of the Thirty-first Regiment were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese army.
The Japanese army could not attack for a long time, and then released poisonous gas. Taking advantage of this opportunity, they rushed to the main position. The officers and men of the Thirty-first Regiment could not bear to wear gas masks, as long as those who were still alive took up bayonets and fought. So repeatedly, the two sides killed in the dark, the Japanese troops on the main position were finally wiped out, and the positions of the 11th Division were still not lost.
The officers and men of the 11th Division were desperate, and Li Yannian could not sit still, and he could not watch as Chen Cheng's team was wiped out like this. What's more, the friendly armies have been defeated, and Dangyang can't actually be defended. Finally, he personally called Fang Jing: the 11th Division withdrew from Dangyang.
Yichang
epilogue
At the end of the Battle of Zaoyi, When Yang was lost, Yichang was also lost, but the bravery of the officers and men of the 11th Division was obvious to all. Fang Jing was right: the 11th Division was like Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei at that time, and they pinned the Japanese army to Death in Dangyang. At the very least, with friendly forces withdrawing and the 11th Division fighting alone, they did not lose a single position before retreating.