As we all know, the founding general Chen Mingren was a fierce general who fought very well and had a strong personality. His appearance rate in the epic drama of the Liberation War is not low, and the role he plays is difficult to replace, which is a merit or a demerit, and history has given a fair evaluation.
In fact, Chen Mingren also had many highlights during the War of Resistance Against Japan, the most representative of which was undoubtedly the Battle of Huilongshan, which he personally commanded during the expedition to Burma under his leadership of the Seventy-first Army in 1944.
It can be said that this is the Battle of Liwei in the history of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and it is also the most incendiary war, and it is this battle that makes Chen Mingren, a bloody army, famous in the history of Chinese and foreign wars.
At that time, Huang Jie, commander-in-chief of the New Eleventh Group Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, encountered a hard bone shortly after taking office, that is, the core position of the Japanese army on the main road of the China-Myanmar Highway - Huilongshan.
Although this mountain is not very famous, but the terrain is peculiar, easy to defend and difficult to attack, coupled with the Japanese army built extremely strong fortifications here, so that the Chinese Expeditionary Force, although heavy casualties, but still delayed to conquer.
Huang Jie was so anxious that he could only pin his hopes on Chen Mingren and his Seventy-first Army.
However, in the recent extremely tragic Battle of Matsuyama, the Seventy-first Army was also seriously reduced. In order to calm their breath, Huang Jie once made a "gentleman's agreement" with Chen Mingren: unless it was a last resort, the Seventy-first Army would not be mobilized for the time being.
However, Huilongshan was unable to conquer for a long time, and the situation was precarious, so Huang Jie could only put aside the "Gentleman's Agreement" and plead with Chen Mingren to take Huilongshan to reverse the decline.
Although the Seventy-first Army was not in order and its vitality had not yet recovered, Chen Mingren could not bear to sit back and watch the friendly forces suffer heavy setbacks, and second, he also understood that this battle was of great significance, and the Allies and chongqing sides were paying close attention, so they accepted this arduous task without saying a word.
Unexpectedly, the US military headquarters gave Huang Jie and Chen Mingren a downfall, and they said that they would no longer send planes to provide combat assistance and materials on the grounds that the Chinese army was ineffective in the operation of retaking Longshan.
In other words, their attitude is very clear: you Chinese fight on your own, anyway, our Allies (actually dominated by the US military) are indifferent.
Huang Jie could only say good things, saying that Commander Chen Mingren was in danger and was ordered to attack Huilongshan with all his might, and asked the US army to continue to provide air assistance.
The REPRESENTATIVE of the US Army said to Chen Mingren: "Commander Chen, how long will it take you to conquer Longshan?" ”
Chen Mingren replied without hesitation: "Three days is enough!" ”
"Why three days?"
"Tomorrow the troops will be transferred, and the day after tomorrow they will receive the position from the friendly forces, and the day after tomorrow they will take back to Longshan!"
"Oh? It only takes one day to knock down Huilong Mountain? The REPRESENTATIVE of the US Military showed an expression of disbelief, "What is the basis for you to say such a big thing?" ”
"Why is it a big deal?" Chen Mingren's face was very serious, and he said in an extremely resolute tone, "I am a lieutenant general of the Chinese army, and I will never open my mouth, since I said I can do it, I will definitely do it!" ”
The REPRESENTATIVE OF THE US MILITARY STILL HAD DOUBTS: "What if the attack on the mountain fails on the third day?" ”
Chen Mingren looked at the crowd at the scene and replied emphatically: "If I can't attack this mountain before dark on the third day, I will die in front of the battle!" ”
"There is no joke in the army, do you dare to make a military order?"
"What's not to dare!"
The U.S. military representative had nothing more to say, so he agreed to continue providing air aid after asking the Allied headquarters.
However, Chen Mingren did not "thank Dade" for the assistance of the US side, but put forward a request: Whether it is the US air force or the artillery of the Nationalist army, on the day of the general offensive, he Chen Mingren must unify and command.
Perhaps because the stakes were indeed so high that this request was approved by the US command and He Yingqin, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, at the same time.
Chen Mingren took the order and left, and prepared for battle step by step.
At dawn on the third day, the battle to return to Longshan was officially launched under the command of Chen Mingren.
Interestingly, there were many spectators holding telescopes near the battlefield - in addition to Huang Qixiang, deputy commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Huang Jie, commander of the Eleventh Army, Shao Bochang, commander of artillery, and other Chinese generals, there were several representatives of the US army.
The course of the battle was not smooth, because the Japanese army relied on the unique terrain advantage of Huilong Mountain to fight to the death, and the countless attacks launched by the officers of the Seventy-first Army were fruitless, and they were still fighting for a long time until 3 p.m.
The Chinese generals who watched the battle secretly sweated for Chen Mingren.
Several US representatives who were waiting to see a good play began to sneer: "God, let the sun set more slowly, otherwise General Chen's head will move, and after today, he will no longer be able to brag!" ”
Chen Mingren always had a calm face, and he confidently said to the "guests" watching the battle: "Everyone is a soldier, they will not understand, if they do not fight until the last moment, it is difficult to see whether they will win or lose."
It will be dark in two hours, and at that time I will still not be able to attack Longshan, so I am willing to cut myself, and I will die in front of the battle, and there will be no joke! Please wait and see!
”
He called the three regimental commanders who were overseeing the battle at the front and redeployed the fighting.
Then he personally went to the front line and gave the cadres of the regiment and battalion a final mobilization -
"We still have the last two hours to attack Huilongshan. Whether this battle is successful or unsuccessful has a bearing on the honor, disgrace, and future of all the officers and men of our Seventy-first Army, on the prestige of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and even more on the success or failure of the War of Resistance! ”
"You have fought side by side with me for many years, and you are all Chinese soldiers who have endured many battles and overcome difficulties, how can you tolerate the Japanese Kou's great arrogance in front of our Seventy-first Army?" How can we tolerate American jokes about our Seventy-first Army? ”
"Now that it is the final decisive battle, we can only move forward, not backward; we can only succeed, we cannot fail!" As a military commander, I will also lead all the personnel of the military department to fight side by side with you, and if we cannot attack Longshan within two hours, we will die together at the foot of the mountain, and we will never go back to let people laugh! ”
The commander personally went into battle, and the morale of the whole army was greatly boosted! When the trumpet of the general offensive sounded again, the officers of the Seventy-first Army were like angry waves crashing on the shore and the fierce tiger came out of the cage, fighting the most burning battle in the history of the Chinese Expeditionary Force!
The result of this battle was that as Chen Mingren said, the Seventy-first Army did indeed capture Huilong Mountain from the Japanese before dark!
The representatives of the US military witnessed this process with their own eyes and were completely subdued by Chen Mingren and the officers and men of the Seventy-first Army: "General Chen was ordered to take orders in danger, dared to make an oath in public, and did what he said, he was really a bloody Chinese general!" The Seventy-first Army is worthy of being an outstanding representative of the Chinese army! ”
This battle not only greatly enhanced the prestige of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, but also made Chen Mingren famous in the history of Chinese and foreign wars because of the long reports of the US military reporters.
(Note: The events described in this article are true events and are recorded in historical materials such as the History of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the History of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.) ）