In the Third Battle of Changsha, when the Japanese army was approaching the Laodao River, Xue Yuecai transferred his headquarters from Changsha to Xi'an, Xiangjiang, and the first order he issued was to let Li Yutang's 10th Army hold Changsha to the death.
Between Li Yutang and Xue Yue, there was a little dispute. At the time of the Second Battle of Changsha, Li Yutang's army was attacked by the Japanese army, the team was also defeated, and he was reprimanded by Xue Yue, and at the Nanyue Military Conference, he was removed from the post of commander. The Central Military Commission originally wanted Zhong Bin to be the new commander, but Zhong Shuai and Li Zongren had a very good relationship and had been dragging their feet.
At this time, the Japanese army attacked Changsha again, and Xue Yue had to protect Li Yutang as acting commander and take the 10th Army to defend Changsha, but Li Yutang did not buy it very much, and finally Chiang Kai-shek came forward to settle the situation.
Under the west city of Changsha is the Xiang River, and on the opposite bank is yuelu Mountain, which is more than 300 meters, which is the best artillery position that can cover the whole city of Changsha. Outside the north and east cities is the Liuyang River, and there is no river in the south city.
After Receiving the task, Li Yutang led people to strengthen the defensive lines inside and outside the city, and built a semi-circular position supported by bunkers, communication trenches, and scattered soldier pits. Inside the city, at major intersections, barbed wire fences, barricades, and shot holes were fired at all the buildings on the streets.
In addition, the xiangjiang waterway, north of Changsha and south of Changsha, are all blocked.
After busy with these things, Li Yutang found a big problem, and the strength of the troops was insufficient.
At that time, the 10th Army had three divisions under it, Zhou Qingxiang's 3rd Division, Fang Xianjue's Reserve 10th Division, and Zhu Yue's 190th Division. The Second Battle of Changsha, shortly after the end, the 10th Army suffered heavy losses, and it had not yet had time to replenish its troops; in fact, to tell the truth, the 10th Army was full and its strength was not enough.
Yuelu Mountain must put one division, then there are only two divisions left in the east bank city.
According to Li Yutang's arrangement, Fang Xianjue prepared the 10th Division at Yuelu Mountain, the 3rd Division of Zhou Qingxiang, the strongest fighting force, controlled the east of the city, and Zhu Yue's 190th Division occupied the position of the city wall, focusing on the key points of the northern and southern suburbs. It was inevitable that there would be no reserve.
Li Yutang was well aware of Xue Yue's temper, and if he applied to be transferred back to the 10th Division at this time, he would definitely be rejected, and if he did not apply, he would not be able to defend Changsha with insufficient troops, and he would eventually suffer losses.
Just when he was anxious like an ant on a hot pot, Li Yutang got a message:
A vanguard unit of Peng Weiren's 73rd Army had already arrived at Yuelu Mountain on December 31.
Li Yutang and his staff officer Cai Yushi discussed whether Fang Xianjue's troops could be transferred back. Cai Yushi said to Li Yutang: You first contact Fang Xianjue and ask about the situation, as long as he agrees, we will do so.
Although Fang Xianjue was a subordinate of Li Yutang, it was Xue Yue's order to guard Yuelu Mountain, and even if he was a little bold, he did not dare to move his position without authorization. Cai Yushi called Fang Xianjue and asked: Commander Fang, the friendly troops have arrived, I think you also know, I and the commander of the army to study, or let you cross the river, you agree no!
Fang Xianjue was also very arrogant: Give me an order, and I will cross the river.
Cai Yushi said: The commander of the army ordered you to cross the river immediately, and Yuelu Mountain was handed over to friendly troops to garrison, and you did not have to worry about other matters, and the commander contacted you.
On December 31, Fang Xianjue's troops began to cross the Xiang River.
Halfway through, the phone of the 10th Army headquarters rang, and Li Yutang and Cai Yu looked at each other, and sure enough, it was Xue Yue who called.
Xue Yue asked: "How did the 10th Division cross the river?"
Cai Yushi replied: Report to the commander, the friendly 73rd Army has arrived, can take the Yuelu Mountain position, pre-10th Division to pull back, Changsha can be protected, otherwise the front of the Changsha defenders is too wide, insufficient troops.
Xue Yue was silent for a while, and directly said: Be careful of your head!
When Cai Yu put down the phone, Li Yutang said next to him: It should be all right, he said be careful of your head, almost agreeing with this practice.
After Fang Xianjue's 10th Division returned, Li Yutang originally wanted it to take over a small position of the 190th Division, but from the map, Changsha was too much like a big pocket, and the south of the city without a river was the entrance, and the defense was the weakest. Therefore, Li Yutang immediately changed the deployment and let the 10th Division occupy the position in the south of the city.
Later, it turned out that this trick was very critical, and we will introduce it later.
At this time, the American heavy artillery regiment and two mortar companies transferred to Guangdong had also all returned to the defense and entered the Yuelu Mountain position, plus the original artillery regiment, so that the entire Yuelu Mountain was woven into a dense artillery fire network.