Hengyang is located on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, at the intersection of the Xianggui Railway and the Guangdong-Han Railway, two railways pass through Hengyang, one extends to Guangxi on the west bank of the Xiang River, and the other extends to Guangdong on the east bank of the Xiang River. Since the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War in 1939, Hunan has become the main battlefield of the frontal battlefield, and has experienced the Battle of Changsha and the Battle of Changde, but Hengyang has not yet experienced war.
Because Hengyang belongs to the rear area of Hunan and is also a transportation hub, the people fleeing from northern Hunan and other provinces to the rear area, as well as many military and political logistics agencies, companies and chambers of commerce are stationed here. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Hengyang Airport was stationed with bombers of the mixed Air Force of China and the United States for a long time.
It can be said that in the later period of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the military strategic value of Hengyang completely surpassed that of Changsha.
Before the Battle of Hengyang broke out, all the people believed that the city would be lucky to avoid this war, and the Japanese army, which had become the end of the crossbow, could no longer and did not have the strength to attack Hengyang south of Changsha. However, after entering the summer, with the rapid fall of Changsha, the Japanese army rushed south, and suddenly pushed Hengyang, which had been peaceful for 7 years after the outbreak of the War of Resistance, to the forefront of the Great War.
After Fang Xianjue's troops stayed in Hengyang on June 1, he immediately took his chief of staff Sun Mingyu and the commander of the pre-10th Division, Ge Xiancai. The commander of the 190th Division, Rong Youluo, and the military staff began to survey the terrain outside the city.
The whole Hengyang City is rectangular, although in the late stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, industry and commerce were prosperous, but in fact, the whole city was very small. As far as the urban area is concerned, it is only 500 meters wide from east to west and 1600 meters long from north to south. If you count from the main position outside the city, the length from north to south is only 2600 meters, and the width from east to west is only 1500 meters.
In terms of topography: the Xiang River is in the east and the Yicao River in the north. According to the grass river, although it is not very wide, the water is relatively deep. From the Grass River to the Small West Gate and the Great West Gate, the terrain is relatively gentle, and there are many ponds. South of the Great West Gate, there is a group of small hills that are not very tall: Tianma Mountain, Tiger Nest, Zhangjia Mountain, and so on.
The Japanese came from the north, and at first glance, the focus of their attack was in the northwest.
However, Fang Xianjue and his previous experience in defending Changsha, he decided that the main force of the Japanese army must detour back to the southwest to pounce. Because the terrain in the northwest is relatively gentle, the hills of the southwest war are continuous, and after seizing the southwest highlands, although it is impossible to say that it is possible to swoop down on Hengyang City, at least it is more favorable in the situation.
Subsequently, the Tenth Army held a combat meeting and assigned the positions: Ge Xiancai held the southwest position, and Rong You slightly temporarily held the northwest position.
Since Zhou Qingxiang's 3rd Division still controlled the Hengshan area, there was no way to take over the southwest position of Hengyang City. Under such circumstances, Fang Xianjue could only hand over the position in the southwest to the Pre-10th Division, which had already come
Fang Xianjue, with lu Bogao, the commander of the shrewd and capable engineer battalion, after repeatedly reconnoitring the terrain, issued an order that was extremely crucial for the defense of Hengyang:
The hills in the south and southwest of the city, on the external side, all start from the middle of the mountain and cut down into four or five meters high straight up and down, and the artificial cliffs that cannot be directly climbed. After cutting to the foot of the mountain, it continued to dig into the ground, which was the "Fang Xianjue Trench" that later caused a lot of damage to the Japanese army. Judging from the later stages of the war, relying on the battle fortifications of this cliff and outer trenches, the 10th Army turned the position into a meat grinder.
Such a large project has been helped by the people of Hengyang, Zhao Junmai, the mayor of Hengyang, who studied in the United States, studied the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, and contributed his share in the defense of the Hengyang position. After the start of construction, he mobilized tens of thousands of young workers, assisted the defenders in building combat fortifications, and formed thousands of anti-war support groups and provided a large number of building materials.
The gentry of Hengyang made great contributions to defending their city.