In 1937, Japan provoked the Lugou Bridge Incident and claimed to destroy China in three months. But at least from 1939 onwards, the Japanese army began to show fatigue: because China was too big, the Japanese army's strategic resources were too small. Therefore, the Japanese army wanted to continue to attack China, and the resources were urgent. At this time, Britain and the United States did not want to see that Japan took too much advantage in China, so in terms of strategic resource supply, they also began to suppress Japan.
So around 1941, when the Pacific War broke out, Japan swept through Southeast Asia in one fell swoop, intending to change the war situation. This situation is also the background of the defense of Hengyang.
The meaning of Southeast Asia
For Japan, the occupation of Southeast Asia has two major significances. The first significance is that Southeast Asia has a large number of strategic resources, such as Southeast Asia has oil, rubber and other substances. Japan's war could continue to be maintained. The second point is geopolitical advantage.
At that time, China's anti-Japanese armed forces were divided into two parts: one was the armed forces behind enemy lines, whose headquarters was in Yan'an; the other part was the frontal battlefield armed forces, whose headquarters was in Chongqing. The Japanese once had the idea that they would capture Yan'an or Chongqing, which would reduce the resistance to invading China. However, the terrain of Yan'an is complex, and the Eighth Route Army is very good at guerrilla warfare, and the Japanese attack on Yan'an, except for sending heads, is basically of little significance. And Chongqing is also surrounded by mountains, and japan wants to invade Chongqing, and the difficulty coefficient is also very high.
However, since the capture of Southeast Asia, the Japanese felt that they could link the Japanese army in central China with the Japanese army in Southeast Asia, and then cooperate with each other to advance step by step towards Chongqing.
Hengyang meaning
At this time, Hengyang is a key hub. After the Japanese army captured Hengyang, the Japanese army in Southeast Asia and the Japanese army in central China could meet in the Guilin area. Therefore, holding Hengyang and blocking the two Japanese troops from meeting the division is related to the entire war situation. Japan also realized this, so in 1944, the Japanese army gathered 500,000 troops to attack Changsha and Hengyang.
Chongqing then informed Fang Xianjue, commander of the Tenth Army, to take his army to Hengyang to defend against the Japanese. Chongqing asked Fang Xianjue to hold on for seven days. In this way, the Guangxi side can complete the strategic layout and negotiate with the Japanese army. However, when Fang Xianjue received the order, he listened to seven days into forty-seven days.
Hengyang is tragic
The moment Fang Xianjue heard the command, his heart was like ashes. This moment is not despair, but death. Because Fang Xianjue knew that this command might not be able to see the realization with his own eyes.
Because, he only had 20,000 horses, and the Japanese army sent to attack Hengyang was as high as 120,000. Moreover, the possibility of the Japanese army sending follow-up troops was not ruled out. Twenty thousand against twelve thousand, and the weapons and equipment of the Japanese army are much stronger than the foresight, and this battle is simply impossible to win. Therefore, Fang Xianjue felt that before the emperor could wait for forty-seven days, his entire army had been destroyed. Therefore, the moment Fang Xianjue received the order, he only felt that he did not have much left in his life, and he regarded death as a homecoming.
For Fang Xianjue's twenty thousand troops, the Japanese did not pay attention to the psychology. Therefore, the first round of the Japanese attack was an infantry attack, which resulted in the infantry attack for five days, except for a pile of corpses, and failed to take Hengyang. This can make the Japanese army feel very troublesome. Thus, the Japanese began a second round of attack.
In the second round of attack, Japan sent artillery and biochemical troops, and Japan believed that by taking turns bombing with artillery shells and poison gas bombs, it could not only reduce the casualties of Japanese troops, but also maximize the killing and injury of Fang's premonitioned troops.
However, even so, Fang Xianjue's troops still withstood the pressure. So much so that when the Japanese infantry prepared to enter the city, they were still severely damaged.
In the later period, as Fang Xianjue's troops ran out of ammunition, the Japanese still failed to succeed: when the Japanese army invaded Hengyang City, Fang Xianjue's troops used the laneways and ruins in the city as cover to fight with the Japanese army and sneak attack the Japanese army. Many Japanese infantry were thus killed by our army. In this way, Fang Xianjue's troops held out for 47 days and completed this seemingly impossible task. It is precisely because this task is almost impossible to complete, so the defense of Hengyang is regarded as a miracle in the world's military history.