In October 1937, a Sichuan army ordered to support the Songhu battlefield took money to buy rubber shoes and eat brine meat on the streets of Nanjing. In the face of the questioning of the leading commander, the soldiers wearing straw shoes and bleeding from the fingers of their feet said a word, which made the people standing in the street delivering tea to them cry.
"We didn't want to come back alive! We already know the situation on the battlefield of Songhu, and everyone is determined to eat well and dress well, fight with the enemy, and do not think of living and slowly spending. ”
This was the general of the Sichuan Army, the Twentieth Army under the command of Yang Sen, and the first Sichuan Army to participate in the War of Resistance after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War.
On August 13, 1937, the Battle of Songhu broke out, and Shanghai became the first line of defense to protect China. Due to the huge firepower gap between China and Japan, the Chinese side has always been in the ascendant. Hearing the news that the front line was in a tight situation and that reinforcements were urgently needed, Yang Sen, who was in Guizhou at the time, immediately asked for orders and led the Twentieth Army to support.
Previously, it was because of the defeat in the infighting among the warlords in Sichuan. Yang Sen was ostracized by the powerful leaders led by Liu Xiang and forced to stay away from the center of power in Sichuan, which is why Yang Sen's army set out from Guizhou, not from Sichuan, the base camp of the Sichuan army.
Because of the weak family foundation, the Twenty Army at that time could be said to be the poorest condition of the Sichuan Army. On September 1, wearing their own straw shoes and bamboo bucket hats, they set off on foot from Guizhou's Qianxi and Anshun stations, preparing to catch a train to Wuchang in Changsha, Hunan.
Before reaching Changsha, the Twentieth Army had to hike at least 100 miles a day. Every night, almost everyone's straw shoes are worn off, so before going to bed, they also have to wear a pair of straw shoes to wear the next day.
According to Yang Sen's estimation, it would take at least 59 days to march from Guizhou to Changsha at the conventional marching speed, but under such difficult conditions and with the belief in driving the Japanese army out of China, the Twentieth Army took only 24 days to complete the whole process.
After arriving in Changsha, the Twentieth Army did not stop, braving heavy rain to take a train to Wuchang, just arrived in Wuchang, encountered a Japanese air raid, in order to avoid enemy aircraft air raids, the whole army crossed the river overnight to Hankou, almost can be said to be the whole process without rest.
All along, the Sichuan Army has given people the image of only fighting in the nest, and few people have seen the Sichuan Army fight in the province. Therefore, when the news came out that the Twentieth Army was going to Shanghai to resist the war, the people were very surprised and admired.
Originally, the Twentieth Army planned to go to Anqing to rest before going to Shanghai, but as the situation on the Songhu battlefield became more and more tense, Yang Sen changed his plan and prepared to go directly to Shanghai by ship.
In early October, the ships of the 20th Army arrived in Nanjing, and the troops prepared to change trains to Go to Shanghai. During the waiting period, in order to boost morale, Janssen ordered the general's salary to be paid to the soldiers. As soon as many soldiers got the money, they immediately went to buy rubber shoes and brine meat, and some even bought wine, and grunted and went straight to their stomachs.
The officer in charge of leading the troops saw this scene and asked: "It took some military salaries to be paid, and you have spent them in a hurry, and some of them have bought meat and shoes, so why don't you leave them in Shanghai to spend them slowly?" ”
One of the soldiers replied: "We already know the situation on the battlefield of Songhu, and everyone is determined to eat well and dress well, fight with the enemy, and never think of living and slowly spending." ”
Starting from Changsha, wherever the Twentieth Army passed through the station and wharf, there would be many people waiting nearby, spontaneously delivering food and drink to this group of troops who rushed to the front line for the sake of the country, and Nanjing was no exception. Hearing the soldiers' words, all of these simple people were moved, and some even cried.
In fact, as the unknown Sichuan army said, most of them have not been able to return alive from the battlefield of Songhu, and even many of them have not known what it is like to give up their lives to protect Shanghai, which is known as the largest metropolis in the country.
As soon as it arrived in Shanghai, the 20th Army was thrown into the main battlefield of the Songhu War, known as the "Flesh and Blood Mill" and the first line of Chen Jiaxing.
On the 15th, the central army defending the front line of Qiaoting House, Epiphany Temple, and Chen Jiaxing was lost, and the position on the east side of the Epiphany Temple was connected to the Dachang position, and if the Epiphany Temple was lost, the Japanese army could cut off the connection between our troops from the rear, thus encircling the main position of Dachang, and the consequences were unimaginable.
In order to regain the lost position, the commander of the Twentieth Army, Xiang Wenbin, immediately deployed and attacked overnight. The enemy's artillery fire shot at them like a torrential rain, and this group of exhausted Sichuan troops did not flinch at all, and in the rain of bullets and bullets, they repeatedly charged and charged again and again.
After a night of fierce fighting, Xiang Wenbin finally regained his position, but the price was tragic, and there were only more than 120 people left in the whole regiment, one battalion commander and four platoon commanders.
On the front line of the great field, our army lost more than it received, and the Twentieth Army regained its position with only one regiment of troops, completely beating the reputation of the Sichuan army, and changing the view that people felt that the Sichuan army was useless at that time. Xiang Wenbin was promoted to major general and rewarded with 6,000 oceans.
But when the ducks in hand flew, how could the Japanese army be willing. The Japanese decided to launch a counterattack, in order to support Xiang Wenbin, the 802nd regiment commander of the Sichuan Army, Lin Xianghou, entered the position of Yunzaobang and covered the flank of Xiang Wenbin, due to the terrain, Lin Xianghou was soon discovered by the Japanese army and suffered a fierce attack.
Due to the obvious inferiority of weapons, Lin Xianghou was once in the ascendant, and in order to consolidate his position, Lin Xianghou decided to organize a death squad to launch a counter-charge against the Japanese army. He jumped out of the trench and commanded the death squad to charge forward, but he was hit in the head by a bullet, and the blood flowed all over his face, and when the guards rushed to support him, he waved his hand and pointed forward: No matter what, the position cannot be lost.
After that, he tilted his head and never woke up again.
Lin Xianghou was the first regimental commander of the Sichuan Army to die since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and also the highest-ranking officer to die on the battlefield of Songhu.
Throughout the Battle of Songhu, the Sichuan Army fought fiercely with the Japanese army for seven days and nights, with nearly 10,000 casualties, and the remaining strength was only enough to barely reduce it to a brigade.
In the face of his own half-life efforts, the Bashu disciples brought out by one hand fell in a pool of blood, Yang Sen's sadness cannot be said, he did not bring these children home alive, he was very remorseful, but did not regret.
Instead of dying without a fight, why not die after the war?
I am @Tiao Ge's Historical Codex to share historical stories with you.
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