In April 1945, the invading Japanese army launched the Battle of Xuefeng Mountain in Xiangxi. The Eighteenth Army was ordered to take part in the battle. At that time, the situation was that the invading Japanese army was sinking into the mud when the people of the mainland insisted on resisting the war. It also attacked Pearl Harbor in the United States, setting off a storm in the Pacific Ocean. In order to cope with the battle of US forces in the Pacific, and in order to maintain its Southeast Asian colonies, the United States urgently needs to rely on China's tremendous people's strength and strategic position and actively strive for cooperation with the mainland.
In November 1943, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill invited Chiang Chung-cheng, the mainland authority, to hold a meeting of the Big Three in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, announcing to the world that China, the United States, Britain and other countries would form an anti-fascist alliance to jointly fight the enemy and completely eliminate the fascist forces of Germany and Japan. Since 1942, the mainland has organized an expeditionary force into Burma, opened up foreign battlefields, assisted the British army, and jointly dealt with the Japanese army that invaded Burma. With the transfer of the situation of the war, the first part of our army was transferred to the border of India. This unit was fully equipped and armed by the United States and organized into two corps to carry out a counteroffensive against the Japanese troops in Burma. After fierce fighting, it reached the border of Yunnan and opened up the Sino-Indian highway. In addition, an air corridor was opened, and the United States flew over the Himalayan hump with giant transport planes, transported military supplies to Kunming in a steady stream, updated our army's equipment, and decided to fight in the southeastern waters of the mainland in response to the US military's operations.
Allied battle plan: Chinese mainland and Vietnam as Chinese theaters. The General Headquarters of the Chinese Theater Army was established to carry out operational command tasks, with He Yingqin as commander-in-chief. The battle sequence was under the jurisdiction of the 1st Front Army of Luhan in Yunnan Region, the 2nd Front Army of Zhang Fakui in Guangxi Region, the 3rd Front Army of Tang Enbo in Guizhou and Guizhou Border Region, and the 4th Front Army of Wang Yaowu in Xiangxi Region of Hunan. The United States will provide the above units with full US armament and logistical supplies free of charge. In addition, it will establish a mixed air force unit of China and the United States, open up a large airfield, and actively prepare to recover China's coastal zone and open up the Pacific theater in order to coordinate with the US army's attack on the Japanese mainland.
In 1944, the All-China War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression on the mainland had entered its seventh year. Our army opened up a large airfield in Zhijiang, Hunan, and stationed a regiment of the mixed air force of China and the United States to serve as a strategic attack on the enemy. In addition to wantonly bombing Japanese military targets, especially the bombing of long-range bombers B-29, or "flying fortresses," paralyzed the Japanese army on the Hunan-Guizhou and Guangdong-Hanzhou railway lines, and the entire Yangtze River shipping could not be unimpeded. The Japanese invading army was deeply threatened and regarded the Zhijiang airfield as a serious danger to its henchmen. It is believed that it is necessary to destroy the airfield in order to ensure water and land communications in the southeastern half of the country, and at the same time to try to sabotage the deployment of our army's active adjustment of equipment for a standby counteroffensive. In early May, the Japanese army launched the Battle of Xuefeng Mountain in Xiangxi Province with the aim of seizing the Zhijiang airfield. After two months of fierce fighting, under the strong blows of our army, the Japanese army was defeated and lost, which became the last major defeat of the Japanese invading army. From then on, his arrogance was frustrated, and he did not dare to launch another offensive on the mainland, and surrendered unconditionally to the mainland after a few months.
The 18th Army originally belonged to the battle sequence of the Sixth Theater and served as the garrison of Changde, Taoyuan, Hanshou, Jinli and other places, and did not belong to the sequence of Wang Yaowu's Fourth Front Army. When the Japanese army attacked near Xuefeng Mountain and the battle situation was very urgent, He Yingqin decided to transfer the 18th Army from the Changde area to Yuanling and Chenxi to assemble, and put it under He Yingqin's direct control and join the battle in due time.
The situation of friend and foe before the battle
On the Japanese side: Since March 1945, the Japanese army has begun to mobilize troops, repair roads and railways, rectify transportation and communications, store food and ammunition, and carry out various preparations for the battle. The battle was under the unified command of Ichiro Sakanishi, commander of the Japanese Twentieth Army. The subordinate battle units were: Ginnosuke Uchida, commander of the 116th Division, Commander Watanabe, commander of the 47th Division, Keno Ban, commander of the 34th Division, Tsuio Timitsu, commander of the 68th Division, and the 1st Division and the 86th Independent Brigade. In addition, special forces are attached, with a total strength of more than 200,000 people. Before the battle, it was assembled in the following areas:
The headquarters of the 20th Army was stationed in Changsha.
The 116th Division and the 47th Division were assembled in the Shaoyang and Yongfeng areas.
The 1st Division of the 64th Division and the 86th Independent Brigade were assembled in the Ningxiang area.
The 34th Division was assembled in the whole county of Guangxi and in the Xing'an area.
The 68th Division was assembled in the Dong'an and Lingling areas.
On the part of our army: it served as the overall garrison of the area south of Yuanshui in Xiangxi and the Zhijiang airfield, and was the fourth front army of Wang Yaowu. It has jurisdiction over Han Rong, commander of the 73rd Army, Shi Zhongcheng, commander of the 74th Army, and Li Tianxia, commander of the 1st OO Army.
Defensive equipment
The headquarters of the Fourth Front Army was stationed near Chenxi.
The 74th Army occupied the favorable terrain of the dangerous mountain pass at the eastern foot of Xuefeng Mountain, constituted the main position of the decisive battle, and formed a solid and in-depth advance position at various points of Wugang, Shixiajiang, and Dongkou. With regard to the enemy entrenched in Dong'an and Shaoyang, guerrilla units were used to maintain contact, carry out raids, reconnaissance, and strict surveillance.
The 1st OO Army connected the left flank of the 74th Army, and the main position was arranged at the mountain pass at the eastern foot of Xuefeng Mountain, along the line of Longtan. At key points such as Longhui and Shanmen, strong troops were deployed to occupy stronghold fortifications, and strong garrisons were used to maintain contact, reconnaissance, and surveillance of the enemy in Yongfeng and Xiangxiang with guerrilla troops.
The 73rd Army occupied Xinhua and Anhua counties with the main force, and maintained contact with the enemy in Ningxiang on the east bank of Zishui.
The supreme commander of our side in this battle was He Yingqin, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Theater Army, who was originally stationed in Kunming, and when the war situation was urgent, he led the Chinese and US staff to set up a forward command post in Anjiang and personally commanded the battle. According to the current situation of the Fourth Front Army, it was judged that the Japanese army's attempt to seize the Zhijiang airfield as the goal was bound to succeed. In view of this, it was determined to strengthen the strength of the Fourth Front Army to ensure the victory of this battle, so Liao Yaoxiang's New Sixth Army, which was fully equipped with US weapons and equipment in Ramga, India, was quickly airlifted from Kunming to Zhijiang as a general reserve when the Sino-Indian Highway was opened and returned to Kunming. It began to take off in mid-May and reached Zhijiang one after another, but before the army could enter the battle, our army was victorious.
A regiment of the mixed Chinese and US air forces is stationed at the Zhijiang airfield, and the regiment has a reconnaissance group of long-range bomber fighters, and Japanese planes have come to bomb many times, and fierce air battles have occurred over the Zhijiang River, in which many Japanese planes have been shot down, and the airfield has remained intact, but the county town of Zhijiang has been bombed indiscriminately, and many lives have been lost! For this reason, the mixed air forces of China and the United States have been repeatedly strengthened, and they have an absolute superiority, and the Japanese planes do not dare to commit another offense.
The 3rd Front Army of Tang Enbo on the Guizhou-Guizhou border held the key points of Longsheng and Chengbu with the main force, and sent the 94th Army of Mu Tingfang under its jurisdiction to take an offensive against the enemy southeast of Wugang to threaten the Japanese left flank corps, so that the main force of the Fourth Front Army could fight a decisive battle in a favorable situation.
In late March 1945, the Japanese offensive units were deployed into positions as scheduled, and in April they began to attack us:
The 64th Division and the 86th Independent Brigade of the Japanese army assembled on the right flank of Ningxiang attacked our army in Yiyang, and thousands of Japanese troops in the Yuanjiang River also moved south to meet the north of Yiyang. The enemy continued to advance westward towards Taohuaxi and Anhua, but was strongly resisted by our 73rd Army, and fierce fighting lasted until mid-May, when the Japanese army advanced to the vicinity of Yanxi and Xinhua, and the two armies repeatedly fought to form a confrontation with each other without progress.
The 68th Division and the 34th Division, the left flank attack troops assembled in Lingling and Quanxian County, attacked our army in two directions. After the 34th Division of the county captured Xinning, it continued to attack westward, attacking from the west of Wugang to the west of the city. The enemy attacked to the line of Wawutang and Shuikou and launched a fierce attack in front of the main position of our 74th Army on Xuefeng Mountain; the enemy's 68th Division attacked west along the Xinning-Wugang Avenue, and after capturing our forward position, it surrounded Wugang City on three sides, and the defenders of our 74th Army abandoned Wugang and took the initiative to move to the main position when the enemy suffered heavy losses.
The 116th Division and the 47th Division were the central attack team assembled in the Shaoyang and Yongfeng areas, and the Japanese army was the main offensive side of this battle, and it attempted to break through the main position of the Xuefeng Mountain Central Highway of our Fourth Front Army with superior forces under the cover of the attack teams on the left and right flanks, and take the Zhijiang airfield directly along the road. Ichiro Bannishi, commander of the 20th Army of the enemy chieftain, was commanded by Changsha stationed on the front line in Shaoyang, and the arrow pointed to the Zhijiang airfield, in a vain attempt to break through the main position of our Xuefeng Mountain in one fell swoop and resolve the battle situation in a short time. Therefore, when its forward reached the line of Xinhua, Longhui, and Wugang, it adjusted its deployment and divided the central main attacking force into four groups, and attacked separately at the same time:
The first group attacked westward along the highway line from Shaoyang to Zhijiang, and rushed to the forward position of our army in Shixiajiang, but was strongly blocked by our army, and the enemy's two flanks attacked in a circle, and our army withdrew from Shixiajiang, and the enemy continued to attack, paying heavy casualties, and successively captured our Gaosha City, Penny's Pond and other echelon positions, and reached the main position of our 74th Army in front of Xuefeng Mountain at the entrance of the cave to launch a fierce attack. The 58th Division of the army, relying on mountain hazards and strong fortifications, inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, and the enemy's offensive was frustrated.
The enemy's second group attacked westward from the north side of the Shaoyang Highway line, and was blocked by the 57th Division of our 74th Army in coordination with the 1st OO Army. After nearly a week of fierce fighting, the enemy has not made any progress and is unable to carry out another fierce attack, so he turns to a defensive position in the line of the cave, waiting for reinforcements.
The enemy's third force attacked from the northwest of Shaoyang, and fought fiercely with the existing positions of our First OO Army at various points of Jukoupu, Shunshui Bridge and Liuduzhai, and the enemy attacked westward with all his strength, expelled the defenders of our mountain gate, and arrived at the main position of the First OO Army in Longtan Xuefeng Mountain.
The enemy's fourth group attacked from the north of Shaoyang, broke through some positions of our 73rd Army, and rushed to the area of Genyangxi in the west of Xinhua to jointly attack with the enemy's right-wing troops. The 18th Division of our 18th Army rushed to reinforce the 73rd Army in time, and the two divisions coordinated to block the attack, and the enemy suffered heavy casualties.
Since the Japanese army began its movement in mid-April and launched its attack in early May, it has been continuously blocked by the existing positions of our army in great depth. The enemy has to pay a lot of money for every step forward, and often fights for a key point, and has changed hands several times through repeated hand-to-hand combat. As a result, the army's advance was slow, and it reached the front of our main position on Xuefeng Mountain in late May.
On the part of our army, we have made use of the positions in large depths to block the attacks one after another, open up space, and gain time to gain a deep understanding of the enemy's reality and strengthen the defensive strength of the main position. And taking advantage of the dispersion of the enemy's forces, a frontal attack, and the movement of the troops exposed, the air force and concentrated artillery units were summoned to bombard fiercely at the same time. The front-line garrison units boldly organized counterattack troops and counterattacked the enemy in turn, making it difficult for the enemy to cope with them and passive everywhere.
Air Force: As early as April, the Front Army had detected the movement of Japanese troops and frequent transportation, and judged that there was an attempt to attack on a large scale. The mixed air forces of China and the United States, that is, the reinforcement of troops, dispatched planes day and night to bomb railway and highway transportation hubs in order to disrupt the enemy's troop build-up and supply. After the curtain of battle was opened, they vigorously supported the front-line troops in the battle, and when the situation required it, they were on call to attack the enemy jointly by land and air. At this time, most of the Japanese air force had been transferred to the Pacific Ocean to deal with the US forces, and the number of air forces on the mainland was reduced, so as to lose air supremacy.
In May, the headquarters of our army knew that the Japanese army had all entered the battlefield and that the offensive was about to reach its peak, so it took active deployment and decided to use the new corps to divert the offensive in order to annihilate the enemy in front of it.
Ordered the 94th Army of Mou Tingfang, which belonged to the 3rd Front Army of Tang Enbo in the Guizhou-Guizhou Border Region, to advance from Chengbu and Suining, and attack the left flank of the enemy fighting with our 74th Army in the northwest of Wugang. After fierce fighting, the army gradually advanced to the line of Wugang and Wawutang. The Japanese army was under pressure from the left side of the back, so they had to suspend the offensive on the front of Xuefeng Mountain. Our 74th Army also seized the opportunity to turn defense into attack, and cooperated with the 94th Army to encircle and annihilate the enemy in front of it, so that the left flank of the Japanese army was seriously threatened.
Hu Lian's 18th Army was ordered to immediately assemble in the Yuanling and Chenxi areas, and wait for the assignment. Army Commander Hu Lian took the 11th Division, which was equipped with American weapons, as the vanguard, followed by the 118th Division, and the 18th Division followed. The speed of the march is more than 40 kilometers a day. Along the way, when the US troops saw that our soldiers were strong and strong, they all gave a thumbs up and applauded. At the critical juncture of the war, the soldiers were fast. If the Japanese reinforcements arrive in advance, there is a danger that the defenders of our Xuefeng Mountain will be broken and approaching the Zhijiang airfield. Zhijiang is my birthplace, and my hometown is at a critical juncture, which is a severe test for me to protect my family and defend the country. I am determined not to shy away from sacrifice, fight bravely, and fulfill my duty to defend the motherland and my hometown. After being entrusted with the task of rescuing the strategic point of Zhijiang, the officers and men of our division were full of enthusiasm and enthusiastic, and they all showed their skills with new weapons. In particular, some officers and men knew that their division commander was from Zhijiang, and they were even more indignant, and they talked one after another: "Our division commander is from Zhijiang, and now his hometown is in danger, and we must protect the division commander's hometown, which is a strategic place in the country." This battle is very important, we can only fight it well, not break it, and we must risk our lives to defeat the Japanese devils and never let him succeed. The division commander must not be embarrassed in front of the people in his hometown. "In this battle, the fighting will of all the officers and men of our 11th Division was extremely high.
He Yingqin, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Theater Army, and Wang Yaowu, commander of the Fourth Front, originally formulated the battle plan: In order to wait for the Japanese offensive to fail, the 18th Army, which had not been in the new fighting force, would be used in the frontal position of Xuefeng Mountain, and the offensive would be transferred to the enemy from a high position, so as to deal a crushing blow to the enemy and resolve the entire battle situation in one fell swoop. Later, at the suggestion of Qiu Weida, chief of staff of the Fourth Front Army, and others: "The main force of the Japanese army was used in front of Xuefeng Mountain in an attempt to drive directly to the Zhijiang River, while its two flanks were auxiliary covering troops, and the troops were relatively weak. At this time, the offensive of the main frontal forces of the Japanese army was frustrated, and although there were losses, they basically maintained a strong force. If I attack from a frontal position, I will be able to seize its edge, and if I am fighting-for-tat, I will win if it is difficult to fight. It is better to attack the weak part of the enemy's flank, which is more certain. In the end, the plan was adopted, the original plan was changed, and it was decided that the 18th Army would move south from Shupu and Xinhua to attack Shaoyang, Longhui, and the north of Dongkou behind the right side of the Japanese army, and directly attack the key points of the rear of the Japanese army, cut off the connection between the Japanese army on the front line and Shaoyang, and form an encirclement posture. At that time, the 11th Division, the vanguard of the 18th Army, had already reached the vicinity of Anjiang through Chenxi, Huaqiao, and Huaihua, and its plan was changed and it immediately turned around and advanced towards Lipu; the 18th Division advanced to the east of Lipu; and the 18th Division advanced to Xinhua. Wang Yaowu, commander of the Fourth Front Army, sent his chief of staff, Qiu Weida, to Lipu to contact the 18th Army.
After our 11th Division passed through Lipu, it immediately searched and advanced in a combat situation. The first target of attack is to point at Shanmen Town, the enemy's main communication artery, and the second target is to point to the highway from Shaoyang to Dongkou, the enemy's main communication route. The forward advanced to the vicinity of the horse skull north of the mountain gate, that is, encountered the Japanese army head-on, and in the middle of the fierce battle, the Japanese army an infantry wing (regiment) and a baggage company passed through the mountain gate to the enemy reinforcements and supplies on the front line in the direction of Longtan. Its infantry wing attempted to reinforce the enemy at the Horse Skull. While our division was taking advantage of the enemy's movement, it quickly cleared out the few enemies in front of it and turned its edge to this wing. The enemy was entrenched in nearby heights and villages and stubbornly resisted, and our troops took advantage of the sharp attack to fight the enemy hand-to-hand. The Japanese army is known for its bushido white-knuckle combat, roaring and swinging bayonets, and rushing straight at our army. At this time, our army had a submachine gun, a U.S. melee weapon, and fired head-on at the dense Japanese army within a few steps, and the Japanese soldiers fell to the ground one after another, and after a whole day of combat soldiers, most of the wing was annihilated, and two mountain guns and many rifle machine guns were captured, and more than 60 Japanese soldiers were captured, and the fierce battle ended victoriously. When the American officers and men of our division heard that the Japanese soldiers had been captured, they all went to watch with curiosity, and one of the second lieutenant officers named Right was armed with a carbine and wanted to shoot one of the prisoners to vent his anger, but I stopped him. Among the seized military supplies was a box containing Japanese banknotes, which the US military actually exchanged for US dollars, and the Japanese army's small sun flag also vied for them as a glorious souvenir of their participation in the war.
The next day, the division took advantage of the victory to attack the key point of Shanmen. The mountain gate is a pass, when the east and west arteries, for the Japanese army's first line of troops supply relay station, there are Japanese defenses, and our army continues to increase after the battle. I commanded the troops to attack in a roundabout way from the relatively hidden terrain northeast of the mountain gate, and under our flank attacks, the remnants of the enemy broke and fled southward. I immediately ordered Deputy Division Commander Wang Yuanzhi to command a regiment to pursue the attack, but the enemy's baggage troops were bloated and sluggish in the mountains. More than 300 Japanese horses and other weapons and baggage were seized. On May 12, our division regained the key point of Shanmen, and a large gap was opened in the flank position of the Japanese army's right flank, and the rear transportation and supply were immediately blocked. The front-line troops of the Japanese army on Xuefeng Mountain immediately gathered troops to counterattack, intending to recapture the mountain gate. I commanded the troops to occupy flank positions on the high ground north of the mountain gate, and organized a fire network to control the east-west road. When the Japanese army attacked our position, they could not feel where our main position was, and they blindly fired at the mountain gate for a while, and then rushed forward. Our division had a good goal and thought that the opportunity to destroy the enemy had arrived, and at the sound of an order, the guns roared in unison, and the Japanese army had no power to fight back. More than half of the first group of troops in the vanguard were annihilated, and the follow-up troops had to climb over the mountains and mountains to find a way to escape. With a small number of casualties, the 11th Division won a complete victory and immediately reported victory.
In order to completely cut off the rear communications of the Japanese army and cooperate with friendly forces to completely annihilate the entire Japanese army, the 11th Division continued to attack and advance to the south to achieve the second attack objective and cut off the road between Shaoyang and Dongkou. At this time, the Japanese army attacked the troops on the front line of Xuefeng Mountain, and due to the unfavorable situation, they had begun to retreat to the east, and the troops were concentrated on both sides of the road from the only communication line to Shaoyang, and every hill and village was occupied by Japanese troops. Every time our division took a step forward, it was met with stubborn resistance from the Japanese army. Because the 11th Division was equipped with American weapons, it had an advantage in firepower over the Japanese army. In addition, the air force of the Sino-US mixed regiment actively coordinated in combat, and the ground and air liaison radio carried by Lieutenant Colonel Schiller of the US military liaison officer moved with us to call the pilots of the planes on the battlefield, instruct the targets to shoot and bomb, correct the pilot's flight direction and angle, and accurately hit the targets, causing heavy damage to the enemy. However, the Japanese planes could not come out of hierarchies, and only flew at a low altitude at dawn and swept past our positions as a single plane, thus not threatening our troops at all. Therefore, our army can dominate the battlefield, advance through the gaps, and sweep the enemy's ranks. Our army's current operation is very different from the past. In the past, when our army encountered the Japanese army on the battlefield, it was necessary to try its best to conceal its body and secretly watch the movements of the Japanese army; if it was not carefully concealed, once the Japanese army discovered it, it would be bombarded by the Japanese artillery and air force. Now, I am leading the personnel of the division headquarters and the US military liaison officer, Lieutenant Colonel Sile, and a large number of men and horses, to the front line to reconnoiter the enemy's situation and terrain, and found that 700 meters on the other side of the river, there were also more than a dozen Japanese soldiers who had just arrived. But when they found us, they hid themselves in the forest. When we saw the embarrassment, we all laughed, and calmly deployed our troops to attack it. After the Japanese army lost its superiority in all aspects, it was not the Japanese army that took the initiative to be active on the battlefield, but it was transferred to our army.
Under the cover of aircraft, the 11th Division, with the strength of one regiment, launched an attack on the city of Shixiajiang, a key point on the road, where the Japanese fortifications were not very strong, and we captured them in one fell swoop. When our army occupied the Shixia River, it completely cut off the only line of communication on which the Japanese army relied for supply and transportation, forming an encirclement of the Japanese army on all sides. The 118th Division of our left flank had also crossed Liuduzhai and advanced to the vicinity of Hexiang Bridge, and on the way to Shaoyang, it was stubbornly blocked by the enemy, and the fierce battle was fierce, and there was no progress.
In our southern battlefield, the 94th Army of the Third Front Army, after fierce battles, broke through the enemies of Wugang and Xinning, and the enemy retreated to the east.
Based on the 74th Army and the 1st OO Army, which were guarding the eastern foothills of Xuefeng Mountain, we lost no time in launching a counteroffensive on all fronts. Despite the fatigue of long-term hard fighting, he bravely bit the enemy and did not relax. The Japanese army was tightening up more and more in the encirclement, and it was often desperate.
My judgment: Our 11th Division occupied the Shixia River and stuck the throat of the Japanese army. At this critical juncture, the Japanese army is bound to do its best to open a bloody road, show the spirit of bushido, fight with us to the end, and die together. With its strong morale and elite weapons, the 11th Division has been advancing smoothly from the left to the right since the start of the war. But it is also necessary to estimate the stubbornness of the enemy forces. If they fight to the death, our army will also suffer from him, and even turn into defeat. Therefore, I was determined to deal with the Japanese army's breakthrough battle, so as not to be carried away by the victory, to take it lightly, and to delay the overall situation. It was decided to use the main force of the division to face the Japanese troops from Xuefeng Mountain, occupy favorable terrain to build fortifications, strengthen the blockade, and meet the enemy who broke through the encirclement; and with a strong regiment, occupy a fortified building in Shixiajiang City, blocking the highway and blocking traffic, and becoming the key to the position. Relying on this, the main force of the regiment occupied favorable terrain on both sides of the highway and waited for it. I am deploying for this because I am eager to cooperate with friendly forces from all sides to annihilate all the besieged Japanese troops, so as to express the deep hatred and hatred of the past eight years. The 11th Division was preparing for the final decisive battle when it suddenly received an order from its superiors from army commander Hu Lian: I was ordered to evacuate all the regiments holding Shixiajiang, and the division concentrated all its strength on attacking the enemy's flank. In this way, let go a little, open up a section of the opening, and let the Japanese troops flee along the highway, and as soon as the Japanese army saw that there was a way to escape, they did everything they could to speed up the pace and rush through. Although I led my troops to attack the enemy's flank, the number of victories was not many. After pursuit, our friendly forces on all sides quickly regained their lost ground and returned to their pre-battle posture. The Battle of Snow Peak Mountain ended in early June!
In this battle, the Japanese army ended with a strong crossbow, the attack was frustrated, exhausted, and besieged. Our army could have completely annihilated the enemy and achieved a greater victory, but unfortunately the higher authorities ordered the opening to open the mouth, allowing most of the Japanese troops to escape. The big victory fell short, and I regret it deeply. It was later learned that because the Sixth Plenary Session of the Kuomintang Central Committee was being held in Chongqing at this time, all the participants were very concerned about the war in Xiangxi. When the 11 th Division conquered the mountain gate, the situation on the battlefield suddenly became favorable, and the commander-in-chief of the Anjiang command post, He Yingqin, Wang Yaowu, and other senior officials and senior officials of the US military celebrated with their hands! General McKerew, commander of operations of the US army, immediately opened the champagne and toasted each other to celebrate the victory! The Chongqing side was even more excited and immediately mobilized all walks of life to organize a condolence group. With Mo Dehui as the head of the regiment and Deng Wenyi as the deputy commander, he came to Zhijiang to sacrifice the army with condolences. Under such an atmosphere, Commander-in-Chief He Yingqin, in order to conform to the will of the people, did not want the war to drag on, and affected the mood of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Central Committee, hesitated again and again, and decided to open the key to Shixiajiang to give the Japanese army a way out, thus ending the two-month-long Battle of Xiangxi ahead of schedule.
In this battle, the 11th Division suffered more than 400 casualties. Many of these officers and men expressed their determination to me: "I want to help the division commander defend his hometown." Their noble national integrity, patriotic qualities, and deep friendship for me have moved me very much, and I am extremely saddened, and I will never forget them. After the war, with the consent of all the officers and men of the division, I sent several cadres to Shanmen to set up a "Memorial Square for the Anti-Japanese Soldiers of the 11th Division of the 18th Army" at Shanmen, so as to comfort the souls of the heroes and remember them forever.
After clearing the battlefield, our division triumphed victoriously and temporarily rested in Chenxi. Wang Yaowu, commander of the Fourth Front Army, personally visited our division to express his condolences and gathered more than 1,000 representatives of officers and soldiers to hold a celebration party. Chen Cheng, minister of military affairs of the Nationalist Government, traveled from Chongqing to Chenxi to express his condolences to the troops participating in the battle, and summoned Hu Lian and me to Chen's residence for a talk, and expressed his encouragement to the 11 th Division for its outstanding achievements this time. In July, the 18th Army was still stationed in Changde and Taoyuan. The 11th Division was stationed in Taoyuan and began a new round of training.
On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito of Japan announced his unconditional surrender to our allies. When I heard this broadcast at the division headquarters in Taoyuan, the officers and men were thunderous with joy! The US officers and men serving in the division opened their wine bottles, raised their glasses, and pulled out their guns and fired them into the sky; some sang and danced, congratulated each other with our troops, and were immersed in joy. On the 21st, Okamura Ninji, commander-in-chief of the Japanese invading forces stationed in Nanjing, sent his deputy chief of staff, Takeo Imai, to fly to Zhijiang by plane to present a surrender document. Under the supervision of four fighters of our army, passing over Chang Tao, everyone looked forward to watching and once again set off a carnival.
