Two thousand years ago, Xiang Yu preferred to kill himself in Wujiang rather than choose to live secretly. Some say he's stubborn, some say he's stupid, but who knows that a warrior values honor and success and failure more than life!
Two thousand years later, in the defense of Changde, Xu Guozhang, a famous anti-Japanese general, staged this scene again with his life.
In November 1943, the Changde Defense War broke out, and Xu Guozhang, commander of the 150th Division of the 44th Army, led his troops to engage in a bloody battle with the Japanese army.
During the battle, Xu Guozhang was hit by a Japanese bullet and passed out. For his safety, everyone sent him to the south bank of the Yuan River.
When Xu Guozhang woke up, he found that he was not in the position, and said anxiously: "I am a soldier, and I should die on the battlefield!" You sent me here, you hurt me!" After saying that, he fainted again.
After waking up again, Xu Guozhang learned that the position had been occupied by the Japanese army, sighed in the sky, pulled out his pistol, and before his subordinates could react, he pulled the trigger and committed suicide!
In fact, such an ending, Xu Guozhang has long anticipated, just as he said when he first went out of Sichuan to resist Japan - "I went out of Sichuan to resist the war, and I have already promised the country!" ”
The moment he stepped out of the house, this five-foot body was no longer his, he only fought for the honor of the soldiers, and only died for the integrity of the country!
As we all know, at the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Sichuan Army was a well-known "soft persimmon", with backward equipment, lack of training, and low combat effectiveness, and has always been looked down upon by all road parties. However, the Sichuan army, which was not willing to accept this, fought the most desperately and heroically in the War of Resistance, and the casualty rate was also the highest, and Xu Guozhang was a typical representative of it.
During the Battle of Wuhan, Xu Guozhang led his troops to participate in the Battle of Huangguang and was ordered to block the Japanese army moving south. In the face of the well-equipped Japanese army with aircraft and tanks, Xu Guozhang insisted on holding out for a month, providing sufficient time for the central theater to prepare for war.
The importance of the Battle of Wuhan needless to say, as the largest and longest-lasting battle in the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression not only broke the Japanese army's attempt to make a quick decision, but also preserved most of the production equipment along the southeast coast, thus laying the foundation for a protracted War of Resistance. There is no doubt that the achievements of the Battle of Wuhan are inseparable from the efforts of many generals like Xu Guozhang.
After this, Xu Guozhang led his troops to many places, from eastern Hubei to Jingshan, and then to Zhongshan and Dahongshan, with footprints almost all over Hubei and Hunan, and due to the lack of heavy weapons and equipment, Xu Guozhang could only settle in mountainous areas, and the conditions for resisting Japan could be imagined. However, Xu Guozhang did not cry bitterness from beginning to end, but took the initiative to attack, engaged the Japanese army many times, and gradually rose to the commander of the 150th Division of the 44th Army.
Xu Guozhang's last battle was during the Battle of Changde.
Friends who are familiar with the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression know that the Battle of Changde can only be described by the word "tragic", and every time I read about this battle, there is a smell of blood between the lines!
In November 1943, in order to curb a new round of offensive by the Chinese army, the Japanese army dispatched 100,000 people, accompanied by hundreds of fighters, to attack Changde, and ignored the provisions of international treaties to put poison gas bombs into large-scale use. The 57th Division of the Yu Chengwan 74th Army stationed in the Changde area was exhausted in October, and less than 100 people of the whole division had more than 9,000 people survived!
At this time, Xu Guozhang received the task of stationing in the position north of Changde to block the Japanese army.
In fact, long before this, Xu Guozhang's 150th Division had suffered heavy casualties and even the basic organization was incomplete, but even so, Xu Guozhang still did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately led his troops to the front.
Unfortunately, the speed of the Japanese army's advance far exceeded the combat deployment of the Kuomintang army, and Xu Guozhang bumped into the oncoming Japanese army, and the sound of gunfire attracted the Japanese troops in the rear to come and surround. Trapped on both sides, Xu Guozhang fought and retreated, and finally stopped at the town of Qi, west of Changde.
There is no way back behind him, only to fight with the Japanese Kou to the death! Xu Guozhang resolutely ordered that all communication equipment and intelligence be destroyed, and the whole division went into battle from himself down, vowing to die to serve the country!
During the battle, Xu Guozhang was shot twice, and finally committed suicide and martyrdom, and his 150th Division was almost completely destroyed.
Many people may say: Stay in the green mountains, not afraid of no firewood, such a suicide is meaningless. However, only when we are on the battlefield, fighting for our brothers, fighting for our country, and fighting for the honor of soldiers, we may understand that sacrifice is their best destination!