When the defense of Hengyang was fought at the most critical juncture, it was not that there were no citizens who took the initiative to participate in the war, but after all, the citizens were just ordinary people and had not carried out systematic military training, so these people went to the battlefield only to increase casualties, so the citizens who took the initiative to ask for the battlefield were all sent to the logistics department by Fang Xianjue, although in the end, even the miscellaneous servants were also sent to the battlefield, and those citizens who took the initiative to participate in the war were eventually sent to the front line, and the people who took the initiative to participate in the war gradually disappeared. After all, the population of Hengyang is not large, and in addition to the continuous strategic bombing of the Hengyang area by the Japanese army, a large number of aerial bombs will fall in Hengyang City every day, so as long as there is a little ability, it will have fled a long time ago, and before the war, the national government had issued a notice to inform the residents of Hengyang City that Hengyang City will become a battlefield in the near future, and hope that the citizens will immediately withdraw from Hengyang to prevent it from being affected.

So the hundreds of people who suddenly poured out surprised Fang Xianjue, but the person who seemed to be the leader was puzzled by Fang Xianjue: "I am the CCP underground traffic officer, that is, the underground party you called before, these people are my clansmen and friends and comrades, yesterday I received an order from our superiors, and the superiors asked us to order the CCP members, underground traffic officers and guerrillas in our Hengyang area to help the chief retreat at all costs if we see the general retreating." ”

"Thank you, thank you, I have written down this situation of your party, and all the officers and men of the entire Tenth Army have also written it down." Fang Xianjue said movingly.

"Sir, just now our Chief Han personally sent a telegram to our Hengyang Prefectural Committee. It is said that the 300th Army, the elite of our party, has arrived a few miles north of Hengyang City, and is engaged in a battle with the Japanese blocking force, and he asks us to retreat you and your troops to the north of the city, and the large army will march to this side to meet us. I wonder if the chief thinks it's feasible? ”

"Our breakthrough plan is to break through in the direction of Xiaobeimen, I don't know which Han chief is?" Fang Xianjue asked.

"Commander Han Yunhua, now the chief of staff of the Allied North African Theater and senior staff adviser to the Asian Theater, and the commander of the Inner Mongolia Military Region of the Communist Party of China, this time the reorganized 300th Army went south to reinforce Hengyang It was also proposed by Chief Han to which of you Chairman Jiang, okay sir, then you are busy first, we have to go over to carry the wounded." After speaking, the middle-aged man who claimed to be an underground traffic officer of the CCP in the Hengyang area ran towards the place where the wounded gathered.

Although the defenders of Hengyang received help from the underground party of the Chinese Communist Party. However, since there were so many wounded, and the unit that was responsible for opening the way had only one infantry battalion that was not fully manned, the whole force did not retreat quickly, and soon the news came from the troops behind the palace. An infantry brigade of the Japanese army has already caught up, and the 10th Pre-Division is blocking the attack, but the difference in strength between the two sides is huge, and I am afraid that the Pre-10th Division will not be able to support it for long.

Besides, Ma Jiayuan's department, although the vanguard was only a few kilometers away from Hengyang City. However, the Japanese army set up two lines of defense within a few kilometers, the first line of defense is negligible, because this line of defense was actually established to besiege the 10th Army in the city, and it is not very targeted to the outside world. The second line of defense is extraordinary. This line of defense was completely built to deal with Han Yunhua's troops, although due to the relatively short time. The quality of the entire project did not meet the design requirements, but the Japanese placed two infantry brigades and an artillery brigade in this defensive line. In addition, there are a large number of chariot troops.

The battle between the two sides was very fierce, both the Japanese army and Ma Jiayuan's headquarters fought extremely fiercely, and in just ten minutes, the Japanese defenders had repelled two attacks by the Chinese communists, forcing Ma Jiayuan to change his tactics. …,

As the largest field army in the Inner Mongolia Military Region, the 300th Army is of course equipped with tanks, and although there is only one regiment, it has a full 45 Soviet-made T34 tanks. Since the infantry charge was not effective, Ma Jiayuan had no choice but to send his precious tank troops.

With the assistance of the tank regiment, the charge of the troops this time was very sharp, and the chaos was cut quickly, and soon Ma Jiayuan's headquarters had already broken into the position of the Japanese army, and then under the opening of the tank regiment, the second line of defense of the former enemy troops of the Japanese army was quickly torn open, and thousands of soldiers who were ready for the Inner Mongolia Military Region rushed over like a flood......

At a quarter past three o'clock in the afternoon, Ma Jiayuan's headquarters finally received the remnants of the Tenth Army, and under the fire reinforcement of Ma Jiayuan's department, the Tenth Army quickly withdrew from the encirclement of the Japanese army, and soon Hengyang City, which had been held for more than a month, completely fell.

Although Hengyang City was finally captured by the Japanese, the Tenth Army was still glorious in defeat, and the Tenth Army fought a truly mighty battle, which can be described as a classic battle with less and more, and achieved great results. In this battle, although Fang Xianjue's 10th Army claimed to be 30,000 people, its total strength was actually only 18,000 people, and the actual combat strength that could be put into battle was less than 15,000 people. However, they were facing the most elite attack group of the Japanese army, and the Japanese army invested in Hengyang and the surrounding areas as many as 12 infantry divisions and 7 independent mixed brigades of more than 270,000 people, plus a large number of aircraft and warships, the total strength was infinitely close to 300,000. This does not include the 2 divisions of the 68th Division and the 116th Division in the early stage, and the 40th Division, 58th Division, 57th Brigade, and 13th Division invested in the later stage.

Despite this, the 10 th Army still handed over a satisfactory answer to the people of the whole country, killing and wounding more than 70,000 Japanese troops with more than 10,000 casualties, and the two main divisions of the 11th Army, the 68th Division and the 116th Division, were once incapacitated. In addition, he also killed Lieutenant General Sakuma, commander of the 68th Division, Major General Shima Genyoshi, commander of the 57th Brigade of the 68th Division, and a large number of Japanese officers. Although the Battle of Hengyang ended in failure, its significance was enormous. It dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the Japanese aggressors, greatly slowed down the pace of the Japanese army's campaign to "open up the mainland lines of communication," and aggravated the crisis in the Japanese cabinet.

In the Battle of Hengyang, the brave soldiers of the 10th Army demanded more than five times the price of the criminal invaders. Hence the Battle of Hengyang. Therefore, although I am defeated in this battle, I am still glorious, and although I am victorious in the enemy, I am not martial. You must know that before that, the Japanese army captured Malaysia with only 1,289 casualties; To sweep the entire territory of Indonesia, only 3 divisions and 1 brigade were used. 2624 people were lost. In the "Hengyang Siege Battle", the Japanese army invested nearly 300,000 people, which lasted for 36 days and nights, and the number of casualties was more than 10 times the total casualties in the above-mentioned battles. other

The defense of Waihengyang inspired the confidence of the people of the whole country in the War of Resistance and demonstrated the patriotic spirit of the Chinese people in resisting foreign aggression and defending the national independence of the motherland. At that time, Chongqing's "Sweeping Daily" wrote in a tribute to the defenders of Hengyang: "In the past 40 days, the enemy has continued to attack you with powerful forces; Even the abuse of poison gas. Doing barbaric things that are not worthy of humanity. And you are inferior in equipment, insufficient in provisions, difficult to receive reinforcements, and lack of medicine for the wounded. All conditions are inferior to the enemy. You used your flesh and blood to resist the enemy's artillery fire, defended the famous city of the motherland with your flesh and blood, and spit out a sulk to 40,000 compatriots! With your battle, I feel that being a Chinese is the most noble. The compatriots in the rear are really grateful and revered to you! At that time, Chongqing's "Ta Kung Pao" also published an editorial, saying: "Although Hengyang has fallen to the enemy. The record of the defenders of Hengyang is still there! The 47 days of Hengyang is a huge price for the enemy, and the 47 days of Hengyang is a war of shame. The whole country should be ashamed to contribute too little to the country; And all Chinese soldiers must more generally reflect on whether their determination and efforts are also like the defenders of Hengyang, we think that the battle of Hengyang contributed the most, not only to the enemy to take the price. It also set an example for the Chinese soldiers. The "National Salvation Daily" also wrote in its editorial: "During the 8 years of the Anti-Japanese War, the heroes and martyrs who died on the battlefield. at least 100,000 people; And the defenders of the country, to the death of the unyielding. There are not a few; However, its great contribution to the country and its decisive role in the overall victory or defeat should be the defenders of Hengyang. ”…,

………

………

After receiving the news that Hengyang had fallen, Han Yunhua ordered Ma Jiayuan to immediately send a part of the troops to escort the remnants of the Tenth Army back to Chongqing and wait for the latest instructions from the Nationalist Government. After Fang Xianjue arrived in Chongqing, the 10th Army was immediately upgraded to the 10th Group Army, and Chiang Kai-shek transferred people from various units to rebuild the 10th Group Army, and Fang Xianjue was also appointed Li Yutang, commander-in-chief of the 10th Group Army, and his military rank was also promoted from lieutenant general to general.

Although less than 5,000 people of the entire Tenth Army returned to Chongqing, they were warmly welcomed by people from all walks of life in Chongqing, and major newspapers also rushed to report the details of the defense of Hengyang. Although Fang Xianjue's 10th Army was finally defeated in Hengyang, its heroic spirit of resolutely resisting the Japanese army for nearly 40 days was admired by the military and people throughout the country. In recognition of Fang Xianjue's contributions, the Military Commission awarded him the Order of the Blue Sky and White Sun, making him the 129th recipient of the medal.

After getting the news, Han Yunhua breathed a sigh of relief, although the defense of Hengyang was also fought extremely tragically in history, but the ending was extremely tragic, in order to ensure the lives of thousands of wounded, Fang Xianjue negotiated with the Japanese army before the fall of Hengyang City, and finally chose to surrender in humiliation, although it only took a few months for Fang Xianjue to flee back to Chongqing, but since then Fang Xianjue has never been reused by the national government, and he is still only a lieutenant general until he retires.

Now with the intervention of the Inner Mongolia Military Region, history has changed slightly, and Chiang Kai-shek attaches great importance to this Huangpu descendant. Although Hengyang City was lost, Chiang Kai-shek did not punish and rewarded, although almost everyone could see that Chiang Kai-shek was guilty of the other party's Xianjue, and asked Fang Xianjue to guard for 10 to 15 days, but there were no reinforcements for a whole month. But the most important thing is that Fang Xianjue fought really well, Chiang Kai-shek probably never dreamed that he would have such a record: fighting more with less, destroying the enemy several times, and beating the Japanese invaders, how could Chiang Kai-shek not feel gratified.

After the occupation of Hengyang, the Japanese army did not advance to the Guangxi area as the Nationalist Government imagined, but retreated to the Hengyang area for rest and recuperation, and did not take action until May 22, which greatly exceeded the expectations of Chiang Kai-shek and others. In fact, this was not because the Japanese army did not want to take advantage of the victory to pursue, but because the tenacity of the 10th Army caused a huge impact on the Japanese army, and the troops suffered heavy casualties, so the Japanese army had to rest.

On the 23rd, in order to prepare for the occupation of Guilin and Liuzhou in Guangxi, the Japanese army deliberately established the 6th Front Army, with Yokoyama as the commander, and dispatched the 3rd, 13th, 37th, 40th, 58th, and 116th divisions of the 11th Army, as well as tank and heavy artillery wings, a total of 6 divisions and 1 brigade. On May 23, it advanced from Hengyang along the railway to the Hunan and Guizhou borders; On the same day, two divisions and one independent mixed brigade of the 23rd Army attacked from Qingyuan and other places in Guangdong along the Xijiang River to Wuzhou in Guangxi, and the other three independent mixed brigades attacked from Suixi in Guangdong to Rongxian in Guangxi. This time, the Japanese army dispatched the 11th and 23rd armies, the 2nd Flying Regiment (about 150 aircraft) and the 2nd Dispatch Fleet, totaling about 160,000 troops. With the cooperation of the First Division of the Southern Army, with the goal of opening up the Guiyue (South) Highway, they attacked Guilin and Liuzhou.

On the Chinese side, Supreme Commander Zhang Fakui, commander of the Fourth Theater, commanded the 27th, 16th, 35th, and 27th Group Armies, as well as the 24th Group Army of Sun Lianzhong and the Tang Enbo Corps of the Sixth Theater, with a total of 9 armies, 2 Guisui columns, and 1st Air Force (217 aircraft), totaling about 200,000 people, with the support of three armies of the General Headquarters of the Guizhou-Guizhou-Hunan Border Region. Fighting the Japanese army with divisional defense, the Battle of Guiliu kicked off.

Unlike the Battle of Hengyang, the Kuomintang troops in the Battle of Guiliu performed extremely poorly, on May 25. The Japanese army occupied the Huangsha River, a strategic point in northern Guangxi; Then, the enemy occupied the whole county, the northern gateway of Guangxi was opened, and Guilin was tightened; On May 29, the enemy attacked from Guangdong. Capture Wuzhou, followed by Guiping? Pingnan? Wuxuan and other places threatened Liuzhou's right back. The enemy invaded from northern Guibei, after capturing the whole county. Directly attacking Hung Yen, the 93rd Army and the 79th Army fought fiercely with the enemy on the front line of Hung Yen. No, Hung Yen fell to the enemy on June 2. …,

The 4th Theater of Operations has not yet moved the Japanese army in the Jeonju area. He then adjusted the deployment and organized the headquarters into three front armies of Guilin, Lipu and Xijiang, and two command posts in Nanning and Jingxi, and held Guilin with 20,000 troops of the 31st Army of the National Army, Lieutenant General He Weizhen, and concentrated a force to defeat the enemy on the Xijiang side first. On June 6, the 64th Army was equipped with the 1st Column of Guisui to counterattack the 23rd Brigade of the Japanese Army that had entered Guiping and Mengwei; In addition, the 135th Division and other units attacked Pingnan and Danzhu to counterattack. On June 16, the main force of the Japanese 23rd Army approached Wuxuan, and the Chinese army stopped counterattacking and retreated to Wuxuan. At the same time, the Japanese 11th Army broke through the defensive positions of the Guilin and Lipu Fronts, and the main force reached the outskirts of Guilin on June 24; One attacked Liuzhou. On the 28th, the Fourth Theater organized the three front armies into left, center, and right corps, and concentrated its forces to defend Gui and Liu. On June 29, the 40th, 58th, 37th and 34th Divisions of the Japanese Army launched a general attack on Guilin City.

Although the defenders of Guilin are known as the 3 armies, in fact, the defenders in Guilin only have troops directly under the Defense Command (Defense Commander Wei Yunsong)? The headquarters of the 31st Army and the 131st Division (division commander Kan Weiyong), the 170th Division (division commander Xu Gaoyang) under the 46th Army, and one reinforced regiment of the 79th Army, with a total strength of about 18,000 troops.

On July 3, the enemy concentrated all the firepower to attack the city, although the defending troops launched a fierce battle with the invading enemy, and finally because the enemy was outnumbered, the army was alone, and the battle lasted until the night of July 10, because the defense commander Wei Yunsong led the commander of the 31st Army, He Weizhen? Xu Gaoyang, commander of the 170th Division, and other senior generals and a small number of troops "broke through" the city of Guilin. Commanded operations against the enemy were terminated. In addition to Wei Yunsong, deputy commander-in-chief of the 16th Group Army, and He Weizhen, commander of the 31st Army, who led a part of their staff to escape, more than 2,400 officers and men below died in the battle, including Chen Jiheng, chief of staff of the Guilin Defense Command, Lu Zhanmeng, chief of staff of the 31st Army, Hu Yuanji, deputy commander of the 170th Division, and Wu Zhan, commander of the 392nd Regiment of the 131st Division. Kan Weiyong, the commander of the 131st Division of the 31st Army, refused to retreat, drew a gun at the position and committed suicide. According to the statistics of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, in the battle of Guilin, the Chinese army lost 5,665 people, captured 13,151 people, and captured 156 artillery pieces of various calibers, 110 heavy machine guns, 359 light machine guns, and 2,737 rifles by the Japanese army. At 8 a.m. on July 11, Guilin fell. Chiang Kai-shek strictly ordered to "defend Guilin for 3 months", but in fact it only lasted 9 days before it fell.

On the same day, the 104th Division of the 23rd Army, the 3rd Division and the 13th Division of the 11th Army, which had invaded Guangxi from Guangdong, broke through the defensive positions of the Central Corps and attacked Liuzhou. It is sad and lamentable, that Ding Zhipan's army of the 27th Group Army was garrisoning Liuzhou, which fled without a fierce battle, and the enemy easily occupied Liuzhou. The enemy captured Guilin? After occupying Liuzhou, they immediately attacked Yishan without stopping, and Zhang Fakui, commander of the Fourth Theater, strictly ordered the 46th Army and other units to occupy positions on the front line of Yishan to block the enemy's westward advance and cover the retreat of the commander's headquarters and other troops. However, the army did not seriously carry out the order to block the enemy, and Yishan fell on the third day after the fall of Liuzhou.

After that, the enemy entered the realm of no one, along the Guizhou-Guizhou railway line, on July 15, Nandan fell to the enemy, the enemy captured Nanning on July 28, captured Pingxiang on July 30, and captured Longzhou on the 31st. At this point, the Battle of Guiliu ended, and in more than two months, our side lost 79 counties and cities, accounting for 79 percent of the 100 counties and cities in Guangxi Province at that time, which can be described as miserable.

At the same time, the 21st Division of the Japanese Southern Army broke through into China from Vietnam and attacked Suilu (now Fusui) in Guangxi. At this point, the mainland communication line from Northeast China to Hanoi, Vietnam, was finally opened by the Japanese invaders. The Kuomintang army retreated into Guizhou. The Japanese army pursued along the Qiangui Highway with a force of more than 3,000 troops, as if entering a no-man's land. The Japanese army attacking along the Guizhou-Guizhou Railway reached Dushan in Guizhou on July 23, approaching Sichuan and shaking Chongqing. After being counterattacked by the troops of the General Headquarters of the Guizhou-Guizhou-Hunan Border Region, they withdrew to Hechi, Guangxi. On the 31st, the 21st Division and the 22nd Division of the Japanese Army each met at Suilu. So far, all the mainland communication lines have been opened. In the middle of the year, the two sides gradually formed a confrontation, the Battle of Guiliu ended, and the battle of the entire continental communication line also ended. (To be continued......)

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