August 7, 1944. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info Hengyang City.

Fang Xianjue sent a farewell message, relieved, walked out of the basement of the central bank, and came to the street.

Look around. Looking at Hengyang City, Fang Xianjue felt as if he was relieved.

The entire city of Hengyang is in ruins, and there are corpses everywhere, including Japanese, subordinates, and ordinary people.

This city, which was once the second largest city in the country in terms of tax revenue, has been reduced to ruins.

Before the battle began, the 300,000 people of Hengyang City were evacuated. The three divisions of the Tenth Army were distributed in the city, west of the city, and east of the Xiangjiang River in the east of the city. The hilly terrain in the south of the city was suitable for attacking, and fortifications were dug and the terrain was repaired, so that the Japanese army was the most disadvantageous when attacking.

After the start of the war, I learned that the Japanese army was too numerous, and even if the Zhijiang plane came to help, it would be useless.

The sight of corpses and wounded soldiers everywhere, and the stench that permeated the entire city, made him feel terrible.

His own army was seventeen thousand six hundred, with fifteen thousand casualties and five thousand six hundred killed.

What Fang Xianjue didn't know was that the Japanese army suffered about 70,000 casualties, 48,000 killed, and 390 senior generals were killed in battle.

Fang Xianjue only knew that his people had no combat power at all. The soldiers and civilians of Hengyang suffered countless casualties and could not fight any further.

He really couldn't support it anymore.

Fang Xianjue slowly pulled out his pistol, aimed it at his temple, and pulled the trigger.

Fang Xianjue was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in 1903, when he was Xiao County. He studied at an early age, and later went to Nanjing to study, and then studied at the Central University, and then transferred to the Whampoa Military Academy and studied in the third infantry department. Later, he joined the army, gradually promoted, participated in the suppression of the Nanchang uprising troops, participated in the Songhu Anti-Japanese War, and then in Jiangxi, Hunan Anti-Japanese War, from the 37-year regiment commander, at the end of 37 was promoted to division commander, to the end of 43 was promoted to the commander of the Tenth Army, and concurrently served as the commander of the Hengyang garrison.

The task of garrisoning Hengyang naturally fell on him and on the Tenth Army.

Back on June 23, 1944, the Japanese army launched the first round of attacks on Hengyang. Hengyang City, the east of the city Weixiang River, the north of the city has the grass river, the west of the city is a swamp fish pond, the south of the city is a hillside, suitable for offensive operations. To the east of the Xiangjiang River is Leishui, a tributary of the Xiangjiang River. The 10th Army was deployed in the south of the city, east of the Xiangjiang River in the east of the city, southwest and west of Hengyang.

The day after the battle, the Waziping position was broken through by the enemy, and the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division, which was guarding the position, was corrected by Battalion Commander Li Guilu on the spot. The officers and men were solemn when they heard this, and none of them dared to retreat after that.

On the 26th, the Japanese army occupied Hengyang Airport on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River in the east of Hengyang City, and the US military destroyed Hengyang Airport and the planes were evacuated. After the Japanese army occupied the airport, it detoured to the south of Hengyang, cut off the retreat of the defenders of Hengyang, and formed an encirclement of Hengyang from the west and southwest of Hengyang. Now, the Japanese have reached the pre-set offensive positions of the Russians. On the 27th, the enemy who crossed the Xiangjiang River attacked fiercely, entered Oujia Town and Huangchaling, and attacked the main positions of the Stopping Army, Gaoling, and Jiangxi Guild Hall. The defenders were determined to fight the enemy to the last grenade.

On the 28th, all the defenders of the Armistice Mountain and Gaoling strongholds were killed, and none of them survived. No less than 1,000 Japanese troops were annihilated.

From the 28th to the 30th, the Japanese army used poison gas during the attack. In addition to the 4 spies and cooks who were not in the position, more than 80 people in the 7th Company guarding the Wuguiling position were poisoned and died.

The Japanese planes bombed Hengyang City indiscriminately, and most of the grain and bombs hoarded in the city were burned. The officers and men of the 10th fought valiantly and killed countless Japanese soldiers. The commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, Sakuma, and his chief of staff were seriously wounded, and several other wing commanders and group commanders were killed. From the 28th to July 2nd, the fighting was extremely fierce, it was dark, and the Japanese army suffered repeated losses in five days, so it had to suspend the offensive on July 2.

On July 11, the Japanese army resumed its offensive. This is the second general offensive.

On the 12th, the Japanese captured the tiger's nest. The second general offensive of the Japanese army was changed to a focused attack. However, the defenders were not afraid of sacrifice, held their positions, and resisted extremely tenaciously, rushing back and forth, counterattacking the enemy, and repeatedly fighting with the Japanese army for some key points. The small highland of Zhangjiashan has been lost and regained three times. By the 15th, the defenders retreated to Xichan Temple and Zhang Feishan, and changed to the second line. The focus of the Japanese attack shifted from the southwest of Hengyang to the outer part of the city.

On the 16th, the high ground at the southern end of the Civic Hospital fell. The Japanese attack turned to the northwestern suburbs.

On the 17th, the Japanese army bombarded Hengyang City fiercely, seizing strongholds on the outskirts of the city one after another, and compressing the encirclement.

From then until the end of the month, the two sides fought against each other, and every inch of land was contested. The casualties of officers and men in many positions of the 10th Army ranged from 7 to 90 percent. There is a shortage of medicines, and those who are slightly injured voluntarily return to the front line, and those who are not lightly injured but can act voluntarily remain in position, preferring to numb themselves with fierce battles. The Japanese attack on Hengyang cost heavy casualties, and one wing commander and six team leaders were killed, but it was still difficult to make progress and had to stop the attack again on the 19th.

On the 21st, the enemy feigned retreat and lured the defenders to attack, not to be fooled. The Japanese army also airdropped the "return card" to lure the 10th Army to surrender. The officers and men of the Tenth Army burned the "return card" and were determined to fight hard and live and die with Hengyang.

In the battle for the Eighth Regiment, the five battalion commanders who were promoted within half a day all died heroically in the Battle of Hengyang, and officers at all levels took the lead. In the battle for Wuguiling of the Eighth Regiment, five battalion commanders were promoted in a row within half a day, and all of them died heroically. Division Commander Ge Xiancai personally vented the poison gas and led his troops to restore the Zhangjiashan position. Division Commander Zhou Qingxiang fought hard for 5 days and nights near Yanfeng in the north of Caoqiao, and began to withdraw to the core position south of Caoqiao, which was called the "core force".

Now, the U.S. side believes that the Chinese government army has been defeated repeatedly, and the crux of the problem is the incompetence of the leader. They wanted Stilwell to command the entire Chinese army. Lao Chiang knew the plans of the Americans, and he had mixed feelings, and now, the longer Hengyang persisted, the more beneficial it would be to the struggle between Lao Chiang and the Americans.

On July 27 and August 2, the Chinese Air Force twice issued ****** warrants to Hengyang City, ordering Fang Xianjue's army to hold on to Hengyang City for reinforcements. However, the Japanese army tried their best to intercept and support the Chinese army in Hengyang, and the defenders of Hengyang stubbornly defended it.

Since the second general offensive, the Japanese army has only captured a small part of the position, without much progress, but the damage is even worse. Hengyang could not be attacked for a long time, and the Japanese and Chinese troops were very uneasy, and the Japanese base camp was also extremely dissatisfied. The commander of the Japanese 11th Army, Isamu Yokoyama, increased his troops and personally commanded the attack on Hengyang, and assembled on the periphery of Hengyang on August 1 with the strength of five divisions.

At this time, there were heavy casualties in Hengyang City, and there was a shortage of food and ammunition. The soldiers in the city could only eat rice made from burnt rice and served with salt water. The fish, shrimp, and duckweed in the pond near the position were all eaten. The wounded soldiers had no medicine to treat, so they could only wash their wounds with salt water and bandage them with waste paper and rags, and the wounds were mostly suppurated, festering and maggots, and the seriously injured could not be treated and died.

On August 1, the Japanese army kicked off the third general offensive and the storming of Xichan Temple began. As of dawn on the 3rd, the defenders of Xichan Temple lost their positions three times and suffered heavy casualties. After more than a month of hard fighting, the Tenth Army suffered heavy casualties, and even miscellaneous soldiers were transferred to the front line of battle, which was extremely tragic.

On August 3, the Japanese army bombed Hengyang, and the third general attack began on the morning of the 4th. Under the onslaught of the Japanese army, the 10th Army, which had held Hengyang City for a month and a half, was extremely tired and difficult to fight again.

On August 5, the top brass of the 10th Army began to discuss the next stage of operation, and Division Commander Zhou Qingxiang advocated a breakthrough, but more than 6,000 people were wounded in the city and could not move with the army, so Commander Fang was determined to continue to defend to the death.

Fang Xianjue's army suffered heavy casualties, and his positions were destroyed in many places, and he knew in his heart that it would be difficult to defend to the death.

On the 7th, the Japanese army broke through the north gate of Hengyang City. On the same day, Fang Xianjue and the division commanders jointly sent a "final telegram" to the high headquarters: "After the enemy broke through the north gate this morning, there are no more troops to block the attack. The rank vows to repay the party and the state with a death, and to fulfill the duty of a soldier, and never live up to the intention of Junzuo's life. This is probably the last one. See you in the next life! ”

Fang Xianjue's 10th officers and soldiers guarded Hengyang City for 47 days and nights, and under the fierce attack of the Japanese army, they fought tenaciously and waited for reinforcements until the position was completely destroyed and suffered heavy casualties.

On the night of August 7, Fang Xianjue sent Chief of Staff Sun Mingyu to negotiate with the Japanese army to stop resistance. Hengyang fell on August 8.

So far, the Chinese army has suffered about 15,000 casualties and more than 6,000 casualties. According to Japanese statistics, the Japanese army suffered nearly 20,000 casualties. Japan admitted that the battle was "a battle of suffering" because of the "appalling sacrifices" that "not only seriously hampered the agenda of opening up the mainland," but also suffered heavy casualties.

The Tenth Army bravely and tenaciously held the city of Hengyang for 47 days and nights, delaying the progress of the Japanese army in opening up the mainland communication line and annihilating a large number of Japanese troops. The day after tomorrow, the Japanese army said that Fang Xianjue was "a brave and good tiger general", and the Tenth Army "must fight for every inch of land, and its spirit of fighting in a lonely city is really admirable." The Japanese officer said: "The brave fighting of the Chinese army is not only admired by the Japanese army here, but also heard of by the Japanese emperor and the base camp." ”

Although the fall of Hengyang City was a foregone conclusion, the Tenth Army was still glorious.

August 7, 1944. Hengyang City.

Fang Xianjue slowly pulled out his pistol, aimed it at his temple, and pulled the trigger.

A hand struck like lightning, and opened the snatch at once. Bullets hit the wall,

Then that hand quickly grabbed Fang Xianjue's hand.

As soon as the gunshots rang out, several people came, and when they saw the adjutant firmly holding Fang Xianjue's hand, they understood, and shouted for the first one: "Commander, you can't do this, what can the brothers do?" ”

At this time, several division commanders also came.

After being persuaded by everyone for a while, Fang Xianjue finally stopped thinking about suicide.

Zhou Qingxiang said: "Several divisions don't want to fight, let's surrender." ”

Rong Youluo: "If Xue Yue doesn't actively reinforce us, we are already exhausted." ”

Ge Xiancai: "Commander, you have to think about those wounded. ”

Fang Xianjue thought for a long time and said, "That's it." We draw up a surrender and contact the Japanese early tomorrow morning. In the future, I'm afraid that the only way to go to Nanjing is to go. "After surrendering, it was Wang Jingwei's subordinates.

After discussion, the three demands to be made to the Japanese side are:

1. Ensure the safety of the surviving officers and soldiers, and let them rest.

2. Treat the wounded and treat the wounded, and solemnly bury the fallen officers and soldiers.

3. The officers and soldiers defending the city will never leave Hengyang City. As a result, more than 2,000 officers and soldiers were killed and more than 7,000 officers and soldiers were wounded, and the horror of being slaughtered was spared.

On the night of August 7, 1944. Hengyang City.

After tossing twice, Zhang Guangkuan, the colonel of the adjutant of the military department, finally contacted the Japanese army, and the Japanese army agreed to negotiate and immediately cease fire, and Zhang Guangkuan returned to the city, it was already 6 o'clock.

August 8, 1944, at half past ten in the morning. At sunset, the gunfire stopped, all the defenders surrendered, and the commander Fang Xianjue and others were imprisoned in the diocesan church. These are one of the few houses that are in good condition.

On the evening of the 8th, Japanese radio stations broadcast the news of the surrender of the entire Tenth Army.

Secretly, the Japanese army advanced to negotiate to study the aftermath of the Tenth Army and how to use the surrender of the Tenth Army to attack Chongqing.

Chongqing shook. Several telegrams were sent to Hunan.