By the end of December 1932, the army, navy, and air force of the Japanese attack on Shanhaiguan had been assembled, and they were only waiting to find an opportunity. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The newly appointed commander of the Japanese Kwantung Army, Senior General Takashi Hishikari, learned the lessons of his previous commander, strictly implemented the orders of the Japanese emperor and the War Department, and resolutely avoided going to war with the Northland Anti-Japanese Volunteers.

In the future, the operational objectives of the Kwantung Army were very clear, directed at Hebei.

And the gateway of Hebei, Shanhaiguan is the first to bear the brunt, we must first take this choke point and open the gateway to Hebei.

To this end, the Kwantung Army Command developed a detailed operational plan.

On January 1, 1933, another new year began.

On the morning of that day, a heavily armed Japanese garrison appeared outside the south gate of Shanhaiguan near the station, urging the Japanese expatriates living in the Nanguan area to move out urgently, brazenly revealing the signal that the Japanese army was about to move.

At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Shojiro Ochiai, captain of the Japanese Qinyu garrison stationed near Shanhaiguan Station, informed all Japanese nationals who remained in Linyu City that they must all retreat to the Japanese barracks south of the city within five hours to "take refuge."

At the same time, the Japanese Kwantung Army began to provoke the Chinese garrison.

And a squadron of the Japanese garrison stationed at the Shanhaiguan station, which was assembled on Nanguan Street, suddenly opened fire on the Chinese sentries guarding there and threw grenades.

The Chinese sentinels were caught off guard and were forced to retreat near the South Gate, waiting for orders to act.

From this point of view, the Chinese servicemen were disciplined and did not shoot without an order.

Moreover, this glorious tradition has endured, and it is rare to hear of Chinese soldiers fighting back without an order. Discipline is a good thing, but at the same time, it reflects something else.

At 9:30 p.m. that night, a military vehicle full of imposing Japanese soldiers drove from Suizhong.

At 10:40 p.m., the Japanese army fired five heavy artillery shells from the Japanese barracks in the south of the city towards Shanhaiguan City.

As soon as the artillery fell, the Japanese army launched a position in the area of the station and Nanguan, firing guns to demonstrate to the Chinese troops guarding Shanhaiguan City.

At the same time, the plainclothes team of the puppet Manchurian Army under the command of the Japanese army attempted to take advantage of the chaos to occupy the Shanhaiguan City, but was discovered by Chinese sentries and immediately repulsed.

In the early morning of 2 January, the Chinese railway police stationed at Nanguan in Shanhaiguan were disarmed by the Japanese army, and the Chinese railway inspection team stationed at Shanhaiguan Station was also forced to withdraw from Nanguan into Shanhaiguan City.

At 5 o'clock in the morning, the Japanese army continued to increase its troops, and three ironclad vehicles of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Kwantung Army, carrying more than 2,000 infantry and artillery, drove to Shanhaiguan Station to join the lineup of attacking Shanhaiguan City.

And the Northeast Army's policy of "not provoking me to shoot" has not changed, it doesn't matter if you don't shoot the first shot, what if the enemy shoots, you can give an explanation, right?

For example, in the case of the enemy firing first, the Shanhaiguan garrison is allowed to counterattack and the like.

Mu has, the only order is to provoke me to open this one.

What does that mean?

It means to pout your ass and let the Japanese army beat it, and I just don't fight back.

The officers and men of the Northeast Army were very breathless, especially in the case of the successive victories of the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army in the North, and the desire for the Northeast Army to strongly counterattack the Japanese army was extremely strong.

He Guozhu, the commander of the garrison area, was a bloody man, and when he learned that Shanhaiguan was threatened by the Japanese army, he realized that the conspiracy of the Japanese Kwantung Army to seize Shanhaiguan was clearly exposed.

General He Zhuguo of the garrison area issued a "Letter to the Soldiers" to his subordinates on the front line of Shanhaiguan.

He impassionedly revealed his heart: "I am willing to sprinkle this last drop of blood with my loyal and brave soldiers, in the cave of the Great Wall at the head of Bohai Bay." Justice for mankind, struggle for survival for the nation, shame for the country, and build personality for the soldiers. To comfort the soul of my Yan and Huang ancestors in the sky, and to save the people of my Northeast from the miserable ......"

The war was imminent, and the soldiers and civilians of the whole city rushed to repair the fortifications overnight, digging trenches at the main intersections of each street, setting up barricades, digging cellars for each household, and closing the four gates, preparing to fight to the death with the Japanese army.

At 9 o'clock in the morning of the 2nd, the Japanese army officially launched an attack on Shanhaiguan City.

A lieutenant named "Kodama" of the Japanese garrison led more than 70 people to set up machine guns and anti-aircraft guns on the houses of Nanguan to shoot at the Chinese defenders on the southern wall of Shanhaiguan.

Immediately afterwards, a squadron of infantry of the Japanese army, under the cover of artillery fire, began to climb the city with ladders and carry out a strong attack.

The Chinese defenders fought back heroically and fired the first shot of the Great Wall War of Resistance.

Garrisoned on the south wall of Shanhaiguan was the first battalion of the 626th Regiment of the Ninth Brigade of the Northeast Army. ”

"Da-da--da-da-da-

"Boom--boom--"

In the raging smoke of war, the officers and men of the whole battalion, under the leadership of the commander An Dexin, all of them carried machetes and grenades around their waists, lined up one by one, stood on the edge of the battlements of the city wall and calmly responded to the battle, with a full of vengeful anger, desperately killing the enemy.

The Japanese army attacked the battlements, and the officers and men of the first battalion of the 626th Regiment picked up the big blades and slashed them violently, and the Japanese troops besieging the city were beaten to the ground. And Kodama, a Japanese lieutenant and known as a "stabbing expert", was killed on the spot.

Under the stubborn resistance of the Chinese defenders, who hated the enemy, the Japanese army left behind more than a dozen corpses, finally stopped climbing the city, and began to retreat back.

After winning the first battle, An Dexin raised his wounded arm and shouted hoarsely: "Brothers, the Japanese army will not be willing to lose, they will definitely come to retaliate." We must hold the gates of the city and never let the Japanese advance a single step. Now is the time for us to defend the territory of the motherland with our lives, and we must strike hard at little Japan! ”

The officers and soldiers were enthusiastic and responded in unison: "We are willing to share life and death with the commander, repel the Japanese army, and keep the city gate!" ”

Unwilling to be defeated, the Japanese army regrouped its forces and surrounded Shanhaiguan City from the west, south, and east along Shihe Tieqiao, Nanguan, Erlidian, Weiyuancheng, Wujialing and other places.

The Japanese attack force approached the city gate, and an officer raised a loudspeaker and shouted: "He Zhuguo and the officers and soldiers of the Northeast, you are not the opponent of the imperial army, and resistance is only a dead end." Give you three minutes, if you don't reply when it's too late, the Imperial Army will open fire! ”

An Dexin took the soldier's rifle and aimed it at the Japanese officer, knocking him down.

Enraged, the Japanese began shelling.

The infantry then attacked, and nearly 100 Japanese soldiers climbed the city wall with wooden ladders, and the defenders calmly returned fire and suppressed the Japanese troops

The Japanese Fifth Division dispatched more than 3,000 people to continue the siege, and at the beginning of the attack, more than 30 Japanese artillery guns fired in unison and concentrated bombardment into the city.

At the same time, the Japanese sent eight planes to fly low along the city wall and drop bombs and strafe.

Under the repeated bombing and strafing of Japanese artillery and aircraft, the Chinese defenders suffered heavy casualties. Although the Northeast Army had the Great Wall to rely on, they had no air support and were clearly at a disadvantage.

The sky over Shanhaiguan was filled with smoke, flames soared into the sky, and the sound of guns and cannons was endless.

The officers and men of the defenders did not give an inch and resolutely returned fire.

The Japanese soldiers besieging the city, as soon as they climbed to the top of the city, were hit by bullets and fell down the ladder on their backs.

The fierce Japanese troops poured into the city in waves, and were picked down by the defenders with bayonets.

After fifty minutes of fierce fighting, the corpses of Japanese soldiers were piled up along the city walls.

Immediately afterwards, the Japanese army dispatched more than 20 tanks, covering the infantry and swooped down on the city wall.

"Boom ---"

"Da Da Da--"

"Pap--pa-pa-"

The Chinese defenders were undaunted, armed with broadswords and grenades, and under heavy artillery fire, holding their positions and engaging in the most tragic struggle with the enemy.

The two sides fought fiercely for four hours, and the Japanese army's battle plan to attack the city never succeeded.

At night, the Japanese army continued to mobilize troops to strengthen the encirclement of the Shanhaiguan urban area, and the four enemy ships anchored in the sea of Laolongtou continued to shine with searchlights all night.

In order to break through the city defense of Shanhaiguan, the Japanese army did not hesitate to mobilize the forces of the army, navy, and air force, and set up a joint offensive formation of the army, navy, and air force.

At 8 a.m. on January 3, the Japanese army launched a new round of attacks, with the 21st Brigade of the 5th Division transferred from the northeast as the main attack.

The Fifth Division of the Japanese Army first had several planes hovering over Shanhaiguan City to drop bombs, and then one plane flew from Shanhaiguan to Qinhuangdao, Nandasi, Beidaihe, and Changli to reconnoiter the movements of the Chinese troops.

At 10 o'clock, the Japanese army concentrated sea and land heavy artillery and aircraft to bombard the area around the south gate of Shanhaiguan.

The tower at the south gate was hit by artillery fire, and the nearby city walls were also blown away.

Immediately afterwards, the Japanese Fifth Brigade and the marines landed by ships gathered as many as 6,000 Japanese troops and attacked fiercely around the south gate under the cover of aircraft and artillery.

In the face of the enemy's powerful offensive, the Chinese defenders of the city were in danger and bravely fought back under the command of the battalion commander An Dexin.

These warriors were condescending, relying on the favorable terrain, and they were killed by machine-gun fire at a distance and grenades at a distance.

Both sides fought hard at the South Gate Tower and the nearby city wall, and suffered heavy casualties.

When the enemy saw that he could not take it, he fired incendiary bombs into the city. Under the cover of thick smoke, a group of Japanese troops touched the southeast corner tower where the garrison was relatively weak.

After that, the south gate was also occupied by the Japanese army.

The situation was urgent, and the Chinese defenders' reserves immediately reinforced the counterattack at the south gate, and the 11th Company counterattacked from the east gate (that is, the gate of the "first pass in the world") to the southeast corner, and soon repelled the enemy forces that had succeeded for a while.

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the powerful Japanese offensive was again aimed at the southeast corner.

Heavy artillery fire blasted a huge gap in the wall.

The enemy advanced through the gap, and the Chinese defenders repeatedly blocked and fought fiercely.

"Kill! Kill! Kill! ”

In white-knuckle battles, big blades fly, the soldiers guarding the Great Wall fight to the death, and the Great Wall is closed with flesh and blood, and the battle is tragic.

Although Battalion Commander An Dexin led the soldiers to fight bravely and defend the Shanhai Pass, in the end, the southeast corner of the city was finally lost due to the disparity in the strength of the enemy and us. (To be continued.) )