July 1, 1944. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info Songshan position in Yunnan.

By the middle of 1944, there were many major events in the world and China.

In Europe, the Allies landed in Normandy, because the Germans saw through the British strategy and arranged their troops in front of Normandy in a targeted manner, and the Allies and Germans fought fiercely along the coast in western France. The successful landing of the Allied forces was a great victory, and the opening of the second battlefield was right. However, the Allied forces suffered huge losses, made slow progress, and suffered heavy casualties.

Because of the high death toll and the rise of anti-war movements across the United States, there were crowds marching in the streets in almost every city. Parliamentarians challenged the government, and all the pressure was on the president.

However, the United States has steadily advanced in the Pacific theater, and the dawn of victory has already been seen.

The United States is in a difficult position right now. Fighting on two fronts, taking care of one and losing the other. Although the battlefield is not on the mainland of the United States, it is still difficult to manage.

In addition to fighting in the Pacific theater with the Allied forces composed of the US military and other forces, Japan also had to station a large number of troops in its newly established colonies in the Pacific to loot wealth and materials to support the war. In addition, they have another battlefield, which is China.

At present, they are carrying out a No. 1 operation plan, trying to connect the occupied areas of Central China with the occupied areas of South China, and completely open up the lines of communication, so that they can easily transport troops in various battlefields.

The Allies did not give them a good life, and opened up battlefields in Burma and Yunnan, allowing them to take care of one and the other. Most of the elite troops of the Chongqing government are in the southwest, in Burma, India.

From Vietnam, the Japanese army moved north and occupied some territory in Yunnan. Now, the fighting is taking place in Yunnan to regain these lost territories.

Three jeeps came up from the position on the east bank of the Nu River.

This is a jeep given by the Americans, and the off-road performance is very good, and many officers have begun to ride in this kind of jeep. Many of the officers of the expeditionary force have been trained by the Americans, riding in American cars, using American guns, listening to the American officers yelling at them, trying to buy cheap nylon socks from the Americans, and fighting the war according to the American methods.

The first car to get down were a few lieutenants, seeing that there was nothing going on around, and asked the people in the second car to get out of the car. The first to come down was a very handsome middle-aged officer, and the second to come down was a thin man with two thick eyebrows, which were particularly conspicuous.

A soldier standing guard in the distance said: "It's really interesting, that little man with thick eyebrows, why does Chief Song value him so much?" What kind of chief is he? ”

Another soldier said, "Don't talk nonsense. That chief is a fierce god. He was the famous commander of the Eighth Route Army, the student of the chairman, who fought the Japanese outside the customs and commanded properly, and no less than 100,000 Japanese died in his hands. Otherwise, Chief Song will invite him to come? ”

The first soldier said, "It turns out that he is Commander Lin." Master Lin, hurry up and help Chief Song. Just such a Songshan position, how many people have died. ”

Yes, everyone who knows knows that the small one is Lin Yurong. The handsome middle-aged officer was Song Xilian, the commander of the 11th Group Army of the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force.

Today, the garrison of the east bank position is Song Xilian's 11th Group Army, which belongs to the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force. The Americans called the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force Unit Y. Their mission was to attack the Japanese troops in western Yunnan, cooperating with Unit X.

Unit X is an army stationed in India, which counterattacks in the direction of Burma.

Now their task is to attack the Japanese Matsuyama position on the opposite bank, and since the beginning of June, they have already fought a battle, but in vain.

On June 4, the new 28th Division of the 71st Army of the Eleventh Group Army served as the Songshan Attack, and the division commander Liu Youwu. The main forces of the other two main divisions, the 87th and 88th Divisions and the new 39th Division of the 6th Army, bypassed Songshan and attacked Longling. As the reconnaissance report reported that the Japanese troops in Matsuyama numbered about 3 to 400 men, five artillery pieces, and more than 10 machine guns. Therefore, the 71st Army only planned to use an infantry regiment to completely annihilate the Japanese army in Songshan within a few days with the support of the army's mountain artillery battalion.

Wang Zhixi, deputy commander of the new 28th Division, and Zhong Bin, commander of the 71st Army, were in charge of the command. The regiments of the new 28th Division of the 71st Army and the 117th Regiment of the new 39th Division of the 6th Army were responsible for seizing the outer positions of Songshan, Zhuzipo, Ramangjie and Yinshanshan.

On the 20th, the battle reached a stalemate. Although the water supply pipelines and rear supply lines of the Japanese army were cut off, more than 1,600 casualties were suffered in our various units, including more than 1,000 casualties in the new 28th Division, but the true meaning of the Japanese army was unbreakable. Now that the rainy season has arrived, the river has risen sharply, the expeditionary force has difficulty in logistical supply, and the morale of the army has begun to waver.

By June 28, the weather was clear, and Japanese planes took off from Burma to resupply Songshan, greatly boosting the morale of the Japanese army.

It was at this time that the partisans came.

The guerrillas, who called themselves militias, helped transport supplies, dug trenches, and some even dug tunnels close to the enemy.

There were some intellectuals in the guerrillas, who turned out to be graduates of the Southwest Associated University, and were valued by the senior commanders of the expeditionary force. The expeditionary force is the elite of the state, recruiting and enlisting a large number of young students. They have a habit of recruiting students.

The intellectuals of the militia group suggested: Lin Yurong, the division commander of the Eighth Route Army, is recuperating in Yunnan, so why not invite him to come to the staff for one or two? I heard that he defeated the Japanese army many times, and he was very experienced in fighting Japan.

Song Xilian was in the first phase of Huangpu, and when he heard that Master Lin Yurong was in Yunnan, he sent someone to look for him and invited Master Lin from Kunming.

Song Xilian didn't know that what the intellectuals of this militia group said were exactly what Commander Lin in Kunming instructed him to say.

Of course, Division Commander Lin did not refuse, and went to the front line. He got out of the car and began to observe the position on the opposite bank with a telescope, and the adjutant next to him kept introducing the name of the place and the configuration of the Japanese army.

After looking at it for a while, Master Lin said, "Map." "Words are like gold.

The adjutant spread the map on the jeep.

After he figured out the names of the places, Master Lin said, "How did you fight at this stage?" ”

The chief of staff stepped forward and briefed him on the course and results of the last battle.

Soon the introduction was over, and it was nothing more than hard fighting, a few swings and a few decisions. Then there was silence, and Master Lin looked at the map, did not speak, and stretched out his hand. The guard behind him immediately came up, poured out a little fried soybeans from a cloth bag in his hand, and put it in Mr. Lin's hand. Mr. Lin chewed soybeans slowly, stared at the map, and did not speak.

None of the others spoke. Although Division Commander Lin is only a division commander, although he is not tall, although his appearance is not good, although there is his senior here, but his fame and aura are so powerful, no matter what his rank, others do not talk nonsense.

After a while, Division Commander Lin nodded to his staff officer, and his staff officer took out a document from his bag and handed it to Song Xilian.

Song Xilian's eyes lit up when he took it, then dimmed a little, and looked at it with several other officers.

This material is a very detailed map of the Japanese army's military strength in Matsuyama, and the number of people and weapons are very clear, both in Japanese and Chinese.

Seeing that the total strength of the Japanese army was only 3,000 people, several generals had some frustration.

After a while, Senior Commander Lin finally spoke: "This battle, if you fight Mr. Lu's people, there will be a result soon." ”

Song Xilian: "Mr. Lu? The one in the Northeast? ”

Master Lin said, "Yes." Ground attack, we have no advantage. It had to stop. Only underground attacks. ”

Song Xilian: "Underground? ”

Division Commander Lin said: "There has been more than one battle case of the Northeast Coalition Army, digging tunnels and sneaking attacks from underground, no matter how strong the fortress is, it is very fragile. ”

Liu Youwu: "Digging tunnels is very time-consuming, and it's too late." Several of the other generals began to disagree.

Master Lin said: "In this way, I know that there are many guerrillas and militia groups here. Let them find the people to dig tunnels, and you will fight according to your plan, and we will do both. If the guerrillas take down Matsuyama, you can save your military strength and continue to advance. ”

Wang Zhixi said: "How long does it take for the guerrillas? ”

Master Lin said: "Let's see how many people we can find." There are many people, day and night, three shifts. Ten days for the fast, twenty days for the slow. ”

Song Xilian said: "Okay, let's go back to the headquarters for a meeting." He pulled Division Commander Lin into the car and whispered, "The guerrillas are your subordinates, right?" ”

Master Lin didn't speak. If you don't deny it, you affirm.

Back at the headquarters, the staff officer of Division Commander Lin left alone.

At the time of the meeting, there was a lot of discussion, the staff officers had already drawn up a battle plan, and the generals of the expeditionary force agreed to strive to take Matsuyama in a week or two.

That night, Division Commander Lin sent a telegram to Beiping to solicit the opinion of Mr. Lu. In the early morning of the next day, Beiping called back, agreed to dig a tunnel, and gave detailed suggestions.

In the morning, Division Commander Lin's staff officer returned to the headquarters and reported some information to Division Commander Lin. At 7 o'clock in the morning, Division Commander Lin came to Song Xilian's headquarters and said, "I found 1,000 guerrillas and 3,000 fellow villagers. You only need to give the fellow three meals a day, and the rest, how to dig the tunnel, we will discuss it in detail now. ”

Song Xilian said: "The front is ready, and the troops will attack in five minutes." Let's take a break in this matter?" He also had meetings with his own people and did not agree to dig tunnels.

Master Lin: "Everyone has been found, don't slow down." Dig. We will fight each other. Let's see who takes Matsuyama first. You have to give rice, three meals a day. ”

On July 2, the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 3rd Rong Regiment of the Expeditionary Force attacked the Songshanzi Heights. The battle lasted for a long time, and at noon the defeat was retreated. The Songshanzi Heights failed, and a part of the men and horses occupied the northern position and gained a foothold.

On the evening of 2 July, He Shaozhou held an operational meeting above the battalion level and decided to change from a direct attack to a flank attack from Rolling Longpo.

At this time, 3,000 civilians plus 1,000 guerrillas arrived at the northern position. The guerrillas advanced into the position, lying on the ground digging pits, but in an hour, the pits dug by the people were connected to the trenches, and the trenches led to the foot of the mountain, and the people entered the trenches and began to widen the trenches. The people were okay with farm work, digging tunnels didn't seem to be very professional, and the guerrillas seemed to know it very well and instructed them from time to time on how to do it.

In the early morning of the next day, the position on the north side was greatly improved, and the zigzag trenches had been dug.

The officers of the expeditionary force saw it and shook their heads greatly. The pit is too deep for combat.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the Japanese army seemed to have spotted the guerrillas digging trenches and shelling the positional trenches on the north side. Because the shelling time was limited, the damage was not great. The civilians who dug the trenches were the second group, because the caves had been dug and the casualties were very small.

In this way, the ground is the offensive battle of the expeditionary force, and the underground is the people digging tunnels. By the 6th, the second battle was over, the attack failed, and six holes were dug a few hundred meters each.