From June 26, the spirit of the Japanese commander Isamu Yokoyama was in a state of high spirits. In the past month, the eight divisions under his command have conquered the city as if they were in a no-man's land, and their proud achievements have gradually made this scholar-type general forget his form. He decided to use only the 68th and 116th divisions to participate in the siege, and put the other six divisions on the periphery of Hengyang to intercept reinforcements.

Yokoyama Yong's plan was not unreasonable, because Zhang Deneng's 4th Army, which was guarding Changsha, was much stronger than Fang Xianjue's 10th Army in terms of equipment and soldiers, and only in terms of artillery firepower, the 4th Army had seventy or eighty artillery pieces, half of which were large-caliber artillery, while Fang Xianjue's 10th Army only had twelve small-caliber guns. The 4th Army had more than 24,000 soldiers, while the 10th Army had only more than 17,000, and the area of Hengyang was much smaller than Changsha's, only two square kilometers. The 68th Division of the Japanese Army, which is responsible for the main attack mission, is the elite of the 11th Army, and has always been good at attacking fortifications, and has carried out strict siege training, since it took three days to capture Changsha, then the capture of Hengyang will also give three days, this should be no problem.

Isamu Yokoyama thought that he was a little too lenient with the troops participating in the siege, and the capture of a small city of Hengyang actually gave them three days.

Lieutenant General Sakuma, the commander of the 68th Division, was also optimistic, believing that it would not take three days to take the city, and that the commander gave three days entirely out of sympathy for his subordinates.

Lieutenant General Sakuma assured Yokoyama in a loud tone: "Please rest assured, commander, three days is enough, and we will see you at Fang Xianjue's headquarters in three days!" ”

The two lieutenant generals did not think that their judgment was wrong, and it was clear that the capture of Hengyang City should be a one-sided battle.

On June 26, the Japanese launched their first large-scale offensive against the city of Hengyang.

The two divisions of the Japanese army successfully completed the pincer encirclement of Hengyang City, the 68th Division was in the south, and the 116th Division launched a strong attack at the same time in the west, and an artillery wing with a total of more than 60 field guns and 40 bombers began to carry out saturation bombing on the positions inside and outside Hengyang City.

The 8th squad where Mantang was located broke away from the 190th Division before the battle began, and was urgently replenished to the 30th Regiment of the 10th Reserve Division. The 30th Regiment was responsible for defending the position on the line from Zhangjiashan to Fengshushan in the southern suburbs, and was in urgent need of reinforcement at this time. The Zhangjiashan position is the key to ensuring an important defensive line southwest of Hengyang, and the division command post set up by Ge Xiancai, commander of the 10th Division, at Wuxianmiao is only 700 meters away from the main position in Zhangjiashan and only 300 meters away from the command post of the 30th Regiment in Xiaojiashan.

The Zhangjiashan position is the salient part of the division's position, and the entire position is composed of three small plateaus with small elevations. The southeast is the 227.7 height, the northwest is the 211 height, the distance between the two heights is about 50 meters, is the most effective distance between rifle and machine gun crossfire. Zhangjiashan is in the northeast direction, slightly higher than these two small highlands, located directly behind the first two highlands, about 150 meters apart, the entire Zhangjiashan position is arranged in a zigzag shape, can be each other's horns, cover each other, so the Zhangjiashan position and the Fengshushan position have become two important fire support points on the southwest defense line of Hengyang.

Man Tang and his brothers hid in the artillery bunker, he covered his ears tightly, buried his head in his chest, and trembled all over. Although the bunker was covered with logs with a diameter of 40 centimeters and a layer of rammed earth half a meter thick, a 150-millimeter shell exploded, and it still felt like it was directly on the back.

The shelling stopped, and the platoon commander heard a low order: "Brothers, enter the position immediately, move all the hand ** boxes out of the bunker, put a box every 5 meters, unscrew 10 hand ** safety covers per person in advance, prepare the machine gun in the bunker, load the rifle and lean on the side, and wait with one hand ** in each hand." ”

Mantang glanced at Zhang Baowang, and saw that Zhang Baowang had already lifted two boxes of hands and ** rushed out of the bunker, he was puzzled, he didn't take a gun when he was ready to fight, what kind of fucking style of play is this?

The unsettling silence lasted only about 20 seconds, and suddenly an earth-shattering cry broke out in front of the position, and a wing of Japanese soldiers shouted wildly, spreading out a multi-layered straggler line and rushing up all over the mountains, looking like a layer of earthy yellow turbidity waves surging from a distance, and the shouts of two or three thousand people in unison actually emitted a tsunami-like effect, which was terrifying and terrifying. The few recruits around Mantang were so frightened that their faces were colorless, and the hands holding the ** hand were also trembling incessantly.

The earthy yellow turbidity wave suddenly stopped in front of the national army's position, as if it had encountered a barrage. The Japanese soldiers found that a cliff about 2.5 meters high was firmly blocked in front of them, and the soldiers in front stopped walking, but the soldiers behind could not restrain their feet, and the waves surged up, squeezing the soldiers in front of them on the earthen wall, and the formation was chaotic for a while. Well-trained Japanese soldiers set up ladders and climbed up the cliff in a mess. At this moment, the heads of the Japanese soldiers were like a swarm of locusts flying, and the dense rain of bullets composed of hundreds of hands turned the cliff into a hell, and the Japanese soldiers were attacked by the blast wave of the explosion and the shrapnel like flying locusts, and the milky white gunpowder smoke mixed with the fragments of human stumps flew into the air.

The iron pillar was guarded in the bunker, and the muzzle of his machine gun was facing the direction of the Japanese attack, and the machine gun bunker was all built at the tip of the zigzag fortification, but the firing holes were opened on both sides, and the four machine guns fired in opposite directions, forming a cross fire with the bunker fortifications on the opposite side. When the Japanese soldiers under the cliff were attacked by the "barrage", the Japanese soldiers behind them turned around and ran back, at this time, the iron pillar excitedly pulled the trigger, the light machine gun shook and screamed, and the retreating Japanese soldiers fell one by one like sickles cutting grass......

The construction method of this kind of field fortifications is the first initiative of the 10th Army, which is aimed at the lack of heavy weapons and long-range firepower of the Chinese army, and has been gradually explored in the course of war, so that the firepower effectiveness of light weapons can be brought into full play. Its tactical characteristics are: It is absolutely impossible to easily expose secret firepower points, and even if a small group of enemies approaches obstacles to carry out destructive operations, they only use individual firepower in foxholes to intercept and block attacks, and only when most of the enemy's forces penetrate deep into the predetermined position, the secret firepower points are poured out like a flood that suddenly opens the floodgates, and multi-level crossfirepower composed of side-fire, oblique fire, down-fire, and elevation fire is used to annihilate all attacking enemies. This style of play, which increases the density of firepower in a local area, often causes casualties on the attacking side. The Japanese soldiers who were lucky enough to break through the fire net finally reached the artificial cliff in front of the position, and when they were trying to climb the cliff with a human ladder, the national soldiers guarding the bomb trench on the top of the cliff threw bundles of hands **, and the Japanese troops under the cliff had no cover, no safety blind spots to be found, and they were all wiped out. Of course, this program can also be used in reverse, that is, to first lead the enemy close to the artificial cliff, carry out a "barrage" attack, and then turn on the secret fire to cut off the way back.

The second wave of Japanese attack came up again in the blink of an eye. Unbeknownst to them, they had become a slaughterhouse under the cliff, and they still rushed forward regardless of casualties. Tie Zhu changed the magazine and was about to continue shooting, but received an order from the company commander: "Stop shooting!" Put in a bunch of devils! ”

As a result, the second attack wave composed of hundreds of Japanese soldiers was "processed" like being put into an assembly line, and the mutilated corpses of the Japanese soldiers under the cliff were piled up into a hill, and the three attacks of the Japanese army ended in disastrous defeats, and thousands of corpses lay down in front of the national army's position.

This battle was full of hundreds of hands **, and his arms were sore, he had never fought such an enjoyable battle, he didn't let go of a shot, and the battle ended with his hands alone. The recruits, whose faces had turned pale with fright, were all smiling at this moment.

Sun Xincang was about to show his hand with a formal rifle in his hand, but he didn't let go of a shot, so he threw his hand**. He threw a hand that had unscrewed the lid on the ground, and complained dissatisfiedly: "Damn, what kind of bullshit is this?" I can't even use a gun! ”

Zhang Baowang patted him on the shoulder and said, "Brother, where is this?" You've got a lot of good marksmanship when you show your face back. ”

Lieutenant General Sakuma, commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, saw the fiasco of the three attacks in his telescope, and could not help but be greatly annoyed, he regretted his underestimation of the enemy, why did he not send scouts to reconnoiter before the attack began, who knew that the opponent would change the terrain, and the hilly area would be so strange, and if the fight continued like this, the entire 68th Division would not be able to cross the cliff if it was filled in.

Sakuma put down his binoculars and thought that the 68th Division had never suffered such heavy casualties, no, it is not accurate to say that the casualties were killed, and the mortality rate of the attacking troops was almost 100 percent under that cliff. It seems that the preparation of artillery fire before the offensive did not receive any effect, how were the fortifications of the Chinese army set up? How did they maximize the effectiveness of the fire power of small arms? In less than an hour, the 133rd Wing, which served as the main attacker, lost more than half of its soldiers, which is simply incredible.

While draped in a pistol and a command knife, Sakuma said to the chief of staff of the division, Harada Shinzaburo Osa, "Harada-kun, bring a few combat staff officers and follow me to the front to take a look, I want to see how their fortifications are constructed." ”

Major General Shima Genyoshi, commander of the 57th Brigade, immediately dissuaded: "Sir, you can't go, it's too dangerous ahead!" I'll send someone to scout. ”

Sakuma retorted with a smile, "Where is it not dangerous? Even if you stay in the headquarters, you may not be able to eat a **, let's go! With that, he walked out of the headquarters without looking back.

Harada Shinzaburo hurriedly chased after him with several combat staff officers.

Shima Genkichi shook his head helplessly and said no more.

The Japanese suffered heavy losses in three attacks, so much so that for a long time they could not organize the forces to continue the attack, and there was a period of calm in front of the Zhangjiashan position. Tie Zhu looked at the corpses of the Japanese soldiers piled up under the cliff, and suddenly had the idea of making a fortune, he discussed with Man Tang in a low voice: "Brother, we are idle and idle, it is better to go down and pick up foreign children, maybe we can make a fortune." ”

When the whole hall heard this, he became excited, and he slapped him on the head: "Medium! Why didn't I remember? Pillar, you kid is more brainy than my brother, let's go down quietly, don't let the platoon commander see it! ”

The brothers quietly slid down the cliff and picked up among the corpses of Japanese soldiers. Mantang managed to untie a watch from the wrist of a Japanese lieutenant, but when he got it, he found that the watch had stopped, and he threw the watch far away in frustration. Only then did I find out that it was not only the two of them who picked up the foreign children, but also five or six brothers in the class, including Ma Lao Wu.

Ma Lao Wu took off a telescope from the chest of a Japanese soldier and was wiping the blood stains on it with his military cap. Mantang snatched it over, and scolded in his mouth: "Ma Lao Wu, I said that you are pretending to be stupid, right?" I've never seen a fool who wants to get rich. ”

Although Ma Lao Wu said that his brain was not very good, he still understood the importance of private property, and when he saw that the property he had just arrived was snatched away, he immediately launched a rush, and he actually hit him headlong and knocked Mantang on his back to the sky. The whole house jumped up in a rage, and gave him a few heavy punches in the stomach one after another, so that Ma Lao Wu could be honest.

Tie Zhu rummaged through the corpse, first found a few boxes of cigarettes in the corpse's pocket, and found that a corpse had gold teeth in its mouth, so Tie Zhu patiently pried off two gold teeth with a bayonet, carefully put them into his arms, and muttered in his mouth: "Damn, why are these devils also poor?" It's not much better than us......"

Sun Xincang is worthy of his background in hunting, he is only interested in guns, and he actually picked up four Type 38 rifles, as well as seven or eight cowhide cartridges full of bullets.

Li Changshun, who was watching the wind from above, lowered his voice and shouted: "Come back, the platoon commander is coming this way!" ”

So the brothers who picked up the children crawled back to their positions.

After the platoon commander left, everyone took out their trophies and fiddled with them. Li Changshun picked up the telescope that was full of grabbing and looked into the distance, but found that the field of vision was blurred, and he tried to turn the knob between the lens barrels, and the vision gradually became clear......

Man Tang was afraid that he would break the telescope, so he hurriedly shouted: "Changshun, what the hell are you messing with?" I can't afford to spoil you, kid! ”

Li Changshun suddenly straightened up, motionless and looked ahead with a telescope, and whispered, "Hey, there are devils on the opposite hillside......"

Everyone immediately became nervous and picked up their hands one after another.

Li Changshun saw in the telescope that there were seven or eight Japanese soldiers standing behind the bushes on the small high ground in Oujia Town opposite, and several of them wearing yellow tweed uniforms were holding binoculars to observe this side, all of them were armed with pistols and command knives, and they seemed to be a group of officers, and the leader must be a senior officer, otherwise there would not be so many followers beside him.

Man Tang asked nervously: "Changshun, what do you see?" Is the devil going to attack again? ”

Li Changshun put down the binoculars and said to himself excitedly: "It's a devil official, the distance is more than a thousand meters, the mortar can be used, the hall is full, if I have a mortar at this time, I can kill that group of devil officials." ”

Tie Zhu interjected: "Mortar? Yes! The mortar company of the regimental headquarters is behind us, and I saw the white company commander of the artillery company just now. ”

Man Tang stood up suddenly: "Let's go, let's hurry up and report to Company Commander Bai, we won't rush if it's late!" ”

The commander of the mortar company at the regimental headquarters, Captain Bai Lei, was reprimanding a recruit in the observation post, who had fired two shells in the previous battle without exploding, only to find out later that he had forgotten to unscrew the safety cap on the fuse in a panic and wasted two shells in vain.

Bai Bai Lei is a graduate of the 15th Artillery Department of the Central Military Academy, and he and Cai Jigang are fellow villagers and both are from Tongcheng, Anhui Province, which is the birthplace of the famous "Tongcheng School" literature in Chinese history. The Tongcheng School of Literature was the largest prose school in the Qing Dynasty, and there were more than 1,200 writers of the Tongcheng School in history. Affected by this, during the day, Lei liked to dance and write ink since he was a child, and was determined to be an essayist, who knew that he caught up with the war, and during the day, Lei applied for the Central Military Academy from Rong, and became an artillery officer after graduation, and everyone was stunned to delay a good prose.

After listening to the report of Li Changshun and others, Company Commander Bai immediately came to the spirit, there is such a good thing? The senior commander of the Japanese army actually took the initiative to send it to his own gun, which is a good thing that is difficult to find with a lantern.

Company Commander Bai carefully observed it with a telescope, and decided that Li Changshun's judgment was correct, there must be a general among the devils, and he rushed to this posture of shouting and hugging back, and the old devil's official is not small. God really opened his eyes, and sent an opportunity to make a great contribution to the eyes of the white company commander.

During the day, Lei couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart, and shouted a series of commands. In order to avoid startling the snake, Bai Bai Lei decided not to ask his superiors for the time being, and let his mother do it first. He decided not to carry out the routine test firing of a single gun, but ordered the eight mortars of the whole company to aim at the target at the same time and fire them in a concentrated manner.

When Li Changshun saw so many mortars, he had the courage to ask: "Company Commander Bai, can you let me shoot a shot?" ”

During the day, Lei was surprised: "You, you can also use mortars?" ”

"Old gunner, I don't dare to say if you are not allowed, at least it will not be worse than these brothers under you."

"Hey! Why didn't you say it earlier? I don't have an old gunner here, Guo Liancheng, you stand aside and let this brother try. ”

The recruit who had been trained just now immediately gave up his position, Li Changshun walked to the mortar, squinted his eyes and measured the distance, skillfully adjusted the firing elevation angle of the mortar, and then picked up a shell and put it on the muzzle, he looked at the white company commander and said, "Bai company commander, don't you want to try my accuracy?" Then let me fire this cannon three seconds earlier, so that I don't have to mess with other brothers. ”

Bai Bai Lei smiled: "Okay, boy, are you going to show your hand?" Just listen to you, and let you go for three seconds! Now all pay attention, listen to my orders, the target is directly ahead, at a distance of 1000 meters, eight guns are fired in a rapid salvo, ready to ......"

At this time, Li Changshun's shell had already been discharged......

During the day, the mines were immediately "released", and the remaining seven guns fired shells at the same time.

Lieutenant General Sakuma, who was on the small plateau of Oujia Town, was holding a telescope to carefully observe the Zhangjiashan position. Here, he finally saw clearly the mystery of the Chinese army's jagged artificial cliffs, with all the firing points at the tips of the sawtooth and machine gun holes on both sides of the sharp corners. It seems that they have made great efforts to transform the terrain in order to avoid frontal shooting, use artificial cliffs to block the attacking troops, use side-fired methods to form crossfire to cut off their rear roads, and then use a large number of hands to carry out "barrage" attacks. This move is indeed very clever, it is difficult to destroy the firepower point with the artillery fire of the frontal attacking side, and the attacking troops can only be beaten, and there is absolutely no room to fight back, no wonder the casualties are so huge.

Sakuma saw the corpses of Japanese soldiers lying under the jagged cliffs, the khaki uniform outlining the boundaries of the position, and the lieutenant general's facial muscles twitched violently. He angrily turned back to the chief of staff, Harada Shinzaburo Osa, and said: "Pass my order, the next attack, bring all the short ladders of the engineer brigade, and climb over the cliff as fast as possible...... His voice fell, and suddenly there was a whistling sound in the air that pierced the air, Harada Shinzaburo's face changed suddenly, and he shouted: "Lie down, ......" and rushed to Sakuma......

However, it was too late, and Li Changshun's first cannonball fell with a whistling sound, and in the violent explosion, the bodies of Lieutenant General Sakuma and Harada Shinzaburo Osaku were raised high by the shock wave and fell down like feathers...... Three seconds later, another swarm of shells fell, turning the small plateau of Oujia Town into a sea of fire.

The **** launched by Li Changshun has obtained a very high cost performance: Sakuma is a lieutenant general [1]

The staff officers of the 68th Division Headquarters and the commanders of the 57th Brigade and Regiment who accompanied the lieutenant general to observe before the formation were either killed or wounded, and suffered heavy losses. This rapid artillery attack under the command of Daytime Lei paralyzed the command system of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army for a time.

When the Japanese army launched the general offensive, Cai Jigang was supervising the battle on the defensive line west of the city of the 3rd Division.

The west line of Hengyang city defense starts from the West Bus Station to receive the position of the 10th Division, along Waziping to the front street of Yi Lai Temple, this defense line is more than 1,200 meters long, the terrain in front of the position is flat and open, all are some paddy fields and fish ponds, ditches are vertical and horizontal, only a few roads in the houses in the back street of Yi Lai Temple can approach the defense line.

Although the 3rd Division was also the main division of the 10th Army, only two regiments participated in the defense of the city, because the 8th Regiment was sent to the Changheng Highway between Hengyang and Xiangtan half a month ago to attack and harass the Japanese army, and was temporarily separated from the formation of the 3rd Division. According to the pre-war deployment, the 7th Regiment was responsible for defending the line of Changhu Town and Yilai Street in the west; The 9th Regiment was tasked with repelling the enemy from the north gate, and was stationed on the line of Shendu, Caoqiao, and Shiguzui. Division Commander Zhou Qingxiang ordered the 9th Regiment to strengthen the defense, and each sent a reinforced company to defend the two key positions at the southern end of Shendu and Caoqiao. Both positions were fortified with bunkers, bunker complexes, and communication trenches.

There is only one section of the 9th regiment's defense area that is relatively weak, that is, the paddy fields and fish ponds in the middle of the front street of Yilai Miao, and other sections can be deployed by relying on the steaming river.

The 7th Regiment defended Changhu Town and Yilai Street with a large number of fortifications and communication trenches, laid multi-layered obstacles and minefields, and demolished a private house to clear the firing boundary, which was an easy and difficult position to defend.

Cai Jigang was in the command post of the 1st Battalion of the 9th Regiment just in time for the artillery bombardment before the general attack of the Japanese army, and it seems that Yokoyama Yong believed that the defense line in the west of the city was a weak point and was eager to break through from here. The bombardment before the general attack and the bombing of the planes lasted for a full hour, and Cai Jigang's ears were shocked to a half-deaf state. Major Xu Xuewen, the commander of the 1st Battalion, was not much better, not only was he deaf, but he was also choked by the smoke that covered the sky and the sun and coughed up blood.

Cai Jigang saw through the binoculars that the obstacles and minefields in front of the position were swept away by heavy artillery fire, and one-third of the bunker group carefully constructed before the war was destroyed, and many of the bunkers were directly hit by large-caliber shells. The commanders of each company on the position called the battalion headquarters, presumably to report the casualties of each company.

Camp Commander Xu shouted: "You don't have to report, Lao Tzu can't hear anything, only one sentence, as long as the devil enters within 100 meters, each company doesn't have to wait for an order, immediately fire at Lao Tzu and beat him up!" ”

The Japanese were really well-trained, and the infantry artillery coordinated with each other perfectly, and their skirmish line almost followed the barrage, and as soon as the artillery fire extended backwards, the Japanese skirmish line had already reached the front of the position, and thousands of soldiers shouted in unison and swarmed up, and the bayonets on their rifles shone brightly in the sun......

The 2nd Company guarding the Shendu position took the lead in firing, and then the positions at the southern end of Caoqiao, the positions in front of Yilai Miaojie, and the positions in Changhu Town all erupted into gunfire like fried beans, and the 1,200-meter defensive line defended by the 7th and 9th regiments was launched on all fronts.

Cai Jigang saw a bloody picture from the telescope: the crossfire network composed of light and heavy machine guns knocked down almost all the first wave of the Japanese army's skirmishers, and in an instant, the second wave of skirmishers swept up like a wave, and the remaining ** on the minefield was constantly trampled, explosions came and went, and the shock wave and sideways shrapnel ruthlessly tore apart the bodies of the Japanese soldiers...... These Japanese soldiers, brainwashed by the spirit of bushido, were truly formidable, they seemed to have no concern for death, and the speed of their impact did not decrease in the slightest, and the indefatigable tenacity of their will to fight was staggering.

Cai Jigang noticed that there were also some snipers with superb marksmanship active in the defenders, who specialized in shooting Japanese commanders and military caopers, at medium and long distances, and the sniper effect was excellent. There are many mechanical and rigid regulations in the regulations of the Japanese army, and their officers and officers must carry command swords, especially when charging, they must always pose as if the saber is unsheathed and raise the knife forward 45 degrees, and shout "forward" in their mouths, for fear that the enemy will not know their officer status. This habit of "playing cool" provides a great opportunity for enemy snipers, who do not need to carefully identify the target, as long as they find the command knife on their shoulders to aim and shoot immediately, basically kill with one shot, and rarely make mistakes. As a result, the casualty rate of middle and lower-ranking officers and soldiers on the battlefield remained high. Cai Jigang wondered, the war has been fought for seven years, why didn't he beat them smarter?

After all, the Japanese 116th Division has been in battle for a long time, and the tactical movements of the soldiers are commendable, they sometimes run under the dense fire net, sometimes crawl forward, the offensive formation is not chaotic at all, and they are good at using the moment when the defenders' machine guns change magazines, as long as the defenders' firepower is slightly interrupted, they will immediately seize the opportunity to jump up and rush forward. Cai Jigang saw that the Japanese stragglers' lines, regardless of casualties, followed one after another, and were already approaching the fortifications of the defenders. At this time, a group of hands flew in front of the defenders, and the flesh and blood of the Japanese soldiers flew in the smoke of the firelight...... When the smoke of gunpowder cleared, the front of the position was full of corpses of Japanese soldiers in yellow uniforms, with stumps and broken legs all over the fields, and some of them were still hanging high on the branches of big trees.

Cai Jigang put down the binoculars, dusted off his military uniform with satisfaction, and wondered if he had ever been to the front fortifications with machine guns. I haven't touched a machine gun in a few days, and my hands are really itchy. Although he knew that this was not what a major general should do.

"Chief Cai, your call is from Senior Commander Zhou." Battalion Commander Xu handed over the microphone.

Zhou Qingxiang is a third-term student of Huangpu, and he is a classmate of the same period as the military commander Fang Xianjue. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, like Cai Jigang, he was also a regimental officer. Cai Jigang met him during the Wuhan Defense War in 1938, when Zhou Qingxiang was the colonel of the 8th Regiment of the 3rd Division, and he was a stable and introverted officer.

"Brother Yunhe, how are you there? We're all worried about your safety. Zhou Qingxiang asked with concern.

Cai Jigang said with a smile: "Brother Yunting, the 1st Battalion of the 9th Regiment fought well, the morale of the troops was high, and the tactics were also played properly, the enemy's first round of attack was wiped out by three or four hundred people, and the 3rd Division really lived up to its name, it was a good force." ”

Zhou Qingxiang joked: "Ouch, I'm really a little flattered by this praise from Officer Cai, you go back to Chongqing another day, and say a few words for our 3rd Division from the commanders of the Military Commission, can't all those American-style equipment be given to the expeditionary force, right?" Even if I give 100 ***, I'm content. ”

"Okay, if I had that power, don't say ***, even ** artillery and tanks will also equip you to the battalion level. Hey, by the way, do you want a plane? Is it to equip the 3rd Division with dozens more B25 bombers? Cai Jigang also made a joke.

"That's a good idea, I'm here to thank the Warseer first. Brother Yunhe, the Military Commission ordered us to hold on to Hengyang for 7 to 10 days, and it seems that there is no big problem. ”

"Don't be so optimistic, the battle for the defense of Hengyang has just begun, and the difficult time has not yet come, the intelligence says that the Japanese army participated in the siege of the city is a full two divisions, and there are more than six divisions on the periphery of Hengyang to help, whether our reinforcements can arrive is still a problem, I think we still have to make long-term preparations." Cai Jigang said worriedly.

Zhou Qingxiang asked in surprise: "Brother Yunhe, are you really so pessimistic?" Or is there any new information? ”

"There is no new information, you can make a judgment by checking the current position of the troops in the Ninth Theater, and it is difficult to expect these troops to break through the Japanese army and rush to help Hengyang."

Zhou Qingxiang was speechless for a while.

"Brother Yunting, do you have something to do with me?" Cai Jigang asked.

"Hey, I forgot about the business while chatting, just now the military seat called me to find you, he thought you were supervising the battle at the command post of the 3rd Division, and as soon as he heard that you were on the front line, he lost his temper and scolded us for not paying enough attention to your safety, he asked you to return to the Wuguiling Army Headquarters immediately, and there is something important to discuss."

"Oh, so urgent? I'll be there soon! Cai Jigang put down the phone.

From the perspective of military topography, Hengyang is a city that can be defended without danger. If you look at Hengyang from the air, you will find that this small basin has a network of inland rivers, paddy fields and fish ponds. The east of Hengyang City is the Xiangjiang River, the north is steaming water, and the south of the city is connected to the West Lake Lotus Pond, and is connected with Tianma Mountain and Xichan Temple. From Tianma Mountain and Xichan Temple to the east, it is the continuous hilly area of Yueping Mountain, Jielong Mountain, Yanfeng Mountain and Wuguiling connecting the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, which spreads out in a wave-like manner. The names of these small hills are very bluffing, what tiger-shaped nest, maple mountain, Zhangjia Mountain, stop soldier mountain, etc., people who don't know still think what kind of lofty mountains and mountains, in fact, they are just some mounds with an elevation of no more than forty or fifty meters, and paddy fields and ponds are dotted between the mounds.

Due to the terrain, it was impossible for the Japanese army besieging the city to attack from north to south, but only from south to north along the undulating hills.

In the eyes of the defenders of the city, although such terrain is not conducive to the high-speed advance of the enemy's mechanized troops, once the enemy troops are approaching the city, the city of Hengyang will be difficult to defend. Although the Xiangjiang River in the east of the city and the steaming water in the north are natural barriers to defend Hengyang, once the city is surrounded, these two rivers become obstacles to breaking through and tightening the noose of the defenders in a desperate situation.

In order to boost morale and facilitate command, Fang Xianjue deliberately set up the front headquarters of the 10th Army in the Xianggui Road Bureau on Wuguiling in the southern suburbs of Hengyang, which is only 300 meters away from the front line. A corps-level headquarters is only 300 meters away from the line of fire, which is undoubtedly a dangerous move, but it plays a tremendous role in raising the morale of the officers and men of the subordinate units.

"The military headquarters is in Wuguiling, and the army commander is behind us!" The news quickly spread to the various positions through the telephone line, and the division commanders of the divisions told the regiment commanders: "The military headquarters is in Wuguiling, the army commander is behind me, I am behind you, and we cannot retreat a single step!" So the regiment commanders told the battalion commanders, and the battalion commanders told the company commanders, and the company commanders told the soldiers: "Attention! The military headquarters is 300 meters behind us, and we have no way to retreat, even if we use our heads, we must also withstand the enemy's attack! ”

When Cai Ji had just arrived at the front-line headquarters of the 10th Army, Fang Xianjue was pacing back and forth in the war room with his hands behind his back, and a communications staff officer was urgently calling the Zhijiang Airport in Xiangxi through the radio.

Cai Jigang walked into the war room and saluted Fang Xianjue: "Commander, are you looking for me?" ”

Fang Xianjue looked up at Cai Jigang and said anxiously: "Brother Yunhe, you are finally here, I was still scolding Zhou Qingxiang just now, how dare he put you in the front line?" Who is responsible if there is danger? ”

Cai Jigang explained with a smile: "I don't blame Master Zhou, I went by myself and didn't say hello to him." Brother Zishan, is there something wrong? ”

Fang Xianjue said: "Now we urgently need air support, I came to you just to discuss with you, you see ......."

The communications staff officer reported: "The Zhijiang airfield side said that they cannot make the decision on this matter, and they can only obey the orders of the Sino-US joint air force command. ”

Cai Jigang snatched the microphone: "Listen, I am Major General Cai Jigang of the Military Commission, you immediately transfer to the office of General Chennault of the Sino-US Joint Air Force Command in Kunming, this matter is urgent, and you must not delay, otherwise you will be held responsible!" Hurry up, I'll wait! ”

The sign of the Military Commission was still good, and the Zhijiang Airport did not dare to slack off, and it only took two minutes to connect with General Chennault.

Cai Jigang picked up the phone and said in English: "General Chennault, I am Cai Jigang, the superintendent of the Military Command Department of the Military Commission......"

"Hey! General Cai, I know you are in Hengyang, is there anything you need me to serve? ”

"General Chennault, that's the case, Hengyang is currently surrounded, the battle is fierce, the defenders of Hengyang urgently need air support, in addition to providing close air support to the ground troops, we also need airdrop ammunition and supplies, please grant my request no matter what!"

"General Cai, I know that the battle of Hengyang is very important, and I would like to help you, but my current situation is not very good, you know, I and General Stilwell have been in serious disputes over the priority of using airlift supplies, yes, we have been arguing, and he even threatened me to remove my command...... Forget it, I don't want to mention him anymore, General Cai, there is no way, I am short of fuel now, some planes are no longer able to take off, Stilwell is ready to use most of the fuel for the counterattack on Burma, he only cares about Burma. ”

Cai Jigang tried to control his emotions and make his conversation as full of emotion as possible: "General, I understand your situation very well, and I also know the pressure you are facing, I mean, can you think of other ways...... Even with a little support, at least some bombers were dispatched to bombard the enemy's supply lines, the enemy's artillery fire was too much of a threat to us, and the ammunition was plentiful, as long as the enemy's transport lines were cut off, the pressure on the defenders would be less. ”

Chennault was also emotional: "Cai, I will do my best to support the defense of Hengyang, don't worry!" I immediately contacted the airfields, even if it was to clear the warehouse, I had to collect some fuel and ammunition, and as soon as there was a little fuel and ammunition, my bomber would take off immediately, and as for the fighters...... I can count a few planes, try to provide some fire support to the defenders, that's all I can do. ”

"Thank you! Thank you! Checkmate! Cai Jigang was almost in tears.

"Cai, what is the largest combat consumption of the 10th Army?" Chennault asked with concern.

"It's hand ** and 80 mm ****, and 7.9 mm light machine gun bullets."

"Then I'll try to find a way to get more airlift supplies from the hump and throw them at you!" Sour vinegar Joe's there...... It's a big deal to quarrel with him again and get him to remove me, I don't care at all. Chennault made up his mind.

Cai Jigang said solemnly: "General, on behalf of all the officers and men of the 10th Army, I salute you!" ”

"Thank you, please pay tribute to all the officers and men of the 10th Army on my behalf! By the way, Cai, I just came up with an idea......"

"What's the idea?"

"If I'm dismissed, I'll go back to my country and get a loan from the bank, well, use the house my father left me as collateral to buy a P-40 fighter jet, and then I'll fucking participate in the defense of Hengyang as a volunteer!" Chennault said with gusto.

Cai Jigang finally burst into tears, and he silently hung up the microphone.

In the early morning of June 29, the eastern sky was covered with crimson fiery clouds, as if to herald another day of bloody rain.

At 6 o'clock in the morning, the Japanese army began artillery preparations as usual, and with the rumbling cannonballs, countless shells fell on the positions of the national army on the front line of the tiger's nest, Fengshu Mountain, and Zhangjiashan; The bomber formations in the air roared and swooped down to rain down on the defenders. Relying on the cover of long-range heavy artillery, the Japanese field artillery actually advanced more than 10 Type 92 infantry guns to less than 500 meters away from Zhangjiashan and the tiger-shaped nest positions, and fired directly at the defenders' firing points. After an hour of shelling and bombardment, many artificial cliffs in front of the national army's positions were blown into 45-degree slopes, bomb throwing trenches and foxholes on the cliffs were almost flattened, many anti-artillery bunkers were directly hit by large-caliber shells, and many soldiers were buried in the soil and suffocated to death. Within an hour, the 10th Regiment of the 30th Reserve Division suffered heavy casualties.

On the forward position of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, more than 2,000 officers and men of the 133rd Wing were in good order, holding weapons in their hands and forming a battle formation, waiting for the order to attack.

Lieutenant General Yan Yongwang, commander of the 116th Division, stood on a mound and used a telescope to observe the artillery firing point on the Zhangjiashan position. As far as the offensive is concerned, Lieutenant General Iwanaga Wang agrees with Clausewitz's viewpoint: Numerical superiority is the most common factor for strategic and tactical victory, and the concentration of superior forces is the simplest and most effective criterion for strategy.

Iwanaga believes that during the attack on 26 June, Wing Commander Yuo Musashi, who participated in the first round of attacks, made a tactical mistake in the use of troops, and he threw himself into battle one by one with infantry brigades, only to be crippled one by one under the enemy's tight fire net. According to aerial reconnaissance, the defensive depth of the Chinese army was extremely limited, and it was only a few thin linear defensive positions, which were inferior to the level of the First World War in terms of the defense system. At that time, the Maginot defense line had a depth of 14 kilometers, and there were 5,800 permanent shooting fortifications built on the entire defense line, and the defense line of the Hengyang defenders in front of them was just hastily built by some simple civil engineering fortifications, such a defense line, the 116th Division of the battle-hardened army actually attacked for three consecutive days and did not break through, which was simply a shame for the Imperial Army.

Iwanaga Wang decided to change his tactics, he wanted to concentrate superior forces, put in an entire wing at one time to carry out a key breakthrough, and end the battle before noon.

Iwanaga Wang threw away the binoculars, raised his sword forward, and gave the order to attack: "133 Wing, forward!" ”

More than 2,000 soldiers of the 133rd Wing rushed forward with a mountain of shouts......

"The enemy is coming, the squads are entering the fortifications and preparing for battle!" Cheng Yuanzhi, the commander of the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion, yelled from the position.

Zhang Baowang, Man Tang, Sun Xincang and others crawled out of the anti-artillery bunker in a daze, the round of artillery fire just now was not trivial, its fierceness was greater than ever, the brothers were shocked almost crazy, the anti-artillery bunkers of the 2nd and 5th squads were directly hit by the heavy **, and the soldiers of the two squads only survived three people, and all of them were seriously injured.

Class 8 is lucky, except for Li Changshun, who was transferred, the other nine people are still there. Since Li Changshun showed his hand in playing mortars, he was forcibly left in the artillery company by the commander of the artillery company, and the commander of the white company thought that such a good gunner staying in the infantry company was simply a waste of talent, and Li Changshun was useless if he was reluctant to leave the 8th squad.

The brothers of Class 8 dragged the hand ** box and rolled into the bomb drop trench that was almost blown up, and unscrewed the safety cover of the hand ** one by one in a daze.

The light and heavy machine guns in the bunker in front shouted wildly, the forward line of the Japanese army was already approaching the cliff, it seems that they have done intensive training according to the terrain of the artificial cliff in the past two days, and each squad is equipped with a short ladder. At this time, some of the Japanese soldiers set up short ladders, and some simply climbed onto the slope that had been blown up, and under the fierce strafing of crossfire from both sides, the Japanese soldiers who were shot on the short ladder and the slope continued to roll down, but the rest of the soldiers still climbed up regardless of casualties.

When the first Japanese soldier climbed a short ladder and just emerged on the edge of the cliff, company commander Cheng Yuanzhi raised his shell gun and shot him in the head, and the soldier fell headlong off the cliff...... Cheng Yuanzhi shouted: "Don't throw bombs in each squad first, take guns for me to aim, kill me as soon as the head on the ladder is revealed, and don't let go of empty guns!" Sun Xincang, it's time for you kid to show his hand! ”

Before his words fell, dozens of ladders had been erected on the edge of the cliff, and seven or eight Japanese soldiers who had climbed on them also leaned out. Another gunshot rang out, and another Japanese soldier was shot and planted. The brothers in class 8 were surprised to find that this shot was actually put by Ma Lao Wu, when will this stupid boy shoot? And it's like that, it's really fucking evil.

More and more Japanese soldiers appeared on the edge of the cliff, and the brothers of Class 8 crackled and fired in unison, and seven or eight Japanese soldiers were planted. The bomb trench was only four or five meters away from the edge of the cliff, and shooting at such a distance was like shooting at the enemy's head, and even the stupid Ma Lao Wu became a sharpshooter.

Sun Xincang has never looked down on the official rifle since he captured the devil's rifle, and among the few guns he picked up, there was actually a "Ninety-Seven" sniper rifle with a scope. Company Commander Cheng Yuanzhi, who graduated from the Central Military Academy, is an expert in firearms, and he casually fiddled a few times and told Sun Xincang that this rifle is a 38-type rifle developed by Japan in 1937, which can fire 6.5 mm 38-type bullets with reduced charge, and it is characterized by a long aiming baseline, stable ballistics, small recoil when shooting, and the ammunition burns fully in the barrel, and almost no muzzle flame and white smoke will be produced, so that it is difficult for the enemy to find the position of the sniper lurking from the muzzle fire or white smoke.

Sun Xincang was happy when he heard it, damn it, this time he is really rich, just pick up a foreign child and get a good gun, this is a blessing from the previous life. Sun Xincang couldn't put this gun down, and he held it when he slept.

But he was very unimpressed with this way of shooting at the enemy's head, what is it? Even Ma Lao Wu has become a sharpshooter, how can we still show our craftsmanship? Sun Xincang climbed to the edge of the cliff, chose an excellent shooting position, and raised his gun downward to aim......

Company commander Cheng Yuanzhi had the heart to see Sun Xincang's marksmanship, but found that he had been aiming for a long time without firing a shot, Cheng Yuanzhi became anxious, and was about to scold the street, only to see Sun Xincang suddenly pull the trigger, and with a gunshot, three Japanese soldiers fell seventy or eighty meters away.

"Well played!" Cheng Yuanzhi shouted excitedly, he finally saw that Sun Xincang had been capturing the position of the Japanese soldiers in the movement, and the front and rear three Japanese soldiers formed a line before they were decisively fired, and the Japanese army's 6.5mm Type 38 infantry bullet had an excellent penetration effect, and the powerful penetrating force actually penetrated the bodies of three Japanese soldiers in a row.

Cheng Yuanzhi shouted: "Sun Xincang, give me a long-range target, and specialize in ...... with a command knife."

"Smack!" Sun Xincang fired again, and a Japanese officer 150 meters away fell on his back.

"Sun Xincang, did you see that little tree? Take it as a coordinate, 30 dense positions to the left, a distance of 180 meters, and a ruler of 3, hit the adjutant who wears yellow tweed......" Cheng Yuanzhi shouted.

"Smack!" It's gunfire again.

The brothers in Class 8 shouted in unison.

After a few rounds of firing, company commander Cheng Yuanzhi found that there were more and more Japanese soldiers outcropping, and that the enemy could no longer be stopped by rifle fire alone. Cheng Yuanzhi thinks it's time, the cliff is already crowded with enemies at this time, and it's time for them to taste the taste of hand.

Cheng Yuanzhi roared: "All of the 3 companies are there, stop shooting!" Bomb all! ”

In an instant, the overwhelming hand ** flew down the cliff, the fire under the cliff flashed, the smoke of gunpowder was everywhere, the short and violent explosion sound was endless, and the limbs of the Japanese soldiers who were blown into pieces were thrown onto the cliff by the air wave, and fell down one after another, like a rain of blood, and the wounded Japanese soldiers under the cliff let out a miserable scream.

The 133rd Wing of the Japanese Army received a death order, and the division commander Iwanaga Wang ordered the 133rd Wing to deploy all its forces and take the Zhangjiashan position before 12 noon at all costs. Wing Commander Kurose Osa was single-minded, and the officers and men of the whole wing resolutely attacked regardless of casualties, even if they filled the entire wing into the fire net. As a result, the officers and men of the 133rd Wing followed one after another, surging towards the Zhangjiashan position like waves one after another.

At this time, the battle has become white-hot, both the offensive and defensive sides are red-eyed, the tactical goals and objectives are no longer important, and the only purpose is to kill the other party with all their strength and tear the other party to pieces.

The iron pillar guarding the bunker turned pale and was on the verge of a mental breakdown. For two whole hours, he did not stop shooting for a moment. This firing point was equipped with two light and heavy machine guns, and ten soldiers in the main and secondary marksmen, all of whom were on the verge of mental collapse like iron pillars. At the height of the battle, the shooters were sweating profusely, howling and firing, and the secondary shooters were changing ** while clearing the mountain of hot shells next to the machine guns with sapper shovels. The light machine gun hit the barrel red, poured water to cool it down and continued to shoot. The water in the cooling barrel of the "Maxim" heavy machine gun had been boiled dry several times, and finally the water was not available, and the shooters peed into the cooling barrel to ensure that the heavy machine gun was not scrapped. The smell of human urine being boiled was very unpleasant, and the heat of the weather combined with the heat emitted by the barrel of the gun turned the bunker into a steamer. It wasn't that brought the shooters to the brink of mental breakdown, because no one had ever experienced such a scene of mass human death, and they were all frightened by the carnage in front of them.

The corpses of the Japanese soldiers under the fire were piled up in a mountain, and the blood on the ground was several inches thick. The crossfire of dozens of machine guns smashed the ground into sand and rocks, as if it were boiling a pot. Thousands of hands were exploding, and the strong air wave formed after the explosion of four bundles of cluster bombs spread like a hurricane, tearing people's flesh apart in an instant...... But wave after wave of Japanese soldiers still trampled on the corpses of their comrades, howling, and crashing into the fire net without hesitation, and in an instant they were smashed to pieces and turned into piles of wriggling, strange-shaped things, a tragic scene that ordinary people could not bear.

Decades later, veterans of the 133rd Wing Veterans Association of the Japanese Army still recall this day with trepidation, June 29, 1944. These surviving veterans come from far and wide on this day every year to pay tribute to their comrades who died in the battle on June 29. Whenever they talked about this battle, the image of the corpse mountain and the sea of blood in front of the Zhangjiashan position appeared in their minds, and they couldn't imagine how they had survived from the terrifying fire net in the first place. The density of fire is unimaginable, with hundreds of shots per minute. Yes, at that time, all the soldiers of the 133rd Wing were controlled by an emotion, and there was only one desire in their minds, that is, to kill the defenders of the Zhangjiashan position, as long as they could kill them, it didn't matter what the price was.

Cai Jigang, who was supervising the battle in the command post of the 30th Regiment in the Xiaojiashan position, was also shocked, he had experienced the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Wuhan, participated in hundreds of battles, and had never seen such a cruel and tragic scene. The command post of the 30 th Regiment was only 300 meters away from the Zhangjiashan position in a straight line, and it was repeatedly hit by stray bullets in the fierce battle just now, and even the lenses of the artillery mirror in front of the observation window were shattered by stray bullets.

Fang Xianjue called: "Brother Yunhe, how are you doing over there?" ”

Cai Jigang only spit out eight words: "Unprecedented, extremely tragic!" ”

On June 29, the Japanese 133rd Wing attacked one after another for two hours under the rain of bullets, and after suffering heavy casualties, the 133rd Wing's offensive finally exhausted. More than 2,000 soldiers fell in front of the Zhangjiashan position, and the casualties of the whole wing reached two-thirds, while the casualty rate of officers at all levels reached more than 70 percent.

Lieutenant General Iwanaga Wang, commander of the 116th Division, saw the piles of Japanese corpses in front of the Zhangjiashan position in his telescope, and almost went crazy.

On this day, fierce battles also broke out on the western defense line defended by the 3rd Division of the National Army, from Changhu Town and Yilai Street in the west to the Zhishendu, Caoqiao, and Shiguzui line outside the north gate, the attacking and defending sides were red-eyed, the artillery of both sides was firing fiercely, the infantry was attacking and counter-assaulting, and there was even a hand-to-hand battle in the Yilai Street position, and hundreds of people on both sides were strangled together with bayonets......

On this day, on the defense line of the large section of the river from Shiguzui to the north of Xinjie, the mortar group of the 570th Regiment of the 190th Division of the National Army and the heavy artillery group of the Japanese army launched a cross-river fire, and the east and west banks of the Xiangjiang River were shrouded in flames and smoke......

At two o'clock in the afternoon, four P-40E fighter formations of the mixed regiment of the Chinese and US air forces that took off from Zhijiang Airport flew over Hengyang, and the positions of the defenders of Hengyang were cheering. Ten minutes later, eight Hayabusa-2 fighters from the Japanese Army Air Force arrived, and the fighters of the two sides faced off in the skies over the city. In the air battle, the pilots of the mixed regiment of the Chinese and American air forces showed a strong will to fight, and although they were numerically inferior, they still fought in the air with eight opposing planes without fear.

Although the Japanese "Hayabusa-2" fighters had an advantage in numbers, their firepower was poor, and they only had two machine guns installed on their wings, which showed that their firepower was insufficient in air combat. The P-40E fighter was equipped with six machine guns under the wings, so the advantage in firepower offset the numerical disadvantage, and the two sides even fought a draw, a Japanese "Hayabusa" II fighter was hit by a volley and exploded, while a Chinese P-40E fighter was hit by a bullet and burned, crashed on the Japanese position, and the pilots of both sides did not have time to parachute.

Ten minutes later, the planes on both sides ran out of ammunition, so they regrouped and seemingly routinely withdrew from the battle. At this time, tens of thousands of Hengyang soldiers and civilians who were watching the battle on the ground suddenly saw a strange picture: A P-40E fighter single-handedly rushed into the formation of the "Falcon" II fighters, and the "Falcon" II fighters scattered one after another to dodge, but the P-40E fighter increased its speed and bit one of the enemy planes to the death, and there was a desperate posture of colliding with the plane, and the "Falcon" II fighter made a series of evasive actions in a hurry, which looked embarrassed......

Cai Jigang stood on the roof of the front headquarters of the 10th Army in Wuguiling and watched the chase, he smiled bitterly and shook his head, who is this? It's just a desperate Saburo, and he is so stubborn in air combat, and the whole posture of exchanging lives for lives will never give up if he doesn't make a fuss. Cai Jigang thought about all the pilots he knew, but he didn't guess who it would be.

Tens of thousands of Hengyang soldiers and civilians watching the battle on the ground were enthusiastic and let out bursts of cheers to pay tribute to the brave pilot. Cai Jigang thought to himself, hun boy, have you had enough? It's time to look at the fuel gauge on the dashboard, if you play around like this, you won't even have enough fuel to return to Zhijiang Airport.

The Japanese plane disappeared into the horizon, and the P-40E reluctantly returned. At this time, Cai Jigang saw the positions of Zhangjiashan, Fengshu Mountain, and Tiger-shaped Nest on the southern front, Changhu Town, Yilai Street and other positions on the western front, and the 570th Regiment of the 190th Division guarding the river defense line from Shiguzui to the north of Xinjie, all of which invariably raised red signal flares, which was the greatest tribute expressed by the officers and men of the 10th Army guarding the various positions to the flying warrior.

Cai Jigang recorded the air battle on June 29 in his diary. He wondered worriedly, who was this reckless pilot? It can't be his younger brother Cai Jiheng, right?

[1]

According to a variety of records, the commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Sakuma, was killed by the 10th Army of the National Army in Hengyang on June 28, 1944. It has been verified that this account should be misinformation. Sakuma was only seriously wounded in the Battle of Hengyang, but he was not killed. On February 10, 1945, Sakuma, who had returned from injury, was appointed commander of the 84th Division and was responsible for the decisive battle on the mainland.