Keiichi Yamada sat exhausted and gasping for breath under a ruined wall, his mental and physical exertion had reached the limit, and this hellish life made him want to be relieved sooner.

According to the order issued by the division headquarters yesterday afternoon, the direction of the assault of the 10th squadron was the northwest area of the city, where the field hospital of the Chinese army was located, and the defenders were relatively weak in defense. Second Lieutenant Matsui had his own understanding of this order, and the occupation of Hengyang was just around the corner, and the best way to end the battle was to destroy this field hospital, kill all the medical personnel and wounded soldiers, and destroy the last will of the defenders to fight by means of terror.

Keiichi Yamada first learned the cruelty of street fighting, the 10th Squadron was put into battle for less than two hours, and more than 30 people were killed, and Saburo Nobuno died at the street intersection in front of him, Keiichi Yamada saw him holding a grenadier and was about to fire, a bullet hit his forehead, and a cloud of blood mist exploded with a "poof", Saburo Nobuno's heavenly spirit cover was half lifted off, and his body fell straight and upright......

Since the rape incident, Keiichi Yamada has not spoken to Saburo Noshino and Tadaichi Sasaki, he can't forgive these two fellow Osaka villagers, their behavior has exceeded the bottom line of being a human being, and they are no different from animals, and Keiichi Yamada is ashamed of his fellow countrymen. But even so, he was still saddened by the death of Saburo Nobuno, and he believed that if it weren't for the war, if it weren't for the indoctrination of fascist education, this fellow countryman would have been a very simple and kind young man, and would never have become a perverted beast in such a short time.

That's fine, Saburo Shinno paid for his sins with his life, and I hope he can be a good person in the next life.

A sharp whistle came from the front, and Second Lieutenant Matsui shouted: "The 10th squadron is assembled, ready for battle!" Yamada Guncao, what about Yamada Guncao? ”

Keiichi Yamada stood up and replied loudly, "I'm here." ”

Matsui came over with a Type 96 light machine gun: "Yamada Juncao, how many people are there in the 5th squad?" ”

"There are four more people in me, sir."

"Well, it's not bad, Team 4 is all dead, and they're not so lucky. Yamada Juncao, I decided to organize another attack, this time it will definitely succeed, the firepower of the Chongqing army is getting weaker and weaker, this street entrance is probably their last line of defense, please gentlemen, let's strike again. ”

Second Lieutenant Matsui was still in a state of euphoria, a truly brainwashed young man with a fanatical devotion to the Emperor, who firmly believed that he was a warrior of the Yamato nation and who could not wait to report to the Yasukuni Shrine, for whom a glorious death was his dream.

Tadaichi Sasaki arrived from behind with a couple of soldiers carrying mortars and shell boxes, and he reported to Matsui: "Sir, they are from the 68th Division, and they were disrupted in the street fighting, and they couldn't find where the commander was......"

Second Lieutenant Matsui was overjoyed: "That's great, let's fight with us, which one is the aim?" ”

A senior soldier saluted: "Sir, I am the aim, please give the order!" ”

"Look, on the left and right sides of the street in front of you, do you see it? Yes, it's those two houses, there are enemy fire points on the roofs, and when we attack, we will form crossfire and block the street entrance. Now I order you to blow up these two houses, is there any problem? ”

"No problem, sir, it's very close, you need to launch at a high elevation angle, I'm sure." The private replied.

Matsui pulled the bolt of the light machine gun, loaded the bullet and said, "Okay, let's do it now, knock out those two houses, and we'll charge immediately, please!" ”

The mortar of the 68th Division did not brag, he visually measured the distance, adjusted the firing angle of the 82 mortar to an almost vertical state, and then skillfully fired two shells one after the other, and the two buildings at the intersection of the street fell apart in two explosions.

The soldiers of the 10 squadron rushed through the street under the cover of four machine guns, and the few remaining soldiers were quickly cleared. Second Lieutenant Matsui judged very accurately, this is indeed the last line of defense of the defenders, and the crossing of this street is Hengyang County** at the intersection of Zhongshan South Road and Qingquan Road, and the field hospital of the Chongqing Army is located next to the county**.

Keiichi Yamada found that the neighborhood had just been bombed and shelled, there was hardly a single intact building, the streets and ruins were littered with bloody corpses of wounded soldiers, the wounded soldiers who were still alive wailing helplessly, and some military doctors and nurses in white overalls were busy rescuing the wounded.

The soldiers of the 10th Squadron shouted excitedly, and they dispersed without waiting for orders, and they all killed the wounded with bayonets, and the wounded soldiers who were stabbed let out a heart-palpitating scream......

Second Lieutenant Matsui seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, he threw away the machine gun in his hand and laughed wildly: "Yamada-kun, don't you think this is a very exciting picture? It's a pity I don't have a camera, otherwise I would have had to take a picture of the enemy's head with my saber. ”

Keiichi Yamada saw a military doctor wearing a white overalls with a colonel's collar badge on it, shaking a white towel and running towards Second Lieutenant Matsui, Matsui narrowed his eyes with interest and looked at him quietly.

The military doctor, who wore a pair of black-rimmed round glasses, had an elegant temperament, a fair complexion, and a pair of stethoscopes on his chest, he obviously could not accept the cruel reality in front of him, and was shouting hoarsely in Japanese: "Second lieutenant, please restrain your soldiers, they are massacring the wounded, this is a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions, I protest ......against it."

Second Lieutenant Matsui smiled politely and said, "Oh, this gentleman's rank is not low, he is actually a colonel." Mr. Colonel, please don't get excited, I would like to ask you a question first, where did you learn Japanese? You speak fluently and pronounce accurately, with a standard Tokyo accent, and if you weren't wearing this uniform, I would have thought you were Japanese. ”

The military doctor threw away the white towel in his hand, stood firmly in front of Matsui with his legs crossed, as if casually inserting his hands into the pockets on both sides of his overalls, he looked directly into Matsui's eyes and replied: "I studied in Japan, and I graduated from the University of Tokyo School of Medicine in 1932. Second Lieutenant, I now ask you to stop the killing at once and treat the wounded humanely in accordance with international conventions. ”

Matsui and the soldiers were amused by the doctor's bookishness, they thought that the doctor was not in his right mind, and he himself did not know how many minutes to live, how could he make such a ridiculous request? What else is the Geneva Convention? It's ridiculous.

Matsui let out a strange laugh as he looked at the military doctor, but his face was gradually filled with murderous aura, he slowly pulled out his saber and gently rubbed it on the military doctor's overalls, as if he was wiping the saber, and then the saber shook in front of the military doctor's eyes, and the sharp blade shone brightly in the summer sun...... Suddenly, Matsui's laughter came to an abrupt end, he held the knife in both hands, shot out like lightning, and with a scream, the body of the military doctor was instantly pierced by the saber and was firmly nailed to the remnant wall behind him......

Keiichi Yamada turned his head away, unable to bear to look at it again.

"Sir, what a knife technique!" Tadashi Sasaki cheered loudly.

Suddenly, I only heard "Bang! Bang" Two dull gunshots, Second Lieutenant Matsui's body suddenly froze, he let go of the handle of the knife, covered his chest with both hands, opened his mouth wide, as if he wanted to say something, but did not make a sound, his body shook, and he fell headlong at the feet of the military doctor......

The military doctor who was nailed to the wall laughed miserably and spat out a few words with difficulty: "This is my ...... Clause...... First ...... Kill, I'm glad to get rid of ...... Get rid of a ...... The beast ......" the Medic's head hung down gently.

It happened so suddenly that all the soldiers present were stunned and at a loss for a moment. Keiichi Yamada walked over and pulled out the hand that the medic had inserted in his right pocket, only to see the dead medic holding a small "horse pai hand" tightly in his hand[1]

Two charred bullet holes were left in the pockets.

It seems that the colonel's medic was ready to die, he hid his pistol in his coat pocket and preemptively killed Second Lieutenant Matsui.

Sasaki Tadaichi and the soldiers only then woke up from their shock, their eyes were red with rage, they let out a wolf-like howl in unison, and rushed at the wounded soldiers with their guns like crazy, and the wounded soldiers who had been stabbed with bayonets let out a cry of pain again and again, and a terrible slaughter began.

Second Lieutenant Matsui is dead, and now Keiichi Yamada is the highest-ranking commander of the 10th Squadron, and at this time he is anxious to stop the soldiers' killing spree, but his shouting is to no avail, and the soldiers are completely in a retaliatory madness.

Sasaki Tadashi's eyes were blood-red, the muscles of his face were twitching and twisting strongly, revealing a beast-like hideousness, he kept stabbing a seriously wounded man in the abdomen with a bayonet, this was a wounded man who had lost his legs, he was lying on a stretcher, the white cloth on his body had been soaked with blood, his body spasmed and scolded in a hoarse voice: "Little devil, I am a mother......

Keiichi Yamada rushed over and hugged Tadaichi Sasaki, Tadaichi Sasaki struggled to shake off Keiichi Yamada, and raised the bayonet again, at this moment, the wounded soldier violently lifted the sheet, and an M24 type hand with white smoke appeared in his hand**......

Keiichi Yamada exclaimed in fear: "Sasaki, lie down ......"

However, it was too late, and the hand ** exploded with a "boom", and Keiichi Yamada felt that he was lifted high by a strong force, and in an instant, he felt that all the noise had disappeared, and there was a deathly silence around him, and his body floated like a feather in the smoke of firelight......

Still in the basement of the Central Bank, the last meeting of all the generals of the 10th Army was attended.

The battle had reached the last moment, and Fang Xianjue calmed down at this time. The outcome of the Battle of Hengyang is already doomed, or die in battle, or surrender, there is no third choice.

Two days ago, Fang Xianjue had made a choice, he decided to fight until the last moment and save the last bullet for himself. But as soon as he learned the news that the field hospital had been bombed, Fang Xianjue's will immediately collapsed. Yokoyama Yong's hand was really vicious, and it hit Fang Xianjue's weakness at once. According to Rong Youlu's description, the 30-minute bombing caused a bloody tragedy, with nearly 1,000 wounded and nearly half of the medical personnel killed. The thousands of wounded soldiers who were alive, the thousands of brothers who followed him from birth to death, what would be the outcome after the city was broken and defeated, Fang Xianjue shuddered when he thought about it.

In traditional Chinese culture, there are only two endings for soldiers to go to the battlefield, victory or death, and surrender and capture have always been regarded as a great shame for soldiers. In that year, Li Ling, a famous general of the Western Han Dynasty, led a lone army of 5,000 foot soldiers into Junji Mountain, fought fiercely with 80,000 iron cavalry for eight days and nights, and killed more than 10,000 Huns. Li Ling's tragic Jedi fight, blood-stained robes, in exchange for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's beheading of his family, has since been infamous as a "traitor" and ruined.

Shi Kefa worked hard to manage Yangzhou City for more than a year, and was captured by the Qing army in one day, causing the tragedy of 800,000 people being slaughtered, but Shi Kefa became famous in history because of the famous "Book of Fudolgon" and became a national hero. Shi Kefa's integrity has been preserved, but who will think of the 800,000 killed creatures? These unjust souls have long since been silently annihilated in the smoke and dust of history.

In traditional Chinese culture, the emphasis is on honor, and the neglect is the result, and the destruction of 800,000 living beings is only to preserve the honor of a hero.

Fang Xianjue pondered bitterly, what is the duty of a soldier? It is to defend the country, to fight, not to send to death senselessly. According to the values of Western soldiers, in a situation where ammunition and food are exhausted and there is no hope of breaking out, saving lives should be regarded as the only option. Soldiers have the right to maintain their dignity after surrendering, and the right not to be discriminated against and persecuted by their own compatriots after being captured. American soldiers all had a surrender in their backpacks that read "I surrender, please don't hurt me" in multiple scripts. When a soldier is encircled and cannot get out, he can surrender to the enemy to save his life. Because of this, no one thinks that American soldiers are unpatriotic, and no one thinks that they are greedy for life and afraid of death, and they are not brave in battle. Western prisoners of war are often treated as heroes when they return home from their ordeals.

But in traditional Chinese culture, surrender and capture represent a "sin", just like a woman's loss of virginity, and only by hanging herself can she make up for the loss of honor. Desperate soldiers can only prove their loyalty to the country by dying. Through the ages, who can deeply analyze the reasons for this?

The unitary thinking of the Chinese people is so simple, so extreme, black and white. When it comes to choosing between fighting to the death or surrendering, they will unanimously ask you to take the former and abandon the latter, and only then can you be called a hero. Who can understand the choice made by the officers and men of the 10th th Place, after suffering from a desperate situation of running out of ammunition and food and having no support for the enemy, after suffering heavy losses in excess of their own total strength under the general trend of a great rout and retreating?

For soldiers, it is a real shame to avoid a fight or surrender without a fight. The 10th Army of the National Revolutionary Army is worthy of China and its 40,000,000 compatriots.

Fang Xianjue buried his head deeply in his chest, tossing and turning in pain and unable to extricate himself.

A staff officer ran into the basement, handed Fang Xianjue a document bag, and said, "Military seat, the Air Force plane has just dropped Chairman Chiang's warrant. ”

Fang Xianjue opened Chiang Kai-shek's warrant, which contained only two short lines of words: "Tomorrow, the 62nd Army will attack Daximen, the 79th Army will attack Xiaoximen, and the 100th Army will attack Qingcaoqiao." They all have self-confidence, and they will definitely be able to attack, and they hope to send someone to guide them! ”

Fang Xianjue smiled miserably and shook his head: "My principal, it's really too late. He lit the warrant with a lighter.

"Military seat, the enemy has hit 100 meters away from the army headquarters, and Staff Officer Tong is organizing staff officers, cooks, telegraph operators, car drivers and other personnel of the military headquarters to block the attack, and we need to make a decision immediately." Chief of Staff Sun Mingyu whispered beside Fang Xianjue.

Fang Xianjue raised his head and calmly ordered: "Chief of Staff, I want to send a telegram to the commission in the name of all officers above the division level of the 10th Army, please record!" ”

Sun Mingyu took out his notebook and pen.

Fang Xianjue dictated the last telegram word by word:

"After the enemy broke through from the northern city this morning, they began street fighting in the city. Our officers and soldiers have suffered all the casualties, and at this moment there are no more soldiers to block the attack, and the rank vows to repay the party and the state with one death, and to fulfill the duty of a soldier, and never live up to the intent of Junzuo's life. This electricity is probably the last electricity, see you in the next life!

"Staff Chief Sun Mingyu, Division Commander Zhou Qingxiang, Ge Xiancai, Rong Youluo, and Rao Shaowei knocked together."

Sun Mingyu prepared the telegram and ordered the telegraph operator to send the telegram immediately, and then destroyed the radio station, destroyed the document code book and all the written materials, and threw all the telegraph operators on duty into battle.

Rao Abo, chief of staff of the headquarters, walked in and reported: "Military seat, two soldiers have just been brought from the north gate, and they have seen some field hospitals. ”

Fang Xianjue waved his hand and said, "Quick, let them in." ”

Rao Abel led two soldiers into the basement, as if they had just come down from the battlefield, their uniforms were bloodstained and tattered, and their faces were blackened by gunsmoke.

Sun Mingyu asked, "You just came from the north gate?" How did you get here? ”

One of the sergeants replied: "Sir, there are eight of us in all, and we rushed through four streets to reach the military headquarters, and only two of us remained, and the six brothers all fell on the way......

Fang Xianjue interrupted him: "Tell me about the situation at the hospital." ”

The sergeant cried: "The enemy rushed in from the north gate, some of them penetrated into the depths, and the other part rushed into the hospital, killing anyone they saw, whether it was the wounded or doctors and nurses. Most of the wounded were unarmed, many were stabbed to death by them with bayonets, and a few wounded officers had pistols and hands **, as long as they were armed, they resisted, and I saw with my own eyes a wounded man pulling his hand ** and two devils died together. Sir, it's so miserable, when we rushed out, the devils were still killing. ”

Fang Xianjue waved his hand weakly and said, "Rao Abel, take them to rest!" ”

After the soldiers left, Fang Xianjue looked at everyone and said, "This is the last moment, everyone should prepare!" To tell you the truth, I wouldn't hesitate if I could exchange my prescient lives for the wounded from being slaughtered. Unfortunately, my life is not worth much, and I am powerless to stop the slaughter of the enemy. That's it, that's it, I can't control it, I've done everything I need to do, and now I'm the only one missing......"

Fang Xianjue suddenly pulled out the pistol on his waist and aimed it at his temple...... The adjutant and guards beside him were quick and fast, and they suddenly held up Fang Xianjue's wrist, and with a "bang" gunshot, the bullet grazed Fang Xianjue's scalp and hit the ceiling. The adjutant desperately snatched the pistol.

Fang Xianjue was furious, and he roared, "Give me the gun!" It is the duty of a soldier to kill himself, and no one has the right to stop him, so if you don't agree, please do it yourself! ”

The two guards hugged Fang Xianjue tightly, he struggled, cursed, and had nothing to do for a while.

Ge Xiancai stepped forward and shouted: "Junzao, you can't be like this, the principal said that you will never sacrifice lightly until the last moment." The enemy is still a hundred meters away, and we still have bullets in the chamber of our guns, even if we die, it is not now! ”

Cai Jigang looked at everyone coldly, since he returned to the military headquarters, he has not spoken, because there is really nothing to say. Although Cai Jigang has received an American military education, he is still a Chinese soldier in his bones. From the first day of enlistment, American servicemen are taught that they are allowed to lay down their arms and surrender when they run out of ammunition and have no hope of breaking out. Cai Jigang disagreed, acknowledging the humanist tradition of Western countries that valued life, but in a sense, he admired the perseverance and tenacious fighting will of the Japanese soldiers.

Cai Jigang often thinks of the Battle of Nanjing in 1937, which was a great tragedy. The more than 100,000 Chinese troops defending the city of Nanjing resisted for only three days before the city was defeated, nearly half of the Chinese soldiers laid down their arms and surrendered, and 300,000 soldiers and civilians were slaughtered. As a professional soldier, Cai Jigang of course had to study this battle from a professional point of view, and he was heartbroken to find that the defenders of Nanjing had no plan for street battles at all, and when the outer positions were broken through, most of the defenders were in chaos, and there was a serious war-avoidance mentality, and everyone only wanted to flee for their lives, completely losing the will to fight. Cai Jigang believes that the reasons for this great tragedy are nothing more than two points: First, the incompetence of campaign commanders and army division commanders, who lack the ability to plan and implement the campaign in a meticulous manner; Second, the soldiers who participated in the war lacked bloodiness, the sense of honor of soldiers, and the fighting will to fight bravely and tenaciously for themselves.

Cai Jigang had to admit that our opponent was indeed very tough, and this was not only due to the gap in national strength and weaponry, but also in terms of the quality of individual soldiers and the will to fight, there was also a huge gap between the Chinese and Japanese soldiers. Due to his work, Cai Jigang has participated in many large-scale battles and has also inspected the battlefield after fierce battles many times, and he has seen the tenacity of Japanese soldiers, who often insist on fighting to the last man in an unfavorable situation, and rarely surrender. Although the brutality and aggressiveness of the Japanese soldiers were disgusting, their tenacious will to fight was commendable.

Regarding the current situation of the 10th Army, Cai Jigang also thinks that it is very tricky, if he thinks about it from another position, if he is Fang Xianjue, he may not have a better way. If there were no more than 8,000 wounded, it would have been easy to do, or disobey the order to break through, or the jade would be burned, but the current situation of the 10th Army was difficult to choose, and Cai Jigang could not make a better suggestion to Fang Xianjue.

Not in his position, not in his politics. Cai Jigang is just a war supervisor, not the commander of the 10th Army, and all this can only be decided by the army commander Fang Xianjue. Cai Jigang decided that as long as Fang Xianjue ordered to fight to the end, he would accompany the officers and men of the 10th Army to fight until the last moment, but ...... If Fang Xianjue decides to lay down his arms and surrender, Cai Jigang can also understand that after all, this is related to the lives of tens of thousands of people, and it cannot be solved by the sentence "kill yourself and serve the party and the state".

But as far as Cai Jigang is concerned, he never intends to surrender, the soldier's sense of honor is more important than life, others can surrender, but Cai Jigang can't, he would rather break through alone.

At this time, Zhou Qingxiang walked into the basement with two guards, and he approached Fang Xianjue and whispered: "Military seat, the 9th Regiment of our division has hung a white flag at the Tianma Mountain position and asked for negotiations. The Japanese army has sent representatives to contact the 9th Regiment and express their willingness to peacefully resolve the battle in Hengyang. ”

Fang Xianjue glared at him angrily and roared in a low voice: "Zhou Qingxiang, tell me, who ordered the white flag to be hung?" Say, "Who is it?" ”

Zhou Qingxiang replied calmly: "It's me." ”

Sun Mingyu's face changed: "What is a peaceful settlement?" Is it surrender? ”

Zhou Qingxiang said coldly: "Chief of Staff, why do you have to say it so ugly, what we need now is to solve the problem, not quarrel, if you have a better way, everyone listens to you, if not, why can't you consider negotiation?" ”

Fang Xianjue roared: "Zhou Qingxiang, you are trying to trap me in injustice, and you are pushing me into the fire pit of traitors!" Zhou Qingxiang, I'll kill you......"

Zhou Qingxiang shouted with tears in his eyes: "Junzao, the hospital has become a slaughterhouse, and the devils are killing our wounded, we can't fight anymore." I beg you, for the sake of these more than 8,000 wounded, for the sake of the remnants of the 10th Army, let our personal honor and disgrace put aside and save them! ”

Fang Xianjue, who was looking for a pistol, felt like he had been struck by lightning, and his body froze suddenly.

Sun Mingyu, who had already pulled out his pistol, let out a long sigh and threw the pistol on the table weakly. He turned to the generals and said, "Let's vote, and the final result will be decided by the military seat." ”

Ge Xiancai said in a low voice: "I agree to negotiate, but I must make it clear to the Japanese army that we are asking for a conditional ceasefire, not surrender!" ”

Rong Youluo said: "I think it should be decided by the military seat, whether to fight or negotiate, and our 190th Division guarantees to obey orders." ”

Rao Shaowei took a step forward and said: "I advocate concentrating the last forces to break through, even if it is disobedience to the order to break through, it is better than surrendering." ”

Zhou Qingxiang sneered: "I knew now, why bother at the beginning, you temporarily guarded the airport with one regiment of the 54th Division, and after the airport was lost, you actually let two battalions leave the battlefield." Hmph, it is claimed that one division participates in the war, but in fact there is only one battalion. It's too late to say anything, and if those two battalions are still there, we can certainly consider breaking out. ”

Rao Shaowei was angry: "Master Zhou, don't speak with thorns, okay?" There's no point in talking about the past, what we're going to talk about is what to do now......"

Sun Mingyu hurriedly played a round: "Okay, okay, don't quarrel, aren't you discussing?" Everyone has the right to express their ideas. Personally, I believe that in order to save the lives of the thousands of wounded, we should negotiate a conditional ceasefire, regardless of personal shame. Commander Cai, are you going to talk about it too? ”

Cai Jigang smiled bitterly: "I was sent by the Military Commission to supervise the war, and I represent the Military Commission, not me, may I ask, is it appropriate for me to participate in such a discussion?" Whether it is a conditional ceasefire or surrender, from the point of view of the Military Commission, it will certainly not agree. But personally, I understand. ”

Fang Xianjue had calmed down, and he slowly stood up: "Division Commander Zhou, tell the Japanese negotiators that the 10th Army has no intention of surrendering, but only proposes a conditional ceasefire." Our basic conditions are: First, the Japanese army must not kill prisoners when entering the city, and the lives of our officers and men must be guaranteed; second, to take in the sick and wounded and provide them with humanitarian care; Third, retain the structure of the 10th Army and let the officers and soldiers decide whether to stay or stay at their own discretion; Fourth, it is necessary to collect and solemnly bury the remains of our fallen officers and soldiers; Fifth, an immediate ceasefire should be achieved to ensure the implementation of the above-mentioned provisions. ”

Fang Xianjue finally emphasized: "I repeat, the 10th Army is not surrendering, it is achieving a conditional ceasefire. If the Japanese don't agree to this condition, we will make up our minds to fight him to the death! ”

Zhou Qingxiang stood up and said: "Yes, I will go to meet the Japanese negotiators immediately." ”

Chief of Staff Sun Mingyu added: "Note that until a ceasefire agreement is reached, the positions of our army must not stop fighting. ”

Cai Jigang walked in front of Fang Xianjue, raised his hand and saluted: "Commander Fang, I want to say goodbye to you, I have decided to break through alone tonight." ”

Fang Xianjue held Cai Jigang's hand with mixed feelings: "Brother Yunhe, my Xianjue has affected you, as a war supervisor, you faithfully performed your duties, and fought with the 10th Army until the last moment, I thank you on behalf of the 10th officers and soldiers!" Good luck with your breakthrough! ”

Cai Jigang once again stood up and saluted Fang Xianjue and all the generals of the 10th Army: "Colleagues, the performance of the 10th Army in Hengyang is in the eyes of contemptible, so there is no need to say much. I personally fully understand the grievances in the hearts of the officers and men of the 10th Army, after all, we have lived and died together and fought side by side. The contemptible people will truthfully report to the Military Commission that the tragedy of the defense of Hengyang has long exceeded the limit of the endurance and willpower of the officers and men of the 10th Army, and whether the city is broken or not, the 10th Army of the National Revolutionary Army has fully fulfilled its duties as a soldier, and there is no shame in the commander, the country, and the Chinese nation! ”

Cai Jigang's resounding farewell speech brought tears to the eyes of all the officers and soldiers present, and they raised their hands in unison to give a military salute to Cai Jigang.

On the night of 7 August, although negotiators from the Chinese and Japanese armies were already in contact, the fighting inside and outside the city did not stop, but intensified. Outside the city, Tianma Mountain, Yueping Mountain and other positions were still in the hands of the Chinese army, and the two sides repeatedly fought for the commanding heights, fighting fiercely all night, until dawn, the Japanese army had not yet conquered. This night, the city has also become a hell on earth, there are fierce battles everywhere between the streets and courtyards, the offensive and defensive sides have entered a state of madness, light machine guns sweep wildly, hands fly horizontally, ***** spit out a long fire dragon, and the *** who shoots at close range spews out clusters of scorching flames. The infantry on both sides fought to the death, fighting to the death with bayonets, **, daggers, sapper shovels, fists and even teeth. The Japanese tanks rampaged through the streets and alleys, leaving behind pieces of rubble and corpses, and the defenders did not show weakness, gathering hands **, **bags, *** and colors......

At midnight, Cai Jigang's breakout operation began. There were only seven people in the team he organized temporarily, Man Tang and Ma Lao Wu walked in front as spearheads, Cai Jigang, Cai Jiheng and Shen Guangya walked in the middle, and Sun Xincang and Li Changshun were in charge of breaking the rear.

Cai Jigang and his entourage have been walking east since they came out of the military headquarters, and when the Japanese army did not enter the city a few days ago, Cai Jiheng had carefully inspected this route. The urban area of Hengyang is rectangular, about 500 meters wide from east to west, about 1,600 meters long from north to south, with a total area of about 1 square kilometer. From the central bank to the east of the city Xiangjiang River to pass through a few streets, if you can reach the Xiangjiang River smoothly, the breakthrough is basically successful, as long as you find a floating object down the river, you can float to Hengshan County at the foot of Nanyue Hengshan Mountain in about an hour, and it will be safe there. Cai Jiheng carefully calculated the danger factor of breaking through with the pilots, the most dangerous of which was the five or six street crossings from the central bank to the Xiangjiang River in the east of the city, and once they rushed through, they succeeded by 70 percent. Of course, the Japanese motorboats patrolling the Xiangjiang River were also a threat, but due to the small number of people in the small detachment and the small target, coupled with the cover of the night, this danger was really nothing.

The team crossed two street intersections without incident, but ran into trouble at the third. The battle is in full swing here, the attacking and defending sides have been mixed together in short combat, there is no clear battle line, and there are soldiers on both sides in every alley and courtyard......

As the spearhead of the full hall and Ma Lao Wuyi crashed into a courtyard, they saw more than a dozen Japanese soldiers sitting around to share rice balls, at this time it was too late to withdraw from the courtyard, the Japanese soldiers screamed and picked up their rifles, and the hall hurriedly threw out a hand**, taking advantage of the explosion The two flashed into a house. The Japanese soldiers who suffered a loss threw two hands into the window, which were picked up and thrown back by Ma Lao Wu, and the two sides formed a confrontation.

The Japanese soldiers decided to set fire to the house. They found quilts and other flammable materials from the next room and were waiting to be lit, and Cai Jiheng, who then rushed into the yard, gave a shuttle with his buttocks, and the Japanese soldiers were knocked down five or six, and the rest escaped through the holes in the wall.

Cai Jigang believes that this place cannot be stayed, and it is necessary to get out of this block immediately, otherwise it will be difficult to get away from being entangled by the enemy. Cai Jiheng reminded: "Brother, Li Changshun and they may also be in trouble, and they haven't kept up yet." ”

Ma Lao Wu said: "Sir, we can't wait, everyone has their own lives, or I and the full hall open the way, you chiefs follow behind, the five of us have smaller goals, let's go!" ”

When the whole hall heard this, he scolded: "Ma Lao Wu, are you fucking human?" Li Changshun and Sun Xincang are my brothers, do you want to throw them down? First of all, ask me if I agree to this gun! ”

Ma Lao Wu said: "Okay, good, you are full of righteousness, you go to find these two goods, let's go our own way, we can't quarrel." Ma Lao Wu said that he was leaving.

Shen Guangya, who was usually taciturn, suddenly became angry, he picked up his gun and shouted, "Stop!" One more step and I'll kill you! Ma Lao Wu, you are actually such a thing, not to mention the discipline of soldiers, and you don't even talk about the righteousness of the rivers and lakes? ”

Ma Lao Wu stopped, he turned around and said with a smile: "Sir, don't be angry, I'm not joking with Mantang, Mantang admits death, belongs to the old turtle, I don't talk when I bite it, I like to see him angry and tease him." ”

Cai Jiheng snorted: "Ma Lao Wu, you can't be a person, you are an unrighteous person." ”

Cai Jigang said sharply: "Don't say it, now we go back to find them the same way, we can't leave them alone, this time can't exceed an hour, otherwise even if we rush to the riverside, the sky should be bright, and then we can't go." Now let's do it! ”

Li Changshun and Sun Xincang, who were in charge of the break, were surrounded by Japanese troops under a low wall in a courtyard, and the two of them were almost unable to withstand it. The weak firepower of the two rifles was difficult to block the siege of the Japanese army, and during the melee, Li Changshun was hit by a bullet in the abdomen, causing penetrating wounds and bleeding profusely. Sun Xincang killed eight Japanese soldiers in a row within five minutes, and the Japanese army was so shocked that they temporarily stopped the attack, and the two sides entered a standoff.

Sun Xincang tore his military uniform and bandaged Li Changshun's wound while comforting: "It's okay, this is the 38th big cover, I pierced it, and I sealed it in less than 20 days, if I let the Chinese officially hit it, it would be troublesome, and it wouldn't be better in two months......"

Li Changshun grinned in pain, and kept scolding in his mouth: "The mother of the little devil, I didn't feel the pain just now, this will hurt up, hey...... Xincang, the devil is showing up, fight ......"

Sun Xincang casually picked up a shot from the rifle "horn", and half of the head of the Japanese soldier poking out of the head of the 50-meter outer wall was knocked off.

Li Changshun said: "Xincang, it's my brother who is incompetent, and I'm incapable of affecting you!" ”

Sun Xincang replied while quickly unloading his shell: "What are you talking about?" It's my brother who is incompetent, just this broken gun, there are not a few bullets, and I can't rush out, so I can carry it for a while. ”

Li Changshun's military uniform had been soaked with blood, and there was a lot of blood under his body, and his voice gradually weakened: "Brother, leave me alone, you can rush out if you can go, you can't die together." ”

Sun Xincang's "horn" was another shot: ", where am I going alone?" Let's die together. I don't want to surrender anymore anyway, and it's better to die here than to go to a prisoner of war camp. ”

Two Japanese soldiers climbed onto the roof of a house diagonally opposite, set up a crooked machine gun, and first fired a long burst, and the dense bullets hit the low wall, suppressing Sun Xincang and Li Changshun so that they could not raise their heads.

Sun Xincang scolded: "Damn, even if I die, I will kill that devil machine gunner first." ”

Li Changshun said with a dying breath: "Xincang, I will use a bayonet to ...... Put up your hat and set the devil on fire...... Fire to the left...... On the left, you do it from the right...... Kill him......"

Sun Xincang hurriedly stopped: "No, it's too dangerous, don't worry, let me think about it......"

Before Sun Xincang's words were finished, Li Changshun had already put his hat on the bayonet and stretched it out from the left. The Japanese machine-gun fire immediately turned to the left, and Li Changshun's military hat was instantly blown away by bullets...... Sun Xincang seized this momentary opportunity and quickly stretched out his rifle with a "horn" shot, and the bullet hit the eyebrows of the Japanese machine gunner, and the machine gun stopped abruptly.

Sun Xincang smiled: "Another one, Changshun, do you still count?" I've killed a few devils......"

Suddenly, Li Changshun shouted in fear from his side: "Xincang, pay attention to the ...... behind you"

Sun Xincang turned around suddenly, he saw a Japanese flamethrower standing on the roof not far away, he was carrying a Type 93 *****, and the flamethrower in his hand was already aimed at him......

It's a pity that it was too late, and the flamethrower "boomed" out a ball of flames, and Sun Xincang and Li Changshun were suddenly wrapped in flames. Sun Xincang endured the severe pain of being burned and shot the last bullet of his life...... The Japanese flamethrower was shot through the throat and fell headlong from the roof.

A dozen Japanese soldiers rushed into the courtyard, and all they saw was two wriggling human bodies burning under the low wall, and the strong smell of gasoline and burnt flesh filled the air......

Cai Jigang and the others attacked with all their strength in order to rescue these two soldiers, and they chose to jump from the roof to approach, and they had already approached the courtyard where Sun Xincang and the others were defending. In the scuffle, Cai Jiheng was shot in the left arm, Shen Guangya hurriedly tore off his military uniform, and asked while bandaging him: "Jiheng, can you still go?" Or should I carry you? ”

Cai Jiheng took a breath of cold air in pain: "It's okay, it's a flesh injury, the bone is not broken, I can walk." He slung the straps around his neck, held a gun in his right hand, and jumped nimbly from one wall to the ground.

The scene of Sun Xincang and Li Changshun being burned by the flames in the end was seen by Cai Jigang and others, and Man Tang and Cai Jiheng were red-eyed, screaming to rush up and fight hard, but Cai Jigang stopped them.

Shen Guangya took a step forward and shouted as he opened fire: "Sir, you guys retreat quickly, I'll cover!" ”

Cai Jigang's bullets in *** have all been exhausted, he threw away the empty gun, pulled out the **** and shouted: "Quick, alternately cover the retreat, and we will be by the river soon." ”

The five people fought and retreated, rushing through two street entrances in a row, and the dark and heavy Xiangjiang River appeared in front of them. There was not a single light on the river, and the sound of the rushing waves could be heard in the darkness.

Cai Jigang turned around and asked, "Jiheng, can you swim with your injury?" ”

Cai Jiheng replied: "No problem, I can still flutter a few times, I even won the first place in swimming at school." ”

Shen Guangya was still blocking the pursuers with non-stop short-point shots on the river embankment.

Man Tang and Ma Lao Wu found a long log and carried it to the water's edge.

Cai Jigang looked at the log and said: "This is the wood left over from the 190th Division's repair of the river fortifications, but I didn't expect it to be used now." Okay, everyone hugs the logs, there are Japanese motorboats patrolling this section of the river, and the full hall and Ma Lao Wu are ready to fight! ”

Shen Guangya threw out a hand**, took advantage of the explosion and turned around and ran to the river.

Cai Jigang was the first to walk into the river, the warm river water gradually submerged his chest, he held the log and said softly: "Brothers, hurry up, we are going home." ”

The log carried five people down the river......

On the morning of August 8, street fighting in Hengyang was still raging.

At this moment, a small white flag was raised at the position of the 10th Army at Daximen, and the envoy of the Nationalist Army came to the command post of the 58th Brigade of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, asking to negotiate an armistice.

When Isamu Yokoyama received the report from Chief of Staff Nakayama Sadatake, he was relieved, he breathed a long sigh of relief, and asked excitedly, "Oh, okay, what conditions do they have?" ”

Nakayama said: "There are three important ones: first, this is a conditional ceasefire, which cannot be regarded as surrender; Second, to ensure the safety of officers and soldiers; Third, preserve the structure of the 10th Army. Under these conditions, the 10th Army promised to lay down its arms. ”

Yokoyama breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, let's agree first." The matter was handled by Tsutsumi-kun and Iwanaga-kun at their sole discretion. It's time for the battle of Hengyang to end, it's time to end! ”

After Nakayama withdrew, Yokoyama closed the door to his office and sat down weakly. It's over, it's over, and if it's not over, he Yokoyama doesn't know how to end it. The severity of the battle was unprecedented in his 35 years in the army, and the casualties of the 68th and 116th divisions were already higher than he could have imagined, and the actual casualty figures were known only to Isamu Yokoyama and a few senior officers. During the 47 days of fighting, the two divisions were replenished several times, and even so, by the early morning of 8 August, the average number of survivors in each infantry brigade was less than 100, and the survivors of each squadron were only twenty or thirty.

Finally, the war can be stopped, not to mention the middle and lower-level officers and soldiers, even Yokoyama himself has a sense of relief for the rest of his life. He had already given a death order, and if he could not capture Hengyang, all the officials who participated in the siege should commit suicide by disembowelment to thank the emperor, including himself, of course.

Yokoyama felt something strange on his face, and he touched it with his hand, only to realize that he was actually crying.

At dusk on August 8, the gunfire at the Yuepingshan position of the 10th Army, which was still stubbornly resisting, gradually thinned out, and Colonel Zeng Jing, commander of the 28th Regiment of the 10th Pre-10th Division, wept bitterly and threw down his pistol under the persuasion and order of Chief of Staff Sun Mingyu. Originally, he had made up his mind to live and die with the position, but at this time he had to obey the order, and the remaining more than a hundred soldiers of the 28th Regiment finally laid down their arms.

The officers and men of the 10th who laid down their arms were driven by the Japanese army to the Hengyang West Bus Station to concentrate. These weary and scarred soldiers supported each other and walked in humiliation under the bayonets of the Japanese soldiers to the concentration area. At this time, the roar of the aircraft group was heard in the sky, and the aircraft group of the Sino-US joint air force appeared in the sky above Hengyang. The pilots silently closed the safety on the bomb drop button, and the group of planes circled over Hengyang with bombs for several weeks, and could not bear to leave for a long time.

Hengyang City, which had been fighting fiercely for 47 days, finally quieted down, and the tragic battle for the defense of Hengyang came to an end. During the battle, the 10th Army of the National Revolution suffered 15,000 casualties, of which more than 6,000 were killed.

The total number of casualties in the Battle of Hengyang in the history of the Japanese army is very vague, but the casualties from June 23 to July 20, the beginning of the Battle of Hengyang, that is, the end of the second general offensive, are announced: the total number of Japanese casualties is 19,286, including 798 officers; Of the total number of casualties, 3,860 were killed and 264 officers were killed. By the end of the Battle of Hengyang, the Japanese army had not released all of its casualty figures.

Decades later, a Japanese scholar came to a more convincing conclusion after consulting historical materials from various sources: In the 47-day Battle of Hengyang from June 23 to August 8, 1944, nearly 20,000 Japanese soldiers were killed and nearly 60,000 were wounded. The ratio of casualties among the Chinese and Japanese soldiers was 13.

The senior staff officer of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Shima Kan Daisa, wrote in his diary: "August 8. 1. Conquer Hengyang at 8 a.m. Second, after more than 40 days of attacking, although the time is ripe, it is a battle with all our might. Third, only one day late, the enemy's mechanized corps appeared, and our troops were somewhat shaken in the face of the enemy troops who came to relieve the siege, and the victory or defeat of the war certainly lay in the last five minutes. If the enemy who holds Hengyang swears to fight to the death, there may be 'Imphal'[2]

The ending. ”

At 3 p.m. on August 7, Chiang Kai-shek received Fang Xianjue's last telegram. He was worried, restless in his sleep, and anxiously awaited the Air Force's reconnaissance report all the time.

Five hours later, the Air Force pilot reported: "The whole city is still in the midst of a scuffle. ”

In the early morning of August 8, Chiang Kai-shek got up at 4 o'clock and silently prayed in front of the statue of Jesus, hoping that the 10th Army would turn the corner.

At about 10 o'clock, the Aviation Committee forwarded an air force reconnaissance report from the Hengyang front: "There is no fighting in Hengyang City. ”

Chiang Kai-shek was expressionless and nodded coldly. Confidential secretary Yu Guohua knew very well that the pain in Mr. Jiang's heart was beyond words at this time, and he had to admit this painful fact: Hengyang had fallen.

Many years later, Yu Guohua wrote in his memoirs: On August 8, Mr. Jiang sat silently in the armchair in his office and did not say a word for four hours.

On this day, Chiang Kai-shek wrote in his diary: "The reality of grief has never been greater. ”

July 15, 2012

[1]

The "Continental Picker" is an M1903 pistol designed by the American gunsmith Browning in 1903, which was produced by the American Colt company and is divided into two calibers: 7.65mm and 9mm. Because the gun was engraved with a pony pattern with its front hooves jumping up and a spear in its mouth, it was called "Horse Brand Picker" in China at that time.

[2]

The Battle of Imphal was a battle in which the Japanese suffered a heavy defeat during the Pacific War. In March ~ July 1944, the Japanese 15th Army launched an offensive against the British and Indian troops in the Imphal area of India, attempting to seize the Allied counteroffensive base Imphal, threatening Dimapur, an important supply base of the Allied forces, cutting off the Sino-Indian highway and improving its defensive posture in Burma. The Japanese began their offensive with about 100,000 men, but more than 53,000 were killed or missing in the battle and retreated to the starting point of the original attack. After the Battle of Imphal, the Allied forces in the Indo-Burmese theater have since shifted to the strategic stage of the general offensive.