In 1944, the War of Resistance Against Japan had entered its late stage, but the Japanese invaders were still determined. They mobilized a total of 500,000 troops, hoping to open up transportation lines in Hunan and achieve their strategic goals.
This battle was later called Henan, Hunan and Gui battle . In this battle, the Kuomintang's performance was terrible.
Faced with the Japanese offensive, they were not fully prepared and had a weak sense of combat, so they still retreated steadily while they had the advantage.
The fierce generals on the battlefield
The Japanese army quickly occupied important cities such as Changsha and Changzhou . Then, they turned their attention to Hengyang .
On the transportation line, Hengyang is a very important city, guarding the important transportation routes and also building a large number of arsenals. For the Japanese army, occupying Hengyang would be of benefit but not harm.
So, hundreds of thousands of troops rushed straight to Hengyang, and at this time the one stationed in Hengyang was General Fang Xianjue .
Fang Xianjue's early experience was a bit bumpy. He was born into a scholarly family and carried his father's ardent expectations since he was a child. He was admitted to Shanghai Law and Political University at the age of 19.
According to the original life plan, he should go directly to the government as an official or a lawyer. However, the current situation of the decline of the country made Fang Xianjue realize that he had no way to study with peace of mind, and he wanted to save the country first.
So, in 1925, Fang Xianjue left Shanghai and went to Guangzhou to take the admissions examination for Whampoa Military Academy , and became a student of the third phase of the Whampoa Military Academy.
His life path changed, and the Whampoa Military Academy trained many military talents, but Fang Xianjue's study journey at the Whampoa Military Academy was not smooth.
Because, just half a year after entering the school, Fang Xianjue discovered that the director of the Military Supply Department of the Whampoa Military Academy had arbitrarily withheld students' food and salary, and colluded with officials.
The upright Fang Xiankai could not stand the director's behavior, so he argued with reason, which attracted the attention of the whole school.
The director of the Military Control Department was very angry, and the two argued like this, and it almost turned into a fight. In the end, the school gave a punishment - expelled Fang Xianjue.
was kicked out by a cradle of officers like the Whampoa Military Academy, and its future seems to have been ruined. However, it is a blessing to lose his horse.
Although he failed to complete his studies at the Whampoa Military Academy, at least in the past six months, Fang Xianjue has met many officers and generals, and many people are very sorry for Fang Xianjue’s experience.
So, in the spring of the second year, Fang Xianjue was recruited into the Third Division of the National Army and temporarily served as the acting platoon leader.
Compared with his classmates in Huangpu , this starting point is of course low, but at least, Fang Xianjue's military future is to be preserved.
In the army, Fang Xianjue worked diligently. In contrast, he may be able to hone people more than military academy on the real battlefield.
Fang Xianjue
Fang Xianjue made rapid progress, and his superiors appreciated him very much, but due to his previous experience of being expelled from the Whampoa Military Academy, his promotion was still affected.
It was not until 1931 that Fang Xianjue finally got to the position of battalion commander through great difficulty.
However, since this year, Fang Xianjue's life journey has been much smoother. Soon, because of his excellent combat performance, he was sent to the training class and was trained by the German officers.
In this training camp, Fang Xianjue began to learn systematic and scientific combat. Since graduating from the training class, Fang Xianjue began to take on the training work in the military camp.
Under his leadership, the quality of the team was gradually improved, and Fang Xianjue's official position naturally also increased. By the time the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out, Fang Xianjue had already become the commander of the division.
Changsha Defense Battle , which broke out in 1939, made Fang Xianjue famous in one battle.
At that time, the Japanese army had very important strategic intentions for Changsha, and what Fang Xianjue had to do was to stick to his position and fight for his inch of land.
However, compared with the prepared Japanese army, Fang Xianjue's conditions on the side were too bad, and he had to calculate the bullets carefully.In this case, if you want to hold the position, you must show your spirit of hard work.
As the division commander, Fang Xianjue took the lead and fought with the Japanese army. After the bullets and grenades and were used up, he picked up the bayonet and launched the hand-to-hand combat formation, and the ground was killed in a sea of corpses and blood.
Fang Xianjue got several shots, but he did not retreat at all. The courage he burst out shocked the Japanese invaders.
Relying on this desperate spirit, Fang Xianjue finally successfully held his position. After the battle, Fang Xianjue was commended and was promoted from division commander to army commander.
and the more severe challenges are still to come.
The Great Enemy is currently
In countless battles, the Japanese realized that this general who looks gentle and kind on the surface is an invincible figure. So much so that when the Japanese army heard Fang Xianjue's name, they were frightened.
But how could they easily give up their plans for invasion as invaders?
The current situation of the country made Fang Xianjue very worried, and his own situation was also very bad at this time. The outside aggression had not subsided, and the internal struggle began to break out in the Kuomintang again.
In Changde Battle , the Kuomintang army was very disunited.
In the process of rescuing the large army, Xue Yue once mobilized Fang Xianjue's troops without authorization, which resulted in the lonely army going deeper, causing Fang Xianjue to lose his most valued subordinate Sun Mingjin.
Fang Xianjue is a straightforward person. After such a big loss, the relationship between him and Xue Yue is of course difficult to repair.
Xue Yue
Although the battle of Changde finally won, anyone can see that there are many contradictions under the victory. After the battle of
, Xue Yue made a suggestion to Chiang Kai-shek that Fang Xianjue's position as army commander should be removed and asked that he personally lead the 10th Army to fight.
Faced with the contradictions between subordinates, Chiang Kai-shek's usual approach was to mix with the poor. Moreover, Xue Yue was the Huangpu direct descendant promoted by Chiang Kai-shek himself, so naturally, this Huangpu student who dropped out of school halfway is much closer.
So, Chiang Kai-shek quickly approved Xue Yue's suggestion, let Fang Xianjue stay in Hengyang and standby, and let him sit on the bench.
Faced with Chiang Kai-shek's decision, Fang Xianjue was very dissatisfied with it. However, Chiang Kai-shek was the leader of the Kuomintang, and no matter how many complaints Fang Xianjue had in his heart, he could not say.
So, he could only stay in Hengyang City and wait for Chiang Kai-shek to deal with him next.
But unexpectedly, before the disposal came, the Japanese army arrived first.
In May 1944, the Japanese army launched the Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi. In this battle, the Japanese army gave all their money and took every bet.
But the Kuomintang side was still immersed in the joy of the previous victory, carelessly underestimating the enemy. Moreover, there were constant conflicts between the generals of the National Army and the army was approaching. The Kuomintang was at a loss and was defeated.
The Japanese army's troops quickly pointed directly at Hengyang. Once Hengyang fell, the consequences would be unimaginable.
At this time, the main force stationed in Hengyang was the 10th Army led by Fang Xianjue.
At this time, Xue Yue had not yet taken over the 10th Army, and with the important matter of defending the city, Xue Yue did not dare to do anything recklessly.
So, in desperation, Xue Yue could only come to find Fang Xianjue with shamelessness, hoping that he could leave the past and return to the mountain and lead the 10th Army to confront the Japanese army.
Fang Xianjue naturally didn't want to pay attention to it. Xue Yue had no choice but to let Chiang Kai-shek take action himself.
In order to protect Hengyang, Chiang Kai-shek had to personally order Fang Xianjue to restore his post. In the telegram, he solemnly asked Fang Xianjue: "You must stay for 7 days!"
Chiang Kai-shek gave the order, and Fang Xianjue had no choice but to refuse. Moreover, he was also very worried about the safety of Hengyang. In the end, he decided to take on this important task.
However, during the telegram transmission, a misunderstanding actually occurred.
Because people mainly rely on signals to decipher telegraphs at that time, but due to the influence of the war, the signal of the telegraph was very unstable, so Fang Xianjue mistakenly thought that the order to hold on to 7 days was for 47 days.
This misunderstanding is huge. With the crisis situation in Hengyang at that time, it was a bit difficult for Fang Xianjue to stay for 7 days, and 47 days is almost impossible to complete, and Fang Xianjue to die.
Stay the Lonely City
, but Fang Xianjue did not question this.
First, from a strategic perspective, the longer Hengyang defends, the more beneficial it will be to the subsequent battle situation;
Second, although 47 days sounds like a fantasy, in a desperate situation, any command from the superior is possible.
Besides, Fang Xianjue really has no time to verify the accuracy of the message. In this way, Fang Xianjue started his task with a deviation command.
Since you have to stick to it for 47 days, you must be fully prepared.
At this time, the 10th Army had only 17,000 troops. In the previous battles, the loss of this army was too great.
But Fang Xianjue also knew that with the current situation of the Kuomintang, he could not send many reinforcements, and the entire strength he had was only these 17,000 people.
Fang Xianjue was in a heavy mood, but he did not show it. He showed the quality of an excellent general and quickly organized more than 300,000 ordinary people in the city to go out to take refuge.
Then, he led the soldiers of the 10th Army to build fortifications in the city, strengthen the walls, hoard food and grass, and prepare for the next long-term battle.
On June 22, the Japanese bomber arrived first and carried out intensive bombings at strategic points in the city.
However, because Fang Xianjue had built fortifications in advance, the Japanese bombing did not achieve the expected results.
The Japanese army realized that the Kuomintang troops in Hengyang City had been fully prepared, so they adjusted their strategies.
On June 25, the Japanese army sent a large army to decide to occupy Hengyang Airport . Once the airport is occupied, it means that the Japanese army has controlled important transportation lines.
However, Fang Xianjue was prepared for this.
After the Japanese army attacked, they found that Hengyang Airport had become empty and several planes had been demolished.
This is Fang Xianjue's last resort. Instead of falling into the hands of the Japanese, it is better to demolish the airport. The Japanese army's strategic plan was once again shattered, but they would not give up easily.
On June 26, the Japanese army once again launched an attack on the city gate from two directions.
However, because Fang Xianjue had already arranged sufficient troops in various strategic points in advance, the Japanese army's attack was still beaten back, and he also lost many generals.
After this battle on June 26, the momentum of the Japanese strong offensive has been greatly weakened.
So, on June 27th, the weather was calm.
But Fang Xianjue knew that the Japanese fighting style was crazy, and on June 28th, there would definitely be a more tragic battle.
As expected, on June 28, the Japanese army mobilized almost all their troops and surrounded the entire Hengyang City.
But they were not in a hurry to attack, but first put a large amount of poisonous gas bombs and tear gas into the city. These chemical weapons made the defenders in the city miserable.
At the critical moment, Fang Xianjue ignored the danger and stood on the top of the city to command, and once again forced the Japanese offensive to retreat.
However, the Japanese army did not retreat, but remained guarding around Hengyang City, with small-scale battles breaking out from time to time on various positions.
However, under Fang Xianjue's command, the Japanese army conquered only one position in Zhangjiashan after several days of fighting, and the rest of the positions were still firmly controlled by the Kuomintang.
The situation at this time is of course unfavorable to the Japanese army. When they launched the Henan, Hunan and Guangxi Battle, their strategic goal is to fight quickly. If they delay for a long time, their pressure on other battlefields will also increase.
However, from another perspective, the defenders in the city have reached their limit at this time.
There are not many supplies left in Hengyang City, and it is difficult to support the troops of 17,000 people. Although Fang Xianjue tried his best to allocate materials, he still had more monks and less porridge.
plus continuous bloody battles, more and more soldiers died, blood was everywhere on the city walls, and the city was like a purgatory on earth, and the bombing of the Japanese army continued. At this time, no one can confirm the fate of Hengyang City.
creates miracles
and Fang Xianjue is the backbone of everyone. In such a desperate situation, Fang Xianjue decided to continue to stick to it, not only for the task of sticking to 47 days, but also for his own heart to serve the country.
Perhaps it was Fang Xianjue's long-term persistence that made Chiang Kai-shek see hope. So, after the battle on July 2, Chiang Kai-shek sent another telegram, asking Fang Xianjue to hold on for another two weeks.
Chiang Kai-shek said that in two weeks, he will send reinforcements and defenders in the city to attack inside and outside to annihilate the Japanese invaders.
However, no one can tell what happened two weeks later. Fang Xianjue can only rely on himself to defend himself.
On July 11, the battle became more intense, with a Japanese corps captain and six brigade captains killed, and the 10th Army also killed five battalion commanders.
A month later, the number of people killed in the 10th Army exceeded 3,000, and most of them fought with injuries.
When he held on until the 40th day, because there were too many casualties, Fang Xiankai had to consider breaking through.
However, after checking the situation in the army, Fang Xianjue found that at this time about 6,000 soldiers were seriously injured and could not perform the mission of breaking through.
So, Fang Xianjue decided to continue to stick to it and wait for rescue.
However, at this time, the 10th Army had almost no combat power. A few days later, the Japanese army broke through the city gate and entered the city.
Fang Xianjue was unable to complete the task of defending the city in the end, but he had created a miracle in human military history. No one expected that Hengyang City could hold on for 47 days under such a fragile situation.
Seeing the fierce Japanese army, Fang Xian felt deeply sorry for Chiang Kai-shek's instructions, pulled out his pistol and decided to sacrifice his life for his country.
However, several adjutants around him could not bear to watch Fang Xianjue die, so they tried their best to stop him.
At this time, there were still about 10,000 soldiers in the 10th Army. Fang Xianjue considered the life and death of these people, and had to make a difficult decision to negotiate with the Japanese army, striving to save the lives of these soldiers.
Finally, the two sides reached an agreement that the Japanese army agreed to let these soldiers with heavy casualties go, and Fang Xianjue opened the city to surrender, and at the same time adapted the soldiers under his command into a puppet army.
Of course, Fang Xianjue will not betray his patriotism.
After being detained by the Japanese army for three months, Fang Xianjue managed to escape and returned to Chongqing. As soon as he entered the city, he was warmly welcomed by the people of the whole city.
In Hengyang Defense Battle , Fang Xianjue led the 10th Army to annihilate more than 50,000 Japanese troops, of which 400 were Japanese officers. Although Hengyang City was unable to defend, it effectively eliminated the Japanese army's vitality and created favorable conditions for the subsequent counterattack.
47 days of defense of Hengyang is destined to be a monument in the Anti-Japanese War.
Reference:
Zeng Jingzhong "Fang Xianjue and the Fierce Battle of Hengyang"
Zhang Heping "The Lonely City of the Sunset: Documentary of the Battle between Hengyang in China and Japan"
Jiang Hongxi "Blood and Tears Reminiscing Hengyang"
