noffsinger Chapter 805: The Fall of Changsha
Chapter 805: The Fall of Changsha
"Baga, we can't charge in like this anymore. Over 3,000 warriors of the empire were killed or wounded yesterday!"
Yokoyama was so anxious that he originally planned to transfer the navy's cruisers to the Xiangjiang River, but the navy directly refused, saying that the hydrological conditions of the Xiangjiang River were unknown and there was a risk of running aground.
If there were heavy artillery on the warships, they could just fire a few shots to knock down the city wall and get straight into the house.
But now there was no other way and they could only rely on their howitzers and mountain cannons to chisel at the city wall like chickens pecking at rice.
"Commander, I think the direction of our attack should not be Changsha City, but our main attack direction should be Yuelu Mountain."
Yokoyama Isamu walked to the front of the map, looked at the location of Yuelu Mountain and Changsha city, and seemed to understand the mystery.
"Oh? Tell me about it?"
"Yuelu Mountain is the commanding height near Changsha city, and the Chinese army has deployed a large number of artillery on it, firing from a high position. All our attacking forces are within their firepower range, so the attack is not smooth.
If we can capture the Yuelu Mountain position and use it for our own benefit, and directly attack the Changsha city area below the mountain, I'm afraid we will get twice the result with half the effort!"
Yokoyama Isamu looked at his chief of staff, Major General Kojunjiang, and couldn't help but applaud him.
"Yoshi, great! Tomorrow, order the 39rd Flying Division to send out 40 aircraft to carpet bomb the Yuelu Mountain positions. The th and th Divisions will go all out to attack Yuelu Mountain!"
"Hayi!"
Early the next morning, the defenders of Yuelu Mountain were still asleep when they were awakened by the sound of airplane engines. More than 30 planes flew towards Yuelu Mountain.
Without the constraints of the Chinese Air Force and without the threat of decent air defense weapons, these more than 30 Japanese planes moved like crazy and launched a saturation attack on the Yuelu Mountain positions.
With the support of aircraft, large numbers of Japanese troops climbed up Yuelu Mountain. Although they encountered fierce resistance from the Central Army along the way, they were outnumbered and occupied the main position of Taohua Mountain, destroying almost all of the Central Army's heavy artillery.
Zhang Deneng, commander of the Fourth Army guarding Changsha City, discovered that something was wrong. If the Taohua Mountain position was lost, the entire Yuelu Mountain position would be in danger.
Because of previous misjudgment, Zhang Deneng placed two divisions in Changsha City, but only deployed one division in the important Yuelu Mountain position.
Zhang De could see that the main attack direction of the Japanese was Yuelu Mountain. He woke up as if from a dream and immediately transferred two regiments from Changsha City, crossed the Xiangjiang River and rushed to Yuelu Mountain for support.
However, because the transfer order came too suddenly, the two regiments that were withdrawn thought it was a retreat, and hurried to the Xiangjiang River without waiting for the relief troops to arrive.
When the two regiments arrived at the Xiangjiang River, they found that there was no one to command the crossing. The scene was extremely chaotic for a while. In addition, the Japanese warships were cruising along the Xiangjiang River. After discovering the soldiers of the two regiments, they immediately opened fire.
In a short period of time, countless soldiers fell into the Xiangjiang River, and thousands of them drowned.
As a result, the two regiments retreated in panic directly to Hengyang in the south.
Without reinforcements, the Japanese 39th and 40th Divisions successfully occupied Yuelu Mountain, cutting off the connection between the defenders in Changsha City and the defenders on Yuelu Mountain, and annihilating all the defenders on Yuelu Mountain.
而在第39师团和第40师团的配合之下，其余围攻长沙的第3师团、第13师团、第58师团以及第17旅团开始对长沙的残余阵地进行清理。
With the help of Japanese planes, artillery and poison gas bombs, the defenders were completely defeated on March 3.
There were only more than 4000 people from one army, one heavy artillery unit and some troops directly under the Ninth War Zone who finally evacuated Changsha City, and the rest of the officers and soldiers all died for their country.
Xue Yue was deeply saddened to learn the news of the fall of Changsha. He had tried to organize troops to retake Changsha, but when he saw the Xiangjiang River full of defeated soldiers, he had to give up this unrealistic idea.
Chang Guangzhou was very angry. He had just awarded commendations to the Ninth War Zone and the 4th Army, but within less than a week, Changsha was lost again? Isn't this a slap in the face?
What embarrassed him was not only the defeat on the battlefield, but also his sworn brother Li Zongren.
No one knew who spread the news that the independent column requested to join the war but was rejected by him. Anyway, Li Zongren kept holding on to this topic and kept promoting it within the party and political circles.
Although Li Zongren did not express his attitude, anyone with a discerning eye could see that he wanted to put Chang Guangzhou on the spot.
The responsibility for the failure of the Changsha Defense War was entirely attributed to his refusal to allow the independent column to participate in the war for his own selfish interests.
"Damn it, they only see the gains and losses of a city or a place, but fail to see that the reason why I refused to let the independent column join the war despite the pressure was for the cause of the party and the country!
My heart aches! Xunen, they don’t understand me! "
Chang Guangzhou was heartbroken, like a wronged young wife.
"Sir, maybe they are not standing high enough and looking at the problem comprehensively enough?"
"It doesn't matter. Let's fight the Hengyang defense battle well. I want to show them that the Central Army can still win the battle without the independent column!"
Guangzhou's cold treatment seemed to have made progressive people in Chongqing very angry.
The "Women and Children" newspaper published a special issue, in which those popular movie protagonists expressed their opinions and demanded that the central government should proceed from the national interest and allow the independent column to join the war as soon as possible to reverse the defeat.
In the study of a villa in Chongqing, Li Zongren was humming a little tune and crossing his legs, looking very comfortable.
At this moment, the door of the study was opened, revealing Zhou Guiying's signature short hair.
"Uncle, you are in such a good mood today? Is there any good news?"
"Haha what? Guiying, come and sit down!"
Li Zongren pointed to the chair in front of him and motioned Zhou Guiying to sit down and talk slowly.
"Uncle, Hunan is in a mess right now, and we are losing battles everywhere. How can you still laugh? Didn't you tell me that soldiers should take it as their duty to defend their country, and when they see foreign invaders coming, they must be filled with righteous indignation and kill them at will?"
After Zhou Guiying finished speaking, she pouted her lips and frowned like iron lumps.
"Oh, my niece, uncle is not happy because the war in Hunan is a mess. He is happy because he sees some people get humiliated!
Some progressive people and wise men contacted me and asked me to organize a petition group to put pressure on the Military Commission to allow the Independent Column to enter the Hunan battlefield and clean up the mess! "
When Zhou Guiying heard this, she stood up excitedly.
"Really?"
"Of course, don't you believe me?"
Li Zongren handed the petition he had written to Zhou Guiying and said:
"A talented lady like you, are you going to help me polish it?"
Zhou Guiying never shirked her responsibility to save the country and the people. She immediately picked up a pen and made some changes. Then she read it again and was very satisfied.