allonlinenovel Chapter 766: Fierce Battle at Furong Mountain
Chapter 766: Fierce Battle at Furong Mountain
In the early morning of May 22, 1945, the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army moved its artillery units to Lion Rock overnight. In addition to twelve mortars, there were four infantry guns and four mountain guns. As soon as the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army prepared the artillery, it began to fiercely bombard the Chinese government army's defensive positions on Furong Mountain.
The Japanese artillery units fired more than 2,000 artillery shells at the Chinese government army's defensive positions on Furong Mountain, destroying about half of the Chinese government army's fortifications on Furong Mountain. In addition, the Japanese artillery bombardment also opened up a path in the minefield set up by the Chinese government army.
Subsequently, the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army sent an offensive force of a battalion to attack the fortifications built by the Chinese government army on Furong Mountain. Under the fierce resistance of the Chinese government army, the offensive force of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army and the Chinese government army engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
However, after more than ten repeated attacks, the attacking forces of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army still failed to occupy the defensive positions of the Chinese government troops in Furong Mountain.
On the night of May 22, 1945, the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army gathered 1,000 Japanese officers and soldiers who were still able to fight and launched an attack on the Chinese government army's defensive positions in Furong Mountain from three sides. At that time, the Chinese government army in the Furong Mountain defensive positions had only two companies of more than 200 people.
The Chinese government officers and soldiers of these two companies relied on the 30-meter-wide minefield and two barbed wire fences in front of the defensive position to tenaciously resist the attack of the Japanese 217th Regiment's offensive force.
The 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army also charged with human wave tactics regardless of casualties. Due to lack of ammunition, the Chinese government troops in the Furong Mountain defensive position could only throw grenades when the attacking troops of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army approached the defensive position, and then engage in hand-to-hand combat to repel the attacking troops of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army.
The attacking force of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army also charged six times in succession, but all these attacks failed due to the tenacious resistance of the Chinese government army. Captain Han, who was in charge of commanding the 1st Company of the Chinese government army in the Furong Mountain defensive position, was also killed in the fierce battle by a Japanese artillery shell. More than half of the soldiers were killed or wounded, and there were only about 100 officers and soldiers left.
At this time, the troops of the 6th Temporary Division of the 74th Army of the Chinese government, who had been chasing all the way, arrived at Furong Mountain lightly and immediately launched an attack on the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army, occupying the three heights occupied by the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army in Furong Mountain in one fell swoop.
After being defeated by the attack force of the Provisional 6th Division, the 1st Battalion of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army retreated quickly to the rear without caring about the lives of other troops. The more than 300 remnants of the 2nd Battalion of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army were surrounded by the troops of the Provisional 6th Division of the 74th Army of the Chinese government.
Facing the attack of the offensive force of the Provisional Sixth Division of the Chinese government, the Second Battalion of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army lost more than 80 people and the remaining 200 people began to flee through the small roads. The offensive force of the Provisional Sixth Division also pursued them closely.
When the remnants of the 2nd Battalion of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army fled to the bank of Chenshui River, they were also preparing to cross the river and continue to escape. However, the attacking force of the Provisional 6th Division was pursuing them too fast, forcing the remaining officers and soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army on the river bank to jump into the river to escape.
As a result, more than 100 of the 200 remnants of the 2nd Battalion of the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army were drowned in the river or killed in the water. In the end, only more than 20 people successfully escaped to the other side of the river. However, the troops of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army had already fled through the mountain roads overnight, and the Provisional 6th Division was still a step slower.
On the northern route of the Xiangxi battlefield, on May 11, 1945, Commander Han of the 73rd Army of the Chinese government ordered the 15th and 77th Divisions to attack the offensive forces of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army head-on, while the 18th Division detoured to the rear of the offensive forces of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army and blocked the retreat of the offensive forces of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army responsible for the northern route.
As a result, the commander of the 47th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Watanabe Hiroshi, also received an order to retreat from the commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Sakanishi Kazuyoshi. Now, when he saw that the Chinese government army had launched an attack, he quickly ordered the troops of the 47th Division of the Japanese Army to retreat immediately. However, the Shigehiro Detachment at the forefront did not have time to retreat and was surrounded by the Chinese government army.
The Shigehiro Detachment was a special mountain warfare unit carefully formed in April 1945 by Lieutenant General Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army, due to the needs of mountain warfare in western Hunan Province. The purpose was to enhance the adaptability and combat effectiveness of the offensive forces of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army in mountain warfare. The Shigehiro Detachment claimed to have more than 10,000 elite officers and soldiers, but in fact it only had 4,000 officers and soldiers.
On May 12, 1945, the offensive forces of the 73rd Army of the Chinese government launched attacks on the Shigehiro Detachment of the Japanese Army in turns in regiments. Faced with the fierce attack of the 73rd Army of the Chinese government, the commander of the Shigehiro Detachment of the Japanese Army could only lead his troops to break out to the rear at all costs and try to meet up with the main force of the 47th Division of the Japanese Army.
Unfortunately, at this time, the commander of the 47th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Watanabe Hiroshi, no longer cared about the lives of others. Under the command of Lieutenant General Watanabe Hiroshi, the troops of the 47th Division of the Japanese Army not only did not move towards the direction of the Shigehiro Detachment that was besieged by the Chinese government's troops, but instead accelerated their retreat.
On May 51, , the Chinese and American air forces dispatched dozens of P Mustang aircraft from Zhijiang Airport to attack and bomb the surrounded Japanese Shigehiro Detachment. At the same time, various units of the Chinese government's rd Army also launched a fierce attack on the Japanese Shigehiro Detachment in the encirclement.
Faced with the all-out attack by the offensive forces of the 73rd Army of the Chinese government, coupled with the bombing by Chinese government aircraft in the air, the Shigehiro Detachment of the Japanese Army in the encirclement was completely defeated and fled in different places. Some Japanese officers and soldiers in the Shigehiro Detachment of the Japanese Army were hit by the aircraft of the Chinese and American Air Forces and had nowhere to escape, so they could only kneel on the ground and waved white flags in order to save their lives. In the end, the Shigehiro Detachment of the Japanese Army was completely wiped out under the fierce attack of the 73rd Army of the Chinese government, and only a small number of remnants escaped the encirclement and successfully joined the troops of the 47th Division of the Japanese Army.