The military situation of Japan and China before the war was-Japanese army: from March 1945, it began to mobilize troops, repair roads and railways, repair traffic and communications, reserve grain and ammunition, and make various preparations for the battle. The supreme commander of the Japanese army this time is Ichiro Sakamoto, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese army. His subordinate units include the 1st116th Division, the 47th Division, the 34th Division, the 68th Division, the 64th Division, the 86th Independent Brigade and the Special Forces, with a total strength of more than 200,000. China's army: Wang's fourth army, under the jurisdiction of the 73rd army, the 74th army and the hundredth army, is fully guarding the area south of Xiangxi and Zhijiang Airport. What is the supreme commander of China's army? He was originally stationed in Kunming. Because of the emergency, he set the front command post in Anjiang and personally took the front command.
1in late March, 945, all the Japanese attack troops were deployed as scheduled. In April, they began to attack China's army, but they were stopped by China's army. The enemy will pay a heavy price for every step forward. Every time they fought a key point, they changed hands several times through hand-to-hand combat, which caused the Japanese army to advance very slowly. It was not until the end of May that the Japanese army reached the front of the main position of Xuefeng Mountain in western Hunan. The Japanese army consumed a lot of food and ammunition and was exhausted. At this point, the China Army Command knew that the Japanese army had all entered the battlefield and the offensive was about to reach its peak, so it adopted flexible deployment and used the frontier corps to divert the offensive and annihilate the frontal enemy. Ordered the ninety-fourth army of Mou Tingfang, which belongs to the Third Army of Tang Dynasty in Guizhou-Guangxi Border Region, to advance rapidly from Chengbu and Suining, and attack to the left of the enemy who fought against Shi Zhongcheng's seventy-four army in the northwest of Wugang. After fierce fighting, the troops gradually advanced to Wugang and Wawutang. Under the pressure of the left wing, the Japanese army had to suspend its frontal attack on Xuefeng Mountain. The seventy-four army also took the opportunity to turn from defense to attack, and cooperated with the ninety-four army to face the enemy's panic, posing a serious threat to the Japanese side. 18 Hu Lian, the army commander, ordered Yang Botao's No.1 1 1 division to be the pioneer, followed by 1 18 division. 18 division fell behind, and advanced to Yuanling and Chenxi areas at a speed of more than 40 kilometers per day.
China Theater Army Commander He He and the Fourth Army Commander Wang's initial battle plan was: when the Japanese offensive wavered, they used the new 18 army, which had not fought before, to shift the offensive from the commanding heights to the enemy, giving a devastating blow and solving the whole war situation in one fell swoop. Qiu Weida, chief of staff of the Fourth Army, and others suggested: "The main force of the Japanese army is in front of Xuefeng Mountain, trying to drive Zhijiang directly, while its two wings are auxiliary and cover troops, and its strength is relatively weak. If China's army attacks from the frontal position, it will seize its frontal position and take tit-for-tat measures, and the main offensive of the Japanese frontal army will be frustrated. Although there are losses, it will basically maintain a strong force and it is difficult to win. It is better to attack the weak part of the enemy side and be more sure. " Finally, the headquarters changed the original plan and decided to attack Shaoyang, Longhui and the north of Dongkou, the right wing of the Japanese army, with the No.1 18 Army heading south from Xupu and Xinhua, taking the main points from the rear of the Japanese army and cutting off the connection between the Japanese army and Shaoyang at the front, thus forming a siege situation. At that time, the 11th Division had arrived near Anjiang at Chenxi, Huaqiao and Huaihua. Because of the change of plan, immediately turn around to Xupu, 1 18 division to Xupu east, 18 division to Xinhua direction.
Yang Botao 11th division after Xupu, search the situation. The first target is Shanmen Town, the main traffic artery on the right side of the enemy, and the second target is Shaoyang-Dongkou Highway, the main traffic artery of the enemy. When the striker arrived near the horse skull north of the mountain gate, he met the Japanese army. In the fierce battle, an infantry regiment and a trench regiment of the Japanese army reinforced the enemy at the front line in Longtan direction through the mountain gate. Taking advantage of the enemy, Yang Botao Division quickly wiped out several enemies face to face and turned its edge to the United front. Enemies entrenched in nearby highlands and villages resisted tenaciously, and officers and men of Yang Botao Division took advantage of the situation and started hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. The Japanese army, which is famous for its hand-to-hand combat with Bushido, roared and waved the knife "Yaya" and rushed at the officers and men of the Eleventh Division. Yang Botao Division had an American melee weapon submachine gun. Within a few steps, it fired at the Japanese army head-on, and the Japanese army fell to the ground after being shot. After a whole day of fighting, most of the regiment was annihilated, and two mountain guns and rifles were seized, and more than 60 Japanese soldiers were captured, which successfully ended the fierce battle.
The next day, the first 1 1 division attacked the main points of the mountain gate. The mountain gate is a pass and the main road between east and west. It is a supply relay station for the first-line troops of the Japanese army, which is defended by the Japanese army. Yang Botao ordered the troops to attack from the hidden terrain northeast of the mountain gate. Under the double attack of 1 1 division, the enemy fled south. Wang, the deputy division commander, was ordered to lead a chase, and the enemy's trench troops were overloaded and moved slowly in the mountainous areas. Wang, the deputy division commander, seized the weakness of the Japanese army, divided his troops and intercepted it, wiped out the enemy's trench wing in one fell swoop, and seized more than 300 Japanese foreign horses and other weapons. On May 12, 1 1 Division recaptured the mountain gate, and a big gap was opened in the Japanese right-wing position, and the rear traffic supply was blocked. The front-line troops of the Japanese Xuefeng Mountain immediately assembled their troops to counterattack in an attempt to recapture the mountain gate. Yang Botao commanded troops to occupy the side positions of the highland north of the mountain gate, and organized fire nets to control the east-west roads. When the Japanese attacked, they couldn't find the main position of the 11th Division. They shot blindly at the gate for a while, and then rushed forward. At this time, Yang Botao commanded, guns roared, and the Japanese army was unable to strike back. The vanguard troops were completely annihilated, and the follow-up troops had to climb mountains and find their way to escape.
In order to completely cut off the traffic behind the Japanese army and cooperate with friendly forces to annihilate the Japanese army, Yang Botao ordered the troops to continue to attack south to achieve the second attack goal and cut off the road from Shaoyang to Dongkou. At this time, due to the unfavorable situation in attack force, the Japanese army began to retreat eastward at the front of Xuefeng Mountain. The troops were concentrated on both sides of the only traffic line from Dongkou to Shaoyang Highway, and every hill and village was occupied by the Japanese army. Every step forward of Yang Botao No.1 1 1 Division was met with stubborn resistance from the Japanese army. Because 1 1 division is fully equipped with American machinery, its firepower is superior to that of the Japanese army, and the air force of the Sino-American mixed regiment actively cooperates. Lieutenant Colonel Le, the liaison officer of the U.S. Army, took the landing air liaison station with him and acted with Yang Botao. He called the pilot on the battlefield, instructed him to shoot and bomb the target, corrected the pilot's flying direction and angle, and made him hit the target accurately, causing great losses to the enemy. The Japanese plane couldn't get out, but it was just a moment of dawn, flying at a low altitude alone and passing by the position of Yang Botao Division, which was not a threat at all. So 1 1 division dominated the battlefield and swept behind enemy lines.
1 1 Division attacked Shixiajiang City, a highway hub, with a regiment under the cover of aircraft, where the Japanese fortifications were not very strong and were captured by 1 1 Division. Occupy the Shixia River, completely cut off the only transportation line that the Japanese army relied on for supply, and form a siege on all sides. On the southern battlefield, the 94th Army of the Three Armies defeated the Japanese army in Wugang and Xinning after fierce fighting. The Japanese army retreated eastward, pursued at the end of the 94th rank, and blocked the southern battlefield.
It is reported that the 74th Army and the100th Army guarding the eastern foothills of Xuefeng lost no time in launching a counterattack. Regardless of long-term fatigue, the soldiers bravely bit the enemy and did not relax. The Japanese army is getting tighter and tighter in the encirclement and is on the verge of despair. Yang Botao judged that the 1 1 division occupied the Shixia River and fell into the throat of the Japanese army. The Japanese army is at a critical juncture, and it is bound to make every effort to open up a way out and fight to the end with the 1 1 division. Therefore, Yang Botao is determined to deal with the Japanese breakout war in advance, so as not to be carried away by victory, treat sth lightly and delay the overall situation. He decided to face the Japanese army coming from Xuefeng Mountain with the main force, occupy favorable terrain to build fortifications, strengthen blockade, and meet the enemy who broke through. Another regiment occupied Shixia Jiangcheng as impregnable, blocked roads and blocked traffic, which became the key to the position. 1 1 Division was preparing for a decisive battle when it suddenly received an order from its superior commander Hu Lian: Yang Botao will evacuate all the regiments guarding Shixia River, and 1 1 Division will concentrate on attacking the enemy's flank. This left a gap for the Japanese army to escape along the road. As soon as the Japanese saw the way out, they were desperate for their lives. Although Yang Botao led the troops in pursuit of the enemy, he didn't capture many enemies. After the friendly forces of all parties in China pursued, they quickly recovered their lost territory and resumed the pre-war situation. The battle of Xuefeng Mountain ended successfully in early June.
In this campaign, the Japanese army was a spent force, its attack was frustrated, its potential was exhausted, and it fell into a tight encirclement. China's army could have wiped out the Japanese army and won a greater victory, but the superior ordered it to let go, and most of the Japanese army fled. Yang Botao deeply regrets the failure of the game. Afterwards, I learned that because the Sixth Plenary Session of the Kuomintang was being held in Chongqing at this time, the participants were very concerned about the war in Xiangxi. Especially when Yang Botao's first 1 1 division conquered the mountain gate, the battlefield situation was very favorable. Senior officials such as He and Wang, the commander-in-chief of Anjiang Command, and senior US military officials congratulated each other. Chongqing was even more excited, and immediately mobilized all walks of life to organize a condolence group and came to Zhijiang to join the army with condolences. In this atmosphere, he Qin Ying didn't want to delay the war, thus affecting the atmosphere of the Sixth Plenary Session. He hesitated before deciding to drive the stone to the river, let the Japanese army live, and ended the Xiangxi battle that lasted for two months ahead of schedule.
Yang Botao No.1 1 1 Division suffered more than 400 casualties in this battle. After the war, with the consent of the officers and men of the whole division, Yang Botao set up a memorial hall at the mountain gate for the anti-Japanese soldiers of the 18 Army1Division, in order to comfort the heroes and cherish it forever. Yang Botao led 1 1 division to clean the battlefield and then stayed in Chenxi to rest. Wang, commander of the Fourth Army, personally came to the 11th Division to express his condolences, and convened representatives of officers and men to hold a grand celebration meeting. Chen Cheng, Minister of Military and Political Affairs of the National Government, made a special trip from Chongqing to Chenxi to express condolences to the participating troops, and specially summoned the commanders Hu Lian and Yang Botao.