Wen Shu laughs at the history of the world
Hengyang has been a place of contention since ancient times, hengyang is located in the middle of Hunan, is an important passage connecting the two Guangzhou.
Since the Qin Dynasty's southern conquest of Baiyue, Hengyang can reach Chenzhou through the Water, and enter Guangdong from the Wujiang Passage or the Lianjiang Passage, which is also the only way for successive dynasties to enter Guangdong, as long as it can occupy Hengyang, it is equivalent to getting the key to the two major gates.
In the later period of World War II, the United States launched an all-out attack on the Japanese army in the Pacific, all the transportation routes on the Japanese sea were cut off, resulting in a huge logistical burden on the Japanese army, in order to alleviate the crisis in the Pacific Theater, the Japanese army could only pin its hopes on the supply lifeline on the East Asian continent, but parts of this supply route were still firmly in the hands of the Chinese army.
If the Japanese wanted to connect to Southeast Asia and connect to the Pacific, they had to open up the transportation route from Hunan to Guangxi.
Therefore, in February 1944, the Japanese army launched the Chairman of Changheng, and the Battle of Hengyang served as the main battlefield.
At that time, the defender of Hengyang would be Fang Xianjue of the Nationalist Army,
Chiang Kai-shek had already issued a death order to Fang Xianjue, and he must hold Hengyang for 10 days to half a month.
After receiving the order to hold Hengyang, Fang Xianjue led the army to Hengyang to arrange defense work, and according to the advantages of the terrain, Fang Xianjue deployed all the strength of the four divisions outside Hengyang City, leaving only one regiment inside the city.
Early in the morning of June 28, the Japanese surrounded Hengyang, and the 68th Division and the 116th Division launched a fierce attack on Hengyang.
After five days of fierce fighting between the two sides, the Japanese army took part of the position with great difficulty, and only took the Zhangjiashan position under the condition of heavy casualties.
So the 11th commander of the Japanese army, Isamu Yokoyama, decided to stop the attack and withdraw from the army. On 11 July, the Japanese side of Yokoyama, supported by 2 mortar brigades and 4 mountain artillery groups, once again led the 68th and 116th Divisions to attack Hengyang.
After 5 days of bloody fighting, the Hengyang nationalist army suffered more defensive damage, and Fang Xianjue had to abandon the first-line position and ordered to enter the second-line position to continue the battle. However, due to the sudden shortening of the defensive line and the greater density of personnel, the Nationalist army greatly improved its firepower and defensive strength, and after four days of fighting, many Japanese officers were killed, and Yokoyama had no choice but to order a retreat again. On August 4, Yokoyama urgently dispatched the 58th Division to join the battle and launched a third offensive, the number of enemy troops increased, and the Nationalist army received no support until the Tenth Army was defeated, out of consideration for thousands of wounded, Fang Xianjue gave up the breakthrough and retreated, and chose to surrender when the Japanese side promised not to slaughter the city and give treatment.
Although the Japanese army captured Hengyang, it suffered heavy casualties, with 15,000 dead and wounded of the Nationalist army, and more than 70,000 Japanese casualties, including 48,000 deaths.