The course of the war to defend the old estuary

On March 20th, the 39th Division of the Japanese army entrenched in Jingmen advanced and attacked Xiangfan. At dawn on March 22nd, the Wu Ji detachment of the 1st10 division of the Japanese army and the 3rd division of the chariot attacked Nanyang from Yexian and Lushan. At the same time, the first 1 15 division (head of the division, Sugura Hideyoshi) and the fourth cavalry brigade (brigade commander Fujita Shige) were sent to attack Laohekou as the main forces. On March 22nd, the two armies fled from Wuyang Zhumadian Line to Laohekou, and arrived at Zhulinqiao Town, China on the night of March 26th.

At this time, the three group armies under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Theater, including seven armies and fourteen divisions, with a total strength of more than 654.38+10,000 people, were all deployed in Nanyang, Dengxian, Xinye, Xiangfan and Zaosui, and only 45 armies/0/25th division was stationed in laohekou city. The Japanese army's combat readiness was detected by the commander-in-chief of the Fifth Theater, and Herry Liu hurriedly evacuated the commander-in-chief to Caodian, Xun County. On March 27th, Xiangyang fell, and the defenders of Xinye and Xiangyang retreated to Han Xi. On March 29th, Nanyang and Dengxian fell, and the defenders retreated to the west of Danjiang River in Xichuan. The 45th Army is the main force to defend the old estuary. At that time, 127 Division was still in Dahongshan, Suixian County, more than 400 miles away from Laohekou. Herry Liu transferred127th Division to strengthen Laohekou troops. However, passers-by say that this strategy of diverting water from a distance to put out a fire nearby is a plan to eliminate differences by borrowing differences. At that time, a regiment of the 125 division stationed in Laohekou returned to Sichuan to pick up new recruits, and Laohekou had only two regiments. Sir, another chariot defense artillery regiment was rationed. 125th division deployed as follows: division commander Wang (from Jianyang, Sichuan) led 375th regiment to defend Laohekou City, and deputy division commander and 373rd regiment Chen Ling (also known as Renshou, Sichuan) led his troops to deploy in the outpost from Guanghua County to Matoushan.

At 2 o'clock in the morning of March 27th, Fujita Shige, head of the 4th Brigade of the enemy cavalry, issued an attack order at Zhulinqiao: Colonel Xize led the 20th regiment of the cavalry (which is a mixed unit, equivalent to a regiment) to attack Guanghua County and Beiguan of Laohekou; Colonel Yamashita Yanping led the 26th cavalry regiment to attack Matoushan and the airport; Then join forces to attack Laohekou City.

At 4 o'clock in the morning on March 27th, the two wings of the Japanese army fought fiercely with the 373rd Regiment from Guanghua County to Matoushan. In the morning, the Japanese army arrived with four artillery regiments to cover the attack with artillery fire. Due to the scattered forces of the 373rd Regiment, Guanghua County was captured one by one, and the defenders retreated into Laohekou City. The 25th United Front of the Japanese army immediately attacked the city. Because there is a street more than a mile long in Beiguan, the Japanese army drilled holes through the walls from houses on both sides, immediately approached the North Gate (Huacheng Gate), and put the mountain cannon only 50 meters away from the city gate, breaking through the city gate. Under the cover of heavy gunfire, a squadron rushed into the city. The defenders have long considered that the terrain of Beiguan is complex and the enemy is easy to enter, and they have built a lot of fortifications and bunkers to strengthen their defense. As soon as the enemy rushed in, the defenders struggled to resist. After a day of fierce fighting, the enemy was defeated three times. Fujita Shige sadly admitted that the 25th United suffered great losses.

The 26th United Front of the Japanese army also attacked Matou Mountain several times under the cover of artillery fire, all of which were repelled by the defenders. In the afternoon, the Japanese army reorganized its team and, under the cover of artillery fire, adopted the tactics of crossing and moving step by step. After fierce fighting, the hilltop position was captured by the Japanese at 3 pm and the airport was occupied at 6: 30.

On March 28th, the Japanese army reinforced the Third O Brigade of the Independent Infantry Regiment, with a total strength of three wings and an independent infantry brigade, which is about twice that of the125th Division. Fierce fighting took place between Dadongmen and Longhugou. Throughout the day, the 373rd regiment was outnumbered and all retreated to the city.

On March 29th, the Japanese army continued to attack the city. At nine o'clock in the morning, concentrated artillery fire violently bombarded Huacheng Gate, and the city wall was destroyed in two places. The Japanese army invaded more than 40 people, and Huang Zongkai, head of the 375th regiment, led the reserve team to intercept the enemy's back road, making the enemy who entered the city a turtle in a jar. The artillery of Tangjia (Han Xi) No.1 16 artillery regiment also began to support. After a battle, all the enemies who rushed in were eliminated.

In the morning, the Japanese aggressors also sent an advance team of 30 people, disguised as China's army, in an attempt to bypass the commander's headquarters of the Fifth Theater. The advance team, led by Captain Sakurai and renamed as Li, pretended to be a staff officer of a certain division of the Kuomintang army and led the whole team along the west of the Hanshui River. When I went to Fengzigou, north of Sujiahe, I was caught by the county militia brigade, killing 9 people, seizing 29 war horses and battle maps, and Sakurai was injured in the face and fled back in panic.

The Japanese army made no progress after two days of hard fighting. On the evening of March 29th, 20 tanks of the Third Combat Team were transferred from Nanyang to participate in the war.

On March 30, the Japanese army did not attack. Defenders also seized the opportunity to repair fortifications in the battle, and built roadblocks in sections on the streets to block the gap in the city wall.

March 3 1 day was the most violent day for the Japanese attack. At 6 o'clock in the morning, it launched a full-scale attack. First, the city gate area was heavily bombarded by artillery fire, and then infantry fighting vehicles swarmed in, one attacking the city and occupying several streets. The defenders fought back bravely and started street fighting. At first, they destroyed two enemy vehicles, blocked the forward passage of chariots, and vigorously blocked the breakthrough point, which made the enemy in a dilemma and formed the trend of closing the door and beating dogs. Chen Ling, the deputy commander, mobilized all mobile forces to form a three-dimensional barrage on the roof, doors and windows, and ground fortifications, and beat the enemy's bodies into several brick walls to fight back. Our army was bombarded with mortars and incendiary bombs, and the battalion commander Lin led the soldiers to drop a yellow phosphorus bomb from the roof, which made the enemy who was digging the wall scream again and again. The enemy rushed in desperately, was strafed by machine guns and was wiped out in large numbers. A cook of our army, seeing the enemy fleeing, also swung a kitchen knife and hacked two people to death. According to the Japanese army, the captain of the second squadron leader of the 25th United Wing was killed, the squadron leader Fudge was shot in the chest, and Cao Nakajima's machine gun squad was all killed. Colonel Furusawa, the group leader, was so scared that he burned the password book and prepared to work for the emperor. Finally, he climbed the wall and escaped. The 26th United Front of the Japanese aggressors also used chariots to clear the way and rushed into the East Gate. The 375th Regiment of the Garrison destroyed 3 enemy chariots with heavy artillery. The rest of the vehicles turned around and ran, and the enemy infantry lost their cover and retreated in panic. The fourth squadron leader died. On that day, from dawn to dusk, more than 700 Japanese troops rushed into the city, destroying five tanks, and the defenders also made great sacrifices.

125 division resolutely resisted the war and the people firmly supported it. At that time, the Hanshui River had been blocked by gunfire, but whenever night fell, the people west of the Hanshui River risked their lives and crossed the river to raise ammunition, transport wounded soldiers and stay up all night.

On the morning of April 1, the enemy concentrated their artillery fire, destroyed the north gate wall and rushed in in droves. The defenders fought with machine guns, grenades and bayonets for half an hour before they annihilated them. 10 or so, the defenders found that most of the wounded had head injuries. After observing through binoculars, they found that the enemy had set a shooting point in a tall tree. After mobilizing excellent shooters, focus on attacking enemy snipers to reduce casualties.

After six days of fierce fighting, the Japanese suffered heavy casualties and some squadrons were all eliminated. The fourth cavalry brigade lost its combat effectiveness; The bodies and wounded of the 25th Wing could not be transported. April 1, replaced by 1 15 division, and the fourth brigade was evacuated to Liguanqiao.

On April 2, the Japanese army opened a big gap in the wall near Huachengmen and rushed in 100. The defenders blocked the gap with light machine guns and grenades, and once again launched a fierce street battle with the invading enemy with the reserves. In the end, all the enemy troops will be wiped out.

On the afternoon of the same day, 122 division sent Huang to lead two battalions of 364 regiment to reinforce, and joined the northeast defenders around 17.

From April 3 to 6, the enemy did not storm, but bombarded with artillery and covered the troops with chariots and circled the city.

On the afternoon of the 6th, the Japanese army transferred the Third Mobile Artillery Corps and the Sixth Field Heavy Artillery Corps from Nanyang, with various caliber 10 howitzers (i.e. 10 cm semi-caliber howitzers), 12 howitzers and 15 howitzers. The range can not only reach the garrison position, but also block the Hanshui River, and the artillery position of Han Xi garrison is also within the range.

At the same time, the 380th Regiment of the Kuomintang127th Division came to reinforce. 127 division headed by Wang Chengxi (acting teacher) headed for Laohekou after receiving the order from Dahongshan. At that time, Xiangfan was occupied by Japanese invaders, so it bypassed Shuanggou and Xinye and entered Zhangji from Xiangyang Shiqiao. On April 2, they got in touch with the 125 division in guarding city. The two sides agreed that127th Division would attack Matoushan and Guanghua County to solve the siege of Laohekou. However, because the enemy has built strong fortifications on every hill, 127 division attacked Jitou Mountain without heavy weapons support. Without logistical supplies, they bypassed the enemy's rear one by one, crossed the highway between Wengang and Menglou, crossed the Hanshui River, and arrived at Mimiya on the 5th. After several long journeys, the officers and men were exhausted, but the125th division in the city was in urgent need of reinforcements, that is, the 380th regiment led by the deputy division commander He Xiangjiong crossed the Hanshui River and joined the northeast front line of the city one after another.

At 0700 hours, the enemy 1 15 division launched another large-scale attack. It has five independent infantry brigades, two artillery wings and a combat team. At dawn, dozens of cannons fired together, and the shells from the east gate to the north gate were as dense as raindrops. Several tanks covered the infantry charge, and the defenders' guns were suppressed by heavy artillery. The chariot was equipped with engineers, who blasted several big gaps in the wall and rushed into a squadron. The 380th Regiment concentrated grenades and machine guns, which blinded the eyes of the enemy squadron leader Island. The enemy climbed the city wall horizontally with a ladder, and was also hit head-on by the 364th regiment, causing heavy casualties and being defeated. On the evening of the same day, the Japanese organized an attack, and the artillery battle between the two sides was extremely fierce. The hydrogen bomb shines like sunlight, and the old estuary can be seen in a sea of fire dozens of miles away. At 22 o'clock at night, the Japanese army paid a heavy price and still ended in failure.

At dawn on April 8, the enemy artillery bombarded for about an hour, the city wall was blasted a few feet, and several chariots and infantry attacked. After a fierce battle all morning, we still held our ground. The enemy commander, Jeep Ying Ji, personally supervised the array and commanded the infantry, artillery and tanks to attack together; Brigadier Miyamiya Manzhi also rushed to the infantry position to supervise the battle, and the group guns were concentrated in the north corner of the city. The situation is very urgent. All the mobile units of the garrison participated, and the special agent platoon of the division and regiment also participated in the battle. At noon, the city wall was blasted in many places and an enemy tank climbed up the city wall. Although I destroyed it, it became the enemy's shooting bunker, commanding and controlling the first line of fire. The defenders charged several times, but they didn't get it back. 13, as soon as the enemy entered, they started a big charge, and all the money in the east and north of the city started a fierce battle. Because the defenders had no backup troops, the enemy poured in in large numbers, and after hard fighting on both sides, they all paid heavy casualties. The battalion commander of our artillery battalion died, and Du Deyou, the second battalion commander of the 373rd regiment, Zhang Ziyi, the first battalion commander of the 375th regiment, and Fan Zhong, the third battalion commander, were injured successively. Five company commanders and 13 platoon leaders of the 364th and 380th regiments were killed. In this emergency, there are still no reinforcements coming. He Xiangjiong and Chen Ling, two deputy teachers, telephoned Feng and asked the 22nd Army Headquarters for permission to retreat. Fight one by one and retreat one by one, until 17: 00, all the old estuaries fell. But the soldiers who didn't quit were still fighting with the Japanese aggressors until late at night, when the gunfire of resistance stopped.

In this campaign, we fought the Japanese invaders with inferior forces and inferior weapons for 13 days and nights, * * * killed or injured the Japanese army 1668 people (including 8 field officers killed and 15 injured), destroyed 8 tanks and seized more than 700 weapons. Casualties of defenders exceeded 1600. Both sides have planes to participate in the war. On April 8, Laohekou fell.

According to the Records of the Republic of China,1April 8, 945, "Japanese troops in northern Hubei were trapped in Laohekou",1April 3, "our army in Kelaohekou, northern Hubei". Secondly, according to "Battlefield II" on page 554 of the War History Office of the Japanese Defense Agency: "No.1 10,No.15, the third tank division and the fourth cavalry brigade launched an attack on March 22. ..... was occupied on April 8. ..... but after occupying the old estuary, he returned to the station. " Although the words used by China and Japan are different, the records of both sides show that the Japanese army left shortly after capturing Laohekou.