The order given to the 10th Army was to hold on for 10 days and wait for reinforcements to rescue them.
But it started on June 23 and ended on August 8, 1944, which lasted 47 days.
Almost every day and night, the soldiers of the 10th Army were fighting with the Japanese army street by street.
Japanese planes were bombing and strafing in the sky, and Japanese artillery and tanks were attacking on the ground. However, the soldiers of the 10th Army still fought to the death. In 47 days, they killed about 20,000 Japanese troops and injured nearly 60,000 others. They themselves were sacrificed.
More than 16,000 people attended.
For the first time in the history of the Anti-Japanese War, the casualty exchange ratio of the Japanese army far exceeded that of our army.
The thousand-year-old city was razed to the ground, and the anti-Japanese soldiers and the people of Hengyang also paid a heavy price.
In the end, with no reinforcements outside and no ammunition and food, the top commander of the city defense, Commander of the Tenth Army, General Fang Xianjue, and a group of senior generals, led the remaining 1,200 soldiers, almost all of whom were injured, on the condition of preserving the wounded soldiers.
The remaining people had to surrender to the Japanese army.
Although the defense battle of Hengyang ultimately failed, the Hengyang defenders and the people of Hengyang used their blood and lives to compose an extremely tragic and tragic hymn, which won high praise from Chinese and foreign people and was known as the "Eastern Defense Battle of Moscow."
What deserves special attention is that with less than 20,000 defenders and relying on solid city walls and city buildings, they were able to resist the Japanese attack of more than 100,000 troops for a month and a half and still kill countless enemies.
This shows that as long as the command is proper, the officers and soldiers are consistent, and there is a city as a basis, the gap in training and equipment between the Chinese army and the Japanese army will be greatly narrowed, and we will even have an advantage in many aspects.
First of all, the city's huge and crowded buildings and intricate streets and alleys were like entering a maze for the Japanese troops who were unfamiliar with the terrain. It was impossible to tell the direction after dark.
As long as our army is fully prepared, we can make full use of the terrain and criss-crossing fortifications to carry out guerrilla warfare, sparrow warfare, sniper warfare, ambush warfare and other tactics against the Japanese army, and maximize our army's advantages as a local leader.
Secondly, due to the shielding of buildings in urban street battles, the enemy and ourselves usually fight at close range. The shooting skills of the Japanese army, which are absolutely superior to individual soldiers, are also weakened. On the contrary, because the 38 rifles they are equipped with are too long, they are slightly clumsy in street battles.
The large number of submachine guns and rifles equipped by China, as well as grenades, which the Chinese army is best at, are all suitable weapons for street fighting.
Finally, also because of the shielding effect of urban buildings, the advantages of the Japanese army's heavy artillery, aircraft and tanks will be greatly weakened in urban areas, and the equipment gap between the enemy and ourselves will be infinitely narrowed. In the end, it will all rely on human lives to charge and attack.
Attack. What the Chinese army is least afraid of is the Japanese army coming to fight for their lives. This is to use their own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.
From the end of World War I until now, all countries in the world have not realized the horror and bloody nature of urban street fighting, and generally do not pay attention to urban street fighting.
It was not until a few years later that the famous Battle of Stalingrad broke out on the Soviet-German battlefield in 1942. The Soviet Union and Germany invested a total of 3.5 million troops in Stalingrad, a city covering an area of more than 500 square kilometers.
After more than two hundred days and nights of bloody and cruel fighting, the world finally realized the brutality of urban street fighting.
Judging from the number of casualties alone, the Battle of Stalingrad can be called the bloodiest battle in modern history.
The casualties on both sides are estimated to be over two million, and more people participated in this battle than any other battle in history. It is also famous for the casualties caused by both sides' disregard for military and civilian distinctions.
In the subsequent Battle of Berlin, the Soviet army had an absolute advantage in aircraft, tanks, artillery and troops, but it still paid a price of more than 300,000 casualties before conquering the last bastion of the Third Reich.
In later generations, in the famous Battle of Grozny in the first Chechen War, Russia's 70,000-strong army, dominated by aircraft, tanks and artillery, attacked Grozny, which was occupied by only 15,000 Chechen armed forces, but suffered more than 30,000 casualties. It was still unable to be conquered and had to humiliatingly sign a ceasefire agreement with Chechnya.
The Battle of Grozny is also known as the most brutal urban street fighting after World War II.
In the 21st century, if you ask any famous military strategist, what is his least favorite way of war?
I believe most military strategists will tell you: street fighting.
Because this is a bloody meat grinder, a method of war chosen only in the most desperation.
Of course, urban street fighting is usually a helpless choice for the defender.
Because as the defender, the price paid will be greater than that of the attacker.
The establishment and rise of a city requires countless years of accumulation and construction, embodying the hard work and wisdom of countless generations, and the value of many of these buildings and streets with certain historical culture is immeasurable.
Once it is destroyed by war, the losses will be unbearable for a country.
Who is willing to destroy his city unless he is forced to do anything?
What's more, cities are places where people live. Even if there is organization and time for mobilization and evacuation, the resettlement of these tens of millions of people is still a very difficult problem. So many people have lost their property and homes, and they still have to face enemies. With plane bombings and long journeys, one can imagine the hardships along the way.
However, in Zhou Wen's view, China currently can only use street fighting to declare its determination to resist Japan. Only by using street fighting can it maximize its own advantages and achieve the goal of killing a large number of Japanese troops.
As the saying goes, compassion does not govern soldiers. If you think too much about the loss of people's livelihood and property, you will easily worry about gains and losses and dare not make decisions.
As for the suffering of the people in Nanjing, is it better than what happened after the Japanese troops stormed into the city and were raped, slaughtered, robbed and tortured at will by these inhuman beasts?
Think about the tragedies in history, think about those beasts who take pleasure in beheading Chinese people and compete in competitions, think about the blood-stained water on the banks of the Yangtze River, and think about the thousands of innocent souls who have been targeted for assassination. , I would trade a city for the lives of more beasts.
I want to make you feel scared, to make you feel terrified when you look at the thousands of cities on the map of China. If you dare to come, I will be willing to trade cities for you in exchange for my life.
Moreover, as long as the Japanese army experienced the pain of street fighting in Nanjing City, it would inevitably have a psychological impact on them.
Since the 10th Army, which only had more than 10,000 men left after several battles, was able to hold on for a month and a half and caused nearly 80,000 casualties to the Japanese army, then if 100,000 elite German armorers were allowed to defend the city of Nanjing, ,How many casualties will it cause to the Japanese?