Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Just as it was written in the military song of the 74th Army, they defended Luodian, protected Nanjing, rushed to the aid of Xuzhou, fought in the battles of Lanfeng and Nanxun, showed their loyalty, and the Zhanggushan Mountain was stained with blood. In the face of such brilliant achievements, the previous achievements of the 57th Division against the Japanese army were nothing compared to those of the 51st and 58th Divisions. They were just child's play.

It was precisely because of this distrust that in the Battle of Hongcheng, the 57th Division was abandoned by the 51st and 58th Divisions of the 74th Army and was responsible for performing secondary tasks. At that time, all the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division were very dissatisfied, but in the face of the other party's outstanding battle exploits, the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division had no other choice but to complain in their hearts.

However, in the first Battle of Changsha, the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division performed very well. Relying on the strength of their own division, they successfully cut the troops of the Japanese 106th Division into two, forcing the Japanese 106th Division to flee in panic. This also made the officers and soldiers of the 51st and 58th Divisions look at them with new eyes.

In the subsequent winter offensive launched by the Chinese government, the 57th Division performed even better, with its combat exploits even surpassing those of the 51st and 58th Divisions. Thanks to the excellent performance of the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division, the 51st and 58th Divisions completely accepted it. Only then did the 57th Division truly become a part of the 74th Army.

In the subsequent Shanggao Battle, the 57th Division and the 58th Division joined forces to defend Shanggao City. Under the fierce artillery bombardment of the Japanese army, Shanggao City was almost razed to the ground, but the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division still stubbornly held their positions.

In the end, the 74th Army defeated the attack of the 34th Division and the 20th Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, and caused up to 50% casualties to the 34th Division and the 20th Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army. However, the 74th Army itself also suffered casualties of up to 10,591 people, and many regimental-level officers were sacrificed.

After the Battle of Shanggao, each division of the Chinese Army changed its code name. This was because during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in order to hide their numbers and prevent the Japanese army from detecting the specific situation of each unit, only the soldiers' names and unit codes were printed on the Chinese Army's uniforms.

The Chinese government's Military Commission changes the code names for each division every six months to a year. The 58th Division was code-named "Glorious" and the 57th Division was code-named "Hu Ben".

Huben means tiger running. Ben is the same as ben, which means a rainbow tiger running, as brave and powerful as a tiger. Huben was the royal guards around the ancient emperors and they were the strongest and bravest warriors. In short, Huben means the best soldier.

All the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division liked the code name "Hu Ben" very much, and eventually Hu Ben became the nickname of the 57th Division. The officers and soldiers of the 57th Division used the two words "Hu Ben" as armbands, which made the Division even more famous.

The training of the 74th Army, which is directly under the Chinese government, is the most rigorous among the Chinese troops. At the same time, the discipline of the 74th Army has always been strict. In addition, the supplies and military pay are sufficient, and the entire army is prohibited from disturbing the people.

You know, the Chinese army has complex factions, and the military discipline of each unit varies, but at least one-third of the Chinese troops have the phenomenon of forcibly taking away civilians and forcibly requisitioning food and supplies.

The so-called forced labor means forcibly conscripting local civilians into the army to serve as laborers, mainly to carry supplies. The civilians would be allowed to return home after working for a dozen days at the least and several months at the most. This was a very serious harm to the families of the civilians, not to mention that the civilians might be killed on the battlefield. It was the most troublesome thing for the civilians.

The forced requisition of food and supplies was mostly due to the fact that during wartime, the Chinese troops were short of food or materials for building fortifications. Since the logistics department was unable to solve the problem, they would forcibly requisition food and supplies in the war zone and order the rural governments to gather supplies for the troops.

Although the army would nominally give money, the value of the legal tender had depreciated quite seriously due to the war, and the farmers might not be able to buy the same amount of food even if they had money. In addition, houses were sometimes demolished and temples were destroyed, causing complaints from the local people.

As early as half a year ago during the Battle of Western Hubei, the feint attack troops of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army once approached Anxiang and Jinshi areas, which were only a few dozen kilometers away from Changde. At that time, the defense of Changde was very empty, and the government was forced to start evacuating the people in the city ahead of time.

At that time, the Sichuan Army was stationed in Changde, and the troops of the 57th Division of the 74th Army were on their way to reinforce Changde from Changsha in accordance with orders.

Since the Sichuan Army, which had always had poor military discipline, was in charge of the first five days of the Changde retreat, a major disaster occurred. Starting from May 21st, people in and around Changde City began to be forced to evacuate. Soldiers were sent by the city defense force to drive them out from house to house. Everyone else, young and old, had to leave the country that same day, otherwise they would be severely punished.

However, the city defense forces did not have an organized evacuation route, causing the streets and alleys to be crowded with people. At the ferry crossing of Xia Nanmen, the crowd was so crowded that no one could get through. Moreover, each person had to pay 50 yuan to cross the Yuan River.

What's more serious is that due to the hasty evacuation, the city defense force did not send soldiers to maintain order. Many criminals took the opportunity to hide or sneak into the city and steal from the empty shops. Even the Sichuan Army soldiers in the city took the opportunity to make a profit and sneak into the shops to take things at will, resulting in many shops in the city being looted.

After the 57th Division of the 74th Army arrived, the situation became completely different. On the fifth day after the Sichuan Army was responsible for organizing the retreat, the 57th Division took over the defense of Changde in an all-round way.

First, the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division repaired the damaged doors and windows of civilian houses throughout the city, re-sealed them, and registered the furniture and belongings in every civilian house. At the same time, they ordered officers and soldiers at all levels of the division not to enter civilian houses without permission. Violators would be shot on the spot without any leniency.

Afterwards, all manpower was mobilized to clear away the rubble, tilted houses, electric poles and other debris on the streets caused by the bombing of Japanese aircraft. The originally devastated and messy streets of Changde City immediately revealed their original clean appearance.

The officers and soldiers of the 57th Division strictly obeyed the orders of Commander Yu. Facing the chaotic civilians, the officers and soldiers were always amiable and smiling. Commander Yu of the 57th Division required all the sentries to speak nicely to the civilians, have a good look, accomplish their tasks, and be thorough in their inspections.