Quartermasters can also fight the devils

The remaining 500 officers and soldiers of the 57th Division also put up a tenacious resistance relying on civilian houses. In this kind of battle, the soldiers of both sides were at most tens of meters apart, and some were even only a few meters apart. Firearms almost lost much of their effectiveness in such a battle.

Therefore, the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division and the soldiers of the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army engaged in a brutal hand-to-hand fight with bayonets, swords, gun butts, shovels and even helmets. Even some wounded soldiers who had fallen to the ground were strangling each other's throats, digging out eyes and biting ears. The officers and soldiers of both sides had already been blood-thirsty. In such a battle, it was either you die or I die.

At this time, all the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division in Changde City, from the division commander and regiment commander to the orderlies and grooms, had all taken up arms to fight, because the weapons of the 57th Division suffered serious damage in the battle and the ammunition was basically exhausted.

Many non-combat personnel of the temporary organization had no guns at all. The officers and soldiers were forced to use bayonets or even broadswords, spears and bamboo guns to fight against the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army. It was a life-and-death battle with the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army.

After a day of hard fighting, more than half of the remaining 500 officers and soldiers of the 57th Division of the Chinese government in Changde City were killed or wounded. Most areas of Changde City had fallen, and the defensive positions of the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division were reduced to only five buildings in the southwest corner of Changde City.

At this time, the Chinese army outside Changde City was also attacking the outer blocking line of the Japanese 11th Army with all its might. Among them, the Third Division of the Tenth Army of Li Yutang Corps had even arrived at an area not far from the Yuanjiang River. In order to boost the morale of the 57th Division, the commander of the Third Division, Zhou Qingxiang, also sent scouts of the Third Division with his business cards and letters to swim into Changde City.

When Commander Yu of the 57th Division saw the handwritten letter from Commander Zhou of the 3rd Division, he felt a little happy, but he understood that with the current situation and strength of the 57th Division in Changde City, they might only be able to hold out for a few more hours.

Starting from December 2, the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army concentrated all its forces and launched a final attack on the remaining five buildings where the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division were stationed in Changde City.

The main attack direction of the Japanese 11th Army's offensive forces was Wenchang Temple. Responsible for defending here were more than 30 officers and soldiers led by Battalion Commander Yang Weijun of the 1st Battalion of the 169th Regiment. After a fierce battle to the end, all the officers and soldiers, including Battalion Commander Yang Weijun, were killed in the continuous and fierce attacks of the Japanese 11th Army's offensive forces.

While the offensive force of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army was attacking from the front, it also dispatched a force of more than 300 people from the Daxi Gate on the flank to attack the Central Bank. The offensive force of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army provided cover with a large number of artillery and advanced step by step towards the Central Bank defended by the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division. It seemed that the offensive force of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army was about to rush to the Central Bank.

In times of crisis, Deputy Commander Lu Kongwen of the 171st Regiment led the remaining 20-odd officers and soldiers of the 171st Regiment and bravely rushed out of the position, engaging in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army. In the end, Deputy Commander Lu Kongwen and the officers and soldiers who rushed out all died, but the bravery of Deputy Commander Lu Kongwen and the officers and soldiers also temporarily suppressed the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army.

While Deputy Commander Lu Kongwen of the 171st Regiment was leading his officers and men in hand-to-hand combat with the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army, Commander Yu of the 57th Division sent Commander Jin Dingzhou of the Artillery Regiment to personally lead more than 30 officers and men to outflank the rear of the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army.

When the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army had just finished a bayonet fight and was exhausted, the commander of the artillery regiment, Jin Dingzhou, led more than 30 officers and soldiers to climb onto the undestroyed houses on both sides of the street, and threw a large number of grenades at the flanks of the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army, which was resting on the street and preparing to launch another attack. Immediately, the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army was reduced to less than 100 people, and the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army was also blown away and fled out of the Daximen.

However, although the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army was repelled, the commander of the artillery regiment, Jin Dingzhou, was hit and injured by bullets, and more than 20 of the more than 30 officers and soldiers were killed.

At this time, there were only 400 combat soldiers of the 57th Division in Changde City, including the wounded. They were unable to continue counterattacking the 11th Japanese Army's attacking force and could only hold on to five sturdy buildings in Changde City. The morale of the officers and soldiers in the attacking force of the 11th Japanese Army was also very low. In addition, the ammunition consumption was very serious, and the attacking force of the 11th Japanese Army was almost in a dilemma of being unable to continue the attack.

On December 2, under the wrath of Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, the attacking forces of the 11th Army launched 26 attacks on the 57th Division in Changde City, but all of them were repelled by the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division.

Before dusk, a 50-man squad of the Japanese 11th Army's offensive force attacked to a distance of less than 40 meters from the Central Bank. The officers and soldiers of the 57th Division who were defending the Central Bank could even hear the Japanese officers giving loud orders in Japanese.

Commander Yu of the 57th Division felt that the threat posed by this Japanese army was too great, and he had to organize his officers and soldiers to completely eliminate this small group of Japanese troops through a night battle.

That night, Commander Yu of the 57th Division ordered Commander Sun Jinxian of the 170th Regiment to lead the remaining twenty or so officers and soldiers of the 170th Regiment to attack the small group of Japanese attacking forces at the street corner in the dark.

Since the 57th Division had very few troops left and most of the officers and soldiers who could still fight were injured, Division Commander Yu operated a light machine gun himself to prevent the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army from launching a sneak attack on the Central Bank.

Commander Yu of the 57th Division was already fighting and defending with a machine gun, which showed that the 57th Division had reached its final moment. Fortunately, Commander Sun Jinxian of the 170th Regiment led more than 20 officers and soldiers to fulfill their mission. Commander Sun and these 20 officers and soldiers defeated the small Japanese force of more than 50 people through assassination and hand-to-hand combat.

After Commander Sun defeated the Japanese attack force, Commander Yu found that by the evening of December 2, the 57th Division's defensive positions in Changde City had only five buildings left, and the entire depth was only 400 meters.