Quartermasters can also fight the devils

After dawn on December 3, the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army launched a fierce attack on the 57th Division's defensive position in the city.

Commander Chai Yixin of the 169th Regiment of the 57th Division led 100 officers and soldiers who volunteered to stay behind. Facing the fierce attack of the Japanese 11th Army, they continued to hold their respective defensive positions, buying time for the smooth reunion of the outer reinforcements and Commander Yu and his men.

The battle lasted until noon on December 3. The Central Bank and other buildings of the 57th Division in Changde City had been riddled with holes by the artillery fire and bullets of the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army, and could no longer serve as cover for the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division.

At four o'clock in the afternoon on December 3, Commander Chai of the 169th Regiment and the remaining officers and soldiers had used up all their ammunition.

Captain Chai of the 169th Regiment believed that if they stayed inside these buildings, they would eventually be blown to death or buried by the artillery fire of the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army. It would be better to rush out and fight the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army, even if they could kill as many Japanese soldiers as possible.

Therefore, Commander Chai of the 169th Regiment resolutely led the remaining 53 surviving officers and soldiers in Changde City to rush out of the bomb-riddled buildings and launch a suicidal hand-to-hand attack on the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army that were charging on the streets.

After many bayonet fights, the already injured Captain Chai of the 169th Regiment was shot in two more places and was seriously injured. His uniform was soaked with blood. Captain Chai Yixin led his officers and soldiers to fight against the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army all the way, but was finally hit again by a machine gun of the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army in front of the Tomb of Chunshenjun in Changde City. This was the fourth time that Captain Chai of the 169th Regiment was wounded in Changde City. He finally died gloriously at the age of 37. The last dozens of officers and soldiers of the 57th Division in Changde City also almost all died for their country.

Commander Chai of the 169th Regiment was from Nanbu County, Sichuan Province. He graduated from the third term of the Whampoa Military Academy and was a talented and capable person. He once served as the deputy chief of staff of the 74th Army of the Huaxia government. The 74th Army had suffered heavy casualties in previous battles, especially among senior officers.

Therefore, after much consideration, Commander Wang of the 74th Army decided to let Commander Chai Yixin serve as the commander of the 169th Regiment of the 57th Division to enrich the regimental command positions of the 74th Army. Therefore, the commanders of the Chinese government's direct troops usually only have the rank of colonel, but Commander Chai Yixin serves as the commander with the rank of major general. After the Battle of Changde, the Chinese government also posthumously awarded Commander Chai Yixin the rank of lieutenant general.

I was the captain adjutant of Division Commander Yu, and I was guarding him when we were on the same boat. The wooden boat had no oars or rudders. It happened that a gust of north wind and light rain blew the wooden boat to the south bank. When it approached the shore, it was blocked by grenades and machine guns from the Japanese army on the shore. The others got lost when they scattered and hid. The two of us were forced to flee to the northwest until we arrived at a small village at dawn to stop and rest. Later, officers and soldiers of the 12th Division also came to this village to gather. It turned out that after Division Commander Yu broke through, all the officers and soldiers broke through separately. On December 4, Division Commander Yu ordered me to gather the scattered soldiers and called a roll call. There were 83 people in total. On December 12, Division Commander Yu led these more than 5 people to Deshan in an attempt to meet with the reinforcements of the friendly forces. On the way, he found that the Japanese troops were retreating to the north of the Lishui River, so he estimated that the friendly forces might have begun to encircle Changde.

At this point, the organized resistance of the 57th Division of the Chinese Army against the attacking forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army in Changde City came to an end. However, sporadic gunfire from the scattered officers and soldiers of the 57th Division in Changde City continued until six days later, when Changde City was recaptured by the Chinese Army reinforcements from the south.

The 57th Division of the Huaxia government guarding Changde began to conduct defensive operations against the attack of the Japanese 11th Army on November 18. Facing the attack of the Japanese 11th Army with more than ten times the manpower and firepower, the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division fought bloody battles in Changde for a full sixteen days, and Changde was not lost until the evening of December 3.

During these sixteen days, the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division of the 74th Army of the Chinese government faced the superior forces and firepower of the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army and fought desperately against them. In the end, the 57th Division was almost wiped out.

After the Battle of Changde alone, 7 bodies of officers and soldiers of the th Division were found. Some of the bodies were smashed, burned, and found nowhere else because of the artillery fire, aerial bombs, and incendiary bombs of the attacking forces of the Japanese th Army. It is estimated that the total number of officers and soldiers killed in the th Division was about .

After the Battle of Changde, the total casualties of the 57th Division of the 74th Army of the Chinese government reached 7,703, and only 800 officers and soldiers were not injured. In the end, 1,000 officers and soldiers of the 57th Division, which had 8,500 officers and soldiers before the war, survived.

Among these surviving officers and soldiers of the 57th Division were several hundred people who were isolated in the suburbs of Changde City and the Taiyangshan defensive positions, several hundred people who had been fighting guerrilla warfare against the Japanese army in the city and had not been swept away by the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army, and some wounded who were evacuated to the surrounding areas during the Changde battle.

Originally, it was unlikely that these officers and soldiers of the 57th Division would survive the Battle of Changde. However, since the attacking forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army did not initially occupy the city of Changde until December 3, the outer troops of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army were all unable to protect themselves under the attack of the various reinforcements of the Chinese Army. As a result, the troops of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army were busy retreating and had no time to care about the remaining officers and soldiers of the 57th Division.

On the evening of the day when Changde City was initially captured, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, immediately ordered all the attacking forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army to withdraw to the suburbs of Changde City. Only a small number of troops were left in the city for a symbolic garrison, and all the troops were ready to retreat at any time.

As a result, the small attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army in Changde City naturally could not effectively search for the remaining officers and soldiers of the 57th Division. In the end, there were more than 300 officers and soldiers of the 50th Division who had been separated in various places by the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army in the ruins of Changde City.

However, all the seriously wounded soldiers of the 57th Division in Changde City were swept by the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army. As they were unable to move, they were all shot or stabbed to death with bayonets by the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army. Therefore, almost no seriously wounded soldiers of the 57th Division survived the war.