The responsibility for the fall of Hengyang lies not in Fang Xianjue and his 10 soldiers, but in the peripheral reinforcements. On May 29th, Chiang Kai-shek personally called Fang Xianjue, the commander of the 10 army stationed in Hengyang, and ordered him to stay in Hengyang for 10 days to two weeks. After attracting and consuming the Japanese army, cooperate with external reinforcements to attack inside and outside, and annihilate the main force of the Japanese army near Hengyang. However, the officers and men of the 10 troops who have been in the city for more than 40 days have never seen reinforcements. For the 10 troops who are almost "exhausted in casualties" and "exhausted in ammunition and food", how much they hope for reinforcements. According to Cai Rulin, commander of the 10 Army dispatched by the Ninth Theater, in his memoir "Forty-seven Days of Hengyang Defence War", "In the last twenty days of the forty-seven days of Hengyang Defence War, I was always looking forward to reinforcements from the outside." Every night, we listen to the sound of my reinforcements in the bunker of the central bank. ..... The gunfire of the reinforcements seems to be a deliberate joke, and everyone is very excited when they are near and far away. Everything seems to be very bright, and the gunshots bring us infinite comfort. But the gunfire was far away, and everyone frowned unconsciously. In their hearts, they don't know whether they hate or hate, but they hope, which is an unspeakable sour taste. The reinforcements didn't come. In desperation, Fang Xianjue sent urgent telegrams to Chiang Kai-shek and Xue Yue respectively: "Hengyang is in danger, private affairs are small, and national affairs are big, and reinforcements are like firefighting. Anyway, please send a regiment to rush into the city. We have our own way. " However, no reinforcements arrived. Therefore, when Fang Xianjue finally chose the road of surrender, he said to his men, "OK, let's do it! It is not that we are sorry for the country, but that the country is sorry for us. It is not that we don't want the country, but that the country doesn't want us. " In fact, some reinforcements have reached the periphery of Hengyang, but they are unwilling to fight to the death. If they enter the city, they will jump into the kang. The history of the Japanese army after the war is also fairly written: "The enemy reinforcements (three divisions) have arrived near Hengyang in the meantime, but after being attacked by my 40th division, they have abandoned Hengyang and turned south." On the contrary, due to the lack of reinforcements, "the enemy attacked Hengyang day and night, and the offensive was fierce, such as the flood burst its banks." Our defenders blocked the east and collapsed in the west, and finally no one stopped and no bullets were thrown; Hengyang will be trapped. "In the battle of Heng Chang, the total strength of the enemy and the enemy was one-on-one at most; The enemy troops on the defensive in Hengyang are five to one. When Hengyang defenders fought bloody battles in the city, the rescue of peripheral reinforcements failed, which made Fang Xianjue extremely dissatisfied. It is a chronic disease for quite a few generals of the Kuomintang army to regard the army as the capital to maintain and improve their status and preserve their combat effectiveness. This stubborn disease was exposed from time to time in the eight-year war of resistance against Japan, especially in the battle outside Hengyang. Before defending Hengyang, Chiang Kai-shek promised Fang Xianjue: "My brother can defend himself with peace of mind, and I will urge the army and air force to help him complete an unprecedented career. "265438+July 12, that is, after the Japanese army launched the second general attack, Chiang Kai-shek immediately called the ninth war zone, making the 62nd Army storm the enemy's rear from the northwest suburb of Hengyang, and the 79th Army cooperated with the 62nd Army to rush into the northwest suburb of Hengyang, and the 63rd Division attacked from north to south, thus" quickly solving the siege of Hengyang ". However, after receiving the order, the Qing troops moved slowly. In order to preserve its strength, the 62nd Army assembled its main force near Tanzishan in the suburb of Hengyang, and only used two regiments to reinforce Hengyang 23. On July 20th, the two regiments broke into Hengyang West Station. If they are desperate to rush forward, they can completely break through the encirclement of the Japanese army and meet the defenders in the city. But maybe they are worried that they will be surrounded by Japanese troops like Hengyang defenders when they rush into the city. The two regiments were stranded in Hengyang West Railway Station and never dared to attack again. On July 23, after the Japanese counterattack threatened the 62nd Army Command and the left wing, Tao Huang, the commander of the army, was afraid of being surrounded by the Japanese army and made the two regiments retreat. In this way, the first clearance battle was defeated. On July 25, Chiang Kai-shek organized the battle of clearing the field again. However, after the withdrawal of the 62nd Army from Hengyang West Station, the Japanese army strengthened the blockade and could no longer get close to the West Station. After the 79th Army entered the western suburbs, it has been in a state of confrontation with the Japanese army in Du Jiali, Tongqiandu and Jiwoshan, unable to move forward. On July 27th, Chiang Kai-shek put the 46th Army and the 74th Army into battle. The 58th Division of the 74th Army once occupied Jiwo Mountain in the suburb of Hengyang. " We have seen Hengyang from a distance, and as long as we go further, we may get in touch with the defenders. "But at this moment, Qiu Yaodong, deputy chief of staff of the 74th Army, ordered them to retreat for no reason. By July 29th, "all reinforcements were repelled" 25, and the second battle to clear the field also failed. On August 2, Chiang Kai-shek organized the third battle to clear the field. However, by 7 August, the ministries had made no progress. That night, the Qing troops launched a so-called general attack, but they were repelled by the Japanese near Wulipai. In this way, until Hengyang fell, reinforcements failed to reach Hengyang.