How tenacious is the Eighth Route Army in central Hebei after galloping thousands of miles in a month, seven fierce battles and 90% reduction in staff?

1942, the Japanese North China Army mobilized more than 50,000 puppet troops to launch a brutal "May Day Sweeping" against the anti-Japanese base areas in Jizhong, which lasted for two months, causing great damage to our base areas and heavy losses to the Jizhong Military Region.

The last article talked about five large-scale battles that broke out on May 23rd, 1942. Among them, Lijiajiao 1 Regiment's Sixth Army Division Command and the Second Battalion persisted until after dark and successfully broke through. Although the breakthrough was successful, the situation of the enemy is still grim.

Our army broke through Lianhuachi Village (13 Li) in the northwest of Lijiajiao, then arrived at Mingcun Village in Beijing, 30 Li northwest, then turned south, and returned to Beiliyuan Village in the early morning of 23rd, hiding in a jujube forest outside the village.

At 3: 30 on May 23rd, I started from Liyuan Village and ran more than 30 miles. Then I fought in Lijiajiao for a day, broke through at 2 o'clock at night, ran 60 miles along both sides of the triangle and returned to the starting point of the triangle. The troops are quite tired. What's more, at this time, our army has little ammunition left. If you meet the enemy again, even a small-scale blocking war will be difficult to fight.

It is said that the Eighth Route Army is poor, and it is really poor, lacking everything. However, what the Eighth Route Army lacked most was ammunition.

1937 10 Liu Bocheng rate 129 division more than 9,000 people marched eastward to the anti-Japanese front. According to the statistics at that time, all the bullets in the division, such as pistol bullets, bullets just seen when standing, and heavy machine gun bullets, totaled only a little more than 65,438+10,000 rounds, of which only 23,222 rounds were heavy machine guns, with an average of 800 rounds per heavy machine gun. The Japanese army, with a heavy machine gun, consisted of a deputy shooter, an ammunition soldier, a horse carrying bullets, and an ammunition squad of heavy machine guns, carried more than 14000 bullets in one battle, not counting the ammunition that the Japanese army forced the people to carry.

An infantry soldier of the Japanese army carries three bullets, the first one is followed by two bullets, and the first one is followed by 60 bullets and 30 bullets. The ammunition of a Japanese army with 1 100 people far exceeds that of a main division of our army in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War. It is said that there is a big gap between the Chinese and Japanese armed forces in weapons, but as far as ammunition is concerned, the 87th Division of the National Army, which fought the Nankou Campaign, prepared13,000 bullets for each heavy machine gun, which blew up 800 wonderful bullets. When it retreated into the concession, it was also counted as12,000 bullets when it was disarmed by the British army.

Our army retreated to Beiliyuan Village. At that time, the consideration was that the Japanese army pursued from the southwest, and our army was attacked by the Japanese army from the southeast in Lijiajiao. At this time, Liyuan village was in complete darkness under the lights. Moreover, according to past experience, the Japanese army will return to the stronghold after sweeping. This time, however, the Japanese army did not leave one after another, and almost every village had Japanese troops more or less.

The Japanese army used 50,000 troops in the "May Day Sweeping", which is equivalent to the strength of the third Changsha Battle. There are only four counties in the core area of Jizhong Military Region. The Japanese army in North China has 10 divisions and 1 1 independent mixed brigades, while the Japanese army in the frontal battlefield has only 7 divisions and 2 single mixed brigades. It was not until 1944 that the Japanese army launched the First World War. Two divisions were dispatched from the Japanese army in North China to defeat the national army from north to south and let the Japanese army get through the mainland traffic line. It was an aid and an ugly failure to use the resources of the whole country and all international aid.

The boss spent so much effort to beat the Eighth Route Army in four counties, but he still didn't firmly occupy it and was knocked unconscious by the Eighth Route Army. It was not worth it. Baga, there is also an accountant in the Japanese headquarters, which is not cost-effective, so the pattern of "May Day Sweeping" will never be copied to other base areas.

On the first floor is Sherman, a lighter in the European battlefield, and on the second floor is adzuki bean ravaged by the Japanese in China.

After 1943, with the Japanese offensive and defensive translocation in the Pacific battlefield, Japan successively transferred seven or eight divisions from North China and replaced them with more than a dozen independent infantry brigades. Only then did the pressure on our base areas in North China be alleviated, and the Eighth Route Army launched a big counterattack.

Suning, the first county town liberated by the Eighth Route Army in central Hebei.

This is a detour. Let's go back to the public security brigade. The zoning study decided that the headquarters organs were scattered and hidden, so as not to cause a burden to the combat troops. The second battalion commander Lin Ziyuan led a field army of less than 300 people to deal with the enemy.

ChuPing chief of staff and leaves have big goals. They took seven or eight people and stayed in the field until May 26th. They happened to meet Liu Luxi, secretary of Shennan County Party Committee. The heads of Wang and Ye were arranged in the cabbage burrow of the secretary of the Weijiazhuang branch and hid for three or four days. After that, Liu Ziming, the stationmaster of the enemy who worked in the division, covered the two ends and crossed Shijiazhuang De (Zhou) Road to join forces with the division on June 3.

After graduating from Baoding Military Academy, Brigadier General Wang Changjiang worked in many warlord teams. He was the head of the official team. 1933 With Shang Zhen, he participated in the Great Wall War of Resistance and made great achievements. When the anti-Japanese army flourished, he defected to Zhang Xuechang and became the deputy commander-in-chief of Hebei People's Army. However, Zhang only wanted to expand his power and seize territory, and only fought the Eighth Route Army, not the Japanese devils. Commander Wang resolutely broke with him and joined the Eighth Route Army against the Japanese devils.

Wang Changjiang served as the brigade commander from the beginning of the establishment of the Guard Brigade, and later served as the commander of the Sixth Army Division. After coming to Jinsui, he served as commander of the Eighth Army Division. The Eighth Division of Shanxi-Suiyuan is the throat area connecting Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia with Shanxi-Suiyuan, Shanxi-Chaji and Taihang, which shows the heavy responsibility.

During the War of Liberation, he served as deputy commander of the Eighth Longitudinal Command of the Jinsui Military Region and deputy chief of staff of the North China Military Region. Founding ceremony is the deputy commander of the military parade and the vice president of Shijiazhuang Bujiao School. Unfortunately, after liberation, an old department came down to look for a job recommendation. He didn't look at it for a while, and finally found out that the man turned out to be a Kuomintang spy. As a result, he was demoted several times as the commander of the military division, and 1955 was awarded as a senior colonel. Former second battalion commander Lin Ziyuan was also awarded the rank of senior colonel.

After the separation of the 2nd Battalion and the head of the regiment, there were also rows of scattered activities. It was originally planned to return to Beiliyuan in the evening, but in the afternoon, a large number of Japanese troops came to the village and had to be dispersed again.

At this time, came the news that Colonel Zhang Ziyuan was captured. There is no news about Zhang Ziyuan's arrest. According to Xu Guangyao, the author of Private Zhang Ga, this man was detained in Shijiazhuang for many years after liberation.

The capture of the colonel was a great blow to morale, and some people secretly deserted. Even Sun Mingzhe, the deputy battalion commander, sneaked away in plain clothes in the name of spying on the enemy.

In the battle of Lijiajiao, our army set up a watchtower and a machine gun position in the attic in the south of the village, which was a great threat to the Japanese army, so the Japanese army mobilized light and heavy machine guns in an attempt to suppress it.

In the battle, our gunner suffered heavy casualties, but the soldiers went on wave after wave. Finally, Zhang Fengyi, the assistant instructor in charge of commanding the 6th Company's defense in the south of the village, personally picked up the machine gun and swept away at the Japanese army. At that time, the devils were not afraid of death, and the Japanese army, who dared to bayonet the cannon and became angry from embarrassment, pushed the cannon hundreds of meters away and collapsed the attic. Zhang Fengyi fell down and was badly hurt. He was caught by the devil and died heroically.

The army was very tired, many soldiers stayed, and the instructor Comrade Zhang Qi lost contact with the army. Only the battalion commander Lin Ziyuan is in charge of this camp. He called a meeting of cadres and decided that the troops would cross the Cangzhou-Shijiazhuang highway and go to Anping-Shenze area. That night, the troops moved to Haozhuang and lived in the village for one day.

While resting in Haozhuang, an old woman told our soldiers that her daughter said that there was an Eighth Route Army in the central village of Shenze County. It was a surprise, so the second battalion moved to the central village on the evening of May 26th. However, the villagers said that you were late and the No.8 bus had already left.

After marching/kloc-more than 0/00 miles, the troops were extremely tired. That night, the troops decided to camp in the central village.

At dawn, the soldiers were still sleeping, and the devils surrounded the central village. The Japanese army lined up the skirmisher line and went straight to the village.

At that time, our army was in great danger. First of all, it lacks ammunition. Second, I kept fighting and marching, and I was extremely tired. Third, the fortifications have not been built. Fourth, this Japanese army did not play cards according to common sense. It didn't send sharp soldiers to search, nor did it shoot, but rushed over with bayonets. Our army doesn't even have time to assign defensive tasks.

It's time to test the commanding ability of battalion commander Lin.

Lin Ziyuan made a decisive decision, decided to give up the defense, collected ammunition and handed it to the assault platoon, directly launched a counter-charge, and threw off the Japanese pursuit before dawn.

The counterattack of the second battalion caught the Japanese army off guard. The devil thought: Eight-way cunning, not playing cards according to common sense. Although there are many Japanese troops, they are on the skirmisher line and their troops are scattered. At one point, our army concentrated its forces and confronted the Japanese, killing a leading Japanese officer and seven or eight Japanese troops on the spot, and left like a gust of wind.

When the devils react, line up and assign pursuers, the Eighth Route Army has already run away.

As mentioned in the last article, the Japanese army has made many improvements according to the characteristics of our army. For example, send a small number of infantry to chase our army. They only have rifles and 20 bullets to fight with us. The Japanese army of the brigade followed up with the trench and ammunition.

This time, because the headquarters organs were scattered and concealed in advance, the second battalion of the pure field army moved very fast, and the Japanese light infantry could not keep up. After the baptism of the war against encirclement and suppression, War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the war of liberation, our army has become the best light infantry in the world by the time of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea.

The breakthrough in the central village was only a few minutes, and our army suffered zero casualties.

The situation is still very critical. Battalion 2 knew that the Japanese army would send troops to pursue it, and my limited ammunition was almost exhausted in the breakout. At this time, the most important thing is to find ammunition supplies or find friendly forces.

At dawn, before the troops had breakfast, the second battalion broke through the central village, and the soldiers ran hungry all morning. At noon, they finally met our army in Gaojiazhuang. What is even more surprising is that this unit is the eighth company that was separated in the breakout battle of Yinda Village.

Before the anti-mopping-up, the second battalion was a fourth company battalion with more than 500 people. In the battle of Daxie and Yincun, the troops were dispersed, and then three companies, 5, 6 and 7, returned to the team one after another and fought under the command of the brigade headquarters, while the eighth company, led by the company commander Li Yongxiang, arrived at the junction of Anping and Shenze, and then insisted on fighting alone in the base area. At this time, there were more than 80 people in the eighth company, and the second battalion recovered to more than 300 people.

Comrades in distress were particularly close to each other, and the soldiers of Company 8 quickly prepared lunch for their hungry comrades. However, before the soldiers of the Second Battalion could take up their rice bowls for dinner, the sentry came to report that we were surrounded by the enemy.

The Japanese army learned the lessons from the past and used many targeted new tactics.

This time, the Japanese commander found that the light infantry could not catch up with our army, and he changed again: the Japanese sent bicycles and cavalry to follow our army from a distance, and the Japanese brigade followed. At the same time, the Japanese commander sent messengers to call the surrounding Japanese troops to participate in the siege.

A more insidious trick of the Japanese commander is not to rush to order an attack, but to grind it slowly. His wishful thinking is to knock our army down and launch a fatal blow when he is exhausted and hungry. In the later period of anti-mopping-up, the Japanese army suffered heavy losses in this way.

The calculations of Japanese officers were all calculated, but I didn't expect a new army to suddenly appear in Gaojiazhuang. The company commander led the soldiers of the Eighth Company to fight back and repel the Japanese army, which stunned the Japanese army at once and won valuable rest time for the rather tired Third Company.

When the Japanese army reassessed the strength of our army and readjusted its deployment, battalion commander Lin also quickly divided four companies into four sides and distributed the ammunition of eight companies to the other three companies.

Although there are many Japanese troops, they are quite tired because they have been chasing our army. And artillery tanks can't keep up, even heavy machine guns can't keep up. Even a person has stayed in this area for more than half a month, and the situation is familiar. The reason for moving from the central village to Gaojiazhuang is that this village has a relatively perfect fortification system and tunnels. Another advantage for our army is that it is already afternoon, and it will not get dark for half a day. The disadvantage of our army is the lack of bullets.

The battle was fierce and cruel, and the soldiers fought against the Japanese attack with few bullets. Finally, the bullets were exhausted, and in the face of wave after wave of Japanese attacks, the soldiers rushed up with bayonets.

The soldiers fell down one by one, and it was finally dark. After dark, the 2nd Battalion, led by fellow villagers, broke through the super-long tunnel in the village and reached the rear of the Japanese army. More than 200 martyrs shed their last drop of blood in Gaojiazhuang behind them.

After the breakthrough of Gaojiazhuang, there were only 100 people left in the second battalion, which was automatically reduced to a company, with the battalion commander as the company commander and the company commander as the platoon leader.

According to military history, the 2nd Battalion maneuvered thousands of miles in one month and fought six battles in a row. Actually missed a battle, otherwise it can't be explained that the 2nd Battalion only had 68 people when it took part in the famous Songzhuang Campaign on June 9th.

Three days after Gaojiazhuang broke through, the 2nd Battalion happened to meet the 7th Army Division17th Regiment. In the Battle of Baizhuang on May 30, Battalion 2 was the reserve team, and the 17 regiment cherished this brother unit.

The battle in Baizhuang was extremely fierce. The 2nd Battalion, the reserve team and the attack direction all faced a breakthrough and became commandos. In this battle, Shao Zuo, the first captain of the Independent No.1 12 Infantry Wing of the 26th Division of the Japanese Army, was killed by our army. Perhaps, it was because his battalion chief was killed that Kichitaro, the co-captain of Songzhuang Campaign, was forced to visit the front line and was seriously injured by our army 30 meters away.

At that time, Liberation Daily changed our army's battle report to kill the Japanese captain Sakamoto. In fact, Sakamoto's 12 wing was temporarily assigned to the 26th Division, and other support forces were strengthened. The Japanese army called Sakamoto detachment, and Kichitaro Sakamoto himself was also the commander of the newly established Hebei-Bohai Special Zone. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with calling a brigade commander.

Japan's "Public Security War in North China" recorded that the Japanese army "killed 26 people and injured 27 people", and said that Sakamoto did not even hurt a hair, and the Eighth Route Army position "had 264 corpses everywhere". This is a great victory for the Japanese army. However, only 100 Japanese troops attacked from Mare stronghold, and only 28 people survived the next day. Among them, the captain completely collapsed and committed suicide with a pistol; Seven other soldiers also hanged themselves collectively after paying homage to the East.

Therefore, for the Japanese "North China Public Security War", its reference value is to check the date of the battle at most. Sakamoto's absence for more than a year also affected his promotion. 1945 On March 30th, the Japanese army was reorganized into an independent 4th Guard in Datong, Shanxi Province, with Major General Sakamoto Kichitaro as the commander. After Japan was defeated, it surrendered near Datong.

The battle of Songzhuang is a model battle for defending the famous plain village of our army. After the war, the second battalion was reduced to 6 1. A battalion of more than 500 people marched thousands of miles in January, winning seven battles in a row in the encirclement of the enemy, with nearly 90% of its staff reduced. It still insists on hard work, and can only use one sentence: Brave, the second battalion of iron and blood!

On May 28th, the day after the Second Battalion broke through from Gaojiazhuang, a battle which was called "a model battle example" by the Japanese army took place. The 3rd Battalion, 23rd Regiment, 8th Division, was exhausted and suffered heavy losses. Tan Bin, head of the 23rd regiment, died bravely.

See the next article for details.