Chapter 98 097. The warrior sacrificed his life to blow up the bunker——Record of Hou Dengshan, the blasting captain of the regiment directly under the Qinghe Military Region

General Yang Guofu, the late deputy commander of the Jinan Military Region, in his 1983 memoir, "Fighting on the Qinghe Plain", recalled the history of the Qinghe Military Region's attack on Sanlizhuang during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and warmly praised a The hero who sacrificed his life to blow up the enemy's fortress.This hero was Hou Dengshan, captain of the blasting team directly under the Qinghe Military Region. Hou Dengshan was born in Boxing County, Shandong Province in 1919. He joined the Eighth Route Army in 1940 and served as a soldier in the regiment directly under the Qinghe Military Region.One year after joining the army, he became the squad leader and was selected to be sent to the demolition training team of the military region for training.Because of his hard work and hard training, he quickly mastered the blasting technique and became a qualified blaster.In several battles after graduation, he carried out blasting with agile movements and skilled techniques, destroying multiple firepower points of the enemy.The head of the regiment saw that he was smart and capable, brave in combat, and proficient in blasting techniques, so he promoted him to be the captain of the blasting team of the regiment.

In late May 1943, in the struggle against the enemy's "cannibalization" and defending the wheat harvest, the Qinghe Military Region first launched a battle against the enemy's Sanlizhuang stronghold. Sanlizhuang is located at the junction of the 4 counties of Kenli, Guangrao, Boxing, and Potai (later merged into Boxing County, and some areas were transferred to Guangrao County). enemy stronghold.As early as 1941, the local puppet army in collusion with the Japanese army built a base, drove away the people in the village, built fortifications, built strongholds, and expanded their strength. The team gathered more than 800 people.The fortifications here are relatively strong, with more troops and tight fortifications.Two trenches with a depth of 5 meters and a width of 3 meters were dug around Zhuangzi, and two barbed wire fences were erected, and then a double house wall with a height of 6 meters and a width of 3 meters was built.Corridor-shaped double-layer lanes were built on the wall, and there are dense bunkers in the road. There are gun towers around the wall, equipped with machine guns, forming crossfire.Cheng Jianji brags everywhere that Sanlizhuang is as solid as iron.Together with the Japanese army, he often harassed the anti-Japanese base areas and brutally killed anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians.A year ago, the Eighth Route Army troops stationed in northern Shandong attacked this stronghold three times, but failed.In May of this year, the Japanese and puppets used the Sanlizhuang stronghold as their base again, "nibbling" towards the rear of the base area.The head of the Qinghe Military Region is determined to pull out this nail.

In this battle, all the regiments directly under the military region and a part of the secret service battalion were concentrated as the main attack. In addition, the local armed forces and militia cooperated in the rescue, and the troops had an absolute advantage.The troops conducted tactical and technical training such as blasting, climbing the city, and street fighting, and made full pre-war preparations.Zhang Chongbo, the battalion commander of the second battalion directly under the regiment, and Han Wanyu, the instructor, went to Sanlizhuang to conduct a field survey.The breakthrough was chosen on the east side of Sanlizhuang, and the second battalion was the main attacker. They were required to adopt sharp knife tactics, blast continuously, and pay attention to consolidating the breakthrough.Relying on Shijiakou, the First Battalion of the Directly Subordinate Regiment attacked from the south of Sanlizhuang; the Third Battalion of the Directly Subordinate Regiment deployed to the west and north of Sanlizhuang, ready to annihilate the breakout enemy at any time and block the Japanese reinforcements from the Xujia stronghold in the west.Zheng Dalin, the head of the directly subordinate regiment, and Sun Zheng, the political commissar, went to the company to check the combat readiness. According to the strong fortifications of the stronghold, they decided to strengthen the blasting force.

"Chief, the task of attacking Cheng Jianji, the local snake's lair, is extraordinary. Let me follow the commando team!" The blasting team leader Hou Dengshan volunteered to the team leader Zheng Dalin. The head of the regiment told Hou Dengshan: "We must give full play to our strengths, be a good staff officer for the commando team, and guide them to do a good job in blasting." Before the war, Hou Dengshan came to the Fifth Company of the Second Battalion to take charge of the assault mission, and together with the blasting team of the company, started intense preparations.

At 9:00 pm on May 28 (April 25th in the lunar calendar), the battle started.At the beginning, the directly subordinate regiments attacked the stronghold from all directions. In an instant, Sanlizhuang was like a dynamite depot on fire, with guns roaring and flames soaring into the sky. Under the leadership of the company commander Wang Ziyu, the Fifth Company braved the hail of bullets, first cut off the enemy's barbed wire fence, and cleared the two obstacles of the enemy outside the stronghold.Just as the blasting team was approaching the wall and preparing to blast, the enemy discovered the main attack direction of the regiment directly under it, and immediately strengthened their firepower against the wall in the east of Sanlizhuang.The blasting team encountered the enemy's crazy resistance, and the two team members who carried out the blasting died one after another before they approached the wall.

In the smoke filled with gunpowder, Xu Jiwen, the deputy commander of the fifth company, who was seriously injured, led the blasting team to avoid the enemy's firepower, rolled and leaped, approached the wall with difficulty, and carried out the second blast.Regrettably, the blasting power was too small, and the wall failed to blow up. Xu Jiwen died heroically. Time passed with gunshots.It was more than 3 o'clock in the morning on the 29th, and the gap in the wall still had not been blasted. The main attacking force was anxiously waiting for the opportunity to attack. At this time, the head of the regiment sent a correspondent to the second battalion to convey the instructions of Commander Yang Guofu of the military region to Zhang Battalion Commander: If the stronghold cannot be attacked before dawn, the battle must be temporarily withdrawn.Battalion Commander Zhang knew in his heart that if the Sanlizhuang stronghold was not captured quickly, the Japanese army from the Xujia stronghold in the west would send troops to reinforce them after dawn, which would put the regiment directly under it in an unfavorable situation of being flanked by front and rear.Time is running out.Therefore, Battalion Commander Zhang ordered the Fifth Company: "No matter what, we must blow up the wall before dawn!"

The fifth company commander Wang Ziyu and the instructor Cheng Wuzhi were anxious when they received the order.At the critical moment, they both focused their attention on Hou Dengshan, the captain of the blasting team. Hou Dengshan glanced at Company Commander Wang and Instructor Cheng and said: "According to my observation, the blasting just now was mainly because the support rods were not long enough and the explosive packs were placed too low. Because the bottom of the wall is the thickest, a pack of explosives will not cause a big impact. Function. Next time we blast, we should use two packs of explosives and try to increase the placement height.” Everyone agreed with his analysis.

At this time, Wulian only had two packs of explosives, and it was too late to find a longer support pole, so the situation was extremely grim.At this moment, Hou Dengshan knew that whether the two packs of explosives could exert their power was of great importance.He firmly said: "Company Commander Wang, Instructor Cheng, let me complete this blasting!" After Hou Dengshan finished speaking, he picked up the last two packs of explosives, jumped out of the position, and carried out the crucial blast. The fifth company commander organized the firepower of the whole company to cover Hou Dengshan and approach a single-layer wall to the east of Sanlizhuang.

The cotton wool on the fence was still burning, shining brightly everywhere.The enemy's bullets and grenades poured down from the wall like a storm.After five rounds of fierce fighting, the firepower of the frontal enemy was finally suppressed, but the firepower of the enemies on both sides was still crossing.Hou Dengshan crawled forward in the hail of bullets with two packs of explosives weighing forty to fifty catties.The bullets screamed "chirp" beside him, and every step forward was blocked by the enemy's crossfire.I saw him taking advantage of the terrain, lying down for a while, rolling for a while, approaching the wall step by step.

Hou Dengshan finally approached the wall, and then jumped to the foot of the wall, entering the dead angle of the enemy's shooting.At this time, he quickly pulled out the knife from his body and began to dig a nest on the wall.Then stepping on the dug out foot socket, holding the explosive package, leaning against the wall, struggling to climb up.The wall gets steeper and steeper as it goes up, and the explosives are heavy. If you can't hold it, you are in danger of falling.When he climbed to a height of more than 3 meters, the enemy on the side probably spotted him, and the crossfire of machine guns shot at him, but he was immediately suppressed by the firepower of the fifth company.After the enemy shot at him, he didn't see him move for a few minutes. The comrades thought he was injured, and they all raised their hearts to their throats, staring intently, sweating.After a while, I saw his right hand slowly waving again, trying to dig a small hole in the wall and put the explosives in it.It's a pity that the soil of the wall is hard, and after digging for a while, there is still no room for explosives.

Time passed by second by second, and the comrades at the front were waiting anxiously.At this time, I saw Hou Dengshan put the explosive package on his chest, pressed his chest against the wall tightly, then firmly grasped the dug hole wall with one hand, and pulled the fuse with the other hand.Sparks hissed in his chest.He only heard him shout loudly: "Comrades, go!" With a loud bang, the wall was blasted into a gap more than 3 meters wide.The "bronze wall and iron wall" boasted by the enemy was finally broken by the heroic Eighth Route Army soldiers. The blasting hero Hou Dengshan heroically sacrificed his young life. The vast number of commanders bravely rushed into the Sanlizhuang stronghold along the passage opened by Hou Dengshan with his own body. After a bloody battle, Sanlizhuang was liberated.