Chapter 11 3. Loyal and brave warrior—General Yang Yong

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and went to the forefront of the Anti-Japanese War.Officers of the Red Army were generally "demoted and used". Yang Yong, the former political commissar of the 4th Red Division, served as the deputy head of the 686th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. It is the best tradition of the Red Army to be able to go up and down in a position; everything is subject to the overall situation, which is the excellent moral character of a revolutionary soldier.At the critical moment of national peril, Yang Yong, like all Red Army officers and soldiers, rushed to the forefront of the Anti-Japanese War without hesitation.

In August 1937, Yang Yong and Li Tianyou, the head of the 686 regiment, led the troops to Lingqiu to stop the Japanese invasion. On the way in, Yang Yong saw many Kuomintang officers and soldiers who had fled from the front line. He stopped a soldier and wanted to know the situation of the Japanese army ahead. He only heard the Kuomintang soldier keep saying that the Japanese army was too powerful. Ask him how powerful the Japanese soldiers are, but he can't say a word. It turns out that he just heard others say that the Japanese soldiers are powerful, but he hasn't even seen the shadow of the Japanese soldiers.Asked other soldiers, the same situation.Such an incompetent Kuomintang army made Yang Yong angry and anxious.

Since the Kuomintang army retreated without a fight, the 115th Division had not yet arrived at Lingqiu, and Lingqiu had already been captured by the Japanese army.Therefore, the 115th Division is determined to use the favorable terrain of Pingxingguan to carry out an ambush battle to ambush the Japanese army, inspire the anti-Japanese spirit of the people across the country, and boost the morale of the anti-Japanese army!The task of the 686th regiment where Yang Yong belonged was to set up an ambush near Laoye Temple. On the evening of September 23, under the leadership of Li Tianyou and Yang Yong, the troops set off.After a quick march, he arrived at Ranzhuang, about 15 kilometers away from Pingxingguan, and settled down that night.After in-depth pre-war preparations and mobilization, the commanders and fighters understood the significance of fighting the first battle against the Japanese army. Everyone prepared earnestly and with high spirits. The devil is a little bit more powerful.

After Yang Yong and Li Tianyou arranged for the troops to rest, they also wanted to take the time to rest. They hadn't had a good rest for two days, but they couldn't fall asleep lying on the bunks. Yang Yong glanced at Li Tianyou, who was tossing and turning, and jokingly said, "I've experienced many battles, why are you still so nervous!" Although he said this, he knew very well in his heart that his mood was different. "Not nervous".Li Tianyou turned to face Yang Yong and said, "It's the first time we're fighting the Japanese devils, so don't think it's incomplete, and we'll miss it."

"Yeah, this first match is very important. Our victory will have an impact on the whole country. We must not make any mistakes!" Li Tianyou and Yang Yong exchanged some opinions and thought of some things to pay attention to.Maybe it was because he was too tired, while Yang Yong was talking, he heard Li Tianyou's snoring, and fell asleep unconsciously. The night became darker, and the troops set off on time.In order to move concealedly, the route of travel is a narrow path that is difficult to walk.As we walked, it began to rain heavily.The flood was flowing, the troops did not have rain gear, and the gray uniforms worn by the soldiers were soaked by the rain.On the rugged mountain road, everyone is struggling to move forward, rushing forward desperately!

A mountain stream in front turned into a roaring river.In order to cross the river safely, Yang Yong asked everyone to hang guns and bullets around their necks, hold hands and wade across. After a difficult march, the troops arrived at the ambush on time.By this time the sky was getting brighter and the rain had stopped.The troops entered a ravine to hide. Submarines attack far away, the most important thing is concealment.In order to hide well, they could neither walk nor make fire. The soldiers' wet clothes were all baked by their own body temperature. In order to win the battle, everyone gritted their teeth and endured all difficulties.

The troops were on standby, and the commander seized the time to observe and understand various situations.Li Tianyou and Yang Yong lay on a dirt slope, looking around.Li Tianyou held up the telescope to observe for a while and handed it to Yang Yong.Yang Yong took over the binoculars and observed for a while, then said to Li Tianyou: "The army is well concealed. If you want to catch cunning beasts, you must be good at concealment." He looked around, and then said, "This is really an ambush. The enemy's good place, you see, the terrain is narrow and long, the road is high and steep, and it is difficult to climb up, and our side is low and small, so it is easy to hide. It is good for attacking, and it is a godsend for me to wipe out the enemy's battlefield!"

Li Tianyou nodded and said: "Now we have drawn our nets and stretched our pockets. The 687th regiment is on the east side, and the 685th regiment is on the west side. We just wait for the enemy to come. When the time comes, when the attack order is given, they will behead and tail, and we will hold them in the middle." Seriously, the devil grate is doomed." Speaking of this, Li Tianyou frowned slightly, and pointed to the opposite hill: "The disadvantage is that the goal of Laoye Temple is too obvious, and we can't ambush us on the hill over there, we can only go to seize it after the battle starts. Already!"

When the sun was about ten feet above the mountain, the sound of a motor came from the valley. As the sound became louder, someone whispered, "Look, it's coming!" Looking into the distance, Yang Yong vaguely saw more than 100 vehicles carrying Japanese soldiers and military supplies in front, more than 200 carts and mules, horses and artillery teams behind, followed by cavalry.Cars whistling and horses neighing, all in a frenzy.As the convoy got closer, one could clearly see the Japanese soldiers wearing steel helmets and carrying guns on their backs, chattering and arrogant.

Yang Yong observed his troops, and the surroundings were very peaceful.The soldiers held the weapons in their hands tightly, opened their eyes wide, and rushed out after hearing an order. While the soldiers were eagerly waiting, the division headquarters at the south hill of Shihuigou finally sent out a signal to attack the enemy. Suddenly, the half of the mountain where the troops were ambushing, roared everywhere, and the sound of killing shook the sky. The sound of machine guns, rifles, grenades, and mortars filled the hills.All kinds of weapons fired at the enemy together.Because they all shot at the optimal distance, the hit rate was very high, and the lethality was extremely strong, and the Japanese army immediately fell down a large area.

The warriors of the Eighth Route Army immediately launched a charge to the enemy, fighting from the hillside, from the side of the road to the road, and to the enemy... The Sakagaki Division of the Japanese army was a well-trained unit. Although it was attacked suddenly, it was a bit confused at first, but it soon came to its senses. Its commander immediately organized the troops to use cars and ravines to resist, and at the same time commanded some people to seize the master Temple Heights. Li Tianyou had already thought of the enemy's move, and he immediately ordered the 3rd Battalion: "Don't be afraid of casualties, we must take Laoye Temple!" "Guaranteed to complete the task!" The 3rd Battalion Commander led a group of soldiers and rushed out. "Old Li, you are in charge here, I will go with the 3rd Battalion!" Yang Yong rushed forward with the 3rd Battalion before Li Tianyou could reply. In the ravine, the sound of guns rumbled, the smoke filled the air, and the sound of killing shook the sky. The officers and soldiers of the 3rd Battalion walked through the hail of bullets. They crossed the ravine and rushed onto the road. Instead of entangled with the enemies on the road, they just rushed to Laoye Temple.As soon as the troops arrived near Laoye Temple, they started hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.The warriors wrestled with the enemy, and saw the butts of their guns flying, the lights of their knives gleaming, and the sound of killing was deafening.This was the first time that soldiers of the Eighth Route Army fought against the Japanese devils. Facing a strong enemy, they fought bravely with one against ten without fear. While the 3rd Battalion was attacking the enemy, Li Tianyou ordered the deputy company commander of the 12th Company to lead his subordinates to seize a land temple at the corner of the east road, control the favorable terrain, and block the following enemy convoy. The 12th company paralyzed the enemy's carts at both ends, and all the carts in the middle were stuck there and could not move. On this side, Yang Yong commanded the 3rd Battalion to occupy Laoye Temple, condescending, and using favorable terrain to severely attack the enemy. Suddenly, Yang Yong felt a force coming and threw him to the ground.He tried to get up, but his left arm couldn't move. The guard screamed: "Deputy commander, you are injured!" Yang Yong sternly stopped: "Stop shouting, a small injury is nothing!" He asked the guards to take out the first aid kit, bandaged the wound briefly, and immediately went to command the battle.This time, it was the second time he was injured after joining the army. After our army occupied Laoye Temple, the enemies in the ditch were scurrying all over the ground, with nowhere to hide.The commander of the Japanese army saw that the troops were rushing from left to right and it was difficult to get out of the net. Knowing the importance of the commanding height of Laoye Temple, he organized hundreds of devils to attack up the mountain in a dense formation.The devil's attacks were repelled time and time again. Japanese planes came to help in the battle, buzzing and circling close to the top of the mountain.Faced with the melee in the ravine, the Japanese planes did not dare to drop bombs, for fear of blowing up their own people.Since the invasion of China, they have never seen such a brave army as the Eighth Route Army.The fighting lasted until 1 pm that day, and our army finally wiped out all the Japanese troops between Xingzhuang and Laoye Temple.More than 1,000 corpses of Japanese soldiers were left on the valley road more than ten miles long. The victory at Pingxingguan was China's first major victory since the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War.It shattered the myth that the Japanese invaders were invincible and inspired the enthusiasm of the entire Chinese people for the War of Resistance. The significance of this victory is extremely far-reaching. As the leader of the main attacking regiment, Yang Yong took the lead and was a model soldier.