Chapter 10 9. The Japanese army was severely beaten by the Eighth Route Army

The Japanese army was mighty and mighty, and they didn't take the Eighth Route Army seriously, because they completely believed in their own strength and could drive straight into it. On September 25th, just after dawn, the 21st Brigade of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army took more than 100 vehicles and carried more than 200 carts of baggage, a total of more than 1,000 people, along the road from Lingqiu to Pingxingguan. Row. The soldiers of the 115th Division watched the road vigilantly from the ambush position.After nearly a night of marching in the rain, although they were quite tired, no one felt sleepy.Before the battle, everyone was both nervous and excited.They first heard the sound of a motor coming from a distance, and then they could vaguely see the shadow of the enemy's car.The car got closer and closer, only to find that there was a long carriage behind the car.I saw a "plaster flag" on the first car, and dozens of Japanese soldiers were sitting there, wearing shiny helmets and yellow woolen coats, holding rifles with bayonets in their arms.

The 115th Division is responsible for the main operation of the ambush is the two regiments of the 343rd Brigade. It is the 685th regiment that performs head-stopping and flanking missions.The regiment was originally the main force of the Red Army, and the three battalions under its jurisdiction have a glorious history. The 1st Battalion was brought out by Boss Zhu from the Nanchang Uprising, the 2nd Battalion followed Mao Zedong to participate in the Autumn Harvest Uprising and went to Jinggangshan, and the 3rd Battalion was the foundation of the 3rd Red Army led by Huang Gonglue. The soldiers stared wide-eyed at the Japanese devils entering the ambush area, loaded their bayonets, and filled the barrels with bullets; the machine gun shooters aimed their machine guns at the Japanese devils, and only waited for the commander to give an order. Down.

At about 7 o'clock, the enemy all entered the ambush area of ​​the 115th Division.Due to the narrow roads and muddy roads after the rain, the enemy's vehicles, men and horses were crowded and moved very slowly.The 685th regiment seized the favorable opportunity and gave a head-on interception, which disrupted the enemy's formation first.The cars at the front of the Japanese army were damaged and caught fire, and the cars, carts, mules and horses at the back were crowded together and couldn't move.The Japanese army was stunned by the sudden ambush, jumped out of the car and scattered around.

But Itagaki's 21st Brigade is worthy of being the elite of the "Great Japanese Imperial Army" and has undergone rigorous training.Soon they woke up from the panic, and their arrogant, vicious, vicious and cruel natures began to show up. The commander held up his saber and screamed desperately, and the soldiers who hid under the car climbed out and desperately climbed up the mountain, trying to occupy the commanding heights . At this time, Yang Dezhi, the head of the 685 regiment, immediately sent a messenger to convey an order to the battalions: "No devils are allowed to occupy the commanding heights nearby!"

As a result, the 685th regiment launched a fierce battle with the enemy for the commanding heights. The 686th regiment is the main force of the flank attack.According to Li Tianyou's post-war recollections, their regiment launched an attack almost simultaneously with the 685th regiment.As soon as the battle began, they overwhelmed the enemy who was congested on the road.Subsequently, according to the instructions of the division command post, Li Tianyou ordered the 3rd Battalion to attack Laoye Temple and seize the commanding height of Laoye Temple. In the valley, the sound of killing shook the sky.Commanders and fighters of the Eighth Route Army bravely rushed to the road.But the enemy is fierce after all, and the marksmanship is also very accurate.Regardless of casualties, the enemy used cars and ditches to resist, and machine guns rattled.Li Tianyou saw through the binoculars that the firepower of the Eighth Route Army could not suppress the enemy's firepower, and the soldiers who rushed forward fell down one by one.However, the soldiers of the 686 regiment continued to attack one after another.But the Japanese army was really tenacious. After a while, some of the enemy had already occupied Laoye Temple, and the situation was very unfavorable for the 686 regiment.

The attack on the enemy continued, and the soldiers fell one after another.Whenever a soldier means sacrifice, especially at such an emergency, one cannot be afraid of sacrifice.Li Tianyou gritted his teeth and ordered the 3rd Battalion again: "3rd Battalion Commander, don't be afraid of casualties! Rush forward, we must take Laoye Temple!" "Yes! Guaranteed to complete the task!" Zhou Haibin, commander of the 3rd Battalion, replied firmly. "Old Li, leave the matter in the command post to you, and I will go up with the 3rd Battalion." Yang Yong, the deputy head of the 686th Regiment who had just returned to the regiment headquarters, said to Li Tianyou, and then rushed towards Laoye Temple with the 3rd Battalion go.

Subsequently, Li Tianyou organized the flanking company to step up the attack to attract the enemy's firepower to support the charge of the 3rd Battalion. Gunpowder smoke filled the ravine, and the noise was deafening. The commanders and fighters of the 3rd Battalion got into the smoke, ran forward, crawled forward, rolled forward, and finally rushed to the road to start hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.I saw the butt of the gun flying up and down, and the big knife was shining coldly.The soldiers fought bravely without fear in the face of powerful enemies. While the 3rd Battalion launched an attack on the Laoye Temple enemy, Li Tianyou ordered Wang Peigen, the deputy company commander of the 12th Company, to lead a platoon to seize the small Tudi Temple at the corner of the east road, control a favorable position, and attack the following Japanese convoy.

Wang Peigen rushed over with 12 companies and 3 rows, occupied the small earth temple, and stopped more than 80 carts from Laoye temple to Xingzhuang.Although the Japanese fought very tenaciously, they didn't seem to understand the characteristics of mountain warfare. Except for a small force to seize Laoye Temple, most of the other enemies were always crowded on the road and passively beaten. Part of the troops of the 686 regiment rushed across the road and went straight to Laoye Temple on the west side of the road.In this way, with the active support of the 2nd Battalion, the 3rd Battalion finally occupied the commanding height of Laoye Temple.

After occupying Laoye Temple, the 686 regiment attacked the enemy condescendingly from both sides of the road, so that the enemy had nowhere to hide.At this time, the enemy commander woke up suddenly and realized his tactical mistake. He immediately swung his knife and shouted, commanding the troops to compete for the commanding height of Laoye Temple.However, since the two sides were in a stalemate in close combat, the enemy's cannons and fast cavalry were all useless, and the firepower advantage could not be brought into play.The Eighth Route Army was condescending and severely attacked the Japanese army.

The enemy rushed up and immediately collapsed.Then rush up, and then fall down again. The enemy attacked again and again, and more and more Japanese troops gathered under Laoye Temple, with five or six hundred people. At this time, the enemy's planes also came to join in the fun, circling at low altitude, looking for opportunities.However, the two warring parties were very close, and the enemy planes did not dare to drop bombs easily. The battle continued until 1 p.m., when the 687 regiment attacked from behind, and the enemy's rear tail suddenly became chaotic.It turned out that the 687th regiment divided and surrounded the enemy's tail troops in the Caijiayu and Xigou village areas, and seized the high ground on the north side of Hanjiawan, cutting off the enemy's retreat.The divided enemy attempted to flee north, but was annihilated by the 687 regiment in the northeast of Caijiayu.Subsequently, the 687 regiment turned south to cooperate with the 343 brigade to fight.

At this time, Lin Biao, the commander of the 115th Division, realized that the time had come for a full-scale attack, so he ordered the troops to launch an attack immediately.The troops occupying both sides of the road quickly launched an attack, and quickly wiped out the enemies between Laoye Temple and Xingzhuang in the ravine. In the process of annihilating the enemies of Laoyemiao and Xiaozhai Village, in order to rescue the besieged accomplices, some of the enemies who occupied Dongpaochi returned to help, but were stopped by the 685th regiment.The head of the 5th Division, Banyuan, urgently ordered his troops in Yuxian County and Laiyuan to reinforce Pingxingguan, but the reinforcements were blocked by the 115th Division Independent Regiment and the Cavalry Battalion in the area north and east of Lingqiu, and in the area beyond Lingqiu. More than 300 people were killed and injured at Dongzhi Yaozhan. The enemy who was surrounded from Xiaozhai Village to Laoye Temple, under the cover of 6 planes, stormed Laoye Temple and the nearby high ground again, but failed.The 686th regiment concentrated all its strength, and with the cooperation of the friendly and neighboring forces on both wings, all the besieged enemies were wiped out.By 13:00 that day, the battle ended victoriously.