Chapter 56 6. The ace army of the Japanese invaders marched towards Hejian

In April 1939, it was the Qingming Festival, and the Jizhong Plain was bright and beautiful.However, the situation in Jizhong is still quite grim. Since the 120th Division rushed to aid Jizhong, although it has won four battles and won four victories, together with the troops in Jizhong, it broke the enemy's 3rd, 4th, and 5th sieges. On the Jizhong Plain, there are many enemy strongholds, densely covered with artillery towers, and the distance between each stronghold is only 10 to 20 kilometers, and the Eighth Route Army's maneuvering area has been greatly reduced.The enemy cobbled together puppet regimes everywhere, promoted "law and order and rectification", and relying on strongholds, they often came out to grab food, arrest civilians, coerce the masses to level roads, build roads, and gather troops from time to time to comb and pull nets to carry out "mopping up" operations in an attempt to The Eighth Route Army should be wiped out or driven out of the plains before Qingsha tents set up, so as to ensure the safety of the important places such as Ping and Tianjin and the railway transportation lines such as Jinpu and Pinghan that it occupied.Its aggression is very arrogant.

On April 20th, the trump card army of the Japanese invaders - more than 800 people from the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the 27th Division, and dozens of puppet troops, according to Sugiyama Motoshin's instructions, took two mountain cannons and took more than 50 vehicles. Drove aggressively towards the river. This group of Japanese invaders once participated in the battle of attacking Nanjing. Because of their meritorious service in the bloodbath of Nanjing, the whole team got a "medal" each.Captain Ji Tian had never tasted the power of the Eighth Route Army before, and he did not take the Eighth Route Army seriously because of his outstanding "merit". On April 22, the Yoshida Brigade was stationed in Hejian for only two days, and it was mobilized in an attempt to find the Eighth Route Army in Central Jizhong.

In mid-to-late April, Commander He Long led the 120th Division to cross the Zhulong River eastward in Anguo, Boye, and Lixian areas. heart area.In order to strengthen the leadership of the Jizhong Anti-Japanese Armed Forces, form a fist, and work together to defeat the enemy, according to the instructions of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China and the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, the troops of the 120th Division and the two Jizhong Anti-Japanese Armed Forces of Wei Daguang and Gao Shiyi were reorganized and jointly organized. It was organized into the 1st Independent Brigade and the 2nd Independent Brigade of the 120th Division (the 1st Brigade governs the 715th Regiment, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Regiment; the 2nd Brigade governs the 716th Regiment, 4th and 5th Regiment).

On the afternoon of April 22, the military and civilians in the Central Hebei base area were gathering at the square outside Dazhu Village to celebrate the joint compilation meeting.Suddenly, the scouts sent information about the East Criminal of the Yoshida Brigade. Master He Long, who was presiding over the meeting, immediately said loudly after receiving the information: "Comrades! Folks! The devils in Hejian have dispatched and sent us gifts! We want the army and the people to unite, mobilize, and crush the enemy again. Let's fight a big victory to celebrate our co-editing conference!"

After the meeting, the troops immediately entered into intense combat preparations. He Long held a combat meeting overnight at the headquarters of Dazhu Village to analyze and judge the enemy's situation and deploy combat tasks.Judging from various circumstances at the time, "The Japanese invaders in Hejian have not yet figured out where the main force of our 120th Division is. With the support of the enemy of Gongbao, the main force of our 120th Division was wiped out." "According to the latest information obtained, the Japanese invaders are likely to launch an attack on our Qihui Village area from the west and north on the 23rd. The enemy The situation is unknown, and there are not many Japanese and puppet troops in the surrounding strongholds that can cooperate with them. However, my 120th Division has concentrated the strength of 7 regiments here, and has the cooperation of the 27th Battalion of the 3rd Division. The situation is very favorable. Therefore, it is certain to seize the opportunity and concentrate our forces to wipe out the enemy all the way."

Based on the above judgment, the head of the 120th Division was determined to "occupy Qihui Village with a small force, use the favorable terrain around Qihui Village and the houses and lanes in the village to hold back the Yoshida Brigade who was eager to find our main force, and concentrate the main force to annihilate the enemy."