Chapter 57 7. 120 Master Qiao Bro.net

Qihui Village is a relatively large village on the Jizhong Plain, with more than 400 households and nearly 2,000 people. A north-south street runs through the village, with tall and sturdy houses on both sides.There are woods, cemeteries and hills on the west, south and north sides of the village. The terrain is complex and easy to defend but difficult to attack. The east of the village is flat, with a wide view and strong houses, which is also conducive to defense. In order to complete the task assigned by the head of the division and resolutely hold back the enemy, the warriors of the 3rd Battalion of the 716th Regiment, under the leadership of the battalion commander Wang Xiangfa, rushed to repair the fortifications overnight.In order to fight flexibly, the commanders and fighters worked together to open up the courtyards of each house, and used long wooden boards and ladders to frame the roofs between the roofs, so that many houses were connected together.Looking at Qihui Village, which was about to become an unassailable and indestructible fortress, Battalion Commander Wang Xiangfa gradually calmed down his nervousness, and couldn't help thinking of the scene when he participated in the division's combat meeting.

After confirming that the 3rd Battalion will be responsible for the task of holding on to Qihui Village and holding back the enemy, Master He Long said to Commander Wang with a serious expression: "This mission is different from usual. It is for you to learn from Sun Xingzhe and get into the enemy's stomach. Hold on tight to the enemy." Objectively speaking, the task undertaken by the 3rd Battalion this time is indeed not light. The opponent not only has an advantage in strength and equipment, but is also known for being "brutal".However, Wang Xiangfa's confidence was greatly enhanced when he saw the high fighting enthusiasm and ready positions of the entire battalion commanders and fighters.

As expected, on the morning of the 23rd, the Yoshida Brigade rushed towards Qihui Village aggressively.After crossing the Guyang River, at about 9 o'clock, they occupied the Southern Qi Cao and Northern Qi Cao areas, and then swept towards Qihui Village with machine guns and mountain cannons like a storm, and then launched an attack with the main force, surrounding Qihui Village. . Relying on the fortifications and houses built, the warriors of the 3rd Battalion rose up to fight and held on tenaciously, repelling the Japanese attacks time and time again, causing heavy casualties to the enemy.Yoshida became furious, first ordered the burning of houses, then ordered the release of poison gas on Qihui Village, and finally attracted several planes to bomb Qihui Village indiscriminately, trying to wipe out the 3rd Battalion in the village in one fell swoop.Immediately, gunpowder smoke enveloped the entire Qihui Village and filled the sky above the plain.

On the one hand, Wang Xiangfa instructed the companies to pay attention to guarding against the enemy's poisonous gas, and on the other hand, he ordered the companies to pull their troops up to the roof to closely monitor the enemy, in order to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the situation and attacking the village. In previous battles, the 3rd Battalion also encountered poisonous gas from the enemy.After summing up experience, a set of local methods for preventing enemy poisonous gas has been developed.Seeing the enemy in front of them, they released poison gas again. Some blocked their nostrils with garlic, and some covered their mouths with wet towels, and continued to fight.

At this time, the battle for the position at the head of the village intensified.The enemy used the heavy machine gun position on the stone bridge in the south of the village and the artillery position next to the Earth Temple in the northwest corner to form crossfire and cut off the connection between the 3rd Battalion and the outside. In order to assist the 3rd Battalion, He Long, the commander of the 120th Division, urgently ordered the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 716th Regiment and the 7th Company of the 715th Regiment to attack the enemy's flanks from the northeast and southeast directions of Qihui respectively, and cooperate with the 3rd Battalion to attack the enemy. contact, hold off the attacking enemy.The Yoshida Brigade was forced to retreat to the edge of Qihui Village under the internal and external attack of the participating troops of the 716th and 715th Regiments. Relying on the favorable terrain to resist the village houses, the 7th Company of the 715th Regiment broke into the village and joined the 3rd Battalion of the 716th Regiment.

At this time, the enemy and the enemy had already formed a crisscross situation. The troops of Yoshida's brigade were killed and wounded, and corpses were strewn all over the field. Enter Lu Gongbao's reinforcements. However, Yoshida didn't know that his reinforcements had already been beaten to pieces by the blocking troops arranged by He Long, and fled back to their old nest. On the 23rd, when the Qihui of the Yoshida Brigade launched an attack, in order to cooperate with its actions, more than 300 enemies of Renqiu also began to move in the direction of Qihui, and entered the vicinity of Majiawu. They were forced to withdraw to Renqiu because of their tenacious resistance; the more than 200 enemies of Dacheng were also hit head-on by the 3rd division troops in central Jizhong when they entered the Daguang'an area; The constant harassment, did not dare to move out at all.

So far, the Yoshida Brigade has been completely isolated.In order to prevent the enemy of the Qihui from escaping by night, He Long decided to surround and annihilate the enemy immediately.Ordered the 716th Regiment of the 2nd Independent Brigade to attack the enemy in the northeast and outside of Qihui Village. The 3rd Battalion of the Regiment and the 7th Company of the 715th Regiment counterattacked from the inside of the village and flanked the enemy from inside and outside; ordered the 4th Regiment to advance to Sigong west of Qihui Set up an ambush in the village, and a part of the 5th Regiment set up an ambush near Zhangzhuang, preparing to cooperate with the pursuit troops to annihilate the enemy who may retreat to the west. The 715th Regiment of the Brigade and a part of the 2nd Regiment set up ambushes near Liugu Temple, East and West Baoche, coordinated with the pursuit forces to wipe out the enemies who might retreat to the south, and guarded in the direction of Hejian to block the enemies who might reinforce.

At 20 o'clock on the 23rd, after the troops arrived at the designated positions, the 716th regiment immediately launched a fierce attack on the enemy of the alignment meeting.In an instant, the sounds of gunfire, artillery and shouts of killing around Qihui Village were intertwined, deafening and piercing the quiet night sky. Relying on the fortifications along the village and some houses, the Yoshida Brigade fought fiercely with the Eighth Route Army until dawn on the 24th.At this time, Yoshida saw that there was no hope of reinforcements, so he had to lead the remnants of the defeated soldiers to retreat in the direction of Macun. The 716 regiment immediately followed and launched a pursuit.

At that time, the 715 regiment happened to set up ambushes in the east and west Baoche. After learning the news of the enemy fleeing south, it immediately seized Macun with a force.Seeing that the road to escape to the south was blocked, Yoshida led the remnant soldiers to flee eastward.However, the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Independent Brigade seized Nanliulu Village before the enemy, and the road for the Yoshida Brigade to escape to the east was also blocked.At this time, the 716th regiment also chased the fleeing enemy and entered the Sunzhuang, Liuzhuang, and Lizhaozhuang areas, and attacked the enemy's rear violently at 9 o'clock.Yoshida hurriedly ordered a group of Japanese invaders to seize the search camp to resist, cover the main force to attack Nanliu Road, in an attempt to seize the road and break through.

The warriors of the 3rd Regiment fought bravely relying on the village of Nanliulu, repelling multiple attacks of the enemy in a row.Seeing that he could not break out of the encirclement, Yoshida led the remnant troops to flee back to the area between Nanliu Road and Zhaoziying, trying to rely on the woods and ditch to defend against being wiped out, so as to wait for the opportunity and find a good way to break out of the encirclement. In the Zhaoziying area, the terrain is relatively flat, and the remnants of the enemy occupy the houses and woods in the village. It would be difficult for the Eighth Route Army to attack during the day, so the head of the 120th Division decided to attack day and night, and redeployed the troops: the 715th Regiment of the Independent 1st Brigade Attacking from Sunzhuang and Liuzhuang to the enemy in Chaoziying and the east of the village, the 2nd Regiment attacked southward from Beiliu Road, and the 3rd Regiment attacked westward from Nanliu Road; part of the 716th Regiment of the Independent 2nd Brigade occupied Zhangcao, Cut off the enemy's escape route to the south; the 1st Regiment of the Independent 1st Brigade is in the Hou'an and Xiaowangzhuang areas, and the 5th Regiment of the Independent 2nd Brigade is in Majiawu, blocking the enemy reinforcements from Dacheng, Lugongbao, and Renqiu respectively, ensuring that the main force is wiped out Enemy under siege.The 4th Regiment and a part of the 5th Regiment originally set up in Sigong Village and Zhangzhuang retreated to the reclining Buddha Hall and Hexinzhuang area to wait for standby.