Chapter 65 5. The Japanese army entered the ambush circle

The Japanese army that captured Chenzhuang was harassed by the Eighth Route Army all night and was exhausted.The leader of the enemy, Shuiyuan Yizhong, was even more frightened and restless.At this moment, he felt that the purpose of the battle had been achieved, and he could report to his superiors. If he stayed here, he might have more nights and dreams, so he might as well retreat as soon as possible; At dawn on September 28, thick smoke rose from the sky above Chenzhuang, and in an instant, the village of more than 800 households was engulfed in a sea of ​​flames.In response to the Japanese army's action of setting fire to the house, He Long judged that the Japanese army should be preparing to flee back.As expected, in the raging fire, the vanguard of the Japanese army began to withdraw from Chenzhuang.He Long immediately ordered the troops to prepare for battle.

At around 8 o'clock, intensive gunfire came from the direction of Chenzhuang.The scouts reported that the enemy left Chenzhuang and retreated eastward along the main road, and fought with the First Division of the Secret Service in Qizuyuan Village.The news is exciting, the enemy is about to enter the ambush circle.However, half an hour later, a reconnaissance staff officer reported that the main force of the enemy had retreated, left the main road and crossed the Ci River, and there were signs of fleeing along the way they came.The cunning enemy began to play tricks again. Zhang Zongxun, the brigade commander of the 358th Brigade, was very surprised after receiving the report and said: "What a cunning knives expert, you really have a new trick." Immediately reported the situation to Master He Long.After listening to everyone's analysis and report, Master He held a pipe in his hand, took a deep puff of the cigarette, stood up and said confidently: "I am still sure of the original judgment, the enemy did not find our ambush position. Therefore, he walked south along the path The possibility of escaping is very small, and it may be that the water source is playing tricks again." So it was decided to keep the original deployment unchanged, and the main force waited for the enemy at the preset position.But for the sake of prudence, Master He still ordered the 2nd Regiment and the Special Service Regiment to send some troops to the Changyu area to prevent the enemy from really fleeing back the same way.

An hour later, the personnel who went to reconnaissance reported that the enemy's main force had changed direction after crossing the Ci River, using the reeds and woods by the river as cover, and was fleeing eastward along the road on the south bank of the Ci River.The heads of the headquarters all let out a long breath at the same time. After all, the enemy is still coming towards the dead end arranged for him. Seeing the enemy approaching the ambush circle step by step, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army were all gearing up and waiting eagerly. The battle will soon begin!At the beginning, the Japanese army thought that the Eighth Route Army had been fooled by his "new tactics" and transferred the main force to the small road where they came. What they encountered now were just some guerrillas who did not have a climate, so they didn't care.While fighting back, they retreated eastward swaggeringly.When the enemy approached the north side of Diegu Cliff, they encountered fierce resistance from the 1st Battalion of the 716th Regiment.The main force of the 2nd Regiment, which was rushing towards Changyu, also chased after hearing the violent gunshots from here.Only then did the enemy realize that the momentum was wrong and began to lose their footing.When Shui Yuan saw this situation, he almost fell off his horse, and hurriedly commanded the troops to flee eastward.

The Dieguya position held by the 1st Battalion of the 716th Regiment is a protrusion extending towards Cihe.It is like a gate, firmly blocking the way for the enemy to escape to the east. The Eighth Route Army used this terrain to wipe out a large number of the enemy's vital forces. After Shuiyuan discovered this situation, he launched continuous attacks on this position with the strength of 2 squadrons.All the Japanese soldiers wanted to escape for their lives, so they rushed madly with superior firepower. The commanders and fighters of the 1st Battalion responded to the battle calmly, let the enemy approach, and suddenly attacked fiercely. Many of the enemies rushing in front rolled down the mountain.

In this way, the officers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion launched a fierce battle with the enemy, from 9 am to 1 pm. In 4 hours, the Japanese army repelled 4 assaults and fought the enemy 3 times in hand-to-hand combat. The position was as solid as a rock and was firmly in the hands of the Eighth Route Army. The enemy was suppressed by the Eighth Route Army in the river ditch, huddled together in groups, with no place to hide, and it was difficult to exert their firepower superiority. They were running around like ants on a hot pot.At this time, some of the enemy crossed the Cihe River in the north, trying to seize the 268th grade highland on the north side of the Cihe River.The officers and soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 716th Regiment who were lying on the ground suddenly blocked the enemy with fierce firepower. The enemy was caught off guard and fell to death in the mud in batches.The remaining enemies had no choice but to flee back to the south bank of the Ci River in embarrassment.

The enemy failed to break through to the east and north, so they took the saddle between the north and south epiphyllum buildings as a breakthrough in an attempt to break out from there.After the Eighth Route Army found out, they quickly blocked the breakout enemy with rifles and grenades. However, due to the inferior weapons and equipment of the Eighth Route Army, and the troops responsible for the blocking mission came from the flood-stricken area in central Jizhong, many grenades were damp and failed to explode.Therefore, the enemy took the opportunity to escape, and part of the enemy took advantage of the superior firepower to seize the favorable terrain near the South Epiphyllum Tower.Upon seeing this, the Eighth Route Army hurriedly mobilized the troops guarding the North Epiphyllum Building to attack the enemy.However, due to the condescension of the Japanese army, the four or five attacks launched by the Eighth Route Army were unsuccessful.

In the end, under the leadership of Zhang Qin, the commander and instructor of the 10th company, the soldiers carried out an intensive charge.The enemy was terrified and retreated in a panic. Soldiers of the Eighth Route Army took advantage of the situation to chase and kill them bravely, and wiped out the enemy occupying the South Epiphyllum Tower.