Chapter 101 9. Peng Dehuai proposed the "Hundred Regiments War"

At 22:00 on the evening of August 20, 1940, all the corps launched a unified attack.At dawn, good news came from various ministries: the Chen Geng brigade of the 129th Division's Zuoji assault team captured Lujiazhuang in the west of Shouyang, with 4 Lianke blockhouses. All railways and bridges within 10 miles to the west were destroyed.6 light machine guns and more than 60 rifles were seized. Yang Chengwu of the 115th Division wiped out more than 200 enemies in the strongholds of Luling, Beiyu, and Beidu. The railways, bridges, bunkers, and wires in the stronghold were destroyed, and more than 10,000 people participated in the attack.The central column has completely occupied the famous Jingxing Coal Mine, annihilating hundreds of enemies, and blowing up all the mine machinery; Guo Tianmin, the right column, is attacking Tianxian Niangziguan;

He Long commanded the 120th Division to attack across the Tongpu Railway in Yangqu, Xinxian, Shuoxian, and Ningwu sections. In the evening, he called the headquarters: Zhang Zongxun's brigade gathered to annihilate Jingle Dongkangjiahui to defend the enemy, killed more than 200 enemies, and captured more than ten Japanese soldiers , seized a lot... Peng Dehuai has been waiting patiently at the headquarters, and he is excited and gratified by the good news he keeps receiving. From the evening of the 21st to the 22nd, the staff at the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army became even more busy. Liu Bocheng and Nie Rongzhen continued to report on the raids of various assault regiments on Zhengtai Road several times in succession. The leaders of the troops who cooperated with Zhengtai Road's assault campaign also called one after another to report the results of their assault.

The battle progressed smoothly, with frequent news of success. The railways and main roads of Zhengtai, Tongpu, Baijin, Pinghan, Pingsui, Jinpu, Beining, and the main roads of the enemy soon became "ridden with holes". After lunch on the 22nd, Peng Dehuai and Zuo Quan listened to Wang Zhengzhu, the chief of the operations section, report on the battle situation in the war room.When Peng Dehuai asked about the actual strength of the Eighth Route Army participating in the battle, Wang Zhengzhu replied in a loud voice: "There are 30 regiments on the Zhengtai line, 15 regiments on the section from Lugouqiao to Handan on the Pinghan line, 12 regiments on the section from Datong to Hongdong on the Tongpu line, and 4 regiments on the Jinpu line from Tianjin to Dezhou... A total of 105 regiments participated in the battle."

Before Wang Zhengzhu finished speaking, Chief of Staff Zuo Quan said first, "Okay! This is a battle of hundreds of regiments. The combat department must check the numbers carefully." Peng Dehuai said qualitatively: "No matter how many regiments there are, this battle should be called the Battle of Hundred Regiments." In the telegram sent to the corps and reported to the Central Military Commission that afternoon, the name "Hundred Regiments War" was first used: "I used about a hundred regiments in the Battle of Zhengtai, and the battle started on the evening of the 20th. The victory in the prologue has already been achieved. This battle is named the 'Hundred Regiments Battle'. We should intensify the expansion of publicity. In addition to the special telegrams sent to Chongqing to Jiang He, Chen Xu, Xi’an to the General Office, and Yan’an, there are daily broadcasts of battle situations and papers. I hope to pay attention to receiving them so as to expand publicity in a unified way.”

The translated texts received in Yan'an were sent directly to the leaders: Mao Zedong, Wang Jiaxiang, Zhu De...