Chapter 37 10. Kuandian—the carbine of Taipingshao

In the "Complete Collection of Photos of the Manchuria Incident" preserved by Japan, a battle in which the Chinese resistance forces attacked the Japanese stronghold is almost completely preserved. When connected together, the entire battle scene can be outlined. The battle took place at the Taiping sentry stronghold in eastern Liaoning, which was held by the Japanese army.The combat records of the Japanese army show that on September 8, 1932, about 900 Chinese resistance fighters took the initiative to raid this stronghold of the Japanese army.Judging from the photos kept by the Japanese army, the battle was divided into two stages.In the first stage, after the Japanese garrison was attacked at night, the Japanese army lost some villages due to the fierce attack of the Chinese Resistance Army and setting fire to it.However, the remnants of the Japanese army still relied on the existing positions to resist, and used fortifications to withstand the Chinese attackers who had no heavy weapons until the arrival of reinforcements at dawn.

Since the Japanese army had strong fortifications after all, the battle throughout the night was always stalemate.The fierce battle continued until dawn on the second day, when Japanese reinforcements under the command of Major Higuchi arrived, the Chinese resistance fighters were forced to retreat, but some were captured. Judging from the captured weapons held by the Japanese army in this photo, it is highly suspected that the battle was carried out by the local people's resistance organizations, the Red Gun Association, the Broad Sword Association, or the Lianzhuang Association. Many of these local armed forces participated in the anti-Japanese struggle before and after the fall of the Northeast. Some of the Liaoning People's Self-Defense Army and the Western Liaoning Volunteer Army were adapted from them.

At this point in the battle, it seems that the Japanese army has won.Although there is no record of whether the Japanese army has verified the identity of the attacker, the Japanese army who cleared the Taiping post stayed for a day and left triumphantly. However, the Japanese army never dreamed that on September 10, the Chinese resistance fighters suddenly left and returned, shot a carbine, and took advantage of the Japanese army’s fortifications to be fully repaired, captured Taiping post in one fell swoop, and wiped out the Japanese garrison that was caught off guard. On September 11, Japanese reinforcements arrived in a hurry after hearing the news, but the resistance fighters had already left, and all they saw were ruins.

Sato is a crazy militarist. When the Japanese army attacked the resistance organization in June, he wrote a blood letter requesting to go to the front line, which was appreciated by his superiors.This "model worker" in the Japanese army also went to the Yasukuni Shrine during the Battle of Taiping Post. After investigation, it was found that the base of Taipingshao was located in Kuandian County, Liaoning Province. The road from Dandong to Ji'an passed through this place, which was an important gateway of the so-called "Eastern Road". In the winter of 1931, Yu Zhishan, the guard envoy of Dongbian Road, defected to the enemy, and the local area fell into the enemy's hands.However, the anti-Japanese activities in this area have been surging and have been very intense. On November 26, 1935, Yang Jingyu commanded the teaching regiment of the predecessor of the First Anti-Japanese Army and the First Division of the First Division, and joined forces with the Zuoziyuan Department of the Kuandian Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army to raid here. He fought with the pseudo-police for two hours and was killed. Injured 25 enemies and captured 26. In 1932, Yang Jingyu had not been to Taiping Post for activities.At that time, this was the guerrilla zone where Tang Juwu, the People's Self-Defense Force of Liaoning, and Wang Renzhai Hailong Workers and Peasants Volunteer Army overlapped. Who fought this beautiful battle?

According to the time provided in the photo and the combat characteristics of the attacking Chinese resistance force, it can be basically determined that the Chinese resistance force that attacked Taiping Post belongs to the Liaoning People's Self-Defense Force of the Volunteer Army system, and its commander is the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Liaoning People's Self-Defense Force Zhang Zongzhou and commander of the Fifth Route. Zhang Zongzhou, former head of Huanren County Public Security Bureau, in March 1932, Tang Juwu raised righteousness in Huanren, and Zhang Zongzhou was one of the earliest supporters.The public security force under him was immediately expanded into the Fifth Route of the Liaoning People's Self-Defense Army, and he led his troops to participate in the Battle of Yongdian on June 6 and the Battle of Kanchuanling on July 16. In August, the Self-Defense Forces launched a counter-offensive, and the battle against Taiping Post took place at this time.According to our records, there are more details about this battle.

It turned out that the Taiping sentry stronghold was very important to the Japanese and puppet troops. At that time, it was the station of Jiang Quanwo, the puppet "commander of bandit suppression in the Yalu River area", with hundreds of defenders.The departure of the Japanese troops who came to aid the Japanese was not out of arrogance, but because at that time Zhang Zongzhou was organizing the People's Self-Defense Forces No. 1 Tang Yuzhen Department and No. 7 Guo Jingshan Department to attack Niumaowu, a Japanese and puppet base more than 30 miles away from Taiping Post.This is a large stronghold of the Japanese and puppet troops guarded by more than a thousand people, and the Self-Defense Forces cannot capture it for a while.But the defending enemy was very frightened, and repeatedly called for help from the surrounding Japanese and puppet troops.So more than 200 people from the Higuchi troops of the Japanese army rushed to rescue the siege. Jiang Quanwo also mobilized three companies with hundreds of troops, armed with light and heavy machine guns, and sent out mortars. Only more than 40 defenders remained at Taiping Post.After detecting this situation, Zhang Zongzhou's Department immediately dispatched some troops to attack Taiping Post twice on the 11th, took this stronghold, killed and injured more than 20 enemies, and the rest of the enemy troops were all captured and seized a large amount of supplies.The Self-Defense Forces burned all the materials that could not be taken away, so as not to be used by the enemy.

It seems that the photos of the Japanese army describe the process of Zhang Zongzhou's attack on the Taiping post. A group of people with lofty ideals who generously went to righteousness, a wonderful and classic return to the carbine, the young commander ran away, and the army ran away, but these little traces of history prove that the Chinese in the black land of that era did not bow their heads.