Chapter 17 3. Attack and then attack

Pang Bingxun's 3rd Army has an army under its jurisdiction, namely the 40th Army, and Pang Bingxun concurrently serves as the commander.The military headquarters is a Type B establishment, directly under a special service battalion, a 39th division, and the division commander Ma Fawu.The division governs two infantry brigades, the 115th brigade and the 116th brigade, as well as one supplementary regiment, one battalion each for artillery, engineering, logistics, and communications, and 300 cavalry. A team of 13,000 people, led by Pang Bingxun, marched to Linyi in mighty strength. After the 3rd Army arrived in Linyi, it immediately organized staff officers at all levels to inspect the surrounding terrain, and held a joint meeting of officers above the battalion and staff to study the enemy's situation and formulate offensive and defensive methods.After determining the initial combat plan, the 116th Brigade built a front-line position along the line from Tangtou to Gegou, and built the main position from the east bank of the Shunyi River from Baita to the south to the Yujiuqu line.

Pang Bingxun felt that this was not enough. Chief Li Zongren handed over the task of guarding Linyi to the 3rd Army, which was a heavy burden.Linyi is only 90 kilometers away from Taierzhuang. If Linyi falls, then Xuzhou will definitely not be able to keep it.So, he thought about it again, and ordered the staff to go to the mountainous area west of Linyi to scout out the favorable terrain in that place.When Linyi really could not be defended, he prepared to lead his troops to carry out guerrilla warfare against the Japanese army in the western mountainous area, trying to trap the Japanese army in the area of ​​Linyi, and never let a single soldier pass through Linyi.

During the Anti-Japanese War, Pang Bingxun seemed to be a different person. He wanted to write a magnificent chapter in the second half of his life with his patriotic enthusiasm and blood, and establish a real image of Pang Bingxun for the people of the country. The 3rd Army was stationed in Linyi. The 40th Army Headquarters and the 39th Division Division Headquarters are stationed at the Provincial Third Rural Normal School in Nanguan, surrounded by four battalions of artillery, engineers, supplies, and communications; There is a cavalry unit; Li Yuntong's 116th brigade is stationed in the Zhugecheng area in the north of the city; Li Zhenqing's supplementary regiment is stationed near Chengguan.

Also stationed in Linyi County was the Office of the Third Inspectorate of the Kuomintang at that time. Commissioner Zhang Liyuan had a security team under him.This security regiment is very effective, and its weapons and equipment exceed those of Pang Bingxun's regular army. When Pang Bingxun arrived in Linyi City, Commissioner Zhang Liyuan received a telegram from Li Zongren in the Fifth War Zone that the Linyi Security Regiment was under the command and deployment of General Pang.Pang Bingxun arranged for a security team to be stationed in the county to maintain law and order, keeping it as a reserve team.

As soon as Pang Bingxun arranged the defense, there was a reconnaissance intelligence report, saying that there were more than 2,000 puppet troops in Yishui, Zhucheng, and Juxian. Fighting fierce battles with Shen Honglie's marines and Liu Zhendong, the commander of the 1st guerrilla in the fifth theater. .Shen Honglie's department and Liu Zhendong may not be able to resist, and the enemy is about to press into Linyi. Li Zongren sent a telegram ordering Pang Bingxun to send troops to support him.Pang Bingxun quickly dispatched the 229th and 230th regiments of the 115th Brigade, equipped with two mountain cannons, to reinforce Ju County.Deputy brigade commander Huang Shuxun led the 229th regiment as the right wing, and brigade commander Zhu Jialin led the 230th regiment as the left wing.

On February 26, the 229th Regiment of the right wing arrived in Ju County and immediately entered the city to occupy positions.The city was dead silent, and no one was fighting here.The 230th regiment on the left had reached the village west of the city at this time, and they echoed the 229th regiment in the city.At dawn the next day, more than a thousand enemy soldiers suddenly surrounded the west and north sides of Juxian City, cutting off the connection between the left and right wings, and then the enemy artillery bombarded the 229th regiment in the city.The head of the regiment, Shao Ensan, was injured in his left arm, and the soldiers suffered serious casualties.Commander Shao was wounded and directed the battle until around 2 p.m. before repelling the attacking enemy.

The 230th Regiment on the outskirts of Ju County was pinned down by another group of enemy troops and could not support the 229th Regiment.The 229 regiment in the city was repairing the fortifications after a day of fierce fighting.Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, the enemy aggressively attacked Ju County again. The flares illuminated Ju County as if it were daytime, allowing the enemy to see clearly.One squad of enemy soldiers, armed with light machine guns, sneaked up to the northwest corner of the city wall and fired towards the southeast of the city with fierce firepower.The defenders in the north of the city were in a state of confusion and retreated towards the south gate one after another.At the critical moment, deputy brigade commander Huang personally boarded the gate tower of the south city, organized firepower to suppress the enemies on the wall in the northwest corner, and ordered the artillery to fire shells to the northwest corner, so as to wipe out all the sneak attacking enemies.

At dawn on the 28th, a large number of enemy troops quietly boarded the city wall in the northeast corner and quickly spread west and south. The 229 regiment organized a fire counterattack, but failed to control the enemy.Head Shao insisted on carrying out street fighting and living and dying with the city.Deputy Brigadier Huang believed that he was at a disadvantage, the situation was unknown, and he could not fight recklessly, so he ordered all the defenders to retreat from the south gate of the city.The withdrawn troops joined Brigadier Zhu's 230th Regiment. On March 1, the enemy chased to a place called Xiazhuang, and Brigadier Zhu ordered to block the attack, adopting the method of fighting and retreating, retreating along both sides of the Shu River to Xianggongzhuang in the east of Linyi.In this attack, more than 200 enemies were wiped out, and more than 500 people were killed or injured.

Zhu Jialin reported the reasons for the failure to Pang Bingxun: First, he did not know the enemy's situation. The first intelligence said that it was Liu Guitang's puppet army. After contact with the battlefield, he found out that it was the field brigade of the Itagaki Division; second, he was not familiar with the terrain. The two wings were cut off by the enemy. I don't know where to go to support the 229th regiment in Juxian County, which caused heavy losses to the 229th regiment. Pang Bingxun looked carefully at the map. He thought that the Itagaki division was really coming, and the big contest with this ace was getting closer day by day.Pang Bingxun believes that there is nothing wrong with taking the initiative to attack, but it is necessary to sum up the lessons learned on the battlefield so as to facilitate the next battle.

The initiative of the 3rd Corps not only shows that Pang Bingxun's motivation for fighting against Japan is not to preserve his strength, but more importantly, it shows that he wants to control the initiative on the battlefield, change from passive to active, aim at the right time, and attack the arrogance of the Japanese army .Even at the most critical moment of the 3rd Army, General Pang would not miss this opportunity.He believes that taking the initiative to attack is not only flexible, but also can kill the enemy by surprise.For example, when the frontal battlefield in Linyi was fiercely fought, the scouts reported that there was a wave of Japanese troops heading south from Mengyin along the highway. Pang Bingxun did not hesitate to send a supplementary regiment to attack this enemy.Head Li Zhenqing led the supplementary regiment to rush towards Duozhuang, and found the Japanese army in a small village about 40 miles south of Duozhuang.More than a hundred Japanese soldiers, armed with a small cannon and a heavy machine gun, guarded the village.When it was dark, Captain Li ordered the artillery company to fire into the village, but the Japanese army did not fight and stayed in the village.Due to the unfamiliarity of the terrain, the supplementary regiment did not dare to attack rashly, so it had to send the 1st company to monitor the enemy and prepare to attack at dawn.Unexpectedly, the Japanese army fled towards Duozhuang overnight.

The Japanese army fled without a fight, which surprised Li TuanZhang, and he ordered the pursuit.The supplementary regiment pursued to Duozhuang, and this group of enemies took hold in Duozhuang village.Head Li Zhenqing observed the terrain.Order the 1st Battalion to lie in ambush near the Dashi Bridge, 8 miles north of Duozhuang, to block enemy reinforcements.The Japanese army in Duozhuang probably wanted to rely on the soil enclosure in the village to stand firm and wait for help.He ordered the mobile team of the supplementary regiment to rush into the outer village of Duozhuang. When the mobile team in Duozhuang Waizhai moved southward, it was blocked by Japanese heavy machine guns.So they threw grenades at the village. This group of enemy soldiers was very stubborn, and they dealt with Li Zhenqing's supplementary regiment all night. At dawn the next day, Captain Li felt that the delay was too long and he could no longer spend time with the Japanese army, so he ordered the 2nd Battalion to climb the wall of the village, the 3rd Battalion to attack the gate of the village, and launch a general attack on Duozhuang.When some soldiers of the 2nd Battalion had just climbed the wall of the village, three Japanese planes suddenly came and dropped a signal bag while circling at low altitude, saying that they were sending a small team and six cars to Duozhuang to respond, and then responded to the attack. The supplementary regiment carried out indiscriminate bombing.Head Li realized that the enemy in Duozhuang might be a big fish, otherwise the Japanese army would not have dispatched the plane.Under the bombing of Japanese aircraft, although the supplementary regiment suffered heavy casualties, it still did not give up its attack on Duozhuang. Sure enough, six large trucks and two chariots came to cover the Bali Bridge in the north of Duozhuang.Regardless of this, the 1st Battalion ambushing near Dashiqiao first blew up 3 Japanese vehicles, and the two sides began a fierce battle. The rescue Japanese army had no intention of fighting. They left more than a dozen corpses and a brand new car and ran towards Duozhuang in a hurry. Li Zhenqing's supplementary regiment in Duozhuang was still fighting the Japanese army, and they would not retreat until they were defeated.They reorganized their offensive forces, and the 1st Battalion of Dashiqiao also chased them.Okay, Captain Li shouted.The Legion Department sent messengers and ordered Li Zhenqing to return to Linyi City as soon as possible.The Tangtou and Gegou lines on the front of Linyi City are tight, and there is a great possibility that they will be captured by the Japanese army. Commander Li brought back a large truck and a large number of guns and supplies that he had seized. This attack achieved a small victory. At the same time, he disrupted the enemy's offensive steps and distracted the enemy's attention. This is Pang Bingxun. Unexpected. The next day, according to reports from the common people, the group of Japanese soldiers in Duozhuang withdrew.They packed a large truck full of corpses of Japanese soldiers. As for who led this group of Japanese soldiers and what they did when they came out of Mengyin, it may become a mystery forever. Pang Bingxun's two proactive attacks really surprised the Itagaki 5th Division, known as the Iron Army.Umezu Osamu, who served as the chief of staff of the Itagaki Division, was more cautious.Before dispatching troops, he reminded the head of the Itagaki Division that the frontal defensive force was General Pang Bingxun's 3rd Division, which had about 13,000 people, and with local armed forces, there were about 17,000 troops. Itagaki Seishiro had read the information sent by the intelligence department, and he said dismissively that Pang Bingxun was just a miscellaneous army under Chiang Kai-shek, vulnerable to a single blow. However, they resisted fiercely.Colonel Meijin stood in the position of the chief of staff, and summoned up his courage to remind his division commander once again that, judging from the two active attacks, this Pang Bingxun would still be able to fight.It is said that most of his soldiers are from Cang County, China, and Cangzhou was called Youyan in ancient times, and the folk customs are strong and aggressive, and Pang Bingxun... Meijin thinks he is a master of China, and Itagaki doesn't want to hear this at all.He fought from Qingdao to Linyi like a bamboo shoot, and he was about to reach Taierzhuang.When we arrived at Taierzhuang, we joined the 10th Division, who could resist it. Now Itagaki not only underestimates the enemy, but also is extremely arrogant. He thinks that any Chinese army, in front of the iron army he leads, is nothing but a pile of dung, at best a group of ants.He told Meijin not to listen to the Chinese bragging, what Youyan?Can it withstand the bombardment of planes, artillery, and tanks? Itagaki Seishiro refused to admit that he was unlucky.The iron army led by him had just emerged in Shanxi, and was severely damaged by the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army led by the Communist Party in the Pingxingguan area.However, a dog cannot change its nature of eating shit. Even if you beat the dog down, or even break its legs or head, it will still eat shit when it gets up.Itagaki Seishiro is such an unrepentant guy.The stupid Itagaki Seishiro didn't know that there would be even greater disasters waiting for him in the next few days. Now Seishiro Itagaki can't think about so many things. He just wants to get through Linyi as soon as possible, rush to Taierzhuang quickly, and show the Japanese base camp a head start.Itagaki Seishiro was stunned by his eager desire to make great achievements. He asked the field brigade to cling to Pang Bingxun's 3rd Army, and the follow-up reinforcements quickly followed up. He wanted to defeat Pang Bingxun in one fell swoop and not delay in Linyi. There is an old saying in China that says haste makes waste.The Itagaki Division was impatient, and so was the Japanese base camp. They attempted to annex China overnight, and were even so greedy that they wanted to take home this treasured land of China. This is the common nature of all invaders.