Chapter 28 5. The 31st Division who fought bravely against the enemy

Taierzhuang is located in the southeast of Feng County, Shandong Province, and is connected with Yi County, Jiangsu Province.The canal goes around the city, and the city wall is made of bricks. From a distance, it is a nice county town. Because there are coal mines nearby and several coking plants outside the city, the business is relatively prosperous.There are about a thousand households living in the city, and because there are many stones in the area, the residents not only use them for paving roads, but also like to stack stone walls. The streets paved with bluestone slabs are not wide enough to accommodate horse-drawn carriages.

As Li Zongren said in his memoirs, thousands of stone houses, together with more than 70 bunkers built by the 2nd Army, became the fortification positions of the defenders.However, in the small land of Taierzhuang, no matter how you build fortifications, it is difficult to withstand the bombardment of Japanese heavy artillery and aircraft. And it is. On the evening of March 27, the Japanese army began to attack.The defenders on the forward position outside Taierzhuang exchanged fire with the enemy, and after a while, they retreated to the main position of Taierzhuang.Immediately, Taierzhuang was bombed indiscriminately by tens of thousands of shells from the Japanese army. In an instant, the docks and shops were ablaze, the streets were blocked by ruined buildings and tiles, and the defenders suffered heavy casualties.

The attack of the 10th Division of Jigu was extremely fierce. They changed their combat methods in Teng County and all adopted large-scale group charges.When the artillery stopped, five or six thousand infantrymen, led by dozens of tanks, swarmed into Taierzhuang.That posture makes people tremble when they see it. The Japanese army first attacked the main frontal position of Taierzhuang.Defending the front of Taierzhuang Station is Chifengcheng's 31st Division.The 31st Division of Chifeng City played a major role in the entire Taierzhuang Battle.Before the start of the Taierzhuang Battle, Chi Fengcheng led the 93rd Brigade of his division to carry out a feint attack on the Japanese stronghold entrenched in Feng County to lure the enemy. During the feint attack on the enemy in Yi County, he clashed with the Japanese army from time to time, and several units fought fiercely with the enemy. Very tragic.The task of feigning to lure the enemy was accomplished very well, and they attracted the main force of the Japanese army.

Now that the Japanese army is aggressively attacking the main position, Commander Chi Fengcheng ordered all the officers and soldiers of the division to fight back.But after all, the enemy's firepower was strong. Under the cover of tanks and chariots, they rushed into the village and occupied a piece of houses.Most of the folk houses in Taierzhuang are made of stone, and the defenders have no flat-firing guns, so they have no effective way to attack the stone houses.The Japanese infantry who rushed in used stone houses as bunkers and gradually expanded their territory. The 31st Division is very good at defense. They dug many wide trenches, so that enemy tanks cannot cross.Enemy infantry is not covered by tanks, and the attack is relatively slow.In this way, they fought hand-to-hand with the enemies who came into the village, and fought from house to house.

Under the suppression of the powerful artillery fire of the Japanese army, the main frontal position was broken by the enemy in many places.The Chinese army retreated again and again in the village, sometimes fighting for a house and a courtyard several times back and forth.The Chinese soldiers who were good at summing up combat experience found that the Japanese planes and cannons could not give full play to their advantages in hand-to-hand combat, but the big swords in their hands did. The officers and soldiers of the whole division gave full play to their strengths, carried out close combat and night combat with the enemy, and tried every means to attack the enemy with various means.Do your best to resist the enemy's attack during the day, and take the initiative to attack in small groups at night.In Taierzhuang, a see-saw situation was formed in which the enemy occupied a large area of ​​land during the day and was retaken by the defenders at night.

The Japanese army was most afraid of night battles. The Chinese defenders specially dispatched in the middle of the night to attack in the dark.He Zhanghai, chief of staff of the 2nd Army, recalled: In the Battle of Taierzhuang, the broadswords of the Chinese army exerted great power.One member of the Broadsword team killed nine enemy soldiers, and some killed five. On average, each Broadsword team that participated in the battle killed one and a half enemies. The officers and soldiers of the 31st Division fought bloody battles with the enemy for five days and nights with grenades and broadswords.

The big knife was always no match for the enemy's planes, artillery and tanks. Commander Chi Fengcheng's officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and his troops took turns to fill in the entire squad, platoon, and company.The attacking Japanese army received reinforcements every day, and the scale of the attack became more and more fierce every time. The troops guarding Taierzhuang could only rely on reducing casualties to preserve their vitality, without receiving any reinforcements. The defenders of Taierzhuang's frontal position were at the most difficult juncture. The Japanese army organized a death squad of hundreds of people.The battalion commander Wang Zuxian who was guarding the northwest corner was killed, and all officers and soldiers were killed or injured.The west gate of the city is the passage for the defenders inside the city and the allied forces outside the city. When the west gate was lost, Wang Kouwu, the commander-in-chief of the main position in the city, was shaken and had the idea of ​​abandoning the city and retreating.That night, he shouted to Chifeng City, asking the commander to order Taierzhuang to be abandoned. More than half of the officers and soldiers defending the city were killed and injured, and they could no longer hold on.

Chi Fengcheng also knew that our division had suffered serious casualties, and it had been five or six days.Tang Enbo said that as long as he sticks to it for 3 days, why hasn't reinforcements come yet?The Japanese offensive continued unabated, while the defenders in the city were exhausted and unable to sustain.If the fight continues like this, the whole division will have to pay for it.The general who has always been tenacious and resolute also had the idea of ​​retreating in his mind at this time.Chifengcheng is about to call Sun Lianzhong to report to the commander-in-chief that the casualties of the troops are too great. Please retreat the troops to the south bank of the canal and let us catch our breath.

Coincidentally, there were several phone calls surrounding the defense and withdrawal that day. First, Chiang Kai-shek called from Wuhan and asked Lin Wei, the director of the attendant office, to convey to Li Zongren.Chiang Kai-shek was very concerned about the battle situation in Taierzhuang. Countless battle messages flew to him every moment. He was very worried about the will of the Japanese army to attack Taierzhuang and the situation of the Chinese defenders.Therefore, he called and said that Taierzhuang is the barrier of Xuzhou and Huaihai, and it is related to the second phase of the battle. Therefore, the 2nd Army should do its best to protect it. All officers and soldiers were severely punished, and Chief Li, Deputy Chief Bai, and Deputy Chief Lin were also punished.

As soon as Li Zongren received the decree, Sun Lianzhong, commander-in-chief of the Second Army, called.Li Zongren recalled that Commander-in-Chief Sun spoke so eloquently.He said that the 2nd Army had suffered 7/10 casualties. The enemy's firepower was too strong and the offensive was too fierce, but we had almost exhausted the enemy.Could you ask the commander to agree to temporarily retreat to the south bank of the canal so that the 2nd Army can save some seeds? This is also a great kindness from the commander!Li Zongren can't be soft-hearted, he has received Chiang Kai-shek's death order.He gritted his teeth and said, the enemy and us have been fighting bloody battles in Taierzhuang for a week, and the winner or loser is determined in the last five minutes, and we must stay there until dawn tomorrow.Such as disobeying orders, as military law.

As soon as Sun Lianzhong finished talking on the phone with Li Zongren, Master Chi Fengcheng called Sun Lianzhong. Commander-in-Chief Sun was so angry that he had nowhere to vent his anger. He yelled into the phone, "After the soldiers beat you, you can go forward and fill it in yourself."You fill it in, and I'll fill it in.Anyone who dares to retreat across the canal will be killed without mercy! Seeing that there was no hope of retreating, Chifeng City ordered the pontoon bridge on the canal to be blown up.He immediately organized a death squad, and hundreds of soldiers raised their hands to sign up. They selected 57 members with martial arts and strength, wearing Japanese military uniforms, steel helmets on their heads, grenades on their waists, short guns and broadswords, and inserted into the enemy's back at night, rushing into the enemy's formation with lightning speed.There were shouts of killing and roaring explosions on the enemy's position. The death squads fought against the enemy in the enemy's bunkers and houses. Even if they were injured and fell to the ground, they had to use their last strength to pull the grenade on their bodies and die together with the Japanese army. In order to support the 31st Division in the main position, the 27th Division in the east began to attack the villages guarded by the Japanese army.The 79th Brigade captured Peizhuang and defeated the enemy of Liuqiao; the 80th Brigade recovered the four strongholds occupied by the Japanese army; the 27th Division attacked across the board, and the two sides fought inextricably.The battle lasted until night. The division commander Huang Qiaosong personally went to the position to supervise the battle. The soldiers were full of momentum and the battle was fierce. Commander-in-chief Sun Lianzhong became ruthless. He ordered the officers and soldiers to fight to the end in order to preserve the army's past history and sacrifice to the last drop of blood.The army commanders, division commanders, and brigade commanders all went down to the front line, and those who flinched were punished according to the law, and those who contributed to the battle were rewarded heavily. The Japanese army has occupied 2/3 of Taierzhuang, and the officers and soldiers of the 31st Division are guarding a corner of Nanguan, desperate to retreat.The slogan put forward by Master Chi Fengcheng is to win over matter with spirit, and beat shells with meat bullets.Even if the entire division is lit up, the enemy must be blocked. Taierzhuang had long since changed beyond recognition. The stone walls were blown down by Japanese artillery, and the stones were piled up like hillsides. Enemy tanks climbed over the slopes.The house in the village has completely collapsed, and there are corpses everywhere.In the first two days of the battle, both sides were still awake and carried the corpses aside, but now it’s no good, the combatants have no strength, and the corpses are intertwined with stones and bricks, layer after layer on the ground.There is no place for the wounded in the village to be resettled, and there are broken walls and ruins everywhere, leaning on the wounded soldiers with only one breath left. The Japanese soldiers were also exhausted, and they were also fleshy. For more than a dozen days and nights, no matter how hard the iron army was, it would be difficult to support them.The enemy's attack has also slowed down a lot. Buildings are piled up everywhere in the village, and it is difficult for tanks and chariots to move.Only the cannons are still bombarding Nanguan, and the damn planes that day.The defenders took out shooting holes in the broken wall and wiped out the enemies who rushed in front of them with broken guns.Then there are grenades.It can't be thrown far, and the strength of the bomb is almost exhausted. However, Chi Fengcheng still had to give full play to its own advantages and organize night raids every day.The night raiders and death squads rushed into the positions occupied by the enemy in the middle of the night. The Japanese soldiers lay on the ground and slept soundly.The positions occupied by the enemy were recovered in large swaths, and were recaptured by the enemy during the day. The Japanese soldiers guarding the occupied positions were always puzzled. Where did the Chinese defenders get so much strength? They fought all day during the day, but they could still fight at night. Could it be that they were made of iron?Therefore, as long as the night raiders and death squads come up every night, the Japanese soldiers run away, and their bushido has been hacked to pieces. When fighting in Taierzhuang was the most difficult time, the physical fitness of the soldiers had already exceeded the limits of ordinary people, and they might not be able to get up after a day and a half of stalemate.At this juncture, Li Zongren sent exciting news that Tang Enbo's 20th Army had arrived, and it was time to counterattack across the board.When Sun Lianzhong heard the news, he almost couldn't stand still. Commander-in-Chief Sun, who was engrossed and tense, felt powerless as soon as his heart relaxed.He was holding the phone, and before he sat down, he heard Li Zongren ordering him to form a death squad to suppress the current enemy so as to facilitate the general attack at dawn tomorrow. Sun Lianzhong cried anxiously.My Chief Li, who else is there at this time?It's not easy to organize a death squad of hundreds of people, I can't do it.Commander-in-Chief Sun kept complaining.Li Zongren said that without organization, tomorrow's counterattack needs to be attacked from both inside and outside, and it will be done in one go.The enemy must be suppressed tonight, so as to disrupt the enemy's attack tomorrow morning.Sun Lianzhong still refused. Li Zongren said this in his memoirs: Sun Lianzhong said that his reserve team had all been used up, and it was not easy to attack at night.I said, I am now offering a reward of 100,000 yuan, and you gather all the soldiers in the rear who can hold guns, stretcher soldiers, cooking soldiers and front-line soldiers together to organize a death squad and carry out night attacks.The 100,000 yuan will be divided equally among the people in the future.Under the heavy reward, there must be a brave man, you can do it yourself, the number of winners and losers is here. The reason why I asked him to organize death squads is that according to my judgment, although the casualties of the Second Army have exceeded seven-tenths of the whole army, there must be a lot of soldiers who retreated from the line of fire to transport wounded officers and soldiers. Because the war was too fierce, he did not return to the line of fire.Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men. We must use this last bit of strength to make a desperate move. The defense troops of Taierzhuang heard that tomorrow dawn will counterattack across the board, Tang Enbo's 20th Army Corps is coming, and the Japanese 10th Division and Sakamoto Detachment of the 5th Division are about to die. They are happy, excited, and the faces of the soldiers Hanging with tears.Tears crawled out of the crooked gullies on the dusty face. The wounded got up from the ground, stuffed the intestines from the outside of their stomachs inward, and bandaged their wounds. They stood up firmly with big knives and broken guns.They are glad that they are still alive and can still see the final victory scene.Although the wounded couldn't run or even walk, they still had a severed hand and a blind eye. Even if they bit them with their mouths, they had to participate in the revenge action of the big counteroffensive. The Chinese defenders were gearing up, sharpening the serrated broadswords on the stones on their backs. The big knife cut off the devils' heads! The day of counterattack has come, the day of victory has come!