Chapter 3 Part 1 Front and the battlefield behind enemy lines

Zhang Huan——At that time, he was a medical soldier in the field hospital of the 61st Army of the Jinsui Army Wang Yongzhong——At that time, he was a member of the field task force of the 83rd Division of the 14th Army of the Central Army Yang Yongsong——At that time, he was the technical secretary of the Political Department of the 685th Regiment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army I am from Shanxi, a native of Shanxi.The place where I live is just over 100 kilometers away from Xinkou.But as for the battle in 1937, I have almost never heard of it. 100,000 people died in the battle, 21 days of death, and the first lieutenant general who died in the history of the Chinese War of Resistance.Before coming into contact with this film, I knew almost nothing about these.

It was a large-scale battle that took place in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War. After 100,000 people died in the battle, the surviving people experienced the baptism of war for another 8 years. 8 years later, another 3 years.Then, decades passed by, and the years were wasted.When we finally want to go back to that period of history, many of those surviving people who have experienced history can no longer speak, or their memories have been blurred. I was lucky to find the fighters of those years, and they thought clearly and spoke fluently.Although the number is small, although they don't know all the details of that battle, and they never know the significance and greatness of that battle, I can see the flames of war in their memory, and I can see the battle in their memory. Serving the country loyally, I can see a little bit of heroism in their bones, and I feel very satisfied.

They are not the heroes handed down in historical stories, because according to the standard of the stories, the heroes all sacrificed, and they had to shout a slogan or two before the sacrifice.But they are true heroes because they are not afraid of death.In the eyes of these old people who have lived their whole lives, I can still see their sharp and excited eyes when they were young, and the indifference when facing death that has flashed in their eyes since they were young. Fortunately, at the end of these old people's lives, their shadows can be engraved in history. Those who fought side by side with them, we can't even see their outlines.

The dead are gone. bow your head. On September 23, 1937, Chiang Kai-shek published "Conversation on the Manifesto of the Communist Party of China", officially recognizing the legal status of the Communist Party of China. At this time, in Shanxi, the people of Taiyuan were sending off troops from all over the country to the front line of the Anti-Japanese War.Among the teams are the Shanxi local Jinsui Army, the well-equipped Central Army, the Sichuan Army with straw sandals and single clothes, and a team called the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, which was adapted from the Red Army that was "encircled and suppressed" by the National Army. Come.Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, led his troops eastward across the Yellow River, entered Shanxi from northern Shaanxi, and assisted Yan Xishan, commander-in-chief of the Second Theater Command, to jointly defend against the invading Japanese troops.

In August 1937, the Japanese troops who had already occupied Beiping and Tianjin moved southward along Pinghan Road in an attempt to control North China and push into Central China and the Yangtze River.In order to relieve the worries of North China, the Fifth Division led by Seishiro Itagaki and the Kwantung Army Chahar Dispatch Corps commanded by Hideki Tojo marched westward along the Pingsui Railway.Yan Xishan mobilized the main force of the Jinsui Army to meet the enemy. According to Zhang Huan, who was a medical soldier in the field hospital of the 61st Army of the Shanxi Sui Army at the time, recalled: "The first time I participated in the battle, I fought quite violently at the beginning. I persisted for five or six days, and the casualties were too heavy. Because our weapons It's too backward. The Jinsui Army has its own arsenal, imitating the weapons of Japan 10 years ago."

After a few days of fierce fighting with the Japanese army, the Jinsui Army voluntarily withdrew from the battle.Shanxi is at stake. On September 13, 1937, Datong fell, and the Japanese invaders divided their troops and went south along Tongpu Road to attack Taiyuan. From September 21st to 29th, the Battle of Pingxingguan began. On September 25, the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army succeeded in ambushing the Japanese army's supply troops.The victory at Pingxingguan was the first victory of the Chinese army since the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, breaking the myth of "the imperial army is invincible".However, the Chinese defenders at Pingxingguan were cut off from their rear. In order to avoid being surrounded, the Chinese army abandoned Pingxingguan.The Japanese army broke through the defense line of the Chinese army one after another, directly threatening Yan Xishan's Taiyuan base camp.In the north of Taiyuan, there is only Xinkou, the last barrier.

On October 2, Chiang Kai-shek called Yan Xishan: "I still hope to encourage all armies to continue killing the enemy in order to win the final victory." On the same day, Wei Lihuang's 14th Army was ordered to reinforce the Shanxi battlefield.Wei Lihuang was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, commanding the battle of Xinkou. Zhang Huan said: "Before the Anti-Japanese War, the Central Army was not welcome in Shanxi. Yan Xishan was the emperor of the land, and he hoped that your Central Army would not come. After the Anti-Japanese War began, he sacrificed a lot of strength. Whether it is the Eighth Route Army, the Central Army Well, I hope you will come more.”

At this time, the strength comparison between the two sides is: the Japanese army has a total of more than 70,000 people, using 150 tanks, 350 cannons, and 300 aircraft.China's second theater troops participating in the battle included six group armies, including the second, sixth, seventh, fourteenth, eighteenth, and twenty-second, with a total of 31 divisions and 13 brigades, and more than 200,000 troops. , 30 aircraft. At the beginning of the war, the Chinese army only had an advantage in numbers: the Chinese regular army had 2 million people, which was 8 times that of the Japanese army at that time (17 divisions, about 250,000 people).The tonnage of Chinese naval ships is 6,895 tons, which is 6% of that of the Japanese navy (1,153,000 tons); the Chinese Air Force has only 314 fighters, while the opponent has 2,700.The equipment of the Chinese army is outdated, the quality of soldiers is generally low, lack of effective training, and their combat effectiveness is not strong.Scholar Wang Qisheng said, "In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese army was well-equipped and well-trained. It often consisted of one brigade (battalion), one division (three regiments) or one brigade (two regiments) of the Warring States Army."

Scholar Yang Kuisong mentioned that Peng Dehuai once cited such an example when he summed up the huge gap in military confrontation capabilities between the two sides after the "Hundred Regiments War": At that time, he personally led a force seven times that of the enemy to surround a Japanese army in a village. After fighting for a day and paying considerable casualties, they were unable to take down this Japanese army. "One of the reasons is that the firepower of the two sides is completely different." Wang Qisheng believes that in terms of the quality of officers and soldiers, the national army is far inferior to the Japanese army.Chiang Kai-shek has repeatedly accused the generals of the national army that their knowledge, ability and spirit are inversely proportional to their rank.Although the soldiers of the national army have good qualities such as simplicity, bravery, obedience, perseverance, and hard work, their physique has seriously deteriorated due to malnutrition.Due to the lack of medicines, those who died due to injuries that could not be treated quickly accounted for the majority of the death rate.Poor military service is an important factor leading to the poor quality of soldiers in the national army, and there are many illiterates without scientific common sense.The national army's logistics and supplies work poorly, and the combat technology education is insufficient. The soldiers' shooting skills are far inferior to those of the Japanese army, and their discipline is lax, so that they cannot achieve strategic and tactical goals. "'The training is too bad, the atmosphere is too bad' is indeed the root of the national army's shortcomings."

The cruel reality of the comparison of the strengths of the two warring parties makes it difficult for Chinese people to be optimistic about the prospects of the Xinkou battle. On October 6, the 61st Army of the Jinsui Army entered Jinshanpu, south of Xinkou, as a reserve force.As soon as Zhang Huan's troops entered the village, he took over a clean bedding from a fellow villager. Zhang Huan recalled: "At that time, the common people entertained me very well. I didn't bring any food or bedding, nothing. When the common people saw it, they gave me steamed buns and other food. The common people said to us, come here , come home, they will give you whatever they have.”

The Sixty-first Army of the Jinsui Army is a disconcerting team.Since the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Huan and his comrades have been fighting. Except for weapons, ammunition and necessary medicines, all luggage and supplies were discarded on the marching road. The Japanese army came fiercely and had superior weapons. Although the Jinsui Army, the Central Army, and the Eighth Route Army had a large number of people, it was hard to guarantee that "the three monks had no water to eat." Can Xinkou hold it?Zhang Huan was faintly worried. Xinkou is located in the north of the Ding (Xiang) Basin in Xin (County), and is a pass in the canyon of Wutai Mountain and Yunzhong Mountain.In this canyon and river, a not too high mountain ridge rises, 16 kilometers long from north to south and 3 kilometers wide from east to west.Xinkou Town is adjacent to the foot of the right side of the northern end of the mountain.This ridge makes the terrain of Xinkou area very dangerous, forming a pass that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.It is the main traffic route for the Japanese army to enter Jinzhong, and it is also the most ideal defensive position for the Chinese army to block the Japanese army. One day in October 1937, the combat meeting in the headquarters of the 685th Regiment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army lasted until late at night.The leader who organized the meeting asked everyone to speak, but the commanders and fighters who participated in the meeting bowed their heads and remained silent.In the memory of Yang Yongsong, the technical secretary of the Political Department, the commanders and fighters were unwilling to carry out the combat tasks arranged by their superiors. This was the only time. Yang Yongsong said: "The task given to us by the central government is not to give up mobile warfare with favorable conditions, to establish base areas behind enemy lines, and to expand our own army. But now, we are required to go to Xinkou to fight. There are more than ten or twenty soldiers in Xinkou. Wan Zhongjun Army, and Yan Xishan's troops. It is obvious that there is resistance when we are asked to carry out this combat mission." In September, 30,000 Eighth Route Army troops entered the Shanxi battlefield, and launched more than a dozen battles in the rear of the Japanese army. However, the supply of troops was not in place, which made Yang Yongsong dissatisfied. "When passing through Taiyuan, one person received a grenade, and nothing else was added, not even bullets. Right there, we were given 10 big pancakes. The big pancakes still suit our taste. , it’s a little sweeter, a little thinner, and it’s a problem solver. We should be replenished before we can continue to fight, otherwise this old bone is gone, what capital is used to do business?” On October 6, Mao Zedong ordered the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army to cooperate with Shanxi on the frontal battlefield.In order to show his sincerity, Yan Xishan also specially handed over the strength of 10 regiments of the Jinsui Army to the Eighth Route Army for unified command.Yang Yongsong's 685th Regiment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army was ordered to go south from Dou Village, Wutai County to support the Xinkou battlefield. On October 10, the 83rd Division of the 14th Army of the Central Army was ordered to garrison in Dabaishui Village, northwest of Xinkou.Walking into the village, Wang Yongzhong, a member of the field work team of the 83rd Division, saw the slogan posted on the outer wall of the house saying: Support Chairman Jiang to fight the war to the end, and vow to die not to be a subjugated slave. Wang Yongzhong knocked on the door of a villager's house not far from the slogan.It was already late at night, and Wang Yongzhong's task was to mobilize fellow villagers in nearby villages to help the troops build fortifications overnight. Wang Yongzhong recalled: "At that time, the villager was very enthusiastic and said: 'We already knew about it.' I asked: 'Are you the village head?' He said: 'I am also responsible if I am not the village head.' Those who are willing to go, please say good things to them.” He replied: “No need to say good things, everyone is willing to go.” More than 100 people went.” Holding hoes and shovels for farming, more than 100 villagers followed Wang Yongzhong to the position outside the village.The sound of rumbling artillery fire has already been heard from the north, and none of the people working on the battlefield is willing to say a word. Wang Yongzhong recalled: "It was almost dawn, and it was basically completed. The battalion commander came without asking. He saw that the bunker was not good enough, and asked to redo it quickly. The company commander and platoon leader saw the battalion commander, like rats. It looked like a cat. The battalion commander trained the company commander: "What did you do?" He pointed out why the machine gun positions and infantry pits were wrong, and said: "Quickly do it, and I will finish it in 10 minutes."" It was the first time Wang Yongzhong saw the battalion commander lose his temper.Under high pressure, no one can hold back the fire. On October 10th, in order to cooperate with the Itagaki Division to attack Taiyuan, the Japanese troops moving south along the Ping-Han Railway occupied Shijiazhuang and quickly advanced to Shanxi along the Zhengtai Line.In order to defend Taiyuan, Huang Shaohong, the deputy commander of the second war zone, was ordered to mobilize the Chinese defenders to gather at Niangziguan.At the same time, before the Banyuan Division arrived at Xinkou, Wei Lihuang's Fourteenth Army had assembled north of Xinkou, and the main force of the Jinsui Army also arrived at the designated area on time. The 200,000 Central Army, the Jinsui Army and the Eighth Route Army joined hands to meet the enemy for the first time.In the Yunzhong River Valley between Yunzhong Mountain and Wutai Mountain, the Chinese army formed a 50-mile long defense line.The war is imminent. At dawn on October 13, on the ground outside Dabaishui Village, Wang Yongzhong in the trench stared straight ahead with a gun in his hand. After the fall of Nao County and Yuanping Town, north of Xinkou, on October 8 and 11, Xinkou was completely under the direct attack of the Japanese army. Suddenly, there was a roar of planes in the northern sky, breaking the silence of dawn. According to Wang Yongzhong's recollection: 9 Japanese planes came, 3 in a row. "It's a reconnaissance plane. Our position is silent, and you can hear farts, so it's very hidden. Those planes dropped bombs blindly, and dropped a few bombs. Our army didn't resist at all, as if we didn't see it .” The Japanese aircraft did not find the target and quickly flew away from the battlefield.There was a dead silence on the battlefield again. Wang Yongzhong said: "Commander Zhou smiled and said to me, don't think it's okay, it will come soon. He asked the company commanders to prepare for battle. The plane left, and the tank came, followed by the tank The devil, with a bayonet on his shoulders, bowed his waist, and did not shoot. The machine guns on the tanks fired at each other." Under the cover of more than 20 tanks, the Japanese army launched an attack.At this time, Wang Yongzhong discovered that there was no movement on the position where the Fourteenth Army was stationed. "Ah, I said what's the matter? In the trench, I stood on tiptoe to look. I said, oh, there are so many tanks and vehicles, and they keep shooting, and the bullets are whizzing. Why don't our soldiers dare to move?" Wang Yongzhong recalled: "During the conversation, 9 tanks fell down from our one-foot-deep tank defense trench. Behind them were the Japanese infantry, and there were quite a few of them. Well, please get shot. .Our heavy machine guns fired concentrated fire, and the bullets were as dense as raindrops, or even denser than raindrops. There was a yellow carpet in front of the position, which was full of Japanese corpses." The first Japanese attack was repulsed, leaving hundreds of dead bodies on the ground.As soon as the gunfire stopped, fellow villagers from nearby villages rushed into the trenches, carrying stretchers, ammunition, and freshly prepared dry food to the soldiers. "The enemy stopped attacking, and we stopped attacking. On that battlefield, we were all suffocated. We were as big as alive and dead. How could we care about food? Soldiers cleaned their guns, sorted out ammunition, cleaned up wounded soldiers, and If you are not ready, the enemy will come again," Wang Yongzhong said. Wang Yongzhong couldn't remember how many times the Japanese army had repelled the attack.The Japanese army attacked from morning to night, and the position was full of bomb craters. On the same day, Wei Lihuang reported the loss of the Japanese army in a secret telegram to Chiang Kai-shek: "Today, the enemy brought back wounded soldiers in an endless stream, counting thousands. I destroyed 20 enemy tanks." The battalion commander was worried about Wang Yongzhong, a student soldier. "He asked me: 'Xiao Wang, are you afraid?' I said: 'What am I afraid of! If there are Japanese, there will be no us, and if there are us, there will be no Japanese.' The battalion commander said: 'Young man, you can tell me what you said. Talk to the folks.'” Before the start of the Xinkou Battle, Chiang Kai-shek issued an order to all the troops on the front line, requiring all army commanders and division commanders to go to the front line, and those who violated the military law would be punished. "The battalion commander said that there will be the most difficult battle at dawn tomorrow. Everyone is ready to sacrifice. Even my battalion commander will not be alive. He appointed a company commander to be the battalion commander after his death, and asked the company commanders, platoon leaders, and squad leaders to designate After I was killed, my job agent said that everyone who lives must be in this position, and he must die in this position." Wang Yongzhong said. For three consecutive days, Wang Yongzhong and his comrades stood firm on the ground.The Japanese army trying to go south has been unable to move forward. Behind the Xinkou front, Zhang Huan's 61st Army of the Jinsui Army has been waiting for the order to reinforce Xinkou. On another battlefield, the Chinese garrison under the command of Huang Shaohong has already fought fiercely with the Japanese army on the front line of Niangziguan.Mao Zedong, who was far away in northern Shaanxi, specially called Yan Xishan, hoping that he would pay close attention to the front line of Niangziguan. On the evening of October 15, Hao Mengling, commander-in-chief of the Central Corps and commander of the Ninth Army, decided to mobilize five brigades to launch a counterattack at 2:00 a.m. on the 16th against the Huaihua positions north of Xinkou and south of them occupied by the Japanese. Hao Mengling was originally stationed in Guiyang with his troops. In the face of national crisis, he invited Ying to go north.Earlier, he said to his wife: "I am a soldier. I have spent half my life fighting civil wars. I have no interest in the country. The Japanese invaded and occupied the Northeast, and the people were filled with righteous indignation. Now that the Japanese invaders are about to destroy China, our country is at the last moment of life and death. I should go to In the war of resistance, we should fight the enemy.” When he led his troops through Wuhan to bid farewell to his family, he said to his sons and daughters: “I love you, but I love our country more. Now the enemy is slaughtering our compatriots every day, and everyone should kill the enemy People, if the country dies, you will not have a good life." Before leaving, he left a letter to his children: On the eve of the decisive battle, Hao Mengling wrote to his wife: In the Xinkou position, Hao Mengling spoke to the soldiers: "We used to guard this position as a regiment, but now we have more than 100 people, organized into a company, and still guard this position. Even if there is only one person left, we must guard this position. The responsibility of resisting Japan will not be over until we die. Before I set off, I wrote a will at home, and I will never survive until the Japanese invaders are defeated. Now I will stick to this position with you, and I will never retreat first. If I retreat first No matter who you are, you can shoot me. No matter who you are, just take a step back and I will shoot him immediately. Do you dare to stand with me here?" All the soldiers replied in unison: "I will stick to my position to the death!" He happily Said: "Okay, the general has the heart of death, and the soldier has no intention of being greedy for life." He wrote the eight words "Where you stand, where you die" with a brush, and told the whole army. Before the counter-offensive, Hao Mengling mobilized the officers before the battle: "This war is a war for the survival of the nation, and there is only sacrifice; if we retreat again, there will be no soldiers left by the Yellow River. How can there be an officer? This means that I die and the country lives, and the country lives. I die." At 2 o'clock in the morning on the 16th, the counter-offensive began.Under the command of Hao Mengling, the Chinese army conquered several hills. At about 5 o'clock, the sky was twilight. Hao Mengling was eager to rush to the front position of the Independent Fifth Brigade to command the battle. The officers and soldiers told him that a section of the road ahead was blocked by enemy fire. , very dangerous, advised him to write a written order sent to send.Hao Mengling said: "If the earthen pot is not broken away from the wellhead, the general will inevitably die before the battle." After that, he ran to the forward position. When passing through the position only 200 meters away from the enemy, he was unfortunately shot and died at the age of 39.Liu Jiaqi, commander of the 54th Division, also died at the same time.Soon, Zheng Lianzhen, commander of the Fifth Independent Brigade, was also killed in battle. In his secret telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, Wei Lihuang praised the three sacrificed generals for "when they were dying, they still shouted at their subordinates to kill the enemy and died. They seemed so loyal and brave, and they were like a group of friends." Zhang Huan remembered that after Hao Mengling died, there was a battlefield memorial service. "The number of people who can be drawn from the front is probably a few hundred people. In the rear, only three or four miles away from the front line, Wei Lihuang presided over a memorial service and he spoke." Hao Mengling was the first commander of the Central Army killed after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.The national government held a state funeral for him and posthumously awarded him the title of general of the army as a token of praise.Mao Zedong praised Hao Mengling and others as "great and lofty models" of the Chinese people, "The Chinese nation is by no means a flock of sheep, but a great nation full of national self-esteem and human justice... The blood of General Hao Mengling and others will not be shed in vain. Japan Who can say that it was not inevitable for the robbers to be driven out of China?" On October 17, Chiang Kai-shek sent two secret telegrams to Wei Lihuang: "We still hope that the War of Resistance will go to the end, so that we can achieve full success." On the same day, Chiang Kai-shek also called Zhu De and Peng Dehuai: "Master Lin and Lu Zhang of your department have repeatedly made extraordinary achievements, and the strong bandits have suffered heavy losses. It is a great comfort." Under the bombing of Japanese aircraft, the Chinese defenders suffered heavy losses. Zhang Huan recalled: "The Japanese set up an airstrip at Yangmingbao near Datong. When the planes came, there were at least three, and sometimes 8 out of 10. After they swooped down from high altitude, they fired machine guns and dropped bombs. The planes flew They were buzzing in the air, but when they dived, they squeaked, we knew they were coming down, so get down to the ground as soon as possible, as it would be dangerous to stand up." In Wang Yongzhong's impression, nine Japanese planes usually arrive at the same time, dropping bombs and strafing. "We also have anti-aircraft machine guns, because they fly low, and the anti-aircraft machine guns can aim accurately. Our rifles and light machine guns can also aim. If the enemy's plane emits smoke from behind its tail and whines and falls down, it means it has hit." The continuous bombing by Japanese aircraft made the Chinese defenders stationed in the position furious, but there was nothing they could do. On the morning of October 20th, the battle will start again. Wang Yongzhong and his comrades are ready to withstand another air strike by the Japanese army.To their surprise, the roar of the enemy plane did not sound for a long time.Wang Yongzhong didn't know that just the night before, the 769th Regiment of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army launched a surprise attack on the airport built by the Japanese army at Yangmingbao, destroying more than 20 aircraft and greatly weakening the Japanese air support force. Later, Wang Yongzhong heard the news that the Eighth Route Army attacked Yangmingbao at night. "The news is very satisfying. Oh, no wonder there are fewer enemy planes coming. The enemy has no airfields nearby. Even if there are planes, they come from far away." Wang Yongzhong said, "There have been no enemy planes' air strikes for four or five days in a row. The Japanese tanks also disappeared.” New difficulties followed. In the middle of the night of October 22, the 61st Army of the Jinsui Army, which was ordered to reinforce, had just arrived in Nanhuaihua, and Zhang Huan felt the panic spreading among the troops.It is reported that the Japanese reinforcements carried a large number of gas bombs and incendiary bombs.The field hospital where Zhang Huan is located has also been notified by his superiors to prepare to receive the wounded who were attacked by gas bombs and incendiary bombs. On October 24, the Japanese reinforcements to Xinkou entered the battle as soon as they arrived.On the positions of the Chinese defenders, there were raging fires caused by incendiary bombs everywhere. Zhang Huan recalled: "When the troops came back from the front line, we asked if there was any poisonous gas? They said there was no poisonous gas, but the incendiary bomb was powerful, and we were not prepared." Zhang Huan mentioned the power of incendiary bombs: "You will burn your whole body. Some comrades in arms wear two sets of military uniforms, and they are burned in a mess. It is a mountainous area and there is no water. If you want to put out the fire, you can only roll on the ground. It's gone, but the whole body is full of bubbles." The ward Zhang Huan was in charge of was already overcrowded, and many wounded were sent to the field hospital every day for simple bandaging before being sent to the rear. Every day, nearly one regiment of the Chinese army is sent to the front line, causing nearly a thousand casualties.Chinese soldiers stopped the Japanese army at a heavy price. Wang Yongzhong said that at that time the main force of the Eighth Route Army was on the outskirts of the Xinkou defensive position, fighting mobile warfare. The situation is stalemate.Under consumption, it was difficult for the Japanese army with insufficient troops to advance. Late at night on November 2, in the field hospital of the 61st Army of the Shanxi Sui Army, the exhausted Zhang Huan had just fallen asleep amidst the groans of the wounded when he was awakened by a loud noise. "It was about 11 o'clock. An urgent order came to retreat. They fought so well, why did they retreat? Because Niangziguan was lost." During the fierce battle at Xinkou Battlefield, the Japanese army marching south along the Ping-Han Railway launched a fierce offensive against the Chinese defenders at Niangziguan. On October 26, under the joint assault of the enemy's air force, artillery and infantry, Niangziguan fell. Yan Xishan decided on the night of October 31 that the defenders in the Xinkou area should retreat across the board. On November 1, Yan Xishan called Wei Lihuang: "Because of being oppressed by the superior enemy, our Jindong Army is gradually moving to the east of Taiyuan. In addition to ordering Commander-in-Chief Fu to deploy city defenses in Taiyuan to consolidate our resources In addition, Xigui's troops occupied positions along the lines of Caishuiwu, Qinglong Town, and Tianmenguan, and when the enemy approached, they annihilated them in one fell swoop, and assisted the Fu (Zuoyi) army who had steadfastly defended Taiyuan in a field battle against the city to defend Taiyuan." On November 2, the Japanese army captured Shouyang. "Shouyang is not far from Taiyuan. Enemies from Niangziguan came in and wanted to take Taiyuan away. We are in Xinkou. Isn't that isolated and surrounded? There is no way, we have to retreat if we don't retreat." Wang Yongzhong said. At this time, the Japanese army advancing westward along the Zhengtai line advanced towards Taiyuan at an extremely fast speed, intending to cut off the retreat of the Chinese defenders on the Xinkou line. On the same day, Wei Lihuang followed Yan Xishan's telegram and issued an order to move in.The frontline corps in the Xinkou area broke away from their positions and retreated. "Retreat is a bit ugly, like fleeing for life." Zhang Huan said, "I recall it now, and I am very moved that the people at that time were very good. We walked at night and rested during the day, passing through any village, on the road, Some common people asked us: 'Have you eaten yet?', let us go to eat at home." On the way to the south, Zhang Huan could often see groups of Eighth Route Army troops in shabby clothes walking north. "Those Eighth Route Army soldiers are really pitiful. There are 30 of them, only about a dozen of them have guns, and the rest are holding red-tasseled guns and big knives. How can they beat the Japanese with such fragmentary appearance?" The officers and soldiers of the Eighth Route Army were very confident.Yang Yongsong said: "Because the Kuomintang troops have retreated southward one after another, our army has to insist on the war of resistance in North China alone. There is no problem at all. Everyone is very happy, because after the Kuomintang troops leave, it will be easier for us to develop." On November 7, 1937, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, the first anti-Japanese base behind enemy lines established by the Eighth Route Army, was proclaimed.The Eighth Route Army began to fight in enemy-occupied areas.Zhang Huan later moved to the Luliang Mountains with the Jinsui Army.The Jinsui Army established the Luliangshan base area in the southwestern part of Shanxi, learning from the Eighth Route Army to fight guerrilla warfare.In the southeast of Shanxi, Wang Yongzhong's Fourteenth Army also established the Zhongtiaoshan Anti-Japanese Base Area, but Wang Yongzhong did not stay to participate in the anti-Japanese struggle behind the enemy, but fought with his troops. From October 13 to November 2, 1937, the Chinese garrison guarding Xinkou wiped out more than 20,000 Japanese soldiers, but paid the price of more than 100,000 casualties.After the Chinese garrison retreated, the Japanese army from Xinkou entered the vicinity of Taiyuan from the north of Taiyuan and cooperated with the east of Shanxi to attack Taiyuan.General Fu Zuoyi of the Jinsui Army led his troops to organize city defense to defend Taiyuan. On November 9, Taiyuan fell. Some people call the performance of the Chinese army in the Battle of Xinkou "undefeated defeat".Under the absolute superiority of Japanese weapons and equipment, the morale of the Chinese defenders was high and they fought bravely. The Battle of Xinkou hit the spirit of the Japanese army and strengthened the confidence and courage of the Chinese army and civilians to win the war of resistance.Wang Yongzhong recalled an incident after the war: "The commander of the 14th Army called the staff in the field and said: 'The war of resistance is not a one-day event. The commander of the army does not force you. You come and go as you please. Whether you want to continue the war of resistance is up to you. Let’s talk straight.’ Several of us raised our hands together and said: ‘We support the army commander to fight to the end, and we are willing to sacrifice and fight.’” As the former enemy commander in the second theater, Wei Lihuang commanded the Battle of Xinkou, and closely cooperated with the Eighth Route Army, which was responsible for the rear raid mission, to fight a remarkable battle, which left a deep impression on the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army. During the war, Zhou Enlai met and talked with him many times, which had a deep influence on him.Later, Wei Lihuang was promoted to the deputy commander-in-chief of the second war zone, and implemented the united front policy in Shanxi, uniting with the Communist Party to fight hard. In the spring of 1938, Wei Lihuang made a detour to visit Yan'an on the occasion of a meeting in Luoyang. He received a high-level and grand welcome. Mao Zedong praised him for his persistence in the War of Resistance. After arriving in Xi'an, Wei Lihuang immediately rewarded the Eighth Route Army with 1 million bullets, 250,000 hand grenades, and 180 boxes of canned beef.At that time, some people were worried that the amount was too large and dared not distribute it, so Wei Lihuang personally did the work, so that the batch of materials could be sent to the Eighth Route Army office quickly. Chiang Kai-shek was very angry when he learned about it. Later, after obtaining some evidence of Wei Lihuang's private contacts with the Eighth Route Army through military special agents, he withdrew his post as commander-in-chief of the first theater and chairman of Henan Province, and let him sit in Chengdu for two days. The cold bench of the year.Chiang Kai-shek, who has always been a crony, was not close to Wei Lihuang, but he couldn't leave him, because there were too few senior generals in the Kuomintang army who were good at leading troops and fighting. The garrison of Yuanping is the 196th Brigade of Jiang Yuzhen.In order to enable the main force to complete the assembly at Xinkou, the Command of the Second Theater Command ordered him "even if there is one soldier left, he must stay in Yuanping for seven days (from October 1st)". Outside Yuanping Town, Jiang Yuzhen ordered his troops to build fortifications and stick to the railways and roads.Relying on superior equipment, the Japanese army launched a fierce attack on Yuanping with the cooperation of aircraft, heavy artillery, and tanks. Jiang Yuzhen came to command in person, and the enemy's repeated attacks were repulsed. Jiang's brigade suffered heavy casualties and its position gradually shrank. The Japanese army formed a situation of encircling Yuanping. On the seventh day, the Japanese army occupied the eastern half of the town and confronted Jiang Brigade across the street.At this time, Jiang Yuzhen received another order: stay there for another 3 days.He said: "We will fight to the death and never leave Sri Lanka without orders." After the fall of Nao County on October 8, a large number of Japanese troops besieged Yuanping, and the northwest of the town was also captured.At this time, of the 5,000 Jiang brigade, only two or three hundred remained. Under the leadership of Jiang Yuzhen, the officers and soldiers fought street battles with the enemy, and persisted until the night of October 10, completing the task of defending the city. Later, when Jiang Yuzhen led the rest of his troops to break through, he was hit by enemy shells outside the town and died for the country. In this battle, Jiang Yuzhen's brigade fought bloody battles with the enemy for 10 days, fought against the strong bandits with an inferior army, and almost all died heroically.

---

Notes: