Chapter 15 The Battle of Lailing and the Battle of Yuliao

The Battle of Lailing and the Battle of Yuliao are two extremely important battles in the second stage of the Hundred Regiments War, and they occupy an important position in the entire Hundred Regiments War. The Lailing Battle was launched by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region on September 22. Its main goal was to destroy the Lai (Source) Ling (Qiu) Highway.At that time, the Laiyuan and Lingqiu areas controlled by the Japanese army stationed in Mongolia penetrated into the northwest of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area, which was a nail for the Japanese army to break into the base area. In mid-September, as the main force of the troops stationed in Mongolia moved westward to Suixi, the Japanese troops in this area were only the Second Independent Mixed Brigade and the 26th Division, about 1,500 people, and more than 1,000 puppet troops.In order to pull out this nail, the main force of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region was ordered by the headquarters to launch the Lailing Battle at 22:00 on the 22nd while the main force of the Japanese army was transferred to the west and had not yet fully returned to defense.The specific deployment is: the first, second, third, fifth, and twenty-five 5 regiments, the first and third guerrilla detachments, the first special agent battalion of the military division, and one battalion of the cavalry regiment of the military division, with a total of about 15,000 people forming the right wing team. In the early stage of the campaign, they seized Laiyuan and nearby strongholds to attack reinforcements, and then shifted their offensive to the outskirts of Lingqiu to capture Lingqiu; the left-wing team consisted of more than 5,000 people from the Sixth Regiment, the Twenty-sixth Regiment, and the Chasui Guerrilla Detachment. The main activities were In the Lingqiu and Yuxian areas, they resisted the enemy's reinforcements at the beginning of the campaign and cooperated with the right-wing team to fight (the six regiments were temporarily under the command of the right-wing team), and then cooperated with the right-wing team to capture Lingqiu and its nearby strongholds.In addition, the Ninth Regiment of the Pingxi Army Sub-division with Jirecha advanced to attack Taohuabao and its nearby strongholds, attacking the enemy's reinforcements to Yuxian and Laiyuan; enemy.At the same time, he ordered the Central Hebei Military Region to organize Ren (Qiu) He (between) Da (City) and Su (Ning ) campaign to contain the Japanese troops stationed in Hebei and China.

After the battle started, the right-wing team commanded by Yang Chengwu first attacked Laiyuan and its nearby strongholds.After a night of fierce fighting, the Japanese army retreated into the city and took hold of Laiyuan East, West, Nanguan and several nearby strongholds.However, due to the tight defense of the Japanese army and the scattered strength of the attacking troops, our army suffered heavy casualties and was forced to withdraw from Chengguan the next day. On the 23rd, the right-wing team changed its deployment, first concentrated the main force to clear the strongholds outside the city, and then attacked the city.That night, the second regiment, with the cooperation of a battalion of the first regiment and artillery, captured Sanjia Village, an important stronghold 10 kilometers east of Laiyuan, and wiped out most of the defending enemies.At the same time, the third regiment stormed the East Fort in the northeast of the city.More than 130 people from the non-commissioned officer teaching team of the second independent mixed brigade defending the enemy stubbornly resisted, and our army failed to attack repeatedly. On the 25th, more than 20 remnant enemies in the Eastern Mission Fort ran out of ammunition and food, and threw themselves on fire.By the 26th, the right-wing team and the Ninth Regiment of the Pingxi Army Division had successively conquered 13 strongholds including Jinjiajing, Beishifo, and Taohuabao, and wiped out hundreds of enemies.However, due to failure to conquer key strongholds such as Jianjian Ridge and Laiyuan County, the battle situation is still in a stalemate.But at the same time, due to our army's ineffective blocking, the Japanese and puppet troops advanced rapidly when Zhangjiakou was dispatched to rescue Laiyuan on the 23rd. At noon on the 28th, more than 3,000 Japanese and puppet troops along the road arrived in Laiyuan City.It would be unfavorable to fight again, and our right-wing team was ordered to give up the attack and retreat southward. On the 29th, the Japanese army "swept" around Laiyuan and entered the Great Wall line.

On October 2, the military region issued an order for the second phase of the Lailing Campaign: Deng Hua led the left-wing team and the first and second regiments of the right-wing team to attack Lingqiu. The attack date was set on the 8th.But the mobilization of our army did not escape the eyes of Lingqiu defending the enemy. On the 7th, the leader of the 12th Regiment of the Independent Infantry of the 26th Division of the enemy's garrisoning Laiyuan and Lingqiu, Sakaji Taro, won the "(Communist Army) Independent First Division and other large units of the Chinese Communist Army, and marched westward from Laiyuan. ...is spying on the new road between Laiyuan and Lingqiu and the chances of attacks by the garrison in various places".

Banji ordered the Second Brigade stationed in Qianfengling, Nanpotou and other places to attack eastward in search of the main force of the Eighth Route Army. On the afternoon of the 8th, the Japanese army's crusade team captured our second regiment near Da'anling, repelled it, and camped near the place that night.But that night, the 1st Battalion of our regiment and the 1st Battalion of the Sixth Regiment took advantage of the emptiness of Fengling and Nanpotou to raid these two places, annihilating most of the remaining enemies and occupying them.At the same time, the 26th regiment once attacked Huangtai Temple in Lingqiu and Guanglingjian. On the 9th, Banji quickly organized troops to counterattack Qianfengling and Nanpotou, and took them back.That night, the 3rd Battalion of the 6th Regiment attacked Jinfengdian, but failed. On the 10th, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, based on the unfavorable situation of more than 1,300 Japanese troops in Laiyuan and Guangling and the unfavorable battle situation in Lingqiu, decided to suspend the Lailing Campaign and withdraw the troops to the base area to prepare for the "mopping up."

When the Eighth Route Army was retreating, the main force of the 12th Independent Infantry Regiment of the enemy pursued to the west of Laiyuan and Lingqiu highways. By the 12th, they had not captured the main force of the Eighth Route Army, so they withdrew. The Lailing battle lasted 20 days, and both sides suffered heavy casualties.The Eighth Route Army battle report stated that more than 1,000 Japanese and puppet troops were killed and wounded in this battle, 49 Japanese soldiers were captured, 237 puppet troops were captured, and the Eighth Route Army suffered 1,419 casualties.According to the battle report statistics of the Japanese First Army, in the first phase of the Lailing battle, the Eighth Route Army left 1,199 corpses, transported away 727 corpses, and captured 6 people; the Japanese army killed 133 people and disappeared 31 people.

In response to the Battle of Lailing, the Jizhong Military Region carried out the Ren (Qiu) He (between) Da (City) from October 1st to 20th while breaking the major railway lines of Cangshi, Deshi, Beining, and Jinpu. In the Battle of Su (Ning), 805 Japanese troops were killed and injured, 322 puppet troops were captured, 3 Japanese troops were captured, and 326 puppet troops were captured. 29 strongholds were conquered, and the task of restraining the Japanese troops in Jizhong was successfully completed. The 129th Division launched the Battle of Yuliao one day later than the Battle of Lailing, and it started on the night of September 23.

According to the order of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, the task of the 129th Division was to recover Yushe and Liao counties.The Japanese army stationed in the Yuliao area is a brigade of the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade. The main task of this brigade is to guard the Yuliao Highway.The Yuliao Highway runs from Yangquan to Yushe via Pingding, Heshun, and Liaoxian counties. It is the farthest road for the Japanese army to go deep into the Taihang base area.The Japanese army also attempted to extend this road from Yushe to the southwest, and connect it with the Baijin Railway through Wuxiang, so as to achieve the purpose of dividing the Taibei base area.Yushe was one of the main hubs for the Japanese army to transport supplies from Zhengtai Road to the strongholds of Baijin Highway via Pingliao Highway and Liaoyu Highway.In order to firmly grasp the initiative of this road, the Japanese army turned Yushe into a big fortress. In particular, they built a group of fortresses with Yushe Middle School outside the East Gate as the core stronghold. With several barbed wire fences, the firepower configuration is very tight.

Liu Bocheng handed over the task of attacking Yushe to Chen Geng's 386th Brigade.Chen Geng, a graduate of the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, just turned 37 this year, has never been afraid of death when fighting.During the Great Revolution, he risked his life on the line of fire to save Chiang Kai-shek's life. After learning that he joined the Communist Party of China, Chiang Kai-shek tried to persuade him many times to vote for the Kuomintang, but Chen Geng refused. In 1935, after the Long March arrived in northern Shaanxi, Chen Geng served as the commander of the Fifth Division of the First Red Army. When the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, he served as the commander of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division.After the start of the Hundred Regiments War, he has been commanding operations on the front line and has repeatedly made military exploits.Now he took on the main task of attacking Yushe City.

According to the pre-investigation situation, Chen Geng and Chief of Staff Zhou Xihan agreed to fight close to the enemy by night.At night, the attacking troops moved towards Yushe City according to the deployment. At first everything went smoothly, but when the main force approached the houses outside Xiguan City, a dog sprang out from some corner and barked at the concealed advancing team.The barking of the dogs alarmed the Japanese army on the top of the city, and several tracer bullets shot into the night sky, bursting out dazzling light, and the attacking troops had no time to hide and were completely exposed to the light.The Japanese army opened fire, blindly sweeping and firing indiscriminately, forming a firepower net around the city.

This accident aborted the attacking force's close-to-enemy combat plan.The attacking troops from all walks of life had to brave the enemy's artillery fire to advance, but with little effect.After dawn, the troops lost the barrier of night, and the first attack failed.what to do?Zhou Xihan was anxious, and after listening to everyone's opinions, he decided to organize firepower to suppress the enemy's firepower points and launch a second storm. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the storm began.The firepower of various weapons of the Eighth Route Army formed a network of firepower, concentrated and suppressed the firepower of the Japanese army, and covered the attacking troops to launch powerful attacks again and again.This move was really effective. After a night of fierce fighting, the troops captured the northwest corner of the core position and the Xiguan bunker, which the Japanese army regarded as the so-called impregnable, and took advantage of the opportunity to occupy Xiguan.

However, the Japanese army still occupied the core position centered on Yushe Middle School.Around this position, eight bunkers of different sizes were built, forming a crossfire network of mutual support.At the same time, outside the bunker is a steep wall with a height of more than 10 to 30 meters built artificially, and there are criss-cross barbed wire under the steep wall.Obviously, if you rush over there, you will definitely suffer heavy casualties, and it may not be effective. Seeing this scene, Chen Geng came to the frontline headquarters in person.He brought surprising news to the troops attacking Yushe: the two enemy strongholds Yanhua and Wangjing had been recovered by the 386th Brigade.This greatly encouraged the siege troops.After careful organization, Chen Geng ordered a second attack in the afternoon.Under the sound of the loud charge, the assault troops cut through five barbed wire fences with scissors under the cover of fire, then set up a ladder connected by several ladders, climbed up a cliff more than 30 meters high, and stuffed the Japanese soldiers with water-soaked quilts. The perforation of the bunkers and the capture of the bunkers. The Japanese army, frightened by the fierce offensive of the Eighth Route Army, was compressed to Yushe Middle School, relying on a tall bunker and surrounding walls in the middle school, and under the cover of four planes, they made a final desperate resistance.Relying on their superior firepower, they released a large amount of poisonous gas inhumanely, causing poisonous gas to be everywhere in Yushe City.Chen Geng, who was in the downwind command post, and the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Battalion of the 772nd Regiment were all poisoned. They were all dizzy, coughing and running nose. For Chen Geng's safety, Chief of Staff Zhou Xihan insisted that he go to the rear command post.Chen Geng recalled the pre-war telegram from the division commander Liu Bocheng that the 386th Brigade must wipe out the Japanese army in Yushe within two days and seize Yushe County. He said decisively: "I want to see you take down Yushe before leaving." Chen Geng and Zhou Xihan convened a meeting of cadres of each regiment.The enemy is very cruel, attacking from the front can only pay a heavy price.After calmly analyzing the situation, Chen Geng decided to adopt tunnel operations, dig the tunnel into the enemy's core position, and use a coffin to load explosives for blasting, so that the enemy can taste what it's like to be on a plane. After the plan was finalized, the regiments immediately split up and acted separately.The most stressful thing is the tunnel work. The tunnel has to be dug from the cliff in the northwest corner to the bunker in the middle school. The amount of work is very large.The soldiers, who had been fighting for two days and two nights, dug inch by inch toward the enemy bunkers regardless of fatigue.After digging for nearly a day and night, at 45 minutes on the 25th, the tunnel work was finally completed. Just listening to a loud "boom", the explosives exploded underground.The sound of the explosion was like a muffled thunder rolling through the low sky, and it also seemed like a strong earthquake had occurred. The lingering sound of the explosion was still echoing, and the assault troops rushed into the enemy's position.After a fierce hand-to-hand fight, all the remnants of the enemy were wiped out.When dusk came, three days of fierce fighting finally came to a victorious end.The 386th Brigade killed and injured more than 400 Japanese invaders in this battle. The left group in the Yuliao campaign was commanded by Chen Xilian. Chen Xilian is very familiar with Liao County.Since the surprise attack of the 385th Brigade on Yangmingbao Airport in 1937 shocked the army inside and outside, the 385th Brigade has been stationed in Liao County and has always used Liao County as its base.At the pre-war mobilization meeting, Chen Xilian said emotionally: We are fighting on the land of Liao County. The commanders and fighters of our 385th Brigade must understand that Liao County is also the home of our brigade and our base. , If you can't fight well, you will have no face to see the folks in Liao County. In order to fight this battle well, according to Liu Bocheng's arrangement, Chen Xilian first cleared two strongholds on the Yuliao Highway-Guantou and Shixia.By September 30, when the time was ripe, the main force of the division was transferred to attack Liao County.However, at this moment, as the Japanese troops in Heshun and Wuxiang sent reinforcements to Liao County, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army ordered to stop the attack on Liao County, and use a part of Heshun to contain the enemy going south, and transferred the main force to Hongyatou and Guandinao areas, preparing to annihilate Wu The enemy of Xiangdong aid. At 9 o'clock on the 30th, when the 386th Brigade arrived at the pre-fu area, the 385th brigade was delayed due to the Guantou battle and did not arrive at the pre-fu area. More than 600 Japanese reinforcements passed through the ambush area and headed east. Meeting the 385th Brigade who was hurrying on their way, the two sides launched an encounter.The 386th Brigade took the opportunity to attack from the side and rear, forming a situation of encircling the Japanese army on all sides.Surrounded on all sides, the Japanese army jumped over the wall in a hurry, and under the cover of eight planes, they occupied the high ground and resisted tenaciously.The fierce battle lasted for two days and one night, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. The Eighth Route Army launched ten consecutive charges, but still could not wipe out the stubborn enemy. On October 1, the troops launched another attack on the Japanese army. The two sides fought fiercely all day long, from 5:00 am to sunset.At dusk, more than 400 Japanese troops from Liao County, who had sent emergency aid to the west, swarmed in again, broke through the blockade of the 385th Brigade, and approached the command post of the 386th Brigade. At the same time, more than 1,000 Japanese troops sent south from Yangquan have also arrived in Hanwang Town, north of Liao County.The situation became more complicated and changeable. After judging that the besieged Japanese army could no longer be wiped out, the Eighth Route Army headquarters ordered the troops to withdraw from their positions.The battle of Yuliao, which lasted nine days, ended.