The battle of the 58th Regiment in Chengzhuang was very fierce. Although the rhythm of the civilian army's attack seemed chaotic and the command was obviously unable to coordinate, it can still be seen that the civilian army ambushed here just to annihilate them in one go.
Therefore, from noon to evening, the intensity of the fighting between the two sides showed an increasing trend. Although the 58th Regiment suffered an early defeat and retreated to the outside of the town to occupy favorable terrain, it still fought to a certain level.
After all, the people's army is an armed force without any military foundation. Even though this group of people's army belongs to the headquarters of Bailang Uprising, the personnel under its command are really mixed. Not only are they unable to fully follow the established orders, but there are even frequent inadequacies between them.
A situation of tacit understanding.
Ningling County is about forty miles away from Chengzhuang. Yuan Su led the first regiment to rush for reinforcements non-stop and finally arrived here in the evening. According to the established plan, he dispatched a battalion of troops to the south to support the front of the 58th Regiment.
During the battle, he personally led the troops of the two battalions and the regiment to launch a roundabout.
As the sky became darker and darker, the civilian army was unable to crush the 58th Regiment in one go and had to start retreating.
During the retreat, two groups of people collided with each other. The person in front questioned the person behind, and the person behind asked the person in front. In the end, it was not even clear who received the correct and latest order.
Taking advantage of this gap, the 58th Regiment organized a counterattack according to Yuan Su's instructions. Two battalions and a battalion from the first regiment rushed to charge from the hill, chasing closely behind the retreating civilian army.
Although the counterattack had no strategic significance, it put a lot of pressure on the people's army in terms of momentum. The people's army, which was already in chaos, suddenly became even more chaotic.
The retreat of the civilian army seemed very messy. Anyone who didn't know about it would directly think that the army had been defeated. In the direction of retreat, these civilian soldiers who had no military literacy also made serious mistakes. Some people ran to the northwest, while others ran to the northwest.
Then they ran to the northeast. They originally had a certain advantage in terms of soldiers, but now they have lost even this advantage after they were reduced to pieces.
Yuan Su led two battalions of troops to detour five or six miles away. When they came to a small forest, it was already almost dark. However, he found that there were actually torches in the small forest ahead, and there were many figures moving around.
However, too much reasoning can also tell that it is the civilian army running around in the woods. Immediately, he ordered to set up a heavy machine gun fire point here, and then concentrated all the cavalry to continue to detour to the north, using the cover of the night to pretend to be surrounded by the army, and
The militiamen in the woods drove towards the heavy machine gun firepower point, trying to force the militia to surrender under the intimidation of the heavy machine guns.
The whole operation went smoothly. In less than half an hour, the cavalrymen on the north side of the detour started shouting and firing guns intensively. The militiamen in the woods couldn't see clearly what was going on in the north, and they just thought it was a sudden attack from the direction of Kaifeng.
The officers and soldiers were immediately frightened and fled southward.
The militiamen had just ran out of the woods. The machine gun company that had been waiting for a long time in the south fired a burst of fire. The seven or eight militiamen running at the front fell to the ground. An officer leading the machine gun company immediately shouted loudly.
, persuade the civilian army in front of them to immediately put down their weapons, and promise that as long as they put down their weapons and surrender now, they can save their lives. Otherwise, whether they resist or escape, they will be regarded as disobedience to the end and will be killed without mercy.
This road of civilian troops has been running for many days, not just since the day of the raid on Kaifeng. They had been active in northern Henan earlier, but later they heard that Bai Lang's army was moving to Shaanxi, so they headed west again with the intention of following up.
Large troops. Who knew that not long after the troops had been transferred, they heard that Shangqiu was being heavily besieged by the government troops, so they changed their plans temporarily and rushed south to surprise Kaifeng.
In other words, starting from the seventh or eighth day, this civilian army team has been marching with great physical exertion. Until the last two days when they stayed up late to fight, both the military morale and combat effectiveness were weakened.
Facing the heavy machine guns of the government and the army in front of them, as well as several corpses lying on the ground, the last confidence of the civilian army collapsed completely. No one had the intention to continue running away, nor did they have the strength to think about resisting. Just like that, in
The leading militiamen first laid down their weapons and surrendered, and the rest followed suit.
Yuan Su caught up from the rear and ordered all the prisoners to be gathered and guarded. At the same time, he sent troops to search the woods for any traces of other militia troops. As a result, no other militia troops were found, but three artillery pieces of the militia army were found.
, when the artillerymen of the people's army realized that something was wrong, they simply ignored the cannons and fled away. Although these three artillery pieces were some advanced models, they were custom-made weapons of the previous government army. Now that they can be recovered, they can be considered clean.
The previous shame.
By nine-thirty in the evening, the fighting in Chengzhuang finally subsided.
The 58th Regiment chased a militia team in the north and brought it to the intersection of Chengzhuang Town to meet Yuan Su. The prisoners on both sides gathered together, and after an inventory, there were almost more than 400 people. Each captured
There are more than 600 rifles of various types, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, three cannons and 20 rounds of supporting artillery shells.
Yuan Su met with Captain Lin and asked about the casualties of the 58th Regiment. He was told that there were still many wounded and they were being sent to the town for treatment. Yuan Su then ordered the First Regiment to actively assist the 58th Regiment in the transfer.
and treated the wounded, and then discussed with Commander Lin how to deal with the prisoners.
Like previous policies, Yuan Su did not intend to carry out a massacre and execute all the prisoners. Although doing so could have a certain deterrent effect, it would also have extremely negative negative effects. He did not believe in "violence"
"People, especially when dealing with compatriots, are able to resolve conflicts between each other, which is the real way to solve the fundamental problem.
Before determining the disposal method, Yuan Su and Captain Lin came to the place where the prisoners were held. This was an empty threshing floor, with more than 400 people crowded together, as if there were no gaps at all. Captain Lin started from
From the very beginning, Yuan Su had been persuading him to simply shoot these people as a warning. Keeping them would be troublesome, and letting them go would be even more troublesome.
Yuan Su did not directly answer Captain Lin. He looked at the militiamen huddled in a group, all in black and white, either in rags or patched everywhere. It is not difficult to imagine that most of these people are ordinary farmers.
He asked Du Yu to send someone to ask questions, asking about the origin of this militia army, who its leader was, how many people there were in total, whether there were other strongholds nearby, etc. dd