When the order from General Juichi Terauchi was conveyed to Lieutenant General Michutaro Komatsubara, the area around Xinji was already in a state of chaos.
It only took more than an hour for the various troops who broke out of the encirclement in Jizhong to travel from Xilintou to Xinji. By this time, the Twelfth Regiment and the New Fourth Regiment were already engaged with the Japanese reinforcements coming from the east and west directions.
Since Lei Ming had ordered the engineering battalion to densely lay mines on the east and west sides, the fighting was not fierce. The Japanese were going around in the mine array, and from time to time they pressed anti-tank mines and contributed tanks or armored vehicles. As for the infantry, it was even worse.
It's not a bad thing if you encounter land mines, but at worst you'll lose a leg or something and be disabled for life. If you encounter anti-infantry mines, it's a big problem.
The engineers began to carefully lay mines. Needless to say, land mines were all filled with explosives in earthenware jars, porcelain jars and other objects, which could not be detected by mine detectors. Iron mines were all technically processed, and they were all composite mines.
, smashed it as soon as it moved, causing heavy casualties to the Japanese engineers.
When the Japanese thundered, the 12th Regiment and the New 4th Regiment held a shooting competition. The soldiers used single-shot rifles to compete in shooting skills. The angry Japanese commander kept ordering artillery fire, hoping to use artillery fire.
Prevent unilateral hunting from the Chinese military.
The troops in central Hebei who crossed the Deshi Line and entered the border of southern Hebei had a different perception: after the People's Self-Defense Army, Hebei Guerrilla Army troops and the Eighth Route Army met up, they quickly drove to the rear under the guidance of a small unit of the Eighth Route Army.
The local forces were told that Jinan is the base area of the Eighth Route Army. After arriving in Jinan, they must abide by the discipline of the Eighth Route Army. The required food and grass will be arranged by the Eighth Route Army. They must not harass the masses or interfere with the normal work of the local government. If they violate discipline, they will be punished.
Of course, the Eighth Route Army officers were very polite and told Zhao Yunxiang, Duan Haizhou, Fan Zixia, and Qiao Mingli that they were welcome to come to southern Hebei to join the Eighth Route Army in the war of resistance, and hoped that they would return to the anti-Japanese battlefield as soon as possible after resting.
Zhao Yunxiang, Duan Haizhou, Fan Zixia, and Qiao Mingli were all shocked by the might of the Eighth Route Army. However, their mentality was different. Zhao Yunxiang, Duan Haizhou, and Qiao Mingli were shocked and surprised. They didn't know much about the Eighth Route Army, and they didn't know much about the Communist Party.
People also don’t understand that the first reason for forming troops is to fight the Japanese and protect their homeland, and secondly, to put it bluntly, it is also to establish personal power in troubled times. Seeing how powerful the Eighth Route Army in southern Hebei is, and comparing my own troops with the Eighth Route Army, I feel sad
I feel a little ashamed of myself, and I feel that the North China Plain will never be the same as before, and I am afraid that the Eighth Route Army will have the final say.
Fan Zixia wanted to fight the Japanese. He also knew some Communists and had a certain understanding of the Communist Party. When he saw the instructor's military appearance and military power, he felt a sense of intimacy and belonging. Therefore, he repeatedly asked the Eighth Route Army cadres to lead his troops.
Participate in the battle, even if it means transporting ammunition or lifting the wounded.
In any case, all the local troops who escaped from the tiger's mouth, from officers to soldiers, felt grateful to the Eighth Route Army.
After the Jizhong breakout troops went down, Cai Zhong and Zeng Zhongsheng led the Sixth Teaching Brigade, the Eighth Teaching Brigade and the Second Field Artillery Regiment and the Mountain Artillery Regiment to catch up.
After hearing Lei Ming's report, Cai Zhong and Zeng Zhongsheng immediately decided to lead Zhaoshan and Zhao Jie to lead the Eighth Teaching Brigade to take over from the Fourth Teaching Brigade and deploy along the Deshi Line to resolutely block the enemy. They should allocate troops according to the principle of deploying firepower forward and troops behind.
To avoid heavy losses to the troops caused by too strong heavy firepower of the Japanese. Once the main force of the Japanese comes up, the Eighth Brigade should give up the position in a timely manner and lead the Japanese to the ambush circle. Then retreat outside the ambush circle and serve as a reserve team.
The Fourth Teaching Brigade and the Sixth Teaching Brigade set up a circular ambush circle along Wangzhuangying, Tianjiazhuang, and Nanxianqiu on the south side of the Deshi Line. Artillery Brigade Political Commissar Wang Shanzhu and Deputy Political Commissar Ding Zhuodong unified the command of the Second Field Artillery Regiment, the Mountain Artillery Regiment and each brigade.
Artillery, establish artillery positions to ensure that artillery fire fully covers the ambush site. Among them, the Second Field Artillery Regiment and the Mountain Artillery Regiment are not allowed to fire first. They must wait for the Japanese artillery group to open fire and destroy the Japanese artillery positions in one fell swoop.
As soon as the deployment was completed, Wang Nanhu, Cao Shengli, and Li Lingfeng led the 10th Regiment, the 11th Regiment and the special forces to withdraw. Seeing that the main force had arrived, Wang Nanhu said to Zeng Zhongsheng with some regret: "If the main force had arrived an hour earlier,
That would be great, we just defeated the main force of the Japs in one fell swoop. If the main force is here, the situation in central Hebei and southern Hebei can be decided in one battle."
Zeng Zhongsheng smiled and said: "Old Wang, the field artillery regiment and the mountain artillery regiment have exhausted several horses to death. This is our limit. There is no regret. Didn't the division commander say that there are many opportunities to fight the Japanese?
We are not reckless. One day, the little devils will surrender to us."
After Zeng Zhongsheng finished speaking, Cao Shengli reported the enemy's artillery firepower. Zeng Zhongsheng immediately asked Cao Shengli to go directly to the artillery position, report the situation to Wang Shanzhu and Ding Zhuodong, and assist them in commanding to destroy the enemy's heavy firepower. At the same time, Zeng Zhongsheng asked Wang Nanhu to arrive.
Go to the 8th Teaching Brigade to assist Zhao Shan. Zhao Jie will command the troops. We must not let the heavy firepower of the Japanese to cripple the 8th Teaching Brigade.
After Wang Nanhu and Cao Shengli left, Liu Yimin's telegram arrived, reporting the complete annihilation of the fourth independent mixed brigade and asking how the Western Front Group's task of responding to the concentrated troops' breakout was completed?
Cai Zhong and Zeng Zhongsheng reported that they had completed the breakout mission and were now setting up ambush positions near Xinji on the Deshi Line, preparing to severely inflict heavy damage on the Japanese.
Liu Yimin's reply came soon: "If the Japanese cross the Deshi Line, attack resolutely. If the Japanese stick to the Deshi Line, do not attack by force to avoid being stuck by the Japanese. After dawn, the main force will be passive. No matter what the attack method, the main force will be at night."
We must move to prevent large-scale retaliation by Japanese aircraft during the day tomorrow. Send another cavalry unit to feint in the direction of Shijiazhuang, creating the illusion that our army is conducting reconnaissance on Shijiazhuang, and prompting the enemy to divide its forces and return to defense."
After reading the telegram, Cai Zhong and Zeng Zhongsheng sent correspondents to Zhao Shan, Zhao Jie and Wang Nanhu to tell Zhao Shan, Zhao Jie and Wang Nanhu that the first wave of blocking attacks should be fierce and severe.
Once the second wave of blocking is over, you can evacuate and let the Japanese cross the Deshi Line.
By the time Wang Shuyou, commander of the cavalry battalion of the Fourth Brigade, and instructor Shi Qianli led the cavalry battalion to retreat, the Japanese cavalry troops had already caught up.
This time the Japanese learned a lesson, and they were all in combat formation. When they were 500 meters away from the Deshi Line, the Japanese cavalry actually split to both sides to perform guard duties, leaving the infantry to attack the Deshi Line.
The same was true for the Japanese infantry. 500 meters away from the Deshi Line, the Japanese from all walks of life stopped at the same time and began to build positions. The posture made it clear at a glance that they were preparing to fight steadily.
As soon as Zhao Shan saw this situation, he knew that the Japanese were serious. He started a regular offensive and defensive battle and immediately ordered the troops to evacuate their positions immediately.
As soon as the position was evacuated, Japanese artillery shells flew over and covered the railway line in the Xinji area with artillery fire.
As soon as the Japanese artillery fire stopped, the troops of the Eighth Route Army brigade quickly rushed towards the Deshi railway embankment, set up their machine guns and opened fire. Because under the cover of artillery fire, the Japanese infantry had already moved up. In some areas, Eighth Route Army soldiers and Japanese soldiers actually came.
Face to face. Fortunately, the teaching division troops had strong automatic firepower and had an advantage, suppressing the Japanese. However, the Japanese were indeed well-trained, and the light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers used as cover were able to fire accurately and hard, covering the retreat of the Japanese infantry.
At the same time, the Eighth Route Army soldiers were beaten so hard that they could not hold their heads up.
Zhao Shan is a general capable of both offense and defense, and this characteristic is obvious in the Old Fifth Battalion led by him. Although the Eighth Teaching Brigade was established only a short time ago, the grassroots cadres were all adjusted from the cadres who came from the Old Fifth Battalion, inheriting the old
Tactical characteristics of the fifth battalion.
Seeing the Japanese fighting like this, Zhao Shan secretly rejoiced. Fortunately, it was night. If there had been bombing by Japanese planes during the day, the battle would have been impossible. Since the Japanese were playing evil, Zhao Shan, who was born in the old Red Army, would naturally have something to do.
. He ordered all troops to evacuate the railway line and hide 200 meters away from the railway line. When the Japanese artillery fire stopped and the infantry came up, concentrate their firepower to beat him. In that case, the result should be greater.
As soon as the troops withdrew, the Japanese artillery fire began to cover the area again, causing stones on the railway to fly in random directions.
Since the Japs are heavy artillery and are far away, the mortars of the Eighth Brigade cannot reach them at all. If they fire rashly, the Japs’ artillery skills will inevitably be destroyed by the Japs’ heavy artillery in the shortest possible time. Zhao Shan accepted Wang Nanhu’s opinion
, gather the artillery of the entire brigade, and mark the firing area within fifty meters north of the railway. When the Japanese infantry surges up, carry out indiscriminate bombardment, and retreat after firing ten shells each time to attract the Japanese heavy artillery to move forward.
, creating conditions for the field artillery regiment and the mountain artillery regiment to destroy them.
After the shelling stopped, the Japanese infantry came up again. This time the Eighth Route Army did not fire. The Japanese who rushed onto the railway first thought they had made their first contribution, and stood up excitedly and screamed.
Soon, the Japanese infantry swarmed onto the railway. The long railway line was full of Japanese soldiers standing and cheering. The Japanese artillerymen responsible for fire support thought that the Eighth Route Army had escaped, so they began to move forward.
By the time some calmer Japs noticed that there seemed to be countless figures 200 meters ahead, Zhao Shan had already given the order to fire. All the light and heavy machine guns, rifles, submachine guns, Bayi automatic rifles, mortars, and grenade launchers in the entire brigade
Let's start, the target is the Japanese on the railway.
The change occurred so suddenly that the Japanese were completely unprepared, and the Eighth Brigade's firepower was too intensive. The Japanese on the railway did not even have a chance to escape, and were hit by bullets and fell backwards one by one.
The Japs who were still running towards the railway were immediately alerted that this was a trap and quickly lay down on guard. However, the artillery shells did not let them go. The target of the mortars and grenades fired by the 8th Brigade was 50 meters on the north side of the railway.
In the area within meters, the Japanese in this area received another baptism of artillery fire.
Seeing that the expected goal had been achieved, Zhao Shan was not greedy for credit, and directly ordered the troops to retreat, preparing to wait for the Japs to come up again, and then retreat completely in one fell swoop, attracting the Japs into an ambush circle.
The Japanese artillerymen, who were so angry, immediately retaliated and launched an indiscriminate shelling on the area within 500 meters south of the railway in the Xinji area, leaving the ground covered with craters.
At this time, Lieutenant General Michutaro Komatsubara, who had become angry several times, was determined to use all the main force to completely eliminate this cunning and despicable China army. Just when he was about to give an order, the staff sent an order from General Touichi Terauchi. Michutaro Komatsubara
As soon as the general read the words of the general in the temple on the telegram, he ordered the artillery to extend the bombardment again. After the infantry occupied the railway, they quickly built positions along the railway line, but they were not allowed to attack southward beyond the Deshi Line. Anyone who violated the order would be subject to battlefield discipline.
Zhao Shan waited and waited. In addition to waiting for the extended Japanese artillery fire, he did not wait for the Japanese infantry to pursue him. Feeling strange, he sent a reconnaissance company to come closer for reconnaissance. The result was that he learned that the Japanese were building fortifications along the railway and did not pursue southward.
signs.
Unwilling to give up, Zhao Shan sent a small force to harass the railway. As a result, in addition to driving away the Japanese with machine gun grenade fire, none of the Japanese cavalry and infantry pursued southward. Reluctantly, Zhao Shan had no choice but to report the situation to Cai Zhong and Zeng Zhongsheng.
Cai Zhong and Zeng Zhongsheng led tens of thousands of troops to get here with great difficulty, and set up an ambush circle, waiting for the Japanese to fall for the trap. How could they be willing to give up when they saw that the Japanese would not pursue them? But they knew that a series of blows would come tonight.
The Japs have become so angry that they are not pursuing them now, which shows that the Japs have also received strict orders to only defend but not attack. In this case, there is no point in wasting time here anymore. The Japs are a heavily-armed group and they must be determined to defend.
There is nothing we can do against them with the strength of our Western Front Group. A strong attack will only cause heavy casualties to the troops, and they may not be able to attack. The only option now is to withdraw the troops and move them.
Before the transfer, in accordance with Liu Yimin's instructions, Zeng Zhongsheng ordered the cavalry battalion of the 4th Brigade to feint toward Shijiazhuang to create the illusion that our army was about to capture Shijiazhuang. He also ordered the 6th Brigade and the 8th Brigade to stay and guerrilla on the railway line to harass the Japanese.
After the arrangements were made, Cai Zhong and Zeng Zhongsheng led the main force to move overnight.
The battle that took place in Xinluitou and Xinji to support the breakout of the troops in central Hebei later became an unsolved case in military history. The reason was that the enemy and we announced inconsistent numbers of enemy annihilations. The Japanese army claimed that the public security operations in central Hebei had achieved significant results.
Annihilating 60,000 resistance armed forces from all walks of life in central Hebei, especially at Xinluitou, Xinji severely inflicted heavy losses on the instructors of the ace unit of the China Army, killing and wounding more than 3,500 instructors, and the imperial army suffered 670 casualties. The Nationalist Government battle report stated that the breakout battle in central Hebei
A great victory was achieved, and all our troops in Jizhong broke through. Especially in the battle to support the breakout in Jizhong, our heroic instructors annihilated 5,720 Japanese soldiers. Both sides insisted on their own opinions, and accused each other on the radio and newspapers of falsely reporting the results of the war and exaggerating.
Several years later, the diaries of senior generals from both sides were declassified, and the leader of the Eighth Route Army's Jizhong unit wrote in his diary: "In this Jizhong breakout battle, the Hebei guerrillas fought desperately against the enemy. 80,000 guerrillas fought, except for about a few thousand who retreated to
Jixi and Liuliu fought guerrillas north of Baoda Road. About 10,000 people in Gaoshun City surrendered to the enemy, and only 40,000 people reached the base area in southern Hebei. The casualties were extremely heavy. Every inch of land in central Hebei was sprinkled with the sacrifices of martyrs.
Blood.”
The Japanese Army's North China Front Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo wrote in his diary: "In the first Jizhong Security War, our army fought for three days, and the casualties were very small and can be ignored. Only at the new base of Cangshi Road
In the Xinji section of the Deshi Line in the Sichuan and Deshi lines, they encountered China's ace instructors and were severely damaged by the enemy. The total number of casualties among the participating troops was as high as 7,634. After the war, additional troops were urgently transported from the mainland to restore the combat effectiveness of each unit. The casualties of the China instructors were
The number is still difficult to determine, because no enemy corpses were found on the battlefield, and no prisoners of the unit were captured."
After receiving the report from Lieutenant General Michutaro Komatsubara about the occupation of the Tokushima Line, General Judai Terauchi personally drafted a secret telegram to the base camp. In the secret telegram, General Judai Terauchi wrote: "The strength of the instructor Liu Yimin of China is amazing. This department was established during the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
The Battle of Xiangjiang. Previously, Liu Yimin was unknown. He was just the son of an old scholar in the mountainous area of western Henan. The bandits massacred the village and all the villagers except Liu Yimin were killed. Liu Yimin took revenge on the bandit leader and went south to find the Communist Red Army.
Bian joined the Red Army and became famous in the first battle. By gathering the backbone of the collapsed Red Army, he raised up the Eighteenth Red Regiment. Since then, the army has grown rapidly. The reason why the Communist Army has today's strength is inseparable from this man's contribution.
.This person is different from other generals of the Communist Party. None of the prisoners captured by the government troops will be released, and all education will be included in the army, thus increasing its strength. Before the July 7th Incident, the ministry already had more than 70,000 well-trained elite troops. With the emperor
After the battle with our army, they successively captured our army's weapons, and their combat effectiveness has improved significantly. This unit should now be the most powerful mobile corps in China, and may launch attacks in any direction at any time. In this battle in southern Hebei, this unit's troops
Divided into two routes, one led to the main force of the 21st Division and the independent mixed fourth brigade, and the other led to the Jizhong besieged resistance armed breakout, and caused heavy casualties to the imperial army. Judging from the current situation, one or two divisions
Attacking this department will be in danger at any time. Therefore, the front army is determined to guard the Jinpu Line, Pinghan Line, Deshi Line, and Hanji Highway with heavy troops, and use aviation to bomb the areas under its control at high density, destroy its economy, and trap it to death in Hebei
South. Concentrate all efforts on the Shanxi Operation and the Xuzhou Operation. After achieving the campaign objectives, concentrate heavy troops to completely encircle and annihilate Liu Yimin's instructor. At the same time, seize the time to form the North China Security Army and let them assist the Imperial Army in guarding the communication lines and free up the Imperial Army for maneuvers.
The troops are used for strategic operations. It is recommended that the base camp establish more security divisions and brigades to control the occupied areas, restore security and economy in the occupied areas as soon as possible, and achieve the goal of supporting wars with wars as soon as possible."
After sending the secret message, Terauchi Juichi ordered Lieutenant General Naozaburo Okabe to send a secret message to the First Army, Second Army and the commanders of each division, informing the 21st Division, which was independently mixed into the Fourth Division, and the Jizhong Encirclement and Suppression Forces
After receiving the news of the heavy damage, all troops were strictly ordered to strengthen communication and cooperation to prevent similar unfortunate incidents from happening.
After dealing with this, Juichi Terauchi felt that he was exhausted, his waist and back ached, and he could no longer support himself, so he went back to the bedroom to rest.