After receiving the order, Chen Shiqu and Tang Liang immediately held a cadre meeting.
Chen Shiqu has a straightforward temper, but that does not mean he is devoid of wisdom. He is a descendant of Chen Youliang, the leader of the peasant uprising in the late Yuan Dynasty. His grandfather and father were both soldiers. Since he followed Mao Zedong to Jinggangshan in the Autumn Harvest Uprising, he has always been Mao Zedong's confidant. He teaches by words and deeds.
Under this circumstance, he already had thousands of strategies in mind. When he was in Xi'an, he also studied at the Red Army University. Combining Liu Yimin's tactical thinking with his own rich combat experience, his progress was naturally faster.
At the cadre meeting, Chen Shiqu was in high spirits, dancing and grinning with one of his front teeth missing. He shouted at his regiment commander, battalion commander, and company commander: "What does the Southwest Shandong Security Brigade do? It is to protect Southwest Shandong. Now the Japanese army
Wreaking havoc in southwestern Shandong is to bully our southwestern Shandong garrison brigade because of its incompetence in combat. Whether it can work or not depends on what Commander Liu said, whether it is a mule or a horse that is led out for a run. Only after comparing them can we talk. Now that the opportunity has come, Commander Liu did not take it lightly.
Look at our southwest Shandong garrison brigade. We have been given a difficult task. What is this task? You have heard that people often say that the snake will be hit within seven inches. Our task is to directly hit the Japanese 14th Division within seven inches.
Hit its weak point. Commander Liu said that this battle will be used to hold a foundation laying ceremony for our southwestern Shandong garrison brigade. I, Old Chen, have a straightforward temper and can speak straightforwardly. If any unit fails to fight in this battle, just get out of here.
Let’s go out to the Southwest Shandong Security Brigade. I don’t want any cowards here!”
Tang Liang had always been engaged in political work. Seeing that Chen Shiqu had completely sold out the battlefield agitation tactics he learned from the Red Army University, he smiled and said: "The brigade commander's words are very good combat mobilization. Although we are a newly formed unit
, but the cadres are all from the Red Army. Although the weapons and equipment are not as good as the main brigade of instructors, they are all Japanese-style equipment. Not to mention much stronger than during the Red Army period, it is better than the brothers of the National Army who stood firm in Linyi and Taierzhuang.
They are also much stronger. Although our soldiers are all new soldiers reorganized from the People's Army, they have a certain training foundation when they were in the People's Army. After being trained by the training headquarters, they have learned everything they need to learn. What they lack is
The baptism of the war. Especially after the grievance movement, everyone knew why the war was fought and for whom, and their mental outlook was completely renewed. If such a unit is brought up, it is a newborn calf that is not afraid of tigers, and it will definitely become a blockbuster. Let me emphasize that this time I
As the army marches long distances, all cadres and party members must do ideological work to let the soldiers understand that we are fighting to defend our fellow villagers in Shandong and our homeland. During the march, we must also carry forward the fine traditions of our army and help the soldiers
They carried guns, washed the soldiers' feet, and carried water to soak them, making the soldiers truly feel the warmth of our military family for the first time."
After Tang Liang finished speaking, Chen Shiqu made specific arrangements. However, neither Chen Shiqu nor Tang Liang said where the troops would go. They just ordered the troops to move in marching order.
On May 22, Chen and Tang led the southwest Shandong garrison brigade to travel long distances day and night, and finally arrived at the Nianzhuang and Xinzhuang lines, not far from Guantai.
At this time, it was early summer, and the reeds on the banks of the Yellow River had grown up. Looking from a distance, they looked like a green ocean, with the wind blowing and creating layers of green waves. It looked refreshing.
After marching for several days, the soldiers never had a hot meal, but in order to keep it secret, Chen and Tang hid all their troops in the reeds.
Chen Shiqu's father was an old engineer, and he also had a lot of experience with engineers. Seeing that the terrain here was low-lying, he asked the troops to use engineer shovels to dig holes in the ground, drink underground water, eat dry food with cold water, and rest in the reed swamps. They sent out reconnaissance
The troops conducted detailed investigations around Guantai.
The Yellow River in this Fengqiu area looks calm due to its flat terrain. Groups of waterbirds are circling and flying on the water, and there are even groups of wild ducks in the reed marshes. Needless to say, there are reed marshes with water near the Yellow River.
There must be a lot of fresh and plump Yellow River carp in it. Unfortunately, in order to conceal their combat intentions, the soldiers could not take action while looking at the groups of wild ducks, and their mouths watered just thinking about the carp in the river. I don’t know who came up with the idea.
Pull up the reed roots, wash them with water, and put them in your mouth. They are sweet, quenching thirst and refreshing. As soon as this method was figured out, all the ten thousand people in the three groups of the brigade had reed roots in their mouths. Now
Well, the soldiers wore straw hats made of reeds on their heads, held reed roots in their mouths, and lurked quietly, waiting for the battle order.
At the Yellow River ferry west of Guantai, Shi Jianfei, the reconnaissance platoon leader of the Southwestern Shandong Guard Brigade, has been crawling in the reeds for a long time.
This Shi Jianfei is 26 years old this year. He was the platoon leader of the division's reconnaissance battalion. When the three security brigades were established, Liu Yimin ordered Luo Yan to withdraw three platoons from the reconnaissance battalion and assign them to the Luxi Security Brigade, the Southwest Security Brigade and the Taixi Security Brigade.
, Shi Jianfei took his reconnaissance platoon to the Southwest Shandong Security Brigade.
At the beginning, Shi Jianfei was very reluctant. The main force was about to launch a war, but he was asked to come to the local security force. He wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Luo Yan several times, but he couldn't bear it because he was an old soldier.
Know the discipline of the Eighth Route Army.
Shi Jianfei became excited as soon as he heard that the Southwest Shandong Guard Brigade also had combat missions. Along the march, his reconnaissance platoon acted as a vanguard, guiding the entire marching army.
Now, Shi Jianfei's hand holding the telescope was a little sleepy. He couldn't figure out what kind of ferry this was. There was no fleet coming and going on the huge water surface. There were only two old-looking wooden boats tied by ropes to a quiet place.
There is not even a boatman in the inlet. There are two lonely forts built on the embankment, and a few listless Japanese soldiers stand guard there. It is so desolate, I really can’t understand why the division commander would send tens of thousands of troops to this place where birds can die.
Come here, is it to allow the troops to train through long-distance marches?
Shi Jianfei, who was a little frustrated, really wanted to withdraw. He reported to the brigade commander that there were only a few Japs standing guard here and no large troop movements were found. He asked if they were in the wrong place.
It wasn't until the afternoon of the 23rd that Shi Jianfei became more energetic, because a large Japanese army suddenly appeared on the ferry. The Japanese cavalry of No. 100 arrived first. After riding their horses to conduct a reconnaissance and search of the ferry, they launched an attack on the river embankments on both sides.
The search was carried out. Then the Japanese motorcycles and cars arrived, and a large group of Japanese soldiers arrived. After this group of Japanese soldiers arrived, they immediately began to set up defenses to the south and dug up fortifications. Not long after, the Japanese convoy arrived.
Cars, horse-drawn carriages, bullock carts, and wheelbarrows all appeared, and they began to unload goods by the river in a noisy manner.
Shi Jianfei took a look and saw that there were gasoline barrels, ammunition boxes, sacks of rice and sacks of flour.
After the Japanese convoy was unloaded, it left. Not long after, the second Japanese baggage convoy arrived again. This time it was accompanied by another Japanese infantry brigade. As soon as it arrived, it began to force the captured people to dig fortifications and set up defenses to the north.
.There was a panic at the ferry, with the sounds of people, motors, and animals all mixed together.
The Japs began to appear on the other side of the river. They were also cavalry, and they had cars and everything. They were very large. Only then did Shi Jianfei understand that the Japs were going to provide supplies to the Japs on the south bank here. It was very likely that the Japs would try to build a bridge after a while.
Shi Jianfei did not dare to neglect and ordered two squads to monitor the scene, and he quickly returned with one squad to report.
In fact, the movement at the ferry also caught the attention of Chen Shiqu and Tang Liang, who had already brought their cadres up to see the terrain. As soon as the two met, Shi Jianfei led the leaders to the lurking position of the reconnaissance platoon, which was more convenient for observation.
.
Chen Shiqu and Tang Liang were surprised when they arrived at the location of the reconnaissance platoon. They really agreed with the division commander's judgment. The Japanese really regarded this place as a baggage supply point. The supplies at the ferry were piled up like a hill. From a distance,
Go, it looks like a big grave.
The Japanese engineers on the opposite side arrived, unloaded more than a hundred folding boats, motorboats and canvas boats from the cars, and soon began to drive towards the other side.
When Chen Shiqu saw it, he realized that this devil was really good. He even skipped building a pontoon bridge and just used a boat to do it. He couldn't wait any longer. If he waited any longer, the day lilies would be cold.
Chen Shiqu, who was full of regret, took Tang Liang and made a battle plan on the spot. He decided that the 1st Regiment of Southwest Shandong Guards would go back to the north of the ferry, the 2nd Regiment would go back to the east of the ferry, and the 3rd Regiment would go to the south, forming three attack arrows.
The regiment's grenades and infantry artillery were concentrated and used uniformly. Under my personal command, I first took out the artillery and machine gun positions of the Japanese defenders, and then used the infantry artillery to suppress the Japanese supporting firepower on the other side of the river.
Chen Shiqu glanced at the cadres and said in a low voice: "Each regiment set up all the light and heavy machine guns. The troops used the reed cover to get as close to the enemy as possible. As soon as the cannon fired, the whole brigade went into battle. Type 92, crooked handle, three
I fired all the eight grenades. I wanted to knock the Japanese unconscious as soon as possible, and then pounce on the enemy with grenades. If the attack was frustrated, the artillerymen would aim at the Japanese gasoline barrels and ammunition boxes and beat them hard, trying to draw out the enemy.
Burn gasoline barrels or detonate ammunition boxes. If the artillery attack cannot be effective, each regiment must organize troops to rush forward and set fire to the luggage and supplies. After burning, retreat, don't be reluctant to fight. For such a big operation, the Japanese must have reinforcements. Do you understand?
"
The cadres all nodded.
Tang Liang confessed in a low voice: "We are a new army. We can only win battles but not defeat them. Once we lose the battle, the team will easily collapse. We must organize the troops to fire volleys in platoons, concentrate on dropping bombs, and win with firepower. Wait for the Japanese support.
When you can't hold back, listen to the charge and launch a group charge to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. You have to tell the soldiers that there are less than 2,000 Japanese soldiers and 10,000 of our troops. If five of them hit one, we will win. Do you understand?"
The cadres nodded again,
Chen Shiqu waved his hand and asked the cadres to go back and lead the troops. They had to act quickly and launch the attack in half an hour at the latest.
After the cadres left, Chen Shiqu told Tang Liang that when the troops directly under his command came up, he would personally lead them as a reserve team for the whole brigade. Then he ordered the reconnaissance platoon to cut the reeds and vacate the field to serve as an artillery position.
While waiting for the troops, the Japanese folding boats, motorboats, and canvas boats docked one after another. The first to arrive was naturally the motorboat, which plowed the water into golden waves under the setting sun, which looked very spectacular. The people on the shore
The soldiers cheered for a while, and then began to force the people to load things on the boat. If you moved slower, the enemy's rifle butts would come up.
Seeing the Japanese's first batch of supplies being steadily loaded onto the motorboat, and then steadily sailing towards the other side, with folding boats and canvas boats also beginning to be loaded, Chen Shiqu's eyes were so anxious that he almost bled. But there was nothing he could do, the troops couldn't help it.
It's no use saying anything when you're in place.
After the Japanese motorboat reached the other side, it hurriedly unloaded its cargo, loaded it into a few cars and took it away, before heading back to the other side.
At this time, the artillery of the Southwest Shandong Independent Brigade came up.
Although the Southwest Shandong Independent Brigade was equipped with Japanese-style equipment, it had very few guns. There were only six infantry guns, an average of two per regiment. This made Chen Shiqu and Tang Liang very happy. At that time, how many guns did the entire Central Red Army have?
Fortunately, there are a lot of grenade launchers, each battalion has three, and the three regiments in the brigade have 27 grenade launchers.
Seeing the artillery coming up, Chen Shiqu immediately ordered the artillery positions to be set up immediately and prepared to fire. Fortunately, although most of these artillerymen were novices, the artillery cadres were all backbones sent by the artillery brigade. It didn't take long before the firing range had been measured and adjusted.
It’s time to bombard Zhu Yuan.
When each regiment received a signal that the troops were in place, the impatient Chen Shiqu couldn't wait any longer and immediately ordered the artillery fire.
The Japs who were busy loading and unloading supplies suddenly heard the explosion of artillery shells. They turned around and saw, Oh my God, why did so many artillery shells fly out of the reed swamp and hit the guards on the river embankment?
The troop positions were blown up into the river embankment and dust flew into the air, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
As the sound of artillery sounded, the clear cheers of the Type 92 heavy machine gun and the crooked light machine gun rang out from the east, south, and north at the same time. The dense barrage rolled up against the Japanese infantry position, and immediately
Those Japanese soldiers who had not had time to lie down on the battlefield were staggering around.
There was chaos at the ferry. The Japanese soldiers on the shore lay down one after another, and the captured people ran away. The folding boats and canvas boats that had loaded the cargo hurriedly fled the ferry. The boats that were not loaded did not know what to do with themselves. It was chaotic.
It became a pot of porridge.
Chen Shiqu only had time to fire three salvos at the Japanese defensive position closest to him in the south. He had to shell the northern defensive position because he saw from the telescope that the Japanese artillery position there had raised its muzzle.
, if the artillery is not fired, the enemy's shells will fall. However, at such a long distance, the grenade can't reach, so we can only use infantry artillery to bombard, and the grenade will be used to continue to ravage the enemy in the defensive position in the south.
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After Chen Shiqu fired five salvos at the Japanese artillery position to the north, he immediately ordered the infantry artillery to turn its muzzle and bombard the other side, because the Japanese there had already opened fire. The heavy machine gun bullets made the reeds by the river flutter and the cannons also fired.
After setting up the artillery, if there was any further hesitation, his artillery position would be in danger of being destroyed. As for the effect of the shelling just now, Chen Shiqu did not bother to observe. He was confident that even if the artillery fire was inaccurate, the weight of each regiment would still be affected.
What about machine gun fire!
Fortunately, Chen Shiqu had rich experience in combat, and his command was smooth and smooth, which shortened the turning time of the infantry artillery. The Japanese artillerymen on the other side had just taken the guns off the cars and set them up, and the Eighth Route Army's artillery shells had arrived here. Although the first six-gun salvo was fired
It didn't work, but it frightened the Japanese artillerymen so much that they couldn't fire normally. When the second salvo was fired, the artillery shells with adjusted parameters landed on the Japanese artillery position on the other side. Chen Shiqu saw clearly through the telescope, a Japanese artillery gun.
The cannon was knocked over directly.
Chen Shiqu shouted "Well done" and ordered a five-round salvo. Then he ordered the grenade position to move forward to cover the infantry attack.
After the infantry artillery fired five salvos, the Japanese artillery position on the other side went silent. There was no way, the Japanese would never have thought of meeting the Chinese army here. You know, when they forcibly crossed the Yellow River at Dongkou, Zhencheng County, there was a
The Kuomintang defenders of the regiment were beaten by the imperial army's aircraft and artillery. Only eight soldiers were killed when the main force of the division crossed the river. The arrogant Japanese soldiers did not expect to encounter a sneak attack by the Eighth Route Army in their control area, so they relaxed their vigilance.
When I arrived, I didn't bring field artillery, but I brought infantry artillery. I was busy unloading and launching ships, and I didn't set up artillery positions in time. If I moved slowly, I would naturally be beaten.
After six infantry guns knocked out the Japanese heavy machine gun position on the other side, Chen Shiqu ordered the bugler to blow the charge horn.
Nine buglers lined up behind Chen Shiqu. The sound of the bugles was fierce and clear, echoing in the reed swamps, on the surface of the Yellow River that rolled eastward, and in the hearts of every Eighth Route Army soldier.
The little devil's soul trembled with fear and drifted straight to the East.
The shelling and group fire of light and heavy machine guns just now made the soldiers hidden in the reed swamps excited. As soon as the charge horn sounded, under the leadership of the cadres, tens of thousands of Eighth Route Army soldiers rushed out of the reed swamps and marched toward them.
The Japanese troops pounced.
Although it is a newly formed unit, the soldiers have undergone intensive training at the training headquarters, and the cadres are the veteran combat backbones of the First Brigade. In accordance with the requirements of the Tang Political Commissar, they led the soldiers to follow the infantry squad battle formation during training.
, alternating cover, rolling leap forward, volleying guns and concentrated bomb drops in turns, firing a volley of guns, throwing a grenade, using the dust mist caused by the grenade explosion to cover the leap, and then lying down to fire volleys and dropping bombs. He actually hit with noses and eyes, which made Chen Shiqu cheer continuously.
The cadres who constantly praise the instructors are great, and the new recruits can also display such awe.
Seeing that the troops were making good progress, Chen Shiqu wanted to seize the Japanese supplies and replenish the combat losses. He ordered the infantry cannons to fire at the Japanese ships and try to blow up the supplies to the bottom of the river. He also ordered all grenades to be aimed at the Japanese machine gun positions and infantry intensive areas.
Fire artillery to provide fire cover for infantry charges.
At this time, the ships that had not yet loaded their cargo did not dare to linger at the ferry, and hurriedly turned around and fled. Even the motorboats did not dare to come to the east coast, and hurriedly headed downstream or upstream.