Xu Dalong believed that in the next battle, he should hold on to the city to attract the main force of the Japanese and puppet troops. He led a part of his troops to jump to outside activities, and cooperated with the troops guarding the county town to crush the enemy's attack. As long as we can win one or two more battles, the cohesion of the troops will be stronger and the combat effectiveness will be greatly improved. Only then will it be possible to gain a foothold in this area. This is the only way out for everyone.
Everyone also understood the situation of the army, thought that what Xu Dalong said was reasonable, and unanimously agreed with Xu Dalong's opinion.
Xu Dalong originally wanted to lead the first brigade composed of the special forces and the Daqingshan guerrillas to operate on the outside. However, he is now the backbone of the Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps. If he leaves the county, it will lead to unstable military morale in the city, so he has no choice but to Stay and take command, and the special operations squadron of Wei Monk of the First Battalion will be responsible for exterior maneuver operations.
As expected by Xu Dalong, the Japanese and puppet troops believed that the prisoners of war and workers who escaped from the coal mine were a mob, so they mobilized troops from all over to encircle and suppress them, including an infantry brigade of the Japanese army stationed in Datong, as well as various surrounding strongholds. More than 2,000 Japanese and puppet troops were mobilized, with a total strength of more than 3,500 people, and came to attack Shanyang County.
That morning, various groups of Japanese and puppet troops gathered outside the county seat and began to attack the city.
The four detachments of the Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps each defended a city wall. The First Brigade and the Second Brigade were both anti-Japanese armed forces of the underground party. Their combat effectiveness was very tenacious and it was easy to repel the enemy's attack. The third and fourth brigades composed of the Jinsui Army and the Zhongyang Army were good at position defense. They had a large number of troops and sufficient weapons and ammunition. They also repelled the Japanese and puppet attacks.
The workers have participated in several battles and are no longer so afraid. They have seen the Japanese and puppet troops being repelled time and time again. They have become bolder and have gradually accumulated more experience.
As the fighting continued, the combat effectiveness of the guerrilla army increased little by little.
The main force of the Japanese army outside the city was an infantry brigade from Datong City. The brigade captain was the supreme commander of the Japanese and puppet troops that besieged the guerrillas.
After the battle, he found that the anti-Japanese armed forces inside had a large number of troops and strong firepower. It would be difficult to be effective if surrounded from all sides, so he decided to concentrate his forces to launch an attack from the north of the city.
The Japanese army captain concentrated four Type 92 infantry guns, more than 20 mortars, and 1,500 Japanese troops, and launched a fierce attack on the northern city wall of the county.
Defending the northern city wall was the Fourth Battalion. The prisoners of war of the Zhongyang Army knew that once the city was breached, disaster awaited them, so they braved enemy fire to resist and once again repelled the Japanese attack.
The Japanese army concentrated artillery fire on the wall near the city gate, and actually blew a gap in the wall. The prisoners of war and laborers near the gap suffered heavy casualties and could not stop the Japanese attack. A group of about 200 Japanese troops finally rushed into the gap.
The Japanese army was very experienced in combat. They immediately set up machine guns to cover the troops and continue to expand their results. The subsequent large troops also quickly rushed towards the gap.
The prisoners of war in the Fourth Brigade were all anxious when they saw this situation. While they used firepower to attack the following enemy troops, they organized their troops to rush toward the gap, trying to seal it.
Xu Dalong has been paying attention to the enemy situation in all directions of the county. After hearing the news, he immediately led the reserve team and rushed over.
As soon as they arrived near the gap, they encountered a blockade of Japanese machine gun fire.
Seeing this, Xu Dalong personally picked up the sniper rifle and killed two Japanese light machine guns in succession. Some of the special forces who followed him also attacked the enemy's machine guns and commanders.
Taking advantage of the enemy's chaos, the underground party officers and soldiers in reserve rushed towards the Japanese troops pouring into the gap and started hand-to-hand combat with them.
The prisoners of war and laborers in the Fourth Battalion knew that the situation was critical, and they threw themselves into the battle regardless of the situation. The enemy and we fought desperately near the gap.
Xu Dalong did not join the battle group, but quickly climbed up the wall, organized firepower to attack the Japanese reinforcements behind them, and cut off their communication with the Japanese troops entering the city.
There were only more than 400 Japanese troops who entered the city. Under the siege of thousands of anti-Japanese armed forces, they were eventually killed and injured, and the county town was finally saved.
After this fierce battle, although the anti-Japanese armed forces suffered heavy casualties, those who survived became more tenacious in fighting and captured the weapons of hundreds of Japanese soldiers. The overall combat effectiveness was enhanced.
Throughout the day, the Japanese and puppet troops organized seven or eight attacks, all of which were repulsed. The number of casualties among the Japanese and puppet troops exceeded a thousand. The Japanese army captain no longer had the ability to continue organizing a large-scale attack, so he had to suspend the attack, surrounded the county seat, and then requested reinforcements from his superiors.
It was 4:30 in the afternoon. Xu Dalong originally planned to launch a counterattack against the Japanese army at night. Seeing that the Japanese army was seriously lacking in strength, he decided to launch a counterattack in advance.
As the saying goes, "Capture the thief first, capture the king first." Xu Dalong knew that the main force of the Japanese army was now in the north of the city. As long as he could defeat this Japanese army in the north of the city, the Japanese siege of the county would be broken.
He immediately contacted Monk Wei and others outside the city and agreed to launch an attack on the Japanese troops in the north of the city at 5:20 pm.
Xu Dalong concentrated all the artillery on the wall in the north of the city. Under his personal command, he launched a fierce bombardment at the Japanese troops outside the city.
Since the guerrilla army did not use artillery to fight back when the Japanese army attacked the city during the day, the Japanese army did not know that there were so many artillery pieces in the city. The Japanese army guessed that the anti-Japanese armed forces might have captured artillery from the Japanese army, but they believed that these ragtag groups did not know how to use artillery, so they did not take precautions against it. Their artillery positions were placed majestically on the battlefield, and supplies were also placed there. Even the officers and soldiers sat on the ground in groups while resting.
The Japanese army was completely unprepared for the violent attack by the guerrilla artillery fire, and was blown away and suffered heavy casualties.
Taking advantage of the chaos of the Japanese army, Xu Dalong directly ordered an attack. The anti-Japanese armed forces rushed out from the gap in the city wall and the north gate.
It must be said that the Japanese army's combat effectiveness is very powerful. Although they suffered heavy casualties under the artillery fire, when they saw the anti-Japanese armed forces rushing out of the city, they immediately organized troops to fight back on the spot. Under the firepower of the Japanese army, the officers and soldiers of the anti-Japanese armed forces who rushed in front were shot and fell one after another. The officers, soldiers and prisoners of war of the underground party who rushed in front fell down one after another, while many of the miners who followed them turned around and ran away in fear.
Seeing this situation, the officers and soldiers rushing ahead began to waver and prepared to retreat.
At this moment, fierce gunfire suddenly sounded from behind the Japanese army. Then the special operations squadron led by Wei Monk and the officers and soldiers of the First Battalion led by Ma Zhenyu rushed over from behind the Japanese army. The Japanese army was immediately in chaos.
Seeing this situation, the anti-Japanese armed forces coming out of the city were immediately boosted in morale. They swarmed forward and quickly rushed into the Japanese army's position. The two sides once again launched a fierce hand-to-hand fight.
Xu Dalong was worried that the Japanese troops from the other three sides of the county would come for reinforcements. In order to defeat the Japanese troops as soon as possible, he personally rushed forward with a bayonet and stabbed the Japanese soldiers when he saw them.
Xu Dalong was skilled in swordsmanship. In front of him, none of the Japanese soldiers could go through a round. He stabbed seven or eight Japanese soldiers in the blink of an eye.
Seeing Xu Dalong's bravery, the officers and soldiers of the anti-Japanese armed forces were deeply inspired. They bravely fought against the Japanese army.
The total strength of the Japanese army was already less than 1,000 when the hand-to-hand combat began. Almost all the main force of the guerrilla army came over. Relying on the strength of their numbers, the officers and soldiers quickly gained the upper hand and completely annihilated all the troops in a short time. Japanese army.
The fierce fighting in the north of the city alerted the Japanese troops in other directions of the county, and they rushed over for reinforcements. When they saw so many anti-Japanese armed forces in the north of the city, they turned around and ran away in fright.
Xu Dalong did not stop doing anything, and immediately commanded the troops to divide into two teams, and launched an attack on the Japanese army around the county seat.
The Japanese and puppet troops on the other three sides of the county originally had insufficient strength, and most of the main force was concentrated in the north of the city. Seeing that the Japanese troops in the north of the city had been annihilated, and large groups of anti-Japanese armed forces came towards them, they were unwilling to fight and fled in all directions. .
The officers and soldiers of the anti-Japanese armed forces pursued them bravely and annihilated many fleeing Japanese and puppet troops. They chased them for six or seven miles before withdrawing their troops and returning to the camp.
The Battle of Sanyang is like this
A great victory was achieved. In this battle, more than 2,700 puppet troops were annihilated and a large number of weapons and ammunition were seized.
The officers and soldiers of the newly formed Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps had stronger morale after this battle. Now, the Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps has become a victorious army, capable of fighting big and fierce battles.
The combat effectiveness of the troops is continuously improved in the battle of snow and fire. Three years of training on the training ground is often not as good as three days of fierce fighting on the battlefield.
According to the information provided by the superior organization of the underground party, the main force of the Japanese army in this area is the independent mixed second brigade stationed in Datong City. The brigade has a total of five infantry brigades and other directly affiliated brigades. Now our army has eaten up two infantry brigades. The Japanese army can mobilize only three infantry brigades at best. At most, it can gather some more infantry brigades from various surrounding strongholds. The total strength of the Japanese and puppet troops is only five to six thousand at most.
Xu Dalong temporarily stayed in Shanyang County, preparing to use the same tactics to defeat the Japanese and puppet attacks again.
After several battles, the officers and soldiers of the guerrilla corps were very convinced of Xu Dalong's command.
After this series of victories, the soldiers were highly motivated. They took the time to train their troops and prepare to repel the enemy's attack again.
After the Battle of Shanyang, the commander of the Second Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army stationed in Datong City received a report from the Japanese and puppet troops. He concentrated the two Japanese infantry brigades in Datong City and more than 5,500 Japanese and puppet troops from surrounding counties. Head to Shanyang County again.
After breakfast that day, Xu Dalong once again summoned the leaders of each detachment to study the next battle plan.
After everyone arrived, Xu Dalong asked: "Brothers, how is the morale of each of your detachments?"
Both the first and second detachments, composed of the underground anti-Japanese armed forces, reported that the brothers had high morale and were fully confident of defeating the enemy.
The captain of the third brigade, headed by the Jinsui Army, now also admires Xu Dalong very much.
He said: "Captain Xu, our brothers in the third brigade are all fine, and they will definitely be unambiguous when it comes to fighting."
The officers and soldiers of the Fourth Battalion of the Zhongyang Army were not to be outdone. They often suffered losses when fighting the Japanese army in the past, otherwise they would not have been defeated and captured. After these few battles, I felt very relieved, with high morale and confidence.
Xu Dalong said happily: "That's great. In fact, the little devil is nothing special. As long as everyone is not afraid of death and adopts appropriate tactics, we will be able to defeat the little devil. In the next battle, I want to change my fighting style.
The number of Japanese and puppet troops coming this time is relatively large, and the main force is regular troops, and their combat effectiveness far exceeds that of the Japanese and puppet troops we encountered before. If we stay in the county and be beaten passively, we will definitely cause a lot of casualties.
I think it's better for us to take the initiative this time and fight off the Japanese ambush on the way. "
Having said this, Xu Dalong asked everyone to gather around the combat map.
He pointed to the Yandang Mountain Pass to the east of Shanyang County and said, "Look, this is the only way for the Japanese army to go from Datong to Shanyang County. The terrain here is dangerous and it is easy to hide the troops. If we ambush the troops here, , wait for the Japanese army to pass by and launch a sudden attack. There is a high possibility that this Japanese army can be annihilated in one fell swoop."
Everyone had great trust in Xu Dalong. When they came from the mining area, they had passed by Yandang Mountain and had seen the terrain there. They thought it was indeed a good idea.
Nowadays, the guerrilla troops are united, their morale is high, their weapons and equipment have also been greatly improved, and everyone has great confidence in using ambush tactics to eliminate the enemy. So everyone agreed with Xu Dalong's opinion.
After formulating the battle plan, Xu Dalong sent a special operations squadron to form a small team to monitor the enemy's actions in the direction of Datong. A part of the Third Battalion guarded Shanyang County, and gathered more than 7,600 people from the 1234th Battalion to head to Yandang Pass. Set up an ambush.
The reason why Xu Dalong was confident that he would use a newly formed ragtag group to ambush such a large number of Japanese and puppet troops was because he still held a magic weapon in his hand.
In the Celadon Coal Mine, a large amount of explosives are stored due to the need for coal mining. When the guerrillas withdrew, these explosives were
Brought them all out.
Xu Dalong planned to use this batch of explosives to deal with the enemy.
Shanyang County is less than 10 kilometers away from Yandang Pass. As required, the main force of the guerrilla army quickly arrived at the pass.
In the mountains on both sides of the road, the miners in the ambush position have been using explosives for many years and are all experienced. Led by special forces members, they began to plant explosives on the road.
Explosives were laid for a full 3 kilometers, and the amount of explosives buried reached more than 14,000 kilograms.
In addition, in order to make up for the lack of weapons and equipment, the workers piled a large number of stones on the tops of the mountains on both sides, preparing for the devils to once again taste the power of rolling wood and thunder stones.
