The New Fourth Army was also very excited and specially sent Deputy Director Sun of the Operations Department to meet with Xu Dalong and others.
Deputy Director Sun was accompanied by the detachment leader and chief of staff of the 9th Detachment of the New Fourth Army. The base area of the Ninth Detachment echoes the base area of the 12th Detachment. The superiors of the New Fourth Army hope that Xu Dalong and others can help the Ninth Detachment change their current predicament and open up the communication between the 12th Detachment and the 9th Detachment to form a network in this area. A large-scale anti-Japanese base area.
Xu Dalong and others planned to stay here for a month, and eight days had just passed, so they readily agreed to continue to help the New Fourth Army in this area expand their anti-Japanese base areas.
Deputy Director Sun was very happy and immediately stated that the 9th and 12th detachments would temporarily accept Xu Dalong's command.
The 12th Detachment grew rapidly and posed a great threat to the surrounding Japanese and puppet troops. The Japanese army mobilized troops and generals to prepare to attack the anti-Japanese base area of the 12th Detachment.
Xu Dalong suggested that we first fight in the base area of the 12th Detachment to crush the Japanese and puppet army's attack and consolidate the anti-Japanese base area. He hoped to first transfer the troops of the 9th Detachment to join forces with the 12th Detachment. After repelling the Japanese and puppet attack, the troops of the 12th Detachment would enter the base area of the 9th Detachment and help the 9th Detachment develop and grow.
Deputy Director Sun and the leaders of the two detachments had no objections and said they would obey Xu Dalong's arrangements.
Only by knowing your enemy and yourself can you fight a hundred battles without danger. Xu Dalong was not very familiar with the situation between the enemy and ourselves in this area, so he asked the New Fourth Army to provide him with detailed information about the situation between the enemy and ourselves.
Xu Dalong already knows the situation of the 12th Detachment of the New Fourth Army. The 9th detachment was established earlier than the 12th detachment, and the situation is slightly better. Although the number of troops is not very large, only about 2,400, they have many veteran combat cadres. There are almost 1,000 veterans who have been in the army for more than one year. Before Xu Dalong's arrival, overall the combat effectiveness was stronger than that of the 12th Detachment.
Although the total strength of the 12th Detachment has now expanded to 2,800 people, there are only more than 600 veterans with real combat experience. In addition, the 9th Detachment also has a 200-person water brigade and 14 small-tonnage fishing boats. These are the main forces that can be mobilized.
The area where the 9th Detachment and the 12th Detachment are currently operating is within the control of the 6th Japanese Garrison Division. In addition to the garrison forces in various towns and some important strongholds, the Japanese army can directly dispatch the 9th Detachment and the 12th Detachment of the New Fourth Army. There are 7,000 people fighting, and there is also a garrison brigade of the puppet army with more than 5,000 people. Generally speaking, the enemy situation is quite serious.
Xu Dalong looked at the map carefully and saw that to the west of these two detachments was Lianhua Mountain, and at the foot of Lianhua Mountain was the Qingling River. On the other side of the river were the plains of four counties, and further to the west was Suzhou.
Xu Dalong asked: "Which army is the Japanese army stationed in Suzhou?"
Deputy Director Sun knew more about the situation than the leaders of the 9th and 12th Detachments. He said: "That's the Japanese Fourth Division over there."
Hearing this, Xu Dalong's eyes lit up, and he asked: "Do you know the specific situation of these four counties east of Suzhou?"
Deputy Director Sun said: "There are plains over there. It is difficult for our army to move. There have been no troops operating there, and we don't know much about the situation there."
Xu Dalong said: "Knowing the situation in this area not only includes the enemy situation, but also the population and economy of these four counties, as well as the situation related to the Qingling River. The more detailed the better."
After hearing this, Deputy Director Sun and the leaders of the two detachments were a little confused. Why did Xu Dalong ask this?
Xu Dalong said: "Look at the map. The base areas of the Ninth Detachment and the 12th Detachment are adjacent to Lianhua Mountain and Qingling River to the west, with rivers crisscrossing them to the east, north and south. The terrain is complex. The Japanese and puppets are blocking the New Fourth Army. activities will be greatly restricted, and it will be very difficult for the base area to continue to expand.
In the area at the junction of the base area and the area where the Japanese and puppets were active, due to the long period of fighting, economic development was greatly restricted. It was relatively difficult for the 9th Detachment and the 12th Detachment to seize supplies from the Japanese and puppets. This is also the ninth detachment. The main reason why the detachment and the 12th detachment are difficult to grow rapidly. "
After hearing Xu Dalong's analysis, Deputy Director Sun did not know much about the local situation and was unable to react for a while. The leaders of the 9th and 12th detachments were familiar with the local situation and agreed with Xu Dalong's analysis.
Huang Shuigen, captain of the 12th detachment, now has great trust in Xu Dalong. He said: "Captain, how do you think we can break the deadlock?"
Xu Dalong pointed in the direction of Suzhou and said: "My opinion is that we develop to the west."
Upon hearing this, Deputy Director Sun and the two detachment leaders looked at each other.
Deputy Director Sun said: "The direction of Suzhou is a plain area, with more convenient water and land transportation. There is also the Japanese Army's Fourth Field Division there, plus the obstacles of Lianhua Mountain and Qingling River. Is it too risky to develop there? Already?"
Xu Dalong said: "There must be a reason why I said this. So, how long will it take for you to provide me with detailed information about this area?"
Huang Shuigen trusted Xu Dalong very much. When he heard what Xu Dalong said, he did not question it.
Although Deputy Director Sun and the leaders of the 9th Detachment still had some doubts, Xu Dalong was well-known after all, and he had just helped the 12th Detachment make significant progress, so it was not easy for them to raise questions again. So he agreed to help Xu Dalong investigate.
While waiting to provide information, Xu Dalong decided to first clear the Japanese stronghold between the 12th Detachment and the 9th Detachment, and open up the interconnection between the base areas of the two detachments.
In order to enhance mutual understanding with the 9th Detachment, Xu Dalong discussed with everyone and decided that this operation to open up the connection between the two base areas would be completed by the special operations team led by Xu Dalong and the troops of the 9th Detachment.
No one had any objections, so Xu Dalong and Wei Monk led the special team back to the base of the 99th Detachment along with Deputy Director Sun and the leaders of the 9th Detachment.
The Changkang Highway runs between the base areas of the 9th Detachment and the 12th Detachment. Along the way, there are two strongholds of the Japanese and puppet troops, one is the stronghold in Fuping Town and the other is the stronghold in Sishui Town. The distance between the two strongholds is 26 kilometers. , Xu Dalong decided to destroy these two strongholds of the Japanese army first.
According to Xu Dalong's deployment, the 9th detachment mobilized four brigades and went to the designated locations respectively. Deputy Director Sun and the leaders of the 9th Detachment led the First and Second Brigades to follow Xu Dalong's special operations team.
Fuping Town has an infantry squadron of the Japanese army, a company of the puppet army, a tax police squad, and a security team of more than 40 people affiliated with the Maintenance Association.
The reason why the security team is mentioned here is that due to the frequent activities of the New Fourth Army in this area, it was established with the support of the local maintenance committee and the squires.
Because this area is relatively wealthy, these security teams are paid relatively well, so they have recruited many soldiers. They have rich combat experience, and their combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of regular puppet troops. The total strength of the Japanese and puppet troops is about 400.
There are so many Japanese and puppet troops in Fuping Town, and their weapons and equipment are also very good. It is not easy to defeat them.
Those who could be mobilized to participate in this battle were three squadrons from the first brigade of the 9th detachment and two squadrons from the second brigade, with a total strength of about 700 people. They have an advantage in terms of strength, but their weapons and equipment are relatively backward, especially the lack of bullets, with an average of less than 10 rounds per person.
A strong attack is definitely not guaranteed, and once the battle begins, the Japanese and puppet troops will soon arrive for reinforcements. Therefore, everyone is a little afraid of the difficulty of conquering Fuping Town.
Such a battle is easy for Xu Dalong and the others. There is no need for Xu Dalong to direct it personally, nor even for Monk Wei. Zhu Guangzhao is enough to direct it.
Under Xu Dalong's instruction, Zhu Guangzhao put forward his own battle plan. After hearing this, the officers and soldiers of the 9th detachment thought it was feasible, and simply designated Zhu Guangzhao to command this battle.
That night, Xu Dalong and others came to the outskirts of Fuping Town and laid down an ambush.
At 4 o'clock in the morning, when people were sleeping, Zhu Guangzhao commanded a squad of special forces members to quietly enter the town, kill the sentry at the south gate of the town, and open the gate of the town.
The special operations team and the New Fourth Army officers and soldiers rushed into Fuping Town. According to the division of labor made in advance, the special operations team and a squadron of the first brigade attacked the Japanese barracks. The second squadron, the third squadron and the second squadron of the second brigade attacked the Japanese barracks. The fifth squadron attacked the puppet troops, the tax police squad and the town security team respectively.
The Japanese and puppet troops were caught off guard while they were sleeping, and most of them were quickly annihilated. Some remaining Japanese and puppet troops tried to break out from the north gate of the town.
According to Xu Dalong's deployment, the Sixth Squadron of the Second Battalion had already set up an ambush at the door. As soon as the Japanese and puppet troops rushed out, they were beaten so hard that they had to retreat to the town.
The New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army in the town drove out the Japanese and puppet troops again, and attacked from both sides, completely wiping out the remaining enemies.
The entire battle lasted less than 20 minutes. Only one of the special operations team members who participated in the battle was slightly injured. Only four officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army died and one was injured. More than 420 Japanese and puppet troops in the town were wiped out. .
Since the Japanese and puppet troops were quickly annihilated, the officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army did not consume much ammunition. The weapons and ammunition of the Japanese and puppet troops were basically completely captured, including one Type 92 infantry gun with 36 rounds of shells; two forced Artillery fire, 108 rounds of artillery shells; 3 crooked machine guns, 5 Czech light machine guns, 220 38 guns, 351 other guns, and more than 160,000 rounds of various bullets. A large amount of Japanese and puppet property was also seized .
Xu Dalong and others only replenished some bullets, grenades, and 5,000 yuan, and the rest of the seizures were given to the officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army.
The officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army were in high spirits, quickly replenished their weapons and ammunition, and then followed Xu Dalong and others to attack Sishui Town.
Since the special operations team members had cut off all telephone lines to the two towns before the battle started, Fuping Town was captured, but the Japanese and puppet troops in Surabaya Town did not receive the news.
After several hours of rapid march, the New Fourth Army officers and soldiers arrived at Sishui Town. Together with the Fourth Squadron of the Second Brigade of the Ninth Detachment, which was responsible for surveillance outside, they surrounded the Japanese and puppet legions in Sishui Town.
Just as the battle in Fuping Town began, the third and fourth brigades of the ninth detachment wreaked havoc on both ends of the road. They dug several deep trenches into the good roads, making it impossible for the Japanese mechanized troops to pass. It would take only six or seven hours to fill these big ditches, which is simply impossible. This bought time to block the Japanese reinforcements from attacking Sishui Town.
The special operations team members and the officers and soldiers of the First and Second Brigades of the New Fourth Army surrounded Sishui Town and soon launched an attack on the Japanese and puppet troops.
The strength of the Japanese and puppet troops in Sishui Town was similar to that in Fuping Town. Xu Dalong and others could have used night attacks, but Xu Dalong believed that the officers and soldiers of the 99th Detachment had been engaged in guerrilla warfare all year round and lacked experience in critical operations. He decided to use this opportunity to train the troops participating in the war.
This time the battle was still commanded by Zhu Guangzhao. According to his request, the special operations team members and the officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army marked all the firepower points of the Japanese and puppet troops that they could see. Each firepower point was assigned 10 to 20 New Fourth Army personnel. Officers, soldiers and special forces conducted a blockade.
Today, the officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army have a large number of people and sufficient ammunition. Although their marksmanship is not accurate enough, more than a dozen or even more than 20 people block a firepower point at the same time, rendering the puppet troops basically unable to fight back.
The special operations team members were not idle either. They kept observing the situation on the battlefield. When the enemy's hidden firepower points were exposed, they immediately used rocket launchers or 82mm recoilless rifles to destroy them.
When the battle lasted 40 minutes, most of the firepower points of the Japanese and puppet troops in the town were destroyed, leaving only one gun tower still standing there.
This artillery tower was specially left by the special operations team members because the officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army did not have effective weapons such as rocket launchers and recoilless rifles for attacking fortresses. Although they captured the Type 92 infantry gun, they lacked experience in using it.
The special operations team members must teach them how to attack the Japanese strongholds without artillery support.
At this time, the firepower point on the bunker had been firmly blocked by the officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army. For safety reasons, the snipers of the special operations team also joined the blockade.
I saw several special operations team members using skillful tactical movements to quickly approach the Japanese gun tower and throw grenades into the shooting holes on the gun tower. As the grenades exploded in the turret, the Japanese and puppet troops inside quickly became silent.
Seeing that the Japanese and puppet troops in the town were basically unable to resist, Zhu Guangzhao let the officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army rush into the town.
After entering the town, the officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army still encountered resistance from the remaining Japanese and puppet troops. This time the special forces did not help. They believed that the more than 700 officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army were completely confident in dealing with the remaining Japanese and puppet troops inside.
Facts have proved that the New Fourth Army has strong combat effectiveness. After more than half an hour of fierce fighting, they completely annihilated the remaining Japanese and puppet troops.
(End of chapter)
