The Japanese and puppet troops were constantly attacked and their strength was constantly reduced, but they still gritted their teeth and came to Heishui County. Before they arrived, the Songshan guerrilla detachment had already evacuated the county seat and evacuated to the mountainous forest area. This time the Japanese and puppet troops paid another price of more than 400 people, only to get an empty city.
After entering Blackwater County, Kawashima and Matsui finally achieved their first goal. They sent a telegram to the division headquarters saying that they had recaptured two county towns occupied by anti-Japanese armed forces.
Seeing the progress they had made, the Second Division Regiment Headquarters sent a commendation order.
Matsui and Kawashima didn't feel any joy in their hearts, but their moods became even heavier. They lost 1,000 people along the way and only gained two empty cities. They wanted to leave troops to defend these two county towns, and the maximum number of troops that could go out to fight was only 4,000.
They were certain that the main force of the guerrillas had not suffered major losses. They had no confidence in annihilating the Songshan guerrilla detachment with only these 4,000 troops.
In order to further consume the Japanese army, Xu Dalong and others retreated to Shigong Town, where they conducted public activities and clearly told the Japanese army that the guerrillas were here, waiting for them to attack further, so that they could harass them along the way.
Matsui and Kawashima stood on the gate tower of Heishui County, facing the vast mountains in the distance and feeling hopeful. They did get information that the main force of the Songshan guerrillas was operating in the Shigong Town area 20 kilometers away, but they did not dare to leave the city rashly and attack.
Just as the two of them were discussing countermeasures, another guerrilla cavalry appeared in the distance.
Kawashima saw through the telescope that the guerrillas were setting up mortars there, and hurriedly pulled Matsui away from the gate tower and returned to the headquarters of the Eighth Regiment. Listening to the sound of gunfire coming from behind, both of them had helpless expressions on their faces.
Seeing that the main force of the Japanese and puppet troops had left Yuanping, Xu Dalong sent a telegram to Su Jianqiang, asking them to launch an attack on the Japanese and puppet troops in Yuanping County.
After receiving the telegram from Xu Dalong, Su Jianqiang immediately led the second brigade to leave the secret camp and attack the Japanese and puppet army group tribes in Yuanping County, defeating three group tribes. The Japanese and puppet troops left behind in Yuanping County were out of strength and did not even dare to leave the city to come to the rescue.
Su Jianqiang and others liberated a large number of people, seized a large number of weapons, ammunition and living supplies, and recruited many new soldiers into the army. Su Jianqiang has rich combat experience and is good at catching fighter opportunities. Seeing that the Japanese and puppet troops did not dare to leave the city to fight, he sent a small number of guerrillas to monitor the Japanese and puppet troops in the county. They continued to sweep away other group tribes and Japanese and puppet grassroots organizations in Yuanping County, and destroyed the vast countryside of Yuanping County. It became a guerrilla zone for the guerrillas.
The Japanese and puppet troops in the county did not dare to go out to fight, fearing that the guerrillas would attack the county, so they hurriedly reported the situation here to Captain Matsui.
Matsui and Kawashima were so worried now that they didn't know what to do for a while. They wanted to go back to rescue Yuanping County, but they were worried that the main force had withdrawn from Heishui County and Heishui County would fall again. Moreover, when they thought about marching long distances back to Yuanping County, they did not know how many times they would be attacked by guerrillas on the way. It feels so bad that they don't want to try it again.
Matsui said with great frustration: "Kawashima-kun, the guerrillas are really difficult to deal with. If we want to destroy them, we don't have enough troops. Please ask the division commander to send troops for reinforcements."
After listening to Matsui's words, Kawashima frowned. He was now in a dilemma, so he had to report the situation here to the chief of staff and asked him to discuss with the division commander to send troops for reinforcements.
While the Japanese and puppet troops were undecided, Xu Dalong took action first.
That night, Xu Dalong left his cavalry detachment to monitor the Japanese and puppet troops in Heishui County. He led the first, third and fourth brigades on a rapid march at night and suddenly surrounded Binhe County.
Kawashima and Matsui were completely stunned and frightened. They had just recaptured Binhe County and reported it to the division headquarters. If it is lost again, there is no way to explain it. In addition, the large team of people is now in Heishui County, which is not too far from Binhe County. It is unreasonable not to go to the rescue. And they think this is also a good opportunity for a decisive battle with the Songshan guerrillas. So the large group of people drove out of Heishui County and went straight to Binhe County.
In order to deal with guerrilla attacks along the way, Kawashima and Matsui also improved their tactics. They organized six infantry squads, plus a company of puppet troops, and selected those who were strong and fast. Whenever there is an attack by the guerrillas, send an infantry squad up to entangle them. Even if they could not eliminate the guerrillas, they would not be able to continue to harass the marching brigade of the Japanese and puppet troops.
Sure enough, the guerrillas still sent people to harass. A total of five guerrilla groups were encountered on the road. The Japanese and puppet troops had already prepared commandos and went forward to meet them. The tactics were very effective, and the marching brigade of the Japanese and puppet troops continued their march relatively smoothly.
In the next hour, the Japanese and puppet troops received no more attacks from small groups of guerrillas. Both Kawashima and Matsui were happy, which proved that the tactics they adopted were correct.
There is a hilly area ahead. The mountains are not steep, but the vegetation is relatively dense. Normally, Kawashima and Matsui should be more vigilant against guerrilla ambush, but they were already very close to the county seat at this time, and they had always been attacked by small groups of guerrillas, so they were not overly worried.
Suddenly, a violent explosion occurred in the Japanese marching group. The explosion was not caused by mortar shells, because the Japanese and puppet troops did not hear the distinctive shrill whistling sound of mortar shells flying. The explosion occurred directly from the road and was obviously an explosive that had been planted in advance.
The explosives were planted by guerrillas. Xu Dalong and the others did not carry much explosives when they went out to perform the mission this time. They buried some mortar shells on the road, so the scale of the explosion was not very large.
Even so, it resulted in the casualties of more than 300 Japanese and puppet troops. After the explosion, the guerrillas once again attacked the marching brigade of the Japanese and puppet troops. But this time it was not a small unit of the guerrillas, but the main force of the First, Third and Fourth Battalions of the Songshan guerrillas, and their firepower was very fierce. The Japanese and puppet troops were beaten to the ground and suffered heavy casualties.
When the battle started, the two cars in the marching brigade of the Japanese and puppet troops became the focus of the special operations team members. In order to ensure that they hit the target, two rocket launchers in each car fired rockets at the same time. Both cars were blown into fireballs, and Kawashima and Matsui were killed immediately.
The Japanese and puppet troops who lost their command were in great chaos and could not organize effective resistance in a hurry.
The Kwantung Army's combat effectiveness is still very strong, and even the puppet Manchukuo army is well-trained. After a brief panic, the officers shouted loudly and organized their troops to fight back.
The uniforms worn by the Japanese and puppet army officers were very obvious compared with ordinary soldiers, which provided obvious targets for the snipers of the special operations team. They kept shooting, killing every Japanese and puppet officer they could see one by one. Soon, no Japanese and puppet commanders could be seen on the battlefield.
The Japanese and puppet troops who lost their command were like herding sheep. Some were running around, and some were lying on the ground, unable to organize an effective counterattack.
After killing all the Japanese and puppet army officers, the snipers went to attack the Japanese and puppet army's machine gunners. The machine guns of the Japanese and puppet troops became a veritable god of death, and no one dared to try to get close.
The Japanese and puppet troops had never encountered such a powerful enemy. Their morale was in confusion and their morale was extremely low.
In previous battles, many puppet army officers were captured. In accordance with the requirements of the guerrillas, they shouted to the surrounded puppet troops and persuaded them to surrender.
The puppet soldiers who had lost their command had already lost their courage. After hearing the persuasion to surrender, they all put down their weapons, raised their hands high, and knelt on the road.
After eliminating the puppet troops, the guerrillas concentrated their forces to attack the remaining Japanese troops. At this time, there were still four to five hundred Japanese troops. After losing their officers, the commanders also began to play their role.
However, their status was too low and they could only command the remaining Japanese troops around them. They were basically still fighting independently and were unable to organize an overall effective counterattack. In addition, they were in a valley and were very passive. Under the attack of the guerrillas with large numbers and fierce firepower, their casualties increased rapidly.
Seeing that there were not many remaining Japanese troops left, Xu Dalong ordered to stop shooting and let the guerrillas shout to persuade them to surrender. He wanted to see the difference between the fighting will of the Kwantung Army and the fighting will of the Japanese army within the Kwantung Army.
The result of persuading surrender was somewhat beyond Xu Dalong's expectation. The vast majority of the remaining Japanese troops chose to surrender. At first, Xu Dalong was a little disbelieving, but after thinking about it, he understood. There is a big difference between the Japanese Kwantung Army and the Japanese army inside the Kwantung. The Japanese troops in the pass often fought with the anti-Japanese armed forces, and the brutal battles made them extremely ferocious.
The Kwantung Army is different. Their environment is relatively stable. A large part of the Kwantung Army has not fought in many years. They are pampered and their will to fight has been worn away by their superior life. That is why so many soldiers surrendered. Case.
After consuming the main force of the Japanese and puppet troops, Xu Dalong commanded the Songshan guerrilla detachment, carried forward the spirit of continuous combat, and continuously launched attacks on the Japanese and puppet troops. He once again captured Heishui and Binhe County, and then attacked in the direction of Yitong. .
The Japanese and puppet troops in Yidong County learned that the main force had been annihilated. They abandoned the county and fled to Jinzhou.
After a week of continuous operations, the Songshan Guerrilla Detachment controlled a vast area of five counties in the Yuanping Public Security District, captured all group tribes, rescued hundreds of thousands of imprisoned people, and then launched a vigorous campaign to establish a base area. exercise.
The Songshan guerrillas controlled the entire Yuanping area and established anti-Japanese base areas in five counties, which caused huge repercussions outside the customs.
The sporadic guerrillas scattered in the mountains and forests came to join the army one after another, and young and middle-aged people enthusiastically signed up to join the army. The Songshan guerrillas quickly expanded to more than 8,000 people.
In order to strengthen the management of the troops, the Jidong Military Region transferred three more battalions to join the Songshan guerrillas, and the Songshan guerrillas were reorganized again.
After reorganization, the Songshan Guerrilla Detachment was renamed the Songshan Guerrilla Column, with captain Xu Dalong, deputy captain Guan Zhenshan, and chief of staff Wei Dayong. It has jurisdiction over the column headquarters, directly affiliated teams, and three guerrilla detachments, with a total strength of more than 8,700 people.
The underground party also sent a large number of local cadres to establish the Yuanping District Administration Office.
After the Administrative Office was established, the first task Xu Dalong gave them was to dismantle Changcheng. Xu Dalong knew very well that the Japanese Kwantung Army would never allow underground party bases to appear outside the Kwantung Pass. It would not be long before they mobilized heavy troops to attack. With the current strength of the Songshan guerrilla column, it is impossible to compete with the heavy Japanese army group.
They are separated from the base area of the Jidong Second Army Division by Chang Cheng, and their room for maneuver is too small. If they encounter a large-scale attack by the Japanese and puppet troops, they will easily be surrounded and annihilated by the Japanese and puppet troops. It is necessary to open up transportation links between the two base areas and expand the depth of the guerrilla column's campaign.
Xu Dalong proposed that the Administrative Office organize a large number of people to complete the work of demolishing Changcheng.
Each group of tribes laid down their crops at different times. The people who were later rescued had already lost their farming season, and their lives were not settled. When the Xingzheng Office was worrying about how to relocate, according to Xu Dalong's suggestion, the Administrative Office could solve the livelihood problems of these people in the form of work-for-relief.
The Jidong Military Region was very supportive of the Yuanping Anti-Japanese Base Area. They sent a large amount of food and other living materials to the Yuanping Administrative Office to resettle these people.
The Yuanping Administrative Office mobilized more than 30,000 people and opened more than a dozen gaps in the regular route of more than 50 kilometers, so that the base areas inside and outside the pass were completely connected, and personnel and materials could flow freely, creating a smooth path for the Songshan guerrillas. The conditions were created for the column to conduct battle maneuvers.
While Xu Dalong was seizing the time to train his troops, he also strengthened intelligence work and paid close attention to the actions of the Japanese and puppet troops.
Jinzhou City, the headquarters of the Japanese Second Division.
The division commander originally counted on the Eighth Regiment plus two divisions of the puppet Manchukuo army to eliminate the Songshan guerrillas and restore public order in the Yuanping area. Who would have thought that the situation would worsen so much that the Eighth Regiment and the puppet Manchukuo army that went to encircle and suppress them were almost completely destroyed.
He had revealed such a big scandal, and he couldn't hide it even if he wanted to. However, he still took a chance and hoped to quickly restore security in the Yuanping Public Security District and control the situation as far as possible in the Second Division. Within the scope of the regiment defense area. If the problem can be solved quickly, I can explain it to my superiors.
Therefore, the division commander held an emergency combat meeting to deploy offensive operations against the Songshan guerrilla column.
The troops mobilized by the Second Division this time include two infantry brigades, the 4th Brigade and the 7th Brigade directly under the brigade headquarters, the 7th Regiment, and the 3rd Brigade. The Japanese army participated in the war with more than 9,000 troops.
(End of chapter)
