Also participating in the battle were the remnants of the 5th Division, the 6th Division and the 7th Division of the Puppet Manchukuo Army, as well as a large number of mountain forest expedition teams. The remaining troops of the total force launched attacks on the Yuanping Anti-Japanese Base Area from the north and northeast respectively, in an attempt to attack the Yuanping Anti-Japanese Base Area in one fell swoop. Eliminate the Songshan guerrillas.
Because the underground party organizations outside the customs were not sound enough and the intelligence work was relatively weak, Xu Dalong was not able to grasp the Japanese army's combat deployment. He could only get some scattered information from the scouts sent out. Now he only knew that the Japanese and puppet troops had mobilized a large number of troops and were preparing to attack the Songshan guerrillas. However, he still did not know the specific combat deployment. If the guerrillas wanted to Making the right deployment is difficult.
In order to prevent the Songshan guerrillas from suffering heavy losses, Xu Dalong could only deploy the main force of the Songshan guerrillas in Heishui, close to Changcheng, and be ready to retreat into the pass at any time.
At the same time, Jiang Guanzhenshan's third detachment was deployed in the secret camp in Songshan, forming a horn-to-edge relationship with the main force of the Songshan guerrilla column.
This morning, a large number of Japanese and puppet troops appeared in both the Yuanping direction and the Ito direction. According to Xu Dalong's order, the Songshan guerrillas stationed there urgently withdrew from the two counties and moved to the countryside to monitor the next move of the Japanese and puppet troops.
After the establishment of the Songshan Guerrilla Column, Ma Shaodong, the intelligence captain of the Songshan Guerrilla Column, has served as the reconnaissance section chief of the Songshan Guerrilla Column. In order to provide accurate intelligence, he personally led several special operations team members to the road between Yuanping County and Ito County to scout the enemy's situation.
Ma Shaodong and the special forces members disguised themselves as Japanese troops and lurked on both sides of the road, looking for opportunities to intercept passing vehicles.
Japanese and puppet troops passed by on the road from time to time, but they were not their intended targets. They lay in wait by the road for more than six hours before finally seeing the target they needed.
This is a three-wheeled motorcycle with three Japanese soldiers sitting on it, and a Japanese military officer sitting inside the motorcycle.
Ma Shaodong led the special operations team to stop them.
The Japanese officer was a captain. When he saw that the Japanese leader who intercepted them was only a second lieutenant, he was very dissatisfied and said that he was performing an important mission and asked them to get out of the way.
Ma Shaodong was originally from outside China and could speak fluent Japanese. He approached the Japanese captain with a smiling face, and took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to him.
The Japanese captain was very impatient and asked Ma Shaodong and others to get out of the way.
When Ma Shaodong saw that his special operations team members had already taken their positions, he suddenly took action and caught the Japanese captain in his hands. The special operations team members behind him quickly stepped forward and eliminated the other two Japs. Then they took the Japanese corpse and the motorcycle into the bushes on the roadside and hid them.
This Japanese captain was a communications staff officer of the Third Brigade of the Second Division. Ma Shaodong seized a batch of documents from the briefcase he carried, including a combat order. Together with the confession obtained from interrogation, he obtained the Japanese This time's combat deployment. He hurriedly reported to Xu Dalong.
More than 30,000 Japanese and puppet troops came at once, which gave Xu Dalong a headache. The existing combat effectiveness of the Songshan guerrilla column cannot compete with so many Japanese and puppet troops.
After careful consideration, Xu Dalong decided to avoid the sharp edge and adopt the tactic of luring the enemy deep into the enemy's territory. First, let the Japanese and puppet troops disperse.
He ordered Wei Dayong to lead the special operations squadron and the Third Battalion into the secret camp in Songshan and hide and wait.
He himself led the First Brigade and the Second Brigade to abandon Yuanping, Ito and other counties, went to Heishui County, and organized a small group of guerrillas to harass the Japanese and puppet troops.
The commander of the Second Division personally directed the mopping up of the Songshan guerrilla column. He summed up the experience and lessons of the failure of the Eighth Regiment. In order to prevent being defeated by the guerrillas, he divided all the troops into two teams. Each team had more troops than people. The two teams advanced side by side in the Changcheng direction.
Xu Dalong originally hoped that the Japanese troops would disperse, then seize the fighter planes and knock out some of them.
He saw that the Japanese and puppet troops were densely formed, and he really had no good way to deal with them.
However, such tactics of the Japanese and puppet troops also have their shortcomings. The Yuanping area is vast and sparsely populated. The Japanese and puppet troops were only divided into two groups, leaving a lot of space for the activities of small groups of guerrillas. It was very convenient for them to use guerrilla tactics against the marching brigade of the Japanese and puppet troops. Harassment.
After the Japanese and puppet troops entered the Yuanping area, they first occupied Yuanping County and Yidong County, and then continued to divide their troops into two groups and attack in the direction of Binhe County and Heishui County.
In order to defend the county and important towns, blockade the main transportation routes, and protect the logistics supply lines, some troops had to be allocated. In this way, the strength of the Japanese and puppet troops at each route was reduced by more than 3,000 people.
The Japanese and puppet troops continued to attack and advance, and then occupied two more county towns. They had to divide their troops for defense again. In addition to the troops and horses that were attacked and lost during the march, their mobile strength at this time was less than that of each Japanese and puppet army. There are 10,000 people left.
However, with such a large number of troops, the Songshan guerrilla column was still unable to compete. Xu Dalong could only find opportunities to disperse the Japanese and puppet troops again.
That morning, the Japanese and puppet troops attacked and advanced toward Heishui County. Xu Dalong sent many small groups of guerrillas to continue to harass the marching brigade of the Japanese and puppet troops. After that, they gave up Heishui County and retreated towards the city.
At this time, both groups of Japanese and puppet troops gathered in Heishui County. After a day of rest, the Japanese and puppet troops dispatched people and continued to attack the Songshan guerrilla column.
This time Xu Dalong did not retreat directly. Instead, he used the first and second detachments as a group to use alternate cover to slow down the Japanese and puppet troops' attack speed and consume their effective strength. The battle went on for a day and a night.
After inflicting a heavy blow to the Japanese army, the Songshan guerrillas crossed the normal route and retreated into the pass.
The pass is the territory of the North China Front Army, and the Kwantung Army troops cannot enter easily. They stationed their troops near Changcheng to prevent the Songshan guerrillas from returning to the Yuanping area.
At this time, the commander of the Second Division also felt a little embarrassed. He has now occupied the Yuanping Public Security District and initially achieved the goal he wanted to achieve, but he knows very well that the main force of the Songshan guerrillas has not been eliminated. He was worried that once the main force of the Second Division withdrew, the Songshan guerrillas would return to cause trouble.
He did not report his attack on the Yuanping Public Security District to the Kwantung Army Headquarters. He was a little undecided about what to do next.
The chief of staff understood the division commander's difficulties and knew that he wanted to lead his troops into the pass to eliminate the Songshan guerrillas to avoid future troubles. However, Guan Nei is the territory of the North China Front Army after all. They cannot enter without authorization without communication between the Kwantung Army Headquarters and the North China Front Army Headquarters.
The chief of staff said: "Your Excellency, the division commander, in order to avoid future troubles, simply report the truth to the Kwantung Army Headquarters and ask the Kwantung Army Headquarters to contact the North China Front Army. The North China Front Army will send troops to drive the Songshan guerrillas out of the Kwantung Army again." .”
The division commander thought about it again and again, but still couldn't make up his mind. He decided to maintain the current situation for the time being, and then divided his troops to capture the rescued ordinary people and imprison them back into the group tribe.
The chief of staff knew that this was the most effective way to cut off the support of the Songshan guerrillas, but it would take a long time. Because if you want to arrest those ordinary people, you must first build a group tribe that can imprison them. This cannot be accomplished in a short time.
He believed that the main force of the Songshan guerrillas should be eliminated first. But seeing that the division commander did not agree with his opinion, he could not say anything else. He could only follow the division commander's order and send people to build the group tribe.
Xu Dalong led the main force of the Songshan guerrillas to retreat into the anti-Japanese base area of the Second Military Division of the Jidong Military Region. While they rested and reorganized their troops, they monitored the Japanese and puppet troops stationed near Changcheng.
At this time, most of the main force of the Japanese and puppet troops were concentrated in Heishui County, leaving Yuanping County and Yidong County empty of troops. He sent a telegram to Wei Dayong, asking him to command the special operations squadron and the third detachment of Guan Zhenshan to launch an attack on the Japanese and puppet troops stationed in Yuanping County.
Qiliping Town is the main transportation route from Yuanping County to Songshan. The Japanese and puppet troops stationed an infantry squad, a company of the puppet Manchu Army and a 40-man mountain forest expedition team here. Their task was to monitor the guerrillas in the direction of Songshan. activity.
If the Songshan guerrillas want to attack Yuanping County, they must avoid being restrained by the Japanese and puppet troops in Qiliping Town. Therefore, if you want to attack Yuanping County, you must first capture Qiliping Town.
After discussion with Guan Zhenshan, Wei Dayong sent a special operations unit plus a guerrilla brigade. They quietly surrounded Qiliping Town at night and launched an attack on Qiliping Town in the early morning.
The Japanese and puppet troops in Qiliping Town saw the large number of guerrillas. While they desperately defended, they asked for help from the Japanese and puppet troops stationed in the county.
Based on the notification issued by the division headquarters, the Japanese and puppet troops stationed in Yuanping County believed that the main force of the Songshan guerrillas had been driven into the pass by the Japanese and puppet troops. They did not know that there were nearly 3,000 Songshan guerrillas hidden in Songshan.
After they received a telegram from Qiliping Town asking for help, they organized more than 1,000 Japanese and puppet troops to come for reinforcements.
Guan Zhenshan and Wei Dayong led the special operations squadron and two guerrilla brigades, set up ambushes along the way, annihilated the Japanese and puppet reinforcements coming out of Yuanping County in one fell swoop, and then rushed to Qiliping Town.
After a fierce battle, the Japanese and puppet troops in Qiliping Town were wiped out. At this time, there were only more than 300 Japanese and puppet troops left in Yuanping County. Wei Dayong and Guan Zhenshan led the guerrillas to attack the county town.
The Second Division hoarded a large amount of baggage in Yuanping County for this mopping up operation. Wei Dayong and Guan Zhenshan led the troops to attack the county. It took less than an hour to capture the county seat and completely annihilated the entire Yuanping County town. of Japanese and puppet troops. Unfortunately, when the Japanese army broke through the city, they set fire to most of the baggage accumulated in the county town, which greatly reduced the guerrillas' capture.
After the battle, Guan Zhenshan led the guerrillas and returned to the Songshan secret camp carrying the captured weapons, ammunition and supplies.
Wei Dayong led the special operations squadron to stay and attack scattered Japanese and puppet troops everywhere.
The main force of the Japanese and puppet troops was stationed near Changcheng, and the baggage they carried was only enough to last for two days. The commander of the Second Division was giving orders to transport supplies here. When he heard that Yuanping County had been captured by the guerrillas and the supplies there had been burned, he immediately became panicked.
Seeing that the logistics supplies could not keep up and they would starve if they stayed near Changcheng, the division commander ordered the troops to evacuate Changcheng and return to Heishui County.
Xu Dalong had been keeping an eye on the movements of the Japanese and puppet troops. When he saw the withdrawal of the Japanese and puppet troops, he commanded his troops to launch a pursuit.
The Japanese and puppet troops were unwilling to fight, leaving hundreds of corpses behind and fled into Heishui County.
Xu Dalong led the main force of the Songshan guerrilla column beyond the normal route and entered Heishui County again, ready to attack the Japanese and puppet troops at any time.
After this stage of fighting, the number of Japanese and puppet casualties has exceeded 4,000. The commander of the Second Division now feels that he is powerless. He really doesn't know why the guerrillas are so powerful.
He now knew very well that it would be difficult to eliminate the Songshan guerrillas with the strength of the Second Division alone. The Second Division fought such a large-scale battle and lost so many men and horses that it was no longer possible to hide the Kwantung Army headquarters.
He asked the chief of staff to go to the Kwantung Army headquarters to report on the situation here and request tactical guidance.
The Kwantung Army Headquarters had actually heard rumors that there was a problem in the Yuanping Public Security District. But they thought it was just guerrillas operating, and it wouldn't be a big deal. The Japanese Second Division stationed there should be enough to solve the problem.
After listening to the report from the Chief of Staff of the Second Division, they were also very surprised and immediately ordered the Japanese intelligence department to investigate the Songshan guerrillas.
The work of the Japanese military intelligence department was still very effective. They sent a large number of agents to the Yuanping area.
Soon after, Japanese agents received important information that Xu Dalong, who was well-known in Shanxi, had arrived outside the customs.
They hurriedly sent a telegram to the North China Front Army Intelligence Department, asking them to provide detailed information about Xu Dalong.
Fengtian City, Kwantung Army Headquarters.
After listening to the report from the intelligence department, the Kwantung Army commander Shida Chiji also frowned.
Xu Dalong's reputation is so resounding that all the Japanese troops in the country have suffered blows from him, and even the Japanese troops operating in Southeast Asia have suffered losses from him. Shida Qianji really didn't expect that Xu Dalong would go outside the customs to cause trouble. .
According to intelligence, when Xu Dalong left the customs, he only had about 200 people under his command, but he turned the Yuanping Public Security District upside down and assembled an anti-Japanese guerrilla force of thousands of people. The combat effectiveness was still very strong. The number of casualties of the Japanese and puppet troops Already close to 20,000. Such heavy casualties have exceeded the total number of casualties of the Kwantung Army in the past three years. His harm is too great for the Kwantung Army.
