Xu Dalong led the rearguard troops to set up machine guns and fired fiercely at the Japanese cavalry, knocking them off their feet and forcing them to give up the pursuit.
Xu Dalong and others continued to march. After two hours of continuous marching, they finally entered the hinterland of the Second Military Division of the Jidong Military Region. The troops were finally safe.
This tragic battle caused heavy losses to the Songshan guerrillas. The troops suffered close to 3,000 casualties. The loss of weapons and ammunition was also very serious, especially the loss of more than two-thirds of the artillery. The guerrillas had to temporarily move into rest and recuperation. .
On this day, Xu Dalong came to the field hospital to visit the wounded. Su Jianqiang was hit by three bullets, and every wound was wrapped with a bandage. The injured leg was still hung high above the bed with the bandage.
Seeing Xu Dalong come in, he struggled to sit up. Xu Dalong quickly asked him to lie down, then sat down and asked about his injury with concern.
Su Jianqiang was a little excited and said: "Captain, my injury is not a problem, but we have sacrificed so many brothers, and this revenge must be avenged!" After saying this, his eyes became moist.
The atmosphere in the ward was very depressing. In this breakout battle, the guerrillas suffered heavy losses. The wounded survived by luck, but many of their familiar relatives and comrades lost their lives. Not only that, the commandos were also driven out of the customs. This made The officers and soldiers felt very angry.
Xu Dalong was also very unhappy. He had been fighting for so many years and he had never been so useless. He made up his mind to stay here and not return to Shanxi until a situation was achieved outside the customs.
He knew that his empty words of comfort to the guerrillas would not have much effect, so he might as well come up with something practical.
He said: "Brothers, don't worry. I have already sent a telegram to the Shanxi-Hebei-Henan Military Region to mobilize the main force of the special operations brigade and cavalry brigade from the Mawushan guerrillas. By then, we can easily deal with the Japanese tanks." Troops and cavalry units, and it will be much easier to deal with the other little devils.”
The main reason why the Songshan guerrillas fought so passively during the breakout battle was because the Japanese army had cavalry and tank troops. The Mawushan guerrillas' special operations brigade and cavalry brigade are world-famous. With their arrival, they can definitely crush the Japanese cavalry and armored forces.
When the wounded heard the news, they were full of expectations. The depressed atmosphere disappeared in an instant, and was replaced by faces filled with relief.
Mawushan Military Division.
Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang and others had been paying attention to Xu Dalong's situation outside the customs. When they heard that Xu Dalong needed support, they did not hesitate to send the main force of the special operations brigade and the cavalry brigade, and also provided them with a large number of additional equipment. Packhorses were used to carry weapons and ammunition. 200,000 yuan was specially raised, and Sun Desheng was sent to lead the team. In order to strengthen the Zhengzhi work and intelligence work of the Songshan guerrillas, Gao Zhiyong and Zheng Xirong were also sent over.
Commander Si Ling was also very supportive of Xu Dalong, and specially instructed to mobilize a large number of local cadres from the Jizhong Military Region and the Jidong Military Region to go to the Songshan guerrillas to help them establish anti-Japanese base areas outside the customs.
Nowadays, there are heavy enemy troops gathered outside the pass. In order to prevent the Guan Zhenshan headquarters from suffering heavy losses, Xu Dalong also sent them a telegram, asking them to hide temporarily and not attack the Japanese and puppet troops unless there are special circumstances.
Fengtian, the headquarters of the Japanese Kwantung Army.
The Japanese Kwantung Army was very satisfied with the result of this battle. The main force of the Songshan guerrillas was driven into the pass, and all the anti-Japanese base areas they established were occupied by the Japanese and puppet troops. The senior officials of the Kwantung Army were very happy about this.
But they had differences on how to deal with the aftermath. The Japanese army mobilized heavy troops this time and swept away the anti-Japanese base area of the Songshan guerrillas. After the battle, the Kwantung Army was preparing to transfer them back to their original defense area.
Tojo strongly opposed it, and the commander of the Japanese Second Division also echoed his opinion. The two of them have dealt with the Songshan guerrillas the most. They believe that although the Songshan guerrillas have been expelled from the customs and suffered serious losses, they believe that the Songshan guerrillas are far from broken. It could come back at any time. Therefore, they hope that the main forces of the Japanese Second Division and the 22nd Division will not evacuate for the time being, but will seize the time to destroy the Songshan guerrillas' anti-Japanese base area, rebuild the group tribes, and station heavy troops here for a long time.
Not only that, they also hope that the Kwantung Army will contact the North China Front Army and the two sides will join forces to attack the Jidong Military District of the Eighth Route Army so that the Songshan guerrillas will no longer have a foothold.
Their request made Shida Chishu feel very embarrassed. It was not easy for the front armies to coordinate with each other. Moreover, there was also a deep conflict between himself and Juichi Terauchi of the North China Front Army. In this case, the two major There will be many problems when the front armies fight side by side.
He thought twice and rejected Tojo's suggestion. As for stationing heavy troops in the Andong and Yuanping areas, it was also opposed by the Kwantung Army's logistics department.
Supplying troops from two divisions puts too much pressure on the logistics department. New military depots need to be built and a large number of manpower and material resources need to be mobilized for transportation. This will undoubtedly increase the workload of the logistics department and the cost of logistics and transportation.
Tojo was not discouraged by such a result, because he had already expected it beforehand. The reason why he made this suggestion was just a cover to make another suggestion of his.
After the senior officials of the Kwantung Army rejected his first two suggestions, he made a third suggestion, which would have a greater chance of passing.
Nakajo didn't have any other wise suggestions. He believed that the Yuanping Public Security District should be turned into a no-man's land, and at the same time, some people in the Andong area close to Changcheng should also be relocated to create a vacuum zone in the Changcheng area. So that the Songshan guerrillas could not take advantage of it.
The senior officials of the Kwantung Army were also worried about the Songshan guerrillas returning, so they agreed that the Japanese Second Division and the 22nd Division would temporarily stay in these two security areas, and then cooperate with the relocation of the people.
Guan Zhenshan led the two brigades of the third detachment to stay in the secret camp in Songshan, and sent a large number of scouts down the mountain to detect the enemy's situation, ready to deal with the Japanese and puppet troops entering the mountain to search and suppress them at any time.
On this day, Tianguan Town Mountain received a report from a scout. The Japanese and puppet troops were organizing troops to search the mountain. Among them, a Japanese mountain forest expedition team came towards the secret camp.
This Japanese mountain crusade team is not very strong, only about 200 people. Guan Zhenshan is completely sure that they can annihilate them. However, once a battle breaks out, the Japanese and puppet troops will be able to determine that the secret camp of the Songshan guerrillas is in this area, and Heavy troops will be mobilized to encircle and suppress them. Once the secret camp is exposed, the guerrillas can only withdraw.
Nowadays, Japanese and puppet troops are everywhere outside the mountains, and the guerrillas have no place to stand. If the support of the secret camp is lost, the guerrillas will have logistical supply problems during the transfer process, and they will not be able to survive in the mountains and forests for a long time.
In order to avoid exposing the location of the secret camp, Guan Zhenshan thought twice and decided to send a squadron to go behind the mountain expedition team, launch an attack, and then retreat while fighting to lure the Japanese troops to other areas.
The Ninth Squadron of the Third Brigade of the Third Detachment accepted the mission and immediately left the secret camp to carry out operations to lure the enemy.
The squadron leader of the Ninth Squadron, Wang Xiang, was originally a platoon leader in the Jizhong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army. He was promoted to squadron leader after being incorporated into the Songshan Guerrilla Column. He was a veteran who participated in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War and had rich combat experience. He believed that going around and attacking behind the Japanese mountain forest expedition team would easily arouse the suspicion of the enemy. After all, the Songshan guerrillas were not found on the path that the forest expedition team had just taken, but the Songshan guerrillas suddenly launched an attack from behind. It is easy to think that this is the Songshan guerrillas' plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
After careful consideration, he decided to create a fake scene to lure the Japanese and puppet troops into being fooled.
He led the Ninth Squadron to the flank of the Japanese and puppet troops' advance route, and sent a squad leader with three soldiers to approach the Japanese mountain forest expedition team. He led the other team members to seize the time to build a fake secret camp.
When the Japanese mountain expedition team was searching the mountains, they were worried about being attacked. They were also very careful, walking around and observing suspicious situations around them at any time.
A puppet soldier serving as a vanguard heard the sound of branches breaking in the woods ahead on the left. Based on his experience, he judged that someone was moving, and he immediately alerted the forest expedition team.
The Japanese and puppet troops opened up their posture and searched the past. The squad leader and three soldiers who were responsible for luring the enemy saw so many Japanese and puppet troops suddenly appearing. They ran into the depths of the dense forest in panic.
The mountain forest expedition team discovered the traces of the guerrillas and naturally pursued them closely. They chased over a hill and were attacked by guerrillas.
The number of guerrillas was not too large, only a few dozen, and the Mountain Forest Crusade team launched an attack on them. The guerrillas retreated while fighting, and the mountain forest expedition team also pursued them.
Not long after, they arrived at the place where the guerrillas had just stayed, and saw a lot of felled trees there, some of which had been put together, and they should be building shacks. They also found a stove with a pot of steaming rice on it.
The mountain forest expedition team did not stop here and continued to pursue forward. While they were chasing, they used the wireless telegraph phones they carried to notify other mountain expedition teams to intercept.
Wang Xiang led the team members to run wildly. In fact, they knew that they might be intercepted by the Japanese and puppet troops, and they had every chance to escape from their pursuit. However, in order to divert the attention of the Japanese and puppet troops, they protected the Songshan guerrillas. In the secret camp, they fought and retreated, continuing to attract the attention of the Japanese and puppet troops.
After climbing two mountains, Wang Xiang and others encountered a Japanese mountain expedition team that came to intercept. They could only break out in one direction. Soon after, another Japanese mountain expedition team appeared head-on.
In the end, Wang Xiang and others were surrounded in a mountain forest. As more and more Japanese and puppet troops surrounded them, Wang Xiang and others knew that it was impossible to break out of the encirclement, so they used the cover of trees to fight with the Japanese and puppet troops. A fight to the death.
After more than two hours of fighting, Wang Xiang and more than 80 of his guerrillas all died heroically. Their sacrifice was worth it. The Japanese and puppet troops were led astray in the direction of their search, and ultimately failed to discover the secret camp of the guerrillas.
The intelligence work of the underground party outside the customs is also constantly strengthening. They learned that the Japanese army continued to implement the plan to create no man's land around Changcheng, and reported this situation to Xu Dalong.
Xu Dalong knew that once the Japanese and puppet troops completed their plan to create no man's land, it would cause greater difficulties for the future development of the Songshan guerrillas. He really wanted to launch an attack on the Japanese and puppet troops to disrupt their plans, but Sun Desheng had not yet arrived with the cavalry brigade and special operations brigade. With the current strength of the Songshan guerrillas, it was difficult to get out of the border and fight. He could only send a telegram to Sun Desheng, urging them to arrive as soon as possible.
That evening, Sun Desheng and others finally rushed over. They were very tired from the long march, but Xu Dalong could no longer care about that much. He held a combat meeting that night and only gave the special operations brigade and cavalry brigade one night to rest. The next morning, they went straight to the regular route to prepare. Go out and fight again.
That afternoon, Guan Zhenshan received a telegram from Xu Dalong, asking him to lead the two brigades of the third detachment to leave the No. 2 secret camp and go to the secret camp in Heishui County to prepare to cooperate with the main force to eliminate the Chang troops entrenched in the west of Songshan. A Japanese infantry brigade near Cheng.
After receiving the order, Guan Zhenshan set off with his team. After a long march, they arrived at Chang Cheng's feet at 4 a.m. the next day.
4:30 am. To the south of Chang Cheng, a class of special operations team members from the Second Brigade of the Special Operations Brigade climbed a cliff and came to the bottom of Chang Cheng.
Since this place is on the top of a cliff, the Japanese and puppet troops never dreamed that the guerrillas would choose to launch a surprise attack from here. In addition, it was early in the morning, when people were sleeping soundly, and the guerrillas climbed onto the city wall very easily.
After climbing the city wall, they disguised themselves as Japanese patrols and patrolled eastward along Changcheng City. When they encountered Japanese and puppet sentries, they eliminated them. Soon after, the Japanese and puppet sentries on the hundreds of meters long city wall were cleared, and then a signal was sent to the special forces below the city wall.
The special operations team members saw the flashing red halo of flashlights on the Great Wall and quickly came to the bottom of the Great Wall. They quickly climbed up and then reached the outside of the city wall. From the foot of the mountain below the city wall, they approached the Japanese camp.
An infantry brigade of the Japanese 22nd Division was responsible for defending the two gaps in Changcheng west of Songshan. Three infantry squadrons were lined up from east to west.
After marching for more than an hour, the special operations brigade arrived at the designated location at 5:40 a.m. and were ready for the attack.
At this time, Xu Dalong led the main force of the Songshan guerrillas to approach Changcheng from inside the pass. At 5 o'clock, he gave Monk Wei an order to attack.
After receiving Xu Dalong's order, Monk Wei picked up the walkie-talkie and issued the order. He said: "Every squadron should pay attention and attack the Japanese army immediately."
(End of chapter)
