The Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army attacked Shanzitou at night and captured Han Deloitte alive

Han Deloitte grabbed the mark

Sun Changxing Yang Xinya

The battle of Shanzitou is about to be planned

At 8 o'clock in the evening of March 17, 1943, night shrouded the earth, and the 8 companies of the 25th Regiment of the 9th Brigade formed a company column and marched in the direction of Shanzitou. Company commander Qi Dekuan walked in front of the line, and instructor Sun Changxing was in the middle of the line, marching in a hurry and mobilizing for battle. Along the way, the sound of footsteps and shouting breathing converged into a mighty and majestic music, and the whole team was flying like a dragon. Halfway through, the moon was quietly hidden in the clouds, the sky was dark and heavy, and in a few moments there was a drizzle of rain. In an instant, heavy rain poured down on our cotton coats, and the mud stuck out of our shoes from time to time, but the troops were still full of energy, braving the rain on the muddy road. Cross the wilderness, wade through the small river, and from the empty lake land straight into the direction of the mountain head of the lake (the northern end of Hongze Lake).

Located on the northwest shore of Chengzi Lake, Shanzitou is a high hill with many villages on it. On 14 March, Han Deqin, deputy commander of the Kuomintang Lusu Theater and chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Government, personally led the 89th Army, the Independent 6th Brigade, and the 3rd Column of Jiangsu Provincial Security to smuggle across the canal and invade the Shanzitou area, frantically sabotaging our anti-Japanese democratic regime and mass organizations, killing our anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians, and clamoring for the establishment of a so-called "new anti-communist base area on the shores of Hongze Lake." On March 16, Gu Xijiu, commander of the 89th Army, was sent to lead his troops west to meet Wang Zhonglian's troops who had entered the village of Lingbei, in an attempt to form an east-west attack on us. The Headquarters of the New Fourth Army ordered our Fourth Division to launch the Shanzitou Anti-Stubborn Campaign on March 17. Our 9th Brigade took the lead in the offensive and decided to adopt long-range attack and north-south attack tactics to encircle and annihilate the Rok headquarters and the 3rd Security Column.

At 00:00 on the 18th, the night attack on Shanzitou began, and the 1st Battalion of the 25th Regiment directly inserted Han Weizi, the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion attacked Peizhuang from the southwest side, the 8th Company attacked Wang Weizi from the west, and the 9th Company encircled Wang Weizi from the east side. At this time, gunfire was everywhere, and the entire Han Deloitte troops in the Shanzitou area were divided and surrounded by us.

Wang Weizi was an earthen wei, the walls were high and deep, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and Han's "headquarters" moved here from Sun Weizi at dusk, and was stationed in the large courtyard of Han Chengquan (who was the same clan as Han Deqin), a large landlord in Weizi. The courtyard walls are all made of bricks of the same color, and Han Deqin is shrunk in the deepest part of the courtyard, which can be described as a strict barrier. "Comrades rush down!" With the shouts of the commander of the Qi Company, the commanders and fighters of the 8th Company rushed to the bottom of the polder at once with the momentum of a fierce tiger descending the mountain, crossed the polder and then rushed up to the polder. Because it had just rained, the slope was very slippery, and several times I climbed up like skating and slid down again. After studying with the instructor, the company commander immediately led the troops to move north along the trenches. Finding that there was a collapsed gap not far ahead, my assault squad quickly rushed through the polder gap to end the enemy's guard dog's life, and the whole company rushed into the polder from here.

The courtyard of Han's "headquarters", which was still some distance away, was guarded by Han's guards. With the cover of their houses, they resisted in an attempt to stop us. In order to reduce casualties and effectively eliminate the enemy, Sun Changxing picked up the machine gun to strafe the enemy for cover, and the commander of the Qi Company led 2 platoons to quickly climb up to the roof and throw grenades into the courtyard, hail-like grenades, splitting the head and smashing the head into the enemy, blowing up the enemy's corpses. At this time, the bandits also threw grenades at us from time to time. One of them exploded not far in front of Sun Changxing's left, and a few pieces of shrapnel landed on his head, only to feel dizzy, his eyes blackened, and he didn't know anything. After a while, he woke up, and the correspondent said, "Instructor, the troops have attacked forward, and your wounds are very serious, so let me bandage you!" He did not let the correspondent bandage, and quickly caught up, qi company commander and the instructor exchanged opinions on how to completely annihilate the Rok "headquarters", decided that the 2nd platoon would cover the roof with fire, and the instructor would lead the 3 platoons from the courtyard gate into the courtyard of the Rohan "headquarters". The recalcitrant soldiers hid in the house and kept shooting out, desperately resisting. At this time, the battalion commander Xia Yuhua came to the 8th Company to ask the 2nd platoon to remove a few pieces of wet grass from the house, ignite the grass, and burn the house where the recalcitrant army was stationed. The officers and men of the recalcitrant army were choked by the smoke and cried wolf, and they were in a mess, some of them fled in a hurry, and the 3 platoons just rushed into the courtyard, and a stubborn officer climbed out of the house and was captured alive as soon as he appeared. In the light of the fire, only to see him with big ears and fat head, wearing a uniform colored with mouse skin, we thought he was Han Deqin or Wang Guangxia, and shouted at the muzzle of the gun to the door of his head: "What are you?" Is it Han Deloitte or Wang Guangxia?" The stubborn officer trembled and said, "I'm not, I'm not, I'm an aide-de-camp." Sun Changxing asked him, "Where are Han Deqin and Wang Guangxia?" He pointed to a courtyard and told us in shock, "Both Chairman Han and Commander Wang are in the courtyard over there." He asked him again, "What does Han Deloitte look like?" What does Wang Guangxia look like?" He introduced: "Han Deloitte wears a new gray uniform and is of medium stature; Commander Wang was a large man and wore a brown silk cotton robe. After saying that, he hurriedly added: "Don't call him Wang Guangxia, we all call him Wang Guohua." In order to catch Han Deloitte and Wang Guangxia, he asked this "adjutant" to show us the way and attack Han Deloitte's lair.

It was already 2 o'clock in the morning of the 18th, the fighting was still continuing, and the sound of gunfire, grenade explosions, and shouts intertwined into the last compound of The Han "headquarters," and the "adjutant" of the recalcitrant army pointed to the house in front of him and said quietly and very surely: "Han Deqin and Wang Guangxia are in that room." So Sun Changxing rushed toward the house with a combat group and a correspondent. In the flickering light of the fire, I saw a guy in a robe huddled up with some people, and there was a woman in a cheongsam next to him. That was Wang Guangxia, commander of the 3rd Security Column, and his little wife. He also tried to resist, and Sun Changxing immediately shot and killed him, and this executioner whose hands were stained with the blood of the people of Huaibei, full of evil, and had more than enough to die, was finally punished as he deserved. At this time, there was an enemy shrinking in the corner of the house, and he had long been frightened by the sound of our gunshots. Sun Changxing turned the muzzle of the gun to him and asked sharply, "Are you Han Deloitte?" He stammered and replied, "I... I...... be. "Follow us!" Sun Changxing said. At this time, Han Deloitte woke up like a dream, and immediately stubbornly said, "If you don't leave, if you want to kill me, just beat me to death here." He was probably horrified to see Wang Guangxia killed by our shooting. Sun Changxing immediately said to him solemnly, "Follow us and don't kill you." He refused to leave, and said in a reproachful tone: "You Communists don't pay attention to credit." Sun Changxing righteously retorted sternly: "We in the Communist Party and the New Fourth Army pay the most attention to credit, and the ones who pay the least attention to credit are you Kuomintang diehards, your master Chiang Kai-shek, and you Han Deloitte." Your defensive land has been occupied by Japanese devils, our army has let your troops retreat into our base area, your troops have no food to eat, our army has received you in terms of food and funds, but you have adhered to the reactionary stand of anti-communism and the people, and you will take revenge, under the instruction of Chiang Kai-shek, cooperate with Wang Zhonglian's eastern criminals, and try in vain to attack and destroy the Fourth Division of our New Fourth Army. Han Deli was speechless and silent for a while, saying, "I won't tell you, your name is Chen Yilai." Sun Changxing said, "Commander Chen is not here." At this time, Han Deqin put up the shelf of the provincial chairman and deputy commander of the Lusu Theater and said: "Then you send someone to tell him, just say that I am in this place, and ask Chen Yi to come and see me." Because he was an important member of the Kuomintang, we wanted to let him go, so we suppressed his anger and continued to mobilize him to follow us, but he did not want to leave. The correspondent could no longer tolerate Han Deloitte, holding a Czech-style rifle with a bayonet and shining cold light, and shouted against Han's chest: "When death is imminent, it is still putting up the stinky shelf of your provincial chairman, and if you can't go, I will stab you if I don't leave." Hear that sentence. Han Deloitte, who was afraid of death, trembled and said, "Then you tell me to go, I will just go." Sun Changxing said to him, "Go by yourself, and I'll give you a plainclothes to wear." It meant to let him escape, but Han Deqin was still afraid that we would kill him and was unwilling to leave. It was not until 4 o'clock in the morning that Zhang Tie, head of the security unit of the regimental political office, came and sent him to the regimental headquarters. The brigade headquarters sent someone to pick him up. In this way, we killed Wang Guangxia, commander of the 3rd Security Column, captured Han Deloitte, chairman of Lusu Zhansu Province, and eradicated the stubborn fortress that the Kuomintang reactionaries had placed in the central China base area.

The brigade command post received a report from the 25th Regiment that the 3rd Battalion had killed Wang Guangxia, commander of the 3rd Security Column, and captured Han Deloitte alive. Brigadier Wei, Deputy Brigadier Zhang Zhenqiu, and Deputy Commander Bailang of the 1st Military Sub-district of Huaibei were all very pleased. Immediately sent staff officer Yang Xinya to take a cavalry squad to bring Han Deloitte back to the brigade command post to avoid unexpected accidents.

Since Han Deloitte was the deputy commander of the theater and the chairman of the province, he was allowed to run away on the battlefield. If Caught, I also hope he leaves the matter. Now that he had been captured and had not left, he should be taken away from the battlefield to ensure his personal safety.

Yang Xinya went to the political office of the 25th Regiment, and Director Yu Xinhua took him to see Han Deloitte. Han Deqin, dressed in the uniform of General Huang Tweed and wearing the rank of general, sat on a bench, stomped on his feet in high-barreled military boots, smoked a cigarette in his mouth, and closed his eyes, as if he were contemplating, and like a drowsy. In fact, it is chaotic. In accordance with the instructions of treating each other with courtesy, Yu and Yang Lizheng saluted, and Director Yu said: "Report to Chairman Han that the battle in the front is not over, and in order to ensure safety, I ask Chairman Han to go to the rear, and the brigade headquarters has already come to pick him up." Han Deloitte raised his head, looked at it, and reprimanded his adjutant with no reason: "Why don't you boil water and drink it?" Director Yu immediately continued, "There is ready-made boiling water in the pot over there, and you have drunk it well." There will be no problem with the boiling water of our New Fourth Army. Director Yu took the opportunity to stab him. Han Deloitte stood up silently and automatically, and Yang Xinya said, "Please Chairman Han follow us to the rear!" He walked out of the house, in front of the door, and let the cavalry help him onto his horse. At this time, of course, he could not be allowed to gallop on horseback, but was led by cavalry on his horse, treading on the muddy road, and walking step by step toward the brigade command post.

The brigade command post was located in a small courtyard in Zhaojiagou, and Brigadier Wei commanded in the West House, and placed Han Deloitte in the East House, where the two houses were only a few meters apart, and the voice was slightly louder, and could be heard.

Deputy Commander Bailang went to see Han Deloitte first, but before he could speak, Han Deloitte actually sued the evil man first and started a temper tantrum. "You New Fourth Army have betrayed their faith, sent people to comfort you during the day, and raided suddenly at night, and the things you sent have not yet been eaten!" Deputy Commander Bailang immediately retorted sternly: "It is not others who have reneged on their faith and will take revenge for their enmity, it is you, it is you Kuomintang, it is you Chairman Han, the Japanese Kou swept away the Cheqiao and Caodian areas, our New Fourth Army attacked from the outside line, attacked the Japanese Kou, covered you, got out of danger, let you retreat to our army's base area to rest, and support your supplies. We comfort you, why did you shoot my soldiers and confiscate the guns of my local armed forces?" Han Deqin slyly argued: "There is no such thing, if it is the Bao 3 column, you should reflect to me." I am the deputy chief officer and have the right to deal with it. "It is not a joke to say that Wang Guangxia's Bao 3 column is good at doing these anti-communist and anti-people activities. He also said, "I won't talk to you, I want Commander Peng Xuefeng and Brigadier Wei Guoqing to come." Still posing as a military commander, arrogant and arrogant, is really infuriating.

Deputy Commander Bailang returned to Westinghouse and said to Brigadier Wei, "This guy is very stubborn and has a very good mouth." Brigadier Wei smiled faintly and said, "He is an old politician who is used to this kind of thing." After being taken prisoner, what kind of stinky shelf was still put on, "Later, Brigadier Wei and Deputy Brigadier Zhang Zhenqiu all went to the door to take a look and did not speak to Han Deloitte.

Several comrades in the Operations Section of the Brigade Staff Office monitored Han Deloitte, Lü Hanqing (Han's chief of staff), and others on the one hand to prevent accidents, and at the same time cleaned up what they brought. Han Deloitte has been on the shore of Hongze Lake for several days, and there must be a lot of correspondence between the upper and lower levels. If we find his self-made telegrams, then it is even more reasonable for us to fight back politically. As expected, a number of telegrams were found in a suitcase, including a telegram from Han Deloitte to Chiang Kai-shek, saying that the Wokou heavy troops had swept through the Caodian area of Cheqiao, and the soldiers had fought with blood, and finally had to move to the area north of Hongze Lake to prepare for the establishment of a new base area because they were exhausted. Another telegram said that the 89th Army had been sent west to welcome Wang Zhonglian's troops eastward, preparing to attack the New Fourth Army in the Sisu area. Several people who had checked the documents were very happy and angry. I would like to ask Han Deloitte that our New Fourth Army has been active in the Hongze Lake area for many years, and that the base area was created through bloody struggle. Isn't that a blatant violation? Han Deloitte was dumbfounded.

Before dawn on the 18th, according to the commander's instructions, we told Han Deloitte that the Bao 3rd Column had been completely wiped out by our army, and our army was encircling and annihilating the Independent 6th Brigade. He said with great concern: "The 6th Independent Brigade has good weapons and strong combat effectiveness, so you cannot eliminate them, they cannot be eliminated." Staff Sergeant Yang said: "In the Battle of Huangqiao, the Independent 6th Brigade was not wiped out, and Brigade Commander Onda committed suicide? How did Chairman Han forget! The current New Fourth Army is much stronger in combat effectiveness and has a much larger strength, and the 6th Independent Brigade is isolated and helpless, can it still run?" Han Deloitte ignored us and sat dumbfounded, constantly muttering to himself: "It is impossible to eliminate the Independent 6th Brigade, it is impossible to eliminate the Independent 6th Brigade." It is like a monk chanting a sutra and praying to the old Buddha to bless the 6th Brigade of Independence with peace.

Soon, the battle was over, the crowd cheered victory, and we were ready to withdraw from the battlefield. Han Deqin knew that his troops must be finished, so he stopped muttering to himself, but sat there with his head down, like a wooden chicken. After dawn, before we withdrew from the battlefield, we sent someone to send Han Deqin and others, along with documents, to the command post of the Jietou Ji Division.

Excerpted from "The Veteran's Personal Experience"