On November 3, 1939, the 1st Battalion of Independent Infantry of the 2nd Brigade regiment of the Japanese Army was ambushed by Yang Chengwu, commander of the First Military Subdistrict of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region of the Eighth Route Army, in the narrow valley of Yansu Cliff, killing and wounding more than 500 people, and a number of guns, mules, and horses were captured. - This is the famous Battle of Yansu Cliff.
According to the law of the arrogant Japanese army: once the loss is suffered, it will definitely retaliate, and the more miserable the failure, the more fierce the retaliation!
As the commander of the independent mixed second brigade, praised by the Japanese military circles as an expert in "mountain warfare," and a "famous general's flower" norihide who had just been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general for a month, he was willing to give up and immediately organized a death-defying retaliation.
Marshal Nie Rongzhen had previously studied Abe Norihide: Abe was good at using "new tactics", with a flexible mind and decisive command, but his most fatal weakness was arrogance and arrogance.
Just after being promoted to lieutenant general, he was slapped loudly, how could Abe Norihide swallow this breath? Moreover, he did not look down on the Eighth Route Army at all. Therefore, he desperately went out to go deep into the hinterland of the base area and carry out his retaliatory actions.
Before leaving, he wrote a letter to his children:
“...... Daddy is fighting in the South from today! The day of return is November 13 or 4, and although it is not a big battle, it will be a considerable battle. At 8:30 a.m., we set off by car to Laiyuan City! When we fight, it's the most laid-back and fun! Indochina has gradually weakened, and if it is made more vigorous, it will surrender... The jihad is going on, and we have to fight. Then goodbye. ”
What Norihide Abe, who claimed to be "the most laid-back and fun when we fought", did not expect that he would soon die when he went to fight this "not a big battle" and "a considerable battle"!
The letter was later published in Japan's Asahi Shimbun.
Commander Nie Shuai and Commander Yang Chengwu, who had accurately grasped the temper of the Japanese army, set up an ambush for the Japanese army at Loess Ridge to give these arrogant Japanese troops a more severe blow!
According to the design of Commander Nie Shuai and Commander Yang Chengwu, on November 7, the Japanese army was lured into the encirclement of Loess Ridge and drilled into the "pocket array" prepared for them by Commander Yang Chengwu there. It was only natural that the Japanese army would be annihilated under the brave attack of the Eighth Route Army, which they despised.
Naturally, Commander Nie Shuai and Commander Yang Chengwu had already been sure that this battle would definitely be more fruitful than the battle at Yansu Cliff! But to their surprise, in the midst of their victory, they also picked up a "big fish" as big as Norihide Abe!
During the battle, Abe Norihide's command post was discovered by Chen Kaixiang, the commander of our first regiment, who took the telescope to find the artillery company commander Yang Jiuwei, who took the telescope to confirm the location of Abe Norihide, and several shells hit him, and Abe Norihide was shot! He was accompanied by 11 Japanese soldiers, two donkeys, and a foreign dog!
Afterwards, Nie Shuai learned from the Japanese radio broadcast that Lieutenant General Norihide Abe was killed, which was the first time in the North China Battlefield! It was also the first time in the history of the Chinese people's War of Resistance!
He happily called and told Yang Chengwu, who grabbed the phone and told Chen Zhengxiang: "Old Chen, tell you that we killed a senior officer of the Japanese army!" ”