In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Eighth Route Army annihilated thousands of Japanese troops at one time, and some people counted about 28 battles, such as the Pingxing Guan dajie of the 115th Division, the ambush of Wucheng Jinggou of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division, the Shentouling Ambush of chen geng's 386th Brigade, the great victory of Chen Zhuang of the 120th Division, and so on.
Among them, there were not many battles in which a brigade of the Eighth Route Army annihilated thousands of Japanese troops, and in an encounter (non-ambush battle) annihilated thousands of Japanese troops at a time, as far as the author knows, there is only one case of the 359th Brigade of the 120th Division.
This battle is little known.
The start of this encounter is very interesting - two encounters in succession.
On May 9, 1939, the sky was clear and the wind was beautiful. Liu Zhuanlian, commander of the 717th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the 120th Division, and Yan Fusheng, political commissar, were leading the soldiers in practicing splitting on the playground when they suddenly received a report: More than 5,000 people from the Third and Ninth Mixed Brigades of the Japanese Army were dispatched from Wutai County, Fanzhi County, and Daying Town in Wutai County, and the troops were divided into five roads to "sweep up."
The Japanese operation was abrupt and mysterious.
The 717th Regiment immediately went to block the Japanese troops advancing eastward from Wutai and Doucun in the Tongqiangou area. As a result, at Qingyangkou, they encountered the Japanese army, and the battle began immediately!
The Japanese army was numerous, the firepower was fierce, and there were aircraft to cooperate. Liu Zhuanlian led the 717th Regiment to seize the favorable terrain, stubbornly resisted, and then got rid of the Japanese army that night, marched north, climbed six large mountains in a row, and climbed the Beitai Ridge, the highest mountain in Wutai Mountain, before throwing the Japanese army away.
On May 13, Liu Zhuanlian led his troops to the direction of Shentang fort and moved closer to the brigade headquarters.
That night, they arrived at the upper waist stream in Fanzhi County and camped on the north side of the mountain.
At this time, a group of Japanese troops was camping on the southern slope of the mountain with a thin waist stream.
The two armies were separated by only a mountain beam, and neither one found anyone.
At dawn on May 14, the vanguard battalion of the 717th Regiment reported that Liu Zhuan Company had found Japanese troops on the mountain beams.
Narrow roads meet the brave to win!
Liu Zhuanlian immediately rushed up a hill to the left of the mountain beam with the guard company, eliminated the Japanese guard troops, and occupied the commanding heights. Then he looked into the ravine to the south, only to see that cooking smoke was everywhere, and the Japanese army was preparing to eat breakfast. He immediately made a decision, ordered the guard company to shoot at the Japanese, and sent someone to order the battalions to immediately go up the hill to participate in the battle.
With a fierce burst of fire, the warriors rushed down the mountain like tigers. The Japanese army was caught off guard and made a mess. Frightened Yanmaros scurried around, some carrying gun mounts and ammunition to the positions of the 717th Regiment. A guard company captured a Japanese interpreter, and Liu Zhuanlian interrogated him and learned that this Japanese army was a brigade of more than a thousand people who had been sent out from Daying Town to the south. It turned out that they had advanced all the way, found themselves alone in the depths, and after the support was cut off, they immediately returned to the north. Unexpectedly, when they reached Qingyangkou, they were stubbornly blocked by the 717th Regiment, and then they changed to the mountain road, and as a result, they stopped at the south of the mountain to rest and prepared to return to Daying Town after dawn. Unexpectedly, they collided with the 717th Regiment for the second time.
Liu Zhuanlian found out the details of the Japanese army. However, the radio's contact with the brigade headquarters was interrupted and could not be contacted. He was still determined to annihilate this Japanese force, so he ordered all the nearest troops to enter the battle, and the 2nd and 3rd battalions occupied the favorable terrain and resolutely blocked the Retreat of the Japanese Army.
He then wrote a letter to the brigade commander asking for assistance and sending someone to send it.
The Japanese troops in the ravine were attacked by surprise, and after a little awakening, they found that the rear road had been cut off, and immediately launched a counterattack at the mountain pass. The mountain artillery bombarded the small hill bag held by the 7th Company of the 717th Regiment in an attempt to seize the road and flee. The 7th Company was a well-known "Tiger Company" in the whole regiment, and the soldiers followed in the footsteps of the soldiers, slightly injured and could not get out of the line of fire, resolutely holding the position and dragging the Japanese army forward.
The fighting lasted until the evening, when the main forces of the 718th Regiment of the 359th Brigade finally arrived and swept up from the back of the Japanese army. So, the whole brigade attacked back and forth.
After a night of fierce fighting, under the front and rear attacks of the 359th Brigade, the Japanese army was beaten to four escapes, and by noon on the 15th, more than 1,000 Japanese troops had been completely annihilated. The 359th Brigade captured 5 Japanese artillery pieces, 19 light and heavy machine guns, more than 400 rifles, and more than 100 war horses. After the war, they used these captures to form an artillery battalion.
The 359th Brigade annihilated more than 1,000 enemy (all Japanese) in the Battle of Shangxiao waist stream, and the battle was comparable to the Ping-type Guan da victory.
The news came out and shocked the whole country.