Author: Wind Shadow
In the winter of 1944, the Japanese puppet army entrenched in the Yushe area of Shanxi Province, after a heavy blow by the Eighth Route Army, was depleted of supplies and weak troops under the people's strong walls and clearing the wilderness, and the military strength was insufficient, and they shrank their strength one after another. Among them, the Lianjiazhuang stronghold in Yushe County was shrunk with a squadron of Japanese troops and dozens of puppet troops.
One night at the end of December, the 30th Regiment of the Second Taihang Subdistrict learned that the Qin County defenders had sent a convoy of about 50 livestock, escorted by puppet troops, to deliver supplies and ammunition to the Lianjiazhuang stronghold, and had entered Henan Street, about 2 miles away from Lianjiazhuang, and handed over after dawn.
The regiment made a serious analysis of the enemy's situation, holding that our army surrounded and annihilated the enemy's transport team on Henan Street, and once the enemy defended Lianjiazhuang heard the news, it was bound to fight for their lives, and the distance between the two places was very close, and it was convenient for the enemy to quickly reinforce, so the key to encircling and annihilating the enemy's transport team on Henan Street was to stop the enemy who was reinforcing Lianjiazhuang. Li Desheng, the commander of the regiment, was determined to besiege Henan Street with a part of his troops, seize the supplies and horses, and take on the task of blocking the attack with four companies.
Li Desheng during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (middle)
The troops rushed through the night in light armor. In order to conceal the attempt, the commander of the regiment Led by Li Desheng avoided the village road and detoured through the river valley. As the night was obscured, the troops unconsciously advanced to the predetermined location.
Before dawn, the four companies occupied the favorable terrain on the west side of Lianjiazhuang on the road that the enemy had to pass through to reinforce Henan Street, and set up a blockade line. At that time, in addition to the backbone, most of the four companies were newly enlisted recruits, lurking in the dark waiting for the enemy, with both the excitement of the initial battle and the tension and uneasiness.
At dawn, there was a sudden burst of dense gunfire in the direction of Henan Street, mixed with the roar of warhorses, and the battle to annihilate the enemy's transport team began. Unsurprisingly, in addition to leaving some puppet troops to defend the stronghold, the enemy of lianjiazhuang stronghold left more than 100 Japanese troops hurried to the aid of Henan Street. The enemy approached, and the helmet glowed cold under the sparse starlight. Looking at the big black enemy, some inexperienced recruits raised their guns to slash the fire, and some had to rush forward to fight.
"Don't be reckless, shoot at my command!" These subtle reflections did not escape the eyes of Colonel Li Desheng. When the enemy was about 40 meters away from our army, only a loud "hit" from Commander Li was heard, and almost at the same time, the crisp point firing of his shell gun sounded. Suddenly, rifles, machine guns, and grenades rained down on the enemy.
The unexpected fire strike made the Japanese dizzy. Our army's traditional close combat and night combat have always frightened the enemy. However, after the initial chaos, the heavily trained Japanese army was different from the ragtag puppet army, and they quickly stabilized their formation. The Japanese were well aware that the speed or slowness of their reinforcements was directly related to the competition for ownership of the horse team and the supplies, so they quickly adjusted their deployment, and under the cover of the dense fire of several crooked machine guns, more than 100 Japanese troops launched a combat formation and launched a fierce attack on the four companies. For a time, short soldiers met, blood and flesh splashed, this fight is thrilling.
Commander Li Desheng carried a pistol and was unusually calm. He was always present where the enemy's impact was most intense and commanded the battle. Seeing that the regimental commander was at his side, many new soldiers who were uneasy because of the first battle had a main backbone, and the troops were getting stronger and stronger, and the morale was very high.
After repelling the enemy's onslaught several times, due to the disparity in strength and weapons, the enemy still approached our army's position step by step, and the battle became more intense. In order to completely crush the attacking enemy, Li Desheng was determined to resist the enemy head-on with one force and dispatched some troops to counterattack the enemy from the flanks.
Lee Tak Sang
Just as he was organizing a counterattack, a bullet hit the regimental commander's buttocks, and blood immediately flowed. Several soldiers found out and exclaimed, "Commander, you are wounded." "Don't yell!" Li Desheng said sternly. He hastily bandaged the wound and leaned on the ridge to continue directing the battle. The regimental commander's calm and self-assured demeanor infected the cadres and fighters around him, and everyone's fighting spirit became more vigorous.
Our army's unexpected counterattack disrupted the Japanese attack deployment, and in the end, the Japanese army threw down a pile of corpses and ran back. Four companies took advantage of the victory to pursue until the enemy was driven back to the Lianjiazhuang stronghold. At this moment, the four connected to the Henan Street battle completely annihilated the enemy's report. Everyone gathered around to see the regimental commander's injuries, and his face looked pale due to excessive bleeding, but he still smiled and said to everyone, "It doesn't matter, it will be fine in a few days." ”
When the troops returned to the regimental headquarters, they saw more than 50 shiny "ocean horses" on the village head field, lined up in two rows, and grain, guns, and ammunition piled up like hills, especially the two blue heavy machine guns. This result was a blessing for the 30 regiments with only 5 companies and 2 heavy machine guns!
The villagers in the village learned that the Eighth Route Army had won the battle and surrounded the field tightly, and everyone was very happy to caress the horse and touch the gun. A soldier in the fourth company climbed onto a "foreign horse" that was one head taller than him, and read slowly: "In the past, I used to herd cattle dolls, today I rode a foreign horse, defeated the Japanese ghost, and rode home to see my father and mother." Everyone listened, and there was a lot of trouble: it was really "military music and folk music into one piece, military laughter and people laughing sweetly"!