In August 1937, in order to jointly resist Japan, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army. From late August to the end of September, the 115th Division, the 120th Division, and the 129th Division under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Route Army successively went to the anti-Japanese front. The main reason why yan'an did not choose to advance at the same time was that Yan'an was worried that the Eighth Route Army would be concentrated by Yan Xishan, commander of the Second Theater of Operations, to fight position warfare.
The 115th Division, led by Lin Zong, opened up and fought a beautiful ambush at Pingxingguan as soon as it appeared, and achieved the "Pingxingguan Great Victory". The military prestige of the Eighth Route Army was brought into play, which greatly encouraged the confidence of the Chinese people in resisting the war. He Laozong's 120th Division also achieved a great victory in the first battle of Yanmen Pass. Next, many people's eyes naturally focused on the 129th Division.
The squad of the 129th Division was mainly the Red Fourth Front and the Northern Shaanxi Red Army. It has jurisdiction over the 385th Brigade and the 386th Brigade, plus a teaching regiment, with a total of more than 13,000 people in 5 regiments. When they went to the anti-Japanese front, the 770th Regiment of the 385th Brigade and the special forces of the division were ordered to stay in Yan'an, and there were about 9,000 people who actually drove to the front.
On September 6, the day of the oath-taking meeting, the troops had just assembled, and suddenly it began to rain heavily. Chen Geng, commander of the 386th Brigade, asked Liu Bocheng, commander of the division, whether to reschedule the meeting? Commander Liu Bocheng said categorically that as a revolutionary soldier, it should be held rain or shine and held on time.
On September 24, the ready 129th Division began to march to the southeast of Jin, and Liu Bocheng led the division forward and the 769th Regiment as the advance team, walking at the front of the line. A few days later, I arrived at the Yellow River ferry port and could not find a boat to cross the river.
Soldiers are fast, and they cannot be delayed. Liu Bocheng immediately ordered the local mayor and the mayor to be called and asked them why there were no boats at the port. The two men speculated that they did not know that the Eighth Route Army was going to cross the river, and if they wanted a boat, they could only think of a way to do it tomorrow.
Liu Bocheng slapped the table and said with a straight face, "We must all cross the river tonight, and we must limit you to an hour to transfer the boats together, otherwise you will be punished for not cooperating with the anti-Japanese resistance and being punished as traitors."
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, once the crime of traitor was installed, it was possible to shoot immediately. The two magistrates were frightened and half dead, and said in unison, the commander was angry, and we immediately went back to deal with it, and we would never delay the crossing of the river by the army.
Liu Bocheng has always been known as a Confucian general, gentle and elegant, and Ping Su rarely gets angry. After the two left, several subordinates came to ask, Division Commander, why did you make such a big fire today?
Commander Liu Bocheng said with a smile: I have been in the old army for a few years, and I know that these local officials are afraid of being soft and hard. There were no boats at the ferry this time, and it must have been deliberately difficult for them, and they had to give them some color to see and let them understand that the Eighth Route Army was not easy to mess with.
Sure enough, when the two guys went back, they quickly set up the boat. Coincidentally, the large troops in the rear also caught up, and the whole army of the 129th Division successfully crossed the river and arrived at Waiting for Horses in Shanxi.
Yan Xishan, the emperor of Shanxi Tu, this time in order to defend his one acre and three points of land, but he gave a "blood capital". Not only did he arrange a train to pick him up, but he also sent several carriages of cotton clothes and shoes, white rice and white noodles.
Before the soldiers' happiness had passed, they found that the water tank of the locomotive sent was leaking, and they had to add water for dozens of miles, but there was no water to add in many places along the way. Obviously, Yan Xishan only wanted to send an "empty person" and did not want the Eighth Route Army to take this batch of materials away.
Some people advocated abandoning this batch of supplies, and the whole division got out of the car and drove in on foot. Liu Bocheng said, that is not OKAY, this "fat meat" to the mouth does not eat, that is not exactly what Yan Xishan thought.
What to do? The crowd asked anxiously.
Unload the front of the car, fill it with water, drive as fast as possible to the station in front of you, change a good front end, and then turn around and pull the car! Liu Bocheng said confidently.
After the 129th Division arrived in Taiyuan, Liu Bocheng personally visited Yan Xishan, hoping that he would replenish the 129th Division with some ammunition.
Yan Xishan was hurting at this time for the supplies of his few wagons, so he said with a bitter face, the landlord's family has no surplus grain, and I let the Japanese take it in the armory in Xinkou. Yan Mou is not reluctant, it is really not. Your 769th Regiment, with less than 3,000 men, I have allocated 5,000 sets of cotton clothes.
When Liu Bocheng heard this, he was surprised in his heart. This Yan Laoxi was really shrewd enough, and when the troops were on the horse, he actually sent someone to secretly count. In order to avoid passivity, Liu Bocheng had no choice but to explain that the current establishment of the 129th Division was not satisfactory and would be replenished in the future. Yan Xishan had nothing to say.
Without ammunition, Liu Bocheng could only retreat to the second place, asking Yan Xishan to provide a rear base for the 129th Division in Xiyang. Yan Xishan prevaricated Liu Bocheng and said, You go to the former enemy commander-in-chief Huang Shaohu, and it is now under his control. On that day, Liu Bocheng almost said that he had broken his mouth at Yan Xishan, or returned empty-handed, and Yan Laoxi was really not an ordinary door cutter.
Although the supplies did not fall, the battle could not be fought. Yan Xishan's combat task for the 129th Division was to contain the enemy from the flanks and cooperate with the main force of the Yan army.
After Liu Bocheng led the former commander of the division and the 769th Regiment to assemble in Dongye Town, he was ordered to go to the headquarters for a meeting. Before leaving, he told Chen Xilian, commander of the 769th Regiment, that the first battle of our division's anti-Japanese resistance would depend on you. The 115th and 120th Divisions of the brother units started well, and you can't drop the chain at a critical moment. The first battle can be fought in smaller parts, but one point must be won, which is related to the military prestige and morale of our 129th Division.
Chen Xilian quickly asked Liu Bocheng, so when is it more appropriate to attack? Liu Bocheng held out five fingers and said, Remember the "Five Elements" tacticS I told you about? Mission, enemy situation, self-love, time, place. Before attacking, we must clearly reconnoiter and know ourselves and each other, so that we can never lose a battle. If you really can't decide, you can send me a telegram to ask for instructions, but the right to maneuver is in your hands.
After Liu Bocheng left for a meeting, Chen Xilian and the 769th Regiment detoured to Sulongkou Village, south of Dai County. There, Chen Xilian judged that the Japanese airfield was in the Yangmingbao area according to the law of the activities of the Japanese bombers.
Since the local people have run out, they cannot find out about the local situation. In order to confirm his judgment, Chen Xilian and the three battalion commanders under him disguised themselves as ordinary people and went to Yangmingbao for on-the-spot reconnaissance and found out the situation outside the airport. I also happened to meet a migrant worker who escaped from the airport and got a general understanding of the guard situation inside the airport.
After receiving Chen Xilian's report, Liu Bo believed that the opportunity could not be lost, and instructed Chen Xilian to strike decisively and take down the enemy's airfield.
On the night of October 29, the 769th Regiment launched an operation, attacking the airfield with 3 battalions of good attack, 1 battalion responsible for containing the Japanese troops attacking the county, and 2 battalions as reserves.
In the Battle of Yangmingbao, the 769th Regiment destroyed a total of 24 Japanese aircraft, which can be described as the fame of the First World War. However, due to the tight time and the lack of understanding of the aircraft by the soldiers, many aircraft could not be completely destroyed. According to information later disclosed by the Japanese side, only one aircraft was completely scrapped, and the rest could be repaired. However, repairs took time, and the battle greatly weakened the Japanese air firepower at Xinkou.
After the war, regimental commander Chen Xilian and deputy regimental commander Wang Naigui had been uneasy in their hearts, feeling that this battle had not been fought well, because the sacrifice of the 3rd Battalion was too great. More than 30 people were injured, the battalion commander Zhao Chongde was killed on the spot, the instructor and two platoon leaders and more than a dozen soldiers were killed, and even the remains were too late to be recovered.
When Xu Xiangqian, deputy commander of the 129th Division, came to the 769th Regiment from Mount Wutai, Chen Xilian guiltily said to him, I want to review with you, I still underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army in this battle. If I had put the 2nd and 3rd Battalions into battle at the beginning, not only would I have been able to resolve the battle more quickly, but the casualties would have been much smaller.
Xu Xiangqian said, No, you played very well! Blowing up 24 Japanese planes at a time is a very remarkable achievement, and I will report it to the headquarters for your credit.
After receiving Xu Xiangqian's affirmation, Chen and Wang were slightly more down-to-earth in their hearts. After Liu Bocheng received the good news, he said in a loud voice that the first battle was won and the fight was good! Well played!
Wei Lihuang, deputy commander of the Second Theater, also greatly praised the impressive achievements of the Eighth Route Army at Yangmingbao. After Jiang Shi heard this success, he rewarded the 129th Division with 20,000 yuan. This was also the first time in the early stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression that the Eighth Route Army received Chiang's cash reward!
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