In 1940, Han Deloitte, chairman of the Kuomintang Jiangsu Province, was terrified of the growth of the New Fourth Army led by Chen Yi, and mobilized more than 30,000 troops from 26 regiments to attack Huangqiao by separate routes and compete with the New Fourth Army.
At this time, the New Fourth Army only had 9 regiments of more than 7,000 people, and it was necessary to fight against the Rok army, which was several times larger than itself, and it was difficult to protect the Yellow Bridge, and it was possible to lose all the old money. However, Chen Yi decided not to run and prepared to fight. He said: "I have made up my mind to break the boat, prepare for the worst, and even consider going up to the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare once I lose." ”
Chen Yi's determination was great, but how could he break the enemy? He decided to lure the enemy deeper and break through each one, taking the enemy's 6th Brigade as the target of annihilation.
At the end of September, the New Fourth Army took the initiative to withdraw from Jiang Di, and Han Deloitte shouted: "Bandits are cold, and thieves have a weak heart"! Drive the army forward.
On October 3, four regiments of the 33rd Division and two regiments of the Security Brigade of the Rokmen Army's Zhonglu Army first reached the vicinity of the Yellow Bridge, and then launched a fierce attack on the defensive positions held by the 8th Regiment of the Tao Yong 3rd Column of the New Fourth Army.
The 8th Regiment actually had only two battalions and more than 800 men. Six regiments fought two battalions, and the fighting was fierce. In the end, the 8th Regiment was outnumbered by the enemy, and many positions were broken, and dangers abounded.
However, Chen Yi was not worried that the position on the eastern front of the Yellow Bridge would collapse completely, and what he was most anxious about was that there was no movement on the side of the enemy's 6th Brigade.
Why?
Because the first annihilation of the 6th Independent Brigade was the most important move in Chen Yi's overall plan to break the enemy. Only by eating the 6th Independent Brigade could the right wing of the enemy Li Shouwei's 89th Army be completely exposed so that the next battle could be fought. However, the 6th Independent Brigade did not even see the shadow.
Despite this, Chen Yi did not change his plan, ordered a close look at the movements of the Independent 6th Brigade, and strictly ordered the troops preparing to fight the Onda Brigade to resolutely and unswervingly carry out the original combat plan, continue to assemble in the designated areas, and wait for the opportunity to annihilate the enemy.
In the early morning of October 4, the enemy's 33rd Division attacked Huangqiao from the east and continued to advance to the east gate. In the morning, many places outside the East Gate were occupied by the enemy's 33rd Division.
The officers and men of the 8th Regiment of the New Fourth Army were not good at position warfare, and their defense was becoming more and more difficult, but they were not intimidated by the enemy's momentum, constantly raised and reinforced the fortifications, and gradually adapted to the way of playing position defense, and blocked the enemy soldiers to death.
Han Deloitte's offensive was fierce, and some neutral local armed forces in northern Jiangsu also began to stir up trouble, ready to take advantage of the fire and robbery of the New Fourth Army. Once the New Fourth Army takes a sharp turn in the war situation, the consequences will be unimaginable. This made Chen Yi pay more attention to the movements of the Independent 6th Brigade, and his nerves were very tense.
Suddenly, Ye Fei, commander of the First Column, reported:
"Onda is here!"
Chen Yi was overjoyed, and immediately ordered the first vertical Ye Fei and the second column Wang Bicheng: "Closely monitor them, calm down, control the troops, and absolutely not attack too early, so as not to hit the grass and startle the snake!" ”
Why did Onda appear at this time?
It turned out that he had quite a plan, not only wanted to grab the first place, but also did not want to lose the old money, and sat and waited for the enemy's 33rd Division to attack almost completely, before suddenly breaking through from behind, trying to be the first to break into the Yellow Bridge. At this moment, he saw that the 33rd Division had reached the outside of the Yellow Bridge, and the great work was about to be completed, so he hurriedly led 3,000 elite soldiers, hula, and rushed towards the Yellow Bridge.
He set out for the Yellow Bridge, about 15 miles. When his company of sharp soldiers was about 5 miles away from the Yellow Bridge, Chen Yi ordered: "Attack on all fronts." ”
Ye Fei and Wang Bicheng could not wait for a long time, and as soon as Chen Yi gave the order, the two columns immediately descended the mountain like fierce tigers and launched an attack. Onda was suddenly attacked, and immediately messed up, but he could not find a guide to ask about the situation and lead the way, so he was so angry that he had to rush to send someone to the military commander Li Shouwei to hurry.
The outcome of the Independent 6th Brigade was later recorded in the "Summary of the Battle Experience of the Battle of Huangqiao" compiled by the Kuomintang Military Command:
"When the bandit army (originally 8 regiments, two regiments were added from Jiangnan) divided by the main force and rushed to the right wing of the 6th Brigade of our Onda Independence Brigade, the 16th Regiment of the brigade suffered heavy losses, and the acting regimental commander Han Zhenyi was killed, even if the 17th Regiment counterattacked, killing more than a thousand bandits, fierce fighting until the morning of the 5th, the bullets were exhausted, and the pain turned in... Brigadier Weng and The commander of the 17th Regiment, Qin Jiangyun, fell into the water and his life and death are unknown. ”
The saying that "jiangnan added two regiments" was a suspicious soldier of Chen Yi's hometown, but Weng Da believed it to be true and was deceived. "Killing more than a thousand enemies" is purely a rumor. "Turning in" means fleeing, but there is no way to escape, and officers and soldiers are either dead or taken prisoner. As for the "falling water", it is also fabricated out of thin air. The fact is that when Weng Da sent people to ask Li Shouwei for help, he once confessed bitterly: "Found Li Junchang and told him to hurry up and reinforce, life and death are here!" He sent the last glimmer of hope to Li Shouwei, but before he could wait for reinforcements, it was a moment of life and death. Seeing that he was about to become a prisoner, he had to raise his gun and commit suicide.
When the Du 6th Brigade was annihilated, Li Shouwei did not want to help, but was blocked by Wang Bicheng's second column, so he concentrated his forces to attack the Yellow Bridge in order to capture the Yellow Bridge and relieve the danger of the Weng Brigade.
This trick is really powerful! If the Yellow Bridge is lost, the New Fourth Army in northern Jiangsu will lose its support. Even if the 6th Independent Brigade is completely annihilated, Li Shouwei's 89th Army may force the New Fourth Army to fight a decisive battle without a rear, and the consequences will be unimaginable. Chen Yi immediately ordered Tao Yong's three main columns to enter the battle. Tao Yong wielded a large knife and led the officers and men to carry out a counter-assault, and after repeated rushes and killings, finally drove back the enemy troops who had burst into the east gate.
On the morning of the 5th, the enemy's 33rd Division, with the battalion as the unit, took turns to launch a group charge and stormed the Yellow Bridge. At this time, the old 4th Regiment of the New Fourth Army, which had rushed to reinforcement from Jiangnan, was also about to arrive at The Yellow Bridge, and the morale of the New Fourth Army was greatly boosted. The enemy's offensive gradually became inadequate, and soon stopped. At midnight, most of the 33rd Division was annihilated, and the remnants moved closer to Li Shouwei's army. Li Shouwei was also frightened and hastily ordered the withdrawal of his troops. At this time, the New Fourth Army ambushed everywhere, the enemy was in chaos, and Li Shouwei was squeezed by the rebel army and fell into the river and drowned.
Han deqin escaped with only 1,000 people.
In this great battle, Chen Yi won the decisive battle, annihilating 12 regiments of the enemy, a total of 11,000 people, and defeating Han Deloitte's 30,000 people with 7,000 people.