One day in 1940, Liu Bocheng, commander of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, gave Zhou Xihan, chief of staff of the 386th Brigade, a task, and Zhou Xihan found that Liu Bocheng, who usually spoke and never spoke, was a little special today, and repeatedly re-examined the importance of this task to him.
It turned out that in the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army also pulled the only artillery regiment to the Zhengtai front and played a great role in the battle. The battle was over, the shells were gone, and the precious iron lumps became a liability for the infantry.
Each of these cannons was bought with the blood and even the lives of the commanders and fighters, and the Eighth Route Army was absolutely reluctant to abandon it, so the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army decided that each unit of the Eighth Route Army would be responsible for a section and escort the cannon back to Yan'an.
Among them, the 129th Division was tasked with escorting the Taigu to Qingyuan section. The reason why Commander Liu Bocheng entrusted this task to Chen Geng's 386 Brigade and named Zhou Xihan, chief of staff of the 386 Brigade, was responsible was because Zhou Xihan was quick-witted, flexible, and able to fight, and because he had a good brain.
After Zhou Xihan received the task, he knew that he was not only escorting the artillery regiment, but also a group of middle and senior cadres who rushed to Yan'an for training, and there were also Japanese friends of the "anti-war alliance" accompanying him, with a total of more than 3,000 horses.
At dusk on May 28, after Zhou Xihan announced the marching discipline to all the entourage, he left xishandi village with this huge team and quietly entered the Jinzhong Plain.
In Zhou Xihan's marching plan, it was a difficult problem for the brigade to pass through the Tongpu Railway, and on the railway line, the Japanese armored patrol cars shuttled back and forth, day and night. Fortunately, Zhou Xihan quickly figured out the operation law of the armored patrol car, taking advantage of the hazy night, grasping the gap between the two passages of the patrol car, and the brigade crossed the Tongpu Railway in one breath.
At 1:00 a.m. on the 29th, Zhou Xihan took more than 3,000 horses to the Fenhe River, and on the other side was the East and West Qingdui, where Zhou Xihan would hand over the escort objects to the Eighth Division of the Lüliang Military Region, and they would be responsible for the escort task of the next section of the trip.
The process of crossing the river was unexpectedly smooth, and thousands of people and horses waded across the river without alarming the Japanese army.
Zhou Xihan's road was thrilling, smooth sailing, just after 3 o'clock in the morning, they arrived at the east and west Qingdui, seeing that they were about to successfully complete the task, a stone in Zhou Xihan's heart finally fell to the ground.
However, for unknown reasons, Zhou Xihan did not see the troops of the 8th Division of Lüliang who came to meet them at the joint location designated by the headquarters, and Zhou Xihan's head suddenly grew larger, and he hurriedly arranged for the soldiers to look around, but there was still no result.
Zhou Xihan is not leading a combat unit, and no one knows what unexpected situations will occur along the way, which requires the commander to have an extremely strong ability to respond, perhaps this is why Liu Bocheng's division commander named Zhou Xihan to be responsible for escorting.
Zhou Xihan and his brigade from the horse now back to the Fenhe River, not far away there is a Japanese stronghold, in a few hours the day will be light, more than 3,000 people can not hide, what can be done?
Zhou Xihan thought for a long time, and suddenly said to Chen Kang, the commander of the 772nd Regiment who accompanied him on an escort mission: "Although the next part of the journey is not our responsibility, we can't be too rigid, I think so, don't wait for the people of the Lvliang 8th Division, let's send another journey forward, what do you think?" ”
Chen Kang and others did not have any objections and unanimously agreed.
Seeing that everyone's opinions were unified, Zhou Xihan continued: "It seems that we have to change our way." We must leave here before dawn, or we will be discovered by the Japanese and wrap ourselves around the little devil, and the consequences will be unimaginable. ”
Chen Kang said to Zhou Xihan, "Did the chief of staff think of a good plan?" Hurry up and tell us about it. ”
Zhou Xihan said: "The situation in the following section of the road is not the same as the previous one, and the 'hidden sneaking' method we just played is probably not feasible." Let's set off now, even if it is a rapid march, by the time we cross the Xugou and Jiaocheng Highways, the sky will definitely be light, and there will be no place for so many people and cannons to hide. ”
Zhou Xihan said, the addiction came up, he lit a cigarette, smoked two mouthfuls, a look of great enjoyment, which can quickly hurt Chen Kang: "Chief of Staff, don't sell Guanzi, we are dying!" ”
Zhou Xihan smiled and said, "Since we can't hide, I don't think we will sneak around and rush the road, just take the big road in a dignified manner!" ”
Chen Kang was a little puzzled and looked at Zhou Xihan with a puzzled face, but he did not immediately express his opposition or question it, because he knew Chief of Staff Zhou too well, and Chief of Staff Zhou was definitely not the kind of reckless man who did not talk about strategy and only knew how to work hard.
Sure enough, Zhou Xihan's next words made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Zhou Xihan said, "Don't we have hard guys?" Immediately ordered the artillery regiment to unload the artillery from the wagon and use mules and horses tow, to remove all the gun coats; and ordered all the soldiers to put on bayonets. No matter what method you use, you will make a big noise for me, the bigger the better, causing Lao Tzu to attack Qingyuan and Gaobai strongholds, so that the devils can see clearly! ”
Chen Kang understood and said, "This plan is really good, but we don't have a single shell, and our hearts are still not solid..."
Zhou Xihan patted Chen Kang's shoulder, smiled and said, "This secret heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know, how does his little devil know?" By the time they understood, we had already passed, and the action was faster and we went into the mountain! ”
"Just in case..."
"In case they see through it, we will let the artillery regiment and the comrades who are escorted take the road and go first, and you and I will lead the troops to death!" Zhou Xihan said: "Rest assured, the possibility of success is very high, besides, is there any better way than to do this?" ”。
Zhou Xihan also asked Chen Kang to send a few shrewd and capable fighters to set off first, and then the large troops should cross the road.
After 6 o'clock in the morning, the last wisp of mist on the plain had also faded, and on the Japanese artillery tower on the side of the road, several Japanese soldiers found that a large group of people and horses suddenly came on the road in the distance.
The Japanese troops in the turret were confused for a moment, and quickly reported to the commander of Qingyuan: There is a unit of the Eighth Route Army passing, and at least one of them has an artillery regiment.
The Japanese commander of Qingyuan received the report, and he was puzzled, the Eighth Route Army with heavy artillery to advance, is it to attack Qingyuan City, or to fight Gaobai? How come such a big military operation did not get a little information in advance? He wanted to call other strongholds to verify the situation, but all the phones could not be called.
It turned out that the soldiers sent by Chen Kang had already cut off all telephone lines at the agreed time, and the Japanese commander was really anxious, and according to his experience, cut off the telephone lines, which was a precursor to a large-scale attack by the Eighth Route Army. Therefore, he urgently ordered all officers and men to enter the fortifications and prepare to resist the siege of the Eighth Route Army.
Perhaps it was really the eighth route army's cannons that played a deterrent effect, Gao Bai and the Japanese puppet army in several nearby strongholds all took the same reaction, they huddled in the turret one by one, nervously staring at the Eighth Route Army on the road flaunting its might, all the way forward, no one dared to shoot to intercept, they knew, just by virtue of the little strength in the artillery tower, once the fire was exchanged, the dozens of cannons of the Eighth Route Army were not vegetarian...
On the road in front of the Japanese artillery tower, the road flaunted and swung through, which was something that the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army had never experienced before, and there was still some nervousness in their hearts, and their faces naturally looked solemn and serious, and they looked like they were rushing to the battlefield desperately. Look at the comrades who were escorted, because they had no combat experience, they were even more nervous, and everyone's faces were tight.
And Zhou Xihan sat majestically on his horse, gently pulling the reins, his expression was also very serious, but he could not see that he was half nervous, and he also lit a cigarette and smoked a few sips, so he left a cloud of smoke behind the centaurs.
In this way, Zhou Xihan led this huge team, and under the "sight" of the Japanese troops along the way, he swung across the blockade line. At more than 10 o'clock in the morning, the brigade entered the mountainous area, and as soon as they entered the mountain, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army and the comrades who were escorted returned to the river like fish, and their hearts were solid, and their pace was even lighter.
This time, Zhou Xihan finally smoothly handed over the baton escorting 3,000 horses to the receiving troops. After Zhou Xihan watched them leave, he was relieved to lead the team on the return journey.
Just as Master Liu Bocheng later commented on Zhou Xihan's incident, he said: "Let Zhou Xihan be responsible for escorting no one, Zhou Xihan this guy has many ideas, if there is an emergency on the road, I believe he will always have a way to solve it." ”
Indeed, in the extremely cruel revolutionary struggle, General Zhou Xihan braved strong enemies, fought bravely and well, and achieved outstanding victories, and made important contributions to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people.
Later, someone had this evaluation of General Zhou Xihan: "Standing up with a proud bone, fighting a war is like an embroidery." ”
Founding Marshal Liu Bocheng even called Zhou Xihan "our Zhao Zilong." ”