The Eighth Route Army's sneak attack on the Japanese airfield was not only successful in Hengdian, although the anti-Japanese resistance in Hengdian was indeed unbelievable, but in October 1937, a regiment of the Eighth Route Army really blew up a Japanese aircraft and destroyed 24 enemy planes, and the leader of the regiment was the founding general Chen Xilian.
In August 1937, after the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, Chen Xilian was appointed as the commander of the 769th Regiment of the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division. In September, Chen Xilian's 769th Regiment, in order to carry out the task of flanking the rear of the Japanese army in the south, set out from Fuping, Shaanxi province and advanced to the north of Jin. Before leaving, Liu Bocheng, commander of the 129th Division, told him: "Your regiment must act alone, both boldly and cautiously, and seize the fighter, you can report while fighting, or you can report after fighting." ”
On the way out, Chen Xilian's troops were on the verge of the Battle of Xinkou, and the Japanese army, with the Fifth Division as the main force, launched a fierce attack on the Xinkou position held by Wei Lihuang's troops, and the battle was extremely fierce. In order to end the battle as soon as possible, the Japanese army used aircraft to bombard our positions. Therefore, during Chen Xilian's march, he could see groups of fighter planes flying over their heads and going to and from the Xinkou battlefield.
Looking at these planes overhead, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army were anxious in their eyes, and they didn't know who said: Mother little Japan, I blew up your airfield, see how crazy you are?!
To sneak up on an airport, you must first find the airport. Judging from the direction and altitude of the enemy planes, Chen Xilian should not be far from his current position. He asked the local villagers, and sure enough, the Japanese airfield was nearby, and it was only more than ten miles away from the town of Yangmingbao. Chen Xilian felt more and more that the previous idea of sneaking into the Japanese airfield at night was feasible. When he told the commanders and fighters about this idea, the commanders and fighters were very happy and asked to join the war.
Of course, sneaking up on the Japanese airfield is not filming a TV series now. Finding the airport is the first step, and the second step is to find out the situation of the Japanese defenders inside and outside the airport. Chen Xilian sent deputy regimental commander Wang Naigui to lead people to reconnaissance, and found that there were 24 aircraft in the airfield, arranged in three rows, 8 in each row, and in the evening the pilots got off the plane and returned to Yangmingbao Town to rest. There was a deep trench outside the airfield with more than 200 defenders inside, and the entrance was guarded by sentries day and night.
After learning about the situation at the airport, Chen Xilian immediately convened a meeting of cadres at and above the battalion and company levels to discuss how to attack the Japanese airfield. Finally, it was decided that: 1 battalion with three battalions as a commando team to attack the airfield and blow up enemy aircraft; 2 battalions to harass the Japanese troops in Chengxian County, so that reinforcements could not be received; 3 battalions with two battalions and eight companies on the southwest road bridge of Yangmingbao; 4 regimental mortar companies and machine gun companies to provide fire support along the Tuotuo River; and 52nd battalions with fifth and sixth companies as regimental reserves.
After the plan was decided, the time for the sneak attack on the Japanese aircraft was set for the evening of October 19.
At dusk, the cadres and fighters all set off lightly, carrying only weapons and grenades, and under the guidance of their guides, they quickly crossed the Tuotuo River and hid outside the airport. The night began to darken, and the soldiers of the three battalions, under the leadership of battalion commander Zhao Chongde, quietly drilled into the barbed wire under the cover of night, and unconsciously touched the airport.
Just as they approached the plane, they were spotted by the Japanese guarding the airfield. For a time, the airfield was full of gunfire, and in addition to fighting with the Japanese defenders, the soldiers had to fight the planes, and finally blew up the planes with grenades, and there was a burst of "rumbling" sound on the airport... After a few tens of minutes, more than 100 Japanese guards were annihilated, 24 aircraft were destroyed, and the airfield became a sea of fire.
However, in this sneak attack on the Japanese airfield, Zhao Chongde, commander of the third battalion of the Eighth Route Army, and more than a dozen soldiers sacrificed their precious lives.
The 769th Regiment led by Chen Xilian was praised by the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and the commander of the 129th Division for this sneak attack on Yangmingbao, and Chiang Kai-shek also awarded commendation orders and bonuses to the 129th Division after the war report was confirmed.
Chen Xilian was later promoted to deputy brigade commander and brigade commander of the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and was awarded the rank of general in 1955. He died in Beijing on June 10, 1999, at the age of 85.