History is the memory of things that have been said and done. —Carl Baker
The People's Liberation Army has two well-known aces, one is the number one ace, the 38th Army, and the other is the first mechanized army of our army, the 16th Army.
Interestingly, the two corps were originally a regiment during the War of Resistance.
That is the 686th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army.
Its predecessor was the Red 4th Division of the Red Third Army, and it was the old foundation of the Peng Dehuai Pingjiang Uprising, and some of it was the old foundation of the Zhumao Jinggangshan Red Army (this part can be traced back to the Yeting Independent Regiment). From the red army period to the War of Resistance Against Japan, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Luo Ronghuan, Huang Kecheng, Luo Ruiqing, and 300 or 400 generals, including Yang Yong, all fought in the 686 Regiment.
How strong is the fighting power of this regiment?
In the spring of 1938, the Japanese army occupied Noon City, and the 686th Regiment was ordered to rush to attack the enemy advancing westward. The troops marched 80 miles and rushed to the well ditch that afternoon. Immediately, near Daning, he met a brigade of Wei Lihuang, deputy commander of the Kuomintang Second Theater of Operations. The Japanese army pursued Wei Lihuang tightly, and as a result, the whole brigade collapsed. Wei Lihuang and his chief of staff, Guo Jiyao, had no choice but to find the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army for help. Acting division commander Chen Guang ordered Yang Yong to lead his troops to block the Japanese army and cover Wei Lihuang's eastward advance.
Yang Yong ordered the regimental special agent company to cover.
By this time, the Japanese had gone mad. However, the special agent company occupied the middle of the mountain and used the cliff to build fortifications, which blocked the crazy attack of more than 800 Japanese troops covered by aircraft artillery.
During the battle, Wei Lihuang was terrified, and he held a telescope and looked at it for half a day, only to see smoke and dust rolling and the two sides fighting, so he said: "How many regiments of troops are in front?"
Yang Yong smiled and said, "There is only one company." ”
"A company?" Wei Lihuang didn't believe it, "Impossible! ”
Yang Yong said, "It is indeed a company. ”
Wei Lihuang rubbed his hands and sighed, "It's over, this is over!" ”
Who knew that in the evening, the secret service company carried the captured booty and returned triumphantly, just passing wei Lihuang again. When Wei Lihuang saw it, they were greatly surprised by the neat appearance of the army, and they were convinced by the Eighth Route Army and said with admiration: "Your Eighth Route Army is really capable!" ”
Yang Yong said: "This is nothing remarkable. ”
Wei Lihuang sighed and said, "If I had a few such companies, I would be invincible in the world." Later, a special person sent 100,000 rounds of ammunition to the 115th Division.
During the War of Resistance, the 686th Regiment was almost invincible.
Once in the Battle of Wangjiachi, Yang Yong commanded the 686th Regiment to annihilate more than 1,000 Japanese troops at a time, turning the Japanese Major General Yamaguchi, who had always dreamed of crossing the Yellow River, into a dead ghost.
In the winter of 1938, the 686th Regiment was ordered to go to the Jiluyu Plain. In the Battle of Yuncheng, Shandong, Liu Yusheng, the commander of the puppet army, was captured alive. At that time, there was a song and ballad circulating among the fellow villagers:
In the first month, the first month comes, and the eastward detachment comes to Shandong. Luo Ronghuan Chen Guang led the soldiers and horses, and General Yang Yong was the first. In February, the apricot blossoms came and attacked Fanba by Yang Yong; the puppet army was captured alive for five hundred and seven, and liu Yusheng, the commander of the Yishi regiment.
Since then, as soon as the Japanese army and the puppet army heard the name of the 686 Regiment, they had a headache and were terrified, and did not dare to go out to "sweep" and arrest the husband, and Yuncheng obtained the rare "Taiping".
However, according to the arrangements of the superiors, the 686 regiment must continue to march eastward and open up base areas in the western part of Tai'an. The local people were afraid that the Eighth Route Army was gone, and the Japanese army and the puppet army would make a comeback, and they tried their best to retain it. Luo Ronghuan, political commissar of the 115th Division, and Chen Guang, acting commander of the division, had to decide to leave the 3rd Battalion of the 686th Regiment and the Regiment Teaching Team behind and reorganize it into the 1st Independent Regiment, with Yang Yong in charge.
After this treatment, the other units of the 686 regiment followed Luo Ronghuan to Taixi. As a result, the 686th Regiment was split in two.
After the division of the 686th Regiment, this part of the 686th Regiment was later developed into the 2nd Brigade of the 115th Division led by Liang Xingchu and others, and later developed into the Dongye Ichi Column during the Liberation War, which was reorganized into the 38th Army around 1949. The only regiment led by Yang Yong was later assigned to the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, later developed into Nakano Ichijō, and later reorganized into the 16th Army around 1949.