In August 1942, during the "anti-encroachment" struggle carried out in the anti-Japanese base areas in North China, the cavalry regiment of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army operating in the Ji'nan Plain also began to counterattack the enemy.
After the Japanese army launched the "May Day Purge", the cavalry regiment did not fight with the devils in the month, there was no danger to defend the Ji'nan Plain, and there was basically only one Yuancheng area left in the base area, and all the troops were busy studying and holding meetings. What to learn? The main ones are the anti-encroachment struggle policy and Chairman Mao's "On Protracted War."
At the juncture of life and death in the Ji'nan base area, "On Protracted War" made the old Eighth Road rejoice and realize that the rampant devils were only appearances, but in fact the signs of defeat had already appeared.
Elder Liu, who was the commander of the 2nd Company of the Cavalry Regiment, recalled that during the meeting, they gave the chief of the (Ji'nan) Military Region a few points of advice, saying that they were on the point, and the chiefs were red in the face and listened very seriously. First, in the past, our party overemphasized the united front policy and was too tolerant of the gentry group, and no one dared to offend them, and as a result, most of those people defected to the enemy, and the poor suffered even more.
Second, in the past, there was a problem in the work of mobilizing the masses, and only the anti-war activists were attached to them, and they ignored the masses in the middle, and as a result, the devils engaged in the policy of encroachment, and many rural areas were lost. The cavalry regiment also proposed that local cadres who did not know how to fight should not be allowed to come to the troops to make peace. The first two opinions were adopted at the meeting, but they disagreed with article 3 and quarreled.
In any case, the guiding ideology of the Eighth Route Army's operations was adjusted in time. After the cavalry regiment attacked, the battle against the puppet army in the town of Huilong in Wei County was relatively large.
The anti-encroachment struggle is mainly aimed at puppet armies and pseudo-personnel, with united front measures as the mainstay and military means supplementing them. After the "May Day Sweep," some "two-faced faction" puppet army leaders believed that the Eighth Route Army was no longer working, that it had completely fallen to the enemy, and that it would not be possible to win over the letter alone.
There are more than 500 puppet troops in Huilong Town, the leader is called Cheng Ximeng, this guy is the deputy commander of the "East Asia Alliance Autonomous Army" formed by the Japanese in North China, very stubborn, helping the devils to engage in cannibalism. The original intention of the Eighth Route Army was to fight and pull together and exert military pressure to force it to return to the path of "two-faced faction".
The 20th Regiment of the New 7th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army was also dispatched, and at dawn, the cavalry regiment attacked the east gate of the enemy village, and the 20th regiment attacked the south gate. While fighting, he shouted and persuaded him to surrender. Who knew that Cheng Ximeng had sneaked away and let a son sit in command. His son was fierce and stunned, nicknamed "half-cut bricks", sprinkled the ocean all over the yard, bought people's hearts, and himself was bare-chested, carrying a machine gun, leading his men to resist.
There was no way, the Eighth Route Army fought a tough battle, from morning to dusk, completely annihilated the puppet army, and the "half-cut bricks" were also killed. Our army has suffered no small casualties. After the town of Huilong was taken, the situation in the first sub-district of Southern Hebei was restored.
After fighting the town of Huilong, the cavalry regiment and the 20th regiment of the new 7th Brigade immediately attacked the county seat of Linzhang. Originally, it attacked at night and annihilated more than 100 japanese puppet troops, but the devil's large army came to reinforcements at dawn, the Eighth Route Army had to fight and retreat, and the instructor of the 1st Company of the Cavalry Regiment was sacrificed.
The cavalry regiment fought repeatedly, and the strength could not be replenished in time, and when it returned to Yuancheng to rest, the total number of 4 companies was less than 400. After a few days of rest, a Japanese puppet army crossed the Wei River and occupied the town of Sunzigandian near the base area, and began to build a stronghold. If the strongholds were repaired and connected with the strongholds in Nanlizhuang and Longwangmiao, the connection between the two base areas of Ji'nan and Jiluyu would be severed.
Zeng Yuliang, the commander of the cavalry regiment, decided to take advantage of the unstable foothold of Sun Gandian's enemy and immediately attack. Sun Gandian had a squad of 300 puppet soldiers and devils, the cavalry regiment had not yet slowed down, the soldiers were very tired, there were many wounded, and only 200 people could participate in the battle. The regimental commander felt that he could not annihilate the enemy, but at least he could drive them away.
The cavalry regiment went out at night. The aforementioned leader of the 2nd company Liu Ban was still suffering from a high fever and could not sit steadily on horseback, but the comrades in the class looked at him, and he could only grit his teeth and hold on.
When I went to the place, I saw that the enemy's wall and turret had not yet been built. The 1st Company of Cavalry quickly captured two large houses to the south, and the 2nd Company attacked forward. The enemy was caught off guard and ran north with the slightest contact, with the Eighth Route Army chasing after it.
There was no moon that night, the night was too dark, and Liu Banchang accidentally fell into a well. His comrades pulled him up, but his hat, saber, and gun were still in the well, and he said that he could only wait for dawn to go down and fish. By the time he had kept up with the company, the enemy had been forced into a half-cut artillery tower and several improvised fortifications north of the town.
Commander Zeng ordered the 3rd and 4th companies leading their horses in the rear to lean forward, and after the 1st and 2nd companies repelled the enemy, they all rode in pursuit. Captain Liu and a small soldier escorted a dozen prisoners to a private house, and the small soldiers watched at the door with guns. The men, women and children of the family heard the gunshots and hid in the firewood room, not daring to come out.
Captain Liu was twisting his clothes when he suddenly heard the sound of gunfire outside, and it turned out that the puppet army had launched a counterattack. Everyone wondered, after fighting for several years, they had never seen a puppet army counterattack, or at night. The former regimental commander was also unexpected. The warriors were stunned, and the two sides fell into a scuffle.
It seems that after the enemy hid, he found that we had few soldiers, and the ghost officers commanded them to fight back.
As soon as the fight broke out here, Captain Liu and the prisoners they looked at were not honest, and shouted together: "Brothers come quickly, there are eight roads here!" Liu Ban was furious and pulled out a grenade and threw it into the window. But the family in the firewood room all came out, crying and begging Captain Liu not to blow up their house.
There was no way, Captain Liu had to take the little soldier and leave quickly. There were brick piles and ditches everywhere outside, and the two men and cats walked through the obstacles, shooting one shot in the east and one shot in the west, and it took half a day to find the company.
Our army has rich experience in night combat, but the enemy army has many people and is familiar with the terrain, and it is impossible to distinguish between victory and defeat in a short period of time. The melee continued until dawn, and Commander Zeng estimated that the ghost reinforcements from nearby Nanlizhuang and Daming Counties were coming, so he ordered the trumpet to retreat.
Although the Eighth Route Army did not achieve its goal, it also killed and wounded a hundred puppet troops, captured dozens of guns, and suffered only a dozen casualties.
However, the soldiers of the cavalry regiment felt very embarrassed, and in the words of Captain Liu Ban, our Eighth Route Army was the ancestor of the night war, but was killed by the puppet army. What made Liu Banchang even more annoyed was that his sabre and gun were still not fished out of the well, and the loss was big, and the sabre was his precious knot.
The 3rd and 4th companies that did not participate in the battle were also very angry, and Han Mengzi, the commander of the 4th Company who fought the fiercest battle, complained, "The next time you fight Sun Gandian, let the four companies take the lead, and your company will only catch ducks!" "A company commander Wan Huaichen was angry.
Back at the Yuancheng garrison, the political commissar of the cavalry regiment, Guan Yuchun, held a post-war summary meeting and praised everyone, saying that judging from the results of the battle, we won the night attack on Sun Gandian and also dealt a blow to the arrogance of the enemy. But the warriors were still not happy.
A few days later, Chen Zaidao, commander of the Ji'nan Military Region, and several chiefs arrived in Yuancheng, and the chiefs all said that they had fought well and touched the bottom of Sun Gandian. After asking the cavalry regiment to rest, choose the opportunity to fight again. That's how everyone is doing.
Reference: Veteran Memories