When I was studying, the most profound memory of the War of Resistance Against Japan was the Pingshi Guan Dajie, which was the battle in the history of China's anti-Japanese resistance that won the greatest victory, breaking the myth of the invincibility of the Japanese and the Kosovars, and since then, the people of the whole country have rethinked the War of Resistance Against Japan and re-established their confidence in victory, so that later the whole nation set off an upsurge of anti-Japanese resistance. Especially in the course of the battle, a large number of national heroes emerged, and their heroic deeds that can be sung and wept have inspired generations.
In the early morning of September 25, 1937, an infantry brigade of the 21st Brigade of the 5th Division (Itagaki Division) of the Japanese Invasion of China took more than 100 cars and stretched for more than 10 miles, driving into Qiaogou and entering the ambush circle of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, which was already waiting here. As the main battlefield, Qiaogou is flanked by steep mountains and narrow bottoms. At that time, the barriers of Tianzhen and Datong in the northeast of Shanxi had already opened their doors, and if they invaded from the south of Datong, they could use the railway to directly insert themselves into Taiyuan, the hinterland of Shanxi. The terrain of the flat-type Guanqiaogou is complex, and the canyon road is winding and twisting, which can only accommodate one car to pass,
After the enemy had all entered the ambush circle, our Eighth Route Army blew the impact trumpet, and the entire line of troops rushed at the enemy with the momentum of overwhelming the sea, and the 115th Division fell from the sky on a section of more than 10 miles long, shouting in unison and attacking the road, and the Japanese army was immediately cut into many sections. Taking advantage of the terrain, our army first blew up the enemy's car with grenades so that the enemy could not escape. As a result of the enemy's surprise attack, thousands of troops were in a mess in the narrow valley, and cars, carts, horses, and soldiers collided with each other.
Taking advantage of the confusion of the enemy, the 115th Division launched a fierce charge against the enemy, first rushing to the road to engage the enemy in a white-knife battle. Other troops also rushed to kill. The Japanese were so desperate that they hurried to resist with favorable features or terrain such as blown-up cars, ditches, and old temples. The second echelon of the 115th Division quickly crossed the road, seized the favorable terrain of the Laoye Temple, and surrounded the remnants of the enemy. The Japanese troops of Laiyuan and Weixian tried to reinforce the 21st Brigade surrounded in the Laoye Temple area, but encountered snipers on the way and could not succeed. The Japanese planes flew overhead, but there was a mess below, and there was no way to fly.
After a day of fierce fighting, more than 1,000 enemy were annihilated, more than 100 cars were destroyed, more than 200 large vehicles were destroyed, 1 cannon, more than 20 light and heavy machine guns, more than 1,000 rifles, 300,000 Yen, and a large number of military items were captured.
Regrettably, this time the Eighth Route Army was preparing to encircle the enemy's rear road, and with the cooperation of friendly forces, it planned to surround and annihilate all the Itagaki Divisions, but because the 84th Division led by Gao Guizi abandoned the Tuanchengkou position without authorization, there was a gap in the encirclement, and the plan to encircle and annihilate the entire division was frustrated, so that the notorious Banyuan Division was able to escape.
Itagaki Division, also known as the 5th Division, is the strongest division of the Japanese army invading China, is one of the 17 standing divisions of the Japanese army before the outbreak of World War II, is the most elite mechanized unit of the Japanese army, known as the steel army, the First Tonkin Battle of Nanjing is the 5th Division, its division commander Itagaki Seishiro also through the 5th Division Regiment landed on the general, he was involved in the planning of the September 18 Incident Itagaki Seishiro, so the division is also called "Itagaki Division Regiment".
At that time, after the Japanese Kwantung Army's Chahar Corps captured the important town of Datong in northern Jin, the soldiers pointed directly at Yanmen Pass, the gateway to northern Jin; at the same time, the Banyuan Division from Xuanhua, Xinbao, and Huailai attacked all the way west, forcing the northeast of Jin to pass - Pingxingguan!
In the face of the attack from the Japanese Kwantung Army and the Itagaki Division, Yan Xishan, commander of the Chinese Second Theater of Operations, believed that one unit resisted slightly in the direction of Pingxing pass, and the other used Hengshan and Yanmen Mountain as barriers to resist one after another, luring them to go deeper into Fanzhi, and the Eighth Route Army copied Pingshi Pass and cut off the enemy's rear road, which was called "laying out a pocket array, so that the enemy could enter and could not get out."
After the Battle of Pingxingguan began, the Eighth Route Army launched an attack on the Japanese army as planned, and after fierce fighting, annihilated the enemy's 21st Brigade, and then the team secretly sneaked out to the enemy's flank in the southeast and prepared to launch a new round of offensive.
Gaobu's action had two serious consequences: At dawn on the 25th, the 71st Division, which was attacking outside Pingxingguan, was suddenly counterattacked by the Japanese troops who had seized Tuanchengkou and Harrier Stream, and the troops were suppressed in the mihui and unable to move at Jiantou; on the same day, the Eighth Route Army launched a siege on the Japanese troops marching around Guangou, Laoye Temple, and Xiaozhai, but because the Tuanchengkou position had been lost and Guo bu's attack had failed, the main force of the besieged Japanese army was able to break through from the abandoned positions of friendly forces.
Originally, this "pocket array" had a winning factor, which put the Itagaki Division in the dilemma of "the front was blocked and the rear was copied", after all, the strength of the Japanese army was limited, and it was still more than a hundred miles away from the flat pass, which could only play a role in solidarity.
Many years later, Yan Xishan was angry that the carefully planned plan for the Battle of Pingxingguan had not been successful, believing: "Gao Guizi's abandonment of Tuanchengkou is more lethal than Liu Ruming's abandonment of Zhangjiakou!" As everyone knows, Gao Guizi is certainly responsible for the defeat of this battle, and his responsibility is not small!
Many years later, in response to the failure of the entire Pingxingguan Campaign, someone wrote a book describing gao Guizi's withdrawal from the Tuanchengkou position without receiving orders from his superiors as a very irresponsible act! After the publication of the book, the descendants of Gao Guizi, the commander of the Kuomintang 17th Army and commander of the 84th Division, who were involved in the events in the book, objected to certain plots in the book, and believed that these descriptions "infringed on Gao Guizi's right to reputation", thus triggering a lawsuit -
Gao Guizi, Zi Peiwu, a native of Dingbian, Shaanxi, was born in Hanmen and dropped out of school due to his family's poverty since childhood, so he and his younger brother Gao Guishan went to Yanchi County, Ningxia, where he worked as an apprentice in the noodle shop opened by his grandfather, and then returned to Dingbian County and joined the League through the introduction of others. The following year, he entered xi'an to study in the Wu tang and thus began his career as a horseman.
Gao Guizi served as a company commander of the Northern Shaanxi Town Guard, and later joined Hu Jingyi's Jingguo Army as a battalion, regiment, and brigade commander. During the Northern Expedition, he was the commander of the Independent 8th Division, and in 1928 he was promoted to the commander of the 47th Army of Fang Zhenwu's Fourth Army. After the Battle of the Central Plains, Gaobu was reduced to the 11th Division, and Gao followed Shang Zhen out of the pass and attacked Shi Yousan houlu to relieve Zhang Xueliang. After Zhang Xueliang made peace with Jiang, Gaobu was organized into the 84th Infantry Division, stationed in Wu'an and Cixian, Hebei.
Later, he participated in the encirclement and suppression of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, and after repeated blows by the Red Army, he changed his course and agreed with the CCP, and in 1936 supported Zhang Yang to launch the Xi'an Incident. After the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance, he was promoted to the commander of the 17th Army, participated in many battles, and annihilated more than 2,000 japanese regiments in succession, and his reputation was greatly enhanced. He participated in the Battle of Pingxingguan, but in order to preserve his strength, he led his troops to retreat without authorization and abandoned their positions, allowing the Japanese Itagaki Division to escape.
In view of Gao Guizi's failure to receive orders from his superiors to retreat, posterity proposed that Gao Guizi be described in the book as a national scum who preserved his strength and withdrew from his position without authorization, believing that "Gao Guizi gave up Tuanchengkou without authorization" was not a fact, and that the defendant slandered Gao Guizi as deliberately pandering to the self-justification of the compromisers in the War of Resistance Against Japan! Put forward litigation claims such as stopping publication and distribution, making a formal apology, and compensating 100,000 yuan for moral damages.
Later, after trial, the court made a judgment, the plaintiff sued unreasonablely, rejected the litigation claim, the defendant did not constitute infringement Facts are clear, the evidence is very sufficient, and the plaintiff's claim is refuted according to the historical facts and legal provisions, which is supported by the court. His descendants appealed against the first-instance judgment, and the court of second instance upheld the original judgment in accordance with law.