In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan, several large-scale battles between the Chinese army and the Japanese army basically ended in failure. For example, in the Battle of Wuhan, 70 divisions of troops were dispatched to the battle, while the Japanese army only invested 7 divisions at that time. The author has seen many documentaries that truly record the War of Resistance Against Japan, and many veterans have truly evaluated the real combat effectiveness of the Japanese army, saying that individual combat capabilities are strong, Japanese soldiers are very accurate in shooting guns, are not afraid of death, and are very fierce.
The Red Army, which fought against the Japanese army, was more figuratively like fighting the dead. There is a saying in the War of Resistance that as long as the infantry of the Japanese army is shot three times, it is a terrible thing. That is to say, the Japanese soldier will judge the general direction after the first shot, the second shot will aim at the shooter, and the third shot may be killed by the Japanese soldier. Before the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the infantry generally received two years of professional training and had excellent shooting, bomb throwing, and bayonet fighting skills.
Therefore, the content of many anti-Japanese dramas today is that the crotch of the pants hides thunder, tears the devils, etc., which is not only insulting to the intelligence of the audience, but also insulting those anti-Japanese soldiers who died in the war.
Of course, in addition to the poor weapons, due to the lack of food, the Chinese soldiers were malnourished and their physique seriously deteriorated. Combat effectiveness decreased. Therefore, the War of Resistance was brutal and very difficult. Today, I want to tell a real thing, an 18-year-old soldier of the Eighth Route Army, with only 4 shells, will kill the famous Japanese Lieutenant General Norihide Abe. Moreover, this was the highest-ranking officer of the Japanese army killed by the Eighth Route Army in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and he made a miraculous contribution.
The 18-year-old warrior's name was Li Erxi. Li Erxi was born in 1921 to a poor family in Shanxi. The name Erxi means that he is the second boy in the family, but Li Erxi's family still has not lived a happy life, and when he was 13 years old, his parents died unexpectedly, he became an orphan, and his brother also went to become a soldier. He made a living by herding cattle for the landlord's family.
When the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out, he witnessed the atrocities of the Japanese army in brutalizing villagers. A group of Japanese koku came from the village. More than 400 men, women and children in the village were herded into a courtyard, filled with firewood, poured gasoline and set on fire. As a cowherd, Li Erxi was lucky not to be in the village, but survived, and he wanted to avenge the villagers and the Chinese people trampled by the iron hooves of the Japanese army invading China.
In 1937, the Battle of Pingxingguan began, and 16-year-old Li Erxi signed up for the Eighth Route Army. But initially he was not a gunner, but was responsible for liaison between the troops and the masses.
During the Battle of Pingxingguan, Li Erxi and his comrades, who had once cleaned the battlefield, found several small steel guns of the Japanese army. In fact, it is the "Type 97" mortar. Why is it called a small steel cannon, because of its light weight, high power, fast rate of fire, simple structure, and low cost.
The small steel cannon was specially designed by the Invading Japanese Army for the North China and South China Battlefields in China, because the terrain here is mostly poor mountains and hills, and the bulky infantry guns cannot play an effective range. The Japanese began designing and developing the mortar in May 1937.
If Li Erxi's unit received the most precious treasure, a special artillery company was set up, and Li Erxi became the first batch of artillery.
Li Erxi followed experienced veterans, practiced eyesight, practiced ranging, and found a feel, and soon became the main attack gunner in the company. He has a high degree of confidence that he can accurately hit the target.
Many sharpshooters have a high level of understanding, and Li Erxi, who is a sharpshooter, is also the same.
In the autumn of 1939, the Japanese army mobilized more than 20,000 people from the independent mixed second brigade and other main forces to carry out a larger autumn "sweep" of the Beiyue Mountains in an attempt to completely destroy the anti-Japanese base areas. The japanese commander in chief was the newly promoted Lieutenant General Norihide Abe.
At the age of 53, Norihide Abe graduated from the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School and had a dedication to honor and glory beyond that of ordinary soldiers. Therefore, he was promoted step by step in the army without any background with "battle merit". It is known as the "Flower of Famous Generals" in Japanese military circles. He was arrogant and dismissive of the Eighth Route Army.
As a result, his first brigade of 500 men was wiped out by the Eighth Route Army. Abe was very angry, and personally led more than 1,500 people of the second and fourth brigades to attack along the original marching route of the first brigade, with the purpose of catching the Eighth Route Army by surprise.
The Japanese army found the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the loess ridge area, and Abe Norihide, who was eager to fight, committed the taboo of entering the army alone. On November 6, 1939, when Abe's troops broke into Loess Ridge, the main force of the Eighth Route Army had formed an encirclement at Loess Ridge. The Eighth Route Army came to "catch turtles in an urn", and the main force of Abe Norihide was quickly compressed near the village of Shangzhuangzi and made a mess.
On November 7, Chen Zhengxiang, commander of the First Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, discovered through a telescope that there was a separate compound in Shangzhuangzi Village, and there were constantly Japanese officers carrying command knives and telescopes coming in and out. It was concluded that the compound might be the enemy's headquarters, and immediately mobilized an artillery company to attack. This task fell to Li Erxi's body.
Regiment commander Chen Zhengxiang said to Li Erxi, We only have four shells, you can only succeed. Li Erxi visually inspected the back of the courtyard and affirmatively responded to the instructions to ensure the completion of the task.
Loading, aiming, firing, in just a few seconds, in one go. "Boom", "Boom", with four explosions, Abe Norihide's compound was razed to the ground, and the Japanese wolfhounds, along with the "Flower of famous generals", died on the spot.
The news of the 18-year-old young soldier who killed the Japanese lieutenant general with one shot did not go away. The killing of a senior commander of the Japanese army at the rank of lieutenant general was the first time in the history of the War of Resistance. Soon, Japan's Asahi Shimbun lamented with a banner headline: "The flowers of famous generals are withered on the Taihang Mountain."
At the post-war commendation meeting, Commander Nie Rongzhen personally presented Li Erxi with a pistol as a reward.
Li Erxi served as an artilleryman for 14 years and made many achievements. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he transferred to Shaoguan, Guangdong Province, and became an ordinary worker.
He devoted himself to production work, never telling the people around him or even his family about his heroic deeds, let alone his glorious history of killing the Japanese lieutenant general with one shot.
He is honest, generous, enthusiastic, low-key, loves to help others, lives an ordinary life, and no one associates him with a hero.
The days were spent in a dull way, until one day in 1995, when the 72-year-old Li Erxi, the old chief of the year, General Yang Chengwu, invited to visit the Military Museum, because the mortar he used had been listed as a national first-class cultural relic.
After the media exposed this matter, Li Erxi's heroic deeds were known to his family and those around him. It turns out that the hero is by his side. In this regard, he smiled and said that the events of that year were nothing to show.
In March 2010, Li Erxi died of illness in Guangdong at the age of 89. His last words were, don't forget the national shame.