On November 3, 1939, the First Military Subdistrict of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region of the Eighth Route Army fought a great victory, and they surrounded and annihilated more than 500 Japanese troops at Yansu Cliff in Hebei Province. The supreme leader of this unit of the Japanese army was Norihide Abe, who had just been promoted to lieutenant general, who was a well-known mountain warfare expert with the title of "Flower of Famous Generals". Having just been promoted to lieutenant general, he suffered a big loss, and Abe was very annoyed and decided to shame him.
On November 4, Norihide Abe led more than 1,500 people to take revenge. The commanders and fighters of the Eighth Route Army of Jin-Cha-Ji decided to take advantage of Abe's eagerness to take revenge and made the decision to lure the enemy deeper, and decided to annihilate him in the area of Laiyuan Loess Ridge in Hebei Province. Abe Norihide was indeed hit, and gradually entered the ambush circle of the Eighth Route Army. On November 7, the final battle began.
At this moment, Chen Zhengxiang, commander of the First Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, found through a telescope that in a courtyard between Loess Ridge and Shangzhuangzi, there were constantly Japanese troops coming in and out. At the same time, on the hill behind the courtyard, several Japanese generals wearing officer uniforms were observing with binoculars. Chen Zhengxiang concluded that the compound must be the enemy's headquarters, so he immediately mobilized a mortar company to attack.
Li Erxi, an 18-year-old young soldier, fired four shells in a row at the courtyard, and the Japanese army wailed. Li Erxi is a native of Shanxi, joined the Eighth Route Army in 1937, don't look at Li Erxi's young age, but he can fight very bravely. Unbeknownst to Li Erxi and Chen Zhengxiang at the time, they wrote a grand stroke in the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and they killed Norihide Abe, the highest-ranking officer of the Japanese army killed by the Eighth Route Army in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Japan's Asahi Shimbun published a front-page report entitled "The Flowers of Famous Generals Wither on the Taihang Mountain," which "deeply regrets." When the news of Abe's death spread among the Chinese military and people, both Chairman Mao, President Zhu, and Chiang Kai-shek of the Kuomintang sent congratulatory messages. In view of Li Erxi's contribution, Nie Rongzhen also personally instructed him to reward him with a pistol.
As for the specific location where Abe Norihide was killed, the only data that can be seen so far comes from the "Diary of General Chen Zhengxiang in the Battle". Chen Zhengxiang wrote: "The mortar company was in position 803, and the first time I ordered the company's four guns to hit the small hill in the middle of the south of the independent house of the teaching ground, I found that several officers with carrying combat knives of the enemy were observing us with binoculars; in the afternoon, several more shots were fired at four or five o'clock. ”
This afternoon, these shots were fired, and Li Erxi participated in them. Yang Chengwu was the commander of a sub-district at that time, and although he was not at the scene, he had also heard about this incident, so it could also be used as a supporting evidence. Yang Chengwu recalled: "Only the mountains trembled, and the enemy at the bottom of the ditch cried wolf. Lieutenant General Abe Norihide's 'Flower of Fame' was 'broken' under the cannons of our brave mortar soldiers. ”
After this battle, Li Erxi became famous, and his comrades-in-arms called him "Sharpshooter". Li Erxi joined the army for 14 years and did not change careers until 1952. After Li Erxi was demobilized, he was very low-key, and few people knew about his glorious experience. Li Erxi once said modestly: "When I think of my poor orphan being recognized by everyone as a 'sharpshooter' and making some achievements for the party and the country and the people, I feel that all this should be attributed to the teachings of the party and Chairman Mao." ”
On March 26, 2010, Li Erxi died of illness at the age of 89. The mortar that Li Erxi used to kill Norihide Abe became a national first-class cultural relic, which is currently displayed in the China Military Museum.
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