The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out in full swing, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party began to cooperate in the anti-Japanese war, and the main force of the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army and went to the anti-Japanese front. At that time, the weapons and ammunition of the Eighth Route Army were relatively scarce, and the firepower and the Japanese army could not be compared at all, which determined that the eighth route army's combat mode could only be based on movement warfare and ambush warfare, and could not fight with the Japanese army to the death. The three main divisions of the Eighth Route Army all fought many beautiful ambush battles during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, such as the Pingxingguan Ambush of the 115th Division, the Yanmen Pass Ambush of the 120th Division, and the Shentouling Ambush of the 129th Division.
Among these ambush battles, the most influential is undoubtedly the Pingxingguan ambush battle, but the most thrilling is the Xiangtangpu ambush battle. In late March 1938, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army found that the Japanese army was frequently transported on the Handan (Gan) Chang (Zhi) Highway, and the vigilance along the line was strengthened, and an additional stronghold was added at Dongyang Pass, with more than 150 people stationed. In order to further disrupt the Japanese army's transportation lines and strike at the enemy attacking southeastern Jin, Liu Shuai and Xu Shuai decided to set up an ambush on the Handan-Chang Highway to give the enemy a fierce blow. Shortly thereafter, Liu Shuai went to the Second Theater to attend a combat conference, and this ambush was commanded by Xu Shuai.
After that, Xu Shuai dispatched several groups of reconnaissance personnel to conduct repeated and continuous reconnaissance of the enemy situation in the combat area. It was found that on the Li (Cheng) section of the Handan-Chang Highway, there were Japanese cars coming and going every day, transporting soldiers and military supplies, and it was found that the enemy would have 180 military vehicles driving from Licheng to Xiangxian in the near future. After ascertaining the enemy's situation and finding out where to go, when and cover the troops, Xu Shuai personally went along the way to choose the ambush area.
After many reconnaissances, Xu Shuai placed the ambush site in Xiangtangpu. Xiangtangpu is a small village on the Handan-Chang Highway, located near DongyangGuan between Xiangxian County, Hebei Province, and Licheng, Shanxi. The village is flanked by mountains and a long gorge in the middle, with a simple road built along the mountain valley, and the pavement is very soft and paved with cobblestones and fine sand. To the south of the highway are alpine cliffs and dangerous terrain, and to the north of the highway is extremely complex mountainous terrain, with a number of valley mouths extending to the road, which is very conducive to concealed ambushes and attacks.
Xu Shuai was very satisfied with the terrain of Xiangtangpu, and he said to the crowd: "This is an ideal ambush place, and it is convenient to set up an ambush on the north side of the road, which is convenient for concealment and easy to attack; while the enemy has no way to retreat, there is no excuse for defending, and this center is the farthest distance for reinforcements from the two enemy strongholds in Dongyang Pass and Xiangxian County." Therefore, in this kind of terrain, we can rely on the highlands from the north and south sides to deploy troops, clamp down on the enemy vehicle captain dragon with the clamping of the north and south sides, and block the head and tail of the enemy convoy at the east and west ends, so that he cannot pass through one soldier or one car. ”
Subsequently, Xu Shuai held an operational meeting and made specific arrangements: Chen Xilian's 769 regiment was located east of Xiangtangpu, on the line of Yangjiashan and Jiangjiazhuang, and sent a small detachment to the south of the highway to hide and wait for the plane; Xu Shenji's 771st regiment was in front of Xiangtangpu, on the front of Xiangtangpu, on the front line of Qiankuanzhang and Houkuanzhang, to undertake the main task of this ambush; Wang Jinshan's 772nd Regiment, located in the right rear of the division's command post, was preparing to block the enemy who might be aided by Licheng and Dongyangguan and cover the safety of the right rear of the ambush troops. At the same time, the regiment sent a company to guard the Sujiajiao guerrilla attack northeast of Dongyang Pass.
On the night of March 30, the above three main forces ignored the cold and cold, took advantage of the dark cover of the night, quietly arrived at their respective standby areas, and ambushed them. At that time, the spring was cold, and the warriors endured the biting cold and hid motionlessly. Unexpectedly, the next day, just after dawn, there was a dense gunfire in the Sujiajiao area. Soon Xu Shuai received a report from the 772nd Regiment: more than 200 enemy troops from Dongyang Pass had entered Majiayu; there were enemy cavalry on the southeastern highlands of Changning, moving to our flank. Wang Jinshan judged from this that the enemy might have discovered our army's ambush operation and attempted to attack from the flank of the right flank and cut off our army's rear road. In order to avoid putting his troops in danger, he also requested that the troops retreat after ambush.
Originally an ambush to fight the enemy, there is now a danger of being counter-encircled by the enemy. In the face of the sudden change, Xu Shuai did not panic, he carefully studied the map, and thought that the intelligence of the 772 regiment was unreliable. If the enemy really discovers this ambush of our army, he will certainly mobilize heavy troops to encircle him, and he will definitely not send only two hundred people. Considering this, Xu Shuai immediately ordered Wang Jinshan to send a battalion of troops to Majiayu, find out the situation and quickly report it, and at the same time sent Deng Shijun, chief of the division's operations section, to Dongyang Pass in disguise to find out the movement of the local Japanese army through the internal line of our army. Subsequently, Xu Shuai telephoned the regiments to inform them: the determination to fight remains unchanged, continue to lurk, and fight according to the original plan!
Soon after, the telephone at the command post rang, and Wang Jinshan, the commander of the 772nd Regiment, reported that ma Jiayu's enemy had been repelled and no new enemy situation had been discovered. After a while, Deng Renjun also rushed back, reporting that according to the investigation of the internal line of Dongyang Pass, in the middle of the night, there were traitors from the Sujiajiao area who reported to the Japanese army that a small group of the Eighth Route Army had come from the local area. The Japanese army at Dongyang Pass thought that this Eighth Route Army was going to fight its own idea, so it sent troops to "clear and suppress" after dawn.
Xu Shuai thus concluded that the enemy had not discovered our army's intention to ambush, and then he again ordered the ambush troops to be patient with the enemy. At about 8:30 a.m., more than 180 Japanese cars lined up in a long queue, from Licheng through Dongyang Pass, straight towards xiangtang, and soon entered the ambush circle of the 769th Regiment and the 771st Regiment. At Xu Shuai's order, the soldiers of the two regiments opened fire together, and the bullets shot at the enemy like raindrops, and the unsuspecting Japanese army was knocked down on the spot.
The soldiers of the 769th Regiment then concentrated their fire on the enemy's cars, hitting the tires first, making them unable to run and paralyzed on the road, so as to block the two ends of the road first. Then hit the fuel tank, let these cars catch fire, so that the enemy can not use the car body as a cover to resist, but also can use the "fire" to attack the enemy. At the same time, the 772nd Regiment also launched a fierce attack on the Japanese escorts. The besieged Japanese rushed to the Japanese at Licheng and Dongyang Pass for help, but both reinforcements were sent back by Wang Jinshan's 772nd Regiment.
In this way, the Japanese army in xiangtangpu became the turtle in the urn. After two hours of fierce fighting, our army burned more than 180 Japanese cars, killed more than 400 enemy soldiers, and captured a large amount of military supplies. Because of the large amount of loot, the 129th Division had to urgently mobilize nearby civilians to help clean up the battlefield. In the ambush battle of Xiangtangpu, in the case of the traitor's informant, Xu Shuai was not in danger, resolutely dealt with it, and finally won a complete victory. After the war, Liu Shuai praised Xu Shuai in person, saying: "Moving forward is still the courage of the year, calm and decisive!" ”