A dusty history, a classic battle.
In October 1937, the Independent 5th Brigade, which originally belonged to liang Guanying's 25th Route Army, was ordered to march north from Shucheng, Anhui Province, and enter Shanxi by train through Shijiazhuang to participate in the Battle of Xinkou.
Xinkou Village
On October 14, the 54th Division of the 9th Army fought fiercely with the Japanese at the position of Nanhuaihua and fell into passivity. Brigade Commander Zheng Tingzhen took the initiative to ask for help and asked to go into battle to kill the enemy. The commander-in-chief, Wei Lihuang, immediately assigned the independent 5th Brigade to the 9th Army, under the direct command of Commander Hao Mengling.
At 5 p.m. on the 15th, the whole brigade began to move towards the Xinkou battlefield. At about 10:00 a.m. the next day, the whole brigade arrived at the position of Nanhuaihua. Brigadier Zheng ordered an active attack, captured several hills, and then continued to launch a fierce attack on an unnamed highland.
Hao Mengling
The enemy of the 5th Brigade was a reinforced wing of the Japanese 5th Division, the 5th Brigade had more than 3,000 troops, and it was under the jurisdiction of the 614th regiment and the 615th regiment, which was almost one-to-one with the Japanese army. Since the Japanese had captured the hill and were condescending to strafe the defenders, the 5th Brigade charged three times in a row, without success.
In the fierce battle, Li Yuanhui, the commander of the second battalion, died heroically. The whole battalion went up for less than an hour, and only 15 men retreated from their positions. At about 3 p.m., more than 3,000 people in the brigade were damaged by one-third, and the brigade commander Zheng Tingzhen personally came to the front line to command and launched a charge against the Japanese army.
Japanese march
Brigadier Zheng commanded the brethren to capture two hills of the Japanese army in succession, and when attacking the third hill, the Japanese sniper shot at Brigadier Zheng, when the bullet was shot in from the right eye, the back of the head was pierced, and after being sent to Xinxian County, due to the ineffectiveness of rescue, Brigadier Zheng was martyred.
After the death of Brigadier Zheng, Commander Hao Mengling asked Li Jicheng, commander of the 614th Regiment, to act as brigade commander and continue to command the entire brigade. At this time, the Japanese cavalry rushed to reinforcements, trying to encircle the 5th Brigade in a roundabout way. Acting Brigade Commander Li Jicheng immediately mobilized 2 battalions to avoid the front of the Japanese army, attacked the Japanese reinforcements left and right, and successfully rushed to the Japanese positions for hand-to-hand combat.
Brigadier Zheng Tingzhen and his sword
In less than two hours, fewer than 100 soldiers remained in both battalions. When Brigadier Li Dai was commanding the commando team to fight, he was unfortunately hit by a Japanese sniper, and the bullet entered the neck and broke the throat tube, and Brigadier Li Dai died heroically on the spot.
After the death of Brigade Commander Li Dai, the commander of the 615th Regiment, Gao Zeng (a native of Dingbian County, Shaanxi), succeeded him as brigade commander and continued to command the battle.
Soldiers who train to shoot
The commander of the high brigade saw that the Japanese had sufficient firepower and it was difficult to capture the high ground, so he adopted the method of holding his position. The whole army quickly dug trenches and used the trenches as a basis to block the Japanese army. Brigadier Gao personally commanded the soldiers to dig trenches and patrol the fortifications and bunkers back and forth.
Just then, a bullet shot out of a hidden haystack and hit The High Brigadier's left shoulder. Brigadier Gao fell into the trench, and the bullets fired by the devils splashed the dirt on the trench everywhere.
Three or eight large cover bullets
"Fuck, that's disgusting too!" Brigadier Gao was injured and lay in the ditch unable to get up, and many of the soldiers who dug the trench were shot and killed. Li Duoyi, captain of the machine gun company of the 614th Regiment and sharpshooter, picked up a rifle, grabbed a bullet and quietly went around to the side to observe carefully.
The Japanese were very accurate in marksmanship, almost always shooting at the neck and head. After careful observation, Li Duoyi found a ghost hiding in the weeds at the opening, and shot at the position at intervals, and the high brigade commander was injured by this person.
Anti-Japanese sniper image
Enraged, Li Duoyi raised his rifle and aimed it at the haystack. The devil, who was hiding in the haystack, seemed to realize the danger, just as the devil was about to shoot again. Li Duoyi fired decisively, one shot hit the devil, in order to prevent the devil from being injured and not dead, Li Duoyi shot several shots in succession, according to the post-war inspection of the devil's face was pierced, the mandible was knocked out.
Japanese sniper
At this time, the Japanese army found Li Duoyi, and the bullets whizzed towards the place where Li Duoyi was hiding. Li Duoyi stuck in the trench and slowly climbed to a hidden place. In order to fool the devil, Li Duoyi stuck his bayonet on the ground and buckled his hat on it. When the Japanese found out, they immediately opened fire and shook their hats. The location of the Japanese hiding place was exposed, and Li Duoyi quickly opened fire, killing the ghost with one shot.
The Japanese who were killed
Seeing this, the Japanese army rushed forward to pull the hook corpse, and Li Duoyi took the opportunity to kill several ghosts. In just one hour, Li Duoyi killed 7 Japanese snipers in succession, and the remaining ghosts did not dare to shoot again until it was dark.
For the next three days, the devils no longer dared to shoot cold shots at the positions. After the trenches were dug, Li Duoyi commanded the remaining brothers to hold out until the end of the battle. On 2 November, due to the loss of Niangziguan, the whole brigade was ordered to retreat to Houma to assemble.
Nanhuaihua Battlefield Site
Li Duoyi single-handedly killed 7 Japanese snipers, killing the devils and did not dare to fight back, avenging Brigadier Zheng, Brigadier Li and Brigadier Gao. His heroic feats are worth remembering and learning from future generations.
References: China Literature and History Publishing House, "Records of the Jinsui War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression", pp. 112-114