Zhang Xiongwen
In June 1938, the Battle of Wuhan officially began. Ye Ting and Xiang Ying, in order to fulfill their friendly obligations, ordered the New Fourth Army to cooperate in the battle and "carry out a victorious guerrilla war to cooperate with all sides in carrying out the general task of defending Wuhan." Su Yu, the acting commander of the second detachment, immediately moved behind enemy lines.
In July of that year, he commanded a battalion of two detachments to ambush a Japanese train between Dangtu and Wuhu, capturing countless military supplies; soon after, he fought an encounter with the Japanese army east of Wuhu, with great success, and also set a record for the whole army of the Fourth Army to capture the Japanese army alive.
Jiangnan's "public order" suddenly deteriorated, and the Japanese army was very angry, and when they learned that the second detachment was stationed in Xiaodanyang, they immediately dispatched 4,500 infantry and cavalry, plus more than 20 bombers, to encircle and annihilate. They divided their armies into eight roads, advancing on land and water, and they were determined to win.
Su Yu quickly came up with a countermeasure and adopted the tactic of "the enemy entering us" when fighting guerrillas in southern Zhejiang, and divided the troops into three:
One attacked Dangtu, causing panic among the enemy; one attacked Tao Wu south of Nanjing to contain the Japanese forces; and the other attacked the outskirts of Nanjing, seizing the commanding heights of Yuhuatai and attacking Japanese and pseudo-military targets inside and outside the Zhonghua Gate.
The imposing Japanese army pounced on Xiao Danyang and found that there was no one there, but the rear was in a hurry, so they had to sigh and hurriedly withdrew their troops back to defense. Su Yu took the opportunity to order a pursuit, killing and wounding more than 50 Japanese puppet troops, and not a single casualty of his own.
The mysterious guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines made the Japanese army tremble with fear, and helplessly cried bitterly: "The New Fourth Army is a god, you hit him without a single one, and when he hit you, he came out." ''
Su Yu ignored Ri Kou's cries and fought two beautiful battles in a row.
In January 1939, scouts who went out reported that more than 100 Japanese troops had been attacked north along the banks of the Shuiyang River from the town of Shuiyang in Xuancheng, Anhui Province. Su Yu immediately took out the map, carefully compared it for a while, pondered for a while, and decided to fight another ambush battle.
He quickly deployed two lines of men and horses: one way for 4 companies, ambushed in preset positions on the riverbank, as the main force of the attack; the other way for a company, hidden near Shuiyang, after the battle began, from behind the Japanese army, cutting off its retreat. The two groups of men and horses moved overnight and quietly sneaked into their respective positions.
In the early morning of January 7, the fog will stop and the river will be muddy. The Japanese army was brightly dressed, the knives and guns were clear, and they walked slowly into the ambush circle.
Su Yu decisively gave the order to attack, and the ambush troops shouted loudly, and the gunshots suddenly started and opened fire fiercely. The Japanese army was well trained, hesitated for a moment, quickly organized a counterattack, and rushed to the position of the New Fourth Army wave after wave, but could not resist the fierce offensive of the New Fourth Army, and instantly retreated back.
Su Yu has been braving the rain of bullets and bullets and standing in the forefront to command. Wang Zhi, a veteran of the war and former deputy political commissar of the Fuzhou Military Region, recalled many years later: "In the fierce battle of Shuiyang, he (Su Yu) personally came to the front line. When he fought back the enemy who had rushed up, I thought it was too dangerous and suggested that he shift his command position. ''
Su Yu shook his head and said, "The enemy was repulsed, but it was not defeated, and a second charge will be launched immediately, and our command position can only be in the front, not in the rear." ''
Wang Zhi recalled: "Sure enough, the enemy then organized another counterattack, and it was more ferocious than the first. Because he was confident and calmly commanding, the enemy was finally beaten to the ground and fled. ''
After 3 hours of fierce fighting, the New Fourth Army won a complete victory, killing 31 Japanese troops and recovering the famous jiangnan water town of Shuiyang.
Subsequently, Su Yu led a surprise attack on the official steep gate, and in only 8 minutes, he collected the troops, broke the army and killed the generals, and the sound shook Jiangnan.
Like Shuiyang Town, Guanqiao gate flows with the same clear Shuiyang River, which is a rural town in the northeast suburb of Wuhu, adjacent to Wanli Airport and (South) Jingwu (Lake) Railway, with dangerous terrain, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
In order to defend Wuhu, the Japanese army attached great importance to the guanqiao gate, not only stationed heavy troops, but also set up two strongholds at four or five kilometers on the left and right sides, and the guanqiao gate was at a horn, standing on three legs, one place was attacked, and the other two could quickly send reinforcements.
Su Yu analyzed that the Japanese army thought that the official steep gate was impregnable, but the prevention was paralyzed and lax, and it was just by surprise that they were caught off guard. He decided to personally lead the Third Regiment to pull out this stronghold.
After the determination to fight was determined, Su Yu began to calmly use troops.
The official steep gate was on the west side of the Tanuki Bridge in Xuancheng, where the headquarters was stationed, and the team was supposed to go directly to the west. In order to confuse the eyes and ears of the Japanese puppet army and maintain the suddenness of the battle, Su Yuyin showed falsehood and detoured the army, and at the same time did not assign combat tasks to the troops.
On January 18, Su Yu led his troops north along the eastern shore of Lake Goseong, and after only 25 kilometers, ordered the camp to stay; the next day he stayed in the same place for half a day, and then suddenly ordered a boat to cross The Lake of Goseong, over the high lake, and then changed to a small boat and went west along the inland river.
At midnight, the moon stars were thin and the cold was compelling, and the officers and men of the New Fourth Army marched all the way, interspersed to a small village only 40 kilometers away from the official steep gate, and Su Yu ordered a hidden rest on the spot.
In the afternoon, he convened a meeting of cadres at and above the platoon level to announce the operational objectives and tasks. Only then did the officers and men understand his intention to go around in circles over a long distance for several days, and they were so excited that they all shook their fists and prepared for battle.
In the early morning of January 21, the four fields are lonely, the Ming River is in the sky, it is "'Chicken Sound Maodian Moon, Human Footprint Banqiao Frost'", the scenery is poetic and pleasant. The Japanese puppet army was still sleeping soundly in the warm barracks, and Su Yu issued an order to attack. The officers and men of the New Fourth Army were like arrows off the string, slamming into the steep door of the officer.
Gunfire suddenly arose, then suddenly fell silent, and the battle ended in only 8 minutes. More than 300 defenders were completely annihilated, of whom 57 were captured alive and more than 80 long and short guns were captured.
When the Japanese army rushed to reinforcements, Su Yu had already disappeared with his team at the end of the Jiangnan water network, leaving them with only pity and rage.
Su Yu's fame rose for a while, not only after the enemy in Jiangnan, but also spread to Chongqing, thousands of miles away. Chongqing's Xinhua Daily published an article he wrote entitled "The Surprise Attack on the Steep Gate of Officials near Wuhu", introducing the combat experience.
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Excerpted from "Mostly Heng ge immediately goes - Field Master Su Yu", China Literature and History Publishing House, December 2016 edition, by Zhang Xiongwen
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