In the spring of 1938, the fourth detachment of the New Fourth Army was ordered by its superiors to advance to the central region of Anhui Province and open up a new anti-Japanese base area.
At that time, Hefei, Huainan, Chaoxian and other places had been occupied by the Japanese army, and the local people were burned and looted by the Japanese army and suffered from encroachment.
However, many Kuomintang troops were afraid of the Japanese army and hid in the depths of the Dabie Mountains. Some local officials do not care whether the people are dead or alive, but only know that they are fleeing for their lives.
Landlords, hooligans, and bandits continued to do evil in various places, and even took advantage of the fire to loot and do all the bad things that harmed the common people.
After the Ninth Regiment of the Four Detachments of the New Fourth Army entered central Anhui, they watched as the land on this side was wasted by all kinds of evil forces into a miserable mountain and water, and the common people were miserable and indignant.
Under such circumstances, political commissar Gao Zhirong (who became the founding major general in 1955) decided to find an opportunity to fight a war with the Japanese army and stimulate the anti-Japanese confidence of the military and people in Anhui.
Considering that it was a period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists at that time, Gao Zhirong went to the headquarters of the 27th Group of the Kuomintang to promote the anti-Japanese united front and discuss the joint annihilation of the enemy.
Unexpectedly, although the Nationalist army had a sufficient number of soldiers and weapons and equipment, it all suffered from a serious "Sunophobia", and as soon as it heard that the Japanese army was coming, it avoided it and was afraid of it, and spread the theory that the Japanese army was strong and it was too difficult to resist Japan.
When those Kuomintang officers saw Gao Zhirong, they revealed the true face of the fake anti-Japanese resistance without saying a few words, and even showed extreme contempt for the New Fourth Army.
Gao Zhirong was completely disappointed in them, and angrily whisked his sleeves away, throwing a sentence before leaving: "You cowardly and fearful enemies, take a good look at how the New Fourth Army fights devils!" ”
After returning to the unit, when the cadres and fighters learned of this incident, they all exploded their lungs and expressed one after another that they must fight a beautiful victory, and while hitting the Japanese Kou fiercely, they also asked the Kuomintang not to underestimate the New Fourth Army from now on.
After a long time, the scouts sent by Gao Zhirong returned to report an important situation: There was a place called jiangjiahekou in the southeast of Chao County, through which the Japanese puppet army had to pass every time it "swept up."
Gao Zhirong felt that this information was not detailed enough, and it was valuable to find the enemy's travel rules, so he asked the scouts to go again.
After several days of lurking, the scouts did have more details: the enemy came out every morning at eight or nine o'clock in the morning in motorboats to sweep up, dispatched 10 to 30 people at a time, and returned to the garrison on time at noon.
What pleased Gao Zhirong even more was that the mouth of the Jiangjia River was a very suitable place for ambushes, where the rivers crisscrossed and there were dense reeds and weeds on the banks of the river, which made it easy for our army to hide.
After analysis and study, Gao Zhirong decided to personally lead a multi-company of troops to the mouth of the Jiangjia River to set up an ambush and teach the Japanese army a harsh lesson.
Battalion commander Tang Shaotian (who became the founding colonel in 1955) said: "Killing chickens and using cattle slaughtering knives, there are only a few dozen devils, I can lead the team, there is no need for the political commissar to personally go out on the horse." ”
Gao Zhirong said: "Although there are not many enemies to be dealt with in this battle, it is the first battle against Japan by our New Fourth Army entering the central Anhui region, and I must set an example!" ”
In the early morning of May 12, Gao Zhirong personally led the reconnaissance team of the regiment headquarters and the four companies of the second battalion to the mouth of the Jiangjia River and entered the designated positions according to the prior arrangements.
During the time of waiting for the enemy to appear, the cadres and fighters all stood in a tight line, determined to fight this battle well.
Although everyone was ready to run in vain, what surprised everyone was that the enemy did appear!
At three o'clock in the morning, there was a sudden beep of motors on the southeast side of the river, followed by two motorboats coming up in smoke, and a piercing military flag was planted on the boat.
Gao Zhirong immediately ordered his troops to prepare for battle and obey his orders.
The motorboats were getting closer and closer, and the Japanese soldiers were wearing steel helmets and carrying long guns on their shoulders, all of them looking like no one and invincible, and they also pointed at the shore with their hands, laughing from time to time.
When the motorboat entered the firing range, Gao Zhirong decisively gave the order to fire, and a row of grenades smashed through, followed by rifles, machine guns, and pistols in the hands of the soldiers almost simultaneously spewing out angry flames!
The Japanese troops of the motorboats were hit by this sudden blow and immediately became chaotic. They wanted to escape, but in the face of the firepower network constructed by the commanders and fighters of the New Fourth Army, there was no way to escape.
Not long after, the Japanese motorboats were blown up by grenades, some of the devils were killed, some of the devils were shot and killed, and some of the devils fell into the water, ready to swim and escape, but they were killed or captured alive by the new Fourth Army fighters on the shore.
Due to the well-chosen location and proper use of tactics, the ambush battle was soon over, and all 24 Japanese troops on the motorboats were annihilated, while the New Fourth Army suffered no casualties, and the whole process took more than 20 minutes.
What made the Japanese prisoners most shameful was that their military flag also became the spoils of the New Fourth Army. You must know that the Japanese army attaches more importance to the military flag than the national flag, and if a unit loses the military flag, it is necessary to abolish the establishment. This was also the first Japanese flag captured by the four detachments of the New Fourth Army in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Objectively speaking, the ambush at the mouth of the Jiangjia River was only a small battle, and the number of enemies annihilated was only 24, but its significance in the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was extraordinary.
The key lies in the fact that this was the first victory won by the New Fourth Army in the battle against Japan behind enemy lines, and it can be said that it was the first battle that truly broke the myth of the Japanese army's invincibility, so it was irreplaceable in the history of the War of Resistance.
It is precisely for this reason that after the end of this war, it quickly produced strong repercussions in various fields and groups, and this good news spread throughout the Great Wall and beyond, north and south of the great river.
When the masses everywhere learned of the Victory of the New Fourth Army in the first battle, they all praised them for giving a bad breath to the common people.
The headquarters of the New Fourth Army and the four detachments all gave commendations to the Ninth Regiment, and a propaganda book was specially issued for them, which widely publicized them as an example of anti-Japanese warfare.
Interestingly, the Kuomintang government, which was originally afraid of the enemy like a tiger, was forced by the pressure of public opinion to pretend to send commendation orders and congratulatory telegrams to the commanders and fighters of the Ninth Regiment.