In mid-to-late November 1942, the Japanese army surrounded the Jiaodong Peninsula from all sides, launched a crazy "sweep" against the Japanese soldiers and civilians, and wantonly slaughtered anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians in the area of Mashishan, known in history as the "Mashishan Massacre".
On November 19, Tan Daodu, commander of the Third Battalion of the 16th Regiment of the Jiaodong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army, was ordered by his superiors to lead two companies to the vicinity of Zhaohu Mountain in Haiyang County, responsible for covering the organs of the military region and the transfer of some of the masses.
Tan Daodu lived up to expectations, led the commanders and fighters of the three battalions into the dangerous zone many times, and successfully received peng Jiaqing, director of the political department of the military region (who became the founding lieutenant general in 1955) and a group of people, a total of more than 500 people, who missed the opportunity to break through, so that they were temporarily out of danger and concentrated in a valley north of Zhaohu Mountain.
However, due to the time it took to meet the masses, the Japanese puppet army had cut off the transfer route and blocked this mixed military and civilian brigade on Zhaohu Mountain.
It was extremely difficult to break through, because the combat troops were only two companies led by Tan Daojun, most of them were unarmed masses, not only the team was huge, but also the mules and horses were heavy, and the action was bound to be slow.
In the face of this grim situation, Peng Jiaqing was unusually calm, and he ordered all the personnel to hide and wait until dark to find a way to break through.
As night fell, Peng Jiaqing took Tan Daojun and several cadres up a hill to the north to check the surrounding terrain and enemy situation.
They were surprised to find that strange tongues of fire appeared in the wilderness below the mountain.
It turned out that the enemy had set up countless sentries along the encirclement circle under the mountain, and each of the two sentries was about 100 meters apart, distributed in the shape of plum blossoms, and one layer was covered with one layer.
It is not difficult to see that the enemy has sent 2 to 3 soldiers to each post, and there is a pile of burning bonfires in front of the post to protect against the cold. While the enemy soldiers were roasting the fire, they continued to add firewood and grass to the fire, and the fire was very strong, forming a dense web of fire.
In the distance, the countless bonfires under the mountain danced like a group of demons, like poisonous snakes spitting out letters, and it seemed to be a cluster of "ghost fires" jumping wildly in the night sky...
One cadre lost his voice and exclaimed, "The devils are so vicious that in order to kill us, they even laid down a 'ghost fire array'!" ”
Seeing that the enemy had laid down a net of heaven and earth, Peng Jiaqing's mood was particularly heavy, but he still said emphatically: "No matter whether the enemy has set up a 'ghost fire array' or a 'demon fire array', we must break through this night!" ”
"Yes!" Tan Daodu also agreed, "If it is delayed until dawn, our more than 500 people may be wiped out by the enemy." ”
But what's the sudden? Where to go? Due to the large number of personnel and slow movement, it is inevitable that it will not be possible to take a detour to the place where there is no fire, because in that case, the course of action will be greatly extended, and there will not be enough time to complete the breakthrough before dawn.
The crowd realized that the situation in front of them was extremely dangerous, and their hearts were extremely anxious.
Peng Jiaqing pondered for a moment, and suddenly said confidently: "We can break through with the eight-character policy!" ”
"Which eight words?" The crowd asked.
"Break it into pieces and move forward in a serpentine shape." Peng Jiaqing said slowly.
Tan Daojun said happily: "This is the best way to find under the current circumstances, and I support Director Peng's opinion!" ”
Next, Peng Jiaqing and Tan Dao agreed with everyone on a specific plan for the breakthrough, and asked all personnel to strictly observe discipline and remain quiet in the process of marching, no matter what happened, they could not be left behind, and they must resolutely break through.
Peng Jiaqing also asked the cadres to find 10 people who were familiar with the terrain and let them serve as guides.
Subsequently, the mixed military and civilian brigade of more than 500 people took advantage of the cover of night and began to break through to the south in batches. Each group of about 55 people (20 soldiers, 30 masses, 5 cadres), led by the guide, took advantage of the familiar terrain to find gaps between enemy posts.
What is strange is that all the soldiers and civilians actually crossed the "Ghost Fire Array" in an orderly and silent manner under the eyes of the Japanese puppet army and successfully transferred to the Jujiazhuang area located on the Yellow Sea.
Many years later, Tan Daodu analyzed that this successful breakthrough depends on three conditions:
First, director Peng Jiaqing's strategy of "turning the whole into pieces and advancing in a snake-like shape" is the opposite, which gives play to the advantages of the flexibility and mobility of the small unit team.
Second, this operation grasped the best opportunity for a breakthrough, that is, the enemy's troops were relatively evacuated, and the encirclement circle had not yet been completely tightened.
Third, the enemy's "ghost fire" has instead become the "guiding light" of our army, because the fire is burning, and the enemy sentry has exposed themselves and their vision has been obstructed (they cannot see clearly from a distance). This, combined with the crackling sound of the wood burning, also hindered the hearing of the enemy sentry.
In short, the enemy laid down a "ghost fire array", which seemed to be seamless, but in fact it was "clever but mistaken by cleverness", so that our army was able to successfully break through.
Tan Daojie, who had already planned to face a fierce battle and make the whole battalion fully prepared, could not help but sigh deeply: "It is really unexpected that the whole battalion has achieved a successful breakthrough without firing a shot!" ”
Looking at the entire period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, our army has made countless breakthroughs under the "sweeping" of the Japanese puppet army, but this breakthrough at Zhaohushan is undoubtedly one of the boldest and most thrilling breakthrough actions.
After learning of the experience of the breakthrough at Zhaohu Mountain, Xu Shiyou, commander of the Jiaodong Military Region, sincerely praised Peng Jiaqing, Tan Daojun, and others: "You skillfully cracked the 'ghost fire array' and created a miracle of a breakthrough in military history!" ”
In an interview with the media in his later years, Tan Daojun proudly said that this breakthrough was more perfect than the "Dunkirk Evacuation" of British troops stationed in France in the early days of World War II.
Because during the "Dunkirk Evacuation", the British troops in France were annihilated by the Germans by one-fifth, and the heavy weapons of the ministry were all captured by the Germans.
But what is unbelievable is that in the process of the breakthrough of Zhao Hu Shan, only one correspondent and one deputy instructor of the eight companies of three battalions of our side unfortunately fell behind and disappeared, and the rest of the personnel were safe and sound, and even the heavy military supplies were almost not left behind.
Reference materials: "Memoirs of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Qilu", "The War of Resistance Against Beacon Fire", "Blood Stained Mashi Mountain"