After the Battle of Chaoyangji, the enemy who attacked on the north of the two roads temporarily took the defensive position and stopped advancing; the 7th Army in the south took the opportunity to occupy Si County and Wuhe, and opened two main roads from Guzhen to Lingbi and Si County to Wuhe, and approached us step by step. In view of the above-mentioned changes in the enemy situation, Commander Chen and Chief of Staff Song decided to monitor the enemy in the north with one force, and concentrate the main force to annihilate the enemy in the south and penetrate deep into Sixian County. Yamano held a combat conference on August 2 and gave the order to attack Si County.
The units that participated in the Battle of Sixian were the 2nd and 9th Columns and the 7th and 8th Divisions. On my way in, heavy rain poured down, the water was waist-deep, the flat land was a vast ocean, the troop march was blocked, and it took 4 hours to walk 7 miles. I reported the situation to The Chiefs of Chen and Song, and informed the 2nd Column and the 8th Division.
The 8th Division had just made a long journey south from the Lunan area, farther from the combat area. After much deliberation, I spoke to Chief of Staff Song and asked whether the war could not be fought for the time being, even though the troops had already advanced. At that time, he was very determined, saying that if he dragged on, the enemy in the north would come up again, and the battle would be even more difficult to fight. However, I always felt that I was not sure of this battle, and in the case of continuous heavy rain, the enemy was waiting for work, and our army was running in the mud and attacking the stronghold again, and the situation was very unfavorable. After thinking about it again, I sent a telegram directly to Commander Chen and suggested that I not attack Sixian County for the time being. After the telegram was sent, the troops had approached the battlefield and still had no reply.
On the afternoon of August 7, the siege of Sixian County began, and the 9th Column attacked from the east. Since the 79th Regiment and the 81st Regiment were ordered to participate in the reinforcement operations in the west and southeast of the city, I only had 3 regiments in my hands, but I was determined to attack the East Gate from Dongguan with the 77th Regiment, the main force of the 75th Regiment attacking the city from the southeast corner of the city, a force attacking south, and the 73rd Regiment turning to reserve after annihilating the enemy in SanliWan. Due to the continuous rain, the moat swelled, and the surrounding water was particularly deep, and the siege equipment originally prepared failed. The warriors swam across the water, blocked by enemy fire, and only one of them broke through the city wall, and then they were counterattacked, with serious casualties. On the same day, the 8th Division attacked from the north of the city, and this Shandong force with a glorious history was good at blasting, and soon broke through the city walls and launched a house-by-house battle with the defenders in the northern part of the city. The defenders of Sicheng are Gui troops, good at defense, desperately stubborn. The next day, the fighting became more intense. The first echelon of the 8th Division suffered heavy casualties, and after the second echelon joined the battle, it was another fierce battle, but there was still no progress. Even if I continued to attack the city in the east, it did not work.
On the morning of the 9th, the enemy concentrated its forces to counterattack the 8th Division, and occupied the North City Gate Tower, cutting off the rear road of the 8th Division's troops entering the city, and the situation was extremely critical. The 2nd Column and 7th Divisions, which were tasked with blocking aid, were also water barriers and could not be reinforced quickly. At noon, the chief of staff of song shilun summoned us to study the situation and decided to withdraw from sicheng. Our 77th Regiment participated in the breakthrough of the troops in the city of the 8th Division, and the 75th Regiment organized forces to annihilate the enemy at Bali Bridge in the northeast of Si County. That night, during the strong attack on bali bridge, Zhang Yongyong, the commander of the 75th Regiment, was unfortunately shot and killed. I have been with the eternal comrade for 10 years, the friendship is very strong, and I am deeply saddened by this bad news.
In the Battle of Sixian County, our army annihilated more than 3,000 enemy troops in total in the Battle of Sixian County, of which the 8th Division annihilated the most enemies. Although this battle disrupted to a certain extent the deployment of the enemy troops on the southern road to attack the Liberated Areas of Huaibei, due to the setbacks in the offensive, more than 2,000 casualties were also inflicted on themselves, which was a war of attrition, and the mood of the troops was greatly affected. Objectively speaking, the reason for the defeat in Sixian was that heavy rains were continuous, it was very difficult for troops to maneuver and transfer, ammunition was often damp and ineffective, telephone lines were difficult to set up, and translation and telecommunications were slow, which affected the timely handling of the situation; from the perspective of campaign command, the troops were not concentrated enough, especially the use of troops for the key attacks was thin, the combat preparations were insufficient, the operational characteristics of the enemy's 7th Army lacked specific research, and its defensive capabilities were underestimated.
In mid-August, we met at the field army headquarters in Katsuguchizi, southeast of Suining, to study the next course of action. Chen Yi and Song Shilun listened to the reports of various departments, summed up the lessons learned from the operation in Sixian County, and decided that the 8th Division would return to the Lunan area to replenish. Later, Commander Chen Yi also personally wrote a letter to the leaders of the 8th Division, assuming leadership responsibility for the losses of the 8th Division and other units, and for the defeat in the battle, and encouraging the troops to lift their spirits, continue to work hard, and meet new battles. Between the lines, he fully reflected his commanding spirit, which not only made the commanders and fighters of the 8th Division very moved, but also the troops participating in the battle were deeply educated. In conclusion, I suggested that the battle was too much affected by water. Commander Chen asked me, why didn't I give an opinion at that time? I reported truthfully on the telephone calls and telegrams making suggestions, and when I found the telegrams I had sent, he did not say anything more.