What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
As we all know, when it comes to Liang Xingchu, it is always impossible to avoid the Banzai Army, the 38th Army. During the Second Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Liang Xingchu commanded the 38th Army in the bloody Yuli, fought at Songkufeng Peak, and firmly nailed the main force of the United Nations army retreating south. Those who know the history of the Liberation War also know that Liang Xingchu led the Ten Columns of Dongye to block Liao Yaoxiang's corps in Montenegro, which bought time for the main force to encircle and annihilate.
When the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, Liang Xingchu was the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 685th Regiment, and the predecessor of the 3rd Battalion was the famous pioneer of the Long March, the 6th Regiment of the Red Second Division.
In December 1938, the 685th Regiment set out from Shanxi and marched east into Shandong, and in January 1939, it was merged with the Advancing Detachment of the Shandong Column to form the Suluyu Detachment, which had jurisdiction over 4 brigades, and Liang Xingchu served as the leader of the 4 brigades.
Group photo of the leaders of the fourth brigade of the Suluyu detachment, the first on the right is Liang Xingchu, the captain of the brigade
Liang Xingchu was known for his boldness and meticulousness in the Red Army; during the Long March, he took a reconnaissance company disguised as a nationalist army to skillfully take hadapu, and as soon as he entered the city, he went to the post office to get a newspaper and sent it to the central leaders, so that the central leaders learned of the news of the Activities of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi and made up their minds to go to northern Shaanxi. In qingshizui village, he commanded a reconnaissance company to fight the ambush of the enemy cavalry regiment and captured 140 war horses.
After entering Shandong, the Suluyu detachment initially fought mainly puppet troops, and there were fewer Japanese troops, and Liang Xingchu felt that he was not addicted and wanted to fight a smooth and vivid annihilation war.
The opportunity soon came. In December 1939, the 115th Division ordered four brigades of the Suluyu detachment to advance into Lunan and open up the Areas of Linyi, Tancheng, and Pixian.
Liang Xingchu and his troops set off from Weishan Lake, crossed Jinpu Road in the east, and reached the area of Shanghuzhu Village, east of Knee County, on December 25. When the masses heard that the Eighth Route Army was coming, they came to pour out their unbearable pain. A white-haired old man, with reddened eyes, clenched his fists and said to Liang Xingchu: "The day before yesterday, more than a hundred ghosts drove from Fei County to Teng County, pulling sheep, donkeys, and cars from house to house along the road, burning our houses, pulling away our sons, and burning our grandsons. ”
The old man's voice trembled, tears streamed, and he shouted, "Comrade! You're going to take revenge!" ”
In order to strike at the Japanese troops who were about to return from Teng County, Liang Xingchu found several fellow villagers to make a detailed understanding, judging that the enemy who had come to the village to burn and loot was responsible for carrying materials from Teng County to Fei County, and if the enemy returned tomorrow morning, it would inevitably pass through Duitougou, which is an important pass on the Teng (County) Fei (County) Highway, surrounded by mountains and ditches. If an ambush could be fought there, it would surely annihilate this heinous enemy.
Liang Xingchu sent plainclothes scouts to the direction of Tengxian County overnight and immediately made combat preparations in the troops.
Seeing the miserable experience of their compatriots, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army were in a very high mood, and with a little mobilization, they asked for war one after another, shouting the slogan of "fighting the New Year's Pass, avenging the people, and greeting 1940."
At dawn on December 26, the Eighth Route Army advanced according to its predetermined plan. After walking about forty miles, when it was almost time to reach Theougou, the scouts sent out last night returned and excitedly reported to Liang Xingchu: "Captain, a squadron of devils with more than sixty carriages has returned from Tengxian County and is coming toward this side. ”
Liang Xingchu immediately ordered the battalions to quickly rush to both sides of the highway, control the favorable terrain, and lay out ambush circles: 1 battalion (battalion commander Zhou Changsheng) and 3 battalion (battalion commander Guo Tingwan) were ambushed on the high ground on both sides of the highway to undertake the main offensive task; 2 battalions (battalion Changjiang Xieyuan) were reserves. The command post of the brigade is located on a hill northwest of Duitougou, where it can overlook The doutougou and the situation of our army and the enemy are clear at a glance, which is convenient for commanding operations.
After waiting for three hours, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army vaguely heard a rumbling sound coming from the road to the west, and the enemy's car was getting closer and closer, and the soldiers quietly said: "Prepare for 'welcome'!" Wipe out all these beasts here! ”
Unexpectedly, the independent mixed 10th Brigade Regiment stationed in Zou County and the Eighth Road fought many times, familiar with the eight roads of combat, in order to prevent being ambushed, the Japanese squadron leader first sent 8 sharp soldiers to search and advance.
Beforehand, our army issued a strict ambush discipline, so the position was so quiet that almost the breathing of the comrades around him could be heard, and Liang Xingchu released all the first 8 sharp soldiers in front of him.
The squadron leader led a squad and an ox cart to threaten the captured migrant workers to start and move forward slowly, if they were ambushed at this time, there were two squads that fell into the ambush circle and could be received at any time.
The devils caught in the middle of the ox cart raised their whips from time to time, "snapping" and whipping the unarmed fellows of the car, and every time the whip sounded, it was like hitting the warriors, and the hatred for the enemy was even stronger. The warriors gritted their teeth and endured, their hateful eyes shooting at the enemy, eagerly awaiting the beginning of the battle.
The enemy could never have imagined that there was an ambush of the Eighth Route Army here, and the men and horses of the two squads behind them followed unguarded.
At about nine o'clock in the morning, the long ox cart line and the ghosts of the rear guard also entered the ambush circle. At this moment, Liang Xingchu held aloft the shell gun and pulled the trigger violently. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire was earth-shattering, and dense bullets flew towards the enemy group with angry flames, and the enemy immediately panicked. The plaster flag lay horizontally on the ground, and the car rolled on its feet. Some of them did not understand what was going on, and they fell down and lost their dogs. The enemy was so overwhelmed that they could not choose the terrain, and some of them lay down on the spot to fight back, and some of them burrowed under the carts in an attempt to resist.
The Japanese squadron leader ran to a hillside hideout with a few ghost soldiers to send a message for help. Liang Xingchu immediately ordered the reserve to throw a platoon and hit the place with a fierce blow, causing them to crawl and flee, and the communication equipment carried by the squadron was captured by our army, and it was no longer possible to call for help.
However, the enemy, armed with excellent weapons and unwilling to accept defeat, rushed forward like a madman, and pounced on our army again and again, in a vain attempt to break through the gap and escape. Although the counterattack failed, under the cover of heavy fire (it was later found that there were 15 mortars alone and 37 crooked machine guns), one squad forcibly occupied Flint Ridge and Water Mountain on the southeast side, and the two squads captured Po Mountain on the south side in a vain attempt to break through to the south.
In order to completely annihilate these Japanese before the arrival of enemy reinforcements, Liang Xingchu ordered the 1st Battalion and 3 battalions and 8 companies to attack Boshan, and the 9th company and 10th company of the 3rd Battalion were responsible for capturing Flint Ridge and Shuishan Mountain.
Under the cover of machine guns, the 8th Company of the 1st And 3rd Battalion carried forward the spirit of daring to fight and fight, and despite the enemy's firepower, organized six consecutive charges to drive the enemy from Mount Po to the bottom of the ditch.
In the evening, the Japanese army simply jumped out of the ditch and ran to the road to force a breakthrough, Liang Xingchu immediately ordered the 2nd battalion and the 1st battalion to concentrate 9 light and heavy machine guns with dense fire, cover the 1st battalion and 3rd battalion 8 companies rushed to the road to fight with the enemy, and the shouts of death resounded through the valley. The Japanese were killed and wounded, and the rest left the ox cart and retreated to the bottom of the ditch.
The 2nd, 3rd, and 8th companies rushed to the bottom of the ditch, and a burst of grenades killed 7 Japanese soldiers, and the officers and men engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat at the bottom of the ditch.
A soldier in the Eighth Company stabbed a ghost with a single gun and captured a light machine gun. Almost at the same time, a ghost squad leader took advantage of his lack of preparation, pounced on him, pushed him into a fight, and snatched the machine gun again. At this critical juncture, The commander of the Eighth Company, Gao Jing, quickly raised a large saber and jumped over, shouting: "I want your dog to die." The knife fell, the devil squad leader became two pieces, and the machine gun was taken back.
The enemy could not break through, reinforcements were not available, and there was no way out. In desperation, the squadron leader drew his pistol and committed suicide.
At the same time, Flint Ridge and Water Mountain were also conquered by our 9th Company and 10th Company, and all the Japanese squads guarding the two mountains were killed by our army.
Under the tenacious fighting of our army, by 3 p.m., the battle was victorious. A squadron of Japanese troops responsible for escorting supplies, except for 3 devils who raised their hands and surrendered, the rest were all killed, and a total of 1 Japanese radio station, 3 walkie-talkies, 13 mortars (15 original guns, 2 damaged during the battle), 25 crooked machine guns (the original 37 guns, 12 damaged during the battle), more than 200 rifles, thousands of bullets, quilts, cotton clothes and food and a large number of others were captured. Our army suffered only 30 casualties, but unfortunately, Luo Zhengwen, the company commander who could fight the most of the Red Sixth Regiment during the Long March, the current commander of the first battalion and three companies, died heroically while charging Boshan.
As soon as the fighting was over, the crowds of nearby villages poured in like a tidal wave. When they saw that a few living soldiers had been captured, they raised their fists in anger and scolded, "You dog things, taste the power of Chinese people!" "If it were not for the Eighth Route propagating the policy of preferential treatment of prisoners to the fellow villagers, these invaders would surely die under the iron fist of the masses."
This battle was a "meeting gift" given to the enemy by the Eighth Route Army when it first entered Lunan. The masses in the new district were very excited, and they joined the army one after another, waving their swords and joining their own ranks. By January 1940, the four brigades had grown from more than 900 to more than 2,000.