Pingxingguan Victory refers to a successful ambush battle fought by the Eighth Route Army against the Japanese army for the first time in order to cooperate with friendly forces in the Second Theater of Operations and block the Japanese offensive at Pingxingguan on September 25, 1937, which was also the first major victory fought by the Eighth Route Army since the eighth route army was sent out.
Ping-type Guandajie Memorial Hall
Today, we would like to take you back to the strong lineup of our army that participated in the Pingxingguan Victory at that time, as well as the heroic performance of the officers and men in the war, and these two were the key to the Eighth Route Army's victory in the Pingxingguan Victory.
First, participate in the strong lineup of the Flat Guan Dajie
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, in order to prevent the Japanese army from breaking through the Pingxingguan defense line, Yan Xishan, the Kuomintang who was in charge of the sequence of the Second Theater, ordered Fu Zuoyi to lead two brigades to reinforce, and called Zhu De (commander-in-chief) to ask the Eighth Route Army (already cooperating with the Kuomintang and the Communists to resist Japan) to cooperate in the battle. Therefore, the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, in accordance with the instructions of the CPC Central Committee, set up an ambush in the area of Pingxingguan and fired gunfire to resist the Japanese invaders.
In order to thoroughly strike at the invaders and establish the prestige of the Eighth Route Army, our army arranged a strong lineup to participate in the Battle of Pingxingguan, and according to the ranks conferred after liberation (the name was preceded by the position of the 115th Division at that time), there were three marshals who commanded the battle, namely, division commander Lin Biao, deputy division commander Nie Rongzhen, and director of the Political Training Office Luo Ronghuan; and there were two founding generals: Xu Haidong, commander of the 344th Brigade, and Huang Kecheng, deputy brigade commander.
A battle scene of a flat-type Guan Dajie
There were as many as seven founding generals, Xiao Hua, deputy director of the Political Training Office, Chen Shiyu, chief of staff of the 343rd Brigade, Li Tianyou, commander of the 686 regiment, Deng Hua, director of the Political Training Office of the 685 regiment, Yang Dezhi, commander of the 685 regiment, Yang Yong, deputy regimental commander, and Yang Chengwu, commander of the independent regiment. The last three of them are the famous "Three Yangs" of our army, and all of them participated in this battle.
The founding lieutenant general also had seven: Kwong Rennong, director of the supply department of the 115th Division, Chen Zhengxiang, deputy commander of the 685th Regiment, Wu Faxian, deputy director of the Political Training Office of the 685th Regiment, Han Zhenji, deputy commander of the 687th Regiment, Yuan Shengping, deputy battalion commander of the Independent Regiment, Ouyang Wen, director of the Organization Department of the 686th Regiment, and Sun Yi, commander of the 115th Division' Teaching Brigade.
Also participating in the Battle of Pingxingguan were three founding major generals: Zeng Baotang, commander of the 1st Battalion of the Independent Regiment of the 115th Division, Deng Keming, commander of the 686th Regiment, and Lu Shaowu, chief of staff of the 688th Regiment.
Only the marshals and generals who received the title after liberation are counted here, in fact, there are also those who participated in the Battle of Pingxingguan, but unfortunately some of them died heroically on other battlefields later, and some of them were generals of the 115th Division who did not wait for or enjoyed the founding medal for various reasons.
Flat-type Guandajie Monument
For example, Chen Jinxiu, then commander of the 688th Regiment of the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division, died heroically on January 22, 1938 in the "Battle of Wentang" in Pingshan County, Hebei Province; Tian Shouyao, deputy commander of the 688th Regiment, died in the battle on the North Sea of Lianyungang on March 18, 1943; Zhou Jianping, deputy brigade commander of the 343rd Brigade, died on June 13, 1938 due to the recurrence of old wounds in the past war.
Our army arranged such a strong lineup to participate in the Battle of Pingxingguan, which provided a sufficient organizational guarantee for the final victory.
Second, officers and men should make concerted efforts to win victories in heroic and good battles
In order to win a complete victory in a war, after having sufficient organizational support, it is also necessary to have careful planning and combat deployment, as well as the fighting spirit of officers and men to work together to kill the enemy heroically, in order to achieve the goal.
Flat-type Guandajie Cultural Wall
On September 23, 1937, in accordance with the spirit of zhu de and Peng Dehuai's instructions to Lin Biao, the 115th Division held a mobilization meeting for cadres at and above the company level of the whole division in Shangzhai Village, south of Lingqiu. At the meeting, division commander Lin Biao analyzed the war situation and explained the conditions for victory of the 115th Division; Deputy Division Commander Nie Rongzhen made an in-depth political mobilization, focusing on why and how to fight this battle.
At the meeting, specific troop deployments were determined: the 115th Division, with the 685th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade, intercepted the enemy's vanguard unit, that is, "blocking the head"; the 686th Regiment carried out the intermediate assault, that is, "beheading the waist"; the 687th Regiment of the 344th Brigade cut off the enemy's retreat, that is, the "broken tail"; the divisional independent regiment and the cavalry battalion snipe at the enemy for reinforcements; and the 688th Regiment as the division reserve.
At the end of the meeting, a mobilization order for the whole division was issued, stressing: "The Chinese nation is undergoing a tremendous test! We Communists should shoulder and will certainly be able to shoulder this heavy responsibility of saving the country and the people! After the meeting, all combat units confidently threw themselves into the frontline battlefield in accordance with the careful deployment of the division headquarters.
After the Battle of Pingxingguan began, due to the strong leadership team, correct battle plan, and meticulous deployment, the officers and men who participated in the battle had high morale, united from top to bottom, and heroically killed the enemy, and many battle heroes and glorious deeds that could be sung and wept emerged.
Flat guan dajie oil painting
For example, in the position of Yang Dezhi's 685th Regiment, Zeng Xiansheng, commander of the Fifth Company of the Second Battalion, known as the "Fierce Son", commanded all the soldiers of the company to first use grenades to blow up more than ten cars marching in the front of the Japanese army, and then led 20 large knife members to rush into the enemy group and engage in white-knife combat with the enemy.
Zeng Xiansheng successively used a large knife to cut down more than a dozen ghosts, and he himself was injured in many places. Finally, when he was exhausted, surrounded by five or six enemies, he resolutely pulled the only grenade on his body and died with the enemy. His heroism moves the world.
For another example, in the Qiaogou ambush battle, when the Japanese army preemptively occupied the high ground in front of the Laoye Temple, Li Tianyou, the commander of the 686 regiment, ordered three battalions to retake the Laoye Temple heights, and suddenly the enemy and we fought together, and 6 enemy planes came to help the battle. The soldiers of the three battalions were not afraid of the threat of enemy aircraft and fought bravely, and the deputy regimental commander Yang Yong and the battalion commander Deng Keming were seriously wounded one after another.
Annihilation Battle Map of The Flat Type Seki
At this point, the three battalions suffered more than half of the casualties, and only about ten people remained in the Ninth Company. With the cooperation of one part of the 685th Regiment and the 687th Regiment, after more than three hours of bloody fighting, the officers and men of the 686th Regiment finally recaptured the Laoye Temple Heights, and all the more than 400 enemies gathered in the area were annihilated. The scene of officers and men uniting as one and killing the enemy together was spectacular.
Third, the author's feelings:
The 115th Division of our Eighth Route Army, in accordance with the instructions of the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, went out on a dangerous expedition, and after careful arrangements before the war and the joint heroic killing of the enemy by officers and men during the battle, fought with the 21st Brigade and Regiment of the 5th Division of the Itagaki Seishiro Division, known as the "Steel Army" of Japan, and the heavy motorcade, and finally won the first victory.
The "Pingxingguan Victory" effectively coordinated with the defensive operations in the frontal battlefield of the Second Theater of Operations under Yan Xishan's responsibility, effectively delayed the strategic offensive of the Japanese army, and disrupted the enemy's plan to detour north China along the right wing of the Pingsui Railway, and was the first major victory fought by the Eighth Route Army since its departure.
At the same time, it enhanced the prestige of the Communist Party of China and the Eighth Route Army, created favorable conditions for the Eighth Route Army to create anti-Japanese base areas in North China, and launched guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines, thus laying a broad mass foundation.
The strong lineup of our army that participated in the Pingxingguan Victory at that time, as well as the heroic performance of the officers and men in the war, were the key to the Eighth Route Army's victory in the Pingxingguan Victory. We should learn from the fearless spirit of our predecessors in bravely resisting the aggressors and strive for the cause of socialist construction all our lives.
Pingxingguan ruins
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