One day, Commander Yang Dezhi heard the news that a unit of the Nationalist army was besieged by heavy Japanese troops. A few months ago, this stubborn Kuomintang army also snatched the eighth route army's life-saving food, but Yang Dezhi still ordered: "Send two brigades and beat me hard." ”
Naturally, the fight was not the Kuomintang army, but the Japanese Kou, and Yang Dezhi's revenge with virtue finally played a miraculous effect. In 1942, North China suffered a major drought and grain production was reduced. This great drought is both a natural disaster and a man-made disaster. In June 1938, the Huayuankou Incident caused the Yellow River to be diverted, laying the groundwork for the great drought in North China.
Beginning in 1941, Henan was almost out of grain harvest due to drought, in the memories of General Song Renqiang:
"From spring to autumn, there was drought and no rain for eight months, the wells dried up, the river flowed off, and drinking water was the primary problem for adults and livestock; in addition, locust plagues and hailstorms, hail as big as eggs, are really rare, and the number of locusts, shading the sky, is also rare."
By the spring of 1942, the drought had spread to northern China, causing grain production to be reduced by more than half, and grain had become a major problem that the military and civilians of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression needed to solve. The Eighth Route Army actively took measures to help the people survive the disaster year, and Commander Yang Dezhi did not sleep for several days and nights, thinking about countermeasures.
The eighth route army's disaster relief measures helped the villagers survive the spring famine. At this time, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army almost relied on wild vegetables to fill their stomachs, and they could not even eat a nest. The children and soldiers of the Eighth Route Army were hungry and helped the villagers survive the spring famine, and the villagers spontaneously prepared some grain to be sent to the Eighth Route Army garrison.
However, the grain delivery team of the villagers reached the halfway point and encountered danger. Originally, to go to the eighth route army garrison, it was necessary to pass through the Kuomintang army station. At this time, the Kuomintang army's Gao Shuxun department was also facing a situation of no food to eat, and they were accustomed to happiness and naturally refused to eat wild vegetables. The grain delivery team of the villagers had just arrived in the song village area, when they were found by the Kuomintang sentries and reported to Gao Shuxun.
Upon hearing this, Gao Shuxun led his troops and robbed more than 50 truckloads of grain from the grain delivery team. The villagers stepped forward to theorize, and Gao Shuxun's subordinates responded sarcastically: "Well, grain is eaten by the Eighth Route Army, and our nationalist army eats it as well, and they are all teams that fight the Japanese. ”
The villagers had no choice but to tell the Eighth Route Army about Gao Shuxun's grain grab, and then Commander Yang Dezhi sent troops to surround the Song village. Gao Shuxun knew that he was in the wrong, and finally ordered the return of 40 trucks of life-saving food, and detained 13 cars. The Eighth Route Army asked for it again, but Gao Shuxun resolutely refused to give it, and the two sides froze.
That night, Gao Shuxun sent two regiments to brazenly launch an offensive against the Jinluyu anti-Japanese base area. Commander Yang Dezhi saw that the Kuomintang recalcitrant army seized the eighth route army's life-saving food, and dared to provoke friction, and immediately launched an anti-stubborn battle. Under the leadership of Commander Yang Dezhi, the Eighth Route Army launched a counter-offensive against the recalcitrant Kuomintang troops, annihilating more than 600 enemy soldiers and capturing more than 200 enemy soldiers.
Gao Shuxun could not hold out, and in the end the Eighth Route Army failed to conquer Gao Shuxun's stronghold, and more than 250 people suffered casualties. Yang Dezhi, a famous general of a generation, vowed at the post-war summary meeting that he must "peel the skin of Gao Shuxun." Gao Shuxun's forces conspired to rob the Eighth Route Army of its life-saving food, and then brazenly launched an offensive against the Japanese base areas, openly sabotaging the anti-Japanese national united front, and a "thorn" was inserted in the hearts of the officers and men of the Eighth Route Army.
A few months later, Rikou sent people to recruit Gao Shuxun' troops, but Gao Shuxun resolutely refused to be a traitor, and then Rikou began to besiege Gao Shuxun's troops with heavy troops. Gao Shuxun asked Chiang for help, but Chiang ignored it and wanted to "destroy" Guo Shuxun's troops by the hand of Rikou. Gao Shuxun faced several times the Japanese Kou and launched a fierce battle, killing and wounding more than 5,000 people in the bloody battle with the Japanese Kou.
In the face of Gao Shuxun's army being besieged by the Japanese Kou and his life hanging in the balance, Yang Dezhi still couldn't bear it and chose to repay his grievances with virtue. Commander Yang Dezhi ordered: "Send two brigades and give me a hard hit with the Japanese!" Two brigades of the Eighth Route Army immediately launched an attack on the rear of the Japanese Kou and covered the withdrawal of Gao Shuxun's troops.
Eventually, under the protection of the Eighth Route Army, the remnants of Gao Shuxun were escorted across the Longhai Line. Yang Dezhi also ordered that all the captured guns and ammunition be given to Gao Shuxun's department. At this time, Gao Shuxun was moved to tears and immediately said:
"The Eighth Route Army has done its utmost to be kind to me, and from now on, I will never fight with the Eighth Route Army, so I ask Commander Yang to believe me."
By November 1945, the troops of the Jin-Hebei Luyu Military Region launched the Handan Campaign, and the opponent was Gao Shuxun. Under the persuasion of Liu Shuai, Gao Shuxun, a Kuomintang lieutenant general, resolutely broke away from the reactionary army, announced the pre-battle uprising, and threw himself into the embrace of the people. Gao Shuxun met with Commander Yang Dezhi again and said with guilt: "I robbed the Eighth Route Army of life-saving food, and Commander Yang did not remember his old grudges and sent two brigades to rescue me. If I make an enemy of the People's Liberation Army again today, I will be struck by lightning. ”
Yang Dezhi said: "You Gao Shuxun resolutely resisted Japan, how can we in the Eighth Route Army see death and not save it?" Liu Shuai laughed and said, "Don't mention the old sesame thing again." Gao Shuxun and Yang Dezhi, the two famous anti-Japanese generals, clasped their hands tightly together and fought side by side from then on.