Author: SOUL Deere
Hujiatai is a small village located near Pengjiachang in the southeast of Xiantao City, Hubei Province. In February 1942, the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army severely damaged the Japanese army here and killed one of the Japanese troops.
【Battle of Hujiatai】
On February 2, 1942, in order to search for Wang Buqing, the leader of the puppet army who had slipped through the battle of Wangjiachang, Zhou Zhijian (1955 lieutenant general) and deputy brigade commander Huang Lin (1955 major general) of the 13th Brigade of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army led the 2nd Battalion of the 37th Regiment of the 13th Brigade and the 3rd Battalion of the 38th Regiment to Pengjiachang. At this time, it was already evening, and there was light snow in the air, so Brigadier Zhou decided to let everyone camp on the spot. Not long after the troops were stationed, three ordinary people came and reported to the New Fourth Army that more than 100 Japanese troops were carrying more than 70 civilians to the nearby village of Hujiatai to rob them.
When Brigadier Zhou learned of this information, he sent a reconnaissance officer to explore the truth, and two hours later, the scout returned to confirm the people's claims and said that the Japanese army had been stationed in the village ancestral hall as the center. Brigadier General Zhou and Deputy Brigadier Huang analyzed according to intelligence: These Japanese troops thought they were invincible in the world, but they did not expect to actually break under the nose of our army. They then summoned cadres at and above the company level to a meeting and drew up a battle plan.
After dinner, the companies set off on time, among which the 9th Company of the 38th Regiment, the 3rd Battalion, which was the main offensive force in Hujiatai, arrived at the north of Hujiatai Village at 9 p.m., and was confronted by a Japanese soldier who came out to hang out, and as a result, he crashed into the arms of the squad leader of the 9th Company's top soldiers, and both of them were frightened. The Japanese soldier reacted faster, and immediately ran back to the village with a cigarette, screaming and screaming, and a gun was fired as a warning. Seeing that the battle was about to begin, pan Youge, the company instructor (who was the social director of the Central and Southern Military Region after liberation), rushed into the village with his troops and followed the Japanese army.
【Zhou Zhijian, Brigade Commander of the 13th Brigade of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army】
Hearing the alarm, more than 10 Japanese troops immediately ran out of a room at the outermost part of the village, and ran to the village in a panic, Pan Youge ordered the soldiers to shoot, killing seven or eight Japanese soldiers on the spot. Taking advantage of the fire of the New Fourth Army, more than 40 Japanese troops also ran out of the ancestral hall in the center of the village and killed the 9th Company, which was probably an emergency squad specializing in responding to emergencies. However, as the main attacking force, the firepower of the 9th Company was extremely strong, and as soon as Pan Youge waved his hand, four light machine guns in the company immediately opened fire.
There is a village called He Jiatai next to Hujiatai, the two villages are across the river, and the 3 battalions and 8 companies of the 38th Regiment responsible for providing fire support have also occupied Hejiatai in advance. Seeing the light machine guns of the 9th Company firing, the commander of the 8th Company also ordered all the light and heavy fire in the company to fire together, and under the fierce blow of this crossfire, more than half of the more than 40 Japanese troops were knocked to the ground on the spot, and the remaining dozen or so competed to hold their heads and flee back to the ancestral hall.
Pan Youge ordered the soldiers to remove the weapons and ammunition from the killed Japanese soldiers and throw their bodies to the side of the ditch. Just as he and his company commander, Lu Guangpu (who was shot for violating discipline in June 1943), were discussing how to attack the ancestral hall next, more than 30 Japanese troops came out of the ancestral hall in an attempt to launch a second charge. As a result, the Japanese troops were again shot by the crossfire of 8 and 9 companies, and they were killed by a large part, and some of the surviving Japanese troops were forced to slip back, but 7 Japanese troops did not run, but knelt down and raised their guns above their heads to make a gesture of surrendering their guns.
【Pan Youge, Instructor of 9th Company, 3rd Battalion, 38th Regiment, 13th Brigade, 5th Division, New Fourth Army】
The Japanese army, which was once invincible on the land of central China, actually surrendered its weapons to the New Fourth Army on its knees? The soldiers of the 9th Company and the 2nd Squad immediately ran forward and took down all the guns of the Japanese army, and at the same time, the squad leader Chang Zhanshan couldn't help but tease them: "Don't you always say that your Great Japanese Imperial Army is very powerful?" Actually kneeling to us to disarm, how ridiculous it would be if it were to be passed out! It seems that you guys are just like that, hahaha..."
Perhaps irritated by the mocking expression and tone of the squad leader, the 7 Japanese soldiers who had been taken prisoner suddenly went crazy and wanted to snatch the guns from the soldiers of the 9th Company. The soldiers of the New Fourth Army, who had already killed the red-eyed soldiers, naturally would not give them a chance, and they would either shoot directly with guns or directly pick them with bayonets, and they would wipe out all 7 Japanese troops with three strokes and five divisions. Deputy Brigadier Huang and Feng Renen (Colonel, 1955), the commander of the 38th Regiment, who witnessed this whole process at the command post of the 9th Company, praised the soldiers of the 9th Company for their quick reaction and fierceness.
At this time, a Japanese soldier jumped out of the ancestral hall, this person was tall, wearing a steel helmet, an officer's uniform, a cape on his back, and a samurai sword in his hand. When Deputy Brigadier Huang saw that this Japanese officer was directly coming at him, he shouted at Pan Youge, "Xiao Pan, this Japanese army is rushing at me, don't you want to kill him?!" "Pan Youge was busy with a few fighters to surround this Japanese army regiment, everyone shot me with one knife, and quickly sent him to the Western Heavens."
【5th Division of the New Fourth Army Marching in the Snow】
After the inspection, it was found that the Japanese officer who was killed was actually a Nakasa, as to why he ran out alone and died in vain? At the critical juncture of the battle, everyone did not have time to think so much, and the commander of the Lu Company sent someone to accept nakasa's helmet, samurai sword, telescope and watch, and then dragged it aside and buried it. The author believes that this guy rushed out probably to distract the New Fourth Army, so as to buy time for the defense of the remnants of the Japanese army in the ancestral hall, and it was later confirmed that this was indeed the case.
After killing Nakasa, seeing that there were no more Japanese troops sneaking out, Lu Company Commander and Yang Zhenshan, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 38th Regiment, thought that the battle was over, so they chatted and walked to the ancestral hall. There was a heavy machine gun at the entrance of the ancestral hall, and the two commanders were trying to go up and carry the machine gun, when the two Japanese soldiers hiding nearby suddenly fired a shuttle of bullets, injuring both commanders. Seeing this, the other soldiers rushed up to carry Commander Yang and Commander Lu down, and the two Japanese troops also took the opportunity to close the gate of the ancestral hall.
After the Japanese closed the door, there was a buzzing motor sound from the ancestral hall, and it seemed that there was a radio station inside, most likely the trapped Japanese troops asking for help from the rear. Because the main gate was strong and inconvenient to attack, the 9th Company immediately organized fighters to take a ladder and planned to climb up the roof and attack inward, but the vigilant Japanese troops in the ancestral hall had already firmly fixed their eyes on the roof, and as soon as they heard the movement, they quickly shot, and two of the 3 New Fourth Army fighters who had just climbed on the roof were killed on the spot, and the other was seriously wounded and rolled down.
In this way, from more than 9 o'clock to one o'clock in the middle of the night, 9 even did not think of a way to take down the ancestral hall. Brigadier Zhou then ordered Xiao Gang, chief of staff of the 37th Regiment, to command the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment to continue the attack. Since the Japanese army had already dug a gun hole in the wall of the ancestral hall, the 4 companies attacked twice without success, and Xiao Gang himself was wounded in the battle. The Japanese also used incendiary bombs to ignite the huts outside the ancestral hall, and the fierce fire made it impossible for the New Fourth Army to get close to the base of the wall.
After dawn, a Japanese plane flew from Wuhan and circled around the Hujiatai several times. Brigadier Zhou correctly judged that this was a signal that the enemy reinforcements were about to arrive, and in order to avoid being attacked by the enemy on his stomach and back, he ordered all the troops to retreat, so that the remnants of the Japanese army trapped in the Hujiatai Ancestral Hall escaped the total annihilation of the army. According to statistics, the New Fourth Army killed and wounded more than 60 people below the enemy's nakasa in this battle, captured 32 rifles, 2 light machine guns, 1 grenadier, 1 pistol, and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition.
Although the scale of the battle in Hujiatai was not large, its victory greatly encouraged the fighting mood of the anti-Japanese soldiers and people in the Han River area, and after receiving a report from Chiang Kai-shek's intelligence personnel, Chiang also ordered the results of this victory to be broadcast to the whole world for several consecutive days: Our army fought with the Japanese army in Xiantao, Hubei Province, dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese Kou, killed and wounded nearly a hundred enemy people, and captured a large number of weapons and ammunition.
【New Fourth Army Hujiatai Battle Monument】
The commander of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army heard the news report of Chiang Kai-shek's army and quipped: Old Chiang Kai-shek, this guy, obviously the new Fourth Army fought a victorious battle, how did it become theirs (the New Fourth Army was announced by Chiang Kai-shek in 1940)? Not long ago, Jiang Jun also took the initiative to attack the New Fourth Army, and also slandered us as a bandit army, and now when it encounters a good thing, it is directly taken to put gold on the face?
【Deeply cultivate the history of war, carry forward positive energy, welcome to submit, private messages will be restored】