During World War II, the Japanese army rarely surrendered under the influence of Bushido thought, but in the Battle of Cheqiao in 1944, Su Yu captured 24 Japanese troops at one time, creating the highest record for the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army to capture the Japanese army during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and fiercely attacked the arrogance of the Japanese army.
The year 1944 was the year of decisive victory in the world anti-fascist war, when the Japanese invading forces were no longer what they used to be, and they were not only defeated in the Pacific theater, but also in a stalemate on the Chinese battlefield. However, in this year, the military strength of the Japanese puppet army facing the Soviet-Chinese anti-Japanese base area was still very strong, the situation of the division of various sub-districts of the Soviet Central Military Region remained unchanged, and the leading organs were often in a state of flux.
In order to create a relatively stable base area for the troops, to train cadres, to train the troops, and to develop production,
Su Yu, commander of the 1st Division of the New Fourth Army and commander of the Soviet Central Military Region, decided to conduct a new campaign to change the situation at that time, and after serious discussion, the First Division of the New Fourth Army decided to launch the Battle of Cheqiao.
Cheqiao is a large town 20 kilometers southeast of Huai'an City, located between Huai'an City, Jinghe Town, Jingkou Town, Meadow Town, is one of the important strongholds of the Japanese puppet army to control the Baoying area southeast of Huai'an, separating the first and second sub-districts of Central Jiangsu, here is also the combination of the Japanese 64th Division and the 65th Division, the coordination between the two departments is relatively poor, the two divisions are stationed in Xuzhou and Yangzhou, far from the Cheqiao.
Su Yu had long been paying attention to the bridge, and he had taken advantage of the opportunity of going to the military headquarters for a meeting to repeatedly survey the terrain near the bridge and the enemy's situation, and he was very familiar with the strength and equipment of the bridge defenders. Inside the Cheqiao stronghold, there was a brigade of about 600 Japanese troops, and a small group of Japanese troops, about 40 people.
The Japanese puppet army filled the water trenches outside Cheqiao Town, and after passing through the trenches, there were many walls inside, and there were as many as 53 pillars along the walls alone, and there were many bunkers blocking the ground, which could form a continuous crossfire network, and the garrison was very tight.
Su Yu mobilized five main regiments, namely the Teaching Regiment of the Central Soviet Military Region, the Fourth Wind Special Service Regiment, the First Regiment, the Seventh Regiment, the 52nd Regiment, and some local armed forces and militia cooperation. Su Yu organized the five regiments into three columns, a general reserve, and Ye Fei, deputy commander of the 1st Division, served as the commander-in-chief of the operation.
The specific combat arrangements were: Tao Yong led the Seventh Regiment of the Third Brigade and the divisional artillery unit to attack Cheqiao; Liao Zhengguo led the First Regiment of the First Brigade, the Special Agent Battalion of the Third Military Sub-district, and a battalion of the Taizhou Independent Regiment to build a defensive position at Lujiatan, northwest of Cheqiao, to block the Japanese troops in the direction of Huaiyin and Huai'an; Chen Ting led the 52nd Regiment of the 18th Brigade, as well as a battalion of the Jiangdu and Gaoyou Independent Regiments, to build defensive positions near the Cui River south of cheqiao to block the Japanese troops in the direction of Meadow and Baoying The First Battalion of the First Instruction Regiment of the First Division of the New Fourth Army and the two battalions of the Special Task Force Regiment of the Fourth Military Sub-district formed a reserve, and Huang Kecheng's Third Division of the New Fourth Army and the troops of the Northern Jiangsu Military Region were active in the northeast of Huai'an County to ensure the safety of the northern part of the Cheqiao troops.
At two o'clock in the morning of March 5, the seven regiments mainly attacking Cheqiao, under the command of Tao Yong, commander of the Third Brigade, took the means of rushing and attacking, under the cover of night, from the north and south to the Cheqiao, and the commandos crossed the water trenches outside, built dozens of ladders, and launched an attack on the inside of Cheqiao Town. At 2 p.m. on March 15, the bunkers inside the bridge were successively occupied by our army, leaving only the two earthen enclosures of the Japanese army and a brigade of the puppet army that had not been conquered.
In this battle, the New Fourth Army used more than 300 light mortars and several captured Japanese field guns produced by itself to carry out fierce bombardment of the Japanese fortified earth fences and bunkers, and finally only more than 20 Japanese troops were left, still hiding in the dead corner to fight the trapped beasts. Matsuno Kyaw, a member of the "Anti-War Alliance" of the Central Military Region of the Soviet Union, braved the rain of bullets and bullets and took the initiative to go forward to persuade him to surrender, but he was hit by a Japanese bullet in the shouting and unfortunately died. Then our army launched a charge and completely annihilated this group of Japanese troops.
After the Battle of Cheqiao began, the reinforcements of the Japanese army also went out one after another, and a regiment took the lead in exchanging fire with the Japanese army, and the Japanese army entered the minefield planted by our army in a panic, with more than 60 casualties and a great reduction in vigor. The 60th Brigade of the 72nd Brigade of the Japanese 65th Division, which was stationed in Huai'an, Huaiyin, and Siyang, also assembled in Huai'an, led by Yamazawa Daisa, and rushed to the aid of Cheqiao in batches.
At this time, the Japanese army was already very tense, and could only gather a batch of departures, and there were many puppet troops advancing with the large troops. On the night of March 5, more than 400 Japanese troops, under the leadership of Captain Yamazawa Ganfu Daisa, launched a fierce attack on our army's blocking positions, and after being repelled by our army, the Japanese army retreated to Hanzhuang. After the Japanese army retreated, the commando team composed of the second battalion and the special service battalion of the first regiment of our army immediately launched a counterattack, pounced on the Japanese army in four ways, cut the Japanese army into four sections, and launched a fierce white-knife battle with the Japanese army.
At ten o'clock in the evening of March 5, among the Japanese officers captured by the three battalions, there was a seriously wounded and screaming Japanese officer, who was wearing a silver sheath command knife, and when the soldiers carried him to the bandage, he was already dead, and it was identified that this person was Yamazawa Ganfu Daisa, the commander of the 60th Brigade of the 72nd Brigade of the Japanese 65th Division, who was also the highest Japanese officer killed by the New Fourth Army in this battle.
In this battle, the First Division of the New Fourth Army and the troops of the Soviet Central Military Region killed more than 460 Japanese soldiers below the Great Commander, 480 puppet troops, 24 Japanese prisoners, 168 puppet troops, and more than 200 casualties of the New Fourth Army. The Japanese 65th Division, which had suffered a great loss, cobbled together some troops to go to the bridge to retaliate, but when the troops were still a few kilometers away from the bridge, the Japanese commander observed from the telescope that the New Fourth Army was waiting in a strict position, and did not dare to continue to advance, and only sent a few planes to drop a few bombs.
This battle was also the eighth route army since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the New Fourth Army of the largest number of japanese prisoners of war, greatly shocked the Japanese Kou, on March 10, the Japanese troops stationed in Dongtai actually 12 people hanged themselves en masse. After the Battle of Cheqiao, Su Yu commanded the troops to expand the results of the battle, and 12 townships, such as Meadows, Jinghe, Zhouzhuang, and Zhangjiaqiao, were liberated one after another, and the Japanese army collapsed at the touch of a button and did not dare to fight with our army.
After the good news of the Battle of Cheqiao reached Yan'an, Chairman Mao uttered a very verbal remark on the spot: "This soldier who grew up as a soldier can command four or five hundred thousand troops in the future." Even the Japanese military department had to admit: "The Battle of Cheqiao marked the beginning of the counter-offensive of the New Fourth Army, and the Japanese army has since declined." ”