In war, strength and morale are an important factor in determining the outcome of a war, especially the indomitable heroism, which can burst out great combat effectiveness, and even reach the point where the weak can defeat the strong.
In the arduous war of resistance, faced with the attack of a powerful enemy, the Twenty-ninth Regiment of the Ninth Brigade of the New Fourth Army fell into a desperate situation to cover the withdrawal of large troops, and there was no way out.
But surprisingly, this unit eventually turned defeat into victory, playing a classic example that can be recorded in military history.
First: The War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was fought and frequently swept up
Since July 7, 1937, when the Japanese invaders launched an all-out war of aggression against China, due to the disparity in strength between the enemy and us, a large part of the country fell, and the Kuomintang was gradually defeated on the frontal battlefield.
However, with the outbreak of many general wars, the strategic advantage of exchanging space for time gradually became prominent, and the Japanese aggressors' plan to destroy China in three months was shattered, which brought about a major change in the situation of the entire War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The battlefield behind enemy lines dominated by the Chinese Communists complemented the frontal battlefield of the Kuomintang, which made the Japanese invaders anxious.
Until the end of 1938, it was difficult for Japan to launch a large-scale military campaign, and the War of Resistance entered a stalemate stage.
With the emergence of a new war situation, the Japanese aggressors also began to change their policy of aggression against China, mainly taking political inducements against the Kuomintang, supplemented by key attacks.
As for the battlefield behind enemy lines led by the Communist Party of China, the Japanese aggressors focused on attacking.
Japan concentrated most of its forces and carried out a frenzied "sweep" of the base areas behind enemy lines.
It also introduced a cage policy and blockaded the anti-war base areas, which put the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army under unprecedented pressure.
Under such arduous circumstances, the whole army realized its strategic shift, fought against the Japanese aggressors to the end in various forms of warfare such as guerrilla warfare, and composed a magnificent heroic epic.
Against the background of the all-round sweep, the anti-japanese base areas in the Huaibei Soviet-Anhui Border Region were attacked by the Japanese invaders.
On November 14, 1942, the Japanese invaders mobilized more than 10,000 elite troops, and with the cooperation of aircraft, tanks, and artillery, they attacked the Base Area of the Huaibei Suwan War of Resistance in five ways.
Due to the huge gap in strength between the enemy and us, it is obviously inappropriate to adopt a hard-hitting approach.
Therefore, the Huaibei Party, Government and Military Committee decided to let the main force jump out of the enemy's encirclement first, and at the same time divide some of the troops to cooperate with the local guerrilla forces to fight against the Japanese puppet army.
The main force attacked the enemy behind the enemy's rear, causing the enemy army to fall into the point of dispersion and combat fatigue.
Two: Cover the retreat and fall into a heavy siege
At that time, after careful consideration by the superior organization, it was decided to entrust the heavy responsibility of covering the transfer of the main force to the Twenty-sixth Regiment of the Ninth Brigade to buy time for the transfer of the main force as much as possible.
The 27-year-old regimental commander Luo Yinghuai was ordered to attack fiercely at that time, and the whole regiment only had 3 battalions of about 500 troops, and there was an extreme shortage of guns and ammunition.
Luo Yinghuai had to face more than 10,000 elite troops of the enemy army, and the pressure and difficulties in them could be imagined.
But Luo Yinghuai did not have the slightest intention of retreating, but chose to face the difficulties.
Luo Yinghuai was extremely familiar with the local situation, and in order to effectively disperse the enemy army, Luo Yinghuai decided to first disperse the troops into small units, and use the complex reeds of Hongze Lake to conduct guerrilla warfare with the enemy forces, so that the enemy army mistakenly thought that the main force was still in the local area.
Finally, with the cooperation of the local militia, Luo Yinghuai only used more than 500 people to contain the enemy army for more than twenty days, successfully winning valuable time for the main force to move.
On December 7, 1942, Luo Yinghuai decisively seized the empty plan of the enemy troops and led the troops to raid the enemy stronghold in Qingyang Town.
The Qingyang town stronghold is of extremely important strategic significance, surrounded by water on three sides, and is an important transportation and commercial center of the region, through which goods traveling from the south to the north must pass through.
The enemy also stationed a large number of troops in Qingyang Town and built countless watchtowers.
Luo Yinghuai took advantage of his lack of preparation and attacked the town of Qingyang, causing the enemy troops on the front line to panic and rush back to help.
After dealing a heavy blow to the enemy troops in the Qingyang town stronghold, they did not love to fight, but decisively chose the retreating Zhujiagang area and rested.
After more than twenty days of raiding, it was seen that the task of covering the main force to break through the siege was about to be completed, but unexpectedly an accident occurred.
When Luo Yinghuai led his troops to the Zhujiagang area at night, they were discovered by local traitors.
The traitors immediately reported the whereabouts of our army to the enemy army, and the overjoyed enemy troops immediately dispatched more than 1,500 elite troops to surround Zhujiagang under the leadership of the traitors, and Luo Yinghuai's 26 regiments were almost in a desperate situation.
Three: Fight to the end and forge ahead
Luo Yinghuai learned that he was surrounded by a large number of Japanese puppet troops, and when he was shocked, he was also thinking about how to break the situation.
At that time, the total number of 26 regiments was only about 500, and after a long period of fighting, the physical strength of the soldiers was not good, and most importantly, the 26 regiments were extremely short of guns and ammunition.
On the enemy side, on the other hand, not only three times the size of the 26 regiment, but also well-equipped.
Under the situation that the gap between the strength of the enemy and us is huge and there is no way to retreat, we must either tie our hands and capture them, or we will fight the enemy army to the end with the heart of death.
Luo Yinghuai decisively chose the latter, not knowing for what reason, the enemy army did not rush to launch an attack, but stationed on the spot, waiting for the dawn.
It was precisely because of this that Luo Yinghuai was given time to deploy for battle, due to the extreme shortage of troops, and the Zhu family's post was in a plain area, there was almost no danger to defend and no way to retreat.
After much consideration, Luo Yinghuai decided to hold his position first, and then wait until the night was dark to wait for the opportunity to break out.
In the early hours of the morning, the enemy launched a fierce attack on the position of the 26th Regiment, and shells poured on the position of the 26th Regiment.
The battle was first fought on the communication ditch outside the headquarters of the 26th Regiment, and after some intensive shelling, the enemy launched a full-scale attack on the positions of the 26th Regiment.
Although the number of soldiers in our army is small, they are not afraid at all.
With the fortifications to resist the tidal impact of the enemy, it defeated the enemy's multiple charges.
However, under the suppression of the enemy's strong firepower, our army had to abandon the perimeter fortifications and retreat to the second line of defense.
When the sun was fully raised, the Japanese invaders launched a more fierce attack, and the war entered a white-hot stage.
A soldier of the New Fourth Army fell in a pool of blood, and the defense line of the 26th Regiment was completely loosened, and the situation was precarious.
Under such circumstances, Luo Yinghuai, as the leader of the regiment, chose to live and die with the soldiers, personally going to the forefront to fight side by side with the soldiers and kill the enemy together.
Luo Yinghuai personally went into battle, which greatly encouraged the confidence of the warriors.
At the same time, under the outstanding command of Commander Luo Yinghuai, the 26th Regiment gradually stabilized its position, and no matter how the enemy attacked, it was never able to completely defeat the 26th Regiment.
Fighting until noon, the weary enemy chose to retreat temporarily, which left the 26th Regiment with a chance to breathe.
Fourth: Turn defeat into victory and create miracles
After a short rest, the enemy once again organized a fierce attack.
With the continuous investment of troops on both sides, the war has entered the most critical moment.
The soldiers of the 26th Regiment were heroic, but there were too many enemy troops, so they had to shrink the defensive line again, and even engaged in hand-to-hand combat and white-knife battles with the enemy in the narrow communication ditch, repeatedly fighting, and recapturing the lost positions in the hands of the heavy enemy army again and again.
Seeing that the enemy army could not capture the position of the 26th Army in a short period of time, it was in a frenzy to use incendiary bombs to burn the village.
The raging fire spread in the village in an instant, and the deputy commander of the 26th Regiment was anxious when he learned of this.
Because the regimental headquarters of the 26th Regiment was in the village, once the regimental headquarters was lost, the 26th Regiment would undoubtedly lose the war, and the results achieved by the soldiers in the days of fighting would be in vain.
In this critical situation, Yan Guang, as the deputy regimental commander, sent the last unit of the 26th Regiment, the "Little Devil Class".
The force consisted of only 12 men and had never been involved in any military training or activities.
Moreover, in this unit, the oldest is only 16 years old, and the youngest is less than 14 years old.
Most of these little warriors were the children of poor peasants in Huaibei or local orphans.
Originally, the New Fourth Army was planning to send them to the rear for further study, but because of the impact of the war, they did not have time to leave, and they participated in the war by mistake.
When the warriors of the little ghost class received the order, everyone did not hesitate in the slightest.
They rushed into the battlefield with large knife grenades, quickly supported the precarious front line positions, and unexpectedly entered the barley field, repelling the sneaking enemy troops.
They even snatched two ox carts from the enemy and used them to block the entrance to the village, successfully blocking the pace of the enemy's attack.
After completing the task well, the little ghost squad rushed to support other positions and help everyone defend their positions.
No one expected that this little ghost class had won precious time for the 26th Regiment.
As the sun set, reinforcements from our army arrived successfully.
With the joint cooperation of the cavalry regiment of the New Fourth Army and the 26th regiment, a comprehensive counterattack was launched against the enemy.
The enemy troops who were attacked on their backs collapsed in an instant and retreated one after another, and our army also took advantage of the victory to pursue and continue to expand the results of the battle.
After 18 hours of bloody fighting, the 26th Regiment not only successfully held the position, waited for reinforcements, but also took the opportunity to eliminate a large number of enemy troops, with weapons and equipment behind 500 people to withstand the attack of more than 1500 well-equipped enemy troops, and finally defeated.
After the Battle of Gaojiagang, our army completely crushed the enemy's encirclement and suppression troops, consolidated the anti-war base area behind the enemy in Huaibei, and gradually recovered the base area occupied by the enemy after the war, so that the enemy army had to shrink into several strongholds.
In the Battle of Gaojiagang, the 26th Regiment of the New Fourth Army, which had no way out, won the battle with weakness and victory over the strong, and fought a battle that was enough to be recorded in military history, which was admirable.
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