During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the rapid development of the anti-Japanese base areas in the Eighth Route Army and Hebei caused extreme panic and anxiety among the Japanese army, who constantly carried out encirclement and "sweeping" against the military and civilians in the Japanese base areas.
In the face of the atrocities of the Japanese invaders, the Chinese people became an important force in the fight against the invaders.
In order to deal with the well-equipped Japanese army, the people who lacked weapons and ammunition came up with a way to collect containers such as scrap iron pots, porcelain bottles, and crock pots, and made a weapon that made the Japanese army feel frightened: mines.
Although in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the base areas behind enemy lines had already begun to organize relevant scientific and technological personnel to develop mines, and good results had been achieved, after all, there were not many mines with greater power, and it was difficult to produce them on a large scale due to the limitations of conditions.
Militia-made landmines
After the extensive popularization of mine warfare, landmines built by the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians in the base areas behind enemy lines became the main weapon in the fight against the aggressors.
In February 1940, the Japanese army invaded Haiyang, Shandong Province, and established a stronghold east of zhao yan village. Due to the weak terrain of the base, the lack of guns and ammunition, and the lack of heavy weapons with strong lethality, it was obviously impossible to confront the Japanese army head-on.
In this case, how to resist the Japanese army, it is time to show the wisdom of the Chinese people, they think of gunpowder.
Gunpowder was one of the four great inventions of ancient China, and the traditional recipe for making gunpowder and then making mines was not difficult for militiamen. However, the lethality of such mines and whether they can be used as combat weapons in a head-on confrontation with the Japanese army still need to be verified by actual combat.
Although the lethality of the mines created by the militia is not so great, in the process of use, another important function of this mine was accidentally discovered, that is, "explosion warning".
When the Japanese army stepped into the minefield, although the power of the mines could not directly kill the enemy, the explosion produced a loud noise enough to allow the villagers to immediately organize the transfer.
Militia builds mines
The explosion of the mines not only slowed down the march of the Japanese army, but also provided valuable time for the movement of the militia and the masses, without suffering huge losses.
The Japanese army has its own strengths, and the militia also has its own advantages, that is, the Japanese army is in the open place, and the militia is in the dark.
Of course, mines are meant to kill and injure enemies, not just as early warnings. How to increase the power of landmines has become an important problem faced by the military and civilians in the anti-Japanese base areas.
The news of the limited power of land mine explosion reached the ears of Liu Ding, then director of the Military Industry Department of the Eighth Route Army, and aroused his great attention.
Liu Ding studied at the University of Berlin and the Eastern University in Moscow, specializing in industrial and arms manufacturing technology. He believes that in order to increase the power of land mines, it is mainly necessary to improve the professional and technical level of military and civilian mine-making in the base areas.
Mine-making
On June 23, 1941, Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, and Peng Dehuai, deputy commander-in-chief, jointly issued a directive on "mass mine production", which contained the following contents:
"All military regions and military sub-districts and factories should quickly study the manufacture of mines and torpedoes of various types in large quantities according to the specific environment, and generally train troops, guerrillas, and militias for use."
With professional training guidance, the technology of military and civilian mine manufacturing in the anti-Japanese base areas has undoubtedly been greatly improved, but the training process is also full of challenges.
Due to the limited level of knowledge of the military and the people, Liu Ding had to use the teaching method of the performance experiment to demonstrate to everyone, so that the guerrilla leaders, militia leaders, and directors of the women's federation who came to participate could understand how to make and use landmines. The effectiveness of such training has been remarkable, and the level of mine-making by the militias in the base areas has been greatly enhanced.
At the same time that the landmine training course was in full swing, the Military Industry Department of the Eighth Route Army also compiled and printed pamphlets on popular science education, such as "Method for the Manufacture and Use of Mines," "Method for the Production and Preparation of Gunpowder," and "Law on Trigger Devices for Various Mines," and distributed them to villagers in various villages, so that the villagers could carry out practical operations in accordance with the steps in the pamphlets.
Vivid and concrete mine-making training and science popularization manuals also further enhanced the enthusiasm of the military and civilians in the anti-Japanese base areas for making landmines, and soon a mass movement of "villages and villages will make mines, and every household will have mines" will arise, and mine "factories" in various places will mushroom like mushrooms.
With professional guidance and training, not only have there been more mines in the anti-Japanese base areas, but the lethality of explosions has also been greatly enhanced.
At the same time that the military and civilians in the anti-Japanese base areas were carrying out large-scale mine-making, the Japanese army was plotting a major "sweep" of north China.
On July 10, 1941, the commander of the Japanese North China Front, Jun Tada, was transferred to the Japanese Military Council, and Okamura Ninji took his place.
As soon as Okamura took office, he put forward the policy of "digging deep blockade ditches, building blockade walls high, and strengthening fortresses," especially in the "great sweeping," and implemented the infamous "three lights" policy of burning, killing, and robbing the light.
Under the "three lights" policy of the Japanese army, the houses in the anti-Japanese base areas were burned down, the grain was robbed, everywhere was looted, and the masses of the people suffered crazy killings.
In the face of the brutal Japanese army, the land mines in the hands of anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians played a great role.
On one occasion, the militia buried the newly developed mines in advance on the necessary road of the Japanese march, and when the Japanese brigade stepped into the mine array, causing serious casualties.
Combining the "mine movement" with the enthusiasm of the masses in resisting the war will produce endless forces, and the vast number of anti-Japanese masses will place mines with different shell materials according to different terrain conditions. All kinds of mines made the Japanese army worry everywhere, and they may even encounter mines when they march, walk, eat, and sleep.
After successive losses, the Japanese army began to come up with various countermeasures in order to deal with the mine warfare that caused it a lot of headaches. Therefore, the Japanese army issued an order: "Destroy the mine on the spot after it is found, and do not bring it back to prevent the mine from suddenly exploding after being brought back." Make a mark on suspicious places or erect a sign that reads "There's a thunder here." ”
In order to confuse the Japanese army, the militia began to imitate some illusions, they set up warning signs on the road, and more and more "there is thunder here" prompts made it difficult for the Japanese army to move.
From the anti-Japanese base areas in central Hebei to various base areas throughout the country, the tactics of mine warfare have been widely promoted, and the Haiyang militia in Shandong Province has also formed an indissoluble relationship with landmines.
In May 1943, the first mine in Zhao Yan Village in Haiyang City exploded, and several nearby villages, mainly Zhao Yan Village, became the main battlefields of mine warfare.
In the autumn of that year, Zhao Tonglun, a representative of the villagers of Zhao Yan, brought two landmines from the district armed forces committee, and he got together with Zhao Shoufu and other militiamen to study various methods of laying mines, such as pulling lines and tripping lines.
Mines are dangerous, and militiamen, in order to prevent accidental injury to civilians, often send special guards after they have planted mines on the road.
One day in October, Zhao Shoufu and others planted two "tripping mines" on the southwest mountain of Zhao Hitomi Village, and when the Japanese puppet army passed through here, these two "tripping mines" detonated at the same time, killing and injuring 5 Japanese puppet troops.
The mines laid by the militia made the Japanese army frightened, so they gave up the "sweeping" of some villages.
Mines have a deterrent effect on the enemy, but with the widespread development of mine warfare, the supply of mines is still somewhat insufficient.
Faced with this dilemma, the militiamen, in order to solve the shortage of materials for making mines, turned their attention to the most common stone in the mountains, which is inexhaustible in the local area. Coupled with the simple manufacturing, easy to use, and the lethality after the explosion is also very large, the militia in Haiyang produces "stone mines" in large quantities.
After repeated experiments, the militiamen have successively developed various forms of mines, such as "stone mines" and "tripping mines." The song about "Stone Thunder" was widely circulated in the anti-Japanese base areas:
"A bluestone egg, cut an eye on the top, install an explosion tube, seal the mouth with yellow mud, leave the lead outside, ready at any time, and can be installed everywhere." Devils "came to "sweep", landmines sounded everywhere, killed the big ocean horses, left machine guns, defended our people, and defended private food. ”
The minesweets annoyed the Japanese, and every time they marched, they sent men to detect mines in front of the troops.
Militia are making stone mines
In order to prevent the enemy from clearing mines, the military and civilians in the base areas have also developed "sub-mother serial mines." When the enemy raises a female mine, because the lead is connected to the sub-mine, the sub-mine will explode with it.
When encountering the enemy's irregular march, the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians carried out "flying explosions." In response to the situation of the Japanese army entering the village to grab food, they put the special mines made in advance into the basket containing the eggs, and when the Japanese army picked up the basket, the mines would detonate immediately.
After suffering several times, the cunning enemy came up with some ways to deal with mines, and when they encountered "stepping mines", they used lime powder to scatter a circle around them to prevent contact. If you encounter a "tripping thunder", you will hook it out with an iron hook from a distance.
In order to cope with the demining and detour of the Japanese army, as well as the extreme situation of letting the people step on the mine in front, the military and civilians in the anti-Japanese base areas created a new type of landmine "Lalay".
In the anti-Japanese base area in Central Hebei, the detonation method of "Lalay" was successfully combined with tunnel warfare tactics, dealing a heavy blow to the Japanese army.
Yoshiro Kuwajima, who had served as the hygienist of the 12th Independent Guard of the Fifth Independent Brigade of the Japanese Army, recorded this nightmare-like mine in his diary:
This mine was not stepped on casually, but was installed by the Eighth Route Army. Sometimes stepping on it will not explode, and sometimes stepping on it will explode, and it depends on the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army to pull it. ”
This kind of "Lare" is actually very dangerous, usually the Lalayer is only 10 to 15 meters away from the enemy, otherwise the rope will not be pulled, or it is difficult to accurately observe where the enemy is.
In order to kill the enemy to a greater extent, after the laminist is ready, a sniper is often arranged next to him to cooperate.
Once the mine is sounded, if the enemy is killed or wounded, the sniper will play a role when the enemy officer wants to come over to inspect it. In addition, if the enemy comes to chase after the laminator, then the sniper can repel the enemy's pursuing soldiers.
Lay mines
In the wartime memoir "Records of the Battle of North China" written by Yoshiro Kuwajima, it is recorded that the Eighth Route Army used a mine to kill and injure nine people on the Japanese army.
On the night of May 31, 1943, a squadron of Japanese troops under Kuwajima's regiment was transferred in the northeast of the Shandong Peninsula. Too tired, many people, including Yoshiro Kuwajima, fell asleep during the march and walked for about an hour in a groggy state. A sudden "boom" woke us up from our slumber and it turned out that we had stepped on a mine planted by the local militia.
Suddenly, a huge pillar of fire ten meters high rose up in the air, and many people fell to the ground and made a cry. It was confirmed that all personnel of the squadron's radiocommunication squad, including nine people below the squad leader, had been injured by the mine. ”
In other written materials of the Japanese army, the scene of the Japanese army being attacked by landmines was also recorded in the form of an image cartoon. It can be seen that the new type of landmine that has been upgraded has changed from a defensive weapon to an offensive weapon.
After being bombed many times, the Japanese puppet army summed up an experience: "Take the small road instead of the big road, and take the water road without taking the dry road", which actually allowed them to reduce the chance of being bombed.
However, this experience soon failed, and the militias planted mines on the paths and waterways, and the enemy could not escape the blows of the mines.
Haiyang Mine Battle Area
In the later period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, due to the widespread use of mine warfare, the Japanese army in Haiyang, Shandong Province, failed to transport grain by land, and then changed to transporting grain by sea. However, when the ship sailed south of a village called Hejia Village, because the ship could not dock, the Japanese army called the puppet army to carry grain.
At this time, the militia would bury the mines in advance on the enemy's round-trip route, and when the enemy approached the shore with grain, the underwater "chain of mines" exploded together, and the river was instantly dyed red.
In 1943, after the introduction of mine warfare into Haiyang, it not only effectively struck the enemy, but also preserved its own strength. Moreover, more importantly, through mine warfare, the courage and determination of the vast number of anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians to fight against the enemy and resolutely resist Japan have been encouraged and condensed.