In October 1948, the Northeast Field Army launched a large-scale encirclement and annihilation campaign against the Kuomintang army in the western part of Liaoning Province, known in history as the "Liaoxi Campaign".
In the face of the powerful offensive of our army, the enemy was quickly defeated and desperately searched for a way to escape.
On October 22, the 334th Regiment of the 112nd Division of the 38th Army was ordered to launch a strong attack on the 14th Division of the enemy New Third Army stationed around the Tiejia Shack.
Just as the so-called "defeat of the army is like a mountain", the enemy was defeated not long after the battle began, and fled to nearby villages and mountains.
The commander of the second company of the first battalion ordered the squads and platoons to quickly disperse in combat groups and enter the surrounding areas to search for the remnants of the enemy.
The warriors Zhang Gui and Li Cai rushed the fiercest, chasing into a desolate mass grave in one breath, but they did not see the enemy, and there was no movement around them, which was somewhat eerie.
Zhang Gui was preparing to stride through this strange place when he suddenly heard Li Cai shouting, "The grave pile behind you is not right!" ”
Zhang Gui was startled, and turned his head to look at it, only to see that the big grave was covered with a thick layer of dry grass, and there were a lot of random grass and dead branches scattered next to it. What is even more puzzling is that there is a wild dog tens of meters away, barking wildly at the grave pile.
There is no doubt that, as Li Cai said, this grave is indeed problematic, because it is very different from the enemy graves around it.
Zhang Gui took the rifle and slowly leaned over, using the tip of the gun to pick up some dry grass on the top of the big grave, only to see that a new piece of soil was revealed underneath, and there were still some leather shoe prints on it.
He looked more closely and saw a wire wrapped around a dead branch on the top of the grave.
Zhang Gui felt more and more suspicious, and was preparing to search carefully, when suddenly there was a "popping" gunshot, and a bullet flew over the brim of his hat!
... Zhang Gui's voice did not fall, and Li Cai had already knocked him to the ground. The two had already seen that the bullet had been fired from another grave, indicating that there was an enemy hidden inside!
What is even more unexpected is that there is a ticking electric key tapping sound under the grave, and it is obvious that someone is hiding inside to send a telegram, which is really suspicious.
Zhang Gui was furious: "Dog X's hiding in the grave shoots cold guns!" I have only seen the 'Central Army' hiding under the bed and drilling the pit, but I didn't expect to be able to drill into the grave pile to load the coffin and shoot the cold gun, which was really eye-opening! ”
"Kill them!" Li Cai was also on fire, "There must be more than one person inside!" ”
The two men discussed in a low voice, and decided that Li Cai would cover up, and Zhang Gui would go around to the top of the grave where the gun had just been fired to "catch the turtle in the urn."
At this time, there was a more urgent electric key sound from inside the grave pile, Li Cai fired a shuttle of bullets with a submachine gun, and Zhang Gui took the opportunity to rush over while firing, using the gun to pick up the dead branches and grass on the grave pile, revealing a hole.
Zhang Gui quickly felt two grenades from his waist, opened the lid and pulled the fire, and threw them into the hole.
With two loud bangs, the grave was blown in half, and then a puff of smoke and screams were heard: "Don't blow up, we surrender, we surrender!" ”
Zhang Gui shouted, "Don't kill the gun, you throw the gun out first!" ”
An elaborate pistol was thrown first, followed by several rifles, submachine guns, and even a machine gun. Immediately afterward, several gray-headed Kuomintang soldiers crawled out in panic.
Li Cai counted, there were nine people in total, and shouted, "Is there anyone inside?" ”
The nine enemy soldiers did not squeak, but just kept looking into the hole.
Zhang Gui gave Li Cai a look and angrily scolded: "There are still a few turtles in it, let's use explosives to serve them in a pot!" ”
Li Caiyi took out a small shovel around his waist, dug up on the top of the grave, and deliberately made a noise.
"Don't blow up sir... Don't blow it up... I...... I also surrender..." A desperate voice came from the hole.
Immediately after, two guys came out in a daze, one fat and the other thin, but both about 50 years old, wearing officer uniforms and covered in mud, the fat one like a mud frog, the thin one like a mud monkey.
After them, three other enemy soldiers followed.
Zhang Gui and Li Cai were one responsible for surveillance with guns, and the other was responsible for registering the names, positions, and ranks of the 12 Kuomintang officers and men.
Among the 10 people who accepted the registration first, there were guards, telegraphers, drivers and brothers-in-law, only the fat and thin two guys shrunk behind, and seemed very reluctant to accept the registration.
Zhang Gui asked, "Don't hide from you two, honestly explain your situation!" ”
"Brother, we are all creeps, creeps..." The fat man replied with a smile on his face.
"A creep with a big brimmed hat? Who are you trying to fool! Zhang Gui shouted, "Don't pretend to be garlic, it's only good to say it early!" ”
The fat man's face turned red, and he said, "Alas... Don't hide from you, my name is Dong Juemin, and I am the deputy commander of the Fourteenth Division. ”
"Nice! That's what it's like! Zhang Gui turned his head and said to the thin man, "What about you?" ”
The thin man saw that everyone was focused on himself, and he could not hide it, so he said very reluctantly: "We... Our man Xu Ying... Commander of the Fourteenth Division..."
Zhang Gui narrowed his eyes, and asked sternly, "As the commander of a division, since you have lost the battle, you should have led your subordinates to lay down their weapons and take the initiative to atone for their sins. ”
Xu Yinglian shook his head: "Your army... Your army's offensive was too fierce, it took only one day to completely crush us, and there were only so many people left in one division, I had to... It had to be..."
"It's a mass grave here, and you're hiding in it as a coffin, aren't you dirty?"
Xu Ying was ashamed and said very embarrassedly: "Caused by the prestige of your army, we are cornered, and we can only make this decision..."
At this time, the company commander chased up with the troops, and when he learned that Zhang Gui and Li Cai had accidentally captured the enemy division commander and deputy division commander alive, they were overjoyed: "Haha, you drilled into the mass grave and actually captured 12 prisoners, including two 'big figures' of the enemy army, you should be credited!" ”
Reference materials: Zhang Gui's own reminiscences, "Records of the Conquest of the Fourth Field Army", "Records of the Northeast Battlefield", etc