In January 1941, Peng Xuefeng, commander of the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army, received an important information that the Cavalry Second Army under He Zhuguo of the Jiang Army and the Ninety-second Army under Li Xianzhou might launch a major offensive against the Yuwan Soviet Border Region in early February.
Peng Xuefeng was a very intelligent military expert, and he believed that instead of sitting still, it was better to counterattack and take the initiative.
To this end, he ordered Liu Zhen, commander of the Tenth Brigade of the Fourth Division, to send a battalion of capable troops to enter Kan Xuanji and its vicinity south of the Vortex River in a thunderous and swift manner to conduct temporary guerrilla warfare to confuse and paralyze the enemy.
After careful consideration, Liu Zhen entrusted this heavy responsibility to the three battalions of the Eleventh Regiment.
At 21:00 on January 26, the whole battalion, led by battalion commander Zhang Fengcai, set out from Luoji in Fengtai County and marched towards Kan Xuanji.
In order not to let the news of the troops' actions be leaked, so as to ensure the suddenness of the attack, the troops did not find the common people to lead the way, but relied on a military map to march according to the map.
That night was windy and snowy, and the march was extremely difficult, but the commanders and fighters of the whole battalion were not afraid, and rushed west for 90 miles with a single blow.
At noon on the 27th, the troops finally reached the vicinity of Kan Xuanji. Under the reflection of snow and sunlight, the stronghold of the outpost company of the enemy security brigade was clearly seen.
Since the troops were on a long-range raid and the secrecy was well done, the enemy was unaware of their arrival.
It was not until the assault squad of the Ninth Company climbed up the wall of the village where Kan Xuan was gathered that the enemy sentry realized that the situation was not good and hurriedly fired a gun to call the police.
However, it was too late, and the commanders and fighters of the Ninth Company quickly and heroically attacked the enemy position from all directions of the enemy's stronghold.
The enemy hurriedly organized a stubborn resistance, but was completely annihilated by the New Fourth Army in less than 30 minutes.
In this battle, the three battalions captured more than 80 enemy prisoners and captured more than 80 guns of various kinds, and our side suffered no casualties.
After the battle, the instructor Gan Sixian proposed to Zhang Fengcai: "According to the habits of He Zhuguo, after our army wins the battle, they will definitely mobilize several times the strength to carry out a retaliatory counterattack." Now that the purpose of our army's attack has been achieved, is it necessary to immediately withdraw from Kan Xuanji? ”
Zhang Fengcai nodded and said, "You're right, but this time I have other plans." ”
"What's going to be?" Gan Sixian asked curiously.
"Do you remember what kind of unit our Peng Division commander was bent on setting up?"
"Cavalry troops!" Gan Sixian said without hesitation, "This is an open secret. ”
"We want to set up a cavalry unit, what is the most lacking?" Zhang Fengcai continued to ask.
"That's a war horse, of course!"
"Yes!" Zhang Fengcai smiled and said, "If you think about it again, what kind of army is Under He Zhuguo?" ”
"Riding the Second Army!" Gan Sixian said these words before he came back to God, "You mean, from He Zhuguo..."
"Yes! Rob him of a batch of warhorses and make some money to form our own cavalry unit! What do you think? Zhang Fengcai said.
"Good! That's a great idea! Gan Sixian clapped his hands and smiled.
"According to my estimation, we hurt He Zhuguo in Kan Xuanji, and he will most likely send cavalry to pursue, and then it will depend on how we deploy the battle."
"Yes, then let's study it immediately and get some benefits from He Zhuguo!" Gan Sixian said with great interest.
Next, they gathered the cadres of the various companies and platoons and decided not to let the troops move immediately, knowing that the enemy would send heavy troops in pursuit, but first created the illusion of being stationed in Kan Xuanji and lured the enemy to counterattack.
Several reactionary landlords gathered by Kan Xuan were indeed confused and sent people to report to the Headquarters of He Zhuguo in the county seat overnight. Their actions had long been clearly grasped by the scouts sent by Zhang Fengcai.
At the same time, Zhang Fengcai sent a company to dig many traps overnight on a barren slope more than ten miles east of Kan Xuanji, which was the only way for the enemy cavalry to pursue, and dug many traps overnight to deal with the enemy's cavalry.
On the morning of January 28, He Zhuguo did send heavy troops in pursuit, dispatching two infantry regiments and a cavalry company to pounce on Kan Xuanji.
When the two regiments had just set out, Zhang Fengcai had already received the reconnaissance report and led the whole battalion to the east of Kan Xuanji.
When the enemy arrived at Kan Xuanji, he found that the New Fourth Army had already gone to the empty building. They learned that the New Fourth Army had only been transferred for an hour and immediately sent a company of cavalry to pursue it eastward.
Zheng Shigao, the commander of the Tenth Company, followed Zhang Fengcai's instructions and asked the whole company to lazily move forward near the trap dug by the troops. When the enemy approached, the warriors pretended to be extremely flustered, blindly fired a burst of guns, and hurried to the east to "collapse".
The enemy cavalry was sure to hit the plan, shouting gleefully and pursuing the advance. They never expected that a large number of pits had been dug in front of them, and the pits were well camouflaged so that they could not be defended.
The soldiers of the New Fourth Army had already marked the safe places in advance, and when they pretended to retreat, they chose a safe place to go.
The enemy cavalry raised their prancing horses and rushed desperately to kill, and they broke into the trap array laid by the New Fourth Army.
In fact, these pits are not large, but when the war horse runs fast, it is most afraid of losing its balance and falling down when it steps on the air. As soon as the horse falls, the person sitting on the horse will also fall enough.
Because the enemy cavalry formation was very scattered and chased too fiercely, in a very short period of time, more than twenty horses fell due to stepping into the pit, and even injured their legs and feet and could no longer stand up and run.
Some of the horses fell, tripping over or stopping the horses behind them, causing chaos in the enemy formation.
Once the horse is wounded, the enemy cavalry is like a mad dog with a broken leg, and it is impossible to bite or run. The roar of war horses and the screams of enemy soldiers were constantly heard from the entire barren slope.
As soon as the enemy's warhorse fell, a group of fighters with the most accurate marksmanship in the ten companies emerged from their stealth and stared at the fallen enemy cavalry, almost without any bullets.
This style of play made the enemy cavalry scattered, where they still had the courage to pursue, and those who were not injured had to desperately flee to the west. Those horses that fell or were injured, and the enemy cavalry that had not been killed, were taken prisoners of the New Fourth Army.
After the battle, more than twenty war horses were captured, which became the home of the formation of the cavalry unit of the New Fourth Army.
Liu Zhen, commander of the Tenth Brigade, and Peng Xuefeng, commander of the Fourth Division, both spoke highly of the battle of the three battalions and praised Zhang Fengcai for his good command and impressive results.