At the end of August 1940, the Japanese army that invaded Shanxi drew 7 infantry brigades, a total of more than 6,000 people, to form 3 detachments, and the troops attacked the Mafang and Zhanshang areas in multiple ways.
On September 1, the three head organs of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, the Central (Communist) Northern Bureau, and the Eighth Route Army's Field Political (Governance) Department were temporarily transferred to Xiyang, and the heads of Liu, Deng, Yang, Luo, and Lu were all together.
The Rolling Gully is near Mafang, and more than 500 japanese troops are already approaching here, and once they catch fire, they will soon attract a large japanese army.
In that case, the three major head organs will be hanging, and the situation will be extremely critical!
At that time, only two of the guards of the three major head organs came to the camp, and the 300 wounded who had just been transferred had to be taken care of.
The commander of the special agent battalion of the division headquarters understood the seriousness of the problem and was sweating profusely, but the commander of the Liu (Bocheng) division calmly said: "Don't you panic so much!" After decades of fighting, what are you afraid of! ”
"I'm not afraid, but my battalion can't protect the three chief organs, and you still insist on sending a platoon of the cavalry company to cover the transfer of the wounded."
"Don't worry, you send a few more people to look for it on the road from Lujiazhuang to Shijiao, Zhou Xihan, they may come."
What made the special agent battalion commander unbelievable was that, just as Commander Liu had expected, Zhou Xihan, the commander-in-chief of the left wing column, arrived in time and played the role of thunder rescue.
On September 1, Zhou Xihan led the 16th, 38th, and 25th Regiments to complete the task of covering the masses near Lujiazhuang, and then, in accordance with the orders of Liu and Deng, prepared to go to the Shiquan area and cooperate with the 385th Brigade to eliminate the Japanese troops there.
The Twenty-fifth Regiment took a step first, and Zhou Xihan led the Sixteenth Regiment and the Thirty-eighth Regiment to sort it out before setting off. Late that night, the troops camped on the first-line highlands 13 kilometers southeast of Songta.
In the early morning of the next day, Zhou Xihan was suddenly awakened by a loud noise. When he climbed the mountain and looked at it, he saw a line of fire in the nearby Huanyu Ditch, the smoke was thick, and people shouted horses.
"If there is a situation, we should quickly prepare for battle and cover the transfer of the wounded!"
He immediately summoned Xie Jiaqing, commander of the Sixteenth Regiment, Chen Yuechang, political commissar, Cai Aiqing, commander of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, and Liu Youguang, political commissar.
After study, the sixteenth and thirty-eighth regiments were each deployed on a hill to repair the fortifications and block the enemy who might invade the CangyuGou.
At 6:30 a.m., more than 500 Japanese troops did indeed attack and rushed towards the Yangerling Heights where the Sixteenth Regiment was stationed.
At first, Zhou Xihan did not know that the chiefs were all in The Yugou and still planned to go to Shiqiu to fight according to the established plan. Therefore, he only had the idea of delaying them and giving the wounded of our army a little more time to transfer the enemy in front of him, and did not let the troops fight to the death.
In this way, after more than half an hour of fighting, the Yangerling Heights were occupied by the Japanese army.
At this moment, two people came breathlessly, they were the commander of the divisional special service battalion and a guard sent by Liu Shichang to look for Zhou Xihan.
Only then did Zhou Xihan know that the three major head organs were also rolling up the Yugou and he was angry. Knowing this, how could the Yangerling Heights be thrown to the enemy! There was no way but to take it back as soon as possible.
He immediately ordered two companies of the Sixteenth Regiment to attack the left rear; one battalion of the Thirty-eighth Regiment to attack the right flank; and four companies of the Sixteenth Regiment to attack the front in three directions. The three-way attack force, led by two regimental commanders and a political commissar, resolutely retakes Yangerling at all costs.
At 7 o'clock, the attack begins. The enemy's aircraft strafed at low altitudes, and they also fired poison gas bombs and bayonet hand-to-hand combat, repelling our army's attacks again and again.
Our army still bravely charged and killed, and attacked the mountain again and again. After two hours of bitter fighting and 13 repeated battles, the Yangerling Heights, code-named 1547, were finally retaken by our army.
In addition, our army also occupied two highlands, 1767 and 1670 respectively.
These three highlands echo each other, like copper walls and iron walls, protecting the three heads of state organs that are being transferred.
Enemy troops looking for the main force of the Eighth Route Army for a decisive battle swarmed. About 1,000 Japanese troops, under the cover of aircraft and artillery, launched a fierce attack on the three heights of 1547, 1767 and 1670.
These Japanese reinforcements were transferred from the south of Jin and were a fresh force.
The three regiments of our army, on the other hand, have been fighting for 13 consecutive days and nights since they entered the battle on the night of August 20.
Commander-in-Chief Zhou Xihan changed rapidly because of the enemy situation, and for many days he did not dare to close his eyes, nor did he dare to take a nap, and as a result, his eyes were so swollen that he even had to be helped to walk.
The fatigue of the troops can also be imagined. In addition, this force is still the one that has just finished a big battle.
On August 31, the force blocked the enemy at Lujiazhuang and was surrounded by about 2,000 enemy troops from three roads. After two days and one night of fierce fighting, he finally completed the mission on the night of September 1 and escaped from the enemy's encirclement, and marched to the present battlefield that night.
That is to say, the whole unit has not slept for two days and two nights, and there have been certain casualties and a large ammunition consumption.
What's more, the Thirty-eighth Regiment was a new unit, and the commander-in-chief, Zhou Xihan, was the chief of staff of the 386th Brigade, which was the first time he had commanded a large force alone.
It is no exaggeration to say that this is a difficult and extremely difficult battle.
Eager for retaliation, the Japanese launched one attack after another, but the entire position remained motionless. An hour has passed, another hour has passed, and it is still the same.
Of course, the Eighth Route Army is also a person, and everyone has to eat and sleep, so it is certainly not okay to fight hard. Zhou Xihan did not do anything recklessly, he always held his position with 1/3 of the people, and 2/3 of the people rested in hiding.
At 21:30, the division headquarters finally gave Zhou Xihan's order to retreat, which meant that the head organ had been moved to a safe place.
Zhou Xihan happily ended the 15-hour battle that began at 6:30 a.m., killing more than 300 enemy people.
In the early morning of the next day, the troops were transferred to the designated location, and Yang (Shang Kun), Luo (Ruiqing), Lu Dingyi, and other commanders personally came to visit Zhou Xihan and praised Zhou Xihan for successfully completing the task and ensuring the safety of the three major head organs of our army.
It can be said that the battle fought by the famous general Zhou Xihan halfway was originally just to cover the transfer of the wounded, but it became a thunder rescue soldier and rescued the three leading organs, so this battle has become a classic example of famous military history.