In October 1939, the Second Regiment of the Yu'e Advancing Column of the New Fourth Army, led by political commissar Zhou Zhijian (who became a founding lieutenant general in 1955), advanced to the area of Shanxin Street in Hubei.
The next day, the Japanese army sniffed the wind and came to sneak attack, and the momentum was very strong.
At dawn, the New Fourth Army's wandering sentry found the enemy, fired a gun to alarm, and the new street defense battle began!
Zhou Zhijian jumped up from the bed, dressed and went out, standing on a high place to look at the gunshot.
At this time, the gunshots in the southerly direction had sounded in a cacophony, and the new street was shrouded in thick bullet rain and smoke.
Zhou Zhijian immediately ordered the troops to prepare for battle, and while he issued the order to "resolutely hold the position", he led the soldiers of the second squadron to prepare for the attack.
At this time, the correspondent sent out to understand the situation returned and reported breathlessly: The Japanese puppet army has dispatched hundreds of people, and the three major teams are sticking to the Position of Nanshan, and the battle is very bitter...
Zhou Zhijian tightened his belt with force and ordered, "No matter how bitter it is, we must keep it!" ”
Immediately after, he waved at the large group that had been ordered to arrive, "The first and second squadrons follow me to the rear of the enemy!" ”
At this moment, after receiving Zhou Zhijian's orders, the three major teams of the South Street position heroically returned fire and repelled the enemy's second attack.
At the beginning, the Japanese army conquered New Street with a sneak attack, thinking that New Street was vulnerable.
After repeated setbacks, the Japanese began to understand that it would not be easy to take New Street. So they suddenly stopped their frenzied attacks and stood still in place, and the two armies fell silent for a moment.
Zhou Zhijian, who was detouring to the rear of the enemy, said to the correspondent: "Passing on the orders of the Second Brigade, this atmosphere seems strange, there can be no slackening, the Japanese army may be playing new tricks." ”
Sure enough, it didn't take long, and blue smoke rose up everywhere at the front of the position, and the smoke quickly spread with the wind to the position of the New Fourth Army.
Suddenly, a strong irritating smell enveloped the place, and a continuous coughing sound sounded on the position, and the tears of the soldiers burst out of their eyes, and they did not hurry to cover their noses.
"What is the enemy's name?" Bullets have no rule of law, but they use fire peppers to smoke us... It is clear that it is a breed! Someone whispered.
"It's not peppers, it's poison gas!" Zhou Zhijian reminded, "The enemy is going to attack us under the cover of poisonous gas!" ”
The inhumane Japanese army unleashed gas here in an attempt to take down New Street with inhuman cruelty.
Estimating that the gas had achieved the desired effect, they launched the third attack, and learning from the previous two battles, they divided the attack into scattered positions, each in groups, creeping forward one by one.
The enemy changed the offensive lineup, and long-range shooting was no longer too powerful. The soldiers covered their noses with towels as they glared at the Japanese troops, like dogs crawling, approaching the position.
At 40 meters, the crazy Japanese jumped up and began to charge rapidly.
At almost the same moment, the three major teams of the New Fourth Army roared with machine guns, grenades, and rifles!
The enemy in front of them was immediately overthrown, and the enemy behind began to return fire, but in the end, due to the intensity and ferocity of our firepower, the third attack ended in the defeat of the Japanese army.
At nine o'clock in the morning, the Japanese Kou, like a red-eyed gambler, made a desperate bet, and after once again casting a double amount of gas, attacked New Street more violently.
A large group of two squadrons led by Zhou Zhijian had reached the rear of the enemy and counterattacked together with the three major teams, and the Japanese army was once again defeated...
After being hit so hard, the Japanese army had no intention of withdrawing, and it seemed that it had an iron heart, and it could not take down New Street, and would never give up.
In the afternoon, Commander Li (Xiannian) rushed to the scene, personally commanded the battle, and launched a counter-offensive.
For a time, the charge trumpet blew all over the hill, and several troops burst out like a flash flood, surging and violently pressing towards the Japanese position.
Zhou Zhijian, armed with a shell gun, led his troops to kill He Jiataizi on the right side of the enemy's left wing.
The enemy did not expect that the New Fourth Army would take the initiative to attack at this time, and suddenly the defensive line was greatly broken, and it desperately collapsed backwards.
The puppet army that accompanied the Japanese Kou saw that the general trend had gone, and it was important to save their lives, so they left their masters and fled south in a hurry.
The remaining Japanese troops were crushed by the eighth and ninth squadrons of Zhou Zhijian's three brigades in the Huang Ancestral Hall on the left wing of New Street.
Seeing that the battle situation was not good, the Japanese army seized two commanding heights that were difficult to attack and easy to defend, and used all the guns to form a staggered network of firepower.
Zhou Zhijian observed the position for a while and said to the soldiers, "At present, there is no other way, only a strong attack, can not be attacked, I Zhou Zhijian died here!" ”
The commander made a military order, and the soldiers became more and more courageous...
When it was dark, the Japanese position looked at the day and night, and a cloud of black smoke rose up, and a disgusting stench and bloody smell wafted over.
"The enemy is releasing gas again!" Someone whispered.
"No! This is the enemy going to escape, at the cremation of corpses! Zhou Zhijian waved a big hand and shouted, "The eighth squadron is covered by firepower, and the ninth squadron will attack with me!" This time you have to take the mountain! ”
The Japanese army, which was burning the corpse, saw that the New Fourth Army had launched a more fierce offensive, and was unstoppable, so it was busy ordering the troops to retreat, and fled along a sheep's intestine trail in a hurry...
The battle ended in victory. Some warriors said regretfully, "Unfortunately, there are dozens of devils running!" ”
Zhou Zhijian smiled and said humorously, "Let them go back to their old nest to report a funeral and publicize the military prestige of our New Fourth Army, this is not a bad thing!" ”
The victory of the New Fourth Army's defense of Xinjie shook the Japanese army in Hubei. After the fall of Wuhan, this was the first powerful blow they suffered in this land of justice.
At the same time, some of the middle forces that had a wait-and-see mood toward the New Fourth Army, including some of Chiang Kai-shek's troops scattered everywhere, began to move closer to this iron division...