In January 1946, the Independent Fourth Brigade of the Ji'nan Military Region received orders from its superiors to cooperate with Liu Deng's army in annihilating the enemy's integrated Third Division at Longhai Road.
Tian Houyi, deputy brigade commander of the Fourth Independent Brigade (who became the founding major general of New China in 1955), immediately led the entire unit to set off.
The Independent Fourth Brigade received a very difficult task: to snipe two enemy brigades at Dongmingcheng in Shandong Province, and not let the enemy occupy Dongmingcheng for 8 days.
Tian Houyi led the independent fourth brigade through Longhai Road, crossed Changyuan County, crossed the Yellow River into Huaxian County, then reached Dongming County, and went south along the Yellow River to the territory of Kaocheng.
The enemy troops who were preparing to seize Dongming City arrived at Kaocheng, so the enemies met each other and the swords and guns spoke.
The enemy troops of the two brigades were very arrogant after a period of recuperation.
The Independent Fourth Brigade had just fought a vicious battle at Xiao Li Luzhuang in Gaotang, with serious attrition and no recovery of vitality, and was a typical tired division.
Under such circumstances, it was undoubtedly extremely difficult for the Fourth Brigade to resist the enemy's frenzied attack.
Tian Houyi encouraged the soldiers: "We will block the enemy army in the area of Kaocheng and Dongmingji in eight days and eight nights. Every day is grim, every night is cruel, every minute and every second must be fully committed! ”
Finally he said, "We have no way back, we have no choice!" You can only build a wall with your body, build a wall with faith, and it must be a copper wall and an iron wall! ”
The soldiers shouted slogans in unison: "Oath to coexist and die with the position!" ”
Slogans are not meant to be playful. Every regiment, every battalion, every company, every platoon, every squad, every person has specific tasks and clear responsibilities.
As deputy brigade commander, Tian Houyi did not have to shoot a shot, he could stay in the brigade command post and strategize. But he did not do so, but went into the grass-roots company and soaked with the soldiers. Wherever there was danger, he appeared limping wherever he was.
Even when he became a deputy brigade commander, he did not depart from the true colors of a soldier. For him, instead of directing others, it is better to be happy with his own efforts.
The enemy's first charge was beaten down, but the process was very difficult, and more than a dozen warriors were sacrificed.
Tian Houyi said: "The enemy will definitely organize a second charge immediately, and we must be prepared." ”
Sure enough, the enemy's second charge followed, and its momentum was aggressive.
The return fire of the Independent Fourth Brigade was also fierce, fighting for less than an hour, and destroying dozens of enemies.
Later, the two armies moved into a stalemate. The enemy charge lost its initial sharpness and was soon defeated by the Fourth Brigade.
A day passed, and the defensive line was not breached.
A night passed, and the defensive line was not breached.
Two days and two nights passed, three days and three nights passed, and several enemy charges were still repulsed...
On the night of the seventh day, the enemy regrouped and launched a desperate charge, one group falling and the other rushing up. It seems that the enemy wants to break through the defense line tonight.
Some of the Independent Fourth Brigades could not hold out. Many of the warriors had already died and been wounded in the fighting of the previous days, and the rest were exhausted and their combat effectiveness was significantly weakened.
Tian Houyi did not rest well for several days and nights, but he still commanded the battle mentally.
Suddenly, he snatched a submachine gun from a warrior, rose up, and jumped out of the trench. As he charged, he shouted, "Comrades, rush with me—"
The supreme commander of the position rushed out, and of course the soldiers rushed out.
Suddenly, the gunshots on the position were loud and the killing sound was tremendous, and they rushed into a chaotic flock of sheep like a group of fierce tigers.
Where does Tian Houyi look like a man with a leg injury? Only to see him rush left and right, murderous, the gun in his hand seems to have a pair of magic eyes, pointing to where, where is a ghost crying wolf howling.
The enemy could not stop it at all, and had to retreat in a panic.
Tian Houyi staggered down the battlefield, and the soldiers helped him to the brigade headquarters. He didn't have the strength to speak, and fell asleep on his head, and in a moment he made a loud snoring sound.
The Independent Fourth Brigade persisted until the night of the eighth day, still fighting with the enemy indomitably, and the troops were greatly depleted in the fierce battle, and there were not many personnel left.
However, at this time, the situation on the battlefield had changed drastically, and another enemy force came from the Yellow River and occupied the eastern Ming City.
Tian Houyi understood that it was no longer meaningful to hold this defensive line, and in order to preserve his living strength, he had to lead his troops to retreat.
However, what is exciting is that just when the DusiTh Brigade was stubbornly blocking the enemy, Liu Deng's army had already annihilated the enemy's reorganized Third Division, and the division commander Zhao Xitian obediently took prisoner.
The enemy forces occupying Dongming City, knowing that the end is coming, hastily abandoned the city and fled.
Tian Houyi, who was leading the retreating troops, was overjoyed when he learned of this good news, and immediately ordered the troops: Kill back! Kill him with a "back to the carbine"!
Under the command of Tian Houyi, the Dusi Brigade pursued the fleeing enemy relentlessly, destroying more than 1,500 enemies and capturing a large amount of booty.
At the end of this battle, the remaining personnel of the Fourth Independent Brigade were hardly a brigade.
Taking into account this situation, the commander of the second column added more than 500 prisoners to them, and the independent fourth brigade became a strong brigade again.
Because this "Hui Ma Gun" was killed in time, the Independent Fourth Brigade won a victorious battle, and Tian Houyi was praised by his superiors and promoted him to deputy commander of the Second Sub-district of Ji'nan.