In 1938, there was an anomaly in the Japanese army in Hebei and Shanxi, and they wrote an obvious slogan with Chinese on the combat armored vehicle: "
Specialized in the 386 Brigade.
"What's going on here?
Let's take a look at the predecessor of the 386 Brigade, in August 1937,
The 31st Army of the Fourth Front of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was reorganized into the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army in Fuping County, Shaanxi Province, with a total of about 5,700 people. The commander of the 129th Division was Marshal Liu Bocheng, and the commander of the 386th Brigade was the famous Chen Geng.
The Japanese army "hated" the 386 Brigade so much, it must have been General Chen Geng who beat them up. Checking the data found that the 386th Brigade fought a beautiful "guerrilla war" near ShentouLing, and in this battle, Chen Geng also unusually "violated the art of war"...
Why fight the "Shentou Ridge Ambush Battle"
At the beginning of 1938, the plan of the Kuomintang army to counterattack Taiyuan on the frontal battlefield of Shanxi failed, and the angry Japanese army began to attack the south and west of Shanxi. The progress of the Japanese army in this battle was very fast, and the Japanese troops on the Pinghan Line cooperated with the Taiyuan 20th Division to occupy Changzhi and Linfen one after another, and continued to advance towards the Yellow River crossing.
In order to combat the arrogance of the Japanese army and cooperate with friendly troops, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army prepared to attack the enemy who invaded southeastern Shanxi and occupied Changzhi, and sought opportunities to annihilate the enemy on the road from Handan to Changzhi.
As early as early February, the 386th Brigade carried out a luring operation, annihilating more than 130 people of the Japanese Jingxing garrison, and our army also suffered more than 100 casualties.
The battle loss ratio was 1:1, which made Liu Bocheng, the commander of the 129th Division, very distressed, because most of the people who died in this battle were old Red Army soldiers who had experienced the Long March. Therefore, Liu Bocheng has been brewing a chance for revenge...
At one chance, Liu Bocheng, in the deployment documents for capturing the Japanese army's "Nine Road Siege" in southeastern Shanxi, found that when the Japanese 108th Division attacked Linfen from Handan, Wu'an, Xiangxian and other places, there was a necessary road "Handan Chang Highway", where there were often Heavy Cars and Horse-drawn Carriages transported by the Japanese Army.
According to this situation and "
The Japanese army was attacked in one place, and other Japanese troops would come to reinforce
With the experience of the battlefield, Liu Bocheng decided to "encircle the point to fight for help" again, knocking him hard at once, and striving to achieve greater results.
After detailed planning, the 129th Division made a preliminary plan,
Determined to use the 769th Regiment of the 385th Brigade as a feint unit, they would pretend to attack The city of Loei and then attract japanese troops from other sides to support
。 With the 386th Brigade (771 regiment, 772 regiment) and the division supplement regiment are present
Shentou Ridge area
Tight ambush.
After the 386th Brigade received the order, Chen Geng immediately organized personnel to hold a pre-war meeting to study the specific battle plan.
In the conference room, everyone gathered in front of the map and discussed the battle plan without saying a word, and finally decided to ambush the enemy near the "Shentou Ridge".
Because on the map issued by the Kuomintang, the two sides of Shentou Ridge are steep highlands, and the valley in the middle is the "Handan Chang Highway" that the Japanese army must pass.
The mood was high, and they all thought that the terrain of Shentou Ridge was very suitable for ambushes. However, Chen Geng, the commander of the 386 Brigade, was very calm, and he suddenly said to the crowd:
"You've all seen the terrain of Shentou Ridge?"
"Brigadier General, isn't the map very clear?"
"No, we can't fight a confused battle." Chen Geng said calmly, "Command! Cadres at or above the battalion level went to the scene near Shentou Village for on-site investigation! ”
After the crowd reached the vicinity of Shentou Ridge, everyone was stunned and sweated.
It turned out that the terrain near ShentouLing was completely inconsistent with the map, where the road passed through the bottom of the ditch, but the actual terrain was on a bare mountain beam, and the mountain beam was narrow, and there was almost no concealment on both sides of the road, only simple fortifications carried out by the Kuomintang.
The terrain of Shentou Ridge is not only inconvenient for large troops to conceal, but also difficult to deploy the attack formation. Although there are deep ditches on the north side of the highway, it is not convenient for the reserves to move, and the enemy is condescending, but it will cause our side to fall into a dilemma.
Chen Geng's "persistence" is indeed correct, and fighting a war cannot just rely on maps. He looked at the terrain in front of him and fell into contemplation, the others had no idea for a while, what to do? Still can't fight? Are there any other ambush sites? Chen Geng did not speak, and continued to look at the terrain in front of him...
When he saw the abandoned fortifications abandoned by the Kuomintang army about 20 meters on both sides of the highway, he had an idea in his mind. But his idea surprised everyone again. Chen Geng decided:
The ambush plan remains the same! Keep the ambush!
This is "knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, and preferring to go to the tiger mountains." "Knowing that the terrain of Shentou Ridge is not suitable for ambush, why should we continue to plan?" This is not in line with the art of war, and it is also not in line with normal logic, what exactly does Chen Geng want to do? Could it be that he had another idea?
He explained to the regimental cadres:
"The terrain is not dangerous, and the enemy is easy to be paralyzed. The narrow mountain beams are inconvenient for our army to unfold, and the enemy is even more difficult. The abandoned fortifications on the side of the road, the enemy is commonplace, is a good condition for our army to cover up and rely on, as long as the enemy is well disguised, it is difficult to find, and the effect of a surprise attack can be achieved. ”
After listening to Chen Geng's analysis, the crowd suddenly opened up in their hearts, but this plan was still risky. What if the enemy is not paralyzed by the abandoned fortifications? What if the enemy finds out? Therefore, it has to be said that Chen Geng did not pay attention to rules and regulations in fighting and dared to take risks.
After the unified understanding of the whole brigade, the 386th Brigade set a specific deployment of troops to "light up and heavy before and heavy on three sides":
1. The main forces of the 771st Regiment and the 772nd Regiment were ambushed in the north of the road. The reinforcement group set up an ambush in the area opposite the shoe sole village.
2. With a company of guerrilla vigilance to the northeast of Lucheng, it is responsible for blowing up the Bridge of the Muddy Zhanghe River and cutting off the traffic between Shentouling and Licheng.
3. The 3rd Battalion of the 772nd Regiment served as a guard on the Lucheng side and cut off the enemy's retreat.
In addition, in order to facilitate concealment, Chen Geng ordered the 771st and 772nd Regiments to set up ambushes
It is forbidden to change the original grass and trees on the old fortifications, and even the weeds that have been stepped on must be straightened according to the direction of the wind
Each regiment and battalion left only 1 cadre outside for observation. This meticulous concealment camouflage and adequate pre-war preparation laid the foundation for victory in this ambush battle.
After the mission was issued, the 386th Brigade was very emotional, especially the new soldiers were very excited, because this was the first time they had participated in such a big battle, and they held traditional weapons such as shuttle marks and red guns.
In order to fight this ambush battle well, Chen Geng went to the Village of Shentou to take a look, and then went to the regiments to personally supervise the soldiers to enter the position.
He encouraged the new soldiers, saying: "You must be brave enough to kill the enemy, the Japanese devil is nothing remarkable, not afraid of its might, only afraid that we are full of indifference and pride and paralysis." ”
Because this ambush battle was very risky, in the camouflage of the position, Chen Geng also personally instructed the soldiers to carry out an ambush, he said: "Everyone should not casually move the old soil on the fortifications, step on the grass, we must follow the direction of the wind, as long as the camouflage is done well, the enemy will not be found if it steps on our hair." ”
The feint begins
On the evening of March 15, according to the plan of the 129th Division, the 769th Regiment of the 386th Brigade began to quietly march towards Licheng, reaching the outskirts of Licheng at midnight. The feint of the 769th Regiment can be said to be the first step in the plan, which is very important. If the camouflage is not good, it is very likely to expose our army's combat intentions.
Chen Xilian, the regimental commander of the 769 regiment, is also an old regimental commander with rich experience, and he is very aware of his own burden, and the "opening cannon" of the 769 regiment must be fired! Hit red!
Chen Xilian took the battalion-level cadres to the edge of the city to observe the terrain, and set up a command post in a broken temple in the north of the city, and the broken temple of the black hole cave could only see from the outside that the flashlight inside was shaking constantly.
"The 2nd Battalion all went to the east of the city to ambush and guard the enemy in the east. The 1st Battalion attacked the north of the city with 1 Company, from where it broke through and landed, followed by 2 companies, taking the opportunity to expand the results of the battle, and 3 companies acted as cover in the rear. The 3rd Battalion was a regimental reserve, ready to enter the battle. ”
The battle begins...
Deputy Regiment Commander Kong Qingde personally led the 1st Battalion to launch a siege of the city, at 4:00 a.m., under the cover of light and heavy machine guns, the 1st Company successfully landed in only 5 minutes, which showed that the Japanese army had been arrogant to the extreme, and they did not expect that the Eighth Route Army would take advantage of the night to attack the city.
After the 1st company attacked the city, the 2nd company also quickly boarded the city. Two old Red Army companies attacked fiercely, and in less than half an hour they hit the vicinity of the headquarters of the Japanese garrison. The enemy's fortifications were so strong that many attacks were unsuccessful.
The Japanese troops in Licheng were very cautious, and since the sky was not yet light and the situation was unknown, the Japanese army was suddenly attacked by our army, and only stuck in the courtyard and did not dare to come out. Naturally, the 769th Regiment would not fight with it, their mission was clear, but the attack was not a seizure.
Therefore, after annihilating more than 100 enemy soldiers, the 1st Battalion retreated to the northwest of Licheng at 9:00 a.m. and trapped the enemy on the outskirts of the suburbs.
Will the enemy fall into a trap?
Before the 769th Regiment attacked Le Cheng, everyone thought that the Li Cheng garrison had only a few hundred people, but later learned that the enemy had thousands of people. It was only because the situation was unclear that the enemy's troops did not all move, but only retreated to resist.
Will the enemy be trapped?
After the attack on Licheng, the Japanese troops in Lucheng did move, but according to the information of the Japanese army, the Japanese troops who came out did not go to reinforce Licheng, but a normal heavy transport. It was only to maintain the normal supply of the enemy 108th Division.
Originally, the Japanese army set up a general station in Licheng to save food and ammunition, and the 108th Division's heavy company was divided into three parts to transport heavy materials back and forth between Licheng and Lucheng. Therefore, this group of Japanese troops was completely carrying out normal transportation tasks, and did not change their plans due to the Eighth Route Army's attack on Licheng.
Under the attack on The city of Loei, the enemy's heavy troops were still transported normally and were not affected at all. It can be seen that the Japanese army was rampant at that time. Although the authenticity of the Japanese army's information is debatable, no matter what the purpose of their Japanese troops' dispatch, they will be dealt a devastating blow by our army.
Because they could never have imagined that the Eighth Route Army had already dug a grave for them at Shentou Ridge!
Catch a turtle in an urn!
At 7:00 a.m. on March 16, the Japanese heavy team set off from Lucheng, and the sparse transport team walked on the road. When the vanguard of the Japanese army marched to Shentou Ridge, the Eighth Route Army was very calm and very hidden in disguise. The search of the enemy cavalry was only 25 meters away from our ambush troops, but still did not find my ambush troops.
The old fortifications on both sides of the enemy road, which had been accustomed to being seen, did not pay any attention to them, and when they saw that there was no movement, they continued to advance. In order to strike at its large forces, our army did not intercept them and released the first two cars of the enemy's heavy transport team.
At about 10 o'clock, the enemy had all entered our ambush area!
At 10:10 a.m., the command post of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army issued an attack signal, the 771st Regiment blocked the enemy from the enemy's front, and the 772nd Regiment and the Supplementary Regiment rushed from the east and west sides of the road to the Japanese column.
Almost instantaneously! The mountain beam, which had been calm as water a second ago, suddenly turned into a volcano, and the machine gunners of the Eighth Route Army ambushed on both sides launched an attack at the same time, raindrops of bullets poured onto the enemy's ranks, and hundreds of grenades flew in the air...
Flying shrapnel, flashing fire from time to time, along with rolling smoke and loess, instantly engulfed the heavy team of the Japanese army.
After the prelude, the warriors who were ambushed on both sides rushed into the enemy group without waiting for the order to charge!
"Rush! Kill! The warriors shouted to kill the enemy, and they fought with the enemy with large knives and spears. The Japanese army was caught off guard by a sudden attack. After a brief moment of stunnedness, the enemy carried out the final resistance with the spirit of Bushido! They fought back with vehicles and horses.
During the battle, Deng Shisong, commander of the 8th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 772nd Regiment, was seriously wounded in the head and chest, unable to speak, and when he was killed, he also brandished grenades to direct the fighters to attack the enemy.
1 soldier from the 1st Battalion was seriously wounded in 4 places, strangled the wound with a towel, and stabbed 3 enemies to death in one breath, and the bayonet in his hand was still inserted into the enemy's body when he was killed.
Du Wangbao, a trumpeter, rushed onto the road with a large stone and smashed a Japanese soldier to death on the ground;
The cooker Lao Cai also smashed an enemy to death with a flat shoulder and captured a three-eight rifle.
The enemy saw that there were too many Eighth Route Army ambushes, and if they continued to fight, there was a danger that the entire army would be destroyed, and the remnants of the Japanese army would desperately fight out of the encirclement and flee in the direction of Licheng.
At this time, the enemy who had been released by our army was forced to return because the Zhaodian Wooden Bridge was burned down by the special agent company of the 771st Regiment of our army. This group of enemies just happened to join the fleeing Japanese troops. They fought back while taking in the defeated soldiers and waiting for rescue.
The Japanese heavy troops were ambushed, and the Japanese troops in Licheng soon received the news, and twice tried to repair the wooden bridge under fire cover, but they were all repelled by the special agent company of the 771st Regiment of our army and blocked on the north bank of the Zhanghe River.
However, the Japanese troops in Lucheng immediately rushed to reinforcements, and under the cover of aircraft, more than 1,000 Japanese troops rushed in. At 15:00, they arrived at Shentou Village, and the 386th Brigade served as a shield for the blockade, and the main force moved to the northwest of Shentou Ridge, and the battle ended at 16:00.
Classic example of mountain guerrilla warfare
In the Shentouling ambush, our army annihilated more than 1,500 Japanese troops, captured more than 550 long and short guns, more than 600 mules and horses, and a large number of military supplies, and dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army that invaded the southeast of Shanxi.
The "Shentouling Ambush Battle" can be described as a thrilling guerrilla tactic, from pretending to attack Licheng to "attract the enemy to fight for help" to Chen Geng's bold breakthrough of conventional tactics of "counting and counting" to ambush the enemy, all aspects show that this is a beautiful battle, especially General Chen Geng's tactic of using the enemy's psychological anti-conventional ambush, which is very admirable.
Chen Geng was also satisfied with the battle, and he later recalled:
"This time the troops are indeed well hidden, and even the local people did not know it beforehand." At that time, it looked really spectacular, as soon as the military trumpet was blown, people suddenly came out, the devils were caught off guard, and the battle was finished in four hours, and the abandoned corpses of the enemy on the battlefield were really all over the mountains. This time, the enemy's body was carried for two days in more than 100 cars. ”
This battle also caused great shock in the Japanese army. The Japanese 108th Division reported to the 1st Army that "the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army is well-equipped, the tactical actions are brave and courageous, and the common means are to skillfully use the terrain to disrupt the enemy's rear."
A Japanese soldier wrote in his diary: "The 108th Division has never suffered such a loss. ”
After the war, he wrote a newsletter entitled "Escape from Danger", calling the Battle of Shentouling a "typical guerrilla tactic" of the Eighth Route Army.
After this battle, the angry Japanese army wrote down with Chinese on the armored vehicle"
Specialized in the 386 Brigade
The slogan shows the deep impact of this defeat on the Japanese army.