Introduction: During the War of Resistance Against Japan, even the main forces of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army wanted to capture the cannons of the Japanese army in battle, which was a very difficult thing. Once, however, a local armed force, far less equipped than a field force, the county brigade, with a few pistols and a dozen axes, wanted to grab the devil's cannon. Isn't this "toads want to eat swan meat", can they succeed?
In 1938, the CCP created the Jizhong Anti-Japanese Base Area. By 1941, the anti-Japanese base area in Central Hebei had expanded to 44 counties, with a population of more than 8 million and more than 80,000 regular troops.
The Japanese invading army in north China regarded the anti-Japanese base areas in Central Hebei as a major problem in its heart and organized many large-scale sweeps; the Eighth Route Army also organized counter-sweeps in a tit-for-tat manner. After fierce sweeping and counter-sweeping struggles, the Jizhong base areas, far from being eliminated, developed and expanded.
After the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, the Japanese army changed its tactics and began to adopt the so-called "encroachment" method against the base areas in Hebei. Through the method of building strongholds in the marginal areas of the base areas, the base areas were compressed bit by bit and the maneuvering space of the Eighth Route Army was reduced.
Location of Jiangzhuangzi Village
On February 9, 1942, the Japanese army built its stronghold to Jiangzhuangzi Village in the southeast of Wenxin County (now Jiangzhuangzi Village, Sunshi Town, Wen'an County, Langfang City, which was formed by the merger of Wen'an and Xinzhen counties during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and renamed Wen'an County after liberation). The Japanese are building a stronghold in Jiangzhuangzi Village, and it should be said that the vision is still very poisonous. Jiang Zhuangzi is in the southeast of Wen'an City, which is a half-water and half-land transportation artery. To the north, it is the main water route leading from the Jingwen Anwa to the Daqing River and the Reed Pond; to the south, it is the central area of the base area with a fairly solid foundation.
If the Japanese devils occupied Jiangzhuangzi Village for a long time, it would not only cut off the ties between the land and water of the anti-Japanese armed forces, but also directly threaten dozens of nearby villages that had been consolidated, and even whether the anti-Japanese work in the whole county could persist was a problem.
Moreover, what is particularly excessive is that the Japanese devils also pulled a cannon (according to historical records, the model is a Type 38 field gun with a maximum range of 8350m), which is mounted inside the stronghold. The enemies in the stronghold demanded food, fodder, men, and even "flower girls" from the surrounding villages every day. With a slight delay, the devils shelled the village. For a time, the surrounding villages collapsed and collapsed, and the people died and fled. The villagers petitioned the anti-Japanese government in droves, demanding that the Communist Party pull out this nail and restore peace to the people.
Japanese-made Type 38 field guns in the museum
The reason why the Japanese army dared to put artillery at the door of the base area was because the devils had obtained intelligence and knew that there was no main force of the Eighth Route Army in this area, only a few so-called "Tu Eight Roads", which were not a threat to them. There are more than 100 puppet troops on the side of the stronghold to cooperate with the battle, and there are other strongholds nearby to cover the ghosts, and as soon as the wind blows, reinforcements will come immediately.
It should be said that the information obtained by the devil is still very accurate. At that time, there were indeed no large troops of the Eighth Route Army in Wenxin County, only local armed forces such as county brigades and district squads, and the entire county brigade was only 40 or 50 people; the weapons were also very simple, and there were a total of 7 pistols in the county, and they were not all fired. The difficult problem was placed in front of the Wenxin County Party Committee.
At the beginning, the county party committee planned to squeeze the enemy away by means of a strong wall and clearing the wilderness. To this end, the people in the village were evacuated and the grain and everything were hidden. Unexpectedly, however, the devils actually brought cannons and threatened the surrounding villages to give them a gift. This stronghold must be removed before the Japanese army has a firm foothold. Otherwise, once the devils gain a firm foothold, the threat to the base area will be too great.
Obviously, in the case of the county brigade, it is not possible to attack by force, but can only outwit. Attacking the west and encircling Wei to save Zhao seemed like a good strategy. On the night of February 12 (the 27th day of the lunar month), Chu Guoen, the leader of the county brigade, led 17 soldiers to raid Wen'an City. The 18 comrades were divided into three groups, the first group went to arrest the puppet county magistrate, the second group went to smash the prison to save the comrades, and the third group was personally led by Chu Guoen to solve the puppet army guarding the northeast watchtower of the city and protect the retreat route.
That night, 18 warriors turned Wen'an City upside down. Although he failed to capture the pseudo-county magistrate, he also killed the pseudo-captain, captured more than 30 puppet soldiers, and rescued more than 40 comrades who were imprisoned. In the early morning, they took the captured and rescued comrades, disguised themselves as so-called "crusaders", cleverly crossed the guard towers on the blockade line, and returned safely to the base area.
There was such a big movement in Wen'an City, and it was reasonable to say that troops should be drawn back and strengthened defenses. However, the ghosts stationed in Jiangzhuangzi Village had no intention of withdrawing, and continued to repair bunkers, dig large ditches, and build high walls. It seems that there is no other way but to fight hard with the devil.
The county party committee used the devils to repair the stronghold and sent people disguised as laborers to conduct reconnaissance. In addition, a group of people were mobilized to return to the village, and a two-sided regime was organized in Jiangzhuangzi Village. After some effort, we finally got a rough idea of the enemy's situation.
Japanese stronghold in film and television works
More than 100 puppet soldiers lived alone in a compound at the west end of the village. More than 20 devils lived in a courtyard in the east of the village, including five main rooms, four inverted seats, two east and west wing rooms, and a guard tower was built in the four corners of the courtyard, and the door opening was facing south. All the ghost soldiers slept in the five main rooms, only the commander Tomito and his clerks, living in two west wing rooms, counted as the command headquarters, the east wing room and the upside down seat room, which were the quartermaster warehouses. The cannon was also usually placed in the aisle of the upside-down room. In addition to the cannons, the Devil's weapons were two crooked machine guns, two grenadiers, more than twenty rifles, and four wolfhounds.
Two machine guns were generally mounted on a large cabinet in the east room, two grenadiers were placed in the west house, and about 20 rifles were hung in the outer room of the middle hall. More than ten meters south of the compound, there are three rooms that are kitchens, and there are Japanese guys cooking during the day, locking the door at night, and people going back to the compound to sleep.
The Japanese knew that the Eighth Route Army was attacking at night, and before it was dark, they sent their men away and closed the gate. Kerosene lamps were hung around the house, and one was placed more than two feet away to illuminate the surrounding area. The wolf dogs were also released to patrol, and the dogs' hearing was very sensitive, not to mention approaching the house, that is, passing by the edge of the village, the dogs would bark.
During the day, there are sentries in and out of the rooms, and the other devils are still sneaking into the street, and it is difficult for the pre-lurking teams to cover up. As soon as the servants who worked turned their heads and ears, the devils had many hearts. Mix it up in the people, and the gun is not easy to carry with you.
After finishing work at four o'clock in the afternoon, the ghost went to the newly built kitchen outside the South Gate to take a bath. That's a loophole. However, after the minfu used a large water urn to boil hot water, the devil drove the minfu away. It is also inconvenient to start here.
The county brigade was trying to learn more about the daily activities of the devils and determine the time to start; at this time, the devils asked the village to provide two "servants" to serve them through the maintenance meeting. The organization seized the opportunity and selected two thirteen or fourteen-year-old children to break into the stronghold. At first, when the two children heard that they were going to serve the devils in the stronghold, they both said that they would rather die than be a slave to the country." Later, they were told that they were using this position to spy on the enemy, and they immediately expressed their determination to complete the task.
Then he made detailed arrangements for them, instructing them to be "diligent" after going to the stronghold, first currying favor with the enemy and gaining trust, and going early and returning late. Take advantage of sweeping the floor, get closer to the water, see when the ghost sleeps, the location of each room, how many people sleep in each room, which side of the head sleeps, and see if the number of people in each room has changed in the morning and night...
As soon as the devil saw these two children, he first gave them a lot of delicious food. Then he began to paraphrase them, asking who was secretly in contact with the Eighth Route Army, who was the Communist Party among the people, and so on. The two children had prepared in advance and answered very appropriately, without revealing any flaws.
The ghost commander didn't seem to be satisfied with their reply, and suddenly yelled at the wolfhound. The wolfhound received the instructions from his master, threw down the two children at once, and then opened his mouth to bite. The two children were suddenly frightened, and their bodies were trembling. At this time, the devil commander suddenly laughed triumphantly and shouted at the wolf dog: "Buckle the horse!" Buckle the horse! The wolfhound heard this command and immediately obediently ran back.
The two children learned a hand, and when they saw the wolfhounds later, they shouted to them, "Buckle the horse!" The wolfhound obediently wagged its tail and came down honestly.
Japanese military dogs
Through further reconnaissance, some new information was learned. There are four sentries in the watchtower during the day and only one at night. Every morning at dawn, the devilish commander always went to the room first, looked around on the roof, and went down when he thought it was safe. He went out of the room, and in another minute the door opened. The man who opened the door was a ghost guy who had done business in Tianjin, spoke a few words of Chinese, and never carried a weapon. The man opened the door and went to the newly built kitchen outside the door to make breakfast. After opening the door, the other Japanese soldiers had to continue to sleep for a while before they got up one after another and came out empty-handed to brush their teeth and wash their faces. At the same time, the foreman and the man who worked in the house had to arrive to wait before the door was opened.
After a comprehensive analysis of intelligence from all sides, the enemy was attacked at night and could not find a loophole to drill; but during the time when the door was just opened during the day, it was a good opportunity. The county brigade decided to take advantage of the fact that the devil's brother opened the door and the enemy was still sleeping, set up an ambush in advance, suddenly broke into the door, caught the enemy by surprise, and quickly annihilated the enemy.
How to deal with the puppet army stationed at the west end of the village? With the strength of the county brigade, it is obvious that the devilish puppet army cannot fight at the same time. If the puppet army is fought first, it is bound to hit the grass and snakes, and the Japanese army will definitely go to the rescue. The puppet army and the devils are not the same heart, and they will not really fight for the Lives of the Japanese. The county brigade decided to arrange a squad on the opposite side of the puppet army station at the tomb of the Tang King, and then put a fake cannon made of wood. As soon as the battle broke out, people were sent to shout at the door of the puppet army, posing as a large unit of the Eighth Route Army to scare them.
The tomb of the Tang King in present-day Wen'an County
During the day, it was obviously inconvenient to carry long guns when they went to raid the devil's stronghold, but the county brigade borrowed from the east and west to get five pistols. At this time, the stronghold of Jiang Zhuangzi Village had begun to repair the blockade ditch. Once the blockade ditch is dug, the difficulty of sneak attack is even greater. There can be no more waiting, and action must be taken immediately. If you don't have enough pistols, bring an axe. When questioned by the enemy, it is said that it is used by carpenters. The action was scheduled for the early morning of February 24 (the tenth day of the first lunar month).
On the morning of February 23, in Niusanwang Village, not far from Jiangzhuangzi Village, the county brigade and the district squad secretly assembled. Chu Guo'en selected twenty people to form a commando team, divided into three groups. The first group of seven people, with two pistols, seven axes and grenades, went to cut the devils in the landlord's suite; the second group, with two pistols, seven axes and grenades, went to cut the devils in the west suite of the main room. Each group is divided into two groups, the first group of four people is responsible for cutting the ghosts in the middle, and the second group of three people is responsible for cutting the ghosts in the outside.
The third group of seven people, chu Guo'en holding his own pistol, led the two men to deal with the ghost commander and clerks in the West Wing. The other four warriors were responsible for holding the guns, especially the two machine guns; whatever happened, if they snatched the guns out, they were done.
Four sharpshooters were placed around the stronghold, specializing in sentries. In addition, two comrades were arranged to deal with the ghost guy who cooked in the kitchen outside the door. The main force of the county brigade is led by the deputy brigade leader, who is responsible for receiving support on the periphery.
Chu Guoen instructed everyone not to slash indiscriminately after rushing into the house, but to "sit in the right seat." Divide the east head from the easternmost one, cut one and move one to the west; divide the west head from the westernmost one, cut one to the east; divide the middle first cut the middle, and then cut both sides, and must not miss one.
In addition, the use of axes to use ingenuity, can not use brute force, cut off the head like a cut melon, stick to the edge of the cutting belt to cut, cut into more than an inch deep can be, must not smash the axe all at once into the brain shell, so that once the axe can not be pulled out, it will be wrong.
Carpenter and axe in old photos
At 12:00 midnight on this day, the team set off. Not long after departure, the northeast wind blew. The wind blew harder and harder, rolling up the dust on the ground, and almost no one was visible on the other side. It was a real ghost, and the sound of the wind masked the sound of the troops marching. Until entering the village of Jiang Zhuangzi, the Japanese wolf dogs did not bark.
The village cadres and the commando team first hid in a courtyard to rest, which was about two or three hundred meters away from the devil's stronghold. Chu Guoen asked everyone to sleep first, but no one could sleep. When it was almost dawn, the village cadres went out to observe the movement of the devil's stronghold. Soon, the news came and the gate of the stronghold opened.
Chu Guo'en immediately led the commando team and ran to the stronghold. According to the original plan, in order not to arouse the suspicion of the ghost sentry, the soldiers should pretend to be the people who went to work in the stronghold and walk over unhurriedly. However, after a night of waiting, the commando team could not hold back, like an arrow off the string, rushed to the gate of the stronghold. Strange to say, there are no ghost sentries on the watchtower.
The devil's brother was standing near the gate when he saw a group of people with axes rushing over, knowing that the situation was not a second. After he shouted, he turned his head and ran. The commandos ignored him and quickly rushed into the courtyard and killed the devils according to the prior division of labor. The devil's wolfhound was about to bark when he saw someone rushing in. As soon as I shouted "buckle the horse" to them, I immediately came down honestly.
The first group of devils was very agile, and some of the devils lying in the bed were still dreaming, and their heads were blossoming; some of them had just opened their eyes in confusion and were stunned, and they were slashed with an axe; some of them woke up and saw that a heavenly soldier with a board axe flew in, and he was so frightened that he pulled the quilt over his head and blinked his head; only one sat up, but an axe also reimbursed him. A dozen devils in the East House were all killed in less than 5 minutes, and two machine guns were also obtained.
The second group had an accident, it turned out that the ghost sentry saw that the sky was already bright, and it was cold enough, and he left the guard tower and sat in the west room to roast the fire. The leader of the second group rushed to the front, and as soon as he entered the West House, he bumped into the ghost sentry. The group leader fired one shot first, but he didn't expect it to be a stinker; before he could shoot a second shot, he was shot and killed. The remaining soldiers of the second group were also blocked out of the door, and the situation was very critical.
Chu Guo'en was standing in the corner of the south room at this time, observing the movement of the west wing. Only to see a head emerge from the window and peek out. Chu Guo'en raised his hand and shot it, and this man was upside down and disappeared. Later, it was learned that it was the ghost documents that were killed.
At this time, the ghosts of the Westinghouse had begun to shoot out, and Chu Guo'en immediately commanded a warrior to strafe the enemy with the newly captured machine gun. Just as the machine gun was about to be erected, the devilish commander sneaked to the door of the West Wing, pushed the door open a slit, and extended his pistol to shoot. Chu Guo'en's eyes were quick, a shot hit him on the back of the hand, and the pistol fell outside the door with a clatter. Immediately after, a soldier rushed into the West Wing with a newly captured rifle, and shot him.
At this time, the machine gun also sounded. Under the cover of machine guns, the fighters of the second group rushed in. With the exception of the four devils who kicked open the fake window on the back wall and fled bare-buttocked, the remaining enemies were all solved by axe grenades. The whole battle ended in more than half an hour.
Because of the strong winds, the main force of the county brigade on the outskirts did not hear the sound of gunfire (nor did the ghosts in the nearby strongholds), and failed to rush to support during the battle. However, the people of Jiangzhuangzi Village and the people from other villages who came to repair the stronghold participated in the battle under the leadership of the village cadres as soon as the battle began. The villagers shouted as they helped catch the ghosts who had slipped through the net. That's how the guy who ran away at the beginning was caught. After the battle, the villagers helped to carry the booty. The devil's cannon was really heavy, and the three donkeys in the front pulled it, and more than twenty young men in the back pushed it before it was transported away.
The puppet army on the west side of the village did not react as expected before the war, shrinking inside the stronghold without any reaction. It wasn't until the county brigade and the common people burned down the stronghold and went away with the booty that they released a few rows of guns into the sky. However, the trouble of this group of puppet troops had just begun, and the four devils who escaped naked sneaked into the puppet army's stronghold after the county brigade retreated.
The commander of the puppet army knew that these four devils would definitely sue that they would not be saved if they saw death, but it was inconvenient to directly use their hands in the stronghold. So he sent a few cronies, saying that they were escorting them to a nearby Japanese stronghold, planning to kill the four devils on the road. Unexpectedly, when I started to move, something went wrong and ran away from a ghost. The ghost who ran away was also estimated to have been injured, and not long after running into the Japanese stronghold, he also lost his breath.
Counting the four devils who were killed by the puppet army, a total of 25 enemy soldiers were annihilated in this battle, and 1 type 38 field gun, 2 light machine guns, more than 20 rifles, 1 pistol, and ammunition and food were captured. The county brigade sacrificed only one person.
This battle, later known as the Jiang Zhuangzi Axe Battle, had a great influence in the Jizhong region. This battle greatly increased the morale of the anti-Japanese soldiers and people, and was praised by the superiors, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region and Zhu De also gave commendations and was also published in the "Jizhong Herald," "Jin-Cha-Ji Daily," and "Yan'an Daily."
Postscript: The puppet army stationed in Jiangzhuangzi Village was severely purged by the Japanese army after the war. A group of people, including the commander of the puppet army, were shot, and the rest were said to have been sent to the northeast to work as coolies. Everyone inside the puppet army was suddenly in danger, and some strongholds around Jiang Zhuangzi Village were also removed.
The four wolf dogs in the stronghold were not clearly recorded in the historical records of their later encounters, and the biggest possibility was that they were beaten by the common people.
The Japanese commander who was killed, Tomito, may have been a little famous among the devils. After the war, the Japanese army set up a so-called "memorial platform" in Jiangzhuangzi Village, and there were often ghost soldiers who ran to mourn. After the local militia grasped the law, they deliberately dismantled the memorial platform and then laid mines around it. The next time the devil came to pay homage to the shrine, he saw that the memorial platform was destroyed and quickly rebuilt it. As a result, the mines were detonated at once, killing more than a dozen people. Never dare to come here again to harass.
Chu Guo'en (center) during the War of Resistance
Chu Guoen later served as the head of the People's Liberation Army regiment, and after liberation, he transferred to the judicial system, successively serving as deputy political commissar and party secretary of the Shijiazhuang Police Brigade, public security brigade, captain of the first and fifth labor reform teams in the province, secretary of the party committee of the seventh labor reform team, director of the provincial first prison, secretary of the party committee, and adviser of the Hebei Provincial Public Security Department. He died in March 1991 at the age of 83.
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