Author: Mo Guyan
In the second half of 1943, the Japanese army was gradually defeated in the Pacific Theater and was eager to draw troops from the Chinese battlefield to provide support, but suffering from the containment of the anti-Japanese base areas behind the enemy lines, this plan was difficult to implement. In July of that year, the Japanese North China Front concentrated 40,000 troops (including puppet troops) to conduct a major sweep of the Jin-Cha-Ji base area.
The Japanese puppet army's sweep of the Beiyue area was the most brutal, because this was a grain-producing area, and the area between the Shahe, Tanghe, and Tuotuo rivers was the leading organ of the Jin-Cha-Ji base area, so as soon as the Japanese army entered the base area, it ran between these three rivers. Xiao Ke, acting commander of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, and Cheng Zihua, acting political commissar, commanded the troops of the four sub-districts of the Eighth Route Army's Beiyue District and the departments under the Yanbei Command, totaling 40,000 people, to resist the Japanese sweep with all their might.
The Japanese army carried out a brutal sweep of the Japanese base areas
Intelligence work has always been a major advantage of the Eighth Route Army, and this time is no exception. Five days before the Japanese attack, the 3rd Military Sub-district of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region had already learned of this information, and while informing the staff of the border organs and the students of the Bethune Health School to quickly transfer, on the other hand, ordered the 42nd Regiment to guard the commanding heights of Shenxian Mountain and prepare for battle.
Shenxian Mountain is in the middle of three rivers, the main peak is 1800 meters above sea level, the terrain is dangerous, and it is an excellent location to block the Japanese army. On September 20, the battle on the outskirts began, and the 42nd Regiment killed and wounded more than 50 Japanese troops in one fell swoop. Five days later, the Japanese puppet army concentrated more than 3,000 people and launched a formal attack on the area around The Immortal Mountain. The charcoal ash shop, about 6 kilometers from the main peak of Shenxian Mountain, was guarded by 4 companies of the 42nd Regiment, where they fought a classic battle.
The troops of the Eighth Route Army and Hebei army were in the anti-sweeping battle
Located in a narrow valley with steep mountains on both sides, Charcoal Ash Shop is an important gateway to the southwest of the Xianxian Mountain area. Under the leadership of company commander Ma Chengzhou, the 4th Company was ordered to rush to the charcoal ash shop to organize a defense and cover the transfer of rear organs, and they were determined to rely on the dangerous terrain and adopt a combination of "top" and "release" to block the Japanese attack. The 4th Company, together with the militia, planted mines at the front of the position, river beaches, intersections, villages, and other places through which the Japanese army might pass, and organized the militia to fill in wells to block doors, wet firewood, and cover the transfer of the masses.
At dawn on September 25, more than 400 Japanese troops, under the cover of artillery fire, launched an attack on the positions of the 4th Company. When the Japanese waded into the center of the river, a platoon of light machine guns opened fire first, killing and wounding more than 10 Japanese soldiers in an instant. The Japanese suffered a sudden blow and hurriedly retreated.
By noon, the Japanese attacked again under the cover of fire. The commander of the Horse Company found a Japanese commander commanding on the high ground on the other side of the river and immediately ordered the grenadier to be fired, killing him accurately. The Japanese lost command and the attack was halted. Subsequently, the Japanese regrouped their forces and moved northwest along the valley, intending to detour 3 rows of positions from the flank to the rear. The commander of the Ma Company immediately led a squad and 1 light machine gun, quickly ran to the front of the Japanese army, and when the Japanese army approached, it suddenly opened fire, killing and wounding more than 20 Japanese troops, and the remaining Japanese troops were repulsed. At dusk, the Japanese were unable to move forward.
The Japanese were dealing with wounded soldiers
After the Japanese army was frustrated in its advance, it carried out a tentative attack with a small force, and was constantly hit and killed by mines, and more than ten people below the Japanese squad leader were killed and injured in the Yijin Dragon Cave. Taking advantage of the gap between battles, the 4th Company added fortifications, replenished ammunition, and planted mines in preparation for a larger Japanese attack.
In the early morning of the 29th, the Japanese army gathered more than 900 people and launched an attack on the position of the 4th Company under the cover of aircraft and artillery fire. The 4th Company and the militia guerrilla group were flexible and mobile, cleverly changing the firing position, firing at the Japanese army with cold guns and cold guns, sometimes throwing out platoon grenades, pointing east and west, haunting, and circling with the Japanese army for more than 5 hours, making it difficult for the Japanese army to move.
After the defeat of the Japanese frontal attack, part of the force detoured to the left, and the 1st and 3rd platoons were in danger of being encircled. The commander of the Ma Company ordered the 2nd Squad to hold its position, contain the Japanese army, and cover the transfer of the main force of the 1st and 3rd Platoons. The second squad leader, Sun Jinke, led the whole class to fight against the Japanese army, and after the ammunition was finished, a white-knife fight was launched, and finally the whole class died heroically. At 14:00, the Japanese army advanced 5 miles at the cost of more than 150 casualties.
Japanese weapons captured by the Eighth Route Army
That night, the Japanese camped in charcoal ash shops and lit a campfire at the edge of the village to keep warm. The 4th Company and the militia guerrilla group joined hands to harass the Japanese. The new method of 4 companies of special shooters aimed at the Japanese troops roasting the fire, and 2 shots killed 2 enemies. The Japanese were horrified, quickly extinguished the fire, and set up machine guns to shoot aimlessly. At this time, 3 militiamen took advantage of the night to sneak up on the Japanese machine guns and throw out several grenades to blow them up. The Japanese were attacked everywhere and stayed at peace all night.
The Japanese army suffered heavy blows at the charcoal ash bunk, suffering heavy casualties, coupled with the lack of food and water, and could not advance, but could only retreat. The 4th Company was still strong in will to fight, and immediately sent a small detachment to follow the Japanese army all the way, and at the Jinlongdong Pass, the Japanese army did not have a cold gun, and once again killed and wounded many Japanese troops.
Chinese militia photographed by American journalists
On October 2, the Japanese army gathered more than 1,200 people again and attacked the charcoal ash shop again. At this time, the organs of the border area of the Eighth Route Army had been safely transferred, so the 4th Company was ordered to withdraw from the battle and no longer negotiate with the Japanese army. However, in the process of withdrawing from the battle, the 4 companies did not reduce their lethality, lured the Japanese army into the main peak of The Immortal Mountain with a squad, took advantage of the fatigue of the Japanese army to hit hard, killed 25 Japanese troops, and covered the safe transfer of the whole company.
In the face of the attack of the superior strength of the Japanese army, the officers and men of the 4th Company adopted a mobile and flexible tactic according to the actual situation on the battlefield, fought with the Japanese army for 8 days and nights, delayed the attack of the Japanese army several times that of themselves, killed and wounded 239 Japanese troops, and successfully completed the task of covering the safe transfer of the rear organs in the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region. In the battle, the 4th Company chose a favorable position, which offset the firepower superiority of the Japanese army to the greatest extent, and while giving full play to the power of light weapons, it also killed, attrition, and exhausted the Japanese army in mine warfare and sparrow warfare. The militia was also quite powerful in this battle, not only undertaking the tasks of standing guard, guarding against special traitors, clearing the fields, and laying mines, but also cooperating with the 4 companies to attack and harass the Japanese army everywhere, making the Japanese army almost helpless and embarrassed, which once again proved that the deepest root of the great power of the war existed among the people.
A squad of the Eighth Route Army captured the Japanese Type 92 heavy machine guns
By the autumn of 1943, the elite troops of the Japanese army had either been drawn to the Pacific Or assigned to the Kwantung Army, and the combat effectiveness of the troops left in the Chinese battlefield was obviously one notch lower, coupled with the heavy blows of the soldiers and civilians of the War of Resistance, the "old devils" had suffered complete losses, and the quality of the Japanese army's soldiers had greatly declined compared with the early days of the war of aggression against China. In the Battle of The Charcoal Ash Shop, the Japanese army increased its strength one after another but in vain, was caught off guard after encountering a sudden blow, the tactical tactics were unchanged, the lack of contingency measures, and were passively beaten from beginning to end, compared with the Japanese army in the early stage of the War of Resistance. On the other hand, the Eighth Route Army, after the test of the brutal war in the six years since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, has become more and more effective, and its spiritual will and technical and tactical level have surpassed the Japanese army, which means that the end of the Japanese army is indeed coming.
【Deeply cultivate the history of war, carry forward positive energy, welcome to submit, private messages will be restored】