Located on the border of Rizhao and Ju County, south of the Shanju Highway, Jiazi Mountain protrudes like a wedge into the central area of the coastal area.
The original 111th Division of the Northeast Army stationed in this area was the 111th Division of the Northeast Army, and there were many communists in the division, and in the past they basically got along with the Eighth Route Army; Yu Xuezhong of the Northeast Army had a deep contradiction with Shen Honglie, chairman of the Kuomintang Shandong Province.
Chiang Kai-shek saw this sign and transferred Shen Honglie away from Shandong and appointed Mou Zhongheng, a general of the Northeast Army, as the new chairman of the Shandong provincial government. Yu Xuezhong thus began to lean towards the diehards and actively participated in the invasion of the recalcitrant army of the Central Committee into the anti-Japanese base areas of the Communist Party.
The main force of the Shandong Column, under the command of Li Yu, launched a large-scale counterattack and severely damaged the Northeast Army, after which the Eighth Route Army took the initiative to reconcile relations with the Northeast Army and support them in resisting the Japanese and counter-"sweeping". At this time, there was a clear division within the Northeast Army, and a sharp struggle between progressive forces and reactionary forces began.
In September 1940, Miao Lanliu, commander of the 57th Army of the Northeast Army, signed a secret agreement with the Japanese 21st Division to surrender against the communists, and the patriotic generals of the army, Chang Enduo, commander of the 111th Division, and Wan Yi, commander of the 333rd Brigade, led their troops to launch the "9.22" hoe rape campaign, controlled the headquarters of the 57th Army, and issued an anti-Japanese hoe and rape telegram.
However, the stubborn forces in the Northeast Army, with the support of Chiang Kai-shek, not only protected Miao Liu, but also stepped up their crackdown on the progressive forces, and at the same time commanded the troops to engage in friction with the Eighth Route Army.
On February 17, 1941, the commander of the 331st Brigade of the 111th Division, Sun Huancai, who adhered to the anti-communist stance and had pseudo-contacts on the same day, took advantage of the opportunity when division commander Chang Enduo was seriously ill with tuberculosis and detained Wan Yi.
The other communists who remained in the division were either forced to evacuate, imprisoned, or killed. Under the control of Sun Huancai and others, the 111th Division resumed military friction with the Eighth Route Army.
In March, Chiang Kai-shek sent a secret telegram to Yu Xuezhong to secretly execute Wan Yi. However, Yu Xuezhong did not implement it. In July, Chiang Kai-shek's special agents sent to oversee Wan Yi went directly to the 57th Army.
At this critical moment, Chang Enduo was in critical condition, but he was still worried about the whereabouts of the 111th Division, and he secretly sent someone to find Guo Weicheng, the chief secretary of Major General Yu Xuezhong's headquarters:
"We must not let the 111th Division fall into the hands of the reactionaries, I can't act now, I entrust you to rescue Wan Yi, and then lead the 111th Division to electrify the whole country and reiterate the eight major propositions of our Northeast Army at the time of the Xi'an Incident."
Guo Weicheng agreed one by one, and on August 3, 1941, he led the 111th Division to issue a statement, and rescued Wan Yi and asked him to ask the Eighth Route Army for help.
In the early morning of August 4, the Shandong Branch of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held an emergency meeting to study and deal with the "8. Third, the policy of the incident, Luo Rongheng said at the meeting:
"The incident of the 111th Division was forced by Chiang Kai-shek's policy of separatism and retrogression, and the nature of the incident was just and progressive, and it was consistent with the anti-Japanese unity and progress demands of the people of the whole country, and we must support it."
"However, the reactionary forces in the Northeast Army are very large, and it is inevitable to suppress and divide this force, so there may be chaos in this unit, and we should take urgent measures to support them from all sides."
"But under the current circumstances," Luo Ronghuan said, "we still sent Wan Yi back immediately, and Wang Weiping, an underground party member who had previously withdrawn, also went back, so that they could control and stabilize the ranks together with the leaders of the incident, and at the same time strictly guard against Sun Huancai's counterattack." ”
As Luo Ronghuan expected, before the 111th Division could be completely stabilized, Sun Huancai gathered some troops to seize the Jiazi Mountain District, and the 111th Division was forced to transfer to the base of the Eighth Route Army to rest, and Division Commander Chang Enduo unfortunately died of illness during the transfer.
"Can't let this Sun Huancai be too arrogant!" Luo Ronghuan then mobilized troops to assist the 111th Division in mid-August, launching a campaign against the rebel Sun Huancai, and recapturing the Jiazi Mountains in one fell swoop.
The 111th Division continued to use the original number, and after democratic election by the representatives of officers and soldiers, Wan Yi served as the division commander, Guo Weicheng as the deputy division commander and director of the Political Department, and Wang Weiping as the deputy director. The 115th Division and the First Kang Da Branch also transferred a number of outstanding political cadres and model fighters to the 111th Division, strengthen the company, and strengthen the organs.
In October 1942, Sun Huancai, who had fled north of the Riju Highway, reorganized the remnants and invaded the Jiazi Mountains. Luo Ronghuan again sent troops to help the 111th Division fight against Sun Huancai, and Jiazishan in World War II.
However, this battle was stopped due to the winter "sweep" launched by the Japanese puppet army, and at this time, Sun Huancai still controlled the area around Shichang, Zhifang, and Liujiadongshan south of Jiazi Mountain, and became a henchman in the coastal base.
In December 1942, Okamura Ningji arrived in Yantai and mobilized troops to prepare for the "Great Sweep" in the Jiaodong area. Luo Ronghuan heard the news and busily convened a meeting:
"The gathering of Japanese forces in the area of Jiaodong is another good opportunity for us to 'turn the edge'. This time, we will solve Sun Huancai in one fell swoop! ”
"I have long seen that he is not good," Chen Guang said, "I see that we will increase our strength this time and solve him in one go." "Good!" Luo Ronghuan said, "I suggest transferring back to Liang Xingchu's 5th Brigade from Northern Jiangsu. ”
Chen Guang said: "When Liang Xingchu comes back, I will have more confidence", and after speaking, he couldn't help but laugh.
"The 5th Teaching Brigade, plus the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade, the 5th and 6th Regiments of the 2nd Brigade of the Shandong Military Region, the Independent Regiment of the Binhai Naval Subdistrict, and Wan Yi's 111th Division," Luo Ronghuan said, "These forces are screwed together, we must pull out the nail of Sun Huancai!" ”
On December 17, Chen Guang rode a fast horse to the front line of Jiazishan to reconnoiter the enemy. After inspecting the terrain and scouting, Chen Guang called a small meeting.
"This time, let's give Sun Huancai an intermediate blossom!" Chen Guang said, "Liang Xingchu led the 5th Brigade to bypass Zhulu and Liujia Dongshan from the east and capture Shichang, where Sun Huancai's division headquarters was stationed, Zeng Guohua led the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade, Sun Jixian led the 5th and 6th Regiments of the 2nd Brigade of the Shandong Military Region to capture Zhifang from the west, and Wan Yi led the 111th Division to occupy the commanding heights of Jiazishan in a roundabout way." ”
"All parties should take advantage of the darkness to enter the attack position. After the 111th Division occupied Jiazi Mountain, it fired signal flares, and then attacked all sides together, capturing the stone field in one fell swoop, and then taking advantage of the chaos to annihilate Sun Huancai's department. ”
On the evening of the 18th, the troops were deployed according to the deployment, and everything went smoothly at first, after the 111th Division fired signal flares, the troops on the western front successfully occupied Zhifang, but the eastern front went wrong. The 5th Brigade, which had just returned from northern Jiangsu, was taken by the guide on the wrong path, not going north to the stone field, but south to Zhulu, and when this mistake was discovered, it was already dawn, and then returning to attack the stone field, it was necessary to pass through Sun Huancai's Liu Jia Dongshan position.
"Storm the Liu family Dongshan!" Chen Guang ordered, but Liujiadongshan was not easy to attack, and the enemy relied on strong pillboxes built of stone bars to resist with intensive firepower, and the 5th Brigade suffered heavy casualties, but the attack still failed to succeed.
Chen Guang was originally an impatient, but at this time he was in a hurry, and the leading cadres in all directions also had different opinions, some were unwilling to continue fighting to avoid excessive casualties, and some emphasized that they would return without success and hurt morale, and they should stick to the end. Chen Guang was busy discussing with Luo Ronghuan.
"Go to the front immediately!" Luo Ronghuan, who was attending a production saving meeting at the division headquarters, heard that the battle was not going well, and his heart was on fire, so he took a cavalry platoon and rushed to the front line non-stop, all the way to the command post only 500 meters away from the enemy, and presided over a meeting of the commanders to study the next way to fight.
At the meeting, everyone expressed their opinions and had different opinions. Luo Ronghuan re-analyzed the situation and said to everyone: "Unwilling to continue to fight and just focus on fighting to the death, these two tendencies are not right. Now, we have to fight, but not hard. It is necessary to improve tactics, transfer the 2nd brigade of the Shandong column and destroy the enemy's fortifications with explosive packs! ”
Sure enough, after Luo Ronghuan's mobilization, the combat effect was remarkable. Sun Huancai could not support it, so he had to lead the remnants to flee in a hurry, and the Jiazishan District was finally recovered by the Eighth Route Army.
Luo Ronghuan's "side-flipping tactic" not only turned the struggle in the Shandong base area from passive to active, but also made him more noticeable.
Chang Endo
Anti-Japanese Beacon [Issue 217]
About the author
Since childhood, I like words, and when I was a primary school student, I often made model essays in composition. During his youthful period, many articles won awards. Decades of ups and downs, hobbies have not changed, like to read literature and history, insist on writing, welcome to communicate.