(Zhang Zhendong) After the battle of Jiang Yan, we rested for more than half a month and actively prepared for the war. On September 30, in order to meet the needs of the anti-stubborn struggle, we were ordered to withdraw from Jiangyan.
At this time, Han Deloitte thought that we were weak and could be bullied, and immediately concentrated his forces to attack the Yellow Bridge, vainly trying to drive our army down the Yangtze River to drink water. Seeing that the situation of the decisive battle was ripe, Comrades Chen Yi and Su Yu held a meeting of the cadres in charge of the column. I remember that in a large house, Comrade Chen Yi had a serious expression, and after looking around at the participating cadres, he slowly opened the military map, held a small rattan stick in his hand, and began to explain to us the serious significance of the future battle, the geographical situation of the Yellow Bridge, and the deployment of the enemy's and our forces. Comrade Chen Yi said forcefully: "If this battle is fought well, it can determine the overall situation in northern Jiangsu, and the anti-communist tide will be lowered." If you can't fight well, only like Han Deloitte said, 'go to the Yangtze River to drink water'. This is a back-to-back battle, depending on the determination of your commanders. "The comrades expressed their determination to Comrades Chen Yi and Su Yu one after another, resolutely holding the Yellow Bridge and dying with the Yellow Bridge. The headquarters drew up an operational plan and deployed our third column to hold the Yellow Bridge. The Yellow Bridge has only one earthen wall, no more than 3 meters high and 2 meters thick, and digging bunkers in the earthen wall is too thin, so mounds of earth have to be used. With the strong support of the masses, overnight, the fortifications were built decently. The 7th Regiment of our column is distributed in Huangqiao Town, which is the general reserve and serves as the defense of the northwest and southwest. To the east was the main direction of the enemy's attack, defended by eight regiments, fighting the enemy outside the earthen wall. The third regiment of the main force leaned on the right side of the eighth regiment to defend the invading enemy in the southeast direction, and prepared to stand by the opportunity to attack, or block the gap that was broken by the enemy in time. At that time, except for the third regiment, the seventh and eighth regiments of our third column were not fully structured, the whole column only had more than 1,500 guns, a battery equipped with two mortars, only three shells, and one was blind fire.
On the morning of October 4, a brutal battle began, and Han Deloitte's 33rd Division approached the Yellow Bridge. Han Stubborn only used a small force to monitor our forward fire support point, while the large force immediately attacked our main position at the Yellow Bridge, trying to rush into the Yellow Bridge with a bang. I was prepared and calm. Because the firepower and distance measurement had been prepared in advance, as soon as the recalcitrant troops rushed into our fire net, our troops concentrated on shooting for a while, and the recalcitrant troops fell one after another, dead and wounded, and some retreated with their legs. The stubborn officer who pressed the formation, cursing uncleanly in his mouth, carried a box gun and forced the soldiers to rush upward. The recalcitrant soldiers came up and were eliminated, retreated and shot. So I went up and down, and I fought fiercely again and again all morning. At this time, Comrade Su Yu came to the front from the back and said to me: "Comrade Zhendong, can you withstand it?" I wiped my sweat and said: "Don't worry, Commander Su, I promise that you will not spare Han Deloitte." Comrade Su Yu smiled with satisfaction, raised his binoculars to observe the movements of the recalcitrant army, and said to me again: "It seems that the recalcitrant army is going to organize another charge, this time to teach the enemy a hard lesson." I fully understand Comrade Su Yu's intentions. You can't always come up like this, waiting for the recalcitrant army to fight, you should take the initiative to attack. So I reported my thoughts to Comrade Su Yu. Comrade Su Yu completely agreed. We immediately organized a part of the troops at the front and prepared to give the recalcitrant army a surprise attack. Just at this time, the recalcitrant army was once again beaten by us and retreated, and the soldiers shouted "Kill!" "Jumped out of the fortification and rushed out. The stubborn army originally thought that we only had the ability to parry and had no power to fight back, but when we saw our army rushing up, they were frightened, frightened, fled, ran away as fast as they could, and those who could not run fast were captured alive by us and surrendered dozens of guns.
At noon, the recalcitrant army changed tactics, organized more troops, adopted the tactics of a sea of people, pressed from the wide front, surged up layer by layer, and gradually advanced using the terrain. After two hours of fighting, although the recalcitrant army suffered heavy casualties, they were still approaching our position, and the dense fire overwhelmed us with no heads, forcing us to shrink from the front to the main position, until we contracted to the outside of the Huangqiao soil slope. The grenades of the recalcitrant army were thrown into the earthen wall, and our soldiers threw them back before they could explode. The smoke billowed and made people cough. The phone rang, and I picked up the phone and heard Commander Tao Yong's voice: "Lao Zhang, how is it?" And I said, "Yes." Comrade Tao Yong asked again, "Are there any difficulties?" I said, "The enemy has reached the earthen wall, and is topping!" Comrade Tao Yong said: "We must resist it, and there is a way to resist it." After putting down the phone, I stretched out my head to observe the brave soldiers guarding the position, some wounded, bloodied on their faces, and staring at the enemy with two hateful eyes, holding guns. Some were seriously injured and could not be mobilized to get out of the line of fire. Others sacrificed their lives for the cause of the people's revolution. What a good comrade! What a fighter loyal to the people and loyal to the party! To withstand the stubborn army that is pressing on my position dozens of times greater than mine, withstanding is victory. I knew we still had a powerful fist clenched tightly, ready to smash into the recalcitrant army. The offensive of the recalcitrant army became more and more fierce, and the battle became more and more remnant. After knocking down one group, another group of black-pressed enemy troops rushed up with a wild cry. There is only one word in the position that inspires each other: "Break him", "Break him", "Break him again!" A pair of bloodshot eyes glared angrily at the recalcitrant soldiers, and bullets of hatred shot into the chests of the recalcitrant soldiers, and one by one the recalcitrant soldiers fell in front of our position.
Suddenly, there was a heaven-shaking killing sound from the east, and Comrade Tao Yong ordered the main force of our three regiments to counterattack from the east, and our powerful fist shot out. Seeing the opportunity, I immediately ordered the commanders and fighters to jump out of the fortifications and kill the recalcitrant army. At this time, the stubborn army panicked, beaten back and forth, chaotic, and suddenly collapsed. In only 20 minutes, they captured alive the commanders of the recalcitrant battalion and 2 company commanders, captured more than 700 enemy soldiers, and the rest of the recalcitrant troops fled far away. We returned to our positions victoriously.
Photo by Jiang Yuwu
Taking advantage of this gap, the soldiers repaired the fortifications, stored ammunition, and waited for the recalcitrant army to attack again. We immediately held a meeting of cadres at and above the battalion level to analyze the situation on the battlefield, sum up experience, and adjust arrangements. The villages along the Huang (Qiao) Highway were densely populated and it was estimated that the recalcitrant army might attack from here, so we decided to send the 9th Company of the 8th Regiment to immediately move to the side of the Ruhuang Road, relying on a grave bag as a cover to block the recalcitrant army. Not long after our Ninth Company advanced to the edge of the construction site, the recalcitrant army really attacked from here, but the Ninth Company was stopped by Laoyuan. After the recalcitrant troops were blocked, they bombarded the positions of the ninth company with artillery and mortars. The ninth company was equipped with a large plate of grenades, boldly let the recalcitrant army approach, and then suddenly hit it with a platoon grenade, so that the recalcitrant army was too late to run, and the casualties were very large.
Then, the recalcitrant army increased its strength and besieged it in a semicircle. I immediately organized three heavy machine guns to be placed on the left side of the ninth company, and also laid out the four light machine guns of the ninth company. The stubborn army thought that we were not waiting to get close and not fighting, so they used the dense formation of black pressure to rush upward. We took them by surprise and opened fire ahead of time, and seven machine guns swept over like the wind, knocking them down row by row. In this way, from the afternoon until dusk, the recalcitrant army paid a great price, but the position of our ninth company was firmly nailed there like a steel nail.
That night, the moon was hazy, the gunshots were faint, and the smoke dispersed, revealing shining stars. On the position, there was a lot of talk and laughter, and many ordinary people carrying meals and kettles kept shuttling around the position, including old men and little girls. In the position, several soldiers were talking and laughing around an old man. A soldier told the story of today's outstanding capture of prisoners, making everyone laugh.
As soon as Comrade Tao Yong and I led the regiment commanders into the house, Comrade Su Yu put down a red and blue pencil in his hand, left the table where the military map was kept, greeted him warmly, shook hands with us one by one with a smile, and said to us: "You fought well, and the people of Huangqiao will never forget you." Then he asked us to sit down, and Comrade Su Yu said in high spirits: "Comrade, first tell you some good news, just when you are holding the Yellow Bridge, our column completely annihilated the stubborn Independent Sixth Brigade in the Gaoqiao area outside the Yellow Bridge, and Lieutenant General Weng Da was afraid that Handler would be guilty, and he committed suicide!" The room immediately came alive. Comrade Su Yu continued: "Our second column has penetrated into the area demarcating the Ruhuang Highway, cut off the recilt army's rear road, and tonight we will destroy the headquarters of the 89th Army and the 117th Division of the Han Army." Then he said: "Your column will prepare immediately, and when the stubborn army is in chaos, come to the whole line and hit hard, so that Han Deqin will lose even his pants!" Everyone listened and laughed.
The victory of fraternal forces inspires us, and even greater victories are coming. At this time, Comrade Shu Yuwang brought the third battalion of the old fourth regiment to Huangqiao to assist in the battle. At that time, the old fourth regiment of our New Fourth Army was divided into three battalions, the first battalion went to southern Anhui, the second battalion was the predecessor of our original Suwan detachment, and the third battalion had been persisting in the struggle behind enemy lines in Jiangnan. This battalion has rich combat experience and a courageous and tenacious fighting style. In order to reinforce the Yellow Bridge, they crossed the river overnight and came running. Old comrades-in-arms who had not been seen for a long time met at the Yellow Bridge position, which made the position suddenly jubilant. Coupled with the imminent attack, adding this new force is even more exciting. The third battalion seized the time to rest, recharge its strength, and when it was ready for a big attack, it was used as a sharp knife in the direction of the attack of the eighth regiment, inserted into the recalcitrant army, and disrupted the recalcitrant position.
At midnight, there was a burst of gunfire from the east, and the 1st and 2nd Columns began to attack the 89th Army again. I checked the position, and the soldiers were all ready to stop and wait, just waiting for the order to attack. It is very important to grasp the timing of the sortie, the attack is too early, the east has not yet moved, and the range of maneuver of the recalcitrant army is too large, and it can take the opportunity to break through and escape. If the attack is late, the cooperation will not be strong enough, and the recalcitrant army can also escape in advance. I watched closely the gunfire in the east and judged the situation from the gunfire. After another while, the gunfire was tight, the time came, the opportunity could not be lost, and with an order, the whole column attacked. Like a fierce tiger descending a mountain, the three main regiments rushed into the middle of the recalcitrant army from the southeast, killing the east and stabbing the west. The Eighth Regiment and the Old Third Battalion also swept towards the recalcitrant army like a whirlwind. Comrade Shu Yuwang led the old third battalion and rushed in first, beating the recalcitrant army into a mess. Inside, the two armies of the enemy and ours were entangled together, divided and killed, and outside our army surrounded on all sides, compressed and closed inward. A melee lasted for more than two hours, the recalcitrant army broke up and fled for their lives, we chased prisoners everywhere, captured Sun Qiren, commander of the enemy's 33rd Division, captured dozens of machine guns, and captured artillery.
Part of the recalcitrant army fled north, and we followed and killed in three columns, all the way to Dongtai. Five days later, we returned to Hai'an and laughed about the victory in the Battle of Yellow Bridge.
In this battle, the 89th Army and the 6th Independent Brigade were completely destroyed, and the recalcitrant commander Li Shouwei drowned in the eight-foot ditch, responding to the prophecy of our soldiers that "neither the Yellow Bridge nor the Xinghua can be returned." Our third column captured thousands of recalcitrant troops in this battle, held the Yellow Bridge, played an important role in the victory of the decisive battle, and was commended by Chen Yi's command.
After the war, the Third Column was reorganized in Hai'an, and in mid-October, it was reorganized. After the reorganization, on the order of the headquarters, it continued to advance eastward, opening up a passage like a sea and reaching the coast of the Yellow Sea.
