Wei Lihuang's command post fought tenaciously and fiercely at Xinkou, and the position changed hands several times;
The Eighth Route Army made heroic attacks on the eastern and western fronts, skillfully setting up ambushes, and the enemy's lines of communication were almost cut off.
The two cooperated, and the Japanese army's attack on Xinkou was thwarted.
Seishiro Sakagaki was so angry that although he changed his front-line commander three times, attacked for more than ten days, and suffered more than 20,000 casualties, Xinkou was still in the hands of the Chinese defenders.
In desperation, the Japanese North China Front changed its strategy and changed the original Shanxi breakthrough and Hebei detour to Hebei breakthrough and Shanxi detour, in an attempt to seize Niangzi Pass first, and then attack west along the Zhengtai Railway and approach Taiyuan.
Niangzi Pass is a famous pass in the east of Jin, and it was the throat of soldiers in ancient times. Princess Pingyang of the Tang Dynasty once garrisoned here, so it was called Niangziguan. Niangzi Pass is dangerous, the mountain is with water, the two mountains are sandwiched, the steep wall is like cutting, it is the natural barrier between Jin and Hebei, the throat of Shanxi, and it is also an important checkpoint along Zhengtai Road. Once the Niangzi Pass is lost, it will not only make the Xinkou defenders suffer from the enemy, but also make Taiyuan in the pincer attack of the Japanese army in the east and north of Jin, and it will be difficult to defend.
The defensive battle of Niangzi Pass suddenly became the key to the entire battle.
At this time, the Chinese defenders guarding Niangzi Pass were the 17th and 30th Divisions on the front, the 14th Army on the left flank, and the 3rd Army on the right flank, under the command of Huang Shaohong, deputy commander of the Second Theater of Operations. On October 11, 1937, the commander of the 20th Division of the Japanese Army, Kawagishi Bunzaburo, led his troops to occupy Jingcheng and attacked the front of Niangzi Pass with one part, and the main force made a detour to capture Jiuguan on the 13th. Yan Xishan urgently ordered reinforcements to Sun Lianzhong, the son of northern Jin, to lead the 26th Route Army back to Niangzi Pass, organized many counteroffensives, and annihilated the Japanese army, but did not recapture the old pass.
On 21 October, the Japanese 20th Division, reinforced by the 109th Division, continued to attack Niangziguan from the front with the support of aviation fire, while the other moved southward in an attempt to make a detour from the flanks of Niangzi Pass and Xinguan.
The lady is in danger.
In accordance with Mao Zedong's instructions on "the main force of Liu's division or all of it should be used on Zhengtai Road, mobilize the masses to cooperate with the defenders of Niangzi Pass, and consolidate the back road", Liu Bocheng led the main force of the 129th Division to rush to the aid of Niangzi Pass, and cooperated with friendly forces to stop the Japanese army from advancing westward.
On October 18, the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division, led by Brigade Commander Chen Geng, arrived in the Pingding area near Niangzi Pass.
On October 19, the day the battle of Yangmingbao began, Liu Bocheng rushed to Mashan Village, east of Pingding County, to join the 386th Brigade.
Liu Bocheng immediately convened a meeting of cadres at and above the battalion level. First of all, he gave a brief account of the battle situation in the east and west directions of the Battle of Taiyuan: The friendly forces at Xinkou stubbornly held out, and the Japanese offensive was frustrated; and the Japanese troops outside Niangzi Pass were gathering heavy troops in an attempt to break through in one fell swoop. Then, he gave the 386th Brigade a mission: to stand by south of Niangzi Pass, to prepare a flank attack on the Japanese troops who might detour from our right flank.
Liu Bocheng's speeches have always been vivid and funny, and they are simple to understand. At the moment, he is explaining to everyone the meaning and method of "side attack":
"Comrades, the Japanese devils are well-equipped and willing to fight with us. But we don't do that, but hit it on the back. Everyone must understand this truth, to deal with the bullying of adults, the child can only find an opportunity to hide behind the door, and when he comes, he will take advantage of his unpreparedness to give him a blow to the head. That's what we're playing at the moment. "
Liu Bocheng also talked about the organization and command of the operation in connection with the battle at Pingxingguan: secret and thoughtful preparations, rapid and sudden movements, clear reconnaissance, good selection of terrain, grasping the weakness of the Japanese army's arrogance and negligence of guard, adopting ambush methods, proper deployment and use of troops, and giving full play to the specialties of close combat and heroic and resolute courage, and so on. If you do this, you will be able to defeat the enemy.
After listening to Master Liu's speech, Chen Geng was very encouraged. He had long held his breath in his heart: the 115th Division of the Brother Division won the first battle of Pingxingguan, and the 769th Regiment of the 385th Brigade of the Brother Brigade also won a surprise victory in the first battle of Yangmingbao, and this legendary Red Army general could not sit still for a long time.
Chen Geng, formerly known as Chen Shukang, was born in Liushupu, Erdu, Xiangxiang, Hunan; in his early years, he was admitted to the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, and after graduation, he stayed at the school as a company commander and deputy captain, participated in the Northern Expedition, and had a "life-saving" grace to Chiang Kai-shek; he studied in the Soviet Union in 1926 and studied defense work and blasting technology in the Soviet Red Army; participated in the Nanchang Uprising; when he was working in the special section of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he sent people to infiltrate the confidential departments of the Kuomintang Central Committee and the police constitution. In the early 30s of the 20 th century, he went to Shanghai for medical treatment for injuries sustained in battle, and secretly briefed Lu Xun on the struggle of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army; he was later arrested for betrayal by a traitor, and was escorted to Nanchang to meet Chiang Kai-shek, where he was unyielding and refused to surrender; in the Red Army, he served as the commander of the 12th Division of the 4th Army of the Red Fourth Front Army, the head of the cadres regiment of the Central Military Commission, and the commander of the 1st Division of the 1st Red Army.
Since the reorganization of the Red Army, Chen Geng has been looking forward to trying his skills on the battlefield. On the second day of Pingxingguan's victory, he wrote in his diary: "This was the first victory of the Red Army in the war, and it was also the biggest first victory since the beginning of the Sino-Japanese war. Although this victory was partial, the political victory was infinite: 1. It proved the correctness of our party's proposition; 2. Only by actively adopting mobile warfare, guerrilla warfare, and mountain warfare, combined with positional warfare, and sneaking attacks on the enemy, could we have a chance of victory; 3. It proved the bankruptcy of weaponism; and 4. The only way to defend purely was to lose land. When the good news reached the troops, everyone rejoiced, and everyone thought that we had gone out too late. "
Based on the reconnaissance information in the past two days, Chen Geng decided to send troops the next day to find an opportunity to annihilate the enemy.
From October 20 to 24, 1937, Chen Geng's headquarters successively attacked the invading enemy by means of attacks, ambushes, and blockades at Changshengkou, Dongshimen, Mashan Village, Banqiao Village, and Caijialing to the east of Niangzi Pass. These battles have small successes, which can be regarded as a "warm-up" before the "big game". They had successes and failures, and Chen Geng, who loved to think like Liu Bocheng, was able to sum up the experience and lessons of fighting the Japanese army and lay the foundation for the "great victory" that would soon follow.
Chen Geng recorded in his diary:
October 21: The 772nd Regiment went to Zhishakou and attacked Changshengkou and Caijialing at night, capturing 4 rifles, 4 mules, and 16 shells. The shortcomings of this time were that the cadres were too worried and did not dare to use large troops, the guerrilla movements were rusty, the troops were not calm at night, they were not good at using grenades, and they wanted to catch them alive.
October 23rd and 24th: Liu (Bocheng) and (Chen) Zaidao led the 771st Regiment to hold the pass in front of Qiqian Village, and I led the 772nd Regiment to set out from Mashan at 18 o'clock, entered the area of Wangdezhai and Chuankou, and marched to the high ground south of Nanmanting Village and Qiqian Village at 5 o'clock in the morning, preparing to flank the enemy. The mountain road was rough and difficult to move around, and it was not until 3 p.m. that we arrived. By then, most of the enemy had already passed, and only the baggage was to follow. Because of the cliff, it was impossible to go down and assault, so he immediately attacked it with sudden fire. Enemy casualties unknown.
October 25: I was very worried about the first company sent by Mashan to capture the deer, but I was very happy to return to the team in Wangdezhai. The 772nd Regiment is still back to the line of Chuankou, Kongshi Village, and Wangdezhai. After receiving Liu Dian, the 771st Regiment was attacked by the enemy at night due to negligence in vigilance, and suffered considerable losses ....... The 772 Regiment "Night Attack on Changshengkou" mentioned by Chen Geng in his diary was actually a good first battle.
The first battle of the 386th Brigade was fought by Wang Jinshan, deputy commander of the 772nd Regiment, and the 3rd Battalion was fought. The predecessor of the 3rd Battalion of the 772nd Regiment was the 279th Regiment of the Red Fourth Front Army, which was famous for its ability to pursue and was a well-known "Scud" unit. Wang Jinshan is a well-known tiger general in the Red Army, known as "Wang Maniac". He was a native of Huang'an, Hubei (now Hong'an), joined the Red Army at the age of 15, and came all the way from the position of platoon commander, company commander, battalion commander, regiment commander, and deputy division commander, and the Red Army was reorganized as the commander of the 93rd Division of the Red 31st Army.
On the night of October 21, 1937, the 3rd Battalion, led by Wang Jinshan, went to attack the Japanese troops northwest of Banqiao. As soon as the troops passed the Changshengkou, a new situation suddenly appeared: a group of Japanese troops came from the direction of the front panel bridge, and they were secretly attacking westward. I really didn't expect that before the foot board of the "Scud" was polished, the Japanese troops stationed in Banqiao actually delivered "goods" to the door. Wang Jinshan immediately ordered his troops to take advantage of the favorable terrain on the hillside to spread out quickly, and in a matter of moments, a tight encirclement was formed. The arrogant Japanese army entered the ambush circle without knowing anything, and a soldier of the 3rd Battalion counted in the moonlight in a whisper: one, two...... , good fellows, there are more than a hundred of them. When the enemy completely entered the ambush circle of the 3rd battalion, Wang Jinshan gave an order, and in an instant, the sound of gunfire and grenade explosions was continuous, and the Japanese army was thrown into disarray. When they were blocked from escaping, they realized that they were surrounded on all sides.
The battle lasted 1 hour. At dawn on the 22nd, the remnants of the Japanese army were compressed in an empty courtyard in the village of Changshengkou, and it seemed that it would be easy to completely eliminate this Japanese army. The soldiers shouted, "Rush!" and rushed down the hillside, but at this time, one of the commanders suddenly shouted "Catch alive." After all, this was the first confrontation between the 3rd Battalion and the Japanese army, and the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army, who were accustomed to capturing the prisoners of the White Army, thought that the Japanese army, like the enemy during the civil war, would surrender their guns if they fought hard. However, the Japanese army, full of bushido spirit, was dying and stubbornly resisting. 11 fighters of the 3rd battalion fell to the sound of the slogan "catch alive", 2 of them died, and the remnants of the enemy took the opportunity to break out of the encirclement and fled in a hurry. Later, whenever the commander talked about this, he hung his head gloomily, feeling sorry for his fallen comrades. However, this ambush battle was finally victorious, and more than 50 enemies were killed and more than 10 rifles and some ammunition and other military supplies were captured.
As for the "considerable losses" of the 771st Regiment mentioned in Chen Geng's diary, it occurred on October 23, when the 771st Regiment was attacked by a Japanese wing and more than 200 cavalrymen in the vicinity of Qigan Village, east of Pingding County, and suffered more than 30 casualties.
It all started two days ago.
On October 21, 1937, Liu Bocheng rushed to Baijing, south of Niangzi Pass, to learn about the situation from Zeng Wanzhong, commander of the 3rd Army of the friendly army.
Zeng Wanzhong told Liu Bocheng: "The 20th Division of the Japanese Army committed along the west side of Zhengtai Road, and the 109th Division made a detour from Gaoyi to Xiyang. Today, the Japanese 20th Division avoided the frontal position at Niangzi Pass and concentrated its forces and firepower to storm Xinguan. The defenders of Xinguan relied on cave-type semi-permanent fortifications and permanent firepower points of steel and cement to defend and inflict heavy casualties on the enemy, and the defenders of Niangzi Pass were ready to attack and support at any time. With such a deployment, I think it will be difficult for the Japanese army to break through from Niangzi Pass. "
Liu Bocheng said to Zeng Wanzhong: "The Japanese army did not attack Niangzi Pass but attacked Xinguan, it seems that it studied the characteristics of Niangzi Pass leaning on the wall and facing the abyss, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and wanted to avoid the real and attack the false." Now that it has been discovered that Xinguan is not easy to get, it is likely that it will make a detour to the south. Shimen, 20 kilometers south of Xinguan, is located on the right flank cordon of our main defensive position, and it is necessary to quickly send troops to occupy it to strictly prevent a sneak attack by the Japanese army. "
Zeng Wanzhong did not accept Liu Bocheng's suggestion. This not only allowed the Japanese army to easily occupy Shimen, but also affected the 771st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, which was operating not far from here.
On October 23, 1937, as Liu Bocheng expected, after the Japanese army failed in the attack on Xinguan, the Japanese army sent 5 brigades of the 40th Brigade to make a detour and quickly occupied Shimen from the direction of Jingcheng. That night, the Japanese discovered the 771st Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army assembled nearby. They avoided the main road, secretly passed through a small ditch at the bottom of the valley, bypassed the cordon of the 771st Regiment, and then suddenly attacked the position of the 771st Regiment. It was also due to its own negligence in vigilance that the 771st Regiment hastily responded to the battle, and retreated after fighting, and was forced to disperse and withdraw from its positions.
At this moment, Liu Bocheng happened to arrive and immediately commanded the accompanying troops to enter the battle. The Japanese received an unexpected blow and stopped the attack. The next day, the personnel of the 771st Regiment, who had been scattered during the night, returned one after another. Liu Bocheng seriously criticized their shortcomings of being on guard and being unprepared when attacked; at the same time, he also pointed out that they were strong and resilient, and although they were attacked by the enemy, they were able to quickly retract within a day, and instructed them to assemble in the vicinity of Yingzhuang and Mashan, and prepare to cooperate with the 772nd Regiment to ambush the enemy.
After settling down the 771st Regiment, Liu Bocheng explained to Li Da, chief of staff: "The troops were attacked by the enemy, which is a lesson, and the responsibility should be borne by us." You check the situation again, and I will write a review to Vice Chairman Zhou Enlai. "
Mao Zedong, who was in Yan'an, heard the news and sent a telegram to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and the heads of all divisions on October 25 and transferred it to "responsible comrades at all levels":
After a small victory, you will be arrogant, despise the enemy, and think that you are amazing. The attack on the 771st Regiment was the result of this victory. It is advisable for you to issue a general order to the whole army and convey it to the soldiers of the company, explaining that the war against Japanese imperialism is a long process of hard fighting. All those cadres who claim to be the best in the world, who are arrogant and have no spare eyes, must tell them in deep words that they must link the spirit of bravery with the spirit of prudence, and oppose the one-sided viewpoint and mechanism in the army.
"Eat a trench, grow a wisdom", the Eighth Route Army has come out of countless setbacks and failures, and has become a strong division that cannot be dragged down or defeated. Smart people can become smarter from failure, not to mention Liu Bocheng, who has the reputation of being one of China's "three and a half military strategists"!
In the past few days, Liu Bocheng has looked at the map with his hand.
The eastern part of Shanxi runs through the north and south, and there are only 8 access roads into Jin, which was called "Taihang Bacheng" in ancient times. Jing Cheng is five. The stone gate is not a major road, and the terrain is dangerous and complicated. However, the Kuomintang defenders did not listen to Liu Bocheng's advice, and as a result, they were taken advantage of by the enemy. The vanguard of the Japanese army has passed by here, and there will definitely be baggage to follow. Out of the well, through Shimen, to Pingding on the path, through the Qiqian Village, Qiqian Village seems to be a place where the Japanese army must pass, and can fight a battle here.
But what is the terrain of Qigan Village? Is it suitable for an ambush? When he was in Taiyuan, Liu Bocheng once asked Yan Xishan for a map of the Shanxi operation, but Yan said no, as a last resort, Liu Bocheng can only use a pocket map for middle school students instead. Such a map can only be contingency and will not provide more useful things.
After lunch on October 25, 1937, Liu Bocheng took more than 30 cadres of the division's administrative organs and guard squad to inspect the terrain near Qiqian Village. He chose a high ground and asked the guards to set up binoculars and observe them carefully, and from time to time asked the staff officers to mark the main points on the map......
Qigan Village is located in the middle of the Taihang Mountains, the border of Shanxi and Hebei provinces, surrounded by mountains on all sides, heavy mountains and mountains, ravines vertical and horizontal, canyons are steep, the road is dangerous, known as "surrounded by dragons and tigers". The village is adjacent to Jiananyu and Dongshimen Village in the east, and is directly connected to Shiyu Town in Jingcheng County, Hebei Province, and is adjacent to Didao Temple and Yingzhuang in the west, and goes directly to Pingding County. The mountain trail from Jingcheng to Binh Dinh just passes by the edge of the village. The width of the trail is less than two meters, the north of the road is a ravine dozens of meters deep, and the south side of the road is a ridge about ten meters high, and the terrain is very dangerous......
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Suddenly, there was a sparse sound of gunfire from behind the opposite hill, and it was getting closer. 10 minutes later, a group of Japanese troops rushed out of the valley east of Qiqian Village and fired at Liu Bocheng and others. Liu Bocheng immediately ordered Li Da, chief of the General Staff Office, to command the guard squad to resist the enemy. Li Da commanded the guard squad and quickly repulsed the enemy.
After a while, another enemy plane circled in the air. Li Da hurriedly persuaded Liu Bocheng: "Commander, let's get out of here quickly." "
Liu Bocheng waved his hand, and the only good eye was still through the lens, and he stuck it behind the telescope intently, "Don't be busy, let's take a look." He took a closer look at the terrain around him, and then smiled with satisfaction.
In the afternoon, Liu Bocheng received information: The 20th Division of the Japanese Army began to attack in the direction of Pingding, and its baggage troops of about 1,000 people camped in Shiyu Town, which was 10 kilometers northeast of Qiqian Village.
Liu Bocheng immediately said to the fighters of the division headquarters: "Qiqian Village is the choke point leading from Shiyu Town to Pingding, and the Japanese army will definitely transport military supplies to the front through Qiqian Village tomorrow, and the 'dog meat' delivered to the mouth will definitely be eaten." "
Speaking of this, he picked up a pencil, walked to the wall chart, and decisively drew a red circle around the three words "Qiqian Village":
"Set up an ambush right here!"
After receiving the combat order from the division headquarters, Chen Geng was very excited. He immediately dispatched Wang Jinshan, deputy commander of the 772nd Regiment, to lead the 3rd Battalion to Qiqian Village, inspect the terrain in detail, select an ambush position, and make pre-battle preparations. At the pre-war mobilization meeting, Chen Geng said to everyone: "Comrades, since the anti-Japanese war, the 115th Division of the 'eldest brother' has won a great victory in Pingxingguan, and the 120th Division of the 'second brother' has also won a victory in the area of Yanmen Pass. The 769th Regiment of our division, in the night attack on Yangmingbao Airport, annihilated more than 100 Japanese troops and damaged more than 20 enemy planes, effectively cooperating with the Xinkou defensive battle. What about us? Since we entered Jindong, we have not won a major victory. Division Commander Liu said to me on the phone: 'Your 386th Brigade will also win the battle. 'Now, it's up to us!'
Chen Geng continued: "The officers and men of the whole brigade must quickly set off an upsurge of competition to win the battle, and they must do a good job in the battle of Qiqian Village!"
At that time, Liu Zhijian was the head of the propaganda unit of the 129th Division, and he carried out propaganda and agitation work with the division headquarters and the 386th Brigade. He wrote in his memoirs: "Brigade Commander Chen's powerful speech further boosted the fighting spirit of the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Battalion, and everyone was gearing up and waiting for the order to attack. "
At dawn on October 26, 1937, Wang Jinshan led the 3rd Battalion into the ambush area. He arranged two companies and one platoon on the south side of the highway between Qigan Village and Jiananyu, and used the other two companies as reserves to control the high ground south of Qigan Village, and sent a reconnaissance detachment to operate in the vicinity of Dongshimen Village to grasp the enemy's situation in a timely manner. The battalion command post is located on the north hill about 300 meters away from the avenue, and from there it overlooks the bottom of the mountain, and the scenery of Qiqian Village and both sides of the avenue is in full view. The battalion command post was equipped with a heavy machine gun, which served as a fire command signal for ambush battles.
At about 8 o'clock in the morning, a group of Japanese troops appeared in Wang Jinshan's telescope, and then a scout from 3 kilometers away reported to him that the Japanese army's baggage troops numbered more than 300 people, and more than 100 infantry in the front and rear were covering and were heading towards Qiqian Village. Wang Jinshan immediately reported to Chen Geng, and gathered the battalion and company cadres to further clarify their respective tasks and explain the precautions.
At around 9 o'clock, the Japanese entered the ambush circle. Wang Jinshan waved his hand: "Hit!" The heavy machine gun fired a dense range of bullets. Then, swarms of grenades turned towards the enemy group like waterfalls cascading down from a mountain cliff. According to the original plan, the 11th Company quickly seized Dingpan Mountain on both sides of the road and in the southwest, and cut the Japanese infantry and baggage troops into two sections. When the vanguard infantry of the Japanese army tried to turn around and reinforce the baggage troops, they were blocked by the 11th Company; the covering troops behind were blocked by horses, camels, and abandoned military supplies lying on their backs, and they could not advance, so they fled in the direction of Dongshimen like a swarm. At this time, Wang Jinshan ordered the 9th and 10th companies of the reserve to go into battle. One by one, the soldiers descended the mountain like fierce tigers, desperately pounced on the Japanese army. Yang Shaoqing, a soldier of the 12th Company, was fearless in the face of the 7 enemies who surrounded him, stabbing left and right, and the more he fought, the more courageous he became, stabbing 6 to death and stabbing 1 in a row. Another soldier was wounded in five places during a fight with the enemy. He was exhausted by the time he fought with the Japanese officer, but he hurried to his senses, threw his rifle at the enemy, and when the enemy was stunned, he pounced on him and crushed him to the ground, biting off the enemy's nose with his teeth, and killing him ...... when he was in pain.
After two hours of fierce fighting, the 3rd Battalion annihilated more than 300 Japanese troops, captured more than 300 mules, horses and camels (peaks) and a large number of military supplies. During the battle, not only the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army were brave, but the people also vigorously supported them. Under the leadership of the Sacrifice National Salvation League, the field service regiment composed of middle school students from Pingding county town braved the rain of bullets and bullets to devote themselves to intense field service. Nearby militia and the masses also rushed to help in the fight. Dong Sanyuan, who was over half a hundred years old, wittily and bravely captured a light machine gun from the Japanese army and immediately sent it to the headquarters of the 772nd Regiment. Afterwards, Liu Bocheng praised him as an "old hero" and gave him a military blanket.
At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Geng came to Qiqian Village. I saw that the trophies on the field were piled up, and the soldiers and the masses were so happy that they couldn't close their mouths as if they were celebrating the New Year. Some soldiers wore Japanese steel helmets on their heads, tweed coats on their bodies, and Japanese swords on their waists, imitating the appearance and tone of the Japanese soldiers, which made everyone laugh.
Battalion Commander Guo brought a Japanese horse and said to Chen Geng: "Brigade commander, this is the trophy that our battalion gave you. "
Chen Geng said happily: "Wow, I'll accept this war horse." I also ask you to pick some of the best horses and give them to Master Liu, and send some to Yan'an to report the good news to the Party Central Committee. "
Battalion Commander Guo replied: "Please rest assured, we will do so!"
At this time, Chen Geng saw several ordinary people not far away arguing about something, some saying it was explosives, and some saying it was barley flowers. Chen Geng walked over and laughed: "Fellows, this is a compressed biscuit." "
He immediately called the commander of the 772nd regiment behind him: "Ye Chenghuan, take out a few boxes and let everyone try them." "
Uncle Liu was not too happy to receive Chen Geng's report. He knew very well that the intention of the Japanese army was to rush to open up the Zhengtai Road and threaten Taiyuan from behind. It has not yet captured Niangzi Pass, and Qiqian Village is still the only way for it to make a detour south. From the analysis of the current operational characteristics of the Japanese army, it is very arrogant after repeated victories, and they usually exert a bullish spirit, stubbornly advancing towards the predetermined target, and ignoring some small losses. Sun Tzu's Art of War said that "the use of troops will not be restored", and it is difficult for them to think that the Eighth Route Army would repeatedly set up ambushes in the same place. The mind was made, and Liu Bocheng decided to deal another blow to the Japanese army in Qiqian Village.
In order to confuse the Japanese army, when the Japanese army sent troops to Qiqian Village on the 27th to collect the corpses, Liu Bocheng asked the main force of the 772nd Regiment to feign retreat in front of the Japanese army, creating the illusion that Qiqian Village was unguarded. In fact, the 3rd Battalion of the 772nd Regiment went around and came back again, and assembled in the mountains on the south side of the temple road in the west of Qiqian Village.
On the morning of October 28, 1937, the enemy's baggage troops really came along the same route, after all, they had suffered losses, strengthened their search vigilance along the way, and launched artillery bombardment when they encountered suspicious places. Especially in the vicinity of Qiqian Village, the Japanese army was more cautious, fighting, walking, and stopping. But the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Battalion hid in the bushes, grass, and stone caves, and were calm and calm, and did not fire a single shot. At about 11 o'clock, the Japanese entered the ambush area. The machine guns and rifles of the 3rd Battalion of the 772nd Regiment rang out in unison. Because the 2nd Battalion, which was responsible for coming to support, did not arrive in time due to the slippery road due to darkness, the battle failed to completely annihilate the enemy, but it still killed more than 100 Japanese soldiers and captured dozens of mules and horses. What made Liu Bocheng even happier was that the 3rd Battalion found a map of Shanxi Province and a military map of North China in the trophies, both of which were printed in China.
Liu Bocheng was overjoyed and said humorously: "I didn't expect the Japanese to hit the Chinese with maps printed in China." No wonder when I was in Taiyuan, Yan Xishan said that there was no map, and it turned out that it had run into the hands of the Japanese. He was so stingy with the Eighth Route Army, but he was so generous to the Japanese. "
Within three days, Liu Bocheng arranged two ambushes in succession in Qiqian Village, giving the Japanese army a continuous blow at the same location. The ancients said that the magic of using soldiers was in one mind. The ambush battle in Qiqian Village won in a "wonderful" and a "strange". After Wei Lihuang heard this, he admired this and praised the two successive ambushes in Qiqian Village as a bold and ingenious use of troops, and a rare miracle. In his later summing up of combat experience, Liu Bocheng called this style of play "overlapping ambushes."
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