The fifth heroic life of a young man in northern Jiangsu: the two Huai attack battles

Chapter Ten: The Battle of the Two Huai

After the victory in the Battle of Funing, the head of the unit, in view of Wu Jincai's bravery and good fighting in battle, transferred him to be the platoon leader of the independent regiment, and after that, he successively participated in the liberation war of the three counties of Sheyang, Lianshui and Yandong.

In August 1945, the Japanese fascist authorities began to collapse completely under the military strikes of the International Anti-Fascist Coalition Camp, two of its cities were bombed by american atomic bombs, and its Chinese dispatch troops were surrounded and annihilated by the division of military and civilians in our base areas. At the same time, after occupying Berlin, Germany, the Soviet Red Army announced its participation in the Potsdam Proclamation, which urged Japan to surrender, officially declared war on Japan, and on August 9 officially sent troops to the three northeastern provinces of China to sweep up the Japanese Kwantung Army.

Faced with the historical defeat of the country and the death of the army, the Japanese fascist authorities were forced to convene a meeting of the emperor on August 10, and decided to accept the Potsdam Proclamation and issue a "Beggar's Note" to China, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union.

On August 14, Emperor Hirohito of Japan personally broadcast the Armistice Edict announcing Japan's formal and unconditional surrender.

The news of Japan's surrender spread throughout the land of Shenzhou, and our anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians were all rejoicing. Wu Jincai's troops held a grand party with the villagers in the garrison, and the happy soldiers and civilians sang and danced, some danced the twisted straw dance, some danced the dragon and lion, some rowed a dry boat dance in the street, some formed a team to play lotus xiang, some stepped on stilts, and some sang The Sentiments, played drums and talked about books, could pull erhu as much as they wanted, could blow in a loud voice, and even if they were not good, they also knocked on the gong and cheered in unison:

"The Japanese devils have defeated!"

"We're victorious!"

At that time, the wind was also warm, the water was also warm and drunk, people whether they knew each other or not, they would say hello like a festival, and the people who would drink were naturally "five flowers and horses, a thousand gold furs, and hu'er will come out to exchange for fine wine,", and those who can't drink also take a few sips, blushing and smiling.

Yes, in the eight years of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, tens of millions of people in China were either killed or killed in battle, and in China's vast land, what countryside was not burned by Japanese devils? What city hasn't been ravaged by The Iron Heel of Japan? Eight years, four hundred and fifty million Chinese people live in the depths of the sea all the time, and live in the humiliation of the subjugation of the country all the time, which is an unprecedented catastrophe on earth! Now that the devil has been defeated, how can people not rejoice?

However, people of good will do not know that the Kuomintang, which had achieved a policy of non-resistance against the Japanese invading army, ordered the New Fourth Army of the Eighth Route Army to "stand guard and stand by" on the one hand in order to go down the mountain to pick peaches, and did not allow our army to take over the enemy-occupied cities; on the other hand, it ordered the Japanese puppet army to refuse to surrender to our army. At the same time, they used the help of the Americans to use various means of transportation, such as airplanes, to rush the Kuomintang troops from Sichuan to the southeast coastal areas and seize important cities and transportation routes.

In this situation where civil war was on the verge of breaking out, Chairman Mao of the CPC Central Committee, in accordance with the principle of "tit-for-tat confrontation and contention for every inch of land," striving for peace, stopping the civil war, and "being reasonable, advantageous, and restrained," issued instructions to the liberated areas on August 11: Japan has announced its surrender, and the Kuomintang is actively preparing to "recover the lost land" in the liberated areas and seize the fruits of victory in the War of Resistance. This scramble will be extremely fierce. Under these circumstances, the task of our Party at the present stage should be to concentrate its main forces on forcing the enemy and the hypocrites to surrender to us and vigorously expand the liberated areas.

On August 10 and 11, Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, issued seven orders in succession, demanding that the armed forces of the Liberated Areas launch an active offensive against all enemy-occupied towns and communication routes, collect enemy and fake weapons, and accept the surrender of the Japanese army. On August 13, Zhu De and Peng Dehuai telephoned Chiang Kai-shek and resolutely refused his order for our army to "stand guard and stand by." On August 22, the Central Military Commission issued a directive: The main roads of big cities cannot belong to us for the time being. We should change our course, that is, we should strive for, with the necessary strength, focus on the seizure of small cities and large villages, expand and consolidate the liberated areas, prepare to cope with the new situation, and make lasting plans.

On August 24, Chairman Mao Zedong, in accordance with the strategic situation in East China, prevented some people from blindly attacking Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and other famous big cities, causing our army to be militarily passive, and specially telegraphed the central China Bureau: The big cities should carry out peaceful, democratic, and united work, strive for the status of our party, and not take the policy of military occupation. Strive to occupy small cities and villages, and quickly try to occupy cities along the canal and along the Kuchang River, and integrate central Jiangsu, northern Jiangsu, Huainan, and Huaibei into one. He also stressed the need to make lasting plans for everything, and when preparing for the attack of the recalcitrant army, resolutely and completely wipe it out.

On August 28, Chairman Mao took off from Yan'an, went deep into the Tiger's Den, and went to Chongqing to negotiate with Chiang Kai-shek.

Huang Kecheng, commander of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army and political commissar, turned the instructions of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao into concrete strategic guidelines and contemplated attacks on the cities of Huaiyin and Huai'an.

Huaiyin and Huai'an are two famous historical and cultural ancient cities, many influential figures in the two Han Dynasties were founded in these two cities, during the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were also many popular poems and songs of the two Huai, Huai'an famous novelist Wu Cheng'en's "Journey to the West" was popular at home and abroad in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and for a time Luoyang paper was expensive, and people rushed to read it.

The two cities of Huaiyin and Huai'an are only 17 kilometers apart, and the Grand Canal has been gurgling and flowing warmly around them since ancient times, and this is a strategic place for soldiers to fight for the north to Beijing, Tianjin and south to Shanghai and Nanjing. This land is also a famous land of fish and rice, rich in rice, wheat, cotton, soybeans, rapeseed and other cash crops, after the fall of Ninghu in 1937, the Kuomintang Jiangsu Provincial Government moved to Huaiyin, and in February 1939 it was ceded to the Japanese devils. Since then, the Lianghuai area has become a place for the Japanese army to garrison troops, and has become the base camp for launching a "great sweep" against the anti-Japanese base areas in northern Jiangsu, central Jiangsu, Huainan, and huaibei.

After Japan announced its surrender, the Nanbo Brigade stationed in Lianghuai withdrew to Haizhou; Huaiyin was garrisoned by more than 7,000 people in 3 regiments led by Pan Ganchen, commander of the pseudo-28th Division, and more than 2,000 People of the Huaiyin Security Regiment were stationed in Huaiyin City. Huai'an was garrisoned by more than 5,000 people of the Huai'an Independent Brigade led by the pseudo-brigade commander Wu Shuquan. Over the years, the Japanese puppet army used the towering walls of Huaiyin City (Huaiyin City is 8 meters high and Huai'an City is 12 meters high), built strong artillery towers on the four corners of the city wall and the city gate, built various fortifications and bunkers at the main intersections of the city, set up a large number of deer and barbed wire on the basis of natural barriers such as the Grand Canal and the moat, and also set up satellite strongholds on the outskirts of the city. Chiang Kai-shek also fully realized the strategic significance of the two Huai to Nanjing and Shanghai, and specially named the puppet army Pan Ganchen's department as the "28th Division of the 6th Army of the National Revolutionary Army" in order to resist the surrender of the New Fourth Army to this group of evil puppet troops.

In the face of the enemy's stubborn resistance, Division Commander Huang Kecheng believed: After the tempering of the Anti-Japanese War, the troops of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army have developed and grown rapidly, and the main force and local troops have more than 70,000 people. At this time, in the balance of forces between the enemy and ourselves in the entire northern Jiangsu region, we not only have an absolute political advantage, but also clearly surpass the enemy and the hypocrites in the quantity and quality of the army. Although the enemy and the puppets gathered several county towns and had deep ditches and high fortifications, they had long been surrounded by the soldiers and civilians in the Liberated Areas and had become turtles in an urn. According to the qualitative situation of the enemy and ourselves, if we adopt the tactics of concentrating superior forces, dividing and encircling, and annihilating each other, it is possible to eliminate the enemy of the two Huaihuai.

At that time, the Third Division of the New Fourth Army was ordered by the Central Bureau of China and the Headquarters of the New Fourth Army that Huang Kecheng led its main force to the west of Jinpu Road in Huainan province, preparing to block the eastern criminals of the Gui clan's recalcitrant army, and its deployment was: The Seventh Brigade and the Eighth Brigade of the Third Division were stationed in the areas of Dingyuan, Xuyi, and Jianxi on both sides of the Jinpu Road in Huainan, and joined the troops of the Second Division of the New Fourth Army; the Tenth Brigade remained in the area of Gaoliangjian and Jiangba near Lianghuai, so that it could not only advance west to cooperate with the Seventh and Eighth Brigades, but also return to the east and annihilate the enemy of the Two Huai. In order to consider the need to eliminate the enemy's puppet operations in northern Jiangsu, Huang Kecheng sent Hong Xuezhi, chief of staff of the division, back to northern Jiangsu and organized the two Huaihuai operations.

The main forces of the Third and Second Divisions of the New Fourth Army waited on Jinpu Road for more than half a month without the slightest sign of the Kuomintang troops committing crimes in the east. Huang Kecheng's analysis: The Kuomintang troops are busy seizing large cities and major transportation routes, and they have no time or ability to launch an attack on our base area in northern Jiangsu for a while. If our army continues to hold the rabbit, it will lose the favorable fighter plane to destroy the enemy of the two Huai.

According to this judgment, on September 3, Huang Kecheng and Tan Zhenlin, political commissar of the Second Division, jointly sent a telegram to the Central China Bureau and the New Fourth Army Headquarters, and at the same time reported to the Central Committee, proposing: The main forces of the Second Division and the Third Division should be transferred back to the east of Jinpu Road, seize a section of the railway, and contain the Kuomintang troops; the main force would return to the division to eliminate the puppet armies in the cities of northern Jiangsu and central Jiangsu, and create a large base area that would be united. On the same day, Rao Shushi, who presided over the work of the Central China Bureau, quickly called back: The main force of the Third Division should not be transferred back to northern Jiangsu.

However, two days later, the central authorities called to support the main force of the Third Division to return to northern Jiangsu and eliminate the enemy and the remnants of the enemy. At that time, Chairman Mao was still negotiating in Chongqing, and Liu Shaoqi sent a telegram to the Central China Bureau on behalf of the Central Committee: "It is very difficult or impossible for the recalcitrant army to stop the recalcitrant army from advancing into the big cities and the main traffic routes, and after Gui Stubborn enters and occupies the cities and key roads, he will not attack our army deep into our base area for the time being." Therefore, I want to annihilate the recalcitrant army all the way for the time being, and it is even more impossible to cooperate with the negotiations. Under these circumstances, please consider the opinions of Huang and Tan and it seems necessary to transfer the troops of the Third Division (or add one of the second divisions) to the east to clear the enemy and puppet troop strongholds, so as to create favorable conditions for future operations. Otherwise, the main force will be left with nothing to do. In the past, Huang Kecheng's opinion that the troops of the Third Division should first eliminate the enemy in northern Jiangsu and then transfer to the west seemed to be correct. ”

After Huang Kecheng received the telegram, he immediately led his troops back to the division and organized the Battle of Lianghuai.

Prior to this, starting at dawn on August 26, the Tenth Brigade of the New Fourth Army and various special task forces, independent regiments, and guard regiments set out from Gaoliangjian, Jiangba, Sheyang, Lianshui, and other places to continuously attack Huaiyin City.

At 6:00 a.m. on August 27, the 28th Regiment of the 10th Brigade of the New Fourth Army had advanced to Gaosheng Bridge, five kilometers south of Huaiyin City, and in the thick morning fog, our army launched a fierce attack on the defenders of Gaosheng Bridge, and the sound of gunfire shook Huaiyin City.

Upon hearing the news, the enemy immediately dispatched two battalions of troops, starting from the west gate of Huaiyin, to reinforce the enemy at Gaosheng Bridge, but was tightly blocked by the reinforcements of the 29th Regiment of our army, and repelled the enemy's three rampant attacks in a row, so that the enemy could not get close to the Gaosheng Bridge close at hand to defend the enemy, so he had to leave some corpses and obediently retreat back into the city. By noon on the same day, the Gaoshengqiao stronghold had been uprooted by our army.

At the same time, Wu Jincai and his comrades-in-arms were ordered to attack the enemy stronghold outside the Banzha gate outside Huaiyin City. Wu Jincai led a platoon to attack a polder, and there was also a platoon of defenders in the polder wall. Wu Jincai initially launched a political offensive, shouting with a microphone: "Brothers of the puppet army, you are surrounded, surrender quickly!" ”

A voice came out of the polder: "Mother that Bazi, we are not a puppet army now, we are the Central Army, you have the ability to fight in!" ”

As he spoke, a fierce rain of bullets shot from the polder fortifications.

Wu Jincai shouted, "You have been a puppet army for many years, and it is useless to reorganize now!" You have committed crimes against the motherland and against the people, and you must surrender to our army! Shoot and don't kill! If you don't surrender your guns or surrender, you'll destroy them all! ”

The gunshots in the polder were more intense, and it was obvious that the enemy would not shed tears without seeing the coffin.

Wu Jincai's platoon did not have small steel cannons or explosives packs, so how could they annihilate the enemy in the polder?

Wu Jincai carefully observed the terrain, he found that the polder is not too big, if we move to the dead end where the enemy's fire cannot shoot, throw a group of cluster grenades at the polder, far and near, and bloom in full bloom, then in this relatively small polder, it will be like a cannonball, which will have a greater lethality on the enemy.

Therefore, Wu Jincai ordered the warriors to move to the edge of the polder wall, close to the dead end, and throw grenades at the polder from multiple angles and in many directions, for a time, "Boom! The explosions continued, and the polder became a large chimney, and a thick stream of smoke rose up and shot straight into the sky.

In the smoke of gunfire, the polder was filled with the terrified running sound of the enemy, the groans of injury, and the desperate scolding of the mother. Obviously, this polder has changed from a fortress held by the enemy to a graveyard that the enemy cannot escape. In order to survive, someone tried to rush out of the polder gate, but as soon as they arrived at the door, they were immediately swept down by my machine gun.

Finally, the enemy could not resist, and between death and life, they finally chose to surrender.

The polder shouted, "Don't fight, don't fight, we surrender!" We disarm! ”

But after a while, a dozen shots were thrown from inside the polder. Then, the remnants of the soldiers who were not killed by the explosion, carrying a white flag made of white sheets, wept and walked out the door with their hands raised.

The capture of the plate gate completely cut off the reinforcement channel for the Wu Shuquan Department of Huai'an.

By the evening of August 31, all units of our army had quickly swept away the enemy at more than ten strongholds outside Huaiyin City, such as Fujiazhuang, Yangzhuang, Wangying, Banzha, Xiba, Wharf, Jinjiaping, Liujiazhuang, and Wangjia Ancestral Hall, with the momentum of destruction and decay, so as to achieve a comprehensive encirclement of Huaiyin City and form a posture of troops approaching the city.

At that time, the land of Lianghuai was full of warm currents of passion, brave battles everywhere, figures of my soldiers and civilians running around, and joyful smiles everywhere. In addition to the troops participating in the war, the local government organized the "Counter-Offensive Mobilization Committee" and the "Logistics Committee". Tens of thousands of peasants who had been liberated showed great political enthusiasm and fought to attack Huaiyin City, and they joined the stretcher team to rescue the wounded, the transport team to transport grain, grass and ammunition, and the engineering team to build a high firepower point.

A large number of carpenters, blacksmiths, and other skilled craftsmen, draped in stars and wearing moons, rushed to build pontoon bridges for crossing rivers, ladders for climbing the city, bows and arrows and kites for propaganda, and beds for medical care. In order to drain the water in the moat outside Huaiyin City, weaken the enemy's natural barrier, and facilitate our army's smooth siege of the city, tens of thousands of local migrant workers sweated like rain under the scorching sun, and in just a few days, they dug through 30 miles of waterways and drained the water in the moat. The enemy troops defending the city yesterday also saw the turquoise water of the moat, and today it was dry to the sky, it seemed that overnight the earth cracked, the Dragon King sucked away the water, and everyone was stunned and felt incredible.

The militiamen also drove the ox cart, pulled the earthen cannons, raised the muzzles of the cannons, and pointed directly at Huaiyin City. Many white-haired old men, beating gongs and drums, formed a team to send the coffins they used to the end of the coffin to the troops, and let the New Fourth Army use the coffins to load explosives to bombard the city. Wu Jincai witnessed this scene and felt his blood boiling.

At that time, Wu Jincai's company was stationed in a fishing ditch southeast of Huaiyin City.

At night, the moon is in the sky, the streams of fireflies are extinguished, and the breeze is pleasant. Wu Jincai habitually came to the Zhuangbian post to check the vigilance situation. Suddenly, I saw two people coming from the path, one tall and one short.

Apparently, the two were not fishing ditch people, because they did not seem to be too familiar with the road conditions, and they looked east and west along the way, stopping and going.

The sentry whispered, "Captain Wu, is it an enemy spy?" ”

Wu Jincai waved his hand and signaled the sentry to continue observing.

The two men were getting closer and closer, and in the moonlight, the figures gradually became clear: one was a woman, the other was a child.

The sentry suddenly jumped out of the darkness and shouted, "Stop! Who? ”

The woman was only twenty-five years old, and despite the long journey and the dust of the wind, she could not hide the beauty of her young woman. She was very calm and asked, "Boss, what are you?" ”

Wu Jincai said, "We are the New Fourth Army. ”

The woman looked happy, turned back and hugged the five-year-old boy next to her, and said, "Little Dragon, when you get home, call uncle." ”

The tiger-headed child smiled happily, raised his childish face, and shouted, "Uncle is good!" ”

Wu Jincai looked dazed, and during the war years, he maintained a high degree of vigilance and still asked: "Sister-in-law, where are you from?" What's coming? ”

The woman said: "I am a native of Chen Guanzhuang, Yongcheng City, Henan Province, and the two of them have been begging for food all the way, looking for the child's father." ”

Wu Jincai asked, "Child daddy?" Who is he and what is he doing? ”

The woman said: "His name is Chen Jie, the Third Division of the New Fourth Army." ”

Wu Jincai listened and said happily, "Chen Jie? He is the second platoon leader of our company! Sister-in-law, go fast, I will show you the way. With that, he picked up the little dragon and led the woman straight to the second row of stations.

Along the way, the woman told Wu Jincai that she and Chen Jie had been playing young since they were young, and in August 1940, they were married, and only three days after the marriage, Chen Jie joined the Eighth Route Army, and the troops did not stop long in Henan, and set out to Huaibei and northern Jiangsu to open up the anti-Japanese root area. The woman served her in-laws at home alone, and a year later gave birth to a little boy, named Chen Long. Poor little dragon, who had never seen his father since he was born. Women bravely take on all the housework and field labor, and support the family through their own hard work. Not long ago, when the Japanese devils were defeated in battle, they made a final madness, burned and looted Chen Guanzhuang, and chen jie's house was all burned down, in order to cover for his daughter-in-law and grandson Xiaolong, to leave a root for the Chen family, Chen Jie's parents dragged the enemy hard, letting the daughter-in-law run away with his grandson. The poor mother-in-law was stabbed to death by the Japanese army on the spot. After the enemy left, the woman hastily buried her in-laws. There was no room, no food, mother and son really could not survive, so they traveled thousands of miles, begging for food all the way, to northern Jiangsu, wanting to find her husband Chen Jie and give her husband an explanation.

Wu Jincai listened, and his heart was faintly painful, and he was half speechless. Yes, for the sake of Chinese people's liberation cause, how many revolutionary fighters are separated from flesh and bones, and their families are broken! At this time, he thought of his mother, he thought of his wife, perhaps under this star and moon, they were also looking forward to Wu Jincai!

Chen Jie is tall and tall, is a very handsome young man, 28 years old, usually very gentle, but he is a famous tiger general when he fights. At this time, he was conducting combat readiness under the gas lights of the station. Wu Jincai pushed open the door and said with a smile, "Captain Chen Platoon, I have sent you a happy dumpling." ”

Chen Jie also laughed: "Captain Wu, you are poor mouth--is there something delicious to share with me?" ”

Wu Jincai said: "Don't dare, this thing can only be exclusive to you, I can't share it." ”

Chen Jie asked, "What kind of precious thing is it?" ”

Wu Jincai moved his body and revealed the woman and child hidden behind him.

Chen Jie's eyes straightened, and it took him half a day to return to the taste, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "It's you!" ”

The woman cried, laughed again, and said affectionately, Boy daddy! I'm dreaming of you! ”

Chen Jie was stunned: "What? Am I a dad? ”

The woman pushed the little dragon next to her towards Chen Jie: "Little dragon, this is your father, shout daddy!" ”

Xiao Longsheng took two steps forward and shouted softly, "Daddy! ”

Chen Jie hugged his son tightly, and tears immediately flowed down. There is a way that the boy has tears and does not flick, but he has not reached the sad place. At this time, when Chen Jie saw his wife and children, his heart was like pouring a five-flavor bottle, and the sour, sweet, bitter, bitter, and guilt all poured into his heart.

Xiao Long held out his small hand, gently wiped away Chen Jie's tears, and said, "Father, why are you crying?" The mother always said that you are a hero and a good man, you will not cry, right? ”

Chen Jie's heart was crushed, and he comforted his son: "Yes, baby, Daddy will not cry, Daddy is happy with you, laughing out of tears." You see, is Daddy laughing? ”

As he spoke, Chen Jie showed a bright smile on his face.

Xiao Long nodded, and said childishly, "Yes, Daddy laughed and cried, Daddy is a hero and won't cry." ”

Chen Jie's woman couldn't help but come forward to hug Chen Jie's father and son, and cried. Wu Jincai couldn't bear to look any further and quietly left. He ran to the company headquarters and reported the situation to the company commander Xiong Kaixian.

When the Red Army began its twenty-five-thousand-mile long march from Jiangxi, his father was the old Red Army, who was a company commander in the old company, when he was still young, his mother was killed by the "white dog", there were no relatives in the family, his father had to pick him on the road, it can be said that he has experienced war since he was a child, experienced hundreds of battles, and has eaten enough smoke, snow water, fried noodles and grass roots, and the bullets and shells have not known how many times he has been plucked on him, but he has a big life, and he has to go from Jiangxi to northern Shaanxi in the rain of bullets and bullets. From northern Shaanxi to Jin-Cha-Ji, and then from Jin-Cha-Ji to the Jiang-Huai River Valley, there was a passion of a hero and a good man flowing through him, leading the troops strictly, fighting bravely, and he took the lead in every battle and charged into the battlefield. Therefore, in the Third Division of the New Fourth Army, no one does not know the british name of Xiong Kaixian.

At this time, Xiong Kai first listened to Wu Jincai's report and immediately ordered the messenger to perform the following tasks: First, he instructed the cooking class to make a good meal on the table and send it to the family of the second platoon leader. Second, choose a good house so that their family can live comfortably. Third, go to the regimental logistics department to collect clothes and bedding and send them to the second platoon leader.

The cannons rumbled and the siege was imminent.

Wu Jincai carried a large number of soldiers' invitations and challenge books, and strode into the company headquarters.

Company Commander Kai smiled first, "Oh, a long line, you are here too." ”

When Wu Jincai saw it, the second and third platoon leaders had come to the company headquarters earlier, and it seemed that they were also for the purpose of fighting. On the eight immortals table on one side, there was a map of the defense of Huaiyin City, on which there were red circle drawing points marked by the company commander, which were the enemy stronghold targets that the company was about to attack.

Wu Jincai felt that the company was already burning with a fiery fighting atmosphere. He saluted immediately: "Yes, company commander, instructor, on behalf of a platoon, I ask the company headquarters to approve as a siege assault platoon, the first to rush into Huaiyin City and capture Pan Ganchen alive!" Please see, this is the invitation book of my comrades in the platoon, this is the challenge book, and this is the blood book, which was written by all the soldiers in a class who bit their fingers. ”

Xiong Kaixian and the instructor looked at these reports with great interest, which seemed to burn with passion and life, and said with a smile: "Well, with the correct strategy and tactics of the chief, with the determination and confidence of the comrades, and with the courage of everyone to charge into the battlefield, dare to sacrifice, and dare to defeat the enemy, we will certainly be able to win the victory in the battle of Huaiyin." You see, the commander has already decided that our regiment is in charge of attacking the West Gate, which is a hard nail, but even our soldiers are experts who dare to pull out their teeth, and we will certainly be able to plant the red flag on the Huaiyin City Tower! ”

Wu Jincai said: "Please arrange the company commander, let us be the assault platoon, I promise to complete the task." ”

The second and third platoon commanders listened and said urgently: "Company commander, there is a first-come, second-come, first-come, first-come, assault platoon should be us!" ”

Wu Jincai smiled: "Captain Chen Platoon, you don't have to fight, your sister-in-law and children have worked hard, just arrived in northern Jiangsu, it is not easy, your family will first reunite, wait for the next battle, the assault platoon will let you, this time give it to me first, okay?" ”

Company Commander Xiong Kaixian also laughed: "What Comrade Jin Cai said is that the commander of the AnJincai battalion has agreed with the opinion of our company headquarters and decided that the second platoon will not undertake the surprise mission for the time being, and Comrade Chen Jie himself will not participate in this battle to attack Huaiyin City, and the platoon deputy will temporarily act as the deputy to command the work." ”

When Chen Jie heard this, the blood suddenly flushed his face, and he straightened his eyes, burst into flames, and shouted, "Why? Company commander, why is that? Can you tell me that I Chen Mou will not fight, or that I Chen Mou is greedy and afraid of death? ”

The instructor advised: "Comrade Chen Jie, we can understand your feelings, you are a good comrade, and you have always been very brave in battle. But the decision of the organization is to take into account that your wife and children have just arrived, you have been separated for five years, it is not easy, the family should be reunited, this is the organization's concern for you, you should understand. ”

Chen Jie took off the military hat on his head, held it tightly in his hand, and the green tendons on his forehead beat, he said: "Company commander, instructor, if the organization really cares about me, it should let me go to the battlefield to fight with the enemy with a bayonet!" My wife, my son, came to want to be reunited? Is it to be blessed? Is it trying to hold me back? No, no, they came to tell my family that the country hated, and they wanted me to strike hard at the enemy, to avenge my relatives, to avenge the fathers and elders in my hometown! Speaking of this, this man who has always been stubborn, can't help but have tears running down his eyes. Perhaps afraid that his comrades would see his tears, Chen Jie ran out the door and went into the darkness.

The people in the company room were speechless, so quiet that even the "sizzling" sound of the gas lamp was clear. Yes, this is really a general's anger, and the three armies are afraid.

After a while, the sound of footsteps outside the door was heard, and chen jie's family of three broke into the company.

Wu Jincai looked at this time, Chen Jie's wife was a very clean and handsome woman, with a shiny little beard, wearing a blue printed coat, if it were not for the weather, the face was a dish, it was really quite cute. As soon as she entered the door, she "snapped" at Company Commander Kai and knelt down first.

XiongLian was shocked and rushed to help her: "Sister, what are you doing, get up quickly, sit down and talk." ”

Chen Jie's wife cried and said, "Sir, what mistake did my father make, how did you get rid of him?" ”

Company Commander Xiong Kaixian said, "Sister, Chen Jie's platoon leader is a good comrade, brave in battle, how could I remove him?" Rest assured, I won't. ”

The woman burst into tears and smiled: "Sir, with your words, I will be relieved." You wouldn't let him fight, would you? ”

Xiong Kaixian said, "The organization decided that in order to reunite your family and huaiyin, Comrade Chen Jie would not participate in the battle, and asked the sister to accept the decision of the organization." --Because fighting is a dangerous thing after all, guns don't recognize people! The commander of the Xiong Company deliberately raised the tone of the last sentence a little, implicitly reminding Chen Jie and his wife that he did not want to see any accidents on the occasion of their first reunion in five years.

The woman was unyielding: "Sir, my child's father was born a hero and a good man, and when they came to Huaiyin, they really did not pull his hind legs, but told him to let Chen Jie kill a few more enemies on the battlefield and avenge his tragic death." Sir, you take care of my family, your great kindness, I will never forget. However, Chen Jie stood by and watched at the moment of this siege, according to his character, he was also anxious to die, and his father's mother in the spirit of heaven also hoped for him to take revenge! ”

The little dragon nestled in his mother's arms also raised his cute big sparkling eyes and said to Xiong Kaixian, "Uncle, you let your father fight the devil." Daddy, will you kill me a few more enemies? ”

Chen Jie's eyes were red, but he answered his son's words very solemnly: "I will." Company commander, instructor, I ask to join the battle, I ask my second platoon to be a siege commando, I promise to complete the task! ”

What more can be said about such a thing?

The company commander Xiong Kaixian exchanged views with the instructor and said, "The company headquarters agrees in principle to your request for battle, but I want to go to the battalion headquarters and ask an jin to approve the battalion commander before I can make a final organizational decision." ”

Chen Jie's family cheered, and Wu Jincai also felt that solemnity and passion, and felt the profound history and life of the revolutionary fighters who sacrificed their lives and forgot their deaths.

In the platoon, Wu Jincai also encountered a large number of soldiers like Chen Jie who were stalking and asking to join the commando team, and it took a lot of tongue-in-cheek. Take Cheng Yin, a fifteen-year-old ghost, for example, those days, he kept gluing to Wu Jincai like gynostemma and asking to join the commando team, his reason was that he could shoot, he could hold high the red flag, and he must avenge the tragic death of his father. The left was also grinding, and the right was also entangled, and in the end, Wu Jincai's heart was moved, and he was listed on the list of the commando team, reported to the company headquarters, and was even approved.

At that time, our army adopted second-hand preparations: on the one hand, it was a soldier who surrendered without a fight, and wanted to peacefully liberate Huaiyin City by persuading him to surrender. The other hand is to strengthen the armament and prepare for an all-out siege of the city.

Since Huaiyin is an ancient historical city and preserves many historical and cultural heritage, our army does not want too much damage due to war. At the same time, we also wanted to give Pan Ganchen and many puppet troops a chance to repent, so our army used a large number of propaganda offensives to publicize current affairs and the consequences of stubborn resistance to the puppet army. Our army used bows and arrows to fire a large number of leaflets and letters of persuasion to surrender to the city; large colorful kites fluttered in the sky, and large slogans hung under the kites; and various positions used small loudspeakers to carry out shouting activities one after another to publicize to the enemy our army's policy of "surrendering guns and not killing." The warriors also lined the ship's masts around the city, and posted on the original sails "Lay down your weapons and return to the arms of the people!" "Don't fight for Pan Ganchen!" With the slogan, the sails rose on one side, and the living elephant raised a banner of surrender. At the same time, In the name of Huang Kecheng, commander of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army and political commissar, Brigadier Liu Zhen also issued an ultimatum to Pan Ganchen twice, urging him to immediately surrender his weapons and surrender.

Did you know that Pan Ganchen was obsessed with ghosts and thought that he was the commander of the Kuomintang division, he had no fear, he was quite arrogant, and he barked wildly: "Huaiyin City is impregnable," "Let your New Fourth Army grow three heads and six arms, and you will not want to fly into the city." He even boasted that "we are the victors of the curve to save the country." In order to show his determination to resist the New Fourth Army to the end, he even brutally shot and killed Zhang Laohan, who delivered letters to our army.

As for the perverse actions of Pan Ganchen and other puppet troops, the officers and men of our army were all furious and rushed to the crown, and the commanders and fighters of the New Fourth Army and the migrant workers asked for battle one after another, and for a time, the slogans rang out everywhere around Huaiyin City: "Capture Huaiyin City and capture Pan Ganchen alive." Yes, for such stubborn enemies, only with guns to speak, only with death to teach them.

At that time, our army's combat readiness work was also very mature; in addition to the migrant workers draining the moat, our army also measured the true height of Huaiyin City to facilitate the making of ladders; on the north side of the East Gate, our army soldiers and more than sixty former migrant workers dug under the eyes of the enemy for two consecutive days and nights, and finally dug a tunnel up to 55 meters long, which led directly to the city wall. In the northeast corner of the city, our army dropped an unexploded large bomb weighing 1,000 pounds from an enemy plane, quietly transported it through the tunnel to the bottom of the enemy's turret, and installed an electric firing device, which would explode violently as long as it was gently electrified. At the same time, the buildings outside the city were used, and the machine gun firing platforms more than two meters above the city wall were erected by using bamboo and sacks of earth, so that it was convenient to be condescending, suppress the enemy with firepower, and cover our army's siege of the city. All units have organized commandos, red flag bearers and demolition men to carry out intense combat training, and every combatant needs to pass an examination to ensure that he is politically qualified, excellent in technology, brave in combat, and qualified in order to enter the first combat sequence. At the same time, our army constantly dispatched combat detachments to attack the city in the form of night raids; every night, our artillery cooperated with the night raid detachment in firing at a time of time, and the artillery fire reflected the red of Huaiyin City, and the gunshots of the squads' strong attacks shouted "kill." It can be seen from this that our army's combat readiness work can be said to be perfect, everything is ready, only the east wind is owed, as long as the division headquarters gives an order, it will attack the city.

On September 6, the order for a formal siege of the city was given.

The commanders and commando commanders were all on the right page. At that time, the heavens were also very cooperative, sweeping away the blazing sun like fire, the sky was gloomy, not long ago, drizzling, Wu Jincai led the commando team, ambushed in the trench, felt a cool.

The artillery of our army began to roar, and the roaring shells flew into the city walls and exploded on the enemy positions. The famous militia hero Wang Fengshan's large earthen cannon also spoke at the north gate, emitting a deafening roar. At the East City Gate, our army's artillery shot directly at the towering turrets on both sides of the city gate, hitting the bricks of the two artillery towers and bursting with thick smoke.

At this time, the enemy thought that our army had attacked the city, but in fact, our army was engaged in psychological warfare. The artillery of our army roared continuously, and throughout the morning it was sparse and dense, and the enemy was slack. Because the enemy knows that our army is good at night fighting, some time ago it was more night attacks, and despite the morning artillery, the siege did not move, so the enemy thought that this was a fatigue war, and our army was recuperating and preparing for the night attack. In fact, it is precisely by using this virtual and real method of warfare that our army has created the psychological illusion of the enemy, and the time of the real siege of the city is at two o'clock in the afternoon.

In fact, the official siege was not at 2 p.m. as originally planned, but a little earlier, because the vehicles transporting the blasting equipment in front of the South Gate position were unfortunately hit by enemy artillery and made a huge explosion. The commander of zheng guiqing, who was mainly attacking the south gate, reported to the general headquarters in the emergency situation that the target of the siege was discovered by the enemy, and requested that the attack be launched in advance. Considering the actual situation, the command headquarters agreed to the request of Commander Zheng. At that time, the South Gate had become a sea of fire. The enemy defending the city was desperately firing at our army on the city wall, in the fortress, in the trenches, and the guns, grenades, and even brick rubble all flew down madly on the head of our army, and the land in front of the city wall was full of steel exploding, shells were roaring everywhere, smoke was bursting everywhere, and fire was burning everywhere.

The enemy is crazy, and the soldiers of our army are even more heroic and tenacious.

At the south gate, the sharp knife squads and assault platoons of each company took turns to charge at the city wall. Song Chuanhai, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Division's Special Service Regiment, was heroically killed in the shell fire.

At the west gate, Wu Jincai led a assault platoon from the trench to the city wall, and as soon as they erected the ladder and climbed up half of the people, the enemy threw grenades from the city wall. The ladder was blown up, the warriors fell into the city, and some soldiers died on the spot. Watching the warriors bleed, Wu Jincai's teeth clenched, and he ordered the warriors to evacuate to the dead end of the shooting first, while rushing to adjust the ladder and organize another siege of the city.

At that time, the sharp knife squads and commandos of other companies were also like this, the first group of soldiers rushed up the ladder and were blown down, and the second group of soldiers shouted again, stepping on the blood of their comrades,and climbing the city wall in spite of themselves. The indomitable eyes that looked at death, the flashes of the spear, and the figure of the dragon leaping and leaping made the enemy on the city tower look at it and shudder.

At the East Gate, the 28th Regiment of our army blew up the enemy in the city tower with heavy artillery fire. In the northeast corner of the city, the 1,000-pound bomb that was transported from the tunnel into the foot of the city wall was electrically detonated, and the rumbling explosion shook the entire Huaiyin City, and the northeast corner of the city wall was suddenly blown up, and all the puppet troops in that section were shocked to death and could not resist. Then, the large coffin containing 500 kilograms of yellow-black explosives was pushed up and detonated again, and the city wall suddenly opened.

At the North Gate, our army, relying on the cover of the piers of the North Gate Canal Bridge, which had been burned down by the enemy, rushed to the North Gate City Tower, erected one cloud ladder after another, and launched wave after wave of shocks against the enemy.

In this vicious battle, the soldiers of our army sacrificed their lives and forgot their deaths, and the enemy was terrified. The enemy seems to see only the fortification of the fortress, but he cannot understand the human factor first, and the combat effectiveness of the righteous division is unmatched by any weaponry. Therefore, despite the enemy's desperate resistance, the southeast, southwest, and northwest gates were all conquered by our warriors.

At the East Gate, the 5th Squad Leader of the 1st Battalion of the 28th Regiment of our army was the first to rush to the head of the city and planted the first bright red flag on Huaiyin City.

At the South Gate, Xu Jiabiao, the leader of the 5th Squad of the 7th Company, was the first to climb the city wall, when he was seriously injured. At that time, he saw the enemy's machine guns on the city wall desperately strafing at our army, in order to protect his comrades-in-arms and welcome the successor departments to enter the city, he heroically pounced on the machine guns, using his own body to block the enemy's machine gun eyes, and the soldiers shouted: Avenge Captain Xu! Quickly sweep the defending enemy.

At the west gate, the regimental commander, battalion commander, and company commander of Wu Jincai's troops were all fighting in the line of fire; after launching a new round of attack on the city, under the strafing of the enemy's heavy machine guns, in the explosion of the grenades thrown from above, many heroic commanders and fighters of our army were sacrificed, and the commander of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion was blown out of a blood hole in his chest, and the hygienist wanted to bandage him, he pushed away the hygienist's hand, and his face, which was stained with smoke and black sweat, glared at the city fiercely, and said only one word: "Leave me alone, rush into the city, destroy the dog, and capture Pan Ganchen alive!" After saying that, he passed away unexpectedly.

Wu Jincai's company commander, Xiong Kai, took the lead, biting the shell gun in his mouth, climbing the ladder like a fierce tiger, and whizzing straight up. The second platoon commander Chen Jie was injured by a grenade when he first boarded the city, and was hit by a bullet when he landed on the city for the second time, his chest was covered in blood, and the hygienist wanted to rescue him, he pushed the hygienist's hand away, picked up a ball of gauze, tore open his clothes, gritted his teeth and stuffed the gauze into the bleeding hole, brandished a shell gun and took the lead in organizing the third impact.

Wu Jincai led the assault platoon to also impact twice in the rain of bullets, the third time he held two grenades in one hand, and the other hand supported the ladder to climb straight towards the head of the city, when he was about to approach the head of the city, he suddenly threw a grenade, the grenade exploded at the head of the city, the enemy was blown to death, escaped, the living were still in a daze, at this time, Wu Jincai had already jumped on the head of the city, and the shell gun was fired to the left and right. At this time, the comrades-in-arms behind them also flocked up, and Xiao Chengyin, waving a bright red flag, happily climbed up to the head of the city, desperately waved the red flag, and shouted at our army under the city: "Comrades rush, our army is victorious!" At this moment, Wu Jin found that the enemy on the side of the city turned the machine gun and strafed at them. At that time, Wu Jincai really didn't have time to say anything more, so he punched him, Cheng Yin was beaten and immediately fell to the ground, he was still stunned, the enemy's machine gun bullet rain poured over, and the city wall that Cheng Yin had just relied on was beaten into a honeycomb.

Cheng Yin was shocked and said, "Mom, if it weren't for Captain Wu Platoon, my little life would have been lost here." ”

In fact, when climbing the ladder, Cheng Yin was also injured twice, once when a grenade shrapnel slashed into his arm, and once a bullet hit his abdomen. Although the two injuries hurt him very much, he still insisted, you must know, he is still a child under sixteen years old. Later, during the southern expedition and northern war of the troops, Cheng Yin often talked to Wu Jincai about the first scene in Huaiyin City, and he laughed and said: "The assault platoon leader punched out a tactical idea -- you can't take the enemy lightly in battle!" ”

As soon as our army ascended to the head of the city, it immediately swept away the remnants of the defending city.

Li Yunlong, acting company commander of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion, rushed into the headquarters of the enemy's teaching battalion and captured the commander of the enemy's teaching battalion, "Zhao Laohu", and a trumpet soldier alive. Li Yunlong had served as a trumpet soldier, and he ordered the enemy trumpet soldier to give the enemy trumpet score. Li Yunlong then used the enemy's trumpet to blow up the assembly number. The enemy officers and men, who were hidden in the vast walls of the fortresses, thought that "Zhao Tiger" was ordering them, so they ran to the battalion headquarters to assemble, so that all the puppet troops known as the "Tiger Battalion" were taken prisoners of our army.

At the North Gate, after many shocks, our army also triumphantly climbed to the head of the city and planted the red flag on the North Gate Tower.

After conquering the towers of the east, west, south, and north, our army rushed into the city like a tide and attacked rapidly into the depths.

On the way, Wu Jincai suddenly sprang up from a large group of puppet troops from a street and alley, and the two sides immediately launched hand-to-hand combat. A large puppet army holding a dangling bayonet, he saw that Wu Jincai was the official of our army, and it was also a short gun, so he stabbed at Wu Jincai with a bayonet, and Wu Jincai flashed his body and dodged the attack of the bayonet, and with a swing of the shell gun, a "bang" shot hit the big puppet army, and a stream of dirty blood splashed On Wu Jincai's body, and the bayonet tilted and also pierced Wu Jincai's right leg.

At this moment, the second platoon commander Chen Jie was also fighting fiercely with the enemy, he had been seriously injured twice during the siege of the city, he had shed a lot of blood, his physical strength had long been exhausted, and now, he was covered in blood, desperately fighting with the enemy, he killed several enemies with a short gun, and suddenly an enemy poked the center nest with a bayonet. Chen Jie fell down in anger.

The warriors shouted, "Avenge Captain Chen!" Avenge Captain Chen! "The more the comrades killed, the braver they became, and soon they slaughtered these enemies to the bone.

Wu Jincai and Lian Changxiong Kaixian all came to see Chen Jie, and Chen Jie just gasped, he said, "Company commander, please... Mobilize my lover and children to return to their hometown in Henan... Me, I can't do it, but... I am very happy, Huaiyin has come down, we are going to win... I have avenged, please tell the child's mother,...... She suffered, I love her, and I love my son Xiaolong..." He could no longer say anything and gave up. At that time, even the Iron Man who had experienced so many lives and deaths like Xiong Kaixian was in tears. A Shandong man in the second row cried like a tearful man, yes, how could he forget this brother from Henan, when he joined the army, he had the habit of not washing clothes or bathing, and he did not know how to brush his teeth, that body was full of lice crawling, and he grabbed it casually. Chen Jie ordered him to take off his clothes, personally boiled them in a pot for him, burned all the lice to death, and bathed him, teaching him how to brush his teeth with tooth powder and salt, and finally made him feel comfortable and bright, and his spirit was vibrant, as if he was reborn and remade. Some soldiers have a cold, Chen Jie always booed cold and asked for warmth, and the steaming ginger tea was served to the soldiers. Such a good brother and a good platoon leader were actually sacrificed, how could they not make the comrades-in-arms feel pain?!

Our army fought bravely against the remnants of the enemy with the momentum of destruction and decay. Zhang Changyi, commander of the 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 28th Regiment of our army, led the soldiers and brother troops to directly insert themselves into the headquarters of the enemy division.

More than a hundred puppet troops rushed out of the enemy headquarters at once, saw our army coming, hurriedly lay down on the ground, set up two machine guns at the door, and prepared to strafe; the commander of the 4th Company and the 2nd Squad immediately threw out two grenades, killing the enemy machine gunners, and the commanders and fighters of our army immediately attacked the compound.

Zhang Changyi and the others rushed into a house and found a fat pig-like officer carrying a telephone and shouting, and a former barber guide of our army immediately pointed at him and said, "He is Pan Ganchen!" ”

Zhang Changyi raised his gun majestically and ordered in a loud voice: "Pan Ganchen, raise your hand!" ”

Pan Ganchen was taken aback, dropped the phone, pulled out his pistol, and was about to resist, Zhang Changyi's pistol spoke, but when he heard a "bang" sound, Pan Ganchen, the leader of the puppet army whose hands were stained with the blood of the people, rolled over his eyes like a dead fish, spewed out general dirty blood, fell down like a grain bag, struggled a few times, and then perished.

At the same time, Liu Zilin, deputy company commander of the 4th Company of our army, rushed into another house in the enemy division headquarters, captured Liu Shaokun, the chief of staff of the enemy division, and forced him with a pistol, ordering: "Quick, call, order the regiments to surrender!" ”

Liu Shaokun saw that the general situation had gone, and the mountains and rivers were exhausted, so he had to grab the phone with a trembling hand and issue an order to his subordinates: "..., hey, the commander of the division... Command, stop resisting...".

At 3:30 p.m., our army ended the battle in victory, and bright red flags fluttered everywhere in Huaiyin City.

In the Battle of Huaiyin, the Third Division of our New Fourth Army annihilated a total of 8,628 puppet troops, including 8,328 people under Liu Shaokun, chief of staff of the enemy division, and 300 puppet troops below pan Ganchen, commander of the enemy division.

After the victory in the Huaiyin Campaign, the Third Division of the New Fourth Army held a grand congratulatory meeting in the South Park of Huaiyin City, at which commander Chen Yi's commendation telegram was read out, and at the same time it was decided to reorganize Wu Jincai's independent regiment into the 23rd Regiment of the Eighth Brigade of the Third Division, and Xiong Kaixian, Chen Jie, Wu Jincai, and others were commended.

After the meeting, Company Commander Xiong Kaixian led Wu Jincai, the third platoon leader, and all the soldiers of the second platoon to the outskirts of the city to bid farewell to Chen Jie and other comrades who had sacrificed their lives.

In front of the grave, in front of the green grass, the grave of Xinlei was kneeling a woman wearing a white flower and a child dressed in linen, which was Chen Jie's lover and his son Xiaolong. Seeing Chen Jie's comrades-in-arms come to mourn, the women and children cried bitterly. Wu Jincai stroked the head of the five-year-old Xiaolong and felt extremely uncomfortable in his heart: Yes, after Chen Jie was newly married, he did not return home for more than five years for the revolution. Now the wife and son have traveled thousands of miles to visit relatives, the family reunion is less than a few schedules, Comrade Chen Jie has heroically sacrificed, this story of life and death, to this day, the eighty-year-old Wu Jincai is still remembered in his heart, unforgettable!

In front of the grave, the commander of Xiong Kaixian solemnly offered a cup of sake and a lit cigarette, and as if he was afraid of disturbing Chen Jie's tranquility, he said softly: "Comrade Chen Jie, Huaiyin City has been defeated, our army has won, you are very heroic, you have been wounded three times, you have shed blood and sacrificed, you have made contributions to the people and for our New Fourth Army, you are not a good son of the people and a good soldier of the party." Comrade Chen Jie, please listen to the commendation given to you by the division headquarters. ”

Then, the instructor read out the commendation order of the division headquarters.

Chen Jie's wife mourned abnormally, and she cried: "Chen Jie, Chen Jie, did you hear me?" Did you see that? The division headquarters has commended you, you are a hero of battle, and the chiefs have seen you coming! I, and the little dragon, have come to see you, and you are in the Spirit of Heaven, can you say a word to you? Chen Jie, my good husband... Chen Jie! She couldn't cry anymore.

Xiong Kaixian company commander and instructors all came forward to comfort him. In order to let Chen Jie's wife and children return home smoothly and live and work in peace and contentment, the troops specially prepared a generous pension, and Wu Jincai and his comrades-in-arms also donated money one after another, sending people to send cars to send their mother and son back to Henan.

After capturing Huaiyin City, our army rushed to Huai'an City without stopping to fight a decisive battle against the puppet army of Wu Shuquan, the "son of Wu Duzi."

When the battle in Huaiyin was in full swing, the Third Division of our New Fourth Army had already made arrangements to dispatch local armed forces from various counties to closely surround Huai'an, so that Wu Shuquan's enemies defending Huai'an were like turtles in an urn, unable to move. As soon as the Battle of Huaiyin ended, Huang Kecheng's division commander immediately ordered the 10th Brigade and the siege troops to enter Huai'an and tighten the siege of Huai'an.

Soon, the 8th Brigade returned from Huainan to the east, replaced the 10th Brigade, and approached Huai'an City.

Division Commander Huang Kecheng and Division Chief of Staff Hong Xuezhi personally went to the line of fire to make operational arrangements: it was decided that the Seventh Brigade under the command of Brigadier Peng Mingji and the Eighth Brigade under the command of Brigadier Zhang Yuntian would serve as the main attack on Huai'an City. The Tenth Brigade, commanded by Liu Zhen, deputy division commander and commander of the Tenth Brigade, withdrew from the battle sequence and attacked the puppet army of Xu Jitaibu in xiangshui, Chenjiagang, and Guanyun areas. Although Wu Jincai's independent regiment had been announced to be reorganized into the 23rd Regiment of the Eighth Brigade, because the Eighth Brigade had just marched east from Huainan and was engaged in battle as soon as it approached Huai'an City, the actual handover work had not yet been carried out, so it still participated in the Huai'an Battle in the name of the Independent Regiment.

Huai'an City is 12 meters high, 4 meters higher than the 8-meter-high Huaiyin City, and is made of huge ancient green bricks. The east, south and north sides of the city are wide moats, and the west of the city is the Grand Canal. Therefore, Wu Shuquan regarded the "iron strike Huai'an" as the capital of resisting our army, and boasted of something: "My Huai'an, the heavenly soldiers, are also difficult to break through." ”

After conducting an on-the-spot investigation around Huai'an City, Commander Huang Kecheng decided to establish fifteen commanding heights of firepower around Huai'an City, all of which were fortified with sandbags, and whose height was even higher than the city walls. At the same time, a 150-meter-long tunnel was dug up to the bottom of the city wall, and as in the case of attacking Huaiyin City, heavy bombs were transported from the tunnels and electronically controlled explosions were carried out.

While preparing for the siege, our army also launched a powerful propaganda offensive to urge the puppet army to surrender. However, Wu Shuquan, who was unrepentant in death, not only refused to surrender, but also organized a death squad of more than a hundred people. At dawn on September 21, this daredevil took advantage of the pre-dawn darkness to quietly fall from the western city wall with a rope outside the city, and sneaked into our army in an attempt to break through and escape. The 1st Battalion of the 24th Regiment of the Eighth Brigade of our Third Division was already vigilant and immediately surrounded and annihilated, killing more than 40 enemy people in just a few tens of minutes, and the remaining 80 people, seeing that the situation was not good, obediently raised their hands and surrendered their guns. The soldiers all laughed and said that Wu Shuquan's "death squad" had become a "death squad".

At that time, Wu Jincai's troops were stationed in a small village outside Huai'an City, making combat preparations such as weapons and ladder explosives, while summarizing the lessons learned from the Siege of Huaiyin.

On the morning of September 22, the division headquarters decided to formally attack the city at 8 a.m.

At seven o'clock, Wu Jincai was eating breakfast on an empty field, and suddenly the city was firing cannons at our army's position, and everyone didn't care: You hit your cannon, I eat my meal, this old game, the soldiers are used to it.

However, this time it was different, only listening to the loud "huh-huh" sound, a cannonball was not biased, just smashed into the vegetable basin containing the vegetables in front of Wu Jincai, and the vegetable basin was suddenly smashed. At that time, around the vegetable pot, there were more than a dozen warriors who were eating. Wu Jincai was shocked into a cold sweat: according to common sense, the shell fell into the vegetable basin, and the people around him did not even have the kung fu to lie down, and the shell exploded when it touched the ground, but the strange thing was that the bomb did not explode. Wu Jincai ordered the soldiers to evacuate and hide, and quietly went forward to observe himself, and could not help but laugh: the original shell was not equipped with a detonation cap, and such a shell would certainly not explode.

At first, Wu Jincai thought that the enemy was careless and forgot to put on the detonation cap. Later, another shell was dropped in the air, and the shell fell a few meters away from them, but it still did not explode, and similarly, this shell was not equipped with a detonation cap, Wu Jincai analyzed: On the battlefield where you are dead and alive, a shell is not equipped with a detonation cap, and it is obviously impossible to say that several shells are not equipped with a detonation cap. Perhaps, this is our underground party lurking inside the enemy, creating trouble for the enemy, and at the same time using this method to protect the soldiers of our army.

After a false alarm, Wu Jincai immediately led the commando team into the position and prepared to charge the position.

The General Command informed the watch, Wu Jincai looked at the watch, the time was already 7:40.

A brilliant autumn sun rises in the east, the earth is moist, the green grass around it is covered with crystal dew, and the pink sunflowers meet the brilliant sunshine and bloom golden pink flowers. The sky is high and the earth is wide, the white clouds are rolled, how beautiful the heavens and the earth are, and how delicate the mountains are! However, in another ten minutes, this land will groan in the fire of war, for the benefit of the motherland and the people, Wu Jincai and his comrades-in-arms around him will dedicate themselves at any time, perhaps, this is the last time to see this heaven on earth, the earth on earth, look at this beautiful flower, gentle water. For a moment, in the minds of the warriors, how precious was this moment of peace before the battle!

I don't know how, Wu Jin has a problem, in the battle, he does not want anything, a mind to kill the enemy. But in the short tens of minutes of silence before the war, he often thought of his mother, at this time, what was her mother doing? She knew that her son was in the trenches, preparing to challenge Death. Yes, hard work, Mother, since birth, the mother has been working tirelessly, never enjoying the happiness brought by her son, but worrying about the son of the revolution. Mother, don't blame Jin Cai, since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety can not be both! Wu Jincai thought of his wife, the newlywed party a few days, the wife was alone in the empty house, living a difficult time, although Wu Jincai turned to fight in the Jianghuai land, but the war was frequent, after marriage has not been able to go home, how much he owes his wife a love debt, but for the motherland, this is also a helpless thing, wife, can you understand? In the face of life and death, perhaps Wu Jincai did not think anything, because for a soldier, charging into the front is as normal as a primary school student going to class, and the god of death has no meaning to revolutionaries, as the saying goes: "Revolution is not afraid of death, afraid of death is not revolutionary"!

At eight o'clock, three red signals catapulted into the blue sky. This is the signal flare of the total attack!

Suddenly, as if the world was falling apart, Huai'an City trembled with the sound of our army's guns. All the light and heavy weapons of our army opened fire at the same time, firing rapidly for fifteen minutes. The machine guns on the fifteen commanding heights of fire hit the enemy on the city wall and could not lift his head. The soldiers of our Eighth Brigade moved through the tunnels and covertly moved to the foot of the city wall, detonating the bombshells in the tunnels, but listening to a loud "bang", the 500-pound bomb erupted with anger, which really shook the mountain, and a large section of the city wall and artillery towers in the southwest of the city were all flown, and the smoke of gunfire went straight into the clouds and endured for a long time.

Wu Jincai felt particularly excited at this time, he raised his pistol, raised his voice and shouted: "Comrades, the brother troops in the southwest have blown up the city wall, we rush!" ”

As a result, the assault squads began to rush to transport the ladder, and the assault squad leader Yang Yihui and other fighters scrambled to climb along the ladder to the city wall. At that time, the firepower of our army rushed towards the enemy on the city wall like a storm, creating good conditions for our soldiers to attack the city. However, the enemy was still stubbornly resisting, and under the pressure of our army's fire, he still threw grenades at the ladders on the side of the city wall from time to time. In the exchange of bullets and fire, Yang Yihui's ladder was blown up, and all the people on the ladder fell down the city and were buried in the smoke. As a commander, Wu Jincai couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart, thinking that these lovely comrades might be "glorious", he was trying to rush over to organize rescue, saying that it was too late and fast, Yang Yihui and the soldiers climbed out of the smoke, spit out a mouthful of dirt chips in their mouths, and grabbed the cloud ladder alive, and climbed up the city wall again, that heroic and fearless spirit of death, could not help but let Wu Jincai drink: "Good look, rush up, capture Wu Duzi alive!" ”

The warriors also shouted in unison: "Chong, capture Wu Duzi alive!" ”

In the loud charge, the warriors attacked more courageously, and soon several assault squads boarded Huai'an City, and a bright red flag flew over Huai'an City.

As soon as Wu Jincai looked at his watch, from the beginning of the attack, their platoon only took nine minutes to board the city. According to the tactical deployment of the regimental headquarters, Wu Jincai led a whole platoon of fighters to quickly penetrate the enemy's deep positions, and the units of our army were like a sharp bayonet, cutting the enemy into isolated pieces.

The enemy was finally unable to hold on, and under the powerful firepower and political offensive of our army, from the turrets and from the bunkers, the enemy constantly waved white flags and raised his hands in groups to surrender to our army.

Wu Jincai's troops quickly cut into The Center Street, quickly took control of the commanding heights, and suppressed the enemy with powerful firepower. Not long after, the group of enemies under Wu Jincai's gun also surrendered with a white flag. Holding high the white flag was a very strong young man, who walked up to Wu Jincai, smiled and saluted Wu Jincai, and said happily: "Chief, we have won!" ”

Wu Jincai felt a deep heart and said with a cold face, "You—, what does this mean?" ”

The young man in the fake military uniform knew that Wu Jincai had misunderstood, so he quietly laughed: "Chief, my name is Dong Wanlin, I am the squad leader of the small artillery squad, when the artillery was fired in the morning, our company commander asked us to remove the fuse of the shell, the purpose is to tell you to make preparations, this side of the puppet army is going to break through ... , do you know this?" ”

Wu Jincai suddenly realized, and tightly held Dong Wanlin's hand: "Oh, it is your masterpiece, your shells have hit our vegetable pots, it is really accurate!" It's so hard for you..., I don't understand, how can you have such a good enlightenment? ”

Dong Wanlin was embarrassed and said with a smile: "Don't hide from the chief, there are underground parties in this Huai'an city, I am one of them, we are all comrades, we are all fighting for the revolution!" ”

Only then did Wu Jincai understand the true meaning of Dong Wanlin's words that "we have won", so he warmly hugged him and thanked him for his contribution to the Battle of Huai'an.

Later, Dong Wanlin joined Wu Jincai's company, from soldier, main and deputy platoon commander, company commander, battalion commander, regiment commander to chief of staff, becoming an excellent commander of our army, and died of illness in 1994 at the age of 71.

Our army began to attack at eight o'clock in the morning, and by ten o'clock, most of the enemy's defenders in Huai'an were annihilated. At 12 o'clock, the pseudo-brigade commander Wu Shuquan and the pseudo-commissioner Li Yunpei entangled more than 200 remnants of the defeated generals, and they were still stubbornly resisting at the Bell and Drum Tower and the Chu King's Palace with strong fortifications.

"If the enemy does not surrender, he will resolutely destroy it!" Under the personal command of Commander Huang Kecheng, our army concentrated its superior forces and launched a fierce attack, and after 30 minutes of fierce fighting, annihilated the remnants of the huai'an enemy in one fell swoop, and Wu Shuquan was also killed.

In the Battle of Huai'an, more than 4,000 enemy members were annihilated, and in addition to the Battle of Huaiyin City, more than 13,000 enemy personnel were annihilated, 15 guns were captured, more than 180 light and heavy machine guns, 8,870 long and short guns, grenadiers and various ammunition, vehicles, horses and countless other materials were captured. The victory in the Battle of the Two Huai-Huai Provinces united the Liberated Areas of Northern Jiangsu, Central Jiangsu, Huainan, and Huaibei. For the sake of the victory of the revolution, our army also paid a considerable price: For example, at the beginning of the battle between the two Huaihuai, there were 150 commanders and fighters of Wu Jincai's company, and by the end of the battle, there were still 75 people left, and many old comrades-in-arms who had suffered with Wu Jincai in life and death, such as Chen Jie's platoon commander, had heroically sacrificed.

Revolution is really hard-won!