The history of defensive warfare between the military and the people in Zengcheng in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression

　In 1938, he was the brigade commander of the 460th Brigade of the 154th Division of the 63rd Army, and the old man recalled the historical history of the defensive war in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Zengcheng, so that the people of Zengcheng Deepened their understanding of the fact that "if you are backward, you are easy to be beaten." Remember the revolutionary predecessors who made sacrifices for the prosperity and stability of Zengcheng today during the Zengcheng Anti-Japanese War. Only by increasing the stability and unity of the city can we have greater development. In the spring of 1938, the headquarters of the Fourth Route Army Yu Hanmou predicted that the Japanese army would inevitably invade Southern China, so it formulated a seventh defensive operation plan. The planned troop deployment is as follows:

　　1. The 152nd Division was on Hainan Island, the Ninth Independent Brigade was on the coast of Zhongshan County, and the 157th Division was holding positions along the Chaoshan coast, and using security teams to guard the coastal areas of Qinzhou Bay, Beihai, Dianbai, Yangjiang, Taishan, Xinhui and Haifeng and Lufeng to prevent the enemy from landing.

　　2. Occupy the Guangcheng Line (Zengcheng Section of the Guangshan Highway) as the main position, and occupy the Shipai-Xintang Line with the 158th Division (which is a division of the first type, with six regiments and a supplementary regiment). The 186th Division occupied Zengcheng on the west bank of the Zengjiang River. Two other divisions were used as forward troops, namely the 153rd Division between Humen and Bao'an, and the 151st Division occupying forward positions along the coast between Shenzhen, Longgang and Tamsui. The task of the forward position troops is to prevent the enemy from landing. If the enemy forcibly landed, the blockade did not succeed in returning to the northwestern part of Zengcheng as the general reserve. The plan therefore provided for a pontoon bridge to be built near the villages of Boro and Sioux, so that the troops could use them when necessary.

　　3. The 154th Division (missing the 919th Regiment) stationed in the Kengbei and Liantang areas about 30 to 40 miles west of Zengcheng was used as the general reserve, and the independent 20th Brigade was trained in Foshan as a mobile unit.

　　This seventh operational plan was sent to the military headquarters half a year before the fall of Guangzhou. The soldiers and horses of all sides, generally in accordance with the plan, occupied positions, constructed fortifications, and prepared for battle. According to this plan, the Zengcheng area is the main position defending the outskirts of Guangzhou, a very important strategic stronghold, and also a final line of defense. If Zengcheng is lost, the enemy army can drive straight into Guangzhou. A few months before the enemy invaded Guangdong, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Wang Junlai to Guangdong as chief of staff of the General Headquarters of the Fourth Route Army, in effect appointing Wang Jun to be responsible for commanding the operation and monitoring Yu Hanmou. This was because at that time the Central Military Commission had already issued an order stipulating that operational orders at and above the division level must be signed by the chief of staff and must not be arbitrarily decided by the commander alone.

　　At dawn on October 12, 1938, Japanese Marines forcibly landed. The enemy did not attack according to the positions fortified by our Seventh Battle Plan, but concentrated the main force to break through a little. At that time, the He Lianfang Brigade of the 151st Division was still asleep, and after the enemy landed successfully, the He Brigade was caught off guard, and most of the battalions were killed by the battalion commander Yan Zhi, and the rest collapsed and retreated backwards. The enemy occupied Tamsui on the same day, and there were signs of advancing deep into Huizhou City and Zhangmutou.

　　This sudden attack caused chaos at the headquarters of the Fourth Route Army. On October 13, the General Headquarters sent a telegram ordering Zhang Ruigui, commander of the Sixty-third Army, to lead the other brigades of the 153rd Division to deploy near Changping, Dongguan, in addition to leaving the 153rd Division's Chen Yaoshu Brigade to defend Bao'an County; The 20th Independent Brigade was ordered to move from Foshan to the Zhangmutou area and the Wen Shuhai Brigade of the 151st Division between Shenzhen and Longgang to be under the command of Zhang Ruigui to prevent the enemy from attacking along the railway line; He also ordered Mohid's troops to hold Huizhou City, but because He Lianfang's brigade had been pursued by enemy rapid troops, it could not return to Huizhou City along the road, so it had to retreat to Heyuan by small road. Mobu became a lone soldier and was forced to abandon Huizhou. Mo Hou was dismissed from his post and dismissed from Chongqing for investigation and handling, and almost lost his life.

　　Since occupying Tamsui, the Japanese army did not march on the Zhangmutou Railway, but attacked Huizhou and Boluo with all its strength. In view of this situation, the headquarters of the Fourth Route Army ordered Chen Mianwu, commander of the Independent Twenty Brigade, to move his troops from near Zhangmutou to the area of Longmen and Zengcheng Zhengguo to cover the flanks of the main position of Zengcheng city and prevent the enemy from encircling in a roundabout way. On October 15, after the enemy occupied the city of Huizhou, the enemy gathered forces to prepare to cross the river to attack the Boluo side, but the Zhangmutou side was still invincible. On October 16, the enemy captured Boluo, and the whereabouts of Lin Junji' 151st Division's supplementary regiment stationed at Boluo City and He Lianfang's brigade retreating to Boluo were unknown.　　After the fall of Huizhou and Boluo, the enemy gathered its main forces to pounce on Zengcheng, with the ultimate goal of capturing Guangzhou. In addition to ordering the 153rd Division's Chen Yaoshu Brigade and the 151st Division's Wen Shuhai Brigade to remain in Bao'an and Huiyang to fight guerrillas against the enemy, and the Zhong Fangjun Brigade of the 153rd Division to cross the river downstream from Changping to advance to Jiuzaitan in the vicinity of Changping, Zhang Ruigui, commander of the Sixty-third Army, led the army's direct subordinate units to move to the villages on the north bank of the Dongjiang River in Shilong.

　　On October 17, Zhong Fangjun's brigade had crossed the East River from Dongguan to the vicinity of Jiuzaitan on Zengbo Highway (Guangshan Line). However, Ye Zhinan's regiment did not arrive on time (Ye Zhinan was later dismissed and punished). The vanguard of the Zhong Brigade then arrived at Jiuzaitan before the enemy before dawn and set out to build field fortifications. Soon, the enemy came to attack. The Zhong Brigade fought alone, initially dominant, but could not withstand the enemy's powerful offensive. A few hours later, the Zhong Brigade was out of support, and the first line troops, the 914th Regiment and the 916th Regiment, under the pressure of the enemy, fought and retreated, and withdrew to Luofu Mountain. At that time, the brigade commander Zhong Fangjun was cut off by the enemy and could not break through the road to act in unison with the troops, so he had to retreat south to the vicinity of Xintang. Under the predicament of the scattered troops and the loss of soldiers, he was extremely sad and indignant, and committed suicide to thank the People of Xie, and the scene was very tragic! When the Zhong Brigade fought fiercely with the enemy at Jiuzaitan, Commander Zhang Ruigui also arrived at a large village southeast of Zengcheng (forgetting the name of the village) before dawn on the 17th, climbed to the top of the village's artillery tower before noon to observe, smelled the sound of gunfire, and fell silent after a few hours, but he could not get in touch with Zhong Fangjun, knowing that the battle was not good, he took the night to lead the army's direct subordinate team across the Zengjiang River and stayed in Sanjiangwei temporarily to watch the movements.

　　Since the main enemy attacked our defense lines of Boluo and Zengcheng, the area around Shenzhen, Longgang and Zhangmutou was invincible. The headquarters of the Fourth Route Army ordered the Independent 20th Brigade to seize the position on the zhengguo side of the Zenglong border on the night of October 17. Since the enemy army clashed with Zhong Fangjun's brigade, because of the fact that our troops were still stationed on Luofu Mountain, the situation was unclear and did not dare to venture forward. Before dusk on the 19th, the enemy approached the east bank of the Zengjiang River and prepared to attack the main position of our Zengcheng City. On October 19, the main position of Zengcheng City was tightened both frontally and flankly, and the independent 20th Brigade, which was guarding Zhengguo, had already engaged the enemy in the afternoon of the same day. Yu Hanmou, commander-in-chief of the Fourth Route Army, and Wang Jun, chief of staff, then came to the front line by car from Guangzhou at night and arrived at the headquarters of the 462nd Brigade in Kengbei Village, it was already 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning of the 20th. They immediately summoned Liang Shiji, commander of the 154th Division, and the commanders of various brigades to the village of Kengbei for an emergency military meeting.

　　First to attend the meeting were Division Commander Liang Shiji, Brigade Commander Jiang Wu of the 462nd Brigade, Wu Luxun, Commander of the 922nd Regiment, and Zeng Zhaoji, Commander of the 923rd Regiment, while I (the Commander of the 460th Brigade) and Chen Wenrui (the regimental commander of the Regiment was on leave due to illness) were late due to the distance. When I arrived, Chief of Staff Wang Jun had announced the end of the meeting, folding the map and saying that it was a great encirclement and annihilation war, buying champagne and firecrackers, and preparing to celebrate the victory. With a smile on his face, he held his head high and went away with Commander-in-Chief Yu Hanmou. It turned out that the main basis for Wang Jun's blind optimism was that he called Li Zhen, commander of the 186th Division stationed in Zengcheng, to inquire about the current situation of the battle, and the division commander said that he could withstand it. At the same time, he ordered Commander Zhang Ruigui to lead his troops from Sanjiangwei to Futian in front of Zengcheng to attack the enemy as a right wing, and also ordered the independent 20th Brigade stationed in Zhengguo to go south to Futian as a left wing to surround and attack the enemy, and to support the 922nd Regiment of the 462nd Brigade (Wu Luxun Regiment), one of the general reserves.

　　The development of the offensive and defensive situation between the enemy and ourselves did not depend on Wang Jun's will, and it was increasingly unfavorable to the defense of the main position of zengcheng. Beginning at dawn on 20 October, the enemy planes rang from dozens to as few as ten or eight, bombing and strafing our positions for almost the whole day, posing a great threat. The 186th Division, which defended the north and south lines on the west bank of the Zengcheng River, was a newly formed division with insufficient troops and no strict training, and the division's Ye Zhinan regiment was still at Luofu Mountain, with only 3 infantry regiments left, but the defensive line was tens of miles long, so how could it withstand the attack of the strong enemy? Finally, at about 10 a.m. on the 20th, the enemy broke through the defensive line. At 1 p.m., under the cover of enemy aircraft, the enemy tanks had passed through Zengcheng and descended along the Guangshan Highway, and on both sides of the road about 10 miles west of the Kengbei Village Station, they were discovered by the flat-firing artillery company of our 154th Division.

　　However, the artillery company fired only 20 rounds of shells, and the enemy planes found the position, which was bombed and strafed, and the position was destroyed. At this time, Brigadier Chen Shaowu of the 186th Division led Pan Biao's regiment to retreat south along the Guangshan Highway, and the remaining remnants retreated to Conghua and Wengyuan. The main position near Zengcheng was completely lost. The Central Heavy Artillery Brigade (missing a regiment and another battalion had just been transported to Guangzhou) and the artillery unit commanded by Chen Chongfan of the Fourth Route Army, which was fighting with the 186th Division near Zengcheng, had already collapsed our first-line troops and were threatened by enemy bombing and strafing, and the artillery could not exert its power, and had long since collapsed and fled. All the artillery weapons were lost, and the losses were very large, and the brigade commander of the Central Heavy Artillery Brigade took off his uniform, changed into civilian clothes, and fled alone to the 460 brigade headquarters to request shelter, and then returned to Chongqing with financial support.

　　The 154th Division (owed to the 919th Regiment) was originally a general reserve, located in the area of Kengbei and Liantang, but due to the impact of the 186th Division's retreat, the division headquarters and the 462nd Brigade (missing the 922nd Regiment) also retreated to Conghua. The 920th Regiment (lacking five companies of infantry) of the 460th Brigade, located near Liantang south of the Guangshan Highway, intercepted the enemy cavalry advancing along the road at 4 p.m. on 20 October at Liantang. Subsequently, the enemy infantry came one after another and counterattacked on our side, and the enemy and we held each other in the field between the north of Liantang and the road. At dusk, the enemy's follow-up troops were increasing, and in order to avoid being annihilated by the enemy, our army took advantage of the dark night to break away from the enemy and retreat to the south. My brigade finally fought a small battle. At about 12:00 p.m., the 460th Brigade arrived at a village (forgetting the name of the village, about 30 miles northwest of Xintang) to rest. At that time, the brigade commander Chen Shaowu of the 186th Division and the Pan Biao regiment of the 186th Division retreated from Zengcheng to the village, and then the Chen Brigade withdrew to the northwest without stopping.

　　Near Futian (Guangshan Highway Line, about 40 miles from Zengcheng), he also ordered the 186th Division to send a forward force at Luofu Mountain, Ye Zhinan Regiment, to attack the enemy who was attacking Zengcheng from Boluo. The Bell Brigade departs from the starry night and part-time journey. On 21 October, the 460th Brigade Headquarters took in about two or three companies of the 1st Battalion of the 922nd Regiment (Battalion Commander Tan Xuchu) and other sporadic units, as well as five companies of infantry of the 920th Regiment defending Xintang. When we were rectifying in the village, Zhang Ruigui, commander of the Sixty-third Army, led the troops directly under the military headquarters to come. After the 460th Brigade met with the military headquarters, it returned to the battle sequence of the army and moved with the army. I asked Commander Zhang if he had received an order from headquarters to encircle the enemy from Sanjiangwei to the Futian side in front of Zengcheng to encircle the enemy on the right wing, and Zhang said that he had not received such an order. It was also said that the military department had exhausted all means to contact Zhong Fangjun, and the situation of the brigade was unknown. There were no soldiers available in the army, so it was forced to move from Sanjiangwei along the railway line to Xintang on the 19th.

　　On October 20, the battle on the Zhengguo side was tight, and it was the morning when the Independent 20th Brigade fought fiercely with the enemy near Zhengguo. By the afternoon of the battle, the brigade retreated towards Conghua. Chief of Staff Wang Jun ordered the brigade to march south from Zhengguo on the 20th and encircle and annihilate the enemy on the left flank of Futian, but it was obviously in vain. Moreover, the order had to be issued only after the village of Kengbei returned to the headquarters in Guangzhou, and how much time it took for the brigade to receive the order was completely disregarded, which was actually equivalent to a blank piece of paper. Originally, it was planned to use Wu Luxun's 922nd Regiment as a reserve for solidarity, but in the case of the collapse of the front line, it did not work at all. In fact, when the regiment moved toward Zengcheng from near the village of Kengbei, it was bombed and strafed by enemy aircraft, and when the defensive forces of the Zengcheng position collapsed, the regiment also retreated backwards, partly retreating south along the Guangshan Highway (Zengcheng section) and mostly retreating to Conghua.

　　Zeng Youren, commander of the 158th Division, who was formerly stationed at the position east of Shipai Dongpu to the Xintang railway line (missing Ye Weihao's brigade, which was under the command of Commander Zhang Ruigui near Xintang), knew that after the defeat of our army stationed in Zengcheng, before the enemy army had entered Guangzhou, it withdrew with the Guangzhou gendarmerie police to Qingyuan Lubao, and the troops were scattered. When the division commander learned that Yu Hanmou had retreated to Qingyuan, he threw away his military uniform and changed into plain clothes, and after taking a car for the first time, he walked, and when he arrived in Qingyuan, he still wore civilian clothes to see Yu Hanmou. Yu Man asked him with an angry face how the enemy was? How many troops are still in the army? He said he didn't know. The brigade commander of the Independent Ninth Brigade, Zhang Jiansun, was originally defending along the coast of Zhongshan, and when the situation in Zengcheng was urgent, he was transferred to Zengcheng for reinforcements.

　　On October 20, when advancing along the Guangshan Highway toward Zengcheng, it was initially bombed and strafed by enemy aircraft, and then dispersed by enemy tanks, and the troops retreated to the rear of Conghua and Wengyuan, losing a lot. On October 22, Zhang Ruigui's direct subordinate unit of the 63rd Army decided to start moving at night after meeting the Bu Hanchi Brigade and the Ye Weihao Brigade of the 158th Division. Crossing the Luogangdong Mountains from the northwest of Xintang, he prepared to take the opportunity of Li Jiang, the defensive commander on the outskirts of Guangzhou, to hold his position and attack the enemy's back. If the original idea could not win, it was decided to shift to the aspect of Conghua. When Nazhi's troops passed through the mountain to the foot of the mountain, it was already 8 a.m. on the 24th, and Li Jiang had already abandoned his position and fled first. All the defensive suburban troops and gendarmerie forces have fled to sihui and Qingyuan, and Guangzhou has been occupied by the enemy.