The 129th Division was a unit mainly reorganized from the former Fourth Front, and Xu, the former commander-in-chief of the Fourth Front, was the former deputy division commander. This unit ignited one of the most vigorous anti-Japanese fires in our army on the Taihang Mountain.
For the 129th Division, the village of Qiqi is a place that needs to be remembered at all times.
Defeat, defeat is ridiculed by all sides; victory, victory is proud of ancient and modern.
At the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, when the Eighth Route Army's Battles of Pingxingguan, Yangmingbao, Xindian, and Yanmen pass were successively victorious, the 771st Regiment of the 129th Division was secretly attacked by the Japanese army in the village of Qiqi.
After Huang Shaohu, deputy commander of the Kuomintang Second Theater, learned of this incident, he sent a telegram to "comfort" Liu Bocheng, saying that your Eighth Route Army only talked about guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare, and as a result, you were guerrilla attacked by the Japanese.
When Tang Enbo, commander of the Kuomintang 2nd Army and commander of the 13th Army, learned of this, he called Liu Bocheng and said: "It seems that your guerrilla warfare is not good, and tens of thousands of us cannot stand it. Or withdraw! ”
At that time, due to the successive victories of the Eighth Route Army, many units that did not fight the Japanese army were very light enemies. Liu Bocheng was very worried about this sentiment, and he repeatedly warned the troops that if they were light, the enemy would suffer losses. But this admonition didn't do much.
Liu Bocheng was a very outstanding military expert.
Before the Eighth Route Army was attacked, Liu Bocheng met with the nationalist general Zeng Wanzhong and analyzed him: "The Japanese army did not attack Niangzi pass but attacked Xinguan, it seems that he has studied the characteristics of Niangziguan leaning on the wall and linyuan, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and he wants to avoid the real and attack the virtual. Now that the new level is not easy to get, it is likely to detour south. In this way, the stone gate south of Xinguan was located on the right flank of the main defensive position, and it was necessary to quickly send troops to occupy it to strictly prevent the Japanese from sneaking in. Zeng Wanzhong ignored Liu Bocheng's suggestion, so Liu Bocheng ordered the 771st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army to march into Shimen.
At noon on October 22, 1937, the 771st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army rushed to Shimen gate and seized favorable terrain.
As soon as the 771st Regiment was stabilized, the Japanese army appeared at the stone gate. According to the previous intelligence of the Japanese army, there were no garrisons at the stone gate, so they rushed forward without defense and rushed into the arms of the 771st Regiment. The Japanese troops who crashed into the wall launched several consecutive attacks on the stone gate, but they were never able to pass, and they were eventually forced to withdraw.
After the Japanese retreated, the 771st Regiment also withdrew from the battle and returned to the village of Qiqi to rest.
That same night, Liu Bocheng also sent someone to tell the 771st Regiment: First, we cannot trust all our flanks to the friendly forces, and we must take strict precautions. Second, the old fortifications were unreliable. At the same time, he instructed Chen Geng, the commander of the 386th Brigade, to be ready to receive the 771st Regiment at any time.
But the 771st Regiment was still light enemy.
After the Japanese retreated, the 771st Regiment, which had retreated to the village of Qiqi, completely handed over the left wing to the Nationalist army, and did not seriously inspect the terrain, and did not send more sentries and dark posts. The "five elements technique" that Liu Bocheng has always advocated is to require the troops to understand the tasks, enemy situations, our feelings, terrain, and time before the war.
That same night, a brigade of the Japanese 40th Brigade took advantage of the night to form an encirclement from the left flank and the 771st Regiment facing it, and quietly compressed the encirclement. When it was about 200 meters away from the 771 regiment's garrison, it was fortunately discovered by the commander of the 1st company of the 771st Regiment who was in Chagang, and he immediately opened fire, only to avoid the doom of being completely wrapped up. The Japanese attack failed to make a sneak attack, even if the artillery was attacked. The 771st Regiment rushed to battle, and the up and down chaos became a pot of porridge. The superiors and subordinates lost contact, the command was completely ineffective, and the troops were quickly dispersed.
The predecessor of the 771st Regiment was the 91st Division of the Red 31st Army, which was a unit brought out by Xu Xiangqian, and everyone was experienced in hundreds of battles and was the best at fighting evil battles. After the troops were dispersed, the soldiers soon fought in groups of three or five and fought against the Japanese army. Some units were squads, some were companies, fighting, and some small units began to have contact with each other, supporting each other, and highlighting the heavy encirclement.
At about 3:00 a.m., Liu Bo received an urgent telegram from Chen Geng: the 771st Regiment was suddenly attacked by the Japanese army, and the troops had been scattered. The headquarters of the 129th Division and the Brigade Headquarters of the 386th Brigade were completely out of touch with the 771st Regiment. Liu Bocheng immediately asked General Chen Geng to stabilize his position, gather his troops as soon as possible, and rush to the aid of Qiquan Village.
7 soldiers, 8 soldiers, 5 squads, 3 companies, 771 Regiments, were forced to block the Japanese attack and cover the withdrawal of large troops to the nearby hills.
The 771st Regiment took advantage of the darkness and mountainous terrain to quickly form a confrontation with the Japanese army, and after Chen Geng arrived, the Japanese army saw that the situation was not good and withdrew.
After the war, under the return of Chen Geng and the 771st Regimental Headquarters, the scattered soldiers returned to the team one after another. Everyone's face was a look of loss, but everyone's attire was eye-catching, some wearing the yellow five-star hat of the Japanese army, some wearing the yellow tweed coat of the Japanese army, and many people replaced their guns with three or eight large covers.
The journalists who witnessed the whole process wrote heartily: The victory they fought did not surprise us, and the defeat they fought was really admirable. Liu Bocheng was also very surprised to see this team that had lost the battle, and said to Xu Xiangqian, "The team you have cultivated cannot be defeated!" ”
After the war, Liu Bocheng sternly admonished all departments to clearly understand the combat effectiveness of the Japanese devils. At the same time, he sent a telegram to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, stating the battle in which the village of Qiqi was attacked, and writing a review report.
On October 25, 1937, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a telegram to all departments of the Eighth Route Army:
"After repeated victories, Bi Sheng arrogantly despised the enemy and thought that he was invincible. The attack on the village of Qiqi of the 771st Regiment was the result of this victory. It is advisable for you to issue a circular order to the whole army, all the way to the soldiers of the company, to show that the war against Japanese imperialism is a long and arduous process. All cadres who claim to be the first in the world, who are arrogant and have no children, must tell them in deep words: We must link bravery with prudence and oppose one-sided views and mechanism in the army. ”
This battle made Liu Bocheng notice the rare terrain of Qiqi Village. A few days later, Liu Bocheng made overall planning, Chen Geng took command, and the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army made an overlapping ambush at a location in Qiquan Village, which became a classic example of our army and was humiliated.