readx; Liu Sihai put down the phone and immediately conveyed the words of the commander-in-chief to the whole battalion: "The whole army has called!" ”

The officers and men were extremely excited and said one after another: "The people are in the position, and they will resolutely hold this important position." Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info”

At 10 o'clock in the morning, the army launched another large-scale attack, and the officers and men of the 3rd Battalion stared at them like dormant wolves. This time, the enemy in the vanguard ran to the steep wall of the 3rd Battalion's position, and could not rush up, so he had to move to the left and right to find another point to start the charge. Just as they were looking around, Liu Sihai gritted his teeth and said, "This is the best opportunity to annihilate the enemy." ”

Shout "Hit"! Light and heavy machine guns, rifles, and mortars rang out from the battalion, and bullets were fired faster and faster than ever.

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Gong Yucheng, the 3rd Battalion of the 113th Regiment, arrived, Liu Sihai had been looking forward to this support army for a long time, and immediately arranged and said: "Your 7th company reinforces the 9th company of our battalion, your 9th company is the battalion reserve, and your heavy machine gun company is deployed on the front line of the position." ”

He "you you" was arranged, and the army attacked again. This time the enemy's main attack was directed on the flanks of the 3rd Battalion, so that it could be able to charge as it approached the position. Liu Sihai had already expected this, and arranged the focus of his firepower on the two wings. As soon as the devil rushed, the machine guns and rifles rang out together, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.

On this day, Liu Sihai's command post killed and wounded more than 1,000 enemy soldiers, the deputy commander of the 3rd Battalion, the commander of the 9th Company, the platoon commander of the 8th Company, and the platoon commander of the 7th Company were all wounded, and more than 300 officers and men were killed or wounded in the battalion. Gong Yucheng's battalion wounded a platoon commander, and more than 30 soldiers were killed or wounded. The army also suffered too many casualties, and the offensive was greatly weakened. However, the soldiers of the 3rd Battalion were killed and wounded, and the main force on the position had become Gong Yucheng's soldiers.

At about 9 o'clock in the morning of the third day, nine planes of the Chinese army bombed and strafed Wangjiataizi Village for more than an hour, turning the village into a sea of flames. However, the command of two regiments of the 38th Division had evacuated the village the night before and suffered no losses.

At 4 p.m., the attacking force finally retreated.

Liu Sihai took the officers and soldiers to clean up the battlefield, counting more than 3,000 corpses of devils, killing more than 100 war horses, and more than 30 wounded horses that could no longer stand, collecting more than 120 Type 38 rifles, as well as a large number of binoculars, military blankets, military maps, bullets, etc.

The battle of Wangjiataizi was the battle in which the 3rd Battalion eliminated the most enemies since the Anti-Japanese War. This time, the new brigade of the Japanese army attacked rashly, and not only lost half of its men and horses, but also lost the brigade commander, and was finally driven back.

At this time, while Liu Sihai led his troops to fight fiercely with the enemy, Gao Fei, commander of the Fourth Theater, had already drawn the curtain on a new plan to annihilate the enemy!

His eyes fell on the Xincang River

On June 10, 1940, the battle of the Xincang River began!

After the battle of the Xincang River began, Elder Hei of the 26th Division, who served as the general reserve, received an urgent telegram from Gao Fei on 11 June: The 26th Division should set off immediately and rush to Qiankou on 15 June to assemble and stand by.

As soon as Lao Hei saw this order, he became angry. Prior to this, Gao Fei had never prepared the 26th Division for battle. Fortunately, after the war began, he had ordered each regiment to prepare sufficient food and ammunition and medical aid, and each soldier should bring enough rations for three days to prepare for the battle; According to his established rhythm, Lao Hei ordered: "Each regiment will be assembled at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and the action will start at 4 o'clock. ”

About 120 miles from the location of the division headquarters to the front entrance, the roads and highways along the route have been completely destroyed, and it is very difficult for the large troops to move at night, and enemy planes have attacked and harassed them during the day. But as soon as the divisions were assembled, they made a rapid advance.

120 miles away, the 26th Division walked for four days, and at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the 15th, the 152nd Regiment arrived near the front entrance, and the vanguard of the 2nd Division had also arrived, and the rest of the division was continuing to advance rapidly.

Suddenly, Gao Fei's telegram also followed: "The Xincang River defense line is critical, so the 26th Division must take over the garrison of the line of Guharada, which is left by the 37th Army." ”

The military situation is like fire. However, there is still a journey of forty or fifty miles from Qiankou to Guyuantian, and all departments must continue to travel under the stars and nights to pick up the defense.

However, after Lao Hei's firefighting order was issued, it was already midnight when it was conveyed to the regiments. At night, the sound of gunfire in the lower reaches of the Miluo River could be clearly heard at the station. At 12 o'clock in the evening, he suddenly received an order from the division headquarters: to quickly open westward and support the battle of the 95th Division of the 37th Army in Gubarada. Lao Hei also ordered: "The whole division will rush to the designated area in the order of the 152nd, 153rd, and 154th regiments." Luo Shijie's 3rd Battalion served as the vanguard of the vanguard regiment. ”

Luo Shijie's 3rd Battalion is the sharp knife battalion of the whole division. As soon as they received the order, they immediately set out and arrived at the Whitewater station at dawn on the 16th. The place was still dozens of miles away from the line of fire, and it was already in chaos, and no one was in charge of the township office. After several twists and turns, Luo Shijie invited two guides to continue to move forward.

Arriving near Yujiachong that morning, the regimental headquarters and the 2nd and 3rd battalions arrived after lunch due to fatigue from the march. The whole regiment immediately prepared to take over the defense of the east-west line of the 95th Division's Dongtang Chong, and the regiment commander Huang Qiqi ordered Luo Shijie: "You lead the 3rd Battalion to take over the first-line position first, and then make adjustments." ”

Luo Shijie immediately shouted: "All companies evacuate and assemble in the mountains south of Dongtang." ”

When the companies were moving, he personally took his guards to the headquarters of the 95th Division on the small heights of Dongtang to understand the situation and discuss matters related to the defense.

At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, he met Luo Qi, commander of the 95th Division of the 37th Army, in a bunker on the left side of Dongtangchong. Division Commander Luo introduced the situation of the enemy and said: "The devil attacked Guharada with rubber boats on the 14th, and the artillery fire and aircraft on the boat cooperated with the bombardment, most of the field fortifications of the position were destroyed, the defenders suffered heavy casualties, the battalion commander was killed, and Guharada fell to the enemy this morning. The defenders of the first line of our division have withdrawn to the line south of Guyuantian and north of Dongtangchong, fortified to block the enemy's advance, and sent a supplementary regiment to occupy the high ground around Dongtangchong as the second-line position. Just after receiving the commander-in-chief's telephone instructions, the second-line defense of Dongtangchong will be handed over to your department to take over. ”

As he spoke, he pointed out the location on the military map, and asked the combat staff officer to go out of the bunker and point out the area from afar. The officer was crushed to death, and Battalion Commander Luo didn't ask much in front of the division commander, and after learning about the combat characteristics of the army and the situation of friendly troops in person, he returned to his battalion headquarters.

Then, he and the deputy battalion commander went to the position with the trumpeters and heralds to inspect the terrain.

When they reached the Yitian ridge behind Dongtang Mountain, several enemy planes suddenly flew low and carried out reconnaissance and strafing, so they had no choice but to lie down under the field col and take cover for the time being. Ten minutes later, I suddenly heard the gunfire on the Dongtang Heights, the enemy planes circled at low altitude and dropped bombs, and the defenders of the 95th Division of the Supplementary Regiment that Luo Qi just mentioned retreated one after another, "It's not good, the devil has broken through the Dongtang Chong position!" ”

Seeing that the situation was urgent, Luo Shijie immediately sent the herald back to the battalion to quickly bring the troops to support, and at the same time called the trumpeter: "Blow the order for the 3rd battalion to run forward." ”

The 3rd Battalion is the sharp knife battalion of the whole army, and it is also the most combat-effective unit. Within 10 minutes, the companies were running to the ground. Luo Shijie immediately divided into two routes with the deputy battalion commander and launched a counterattack against the enemy who had occupied the Dongtang Heights.

At this time, a squadron of the Japanese army was following the rout screaming and pursuing, trying to break into the defenders' deep position, but unexpectedly, a unit rushed out head-on, and before the two armies met, the other side took the lead, grenades fell like rain, and the machine-gun bullets also "swished" as if they had eyes, knocking down a large piece of devils.

Luo Shijie and their concentrated counterattack, the devil's offensive was temporarily frustrated, and they immediately retreated, and this retreat retreated to the village where Shanbei began to set off.

At this moment, the 95th Division's supplementary regiment had all retreated to the south of the high ground, and the original position was empty of a single soldier, and there was no defense to pick up, so Luo Shijie shouted: "The 8th and 9th companies are guarding the position, and the 7th company is a reserve, fortified and fortified." ”

After the deployment of the troops was completed, it was already dusk, and Luo Shijie reported the battle to the regiment headquarters. Subsequently, Commander Huang led the 55th Regiment to take over the entire defense of the 95th Division, and the 95th Division withdrew from the flank of the position to the rear. The 55th Regiment took the 3rd Battalion, which occupied the east and west fronts of the Dongtang Heights, as its left flank; The 2nd Battalion was on the right, occupying the Shejia Chongkou; with the 1st Battalion as a reserve; The whole regiment prepared to meet the enemy's night attack and dawn attack.

After Luo Shijie inspected the position for a week, he was extremely tired from marching and fighting, and fell to sleep at 9 o'clock in the evening. When he went out, he saw that the battalion command post and the reserve house had been strafed by the machine guns on the Dongtang Heights, and the bullets were raining down, but he could not hear or see the defenders' return fire, "Not good, the position has been broken through!" He immediately led the battalion reserve with the deputy battalion commander to help.

They rushed halfway up the mountain and met the platoon commander of the 8th Company, Platoon Commander Rong, who was retreating with the rout. Platoon Commander Rong said: "The enemy attacked the company headquarters in the dark at night, and the company commander was shot and killed. ”

"Where's the position?"

"We engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and more than a dozen people were stabbed to death by devils, and the high ground fell into the hands of the enemy."

When the head of the regiment learned of the fall of Dongtang Heights, he said, "It's not good, I lost my position before the night passed, and this is worth it!" Feeling a heavy responsibility, he personally led the 1st Battalion to prepare for a counterattack. As soon as the regiment commander arrived, the division commander also called, and sternly reprimanded: "If you lose your position without fighting, you must order the position to be restored before dawn, otherwise military law will be involved." ”

Luo Shijie, the commander of the sharp knife battalion, saw that he had lost the high ground in a sleep, he felt very unhappy, and the drum was hammered, he immediately said to Commander Huang: "The devil did not continue to advance after occupying the high ground, and it is estimated that there are not many troops, I don't want the regiment reserve, and personally lead the 7th Company and 4 squads to attack the Dongtang Heights." ”

"Can you take it?" Head Huang said with some unease.

"If you can't take it, I won't come back!"

After Luo Shijie released hard words, he set off with the 7th Company.

At this time, in the belly of the mountain south of the Dongtang Heights, Tan Tianrong, the sergeant squad leader of the 8th Company, collected more than 20 guards who had been scattered, and were still lurking there waiting for reinforcements. When the battalion commander Luo Shijie personally led the assault, Tan Tianrong was the first to see it, and first led his troops to rush up the mountain, and threw dozens of grenades in one breath, "Rush!" As soon as Luo Shijie shouted, the assault team took advantage of the momentum to charge and pounce, and in one fell swoop expelled the army to the village at the foot of the mountain at the northern foothills, and the position was completely restored before dawn.

Dongtangchong is a small point on the military map, but the location is very important. It is not only the key point of our army's garrison, but also the main channel for the army to advance and attack. In a day and night, the enemy and us fought repeatedly, and the positions changed hands, but fortunately, Luo Shijie really recovered it, so it did not lead to serious consequences.

Who knew that after the 3rd Battalion resumed its position in Dongtang, the regimental headquarters reported to the division headquarters, and for some reason it reached Changsha City, and the newspaper office actually issued an "extra-good news" that "the 26th Division took over the retro Harada in one fell swoop", and a group of people from the Hunan Provincial Political Axe immediately organized personnel to beat gongs and drums to celebrate; Afterwards, it was discovered that the news was fake, and many people commented: "The soldiers at the front have worked hard to shed blood and fight, and the officials in the rear can't even get the news accurately!" ”

After Xue Yue, who was also the chairman of the provincial political axe, learned about it, he fiercely called a certain director of the head to scold him, and finally slapped the table and said: "If Gao Fei's plan is sent to you to carry it out, you must smash the pot!" ”

At midnight on the 16th, all units of the 26th Division arrived at the designated area one after another and assumed the heavy task of the second line of defense.

At noon, the defenders of the Xincang River retreated on all fronts, and in the afternoon, the forward of the Yue Army arrived, and there was an outpost battle with the defenders of the 26th Division and some of the defenders of the 2nd Temporary Division.

At dawn on the 18th, the Chinese defenders launched an all-out onslaught.

The enemy in front of the 26th Division sent planes to drop bombs and strafe them, and then the infantry, under the cover of aircraft and artillery, launched an assault on the 2nd Battalion of the 152nd Regiment on the left flank. The line of Shejiachong defended by the battalion was open in front and back, and there was no danger to rely on, and most of the temporarily constructed fortifications were destroyed, and the defenders had already suffered heavy casualties.

The fierce battle lasted until noon, the position was broken through from the center by the army, and part of the 6th company of the 2nd battalion retreated into the position of the 3rd battalion, but the cunning army did not sweep to the flanks, but went straight to the deep position along the breach, inserted between the regimental troops and the regimental reserves, and divided them.

In the confusion, the commander of the 152nd Regiment Huang led his direct troops to move closer to the 3rd Battalion, and the radio station and the 1st Battalion retreated in the direction of the division headquarters. The headquarters of the 26th Division was with the army headquarters, and the divisional special service company immediately rushed up and blocked it, and then, the divisional engineer battalion also came up with spears and shovels, and the 1st battalion had no way to retreat, so it had to turn around and immediately start a fierce battle with the division's engineer battalion and special service company.

However, the division command post did not build fortifications, and it was attacked by devils, and it was still shaken. Division Commander Tang immediately ordered the 57th Regiment to transfer a battalion to flank the enemy. Only then did the devil's fierce edge temporarily stop.

At the same time that the army attacked the position of the 152nd Regiment, the 154th Regiment on the right flank of the division was also broken through by the devils, and the two sides fell into a melee, especially the 3rd Battalion of the 154th Regiment fought fiercely and suffered heavy casualties. But after a period of hand-to-hand fighting, it became a stalemate in the afternoon.

At this time, all the friendly forces north of the defense line had retreated to the southeast, and the main force of the army began to concentrate on storming the position of the 27th Division.

Suddenly at the forefront of the division is Deyan, which is the top priority of the division's defense.

This point was first defended by the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Provisional Division. At 6 p.m. on the 18th, the position was broken through by the Japanese army, causing Deyan to fall into the hands of the enemy.

Immediately, Zhou Shangde, commander of the 8th Regiment of the division, received an order: immediately withdraw from the current position and move to a certain place behind Deyan to accept a new task. Regiment Commander Zhou immediately gathered his troops and withdrew to the designated place overnight. At dawn, he received another order: the 2nd Battalion was assigned as the division reserve, and the main force entered the outer high ground at the southeast end of Deyan to cover the 7th Regiment's counterattack on Deyan.

At 10 o'clock in the morning of the 19th, the 8th Regiment advanced to the high ground southeast of Deyan, occupied the position, and then built fortifications to complete the preparations to cover the counterattack.

The main force of the counteroffensive was the 7th Regiment of the division, the commander of which was Li Guang.

At 1 p.m., the counteroffensive began. At the beginning of the attack, as if he had made a fool, Commander Li threw in two battalions of troops in one fell swoop, arranged the team into several lines, and shouted and charged towards Deyan City like a swarm.

It was said that the army's fortifications were not stable, and there were not many troops, and at first they were able to force the devils to retreat and seize some peripheral guard positions. However, after all, the devils were well-trained and well-armed, and after they turned into deep street battles, they formed a tight fire network to give full play to their advantages, and Grand Master Li's offensive was completely frustrated. After that, he launched several surprise attacks with reserves, which were both unfocused and uncoordinated, and not only did the battle go nowhere, but also caused a lot of casualties.

The authorities are confused, but the bystanders are clear. The officers and men of the 8th Regiment, who were serving as cover on the high ground behind, saw the 7th Regiment's hard-fought tactics and thought that they would suffer a great loss if they continued to toss around, so they twice sent people to invite Regiment Commander Li to come to the 8th Regiment to discuss countermeasures.

Li Guang was also angry, and he led his men to fight hard again, and finally withdrew from the line of fire with injuries, and then the officers and soldiers of the whole regiment also collapsed together. Fortunately, the devil also fainted, and did not send troops to attack and chase fiercely, and under the cover of the fire of the 8th regiment, the 7th regiment withdrew from the position and did not suffer greater losses.

After the 7th Regiment counter-attacked Deyan and withdrew, it was almost dusk.

Standby. At about 7 o'clock in the evening, the division headquarters sent someone to deliver an urgent order from the military headquarters. After the head of the regiment Zhou opened it, a look of panic appeared on his face, and he immediately handed over the order to the acting deputy head of the regiment: "Look. ”

Gu Guangshui, deputy commander of the regiment, took a look and was shocked to see that it was a direct warrant from the temporary commander-in-chief of the two divisions, the main content of which was: "On the order of the theater, it has been decided to retreat from the current positions from 0:00 on the 20th." The 7th Regiment of the 2nd Division is the rearguard regiment, and at present, it should closely monitor the front-line army and cover the safe retreat of the whole army; After dawn on the 20th, they began to retreat south from the spot, and should block the pursuing enemy every step, and at 6 o'clock in the afternoon of the 20th, they were relieved of the rearguard mission, and then quickly got rid of the enemy and moved to the area of Guanwangmiao in the northeast to rebuild. ”

What's going on, why did the whole army suddenly retreat? No wonder Head Zhou's face has changed drastically!

It turned out that Goofy was going to implement the third step of the entire campaign!

At this time, the troops of the 2nd Division in Deyan and other places had withdrawn from the battlefield and turned southward, and only the 8th Regiment of the division was still waiting in its original position. After hearing the news, Lao Hei immediately wrote a warrant and sent someone to send it, and said: "Send someone to the 152nd and 154th regiments immediately to convey the retreat order." ”

This is the reason why Lao Hei personally issued the retreat warrant.

After reading the warrant, Gu Guangshui was not as panicked as Regiment Commander Zhou, although he couldn't figure out why the whole army suddenly withdrew, but he thought about it and said: "As a rearguard regiment, we have to maintain contact with the enemy for a day and night, and the situation is not terrible!" ”

(To be continued)