January 1938, Sichuan.

A new batch of Sichuan Army troops are about to set out for the expedition, and the venue for the expedition is solemnly arranged, adding a lot of heroic spirit, and the commander of the 161st Division of Xinquan is a person from the army, and he has always spoken straightforwardly. He stepped onto the podium and began to speak:

"Brothers, Lao Tzu suddenly received a letter from Chairman Jiang yesterday. I opened it and took a look, but it turned out to be a telegram, which said that Lao Tzu and his brothers had been incorporated into [***] and were about to go to fight the national war. Fighting a national war is a major event for Lao Tzu and his brothers, and when he becomes [***], he has to fight a national war, and he must work with Lao Tzu to listen to Lao Tzu in everything, that is to say, he must listen to Lao Tzu's orders in everything. Fighting a national war is to fight a small Yueben, and the little Yueben of the dog has bullied us Chinese for decades, and Lao Tzu has long wanted to beat it the dog. Brothers, do you want to beat it? ”

The following shouted together: "Yes! ”

The division commander's voice raised again: "To fight the national war, you have to be tough, don't be false that it has aircraft and artillery, Lao Tzu is not false, brothers are not false?" ”

roared again: "It's not false! ”

"If you fight, you will die, bullets don't have eyes, and when you die, it hurts! The skull fell out of the bowl and had a big scar, Lao Tzu was beaten to death, and he was thrown wherever he died, so Lao Tzu didn't want a horse leather shroud. The brothers were beaten to death, and Lao Tzu was the teacher to give you a doll with filial piety. Kill one dog, and kill two dogs to earn one. Shout slogans with Lao Tzu! ”

"Kill one enough," "Kill one enough!" ”

"Kill two and earn one." "Kill two and earn one!"

"In addition, when it comes to fighting, if a turtle son wants to run a side, desert, and steal chickens and dogs, I will not lose face, pry his ancestors, and engage in military law. That's all for today, dismiss the meeting! ”

Representatives of political organizations and students attending the meeting sang a generous and tragic anti-war song: "The autumn wind rises, the autumn breeze is cool, and the national soldiers go to the battlefield"

After the meeting, the various units set out from their respective stations and marched eastward along the Hunan-Guizhou Highway according to the order of the Military Council to reinforce the front-line battlefield

In Sichuan, when a large number of troops were recruited to reinforce the front line, and the officers and men of the [***] units on the front line fought bravely to kill the enemy, the 144th Division, which was responsible for attracting and containing the Yue army near Wuhu, also began to take the initiative to attack the Yue army.

The 144th Division was very aware of their mission, attracting the Japanese army and relieving the pressure on the frontal battlefield of the 26th Division! And their goal is on the Qingyi River!

The Qingyi River spans 11 counties, including Qimen, Huangshan District, Yixian, Shexian, Jingde, Shitai, Jingxian, Qingyang, Nanling, Xuancheng and Wuhu. It is bordered by the Shuiyang River basin in the east, the Jiuhuashan Mountains in the upper reaches of the west, the Zhanghe River system in the middle and lower reaches, the Huangshan Mountains in the south, and the Yangtze River in the north. Location is extremely important.

Fan Ziying, the acting commander of the 144th Division, successfully attracted the 39th Infantry Brigade and the Narita Infantry Brigade with a small force. Immediately, a defense line was built on the front line of the Wuhu Chencun Reservoir on the Qingyi River.

"Fight with the army, don't be greedy for life, don't be afraid of death! Attract all the Oriental people to come over, reduce the frontal pressure of the 26th Division, and fight a beautiful battle! "This is Fan Ziying's words to the soldiers of the whole army!

The entire 144th Division moved because of this sentence.

It is low-lying with a lot of small swamps and overgrown with reeds. In addition, there are many ditches that are not conducive to the enemy's tank rampage. However, the terrain here is flat and difficult to conceal, and it is easy to expose the target when charging, giving the opponent a chance to kill. In other words, when the enemy charges, it is vulnerable to our killing. But on the other hand, when our side counterattacks, they often become the target of the enemy's machine-gun fire net. Due to the enemy's absolute superiority in artillery fire and air cover, the overall situation was unfavorable to the 144th Division.

Before the start of the war, the 144th Division also preempted the enemy's front and secretly built some fortifications in this area, these workers built a few simple wooden houses in advance to enclose an open space, and then built machine gun fortifications in the open space. If necessary, simply knock down the surrounding wooden houses and the machine guns can fire.

However, at the beginning of the attack, the Japanese army had already bombarded this place with artillery fire, and these simple fortifications had already been overturned by the Japanese army's artillery fire, leaving only a piece of bricks and stones.

In fact, compared with the two phases, the pre-war preparations of the Chinese side were more sufficient, and the Chinese side had a large-scale topographic map that was far more detailed and accurate than that of the Central [***] team, and all kinds of terrain features were accurately marked. This topographic map provided a very accurate shot for the artillery fire.

Before the attack, the Japanese army raised several balloons behind their positions, and the observation post was in the spider plant of the balloons. Ascending high and looking into the distance, there was no obstruction on the plain, Fang Yuan was in the sight of observing the balloon for many miles, and all the activities of the 144th Division or places that were deemed suspicious would immediately attract an overwhelming number of shells. Only when the soldiers on both sides twisted into a heap did the enemy's artillery fire lose its power.

Not only is the terrain flat, but the altitude is extremely low and the water table is high. Less than a meter was dug for the fortifications, and the groundwater seeped out. The soldiers who hid in the trenches were soaked in mud and could only jump onto dry ground when they charged, so much so that some soldiers preferred to eat guns rather than soak in the muddy water, already stained red with blood for days.

On January 23, the 863rd Regiment of the 402nd Brigade of the 144th Division, which was the first to arrive on the battlefield, was ordered to take over the defense and enter the left flank position. The 863 regiment made up three battalions, but the third battalion was the pistol battalion of the 21st Army headquarters.

According to the decision of the Chuankang Army Consolidation Conference, the 21st Army was reorganized into two divisions, and there was no direct subordinate unit in the military headquarters. In order to maintain the pistol battalion directly under the army, Yang Sen organized it in the 863 regiment, which only accounted for the establishment of the regiment, did not undertake the tasks of the regiment, was not under the command of the regiment commander, and was specifically responsible for guarding the military headquarters, so the 863 regiment actually only had two battalions.

Zeng Xuehua, the head of the 863 Regiment, a native of Guang'an County, Sichuan, began studying at the age of ten and graduated from Chengdu Public School and Sichuan Army Lecture Hall. Zeng Xuehua is well-trained in the troops, has always led the troops well, and has strict discipline. In his troops, there were no group fights, robberies, gambling, silver annihilation, and other incidents known as "rotten hills".

On the eve of the Sichuan army's departure from Sichuan, Zeng Xuehua rectified military discipline. Two deserters were captured and shot in public by his order, and he reprimanded the officers and soldiers: "The national war is imminent, and the officers and soldiers are not at peace, and their officers will be held accountable." If there is anyone who does not want to be a soldier, as long as he proposes it, he will pay the full amount of the travel expenses to go home. But if you don't run away and punish you severely, this is the end! ”

Just as the 863rd Regiment entered the position, the opposing army found that there were figures coming in and out here, and knew that they were changing guards, so they seized the fighter plane and immediately launched a charge, and the light and heavy machine gun bullets covered the infantry attack like locusts.

When Zeng Xuehua saw it, he immediately ordered the 1st Battalion to occupy the position. Soldiers jumped into trenches and craters and fired heavily at the enemy, as well as light and heavy machine guns. The enemy continued to fall to the ground like a drunk, and without waiting for the enemy to readjust his strength, Zeng Xuehua ordered the 2nd battalion to attack, and as soon as the charge horn sounded, Zeng Xuehua led the counterattack against the charging enemy. Just as the two sides were engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the 1st Battalion, which had already occupied the position, jumped out of the trench and rushed towards the enemy in a second shock wave. The enemy could not support it and retreated to its original position, and the 863rd Regiment also retreated to consolidate its position and successfully completed the defense.

Fan Ziying set his army at the forefront, less than ten miles away from the forward position where the artillery was blazing. During the day, Fan Ziying stayed at the division headquarters, and at night, he rode along the bumpy road full of bomb craters to the front line to command. On the morning of 15 October, Fan Ziying, together with the staff officers, brought shovels and worked with the guards to tidy up the fortifications of the headquarters. Suddenly, the telephone rang, and the staff officer on duty came to report that it was the 2nd Battalion of the 864th Regiment on the flank that had lost the position of Lujia Village.

"Pull the battalion commander out and shoot him!" Fan Ziying did not hesitate on the phone: "Take the position back for me!" ”

In Lujia Village, there is a section of hillock about 800 meters long, although the slope is not large, the hill is not high, but this is a commanding height that the two armies must fight for. In order to fight for this land, the 846 battalion of the 2nd regiment fought with the enemy for a day and a night, and nine out of ten had already fallen on the ground. Now there is not a single tree or grass left in this land, it is all a charred blood clotted land.

The eastern side of the Lujiacun position is connected to the Chencun Reservoir, and if the Lujiacun position is lost, the army can immediately cut off the connection between the east and west directions and encircle our central main position from the flank and rear.

Occupying the position in Lujiacun was a brigade of the 38th Infantry Brigade and Division of the Chinese Army, which was now consolidating its position and replenishing it in order to firmly control the area.

On the west side of the Lujiacun position is the position of Zeng Xuehua's 863rd Regiment of the 20th Army.

Fan Ziying gave the task to the 863 regiment. On the phone, Fan Ziying's words were non-negotiable:

"This battle is a tough battle. can only be beaten well, not bad, play well, my Fan Ziying's face is golden, not only the 144th Division is good-looking, but my Sichuan people's faces are also bright; If you don't fight well, you naturally know that military law is ruthless! ”

That night it rained heavily and dark clouds were thick, and the scorched black earth had become a muddy patch.

Fan Ziying rushed to the front line and summoned brigade commander Tang Mingzhao and regiment commander Zeng Xuehua to analyze the enemy situation and discuss tactics. Fan Ziying decided to brave the rain at night to assault, and the unfavorable weather may have turned into a favorable factor for the enemy to be unprepared. Zeng Xuehua was full of confidence and decided to use his best tactics, and the two battalions charged in two waves and alternately covered.

After the tactical decision was made, Zeng Xuehua took his battalion and company commander to reconnoiter the enemy situation and inspect the attack route in the heavy rain at dusk. The soldiers sharpened their broadswords and wiped their weapons. All of them put on a new pair of straw sandals, the soles of the straw shoes are particularly rough, this thing is not easy to slip when the road is slippery in rainy days, and it works.

After dusk, the troops moved into attack positions, and the second-line troops went to the front. Looking at the table below, Zeng Xuehua suddenly ordered loudly:

"Blow the trumpet!" As the horn sounded, Zeng Xuehua personally led the 1st Battalion to rush towards the enemy position like a gust of wind in the heavy rain. In an instant, the enemy came to his senses, dozens of machine guns roared together, and the tongues of fire spewed from the muzzles of the guns in the darkness were particularly dazzling, swinging back and forth, pouring out a rain of bullets.

The 1st Battalion, which rushed to the forefront, quickly seized the advantageous terrain, organized fire suppression, and grenades continued to explode in the enemy's fortifications to cover the advance of the 2nd Battalion!

(To be continued)