Liu Yimin's New Year's Day in 1938 came from the sound of gunfire.

Fengjiakou is located at the junction of Nanpi and Cangxian County, because the Jinpu railway and highway pass through here, and close to the Grand Canal, so the town is still relatively lively. However, since the person came, the excitement of the past has become deserted.

At 3 o'clock in the morning of December 31, in a large canal on the side of the highway seven miles north of Fengjiakou, Wang Shuyou, commander of the cavalry battalion of the Fourth Brigade, and Shi Qianli, an instructor, were quietly lying on the edge of the canal, staring at the south side of the highway. Behind them were more than two hundred fighters of the cavalry battalion of the 4th Brigade.

Wang Shuyou and Shi Qianli are old partners, when the Red Seventh Army established the First Reading Division after the victory in Hanyang Town, they were the company commanders and instructors of the battalion that was drawn from the Red First Army. When the cavalry battalion was established in the only division, the two men were both transferred to the cavalry battalion and took up the work of living on horseback.

At present, the cavalry battalion is not only equipped with sabers, carbines, submachine guns, Bayi automatic rifles, light and heavy machine guns, mortars, and grenadiers, but also a radio station, three rocket launchers, and an engineer squad specially responsible for blasting and laying mines. In Wang Shuyou's words, this weaponry is much better than the cavalry equipment of any family in China.

They arrived here last night.

Before leaving, the brigade commander Lei Ming told them that when they went to Fengjiakou, the devils would definitely pass by there, and they would bury electric explosive packs, anti-tank mines, and anti-infantry mines on the main road to up.

When he went to Fengjiakou, Wang Shuyou knew that the brigade commander's judgment was correct, this was indeed a traffic artery, and the army would inevitably pass by here when it went north to Cangxian. Of course, this North China Plain can be marched everywhere, and if the devil can't get through on the road, it's okay to walk on the wheat field on the side of the road. Therefore, Wang Shuyou ordered the first company and the fire support company to plant electric explosive packs, anti-tank mines, and anti-infantry mines on the highway, and ordinary mines and earthen mines in the wheat fields on both sides of the highway. The 2nd Company retreated 8 miles backwards, continued to lay mines, and built positions, and responded to the 1st Company and the Fire Support Company, and the 3rd Company retreated 15 miles to lay mines and build positions.

As long as the troops are idle, they can use local materials to make black powder, clay pots, clay pots, iron buckets, and stone jars, and then mix iron wires, iron nails, bamboo sticks, and wooden sticks into them, and the power will be much greater.

After being busy, Wang Shuyou and Shi Qianli took a company and a fire support company to hide in the dry water diversion canal, and cut the sapper shovels on both sides of the canal into a gentle slope to facilitate the movement of war horses. Then he waited quietly for the devil to come.

Winter nights in northern China were cold, and the soldiers were so cold that they had to keep out the cold with soju or chili water. Wang Shuyou couldn't help but mutter: "Little devil, come quickly!" If you don't come again, Grandpa will freeze into a popsicle. ”

Shi Qianli pushed Wang Shuyou: "Muttering something, it will come, the little devil won't want Tianjin." ”

While the two men were talking, the scouts rushed over, rolled off the saddle, snatched a soldier's kettle, drank a few large mouthfuls of chili water, and reported: "Report to the battalion commander and instructor: the devils are coming, there are many, many people, and the first is two tanks, four armored vehicles, more than 100 cavalry, and a brigade of infantry. The team behind can't see clearly, there are many of them, and the old elders are long. ”

As soon as Wang Shuyou heard this, he immediately ordered: "Set up mortars, grenadiers, bazookas, and light and heavy machine guns for Lao Tzu, bazookas are responsible for hitting tanks and armored vehicles that are not pressed with mines, mortars, grenadiers and rifles against infantry, light and heavy machine guns, submachine guns, and 81 rifles are concentrated against cavalry." After defeating the devil tanks, armored vehicles and cavalry, immediately retreat. The engineer squad came to me and listened to my order to pick up the explosive pack, and Lao Tzu was going to open the meat. ”

The vanguard of the 10th Division was the 8th Brigade of Setakehei and the 1st Brigade of the 39th Wing of Numata Takazo, and the brigade was specially equipped with two tanks, four armored vehicles, and a squadron of cavalry. This group should be said to be very strong, and Numata Takazo Daisa said that it is no problem to defeat a branch army, and it is no problem to destroy a branch division like going to Kabucho to have fun.

At 3:20 a.m., the vanguard of the 10th Division entered the minefield laid by the cavalry battalion of the 4th Brigade. At the head were two tanks and four armored vehicles, followed by cavalry and infantry. It may be that along the way, many search teams were hit, and the enemy's vanguard advanced in a dense formation.

First, two tanks collided with anti-tank mines, causing an explosion. The devils were about to start a battle formation, and Wang Shuyou gave the order to attack. The engineer squad leader pressed the detonator fiercely, and an earth-shattering noise immediately sounded on the highway, and a series of large craters were blown out of the long road. Immediately afterwards, the mortars and grenadiers of the fire support company bombarded the infantry formation, and the shells smashed into the infantry ranks of the devils with a slip of light in the dark night. That's not all, the anti-infantry mines recited the supernatal spell again with those devil soldiers in the Eastern Hiding Province.

Light and heavy machine guns, submachine guns, and Bayi automatic rifles opened fire, and the target was the devil's more than 100 cavalry, and the fire was fierce and intensive, so that the devil's war horses and cavalry danced in the fire net.

The most unlucky thing was the four armored vehicles, although they did not hit the anti-tank mines, but they became the target of the bazooka, and they were burned and set on fire, and the devil soldiers inside all became roast suckling pigs.

Look at the almost, the devil's tanks, armored vehicles and cavalry have all been reimbursed, and the devil soldiers who have not been killed have also begun to lie down and shoot, and the long headlights of the devil in the distance are getting closer and closer. Wang Shuyou no longer loves the war, and he doesn't count the results of the battle, and as soon as he gave the order, the cavalry battalion packed up his weapons, got on his horse and transferred.

By the time Numata Tazo Osa arrived at the scene, the battlefield had fallen silent. In addition to the burning tanks, armored vehicles, and the corpses of men and horses all over the ground, the soldiers who were lucky enough to survive were all demented, pouting and crawling on the ground and shooting.

Numata Takazo Osa kicked a second lieutenant in the ass and pulled him up to inquire about the situation.

The second lieutenant trembled and reported that after receiving the order to force the march, the brigade began to advance, and this section was calm and did not encounter bandit attacks. As a result, he was ambushed when he walked here, and the captain rode on his war horse, and the jade was shattered at the first time. The firepower of the Chinese army was very strong, and we had no chance of fighting back at all.

Numata Takazo asks what troops attacked the Imperial Army?

The second lieutenant said not what kind of troops it was, but it was all cavalry, with more than 200 horsemen, and when he saw the main force coming up, he ran along the road.

"Cavalry?" Numata Takazo Osa rolled his eyes and thought about it for a long time, but he couldn't remember that there was such a strong firepower of the cavalry. However, he was not stupid, and knew that this must be the outpost of Tutor Liu Yimin. After thinking about it, Numata Takazo Osa ordered to report to the brigade commander, Major General Setakehei, and at the same time ordered the main force of the wing to bypass the road, walk from the wheat field, catch up with the small group of cavalry in China, and tear them apart.

As soon as the army left the highway and walked towards the wheat field, they stepped on the mines buried in the wheat field again, and there was another crying of father and mother.

Numata Tazo Osa immediately ordered the sappers to detect mines.

Each division of the army has an engineer wing, and mine detection is the basic business of the engineers. A squad of sappers carefully opened the way in front of them with mine detectors, and it was really good, and a lot of iron mines were found. However, where is it so simple for the soldiers taught by Liu Yimin, the iron mines are all sub-mother mines or chain mines, and the mines above and below explode, and even the engineer squad leader was blown away.

The army was really tenacious, and the sappers finally finished clearing the iron mines, and as soon as Numata Tazo Osaku waved his hand, the army brigade rushed to the wheat field. Unexpectedly, there were still explosions in the wheat field, which made the devils and soldiers cry wolves.

Numata has a lot of crops to hide the big gas, so I went to check it myself, and found that it was the people of China who put black powder in pottery utensils and used it as mines, and the mine detector could not be detected at all.

After the commander of the 8th Brigade, Major General Setakehei, caught up, Numata Takazo Osa, hurriedly reported to His Excellency the Brigade Commander what had happened to the vanguard. Major General Se Takehei inspected the scene and was silent in front of the wreckage of tanks and armored vehicles, unable to understand what kind of weapon was so powerful that it could beat armored vehicles into a pile of rotten iron.

Seeing that His Excellency the brigade commander was silent, Numata Tazozo Daisa said: "This branch of the army is not simple. A small cavalry unit has such a powerful firepower and dares to attack the vanguard of the imperial army equipped with tanks and armored vehicles, and it seems that the 21st Brigade is indeed in the hands of this army. ”

Major General Setakehei didn't seem to hear Numata Tazo Daisa's words, and looked up at the dark night sky, which was so deep and unfathomable.

Numata Tazo Osa didn't understand why His Excellency the Brigade Commander didn't speak, so he leaned forward, only to hear Major General Setakehira muttering softly: "Is the Battle of Tianjin now begin?" Liu Yimin, who is like a mystery, I am looking forward to meeting you! ”

Numata Duojiazo Dazuo felt a chill in his heart, this devil-like instructor is scary when he thinks about it, it is best to avoid them, His Excellency the brigade commander doesn't know what nerves to have, and he is still looking forward to meeting Liu Yimin, do you still want to follow in the footsteps of the 21st Brigade?

Major General Setakehei did not seem to know what Numata Takazo was thinking, and ordered his troops to camp on the spot and dispose of the corpses of the jade crushed soldiers. Wait until dawn before moving forward.

This order Numata Takazo Daisa was very satisfied, and the march at dawn could avoid many dangers, and if necessary, he could also call in aviation support, and the safety factor was much greater. After slapping the sycophants of "Your Excellency the Brigade Commander", he was busy arranging the camp of the troops.

After Wang Shuyou and Shi Qianli withdrew to the position of the second company with the first company and the fire support company, they hurriedly sent a report to the brigade commander to report the course of the battle at Fengjiakou. Then he sat in the position of the second company and waited for the enemy to come up.

After waiting for a while, there was no movement of the enemy. Wang Shuyou discussed with Shi Qianli and said: "Old man, this devil is going to play tricks, we can't do this frontal attack anymore, it's easy to be dumplings by the devil." I see it this way, I will take one company in the east, and you will take the second company in the west, attack them from both sides, and run away after a fight, and you must not be overtaken by them. Let the fire support company withdraw to where the third company is. As soon as we fight on both sides, it is estimated that the devil will continue to walk on the main road, and when the time comes, we will blow up another guy, and we will withdraw. ”

Shi Qianli also felt that it would be very dangerous to do this again, the devil's strength was too strong, and once it was glued, it would not be able to escape. You must know that this devil not only has tanks and cars, but also powerful cavalry troops!

The two men were about to give the order, and the observation post reported that the devil was camping.

Wang Shuyou thought about it, it would be too sorry for himself if he didn't take advantage of the devil's camping to engage him all of a sudden. On second thought, this devil is camping, and he can't afford to provoke his own camp. You can't go to the camp, then you won't be able to come back. It's better to bring a mortar and bombard him from afar, so that they can't sleep. After a few shots, they left, and by the time they caught up, they had already run away.

After discussing with Shi Qianli, the two decided that Wang Shuyou would lead two mortar platoons to attack and harass the enemy, the first company would move to the east, the second company would move to the west, and the grenadier platoon and heavy machine gun platoon of the fire support company would withdraw to the position of the third company, and all the remaining mines and explosives bags would be laid in front of the position of the third company to form a mine belt. When the mortar platoon harassment was over, the first and second companies attacked from both sides, forcing the enemy to crash into the mines in front of the second company's position. Then the 1st Company, 2nd Company, and Mortar Platoon all withdrew to the positions of the 3rd Company, where they retreated with a small blockade.

Soon, the team separated, and Wang Shuyou returned the same way with two mortar platoons, and the first and second companies moved to both sides to hide.

When Wang Shuyou returned to the vicinity of the Fengjiakou battlefield, he saw that the devil was indeed camping. The perimeter was heavily guarded, several fires were set up in the middle of the camp, as if the corpses were being burned, and the singing and chanting of devils could be heard in the distance.

Wang Shuyou said to the two platoon commanders: "Just take the fire as the goal, one fire for each squad, six shots per gun, and withdraw after the battle." Move fast! ”

The fighters quickly set up their cannons, and after a simple distance measurement, they began shelling. A group of 12 shells flew neatly across the night sky and smashed into the enemy's camp. After the battle, regardless of the results of the battle, he immediately took a mortar, got on his horse and ran, without even looking back.

This can be regarded as a complete anger to Major General Se Wuping, this branch of the army is so hateful, it simply treats the elite 10th Division as a soft persimmon, and you can pinch it as much as you want! Major General Se Wuhei immediately ordered the troops to end their camp, take tanks and armored vehicles as the lead, and go out in multiple ways to catch up and eliminate these bold guys.

The devil's tanks and armored vehicles were all activated, and the lights illuminated the night sky, guiding the infantry, artillery, and cavalry to rush forward along the road and wheat fields.

The movement of the devil's army was indeed amazing, but it could not frighten the soldiers of the cavalry battalion, and the first and second companies hid on both sides, and directly attacked the devils on both sides with light machine guns, submachine guns, and Bayi automatic rifles on the horses, and withdrew after the fight. Major General Se Wupei didn't know how many troops there were around, and he was secretly surprised. However, the 10th Division was the elite of the army, and a small-scale attack could not scare them, and the large army of devils still rolled forward. It was only when it encountered the mines laid in front of the position of the second company that it paused slightly, lost three tanks, left some corpses, and then the devil brigade rolled forward again.

After the 1st and 2nd companies withdrew to the positions of the 3rd Company, the 3rd Company and the fire support company completed the laying of mines and the laying of explosives packages. As soon as Wang Shuyou saw Shi Qianli, he said: "There are too many devils, we are not opponents, this time it is not enough, all the explosives bags and mines are all buried." Let the soldiers change into devil uniforms, and after the devil comes up for a while, concentrate on beating him, and then detonate the explosive pack, let the mine array block the devil, and we take the opportunity to disguise themselves as devil soldiers to retreat, so that they can't distinguish between friend and foe, and it is not easy to pursue. ”

As soon as the two of them were ready for battle with the soldiers, the devil brigade came up, and the tanks and armored vehicles were lined up, one after the other, followed by the devil infantry and cavalry under the black pressure.

Wang Shuyou saw that the devil was powerful, so he immediately ordered the explosive pack, and took advantage of the smoke and dust caused by the explosion, and all the light and heavy firearms in the battalion opened fire, knocking the devil formation into a standstill.

Seeing that the time for retreat had come, Wang Shuyou immediately ordered a retreat.

As soon as the cavalry battalion withdrew, the devil's tank artillery came over, and if it was a little later to withdraw, it would really not be able to leave.

Major General Se Wuping's angry eyes were about to bulge out, but there were so many mines blocking the movement of the troops. By the time the army had bypassed the minefield, the cavalry battalion had already disappeared into the night.

In a fit of rage, Major General Se Wuhei contacted the division commander and requested that the cavalry wing be transferred up, preparing to outflank the Chinese cavalry who were making trouble all the way.

After Liu Yimin received the report of the Fourth Division, he immediately got up in his clothes and began to think about the map. The 10th Division of the Southern Front is finally coming, and the southbound corps of the Kwantung Army on the Western Front is estimated to be arriving. Why was the 10th Division slow to move a few days ago, and now it is attacking overnight on the premise that it has already gained air supremacy? Needless to say, the 6th Division, the 16th Division, and the Guoqi Detachment have arrived, and they are not far from the 10th Division and the 108th Division, and they can be reinforced at any time. Otherwise, the 10th Division would not have ventured forward at night.

Liu Yimin sent a telegram to Hu Laohu. Hu Laohu reported that at around 4 o'clock, the regiment and battalion in charge of the attack and harassment were engaged in an exchange of fire with the enemy, relying on mines and explosives packs to block and harass the enemy one after another. The front line in Langfang is ready to withstand the enemy's attack.

Putting down the telegram, Liu Yimin always felt that something was wrong, so he lit a cigarette and thought silently.

At half past five in the morning, Qian Zhuangfei sent an urgent telegram saying that the army had landed in Qinhuangdao at five o'clock in the morning.

Putting down the telegram, Liu Yimin thought about it briefly, the reinforcements from the mainland of the Yue army have arrived, and it seems that the scale is still very large, and this kind of troop transportation speed can only be done by the combined fleet of the Yue Navy. In other words, as soon as the day dawns, Tianjin, Langfang, and Cangxian are all within the bombing range of the planes of the combined fleet of the Chinese army.

I've seen the "Pearl Harbor" blockbuster and "Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! If the Fourth Brigade was taught to face the 10th Division in Cangxian and the cavalry brigade to face the Kwantung Army in Langfang, needless to say, the planes of the Kwantung Army and the Combined Fleet would fly to the battlefield like flocks of crows. At that time, Cangxian and Langfang, which are basically brick and wood structures and civil engineering structures, will probably be razed to the ground under the bombardment of the Yue army.

It's ridiculous that he was so smart that he was confused for a while, and he thought about letting the Fourth Brigade hold on to Cangxian for two days, which was simply dizzy. The army is worried that he can't find the main force of the instructor, didn't he put the troops as a target for the devil to fight? There is also that small Langfang, surrounded by the three elite divisions of the Kwantung Army, and the cavalry brigade can't withdraw if it wants to. Just thinking that his troops are good at long-distance attacks and have flexible tactics, why don't they pay attention to the fact that the army is good at outflanking in a roundabout way? The Kwantung Army has a high degree of mechanization, and here is the North China Plain, no matter how fast the war horse is, can it be faster than cars and airplanes?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was a bad chess game to fight the enemy in Cangxian and Langfang, and Liu Yimin, who didn't hesitate, immediately sent a report to Hu Laohu and Lei Ming: "One hundred thousand is urgent. The combined fleet of the enemy navy has arrived and landed on Qinhuangdao this morning, and the scale of its forces is extremely large. The 6th Division, the 16th Division, and the Guoqi Detachment, which were drawn from the direction of Nanjing, had also arrived south of Cangxian. At this point, a heavy encirclement of hostile Tianjin had been formed. In order to avoid unnecessary losses, a special order was issued: The original mission of the Fourth Brigade and the Cavalry Brigade to hold Cangxian and Langfang was cancelled, and the main force of the Fourth Brigade immediately moved quickly and covertly in the direction of Xianxian, leaving the troops with strong mobility to hold Cangxian, and after using mines and fortifications to kill and injure the enemy, they disguised the army and evacuated Cangxian and let the army advance to Tianjin; The main force of the cavalry brigade was ordered to immediately withdraw from Langfang, insert itself into Baxian, and wait in concealment on the south bank of the Daqing River, ready to meet the guard regiment. After the 1st Cavalry Regiment and 1st Battalion, which were originally tasked with raiding and harassing, led the enemy to Langfang, disguised themselves as an army, quickly broke away from contact with the enemy, and caught up with the main force. Before evacuating Cangxian and Langfang, the Fourth Brigade and the Cavalry Brigade should completely blow up the stations in Cangxian and Langfang so that the enemy could not use the railway. Another: Liu led the guard regiment to continue to confuse the enemy in Tianjin, and at night the disguised army withdrew from Tianjin, and marched west to join the cavalry brigade. ”

After sending the telegram, Liu Yimin was not at ease, so he called again to ask if he had received it and whether he had started to implement it?

After receiving a definite reply, Liu Yimin relieved himself and ordered Zhang Haitao to make arrangements for sabotaging the Tianjin terminal and locomotives, wait for the order to detonate, sit down quietly, and begin to draft the "Letter to the People of Tianjin."

At seven o'clock in the morning, Lei Ming and Hu Laohu successively reported that the main force had been safely evacuated and was moving to its destination.

After receiving the report, Liu Yimin went to visit the consulates of various countries again and delivered a speech on the radio in his "New Year's Day Speech."

Liu Yimin said in his speech: "Compatriots from all walks of life in Tianjin: On the occasion of the New Year's Day of 1938, on behalf of Tianjin, I will cook a political axe and greet the suffering compatriots!"

On July 7 last year, the devils launched the Lugou Bridge Incident and began a full-scale war of aggression against China. At the beginning of the war, the army arrogantly declared that China would be destroyed in three months. Now, five months have passed, although the army has occupied our capital, occupied Beiping, Tianjin, Taiyuan, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Jinan and other cities, but our political axe is still there, our army is still fighting bravely to kill the enemy, the bones of 40,000 soldiers under the city of Taiyuan, showing that the statement that the devil will destroy China is purely a fool's dream, and it will never be realized! ”

In his speech, Liu Yimin called on the people of Tianjin to take action, plunge into the fiery war of resistance against Japan, and work with the people of the whole country to drive the devils out of China.

At the end of his speech, Liu Yimin shouted three times in a row: "Down with this imperialism!" The War of Resistance will be won! Long live the Chinese nation! The slogan inspires the fighting spirit of the people of Tianjin.

(To be continued)