On April 5, Fan Zhuxian personally went to the front line to inspect the positions and inspect the construction of fortifications, especially carefully observing every fortification and trench of several detachments besieging the north gate. As soon as the soldiers saw that Commander Fan was coming in person, they all gathered around Fan Zhuxian.

Fan Zhuxian said to the soldiers cordially: "This time you fought very well, not only did you destroy sixty or seventy enemies, but also won a lot of victories, and the enemy's tanks were also damaged. This is a strong proof that the enemy is not terrible, tanks and good weapons are not terrible, the question is whether we dare to fight. As long as we dare to fight, the final victory will be ours. He then told the cadres: "We must repair the fortifications and prepare for a sudden attack by the enemy, and we must not be careless." ”

When he inspected the position of Sun Sanmin of the 6th detachment, he saw that some of the fortifications were dug too shallow, so he said to Sun Sanmin: "No, it is too shallow and easy to be shelled, and it is deeper." Fan Zhuxian personally commanded the soldiers to repair a satisfactory trench, and then stood in it again, squatting down to dodge the enemy's shells, and then stood up and shot at the enemy from the fortifications with a gun, and said to the heralds: "Quickly call the cadres of other detachments to visit." ”

When the cadres of the detachments arrived, Fan Zhuxian said to them: "You must build fortifications in this way in the future." ”

After the observation meeting, it was almost noon, and the guard asked, "Shall we go back to dinner?" Fan Zhuxian said, "No, just eat with the soldiers in the trenches." ”

At that time, the rice was steamed buns and pork vermicelli, so Commander Fan rubbed his hands on his clothes, took 2 steamed buns and a bowl of vegetables, and squatted in the trench to eat with the soldiers. At that time, several entourages saw that the commander was like this, and what kind of shelves they were still holding, so they also followed Commander Fan's example, rubbed their hands on their clothes, and took steamed buns and vegetables to eat with the soldiers.

While eating, Commander Fan smiled and pointed to the dishes in the bowl and said to the soldiers, "You guys eat well, can you eat these things usually." ”

The soldier next to him replied: "I can't usually eat such a good meal, it's all wowotou and old pickles." ”

Commander Fan said: "The common people are bitter, they are reluctant to eat, they are reluctant to wear, they give us all the good things to eat, and they don't expect us to fight devils." If the Japanese devils can't fight and become slaves of the country, it will be difficult to eat this food. ”

The soldiers all nodded their heads and said, "Yes! The meal was so fragrant, I had never had such a good meal. "With this kind of food, we must also be worthy of the common people and beat these little devils fiercely." "If you really become a slave to the country, let alone eat such a meal, you will be full of gas alone." "Don't worry, Commander Fan, even if we die, we must hold this position."

Fan Zhuxian nodded and continued to encourage: "Our home is Luxi behind us, if a person has no home, isn't it the same as a dog without a home!" For the sake of the old and young in our hometown, we must also fight these little devils who bully us well and guard this door. ”

After eating, Fan Zhuxian went to the defense place where he had never been before, carefully observed the fortifications in every place, worked hard for a day, and did not return to Da Li Zhuang until it was dark.

On this day, the soldiers saw Commander Fan personally go to the front line, some received Commander Fan's encouragement, and some witnessed Commander Fan's honor, and all of them felt rejoiced, invigorated, and high-spirited.

After the fortifications of the guerrilla detachments were greatly strengthened, the enemy did not dare to come out and harass us for a long time, seeing that the fortifications were strong and had no chance to take advantage of them. Time is passing day by day, blockading Pu County for so many days, and gradually starting to work, because a large number of devils and puppet soldiers are stationed in the city, plus the people in the city also have to eat and drink, so Pu County is short of food, horses lack forage.

At this time, the wheat seedlings in April had grown green, and the war horses in the city were so hungry that they lost their spirits, so the devil released the big ocean horses to eat the wheat seedlings. The first to come up is to let go of one or two, and the last look at the anti-Japanese team does not care, so more and more daring, sometimes ten or eight, sometimes a large number of war horses in pairs come out.

The soldiers besieging the city saw the enemy come out so unscrupulously to release their horses, and they asked their superiors, "him first." "It's so arrogant, you can't eat such good horse meat for nothing!" Sun Sanmin asked the demonstration commander and said: "Commander Fan, the Japanese devils come out to release the horse all day long, and the horse is fat, do you want to beat it." ”

Fan Zhuxian said: "Don't panic, paralyze the enemy first, let's put a long line to catch big fish, don't you see that they are on the edge of the city, within their fire control, we have to stand by." He also informed the troops at the east and north gates that they were not allowed to shoot when they saw the enemy's horses coming out in the future, and that they would pay attention to the changes in the enemy's situation every day.

Sure enough, the enemy released his horses near the county seat, and after the wheat seedlings in the vicinity were eaten, the enemy's horses extended outward and went farther and farther. After a long time, it has expanded to three or four miles outside the city, and the firepower on the city is no longer enough.

On April 26, Fan Zhu first selected hundreds of capable soldiers from various detachments and directly subordinate units, and then selected good hunters from the local area who were good at shooting guns, and formed an assault team of more than 200 people, under the command of Sun Sanmin. Each man was equipped with a hundred rounds of ammunition, 6 grenades, all with bayonets on the guns, ready for a white-knuckle battle with the enemy, and 4 machine guns. The warriors were all camouflaged, with straw hoops on their heads and straw coats.

After they were ready, Fan Zhuxian spoke to them first. Fan Changxian said humorously: "Aren't you going fishing, it's time to catch a big fish this time, the fish has already been caught, it just depends on your ability." Are you ready!? ”

The audience shouted in unison, "Ready—"

Fan Zhuxian instructed again: "This ambush battle is a scattered ambush, with squads and platoons as units. First of all, everyone should hide well and do not expose the target in advance. Second, it is necessary to carry out a surprise attack, take it by surprise, attack it unprepared, and take the enemy by surprise. Third, we must be calm and courageous, and we must not panic. Fourth, we must strike and rush violently, so that after the enemy is ambushed, we will not be able to figure out what our situation is in the temporary chaos, and we will not be able to fight back in the confusion for the time being, so we must take advantage of the chaos to disrupt their ranks and deployments. ”

In the afternoon, Fan Zhuxian took Sun Sanmin and several commanders to the east of the city to conduct on-the-spot reconnaissance of the place where the enemy often released his horses, and made detailed observations and signs of the terrain in that area. At this time, the wheat in April and May can already bury people, and it is difficult to find it more than ten meters away in the wheat field, which is a good time for ambush. Fan Zhuxian said to Sun Sanmin again: "When the battle starts, if the enemy rushes over, we are not afraid, because there is a large army behind. I am afraid that the enemy will run as soon as he hears the gunshot, and it will be difficult to catch him if he runs. Time is limited, so you must seize the fighter. ”

Sun Sanmin nodded and said, "We must move quickly and ruthlessly." ”

At half past twelve in the middle of the night, the fighters had a full meal. Before leaving, Fan Zhuxian spoke again and told everyone: "What you want for an ambush is sudden." So everyone must be calm and never expose the goal. At 1 o'clock in the evening, the team left the Wangjia embankment, bypassed the village, went straight to the ambush position in the east of the city, and ambushed in a wheat field four miles northeast of the city before dawn, dug fortifications, set up machine guns, and prepared for battle, waiting for the enemy to come and send them to the door.

The team was well concealed, lying on its stomach in the wheat field for several hours without revealing the target. At this time, it was already eight or nine o'clock, and the April sun was shining on the body, and it was also a little hot, and some soldiers couldn't hold their breath and asked Sun Sanmin: "This time the fish can't be fished, why haven't they come yet!" ”

Sun Sanmin encouraged them: "Don't panic, you have to be patient in an ambush, the enemy will always go fishing." ”

Waiting until about nine o'clock, the enemy's east gate opened, and the deer was also released, and those hungry war horses had already smelled the fragrance of wheat, and ran towards the wheat field vigorously, and there were seventy or eighty devils behind them with guns driving the horses, and they were on guard. Most of the wheat near the edge of the city was eaten, and the horses lost interest, and soon walked towards the place where the wheat was thick, where the warriors were ambushing.

The warriors saw the enemy's horse team approaching step by step, and they were eager to swallow them alive, two hundred meters, a hundred meters, and the sound of horses' hooves was already heard, and there was no order to fight.

Ninety meters, eighty meters, seventy meters, sixty meters, and fifty meters, I could only hear Sun Sanmin shouting: "Fight-" Machine guns, rifles, and grenades fired in unison, only to make the horse team full of smoke, flames, and the devil's war horse was either shot and fell to the ground or was blown up by a grenade. The horses that were not killed by the bombing were scattered and scurried around, and the livestock also understood that it was important to flee for their lives, and they could not care about grazing at all.

The seventy or eighty devils behind the war horse were in a panic, and they were trampled by the war horse, and they were already in chaos. The more than 20 fighters closest to the enemy rushed forward with their rifles in their hands, and fired at the enemy indiscriminately, causing the enemy to scream and scream. They couldn't figure out how many people there were, and where they dared to resist, so they held their heads and fled back. Those war horses were still well-trained, and after a period of confusion, they followed their masters, just galloping, and it was also because these war horses covered the infantry and obstructed the view of the warriors, so that most of the devils fled back to the city.

In this battle, more than 30 devils were killed and wounded on the spot, more than 30 horses were killed, more than 30 horses were captured, and many guns, ammunition, and steel helmets were captured. When the enemy in the city came out to reinforce them, the soldiers had already cleaned up the battlefield and returned triumphantly with the victories.

The next day, Commander Fan summoned the masses in the nearby villages for a celebratory meeting, and exhibited the captured victories and live horses, some of the dead horses were distributed to the masses for meat, and some of the dead horses were distributed to the detachment to improve their food. Commander Fan said at the meeting: "Our army is also a common people, and as long as we strengthen training, we will be able to resist Japan and fight Japan." The Japanese have nothing to fear, so that we have no food to eat and no grass to eat for the horses, and if we continue to surround us like this, it is strange that we will not starve the little devils to death, and we will not starve all those war horses to death. Everyone organized themselves and resolutely did not let the little devils go out of the city, so let's see their jokes and let them taste starvation. ”

When the enemy first occupied Puji, it was very rampant, and every day they came out in groups to burn, kill, and loot, disturbing the people in the vicinity day and night. Since Fan Zhuxian's team came, the large army of devils has temporarily stopped, but there are still a few devils and traitors who are so hungry that they can't stand it anymore and come out to grab some and steal some.

Fan Zhuxian's team organized all the people in the vicinity, stood guard and sentry, arrested devils and traitors, and every day there were ordinary people fighting with individual devils and puppet soldiers who went out of the city.

Once, the militia near the city caught two devils and brought two 38 big covers to the headquarters to receive the reward. Commander Fan immediately gave them two prizes and encouraged: "You guys fight devils very well, come out one to destroy one, come out and destroy one pair." As long as we ordinary people are organized, we will have the anti-Japanese force, and with the strength we will be able to defend our homeland and defend the country. He also rewarded them with 10 silver dollars, saying, "From now on, a living devil will give you five silver dollars, and a dead devil will give you two silver dollars." ”

After these militia soldiers received Commander Fan's praise and reward, they were of course very happy in their hearts. After the nearby militia heard about the incident, they became even more active in standing guard and fighting devils.