Shexian County, 129th Division Headquarters. The communications staff officer hurriedly came and said anxiously: "Division commander, it's not good, Xiangyuan is lost!" ”

Master Liu was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "What about the 3rd Army?" You won't be able to hold on for even a day! "According to the plan drawn up before the war, the 3rd Army was responsible for the defense of the southern side of the base area in order to buy time for the transfer of the population in the base area.

Brigade Commander Chen said angrily: "Hmph, I guess they run faster than the devils!" Where is the 3rd Army withdrawn now? ”

The communications staff officer said: "It is said that we have reached the east bank of the Zhuozhang River. "If you look at the map, you can see how far the Third Army has withdrawn all at once. Of course, it is commendable to maintain this pace of march in the event of a retreat. Compared with someone Zeng, Sun Chang's legs are weak.

Rao was mentally prepared, but Brigade Commander Chen was still taken aback, and said anxiously: "Damn, once you withdraw for hundreds of miles, won't you be able to keep Yuting and Qinxian!" "If all three of these places are lost, the gates of the base areas will be completely open. The faces of the crowd suddenly became very ugly.

Due to the inaction of the 3rd Army and the evacuation of the 129th Division, the situation in the base area deteriorated rapidly. The 117th Wing, which attacked from Tunliu, went down to Yuting and Qinxian and quickly advanced to Wuxiang; After the 105th Wing, which had invaded from Changzhi, occupied Xiangyuan, it rushed to Liao County.

Unlike fighting on the periphery, as soon as the Japanese army entered the hinterland of the base area, they tore off the mask of "caring for the good people" and burned and plundered along the way, burning and looting all the villages along the way, killing all the people who did not have time to move, breaking the bellies of women, and tearing children under the age of one in half. The officers also held a killing contest (not unique to Nanjing, where the "100 beheadings" became famous because they were in the newspapers) and considered it "very interesting".

In the face of the frenzied massacre of the Japanese army, the soldiers and civilians in the base area were not intimidated. The villagers sent their cattle into the mountains, buried their grain in cellars, buried wells, or threw dead pigs and dogs, leaving the enemy without food or drink, hungry and thirsty. The guerrillas and militia also attacked and harassed the enemy, so that the enemy did not dare to camp rashly.

In view of the fact that the main force of the 108th Division was unusually isolated and very tired, the headquarters of the Eastern Route Army ordered the main force of the 129th Division and the 689th Regiment to return to Wuxiang from the north of Shexian County, waiting for an opportunity to annihilate the exhausted and isolated enemy who had invaded.

The chief of staff of the left pointed to the 132nd Wing, which was heading south from Xiyang, and said: "The enemy is advancing very quickly on this road, and I am afraid that it will not be able to stop it by relying on the Wang detachment and the 5th detachment alone." If they were to go south to Liao County to join the enemy's 105th Wing, this battle would not be easy to fight! "The Wang detachment and the 5 detachment are two newly formed units with poor combat effectiveness.

Several leaders nodded, all feeling a little tricky. Mr. Peng looked at the map, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he pointed to the east of Xiyang and said, "Isn't there still a reserve here?" The place he was referring to was Ping'an County. So the East Route Army telegraphed and ordered the 33rd Division, the Wang Detachment, and the 5th Detachment to flank the 132nd Wing, at least to hold it off and prevent it from going south.

Zheng Weiguo disagreed with this plan. Because a division is not completely sure of fighting a wing, if it is not done well, it will become a sandwich meal. So he refused this order on the spot, and called back to ask to go south to join forces with the main force of the 129th Division, and then concentrate his forces to annihilate the enemy all the way. For this kind of bargaining behavior, the command of the Eastern Route Army was naturally a little unhappy, and it is said that the hot-tempered Mr. Peng also slapped the table. But the 33rd Division was an important united front object, and Zheng Weiguo had the halo of a famous anti-Japanese general.

finally persuaded the command of the Eastern Route Army, but Zheng Weiguo's backyard caught fire again. It turned out that the 132nd Wing of the Japanese Army suddenly bypassed the defense line of the blocking force of the Eighth Route Army and directly rushed to Gaoluo Town in the 10th District of Ping'an County (that is, an area developed from Ping'an County to Shanxi). And this Gaoluo town happens to be the economic center of the tenth district, with a large number of shops and a large population, if it is tossed by the devils, the loss will be very heavy.

But if you want to defend, it is also very difficult, because the terrain north and west of Gaoluo is relatively flat, and there is no danger to defend, and it is difficult to hold unless the main force is transferred. Zheng Weiguo made a difficult decision after the most reluctance - to give up Gaoluo. The soldiers were very dissatisfied with this decision, and they did not dare to disobey because of Zheng Weiguo's prestige.

Fortunately, after the Japanese army occupied Gaoluo Town, they did not attack Ping'an County to the east, but continued south along the western foot of Taihang Mountain to Songyan Town in Heshun County. Zheng Weiguo breathed a sigh of relief, and led the main force to the south quickly, in order to avoid encountering the Japanese army, he took the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain.

On the way to the march, Zheng Weiguo overheard two soldiers talking small words, and out of curiosity, he listened to a few more words, but he was so angry that he couldn't cry or laugh.

Soldier A said: "The devil is obviously in the west, why do we have to go south?" ”

Soldier B said: "You don't understand this, the west belongs to gold, the south belongs to fire, we call it fire to overcome gold, it is a new method of warfare studied by the division, it is really clever, Ha Lu Ha!" ”

It turned out that during this time, Zheng Weiguo had been suppressing the troops and was not allowed to fight. The officers and men were extremely dissatisfied with this kind of "war-avoidance behavior", some complained, some said strange things, and some played allegro and sang small songs to remind the division commander to "pay attention."

There is an allegro that says: Everyone go all the way, listen to me make up a song, hey, make up a song, the enemy hits the door, let's turn around and go south, hey, go south, when will the War of Resistance end? When the soldiers heard this, they laughed and said, "Hey, it's the end when you get to the kang."

Due to the mood of the officers and men, the troops did not go well in the south, and Zheng Weiguo was forced to punish several officers one after another, and the situation improved.

At the same time, the 129th Division was also desperately rushing towards the base area. They are returning to the base area, so the morale is naturally higher. Brigade Commander Chen didn't think it was fast enough, and rode back and forth to urge the troops to speed up the march.

The propaganda team also played an allegro on the more difficult road sections, and the team members shouted: Comrades laugh, hehe, it was not far in the past to go uphill, uphill, downhill, and it is not too much to walk five miles...... Some team members said: The Eighth Route Soldier is ambitious, he is not afraid of all difficulties, and in order to go north to fight Japan, he tramples on his feet with all kinds of difficulties......

After concerted efforts from top to bottom, on April 14, Brigade Commander Chen led the 386th Brigade to arrive in the northwest of Wuxiang in the vicinity of Liandaoling (Luzhi), Fengtaiping (772nd Regiment), and Jiahuo Town (771st Regiment) to assemble and stand by, and the 689th Regiment and the 769th Regiment also arrived in the vicinity of Wuxiang one after another. At this time, the 33rd Division had just passed through the Taihang Mountains from the junction of Shanxi, Hebei and Henan provinces and entered the Shanxi boundary.

Several commanders of the 129th Division agreed on several operational plans together, one of which was that the 129th Division and the 344th Brigade would act together to cooperate with Zeng Wanzhong's 3rd Army to attack the enemy's 117th Wing; the second was to cooperate with Zhu Huaibing's 94th Division to attack a wing of the 109th Division at Zihongkou and Dongtuancheng; The third is to attack Liao County with the 33rd Division moving south (there are two enemy wings here).

Judging from the situation of both the enemy and the enemy, the first option is the best. It's just that everyone has no confidence in the 3rd Army, for fear that they will pick on the edge of the battle. Mr. Zhu said: "The 3rd Army still has combat effectiveness, and the front blocking battle is thankless, and it is understandable that they are unwilling to fight." Now it is a war of annihilation, and if it is won, it is a national hero, and the glory of the soldiers is nothing more than this, I don't believe that they are indifferent! ”

The left chief of staff interjected and said: "If only the 33rd Division could arrive in time!"

Mr. Peng's eyes lit up and said, "Yes, yes, yes!" Check where they have been, and telegraph them to quickly move closer to the 129th Division! He also muttered, saying: "I want to see if this kid Zheng Weiguo says one thing and does another!" ”

According to the order of the headquarters of the Eastern Route Army, Division Commander Liu led the 129th Division to cross the Zhuozhang River through Dongfang Mountain, and arrived in the West Huangyan and Mamu areas north of Duancun, preparing to attack the left flank of the 117th Wing. Zeng Wanzhong's 3rd Army advanced out of Panlong Town, preparing to attack from the right flank of the 117th Wing, and was responsible for blocking reinforcements from the direction of Liaoxian.

At this time, the 117th Wing had no idea that bad luck had come. During the day on the 15th, Wing Commander Shinjiro Kashiwazaki Nakasa also led the main force of more than 3,000 people from Wuxiang North to attack Yushe, trying to find the main force of the 129th Division for a decisive battle, but he did not expect to fight again. Due to the implementation of the policy of clearing the fields in the villages along the way, the Japanese army did not find a single grain of food, and they could not even drink water.

Before they invaded Wuxiang, they were harassed by the Eighth Route Army along the way, and their troops were damaged, and this time they were even more frustrated. The Japanese army did not find any trace of the Eighth Route Army, but its energy and physical strength were greatly consumed, and the soldiers also complained again and again, and the army's morale was unstable. Many officers and soldiers wrote letters home, expressing war-weariness. Now there is a lack of food and grass, and there is no food to drink, so Kashiwazaki Enjiro Nakasa had to order to go back to Wuxiang and Duancun, and set fire to Yushe County before evacuating.

At that time, the headquarters of the 129th Division was on the way, and I happened to see the fire rising from the direction of Yushe. Deputy Division Commander Xu said: "The devils will definitely not stay for long, I think they are going to run!" ”

Division Commander Liu felt that it was very reasonable, and immediately ordered Brigade Commander Chen to conduct a powerful reconnaissance. Unfortunately, it was still a step slow (the Japanese army's ability to march on foot was also very strong, and the baggage was placed in Wuxiang, so the action was fast), and by the time the vanguard company in charge of reconnaissance arrived at Yushe, the enemy had already retreated south.

After finding out the enemy's situation, Division Commander Liu immediately agreed with Zeng Wanzhong's 3rd Army on a plan to coordinate the siege of the enemy in Wuxiang and strike at reinforcements, and sent an urgent telegram to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army. The bosses Zhu and Peng immediately called back to express their agreement, and instructed that if possible, they would intercept this Japanese army and annihilate it. After receiving a call back from the headquarters, Division Commander Liu immediately ordered the vanguard company to rush to Wuxiang, preparing to occupy Wuxiang before the Japanese army arrived.

The vanguard company quickly pursued southward, but halfway through the road, it saw that a fire had also broken out in the county seat of Wuxiang. The soldiers had no choice but to go into the city to put out the fire. After a while, the villagers who were hiding outside the city also arrived and told the soldiers that the Japanese had withdrawn two hours earlier. At this time, the main force of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army was still more than ten miles away from the county seat of Wuxiang.

It was not until the vanguard company transmitted the information one by one, and it was not until 10 o'clock in the evening that Division Commander Liu received a call from Brigade Commander Chen. Brigade Commander Chen said: "Report to the division commander, according to the report of the surveillance troops, the enemy in Duancun and Wuxiang City has withdrawn eastward at dusk and has gone along the Zhuozhang River in the direction of Xiangyuan, and its rear guard is about 30 miles away from the main force of our army. ”

Division Commander Liu hurriedly said: "The enemy ran away at dusk, why did you report it now!" ”

Brigade Commander Chen was also very annoyed and said, "Division Commander, I just received the information!" Before the devil left, Wuxiang was also burned, and the pioneer was even busy fighting the fire! "Master Liu was almost angry when he heard it.

Seeing this, Deputy Division Commander Xu hurriedly asked, "Division Commander, has the enemy fled south?" ”

Division Commander Liu said angrily: "The enemy probably found out something, and now he has run thirty miles away. ”

Deputy Division Commander Xu said: "Division Commander, don't worry. The devils are heavy mules and horses, and they are never used to night movements. This time, they didn't run for their lives, and they didn't know that we were only more than 30 miles away from them. They carry a great burden on their backs, and they have ox carts, so they cannot go fast. We are now light. The march is much faster than the devil. As long as you don't get noticed by the devils, you can catch up by dawn. ”

When Master Liu heard this, he said: "Okay, if you hurt your ten fingers, it's better to cut off one of your fingers, and we'll annihilate this way first!" The order is to go down, and all units will attack sharply along the Zhuozhang River, and be sure to annihilate the enemy's 117th Wing in the narrow area of the river valley! ”

The order was quickly conveyed, but what was terrible was that at this juncture, the telephones of the 769th Regiment and the 689th Regiment could not be reached, and it was later found that the telephone lines had been damaged.

Division Commander Liu had no choice but to order Brigade Commander Chen to lead the 771st Regiment and the 772nd Regiment to pursue first. The 771st Regiment was on the right flank of the Turbidity River, and the 772nd Regiment was on the left flank of the Turbidity River, and the two divisions quickly pursued the enemy along the mountains along the riverbank. The 769th Regiment and the 689th Regiment still could not be contacted, and the main regiment had been moving with the division headquarters, so there was no radio, so Division Commander Liu had to order the cavalry messenger to quickly convey the order, so that the 689th Regiment could quickly follow along the left flank, and the 769th Regiment acted as a reserve and followed the left flank.

To explain here, because the enemy was on the left flank of the Zhuozhang River, Division Commander Liu put three regiments on this side. The right flank only had to prevent the enemy from escaping by wading through the river, and the pressure was relatively lighter, so there was only one regiment.

The troops pursued all night, and in the early morning of April 16, Brigade Commander Chen led the 772nd Regiment to chase all the way to Nankeyao and Daxiaoniujiazhuang east of Wuxiang, but still found no trace of the enemy.

Brigade Commander Chen got angry and said, "Keep chasing, these devils are killing people and setting fire to our base area, and they want to run away when they're done, it's not so easy!" ”

The troops did not chase far, and a sharp-eyed warrior suddenly pointed to the left front and said: "Look, enemy! Everyone followed his finger and looked, and sure enough, the enemy's rearguard guard was found on a high ground called Gongjiayuan.

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