In the early summer of 1941, two mysterious guests came to the headquarters of the 161st Division of the Sichuan Army, and He Shuheng, who had been promoted to major general and division commander, secretly received them.

These two guests were sent by the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army. After the incident in southern Anhui, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party basically tore their faces, but division commander He Shuheng still had secret contacts with the former Henan-Hubei Independent Guerrilla Detachment of the New Fourth Army and the reorganized 5th Division.

This time, the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army sent a 100,000-strong piece of urgent information: "The Japanese army is assembling in Suixian and Jingshan, and the former may attack Laohekou along the Xianghua Road; The latter may have attacked Dahongshan from Jingshan and besieged your tribe. ”

He Shuheng came to the front of the map: "Xianghua Highway is located at the northern foot of Dahong Mountain, and Jingshan is located at the southern foot of Dahong Mountain. It seems that the Japanese army wants to attack the Dahongshan base area from the north and south. ”

"Thank you for sending such important information! Go back and tell Division Commander Li that our department will immediately adjust its strategic deployment and must not let the devil's conspiracy succeed! ”

Seeing off the guests, He Shuheng picked up the phone on the table: "Pick up the group army headquarters for me!" ”

"Report to the Commander-in-Chief! I am He Shuheng, and I have just intercepted important information that the Japanese army is assembling in Suixian and Jingshan, and is about to attack our defensive area from the north and south foothills of Dahong Mountain, so I ask the headquarters to provide support. ”

"Shuheng, the intention of the Japanese army is very clear, that is, to capture Dahong Mountain and find a breakthrough into Sichuan. Order your ministry to defend the pass of Qingfeng Mountain, block the devil from Dahong Mountain, and the other departments will make a good response. ”

"Yes! Please rest assured, Commander-in-Chief, we will not let a single devil pass through Aomine Mountain! ”

Qingfeng Mountain is located in the territory of the inn town at the southern foot of Dahong Mountain. It has a high mountain and steep slopes, with a maximum altitude of more than 1,000 meters, and is known as the "roof of Jingchu". Its terrain is dangerous, verdant as blue, there is a spring on the top of the mountain, the water is continuous all year round, and the water is not dry in the heat and drought. There is a hole on the west side of the main peak, and it is said that in ancient times, Ziyang Zhenren had cultivated here to become immortals. There is a pass on the side of its mountain, which controls a road from Jingshan to Zhongxiang to the north into the hinterland of Dahong Mountain. And to enter this pass, you must pass through the two places of "Majiawan" and "Doujiajia". Located at the foot of Qingfeng Mountain, the "Majiawan" terrain is steep, and there is only one "Zhi" shaped road hanging on the mountain wall to reach this place; The "hat hat" is composed of 100 small terraced fields, according to legend, there was a farmer who planted seedlings here in ancient times, after planting only 99 fields, when he was ready to give up and pick up the hat put aside to go home, only to find that there was a field under the hat that had not been planted, so this land was nicknamed "hat hat". Due to the continuous wars in recent years, the "bucket hat" has long been uncultivated, and it is overgrown with wild grass and shrubs, and it is difficult for people to find it when they walk.

In view of the particularly important strategic location of Qingfeng Mountain, after repeated considerations, He Shuheng handed over the task of defending the pass to the 482nd Regiment, and deployed two mortar companies under the command of the regiment.

Since He Shuheng was promoted from the position of commander of the 484th Regiment to the commander of the major general, he promoted Xiao Dejun from the position of commander of the 1st Battalion of the 484th Regiment to the deputy commander of the 482nd Regiment.

He Shuheng knew that Xiao Dejun was not only brave and strategic, good at fighting tough battles, and quite talented as a general, but also secretly had a very close connection with the New Fourth Army, and was very likely to be an underground member of the Communist Party of China. By handing over this arduous task to him, he will be able to get more support and help from the New Fourth Army under the leadership of the Communist Party and the local anti-Japanese armed forces, which can completely reassure people. It turned out later that He Shuheng's decision was very wise.

Xiao Dejun received the order to defend Qingfeng Mountain, and his heart made waves, because this position is too important, if he makes a slight mistake and lets the Japanese devils pass through this place and enter Dahong Mountain, he will become a sinner for the ages. No, at the same time that he received the order from Shangfeng, he also received a task from the underground party organization, asking him to fully cooperate with He Shuheng's troops to defend Qingfeng Mountain, smash the conspiracy of the devils, and defend the Dahong Mountain base area.

"Please rest assured that the party organization! Swear to defend Aomine Mountain! ”

Immediately, Xiao Dejun made every effort to prepare for war in the area of Qingfeng Mountain according to He Shuheng's order, and the latest information from the New Fourth Army was provided to He Shuheng at the same time, and also passed on to Xiao Dejun.

"The Japanese army has attacked the Zaoyang area along the northern foot of Dahong Mountain."

"The Japanese army has gathered about 4,000 troops in the area of Sunjiaqiao in Jingshan, as well as artillery units."

"The Japanese army at Sunjiaqiao has already marched towards the Guifang area."

Being able to grasp the dynamics of the enemy army in a timely manner and know oneself and the other makes Xiao Dejun feel very down-to-earth and warm, because there are two powerful forces behind him to support him.

The Japanese offensive came as scheduled.

At dawn on May 5, the Japanese troops gathered at Sunjiaqiao launched a fierce attack on Qingfeng Mountain under the cover of aircraft artillery. The sound of guns and explosions on Qingfeng Mountain was deafening, and the mountains and rocks flew sideways, and the smoke of gunpowder rose everywhere.

Xiao Dejun had already prepared. He knows very well that "if you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools". The unequal weaponry in the Sino-Japanese War was the main cause of the rout of the Chinese side and the rampant Japanese army.

Let's look at the regimental equipment first. An infantry wing of the Japanese army has about 3,800 people, with three infantry brigades, one artillery squadron, one infantry artillery squadron, and one rapid-fire artillery squadron. There were 12 92 infantry guns, 81 grenadiers, 36 heavy machine guns, 81 light machine guns, and could be supported by 75-mm mountain guns belonging to brigades and even divisions. On the Chinese army's side, taking the three best-equipped "German armor divisions" at that time, for example, a regiment of about 3,000 men had 12 82 mortars, 18 heavy machine guns, and 81 "Czech" light machine guns. For other troops, such as the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, a regiment may not be able to spread out a single artillery, a few heavy machine guns are good, and light machine guns are even firepower only available at the battalion level.

Let's take a look at platoon level 1 equipment. The Japanese squad consisted of 54 men and was armed with three "crooked-handled" light machine guns and three grenadiers. The Chinese army, on the other hand, had a platoon of 44 men and was armed with only one 40-millimeter mortar and one "Czech" light machine gun.

Finally, let's take a look at individual equipment. The Japanese army had a Type 38 rifle with 240 rounds of ammunition and two grenades. In addition to the "German armament division", most of the Chinese troops are equipped with rifles that are "Zhongzheng", "Hanyang-made", and some are "old sleeves", even so, some units are not equipped with every soldier. In terms of ammunition, the Nationalist Army had 20 rounds per person, while the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army had only 5 rounds per person.

Xiao Dejun knew in his heart that as far as the immediate situation was concerned, the Chinese army was facing the well-equipped Japanese army, and it was the next step to fight hard, and the gains outweighed the losses. He read Sun Tzu's Art of War: "Therefore, make good use of the soldiers, avoid their sharpness, and strike at their laziness." He also studied the methods of guerrilla warfare: "When the enemy advances, I retreat, when the enemy is stationed, we disturb, when the enemy is tired, I fight, and when the enemy retreats, I pursue." So he made careful arrangements for this battle, organically combining positional warfare with guerrilla warfare.

Xiao Dejun has long studied the Japanese army's offensive method, that is, Cheng Yanjin's habitual "three-plate axe": first the plane threw (bombs), then the artillery bombardment, and then the infantry rushed. He also knew the three powerful weapons of the Japanese offensive: crooked handles, mortars, and grenadiers. In the face of this powerful firepower, the correct choice should be to avoid its edge and strike backwards. As soon as the Japanese artillery sounded, the two battalions quickly withdrew and hid in the ravines on both sides of "Majiawan"; Another company was sent to carry two heavy machine guns to hide in a cave behind the mountain. Therefore, no matter how fierce the Japanese artillery fire was, Xiao Dejun ignored it.

When the Japanese artillery bombardment slowly eased, Xiao Dejun knew that the devils had begun to charge the position, so he ordered the company hidden in the cave to immediately rush up the hill and occupy the position.

The devil had already rushed to the foot of the mountain, and the two heavy machine guns on the top of the mountain began to strafe from a distance.

The sound of rifles and light machine guns was sparse, giving the impression that the defenders on the hill had suffered heavy losses from the bombardment.

When the devils attacked to the "Dou Kasa Hat" through the "Zhi" type road, the company on the hill had already begun to move to the reserve position behind the mountain in groups to cover the echelons. When the attacking devils saw the retreat of the defenders on the mountain, they thought that they had won a complete victory, and rushed up with a strange scream.

At this time, half-human deep thatch and flammable dwarf trees and shrubs grew everywhere on the "Bucket Hat", which was the fire camp array set up by Xiao Dejun.

When the hundreds of devils who attacked entered this area, with Xiao Dejun's order, the twelve mortars that had been prepared immediately opened fire, and more than 200 incendiary bombs that were continuously discharged smashed into this hill and hillside, and a sky-high fire immediately ignited in the thatch. The Japanese devils in the thatched bushes were caught off guard, and they were burned so that the ghosts cried wolves, and they fled down the mountain one after another. These devils who escaped from the fire camp were again subjected to mortar fire and heavy machine gun fire, and suffered numerous casualties.

The officers and soldiers of the 482nd Regiment laughed heartily: "Turtle son, let you taste the taste of the fire barbecue pig." ”

Seeing the failure of the first round of the attack, the Japanese immediately organized a second attack under the cover of artillery fire. As everyone knows, this second echelon has just rushed to the foot of the mountain, and has entered the range of fire of the two battalions ambushed in the ravine. "Ge Laozi hit hard!" There was a burst of fierce machine rifle fire and blows, and the devil left nearly a hundred corpses behind and routed back again.

For several days in succession, the 482nd Regiment under the command of Xiao Dejun launched a tug-of-war with the Japanese army.

"Hurry up and retreat, the devils are going to shell again......"

"Hurry up and seize the position, the devil is going to charge again......"

"Put the devil close and fight again! Ready to fight the bayonet ......"

Ten days have passed, and although the 482 regiment suffered heavy casualties, it played with momentum and level,

I didn't let the devil pass through the pass of Qingfeng Mountain.

Division Commander He Shuheng was very shocked when he saw such a tragic battle, and he sincerely admired the operational command ability and tenacious fighting style of Xiao Dejun, who was also a student of Huangpu. At the same time, he was also very entangled in his heart, because he had just received a top-secret telegram from the Political Work Office of the 29th Group Army requesting a thorough investigation of whether Xiao Dejun was an underground member of the Chinese Communist Party. As for whether Xiao Dejun is an underground member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has some doubts but is not sure, after secret observation, all kinds of signs show that Xiao Dejun only has very secret contacts and contacts with the underground organization of the Chinese Communist Party, just like he and the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army, in order to jointly fight against the Japanese invaders, the two sides have exchanges of intelligence and materials, etc., these acts are carried out in the context of "cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party", all for the sake of the war situation, there is absolutely no act of joining the Communist Party, at most it can only be regarded as pro-Communist. Therefore, he sincerely hopes that generals like Xiao Dejun will not lose their good prospects because of the crime of colluding with the Communist Party, not to mention that the current situation is the time to employ people.

Aomine Mountain position. The Japanese again launched heavy artillery bombardment on the defenders, and planes circled over the positions to bombard. Xiao Dejun took the telescope and took a closer look, and found that although the Japanese firepower was extremely fierce, the ground attack was slow and not fully coordinated with the artillery fire.

"Ge Laozi! What tricks are the devils playing? It looks like an attack, but it's actually the rhythm of covering the retreat. Xiao Dejun made a judgment and ordered all units to prepare for pursuit.

At this time, the intelligence of the New Fourth Army was once again delivered to the division commander He Shuheng. Intelligence said that the enemy's main force was already retreating, and the New Fourth Army was intercepted by the Righteous Division.

Judgment and intelligence coincide. He Shuheng immediately ordered Xiao De's regiment to pursue the entire line, and at the same time ordered other troops to coordinate the pursuit.

In this battle, the Japanese army attacking Qingfeng Mountain was defeated, and the attempt to outflank the Dahongshan base area from the southern foot of Dahong Mountain was a complete failure, and the Japanese army suffered more than 2,000 casualties, and 7 soldiers were captured by Xiao De's army.

Xiao Dejun led his troops to hold on to Qingfeng Mountain for more than half a month, and smashed the Japanese army's plan to capture Dahongshan through Qingfengkou and then attack Sichuan at a huge price. However, on the issue of summing up the post-war summing up and rewarding meritorious deeds, the Political Work Office of the Group Army vetoed Xiao Dejun on the grounds that he was suspected of being a communist. He Shuheng argued on the basis of reason, and threatened to resign, and finally helped Xiao Dejun to become a deputy to a regular officer, and his behavior caused the displeasure of a group of bigwigs in the Military and Political Work Department, and also caused a series of troubles for himself.