In 1939, a fierce battle was staged in Lufang in the Taixi region of Shandong Province. The 3,000 soldiers of the Eighth Route Army fought to the death against the 8,000 Japanese puppet army, and this crucial battle was crucial for our army to establish a base in Shandong.
The 115th Division, the unit that had shocked the whole country in the great victory of Pingxingguan, once again received the task and went to Shandong to carry out the construction of the revolutionary base area. The Japanese army also followed, gathering 5,000 Japanese troops and 3,000 puppet troops, and equipped with more than 200 tanks and artillery, intending to annihilate the 115th Division.
However, will their plans work out?How will Chen Guang, the acting commander of the 115th Division, deal with the enemy's attack?First, let's go back to 1939.
At this time, it had been two years since Japan launched a full-scale war of aggression against China, and in addition to the three northeastern provinces, which had been occupied long before the start of the war, Hebei, Henan, Tianjin, Shanghai, and other places had fallen one after another. By 1939, nearly one-sixth of our territory had been occupied.
In order to cope with the continuous aggression of the Japanese army, our party army sent troops to Shandong, intending to establish a revolutionary base in this vast land. Shandong is a very important place for our party, and if we can establish a base here, it will be of great benefit to resist the Japanese invading forces.
Our party sent the 115th Division, one of the three main divisions of our army, to carry out this arduous task. Because the division commander Lin Shuai was injured and hospitalized, Chen Guang temporarily held the position of division commander of the 115th Division, and immediately led the 115th Division to Shandong after receiving the order.
At the same time, the fighters of the 343rd Regiment of the 686th Brigade of the main brigade also went with the 115th Division to form the new 115th Division, with a total number of more than 10,000. They were determined to establish a revolutionary base area.
Chen Guang led the 115th Division to Shandong and merged with the local revolutionary armed forces to form a new unit, which was still led by Chen Guang. Soon, they cleared the nearby Japanese army and prepared to establish a base area.
However, just after the 115th Division cleared the nearby enemy strongholds, the Japanese learned of the 115th Division's plan of action in Shandong.
On May 2, 1939, the Japanese army launched an operation against the 115th Division, with Otaka Kamizo leading 5,000 Japanese troops and 3,000 puppet troops, a total of 8,000 men, and equipped with more than 100 tanks and artillery, aiming to avenge the defeat in the Battle of Heixingguan.
At the same time, the commander of the 115th Division, Chen Guang, was working on the establishment of a base area, lacking intelligence support and knowing nothing about the plans of the Japanese army. It was not until after the Japanese launched an attack that the 115th Division learned of enemy movements.
Faced with this critical situation, Chen Guang decided to retain his strength, knowing full well that his mission was to establish a base area, not to consume soldiers. Therefore, he set out to look for the enemy's weak points and prepare for a breakthrough.
During this period, although the troops were engaged in battles with the Japanese army, they were not very large, but they were forced to constantly retreat. After the order to retreat was issued by the superiors, some troops quickly broke through while the enemy was not yet surrounded, and most of them successfully escaped from the trap, but the leading part was trapped.
Of the more than 10,000 troops, about 3,000 were trapped in Lufang Village by the Japanese army. After receiving the suggestion, Chen Guang decided to leave Zhang Renchu, the commander of the 686th Regiment, to hold the position in Lufang Village. Zhang Renchu was undaunted and firmly assured Chen Guang to complete the task.
Subsequently, he discussed with political commissar Liu Xiyuan how to hold the position in Lufang Village. Faced with multiple enemy forces, tanks, and artillery, they knew that a simple strong defense was a mortal situation.
Zhang Renchu decided to adopt a strategy of dispersed deployment, dispersing his troops to nearby commanding heights, which could not only contain the enemy, but also reduce the damage caused by enemy artillery.
The soldiers of the 686th Regiment quickly went to the nearby garrison as arranged, and they quietly waited for the arrival of the Japanese army in various positions, ready for a life-and-death struggle.
After waiting for a while, they soon saw the Japanese army wearing yellow**, and the infantry and tanks coordinated with each other to move forward, especially the tanks became the main threat.
Although the guns of the Eighth Route Army could not penetrate the armor of the Japanese tanks, thanks to the demomen, they managed to destroy many tanks and relieve the pressure on our troops.
However, almost every tank destroyed costs the sacrifice of one or more fighters, and almost all of our army's ** happens in the process of blowing up tanks.
When the 686th Regiment attracted Japanese firepower, Chen Guang led the remaining troops to begin to break through to the southwest, and they encountered very little resistance, and almost all enemy troops were attracted to the 686th Regiment position, creating favorable conditions for the breakthrough operation.
However, the 686th Regiment was under tremendous pressure and did not begin its own retreat until after Chen Guang and his team had withdrawn.
Miraculously, it seems that it was the teammates who died in the battle who gave the remaining 686 regiment fighters a magical power, and in the process of breaking through, they beat the enemy to the point that he lost his armor and the enemy was overwhelmed. In the end, they successfully completed the breakout.
Although the battle was a breakout battle, the 115th Division, like a frontal attack, inflicted more than 1,300 ** on the enemy, while our army only had more than 300 **.
This is still when the opponent has far more firepower than our army, otherwise in the process of breaking through, our army may be subjected to a greater counterattack. After the battle, Chiang Kai-shek personally sent a telegram to commend the 115th Division, and especially praised the 686th Regiment.
However, Chen Guangming fought a wonderful breakthrough battle, but he was criticized, do you know why?Conclusion.
The Eighth Route Army's Lufang Breakout Battle in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was a great breakthrough battle of great historical significance, and although it had military similarities with the Pingxingguan Victory, its reputation was not as prominent as the latter. What is the reason for this?