One day in 1938, the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army summoned the deputy commander of the 129th Division, and explained in detail the intentions of the battle of Xiangtangpu, hoping that under his command, this battle could be fought beautifully and become a demonstration battle. **I think *** didn't notice the significance of the demonstration battle, so he accentuated his tone and asked emphatically: "Do you understand the meaning of the demonstration battle?"* Raising his head, he replied softly, "Don't worry, just let them come and see." With that, he left here and went on a combat mission.
* The reason why there is so much emphasis on demonstration battles is because he has a wish. Although the Eighth Route Army achieved many brilliant results in the National War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, due to the lack of battlefield images and insufficient propaganda at that time, it was difficult for the Kuomintang and the major leaders to see the power of the Eighth Route Army's guerrilla warfare. Although the battles such as the Pingxingguan victory and the Shentouling ambush are enough to go down in history, no one in the Kuomintang saw the entire battle process, and no follow-up reports were carried out at all levels. This is very unfavorable to publicizing the combat performance of the Eighth Route Army in the War of Resistance behind enemy lines, and has become a knot in the heart.
Therefore, when the Eighth Route Army received the information that the Japanese army was preparing to send troops and materials to Shanxi through Hebei, the ** headquarters decided to ambush the Japanese army along the road from Hebei to Changzhi, and the task was handed over to the 129th Division under the specific command of ***. ** It was very much hoped that this battle would be made a demonstration battle, and the officers above the rank of major deployed by the Kuomintang in the vicinity would be invited to observe and let them see with their own eyes the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army. **I had already begun to think about this task a few days ago, and knew that ** I was going to invite people from the Kuomintang to come and observe.
Therefore, when ** re-emphasized, he appeared very confident and said that it would be okay to let them come. ** For many days, he took several regiment commanders to survey the ambush area, and finally selected Xiangtangpu, which is the place where the Handchang Highway must pass, is a natural valley, and the mountains on both sides are very suitable for ambushes. **After selecting an ambush area, it is not easy to turn this ambush into a demonstration battle. Demonstration warfare is not just about driving away the enemy, but about completely annihilating or crushing the enemy's army, which can be called a real demonstration battle. Therefore, ** was carefully planned before the war.
His idea was to show the Kuomintang officers who were observing the scene that even the Eighth Route Army, which was armed with only millet plus rifles, had strong combat effectiveness. To this end, he and others have carried out many surveys in the early stage, focusing on three aspects of work. **First of all, the tasks of each unit are clearly assigned, and it is determined which unit is responsible for cutting off the head, which unit is responsible for cutting the tail, which is responsible for hitting the enemy's waist, and who is responsible for blowing up vehicles after the battle in the ambush area begins.
Secondly, he arranged reinforcements, which was the key to ensuring the victory of the Xiangtangpu ambush. To this end, he specially sent a main force regiment to block the Japanese troops who might come to the rescue from Licheng and Dongyang Pass. At the same time, a reserve unit was left to be responsible for alerting and dealing with emergencies. The rest of the main force all entered the ambush area to ensure that the enemy could be quickly eliminated after entering the ambush circle. Finally, the withdrawal of troops from the battle was deployed in advance. The Japanese had planes and cars, and in the event of losses, they would immediately send troops in retaliation.
Therefore, the arrangement of how the troops will clear the battlefield after completing the task, the route for evacuating the place of battle, etc., was determined. After such careful deployment and arrangement, the success of the demonstration battle was a matter of course. As a result, after hundreds of Japanese transport vehicles entered the ambush area, the battle was just as designed by ***, our army fought bravely, and the battle ended within two hours, and the battle of Xiangtangpu achieved a major victory. The battle annihilated more than 400 Japanese troops, destroyed 181 Japanese vehicles, and captured a large amount of supplies and equipment.
The Kuomintang officers above the rank of major who watched the whole battle were amazed. They didn't expect that the troops of the Eighth Route Army, which were armed with rifles and even some people only had machetes, would be able to fight such a wonderful ambush battle, and they were in awe of the Eighth Route Army. This battle perfectly fulfilled Commander-in-Chief Zhu's goal of fighting a demonstration battle, and it was also destined to become a battle that will go down in history.