One of the rare failures, is it really unavoidable?
Battle of Guanjiayuan: One of the rare setbacks, could it have been avoided?
Guanjiayuan, an ordinary village, is famous for a brutal battle. Enter these three words on online platforms such as Toutiao, Zhihu, etc., and countless information will appear in front of your eyes, pointing to the same event: the defeat of Guanjiayuan in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
The rumor circulating on the Internet is that the Eighth Route Army, with a strength of 20,000 troops, attacked Guanjiayuan, which was garrisoned by only 500 Japanese troops, and as a result, it was extremely heavy and let the Japanese slip away.
It is said that the fierceness of the battle was unprecedented, and even the senior commanders *** and Chen Geng could not stand it, and strongly demanded the withdrawal of troops. But *** resolutely refused to retreat, and even threatened *** to say "revoke the number of the 129th Division and kill the head regardless of size".
What is the truth of this battle?** He also admits that the battle of Guan Jiayuan was one of the four major defeats of his military career. So, should this battle be fought or not?
How is the battle going?Why is our army so bad?Is there a problem with the on-site command?These questions are worthy of our in-depth study.
**Standing in front of the map, his face was slightly tired, and the "conference table" behind him was full of senior commanders of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, including *** Chen Geng and Zuo Quan, deputy chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army, who arrived at the same time as him.
After a while, ** returned to the table and slammed his fist on the table twice: "Knock him out!."* and *** glanced at each other and said: "Mr. Peng is right, defeating the Okazaki Brigade will defeat the arrogance of the Japanese invaders and force them to change their sweeping countermeasures."
When Chen Geng heard that there was a big battle to be fought, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said excitedly: "That's right, the enemy only has 500 people, and it is easy to eat him." This Okazaki brigade has been swaggering under our noses for many days, and they simply don't take the Eighth Route Army in their eyes, eat him, and let the devil know that we are not easy to mess with!
The political commissar of the 129th Division stood up and said: "I agree with everyone's opinion, if the Okazaki brigade is eaten, then the enemy will not dare to sweep in our base area so unscrupulously, let alone go deep alone, and it is bound to make preparations in advance and strengthen the troops, so that the number of sweeps will inevitably be greatly reduced, and the pressure on the base area will be greatly reduced."
When night fell, ** gazed at Taihang Mountain, recalling what I had seen and heard in North China these days. The Battle of the Hundred Regiments dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the Japanese invaders, enhanced the prestige of the Eighth Route Army, and made the Japanese army judge that the main enemy in North China was the Eighth Route Army.
However, the defeat on the battlefield caused the Japanese army to burst into the bestiality, and they carried out a retaliatory sweep, and the corpses of innocent civilians were scattered all over the field. **It was deeply sad to see the tragic situation after the devil swept away.
The more miserable the defeat, the more ** the sweep, the front foot was defeated, the back foot retaliated, everywhere the Japanese army went, they killed people, burned houses, robbed livestock, poisoned wells, and destroyed the people's living needs, suffered huge losses, and life was more difficult.
** and Zuo Quan, deputy chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army, inspected all the way to Jinzhong, and everywhere they passed was the tragic scene that had been mutilated by the Japanese army, the village was burned down, and they were deeply indignant.
When they heard that a squadron of about 500 Japanese troops had gone deep into Huangya Cave alone, after discussing with Liu, Deng and other generals of the 129th Division, they decided to annihilate this Japanese army here and avenge the people.
The main forces of the battle were one regiment of the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division, two regiments of the 386th Brigade, two regiments of the New 10th Brigade, the Special Service Regiment of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters and two regiments of the Shanxi New Army Decisive Column, a total of eight regiments.
In late October 1940, a Okazaki detachment formed by the 36th Division of the Japanese Army broke into the sight of the Eighth Route Army. This is a small detachment of about 500 people, and their appearance is directly related to the "Hundred Regiment War" launched by the Eighth Route Army.
In the "Battle of the Hundred Regiments", the main goal of the Eighth Route Army was to destroy the enemy's railway lines of communication, so the Okazaki squad was temporarily drawn out to carry out a sweeping mission.
They knew that the command organ of the Eighth Route Army and the division headquarters of the 129th Division were nearby, and they hoped to have the opportunity to meet *** and obtain a huge result. Since the previous "sweeps" were all deep into the hinterland of the anti-Japanese base area, the Okazaki squad also took similar actions, and as a result, they accidentally approached Huangya Cave.
When the news of their approach to Huangya Cave reached ***, he was very nervous. Because Huangya Cave hides the most important arsenal of the Eighth Route Army in North China, this arsenal has a considerable production capacity, capable of producing 400 rifles and a large amount of ammunition per month.
This arsenal has a dangerous terrain, and it is the site selected by the company himself, and is known as the "pearl in the palm" of the Eighth Route Army.
** Hearing that the Okazaki Brigade was approaching the arsenal, he was furious and immediately ordered the 129th Brigade of the 386th Division to rush to help. However, the combat mission of the Japanese Okazaki Brigade did not destroy the largest arsenal of the Eighth Route Army, because they did not know that such an arsenal existedIt was not easy to follow the important command organs of the Eighth Route Army, which was originally the ancestor of guerrilla warfare, and the Okazaki Brigade chased after it for several days, but did not even see the shadow of the Eighth Route Army.
Seeing that a large number of regular troops of the Eighth Route Army had arrived, the Okazaki Brigade immediately set a fire near Huangya Cave in line with the principle of "36 strategies, go first", indicating that they had come, and then turned around and fled, and came to the vicinity of Guanjiayuan, Panlong Town, Wuxiang County, preparing to seize Wuxiang and retreat to Qin County.
Guanjiayuan, located at the foot of Taihang Mountain, is a scenic hill, surrounded by mountains, located in the east of Wuyi County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province. The top of the mountain is not flat, only a few hundred square meters, and the north side is a cliff cliff, and there is a deep ditch below;Both sides are treacherous, with only a relatively gentle road due south.
On the mountain wall on the southern slope, local villagers have dug caves to live in. Most of the residents in the vicinity have the surname Guan, and there are about 50 households. On the opposite side of Guanjiayuan, there is a higher place called Liushuyuan, the two places are each other's horns, and it is a place where soldiers must fight.
If you control Guanjiayuan and Liushuyuan, you can take the initiative, which is the incomparable danger of "one husband is the pass, and ten thousand people are not open".
** Commanded the Eighth Route Army to launch an attack on the Japanese Okazaki Brigade, but the Japanese had already occupied Guanjiayuan overnight. ** Hearing the news, I knew that the Japanese army had a monopoly on the territory, and the Eighth Route Army was already very passive.
Sure enough, after occupying Guanjiayuan, the Japanese army occupied Liushuyuan, which was on higher ground, and controlled the only southern path leading to Guanjiayuan. The cunning Japanese army built fortifications at Liushuyuan and Guanjiayuan, and prepared for a fierce battle.
Zuo Quan stared at his watch, there were only five hours left before the general attack, but the Japanese army had already occupied the favorable terrain first, and it was impossible to change the plan. ** The battle has been ordered, Zuo Quan has been thinking for a long time, only the secret service group took advantage of the dark to raid and regain the initiative.
He assigned the task: a battalion flanked and went to the top of the hill in the dark, launched a surprise attack in the early morning, and routed the enemy's machine-gun fire;The first battalion cut into the middle ground between Guanjiayuan and Liushuyuan, like a sharp knife inserted into the middle ground, cutting off the connection between the Japanese troops in the two places;The other two battalions were inserted from the northwest ridge to cut off the enemy's retreat.
Zuo Quan explained the mission to the special task group: to break into the enemy's position, flank the 129th Division and the decisive column inside and outside, blossom in the middle, and annihilate the enemy in one go. Finally, Zuo Quan cheered up: "The enemy is tired, and he has just finished building, and he is sleepy.
We took advantage of their sleep to regain the initiative by sneak attack. ”
After receiving Zuo Quan's order, the special task force immediately launched an attack on Guan Jiayuan according to the leader's arrangement. Under the leadership of the regiment commander Ou Zhifu, they launched a fierce assault on the Japanese positions.
Ou Zhifu, formerly known as Ouyang, was a famous general of the Red Army and the Eighth Route Army, and was later awarded the rank of major general of the People's Liberation Army in 1955, and became the commander of the Guangxi Military Region and the deputy commander of the Guangzhou Military Region.
The offensive of the secret service group went smoothly from the beginning, they quickly eliminated the enemy sentries and managed to capture a row of caves. However, when they continued to charge forward, the machine-gun fire in the side caves suddenly became fierce, and it turned out that the Japanese had opened up a row of caves, and a single cave could form an independent fire point, and a row of caves could form a cross-fire network.
Moreover, because the Japanese army dug a trench in front of the cave to prevent grenades, the grenades of the Eighth Route Army fell into the ditch when they threw them, and could not pose a threat to the cave. The Japanese army also very cunningly built bulletproof walls with door panels on the periphery of the caves, forming a complex, practical and dead-end offensive and defensive system with defensive trenches and machine gun arrays in the caves.
Ou Zhifu saw that there was a big gap between the actual combat situation and the prediction, and he knew that the battle for the cave had brought a lot of ** to the Eighth Route Army, so he immediately made a decision, suspended the strong attack, and waited for the arrival of the large army before relaunching the offensive.
At 4 o'clock in the morning, the Eighth Route Army launched a general attack on Guanjiayuan and Liushuyuan at the same time. The smoke of gunpowder was filled, the artillery roared, the bullets rained down, and the flesh and blood flew everywhere. Two hours later, the 38th Regiment of the Shanxi New Army's Decisive Death Column occupied Liushuyuan after paying a huge price.
However, the Japanese did not back down, because they had well-designed positions and were far better equipped than the Eighth Route Army. More importantly, if they broke through rashly, they would inevitably fall into the division and encirclement of the Eighth Route Army and be broken by each other.
Therefore, in any respect, the only way out for the Japanese army is to resist stubbornly and stubbornly wait for reinforcements. At 9 o'clock in the morning, Japanese planes appeared over Guanjiayuan. Enemy planes roared and bombarded the Eighth Route Army on the position, dropping dozens of bombs.
Due to the dense formation of the Eighth Route Army and the lack of air defense experience of the soldiers, the surprise attack of the Japanese aircraft brought a huge ** to the Eighth Route Army. The troops were forced to suspend the offensive. After the Japanese plane flew away, the head of the unit regrouped and prepared to fight again, but at this time came news that the Willow Ridge position had been regained.
**and*** fell into stalemate and argument in the rapidly changing situation on the battlefield. In the face of an increasingly grim situation, senior generals of the Eighth Route Army, such as Zuo Quan and Zuo Quan, are trying their best to find coping strategies.
At this time, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army not only had to deal with the enemy at Guanjiayuan, but also needed to divide their troops all the way to recapture Liushuyuan. Although the officers and men of the Eighth Route Army were extremely brave, they rushed to the willow wall several times and almost recaptured the position, but the enemy army was excellent, tactically accomplished, and occupied a favorable position.
There were also some problems with the firepower coordination of the Eighth Route Army. Although the Eighth Route Army continued to attack and inflict heavy losses on the Japanese army, it also paid a huge price, and the willow wall was still in the hands of the Japanese army.
On the one hand, he had a bitter hatred for the Japanese army and hoped to immediately eliminate this group of enemy troops who did all kinds of evilOn the other hand, the troops were heavy and their progress was slow.
In the face of a well-equipped, well-trained enemy army that occupies a favorable time and place, our army has no advantage, should this battle be fought?
General Chen Geng put forward his own suggestions to ***, but was resolutely opposed by ***. Although *** was also conflicted in his heart, he believed that the Japanese army must be eliminated here, otherwise it would be difficult to hit them again.
Chen Geng was very dissatisfied with this, and he thought that such a style of play would be too costly. However, ** resolutely did not accept Chen Geng's suggestion, he thought that even if he fought out, he would take Guan Jiayuan.
Chen Geng was very angry about this, and he asked *** If he fought out, what would he do to fight. However, the attitude of ** is very resolute, he believes that there is no future for the troops that cannot fight a tough battle.
Chen Geng was very angry about this, and he loudly stated that he did not approve of this style of play. However, there was no time to argue with him, just told him that there was an opinion that could be reserved, but the order had to be carried out, and the earpiece was dropped.
** and Zuoquan's command post is located in a cave near Guanjiayuan, and every corner of the battlefield can be clearly seen through a telescope. The soldiers' ** made *** feel pressured, and the soldiers bravely fell under the enemy's guns, which made the battle-hardened deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army feel like a knife.
He frowned and said to Zuo Quan: "This bone is really hard to gnaw!.""However, the worse news came, the Japanese reinforcements were about to arrive, numbering in the thousands!Now that 500 Japanese troops have given *** a headache, plus thousands of Japanese troops, how can this battle be fought?
The heroic and combative deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army*** and the resourceful deputy chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army, Zuo Quan, were unable to find an effective solution in this complex and rapidly changing war.
*and***'s** rang, Zuo Quan picked it up**, and after a brief conversation, he handed the earpiece to *** and said, "It's Comrade ***." "* considered that the current state of the troops was not optimistic, hoping to temporarily stop the attack, let the enemy go down the mountain, and then destroy them in a war of movement.
However, ** did not agree with ***'s point of view, he believed that the number of Okazaki's brigade was already too small to give the enemy a chance to breathe, and they should be eliminated in one go.
** knew this truth very well, but he was worried that the losses of the troops would be too large, so he said to ***: "Mr. Peng, we can't afford to fight like this." * gritted his teeth and replied: "Dude, enemy reinforcements are approaching, and as soon as the tiger is released down the mountain, they will immediately receive reinforcements."
** Not wanting to dwell on temporary gains and losses, he believed that the key was to protect the living forces of our army, and he said: "Then we will clean them up later."
The terrain of Guanjiayuan is not good for us, and our ** is too big. "However, no matter how much *** tried to persuade him, ** did not agree to withdraw the troops, because once the enemy was released, it would be more difficult to destroy him later.
In the end, ** got angry rarely: "You are angry, brutal!."I don't agree to fight this battle again!* I was already holding back the fire in my belly, but now I saw the anger of the *** known as "contemporary Sun Wu and the military god of Sichuan", his temper broke out instantly, and he said the heaviest words in his life: "If we can't take Guan Jiayuan, we will revoke the number of the 129th Division, and kill the head regardless of size!."
**After putting down *** in the 769 regiment headquarters on the front line, he smiled bitterly. He is well aware of the personality of his old comrade-in-arms: evil as hatred, sex as fire, indomitable but often prone to bull temper.
He understands the heavy responsibility that *** shoulders. **Raised the telescope to observe the situation of the position, and suddenly, his gaze stayed in one place, which was the slope between the top of the Guanjiayuan Cliff and the moat, where a strip of yellow soil was exposed.
Stray bullets hit it, sending up patches of yellow smoke. ** Turning his head and asking the staff officer: "Is the slope above the trench earthy?"Before the staff officer could answer, Zheng Guozhong, the commander of the 769th Regiment, replied: "It's Loess Kan."
** Listening to the words of this subordinate, who was later awarded the rank of rear admiral in 1955 and became commander of the East China Sea Fleet and deputy commander of the navy, he slapped his hand on the forehead: "A solution has been found!."
**Clever design, want to indulge. Isn't the ridge on the top of the Guanjiayuan cliff the entrance to the secret passage?Zheng Guozhong immediately understood the wisdom of this excellent superior, and he commanded his soldiers to make a feint attack, and the bullets rained down on the Japanese positions, in fact, to disperse the enemy's firepower and cover the tunnels dug by our engineers.
In the end, the 769th Regiment successfully solved the problem of not being able to force the fortification. However, this local advantage did not fundamentally change the disadvantage of the Eighth Route Army, because Guanjiayuan and Liushuyuan were still controlled by the Japanese army, and the enemy's initiative was not lost.
To make matters worse, Japanese reinforcements were coming in a steady stream, and the 385th Brigade and the New 10th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army had already exchanged fire with them. If the fighting continued, the Eighth Route Army would be in danger of being flanked from inside and outside.
After two days and nights of fierce fighting, ** finally ordered to withdraw from the battle.
**and*** learned from this battle to Xi and promoted, the Eighth Route Army participated in the battle with an absolute superiority of forces, with 20,000 people, while the Japanese Okazaki Brigade only had 510 people.
After two days and two nights of fierce fighting, the Eighth Route Army killed 589 people and wounded more than 1,570 people, totaling more than 2,160 people. The Japanese lost more than 280 casualties, including Kennaga Nakasa, the leader of the Okazaki Brigade.
The greatest achievement of the Eighth Route Army was the capture of 2 wounded Japanese soldiers and the capture of more than 50 rifles and 6 light and heavy machine guns. A few days later, ** and Zuo Quan, ** and Chen Geng and other senior generals returned to the battlefield, saw the position fortifications, trench bunkers, firepower configuration, etc., and ordered the accompanying staff officers to draw a map one by one.
They were very emotional after seeing the scene of the position left by the Japanese army, ** when they saw the enemy's bunker similar to a cat's ear hole, they were deeply touched, and said: "Don't underestimate this small move, it is very practical, and it is really difficult to deal with our existing **."
The strength of the Japanese army's tactical literacy is also impressive, and after carefully inspecting the enemy's terrain utilization, fortification construction, firepower allocation, position layout, etc., it took a long time for the Eighth Route Army to improve its tactical Xi - it is this spirit of being good at learning from the enemy that has created an invincible people's army, and also created great military god-level figures such as *** and ***.
Regarding the ** of this battle, we can't avoid it, because as long as there is war, there will be **. However, if we look back at history, if Mr. Peng had adopted a different strategy at that time, perhaps ** would not have been so disastrous.
Although both *** and Ou Zhifu's articles affirmed Guan Jiayuan's enthusiasm for fighting, they avoided the question of how to avoid **. ** I don't shy away from talking about this problem, in his "Self-Statement", he regards the battle of Guan Jiayuan as one of the four major defeats of his command.
According to the tactical characteristics and actual situation of the Eighth Route Army at that time, we should adopt guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare in which we can fight if we can win and leave if we cannot win, so as to destroy the enemy's vital forces in the movement and at the same time strengthen ourselves.
Although the Japanese army was far stronger and more difficult to deal with than the Kuomintang army, in any case, it was not wise to compete with the strong enemy army in terms of strength, and the Eighth Route Army at that time had not yet engaged in positional warfare with the enemy, which had been proven.
Even such a powerful commander as *** indirectly recognized the correctness of *** and Chen Geng after the war. 100 help plan