In May 1944, on the battlefield behind enemy lines in eastern Zhejiang, the New Fourth Army gradually grew in strength and seized the initiative. He Kexi, commander of the guerrilla attacks in eastern Zhejiang, believed that the time was ripe and decided to march to the sea, open up a guerrilla base area on the sea, and fight an operation to seize the island.
However, the operation to seize the island required the support of the navy. At this time, the New Fourth Army had a special "navy" that, although poorly equipped, possessed certain capabilities. This "navy" was developed in 1941 by Su Yu, commander of the Soviet-Chinese Military Region, to fight against pirates and bandits in the coastal areas.
They transferred three companies from the guard regiment as the backbone to form a coastal defense brigade, which was also one of the predecessors of the People's Navy. After a long period of life at sea and special training, the officers and men of the coastal defense brigade successfully took control of important coastal ports and coastal areas in just a few months, opened up sea lines of communication, and established contacts with the anti-Japanese base areas in Shandong and eastern Zhejiang, which were sufficient to carry out the task of seizing small islands.
After conducting an investigation, the sailing coastal defense brigade of the New Fourth Army set its sights on Dayushan Island in the northern part of the Zhoushan Islands. By capturing this island, you can march into the entire Zhoushan Islands and control the choke point of Hangzhou Bay.
The garrison on Dayushan Island is not very strong, and there is only a puppet army detachment of the security corps, with only seven or eight people. Therefore, the task of landing on the island was carried out by the No. 1 Squadron of Haiphong, which was led by squadron leader Cheng Guangming and instructor Yang Hongzhu, with six combat squads under its command, totaling 64 soldiers, equipped with three machine guns, two earthen cannons, and 50 long and short guns.
According to this comparison of the strength of the enemy and us, it seems that it should be easy to take Dayushan Island. However, due to some negligence, what was originally an easy task turned into a bitter battle.
The New Fourth Army on Dayushan Island successfully landed on the evening of August 20, but what they didn't expect was that Zhang Along, the leader of the puppet army on the island, was a hardcore traitor. On the surface, this old fox claimed to coexist peacefully and did not resist, but in fact he secretly ran to Daishan and reported the situation of the New Fourth Army to the Japanese army.
The New Fourth Army trusts the puppet army too much, which is an undeserved negligence and makes the New Fourth Army suffer a big loss. When the Japanese army in Daishan learned of the news, they immediately sent a telegram to the Japanese headquarters stationed in Dinghai, requesting that the navy and aviation units be dispatched to coordinate the recapture of Dayushan Island.
The Japanese army moved quickly, and the Japanese puppet army stationed in Zhoushan gathered more than 600 people within a few days and marched towards Dayushan Island. In the early morning, Japanese reconnaissance planes appeared over Dayushan Island.
Soon, the landing force of the Japanese army appeared at sea level. According to reconnaissance by the New Fourth Army, the Japanese army used five wooden sailing boats, two landing craft, and one armored gunboat.
The New Fourth Army did not have much weight, and it was very difficult to fight such a fixed defensive war, the situation was not optimistic, and the troops defending the island could not hide and transfer, and the sea became the only way to retreat.
Under these circumstances, Chen Tiekang, deputy captain of the coastal defense brigade, decided to fight against the water, delay the Japanese army as much as possible, wait for reinforcements, and wait for an opportunity to break through. The New Fourth Army built positions at the three commanding heights of Da'aogang, Huzhuangtou, and Daqigang near the garrison, relying on favorable terrain to resist the Japanese puppeteers.
The Japanese army raided Dayushan Island in the early morning, and the residents of the island were instantly ** and their houses were burned. In the history of the Anti-Japanese War, the only island defense battle of our army began.
The reef on the island was bombarded by naval artillery several times, and the Japanese puppet army repeatedly attacked the positions of the New Fourth Army, but they were all repelled by the closed fire net formed by the three positions of the New Fourth Army that formed horns into each other.
In the afternoon, the Japanese changed tactics and decided to concentrate their forces on attacking a single position of the New Fourth Army. With the support of naval artillery, the Japanese infantry attacked the flag post position in batches, and the battle was very fierce.
The ammunition of the New Fourth Army was quickly depleted, and as soon as the Japanese rushed to their positions, the battle immediately turned into a white-knuckle battle. The soldiers of the New Fourth Army fought with the Japanese army with bayonets and stones, and the sound of killing on the battlefield was shocking.
At noon that day, there were only 3 soldiers left in the Qigang position, and in order to preserve his strength, instructor Yan Hongzhu decided to let the soldiers withdraw first and block the enemy alone. Yan Hongzhu died heroically, and after a gunshot rang out on the position, he kept the last bullet for himself.
The Japanese firepower was too strong for the New Fourth Army to transfer, and the defensive battle could not be advantaged, and that night, the Huzhuangtou position was also captured by the Japanese army.
In the Battle of Dongxidao, the soldiers of the New Fourth Army faced a desperate situation of no ammunition and no food, but they still held their positions and launched a fierce white-knuckle battle with the Japanese army. Without bayonets, they used stones; When the stones ran out, they even rushed to the enemy and jumped into the sea together.
Eventually, all positions were lost, and they used up their last grenade and perished with the Japanese. The surviving fighters were forced to climb the cliff, and they chose to smash their guns, throw them off the cliff, and all jump into the sea like the heroes of Langya Mountain, and no one surrendered to the Japanese army.
This scene deeply shocked the Japanese officer Sato, who wrote in his post-war recollections: "Despite its small scale, it was the most stubborn battle I had ever faced on the island." ”
In the encirclement of the small island, the bloody battle of Dayushan Island began. There was no way back in this battle, because of the betrayal of the traitors, 64 soldiers fought fiercely for 7 hours with the Japanese puppet army ten times their size, and finally more than 60 Japanese puppet soldiers were killed or wounded.
Regrettably, 42 cadres and soldiers, including commander-in-chief Chen Tiekang, Cheng Keming, and Yan Hongzhu, died bravely. In order to commemorate these heroes and martyrs at sea, the local people buried the bones of the martyrs of the New Fourth Army scattered on the island in Daaogang, and erected a granite monument.
In the 80s, the local area built the Dayushan Battle Revolutionary Martyrs Monument with white marble on the mountainside of Daaogang to commemorate it.
Li Jingen, a survivor of the battle of Dayushan Island, has a visible scar on his hand, which is the mark left by the Japanese bullet that passed through. When he broke through and jumped into the sea, the Japanese army repeatedly strafed with machine guns, causing many casualties of the New Fourth Army.
He was fortunate enough to be rescued by fishermen after two hours of drifting at sea, and returned to the unit after recovering from his injuries. His story reminds us that the history of the heroic war of resistance should not be forgotten, and that we should remember history and cherish peace.
Li Jingen returned to Dayushan Island in August 2005 to pay tribute to his comrades-in-arms who fought side by side with him. Although the smoke of gunpowder has dissipated, the waves of Dayushan Island are still there.
Looking at the majestic monument to the martyrs, Li Jingen couldn't help but feel full of emotion, full of longing for those old comrades-in-arms.