The life-and-death struggle between the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese army In April 1940, at night in Baita Village, Boye County, Hebei Province, the soldiers of the 33rd Regiment of the 9th Division of the Jizhong Military Region were still asleep.
The regiment commander Wan Zhenxi and political commissar Zhong Zhou led this unit, which was formed on the basis of the anti-Japanese guerrilla forces in Hebei Province. Suddenly, heavy gunfire was heard from the north side of the village, breaking the silence of the night.
The Japanese army shouted and persuaded the surrender through the interpreter, hoping that the Eighth Route Army would surrender. However, Shi Jinbiao, the commander of the Eighth Route Army, stood on the roof and replied resolutely: "I am the regiment commander, I can consider surrendering, but I have to negotiate conditions." ”
His voice is firm and powerful, giving a sense of his determination. At this time, Zhao Daya, the commander of the 4th Company, suddenly interrupted the persuasion of the Japanese army, and he shouted loudly: "Whoever throws a gun, I will shoot whoever kills!" ”
This scene surprised the Japanese army, and they did not expect that the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army would resist so resolutely. This life-and-death contest finally ended with the victory of the Eighth Route Army.
With their actions, they have proved their determination and courage to defend the motherland to the death. No matter how great the difficulties and challenges they face, they will never give up, because they know that only through fighting can they win true freedom and dignity.
This history has made us realize more deeply that no matter what era we are in, as long as we have determination and courage, we will definitely be able to overcome difficulties and achieve our goals.
The Japanese did not dare to fight at night because it was an "away" battle, they were initially afraid of night fighting, but gradually learned to attack at night and used it widely in warfare.
In addition, the Japanese army attached great importance to intelligence gathering, which allowed them to learn the whereabouts of the 33rd regiment. As a result, the enemy dispatched troops, and the enemies in Anguo, Boye, Lixian, Baoding, Dingxian and other places were dispatched together, and a total of more than 2,000 people arrived at Baita Village, Boye County, where the 33rd Regiment was stationed, before dawn, in an attempt to launch a sneak attack, and a vicious battle was about to break out.
In order to ensure the success of the sneak attack, Wan Zhenxi deliberately released false information in front of the enemy to make them believe that we would carry out a "sweep" on the east bank of the Zhulong River. In order to avoid a direct clash with the enemy, on the evening of April 24, we moved the 33rd Regiment to the village of Baita on the west bank of the Zhulong River.
However, we did not expect that the enemy already knew our whereabouts. Fortunately, the enemy encirclement had not yet formed when the shots rang out, which should have been an accident of the shooting.
At that time, the enemy was closing in, and the soldier who lived nearby happened to rush back, and when he saw the enemy under black pressure, he immediately ran outside the village to inform the sentry, and the sentry immediately fired a warning shot.
Hearing the gunshots, the enemy in the northwest and northeast of the village thought we were prepared and immediately opened fire, which revealed their whereabouts and completely disrupted our plan for a sneak attack.
Wan Zhenxi, our regiment commander, is an experienced veteran of the Red Army, who began to participate in the revolution at the age of 16 and has experienced a hundred battles. Awakened by the sound of gunfire, he, by virtue of his experience and judgment, believed that there was no enemy in the southeast, or that the enemy had not yet formed an encirclement.
Regiment Commander Wan immediately made a decision and decided that the company commander Zhao Daya would lead the 1st Battalion and 4th Company to cover and let the regimental organs, the directly subordinate wings, and the 1st Guerrilla Corps withdraw to the southeast.
His decision proved to be very wise. At this time, the enemy had just reached the bank of the river and was not yet fully ready for battle. And this army is a puppet army, and its combat effectiveness is weak.
The regimental units and the guerrilla corps managed to defeat this group of the enemy, and then quickly crossed the river in a southeasterly direction, successfully breaking through the enemy's encirclement. However, when Commander Wan looked back, he was surprised to find: why didn't the 1st battalion retreat?
The communicator, Xiao Sun, replied that he had already notified him twice. Commander Wan frowned and ordered the communicator to inform the 1st Battalion again and retreat as soon as possible. Why, then, did the 1 battalion not carry out the retreat order?
Some people think that the battalion commander Shi Jinbiao is a fierce general, and he refuses to leave because of his red eyes. It is also believed that he did not fully estimate the enemy situation, believing that the enemy was only an encounter, and therefore did not retreat in time.
After an in-depth analysis, we can see that his purpose was to cover the retreat of the regimental headquarters. At that time, the enemy mobilized more than 2,000 men, armed with light and heavy machine guns, grenadiers, and even 92 infantry guns.
In this case, it was very difficult to have only one company to cover the retreat. Once this company could not resist, the enemy would quickly cross the river and pursue after the main force of the 3rd Regiment.
In that case, our army will pay a significant amount of personnel **. The 1st Battalion, as the main battalion of the 3rd Regiment, has more than 400 fighters and is also the most well-equipped in the regiment.
Therefore, the battalion commander Shi decided to block the Japanese troops in Baita Village, slow down their attack, and buy time for the transfer of large forces. When the first battalion was found to be engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy, a company of recruits of the Tsuura Self-Defense Army did not stop, and they also stayed to fight the Japanese army.
After receiving the third notice, Battalion Commander Shi decided to retreat, but it was too late, and there were enemies on all sides. The enemy also set up positions and machine guns by the river, and it was impossible to cross the river.
The first battalion had several machine guns, and the enemy, judging from the firepower, was still in the encirclement, thinking that this time he could "catch a big fish", so he deployed heavy troops. But they stormed for more than 2 hours, and after three attacks, they once broke through the defense line of our army and found that they had been fooled, and at this time the main force of the team had withdrawn.
The Japanese commander then decided to divide his forces to pursue the headquarters of the 33rd Regiment. Battalion Commander Shi was anxious when he heard the gunshots gradually falling down, and he told the soldiers: "Comrades-in-arms, we must strengthen the offensive, drag the enemy, and not let them escape to chase the regiment commander!" ”
When the enemy figured out the details of our army, Battalion Commander Shi had an idea and decided to adopt the strategy of deception. He thought that he could pretend to be the regiment commander in order to confuse the enemy and make the enemy mistakenly believe that the main force of our army was still in Baita Village.
This will not only delay the enemy's attack, but also buy time for the regimental commander to break through. At the same time, Battalion Commander Shi took advantage of the Japanese army's desire to persuade him to surrender and created an illusion. In order to increase the confusion, the company commander Zhao Daya released cruel words to the Japanese army, saying that he would never surrender.
Battalion Commander Shi, after learning of what the enemy believed to be true, gave the order**. Zhao Daya took the opportunity to delay time and lead the enemy into the trap. However, due to the misjudgment of Battalion Commander Shi, our army faced a fierce attack from the enemy's reserves.
Running out of ammunition and hungry soldiers, our troops had to retreat to the village and engage in fierce street battles with the enemy. However, two light machine guns of our army also malfunctioned and could not pose a threat to the enemy.
This made the enemy's offensive even more arrogant.
In the face of the enemy's arrogance, Battalion Commander Shi led more than 70 soldiers of the 1st Battalion to stick to a landlord's compound. Despite the fact that the bricks and tiles of the courtyard were splashed everywhere under the enemy's heavy machine-gun fire, the roof was dusty, and the fence was crumbling, the battalion commander Shi still stood there with a grim expression.
He knew that he might not be able to break through today, but he was not afraid, because he understood that if he was afraid of death, he would not resist Japan. However, he also regretted that he might not be able to see the day of the victory of the anti-Japanese resistance and not be able to provide for his mother's old age.
At this time, the enemy surrounded him from all sides. Battalion Commander Shi stood on the roof of the house and looked around with a telescope, hoping to find a weak link. Suddenly, he saw a Japanese commander at the head of Yangcun Village holding a saber in his hand, teeth and claws.
He immediately realized that there was the command post of the Japanese army. Battalion Commander Shi's eyes lit up and made a decision. Since you can't break through, it's better to rush to the enemy's headquarters and die with the devils.
He knew it was a dangerous decision, but he didn't back down. Because for Battalion Commander Shi and his fighters, resisting Japan is not for life, but for death. They are willing to give everything for the dignity of the country and the nation and for the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Battalion Commander Shi led the last of the soldiers, clutching the few dozen grenades he had, and rushed towards the enemy with a roar. The enemy looked at dozens of Eighth Route Army soldiers with firm eyes and covered in blood, and was stunned for a moment.
Part of the Eighth Route Army successfully broke out of the encirclement and killed Yang Village. However, at a distance of a few hundred meters from the enemy, an accident occurred. A heavy machine-gun team was marching slowly during the attack on Baita Village, accidentally got lost and fell behind, and accidentally spotted the Eighth Route Army rushing towards the Japanese headquarters in Yangcun.
They immediately **, and most of the fighters fell on the road. Battalion Commander Shi also died heroically in the battle, holding a box gun in his hand and maintaining a charging posture. The battle lasted until three or four o'clock in the afternoon, and most of the fighters of the 1st battalion were killed, some were captured and killed.
Cui Keqin, a health officer, and Xiao Qin, an officer, escaped the enemy's search by luck under the cover of their fellow villagers. At this time, many fellow villagers also began to flee outside. Cui Keqin ran away in the crowd, and by coincidence, he met the landlord's sister-in-law.
He was in a hurry to snatch the child in his sister-in-law's arms and hold it himself. The woman was stunned, and Xiao Cui hurriedly said, "I am the Eighth Route Army and have lived in your house." ”
Xiao Qin, the secretary, picked up the child in the arms of a sister-in-law, and said with a smile: "I have also lived in your house. But the sister-in-law didn't know, refused to live or die, and gave him a slap in the face.
A female comrade next to him interjected: "He's our own person." Only then did the sister-in-law let go of her hand and let the officer hug the child. In this battle, the Japanese puppet army did not encircle and annihilate our 33rd regiment, but paid a heavy price and pulled back the corpses of three cars.
More than 300 people, including the commander of the first battalion, Shi Jinbiao, instructors and deputy instructors, as well as 4 company-level cadres and Zhang Dianqing, the commander of the heavy machine gun platoon, died bravely, and 21 soldiers were captured and killed.
Looking back on this tragic battle, we understand better the hardships and hardships of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the hard-won victory.