The "Pingxingguan Victory" made the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army famous all over the world, and this heroic unit and its brave soldiers were widely admired by the people.
The main force of this ambush was the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and the main attacking forces were the 685th Regiment and the 686th Regiment under the jurisdiction of the 343rd Brigade.
However, attentive readers will notice that in the list of heroes who advertise Pingxingguan, there are division commanders, regiment commanders, and even some soldiers, but there seems to be something missing.
In numerous propaganda reports, there is little mention of the 685th Brigade, the superior unit of the 686th Regiment and the 343rd Regiment, and the name of the brigade commander Chen Guang is even less known.
Chen Guang. In fact, the Pingxingguan ambush was the first appearance of the Eighth Route Army on the battlefield of resistance against Japan, and it was necessary to fight well and win, and the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army would naturally select the best and most confident troops to carry out such a significant task.
This excellent unit is the 343 Brigade, and its chief military commander is Brigade Commander Chen Guang.
Because it was the main attack brigade, Chen Guang participated in the whole process of the Pingxingguan ambush, including pre-war reconnaissance, regional selection, troop allocation, all the way to campaign command, cleaning up the battlefield, and so on.
Before the battle began, as the commander of the first brigade, he actually rushed to the outside of Lingqiu City with a staff officer to act as a "sentinel" to monitor the movements of the Japanese army.
Before the battle began, the 343rd Brigade arrived at Qiaogou under the leadership of Brigade Commander Chen Guang, Yang Dezhi's 685th Regiment was ambushed in Baiyatai, and Li Tianyou's 686th Regiment was hidden in Lao Ye Temple.
When the Japanese army entered the ambush site, Chen Guang first rushed to the 685th Regiment and conveyed the order of the division headquarters to "start attacking". Then, Chen Guang rushed to the position at the head of the Lao Ye Temple to supervise the battle and "press the formation".
The battle of Pingxingguan was only fought for one day, but Chen Guang did not close his eyes for several days and nights, until he won a great victory and cleaned up the battlefield, and Chen Guang breathed a sigh of relief.
When the soldiers were happily celebrating the victory, Chen Guang was gone, and Yang Dezhi and Li Tianyou finally found their brigade commander, but they saw Chen Guang asleep with his back against a big tree, snoring like thunder.
People can't help but ask, what kind of person is Chen Guang, and why did he take on such a big task as the "First Battle of the Eighth Route Army"?
Here is a brief introduction to the illustrious background of this iron-blooded warrior.
When Chen Guang joined the revolutionary army, it coincided with the Nanchang Uprising, he and more than a dozen rebellious peasants, brought more than a dozen guns to join the uprising troops led by Mr. Zhu, and was immediately incorporated into the 29th Regiment of the 10th Division of the Red 4th Army and served as the commander of the special service company.
During the 10-year Agrarian Revolutionary War, Chen Guang fought bravely, made countless meritorious contributions, and was wounded 10 times, and his position was also promoted all the way to the commander of the Red Army, the deputy commander of the Red 1st Army, and the commander of the ** Red 1st Army.
Pingxingguan Battle Command Post.
During the Long March, the Red 2nd Division led by Chen Guang was the vanguard division of the Red 1st Army, and in the Battle of the Xiangjiang River, the Red 2nd Division blocked the Kuomintang pursuit for 4 days, and crossed the Xiangjiang River with a huge **cover** column.
When the Red Army attacked Zunyi, Chen Guang led his troops to break through the Wujiang River, outwit Zunyi, and occupy Loushan Pass, "escorting" the smooth convening of the Zunyi Conference.
In the famous Battle of Qinggangpo in Tucheng, Chen Guang led the 2nd Red Division to march 90 miles overnight, turning the tide together with the cadres and regiments, and covering the Military Commission out of danger.
Chen Guang ordered the Red 6th Regiment to feint to cross the Beipan River, and the main force feinted to attack Guiyang, forcing Chiang Kai-shek to urgently transfer the Yunnan Army to "escort," and the Red Army was able to calmly achieve the goal of "transferring the Yunnan Army."
Crossing the Daxue Mountain, Chen Guang led the Red 4th Regiment, as the vanguard of the whole army, to first cross the Jiajin Mountain, where the air is thin and the climate is unpredictable, and to be the first to join forces with the troops of the Red 4th Front Army who came to meet them.
In order to cross the grassland, Chen Guang led the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Red Division as the vanguard of the left flank of the Right Route Army, entering the grassland from Maoergai to explore the way for the Red Army to move north.
In the battle of Lazikou, Chen Guang led 17 commandos to climb up from the cliff, detoured behind the enemy, blew up the fire point of the Kuomintang army from top to bottom, and cooperated with the frontal troops to capture Lazikou.
During the Yan'an period, Chen Guang was evaluated like this: Chen Guang's department "attacked the Lazikou fortified during the Long March, and made great contributions to the Red Army's northward march and overcoming danger. ”
* After the main force of the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, the Red 1st Army Corps was restored, and Chen Guang became the deputy commander of the Red 1st Army Corps and the commander of the Red 4th Division, and led his troops to participate in the Battle of Zhiluo Town and the Eastern Expedition.
Flat-type Guan Dajie old**.
In September 1937, the Red 1st Army was reorganized into the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and Chen Guang served as the brigade commander of the Red 1st Army as the deputy commander of the Red 1st Army.
Five days after the victory of Pingxingguan, in order to cover the retreat of friendly troops from Niangzi Pass, Chen Guang led the 343rd Brigade, which had just finished the battle of Pingxingguan and was serious, set up an ambush in Guangyang, Xiyang County, annihilating more than 1,000 Japanese baggage troops, and obtaining a large amount of trophies, known as the "Guangyang Battle" in history.
After the fall of Taiyuan, the 115th Division was ordered to march to the southwest of Shanxi.
At the end of February 1938, the Japanese army occupied Linfen, an important town in Shanxi, and directly threatened the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo border area, and demanded that the 115th Division eliminate this Japanese army.
At this critical moment, the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army faced a major problem: the division commander was accidentally injured by friendly troops and had to leave the team to heal.
As a result, Chen Guang, the commander of the 343rd Brigade, who was brave and good at fighting, became the best choice for the commander of the 115th Division. The headquarters of the Eighth Route Army issued an order, which was commanded by Chen Guang** 115th Division.
From then on, Chen Guang, the new commander of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, began to enter the public eye, whether the acting division commander can continue the glory of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, ** is paying attention, the commanders and fighters are looking forward to it, and even the Japanese army is waiting.
Chen Guang was ordered in danger, and it can be said that the responsibility is as heavy as a mountain, and the pressure is really not small.
However, Chen Guang quickly responded to all walks of life with a beautiful battle of annihilation, this time, his eyes were set on the 1st Division of the 20th Division of the Japanese Army, and the combat mission still fell on the 343rd Brigade.
Chen Guang skillfully applied tactics such as ambush, night fighting, and division and encirclement, first violently beating the Japanese army's baggage team, and then concentrating on encircling and annihilating its main force, more than 1,000 Japanese troops were completely annihilated, and 79 vehicles were burned by the soldiers of the 343rd Brigade.
The Japanese army suffered such a loss, and soon after, the 108th Division of the Japanese Army sent troops again to retaliate, and the spearhead was directed at the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army.
Chen Guang once again lived up to expectations, leading his troops to create the "Wucheng Jinggou Battle" and the "Fenli Highway Three Battles and Three Victories", annihilating more than 1,200 people below the commander of the Japanese brigade.
The Eighth Route Army on the Yellow River to the front line.
After the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression entered the stalemate stage, the main force of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army was ordered to divide its troops and advance behind enemy lines in Shandong. Chen Guang, ** led the division, the 686th Regiment, the first branch of the Anti-Japanese University and other departments, and entered Taixi in March 1939.
One day two months later, the Japanese army, under the personal command of the commander-in-chief in Shandong, Otaka Kamizo, suddenly formed an encirclement of the 115th Division in the Lufang area of Feicheng.
The intention of the Japanese army was very obvious, they wanted to take advantage of the fact that the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army was not firmly grounded to "strike first", and Political Commissar Luo happened to be out, and Chen Guang could only preside over the overall situation alone, and he felt a heavy responsibility.
Chen Guang was not in a hurry, he did not defend the place according to common sense, but unexpectedly shrank the troops to the mountain basin within a radius of more than ten miles from Lufang, defended with danger, and waited for the opportunity to break through.
The troops responded to the battle under the command of Chen Guang, and the soldiers burst out with amazing combat effectiveness, which surprised the Japanese army.
After fierce fighting all day long, Chen Guang led his troops to successfully break through at night.
In this battle, Chen Guang's troops killed and wounded more than 1,300 Japanese soldiers at the cost of more than 300 people, and the news of the victorious breakthrough reached Yan'an and Chongqing, and Chiang Kai-shek specially sent a telegram to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army to commend the 115th Division.
This is the second time that Chiang Kai-shek has issued a commendation order to the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army after the "Pingxingguan Great Victory".
A few months later, Chiang Kai-shek sent a commendation order to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army for the third time, and it was the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army that received the commendation.
Several times before and after, he sent commendation orders to an anti-Japanese army led by the Chinese Communist Party, which was a rare move by Lao Chiang, and it can be seen that Lao Chiang particularly admired this unit.
If the first two commendations were for the 115th Division's bravery and victory over the enemy, then the third commendation was for another reason: this battle eliminated one of the emperor's relatives of the Japanese emperor, which had a huge impact and was of great significance.
This battle was a battle of annihilation won by Chen Guang and the 115th Division - the Liangshan Annihilation Battle (also known as the Dushan Battle).
Chen Guang's opponent was an elite brigade of the Japanese Sakagaki Division, and the leading Japanese officer was called Nagata Toshie, who was the imperial relative of the Japanese emperor, and this time he personally led the team to send troops, and the purpose and direction were very clear: to find the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army and fight a decisive battle with it.
Chen Guang in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War.
The emperor's imperial relatives would never have dreamed that his opponent would not only not be scared away by him, but would attack and harass him three times and twice, coming and going without a trace, and out of nowhere.
Nagata Toshie was tired of the endless blows of Chen Guang's subordinates, but he couldn't prevent it and had nothing to do.
At this moment, Chen Guang issued a general attack order.
The battle was extremely fierce, but after all, the Japanese army failed to defeat the officers and men of the 115th Division, who were familiar with both men and the ground and had high morale, and the result of the battle was that only a dozen Japanese puppet troops brought by Nagata Toshie escaped by chance, and the rest were either killed or captured alive.
After the battle, the officers and soldiers searched for Nagata Toshijiang in accordance with the request of the division commander of the Chen Dynasty, and they found the body of a Japanese officer in a small farm yard, presumably a senior Japanese commander.
The soldiers took a closer look and saw that the sign on the chest of the Japanese officer had this line of words written on it: Captain of the 32nd Division of the Imperial Army - Nagata Toshie. ”
The emperor's royal relatives did not die by being shot, but committed suicide by disembowelment, and a large ocean knife pierced his fat body through the front abdomen, and the whole person fell ...... in a pool of blood
Mr. Zhu and Mr. Peng were excited after receiving the battle report, and Mr. Zhu said with satisfaction: "The 115th Division has changed its division commander, and its combat effectiveness has not been weakened. ”
Mr. Peng nodded yes, and took out a telegram: "Chen Guang's battle has alarmed 'Chairman Jiang' again, you see, this is a commendation order, and there is a bounty of 30,000 yuan." ”
The Japanese also kept an eye on Chen Guang and the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army led by him, and soon after, the officers and men of the 115th Division annihilated another group of Japanese troops.
Chen Guang after liberation.
It can be seen from this that the Japanese army "attaches great importance" to the Eighth Route Army led by Chen Guang.
According to statistics, during the entire War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, our Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army annihilated more than 1,000 Japanese troops in a total of eight battles, of which Chen Guang participated in the command or was responsible for commanding five times.
The 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army developed rapidly in Shandong and other regions, and the strength of the troops also increased greatly, when Chen Guang led the 115th Division to enter Shandong, the strength was less than 7,000 people, and by the autumn of 1940, the troops had grown to nearly 80,000 people.
Chen Guang is such an iron-blooded man who gives the enemy a headache, but he is also straightforward and short-tempered, so his experience after the founding of the People's Republic of China is more tortuous and bumpy.
In April 1988, with the approval of the Communist Party of China, Chen Guang was restored to the party membership and reputation, and a generation of famous generals was finally affirmed by the party and the state, and his contributions to China's national independence and liberation will never be forgotten by the people.