General Liao Zhengguo.
Lujiatan annihilated the Japanese invaders.
Liao Zhengguo. One day in February 1944, the head of the Soviet-Chinese Military Region convened a meeting of cadres at and above the regimental level of the relevant units at the Sancanghe garrison on the Yellow Sea, and drew up a new campaign action plan -- this was the Cheqiao Battle, which would later become known as the Battle of Cheqiao.
Cheqiao, located at the junction of the three base areas of central Jiangsu, northern Jiangsu and Huainan, is an important strategic mobile place. To the south is the area of the water network between the Central Jiangsu Union, to the north is the North Jiangsu Plain, and to the west is the Huainan Plain across the canal and Baoying Lake, and here is the junction of the Japanese Army's North China Dispatch Army and the Central China Dispatch ArmyOn the one hand, it can control the Suzhou-Huai border region and create a relatively stable situation in our Soviet-Chinese base areas. Commander Su Yu also emphatically pointed out at the meeting: In the past year, although the military and people of the Soviet Union and China have won a series of victories against "clearing the townships" and opposing "cantonment reclamation," because there is no relatively stable area, the leading organs are often in a state of flux, and this is very unfavorable to the troops' rectification, production, and training. In order to consolidate and develop the base areas and usher in the arrival of the situation of great development, our army must take the initiative to look for all favorable fighters to attack the enemy. The enemy is currently attacking us with deep trenches and high fortifications, and we can only carry forward a highly active offensive spirit and carry out the offensive attack. And because the enemy controls the point line, the transportation is convenient, and the reinforcement is easy, so the attack must be combined with reinforcement. After full discussion, the head of the military region finally arranged: three brigades and seven regiments to storm the bridge; The 52nd Regiment of the 18th Brigade and other units served as the reinforcement tasks of Baoying and Gaoyou; Our 1st Brigade and 1st Regiment, the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Special Regiment, and the 2 companies of the 3rd Division's Special Service Battalion temporarily formed a column to take up the task of providing reinforcement in the direction of Huai'an, Huaiyin, Lianshui, and Suqian.
Diagram of the Battle of Cheqiao (March 5-6, 1944).
At midnight on March 4, the attacking troops launched an attack on the bridge. Our troops also left their ships and traveled by land, and arrived at the reinforcement point west of the bridge. The battlefield was chosen in the area of Lujiatan. Here, the south is bordered by the east and west boundary rivers, the water is turbulent, and the river bank is steep; The north is a grassy swing, about 1 li wide and about 2 li long, and the mud traps people; A narrow pocket-shaped area is formed in the middle, and the road from Huai'an to Cheqiao passes through here. In view of the fact that the enemy could only come along the road and could not be used after entering the pocket-shaped area, we set up a position with a battalion to block the attack, and the main force was concealed on the line north of Lujiatan so that we could attack at the right time.
The next day, the northeast wind rose strongly, the yellow dust covered the sky, and the flying sand hit people. In the morning, the military region reported that the troops of the 7th Regiment attacking Cheqiao had broken through into the urban area and connected 53 pillboxes, and the development was extremely smooth, and the remnants of the enemy were gathering and annihilating. The troops of the 3rd Division, which responded to the campaign, also conquered Zhujiaweizi in the northwest direction in one fell swoop and completely annihilated the enemy. According to the scout's report, the cavalry units of the 3rd Division made a feint north of the Huai'an-Cheqiao Highway in order to force the Japanese troops to come east along the road. But until the afternoon, reinforcements from the enemy had not arrived. "The battle is going so well, will the devils come for reinforcements? "The staff officers are talking.
Before the battle, our army had revealed its intention to attack Jingkou and put the enemy on guard, but did not take any action. It is difficult for the enemy to judge the real intentions of our army, how can there be no reason! Sure enough, at about 3 o'clock, the scouts came with the good news: the Japanese army arrived in a truck. Judging by the number of enemy vehicles and the amount of loading, there were about 240 of them.
The enemy advanced to the vicinity of Zhoucun, and first there was a burst of artillery bombardment. Later, it was not found that our troops were fighting back, so they searched and advanced along the highway with one part, and the rest still followed by car. When they were about to move 200 meters from the frontal position of our army, they were suddenly attacked by our three battalions. The enemy attacked our troops head-on with one part, and the rest quickly got out of their cars and dispersed on the line north of the road, but unexpectedly, the enemy scattered north of the road fell into our preset minefield. From a distance, the yellow sand is soaring into the sky, and the black smoke and dust are blurred. The enemy was forced to lie down in front of our position, and to make a detour to the northeast of the right flank of our position. I immediately ordered the 4th Company to move from north to south and hit the enemy's flank. I saw that the soldiers of the Fourth Company were leaping forward squad by squad on an open ground with little grass growing for more than 10 miles, without firing a single shot, as if it was an exercise. When they approached the enemy, they suddenly put together the grenade, and the enemy was forced to retreat to the vicinity of Xiaohanzhuang in a hurry, and did not dare to move.
On March 30, 1944, the Political Office of the 3rd Brigade and 7th Regiment of the 1st Division published the "Combat Illustrated" Cheqiao Battle Special Issue No. 4.
At about 4 o'clock, the scouts reported that the second batch of about 200 Japanese reinforcements had arrived. Now it is necessary to cut off the two groups of reinforcements, or to inflict greater casualties on the second group before the enemy can be reunited. I then sent the 6th Company to attack from a long distance along the north side of the road. The 6th Company was known for its bravery in its attacks, and it engaged the enemy very quickly. A burst of grenades gave the second group of reinforcements a head-on blow, and then compressed them in the area south of Konishi. By 6 p.m., four batches of aid had arrived. The third group was blocked by our army, and the fourth group came and stopped again. Smoke of gunfire rose on the road and on both sides, and artillery fire continued to blow into the sky. The enemy was cut off, unable to look at each other, and one by one, like a giant python that had been disassembled, rolled on the ground and howled.
At this time, it had been ascertained that the enemy who was reinforcing was the 60th Brigade of the 52nd Brigade of the 65th Division of the Japanese Army, led by Yamazawa Daisa. Yamazawa is a person who is aggressive and goes to the front line in every battle, but he has a violent temperament and is self-serving. He took the first batch of troops from Huaiyin to the car at dawn, and originally thought that after a little battle, he could reinforce the bridge, but when he was unexpectedly strongly blocked by our army, he urgently urged the Japanese troops in various strongholds to rush to help. So a batch was transferred, a batch came, and a total of four batches of reinforcements were transferred. This gives our army more opportunities to take advantage of. Our army intercepted the enemy in sections, constantly inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, and found out the enemy's bottom. By 7 p.m., in order to gather troops for a general attack that night, the enemy was temporarily reunited at Hanzhuang.
At dusk, the wind suddenly stopped, and the sky was clear. Political Commissar Zeng Ruqing, Director Zhu Qixiang, and Regiment Commander Chen Ting of the Third Special Regiment came to the command post to study the tactics for the next step and set the time for the general attack at 9 o'clock that night. But as soon as they returned to the command post, they heard the sound of artillery on the frontal position, and then, the gunfire was tight, the platoon grenades followed one after another, and the shouts and shouts became louder and louder. After a short pause, a fire stretched, burning half of the sky ......redIt turned out that after the Japanese army rendezvous at Hanzhuang, the mountains jumped like thunder, and after a little rectification, they fought the trapped beasts, and swooped down on our frontal position one after another, trying to break through our army's position and drive straight to the bridge.
At this moment, a figure suddenly dangled from that side, and ran to the vicinity of the command post. When the staff officers inquired, it turned out that he was a recruit of the Ninth Company of the garrison, and in the first battle, he left the position with a slight injury, and because he could not distinguish the direction clearly, he ran to the command post by mistake. The staff officers asked about the situation of the frontal troops, and he said: "The squad leader is also gone, and I saw the devil rushing to the back of our position......."This immediately caused me anxiety: if this happened, the battle would change dramatically. I immediately revised the general attack plan and advanced the general attack time. He also sent a messenger to quickly notify all departments, ordering the 2nd Battalion and the Divisional Special Service Battalion to attack Hanzhuang separately, and after inserting into the enemy formation, first cut the enemy into several sections, and then annihilate the enemy with close combat and white-knuckle combat.
The command post entered Xiaodongzhuang again. Under the moonlight, Hanzhuang is clearly visible. Our attacking forces are moving in silence. After a while, the black figure crossed the open field, the fire flashed, and a cannonball rumbled out. The Japanese grenadiers also kept firing back, and the light and heavy machine guns were overlapping, and it was difficult to discern how many were firing. Immediately afterward, the continuous sound of platoon grenades of our troops overwhelmed all other sounds......After a few tense minutes, the units reported to me that the 6th Company would first break through the enemy's position northwest of Hanzhuang, then the 4th Company would attack Hanzhuang from the north and the 1st Company of the Special Service Battalion from the west, and finally, the 5th Company would also break through from the east. In this way, the Japanese army in Hanzhuang was cut into four sections.
After our army broke through to Hanzhuang, the Japanese army came head-on with bayonets and tried to counterattack. A fiery hand-to-hand battle immediately began between us and the enemy. A shout of killing shattered the night sky, and the entire village saw pieces of iron splashing and swords shining. The devils kept falling, and the corpses were all over the place. At this time, we put forward in view of the characteristics of Yamazawa: "Specialize in fighting devil commanders, and specialize in fighting Yamazawa Dazuo." "The sharpshooters of each company found the terrain and hid in search of the Japanese commander in his tweed coat, wielding his command knife and howling loudly. It doesn't matter if it's a mountain or not, just shoot it. At about 10 o'clock, the Japanese troops who were about to be captured by the second battalion arrived. Among them was a seriously wounded Japanese officer, short in stature, with blood on his face. On the way to it, he was lying on a stretcher, still struggling and rolling and yelling, but there was no sound at this time. Identified by the captives: it is Shanze!
Just as the white-knuckle battle in Hanzhuang was blazing, clusters of firelight were found on the east side of Caodang. The inhabitants would not set fires, and our troops did not have such a signal, so it was estimated that a force of the enemy had rushed to the east of Caodang. Although the spring cold is currently thick and the thin ice is floating, it is not impossible for the remaining Japanese invaders to be beaten and jump over the wall, and it is not impossible to wade through the grass in vain. I immediately used the reserve (one battalion.
The second and third companies) attacked from the stone bridge head to the east of Caodang.
The troops entered Ponyville, and sure enough, they found the remnants of the enemy defending Yizhuang. The Japanese also discovered our troops, and both sides fired at the same time. Ponyville is surrounded on three sides by steep waterways, and on one side is an open field with no shelter. The troops quickly crossed the small bridge in Zhuangbei, flew along the river to the back of the enemy's houses, and stacked Arhats on top of the houses. The enemy gathered all his strength to fight me. Our troops dug holes in the walls, threw grenades, seized houses. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, the devil tried to snatch the door with bayonets in hand, but some of them were bombarded back by the soldiers with platoon grenades, and some of them rushed into the alley and started a hand-to-hand fight with me. After several repeated rushes and killings, he forced the devils of the street fighting into the house. The fighters went up to the house to dig holes, and on the other hand, they dug holes in the walls and used grenades to open the way, fighting house by house. Suddenly, the devil in the house howled loudly. There was a soldier in the third company nicknamed "Three Bags of Yellow Smoke", who knew Japanese, and at this time reported to the company commander: "The enemy has shaken!" The company commander immediately asked him to shout to the devil. The soldier shouted a few words, and the house fell silent for a while, but after a short pause, he fired fiercely outside. Our army could not approach several attacks, so they erected several piles of sorghum poles and prepared for a fire attack. In an instant, the Ponyville was on fire ......
The enemy was completely in disarray. The enemy who escaped by luck in the pony, and the enemy who was cut off by our army on the grassy side, scattered and scattered, completely lost the prestige of the "imperial army". Our army became more active, and there was a shout: "Surrender the artillery!" "Catch the devil alive! "The ruined devils were cornered, and one by one they jumped into the river and into the grass. The soldiers jumped down to catch the devils, just like chasing water ducks, and it was very lively. Some devils still wanted to resist stubbornly with bayonets in their hands, but our soldiers came up from behind and pulled him down into the water, and drank the water with a grunt! Some of the devils had just jumped ashore with their shoes in the mud and barefoot, like water dogs, and were driven back into the grass by our soldiers with bayonets......
Battle of Cheqiao Memorial Tower.
When the morning came, the battlefield was silent, but the command post was bustling with people vying for the prisoners. At this time, the sixth group of reinforcements came again, and after meeting up with the fifth group of reinforcements that I had blocked out of my pocket, they opened the way with light tanks and armored vehicles, and fired blindly and indiscriminately, covering the advance of the cars behind. Political Commissar Zeng and I immediately ordered the special service battalion to attack. Half an hour later, the reinforcements were blocked and retreated, and the tanks and armored vehicles turned around and withdrew to the Wantang stronghold. Just now, when the battle was raging, a group of devils with scorched hair, burnt and swollen faces, and filthy bodies, heard the sound of the motor and ran towards the brigade with no life. The soldiers of the first company estimated that they were the devils who slipped through the net during the search for Caodang last night, and without waiting for orders, they followed and chased them back and arrested them. The warriors marched back with their captives in hand and talked about the victory in the battle with great vigour. A Japanese prisoner named Yoshio Ishikawa said sadly to our soldiers in Chinese: "I saw that you only had a few troops during the day, and I didn't want to have so many at night that you rushed from all directions. You've been so clever with your troops. ”
In this battle, more than 440 Japanese soldiers were annihilated and 24 were captured alive; Annihilated more than 480 puppet soldiers. The axle was also conquered by our troops.
A few months later, our troops returned to the area. This is already another scene: after the Battle of Cheqiao, 12 enemy and puppet strongholds such as Caodian, Jingkou, Zhouzhuang, Taertou, and Wangzhigang were also recovered by our army. Since then, this has become the rear of our Soviet-Chinese base area. The leading organs of the regional party committees, administrative offices, and military districts have all been transferred to this area. The party school has been expanded, the rectification team of the military region has been set up, a large number of cadres have gathered here to study, and our regiment has also carried out training and production campaigns in this area for a long time. (Excerpted from "Fighting Between the Jianghuai River and the Han Dynasty - Selected Memoirs of the Anti-Japanese War of Officers and Men of the New Fourth Army") compiled by the Editorial and Research Office of the Political Department of the Nanjing Military Region).