The third brigade, led by Wang Nanhu and political commissar Chen Gongge, passed through Wutai County where the enemy was weak five days ago and reached the Xiazhuang Township area on the edge of Fuping County, Hebei Province.
The reason why Wang Nanhu chose this base is because Xianzhuang Township is located in the mountains and is not a major transportation thoroughfare. The Japanese army's military strength in this area is very weak. In the entire town, the Japanese army only dispatched a small team.
More importantly, the terrain here is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if the Japanese army encounters an encirclement and suppression, as long as you sneak into the mountains behind you, no matter how many Japanese soldiers come, you will not be able to do anything about it.
Therefore, Wang Nanhu led his brigade of more than 3,000 people and captured the Japanese stronghold in Xiazhuang Township with lightning speed, wiping out a small group of Japanese.
Immediately afterwards, the troops did not immediately launch a new round of offensive. Instead, they occupied Xiazhuang Township and established a brigade headquarters. At the same time, they dispatched all scouts to conduct a comprehensive investigation and understanding of the deployment of the entire Japanese army in Fuping.
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"Brigade commander, the security company has eliminated all the traitors in the town and seized a lot of food, which is enough for our third brigade for half a month." The chief of staff walked into the headquarters of the original Japanese stronghold and looked at the map he was observing.
Wang Nanhu said.
"Well, very good. Except for the guard company stationed in the town, all other troops are camped outside the town. Also, put all the local cadres brought from the division headquarters into the surrounding villages. Let's take advantage of the few days of investigation by the reconnaissance company.
God, first consolidate the area in Xiazhuang Township." Wang Nanhu said, pointing to several larger villages on the map.
"Well, I also agree with the brigade commander's opinion. After all, we are unfamiliar with the place here, and we must have a stable rear. In this way, we can advance eastward and further occupy the entire Fuping area." The political commissar also nodded.
"Okay, I'll go make arrangements right away." After saying that, the chief of staff turned and left the headquarters.
In this way, in the past few days when the reconnaissance company had not investigated the situation clearly, the third brigade dispatched more than a dozen working groups to the surrounding areas. These working groups went deep into the surrounding villages to negotiate with the landlords, reduce rent and interest, and purchase the landowners.
land is handed back to farmers...
Originally, those landowners were still unwilling. However, after being bought with a lot of money from the Independent Brigade, and under the temptation of profits, many landowners sold their fields to the Independent Brigade and moved out of the village. As for the money to buy the land, of course
The pig hair comes from the pig's body, and all those landlords and bullies who have committed traitorous behavior are captured.
In this way, two days passed, and almost all the dozens of villages around Xiazhuang Township had a completely new look, because overnight, all the landlords in the villages seemed to have moved away. I heard from the soldiers that they were the ones who took away all the land belonging to the landlords.
They bought it, and they wanted to allocate the land to themselves.
Therefore, with the efforts of various working groups, the common people got the land allocated to them with smiles. As the saying goes, only with land can you rely on. After getting the land, faced with the call of the working group, the enthusiasm of the common people can be described as
The situation was extremely high. Soon, every village established an anti-Japanese regime and established militia organizations...
"Brigadier, I didn't expect that the common people would be so enthusiastic about joining the army. You must know that China has a saying that good men should not be soldiers since ancient times." Political Commissar Chen Guoge said with emotion as he looked at the common people who enthusiastically signed up to join the militia.
"Haha, political commissar, good men should not be soldiers, but now they join the army to defend the land they just acquired and their homes." said the brigade commander. As he said that, they ran towards the next village.
"Brigade commander, political commissar...wait a minute..." A correspondent rode a fast horse and chased the two of them.
"Reporting to the brigade commander, political commissar, and chief of staff, please hurry back to the headquarters." Seeing the stopped brigade commander and political commissar, the correspondent jumped off his horse and saluted.
"Did the Chief of Staff say what happened?" Brigadier Wang Nanhu asked.
"No, brigade commander, political commissar. The chief of staff just said that in case of emergency, the brigade commander and political commissar were asked to rush back to the headquarters immediately," the correspondent said.
"Okay, we'll go back with you right now." The political commissar nodded.
"Political Commissar, you said the chief of staff asked us to go back in such a hurry. What emergency happened?" Brigadier Wang Nanhu asked along the way.
"I don't know either. We're almost at the headquarters. When we get back, we'll know better?" the political commissar on the horse said loudly.
"Brigadier Commander, Political Commissar, I finally got you back." Seeing the Brigade Commander and Political Commissar rushing back after a long journey, the Chief of Staff quickly came out to greet them.
"Chief of Staff, what happened, you are so anxious to call us back?" Looking at the anxious Chief of Staff, the brigade commander asked.
"Brigadier, something happened. The soldiers from the reconnaissance company just reported that a squadron of Japanese troops, armed with heavy machine guns and mortars, came towards Xiazhuang Township this morning. It is estimated that they will approach us at four o'clock this afternoon.
The first village we occupy now." The chief of staff said eagerly.
"How could this happen? We have only occupied this place for two days. How could the Japs send out troops so quickly? Also, why are the Japs marching so fast? The straight-line distance from Fuping County to our Xiazhuang Township should be 150 meters
How could the Japs come so fast at such a distance? Could it be that the intelligence was wrong?" After hearing what the Chief of Staff said, Wang Nanhu asked in disbelief.
"Brigadier Commander, Political Commissar, I couldn't believe it at first. Later I learned about the situation. It turns out that a Japanese team stationed here will go to the county town to pick up ammunition and baggage the day before yesterday, and by that time all the little Japanese have been wiped out by us.
.So, the Japanese troops stationed in the county were aware of it. In addition, we have been making a fuss here in the past two days, and we have long been targeted by some Japanese spies. Therefore, it is reasonable for the Japanese to send troops to encircle and suppress us today.
in." the chief of staff explained.
"Also, I didn't expect the Hebei Japs to be so mobile. The Japanese troops who came to encircle and suppress one of our squadrons were all transported by car. Therefore, the 150-mile journey only takes a few hours. If it weren't for the road conditions here,
Too bad, maybe it will take less time." The chief of staff continued.
"It's four o'clock in the afternoon, that is, there are only a few hours to prepare before the little devil feels here. Chief of Staff, how many troops do we have around us now?" Brigadier Wang Nanhu said, looking at the map.
"Brigade Commander, it's just for this reason that I urgently called you back. Otherwise, I wouldn't care about the little devil in this squadron. Now the two main regiments are distributed to more than a dozen surrounding villages.
The closest one to us is the 1st Battalion of the 5th Regiment, which is only three miles away, but it will take at least an hour for them to assemble. I have asked the correspondent to inform them to rush to the brigade headquarters and stand by! They are probably already gathering now."
The chief of staff shook his head and said.
"What a mistake. Why didn't you think of this when you sent the troops out? Are there any other troops near the brigade headquarters? We can't let the Japanese enter Xiazhuang Township under any circumstances. The people here just have a good impression of us, we can't
Let the Japanese destroy all our achievements in the past few days." After hearing what the chief of staff said, the political commissar sighed.
"Political Commissar, the brigade headquarters only has one guard company, one baggage company, and a mortar company directly under the brigade." the chief of staff replied immediately.
"Okay, as long as the guard company is here. Correspondent, inform the guard company and the artillery company will gather immediately. Political commissar and chief of staff, you go to the brigade headquarters to take command. After one battalion and one battalion arrive at the headquarters, ask them to immediately reinforce Hebei Slope. I
Now I personally lead the guard company and mortar company to Hebei Slope to stop the Japanese army, hoping to hold the Japanese army on Hebei Slope..." Brigade Commander Wang Nanhu ordered.
"Brigadier, it's better for me to go and you stay at the headquarters?" the chief of staff quickly stopped him.
"Stop talking, I have decided. This time I will personally lead the team, and by the way, I will also feel the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army in Hebei." With that, he walked out of the headquarters.
At this time, 126 soldiers from the guard company were standing neatly at the entrance of the headquarters. Soldiers from the mortar company were also carrying shells, and the mortars were gathered at the door.
"The guard company and artillery company will set off immediately and follow me to the Hebei slope in the shortest possible time to block the Japanese troops who are about to enter our base area."
As the name suggests, Hebei Slope is a mountain ridge, and the road passes over it. The terrain is very dangerous. It is a place that the Japanese army must pass through when invading the base area. The reason why Wang Nanhu placed the blocking position here is because it is easy to defend but difficult to attack the terrain.
This place is only seven kilometers away from the starting point of Wangnan Lake. For the guard company that often marches in a hurry, it only takes an hour. However, for the artillerymen carrying mortars and artillery shells, it is very difficult. During the march,
In less than five minutes, the artillery company was clearly lagging behind.
"The guard company will go first and must reach the Hebei Slope as soon as possible and build a simple defensive fortification on the Hebei Slope. The artillery company will follow up and speed up the march as much as possible to reinforce the guard company that is blocking the Japanese army.
"While riding on his war horse, Wang Nanhu immediately issued an order to divide his troops when he saw the artillery battery marching slower and slower."
Therefore, after the artillery company was less encumbered, the guard company immediately wanted to take off the reins of its war horses and quickly walked toward the north slope of the river.
The potential of the soldiers can be said to be very huge. Normally, the urgent march takes an hour, but today we only walked for 50 minutes, a full ten minutes less than usual. Looking at the soldiers whose faces were red and panting due to overwork,
Soldiers, Wang Nanhu also couldn't bear it for a while.
Because he knew that the guard company without artillery support for the time being faced the Japanese mechanized squadron equipped with heavy weapons. It could be said that it was an egg against a stone. He didn't know how many of these guard soldiers could survive after this battle.