This does not mean that the Eighth Route Army suffered heavy casualties, nor does it mean that this battle was difficult to fight.
This battle is not difficult to fight. After all, the people in Beicheng have been emptied out long ago. The independent regiment with tanks can safely blow up the houses where the Japanese are stationed one by one and then advance from all sides to compress the living space of the Japanese.
The reason why it is impressive is that in this battle, Chinese people beat Chinese people...
There are still more than 1,000 remaining Japanese soldiers, but they also command more than 2,000 puppet troops.
At this time, more than two thousand puppet troops were in a very embarrassing situation:
They wanted to rebel and surrender to the Eighth Route Army, but they didn't have the strength... More than 2,000 puppet troops were no match for the more than 1,000 Japs. Moreover, the Japs were already on guard against them and treated them like prisoners.
However, this is not an option, because everyone knows that the Japanese will use them as cannon fodder.
Sure enough, Ikegami Kenji organized the puppet troops before dawn and asked them to rush to the front.
This is what Ikegami Kenji said to the commander of the puppet army: "Captain Xu, you rush to the front, while the imperial army follows behind to cover, and break out from the north gate! Do you understand?"
Ikegami Kenkichi spent the whole night rushing towards the south city. He planned to make a desperate move and wait for daybreak to break through to the north gate. If the puppet troops were used to block the bullets in front, he might be able to find a bloody way to escape.
The leader of the puppet army was named Xu Weichong. As soon as he heard this, he knew what the Japanese were planning. The Japanese were following behind, which was called "covering" but was actually supervising the battle. If the puppet army had the intention to surrender or passively accept the battle, the Japanese would immediately attack them.
The guns were pointed at the puppet soldiers.
This Xu Weichong is not a good person either... Most of the people in the puppet army who can be promoted, make money and be put into important positions are those who have done all the bad things or are sufficiently "loyal" to gain the trust of the Japanese. Xu Weichong is one of them.
Xu Weichong rolled his eyes and demanded: "Taijun, my troops will rush to the front, and I will protect Taijun and break out together. What do you think of Taijun?"
Hearing these words, Ikegami Kenji's face suddenly became very ugly. He deeply despised this kind of behavior of betraying his subordinates in exchange for their lives, but then he thought about it. If he didn't agree to Xu Weichong's request, this bastard would probably lead his subordinates to defect in battle.
What's more, doesn't the empire need just this kind of soft-headed people?
If you are a hard-nosed Chinese, you will certainly not be able to surrender to the empire and fight with your own people!
So, Ikegami Kenji suppressed his nausea, put on a smile, nodded and gave a thumbs up: "Yours is great!"
When Xu Weichong received Kenji Chigami's consent, he felt half relieved.
Although Xu Weichong knew that this battle was a narrow escape, as a leader of the "Peaceful National Founding Army", he was already burdened with blood debts and even participated in cooperating with the Japanese to massacre villages. His name had long been on the list of "traitors" of the Eighth Route Army.
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Xu Weichong knew very well that he had no way out and could only go to the dark side.
In this case, he can only trade the resources he has with the Japanese for protection... The resources he has only have more than 2,000 subordinates.
So, don’t blame him for selling out his subordinates!
Then, Xu Weichong immediately called a meeting with the battalion commanders after returning to the army.
What he said to his subordinates was...the Japanese reinforcements were outside Beicheng. As long as they broke through Beicheng, they could survive. Otherwise, they would be dead, especially when the Japanese pointed guns behind their backs.
There was a battalion commander who did not believe that there were reinforcements outside the city. If there were reinforcements, there should be gunfire. At the same time, Kenkichi Chigami should break out to the north instead of south. Therefore, he suggested that if the Japanese rebelled during the battle, how many of them could escape?
several……
This kind of thinking is not a problem for soldiers. The problem is that he did not consider Xu Weichong's situation.
So without saying a word, Xu Weichong pulled out the pistol from his waist and killed the battalion commander on the spot.
Then the tragedy happened. Under the leadership and propaganda of Xu Weichong, most of the puppet soldiers believed that the Japanese had reinforcements outside the city, and they could survive as long as they broke through the north gate. Although a small number of the puppet soldiers were dubious and even knew that they were being used, they had no choice but to fight against the Japanese.
With his gun and bayonet pressed against his back, he had no choice but to rush forward.
At this time, Wang Xuexin organized a defense at the North Gate. What he saw was groups of puppet troops rushing towards the Eighth Route Army defense line like a tide, even though the soldiers from the Propaganda Department shouted to them over and over again in a hoarse voice:
"Comrades of the Seventh Regiment, if the Chinese do not fight the Chinese, surrender!"
"The end of the Japanese army has come. If you surrender your guns and don't kill them, the Eighth Route Army will give preferential treatment to the prisoners!"
"The devils are our enemies, there is no need for you to sacrifice your lives for the devils!"
…
But this didn't work at all. The puppet troops still came up one after another. They stepped on the corpses and charged forward with bayonets drawn, shouting loudly.
This scene made Zhao Gang feel very strange.
Usually the morale of the puppet troops is the worst, especially when the Japanese are about to collapse, they will often surrender without a fight or take the initiative to defect.
But this time, uncharacteristically, they launched a fierce attack on the Eighth Route Army.
However, Wang Xuexin showed no mercy. He commanded the tanks to knock down the oncoming puppet troops one by one.
Although the Eighth Route Army treated the prisoners leniently, even though they were Chinese, even though they were bewitched by the enemy... as long as they had guns in their hands, they were the enemy, and they should not be merciful.
The Japanese soldiers followed closely behind the puppet troops and rushed forward with explosive packets and cluster grenades. They hoped to use the puppet troops' cover to rush up and blow up the tank.
This tactic is correct. The Eighth Route Army's advantage over the Japanese is its tanks.
If the tank is blown up or there is a gap in the defense line, it is indeed possible for the Japanese to break out.
But the enemy's efforts were obviously in vain. At this time, the Eighth Route Army was no longer in its previous situation of ten bullets per capita. Although it is not possible to say that the bullet production line can satisfy the entire army of 400,000 people, it is not a problem to centrally supply the two main divisions in Dayun City.
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As a result, the light and heavy machine guns made a "click-click" sound, and the 50 cannons also exploded into the enemy pile one after another. Occasionally, a few incendiary bombs were fired, and the enemy charges were quickly beaten back.
As soon as the Japanese retreated, Wang Xuexin ordered a counterattack... At this time, the enemy should not be given a chance to breathe. A counterattack after victory would put great psychological pressure on the enemy. In this psychological state, it would be difficult for them to organize an effective attack.
defense.
As a result, the battle was completely over in just over half an hour.
Xu Weichong eventually became a prisoner... although he claimed that he surrendered voluntarily.
As he imagined, the Eighth Route Army traitor who owed a blood debt must of course be treated differently from other prisoners, not to mention that after interrogation, he learned about the agreement he had reached with the Japanese before the war.
However, in the end Xu Weichong was not shot, but was secretly strangled to death by his subordinates in a cell where he was being held for interrogation.