I fought guerrilla warfare in the Yimeng Mountains during the Anti-Japanese War

On September 9, the Zaoyi Battle broke out. The Nanyang Basin has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, as long as there was war, this basin had never been peaceful. The period of the Three Kingdoms made this small basin reach the peak of contention.

Nanyang is a basin. This special structure makes Guanhan, Central Plains and Hubei form a protective position. It is very easy to enter the Nanyang Basin from these four places. Similarly, as long as Nanyang is occupied, it can be attacked from all sides and four places can be controlled with one place. From Nanyang to the west along the Han River, you can enter Hanzhong in a short time; through the pass in the northwest, you can point to Guanzhong; the most important thing is that there are many cracks in the mountains on its east side, as long as you can easily manage it, you can directly enter the heart of Central Plains.

Nanyang's important geographical situation has made it a historically contested place for military strategists. As Li Gang of the Southern Song Dynasty said: "Nanyang is where Emperor Guangwu rose to power. It has high mountains and steep ridges to control and wide cities and plains to station troops. It borders Guanzhong and Shaanxi to the west, where soldiers can be summoned; it reaches the Yangtze River and Huai River to the east, where grain can be transported; it connects to Jinghu and Bashu to the south, where wealth can be obtained; and it blocks the three capitals to the north, where rescue can be sent."

This proves that Nanyang is an important transportation checkpoint, especially in ancient times when transportation accessibility was extremely poor. Owning a piece of land with great natural beauty meant being invincible. The key is that Nanyang also has a small road that leads directly to the Central Plains, which undoubtedly raises Nanyang's value by several levels.

Zaoyang, located at the southeast end of the Nanyang Basin, is an important gateway for the Japanese army to enter the Nanyang Basin. The Japanese army occupied Sui County in August 39 and never stopped harassing Nanyang.

On September 9, a Type A division of the Japanese Army, combined with 1 troops from the Independent Mixed Brigade, left Sui County and launched an attack on the Nanyang Basin.

Defending Zaoyang County were Zhang Huatang's 30th Division under Chi Fengcheng of the 30th Army of Sun's 2nd Army and Li Zengzhi's 143rd Division of the 68th Army. In addition, there was another army lying in ambush in the Wushaoling Mountains east of Zaoyang County. They were two Type B divisions of the 7th Army of Li Pinxian, the commander-in-chief of the 21st Army and Dabie Mountain Guerrilla Army.

If there are any sequences of the National Army that were fearless of the Japanese Army, it must include the Second Army. In the Battle of Xuzhou, they lost two-thirds of their troops within a few months, but they never took a single step back. If a position was lost, they would cut it back with a sword. Two divisions with more than 20,000 troops were completely fearless when facing the 30,000 Japanese troops.

On September 9, the battle started. The 1th Independent Brigade of the rd Division established a blocking position in Youfang Village, southeast of Zaoyang. The th Search Regiment of the th Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army immediately launched an attack upon seeing the position. The th Brigade completely blocked the attack of the th Search Regiment with the help of trenches. In two hours, the th Search Regiment launched four position assaults, but all were taken down by the th Brigade. More than half of its troops had been lost, so it had no choice but to stop the attack and wait for the arrival of subsequent infantry and artillery regiments.

At noon, the 231st, 232nd, and 233rd Infantry Regiments of the 39th Brigade and the 39th Field Artillery Regiment arrived at the same time. At 1:30 p.m., the Japanese field artillery regiment began shelling. All the officers and soldiers of the 27th Brigade lay in the anti-artillery caves to defend against the artillery. Half an hour later, the Japanese infantry regiment began to charge. The battle became fierce from the beginning. The officers and soldiers of the 27th Brigade were really fearless. The light and heavy machine guns took turns firing, and the newly distributed American 60 mortars took turns firing, and they repelled five Japanese group charges in succession.

Youfang Village is not located in a terrain where a valley is sandwiched between two mountains. The Japanese army could have avoided the attack by passing through the high ground near the west. However, the vanguard battle was all about momentum. The commander of the 39th Brigade, Murakami Takamasa, believed that the Chinese troops in front of him must be annihilated and the remaining momentum of the great victory must be used to attack Zaoyang County.

A regiment's field artillery launched indiscriminate bombardment, a mixed brigade's mortar camp attacked at high speed, and Wuhan Airport dispatched fifty sorties of bombers. A small oil mill village was instantly turned into a meat grinder.

Liu Ruzhen, commander of the 27th Brigade, was lying in the third trench. He had been seriously injured in the Battle of Taierzhuang and it took him more than a year to recover from his injuries. He had always been feeling bad about missing the Battle of Wuhan.

Now that the Japanese had launched a new battle, Liu Ruzhen volunteered and persuaded the commander of the 143rd Division, Li Zengzhi, to take the initiative and set up an ambush position in Youfang Village to block the Japanese army.

An independent brigade with three regiments of more than 6,000 people faced a mixed brigade of 8,000 troops. The Japanese army's Murakami Takamasa was stubborn and Liu Ruzhen was even more stubborn. By the afternoon, there were 43 cars transporting the wounded to Sui County alone.

Murakami Takamasa was so angry that he didn't want to annihilate the Chinese troops on the opposite side. He launched a round of artillery fire, hoping that the opposite side would withdraw from the position on their own initiative. As a result, there was no movement on the position. He had no choice but to order the 233rd Infantry Regiment to launch a charge.

Liu Ruzhen stood in the trenches and shouted loudly to mobilize morale:

"Brothers, did you see that? The Japs are just like that. If you are hard, they will be soft. If you are soft, they will be hard. I have said it long ago. In the Battle of Taierzhuang, I led thousands of brothers but lacked guns and ammunition. We used swords to fight the Japs in a one-to-one casualty ratio. Now look at the weapons in your hands today. Maxim heavy machine guns, Type 92 heavy machine guns, Czech light machine guns, American Type 60 mortars, one medium-sized rifle for each person, 300 rounds of bullets, and eight grenades. I have never dreamed of such a rich battle before. Do you have the nerve to let the Japs charge up?"

"No"!

The shouts from the battlefield were deafening.

"Okay, we have enough ammunition, so we don't need to put it in to shoot. We can start practicing shooting at 300 meters."

The Japanese army broke through to a distance of 300 meters and the mortars began to fire at a high speed. Although Liu Ruzhen was stubborn, he was not stupid. The Japanese army began to fire at a high speed. Except for the observation post, all the soldiers instantly got into the anti-artillery caves.

By the time a round of rapid shooting was completed, the Japanese army had advanced to 150 meters.

"Brothers, fight for me!"

The first three trenches opened fire at the same time. Light and heavy machine guns, mortars and all the medium-sized formal guns erupted with angry flames. The trenches were crowded with people, two people on a stretcher. The wounded needed to be transferred out immediately. As long as they were sent to Zaoyang County, they would have a high probability of surviving with the treatment of the miracle drug Qingmensu. The reason for fighting and clearing the battlefield at the same time was to ensure the mobility of the team so that they could retreat and escape at any time. Although Liu Ruzhen was stubborn, he understood that such trenches could not defend against the Japanese heavy artillery.

The 150th Brigade in front has no heavy artillery, but the rd Division behind it has mm caliber howitzers. One round of salvo can cause the position to roll over, so they must withdraw when the rd Division arrives.