[Songhu Anti-Japanese War-41] The Bloody Battle of Luoyang Bridge (Liu Weikai was the deputy head of the 1022nd Regiment of the 511th Brigade of the 171st Division of the 171st Division of the 21st Group Army at that time)

1. Order of battle and force configuration

Liao Lei, commander-in-chief of the 21st Army Group, has jurisdiction over the Seventh Army and the Forty-eighth Army. Zhou Zuhuang, commander of the Seventh Army, had jurisdiction over the 170th Division (commander Xu Qiming), the 171st Division (commander Yang Junchang) and the 172nd Division (commander Cheng Shufen). The commander of the 48th Army is represented by Deputy Commander Wei Yunsong and has jurisdiction over the 173rd Division (commander He Weizhen), the 174th Division (commander Wang Zanbin) and the 176th Division (commander Qu Shounian). The 171st Division has jurisdiction over the 511th Brigade (Brigade Commander Qin Lin) and the 508th Brigade (Brigade Commander Luo Huo). The 511th Brigade governs the 1021st Regiment (the head of the regiment Tan Heyi) and the 1022nd Regiment (the head of the regiment Yan Sengwu, the author is the deputy of the regiment's lieutenant colonel, and the deputy of the major's regiment Yang Zuozeng, later in Anhui was killed in the Battle of Huaiyuan). The 1022nd Regiment has jurisdiction over the first battalion (battalion commander Nong Youji), the second battalion (battalion commander Chen Jingkai), the third battalion (battalion commander Tan Xieping), the mortar company (company commander Gan Dazhen) and The spy platoon (platoon leader Wei Mou), others are omitted. The regiment had 19 company commanders and 1,500 combat troops.

2. Battlefield Terrain

In the August 13th Battle of Songhu, our army fought at Luoyang Bridge. The terrain was flat and open, with criss-crossing ditches. There were several thatched huts and several independent trees beside the huts. This kind of terrain is difficult to defend, and the construction of fortifications can only be done by digging up and shooting skirmish trenches. If you want to strengthen the fortifications and dig deep skirmish trenches, the bottom of the trench will be flooded, and you can only raise the parapet to make up for the lack of fortifications. However, the construction is too high and the target is exposed, which is not good. In order to strengthen the fortifications, only trenches and traps were dug in front of the positions to stop the enemy. Because of the criss-crossing ditches, communication between the troops was also affected.

3. Preparation before battle

The 1022nd Regiment drove from Guangxi to Lianyungang in September to prepare for war. At this time, the troops carried out political and ideological work, instilled patriotism, deepened their understanding of "you must die, but you are not alive", "soldier's duty is to obey orders", and emphasized the spirit of "defending the home and the country", in order to inspire officers and soldiers to Patriotism and determination to keep the soil responsible.

During the preparation period, in addition to conducting general combat training as usual, in view of the fact that air superiority is in the hands of the enemy, in order to exert the fighting instinct, special emphasis is placed on night combat education, emphasizing the technical training of charge, hand-to-hand combat, and fighting, and paying attention to communication and contact methods. Be mentally prepared.

4. Battle Implementation

During the tense stage of the Anti-Japanese War in Shanghai, our army arrived in Nanxiang from Lianyungang by train and marched on foot in October to participate in the battle. It was attacked by enemy planes along the way, and its progress was delayed.

Luoyang Bridge, where the 1022nd Regiment fought, was the 1021st Regiment on the left and the 1016th Regiment on the right. Our regiment took over the defense of Hu Zongnan's First Army in mid-October, but the army retreated before waiting for the arrival of the receiving troops. Therefore, our group can only go to the defense according to the position shown on the map.

The deployment of the regiment, with the first and second battalions as the first line. The 1st Battalion is on the right, the 2nd Battalion is on the left; the 3rd Battalion serves as the regiment's reserve. Due to the narrow front of the position, only three or four hundred meters, each battalion only served as a front of one or two hundred meters. Therefore, only one company was assigned to the first line of the battalion, and the rest served as the battalion's reserve, and the regimental mortar company was controlled near the regiment command post. The regiment's spy platoon was changed to a supervising team, and within the range of the regiment's garrison, the officers and soldiers returning from the front line were checked to see if they had escaped. Those who were lightly injured were not allowed to retreat from the line of fire, and those who violated the law were arrested and interrogated at the command post of the escort regiment, in order to suppress military discipline and stabilize the war situation.

The regiment health team (ie stretcher team) had insufficient crude oil personnel. The head of the military quarters at the rear of the regiment organized a civilian team, with about 20 to 30 people assisting the health team. They shared the same hatred, actively participated in the stretcher work, and made contributions to the rescue of wounded officers and soldiers.

5. Enter the battle

The next day after the regiment took over the defense, the enemy began to attack our position, first reconnaissance with planes, and air balloons to instruct the artillery to shoot at the target, and then the enemy planes and artillery violently bombarded our position with strafing and artillery fire. Then, the enemy's light and heavy firearms were fired together, tanks were used to open the way, and the infantrymen rushed towards my position. Then the enemy artillery extended fire to prevent our reinforcements from advancing. The enemy planes cooperated with the infantry to straf and bombed our reinforcements. This is the enemy's consistent tactics. As for my first-line defenders, when the enemy planes and enemy artillery bombarded, strafed and bombarded, they were properly concealed to avoid sacrifice. When the enemy infantry launched an attack, they quickly entered the position and violently shot the enemy. This is what our army deals with the enemy. method of warfare.

This day's battle, both the enemy and our party are carried out according to this method of warfare. When the enemy entered our position, in order to strengthen the firepower, each battalion in the first line added one of the reserve teams to the line of fire to repel the enemy. During the battle, several enemy planes bombed and strafed our position, and the regiment reserve (the 3rd Battalion) dispatched several squads to use light machine guns to fire violently at low-altitude enemy planes in accordance with the usual training method for air-to-air shooting. Support first-line battles. The regimental mortar battery fired violently at the advancing enemy. That night, each of the two battalions on the front line organized several commandos to attack the enemy's positions at night, preventing the enemy from attacking at night.

On the second day, the enemy rushed out, focusing on my left flank, and the battle was several times more intense than the first day. In the past, I didn't have a deep understanding of "a rain of bullets" and "a rain of bullets", but after this day's battle, I deeply felt it. The sound of bombs and guns was better than firecrackers on New Year's Eve. The battlefield suddenly turned into a sea of fire and smoke filled the sky. Due to the onslaught of the enemy, the situation was urgent, and the head of the regiment, Yan Sengwu, commanded the reserve team to attack and was injured in the foot. The battalion commander of the right flank, Nong Youji, commanded the troops to attack and was wounded; the battalion commander of the left flank, Chen Jingkai, commanded the troops to attack. The reserve battalion commander, Jia hoeping, commanded the troops to attack and wounded. Li Dayu, a squad leader in the 4th company, volunteered to throw a cluster grenade at the enemy's tank, destroying the enemy's tank and sacrificing himself. In the battle that day, he repeatedly charged and fought hand to hand, and the sound of killing shook the heavens and the earth. The position suddenly gained and lost three times, and finally stabilized the position. That night, the first-line battalions still organized commandos to attack enemy positions at night, harassing the enemy.

On the third day, the 3rd Battalion of the Regiment Reserve was switched with the 2nd Battalion, and the 2nd Battalion served as the regiment's reserve. At this time, the head of the regiment, Yan Sengwu, came off the line of fire, and I acted as the head of the regiment. The battalion commander of the first battalion was represented by company commander Ma Tingzhi, the battalion commander of the second battalion was represented by deputy battalion Tan Daode, and the battalion commander of the third battalion was represented by deputy battalion Liu Guoqun. On this day, the enemy still violently attacked our position, still using the original tactics, our army still dealt with the enemy according to the previous method, the enemy failed, we held the position.

6. Swap anti-transfer

That evening, division commander Yang Junchang asked me to go to the division command post to receive the order. He said, "We will start retreating at eight o'clock tonight, and gather at Jiading. You can go back and make arrangements and send someone to contact the division headquarters." After that, he asked me if I had any comments . I said, "Go back and handle it as ordered." He praised me and said, "You still have some courage." I would go to the regiment command post and immediately order the evacuation from eight o'clock. Ten minutes before the retreat, I would shoot the enemy violently to confuse The enemy, with the exception of leaving a very small number of defenders in the original position as cover, retreated on their own after half an hour, the rest all retreated from the line of fire and assembled at the regiment command post. At this time, the regiment's reserve team also made a cover gesture to cover the retreat of the front line. That night, the moon was as bright as day, making it easier to move around. The dead officers and soldiers on the position were buried, and the seriously injured officers and soldiers were also withdrawn. A wooden sign "The Tomb of the Martyr Chen Jingkai" was erected on the tomb of the dead battalion commander Chen Jingkai to comfort the loyal soul.

During the battle, Yan Sengwu and I observed the enemy's situation at the regiment command post during the day, directed the operations, and inspected the front lines after dusk to boost morale and stabilize the morale of the army. Due to the complex terrain of the battlefield and the inconvenience of communication, I went to the command post of the Luohuo Brigade on the first day of the operation and lost my way. In this case, when I evacuated the command post, I left the regiment deputy Yang Zuozeng at the command post to serve as a communication link without interruption.

Our support artillery fire was afraid of bombardment by enemy planes during the day, so it was concealed and only fired at the enemy at night. Because the distance between the enemy and us is too close (only two or three hundred meters), and the firing is biased, the artillery shells often land on their own positions. Therefore, the front line often reported that our artillery was required to extend fire. In terms of sustenance, due to the difficulty of movement during the day due to enemy air strikes, and easy to lose direction at night, the main and non-staple food was rarely delivered, and the officers and soldiers had to use dry food to satisfy their hunger, which greatly affected their combat effectiveness.

On the battlefield, my plane could not be seen, and the enemy planes had more than 100 sorties every day, strafing and bombing over me. I heard that Chen Zhaohan, head of the 1034th Regiment of the 173rd Division of the 48th Army, arrived at the Shanghai battlefield at the beginning of the day. The officers and soldiers of the whole regiment were scattered in crisis, and the regiment commander was also injured and suffered heavy losses.

7. Measures after retreat

Our regiment withdrew from the front line to the rear, made a brief arrangement, and moved towards Jiading. After arriving in Jiading, it will be reorganized. There were 1,500 people, but only 500 remained after this battle, with nearly two-thirds casualties. Therefore, only one battalion was organized, under the jurisdiction of three infantry companies and a machine gun company, and the company commander Ma Tingzhi was promoted to the battalion commander. The dozens of original company commanders were killed and injured, and the remaining senior platoon commanders had to be promoted to the company. long. If the platoon leader is missing, the squad leader will be promoted, and the missing squad leader will be filled by the privates.

In order to boost morale and continue to fight, we held a memorial service for the soldiers who died in the Shanghai Anti-Japanese War. In particular, we express our condolences to the battalion commander Chen Jingkai and squad leader Li Guangda, who fought heroically to kill the enemy. After the meeting, the heroic sacrifice of the martyrs was reported to the Military Commission for praise.

Our regiment served as a cover team at the Xiaopan occupation positions (field fortifications) in Jiading, and then moved to Changshu to serve as a cover team at Jin's house. Finally transferred to Wuxi, retreated to Zhejiang along the Taihu Lake, and arrived in Hefei, Anhui for replenishment. The Battle of Shanghai has come to an end.

8. Lessons learned

The mission to achieve this battle lies in the soldiers who use their lives, are not afraid of sacrifice, have the courage to kill the enemy, never retreat from minor injuries, continue to fight, and are determined to coexist with the position. This is indeed not an easy task. In addition to the strict education and training on weekdays, there are several factors: (1) The pre-war preparation education, especially the work of improving thinking and encouraging morale, has been done extensively. (2) The superiors and subordinates are familiar with each other, which is convenient for command and deployment. (3) Set up a supervising team to boost morale and prevent unauthorized retreat. (4) Properly deal with casualties of officers and soldiers in order to stabilize the morale of the army. (5) Officers and soldiers are not afraid of death, lead by example, and play an exemplary role.

The above is a successful experience, but there are also some lessons from failure: (1) Political and ideological education is not in-depth, and there are still a few soldiers who flinch. (2) The fortifications were not strengthened enough and suffered heavy losses. (3) The enemy was underestimated and paralyzed, and the position was breached by the enemy several times. (4) Insufficient anti-air shooting equipment, the effect is very low, resulting in the free movement of enemy functions. (5) The front-line troops do not support each other enough, and there is a situation of waiting and watching.