Some information believes that the First Anti-Japanese War of the New Fourth Army was organized and commanded by Li Yu, and was called " Weigang Battle ". However, after carefully studying the history of the New Fourth Army's War of Resistance and carefully collecting relevant information, I found that it was not the case at all. The first battle of the New Fourth Army's anti-Japanese war was actually completed independently by the Fourth Detachment of the independent activities in the North Bank of the Yangtze River 1, the Dabie Mountains 2 region.
In 1937, the famous " July 7 Incident " and "Songhu Incident" broke out one after another. Japan began to invade China in full swing, and the Chinese nation reached a dangerous juncture. For the interests of the country and the nation, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party turned war into pleasant, began their second cooperation, and began to fight against Japan together. After negotiations, the Red Army, which arrived in northern Shaanxi, was adapted into the Eighth Route Army; the Red Army, which insisted on the Southern guerrilla warfare, was reorganized into the New Fourth Army, and successively embarked on the front line of anti-Japanese war.
Judging from the strategic deployment of the New Fourth Army to advance eastward to the anti-Japanese war, military operations are actually divided into two strategic units: the military headquarters and its 1st, 2nd and 3rd detachments, mainly in the areas south of the Yangtze River; the 4th detachment, composed of the Red 28th Army led by Gao Jingting and the Southern Henan Red Army guerrillas led by Zhou Mingqi, mainly in the areas north of the Yangtze River. Judging from the actual situation, in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd detachments were close to the military headquarters and were directly commanded by the military headquarters. The 4th Detachment is far north of the Yangtze River and mainly operates in the Dabie Mountains' central Anhui area, which is better from the military headquarters. It is strategically commanded by the military headquarters, but it operates independently tactically. This situation is similar to the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army that was re-established after the Southern Anhui Incident, and is actually a relatively independent combat unit.
According to the records of war history, the Weigang battle organized and commanded by Li Yu was the first battle against Japan launched by the New Fourth Army, which was active in the south of the Yangtze River, after entering the southern Jiangsu region.
The Weigang battle took place on June 17, 1938. The main participant in the war was the New Fourth Army advance team.
The New Fourth Army Advance Team is composed of the military headquarters that dispatched reconnaissance personnel and some cadres below the regiment from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd detachments, and is responsible for Li Yu. advance team set off from Yansi, Shexian in southern Anhui on April 28, and headed to the enemy behind southern Jiangsu in advance. On June 15, it arrived near Xiashu Station between Nanjing and Zhenjiang .
While completing the reconnaissance mission, the New Fourth Army soldiers also destroyed the railway trunk line here in order to block the activities of the Japanese invaders. During this period, the New Fourth Army's advance team found that the Japanese army's car traffic was extremely frequent on the highway from Zhenjiang to Jurong , and reported the situation to Su Yu, commander of the advance detachment. After asking the military headquarters, Li Yu decided to set up an ambush in Weigang, 15 kilometers southwest of Zhenjiang to attack the Japanese transportation convoy.
Wei Gang is also written as Wei Gang in some books, so some war history materials are also written as "Wei Gang Battle". After making up the determination to attack the Japanese invaders, after sufficient pre-test preparations, the New Fourth Army members entered the ambush position according to the plan. The Weigang battle officially started at around 8:00 on the 17th. At that time, more than 30 Japanese soldiers entered the ambush circle of the New Fourth Army in five cars and were violently attacked by New Fourth Army soldiers. After half an hour of fierce fighting, the New Fourth Army killed and injured more than 20 Japanese invaders, destroyed 4 cars, and won the victory.
or above is the basic situation of Weigang's battle, so let's take a look at the situation of fighting in Jiangjiahekou .
The battle in Jiangjiahekou took place in the north bank of the Yangtze River on May 12, 1929.
The so-called Jiangjiahekou battle refers to the anti-Japanese war between the 4th Detachment of the New Fourth Army in order to fight against the Japanese invasion of China. The battle took place on May 12, 1938.
From the perspective of time, it was nearly 1 month earlier than Weigang's battle. Judging from its results, its results are greater, its effects are better, and its impact is far-reaching.
The main participants in Jiangjiahekou are the reconnaissance team and the 2nd Battalion of the 9th Regiment of the 4th Detachment of the New Fourth Army.
The commander of the Fourth Detachment of the New Fourth Army was Gao Jingting. On March 8, 1938, he led his entire army to Qiliping, Hong'an and headed to the front line of the anti-Japanese war.The headquarters of the fourth detachment of
is located in the territory of Shucheng County, , central Anhui area of Dabie Mountains, and its main force is basically distributed in the south bank of ,000 Fohu , but in order to find out the situation, make preparations in advance. Gao Jingting ordered the 9th Regiment to be the advance team, which had already left Chaohu area. This matter has been more than two months since the Fourth Detachment was launched.
According to the author's research, the organizer and commander of the Jiangjiahekou battle is Gao Zhirong, the political commissar of the Ninth Regiment, and the chief of staff of the regiment Tang Shaotian, also participated. The commanders at the front line of the ambush were Guo Sijin, the regiment reconnaissance staff member, and Huang Fuyan, the battalion commander of the second battalion. Gao Zhirong, Tang Shaotian and Huang Fuyan all grew into the founding major generals of the Republic.
The first battle against Japan started by the Fourth Detachment took place at the mouth of Jiangjiahe River. Where is the mouth of Jiangjiahe River? Not far from the east side of Chaohu Lake. If there is no direction, please see the diagram below. The red sign 1 in the picture is where the battle at the Jiangjiahekou occurred. From the perspective of current administrative divisions, this place is located in Daishan Village, Yinping Town, Chaohu City, Hefei City, Anhui Province. The local area has established the "Jiangjiahekou Battle Site Monument" here, and was written by General Ye Fei.
Why did you suddenly fight the Japanese invaders here? When the regiment political commissar Gao Zhirong and chief of staff Tang Shaotian led people to reconnaissance, they not only understood the laws of the activities of the Japanese invaders, but also discovered the favorable location of the ambush, and also captured the fighter planes. More importantly, everyone was eager to resist Japan. After the 9th Regiment reported the situation here to commander Gao Jingting, he received Gao Jingting's support: "War, be sure to choose the ambush and strike to show morale and military power."
On May 11, 1938, the political commissar of the regiment Gao Zhirong conducted pre-war mobilization and repeatedly explained the favorable and unfavorable conditions for fighting this battle. At dawn on the 12th, the 9th Regiment Reconnaissance Team and the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion, led by battalion commander Huang Renting and the regiment reconnaissance team's staff, lying in advance around the mouth of Jiangjiahe River according to the combat plan, waiting for the Japanese army to fall into the trap. At around 8 o'clock, two Japanese motorboats carried more than 20 Japanese troops to appear. After most of the Japanese jumped into the boat, Guo Sijin was unwilling to waste a signal flare. He shot one Japanese army with one shot and issued a formal attack order. The soldiers opened fire together and wiped out the Japanese army completely in just over 20 minutes. Most of the Japanese were shot dead on the spot, and a few were captured alive and all were escorted to the headquarters, while none of our New Fourth Army commanders and fighters were injured or killed.
The news that the Fourth Detachment of the New Fourth Army won the first battle, and it was immediately known to the people of the whole country after growing wings. Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to Ye Ting on May 16 to commend him: "The Fourth Detachment of the Guild Army made a surprise defeat of the enemy, which is very commendable, and I hope to continue working hard." An officer from the 27th Army of the Kuomintang heard about this and gave a thumbs up to the New Fourth Army: "We have not been here for so long. You are not as many people as us, and you are not as good as our guns. As soon as you come, you fight with the Japanese. It's really amazing."
1939, Xiang Ying gave a report to the commanders and fighters of the entire army on the New Year with the title "Experiences and Lessons of the War of Resistance in the Year". He pointed out: "The battle in Jiangjiahekou is the 'first battle' of the New Fourth Army."
The ambush battle at the mouth of Jiangjiahekou is the well-deserved first battle and first victory of the New Fourth Army.
