In mid-to-late April 1941, after Xiao Wei from the Eighth Route Army attended the Party Congress and Anti-Corruption Work Conference of the Western Shandong Military Region, he was transferred from the Political Department of the Taixi Military Division (i.e. Division 1) to the 5th Independent Battalion of Dongping County as anti-rape officer.
At that time, the 5th Battalion was two companies that had just been upgraded from the district squadron, with a total of more than 150 people, and their combat effectiveness was not bad.
troops often operate in the mountainous area at the junction of Dongping 2nd District and Dong'e County. Further north is Pingyin County. We collectively call this area the Ping'a Mountain Area.
The general branch secretary of the Battalion Political Office has not yet taken up his post. Only Xiao Wei and the young director Xiao Cheng have to take up the work first.
In order to promote the military, political and sports work of the army and activate the spiritual and cultural life of young soldiers, the battalion decided to hold a battalion-wide sports meeting by taking advantage of the opportunity to commemorate the Red May .
Cadres and soldiers enthusiastically supported this event. After active preparations, the sports meeting was held on June 15 in Xigouliu, Ping'a Mountain District.
In the sports meeting, we successively conducted various competitions such as shooting, assassination, bomb dropping, tug-of-war, political quiz, singing, high jump, long jump and so on.
Xiao Wei had a sore under his left knee at that time, but he still insisted on participating in the high jump and won second place.
The entire sports meeting was tense, lively and enthusiastic, which greatly inspired the commanders and soldiers of the whole battalion and also brought great fun to the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians in the mountainous area.
The troops held a two-day sports meeting in Xigouliu in full swing. The enemy would not know it. In order to prevent a sudden attack by the enemy, on the evening of the 16th after the sports meeting ended, the independent battalion moved to Chenzhuang, close to the center of the mountainous area.
Unexpectedly, the enemy's situation was discovered just after the troops settled in.
Intelligence reports from various places showed that the enemy's 32nd Division and the puppet troops, totaling more than 5,000 people, came from Dongping, Dong'a, Pingyin, Feicheng and other places to "mopping up" the Ping'a Mountain area.
Our army has already fought with the enemy on the hill in front of the independent battalion, and the battalion headquarters also followed the troops up the mountain.
After intense exercise and marching, the sore on Xiao Wei's leg became so swollen that he was in so much pain that he could not walk. He sat on a stretcher with a chair tied to it and followed the troops to climb high and steep mountains. He was also very anxious.
After everyone climbed up the mountain pass, the fighting not only did not stop, but became more intense. The correspondent kept sending commands: Go quickly and quickly occupy the top of the mountain in front!
When everyone climbed up and occupied the top of the mountain in front, they saw that from the southwest and southeast of the mountain, many men and women supporting the elderly and children were fleeing.
Immediately afterwards, gunfire rang out from both directions.
At this time, the 4th Independent Battalion in Dong'e County also engaged the enemy in their northeast and due north directions.
All this shows that the enemy has surrounded them from all sides.
On the high mountain, Xiao Wei and the others could also see that the enemy was moving down the mountain and they were in a very dangerous situation.
But no one was panicking. The soldiers of the independent battalion were determined, brave and fearless. Relying on the favorable terrain on the mountain, they stubbornly repelled multiple enemy attacks without losing an inch of their position.
Everyone was eager to hold on until dark so that they could move out, but the scorching sun seemed to be nailed to the sky, motionless, making people sweat all over their bodies and anxious, and they persisted until dusk every minute.
Unexpectedly, the enemy attacked the Independent Battalion more fiercely, and concentrated their forces to capture a high mountain in the west. It seemed that they wanted to eliminate the Eighth Route Army before dark.
At this time, the 4th Battalion was also forced to withdraw to the 5th Battalion. The two battalions joined together and broke out towards Dazhai.
However, the 1st platoon led by Comrade Zhang Shupei who was standing on the southeast mountain has not yet withdrawn, and the two correspondents sent have also disappeared. I don’t know if they have been notified. Everyone is worried about the safety of comrades in the 1st platoon.
The troops took advantage of the darkness to break out of the enemy's gap.
When the troops arrived at Dazhai, the gunshots everywhere gradually stopped. They took a short rest on the wheat field at the head of the village and then continued to set off.The
troops walked another eighteen or ninety miles on the night road in the mountainous area. At this time, the comrades of the 1st platoon got rid of the enemy and caught up with the brigade safely. Everyone warmly congratulated them on their triumphant return, and their hanging hearts were finally relieved.
Everyone walked on the mountain and looked down, and saw that in the village at the foot of the mountain, fires were burning everywhere, people were shouting, birds were singing, and gunfire was heard. The situation was still very serious.
After two nights and one day of marching and fighting, the troops were exhausted and hungry. They marched very slowly and did not arrive at Liuzhuang until dawn.
Everyone arrived at Liuzhuang, but they were still surrounded by enemies, and they were in a narrow valley.
At this time, everyone discovered the enemy again, pressing on them step by step from all sides.
Faced with this severe situation, in order to form a joint force and fight in a unified manner, the two battalions temporarily formed a unified headquarters, carried out emergency combat mobilization from top to bottom, and called on everyone to fight to the death to break through the encirclement.
At the same time, documents were ordered to be destroyed and things that could not be taken away were ordered to be buried; all personnel were armed, and the sick and wounded who could not walk were left behind and the masses tried to cover them.
The situation was grim. At this time, Xiao Wei made up his mind and must follow the troops to break through.
But he had to reluctantly store the diary of his three-year combat life in a fellow villager's home to make all preparations for a breakout. How does
stand out from the enemy's encirclement?
Opinions were divided, some advocated dispersion, and some proposed dividing the troops into two groups. Comrade Qiang Renpu, the political commissar of the 5th Battalion, finally made up his mind:
Concentrate the forces of the two battalions, choose the west side where the enemy's troops are weak, and carry out a resolute breakout!
After the order was issued, the troops began to take action, and soon the enemy started fighting with the troops again.
The strong political commissar ordered the 1st Company of the 5th Battalion to take charge of the assault in the vanguard, and the 4th Battalion to cover in the rearguard, attacking and rushing outwards while walking. The
1 company moved quickly and had a brave style. When the soldiers approached the enemy's position, they held a gun in one hand and a grenade in the other. Regardless of the enemy's desperate interception, they rushed forward bravely. Under the cover of a burst of grenades and platoon guns, they quickly rushed to the top of the west hill.
Under the brave charge of our soldiers, the enemy lost their position and fled.
The follow-up personnel of the independent battalion also climbed up the west mountain and took advantage of the momentum to develop down the mountain.
Seeing that they had broken through the encirclement, the enemy tried to encircle the Independent Battalion from the north and south, but they were all beaten back by our army.
When the soldiers rushed down the mountain like tigers, even the enemies at Wang Gudian's stronghold on the Ping'a Highway were frightened and ran away quickly after seeing it.
The soldiers rushed all the way, killing and wounding thirty or forty enemies, while only slightly injuring two of them. Finally, they successfully broke out of the enemy's siege.
When the enemy mobilized reinforcements from the east, south and north, the troops had safely crossed the Si Canal and reached the Kunshan base safely.
