In the summer of 1943, the Japanese army invaded Longzhouping in Changyang County, Hubei Province. In order to resist the Japanese Kou, the 55th Division of the Nationalist 94th Army stationed in the town of Moshi in the county was ordered to move to Duzhen Bay, west of Longzhouping.
Before leaving, division commander Wu Guangchao ordered the 165th Regiment to send a reinforcement squad to fortify the sigh ditch on the south bank of the Qing River in Longzhouping to cover the transfer of troops.
Sure enough, after the Japanese army occupied Longzhouping, they sent a force to cross the river from the Jiangjia River, and Antu disrupted the national army's troop transfer plan. They never expected that the River was easy to cross, and the sighing ditch was difficult.
The sigh ditch is opposite the Dragon Boat Ping, with fruit wine rock on the upper side, General Ridge on the lower side, and a small stream in the middle, leading directly to the Qing River. There is only a stone path on the creek that curves up the mountain, and on one side of the stone path is a stone wall cut by a knife and an axe, and on the other side is a deep ditch with rocks like a knife.
On 25 May, the Japanese sent a squadron of troops to force a crossing of the river with a few stolen wooden boats and a forced gonggong. When crossing the river, they set up machine guns, ambushed the boat, and prepared for battle.
When the boat reached the river, they were afraid that the Nationalist army would "attack it halfway through", so nervous that they did not even dare to come out of the atmosphere. But until the boat docked, there was no sound at all to the river. An officer with a saber muttered, and the Japanese immediately disembarked, quickly dispersed, and rushed up the river.
At this time, there was silence on the shore, and the Japanese army went straight into the sighing ditch. After entering the sigh ditch, the Japanese army saw that the road here was narrow and steep, and they could not help but be afraid and frightened.
However, after several dangerous places, the Nationalist army was still missing, and the Japanese army relaxed its mind, thinking that the Nationalist army was afraid of the "Imperial Army" and had fled in the wind. Some arrogant Japanese troops, almost like when Cao Cao walked Huarong without meeting Guan Yu, let out a sneer of contempt.
At this moment, the machine gun of "da, da, da..." sounded, and a rain of bullets poured down. Suddenly, a group of Japanese troops and war horses fell to the ground in despair before they could "sigh".
Ambushing the Japanese here was a reinforcement squad of the Nationalist 165th Regiment. They had only 1 light machine gun, 14 rifles, and 4 grenades per person.
According to the dangerous terrain here that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, they choose the fire point and hide themselves in the stone cave and the jungle. After the Japanese army entered the "canyon", they were condescending and opened fire at the same time.
The Japanese army saw the corpses of their companions fall down one by one, but they did not know where the bullets came from, let alone the shadow of the opponent's tracks, which was really heartbroken. In front of it was a rugged mountain road, and overhead was a net of fire made of bullets, and the arrogance of the Japanese army was suddenly swept away.
The Japanese commanders hurriedly ordered a retreat, and their rear army turned into a "vanguard" and retreated backwards. Fortunately, they slipped quickly, and finally escaped from a small number of people in the rain of bullets and bullets.
The Nationalist army only used a reinforcement squad to skillfully set up an ambush in the sighing ditch, and because the fighters were well grasped, they actually let the Japanese brigade return home with horses and feathers, which really responded to the old saying that "the soldiers are fine but not many."
One by one, full of the joy of victory, the generals rushed to the predetermined meeting site houlangtuo and reported the battle situation to the headquarters: "In this battle, more than 200 Japanese troops were killed, more than 100 warhorses were killed, and dozens of tons of guns and ammunition were captured."
When the regimental commander asked about the casualties of the brethren, the squad leader said wittily, "Report to the regimental commander, we have not even lost a straw shoe!" ”
Division Commander Wu Guangchao immediately praised them, and the officers and men of the Fifty-fifth Division all clapped their hands and applauded.
Due to the small scale of the battle, the sigh ditch ambush battle has rarely been mentioned in the history of the War of Resistance, but this was a clever victory played by the Nationalist army in the confrontation with the Japanese army, annihilating more than 200 enemy troops and zero casualties on their own side, which was really gratifying. More importantly, this battle dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army that invaded Changyang, which greatly encouraged the confidence of the Chinese army in resisting Japan, which was of extraordinary significance.