As we all know, when the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, there were only three divisions: 115, 120 and 129. But what is less known is that two months later, at the end of October 1937, the Eighth Route Army established another division, the independent first division of the Eighth Route Army. At that time, the division had three regiments under its command, in addition to special service battalions, cavalry companies, communications companies, artillery companies and engineer companies, with a total strength of more than 7,000 troops. So who was the commander of the independent division at that time? He is General Yang Chengwu, who is known as a white-robed young general.
Born in 1914, Yang Chengwu joined the Red Army at the age of 15, participated in various anti-encirclement and suppression operations, and accumulated military achievements and was promoted to political commissar of the Red Fourth Regiment. After the start of the Long March, the Central Red Army turned to battle all the way, and after forcibly crossing the Dadu River, it still could not get rid of the dangerous situation. Because at that time, the vanguard only controlled a few small wooden boats. Tens of thousands of Red Army crossing the river, if only these few small wooden boats, it would take a month at the earliest. Behind him, Xue Yue's Central Army and Liu Xiang's Sichuan Army were coming in a steady stream.
At this time, only by controlling the Luding Bridge on the Dadu River could the Red Army get out of danger. In the end, the superiors entrusted this arduous task to Yang Chengwu, and in order to compete with the enemy for time, Yang Chengwu led the Red Fourth Regiment to force 240 miles a day and night, and rushed to Luding Bridge before the enemy reinforcements arrived. Then Yang Chengwu personally selected 22 warriors, along the slippery iron cable, rushed across the Luding Bridge in one fell swoop, drove away the enemy troops, and opened the way for the Red Army to go north.
Flying to capture the Luding Bridge, Yang Chengwu, who was only 21 years old, became famous in one battle. More than three months later, he commanded the Red Fourth Regiment to capture the enemy's heavily guarded Lazikou in one fell swoop, removing an important obstacle for the Red Army to move north. After the Long March arrived in northern Shaanxi, Yang Chengwu was promoted to the commander of the Red First Division. Soon after the Outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the main force of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, and Yang Chengwu served as the commander of the independent regiment of the 115th Division, after which he led his troops to the North China Front to resist Japan.
After the Battle of Pingxingguan began, Yang Chengwu's independent regiment was ordered to block enemy reinforcements in the waist station area. He led his troops to fight for more than ten hours, but he did not let the two companies of the Japanese Kou move forward, making an important contribution to the victory of the Battle of Pingxingguan. Yang Chengwu then led his troops to set up an ambush at Fengjiagou and ambushed the Second Transport Brigade of the Japanese Banyuan Division, killing and wounding more than 100 Japanese troops. More than 120 large vehicles, more than 800 mules and horses, and more than 2,200 boxes of combat materials were seized.
After interrogating the prisoners, it was learned that there were only one hundred and ten Japanese troops stationed in Guangling City, and Yang Chengwu decided to take advantage of the victory to pursue and retake the county seat of Guangling County. Because of the capture of a lot of combat materials in the Fengjiagou ambush, the independent regiment's ammunition was very sufficient, coupled with the absolute superiority of troops, so it took only a few hours for the independent regiment to recover Guangling. Most of the Japanese troops defending the city were annihilated, and the rest fled in a daze. In the following ten days, Yang Chengwu led the independent regiment to recover 6 counties including Laiyuan, Lingqiu, Yi County, Wei County, Yangyuan and Hunyuan, and played the name of Hehewei.
Due to the continuous victories, the villagers mentioned Yang Chengwu and praised them, and the young and middle-aged people also came to join the army, and the troops quickly expanded to more than 7,000 people. At the end of October 1937, Yang Chengwu's independent regiment was promoted to the independent first division of the Eighth Route Army, and he was also promoted from regimental commander to division commander. In terms of position alone, Yang Chengwu at this time was already at the same level as Liu Bocheng, He Long and others, and he was only 23 years old at this time. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yang Chengwu participated in the War of Liberation and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and was awarded the rank of general in 1955.