After the Laoling meeting, Yang Jingyu and Wei Zhengmin jointly commanded the battle to ambush the puppet army and attack the Tukouzi tunnel project site of the Tongji Railway.
During the Laoling Conference, the Japanese puppets stepped up the mobilization of the Japanese garrison, the puppet Jing'an Army Brigade, the puppet Fengtian Cavalry Teaching Regiment and other troops to "encircle and suppress" the Ji'an Anti-Japanese Union forces.
The 1st Army of the Pseudo-Cavalry Teaching Regiment was defeated and learned how powerful it was. The Soo Brigade is different, it thinks that its soldiers are strong and strong, arrogant and conceited, and does not take the Anti-United Nations in its eyes. The Suo Brigade is a mixed brigade composed of the 42nd Puppet Cavalry Regiment and the 32nd Infantry Regiment, commanded by the brigade commander Major General Suo Jingqing and Japanese military instructor Iikasa, and was originally stationed in Rehe. Most of the soldiers of the Suo Brigade are Mongolians, good at fighting, well-equipped, fast-moving, and a puppet army with strong combat effectiveness. In 1936, the Suo Brigade was transferred to the Dongbian Province area to participate in the "Great Crusade" against the 1st Army of the United Nations, first stationed in Tonghua, and then moved to Ji'an.
Therefore, Yang Jingyu and Wei Zhengmin decided to adopt the tactics of besieging the city and sending reinforcements to annihilate the enemy army.
On June 6, 1938, Wei Zhengmin led the 2nd Army to attack Mosquito Ditch in Ji'an County and disarmed more than 20 puppet policemen. On June 9, Yang Jingyu sent troops to intercept the supply vehicle of the puppet police brigade at Lushui Bridge on the southern slope of Xiaoqinggou in Ji'an. On 11 June, when the Brigade heard that the Mosquito Ditch police had been disarmed and the supply vehicles had been intercepted, they dispatched more than 200 people from the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment and the 1st Police Brigade to pounce on Mosquito Ditch.
On June 10, Yang Jingyu led more than 400 soldiers into the ditch of Jiashiwu early, and set up ambushes in a narrow bush and weedy area on both sides of the highway, and more than a dozen machine guns were set up on the mountain beams on both sides of the south slope of the ditch and the small west ditch on the opposite side of the ditch, forming a crossfire network, echoing with the two mortars erected on the north gang of the ditch, blocking the road and the wooden bridge at the ditch. The entire pocket array is 1 kilometer deep, and it is properly arranged to fight snakes.
The 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment of the Soso Brigade and the puppet police brigade pounced on the mosquito ditch, stayed for a night, and returned to the county seat on the morning of the 12th. The ditch gate of the house is the only way to the county seat. The arrogant and domineering Sok Brigade troops are pretentious, and the puppet police are one step ahead and clear the way for them. The pseudo-police knew the depth and thought that there would be no good fruit to eat when they "opened the road", so they deliberately delayed the cooking time and let the 1st Battalion of the Suo Brigade go first. The puppet army was eager to return to the city, and without waiting for the puppet police to finish breakfast, they forced a group of people who had been arrested to carry supplies on the road and set off with a team. The pseudo-policeman cowered and followed unhurriedly. The puppet military and police have their own plans, but Yang Jingyu has already calculated them all, and the long "pocket" is enough to fit them all.
When they rushed into the pocket formation of the house, and as soon as the people who were carrying supplies had passed, Yang Jingyu's command gun sounded. The "hunters", who had been in ambush for two days, poured out their anger on the enemy, and in an instant, the sound of gunfire, cannons, and grenade explosions rang out. The low-lying and open terrain near the highway made the enemy unable to advance or retreat under the dense firepower of the anti-United Nations fighters, and was in a mess, with more than half of the casualties in the blink of an eye. Some of the remnants of the enemy drilled under the wooden bridge and resisted stubbornly, but after all, they could not resist the condescending blows of the Anti-Union and the fierce charge that followed. After an hour of fierce fighting, more than 200 enemies were basically annihilated except for a few pseudo-policemen who fled, and Xiao Yue, a Japanese adviser, was also killed by the Anti-Japanese Alliance. In this battle, the Anti-United Nations captured 2 machine guns, more than 100 rifles, and dozens of pistols, while the Anti-United Nations suffered only 2 casualties.
After eliminating the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment of the Suo Brigade, Yang Jingyu and Wei Zhengmin discussed that they would launch a new offensive against the Tongji Railway Project, focusing on attacking the fortified area from Yangcha to Ji'an, so as to further paralyze the Tongji Railway Project.
The Yangcha fortification area is the eighth area of the Ji'an fortification, which is constructed by the Imai Group of Japan, and the construction area is 10 kilometers long from the north of Yangcha Village to the front of Tukouziling. Except for the slightly open terrain near Yangcha Village, the rest of the area is a deep mountain valley, and the Laoling River meanders through the valley floor. The No. 11 and No. 12 railway bridges and the Tukouzi Tunnel are all within this section of the fortification area. Since March 13, when Yang Jingyu led his troops to blow up and burn down the Laoling tunnel project, the Japanese puppet army has strengthened the vigilance in the fortified area from Yangcha to Ji'an, and more than 100 Japanese garrisons and puppet cavalry have been stationed along the railway line in this area, and they are equipped with sophisticated weapons and equipment.
On the evening of June 19, 1938, Yang Jingyu and Wei Zhengmin commanded more than 700 people from the 1st Army Teaching Regiment of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the Zhang Regiment of the 2nd Division, and the 2nd Army Teaching Regiment to enter the dense forest near Yangcha Xishan and Tukouzi in three routes, preparing to simultaneously launch an attack on the Yangcha Engineering Division, the No. 11 and No. 12 Laoling Railway Bridges, the Tukouzi Tunnel Project, and the Jinjing Group dormitory area in the Yangcha Fortification Area. At about 23 o'clock in the middle of the night, the three teams simultaneously launched a fierce attack on their respective targets. At the railway construction site from Yangcha to Tukouzi, the sound of gunfire and killing shook the valley.
The first line of anti-union warriors rushed down the hill, cut the enemy's barbed wire, and made a detour back to the foot of Higashiyama, surrounding the Imai Gumi's office and dormitory. The soldiers rushed violently, killed the recalcitrant Japanese soldiers and the puppet police, set fire to the office of the Imai Gumi, the dormitory, the puppet police branch, as well as the construction site warehouse and factory, and destroyed all the external communication and liaison facilities in the Yangcha fortification area.
The second anti-union warriors launched a fierce attack on the No. 11 and No. 12 railway bridge construction sites, 3 kilometers south of Yangcha Village. They blew up the barbed wire, killed 8 Japanese sentries, stormed the construction site, captured 90 Japanese puppeteers, including Japanese engineers Takeuchi and Kobayashi, liberated more than 700 Chinese laborers, and then burned the bridge construction site into a sea of fire.
The third anti-union warriors defeated the Japanese puppet army guarding the Tukouzi tunnel, destroyed some construction site facilities, burned some building materials and the duty room of "East Asia Civil Engineering Co., Ltd." to ashes, and lifted the cement and lime that could not be burned into the river.
Three battlefields, all victories. This sabotage operation was another heavy blow dealt to the Tongji railway project by the Anti-Japanese Federation after the surprise attack on the Laoling Tunnel, paralyzing the construction of the section from Yangcha to Tukouzi for two months, and the economic loss was more than 200,000 yen. The Japanese invaders lamented: "June 19 is the most tragic day in the history of the construction of the Tongji line. "
Five days later, on the evening of June 24, Yang Jingyu commanded the troops to attack the Tukouzi tunnel project again. The continuous attack on the Tukouzi Tunnel is because it is one of the key projects of the Tongji Railway, and the amount of tunnel engineering is large, second only to the Laoling Tunnel, and it is necessary to completely destroy it. Under Yang Jingyu's correct decision, the troops attacking the Tukouzi Tunnel developed smoothly, attacking and annihilating the Japanese puppet army guarding the construction site in one fell swoop, killing many Japanese invaders such as Kazuo Suzuki and Yokota Policeman, liberating more than 250 Chinese laborers, and capturing a number of Japanese construction personnel. The attack on the Tukouzi Tunnel lasted for more than three hours, and the construction site was smashed to a pulp.
Later, according to the "Chronicle of the Construction of the Tongji Line" compiled by the Japanese "Manchurian Railway", during the construction of the Tongji Railway, "a group of about 600 people headed by Yang Jingyu" "endlessly interfered with the project, causing the project to be attacked dozens of times and suffering greatly." Since the anti-Japanese alliance attacked the Laoling Tunnel, the Japanese invaders have adopted various means such as increasing the number of police personnel and urgently recruiting security personnel, increasing the number of police dogs and pigeons in various sections of the Tongji Railway Project, but they are still unable to resist the continuous attacks of the anti-Japanese coalition forces, so that the project was forced to stop work for two months. It was not until August, after the First Route Army of the Anti-Japanese Union was transferred to the mountainous and forest areas north of Ji'an, that the Tongji Railway resumed full construction. According to the original plan, the Tongji line was supposed to be completed in March 1939, but it was not until the end of September of that year that the final construction of the railway was completed, and the construction period was delayed by half a year.
In 1938, after the First Route Army of the Anti-Japanese Federation moved to Laoling, its anti-Japanese struggle came out of the trough and reached a climax again, with brilliant results. In the spring and summer, the First Route Army frequently attacked and won many battles in succession. By the end of August, the personnel of the 1st Army had increased. The scope of the base area has also been further expanded, from Yangcha Xiaoqinggou in the east, to Shuangchahe Township and Taishang Township in the west, from Dalu Township, Yushulin Township, and Taiping Township in the south, and to Qinghe Town in the north, with a total area of more than 600 square kilometers. All this shows that the First Route Army has once again embarked on the road of revitalization after suffering heavy losses in two western expeditions.
However, Cheng Bin, commander of the 1st Division of the 1st Army, defected to the enemy, which made the First Route Army rise again and was in a disadvantageous position.
Cheng Bin, commander of the 1st Division of the 1st Army, defected to the enemy on June 29, 1938 at the alkali field near Benxi, Liaoning. Cheng Bin's defection did great harm to the First Route Army, not only did the 1st Division of the 1st Army basically collapse, but what was even more odious was that Cheng Bin exposed to the enemy the whereabouts of the leaders of the 1st Route Army, the numbers of the various units under his control, the rules of their activities, strategic deployments, tactical principles, secret camp facilities, and other important secrets that he was familiar with, thus bringing great harm to the 1st Route Army. What particularly saddened Yang Jingyu was that the future strategic development and deployment of the First Route Army, which had just embarked on the road of rejuvenation, had all been interrupted. The Laoling Conference had just been held, and the troops of the First Route Army successively attacked the Tongji Railway Project and regained the initiative on the battlefield. He and Wei Zhengmin both hoped that relying on the Laoling Mountainous Area, they would gradually carry out the three directions of west, north, and southeast, reopen the situation of the anti-Japanese guerrilla war in South Manchuria, and at the same time prepare for the third westward expedition to open up the connection with the Eighth Route Army in Guannai. Cheng Bin's mutiny ruined all this.
In view of this situation, in order to cope with this sudden situation, preserve strength, and crush the enemy's new offensive, the General Headquarters of the First Route Army decided to take urgent measures to change the composition of the troops and reformulate the strategic deployment. In mid-July 1938, the main leaders of the First Route Army once again held an emergency cadre meeting in Laoling, Ji'an, that is, the Second Laoling Conference. At the meeting, in light of the situation after Cheng Bin's defection, the direction of guerrilla activities of various units of the First Route Army was re-examined, and it was decided to cancel the original plan for the First Army to march westward again, reorganize the First Route Army, abolish the number of corps and divisions, and form one guard brigade and three front armies under the leadership of the General Headquarters, and each unit to carry out divisional operations.
The First Front Army was first formally formed in August of that year at Hei Blind Ditch in Jinchuan County. Cao Yafan is the commander, Yi Junshan is the director of the Political Department, and Yin Xiatai is the chief of staff, under the jurisdiction of one regiment and one machine gun squad, with a strength of about 250 troops, and plans to operate in Ji'an, Tonghua, Linjiang, Huifa, Henan, and Beizhu counties.
On November 25, 1938, the 6th Division of the 2nd Army was reorganized into the 2nd Front Army. The commander-in-chief, Kim Il Sung, had 350 people and was active in the four counties of Changbai, Fusong, Haojiang, Linjiang and Dongmanchu.
In July 1939, the 4th and 5th Divisions of the 2nd Army were reorganized into the Third Front Army. The commander-in-chief, Chen Hanzhang, a total of 300 people, was active in the four counties of East Manchurian and Suining.
When the First Front Army was organized, the Japanese puppets began to carry out the third "great crusade" against the First Route Army in order to implement their "three-year plan for public order and rectification." In this "crusade," the Japanese puppets mobilized more than 15,000 troops, and used Cheng Bin and other traitors who had just surrendered as eagle dogs to organize various types of "crusade teams," "propaganda and pacification classes," and "work squads." The enemy adopted the means of "tracking and pursuing, encircling on all sides, cutting off its food routes, cutting off its supplies, and gradually compressing the encirclement" to "encircle and suppress" the anti-United Nations, and dispatched planes in the sky to monitor, track, and reconnaisance the United Nations. The enemy army also put forward the slogan of "fighting Yang Jingyu only, not against the small anti-coalition troops" and spread rumors such as "Yang Jingyu has surrendered" to confuse and shake the hearts of the anti-coalition forces.
In the face of the enemy's frantic "crusade," Yang Jingyu and Wei Zhengmin decided to lead the newly formed First Route Army Guard Brigade and the First Front Army, totaling more than 400 people, to leave the Laoling base area and maneuver to the mountains and forests in the north around Tonghua and Linjiang, and to jump out of the encirclement that had not yet been formed by the Japanese puppet army in advance. On August 2, the two led the team to set off, and the magnificent Laoling Breakout Battle in the history of the First Route Army began.
On the afternoon of August 2, 1938, as soon as the vanguard of the Anti-Japanese Federation set off, they discovered the enemy situation near Miaoling: the "flower of Manchurian bandits" stationed in Laoling -- the 42nd Cavalry Regiment and the 32nd Infantry Regiment of the Puppet Army Suo Brigade, totaling more than 300 people, rushed to Miaoling to intercept the Anti-Japanese Union. After receiving a report of the enemy's situation, Yang Jingyu commanded more than 400 members of the First Front Army to set up an ambush in the Changgang area of the Tonghua (Hua) Ji (An) Highway in the Laoling Mountains, preparing to ambush the Suo Jingqing Brigade of the puppet Jing'an Army that had come to "crusade."
It is a small ravine in the Nagaoka area that stretches from northwest to southeast, and both sides of the ditch and the upper palm are full of high mountains. The Nagaoka Highway winds its way up to the valley on the hillside on the east side of the ditch, and intersects with the mountain road leading to Babaogou, where the terrain is relatively flat. Below was the source of a small river, on both sides of which were overgrown with bushes, making it a vantage point for the troops to conceal and to rise and rush to the road. Yang Jingyu sent a company to control the commanding heights in the southeast, arranged ambushes in the grass and trees on both sides of the Changgang Highway, arranged machine-gun fire points, and established a temporary command post on the mountainside to the north. Everything was ready, and it was already two or three o'clock in the afternoon.
It was the height of summer, the sun was scorching, and there was not a hint of wind. After a morning's march, the Soo Brigade was sweating profusely and panting. The puppet soldiers took off their shirts and white shirts, hung them on the small trees by the roadside, wiped their sweat, grabbed something casually and fanned the wind, and scolded their mothers with foul language. Unbeknownst to the enemy, the anti-union fighters who were lying in ambush had already aimed at them with their black muzzles.
There was a crisp sound of "pop", and Yang Jingyu's command gun issued an order to attack.
The anti-United Nations fighters who were lying in ambush in the grass and trees jumped up and fired at close range with dense firepower, instantly knocking down the enemy. The puppet army was negligent in taking precautions, and suffered heavy casualties under the sudden blow of the first wave of the Anti-Japanese Federation. However, after all, the Sok Brigade has undergone strict training and actual combat training, and its adaptability is stronger than that of other puppet troops. When the anti-United Nations fighters rushed at them with bayonets, they began to organize resistance, while giving full play to the pseudo-soldiers' skills in fighting to withstand the second wave of attacks of the anti-United Nations fighters; On the one hand, they divided their forces to seize the commanding heights in an attempt to change the unfavorable situation of being passively beaten.
Although the Suo Brigade has a certain combat effectiveness, "the brave who meet on a narrow road wins", and the unstoppable morale of the anti-union fighters is beyond the reach of the puppet soldiers of the Suo Brigade. The 42nd Regiment of the Soo Brigade was originally a cavalry, but it was not long after it was changed to infantry, and its ability to climb mountains and drill forests and its experience in mountain combat were far inferior to those of the Anti-Japanese Union. Therefore, after some desperate fighting, the Soso brigade suffered heavy casualties. The "Flower of Manchurian Bandits" met the most powerful opponent, and they cried out in distress and fled into the mountains and forests in a hurry. Suo Jingqing and the Japanese military instructors were hoarse and tried their best to supervise the battle, but they were helpless and difficult to recover the decline. After an hour of fierce fighting, many dead and wounded enemies lay on the Nagaoka Highway and the hillsides on both sides, and abandoned guns and ammunition were scattered all over the place. Just as the anti-union fighters were preparing to clean up the battlefield and clear out the remnants of the enemy, fierce gunfire suddenly rang out on the top of the southeast mountain. A series of bullets fired from the machine guns sent out clusters of dust and ash under the feet of the anti-union fighters at the bottom of the ditch. The anti-coalition forces suffered this unexpected blow and suffered casualties. It turned out that Chen Xiuming, the commander of a certain company controlling the commanding heights in the southeast, saw that the enemy's general trend had gone, so he took his soldiers down the mountain to capture the prisoners. A group of enemies took the opportunity to climb the hill, seized the commanding heights, and organized a new counterattack.
Yang Jingyu ordered the troops to immediately recapture the commanding heights. The enemy was condescending and used intensive fire to stop the counterattack of the Anti-United Nations, and the Anti-United Nations organized several unsuccessful attacks. At this time, it was almost dusk, and the battle should not be delayed for a long time, so Chief of Staff Yang Junheng personally led the soldiers to launch another assault on the mountain. Suddenly, a grenade thrown by the enemy exploded next to Yang Junheng, and he and several soldiers around him were unfortunately hit by shrapnel and died heroically. Yang Jingyu suddenly became angry and wanted to personally lead the team to take down the mountain, but the guards around him dragged him to death. Yang Jingyu once again organized the stormtroopers and deployed additional machine guns to strengthen fire cover. Company Commander Chen Xiuming, who had lost the commanding heights, was very remorseful and asked to join the stormtroopers and make meritorious service to atone for his crimes. Together with the soldiers of the stormtrooper, he shouted slogans such as "repay the blood debt from the enemy" and "avenge Chief of Staff Yang", and launched a more fierce attack on the commanding heights despite his own efforts, and finally recaptured the mountain in one go. Most of the enemy were killed, and only a few escaped by jumping off cliffs.
Suo Jingqing's last hope was shattered, so he had to lead a group of remnants of the defeated army and flee in the direction of the county under the cover of the vast night. The Anti-Japanese Federation killed and wounded more than 60 enemies, captured more than 30 enemies, and captured 9 machine guns, more than 130 rifles, 4 pistols, 2 binoculars, and a number of other military supplies. Japanese instructor cavalry lieutenant Shigetaka Nishida and infantry captain Takeharu Takaoka were killed. At dawn the next day, Yang Jingyu sent a company to continue the search, and captured more than a dozen puppet soldiers hiding in the woods, and captured 1 machine gun and more than 10 rifles. At this point, the battle of Nagaoka ended victoriously.
After two heavy blows by the Anti-Japanese Brigade, the main forces of the 32nd and 42nd Regiments of the Sole Brigade were basically annihilated by the Anti-Japanese Union. The "Flower of Manchurian Bandits" could not resist the fierce frost and snow, and since then it has been depressed. It is said that Suo Jingqing only brought a few attendants with him later, and left Ji'an crying.
After the battle, Yang Jingyu and the officers and soldiers packed Yang Junheng's body and buried the brave and combative general of the Anti-Japanese Federation on the post beam near Yangjiagou.
After the Battle of Nagaoka, Yang Jingyu continued to lead his troops north. On October 18, the guard brigade of the First Route Army of the Anti-Japanese Federation led by Yang Jingyu and Wei Zhengmin, and the troops of the 1st Regiment of the 2nd Army, totaling more than 400 people, prepared to pass through Linjiang, cross the Dingzi Mountain in Sifang, and move to Jinchuan. However, when the troops marched to the fork in the north of Banshigou near the Badaojiang River in Linjiang County, they were suddenly surrounded by more than 1,500 Japanese puppet troops. The enemy's troops participating in the battle included the Japanese Nakagawa and Fumori troops, and the puppet army Li You, and the enemy laid out the so-called "iron-walled encirclement array" composed of eight tents. The closest distance between us and the enemy was only 50 meters away. In the sky above the encirclement, enemy planes continued to distribute leaflets, and traitor Cheng Bin and others came to persuade him to surrender and shout. The enemy claimed that the anti-Japanese coalition forces were "difficult to fly with wings", and also promised that if Yang Jingyu surrendered, he would be entrusted with the title of "commander of the Eastern Border Province". However, the reply the enemy received was only a fierce return fire from the fighters. Fierce fighting all day long, the enemy was never able to break through the defensive positions of our troops.
When it got dark, the enemy at the bottom of the mountain stopped attacking, formed a tight fire blockade line with machine guns, and lit piles of fires to illuminate the mountains and mountains to prevent the Anti-Japanese Union from breaking through.
Yang Jingyu realized that the reinforced enemy would definitely arrive the next day, and this dark night was the last chance for the Anti-Union to break through. He and Wei Zhengmin held a cadre meeting again and deployed a breakthrough. Yang Jingyu calmed down at this time, and he said to everyone: The reason why the breakthrough during the day was unsuccessful was mainly because the breakthrough point was not selected, and the place where the Anti-Japanese Union was easy to rush out was also the place where the enemy blocked it the most. We must choose a place where the enemy does not expect to break out! Then he got up to inspect the enemy's situation and found that the fires in the northwest were relatively sparse. It turned out to be a cliff there, and the enemy obviously did not expect that the Anti-United Nations would break through from there. After discussion, he made up his mind: select a "stormtroopers" and break through from there! The time for the breakthrough was chosen at dawn: before the second half of the night, the enemy would definitely be very vigilant, and the anti-union should seize the time to rest; At dawn, the other party is tired, and the Anti-United Nations suddenly acts, and there is a great possibility of success!
In the early morning of the 19th, Yang Jingyu wittily and resolutely took advantage of the enemy's fatigue and slackness to form a "stormtrooper" and set off. An hour later, the "stormtroopers" suddenly descended from the cliff into the valley and rushed to the northwest hill where the enemy was holding it with lightning speed. The newly awakened enemy is forced to engage in a white-knuckle battle with the Anti-Alliance. The Anti-Japanese Federation gave full play to its expertise in close combat and night fighting, and caused the enemy to panic and make a mess. In the end, the anti-union slaughtered a bloody road and completely broke out of the encirclement.
Because the sky was hazy and it was difficult to distinguish between the enemy and us, the panicked enemy troops were still fighting there after the anti-Japanese coalition broke through, and when they found out that it was fratricidal, the anti-Japanese coalition forces had disappeared, and the enemy had to complain to themselves. The enemy lamented in the newspapers: "At dawn on the 19th, the enemy was facing the northern Niutian troops,...... desperately break through the encirclement array", "In the fierce battle, Yang and others took advantage of the night shadow and escaped". Breaking through the ditch, killing and wounding more than 70 enemy soldiers. This battle showed that even if the enemy laid a wide net, it would be difficult to subdue the wise and brave anti-Japanese coalition forces. After the troops broke through, Yang Jingyu and Wei Zhengmin respectively led their troops to move to the northern and eastern mountainous areas to carry out extensive anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare.