I fought guerrilla warfare in the Yimeng Mountains during the Anti-Japanese War

On April 11, the Japanese army began shelling early in the morning. All large and small caliber artillery fired at the same time, indiscriminately bombarding the national army's frontline positions. The shelling lasted for a full two hours.

At eight o'clock, the bombers came again. This time they received the order to find the real artillery position at all costs. The bombers began to circle to confirm the target. There was still thick smoke behind the Kuomintang position, which was more sufficient than yesterday's preparation.

After circling for half an hour, they still hadn't found the Kuomintang's artillery positions. Although the smoke had thinned, soon more Kuomintang soldiers risked their lives to ignite piles of wet branches. They couldn't wait any longer. The fuel would not be enough, so they could only bomb based on judgment. The commander ordered all bombers to disperse, observe the reverse slope of each hill, and make their own judgment on the bombing.

The bombers began to dive in teams. This time they learned their lesson and did not bomb areas with thick smoke. Instead, they bombed wherever they thought was dangerous. This bombing tactic caused damage to the Kuomintang artillery positions. Four of the eleven artillery positions on the entire front were destroyed by aerial bombs. Fortunately, the artillery and the positions were separated and did not suffer a catastrophic disaster.

After the bombing, the Japanese army started shelling again, still attacking in a skirmish line. There was nothing they could do. They had been traumatized by the bombing and dared not charge in a group anymore. Now the commanders of the two divisions completely lost trust in the flying team.

Most of the National Army's losses were caused by the previous bombing and artillery fire. Although there were anti-artillery caves for shelter, the 60th Army and Sun Lianzhong's troops suffered heavy casualties.

At 9:30 in the morning, the Japanese skirmish line approached the front trench. The Japanese artillery was still firing and had no intention of stopping. This was actually very dangerous as the shells could easily hit the Japanese skirmish line. However, the two division commanders did not care about this loss. Without any further progress, the two divisions would become a laughing stock of the Japanese troops stationed in China.

At the position of the 31st Division of the Second Army, the National Army began shooting under the artillery fire. The Japanese began to charge, but the artillery fire still did not extend. The division commander Chi Chengfeng saw that the Japanese army would soon cross the 50-meter line and grenades would soon be thrown into the trenches, so he ordered the entire division to charge and fight the Japanese army in hand-to-hand combat.

Seeing that the tactics were effective, Seishirō Sakagami put down his telescope and breathed a sigh of relief. The Japanese were not afraid of bayonet fighting. As long as they engaged in close combat, there would always be a chance to take the trenches. He ordered the artillery to extend their fire to block the reinforcements of the Kuomintang's rear positions.

After more than half an hour of fierce fighting, the Japs finally retreated. Chi Chengfeng's 31st Division retreated to the trenches to rest. Although the Japanese army was firing indiscriminately, the main landing point of the shells was still in their direction. Although they killed a large number of Japanese soldiers, their own casualties were even more serious.

In the morning, the Japanese army rushed forward three times, but was repelled each time. However, the 31st Division could not hold on any longer, so Chi Chengfeng called his superior Sun Lianzhong and requested:

"Commander Sun, there are too many casualties. Let's retreat and take a breath!"

"No, absolutely not. Chi Chengfeng, listen to me. If you want to retreat, then come to see me with your head held high. I will go to see Commander Li with my head held high."

There was a busy tone on the phone, and Chi Chengfeng knew there was no hope. The Northwest Army has always been famous for its ability to fight tough battles. They just came up yesterday and withdrew today, which would definitely bring them a lot of criticism.

Their own division was not fully organized. They surrounded and annihilated the Inamura Division in Teng County. Although the Fifth War Zone and the Supreme Command announced that their own losses were not great, they knew that their own rice bowl was at stake. That was just a strategy of despising the Japanese. Two divisions attacked a regiment at the South Gate, and more than 3,000 people were killed in the battle alone, not to mention the injured. Although the lightly injured had already been on the front line, one or two thousand seriously injured were still lying in the rear for treatment and rest.

After a short rest after lunch, the Japanese army started another artillery attack at 1 p.m. Although the National Army still had seven artillery positions, after two days of consumption, the artillery shells had been greatly depleted. Faced with this kind of skirmish line attack, they were reluctant to waste any more artillery shells.

At noon, Chi Chengfeng gave the team a strict order, requiring all officers from the division commander down to lead by example and defend their positions to the death. Anyone who dared to retreat would be killed.

In one afternoon, the battalion commander was killed, the regiment commander was killed, and the deputy division commander was also killed. In the last wave of attack, Chi Chengfeng personally led the guard company to participate in the battle and engaged in a fierce bayonet fight with the Japanese army. Chi Chengfeng's stomach was cut by the Japanese bayonet, leaving his skin and flesh exposed. Despite being injured, he refused to leave the front line, and fought hard with the Japanese with blood all over his belly, and finally drove them back.

Chi Chengfeng didn't bother to treat his wounds and immediately called Commander Sun:

"Commander, there are more than 8,000 people in my army, but now there are only more than 2,000 left. The Japanese artillery bombardment is too fierce. Even their own people were blown up. Most of our people were killed. Why didn't they fire? We may really not be able to hold on tomorrow. We do not request to retreat. Please ask General Sun to contact the commander's headquarters and wait until our entire division has finished fighting. The follow-up troops must come up, otherwise the front line will be over."

Commander Sun knew that there were serious casualties in the morning, but he did not expect the situation to be even worse in the afternoon. Hearing the busy tone on the phone, he knew that his men were not cowards, but the troops could not really finish the battle like this. He hung up the phone and immediately contacted the theater headquarters. Before tomorrow morning, there would be less than 13,000 people left in the unit, and they must withdraw to rest, otherwise the Second Corps would be finished.

Li Zongren knew the situation on the front line very well. Not only the Second Corps, but also the Sixtieth Army of Lu Han of the Yunnan Army did not have many people left. It would be difficult to stop the coordinated attack of the Japanese skirmish line and artillery tomorrow. He gave orders to the messenger:

"Send a telegram to Tang Enbo's troops to take over the Second Corps' defense line under the cover of night, and let Sun Lianzhong withdraw to rest. At the same time, take over all artillery units of the Second Corps, together with the remaining four artillery regiments of the 20th Army, build real and fake artillery positions, and make every effort to guard against the Japanese bombing tomorrow morning."

"Send a telegram to Pang Bingxun and Commander Zhang's troops, ordering them to stop resting and take over the 60th Army's defensive line tonight. Also leave the 60th Army's artillery behind, and together with the artillery units of the two departments, build real and fake artillery positions to prevent air raids."

"This order is extremely urgent. In order to prevent the Japanese army from launching a night battle out of desperation, please have the two departments take over the battlefield as quickly as possible. If you miss the opportunity to fight, you will be severely punished."

After giving the order, Li Zongren still felt uneasy about Tang Enbo:

"Send a call to the Chongqing headquarters, asking the commander to personally give orders to Tang Enbo to take over the battlefield tonight at all costs. Whether the Japanese desperate charge can be stopped tomorrow depends on the bravery of the 20th Corps."

The headquarters received early reports on the battle situation from the front. Although the reverse slope tactics had achieved excellent results yesterday, with the adjustment of the Japanese tactics and the consumption of the National Army's artillery shells, and although the use of fake targets confused the Japanese bombing and the losses were not great, the artillery played a very limited role in a whole day of fighting. The frontline troops suffered heavy losses, and it was hard to say whether they could survive until tomorrow morning.

After seeing Li Zongren's top-secret telegram, the principal realized that it was time to let Tang Enbo and his men take action. The Northwest Army and the Yunnan Army had already been devastated. If they were to make a desperate retreat, it would cause chaos in the entire Taierzhuang defense zone. The Japanese army was good at seizing opportunities and would definitely follow suit. By then, they would most likely collapse completely. In that case, there would be no chance of fighting the Battle of Xuzhou.