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

Bin Shanyuan has been rather irritable recently. Ever since he took over the role of commander of the North China Expeditionary Army, not a single day has gone smoothly for him. After the Hashimoto Sakurako incident, the headquarters also began to hold people accountable. Ultimately, it was still that damn cold gun. That guy is simply the nemesis of the empire.

Spies from Chongqing had already reported that the destruction of the two divisions in Tengxian and Taierzhuang was due to this cold gun. The imperial soldiers suffered too much loss at his hands, and without sufficient manpower, Bin Shanyuan was not considering encirclement and suppression, so let them jump around first.

However, the two cities of Pingyi and Mengyin must be stationed, and together with Feixian, the three counties will surround Mengshan, in order to restrict the development of the Yimeng guerrillas and to restrict them from moving westward to destroy the Jinpu Line. Too few people will not work, and too many people will not work either. Too few people will easily lead to their destruction. Too many people will work for a short period of time, but over a long period of time, supplies will become a problem. Going to the countryside to rob food? That depends on where. Going to the countryside to rob food in that place is better than giving heads and equipment to the Yimeng guerrillas.

Bin Shanyuan suddenly remembered that there was a period of peace near Mengshan. Yes, just before the Panjinghu Brigade went there, Pingyi and Mengyin counties each had a battalion of troops, and they had no conflict with Mengshan. Forget it, send a regiment! How to defend it is left to the regiment commander to worry about. He was already upset and didn't want to think about anything about the Yimeng guerrillas.

On September 9, 14 Japanese troops occupied the two county towns of Pingyi and Mengyin, with 3000 people in each county town. There were 1500 trucks alone, carrying enough weapons, ammunition and supplies. Other large and small strongholds that could besiege Mengshan were also stationed by Japanese and puppet troops. The Yimeng guerrillas had to be restricted, even if there would be some losses.

Villagers from several villages at the foot of the mountain came to collect the money. Although their homes were gone, they knew they could not blame the guerrillas on Mount Mengshan. They could only consider themselves unlucky when encountering such a thing. Fortunately, every household took their valuables with them. Although their homes were gone, the fifty dollars and one hundred francs given by the guerrillas gave these families hope for life again.

Chen Feng originally wanted to give each family 100 silver dollars, but the silver dollars on the mountain were not enough. He remembered that Shen Honglie had also sent him 300,000 French francs. He knew that if this thing was not used quickly, it would become toilet paper in a few years. So he gave 100 silver dollars to each of the farmers who moved, and told them to spend the French francs first and then the silver dollars. At that time, the French francs were still in circulation. The Japanese would smuggle the French francs into the Kuomintang-controlled areas to buy supplies.

At that time, the country was in chaos and war. Three or five families would get together and build a house on any undeveloped hill to support themselves. Although most of the wasteland in the mountains had owners, people did not have the energy to cause trouble for those who occupied the wasteland without permission.

All the villages within a fifteen-mile radius of Mengshan were empty. Zhang Liang and Chen Feng reported that the family property they had accumulated in the past was not much left. If they did not expand the army, the food would be enough for a year, but the dollars were gone, and the legal currency and small yellow croakers were almost divided up. All the family property was only 312 large yellow croakers, which was only a little more than 100,000 dollars.

Chen Feng had a headache. It was uncomfortable enough for him to have to feed 500 people. He didn't know how Shen Honglie and his 6,000 to 7,000 people managed to hold on. He should find a special housekeeper. Zhang Liang and his men all had the task of leading troops, so it was not appropriate for them to be in charge of logistics. However, there were no such talents in the guerrillas now, so they could only make do with what they had for now.

As for the regiments in Pingmeng and Mengcheng, although they were vigorously building, Chen Feng did not want to target them. The spies in the two cities sent news that the defense was too tight and it was impossible to infiltrate. Except for the villagers who sold vegetables, no one could get close to them. However, the fact that the Japanese could spend money to buy vegetables was also a progress.

On September 9, Li Yunyan sent an urgent report that the Ma'an Fortress had fallen. Chen Feng looked at the telegram and felt helpless. The Japanese army had once again lowered their bottom line. The Ma'an Fortress was still destroyed by Li Yunheng. Originally, Bao Changyi led the team to defend very well. The Japanese army could not take it down for a long time. They fired a large number of poison gas bombs at the hilltop positions on both sides and the river fortress. The defenders suffered heavy casualties, but they still gathered the remnants of the army to block the Japanese attack.

Bao Changyi urgently asked for help. Xue Weiying, commander of the 167th Division stationed in Pengze, was ordered by acting commander-in-chief Bai Chongxi to go to the rescue. However, at the same time he received a call from Li Yunheng, commander of the th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, instructing him to take a small road.

Xue Weiying thought about it for a long time, and finally, out of contempt for the old Deputy Chief Bai, he did not follow the route from Pengze to Madang to quickly rescue the Changshan position, but instead took a detour along the rugged road east of Taibai Lake and advanced, and failed to arrive until Changshan fell.

After more than ten unsuccessful assaults, the Japanese army approached the Chinese army's position at dawn on the 15th and released poison gas bombs again. Almost all the remaining troops of a regiment were poisoned to death. By noon on the 15th, the Ma'an Fortress fell.

Not to mention the shamelessness of the Japanese army, the fall of the Ma'an Fortress was ultimately related to Li Yunheng, and they had been reminded to pay attention to this person!

Chen Feng continued to read the telegram. After the fall of Ma'an Fortress, Chongqing was furious. He knew that the fall of Ma'an meant the opening of the Yangtze River, which directly threatened the safety of Wuhan. Therefore, he ordered the Chinese army to counterattack with all their strength to recapture Ma'an Fortress.

However, the Ma'an fortifications, which failed to play an effective role in the hands of the Chinese army, became a strong shield in the hands of the Japanese. The Chinese army fought back more than a dozen times, and a large number of warriors shed blood on the battlefield, but they failed to shake the Ma'an fortress.

During several fierce battles, once the National Army was about to rush forward, the Japanese army inhumanely released poison gas, then rushed to the position and indiscriminately hacked and killed the poisoned Chinese soldiers, resulting in heavy casualties among the Chinese soldiers.

After the war, Li Yunheng, commander of the 16th Army, was punished by military discipline for his command errors. Xue Weiying, commander of the 167th Division, was executed for missing the opportunity to fight, and the division was disbanded, but these did not help the Battle of Wuhan.

Chen Feng felt tremendous pressure. In history, the Battle of Wuhan lasted only four and a half months. Now that the Madang Fortress was broken, it was very likely that the Japanese army would occupy Wuhan by the end of the year. Then they would have time and people to clean themselves up and grow stronger. This was what the Yimeng Guerrillas had to do. After the Battle of Wuhan was over, the Japanese army would most likely send a division to encircle and suppress them. Their own troops of several hundred people, even with the addition of Shen Honglie and the Lunan Detachment, would not be enough to resist the encirclement of the large Japanese army.

"Notify all commanders above the platoon level to gather in the conference room. The meeting will begin in half an hour."

Chen Feng felt that he could not wait any longer and must make full use of the time before the New Year to develop and grow.

Everyone was present in the cave meeting room. They were all very excited, thinking that the captain was going to take action against the Japanese in the two counties.

"Brothers, there is something I need to report to you. The Madang Fortress fell today."

Some people didn't quite understand the significance of the Ma'an Fortress, but those in Ningbo who had transferred from the National Army understood it, and their faces instantly became solemn.