Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

Li Keyuan, commander of the 312th Brigade guarding Dongyang Pass, became interested immediately after receiving the ambush plan from the 389th Brigade. He personally led the 624th Regiment to meet with Huang Fu and others in order to cooperate with the entire ambush plan.

At 15:26 pm, the Japanese cavalry arrived at Xiaowang Xiaokou Village.

On the steep mountain top north of Xiaokou Village, Zhu Guosheng and Li Keyuan, commander of the 312th Brigade who had rushed to Xiaokou Village to cooperate, watched with binoculars as the Japanese army swaggered into the ambush circle they had set up.

At this time, the 624th Regiment was poorly equipped, so Li Keyuan combined the light and heavy machine guns of the entire regiment and deployed them on the high ground in the south, while the 1st Battalion of the 80th Regiment was on the high ground in the north.

At the same time, in order to prevent the Japanese cavalry from breaking out of the ambush circle, in addition to burying a large amount of explosives in the ambush circle, minefields were also arranged in front and behind. At the same time, in order to make up for the insufficient number of light and heavy machine guns in the front and rear, which caused the Japanese cavalry to rush out, it was decided to fire the rifles in three stages. At the same time, each shooter arranged a loader to help the soldier load the bullet belt while shooting.

As the Japanese cavalry unit completely entered the ambush circle, Zhu Guosheng fired a gunshot, and the soldiers on both sides pulled the fuse. Suddenly, the explosives in the ambush circle began to explode continuously among the Japanese troops, causing the formation of the Japanese cavalry to become chaotic.

Then the second wave of attack came immediately. Taking advantage of the steep terrain, the soldiers on both sides pulled out the fuses of the grenades in their hands and threw them into the cavalry. The exploding shrapnel blew the Japanese cavalry off their horses one by one, and the frightened Japanese picked up the carbines on their backs and began to shoot indiscriminately.

At this time, Goto Koshiro, the captain of the cavalry battalion, immediately ordered the signalman, "Hurry and report to the commander of the field brigade. Our troops have been ambushed by two Chinese army regiments in the area of ​​Xiaokou Village in front of Dongyang Pass. Request tactical guidance."

After that, he immediately assessed the battlefield situation and ordered the cavalry to begin retreating towards the weak firepower point. Then, how could the Eighth Route Army and Sichuan Army troops on the hills on both sides let this cavalry go? After the second round of explosions, the heavy machine guns on the hilltop immediately opened rapid fire.

Under the commanding fire of the Eighth Route Army and the Sichuan Army, the casualties of the Japanese Cavalry 108th Battalion began to increase continuously. The crossfire from both sides continued to harvest the panicked Japanese troops below. Soon only a scattered group of more than 100 people were left, and under the leadership of the battalion commander Goto Koshiro, they decided to rush forward quickly.

However, Goto Koshiro did not expect that as soon as he got out of the encirclement, he entered a minefield. War horses kept stepping on mines and causing explosions, taking away a group of Japanese soldiers. When Goto Koshiro rushed out of the minefield, only a few dozen scattered people were left in the entire brigade, and everyone was injured.

Before Goto Koshiro could feel happy, he saw Chinese troops appearing in front of him from afar. They were arranged into three teams and started shooting at him with rifles. Without time to think, Goto Koshiro could only continue to lead the remaining dozens of people in a desperate charge. He was directly killed by rifle bullets, fell off his horse and was trampled to a pulp.

The entire annihilation took only twenty minutes, and the 108th Cavalry Battalion of the 108th Division was completely annihilated by the Chinese army without a single casualty. The entire ambush battlefield was littered with the bodies of warhorses and Japanese soldiers, and then the entire mountainous area erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

The two armies then began to clean up the battlefield, temporarily leaving the Japanese corpses aside and cleaning up the equipment, the remaining intact horses, and the bodies of the killed horses. After Zhu Guosheng and Li Keyuan discussed it, they decided to divide the horse meat equally, give the sabers and other equipment to the Eighth Route Army, and the remaining rifles to the 624th Regiment. Li Keyuan then led the 624th Regiment back to Dongyang Pass.