On this day 88 years ago, September 13, 1937 (August 9, 1937 in the lunar calendar), the Sino-Japanese Battle of Xinkou. On the front line of Xinkou, our army rushed to the enemy and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. The Battle of Xinkou and Taiyuan was a large-scale battle organized by the Second Theater Region of the Kuomintang Front Battlefield to defend Taiyuan after the fall of Pingjin and the beginning of the Battle of Songhu. This battle lasted nearly two months from September 13 to November 8, 1937. During the battle, the main force of the Eighth Route Army led by the Communist Party, the First Fifth Division, and the First 129th Division, won the victory of Pingxingguan and the night attack on Yangmingbao, which effectively cooperated with the frontal battle. However, due to the Kuomintang's lack of command and poor combat, they finally lost Xinkou and Taiyuan. Since then, the North China barrier no longer exists. There was no war on the front battlefield in North China, and the Eighth Route Army led by the Communist Party went deep behind the enemy, opened up base areas, launched guerrilla warfare, and gradually became the main body of the North China War of Resistance. Xinkou was the gateway to Taiyuan from northern Shanxi and was the last line of defense to defend Taiyuan. In order to defend Taiyuan, the Kuomintang Second Theater Command gathered 6 army groups, a total of 31 divisions, 13 brigades, and about 280,000 people. Wei Lihuang, the deputy commander of the Second Theater Command, was the commander of the former enemy and organized the Battle of Xinkou. The specific troop deployment is as follows: the Central Corps is composed of the 9th, 15th, 17th, 19th and 14th Group Corps, which is commanded by Deputy Commander Wei Lihuang and is responsible for guarding the first-line positions of Caijiagang, Lingshan, South Huaihua and Yangmingbao; the 18th Army (except the 120th Division), the 73rd Division, and the 101st Division form the right-wing corps, which is commanded by Zhu De, the commander-in-chief of the 18th Army, to guard the first-line positions of Wutai Mountain; the 68th, 61st, 120th Division and the 7th Independent Brigade form the left-wing corps, which is commanded by Yang Aiyuan, the commander-in-chief of the 6th Army, to defend the first-line positions from Heiyu Village to Yangfangkou; the 34th Army, the 35th Army and the 66th Division are the reserves, commanded by Fu Zuoyi, the commander-in-chief of the 7th Army. The Japanese army participated in the Battle of Xinkou with about 3 divisions, more than 70,000 men, and was equipped with more than 350 cannons, more than 150 chariots and 300 aircraft. On October 1, more than a thousand Japanese troops attacked Yangmingbao, fought fiercely with a part of the Chinese 19th Army, and invaded Yangmingbao. On the 2nd, with the cooperation of aircraft and artillery, they attacked Jianxian County. On the 4th, the Japanese army mixed into the 15th Brigade detoured from the west of Jianxian County and attacked Yuanping Town. At this time, the Wei Lihuang Ministry transferred from Shijiazhuang on Pinghan Road had not arrived yet, and the Jin Suijun Army transferred from Wutai Mountain to Xinkou could not arrive until two days later. The situation was very critical. In order to give the main force sufficient time to gather in Xinkou and fight the enemy decisively, the Second Theater Command ordered the Chinese defenders to defend Jianxian County and Yuanping until the follow-up troops arrived. On May and June, the Japanese concentrated artillery fire on the Chinese defenders in Jianxian County, and the position was almost completely bombed. The 407th Regiment of the 19th Army suffered extremely heavy casualties. On the 7th, the Japanese army besieged Shixian County to 5,000 or 6,000 people. The Japanese bombarded the county town with more than 20 aircraft and more than 30 heavy artillery for 6 hours. The north city wall was destroyed, and the 41st Regiment suffered all casualties. The enemy took the opportunity to break in. The defenders of the east and west city walls fought bravely and engaged in street fighting with the enemy. At night, officers at all levels of the Chinese garrison personally led their troops to block the enemy. The Japanese army continued unabated, and the situation was irreparable. On the 8th, Commander Wang Jingguo had to lead the rest of the army to break through the siege, and Shixian County fell. Yuan Ping's garrison was Jiang Yuzhen's 196th Brigade. In order to enable the main force to complete the assembly at Xinkou, the Second Theater Command ordered him to "defend Yuanping for seven days (from October 1st), even if there are one soldier left." As the troops were transferring from Dai County to Yuanping, the Japanese had already pursued them behind their backs. There were still 20 miles away from Yuanping, Jiang Brigade and the enemy's 15th Brigade caught fire and fought and retreated. Outside Yuanping Town, Jiang Yuzhen ordered the army to build fortifications and defend railways and roads. The Japanese army, with the cooperation of aircraft, heavy artillery and chariots, launched a fierce attack on Yuanping with superior equipment. Jiang Yuzhen personally commanded, and the enemy's attacks were repelled many times. Jiang Brigade suffered increasingly heavy casualties, and the position gradually shrank. The Japanese army formed a situation of encirclement of Yuanping, and finally, Jiang Brigade had to retreat into the city. On the seventh day, the Japanese army broke in from the northeast corner of the city, occupied the eastern half of the city, and confronted Jiang Brigade across the street. At this time, Jiang Yuzhen received another order and ordered him to defend for another three days. He immediately said: "I swear to fight to the death, and I will not leave Sisi without orders." After the fall of County on October 8, a large number of Japanese troops surrounded Yuanping, and the northwest part of the city was also captured. At this time, there were only two or three hundred of the five thousand people of Jiang's brigade, who were besieged in the northeast corner of the city, but the soldiers were not afraid. Under the leadership of Jiang Yuzhen, they started street battles with the enemy, fighting hand-to-hand, and fighting from hospital to hospital. They persisted until the night of October 10th, completing the task of defending the city. After that, Jiang Yuzhen led the rest of the army to break through the encirclement, but unexpectedly, they were hit by enemy shells outside the city and died for the country. In this battle, Jiang Yuzhen's brigade fought with the enemy for 10 days, fighting against the strong invaders with the inferior army, and almost all of them died heroically. On the 11th, the Japanese occupied Yuanping. After the fall of Yuxian and Yuanping, Xinkou was completely under the direct attack of the Japanese army. Xinkou is located in the north of Xin County, an important place on Tongpu Road, on the right by the Wutai Mountains and the Zuoyi Ningwu Mountains. Between the two mountains is a river valley. There is a dirt mountain dozens of meters high in the river valley, and there are semi-permanent fortifications built on the mountain. On October 12, the headquarters of the Second Theater Command readjusted its deployment and transferred Fu Zuoyi's reserve corps to join the Central Corps to fight against the enemy. On the 13th, the Japanese mobilized more than 5,000 troops, under the cover of aircraft, artillery and chariots, to attack the central position of Xinkou - Nanhuaihua, in an attempt to implement a central breakthrough. Under the fierce attack of the Japanese army, the Nanhuaihua position was almost razed to the ground. Although the Chinese defenders were trapped in the scorched earth, they still killed the enemy heroically. They fought fiercely until late at night. The positions changed hands 13 times and finally surrounded and annihilated the enemy who broke into South Huaihua. On the 14th, the Japanese army increased their troops by thousands and stormed the South Huaihua position again. The Chinese defenders and the Japanese invaders engaged in a more intense battle. The 15th Army of the right-wing Chinese defenders fought with the enemy until evening, driving part of the Japanese army to the foot of Lingshan; the 10th Division of the left wing defeated part of the enemy and recaptured the old Lianjiazhuang and other places, but the main position of South Huaihua fell into the enemy's hands, and there was a breach in the defensive line. The saw-saw battle became more and more tragic. On October 15, in order to further expand the victory, annihilate the enemy, and recover the central position, the headquarters of China's Second Theater Command transferred about 5 brigades of the Ninth Army and the 21st Division under the command of Hao Mengling, the commander of the Central Corps and the commander of the Ninth Army, to launch a counteroffensive against the positions occupied by the Japanese army. The Chinese army attacked from the front and besieged the enemy from three sides. In front of the position, Hao Mengling, the commander of the army, spoke to the soldiers: "Previously, we guarded this position in one regiment, but now we have more than 100 people left, organized into a company, and still defend this position. Even the remaining one person has to defend this position. If we don't die for a day, our responsibility to resist the Japanese will not be finished. Before I set off, I have written a will at home. If I don't defeat the Japanese invaders, I Now I will hold this position with you and never retreat first. If I retreat first, you can shoot me whoever you are. Whoever you are, as long as you take a step back, I will shoot him immediately. Do you dare to stand here with me? "All the soldiers answered in unison:" Swear to stand still! "He said happily:" Okay, there will be a heart to die, and there will be no desire for life. "Then he waved a pen and wrote:" Where to stand, where to die "Eight words, telling the soldiers of the whole army. At 2 am on the 16th, the counterattack began. Under the command of Hao Mengling, the Chinese army connected several hills. At about 5 o'clock, it was dark. Hao Mengling was eager to rush to the forward position of the 5th Brigade to direct the battle. The officers and soldiers told him that it was very dangerous for a section of the road ahead to be blocked by enemy fire, and persuaded him to write a written order to send people to send it. Commander Hao said: "The crock pot will not be broken from the wellhead, and the general will inevitably die before the battle." After saying that, he resolutely ran to the forward position. When he passed through the position only 200 meters away from the enemy, he was unfortunately shot and died at the age of 39. At the same time, Liu Jiaqi, the commander of the 54th Division, was killed, and then Zheng Lianzhen, the commander of the 5th Independent Brigade, was also killed. Commander Hao Mengling was originally stationed in Guiyang, and the country was in danger, so he asked Ying to go north. Previously, he told his wife: "I am a soldier. I have spent half my life fighting the civil war and have no interest in the country. The Japanese invaders occupied the northeast, and the people were full of righteous indignation. Now that the Japanese invaders want to destroy China, our country has reached the last moment of life and death. I should go to the war of resistance and fight with the enemy." When he led his troops to bid farewell to his family through Wuhan, he said to his sons and daughters: "I love you, but I love our country more. Now the enemy is killing our compatriots every day. Everyone should kill the enemy. If the country dies, you will not have a good life." He couldn't bear to see his family crying before the departure, so he quietly wrote a suicide note for the children to read later. He wrote: This time I went north to fight against the Japanese, and I will make sacrifices. In case of death, you must listen to your mother's teachings and be filial to your grandmother. As for you waiting to go to school, I personally have no money. In the future, if the country is victorious, you can enter the school of the Vestigial Tribe.... At the front of the Xinkou position, he mobilized the officers before the war. He said: "In this war, the battle for the survival of the nation, only sacrifice; if you retreat again, to the Yellow River, there will be no soldiers left, how can there be any officers? This means that I die and the country lives, and the country lives and I die." On the eve of the decisive battle, he wrote to his wife: "This war of resistance is the last moment for the survival of the nation and the country. If you have the determination to sacrifice, you will become benevolent if you don't succeed. In order to strive for the final victory and make the Chinese nation live in the world forever, After I sacrificed myself, as long as the country exists, the education of my children will of course not be a problem... Yu sacrificed also has honor. As a soldier, he died for the country, and his death can be said to be deserved! "Hao Mengling died on October 16, fulfilling his long-cherished wish to fight for the country and the nation. After Hao Mengling died, the National Government held a state funeral for him and posthumously presented him as an army general to show his praise. On March 12, 1938, Comrade Mao Zedong praised Hao Mengling and others as" noble and great models "of the Chinese people at the Yan'an Memorial Conference for the fallen soldiers who fought against the enemy, proving that" the Chinese nation is by no means a group of sheep, but a great nation rich in national pride and human justice. " Due to the brave fighting of the Chinese defenders of Xinkou, the Japanese army began to attack the central position of Xinkou on October 13. By the end of October, the two sides fought fiercely for half a month, and the Japanese army could not fully occupy these areas. While the front defenders fought tenaciously against the enemy, the left and right corps of my flank continued to attack the Japanese rear in Wutai Mountain and Ningwu Mountain. On October 14, the 120th Division of the 18th Army cooperated with the 7th Independent Brigade to recapture Ningwu County in one fell swoop. On the 15th, the army wiped out more than 100 enemies in Guangling and Lingqiu areas and recaptured Guangling. On the 19th, a unit of the 129th Division of the 18th Army attacked the Japanese Yangmingbao Airport at night, killing more than 100 enemy personnel and destroying more than 20 aircraft, which caused the rampant Japanese army to lose their air superiority in the Battle of Xinkou. The harassment of the enemy by my left and right flanks, especially the advance of the 18th Army behind the enemy and the launching of guerrilla warfare, forced the Japanese army to defend the rear with considerable strength, and favorably supported the frontal battle in Xinkou. It was this effective cooperation that the Japanese army launched many attacks before the end of October, but the Xinkou position could not be breached by it, and the Chinese army could launch several counterattacks to annihilate the enemy. The Japanese army was stubbornly resisted by the Chinese army near Xinkou, and made little progress. Therefore, in mid-October, they sent troops to attack Taiyuan along the Zhengtai Road. The Chinese defenders stationed at Niangziguan Pass on Zhengtai Road were under the command of Huang Shaohong, the deputy commander of the Kuomintang's Second Theater. Since October 11, the Japanese and Chinese defenders have been fighting on Zhengtai Road and the area around Niangziguan. On the 14th, the Chinese defenders received reinforcements from Sun Lianzhong's headquarters near Niangziguan and immediately counterattacked the invading enemy, killing hundreds of enemies that day. On the 15th, they annihilated most of the more than 1,500 enemies who invaded Guanggou, and launched a full-line attack at dawn the next day to fight the enemy hand-to-hand and annihilate the enemy. But by the 19th, the Japanese reinforcements had increased significantly, and they were effectively coordinated by aircraft and artillery. Although the Chinese army continued to fight bravely, it gradually became inferior due to the disparity in strength. On the 26th, Niangziguan was captured by the Japanese army. Niangziguan was lost, and the Chinese defenders of Xinkou were in a situation of being under the enemy. On November 2, the Second Theater Command had to order the defenders of Xinkou to retreat to defend Taiyuan. Xinkou, which was covered in the blood of Chinese generals, was occupied by the Japanese on the same day, and the war turned to Taiyuan. The commander of the Chinese defenders on the front line of Xinkou is commanding the Japanese weapons captured in the Battle of Xinkou Hao Mengling/Zheng Tingzhen Liu Jialin/Jiang Yuzhen