What was the battle of Xuzhou (Taierzhuang Battle) in history?

After the Japanese army occupied Nanjing and Jinan successively on February 3 and 27 of 1937 and 17, in order to quickly realize the invasion plan of destroying China and connecting the north and south battlefields, the Japanese army decided to attack Xuzhou from north to south along the Jin-Pu railway based in Nanjing and Jinan. In the battle of Xuzhou, Taierzhuang was the most famous victory, and the success of Taierzhuang was closely related to the "57 dead people".

On March 23, 1938, the Japanese army went south from Zaozhuang, and fought fiercely with the China garrison in Kangzhuang and Nigou on the north side of Taierzhuang, and the battle in Taierzhuang officially started. On 24th, more than 2,000 Japanese troops, with the cooperation of planes, artillery and tanks, began to attack Taierzhuang on a large scale.

On the morning of March 27th, the Japanese army in Iwatani broke through the northeast corner of Taierzhuang and started a tug-of-war with the garrison troops in Chifeng City. Although our army is dominant in number, its weapons and equipment are backward. After many battles in the morning, the Japanese army failed to drive out of the city and suffered heavy casualties. The Japanese radio station directly claimed that it had occupied all Taierzhuang.

At noon on March 27th, Huang Qiaosong, the commander stationed outside Taierzhuang, ordered Fashion Bin, the deputy battalion commander, to lead the 7th and 8th companies to reinforce Chifeng City. However, due to the fierce Japanese machine gun offensive, the 8 th company soldiers who took the lead in entering Taierzhuang quickly died, and then the 7 th company took on the task of frontal blocking. "The two sides will fight for every alley, and every house will be seized. When the enemy advances, I retreat, and I enter the enemy and die. " The situation is very intense.

On March 29th, the Japanese base camp sent Seto Valley detachment to reinforce Iwatani troops. Chiang Kai-shek, on the other hand, sent a message on the radio: Taierzhuang's barrier to Xu Hai is crucial to the second stage of the battle, so the second army is completely conservative, that is, it must sacrifice its spirit and fight hard. If it falls, all officers and men will be severely punished!

On March 3rd1day, after days of fierce fighting, 7 companies 130 people, only 57 people survived. By this time, the Japanese army had occupied four-fifths of Taierzhuang, and our soldiers were exhausted to the extreme.

Chi Fengcheng made a decisive decision and ordered the 57 soldiers to gather together to form a death squad and launched a final battle with the Japanese army. Without artillery and heavy machine guns, the 57 soldiers rushed to the Japanese army with long guns, broadswords slung sideways and grenades hanging from their waists. In fact, when the death squads were formed, it was announced that everyone would reward 30 yuan, and these 57 soldiers said in succession: We don't even want our lives, so why do we need money?

Touch the west gate, and under the cover of artillery fire, approach the Japanese position separated by only one wall. At the command of the company commander Wang Fantang, the death squads jumped up and jumped into the wall to fight with the Japanese army.

According to Wang Fantang, "At this time, the death squads were not allowed to think at all. When they saw the enemy raising their knives, they cut them. When they heard the noise, they shot them. No matter how big the obstacles are, the players hold the belief that they will die. All they know is to kill forward. The front one fell, and the back one followed. "

After about 1 hour of fighting, the Japanese army left more than 60 bodies and fled in a hurry (the Japanese army has always attached great importance to the disposal of compatriots' bodies, and there is no other choice but to find a way to bring them back to incineration and bring their ashes back to Japan). Only 13 of the 57 fighters of the death squads survived. Their sacrifice won precious time for China reinforcements and laid the foundation for the victory of Taierzhuang Campaign.

In mid-April, under the counterattack of China's army, the main Japanese army was defeated and the battle of Taierzhuang won. The victory of Taierzhuang was a great victory of China's army in the frontal battlefield at the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, which brought great confidence to the subsequent battles.