The Five Heroes of Langya Mountain —— A Group of Anti-Japanese Heroes

　　Since 1941, the Japanese invaders have stepped up their "mopping up" and "nibbling away" against the anti-Japanese base areas, especially the anti-Japanese base areas in North China, and launched a "campaign to strengthen public security", targeting the anti-Japanese base areas led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and their armed forces as the main targets. The anti-Japanese war behind enemy lines in the base areas entered an unprecedented difficult period, and the puppet troops launched a heroic and tenacious struggle on the same day. The "Five Heroes of Langya Mountain" is an anti-Japanese hero group in the arduous struggle between the army and the people behind enemy lines.

　　First, the battle of Langya Mountain

　　In August 1941, Okamura Ningji, commander of the Japanese North China Army, commanded more than 70,000 puppet troops (including more than 60,000 Japanese troops and more than 10,000 puppet troops) and launched an unprecedented autumn "mopping up" on the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border region. This large-scale "sweeping" and anti-"sweeping" struggle lasted for two months.

　　The Japanese army, with a large number of troops and fierce momentum, adopted long-range circuitous, converging attack and iron wall encirclement tactics in an attempt to destroy the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area in a short time. The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region made some preparations in advance for the "sweeping" of the enemy’s encirclement. On August 19th, the First Military Division of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region received operational guidelines and tactical instructions against "mopping up". Previously, the first division transformed the terrain fortifications of the Langyashan station where the main force of the army was located, and streamlined the organization. On August 23, the Japanese army began to attack. Over the past month, the battles around Yixian County have been going on.

　　Langya Mountain belongs to Taihang Mountain Range, which is southwest and northeast. It is located in the southwest of Yixian County, Hebei Province, including 5 Tuo 36 peaks including Qipaituo and Lianhuafeng. At that time, thousands of officers and men of our army and tens of thousands of people were hiding here to avoid the crazy "sweeping" of the Japanese army. In the early morning of September 23, the Japanese army began to attack Langya Mountain. The Japanese vanguard troops entrenched in Tanghu occupied Nanqi Village and Beiqi Village at the foot of the mountain, creating a massacre of many villagers. Then, the Japanese main force rushed out. At dawn, more than 3,500 Japanese puppet troops marched west from Dingxing and Fangshunqiao, and besieged a district station near Beiloushan in Yixian County. At that time, there were about 5,000 people in a district. The attack on Langya Mountain was launched by the Second Corps of the Japanese North China Army, which was composed of the 133rd Brigade of Infantry and its subordinate units. The head of the Corps was Major General Tsuda Meiwu, the head of the 133rd Brigade of Infantry.

　　With the puppet troops of the traitor Zhao Yukun leading the way, the Japanese army moved in quickly. The Japanese army deployed heavy troops at the entrance and exit, advancing from Beiguantou along Dongxishui Village to Langya Mountain. At noon on the 23rd, the Japanese puppet troops had gathered at the foot of the mountain. At that time, the number of troops staying in Langya Mountain was not large, and there were 30,000 to 40,000 party and government organs, guerrillas and the masses in Yixian, Dingxing, Xu Shui and Mancheng counties. We must find a way to organize a breakthrough as soon as possible. Yang Chengwu, commander of the first division, ordered four guerrilla detachments to be commanded by Qiu Wei, the head of a regiment who was recovering from illness on the mountain, and asked them to take advantage of the natural barrier terrain to hold their positions and wait for an opportunity to break through. Through the "flying line", the sub-regional intelligence station learned about the main rivers, Maoerya, Guantou, Dongxishui, Songshan, Loushan, Qishui, Caiyuan, Xueyiling, Nianzitai and Jiulian Mountain where the enemy was distributed around. At dusk on the 23rd, three regiments and twenty regiments from one division attacked at the same time from Lingxi, Aisha, Liujiatai and Wujiazhuangzi in the east and west. The Japanese troops in Guanshan and Songshan suffered heavy casualties and the puppet troops suffered heavy losses. The Japanese army thought that it had encountered the main force of our army, and immediately rushed to Beilou Mountain for rescue from Jiulianshan, Nianzitai and Xuediling, and a large part of the Japanese army was attracted to it. There is a big hole more than ten miles long in this area, which greatly reduces the pressure on our army. Colonel Qiu Wei seized the favorable opportunity and quickly organized a breakthrough.

　　According to the instructions of the head of a division, a company of a regiment stayed as a cover. The task of covering the evacuation of the main force was given to a group of seven companies. The Seventh Company moved from the east to the west of Langya Mountain, and got enough bullets and grenades in a cave, with the cooperation of local militia guerrillas. On the other hand, the main force of the division moved westward from Zhouzhuang via the upper and lower passes on the evening of 23rd. Until noon on 24th, the division headquarters was safely transferred to zhang jia zhuang.

　　According to the original deployment, the Seventh Company pretended to be a main force to attract the enemy’s main force, and then took advantage of night cover and familiarity with the terrain to wait for an opportunity to attack and destroy the enemy. Liu Fushan, the company commander of the Seventh Company, and Cai Zhanpeng, the instructor, led the soldiers of the whole company to take advantage of the natural hazards and the reformed terrain of Langya Mountain, and with the cooperation of the militia, divided their forces and laid mines on the enemy’s way up the mountain. After nightfall on the 24th, guerrilla detachments, government officials and the masses in four counties moved quietly along Pantuo Road to the vacant hole. At about 12 o’clock in the middle of the night, Class Six crossed Langya Mountain and came to the small village behind the mountain. The seventh company sent the first and third platoon to alert, and the second platoon was on standby. At about three or four o’clock in the morning, I received an order to cover the retreat of the seventh company and buy time for the withdrawal of the authorities. After completing the task of covering the masses to break through, the first and third rows were evacuated one after another, and the second row continued to cover. The company commander ordered the second platoon and the second squad to guard the north foot of the mountain and the sixth squad to guard the east entrance. After the second class left, the company commander took seven commanders and soldiers to evacuate along Pantuo Road, leaving the machine gun group to the sixth class to occupy the Xishan Pass, attracting enemy fire and continuing to cover the battle. The two men in the machine gun group were equipped with two machine guns. Ma Baoyu, the squad leader of Class Six, Ge Zhenlin, the vice squad leader, and five soldiers, including Hu Delin, Hu Fucai and Song Xueyi, bundled several boxes of grenades left by the regimental headquarters by moonlight, and then hid them in the most dangerous strongholds of "Yan Nose" and "Little Face" on the chessboard tuo.

　　On the morning of 25th, more than 500 Japanese puppet troops launched an attack on Langya Mountain. On the way up the mountain, the Japanese army from Dongxishui Village to Qipaituo fell down with the explosion of mines. The two-way firepower of the machine gun group attracted the enemy, who mistakenly thought that there was still the main force of our army on the mountain. Five soldiers, including Ma Baoyu, were divided into two groups to stop the enemy who tried to meet at Qipaituo. However, the machine gun even had limited bullets, and the machine gunner retreated after finishing the bullets. In order to stall the Japanese army, Class Six soldiers have been leading the enemy up the mountain. The Japanese army suffered losses in the previous attack and dared not act rashly. They took the form of strafing and shelling, probing in small groups and taking turns to attack. Six classes of soldiers guarded the main road of the chessboard tuo, fought bravely and held their positions, repelled four fierce Japanese charges and killed more than 50 enemies. Until noon, the Japanese did not climb the chessboard tuo. Chessboard Tuo has one road leading to the direction of the main force transfer, and the other is the road leading to the peak of Chessboard Tuo, which is also a dead end. In order not to expose the transfer route of the troops and ensure the safety of the main force, five soldiers chose to retreat to the top of Qipaituo. Ma Baoyu, the squad leader, led the soldiers to climb the top while shooting at the enemy relying on rocks and Woods. The enemy is in hot pursuit. Because the enemy is not familiar with the terrain, some of them were shot and rolled down the mountain, while others stepped on stones and fell into deep valleys. Class six soldiers led the enemy to the top of the road, but also got themselves into trouble.

　　There are three cliffs on the top of the chessboard, and there are no obstacles to rely on, no way back. Five strong men, led by monitor Ma Baoyu, fought fiercely with the enemy for five hours. When the ammunition is used up, throw stones at the enemy. They played out the last bullet and threw the last Grenade, but it was difficult to support them because of the disparity between them. At the last critical juncture, the five warriors would rather die than surrender. After destroying their guns, they jumped off the cliff. Ma Baoyu, Hu Delin and Hu Fucai died heroically, while Ge Zhenlin and Song Xueyi jumped off the cliff and hung on the branches of the cliff, but they survived. Ge Zhenlin was slightly injured, and Song Xueyi broke his waist. With their instinct for survival and tenacious perseverance, the two men climbed the cliff with difficulty, encouraged and helped each other to walk to Xiaoshilin and met Taoist Li, a local Taoist temple. After their rescue, they were taken to the hospital by the militia. The battle in Langya Mountain is over. The feats of five soldiers, including Ma Baoyu, who swore to the death to resist Japan, showed the noble quality of the people’s army led by communist party and the unconquerable heroism of the Chinese nation.

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