Chapter 6: The First Date with War (Part 1)
On the evening of March 13, 1928, at around 11:30, a battle with unusual significance for Cheng Jiaji broke out in Dawangzhuang. First, there were loud gunshots from both ends of the village, and the sound of rifles, light machine guns, and heavy machine guns filled the air without any pause. Then, mortars and Japanese-made grenade launchers also roared to life in the cold wind of early spring. At the beginning of this battle, neither side had a clear understanding of the other's situation. The Chinese army had no idea that the Japanese could still mobilize a relatively intact battalion to infiltrate 30 miles behind the Chinese front line and engage in a surprise attack. On the other hand, the Japanese were unaware that they had chosen the worst possible time to launch their attack. If they had come a day earlier or later, the Third Army's headquarters would have been almost defenseless, but now they inevitably clashed with the vanguard of the 16th Army's advance detachment.
At the moment when the two village entrances almost simultaneously fired shots, Cheng Jiaji was playing mahjong with several close associates. For Cheng Jiaji, a nationalist, in this world without TV and computers, this was his only hobby. After arranging for sentries to be posted, he was in his own house engaged in a game of "siege warfare" with Gao Shiying, then chief of staff of the vanguard regiment, Wen Songyuan, commander of the first battalion, and Ma Sanbao, who had been promoted to commander of the guard company. When the shots rang out, it was Wen Songyuan, with his quick reflexes, who reacted fastest. Of course, Gao Shiying, with his rich combat experience, although slower than Wen Songyuan by half a beat in jumping up, had a much more professional reaction than Wen Songyuan, who had never been on the battlefield.
Gao Shiying didn't jump up and rush to the door like Wen Songyuan, instead he quickly loaded his shotgun and hid in a corner of the room, pointing the gun at the outside of the door. Soon after, he heard that the gunshot was still several hundred meters away, knowing that there was no immediate danger, Gao Shiying lowered his gun but didn't engage the safety, clearly he hadn't let his guard down despite the enemy being at a distance. As for our Commander Cheng, he appeared very calm, not moving or changing expression, staying in his position, truly having the demeanor of a great general, worthy of being our wise and powerful main character.
According to Ma Sanbao, the squad leader who was by his side at that time, later recalled: "The officer's calm and composed demeanor at that time was heartbreaking."
The Japanese post-war military history also acknowledges that Cheng Jiaxiang performed perfectly in his first battle. They describe the situation at the time as follows: (Captain, divided into two routes to launch a surprise attack on the Chinese army at night, the Chinese army was in chaos for a while, but its troops were one of the few German-equipped units of the Chinese army, and the enemy commander was calm and strong, showing extremely high military quality, immediately counterattacking the Imperial Army, with very mature tactical movements, and suddenly turning the tide of the battle, Captain's unit fell into a fierce battle. In this battle, Cheng Jiaxiang, the highest commander of the Chinese army's combat troops, showed extremely high tactical quality and a tough fighting style, causing the Imperial Army to fail.) The Japanese words are obviously not entirely believable, they had a large unit of 700 people attacking a Chinese army of around 1,000 people, still in a night surprise attack, but unexpectedly did not succeed, which was almost unimaginable at the time. (At that time, a Japanese regiment could normally defeat a Chinese army division, and a Japanese regiment usually had around 1,000 people during the initial period of the Anti-Japanese War, while a Chinese army division normally did not exceed 3,000 people.) Although the Japanese Yamaki Regiment was less than 800 people in this battle, the Chinese army was only around 1,000 people and did not even have a full regiment. With 70% of the strength of a regiment, they launched a surprise attack on an undermanned Chinese regiment, but unexpectedly fought for a whole night without gaining any advantage, and were eventually annihilated by the enemy's solo effort. This is a fact that the arrogant Japanese army did not want to face, and Cheng Jiaxiang's outstanding performance later provided the Fifth Division with the most sufficient reason to explain this ungraceful defeat, and added to the Japanese nation's inherent extreme worship of the strong, intentionally or unintentionally exaggerating Cheng Jiaxiang's image. Of course, through such exaggeration, all those responsible for Japan's failure in this action escaped severe military legal sanctions. Sometimes the Japanese were not so rigid. After the Linyi Battle, the Japanese intelligence agency even opened a file on Cheng Jiaxiang, a small regimental officer, allowing him to enjoy the treatment that only Chinese army major generals and above could enjoy ahead of time.
Only Cheng Jiaji himself knew that he was stunned at the time, as there had never been such a thing in history. This time on the battlefield, he encountered a situation where history was changed again, which is what our Commander-in-Chief Cheng Da most feared. How could it not make our Commander-in-Chief Cheng's heart extremely shocked, so that his facial expression was dull? As for the positive reaction from all sides after the event, Cheng Jiaji naturally sought it out, and no one would refuse to create momentum for both sides at the same time.
After saluting the officer in charge with a standard military salute, this young man, who was several years younger than Zhang Jiaqi and had enlisted as a high school student, hastily reported the situation outside to the officer.
"Deputy battalion commander, the Japanese are attacking from both village entrances at the same time, but our brothers have held them off. However, the little devils are fighting fiercely, and our brothers on both sides have suffered significant losses. Deputy Battalion Commander Yu is organizing forces to prepare for a counterattack."
When he learned that the previous battle had not collapsed but withstood the Japanese attack, Cheng Jiaji finally woke up from his excessive shock. He then remembered that he and Yu Juncai had made a series of arrangements in the village after entering it early this morning. It seemed that the little devils couldn't rush in for a while. On the one hand, he scolded himself for being overly worried and tense, on the other hand, he gave his first three combat orders to the lieutenant.
"Order the deputy battalion commander to hold the front line and organize all troops to prepare for battle, and should quickly investigate the number of Japanese troops. Without orders, no one is allowed to attack. Let him remember that our current task is not to kill a few little devils, even if we kill all these devils, if Xu and Pang two commanders have any mistakes, once it affects the entire battlefield, we will be sinners for eternity."
"Wen Yangchang, you immediately return to organize the troops and command the battle at Hou Zhuang. Remember, do not launch an attack without orders."
"Chief of Staff, you stay here to keep an eye on everything and represent me in asking General Xu and others to come to the brigade headquarters for a temporary retreat. Tell them I've already gone to Front Village."
After saying these words, Cheng Jiaji led the crowd to the front of the village where the sound of gunfire was even more intense than before. He was accompanied by Ma Sanbao and four other bodyguards who were always by his side. His back was straight and his pace was calm and unhurried, as if he were attending a banquet. This demeanor and bravery left a deep impression on the people at the command center. Many years later, Gao Shiyin told Cheng Jiaji that it was from that moment on that he had admired him as a superior officer. After all, not many high-ranking officers of the National Army dared to go to the front line at the beginning of the battle. Most of them stayed in the command center, giving orders through telephone and other means, even if half of their troops were killed, they wouldn't lose a single hair. Cheng Jiaji was indeed rare.
After the Battle of Linyi, a well-known painter in Wuhan painted an oil painting of this scene, which was included in the album of the Battle of Linyi. In the painting, Cheng Jiayan is depicted as heroic and confident, walking calmly towards the battlefield with a few guards, where fierce fighting is taking place. His calm and composed demeanor, combined with his elegant and aristocratic bearing on the battlefield, inspires admiration.
Of course, Ma Sanbao would never tell anyone in his life that when he saw his superior's legs trembling at the time, he couldn't walk fast because of this fact.
