The "Tiger Regiment" attacked the Japanese army at night at Baoqing Bridge in Danyang, Jiangsu
Yanling Town is located in the southwest of Danyang City, Jiangsu Province, bordering Dantu and Jintan. During the Anti-Japanese War, Yanling was the activity center of the Maoshan Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Base Area and an important passage for the New Fourth Army to "advance eastward" and "advance northward". Its strategic location was very important.
In Yanling Town, there is a bridge built in the Qing Dynasty called Baoqing Bridge, which spans both sides of the Jiandu River. More than 80 years ago, Baoqing Bridge witnessed a battle on New Year's Eve in which the New Fourth Army encircled and annihilated the Yanling defenders.
In February 1939, three days before New Year's Eve, the Second Regiment of the First Detachment of the New Fourth Army received a telegram ordering the First Battalion to attack Yanling Town.
The Second Regiment of the First Detachment of the New Fourth Army is a main regiment composed of 10 Red Army companies. During the Anti-Japanese War, the regiment fought in the anti-Japanese battlefields of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. It made outstanding achievements and was known as the "Tiger Regiment".
According to reconnaissance, the Japanese military strongholds were located in the landlord's compound and Changguo Temple (ancient Jizi Temple) opposite Baoqing Bridge in the center of Yanling Town. The Japanese army built two-story bunkers at the two corners of the west wall of the landlord's compound and set up sentries to guard them. The Sutra Collection Building of Changguo Temple in the northeast corner was transformed by the Japanese army into a tall and strong bunker. The front hall of Changguo Temple adjacent to the landlord's compound was filled with pseudo-armed police and maintenance personnel. There are more than 30 Japanese soldiers and more than 60 pseudo policemen in the entire stronghold.
Duan Huanjing, chief of staff of the Second Regiment of the New Fourth Army, and Zhang Zhixiu, commander of the first battalion, decided to launch an attack on Yanling on New Year's Eve. According to the battle plan, Wang Jian, the person in charge of the Yanling Underground Transportation Station, led the way that night. The first and second companies inserted themselves from the riverbed of the Jiandu River to the east of the Baoqing Bridge and surrounded the Japanese and puppet strongholds. The deputy commander of the first company, Yao Cheng, led his first platoon as an assault platoon. He used a ladder to enter the balcony on the second floor of the bunker and then rushed into the bunker. He disarmed and captured a group of pseudo-policemen who were gambling. Then the assault platoon rushed to the front hall and captured the pseudo-policemen who were drinking, guessing, and playing mahjong. The first and second platoons of the company sneaked into the landlord's compound, kicked open the door of the canteen, threw cluster grenades in, and then opened fire with machine guns and rifles at the chaotic Japanese troops in the canteen.
Because they ignored the attack on the unlit Westinghouse, the sleeping Japanese soldiers in the Westinghouse quickly fired their guns to resist. The Japanese troops on duty in the north and south bunkers also began to shoot at the New Fourth Army with crossfire. The Japanese troops in the West House threw incendiary bombs and ignited the piles of straw piled in the courtyard of the compound in an attempt to use a wall of fire to prevent the attacking team from advancing towards the West House and North House. Chief of Staff Duan Huanjing immediately ordered the first and second companies to break through the east, west, and north rooms of the landlord's compound, and enter the Sutra Collection Building and the entrance to the bunker to launch a fire attack. Walls were quickly opened one after another, and the soldiers brought a large amount of firewood from the firewood shed of the pseudo-police station, poured it with kerosene, put in prepared dried chili peppers, and set fires everywhere. It was a northeasterly wind, and the fire took advantage of the wind and instantly climbed up to the Buddhist scripture building and bunker. The thick chili smoke made the Japanese soldiers scream.
In this battle, more than 30 Japanese soldiers including Captain Rumu were killed or burned, Japanese soldier Hamanaka Masashi was captured alive, and more than 60 puppet policemen were captured alive. Since most of the Japanese army's equipment was destroyed in the flames, only 2 grenade launchers, 1 anti-aircraft machine gun, 1 light machine gun, more than 10 rifles, and 1 radio station were seized in this battle. The victory in the Yanling battle forced the Japanese army to shrink its strongholds in remote areas and established a starting point for the New Fourth Army to "advance eastward" and "go northward".