Origin of the title "Defender of the Immortal Mountain"

In the autumn of 1943, the Japanese army launched a three-month "sweep" to the Beiyue District of the Jinchaji Anti-Japanese Base ". The anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians of Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei adopted the combat policy of "the enemy advances and we advance, the combination of internal and external lines, dispersion and concentration" to bravely fight against the Japanese and puppet invaders.

Shenxian Mountain is located at the junction of Fuping, Laiyuan and Tang County at the eastern foot of the northern end of Taihang Mountain, with a radius of 100 miles and a main peak of 1800 meters. Due to its moderate geographical location and dangerous terrain, the mountainous area in this area has become an important base area for the Eighth Route Army in the War of Resistance Against Japan. The leading organs of the party, government and army in the Jinchaji Border Region, the Anti-enemy Drama Society of the Military Region, North China United University, Bethune School, arsenal factories, clothing factories, Hospitals, warehouses, etc. are also nearby.

After the "mopping up" began, the Japanese army attacked the rear organs of the military region and the people stationed in the Shenxianshan area in four routes. In order to smash the enemy's "mopping up", the Third Army Division of the Jinchaji Military Region ordered the 42nd Regiment (with 6 companies) to stay in Shenxian Mountain to take on the task of covering the military region's various agencies and the masses.

The 42nd regiment carried out ideological mobilization before the war and carried out full anti-"mopping-up" preparations together with the local militia. In the face of the superior enemy, after research and decision by regimental commander Cheng Shaofu, political commissar Xiong Guangyan, chief of staff Ma Weihua, etc., they adopted the tactics of breaking down one by one, "first take the enemy from the south". The battle began on September 25. The soldiers of the 42nd Regiment guarded the steep cliffs on both sides of the natural danger Jinlong Cave, repelled the enemy's 8 attacks, and killed and wounded more than 30 enemies. The next day, the enemy sent more troops to commit the crime again, and they also met with tenacious resistance from the 42nd regiment. Not only did they not get an inch of land, but more than 30 people were killed and wounded. They had to spend the next two days breathing in place and waiting for replenishment. The 42nd Regiment then took advantage of these two days to successfully jump out of the enemy's encirclement by Xiong Guangyan 1 Company to cover the rear organs. Cheng Shaofu and Ma Weihua commanded the troops to continue to fight on the inside.

At dawn on the 29th, the enemy gathered more than 1200 people and attacked Jiuli Eighteen Bay. The Japanese army first bombarded the two cliffs with mountain guns and mortars, and then let the puppet troops drive a group of goats in front to wade the mines. Who knows the mines planted by the eighth route army's blasting group do not blow up sheep, but only blow up the enemy. As soon as the enemy reached the first bend of the 18th bend, he stepped on a mine. One day of fierce fighting, the enemy killed and wounded nearly 100 people. In the following days, the 42nd Regiment continued to control the mountain on one side, and on the other side formed several fighting teams with the militia to attack the enemy's camp in turn. The enemy was out of support and had to retreat in a mess.

In early October, the Japanese army launched another attack around Shenxian Mountain, and was resisted by 42 regiments. The casualties were nearly 100, and they were forced to retreat to the banks of Dasha River and Tanghe River. In this way, the 42nd regiment went through 18 battles, large and small, and smashed the first siege of Shenxian Mountain by the Japanese and puppet.

Subsequently, the 42nd Regiment moved to the north bank of the Shahe River between Fuping and Wang Express, taking on the task of cracking down on the Japanese and puppet troops who were grabbing grain, covering up and helping the masses to grab grain.

From the end of October to the beginning of November, the enemy, unwilling to fail, gathered thousands of people and pounced on Shenxian Mountain again in nine routes. At this time, the 42nd Regiment was stationed at the platform near Jinlong Cave. Under the leadership and cover of the troops, the rear personnel were successfully transferred from the gap of 23 miles in the southwest. Cheng Shaofu, with the regiment command post and some troops, continued to deal with the enemy in the Shenxian Mountain area. The 42nd Regiment successfully contained a large number of enemies in Shenxian Mountain, and took advantage of the terrain to continuously beat back the enemy's group attacks, killing and wounding more than 200 enemies before successfully breaking through. It is worth mentioning that on October 28, when the command post of the 42nd Regiment and some soldiers stubbornly blocked the Japanese invasion at the main peak of Shenxian Mountain, an enemy plane flew to assist in the attack and was used by the 42nd Regiment soldiers with machine guns., The combined fire of the rifle was shot down. At the same time, the outline troops of the 42nd Regiment moved to the Quyang and Fuping highways, fought more than 10 times, and achieved the results of killing and injuring more than 200 enemies.

On November 5, in view of the heavy casualties of each department, the enemy had to shrink its troops and withdraw from the base area one by one. On the way back, it was ambushed by 42 regiments many times: one of them was killed when retreating to Xiaochaotou Ridge, and the other was killed. More than 80 people were killed, while the other was retreated to Diaowo Fort, and was ambushed again, killing and injuring more than 100 people.

On December 7, a Japanese brigade rushed out of Mazhuang, wrapped with more than 50 mules and horses, and fled in the direction of Mayi and Juncheng under the cover of two planes. That night, the enemy camped in the village of Caozhuangtai at the foot of the mountain of Shenxian. After receiving the information, Ma Weihua, chief of staff of the 42nd regiment, quickly led two companies and machine gun platoons to set up an ambush in the northwest area of Cao Zhuangtai on a starry night. In the early morning of the 8th, the Japanese army gathered on the beach outside the village, and the light and heavy machine guns of the 42 regiment's ambush troops opened fire together, killing more than 70 enemies within 15 minutes. The crippled enemy retreated in a panic. The 42nd regiment took advantage of the victory and pursued, killed and wounded more than 30 enemies, seized 50 mules, 1 machine gun, more than 100 rifles, and more than 10000 bullets. The Eighth Route Army took part in the war without any casualties.

On December 15, all the Japanese and puppet troops withdrew from the base areas, and the anti-"mopping-up" battle ended victoriously. After three months of heroic struggle, the 42nd Regiment fought the Japanese 46 times, killed and wounded more than 800 enemy troops, shot down an enemy plane, and won both inside and outside operations. After the war, the regiment was awarded the title of "Defender of the Immortal Mountain" by its superiors.

Source: People's Political Consultative Conference