Into Former Battlefields of War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression: By the Hutuo River, there once was such a cavalry unit​

The mist drifts, now thick, now thin...

This was the central Hebei plain in January 1942. The bitter winter brought with it a chilling silence, and the constant raids by Japanese troops cast even deeper gloom over the open, fertile lands.

On the evening of the 8th, a cavalry unit suddenly appeared on the plains outside Anping City. The horses' hooves were wrapped in thick cotton cloth, and the riders gripped their reins, swift as shooting stars yet silent as the night. Men and horses seemed to have merged with the darkness, the mist, and the boundless earth.

This was the Central Hebei Cavalry Regiment of the Eighth Route Army. They were on a mission: a night raid on the town of Anping.

Anping, bordered by the Hutuo River to the north and connected to the Pinghan Railway to the west, had been occupied by Japanese forces in February 1939. To prevent attacks from anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians, the Japanese used the county seat as a stronghold and rushed to repair the Shenxian- Anping Highway. Once completed, this highway would fragment the Central Hebei anti-Japanese base area.

The raid on Anping aimed to crush the enemy’s morale and halt the highway’s construction!

The Central Hebei Cavalry Regiment was formed by merging the defected 28th Cavalry Regiment of the Kuomintang’s 97th Army with the CPC Central Hebei Military District’s cavalry units, under the command of Regimental Commander Ma Renxing. In such difficult times, having a “rapid mobile force” like this was incredibly valuable!

The town of Anping was now within reach. The person Ma Renxing most wanted to see was Du Chenfu, the reconnaissance platoon leader he had sent into Anping months earlier to cooperate from the inside.

By now, Du Chenfu had "blended in" as a squad leader in the puppet army. After days of going in and out of the city, he had gathered detailed intelligence: there were about 500 Japanese and puppet troops in Anping, with six heavy machine guns, six mortars, and dozens of light machine guns. To build the highway, they had imprisoned over 400 laborers in the county’s Sheng’gu Temple...

Ma Renxing knew the night raid was meant to catch the Japanese off guard. To this end, he devised a detailed battle plan: the 2nd Company would approach covertly from the front to strike key points; the 1st and 3rd Companies would launch feint attacks on the flanks to seize breakthrough opportunities; the 4th Company would set up an ambush 20 li (about 10 km) south of Anping town to block enemy reinforcements. After a rapid march of over 70 kilometers, the cavalry regiment reached the outskirts of Anping around midnight. After hiding their horses, the soldiers crept toward the city gate.

As agreed, the scout imitated several bird calls and received a reply. A dark figure crouched and ran over quickly: "Commander, it's me!" Du Chenfu, dressed in puppet army uniform, stood before Ma Renxing, "All normal!"

Ma patted Du on the shoulder and whispered to 2nd Company’s assault platoon leader, Dai Hengzheng: "Attack!"

The second platoon followed Du toward the eastern gate. A puppet army sentry, startled by the sudden appearance of many figures in the dark, froze in place—before he could react, a flash of white light struck, and he collapsed. Du led the soldiers swiftly to the puppet barracks inside the eastern gate.

With a crash, they burst in: "Drop your weapons, and we’ll spare you!" Without firing a single shot, they successfully took control of the eastern gate.

The gate now open, the 2nd Company stormed silently into the town toward the next puppet army barracks.

Three signal flares shot into the night sky—our forces had launched a full-scale assault. Soldiers on both flanks executing feint attacks opened fire with all their weapons. The puppet soldiers stationed inside the west, south, and north gates were disoriented, firing randomly like headless flies.

Dozens of Japanese soldiers hiding in the walled compound at the southwest corner of the town, were also caught off guard. They scrambled for telephones, shouting incoherently.

Under covering fire, the 2nd Company pressed deeper into the eastern gate and soon stormed into another puppet army barracks. The awakened puppet soldiers were in complete disarray, yelling and firing blindly. Suddenly, a bullet struck Du Chenfu, who was at the forefront, and he fell. Comrades dragged him to a corner for first aid. Clutching his bleeding abdomen, he yelled: "Leave me! Charge!"

"Grenades!" Dai Hengzheng took them and hurled one after another into the barracks. Before the smoke cleared, he and several soldiers leapt into the courtyard, raised their sabers, and slashed fiercely. Seeing all was lost, the puppets surrendered.

The soldiers then charged toward the puppet county government compound. This was a tough nut to crack: its heavy gates were barred, walls topped with barbed wire and glass shards.

To minimize casualties, the commander gave the order: “Set it on fire!” Soldiers threw burning sorghum stalks into the courtyard. Thick smoke billowed instantly. Gunfire soon weakened. Seizing the chance, the soldiers broke a hole in the wall and tossed grenades through. With a series of loud explosions, wailing broke out inside. Someone shouted, “Stop! Stop! We surrender!”

Only the compound occupied by Japanese soldiers at the southwest corner of the town remained! The fortifications there were strong, equipped with heavy machine guns and mortars. The 2nd Company sealed off the courtyard gate, covering comrades as they quickly transported captured weapons and ammunition and evacuated the laborers seized by the Japanese.

Meanwhile, about 10 kilometers from Anping, the 4th Company clashed with Japanese reinforcements from the Bingcao stronghold. Japanese trucks were destroyed one by one, and soldiers charged at the dismounted Japanese with sabers. They withdrew only after their comrades-in-arms in Anping had pulled out.

In this battle, over 80 puppet soldiers and officials were captured, more than 400 laborers rescued, 2 light machine guns, over 50 rifles and pistols, 2 small cannons, and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition seized... More importantly, the Japanese attempt to complete the Shenxian–Anping Highway was completely foiled.

After the battle, a special congratulatory telegram came from Yan’an, commending the Jin-Cha-Ji (Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei) Military Region. Commander Lyu Zhengcao praised the battle as "a remarkably successful operation."

Thereafter, this cavalry regiment continued to fight on the frontlines of the Anti-Japanese Aggression War. The flames of war tempered their military spirit. However, the unit also made heavy sacrifices: from a force of over 1,200 to only more than 400 by the end of the war.

During the Liberation War, as the Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Column of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu (Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan) Field Army, they fought in northern Henan and southwestern Shandong, becoming an important assault force in the Huaihai Campaign.

As time passed, the sound of galloping hooves faded, and cavalry gradually withdrew from the stage of history. While stationed in the northern border regions, this unit was transformed into an artillery force and later into a modern mechanized infantry unit. Though the neighing of warhorses is heard no more, the proud and valiant spirit of the Central Hebei Cavalry Regiment lives on in this unit forever...

In May, the "Into the Former Battlefield" reporting team traveled from Beijing to Anping County, Hengshui, Hebei. With high-speed rail and highway travel, the trip took only two hours.

“Back then, the Japanese tried to connect the Shenxian–Anping Highway, but our Central Hebei Cavalry Regiment stopped them. Now? Anping has become a transportation hub,” said Li Jianzhua, president of the Anping Red Culture Research Society, standing by a highway entrance, visibly excited.

He counted on his fingers: “Now, national and provincial highways pass through Anping County, with several expressways nearby. Dingzhou and Hengshui high-speed rail stations are within an hour’s drive. From the nearby Zhengding Airport, it only takes three hours to fly to Guangzhou…”

(By Guangming Daily reporter Li Xiao, Yang Xuedan, Geng Jiankuo, Chen Yuanqiu)

Translated by Xiong Jian