Tunnel warfare

Tunnel warfare

Tunnel warfare was a way of fighting against Japanese invaders in the North China Plain during the Anti Japanese war.

Tunnel warfare began from Ranzhuang, Baoding Qingyuan, Shanxi Chahar Hebei border area. Through continuous development, it changed from single hiding to underground fortification that can fight and hide, waterproof, fireproof and anti-virus, and gradually formed house to house, formed internal and external joint defense, cooperated with each other and attacked the enemy.

Tunnel warfare made the originally defenceless Jizhong plain an important combat area for Chinese army and people to fight against Japanese aggressors

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historical background

In the autumn of 1941, the Anti Japanese struggle in the central Hebei plain entered a difficult stage, and the Japanese puppet army's "sweeping" plan became increasingly cruel. In order to preserve their own strength, the people's Anti Japanese armed forces in central Hebei persisted in the plain guerrilla war for a long time and began to dig and use tunnels to fight against the Japanese puppet army. At the beginning of winter, Ranzhuang militia in Qingyuan County first dug a single hole in their home (commonly known as toad squat), which was soon destroyed by the Japanese puppet army. The militiamen transformed the single tunnel into a double tunnel, but they still could not fight effectively, and most of the tunnels were destroyed.

In 1942, after the anti "mopping up" campaign began in summer, the central Hebei District Committee of the Communist Party of China and the central Hebei military area code called on the people of central Hebei to dig tunnels. The structure of the tunnels was constantly improved and perfected, initially forming a tunnel network connecting every household and every village, which could not only conceal, transfer, prevent fire and water, but also be convenient to rely on for fighting. It became a strong underground fort for long-term adherence to the Anti Japanese struggle in the central Hebei plain Base. Ranzhuang's underpass also has great development. There are four main trunk lines and 24 branch lines, which connect every household in the village and lead to Sunzhuang, Jiangzhuang, suijiafen, hEPO and other villages, with a total length of more than 30 Li. The tunnel is generally 2 meters wide, 1.5 meters high and the top soil is more than 2 meters thick. There are lookout holes, shooting holes, air vents, traps, movable turnover plates, road signs, wells, grain storage rooms, etc. in the tunnel, it is convenient to fight against the enemy

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Evolution of tactics

Generation of tactics

At the beginning of 1939, after the Japanese army occupied Li County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, they often surrounded the villages and towns, and created another murder case. The bitter lesson forced the Anti Japanese army and people in Li county to think of a good way to avoid the sudden attack of the enemy.

Inspired by the idea of digging caves in the wild, Wang Fu, Secretary of the county Party committee of Li County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, at that time, instructed him to select a well-established village and dig many secret tunnels in remote courtyards. The courtyards were connected with each other, the families were connected, and it was easy for the enemy to escape when they came.

Later, after the decision of the county Party committee, the network tunnels were developed in the Anti Japanese villages and towns of Li County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, that is, families, streets, caves and villages were connected. Some villages have also invented a series of holes, that is, there are holes under the hole, there are holes in the hole, there are real holes, there are fake holes, dazzling. In battle, the improved tunnel soon showed its power.

In the spring of 1941, more than 30 Japanese and puppet troops launched a "May Day campaign" at Xinqiao stronghold in Lixian County. The guerrillas who had dug their tunnels were all waiting for the enemy to fight. When the enemy arrived, the guerrillas ambushed at the entrance of the village knocked down seven or eight with a row of guns and hand grenades. The enemy was unprepared. When they started to attack, the guerrillas had gone into the tunnel without a trace. When the enemy retreated, the guerrillas came out of the tunnel in the field, and there was another fierce attack behind them. Almost all the enemy forces, including a Japanese team leader, were annihilated. For a moment, the morale of the local Anti Japanese army and people was greatly boosted, and the arrogance of the Japanese puppet army, which used to swagger out to clean up, was no longer arrogant.

Soon after, Huang Jing and LV Zhengcao, leaders of the central Hebei base area, reported to Comrade Liu Shaoqi the new thing of tunnel warfare in Li County, Baoding City, Hebei Province. Comrade Shaoqi was very interested in tunnel warfare and instructed them to proceed from the local reality and carry forward the tactics of tunnel warfare. Therefore, LV Zhengcao, commander of Jizhong military region, and Cheng Zihua, political commissar, decided to spread this experience to the whole base area.

After the "May Day campaign" in 1942, the situation of Anti Japanese war in Jizhong base area was unprecedentedly severe, and the tunnel war was widely spread in various anti Japanese villages and towns. The tunnel war in Ranzhuang village of Qingyuan County was famous in this campaign.

The distribution range of the tunnels is from the southern suburbs of Beijing in the north, to the south of Baoding in Hebei Province in the west, to the south of Langfang in the west of Cangzhou in the East, to the north of Shijiazhuang and the north of Hengshui in the south. It covers an area of about 130 km around the Middle East of Baoding.

General leader

In order to persist in the Anti Japanese guerrilla war in the central Hebei plain for a long time, he sent Cheng Zihua to serve as a political commissar of the central Hebei military region, and Kuang Fuzhao was ordered to follow Cheng Zihua to serve as a political commissar of the first division of the central Hebei military region. After arriving at the troops under the jurisdiction of Kuang Fu Zhao, after a period of investigation and research, it is concluded that the central Hebei area is located in the plain, and there is almost no danger to defend. Therefore, tunnel warfare is a good way to adapt the Eighth Route Army, which is used to guerrilla warfare in mountainous areas, to this unfavorable terrain as soon as possible.

Once, Kuang Fu Zhao was investigating in the village when the enemy suddenly attacked him. Kuang Fu Zhao temporarily hid in the "toad squat" dug by the villagers to avoid the search. This passive way of hiding, let Kuang Fu Zhao feel a lot, this simple tunnel, once found by the enemy, will cause serious consequences. We must turn passive into active. "These bloody lessons tell us that we can't just rely on" toad squatting "to avoid passively. We must find another effective way to hide and fight," he said at a meeting of district leaders He asked to connect the "toad squat" to become a tunnel? One village can be connected, and so can several villages. When one village is attacked by the enemy, it is possible to hide in another village. When the enemy finds one, there are still many, hundreds or thousands of them. Since tunnels can be used to hide people, they can also be used for transporting troops, storing ammunition, fighting and other purposes

Therefore, Kuang Fu Zhao asked members of the party and League, the militia and the masses to cooperate with the special staff to dig tunnels. According to the terrain of the village, they are required to connect the underground of the main roads in the village with a "middle" shaped passage, and build four prevention facilities for smoke prevention, fire prevention, poison prevention and water proofing in the tunnel. Kuang Fu Zhao not only solved some difficult problems encountered in the process of building the tunnel one by one, but also designed the tunnel excavation map by himself: after the next section of the tunnel was excavated, it was excavated more than 1 meter down, 1 meter forward, and then pulled up to form a "concave" shape; the hole dug down was made of solid "prefabricated component" wooden box, and the prefabricated wooden box was filled with the hole As camouflage, the guerrillas can not only climb out, but also let the people outside enter the tunnel as long as they push from the bottom. If the enemy finds the hole and enters the tunnel, the people inside the tunnel can use the observation system set up inside to observe the enemy's movement through the hole of the gun and find an opportunity to destroy the enemy, so that the enemy entering the tunnel has no way to escape.

In the specific excavation, Kuang Fu Zhao also instructed grass-roots cadres to often consult the experienced masses, brainstorm, and achieve the greatest effect. According to the instructions of Kuang Fu Zhao, the soldiers and civilians in each village have built a "underground Great Wall" with complex structure and complete functions, which is rare in the world.

In order to solve the problems of lack of oxygen, ventilation and drinking water in the tunnel, Kuang Fu Zhao, together with the tunnel designer, skillfully combined the tunnel vent with the buildings and natural objects on the ground, such as chimneys, water wells, wall tops, etc., built bunkers and shooting holes at some corners of the village, streets and courtyards, and connected them with the buildings Connect the tunnels. In the face of the enemy's situation, those who can annihilate the enemy will be annihilated. Those who can't annihilate all will be annihilated. After annihilating part of the enemy, they will enter the tunnel to fight with the enemy until they are dragged down and killed, and finally the goal of annihilation will be achieved.

With the accumulation of practical experience in tunnel warfare, Kuang Fu has made continuous experiments and improvements according to the changes of battlefield situation. Many villages have built combat tunnels that can fight, defend, hide and attack

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In 1943, the combat function of the tunnel was gradually improved. The tunnel is equipped with shooting holes, traps and turnovers, which makes the tunnel develop from a military and civilian hiding place to a combat facility for raiding the enemy.

The shooting holes are distributed under the wall foundation, in the sandwich wall, behind the threshold and other important traffic roads connected by the underpass branch. There are single shooting equipment for vertical or sitting shooting, and bunkers to ensure the accuracy of shooting.

A trap is often set at the lower end of the tunnel entrance. The trap is covered with a movable flap, with sharp knives or mines and other explosives at the bottom. The turnover board is usually supported by wooden sticks and can walk. However, when the enemy enters the tunnel, the wooden sticks supporting the turnover board will be pulled away. When the enemy steps on the turnover board, he will fall into the trap.

The joint of two or more underpasses is provided with a turnover, that is, a wooden board or slate cover with shaft. When the turnover turns over a certain angle, one underpass is blocked and another underpass is opened. The use of flip, can induce the enemy into a trap or dead end, and then through the two sides of the hole sniper enemy

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Application of tactics

Since 1943, tunnel warfare has entered a new stage of development. In the central Hebei plain and some parts of Southern Hebei, tunnel networks of houses, streets, and villages have gradually formed, forming internal and external joint defense, cooperating with each other, and attacking the enemy positions. After the tunnel battle, the enemy tried their best to use the

Chinese PinYin : Di Dao Zhan