The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 257 The counterattack begins

On April 4st, a holiday known in the West as April Fools' Day, the fighting in the areas outside Taierzhuang became increasingly fierce.

Unfortunately, after a day of hard fighting, the Japanese Sakamoto Detachment and other reinforcements still failed to break through the interception of the National Army's blocking forces, and the situation of the Seya Detachment became increasingly worse.

On this day, the total number of cavalry troops of the Subei Independent Regiment finally exceeded the 1,000 mark.

Throughout the entire day, the temporary base was filled with the sound of gunfire, which was the sound of a group of new recruits riding on their horses and practicing firing with their rifles.

Every recruit fired at least twenty rounds of ammunition.

On April 4, the Sakamoto Detachment of the Japanese Fifth Division and other units of the Tenth Division made very limited progress after paying a price.

It was obvious that there was no way to successfully reach Taierzhuang and meet up with the Seya Detachment in a short period of time.

After receiving the news, the Seya Detachment began to blow up and burn the supplies that were inconvenient to carry overnight.

Seeing that the situation was not good, these Japanese soldiers prepared to break out towards Yicheng and meet up with reinforcements.

It was also at a little after eight o'clock that evening that Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone issued an order to launch a general attack on the Seya Detachment the next day to completely eliminate this group of devils.

In the Fifth War Zone Command Center, which was served by the former Daqing Governor's Office, Commander Li's extremely firm voice was heard.

A series of commands were issued one after another:

"Order the commander of the 30th Division to dispatch a regiment to Taierzhuang, commanded by Division Commander Chi Fengcheng. Before dawn tomorrow, begin clearing out the remaining enemy forces in Taierzhuang..."

"Send another telegram to Commander Tang, demanding that he launch a general offensive against the enemy in Taierzhuang from behind with the main force of the corps before dawn on April 4rd.

Military orders are as heavy as a mountain, and military law is ruthless. If you disobey orders and miss the opportunity to fight, you will be punished severely for disobeying orders..."

"Telegram to Pang Bingxun..."

After Commander Li issued a series of orders, a senior staff officer thought of something.

I couldn't help but remind him, "Commander Li, Hu Biao's Subei Independent Regiment has formed a cavalry unit of over a thousand men outside the south gate of Taierzhuang.

Although the quality is a little worse, its mobility is much stronger than that of infantry.

Especially if the Seya Detachment wants to escape, it should be of great help; otherwise, we should assign them some tasks, just in case."

As soon as the voice fell, before Li Changguan could say anything, another deputy minister from the government, Lin, started to refute:

"Hu Biao and his Subei Independent Regiment have already suffered heavy casualties in this battle. Since the Seya Detachment can't escape, let's not trouble them and let them rest."

After hearing this, the two big guys, Li Bai, couldn't help but look at each other.

With their keen eyesight, they could see that this was because they saw that Hu Biao and the Subei Independent Regiment had already made great contributions and gained great fame in this battle, and they did not want to give them any more military merits and fame.

So at the end of this process, we took the initiative to exclude them.

The heavy casualties and the need for a good rest are just some nice excuses.

However, this Deputy Minister Lin is the Deputy Minister of the Military and Political Department. He is now in charge of the Fifth War Zone, and his words are equivalent to the opinions of the bald principal.

Seeing that the other party said so, they could only express their agreement.

So in the following period, numerous orders were conveyed to numerous troops in the Taierzhuang area through telephone lines, messengers, and telegrams.

Unfortunately, Hu Biao and his Subei Independent Regiment did not receive any orders...

******
April 4rd, 3:1 p.m.

Five men, each one of them a formidable presence, whipped their horses furiously as they galloped towards the Subei Independent Regiment's temporary encampment outside the south gate. At the edge of the camp, several knights dismounted, their horses and themselves drenched in sweat, as if pulled out of water.

After throwing away the reins, he stumbled towards the regimental headquarters which consisted of several tents.

After rushing into a tent in the middle and seeing the men anxiously waiting for Hu Biao and the others, the leading man immediately started yelling out a string of messages like a machine gun:
"Reporting to Commander Hu and all the other officers, we brothers have figured out the situation.

This morning, the Japanese left a rearguard unit in Taierzhuang, and the other three or four thousand people began to retreat; they probably planned to retreat to Yicheng and meet up with the 10th Division.

The National Army has deployed a lot of troops, which can normally prevent them from joining together.

But today the Japanese used a lot of planes to bombard the area indiscriminately to clear the way.

Although the National Army troops were trying their best to stop the attack, neither the Seya Detachment nor other troops of the 10th Division were able to stop it.

Now the Seya Detachment has broken through to the vicinity of Huzhuang, which is only about thirty miles away from Yicheng.

The rest of the 10th Division is only about 40 miles away from Yicheng. I'm afraid they'll all converge tomorrow afternoon, and there'll be no chance of annihilating them all."

After hearing this, Hu Biao and others were cheered up.

Just yesterday at 3 a.m., the National Army launched a general attack on the Seya Detachment; but no one notified them or asked the Subei Independent Regiment to do anything.

However, Hu Biao and the others didn't care and didn't attack immediately.

Instead, he immediately sent away the seventy or eighty horse bandits who had come to help in the past two days, in order to monitor the whereabouts of the Japanese.

It was not unexpected for them that it was not so easy to wipe out the Seya Detachment.

If they hadn't taken action, part of the Seya detachment might have escaped; even if there were only a thousand people, the meaning would have been completely different.

"Which grandson wants to eat alone without our Subei Independent Regiment? Do you have such a big appetite and ability?"

After Hu Biao cursed like this, he and several other time travelers looked at a map on the table that was seized from the Japanese.

It’s not that they are Westernized, but the Japanese maps are so much more detailed than those of the National Army.

After finding the specific location of Huzhuang on the map, everyone almost simultaneously pointed their fingers to a place called "Nigou" about thirty miles away from Taierzhuang.

There is no doubt that now is finally the time for them to take the initiative and make the final decision.

The place called Nigou was also the main battlefield where they launched the final attack on the Seya Detachment.

As for the reason! The Japs are still about ten miles away from the mud ditch. Even if they have the full support of the air force, they will probably be exhausted by the time they break through there.

It just so happens that the place called Ni Gou got its name because of the crisscrossing ditches and rivers and the muddy roads, which would further slow down the speed of the Japanese.

It can be said that there is no place more suitable than here to launch the final attack.

After everyone reached a consensus, Hu Biao slammed his fist on the table where the map was placed and said firmly, "Alright! Let's bury these devils from the Seya Detachment in this place called Nigou."

After he finished speaking, he stuck his head out of the tent and shouted at the top of his voice: "Subei Independent Regiment, everyone assemble."

Under such an order, the members of the Subei Independent Regiment, who had stopped training after eating in the morning and had been gathering their strength to wait for the attack, immediately got busy.

In addition to bringing weapons, they began to assemble with mules and horses.

Every face was filled with an indescribable determination: even if it meant risking their lives, they couldn't let the devils from the Seya Detachment escape...

(End of this chapter)