Devil's Army

The officers and soldiers of the direct battalion all knew what the continuous explosions of the Japanese artillery positions meant, but now they were surrounded by powerful enemies and had no time to grieve.

Battalion Commander Wang led everyone to continue retreating southward.

Soon, the Japanese army recovered and continued to chase the direct battalion. The artillery position had been destroyed by the devil troops. If they let this unit escape again, they would have no way to explain to their superiors.

Battalion Commander Wang arranged for the first company to cover the rear while the main force continued to retreat southward.

The Japanese had already surrounded them from both wings. If the main force continued to withdraw quickly, they might be able to escape the Japanese encirclement. But the rear guard company was in danger.

"We can't leave the entire company here." Battalion Commander Wang first thought of leading the company to retreat.

He arranged the second and third companies to block the Japanese encirclement on both wings, while the first company fought and retreated.

The encirclement momentum of the Japanese troops on both wings was curbed, and Battalion Commander Wang led everyone to continue retreating to the south in turns.

The Japanese troops that failed to encircle the two wings would pursue the direct battalion together with the Japanese troops attacking from the front.

The retreat of the direct battalion was full of tragedy, and brave soldiers of the direct battalion kept falling down along the way. But Captain Wang had only one thought in his mind, to lead everyone away from the pursuit of the Japanese army safely, even if there was only one soldier left, that was the seed of their direct battalion.

The troops stopped when they came to a small hill with a narrow road. It was so quiet on both sides that it made people feel a little uneasy.

Now there are pursuers behind and there may be blocking troops in front, and the direct battalion is in a desperate situation.

At this time, Captain Wang saw a soldier in gray uniform in front of him, waving and running towards him, signaling them to quickly pass through this path.

If they stayed, they would definitely be wiped out by the large Japanese army. Captain Wang also took the risk and led the soldiers through this narrow path at full speed.

Shortly after the direct battalion quickly passed through this narrow path, fierce gunfire and grenade explosions were heard from behind.

At this time, several guards and an Eighth Route Army soldier who looked like an officer walked towards Captain Wang and his men.

An officer-like Eighth Route Army soldier introduced the Eighth Battalion Commander:

"Hello, I am Su Lu from the 25th Regiment of the First Death Column of the Eighth Route Army Taihang Military Region."

"Hello, Captain Su, thank you for your help."

"We are all brothers in arms, why are you saying that? Please leave here quickly."

Captain Wang did not pretend and quickly left the path with less than half of his remaining soldiers.

He had to bypass Hengshui as quickly as possible, as he already knew that the anti-encirclement and suppression campaign in the Tangshan base had already begun.

In the past they were worried about having no wars to fight, but now there will definitely be many fierce battles waiting for them.

With the help of the Eighth Route Army's First Death Column, the direct battalion finally got rid of the Japanese pursuit and quickly rushed towards Hengshui.

At this time, Hengshui's South Gate and East Gate had been breached by the Japanese army.

The First Battalion of the Second Regiment had completely lost its ability to resist, and was now being replaced by the First Battalion of the Third Regiment to block the Japanese army's advance into the South Gate.

Fortunately, part of the Japanese artillery battalion at the South Gate has been destroyed by the direct battalion, and the remaining Japanese troops have only small-caliber mortars to support the combat.

The situation of the Third Battalion of the Third Regiment at the west gate is more dangerous than that at the south gate.

Like the first battalion at the South Gate, they retreated to the civilian houses in Hengshui and fought street battles with the Japanese army, but their houses were often bombarded by another part of the first artillery battalion of the Japanese army outside the city.

Many officers and soldiers of the Third Battalion either died in the Japanese artillery bombardment or were buried under the rubble.

At noon, two bombers of the First Army broke through the entanglement of Japanese fighter planes and flew towards Hengshui City.

A bomber from the First Army flew straight to the west gate of Hengshui and launched a fierce bombing on the artillery positions where the Japanese army was firing.

After bombing the Japanese artillery positions, the bombers began to bomb the attacking Japanese 1st Infantry Battalion.

Seeing this, the commander of the third regiment in the civilian house ordered the remaining mortar soldiers in the regiment to bombard the Japanese troops rushing into the west gate. After the artillery stopped bombing, the soldiers of the third battalion immediately launched a counterattack against the Japanese troops, driving the Japanese troops out of the west gate of Hengshui City in one fell swoop.

Another bomber from the First Army flew towards the south gate of Hengshui and launched a fierce bombing on the attacking Japanese troops.

Soldiers from the First Battalion of the Third Regiment launched a counterattack when the First Army's bombers had just stopped bombing and the Japanese army had not yet organized an effective blockade, and drove the Japanese army out of the south gate of Hengshui City in one fell swoop.

At this time, the Japanese troops in Baoding and Shijiazhuang successively sent reinforcements to Hengshui.

The pressure on the 1st Regiment and the 5th Brigade of the Jidong Independent Brigade, which were responsible for blocking the enemy, was increasing.

Intelligence from the Golden Eagle reconnaissance showed that the Okazaki Detachment of the Japanese Army's 4th Independent Mixed Brigade was encircling Hengshui's east gate.

The 5th Brigade that was fighting for reinforcements in Hengshui City and the periphery was about to be surrounded by more than 20,000 Japanese troops from four directions.

In order to preserve his strength, the commander of the Fifth Brigade decided not to engage in a head-on confrontation with the Japanese and withdrew from Hengshui City.

The Fifth Brigade let the Jidong Independent Brigade retreat first, and they were responsible for the rear guard.

Less than a week after Hengshui City was recaptured by the First Army, it fell into the hands of the Japanese army again.