Devil's Army

The 5th Brigade and the Jidong Independent Brigade retreated to Sanhe County. The towns and counties that had just been recovered along the way did not have the capital to fight against the main force of the Japanese army, and they also began to retreat one after another.

The companies of the Jidong Independent Brigade that remained in the towns between Hengshui City and Sanhe County were unwilling to give up the territory they had just recovered.

The commander of the second company of the Jidong Independent Brigade stationed in Hejian City discussed with the commander of the first company stationed in Botou City and decided to teach the Japanese army a lesson. The two companies ambushed in Heima Zhangzhuang, 4 kilometers west of Hejian City.

After the Japanese army reoccupied Hengshui City, they attacked and advanced northeastwards. The battle to occupy other towns was also smooth.

Some Japanese soldiers began to feel complacent, and some even said that the combat effectiveness of the devil troops was not as good as that of the Nanjing government troops.

Soon, a squadron of Japanese troops that occupied Hejian City arrived at Heima Zhangzhuang while conducting a sweep westward march out of Hejian City.

Seeing the arrogant Japanese soldiers, the first and second company commanders decided to wipe out this squadron of Japanese soldiers to teach them a lesson.

The Japanese army came to the path leading to Heima Zhang Village. It would not be long before they could raid and plunder the food and property of the Chinese in the village. The Japanese squadron leader laughed secretly at the thought.

This Japanese squadron entered the ambush circle of the first and second companies. The first company commander tied the opening of the pocket tightly, and the second company commander blocked the tail of the pocket.

When the Japanese army entered the path of Heimazhangzhuang, fierce gunfire was heard from the graves, ditches and groves on both sides.

The squadron leader organized the Japanese troops to fight desperately while asking his superiors for help.

The Japanese 36th Division 223rd Regiment's rd Battalion attacked Hejian. At that time, the main force of the Japanese army was preparing to occupy Botou City and then attack Sanhe County, the evil forces of the Tangshan base.

After receiving the squadron leader's request for help, two squadrons were immediately sent back to provide support.

The first and second company commanders knew that they were surrounded by Japanese troops, so they pushed forward with all their forces at the beginning of the battle, not giving this squadron of Japanese troops a chance to breathe.

Although the Japanese squadron leader ordered his soldiers to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements, they were unable to withstand the fierce attacks from the first and second companies from all directions.

In less than half an hour, all the Japanese troops in the encirclement were wiped out.

The first company commander ordered the soldiers to quickly clean up the battlefield, and the second company commander asked two soldiers to go to the village to inform the people to retreat. Given the nature of the Japanese, if a squadron was completely wiped out, they would definitely vent their anger on the villagers.

After the soldiers cleaned up the battlefield, they returned to the village to inform the people to evacuate and reported back that the people had already run away when they heard the gunshots.

The first and second company commanders led their soldiers to retreat towards Sanhe County.

When the Japanese follow-up troops arrived at Heimazhang Village, the battle was over. The path was filled with Japanese soldiers' bodies that were not yet completely stiff and smoke was rising.

A squadron leader led a group of Japanese soldiers into Heima Zhang Village, hoping to vent their anger on the locals. There was no one in the village except a dog barking at them.

When the Japanese army in Cangzhou was counterattacking the devil army, they became restless again and sent a squadron of Japanese troops and more than 300 puppet security forces to attack Huanghua City in an attempt to recapture the lost Huanghua City.

The Xiaotupo group of positions encountered stubborn resistance from the 5th Brigade's remaining troops and the troops retreating from nearby towns and villages.

The Japanese and puppet troops in Cangzhou launched two large-scale attacks in succession, but were defeated and fled in disgrace both times by the soldiers of the Fifth Brigade.

The main force of the Japanese 36th Division pursued the th Brigade and the Jidong Independent Brigade all the way from Hengshui, and occupied more than ten towns along the way.

Two days later, when the 36th Division of the Japanese Army arrived at the mountain valley of the Beihe River, it was stubbornly blocked by the troops of the Jidong Independent Brigade who were lying in ambush there.

The mountain valleys in the Beihe area were the main route for the Japanese army to attack Sanhe County from the southwest. The valleys were narrow and deep, with trees on both sides, making them a good place to stop the Japanese army.

In order to prevent the Japanese army from continuing to invade Sanhe County, the Fifth Brigade Commander allocated the brigade's two 150mm howitzers to the Jidong Independent Brigade, and deployed the Jidong Independent Brigade's four 4mm mountain cannons in the woods east of the Beihe Gorge.

The 36rd Battalion of the 223rd Regiment of the th Brigade of the Japanese Army also stopped. Although they had successfully occupied more than a dozen towns along the way, the terrain here was too dangerous. He was worried that the devil's army had set up an ambush here.

The artillery of the Japanese 3rd Battalion conducted exploratory bombardments on both sides of the canyon, but found nothing unusual.

Then the three captains arranged an infantry squad to search along the canyon, but still found nothing.

The Japanese captain ordered an infantry company to enter the canyon next.

When this Japanese infantry squadron completely entered the canyon, the sound of dense mountain artillery shells whistling came from the woods on the east bank of the canyon.

This small group of Japanese infantrymen who were about to walk out of the canyon were also blocked by soldiers of the Jidong Independent Brigade.

The remaining Japanese soldiers in the canyon fled in panic.

The Japanese Second Artillery Battalion that arrived later began to fire at the woods on the east bank of the canyon, but the artillery of the Devil's Army on the east bank did not respond.

The three captains believed that the artillery positions of the Devil's troops had been destroyed and ordered the large troops to continue passing through the canyon.

However, the whistling sound of the small mountain artillery shells, which made the Japanese infantry nervous, came from the other side.