Devil's Army

Although the 16th Brigade of the First Anti-Japanese Army was a newly established unit, it still contained many veterans who had been through many battles.

Leng Feng sent the 16th Brigade to deliver this batch of ammunition in order to help the Tangshan base area in its anti-encirclement and suppression operations. The battle in the Tangshan base area was now intense, and the troops had already reached their limit.

It was relatively safe for the troops to march within the base, but the Japanese scouts were everywhere, and someone would definitely leak the news.

As soon as the troops left Jinzhou, they released golden eagles to scout the surrounding area.

Fortunately, the strategic Shanhaiguan had been recaptured by Leng Feng. When the 16th Brigade arrived at Shanhaiguan, it was already approaching evening. The troops camped at Shanhaiguan and continued their journey the next day.

The 16th Brigade set out at 6 a.m. the next day, and the tribe also arranged a fighter squadron to escort them. The 16th Brigade was transporting ammunition, and if it was bombed by Japanese fighters, the losses would be disastrous.

Sure enough, when the troops marched near Funing County, the vanguard reconnaissance troops discovered something unusual.

Brigade Commander Wu of the 16th Brigade ordered the main force to stop advancing and remain on guard, and the reconnaissance troops went to investigate.

The reconnaissance unit was ambushed by a Japanese squadron of mortars on a small road leading from Funing County to Lulong County.

The reconnaissance troops immediately fought back, launching the 16th Brigade's first battle with the Japanese army since its establishment.

A company of the 7th Brigade stationed in Funing County also left the city and attacked the Japanese squadron from the flank.

The battle lasted less than 30 minutes and the Japanese infantry squadron was repelled.

"Captain, the Japanese are too arrogant, aren't they? An infantry squadron of more than 34 people wants to ambush our brigade of nearly people," asked Deputy Brigade Commander Xiao Zhirong.

"I'm afraid this is just a Japanese reconnaissance unit. Our fierce battle with the Japanese is about to begin." Brigade Commander Wu Dingbang said a little worriedly.

He was not worried about encountering the Japanese army, let alone fighting them. He dreamed of having a great battle with them. But he was afraid that he could not deliver the ammunition safely to the Second Front Army. The Second Front Army's ammunition inventory had reached the red line alarm.

He ordered the troops to rest temporarily in Funing County and asked the golden eagle and fighter squadron to scout the surroundings to prevent any Japanese bombers from coming to bomb.

As expected by Brigade Commander Wu, just as the large force entered Funing County for rest and recuperation, two Japanese fighter squadrons and one bomber squadron flew over from the southwest of Funing County in a black mass.

The escorting First Army fighter squadron immediately flew over and engaged in a fierce battle with the Japanese fighter squadron.

The Japanese bomber squadron immediately flew towards the location reported by their scouts, preparing to bomb the transport convoy of the 16th Brigade. However, they searched back and forth several times at the location reported by the scouts, but did not find the transport convoy of the 16th Brigade.

The Japanese fighters still used the tactic of multiple entanglements to attack the first army's pointed aircraft. The first army's fighters adopted a fast-in-fast-out method, constantly breaking away from the entanglement of the Japanese fighters and constantly attacking the Japanese fighters.

A fierce air battle broke out over Funing County.

Three Japanese bombers flew towards Funing County, intending to launch an air raid on the county.

A fighter plane of the First Army broke away from the Japanese fighter planes and rushed towards the three Japanese bombers. The three Japanese bombers fled in panic.

Upon receiving the news, the commander of the Tangshan Second Front Army, Gray Wolf, ordered Captain Yin to personally lead a fighter squadron to provide reinforcements.

This batch of ammunition and supplies is related to the anti-encirclement and suppression battle and cannot be neglected.

At this time, three Japanese fighter planes had been shot down and several damaged, and one fighter plane of the First Army's tribe escort was also shot down and several damaged.

With the arrival of a fighter squadron from the Second Front, victory in the battle had irreversibly tilted towards the First Army.

Japanese fighters and bombers began to retreat to the southwest.

Captain Yin led their Second Front Army's fighter squadron to pursue the Japanese fighters and bombers.

The tribe's escort fighter squadron covered the 16th Brigade as it continued to advance towards the Tangshan base.

When the 16th Brigade arrived near Liuyu Villa in Lulong County, Brigade Commander Wu ordered the troops to stop.

Liuyu Villa in Lulong County is located in a mountainous environment, with undulating peaks and ravines around it. This terrain provides natural conditions for the troops to hide.

The Japanese troops were hiding in valleys, woods or valleys, making them difficult to be discovered. Moreover, the roads in the mountains were narrow and rugged, which restricted the marching and transportation of the army, slowed the marching speed, and made it difficult for baggage vehicles to pass.

Brigade Commander Wu ordered the commander of the regiment in charge of the vanguard to arrange for mortar fire reconnaissance.

A regiment of mortars began to conduct fire reconnaissance towards the high ground on both sides of Liuyu Villa.

After several rounds of mortar bombardment, there was still nothing unusual on the heights on both sides.

The second regiment commander ordered the scouts to get closer and fire machine guns, but still found nothing unusual.

A regiment commander reported the reconnaissance results to Brigade Commander Wu and asked whether the troops could continue to advance?

Brigade Commander Wu looked at the dangerous situation and fell into deep thought. Could it be that the Japanese army really had no ambush here?